GM Teddy Long is on vacation after Vengeance, ostensibly "planning his wedding" to Kristal, so assistant GM Vicki Guerrero is in charge tonight, and we've got a loaded card. Ironically, when Long subbed for Eric Bischoff on Raw 3 1/2 years ago in what amounted to a try-out, he also "booked" a loaded show, as would Jon Coachman 2 months later.

Ric Flair vs. Carlito. 1st of 4 cross-brand matches on the card, all pitting Raw vs. Smackdown. ECW's Justin Roberts, who has also been doing Raw lately, filling in for Lillian Garcia, subs for Tony Chimel this week. Michael Cole & JBL did a good job filling the Smackdown audience in on the Flair-Carlito feud, as this will be the final blowoff. Carlito had his moments, including a couple of solid dropkicks and the high knee-lift, which Cole said was similar to that of Chief Jay Strongbow, as opposed to Mr. Wrestling II, whom Jim Ross referenced regularly on Raw. Carlito went for one dropkick too many, and Flair went for the figure four. Carlito strained to reach the ropes, so Flair released the hold, then dropped a few elbows on the leg, and reapplied the figure four. Carlito taps out, ending the match and the feud. Winner: Ric Flair.

Matt Hardy vs. Lance Cade. Neither man has their tag team partner with them, but I'd suspect we'll see Jeff vs. Trevor Murdoch on Raw on Monday. While Cade was billed as hailing from Nashville, Cole & JBL acknowledged he's originally from San Antonio and trained by Shawn Michaels, with Murdoch a student of Harley Race. There were about a zillion references to the NBA champion Spurs throughout the show, but none about the late Chris Benoit, per Vince McMahon's orders from ECW on Tuesday. Hardy went for the Twist of Fate way early in the match, so Cade bailed, then came back with a uranage bomb for 2. Cade hit a clothesline that JBL likened to his own Clothesline from Hell, but that only got a 2. Cade hit one superplex for another near fall, but then went to the well one time too many, and Hardy sprang off the top turnbuckle, and hit the Twist to end it. Winner: Matt Hardy.

Chavo Guerrero vs. Jamie Noble vs. Funaki (Cruiserweight title). After defeating Jimmy Wang Yang on Sunday, Guerrero comes back to defend vs. 2 former champions in Noble & Funaki. Easily the best match on the card. Spot of the night saw Noble attempt to roll up Funaki, but Guerrero sprang over the top for a sunset flip on Noble, leading to a German suplex on Funaki. Totally swank! Finish saw Funaki dump Noble over the top, but then Guerrero came back with a boot to the gut, then the GoryBomb (called the Gory Special) to retain. Winner: Chavo Guerrero.

Vicki is backstage with Edge, who wants to know why he's facing Batista again, so soon after the "Last Chance" match at Vengeance. Vicki calms him down by saying it's non-title.

Deuce & Domino (w/Cherry) vs. Cryme Tyme (non-title). Way too short, and deserves a sequel. Cole got the champs mixed up, and repeatedly said Deuce was starting when it was clearly Domino, who appeared to "break his nose" when he was knocked down in the corner by JTG. Domino was definitely juicing from that point. Cherry crawled in to distract ref Mickey Henson, allowing Deuce to low-bridge JTG out of the ring so Domino could schoolboy Shad Gaspard for the win. Cryme Tyme, however, would get the last laugh, as after the match, they found the champs' car and took off with it, bent on taking it to the "Brisco Brothers' Chop Shop". I smell a rematch on Raw. Winners: Deuce & Domino.

MVP vs. Kane (non-title). Much better than the series these two had at the end of last year. MVP has improved by leaps & bounds since then, and showed that here. Cole went out of his way to avoid mentioning Benoit, and said that MVP had given Batista & Matt Hardy concussions in recent weeks. Keeping with the theme from earlier in the show, Porter went to the well once too often, trying a running kick to the head in the corner for the 2nd time in the match, but Kane caught him with the chokeslam. Looks like the Big Red Machine might be the next challenger for MVP's US title, unless they stick Matt Hardy in that spot. Winner: Kane.

Jack Korpela is with Eugene, but the interview is interrupted by Great Khali & Runjin Singh. Singh tries to assure Eugene that Khali wants to have fun in their match. Riiiiiight. Meanwhile, Victoria & Mickie James are walking down the hall, talking. Actually, it's a debate over who's really the wildest. Victoria offers to kiss the next guy who walks out the door. First, it's Howard Finkel. Vic's not ready. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, supposedly, walked by too fast. So Mickie offers to give it a whirl. Big Dick Johnson shows up, but pauses to tie his shoe. Enter Ron Simmons. Mickie gives Simmons a kiss. Johnson pops up, tossing water. Simmons' reaction? Well, you know.....!.

Mickie James vs. Victoria. Vic's wearing a torn fishnet bodystocking. She knows the demographic group that watches this show, obviously. Pretty even match from the go, considering these two have 5 women's titles between them. Victoria hit the Spider's Web sideslam for 2. Mickie got the pin after Vic missed a moonsault, and Mickie applied a half-nelson rollup. Winner: Mickie James.

Great Khali vs. Eugene. One word: Squash. Winner: Great Khali.

Edge vs. Batista (non-title). About what you'd expect from these two. Edge kept stalling, trying to weasel out of the match any way he can, but this just wasn't his night. They played it pretty even, and Edge hit the Edge-o-Matic for 2. However, Batista had the answer for the spear not once, but twice. The first time, it was a spinebuster. The second was the Batista Bomb. Ballgame. Winner: Batista.