WWE RAW Rewind: New Era On The Horizon Leads to Huge Finales

We knew that we were going to see some serious repercussions from last week's fiasco ending. But I guess the WWE wasn't paying attention to us because they just picked up where they left off. So while I had to watch RAW to see if they learned their lesson, others were watching the preview of arguably the biggest fight in UFC history to date.

But I'll give you the recap and let you be the judge of tonight's broadcast.

New Beginnings for Several Stars

Stephanie McMahon said that there would be new beginnings starting soon on RAW. It didn't take long for the fresh starts to begin.

It started with Glamarella member Santino putting the Honk-A-Meter on the shelf, only to unveil the brand new Honk-A-Perfect-Mountie Meter. As members of the crowd started laughing and cheering the new meter, their cheers turned to jeers when Santino started badmouthing England. So the England native William Regal came down to silence the loudmouth Italian.

In impressive time, Regal clocked Santino with the high knee across the skull and pinned him to become the new Intercontinental Champion. After the match, an irate Santino contacted Shane McMahon to give him a piece of his mind. Instead, Shane placed Beth Phoenix into a Women's Championship Match against Mickie James. But thanks to an interference from Santino, Beth was able to retain the gold against her former rival.

Speaking of new beginnings, RAW finally saw the arrival of the Beast of ECW, Mike Knox. Knox made quick work of D-Lo Brown with a big boot to the jaw and the Knox Landing to pick up the win in his debut match on RAW.

Old Rivalries Die Hard...and New Rivalries/Goals Come To Life

The show opened in London with the arrival of an irate Animal. Batista didn't come out to whine about last week; he instead decided to invoke his rematch clause and leave England as World Heavyweight Champion. However, Stephanie McMahon had other ideas. She made it clear that she would honor her brother's wishes by not allowing Batista to have his rematch until some time after Survivor Series. An even more irate Batista had another problem on his hands as The Legend Killer made his way to the ring.

Randy Orton came down and made his intentions clear to Batista: That after Survivor Series, he's the next one in line for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. In response to this comment, Batista decided to settle an old score of his own: He vs. Orton one more time.

Steph also made two matches for tonight as well: A No-DQ match between Rey Mysterio and Kane and a last man standing match between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels.

The Maestro of the 619 came out with a purpose. But so did the Big Red Machine. The fight went outside and inside the ring. But it was Rey Mysterio who had the last word as he used Kane's own destructive nature to take down the Big Red Monster.

But Orton's chances of silencing the caged Animal came up short as he was stopped short not once but twice by Cody Rhodes and Manu. Following a slap from Rhodes in the back, Orton was more focused on proving his worth by defeating Batista. But before he could actually start, Rhodes came out and threw out the gauntlet to Batista by saying that he "can beat Batista."

So Orton stepped out and headed up the ramp to watch the match unfold. Despite constant interference from Manu, not even Rhodes could stop the inevitable. Following a big boot, Batista lands the spinebuster, drops Manu on the apron and lands the Batista Bomb to pick up the win. Following the match, Batista starts up the ramp towards Orton, but Orton isn't looking for a fight just yet.

As the next segment of John Cena's return comes to a close, Chris Jericho comes out and starts to boast about storybook endings that weren't as good as advertised. After bashing Batista's short title reign and his storied rivalry with HBK, he makes it clear that Cena's return will be quickly forgotten as he will not defeat him for the title at Survivor Series in Boston.

In the Last Man Standing Match, both men send the battle all over the arena. On one end, Michaels has the advantage following a flying moonsault to the outside. After destroying a British cab and a mailbox at the top of the entranceway, the two men fight their way back to the ring. Both men use a ladder to their advantage, but neither can get complete control of the match. Michaels flies off the ladder onto a proned Jericho on the announcers table. As Michaels tries to regain his composure, JBL comes down to try to exhort his authority.

Michaels gets clocked with the belt, but he manages to get on his feet before the ten count. But as he delivers Sweet Chin Music to Jericho, JBL returns to view and drops Michaels with a steel chair to allow Jericho to pick up the win.

Despite the many people who weren't happy with the outcome of the steel cage, Chris Jericho is continuing to get the push as the best heel on RAW. Unfortunately, that title belongs to Randy Orton. Orton has managed to play both face and heel en route to winning over more fans in his return to the ring. In any event, we now know that JBL will face Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. But what of the stare down between Orton and Batista?

Well that's just another page in the next chapter of the anarchy known as RAW.