James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (6.0)

A very much needed upgrade after two weeks of terrible programming. Now, had this show followed two great weeks of TV, I'm probably at a "thumbs down," so context is key that this was very much a "thumbs up show" following those two rough episodes. Highlights of the night were the Kofi vs. Carlito match and DiBiase & Rhodes getting a one up on DX. DiBiase & Rhodes were in need of some credibility on this show and WWE booked a nice angle for them to ruin the DX Reunion and transfer those warm and fuzzy positive feelings in the building to legit heel heat from the live audience. Well done.

Kofi vs. Carlito was the shock of the night as well as the highlight. That match had "two minutes and we're out" written all over it, yet WWE gave them seven more minutes to work with to put together a very good story. Believable nearfalls, a title in jeopardy, and Carlito continuing to improve as a mid-card heel to be reckoned with. Very good story and glad to see WWE give them some time.

Miz vs. Bourne was an enigma. Miz needed the win to continue the rebuilding process after John Cena ate him up and spit him out three times. Bourne needed the win because he had lost two weeks in a row to Jack Swagger. Granted, WWE didn't draw any attention to his recent losing streak so it didn't seem like a huge deal that he lost again, but this didn't help him. WWE doesn't know what to do with him other than have him play 2008 Jeff Hardy as the Teflon babyface who can take a beating/loss and walk out fine.

MVP vs. Jack Swagger was the "what the---" moment of the night. Back from break, bell sounds, action hits, and match ends before the toilet stops running from the break. Don't get it. We'll see if they're given a chance to shine at Summerslam to make up for their match being cut short.

Bruce Mitchell, Torch Senior Columnist (5.5)

Proving that if you keep trying over and over, again and again, you can finally reach your goal. WWE Creative actually wrote a cute, well-paced Saturday Night Live skit with a celebrity. It was with Macauley Culkin, not Raw Guest Host Freddie Prinze, though. He sucked. Catering to Prinze needlessly complicated the Randy Orton-John Cena build.

I liked that DX, after all that DX blather, put Legacy over strong going into Summerslam....I don't what that was with Gail Kim and Mickie James.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

I actually thought Freddie Prinze did OK. I don't know why the most knowledgeable-about-the-product guest host was given the least TV time (other than the fact that, well....he's just Freddie Prinze) of any of them, but he sold Orton's back-breaker well and had enough enthusiasm in the opening segment to get over. And when he returned, I thought his mic work was good too, seething about Orton attacking him.

Gail Kim must've been knocked out at the end of the match with Mickie James- she and Mickie are too good to botch things as bad as the ending turned out to be. Santino was fine in the opening, but his stuff is wearing thin, slowly but surely. Kingston vs. Carlito was a match the crowd really got into, and both men put on a great show. Miz vs. Bourne was an odd match-up; they couldn't feed someone else to Miz in this spot?

Props to the writers for putting Legacy over DX strong heading into Summerslam. They're not gonna win, but they've been built up pretty well (unexpectedly well, actually) leading up to the battle. Swagger vs. MVP was bizarre- were they running short on time? The Culkin cameo was actually kinda funny, but WWE writers don't seem to be aware of their target audience in cases like this.

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