By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Batista. Out.

Triple H. Out. For now.

Shawn Michaels. Retired.

Randy Orton. Injured, but booked for the next PPV main event.

The depth chart on the Raw roster is not strong right now. And we know that means. Historically, when WWE gets to this point, they don't begin to make new stars, which is why this pattern keeps repeating itself. Instead, they turn to the old formula.

The return of Mr. McMahon.

Yes, indeed, all signs point to Vince McMahon returning as an on-air character after disappearing from TV following his beating at the hands of Bret Hart at WrestleMania.

His name has been all over WWE TV the past three weeks. It started on Smackdown when a letter to Teddy Long stripped Kofi Kingston of the IC Title in favor of Drew McInytre.

It continued on NXT last week when Daniel Bryan referenced (and indirectly put over) McMahon during a scrap with Michael Cole.

It continued on Raw last night when the Raw announcers tried to understand how McMahon would allow Bret Hart to be named Raw GM after what happened at WrestleMania. Also, one of the worst guest hosts thus far, Jon Lovitz, referenced McMahon in each of his two segments on the show.

On a side note, Shawn Michaels should be screening calls right about now. Coincidentally, an ad for The Godfather III aired during Raw and I hope Shawn was paying attention if he was watching. "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Also, The Undertaker is back from his post-WrestleMania vacation and is being advertised for a return to the Smackdown brand this Friday. It wasn't much of a vacation, though. Hey, Taker, we need you to fill on for the volcano. Hey, Taker, can you head down to FCW for a signing? Hey, Taker, we need you on the commercial-free Raw unannounced.

Related to Raw last night, the show was better than the recent Raw episodes WWE has passed off on their audience. The show moved at a fast pace, matches had meaning, Batista had another stellar performance, a U.S. Title match was given ten minutes, and there was a sense of urgency to what was happening throughout the show.

We'll try to ignore the guest host bit that brought the show to a screeching halt and created a visual representation on why the weekly guest host role should be dropped completely now that a permanent Raw GM has been named.

The key will be follow-up, which isn't always WWE's strong suit when trying to pace out three-to-four episodes of Raw leading to the next PPV. Will WWE be able to keep a sense of urgency and purpose to the match action or will WWE drift back into throwing out more two-minute Divas and tag division matches?

The short-term answer seems to revolve around WWE dipping into their bag of tricks and pulling out the McMahon Card. Vince McMahon's return seems imminent, especially to create some sort of farcical reason to explain the "Hart for GM" appointment, and to also involve McMahon in key storylines while top stars are on the shelf, hurting, retired, quitting, or filming movies.

Yep, it's about that time heading into the dog days of summer TV programming.

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S WWE "NXT: HOUSTON" LIVE RESULTS 9/17: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Balor, Joe, Bayley, more from debut show in Texas

CALDWELL'S LIVE REPORT - 7/12 Lone Star in Houston, Tex.: Alberto El Patron no-shows, Dreamer vs. Hoyt new main event; plus Duggan, Snitsky, Cabana vs. Mahal, Joey Ryan, Rowe vs. Hernandez, Ivellise, Catrina, Houston Carson, one title change, more

CALDWELL: A Top 10 for 10 Years - Hall of Fame, George, Sweet Tea, Studio B, Duke, Three-Pack, and you!