What did you guys think of Raw last night? I'm having a hard time reviewing it. I found it entertaining in the extreme but it's one of those shows I wish weren't so entertaining. There was almost literally NO good wrestling on it, it was incredibly sketch-heavy and the matches that did go on were weakish. Also, it was so transparently Vince McMahon's attempt to address his real-world legal and PR problems (the news media's field day with the WWE of late, and the US Congress wanting him to hand over various documents relating to their drug-testing program) with the 'razzle dazzle' of some fake BS (a paternity suit ... problems with the taxman ...) ... how can you tell the 'real' from the 'fake'?

And it makes me shake my head at Vince's hubris that he can just snub his nose at the US government (although why not? he's beaten them before) - it's offensive to me as a human being that this is about how seriously he takes death. It's about him, and his defensiveness, not a family dead, countless others before them, a serious drop in ratings, etc. Per usual, it's about Vince's ego. It would be nice to see that left at the door, a promise of cooperation with Congress's investigation, and a mild-mannered mea culpa for not addressing WWE's loyal employees and fans' concerns earlier. But ... nah. This is Vince.

Still ... ever the supporter of the rebel, I found myself somewhat chearing him tonight, even though (a) he's SO the establishment in some ways at this point it's not even funny and (b) in the real world the rest of us live in he's so wrong. Which I guess means he puts on a good product for what he does. The Dating Game was so out-of-context and stupid but funny ... damn, spam, 'nam, scram ... and I actually enjoyed Cena's self-interview on the Cabana tonight, although I know already without having read much it was somewhat typical Cena shit that the IWC will crap all over. So sue me, I want to see the belt off of him two years later as much as anyone, but I like the guy, he belongs at the top of the card, and he entertains me.

So lots of entertaining-but-pointless stuff -- I mean ... "Mr. Kennedy" how many times? Till he was essentially given the hook when we went to commercial and gone by the time we were back? Just how long did that go on? I enjoyed Umaga's face turn though I'll be curious where they go with it next, I had fun ... Raw had a quasi-different feel to it last night, and I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing yet. If more in-ring action is added as we go along, I think a 'reset button' giving us new storylines and directions three weeks out from a PPV is a good thing. Starting fresh can never hurt, as long as Vince recognizes his strong suits, and hopefully minimizes his presence onscreen from here out (although with the baby daddy angle, Lord knows ...). So good all around, just throw in some more good wrestling.

And as a note: WWE folks, getcha heads back in the game. JR's slip of the tongue last week mixing up Beth Phoenix and Jillian Hall is understandable - they DO look similar and even if they didn't, that type of thing can happen once in awhile. But between Randy Orton discussing how he was going to win the WW*Fbleeeep*E title, Lillian Garcia talking about how the winner of the Booker T-Jerry Lawler match was going to crown the loser next week at Madison Square Garden, and JR talking about how we can tune in to see Cena beat Umaga later on ... wow. Just wow. I know it's been a rough and stressful six weeks for everyone - the tone was set yesterday that OK, let's address all this, blow it up, get it out of our system and move on. Hopefully that happens with a great card at MSG next week, and Summerslam 2 weekse later. Between a big Raw, as it always is in NYC, a PPV soon, and Saturday Night's Main Event in a couple weeks, if this becomes the "Vince McMahon soapbox show", with misspeakings all over the place in other areas, it will be a LONG month.