RAW this Week ... and a few other notes.

So this week's Raw was really kind of a mixed bag. The wrestling was actually better than usual - every match was either strong from an athletic point of view, or at least contributed to story-telling. There were some logic gaps in the story - why would Natalya get one more shot at the women's title if she'd squandered two chances? - but hey, this is WWE and there have been bigger logic gaps than that.

Meanwhile, there were a few skits that you will have either loved or hated; first, Pee Wee Herman as a guest host of Raw was either super-great if you enjoyed his schtick - with his secret word etc. - personally, not the biggest fan, so while it isn't the world's worst thing I've ever seen on Raw, it could definitely have been better. It also relied so strongly on the participation of a crowd that wasn't into it, that definitely weakened his appearance - though I appreciated his bringing Lita in for a cameo during the Diva's Twister contest.

I also enjoyed the McMahon skit - mainly because we hadn't seen them in awhile. Too much of that would be, well, too much, but as it was it was kind of funny. And the dynamic between John Cena, the Nexus and Randy Orton is intriguing; I'll be interested to see how this all blows up at the Survivor Series, which I was surprised to hear the Undertaker might end up missing due to injury (being as it would be his 20th anniversary in the WWE). Also out with injury as of this week - CM Punk, for 3-4 months.

On some other quick notes before walking away - Vince McMahon's plan to give away WWE merchandise outside of polling stations has been nixed following a threat from the State of Connecticut involving both fines and jailtime; not that it would have helped his wife Linda much anyway as she lost her US Senate bid to Dick Blumenthal tonight (oh, or was that a spoiler to anyone? Sorry, forgot I'm not supposed to comment on bouts in progress lol). Also want to extend a Rest in Peace to Edouard Carpentier, French Canadian wrestler who died in his 80s this week. It has in fact been a big week for Quebec wrestling, as the legendary Jacques Rougeau has also announced his retirement this week following the upcoming 4-match 'farewell tour' he has scheduled.

Please tune in to In This Very Ring on Thursday (FOR REAL THIS TIME!) as we cover all this and anything else which might happen in the next 2-3 days. :) Until then - be well and God bless.