James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (3.5)

I felt more detached from this show than last week when I felt like the wrestling business was trashed, not only by the guest hosts, but by WWE themselves. Hence, the higher rating despite being an equally bad show. I simply wasn't able to make an emotional investment with anything on this show because it all felt so numb. But, I wasn't frustrated to the point of lowering my score in the 0-2 range like last week. I was just indifferent.

Shawn Michaels is back...doing the Spirit Squad routine again. He pulled off an amazing first-segment performance with the little girl and the bell, then the skits dragged on. DX vs. Legacy at Summerslam...after Legacy beat a midget who WWE characterizes as a mid-30's child. Interest in a match at Summerslam is very mild, like a very safe, almost flavorless burrito topping at Taco Bell.

Mid-card, what mid-card? ... WWE somehow finds a way to distract itself from building up a good show each week. Last week it was promoting The Goods. This week, it was Raw from Canada. McMahon and the writers used every anti-Canada piece of material they had in the book, including a throw-it-out-there-and-hope-it-sticks bit where Chris Jericho bad-mouthed Canada "off camera." Jericho knew it wouldn't work. Cena knew it wouldn't work. Everyone knew it wouldn't work to get the audience to boo Jericho and cheer Cena. Epitomized WWE not knowing its audience or having long-term direction right now.

Bruce Mitchell, Torch Senior Columnist (3.0)

UFC has George St. Pierre. WWE has... this. Why does WWE even go to Calgary, anyway? They can't help but sabotage their show because of what happened in Montreal a million years ago. Shawn Michaels must be awfully bored with wrestling if that chef mid-card comedy stuff is what he wants to do. I think I saw the last two weeks of Miz on TNA Impact. Chris Jericho gave getting over as a heel in Canada the old college try, but it didn't work.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (4.0)

This was a bizarre show that was difficult to grade. The show started off well, but seemed to go downhill from there. I liked the confrontation between Orton and Cena, which made it all the more strange they worked together at the end of the show (though the RKO out of the Attitude Adjustment was awesome). Sarge in charge was a flop, mostly because he didn't seem like a GM, and WWE was more worried about sticking it to Canada again.

The Divas opening four-way was pretty solid, albeit sloppy at times, and it was nice to see Gail Kim go over and hopefully she's in line for a title push. Swagger vs. Bourne continues to confound the wrestling fan in me. And it seems they've moved back to Swagger vs. MVP....so where does this leave Bourne? I got a cheap laugh out of HBK superkicking the little girl, but the segment was hit-or-miss, with too much "miss." It felt like a storyline straight out of a mid-80s or 90s sitcom.

I didn't like Miz being back already. They embarrassed him on Raw and instead of getting a fresh start on a new brand, he comes back a week later? That does nothing for his momentum. MVP picked up a good win over Chris Masters. I thought Henry was going to be more of an upper-card player after his Raw return. Because there are no tag teams, they had to continue to try to build Legacy up for their match with DX......with a match against a midget. Sad.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/4 & 10/7: IWGP World champ Okada vs. Roderick Strong main event, plus Briscoes vs. Time Splitters, more from "Field of Honor," Overall Reax

MCMAHON'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 10/7: TNA Title Series kicks off, Bound for Glory fall-out, more; Overall Reax