King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Bobby Lashley. JR & Jerry Lawler remind that Booker beat Lashley to win the King of the Ring last year, but is now motivated because Lashley beat him out of the #1 contender's slot last week. This doesn't go very far before Ken Kennedy comes down and attacks Lashley. The heels double on Lashley before Jonathan Coachman comes out and announces that since John Cena is a late scratch (in LA for "Larry King Live"), the main event will have Lashley finding a substitute partner vs. Booker & Kennedy or go it alone. Winner: Bobby Lashley via DQ.

Coach is backstage now with William Regal, his substitute last week. Regal talks about having gotten many compliments for his work. He points out that the main event stipulation isn't creative (done before), but is effective. Coach seems bothered by this, because he puts Regal in a match vs. the Sandman.

Umaga vs. Santino Marella (Intercontinental title). Marella has invoked his rematch clause, not that it'll do him any good. As the bout progresses, Maria comes down to lend some support, fearing for Marella's safety. Despite a late rally, Marella is unable to regain his precious gold. Umaga varied his offense after missing a top rope splash. He hit a superkick to set up the butt splash and the Samoan Spike. What bothers me is that they don't yet have anyone built up to be the next challenger. Winner: Umaga..

Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. the Highlanders (non-title). It's been a while since the McAllister cousins have had a match on Raw. Way shorter than the previous meetings between these two teams both on Raw and Heat. Lawler is more pro-heel than usual in commentary, trying to defend the champions. Granted, they did play more by the rules here, taking advantage of ref Marty Elias being out of position in sending Rory back to his corner. By that time, Robbie is caught with the hi-lo and pinned. Winners: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch.

Super Crazy vs. Snitsky. After beating Kennedy last week, you'd think Crazy might actually have another upset in his bag. Uh-unh. He nearly was squashed instead. Snitsky pulls out the pumphandle slam to earn the fall, then added an extra post-match for good measure. Winner: Snitsky.

Backstage, Maria is providing comfort to Santino, who doesn't want to be left alone, and invites Maria to his hotel room to keep him company.

Dusty Rhodes is out, and calls out Randy Orton. Once the "Legend Killer" hits the ring, Rhodes reams him out for his glaring disrespect. Orton challenges him to a match at the Great American Bash, the event that Dusty himself created, as Orton helpfully points out. Dusty raises the ante and makes it a Texas Bullrope match. Son Cody comes out to try to separate his dad from Orton, then slaps Randy, a receipt for last week.

Earlier tonight, Shelton Benjamin made a bet with tag partner Charlie Haas. If he didn't win his match, he'd kiss Haas right on the lips, after kissing King Booker's ring last week. Note the new ring outfits for the World's Greatest Tag Team. Not that it'll do them any good, if Benjamin continues to make foolish decisions........

Shelton Benjamin vs. Paul London. Had this been given more time, it might've been the match of the night. As it was, nothing really stood out. It was a pretty even contest, and Benjamin had control until the end. He blocked a enziguri attempt by London, who rolled through and cradled Benjamin with a modified sunset flip to gain the fall. Winner: Paul London. Post-match, Haas & Benjamin prepare to lock lips, but that gets the attention of Ron Simmons and a predictable reaction.

Candice Michelle & Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall & Beth Phoenix.
Nice to see Beth back, and predictably, she's now a heel without any real explanation, other than to start a program with Mickie. No mention of the fact that it was Victoria (now on Smackdown) who put Beth on the shelf last year with a broken jaw. It was supposed to be Melina teaming with Jillian, but the former champ claimed a sprained ankle while at the same time announcing that she was invoking her rematch clause and will face Candi at the Bash. Melina joined the announcers at ringside and Lawler was at his fawning best. It got sloppy very quickly, and it was hard to keep up. It ended with Mickie taking Beth outside and Candice pinning Jillian after a backslide. Post-match, the heels ganged up on the champion before Mickie made the save. Seems to me that Melina has gotten frustrated, unable to gain a fall on Candice, so she backed out of this match with what may be a phony injury to buy herself some time to scheme. Winners: Candice Michelle & Mickie James.

William Regal vs. The Sandman. Lillian Garcia simply introduced the Hardcore Icon as "Sandman". No "the". Kiss of death, IMPO. Carlito was at ringside doing commentary, which suggests he'll face Sandman at the Bash. Regal dominated the bout throughout, but once Sandman got on the floor, he punched Regal, reached for his cane and whacked Carlito, who left the desk looking for a cheap shot, then Regal. Ref Marty Elias made an easy call.
Winner: William Regal via DQ.

Triple H video plays twice, same as last week. In fact, it's the same video pack. We also get vidpacks for Cena & Lashley to hype their match, and in Cena's case, they go to the trouble of showing him beating up Big Show & Kurt Angle, neither of whom is with the company now..

King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) & Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley & Jeff Hardy. Earlier, Lashley had gone into the locker room searching for a partner, and later sought out road agent Arn Anderson's advice. Good move in the latter case, as Anderson was one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of the 80's and early 90's. The house just went nuts when Hardy's theme hit. Kennedy, still recovering from his arm injury, had attacked Super Crazy backstage earlier after Crazy had been attended to by the trainers. Booker seemed concerned over the Triple H video, as if maybe they'll rehash that feud upon the Cerebral Assassin's return. Hardy started vs. Booker, and given the amount of time he was in there, I thought we'd see Lashley turn full heel here, but that wasn't to be. Once Lashley got in, it turned instead into a total squash. Hardy took Booker out of the picture. Lashley hit the Shock Treatment on Kennedy for a near fall. Set up for the Dominator 2.0, which he'd used on Booker in the earlier match for a near fall, but Kennedy raked the eyes. Lashley leap-frogged Kennedy, then hit the spear, shutting the big mouth up for the night.Winners: Bobby Lashley & Jeff Hardy.