They did one of those things where they start the show with all the wrestlers in the ring. Bischoff then announced that Angle and Cena would meet at Survivor Series, Flair would meet HHH in a Last Man Standing Match, and the 5-on-5 match would be captained by Shawn Michaels, with Kane and the Big Show on the RAW team. Is there any way they’ll give the SD! team the win?

Carlito then said that there’d be no more Cabanas because he was a wrestler and not a talk show host, which immediately means that he’s being de-pushed. He and Benjamin went at it for a bit and Bisch made a match between the two for a spot on the SS team. There was a great bit where Mickey James said that everybody should give Trish Stratus a hand for being awesome. That was a nice touch.

Bischoff then called out Edge and Lita. Bischoff said that he was sending Edge and Lita to SmackDown! to beat Batista in a streetfight and they wouldn’t be back until they had the job done. That’s a little weird, but the crowd seemed to like it and all the wrestlers seemed happy.

Shelton Benjamin and Carlito had a hell of a match. These guys are both great and they could do much worse than giving these two a long and pushed feud. Benjamin hit a Buff Blockbuster on Carlito on the outside! These two had a great match, with everything from Shelton doing a Northern Lights when Carlito went for a suplex to Shelton missing a clothesline and Carlito getting a DDT for a nearfall. Carlito won with the roll-up and a handful of ropes. Benjamin is being misused, but at least he’s having really good matches.

Trish and Mickie James had a match against Candace, who was wearing pants designed to show a little crack, and Victoria. This wasn’t a great match, but it was alright. I really like the Trish and Mickie storyline. Candace hit Mickie with the scepter for the win for the bad girls.

I missed most of the Trevor Rhodes/Lance Cade vs. Kane and Big Show Tag Title Match, but I did see the Double Chokeslam through the table on Cade. I hear that this seemed like a burial, which is weird, though not unexpected as they are always burying the guys who are good teams, like MNM.

They set it up like they were doing the main event at 10, but Kurt came out and said that he sacrificed everything and that he got no appreciation, so he wasn’t going to wrestle. Backstage, Bischoff tried to talk him out of it, and Kurt said he’d do it if the crowd stopped chanting ‘You Suck’ and he got to choose the ref. Bischoff gave him what he wanted. This was probably a dig at Warrior. The situation of a Main Eventer coercing the promoter hits a bit close to home.

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Ric Flair beat Rob Conway and then brawled with HHH. These two are having a nice series and they’re going to have a Last Man Standing Match but it looks like the fans don’t really care that much.

Lita came and tried to get Eric to back off sending her and Edge to SmackDown! by showing her boobs. We all know that Bischoff loves the ladies, especially at Atlanta stripclubs, but he turned her down.

The guys came out for the main event, with Michaels and Cena coming out followed by The Masterpiece and Angle. Then, the old Muhammad Hassan music hit. Mad Mike Flores and I both popped big saying ‘They brought him back!’ but it turned out to be Daivari, who was the better of that pair anyhow, and he was the ref. They also did a gimmick where Coach was on the button to censor the crowd reaction when they said ‘You suck’. That was kinda funny.

Having Styles call this match brought it up a notch, and it was really good when Michaels or Angle were in. Cena and Masters both need work, but I didn’t catch much Cena hate during the main. Daivari played the partial ref, which isn’t a great thing anymore. The last time it really worked was when Jesse Ventura did it. Basically, Masters brought a chair in, but Michaels grabbed it and got DQed. After the match, Angle and Cena brawled a bit.

I liked parts of this show (the Carlito vs. Benjamin match, Candace’s pants) and other parts I wasn’t thrilled with, but Styles may help make everything go down easier.