[In advance of tonight's episode of RAW, a guest post from frequent contributor Trevor Seigler. As always, let us know what you think in the comments.]

This past Monday night offered a unique opportunity to examine the dichotomy between sports and sports entertainment, if only because I needed an excuse to be flipping between the NBA Championships (Western Division) and Monday Nite Raw. The week prior, Vince McMahon and his wrestling crew were up in steroid-fueled arms over the fact that their scheduled event in Denver would have to be moved because the Nuggets owner had booked it months in advance, considering the possibility that his team would make the finals. (It must be nice for Carmelo Anthony and crew to know that their owner has no faith in them.)

Anyway, McMahon insulted the owner’s business skills, saying that he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. Vince certainly did know, because he proceeded to not-so-subtly show his endorsement of the L.A. Lakers in the best-of-seven series. He did so first by unveiling a Lakers jersey during an interview about the matter which aired on many national broadcasts (including ESPN, which never covers wrestling and rightly so), and then in a stroke of genius he tripped out two different “teams” of superstars in Nuggets and Lakers gear for the main event on Monday Night.

Which team won, you ask? Well, the “Lakers” were current good guys (i.e., John Cena, Jerry Lawler, etc.) and the “Nuggets” were heels (i.e., Randy Orton, the Big Show), and the event was held in the Staples Center, home of the out-of-town Lakers.

What interested me, however, was the fact that as Cena and his “team” were triumphant over the dastardly Nuggets, the real-life Lakers were getting beaten by the real-life (and better coordinated than their fictional counterparts) Nuggets. I had to ask myself: if I were a Lakers fan, which outcome would I prefer?