Immediately prior to the start of Raw tonight, UFC's Chuck Liddell made his second appearance on "Dancing With the Stars." Chuck and his partner, Anna, did the tango, a dance which was perfectly suited to Liddell's intensity. It also meant that smiling, a skill that Liddell had difficulty with last week, was unnecessary.

His dance steps were smoother this week, and the judges rewarded the duo with a total of 19 points. The call-in votes will be added to that number and the final score will be announced on Wednesday night's show.

Of note, the Iceman had either a new tattoo or a big doodle on the side of his head this week.

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Welcome to WWI's ongoing coverage of Raw, live from the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.

Tonight's Guest Host was The Reverend Al Sharpton.

Preach on.

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The pyro went off as Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcomed the viewers to the show. And hyped Sunday's Hell In A Cell pay per view, of course.

MVP and Mark Henry were in the VIP Lounge (which consisted of a red carpet and a couple of leather sofas set up in the ring). Henry was busy sucking on a beer. MVP started to introduce the Guest Host, the Reverend Al Sharpton, but Chris Jericho and Big Show came out instead.

Jericho told MVP he should have given Sharpton a more reverent (pun intended) introduction. In the end, they both made the introduction.

The Rev came out dressed casually for the occasion. He said that a tour would begin tomorrow to close the gap on education reform. The fact that Michael Cole had to direct viewers unfamiliar with Sharpton to Google was not a good sign. On second thought, Sharpton is more recognizable than some of the previous guest hosts.

Somewhere along the way, a Unified Tag Team Title championship match was made. The people had spoken. Sharpton had empowered the WWE universe.

(Commercial break)

The match had started during the break. Mark Henry caught Big Show, who had lunged at him, which was quite impressive. Jericho and MVP had both tagged in and at least the size difference wasn't so obvious. Back and forth it went. MVP rolled out of a Lionsault, then Henry tagged in and was on fire.

(Commercial break)

Back from the break and Jericho fell forward like a tree thanks to Henry. Show covered Henry for an unsuccessful pin. Try as he might, he couldn't get the win. DDT and another cover, but Henry would not give up. Jericho tagged in and went for a sleeper hold, although he could barely lock it in. Henry and Show clotheslined each other simultaneously -- when worlds collide, so to speak.

Near fall after near fall for Jericho and MVP. Jericho ultimately made the winning pin (thanks to some interference by Big Show), and Jericho and Big Show will vie for the title Sunday night.

(Commercial break)

The Rev and Primo Colon were discussing Hispanic wrestlers when Chavo (with his partner, Chris Masters) came in to promote himself as the most important Hispanic star in WWE. Before they could get very far, Santino came in and mistook Sharpton for the flamboyantly coiffed Don King, at which time The Rev kicked them all out. Except for Primo, who stayed to schmooz.

Todd Grisham introduced his guest, Randy Orton. Same old story -- he's gonna win at the PPV Sunday night.

(Commercial break)

Decent back and forth action in this one, with the addition of Alicia on the apron. Mickie had finally had enough and grabbed a fistful of Alicia's hair. (If she hadn't been standing on the apron where she didn't belong, that would not have been a problem.) Tune in Sunday night to see the rest of Mickie vs. Alicia.

(Commercial break)

Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) had a message for DX as the Hell In A Cell structure loomed over the ring. Teddy said that they are primed for the single greatest victory in their career. They showed a clip of their win over DX at Breaking Point. Cody added that no one had expected them to do that. He said that after Sunday night, Triple H can move into his cozy corner office at Titan Towers. And Shawn Michaels, who is the stuff of legends, can put a period on his legend.

"BORING" came the booming voice of Triple H. He and HBK were heckling them from the nose bleed seats. Triple H essentially called them assholes in a way that was even grosser than if they'd said the word. These guys are quite the comedians. They finally got tired of heckling long distance and came down to the ring just as Legacy scampered up the ramp and out of harm's way.

(Commercial break)

The size difference between these two was amazing, with Swagger towering over Borne. Size notwithstanding, Borne made this match a delight to watch as he systematically went after Swagger. Unfortunately, it was Swagger who got the winning pin. Short but impressive match.

Swagger got on the mic and said he would "officially" become the U.S. Champion at the PPV. (He may have had the title, but only because he stole it from The Miz who had stolen it from Kofi Kingston.)

The Miz came out and said he would be the champ on Sunday. The two got into a brawl as Kofi Kingston came down to the ring and stole his title belt back.

(Commercial break)

Rev. Al Sharpton, Newt Gingrich and the Education Secretary will embark on the Education Reform Tour this week to highlight Black and Hispanic education issues.

Matches made by guest hosts never go well for Chavo. Will Masters make a difference this week?

Master Lock on Santino for the win. Then Masters got hold of Hornswoggle and put him in a Master Lock. Chavo looked conflicted and then punched Masters to make him break the hold on Hornswoggle. Clearly, Chavo has a conscience and a heart.

(Commercial break)

Next week the Guest Host will be footballer Ben Roethlisberger and his offensive line.

The Rev was in his office when Gillian barged in, sang a song in her screechy style, and asked Sharpton to be her tour manager. He declined and said he had to go on the education tour.

Then the Bella Twins asked him about James Brown. Sharpton said if the education tour is successful, he'll go to Washington and sing. Sharpton did a wonderful rendition of a James Brown song. He also said "good night." Wonder how many people thought the show was over and changed the channel?

Justin Roberts, the new ring announcer, introduced the gauntlet match.

Jericho put Cena in the Walls of Jericho and refused to let go. Cena won by submission, but it left him in a world of hurt.

Returning from the commercial break, Big Show was pummeling Cena, who didn't seem to have much gas left in his tank. However, he managed to counter a DDT and picked up Big Show. Jericho ran in to interfere, and Big Show put Cena in a Colossal Clutch. Again, Cena won by DQ, but at a price.

Cena pointed upwards as the cell began to lower. Orton tried slither out of the ring before it lowered completely, but was trapped, as the crowd chanted for "Cena." Randy made a dash for the cage door, but Cena was there first. Orton climbed the wall of the cage like Spider Man to get away, but Cena followed him to the roof of the cage. Orton began to throw punches, but Cena slammed him on the roof the cage with an Attitude Adjustment.

Cena stood victorious atop the cage as the show went off the air.

Up until the last minute of this show, I was hating it. But Cena and Orton battling it out on top of the cage was simply riveting.  Was it enough to enitice viewers to order the PPV on Sunday?  You'll have to decide the answer to that one.