Week in Review: Raw, NXT, Smackdown

First off, two more matches have made their way onto the Wrestlemania 26 card in the past week. From Raw we learned that Vince McMahon will indeed face Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 26 in a separate match from Cena v Batista. Also, on Smackdown John Morrison & R-Truth won a triple threat tag match to become #1 Contenders for the Unified Tag titles. They'll face Miz and Big Show at Mania.

Let's clarify which free agents went where after the end of ECW. According to rosters, Zack Ryder, Rosa Mendes, William Regal, Christian and Yoshi Tatsu all wound up on Raw. Caylen Croft & Trent Barretta, Shelton Benjamin, Goldust and Tiffany all are on Smackdown. Gregory Helms and Paul Burchill were let go in the wake of ECW. Abraham Washington seems unemployed right now. He would make an interesting manager for some of the wrestlers and maybe they'll bring him in for one of the WWE NXT guys.

Speaking of that, I like the way WWE NXT is progressing so far. It doesn't have the allure or draw of the big shows like Raw or Smackdown, but it's got fresh new competitors, matches and storylines. Some of the stories between the rookies and pros are intriguing too, like Miz and Daniel Bryan or R-Truth?David Otunga. It'll be interesting to see if any of them play into Raw/Smackdown or even Wrestlemania 26. My only question so far about NXT: Why is David Otunga competing? The guy's a Hardvard law school grad and fiance of Jennifer Hudson, shouldn't he be a multi-millionaire entertainment agent? Cole and Matthews said Otunga got texts from the likes of Cedric the Entertainer and Usher, so it's not like he doesn't have connections. He must really love wrestling though..Reminds me a lot of MVP, so it's surprising he wasn't paired with him.

Money in the Bank now has 7 competitors: Matt Hardy is the latest to qualify and joins Shelton, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Christian and MVP. My odds on favorite still goes with Christian as I can see him winning and cashing in to go up against former tag partner Edge for the championship. Jack Swagger could be the surprise winner, because he still deserves a push despite the lisp. It wouldn't be surprising either if WWE pulls some sort of switcharoo (ala Mr. Kennedy losing the MITB case to Edge years back), where CM Punk still gets the briefcase after WM26, or even where Drew McIntyre is put into the match last minute.

Isn't it funny how for the past two Wrestlemanias the Big Show was portrayed as this unstoppable behemoth who was KO'ing everyone (except Floyd Mayweather), and now he's losing after a quick Spear from Edge on Smackdown? I remember seeing Edge put in the main event against the champion Big Show years ago at a live Smackdown, and Edge got squashed. Times have changed. The Rated-R Superstar will likely be the new World Champion at Wrestlemania 26, capping off a triumphant return from injury. It's also odd that Edge hasn't "bumped into" Vickie Guerrero since his return to the show, or that she hasn't pulled some sort of vindictive stipulation or decision on him.

Also interesting is the Drew McIntyre story so far. He's got two straight losses in MITB qualifying matches. However, in his two losses he's also tore up the commentary table and screamed at Matt Striker outside the ring after losing. Mr. McMahon got rid of his first official loss, but then McIntyre lost again last night to Matt Hardy on Smackdown. Maybe he redeems himself next week somehow.

I'm still wondering if Randy Orton will go face or if Ted Dibiase is the one to turn. Orton faces Dibiase and Rhodes in a handicap match on Raw next week, but maybe Rhodes turns against Dibiase? It's tough to see Orton as a good guy right now. My earlier prediction was that this handicap match would happen at Mania, but it appears it's going to unfold on Raw.

There's not much to say about the upcoming match of Vince McMahon versus John Cena, other than it will probably be another opportunity for Batista to pull some treacherous moves on Cena, allowing Vince to cockily pin him.

Finally, I wish Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler would stop saying each guest host or hosts from the past episode of Raw did a great job. Cheech and Chong had some slightly funny spots, but honestly did they really host the show? Also, Jewell and Ty Murray? The last two pairs of hosts only really set up a special diva match or contest, but beyond that didn't do much else. The next host will be Kriss Angel, and let's hope he does something like make Michael Cole disappear from commentary for the night in a "vintage magic trick."

Feel free to leave your thoughts below on Raw, NXT, Superstars, Smackdown or anything else WWE...No spam please :)