Raw Hypes Survivor Series

Definitely a different format to Raw this past Monday, but you could also see them trying to promote Survivor Series as much as possible in this final week. First there was the Stephanie McMahon Q&A session with the superstars. For one moment in time, everyone on Raw got along in the squared circle. That is until HBK decided to pounce on JBL, and chaos followed. Somehow, Batista and Orton didn't go at it, the divas didn't cat fight one another, and everyone was on their best behavior. Santino Marella delivered the funniest bit of Raw with his baseball cap-wearing rap performance, after calling singer Akon, "Acorn". Even some of the superstars were laughing it up as Santino spit his lines. Unfortunately the song didn't impress Steph enough to warrant a rematch on Raw for the IC title.

The IC title picture might be a bit clearer after last night. Regal interfered in the Punk vs. Orton Lumberjack match, giving Orton the win. Punk may be the next worthy challenger for Regal's IC title, and probably could carry that title. Perhaps Punk and Kingston drop the tag titles to Manu/Rhodes. Another contender in several months for IC title may be Evan Bourne. With Knox attacking him backstage, and smashing a crutch on Bourne's ankle, that sets up a feud. Knox just moved to Raw, and Raw likes to showcase some of the best talent. Bourne qualifies with his showmanship and high-flying abilities.

The strangeness continued on Raw with things like Todd Grisham introducing footage of Cena on the Titantron, introducing Chief Jay Strongbow for a whole minute of hand waving, and Shawn Michaels delivering really strange lines backstage. HBK told Rey he was choked up and nervous as it was his first time making the walk with Mysterio out for a match. Mysterio told him they'd take it a step at a time. Apparently, Raw was more scripted than ever. It might even make fans miss the funny mistakes of recently-resigned GM Mike Adamle. Also on last night's Raw, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole even filled time by discussing how to be green and save our environment. Makes you wonder where all those plastic water bottles that Triple H tosses end up...

ECW Champion Matt Hardy fought IC Champ William Regal in a brief match. The match ended in a double countout, most likely to get the fans ready for the traditional Survivor Series match they are part of (Team Batista vs. Team Orton). Hardy is also nursing that leg injury from the UK tour, so he may have been given a "night off" so to speak. We saw Kelly Kelly defeat Victoria, and then Victoria try to strike back. The Raw divas had Kelly's back, including The Glamazon. Most likely we see the reverse occur on Smackdown this week (their divas make the save). The Punk-Orton Lumberjack match ended with the obligatory all-out brawl in which most of the Survivor Series competitors were in the ring fighting it out. Batista got the last word on Orton with a Spear, but we also heard the stat given during the night: Orton was the last man left in 2 consecutive Survivor Series matches. Will his luck continue at the 2008 event?