In what was a big back and forth debate among WWE writers, I think that going into WrestleMania 23 they did exactly what they needed to do, and got the two biggest matches on the show right. They wrapped it up all neat and tidy on Monday night with an explosive RAW from Iowa. The show began with Undertaker giving the slash throat sign to Batista, thus making that match for the World Heavyweight Title. Later on in the show, a three-way between Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and Edge took place to decide who would take on John Cena for the WWE title. In an outstanding match, Michaels won, pinning Orton after he accidently was speared by Edge.

The night concluded with Cena and Michaels in the ring together, and on the ramp, Batista and Undertaker staring down the two RAW stars. The four will compete in a tag match on the SmackDown PPV - No Way Out, in two weeks. Overall I state again that this was the way to go with the two main events. I know that the company was worried about face vs face twice on the show, but given the jeers that both Batista and Cena can get, this won't be as bad as it sounds. I think that given the state of the company and the lack of major heels right now, this was the overall right decision to make.

RAW as a whole was a good show, with seven matches that included the decision by Undertaker. Besides the three-way dance, you had Chris Masters and the World's Greatest Tag team going over on Cryme Tyme and Carlito. Umaga destroyed Balls Mahoney (why he was on the show was a bit puzzling). Super Crazy scored what I consider to be an upset on Johnny Nitro, and then in a woman's title match, Melina lost to Mickie James. Jeff Hardy beat Ric Flair in an outstanding match, and Bobby Lashey beat Kenny in a rare ECW title match on RAW.

A couple of angles took place and continued on the show, the biggest after the Mania main event stuff had to be Ric Flair's promo on Carlito just before the main event. The promo took place as they had Carlito and Torrie leaving the arena before the main event, and Flair ripped Cool for not having enough passion to stay and watch how Mania is going to play out with the main event. The story long term I think is that Flair is going heel with this attitude that the younger guys don't respect the business anymore. I know that Flair has wanted to go heel for sometime, and this was just the start. Look for more of the same next week as he will likely take on Cool on RAW.

They also announced that next week Donald Trump will be on RAW, and this will start an angle with Vince that will lead to something at Mania. The storyline from the getgo will be that Trump will manage a wrestler (likely Hogan), and Vince will manage someone (Shane, Kahli, or Umaga) and the two will fight at Mania. I am starting to like the thought of Hulk vs Shane, only because you know that Shane will take some major bumps in the match, and they really should continue to protect Umaga, and as much as they try, Kahli can't wrestle.

Finally, next week RAW will be taped from Portland on Monday, and be shown on USA on Thursday due to the Dog Show, which has preempted RAW for the last 100 years. I will be in Mexico Tuesday till midday Saturday, so when I come back I'll have five full hours of RAW, ECW, and SmackDown to catch up on. Ugh. Despite that, my spirits are raised now that we can officially know the two biggest Mania matches, and they are two matches that I was hoping for since they put this in motion the last few weeks.