On the heels of last night's symbolic loss to Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels rolls into Calgary with the same problem he has every time he goes to the Great White North. Will the crowd reaction play a part in how the Heartbreak Kid presents himself? Does Ric Flair have revenge on his mind stemming from his loss to Shelton Benjamin? Now that Randy Orton has defeated Cactus Jack in convincing fashion, what will he have on the agenda? Can Triple H find a way to finally stop Chris Benoit? Will Batista…uh, hmmm…will Batista continue to, uh, do something or whatever? It's Monday and I'll take this over John Layfield any day. Thank Vince McMahon, thank Spike Lee, and thank Rob Bartlett, it's Raw and it's now!

April 19, 2004...Calgary - Alberta - Canada!

Raw Theme Plays. During that opening into, Eric Bischoff's picture now includes Johnny Nitro by his side. It's kind of creepy.

Hey Y2J, we're going to update your intro video. Just because you're stuck in the '80s doesn't mean your opening video has to, too. Ha ha. Ha… I'm sorry. Don't hit me.

Chris Jericho is the first one in the ring and he's waiting for his Creepy Little Opponent.

Christian, I tell ya, man. My job sucks, bro. They moved my office to the basement and cut my yearly bonus.

Oh I feel ya, bud. I have to go on television and make out with Trish Stratus! Ha ha! I'm Christian, bitch!

1. Christian pinned Chris Jericho after interference Bane from Ohio Valley Wrestling I've noticed a slow change in Trish Stratus's demeanor. She's carrying herself much better as a heel now. In many ways, her turn was good for the women's roster. They've relied so heavily on her as the centerpiece that by turning her, they create the need to develop a new top babyface diva. It looks like their doing it with Victoria. If they can succeed, they'll add a new name to their upper level. If they fail, the whole women's division goes down the tubes. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't so good for the women's division. Y2J spanks Trish at one point, which annoys me because I spent money to see it last night. Following that, Jericho has Christian outside the ring huddling with Trish and nails them both with a cross body from the top buckle. They all roll around and Jim Ross cuts to commercial. However, he promises that "this match will conclude" after the break. Now how does he know that?

Commercial Break.

We're back and the former friends are still going tooth and nail. Christian seems to be in control and leaves the door open for a few Stratus-cheap shots from the outside. With the referee reprimanding the CLB, Sonya Blade floors Y2J+4 with a high kick. The contest builds and overall I was happy with it. It was a great way to start the show and gave a good start to the night. There were a number of near falls and pin attempts. Sister Christian hit his reverse DDT both from the mat and the second rope without scoring a pin. Jericho managed roll-ups and his new running Ghetto Blaster (Bad News Brown Note: You beer belly sharecropper) and failed to score a victory. All hell broke loose when Strats tried to slap Fozzy and mistakenly hit her boyfriend. With the ref distracted, a mystery man attacked. (JG Note: It's Bane from Ohio Valley Wrestling. I can’t link directly, but if you go to the OVW website and click on Superstar Profiles then Bane - that's him. I just linked to the OVW website. Usually we only do that when someone's mad at us about something.) The Canadian Ross and Rachel make out while their unnamed man servant watches on.

Still to come…Chris Benoit is here tonight! Why wouldn't he be? I wish people would get this excited when I show up for work.

Commercial Break. I'm Spicy!

Christian is backstage with Lita and his mystery man. This here's your new problem solver, Trisha. His name is Tyson Tomko. I used to have Tonka Trucks when I was a kid. Those were cool.

The Canadian from Atlanta, Chris Benoit, marches to the ring and poses with the World Heavyweight Title. He's got a microphone and something to say. We talk about Calgary and we talk about Stu Hart. Stu trained Chris right here in his Dungeon. (JG Note: I wish my basement had a cool name when I was growing up. We just called it the basement. Kind of boring.) The Crippler credits Stu for propelling his career to the World Title. The crowd goes buck and the Toothless Aggressor is over big time in these parts. Benoit regrets the fact that Stu Hart isn't alive to see his current success. Heartfelt, Chris thanks Stu on behalf of all the fans and himself. It was a classy moment. We segue from that to the critics. There have been doubting Thomases that proclaimed Benoit to be the choke artist. He proved them wrong! He proved them wrong at WrestleMania! He proved them wrong at Backlash! C.B. Wolverine is just proving everybody wrong lately! He says that he is the one man in the history of this industry to make Triple H tap out. Still, he was called a fluke. Then, last night, he made Shawn Michaels tap out to the Sharpshooter! For real this time! The Crippler says that he is "for real."

Mr. Michaels, it's aboot time for you to come to the ring, eh.

Wait a minute. You're not the normal backstage attendant. You're Canadian. Put the gun down! Ah!

The Red, White, and Blue Boy Toy Shawn Michaels stands in the ring and is greeted with a chorus of boos. He walks the line between heel and baby face by claiming to have known all along that Benoit had the goods to be a superstar. This elicits an "Asshole" chant from the Calgary crowd. They boo further when he says that he and Benoit are similar. The one difference is that HBK knows himself to be the best. Shawn attempts to continue, but is cut off by the Champ. Chris knows he's the best. Shawn claims that Benoit has never beaten him and he's got the footage to prove it….

Video Plays of Michaels pinning Benoit Two Months Ago on Raw No idea why. I expected doctored footage from last night. What does this clip prove?

The Boy Toy knows that he's on enemy soil. He knows that Chris is amped up. Too bad. Man to man, you owe Kid Heartbreak the opportunity to see who's best. The audience goes nuts and Benny-wa accepts. Nothing could ruin this…

So, Johnny Nitro. Tell me a little about yourself.

Well Eric, I was on an MTV reality show and I won.

Eric Bischoff and his Hot Rod-like male assistant, Johnny Nitro, hit the aisle. Whoa, kids. Tonight? Benoit versus Michaels? What are you snortin'? You don't make the matches here. Eric does! But you're in luck. He loves that idea. Bisch says he loves it so much that he won't allow it to take place in Calgary. He attempts to continue but is cut off by Chris Benoit, who appears to be on a roll. Seriously, the guy has said a total of three paragraphs in the last four years and tonight he's cut off HBK and Eric Bischoff. You tell em, Chris. You tell the world. The Rabid One tells Uncle Eric that this conversation doesn't include him. Schoff respects C.B.'s position, but he's General Manager here. You want this match? It's going to take two weeks of build up. In Phoenix, it's going to be Shawn Michaels versus Chris Benoit for the World Title. The crowd boos because they don't live in Phoenix. The Rocker and the Champ do the handshake pull nose-to-nose thing. Music hits and the adverts run.

Commercial Break. MX Unleashed promises to include everything I've ever wanted in a Motocross game and some things I never even thought of. I never thought of ballerinas and Fraggles in a Motocross game. You don't think…?

2. Women's Champion Victoria defeated Molly Holly via disqualification Oh I get it. This whole time I've wanted Victoria to have some sort of gimmick and now she's apparently the woman that likes for little boys to kiss her on the cheek. That's character development. The whole point of this match was to get Molly's wig off. Once that happened, Miss Molly went nuts. No beer, no T.V., makes Molly go something something. She attacks with furious tenacity and chokes Vicki down. After counting to five plus, the official disqualifies the crazy buzz haired Holly cousin. Not much to this one.

Outside a long white limo pulls up and each member of Evolution emerges. They are all dressed impeccably, except the one without a title - Triple H. They are approached by Todd Grisham. (JG Note: Todd Grisham looks like the guy from Herman's Head with glasses. ) He asks Hunter how he feels about not having a title. Trips stares blankly. He then asks how the Game feels about the Michaels-Benoit match announcement. Angry, the Cerebral Assassin says that's his match. Uh oh. I don't think they're ready for this jelly.

Commercial Break. Gatorade - is it in you? Well, no. I prefer to carry it in my hand. To each his own, I suppose.

Kane's upset again. Backstage with dim lighting, he speaks of how disappointed he is in himself for showing human emotions. He's shown sympathy! He's weak! Tonight he's going to do his evil thing again. Tonight someone will be sacrificed. Usually wrestlers do speeches like this when their act goes stale. I've seen Kane do this about a hundred times. That's not good, is it?

Eric Bischoff is wearing his television watching glasses and viewing the Kane promo. Johnny Nitro asks who Bisch thinks will be sacrificed. E.B. doesn't know. All he knows is that the Big Red Machine is capable of unspeakable violence and he's not going to end up like the other General Manager, Kurt Angle, in a hospital bed. (JG Note: What? Kurt's not dead? That settles it. This stuff can't be real.) Suddenly there's a knock at the door. After some tense moments, William Regal enters. Look here, Bischy. There's no way that Lord William can continue his management of your nephew, Young Eugene. It's too much work. The G.M. says that's not an option. You see, Willie, you need to…wait. Where's Eugene now? Reegs says that they began a game of Hide and Seek and he hasn't seen him since. Wha, wha, what? Find him, Mr. Bentley. Eric says that if the British Blueblood does not find Dinsmore post haste, he will be the man to face Kane tonight as the obligatory sacrifice. Now move it!

Commercial Break. The commercial for Taco Bell's Cheesy Gordita Crunch ends with a man saying "it’s so cheesy." No word on whether Buff Bagwell has decided to sue for copyright infringement.

We're back and Randy Orton's in the ring. Decked out in a stylish suit, Randall is scarred from his war last night with Cactus Jack. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler put over his victory and point to his battered face. Corinoed from top to bottom, Orton's forehead and nose are road maps. He begins by saying:

"Tell me, who's the no dues paying, can't hang with the big boys, wet behind the ears, punk kid now? Each and every one of you thought last night at Backlash that Mick Foley was gonna destroy me. And I'm sure that everyone here tonight bought their tickets to Raw in advance so they could congratulate Mick on shutting up that punk kid, Randy Orton, for good. But guess what? It didn't happen. My victory last night - that victory was the biggest of my career. But as strange as it sounds, as strange as it may seem…I want to thank you, Mick. That's right. You heard me. I want to thank you, Mick Foley. Because I didn't face the retired author of children's books last night, like I did at WrestleMania. I faced the true Hardcore Legend. Mick, I saw the hatred in your eyes. I saw it up close. Mick, I saw that sadistic side. I saw Cactus Jack, up close and personal. Mick, you did everything you could possibly do to me…I beat you, Mick Foley, at your own game. "

- Randy Orton, 9:59 PM

I couldn't transcribe the whole thing, but Ort gave the details of his beating and made mention that he won all by himself. The closer of the speech was funny as Randy attempts to explain that he's transitioned from Legend Killer to Legend. The only problem is that he says "I entered this ring as the Hardcore Legend." His eyes bug out and he realizes his mistake. He corrects it to "Legend Killer" and then says he's become a "Living Legend" (Larry Zbyszko Note: You'll be hearing from my lawyer.) The Intercontinental Champion holds his belt up and basks in his own glory. In that suit, he kind of reminds me of the guy who won the Apprentice.

You stink, Baloney….

You stink, Baloney…

Edge runs to the ring and goes face to face with the fourth Living Legend. Edgy may be new to this roster, but he knows one thing. He knows he doesn't like you, Orton! You think you're so cool, eh? You reek of heinosity. Try spitting in the Edgeman's face! Come on! You did it to Foley. Do it to Edge, hot shot. Orton says "no." He's beat up. He's carved up. He's not fighting you, Broodboy. (JG Note: How come Randy Orton's the only one being built up as sore and beaten? Didn't Edge have to fight Kane with a broken arm?) Randy's tired. If he wasn't, he'd beat you down! Edge attacks and begins pounding on the Champ.

From nowhere, Batista and Ric Flair arrive to save their Evolutionary buddy. Davey B. lifts Edgehead into a Powerbomb and lays him out. To save his fellow countryman, Chris Benoit shows up and takes Tista to the proverbial woodshed. Not so fast, Champ. Triple H shows his face and lays Benoit out with a Pedigree. All the good guys are dead and Hunter's Horsemen look down on them. I feel like I've seen this before.

They walk from the ring, content in their destruction when Eric Bischoff shows up. Sleazy E has an idea. He tries to ad lib something but screws up before finally declaring it to be World Tag Team Champions Batista and Flair squaring off against Chris Benoit and Edge tonight! Where is Shelton Benjamin? Watch a commercial and wonder along with me.

Retro - Commercial Break. Bellissimo! Magnifique! C'est ce bone.

John Coachman comes out and has a microphone in hand. He would like to introduce us all to his new best buddy. They're an ambiguous pairing, based upon nothing in particular…

Little Known (and Made Up) Garrison Cade Fact: Garrison, real name Jay North, used to play Dennis the Menace on television when he was a kid.

3. Garrison Cade pinned Tajiri after a Savage Flying Elbow J.C. joins J.R. and J.L. at the announce table. I can't understand why they need to squash Tajiri in order to put over Cade. Talk about lateral movement. The Buzzsaw went from mid-card jobber to the stars on Smackdown to mid-card jobber to the stars on Raw. Come to think of it, things were better on Smackdown. He didn't job to Coachman. Pretty basic stuff with Mr. Garrison making Tajiri play "Mr. Slave" for most of the match. Finish saw G.C. nail Taj with a Flying Elbow. After the fall, Coach proclaims that no one in the history of this business hit an elbow like that. Jim Ross says "Even Shawn Michaels?" Yeah, Jim. That's the first name I though of. Snap into it. Ooo yeah.

Still to come: The Crippler and the Vampire Hunter meet the Deacon and his Dad.

Commercial Break. WWE Experience is coming. I was just thinking that the one thing WWE needed was a new crappy morning show on cable.

In case you missed Smackdown: Big Show killed Kurt Angle and Bradshaw is headlining. Makes you like Raw a bit more, huh?

Eugene is in the ring and he's shooting T-shirts from the gun. Lillian Garcia is playing along until an angry William Regal approaches. He orders Gene to drop the gun and come along. Dinsmore appears to agree but changes his mind, returning to the gun. Willie tries to stop him, but Eugene aims and shoots him right in his Test fans. Slick Willie drops to the ground, holding his…uh, willie. (JG Note: I know a certain someone that won't be urinating on any stewardesses anytime soon.) Eugene feels bad for his mistake, but receives no forgiveness from Regal.

Commercial Break. The Divas Swimsuit edition hits newsstands tomorrow. Their slogan should be: Divas Swimsuit 2004 - For those that aren't old enough to buy porn.

In the locker room, Chris Benoit approaches Edge, who feels they don't have a chance of beating Ric Flair and Batista for the Tag straps. The Crippler is incredulous. No one says we have a chance! We need to fight the odds! (JG Note: Why is it so inconceivable that the World Champion and top level baby face could beat an upper mid-carder and a 50-something man? I have no idea either.)

Introducing Lita and Val Venis…

You screwed Bret! You screwed Bret!

Dude, why are you chanting that?

And their opponents….

Hello WWE? Yes this is Ms. Gail. I'm glad you corrected my information to say that I'm from Korea and not from Canada. I know, it's my fault. I write too messy. But you still haven't corrected my name to Kimberly Gail. Also, is there any way of giving me less TV time? I’d like to just do nothing, if that's possible. Thank you.

Gail Kim awaits her tag team partner - equally left out of his company's fun.

Matt Hardy Fun Fact: Matt Hardy hopes that Kane doesn't run in while he's on the way to the ring.

Kane runs in while Matt Hardy is on the way to the ring. The Big Red Monster goes buck and clears the squared circle of everyone. Finally, he's left alone with Lita. Fearing that this could be the sacrifice that the monster promised, Jim Ross goes crazy. Suddenly, she's saved by her Sunday Night Heat Hero, Matt Hardy. Version One attempts to stop Big Red but is pounded for his efforts. As Leets watches in horror, Matt takes a Chokeslam straight to hell. Eh. Not bad, I suppose. I've never been a big fan of these weird unexpected saves. It reminds me of when Shawn Michaels was attacked by Sid on Raw. It was right after he fought Kevin Nash for the World Title. After Sid power bombed him, Nash came to Shawn's aid. "They’re best friends," the announcers screamed. Best friends? They just had a feud. It's like this situation. Had Kane not interjected, Hardy would have wrestled on the other side of the ring from Lita and most likely would have hit her a few times. Now, he saves her. OK. Then there's the issue of Kane's sacrifice being nothing more than his weekly Chokeslam. Despite those two things, the segment was productive in that it gave Kane and Hardy something to do. It also put Matt and Lita back together. Screw Match.com, lost loves should just contact Kane. He's like a seven foot, bald Cupid in spandex.

Promo airs for new wrestler Hirohito. He's named after the emperor that lead Japan into World War 2. Good to see they're finding ways to piss off veterans too.

In my day, we didn't have them fancy video screens. In my day, we had no music or maybe a cassette deck. The most we had was Badstreet and we were happy!

OK, Ric. Let's just go defend the tag team titles.

Ric Flair and Dave Batista make their way to the ring and prepare for Edge and Chris tian Benoit.

4. World Champion Chris Benoit & Edge defeated Ric Flair and Batista to win the World Tag Team Titles when Edge pinned Batista. This match was important for so many reasons. Firstly, they needed to take the tag titles off of Flair and Batista. Tista needs to do some singles matches. Also, by taking the titles off of them, we open the door for Randy Orton to be the lone champion in the crew. This could lead to the Rocky Maivia Nation of Domination take over by the Living Legend. Not just that, but Edge now has the distinction of being Tag Champs with both Chris Benoit and Hulk Hogan. Strange resume factoid, huh? The match itself was good. You have to credit Edge for overcoming ring rust and delivering some solid performances. Some great back and forth action that leads to Flair and Benoit exchanging chops. Slick Ric rakes the eyes and Tista attacks. Suddenly it's commercial time. Once again, Jim Ross promises that we’ll be back with the conclusion to this match. Seriously, how the hell does he know that?!

Commercial Break. There's a new YJStinger commercial without wrestlers. Seriously - no wrestlers at all. Weird, right?

The battle rages on and Triple H is in the house. The Evolutionary Leader sits at ringside and oversees the action. For some reason, the crowd chants "We Want Bret." (JG Note: Why'd they buy a ticket? He doesn't work here. That's like going to see the New York Mets and chanting "We Want Randy Johnson.") The action is fast and furious with all hell breaking loose. Benoit climbs the buckle and nails Davey Boy with a Headbutt. Hunter pulls him from the ring and opens up on the Champ. Suddenly, Calgary's Public Enemy #1, Shawn Michaels, runs in and Superkicks the H-Man down. In the ring, Batista stands up and is slammed down by an Edge Spear. Count to three and close the lights…the party's over.

Crips and the E Man hug and hold up their newly won tag titles as we wonder why Shelton Benjamin and Lance Storm weren't on TV and the cameras fade to black…

All in all…This was a good Raw and a solid way to follow up last night's effort. They didn't give too much away for free but managed to advance storylines and set the stage for the future.

Remember when Chris Benoit would be happy with any title? Now he has two. While I'm glad to see Batista and Flair finally end their tag title reign, I'm concerned over another team holding the straps as secondary prizes. Benoit has a World Title to worry about and Edge's tag years are supposedly behind him. Hopefully they'll groom a permanent team to take the gold from them. The match itself was great and closed the show on a high note.

Maybe it's just me, but why not turn Shawn Michaels heel? He can play heel. He's over huge as a heel in Canada. I dug HBK's act. What he is today is nothing like he was in his arrogant and successful heyday. Turning him to the dark side again will be just the thing to tweak up the roster. Regardless, he handled himself well tonight. It's always difficult to see how Shawn can handle himself with a rowdy Canadian crowd. He did well and although I'm never a fan of announcing matches for a number of weeks away at such an early point in the show, I liked the segment itself.

While I'm growing tired of Evolution closing most of their segments standing above beaten foes, Randy Orton's promo was just right. He had a different feel to him and despite flubbing the line about being a Living Legend, he's definitely moved up the ladder. The explanation of everything he went through last night coupled with the mocking allusion to Foley's claim that he is "a no-dues-paying" punk showed that Ort is on a new level. I also like the idea of moving him into a feud with another young star. Edge-Orton should be good.

Sure, there were some forgettable moments. Victoria-Molly was OK for what it was and introduced us to an angry and volatile Molly Holly…again. Garrison Cade's virtual squash victory over Tajiri left me a bit puzzled. While I'm all for giving Gary a push, I can't fathom why the Japanese Buzzsaw had to be punked out so badly for it to happen. Also, the addition of Tyson Tokido to the Christian/Stratus Connection should be interesting and allow for Y2J to recruit another face into his war of love.

Altogether good program tonight. It had that feeling that WWE used to have the day after a pay-per-view. It felt spontaneous and didn't get bogged down with too much down time.

Well that's all for now. It's 4/19 and yesterday was Chris Benoit Day! Tomorrow's RVD Day! Think about it. I'll catch you later in the week. Be well.

WorldWrestlingInsanity.com is not affiliated with any wrestling promotion.