1. The crowd. REACT: Albany, N.Y., does not like Sharpton.
2. Neutral host. REACT: While neutral hosts are good, they tend to be more boring and worse hosts. This was true here.
3. Clueless? REACT: Sharpton seemed a little lost in the opening segment, but he recovered.
4. "The people have spoken." REACT: I like how Sharpton let the fans "make" the tag-team title match.
5. Primo-Chris Masters-Chavo Guerrero-Hornswoggle-Santino. REACT: The Geico jokes were stupid, but the Don King comparison was right on. This segment was decent.
6. Nationalactionnetwork.net for education reform tour. REACT: It's for a good cause.
7. 1:21. REACT: Yes, my DVR is 1:21 into the show and Sharpton has only made two appearances.
8. Jillian singing. REACT: Make it end.
9. The Bella Twins. REACT: Sharpton singing "I feel good" was a good sendoff.
10. Sharpton's grade: Uninspiring, although getting kids to read is a wonderful cause. As a guest host, though, Sharpton gets a D+.
The matches:
1. Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho/Big Show beat MVP/Mark Henry. REACT: It was strange seeing MVP's VIP Lounge lead off the show. Jericho/Big Show had the longest music introduction music ever. Jericho bashed the crowd nicely. MVP and Jericho, and Henry and Big Show worked very well together. This match got some good time, and had some big-time moves (Henry catching Big Show, Big Show's spear and DDT, double clotheslines, tackles and close falls). Best match of the night.
2. Divas Champion Mickie James beats Rosa Mendes. REACT: Rosa needs to be kept off Raw until she improves. Although she got a lot of offense in, the match was sloppy. Another kick finish didn't inspire me either (sorry, Mickie). And this was the second title match of the show where we knew the title wouldn't change hands.
3. Jack Swagger beats Evan Bourne. REACT: I didn't care for Bourne's leg injury angle. Bourne got in some great moves, as usual. But the size differential won out here, which is fine -- even though the match seemed too short. At least Kofi Kingston got his gold back.
4. Chris Masters/Chavo Guerrero beat Santino Marella/Hornswoggle. REACT: We may finally have an end to the Guerrero-Hornswoggle feud (how many times have I typed that?). Seriously, after Masters got Santino to submit, he masterlocked Hornswoggle, and Guerrero feeling sorry for the little guy actually made sense. While the crowd didn't care, I marked for it. Might we see a Masters-Chavo feud? I hope so, as it would be new and has potential. WWE.com implying Chavo's "turn" was credited to Sharpton actually makes sense, too.
5. WWE Champion John Cena beats Chris Jericho, Big Show and Randy Orton in a 3-on-1 Gauntlet Match. REACT: Typing that now, that seems a little impossible. But the way it was done was acceptable. Jericho and Cena had a good technical match with good counters. That was the longest Walls of Jericho ever, though. Big Show dropping his 500 pounds on Cena's neck looked painful. I marked for the cage lowering and Orton trying to squirm out. It was a great escape effort. I didn't like how the door was open -- what's the point of cage with an open door? But the major spot on top of the 20-foot cage was a mark-out moment.
The angles:
1. Randy Orton. REACT: His sadistic, thrive in the Hell in the Cell promo was nicely done.
2. Cody Rhodes/Ted DiBiase and Triple H/Shawn Michaels. REACT: DiBiase cut a great promo about how The Legacy is primed for their greatest win. Rhodes followed it up very nicely with his "sit behind a desk with his relatives" comment toward HHH. DX remained funny with HHH subbing Bob Barker for Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk). The build was decent and I actually care about this match.
3. WWE's overseas trips. REACT: Cena comparing it to Summerslam and WrestleMania is a great point. It's a once-per-year deal for these cities.
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