RAW Ratings
RAW did a 4.2 (though I also saw a reported 4.3) which is the second highest since the move to USA. The reason that’s being talked about is the promised live sex, but I really don’t think so. I really think that it’s the title change was well-publicized and that brought in a bigger than average crowd.

SmackDown!
They had Batista open things up with his surrendering the belt. It was a good promo and they had him talk about Paul (HHH) and Eddie and Flair and others. They cut to a shot of a woman in the crowd with tears in her eyes right after Batista mentioned Eddie. I instantly figured that they had taken a shot from one of the Eddie shows, but alas, no, as I saw her in a later crowd shot.

Batista gave up the belt to Theodore R. Long and he left. Then they did a long segment of Big Dave walking through the back and talking to Ricky Steamboat, Arn Anderson and a long hugging session with Rey Mysterio. Rey was wearing an EG band on his arm. No one did that after Pillman or even Owen, and he was the most loved person of his era in the WWF. This was the right way to go with Batista declaring that he would be back to take his title back. Teddy Long than said that there’d be a Battle Royal to determine the winner.

The seventh and final match in the Benoit vs. Booker T series was long, I think around 20 minutes with Benoit wrestling Randy Orton in the stead of Mr. Booker T. They had a hot match that the crowd really liked. Benoit and Orton work really well together and I’m glad to see them in a position to make a difference to the brand.

Booker interfered and got sent to the back before the first commercial. Randy and Chris brawled and at one point Benoit gave Randy a headbutt while he was on the top rope and Randy went to the outside, knocking himself on the guard rail. This was a good match and it was a hot one. It seems like they’ve reached a new sort of desperation so they’ve gone to good wrestling for a show that doesn’t have enough star power.

The story of the match was Randy doing his thing and Chris Benoit trying submission after submission, and after a…wait for it…ref bump, Orton tapped, Booker returned and hit Benoit with the crutch and that allowed Orton to get the pin. Really good match. Smart move.

Then again, we do get some really bad material. Roddy Piper was walking backstage and ran into Jillian Hall and did a hilarious grossed-out take. JBL came out, made sure that he covered up Jillian’s face thing with her hair and then said that Piper should interview him in the Pit and not The Boogeyman. Piper made some over the top choking signs when JBL asked him how many times he had held the WWE title. Great line to finish: ‘Put her on a leash if you can!’ That made me laugh.

They showed a clip of Eddie Guerrero’s family receiving the Star of the Mountain Award from the City of El Paso. It was a beautiful little vignette and they did a nice little package on Eddie and his family. They showed a brief moment with Mando. I was a bit choked up watching it and the reaction that Eddie got from the crowd after they showed the bit.

This will teach you to eat while reading this column.

I was brought back to reality with the arrival of Hot Rod, Roddy Piper and the worst segment in ages. They had JBL do a long promo, which was not half bad, and he asked Jillian Hall what the hell was that on the side of her face. He also said that Jillian’s mole had more hair on it than George the Animal Steele’s bum. He then said that his real guest was The Boogeyman.

The Boogeyman came out and came to the ring. He really does have a neat little entrance. He’s crap in the ring, but he’s a good character. JBL threw Jillian to Boogeyman and then he licked Jillian’s mole a few times, then bit it clean off. It was so lame. So very, very lame, but Boogeyman did a nice bit. He then came towards Piper who was in the corner and he started saying various prayers. That was a funny ending to a still terrible bit.

MHMNM did a little promo with Melina saying that Mark Henry had made it possible for them to bring her more gold.

The Battle Royal featured the best booking the WWE has done in ages. They introed the 19 SmackDown! stars and then had Kurt Angle come out. There were good pops for Bobby Lashley (not super-loud, but a good reaction considering) and a really good pop for Matt Hardy. MNM got an OK reaction too. He got the best face response in ages. The match was good, very long and surprising. I was surprised that Daivari came out with Angle.

They had JBL push everyone away so that he’d get to take on Angle, who came in and instantly gave JBL the German Suplex and then tossed him, setting up a feud already. Kurt was ganged-up on and after he escaped, he faced off with Rey. Lots of near-eliminations, including Orlando Jordan coming very close to being eliminated by a Rey headscissors. Animal tried to face off with Mark Henry, who threw some Cena-esque punches before MNM allowed Henry to knock him out.

The story was that Henry was the guy who put out Batista and then was running through the competition. The elimination was interesting though, as they had Lashley try to Suplex him, but then Henry blocked it and put him on the top rope and kicked him in the chest, leaving Lashley to take a flat-back on the outside. The ref checked him immediately after.

...and now, he's ready to fight crime...

While Henry was being the powerhouse, Angle was the unstoppable machine! There was a spot where Angle went through the middle ropes and then Mark Henry gave him the Press Slam onto the table and that kept Kurt away from the ring for almost ten minutes. There was a weird moment where they had Lashley eliminated by Mark Henry, which was a bad idea as they could have had it go the other way and that sets up Batista, Lashley and someone else against MNM with Mark Henry.

There was a lot of heat for this one, especially when Rey and Henry were working together. Rey gave Henry two 619s (or one 1238) and then went for the Seated Senton, but Henry caught him and tossed him.

The ending was our good friend Kurt recovering and then trying to beat Henry with a series of headscissors, which led to him taking a brutal PowerBomb. Kurt brought Henry to the outside and went with him, but Henry fell faster, since he’s heavier and therefore falls faster, giving Angle the WIN!!! Kurt celebrated like it was the Mania Main Event and it was great. Really good stuff.