Last night’s installment of Monday Night RAW began a new set of storylines stemming from Sunday night’s Survivor Series PPV. Live from Pittsburgh, PA, the show opened with the legendary Ric Flair receiving huge pops from the crowd and standing in the middle of the ring, fresh off of a victory at last night’s PPV. Flair ended up as the sole survivor of his team of legends, defeating the Spirit Squad. In his state-of-the-union, Ric Flair addressed the aftermath of the prior night’s match in which the Spirit Squad ganged up on him after his Survivor Series win.

Citing that he had been "beaten up by a bunch of male cheerleaders," the 16-time World Champion vowed that tonight, it would end. The entire Spirit Squad made their way to the ring to interrupt, sporting better attire than they did at last week’s RAW episode. Apparently, these boys have the market cornered on customized kelly green and white raglan baseball long-sleeves.

What followed was nowhere near as snazzy as the latest purchases of the Spirit Squad Shopping Spree. The five-some rattled off the most heinous attempt at a "cheer" that I have ever heard uttered on Monday Night sports entertainment television. The choice of wording wouldn’t have been too bad, maybe even funny, referring to Flair as "older than God" among other pithy little insulting rhymes.

D-Generation X then came down the ramp to assist Flair in a handicap match pitting Flair, his former Evolution cohort Triple H, and Shawn Michaels against all five Spirit Squadders. Before kicking off a very emotional match, Triple H and Michaels shook hands and hugged Flair.

Lightening the mood, Triple H took the microphone and accepted a huge reaction from the crowd as he launched into his usual "Are You Ready!?" DX-schpiel. Receiving an even greater pop, The H asked the crowd if they were sick of them facing the Spirit Squad for what seemed to be the millionth time. Word, Trips. Huge "WORD" on that one. He guaranteed that this would be the last time the crowd would see the Spirit Squad. Awww, and just when they were getting new outfits!

Opting for a psychological attack, Triple H slammed the microphone down and cracked open an industrial sized can of whoop ass on the Squad. Flair follows up with an impressive back body drop on Mikey, the designated whipping boy for the match, before tagging in Shawn Michaels.

Michaels was also getting a largely positive reaction from the crowd as evidenced by the loud "HBK" chants that filled the Pittsburgh arena. Taking a page out of the Flair Users Manual, HBK delivered a series of chest chops to Mikey. Flair was tagged in and Mikey instantly dropkicked Flair, dragging him to the corner where all members of the Spirit Squad began hammering away on the legend.

DX came to the rescue, tossing out two of the opposition over the top ropes and to the outside before Michaels executed a perfect plancha over the top rope to the entire Squad below.

DX and Flair celebrated with a three-way "Style and Profile," strutting it up in the ring.

Following a commercial break, the match was re-joined in progress with Michaels suplexing Johnny. Somehow, he found his way to the Spirit Squad’s corner and became the recipient of another gang-up beat down.

**I interrupt this recap with an observation brought to you courtesy of your humble recapper. I couldn’t help but realize what a poor job the referee was doing in this match. Okay, okay. We all know it’s "sports entertainment" and while the athletes are very real and very athletic, the storylines are staged. After watching 2006’s version of Survivor Series and contrasting it with 1987’s Survivor Series (I subscribe to WWE’s 24-7 OnDemand service), it seemed that the refs circa-1987 were substantially more observant and stringent with enforcing the rules of the match. The possibility of an entire corner smacking up a participant was virtually nil. In the current state of affairs in wrestling, the ref is almost all but obsolete, with the exception of turning his back and allowing for a pivotal cheap-shot to cap off the match with a reversal of fortune for one of the wrestlers. Dare I say it, but I miss the days of the strict, rule-enforcing referee.**

Carrying on with the match, Kenny and HBK go at it in the middle of the ring. Just when the Squad think they have him down, they attempt a high-risk pyramid maneuver. At the last second, Michaels rolls out of the way, tagging in Triple H who cleans the house with the Squad.

The H tags in Flair who goes for his customary chops, readying the hapless Spirit Squadder for some Sweet Chin Music, conducted by HBK. Excitedly, Ric does "the Happy Dance" as only Flair can, dancing the Horseman Shuffle before slapping on a figure four leg lock to the young man on the canvas. DX joined Flair in the ring, grabbing a Spirit Squad member of their choosing and engaging in a three-way figure four fest in the middle of the ring with the wrestling legend. It’s a mass tap-out at the hands of DX and Flair! The three men celebrate their win by crotch-chopping in the middle of the ring, DX-style!

Flair seemed to be very emotional in the ring following the high-action match up. The two younger men raised his hands in victory as a teary-eyed Flair made with the hugs. Initially, I had feared that maybe Flair would be retiring. So far, no insinuations that he intends on leaving active wrestling duty have surfaced. The only other reason I can attribute to Flair’s visibly touched condition may be that his longtime friend and wrestling compatriot, Rowdy Roddy Piper had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and will be undergoing radiation therapy for the disease. Perhaps the illness of a good friend accounted for the high emotion following the in-ring celebration. All speculation aside, I hope Piper makes a full recovery and wish the guy well.

After another commercial break, Triple H and Shawn Michaels are seen stuffing the Spirit Squad into a large black locked box. The H slaps a mailing stamp on it indicating that the package is bound for OVW in Louisville, KY. (Note: For the casual fan, OVW is basically the WWE’s farm-league. It is the indie-federation from which most of WWE’s new talent is culled and conversely where some floundering wrestlers are shipped down to in order to work their chops up or give them time to recover from a bad gimmick.)

DX meets with a postal representative from "OPS," (they didn’t want to spring for UPS) and instructed him to get it there by Christmas, no rush. When the clerk asked him if he wanted to insure it, Triple H replied "Nah. It isn’t worth a crap" before signing Vince McMahon’s name to the packing receipt.

Speaking of OVW and backstage vignettes, Joey Mercury is back from his hiatus in Louisville and reunited with the other members of MNM, partner Johnny Nitro and manager Melina. Looks like Joey picked up a box of black hair dye, too before he came back to the WWE fold. Not bad.

Following the backstage vignettes was the All-Divas Battle Royale to determine the number one contender spot for the Women’s Championship Belt. Mickey James defeated the retiring Champion, Lita at Survivor Series the previous night. The new and 2-time Women’s Champion came out wearing jeans and a leopard print top to guest-commentate with Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross. Conversational and confrontational, Mickey sounded game to defend her belt against anyone. Something about her mannerisms and look reminded me of a younger, cuter and tougher version of Rachel Ray.

Ring announcer, Lillian Garcia gives the stipulations for the match. As with any Battle Royale, the combatants would be eliminated not by pinfall, but by being thrown over the ropes and outside the ring.

The first contestant to make her entrance was Melina, wearing a really hot leather bustier that had her rack pushed up so high, I was afraid she’d choke on them. The King echoed a similar sentiment, fearing a wardrobe malfunction.

Up next was Candice Michelle and her incredibly irritating theme music. Candice worked the ring ramp, sliding over it and touching herself so much that the only thing missing was a pole.

Torrie Wilson followed down to the ring with her tiny pooch, Chloe. The other two contestants entrances were made during the commercial break with Maria and Victoria already in the ring.

The match began with Victoria (the only legitimate contender in terms of wrestling skill) being worked over by Torrie and Candice Michelle. I started to feel that sick, creeping of fear in my stomach that Victoria would be eliminated. The day when there is a serious challenger for the Women’s Title who can more capably perform a chair dance than take a chair shot will be the day I eat my own poop….. Or just hang it up altogether as a fan of real women’s wrestling.

Fortunately, Victoria turned the tables, planting them both with a double-armed clothesline, kicking Candice Michelle on the mat and then ramming Torrie Wilson into the corner ring posts. Victoria seemingly teamed up with Melina, giving her the greenlight to take a shot at Torrie in the corner. As Melina was running, Victoria clobbered her, eliminating probably the second-most competent wrestler in the ring. (Melina hasn’t wrestled much while in the WWE, operating in more of a managerial capacity, but I’ve heard that in her OVW days, she was quite good.)

Victoria then made short work of Torrie, eliminating her and later Maria with a clothesline. They never stood a chance.

Down to two contestants, Victoria took on Candice Michelle who nearly eliminated Victoria over the top rope. Candice scooped up Victoria in a backbreaker over her shoulders and pitched her over the top rope. Victoria held on to the ropes, her feet not touching the ground and pulling herself up to avoid elimination. Delivering a swift kick to the Go-Daddy Girl’s face, Victoria capitalized, knocking her out of the ring. Victoria is now the new number one contender for the Women’s Title.

I expected a better and longer match, considering that Eugene Dinsmore (the man behind the character) is a much better wrestler than this match would show.

Grabbing the microphone, Eugene angrily admonished the crowd for a few moments, screaming "Don’t make fun of me! I’m special!" And suddenly The Ringer seemed to possess all the warmth and sensitivity of I Am Sam in light of Eugene’s portrayal of a mentally handicapped wrestler.

Don’t get me wrong, the initial concept of Eugene’s character was cute, funny and got a very positive response from the crowd. However, it seems that the gimmick’s shelf-life has run its course and no one has any idea what to do with the character. Eugene Dinsmore is a very fine wrestler and I give the guy a lot of credit for his uncanny ability to stay in character. On a side note, I remember Dinsmore being injured on a live episode of RAW and to his extreme credit, stayed in character as they took him out on a gurney, in spite of him being in pain that merited surgery and time away from the ring. I had also seen a live WWE house show and again, although not injured, the man didn’t break character until he went back behind the curtain. I admire his dedication and hope for some better direction for this guy.

Backstage, DX was planning a party in honor of Ric Flair. The camera found DX chatting with fellow F.O.F’s (Friends of Flair), Arn Anderson and Dusty Rhodes. Michaels excitedly rambled on about how he had the ginger ale on ice, chips, dip and he that he managed to score a karaoke machine. Yes, this would be "soooooo AWESOME!!!"

Triple H, Dusty and Double-A look similarly perplexed with Shawn’s choice of party fare. Triple H interjects reassuring the F.O.F.’s that he’s got two words for them: "Booze and broads." Ron Simmons (and his fabulous shirt!) popped his head around the corner to utter one word: "Damn!"

I got a kick out of this particular vignette. Nodding to his status as a Born-Again Christian, Michaels isn’t afraid to have a little fun and goof on the squeaky clean image wrestling fans seem to expect from him due to his religious beliefs. It’s good to see him still standing by what he believes in and still entertaining the crowds.

After another commercial break, Edge is in the ring with his talk-show segment, "The Cutting Edge." He congratulated DX on beating the Spirit Squad…. for the millionth time and pimped a possible beatdown on the recently re-united Team Extreme, "Young Matthew and Jeffrey" Hardy later in the program at the hands of Edge and Randy Orton, dedicating the match to his retired paramour, Lita.

Claiming his very special surprise guest has bailed on him, Edge enlists his partner, Orton to try to rustle up this guest. Looking underneath a table near the far corner of the TitanTron, Edge and Orton dragged a bloodied Ric Flair out from under it. He called out DX to challenge them to intervene on the nearly unconscious legend’s behalf, however, no one came to the rescue. Orton and Edge took turns delivering several more chair shots to poor Ric’s head before he was carted off on a hospital gurney for medical attention.

Hard to watch and extremely bloody, I’m not sure where the WWE intends to take this angle, given the poignant and celebratory mood revolving around Flair at the beginning of the episode.

Up next was a long-overdue match up with Jerry "The King" Lawler abandoning his announcer’s headset and taking on The Masterpiece, Chris Masters. Shrugging off his spiffy new robes, the cocky, young Masterpiece strutted his way to the ring. Lawler had nearly broken Masters’ finishing maneuver, the Masterlock a few weeks ago and was out to seek revenge for the shameful whooping Masters unleashed on him and settle the score.

The two men locked up with Masters breaking free and scooping and slamming Memphis’s other favorite son before clenching Lawler in a massive bear hug. The King hit Masters in the nose to break the hold, following up with a mean dropkick to the younger wrestler.

Going for his signature move, Lawler nailed the Masterpiece sprawled on the mat with three fist drops from the top rope in succession. The Masterpiece kicked out. Upon full rejuvenation, Masters screamed out "It’s medicine time!" ( I honestly have no clue what that was supposed to mean. On the level of "WTF" that the Spirit Squad set a standard for the evening’s program with their botched cheer, Masters’s outburst was several steps below that bar, but no less "hunh?!"-inducing.)

The Masterpiece clamped the Masterlock on the King. Carlito came out to intervene on Lawler’s behalf, spitting huge, honking chunks of apple at the Masterpiece, who flung The King aside. Lawler attacked Masters from behind and managed to score a pin, defeating the Masterpiece.

The next-in ring segment featured the as-yet-undefeated Umaga and his manager, Armando Alejandro Estrada, petitioning the RAW Champion, John Cena for a title shot. Cena accepted, so now we get to see Umaga punch and kick his way through a title match. Oh, goodie. Just let me know when so I can set my Finesse-o-Meter up in time to monitor it.

The highlight of the spot was a camera shot of a "Umaga Ate My Sign" sign in the crowd. Oh, those whacky sign makers! What will they think of next!

In a slightly (and only slightly) better comedic spot, thug-themed tag team, Cryme Tyme took revenge on a Michael Richards-esque comedian, asking him "What’s really good?" before booting him to the face. While Cryme Tyme has much better delivery than Richards ever had, the segment wasn’t all that funny and seemed to be a too-obvious attempt at being socially relevant. They’re funny guys, but the segment dragged on too long and was trying too hard to squeeze in a referential parody to the incident.

Backstage, prior to the main event of Tag Team Champions Rated RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) squaring off against Team Extreme (Matt and Jeff Hardy), Edge cornered Jeff Hardy, telling the 2-time WWE Champion the "most overrated piece of crap" ever in an attempt to psyche him out before their match. The history between Edge and his former partner and "brother," Christian and the Hardy Boys’ storied tag team rivalry with each other four years ago was touched upon, highlighting a possible new rivalry between the the Hardys and Edge and his new partner.

The match began with Champions Edge and Randy Orton coming out to their sublimely spliced music and the reunited Hardy Boys entering the ringside area while doing some horribly spastic dancing.

Jeff Hardy and Orton locked up with Matt being tagged in shortly after. Matt wrenched Orton’s upper extremities into a painful looking rear armbar. Jeff was tagged back in, only to have Orton mercilessly hammer away on him.

Orton tagged in Edge before stomping Jeff repeatedly and landing a massive jumping knee to the lighter-haired Hardy’s chest. Jeff was about to receive more punishment with Edge nailing him with a standing dropkick.

Matt entered the ring again, cleaning house and clotheslining Edge and Orton. With the Champions laid out on the mat, Team Extreme climbed the ring posts, preparing to execute a tandem version of the Swanton Bomb to their opponents below. Edge and Orton dodged the move, getting up and then wailing away on the fallen brothers.

Later on in the match, Matt met the mat in a failed attempt at a moonsault. Orton capitalized, low-balling Matt in the groin before Edge bowled him over with a vicious spear. With the Rated R Superstar about to go for the pin, Matt’s brother, Jeff delivered a low dropkick to make the save. It only offered temporary relief since Edge was able to get Matt in a sleeper hold. Fortunately, Matt Hardy was able to break the hold with a sharp elbow to one half of the Tag Team Champion’s ribs.

In the match’s final moments of the fast-paced and dynamic match, the brothers have Orton on the ropes, or more aptly, on the mat. Diving off of the ropes himself, Matt drops the third-generation superstar with a Twist of Fate as his brother climbs to the top rope, hitting a perfect Swanton Bomb on Orton. The referee had almost counted to a three with the Tag Team Titles nearly changing hands before Edge interfered, clobbering Jeff with the belts. The match ended in a disqualification. Although the Hardy Boys were awarded the match, Rated RKO retained the titles.

While the first match and the last match of the were enjoyable and featured some great work on the part of all of the men involved, on the whole, this post-Survivor Series edition of RAW seemed sloppy. Granted, new story arcs are being set up for the next PPV and older, more tired storylines are gradually being retired. However, riding the wave of a great show last week and a better-than-average PPV on Sunday night, I expected more. Hopefully next week will advance newer rivalries and be a little more well-rounded and satisfying.

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