Once in a while, WWE comes through and gives the fans a really good episode. After enduring several weeks of drivel, this installment of RAW made good with excellent matches, a fast pace, and several noteworthy moments making it two hours well-spent in front of the tube.

The show began with the legendary Undertaker emerging from his smog n' bong-filled entrance to make like Sophie and give his choice as to who he would be facing for a major title at Wrestlemania. The broadcast team of Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler recounted 'Taker's undefeated 14-0 record at Wrestlemania and heralded him as "The Conscience of the WWE." Taking a good look at the Dead Man, he's clearly in great condition, probably better now than ten years ago. He's looking jacked.

While we're still taking a closer look at the Undertaker, he definitely had some more tattoo work done with some black-work extending from the "Sara" in the middle of his neck to all the way around his neck. As 'Taker went into his near-patented eye-roll showing the whites of his orbs, I noticed that his liquid eyeliner could have been more carefully applied. Come on! I expect better of the WWE make-up department! Undertaker wisely went with the slicked-back wet hair tonight which camouflaged his auburn roots fairly well. I'm hoping that somewhere on "The Road to Wrestlemania" Undertaker makes a pit stop and picks up some hair-dye. He's usually pretty good about that considering his hair is always one-color come major PPV time.

As the Dead Man stood silent in the ring, the RAW Champion, John Cena made his entrance. Before he had much of an opportunity to talk, unfamiliar music filled the arena. Sure enough, this had to be the ECW Champion, Bobby Lashley, explaining why I had no clue as to who the theme belonged to. While I've always enjoyed Lashley's matches, I can't bring myself to watch ECW in its current state.

Predictably, Lashley didn't say anything before Smackdown's Champion, Batista made his entrance. It was apparent that he meant business, forgoing the suit and coming out in his trunks that were all-but-obscured by the very large Championship belt around his waist. For a second, it looked like Batista was going to give The Naked Cowboy ("I'm the Naked Cowboy / Comin' to a town near you") a good run for his money until he turned around and the viewing audience could be sure that all of his "Animal-parts" were sufficiently covered. Before finally entering the ring, Batista did his little "typewriter dance" that I've come to love so much to the tune of rattling fireworks.

The three champions lined up in the middle of the ring as Undertaker walked past them like Sgt. Hulka, giving each man the once-over. Undertaker's expression so rivaled that of Droopy Dog I was half-expecting him to Dead Man deadpan: "You know what? I'm happy."

Coming to the end of the line, it seemed as if Undertaker would delay his choosing of a Wrestlemania opponent, turning on his heel. Seconds later, Undertaker turned back around and made a ferocious slashing motion across his throat with his thumb and staring directly in Batista's face. Undertaker had made his choice.

Seconds later, Shawn Michaels' music could be heard blaring through the arena, petitioning John Cena for a crack at the Championship at Wrestlemania. Something about the speech reminded me of asking someone to escort you to the prom. The Wrestlemania-As-Prom theme continued with Randy Orton emerging and disputing Michaels' claim saying that "I am asking John Cena to the prom!" Okay, so he didn't say that, but it really seemed like that was going to come out of his mouth.

Joining Romy and Michelle - AKA - Randy and Michaels, Edge made his appearance, contesting that if anyone had the right to challenge Cena at Wrestlemania, it would be him. (Because we've all seen that match about thirty times before, right?)

To settle the dispute, The Chairman himself, Mr. McMahon swaggered down the steel ramp. Before weighing in on the matter, McMahon asked the Iowa crowd "what the hell are we doing in this cornfield?" The crowd booed his assessment of the Hawkeye State as Vinnie Mac set up some matches for the evening.

He decreed that in the evening's main event, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton would compete in a Triple Threat match for a spot on the Wrestlemania card against John Cena.

Vince also mentioned that no one had challenged ECW Champion, Bobby Lashley, whom he opined was the best champ in the ring,. No disrespect to the talents of Bobby Lashley, but I'd wager it's because no one really wants the ECW title. I wonder if ECW is really the proverbial cornfield where Vince McMahon gets his Bill Mumy on and wishes wrestlers away?

Mr. McMahon declared that Bobby Lashley would defend his ECW title tonight against anyone who was brave enough to step forward and stake a claim on the belt.

All but Undertaker and Batista headed for the back to prepare for their matches later in the program. The two big men stared down before Undertaker reached out, grabbing Batista by the throat and picking him up in a massive chokeslam. The Undertaker stared menacingly at the camera before RAW went to its first commercial break.

Up next was a Six Man Tag match featuring Carlito (with his ever-present pal, Torrie Wilson) and Cryme Tyme. Their opponents were Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin - The World's Greatest Tag Team and Chris Masters. If Carlito is present, you know Masters can't be too far away.

With all six men in the ring, things started off with Carlito landing a brutal-looking kick to the Masterpiece. The ring cleared and the two legal men starting things off, Shelton Benjamin and JTG went at it. It started out as a punch-kick fest before JTG pulled off a surprise Lou Thesz Press on Benjamin. Benjamin countered with a high thigh kick that made contact with JTG's face.

Shelton tagged in Haas who immediately pulled off a beautiful belly-to-belly suplex on JTG. Having been flung to the corner, JTG found himself being battered into the canvas by Chris Masters. Masters made an appearance in the ring, holding JTG as Haas kicked the Cryme Tymer in the ribs. Meanwhile, Shelton had solidly kicked JTG's partner, Shad, off of the ring apron and down to the floor.

JTG managed to get to the corner and tag in Carlito. Leaping over the top rope and into the fray, Carlito took out The World's Greatest Tag Team by springboarding off of the ropes and nailing them backwards with a double-armed clothesline, finishing it off with a Million Dollar Knee Lift.

The final moments of the match found Haas in the ring, eating a hurracurrana by Carlito and Carlito nearly having Haas pinned. The referee was distracted and didn't catch the pin. Shelton and Haas double-teamed Carlito with Shelton jumping clean over his partner's head and knocking Carlito backwards. Haas rolled Carlito for the pin with The World's Greatest Tag Team and Chris Masters emerging victorious.

This, besides being an excellent match to start the show off with, was just an excellent match period. Shelton Benjamin continues to show that he is the best pure wrestler on RAW today. His mike skills may lack, however his matches are incredible to watch. Haas and Carlito are no slouches themselves. Masters and Shad were relative non-entities in the match, not getting much of a chance to strut their stuff. However, JTG surprised me by throwing a nice Lou Thesz press out there.

Backstage, Vince McMahon and his executive assistant, Jonathan Coachman were yaking it up. Mr. McMahon insisted that Donald "Money Dropping From the Ceiling" Trump did not know what the fans wanted. McMahon insisted that WWE fans demanded value, and that's exactly what he would give him.

The executive pair were interrupted by young Kenny Dykstra who volunteered to be the brave soul to step forward and challenge Bobby Lashley for the ECW title that night on RAW. McMahon gave him the green light and another match was made for the night's program.

Continuing their Trump-centric conversation, Coach informed Mr. McMahon that he had a letter for him from The Donald himself. Angrily snatching the document from Coach's hands, Vinnie Mac read it aloud. Next week, Donald Trump would be making an in-person appearance on RAW. (Just a quick mention, but next week's episode of RAW will be shown live on Thursday night on USA at 8PM Eastern.)

Trump's letter intimated to McMahon that he had a business proposal that would change Vince's life forever. (PLEASE! Don't let Trump get his hands in the wrestling business! We all saw what happened when another billionaire threw his hat into the squared circle and that didn't end too well.) McMahon said that he had a business proposal of his own for Trump that would feature two billionaires in a WWE arena for the first time ever, hinting that Trump could find himself joining Vince's "elite club."

In another backstage segment, Maria interviewed the great Ric Flair, who was sporting his super sweet black leather and blue marabou-trimmed robe. Ric also had a few flyaways kicking on his usually well-groomed platinum locks, but we'll let that slide since he's the Nature Boy. Letting loose with several "Woo!"s, Flair acknowledged that if he won his match on RAW against Jeff Hardy, he would qualify to challenge Hardy for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania.

Continuing the behind-the-scenes hijinx, Melina and Candice Michelle exchanged false pleasantries as Johnny Nitro gave his woman a pep-talk regarding her match for the Women's Title on the program against Mickey James. Nitro would also be facing the man who dared slap Melina on last week's RAW, Super Crazy. Referring to the luchador as "ese gordo cabrón , " Nitro botched his Spanish language syntax in addition to throwing out some very mean insults towards Super Crazy. (For the curious grammarians out there, in Spanish, the noun " cabrón " would come before the adjective "gordo." If you're going to insult someone in a foreign language, Mr. Nitro, please adhere to correct grammatical rules. Thank you!

In the ring, the requisite squash match ensued with ECW's Balls Mahoney standing in as this week's whipping post for Umaga. As a bastardized instrumental of AC/DC's "Big Balls" played in the background, J.R. and Lawler expounded on Vince McMahon's visit to ECW last week in which the Chairman was angered by the host of old school ECW originals on the brand. Hoping to make an example of one of them, Balls was set up in a match against Umaga.

Unlike Val Venis last week, Balls managed to get a few punches in on Umaga. The results were similar with his punches having little effect on the lumbering Samoan. Umaga tossed him underneath the ropes and yanked back on Balls' chin before setting him up on the ropes and guillotining the ECW veteran.

True to formula, Umaga squashed Balls with his usual arsenal of maneuvers: first the Samoan Drop, then ass-splash to the corner. This prompted Lawler to blurt out the gem of the night that "Umaga's just playing with Balls right now." I love that Lawler!

Umaga finished Balls and the match off by pinning Mahoney following a Samoan Spike. The broadcast team underscored the revenge card that Mr. McMahon was playing in an attempt to embarrass the original ECW superstars. Uh, I think the current incarnation of ECW is doing that well enough with no need from Mr. McMahon to drive the nail any further into the coffin.

After a brief word from the sponsors, Melina accompanied her man, Johnny Nitro to the ring for his match against Super Crazy. Nitro was wearing a very snazzy red faux-fur and metallic leather full-length coat. Unfortunately, Nitro slathered a little too much man-tan on his perfect abs that made his skin almost indistinguishable from the coat's crimson hue.

Accompanying Super Crazy to the ring, Mickey James was sporting a serious tan, too. (I wonder if Clinque was giving out samples backstage in the dressing room?) This week, it would appear that Super Crazy wisely abandoned his new "I am Super! I am Crazy!" schtick. Good for him!

The match got underway with Nitro dropping Super Crazy with a swift kick to the huevos, climbing on top of the luchador and pummeling him. Johnny Nitro executed some impressive chain wrestling maneuvers (which J.R. noted as well), nailing Super Crazy with a Nitro Neckbreaker, turning into an inverted backbreaker which segued into a Russian Leg-Sweep. Nitro nearly scored a pin. Super Crazy kicked out and the whole cycle began again with the tide turning in Super Crazy's favor. He sent Nitro to the canvas with a low drop-kick before ascending to the ropes.

Melina attempted to trip up Super Crazy on the ropes. Crazy's corner-woman, Mickey James, returned the favor by tripping Nitro. As Crazy climbed the ropes yet again, Nitro elbowed him off. Not to be thwarted, Crazy went to the well again, delivering an amazing, arcing moonsault backwards off of the top rope and crashing onto Nitro below. Super Crazy achieved the three count, winning the match and a congratulatory hug from the Women's Champion, Mickey James.

Yet another good match on the evening's card, the wrestling capabilities of both men proved to be exceptional. Super Crazy, as always, was in fine form. However, it was Nitro who really surprised me, showing great skill in effectively linking several maneuvers together. The two men moved fluidly in the ring and pulled off an excellent match.

A few minutes later, Mickey and Melina battled it out in a brutal match for the Women's title. The bout began with Mickey tackling Melina to the canvas, prompting both women to roll around grabbing each other's hair and throwing violent punches.

Getting to their feet, Mickey clamped Melina's arm behind her in a hammerlock. Melina grabbed a handful of Mickey's hair to break the hold before nailing the Women's Champ with boot to the stomach. Mickey recovered, neatly dropping Melina with a cartwheeling bulldog.

No slouch herself in inventive holds, Melina twisted Mickey's legs into a grapevine while yanking back on her hair. As Mickey regained her legs, Melina twisted the Champion's arms around her own neck, yanking back and choking her.

Angered, Mickey judo-flipped Melina onto the canvas. Some more back-and-forth battling left both women clutching their jaws. Melina threw Micky out of the ring before dragging her back in and dropping to her knees on top of Mickey's neck. Melina would have had the pin if the referee didn't see her grab the ring ropes for leverage. As the count was busted up, Mickey rolled Melina backwards for the pin, retaining her title.

Super Crazy returned the earlier favor, hoisting Mickey in the air on his shoulder. As the two trotted to the back, Melina's post-match meltdown was caught on camera by the hordes of paparazzi that boyfriend Nitro had arranged to have present to capture Melina winning the title that evening.

Backstage, John Cena offered some kind words in an attempt bolster the confidence and to win over his co-Tag Team Champion, Shawn Michaels. He told him to "be safe" in the match because they are champions together. He also mentioned that he was hoping Edge won the Triple Threat match because he knew for a fact he could kick Edge's ass. Somewhere in there lurked a compliment. A sunny Cena left Shawn to shine his belt and ponder the pleasantry.

In a match for a shot at the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania, Ric Flair squared off against Jeff Hardy. Ric came out wearing his awesome robe, which usually means that he ends up losing the match. Once again, the theory of Ring Attire Augury prevails. (Ric Flair seems to always win whenever he comes to the ring sporting his gold velvet-and-sequin robe.)

His opponent, the reigning Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy gave due respect to the Nature Boy, sincerely applauding him as he entered the ring. J.R. and The King mentioned the shared Carolina lineage both men shared and how much of an influence Flair was on Hardy as a young wrestling fan. Incidentally, it looked like Charlie Haas did Jeff Hardy's hair this weekend, being the second white boy on the show to rock some braids.

The match started off with Hardy clutching Ric Flair in a standing side-headlock. With a mighty "WOO", Flair sent the youngster packing to the ropes where the two men traded hard slaps to the face and chest. Flair succeeded in throwing Hardy over the top rope.

As Jeff Hardy scrambled back into the ring, Flair tripped Hardy, doing some damage to his leg. For most of the match, Hardy sold the knee injury, particularly in climbing to the top rope and sailing over Flair's head, landing on his knee and causing the commentators to speculate if he had hyper-extended it.

Flair worked over the leg, flipping Hardy to the canvas, bearing down and twisting Hardy's ankle. Making his way to his feet, Hardy received several hard chops to the chest from the Dirtiest Player in the Game before Flair grabbed his leg in an attempt to flip him over. Hardy turned the tide, nailing Flair with an Insaguri kick. Not registering immediately, Flair eventually performed his famed flop to the canvas, stunned by the blow.

Jeff Hardy was on a roll, knocking Flair to the mat and climbing to the top rope and executing a Whisper in the Wind followed by a Twist of Fate.

Hardy went to the top rope yet again to attempt the Swanton, however the wily Flair moved out of the way. Invigorated, Flair began to "style and profile" in the ring as only he can before catching Jeff Hardy's leg in his signature Figure Four Leg Lock.

Finding enough strength to revert the maneuver, Jeff Hardy rolled Rick Flair backwards in an inside cradle for the three-count. Jeff Hardy won the match.

Ric Flair, visibly upset by losing a chance at the Intercontinental Title, stared down Jeff Hardy who only met him with more sincere applause for his hero. The consummate professional, Flair shook Hardy's hand and gave his young competitor a hug.

Once again, this episode of RAW came through with another great match. Another standout superstar on the RAW brand, Jeff Hardy consistently puts on solid matches. And what more can be said about Ric Flair than that he is a true legend. His reputation precedes him and even in his 50s, it's still clear that his love for professional wrestling has not waned. Beyond that, the man can still stand toe-to-toe with wrestlers 20 years his junior and put on a tremendous show.

Up next, Kenny Dykstra challenged Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship Title. As Kenny stood in the ring, feeling oh-so-metro in his garish hot pink trunks, Jim Ross read off Bobby Lashley's impressive resume as three-time amateur champion, a three-time All-American and as a former United States Army Sergeant.

Ross also recounts, several times throughout the match that Kenny is only 20-years old, prompting me to reach for a bottle of Wild Turkey and a double-shot glass. If Kenny Dykstra should beat Bobby Lashley, that would make him the youngest ECW/WWE Champion ever! (Hiccup.)

The match began with Kenny leaning against the ropes and delivering a swift kick to Lashley's upper body before throwing a punch. Lashley dodged the blow before picking up Kenny and throwing him over the top rope. Going to the outside of the ring, Lashley threw Kenny back in and onto the canvas.

Later on, the action spilled to the outside once again, this time with Kenny sliding a nicely executed low dropkick to Lashley's kneecap. With the action back in the ring, Kenny continued his assault with a jumping elbow on Lashley before applying a rear chinlock on the ECW champion.

With the crowd firmly behind him, Lashley got to his feet while Kenny attempted a sleeper hold. Lashley threw Kenny over his head while Kenny maintained some control, performing an impressive flip over the top rope and back in.

The action continued with Lashley in the driver's seat, executing an awesome t-bone suplex on Kenny. Not to be outdone, Kenny nailed Lashley with a good-looking dropkick.

Uh-oh. Jim Ross called Kenny a blue-chipper. Time for another drink.

The two men continued duking it out with control of the match see-sawing back and forth, eventually culminating in Lashley picking Dykstra up in vertical suplex that showed off the ECW Champion's immense strength, holding Kenny in place for a solid 10 seconds before sending him crashing to the canvas. As the camera closed up, the viewers could see the insane amount of musculature and definition in Lashley's back. Since Ron Simmons wasn't on this week to say it, I'll say it…. DAMN!

Also taking a page out of Simmons' book, Lashley dropped Kenny for the final time with a Dominator before pinning him and retaining his title.

This match was much better than I expected it to be, even if it went a bit longer than it had to. Kenny can admittedly hold his own, however, it's within my nature to be skeptical of a performer that has been so heavily hyped. He's very good for someone his age, however, he could stand some more polish. However, with time, that will come. Lashley is incredibly athletic for someone as muscular as he is and puts out some good matches. Surprisingly, this one was pretty good.

Backstage, Randy Orton, seriously miffed at his former partner cattily told Edge "Dude! Don't talk to me!" Asking Orton to hear him out, Edge proposed that the two men team up for one last time to ensure that Shawn Michaels doesn't make it to 'Mania.

Elsewhere in the backstage area, Carlito was seen in his street clothes with Torrie Wilson and a dog that looked more Chihuahua than Chloe. The two gabbed about where they were going before Carlito was accosted by Ric Flair. Flair berated Carlito for not sticking around to check out the main event. This was a nice nod to the days when wrestlers could not leave the arena until the final bell tolled. Questioning Carlito's work ethic, Flair claimed that it was guys like Carlito who were taking his rightful spot. Flair severely admonished the Caribbean Coolster for not having his priorities in order. Instead of leaving to go on a date, he should be pissed at himself for losing his match tonight and striving to do better. Flair angrily admitted that Vince McMahon himself had told him that if he wants to stick around, he has to prove it to McMahon. Younger guys seemed to have a free pass in spite of not having paid dues.

In one of the most stirring promos I've seen in a long time, Ric Flair conveyed his love for the business, disappointment with the new breed of wrestler and said that although the crowd knew his name, there were days where Ric Flair didn't really know who he was, conflicted by what the industry believes a wrestler should be. Carlito looked baffled as Flair angrily trudged back to the dressing rooms.

This brief promo solidified for me that the art of the two-minute promo is not dead. Ric Flair, a member of wrestling's old guard can more succinctly say something that advances a storyline further in two minutes than some wrestlers can with a twenty-minute filibuster session in the middle of the ring. Flair's two-minute speech to Carlito was by far, one of the highlights of an already stellar episode.

The night's main event, a Triple Threat match featuring Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton with the winner gaining a shot at John Cena's title at Wrestlemania swiftly got underway. The match's stipulation was "sudden death," with the first man to score the pinfall the winner of the match. Michaels slid into the ring, tackling Orton. In keeping with his agreement, Edge pounded Michaels off of Orton and the two men stomped the Heartbreak Kid into the canvas.

Picking him up and sending him to the corner with an Irish whip, Michaels battled back against the former Tag Team Champions with the crowd staunchly behind him. Nailing them both with a double-armed clothesline before handing out twin atomic drops, Michaels tossed Orton out of the ring.

The show went to its last commercial break before rejoining the action in progress with HBK in a sleeper hold courtesy of Edge. The ever-resilient Michaels came back at Edge who attempted a hard clothesline at Michaels. HBK dodged out of the way and quickly changed the tone of the match with a baseball slide directly into Edge.

Edge came back with a kick to Michaels before dropping HBK with a backbreaker. The two men traded punches before Shawn gave Edge a shot to the crotch which dropped the Rated R Superstar like a sack of potatoes.

Orton got into the mix with an awesome inverted backbreaker around the chin before landing a dropkick on Michaels and nearly scoring a pinfall.

Edge and Orton's disagreement seemed to dissolve as Edge pulled Orton off of HBK and attempted a pin himself. At the tail end of the match, Edge attempted to spear Orton. RKO leaped into the air in a near split, causing Edge to drive his own shoulder into the ringpost as a result of the botched finisher.

The Heartbreak Kid started tuning up the band in an attempt to Super Kick Edge. Edge dodged the move, directing it towards Orton who grabbed HBK's leg and flipped him over. Edge attempted another spear and this time got Orton only to eat a Super Kick by Michaels. With Edge out of the way and Orton prone on the mat, Shawn Michaels scored a pin and is on his way to Wrestlemania.

The show ended with a few staredowns. Shawn Michaels and John Cena stared at one another in the ring before the Undertaker came out once again to exchange menacing glares with Batista. Earlier in the show, at the next PPV, "No Way Out," Batista and Undertaker would face Michaels and Cena, which merited the two opposing teams to give icy looks to the other as the credits faded up and out.

As far as episodes of Monday Night Raw go, this was a great one. After weeks of being bludgeoned with boring squash matches and a distinct lack of direction, the Road to Wrestlemania seems to have been cleared of debris.

It will be another week and a half until fans get to see the latest installment with Monday Night RAW showing up on Thursday February 15th at 8PM being pre-empted by the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.