Glad to see even with the emergence of your other BTB, that this one is still going on. As for the latest Shotgun, I marked for the appearance of The Hardy Boyz, and I thought the Goldust promo on Bret, including the epic mentioning of performance anxiety, was pretty damn good. Obviously they've got bigger fish to fry, but I don't mind a random episode of Raw to contain a mini Goldust/Bret angle.

A thumbs up on the direction of the tag titles, as LOD vs. Nation is something I think could be really fun.

Reading the Pillman update just makes me sad, tbh. I'm super excited for the Mero/Sable wedding, can't wait to see how that pans out. Light Heavyweight Title tournament brackets look really good too.

I almost forgot about One Night Only. Card looks good.

Another solid episode of Raw here. I don't really have any complaints, booking was fine throughout this show. I thought the issued between Bret/Patriot throughout the night were hyped well, although surely Bret wins. I wonder if The Patriot has an IC Title match in the future after his slight brawl with Awesome here tonight too. Speaking of which, really enjoying this dynamic of Owen needing to pay Awesome/Jackyl back. I'm still not entirely sure where this is going to end up, which makes it one of the more enjoyable angles currently.

Shamrock/Vader is a good idea, but I'm not huge on Vader backing down during their first confrontation on his second show back. I would have thought the effective method here would be building Vader back up, before his most likely inevitable loss to Shamrock.

I feel like you've done some good work recently to have an okay tag division starting to shine through. LOD, NAO, Headbangers and the Nation pairing of Faarooq and Rocky (love the idea of them hunting the tag titles btw). Really good stuff.

Ditto the above regarding the Light Heavyweight Title tournament. And anytime Jerry Lynn loses works for me so happy Juvi went over tonight.

The Taker/Shawn, Shawn/Dude, Taker/Bearer stuff was all kind of linked throughout the night and was solid enough. Love the idea of Dude Love getting his big moment in MSG next week (by big moment I mean title match, NO chance he's winning).

Austin's promos throughout were solid enough. Just reminding us he's around and expecting him to do something big in MSG next week. Also, the way the talk of Austin never beating Bret went here has me thinking Bret HAS to be the opponent Austin beats to first become champ. So my prediction is that in this universe there will be no screw job. Bret will go over Shawn maybe at Survivor Series, and then Austin gets the big win over Bret at Mania 14.

Also, Sable wedding dress shopping was smart to include to. I want her to come out for her wedding with the handprint paint over her tiddies... Although I'm assuming the wedding ceremony will see the inclusion of Jacqueline or something, with Mero revealed to be having an affair. Let's see.

Again, really solid stuff here.

I thought One Night Only was a solid stop on the road to the next IYH. I liked the way Dude Love allowed Mankind to participate. I think the idea of Foley playing with different characters was emphasized a lot throughout this time period and could make for some entertaining moments. The match itself was fine as well, with the fun Mandible Claw to the balls Cradle. The finish already did enough, but the attack afterwards from Chyna and HHH cements that this one is far from over.

I was honestly surprised that The Headbangers beat The Outlaws. Not necessarily complaining, just genuinely surprised. There was maybe a lull in the middle of the show with Owen/Juvi and Goldust/Christopher feeling like filler programs, where the result was fairly obvious. I was kind of hoping The Patriot would get a more negative reaction from the fans. Also, considering Vader is already in the midst of a budding program with Shamrock, Vader should have won here. Think the loss here doesn't help sell him as a threat when he's about to be in a high profile feud. If Patriot beats Vader, how am I supposed to take him serious against Shamrock?

Love the addition of Farooq and Rocky into the tag division. The DQ ending protects everybody involved and means there's probably more matches between them and LOD to come. The tag division with LOD, Nation, Headbangers, slowly starting to at least look a little better. 'Taker had to win his match for me so the right call was made there. Almost thirty minutes is crazy though. And despite the build for Bulldog in his hometown, which was detailed and done really well throughout the night, Shawn wins. As expected really.

The aftermath to the main event gets me excited though, with The Harts coming after DX. I know Shawn has 'Taker to deal with right now, and Bret just came off a loss, but it feels we will eventually get that Shawn/Bret trilogy, and if so, I can't wait.

Obviously looking forward to the Sarge/Austin confrontation on the next show. Will no doubt be spicy. Can't help but love and hate Cornette at the same time. The rant on WCW was awesome. Other thing that stands out to me here and I think was even mentioned on commentary a few times, is what you do with The Truth Commission? Sounds like more members are coming. I mean, I guess it could just be Kurrgan, but let's see. But mainly looking forward to the next show to see what direction you take Austin from here.