Tonight's Episode Of 'WWE RAW' Is In The Books

The lowdown from LA's (sold-out, to the tune of 17,133) STAPLES Center:

- The show was dedicated to the memory of Lillian "Fabulous Moolah" Ellison.

- A noticeably excited DX (handing out and plugging some of their merchandise) addressed their adoring public. They were predictably interrupted. Cutting to the chase, Hornswoggle, The Boogeyman and The Great Khali were allowed to join DX's "one-night-only" reunion. Jonathan Coachman also interrupted, but was chased off by Khali, because Triple-H and Shawn Michaels lied about Coach having made derogatory comments about the seven-footer. After short jokes, racist jokes, and even a mention of Katie Vick, HHH and Michaels were once again alone, and saying something about sucking it. Had Khali been allowed to cut a promo, this might've amounted to something. As an aside, on Friday's episode of SmackDown, Khali faces The Undertaker.

- Tom Green and Luke Perry were among those in the house. Perry's a fan of Randy Orton's, so he's half-cool, in my book.

- Non-title: Beth Phoenix destroyed Kelly Kelly. Clothesline, cradle suplex, pin, and that was literally the entire match. After losing her original theme, Phoenix is also only half-cool (but cool, nonetheless).

- Santino Marella took another shot at Steve Austin's acting ability, then claimed Austin wouldn't be present.

- Carlito, speaking of half-cool (in this case, it's because of Carlito's haircut), had Snitsky destroy Carlito's scheduled opponent, "Joey" (WSX's Kaos). Pump-handle slam and pin. After the match, Snitsky went on to kick Carlito's ass.

- A retro video aired, with Jeff Hardy as the subject, while some hip music played. We then saw Hardy and Rey Mysterio preparing for their upcoming match.

- Hardy & Mysterio defeated Kennedy & Finlay. During the match, Kennedy and Finlay, of course, had trouble getting along. Kennedy took a '619,' then a 'Swanton Bomb,' and was pinned by Hardy. Enjoyable match, but nothing special.

- According to Maria, Austin was also in the house. Marella was unfazed.

- Lots of people wanted tickets to WrestleMania.

- Marella insulted Austin, the crowd, and the director of Austin's movie (who was coincidentally in attendance). Marella unbelievably provoked Austin, who retaliated with a 'Stunner,' and drank beer. Speaking of beer, Austin dusted-off the beer-truck gimmick and went on to soak Marella, the crowd and Maria.

- According to one of those vague, annoying thingies, "The code is the answer," and, "the answer is the code." I once cared, but that was long ago, and have since lost interest.

- At Survivor Series, Hornswoggle (courtesy of his loving father) faces Khali. That has some possibilities.

- While officials frantically worked to cleanup at ringside, DX wasted time, with the help of "Big" Dick Johnson, and The Girls Next Door (whomever they are).

- Cody Rhodes (with Hardcore Holly) defeated Trevor Murdoch (with Lance Cade). Before the match, Mickie James thanked Murdoch, who was gracious, but Cade ushered her away, wanting Murdoch to stay focused. Jim Ross doesn't seem to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Holly and Rhodes, which is another of those unoriginal and uninspiring gimmicks. Fluke sunset-flip and pin.

- Ross and Jerry Lawler fondly spoke of Fabulous Moolah, then introduced a video montage on her career. According to Ross, he once reffed one of her matches, which served as Ross' first of the distaff type. I truly cannot believe, after surviving the likes of an (alleged) sexual relationship with Jack Pfefer, she's gone.

- Dusty Hill and Jamie Kennedy were among those in the house. Neither did anything for me.

- (What's left of) Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin defeated Jim Duggan & Super Crazy. Before the match, Duggan and Crazy alternated chants of, "Hooooooo," and, "Si!" I didn't get it. I looked away, and out of nowhere, Crazy used a roll-up to score a pin on Benjamin (and appeared to be getting help from a handful of tights). Even though I really wasn't paying attention, the finishing sequence (where, after the pin, Haas and Duggan just kind of stood there) was just awkward enough to have looked like there was a suddenly called audible, probably because (after how long it took to repair the beer-truck damage) they needed to shave time for the main event.

- On December 10, in honor of RAW's (early) fifteen-year anniversary, USA Network airs the program from 8 - 11:05 PM ET.

- DX defeated Orton & Umaga. They ran a little long (ending at roughly 11:12 PM ET), but for the most part, fairly typical (although not horrible, which is probably the closest I'm gonna come to an full-fledged compliment). To sell Survivor Series' main event, Michaels suddenly nailed Orton with 'Sweet Chin Music,' meaning it won't happen like that on November 18.

SSDD: Same shtick, different day. I don't feel like I couldn't have read about, and/or easily predicted, the majority of what happened. For what it's worth, though, the crowd couldn't seem to get enough. Well, they didn't really care about Rhodes-Murdoch, but you get my point. Something new and exciting needs to be happening, or else this product is stuck in the doldrums.