Last night, Vince McMahon returned to Raw, and effectively wrote off the "Vince is dead" angle by saying he faked his death to see if people cared about him. Hey, I can go along with that. Not only that, but the chairman was in much better spirits than he'd been back on June 11. He gave himself a bully pulpit to take issue with real-life current events, such as the congressional committees formed to investigate the WWE's drug-testing policy. He would pad it by claiming the IRS was out to get him, too, and punctuated it with a cameo appearance by Irwin R. Schyster. Nice move.

As had been rumored for some time, William Regal was put into the GM's chair after winning a battle royal. He's already a 1000% improvement over Jonathan Coachman, who's been "demoted" to being Regal's assistant. Regal then got to indulge himself by hosting the WWE's version of that old game show chestnut, "The Dating Game". Regal and Ron Simmons saved this skit from being a total disaster, as it looked as though Santino Marella, turning heel in this skit, was botching things as he went. They can't send this kid back to OVW fast enough, especially since he is now on the DL with a shoulder injury.

But there had to be a buzzkiller, and it came at the end of the show, when Vince was handed a summons by Coachman. Seems that Vince has been slapped with a paternity suit, and somewhere out there is another McMahon son or daughter. Speculation has already started on who it might be, but it's premature.

There are those who believe that Ken Kennedy, who was rumored to be a co-conspirator in the original "Vince is Dead" arc, was tapped to be the "love child". Uh, no, I don't think so. Kennedy is already over with the fans, well established as being on the cusp of the main event plateau.

Then I read that the "love child" angle was originally conceived about 4 years ago, when there were plans to call up Nikita from OVW to be Vince's secret other daughter, setting up a feud with Stephanie over on Smackdown, one would assume. That idea was killed, Nikita was eventually released, and Stephanie ended up feuding with her father and Sable. You know how that ended. The rumors have Kennedy pegged so he could eventually feud with Triple H. I really can't see that happening. Neither HHH or KK wants to be caught up in the ever-changing McMahon family soap opera, and don't you think that HHH wants to move back into the title picture instead of restarting a feud with his real-life father-in-law?

No, I think they'll go back to the drawing board and call up someone from OVW to be the "love child" as originally planned. The question, then, becomes one of who would fit the mold. If they go with Kennedy, it won't bolster his career, but instead all but kill it.

And, then, there's Umaga. The Intercontinental Champion is being turned face, and will tag with last night's opponent, John Cena, on the next Raw vs. Carlito & Randy Orton. The fans are already getting behind the Samoan Bulldozer, but the man may need a new mouthpiece if he has to cut promos. Vince may think of him as this generation's George Steele, but how do you domesticate a savage virtually overnight? Umaga's former handler, Armando Estrada, is back at OVW, waiting to be recalled. He has the one tool Umaga lacks---charisma--and can easily be repackaged as a repentant babyface, assuming, of course, that the inept creative team can actually recognize that possibility.

Out of all that, the best part of Raw was the Dating Game, which they may revisit on occasion. Since Regal now is established as being a game show fan, we may see more skits like this. He was great as a tweener commissioner 6 years ago, and now he's back in a similar role. Does anyone here not see any trades between Raw & Smackdown before the end of the calendar year? The chemistry between Regal and either Teddy Long or Vicki Guerrero might be off the chain, as Tazz might say. All they need now, really, is someone to fill the role on ECW. As long as Vince is thinking outside the box for a change, it wouldn't hurt to submit ideas to him.

Now, if they somehow match Regal & Maria for a parody of "My Fair Lady", we might be talking Emmy nomination next year.