Welcome to WorldWrestlingInsanity.com’s ongoing coverage of Raw. You may need to hit “refresh” from time to time for the latest update.

This week Raw was live from the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

The ending of the Royal Rumble was recapped. Would 'Taker or Shawn Michaels be the last man standing? It turned out to be The Undertaker. Now the big question is which championship has the Dead Man set his sites on?

For whom does the bell toll?

It tolls for the fans to announce the arrival of the Phenom, who got a tremendous pop from the Sioux City crowd.

Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcomed viewers to the show and reminded viewers that 'Taker was 14-0 at WrestleManias.

Out next came John Cena, followed by Bobby Lashley of ECW, and Batista of Smackdown.

Decisions, decisions. Which belt will be on the line at 'Mania? 'Taker stared at each of them intently, then signified that Batista's belt was as good as his.

Shawn Michaels came out and crashed the party. He observed that left John Cena without a partner at WrestleMania, so he was more than willing to fill that vacancy.

Randy Orton came out and said he was demanding a match with Cena at WM.

Edge came out and said he'd never lost at WM, which meant he took precedence over Orton and Michaels. It was his right.

Mister McMahon came out to clarify the situation. He insulted the Sioux City crowd, then put over Bobby Lashley. And since Lashley was there, he'd be facing somebody later in the show. Also, tonight it would be Orton vs. Edge vs. Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match. Whoever wins that match, will face Cena at WM for the WWE Championship.

Oh, and thousands and thousands of dollars would not be dropping from the ceiling tonight, added McMahon. However, the triple threat match would provide value. Sounds like McMahon took heed of The Donald's words of wisdom last week.

Left in the ring were Batista and The Undertaker, and 'Taker got in a little slamming practice when he grabbed Batista around the neck and sent him crashing into the mat.

(Commercial break)

(1) Tag Match: Carlito (w/Torrie) & Cryme Tyme vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas & Chris Masters. Viewers were reminded that the Master Lock remained unbroken. Officially. Uh huh. One thing led to another, and Haas got Carlito in a cradle, grabbed a handful of tights, and got the winning pin.

(Commercial break)

Last Monday night was Fan Appreciation Night. Donald Trump had ripped Mister McMahon a new one, then gave away cold hard cash to the crowd.

In his office, the McBoss was telling Jonathan Coachman that giving away money had just been a cheap ploy on Trump's part.

Kenny Dykstra came in and asked to face Lashley in the ring tonight.

Coach pulled a letter from Donald Trump out of his pocket that had come earlier in the day. McMahon put on his specks and read it, although he was a little miffed at Coach for not delivering it sooner. Next week, Trump would be appear on Raw in that very ring with a business proposal. McMahon has surprise plans for Trump to join the Kiss My Ass club.

(Speaking of cheap ploys, next week's show will be bumped to Thursday night due to the dog show taking precedence on Monday night. McMahon may think that seeing his bare buns will lure viewers to the Thursday show. However, it would be more likely to keep viewers away.)

Maria introduced Ric Flair who whoooooooed his way through a promo.

Candice asked if Melina had seen her Super Bowl commercial. Melina said she had, only she had a catty tone in her voice.

Nitro came in to discuss their upcoming matches.

(Commercial break)

Balls Mahoney was already in the ring. Coach came out and said that Balls was an ECW original and someone had been handpicked to take care of him. Who did Balls piss off? Umaga headed to the ring.

(2) Balls Mahoney vs. Umaga. Balls got a taste of all of Umaga's specialty moves before the Samoan pinned him for the win. J.R. said it was a taste of things to come for the ECW "originals." You mean there are some left?

(Commercial break)

(3) Johnny Nitro (w/Melina) vs. Super Crazy (w/Mickie James). This was a recipe for interference with the ladies at ringside. Good match with not much interference at all and a clean pin. Imagine that. Super Crazy is a good addition to Raw.

(Commercial break)

During the break, the Women's Championship match had started.

(4) WWE Women's Title: Melina vs. Mickie James. Several near falls by Melina, but Mickie wasn't going to give up her title easily. On the outside, Crazy and Nitro were watching out for their respective ladies. Melina tried to pin Mickie using the ropes for leverage, but Mickie reversed the move and made the winning pin. Melina pitched a fit in the ring after the match.

John Cena gave his tag team partner, Shawn Michaels, best wishes for a safe match tonight.

(Commercial break)

(5) Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. Ric Flair. This match was going along at a good pace until Hardy "hurt" his ankle/knee/something. Flair started to exploit the injury. Enziguiri by Hardy, and Flair did a delayed Flair Flop. Hardy was forgetting to limp on the injured leg. Twist of Fate, but the Swanton Bomb missed when Flair rolled out of the way. Some stylin' and profiling' from Flair, but out of nowhere, Hardy rolled him up for the pin to retain the title. Hardy applauded Flair as a show of respect. Flair acted angry because he'd lost, but the two hugged and shook hands. It's not often we get to see this type of sportsmanship, and it was very nice.

(Commercial break)

Todd Grisham introduced Batista. Batista said he wasn't intimidated by the choke slam he'd received from the Undertaker and payback would be a bitch.

(6) ECW Title: Kenny Dykstra vs. Bobby Lashley. Lashley has quite a pedigree, but if Kenny won, he could become the youngest champion. Ever. Now let's see…who's gonna win this?

(Commercial break)

Bobby Lashley was picking Kenny up and tossing him like the proverbial rag doll. Needless to say, Lashley pinned him rather easily. Kenny will have to wait for some other day to become the youngest champ.

Orton was wrapping his wrists when Edge came up and wanted to talk to him. Orton blew him off and said tonight there would be no team strategizing. Edge said he only wanted to make sure the winner of the triple threat match wasn't HBK.

Torrie has a new pooch--a Chihuahua. Either that or she gave Chloe a hair cut. Torrie and Carlito were on their way out the door when Flair chewed Carlito out for having no passion or guts and for leaving before the show was over. Carlito was speechless.

(Commercial break)

(7) Triple Threat Match: Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels. Michaels started the match being double-teamed, but as the show went to commercial, Edge and Orton were about to turn on each other.

(Commercial break)

Pinning attempts by each, as they wanted to eliminate the opposition. But as tempers grew short, Edge and Orton started a shoving match. They hammered each other like Rockem Sockem robots. Edge and Orton were down and being counted out. HBK dropped an elbow, then tuned up. He dodged a spear and kicked Edge to the outside then pinned Orton.

John Cena appeared in the ring as the match ended.

Batista appeared at the top of the ramp, then the Undertaker's music started. They stood nose to nose, then turned and stared at Michaels and Cena. Seems that Taker and Batista will be teammates at "No Way Out" and will do battle with Cena and Shawn Michaels.

Interesting show, if somewhat predictable.