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It was unexpected and the kind of match most wrestling fans would give up their gold cufflinks to see. No, I’m not talking about the excellent Jericho vs. Orton match, or the somewhat less than stellar triple threat match between Batista (yawn), Undertaker and Edge.

No, this time I’m talking about the number one contenders match for the WWE title shot at the Royal Rumble next month, between Triple H and Jeff Hardy. On paper, it looked to be an big squash match to continue endlessly promoting Hunter as an unstoppable monster on his way toward regaining his title at the next WrestleMania. Right?

Wrong! WWE threw everyone a curveball by finally having Hunter give the rub to someone else in a match that mattered. For 19 glorious minutes, Jeff Hardy did what he does best, which is to put 110-percent of himself into his match against Hunter, and Hunter played along.

But when the dust cleared, it was Jeff Hardy who stood victorious over Triple H. What? That’s right! Jeffy Hardy, who nearly incurred the lifelong wrath of Vince McMahon by jumping to TNA a few years ago is not only back in WWE for a bit over a year now, but is back in a way he was featured in TNA, but never WWE: in the heavyweight title picture!

Hardy was champion at TNA briefly during his run there, but in WWE had never been featured as more than a tag champion with his brother, Matt. As a singles wrestler, Jeff was never featured higher than as a third-tier contender, wrestling well in gimmick matches but never in contention for a title shot.

That changed at Armageddon. With a win over Hunter, and his work ethic, Jeff Hardy is set to make the Royal Rumble something special this year, as he faces off against Randy Orton. Hardy may not win, but to even get this shot in the WWE is evidence that the old order is changing and a new set of contenders are being groomed for top spots in the company.

Way to go, Jeff! Congrats!

One of the popular rumors of recent weeks is that Carlito was set to exit WWE and make the jump over to TNA. Well, forget about that; after a long talk with Vince McMahon, Carlito signed a new contract with WWE and won’t be going anywhere, and you can bet your tonneau cover on your Ford F150 on that!

Now, TNA is still a decidedly small-time promotion. However, in the last year, TNA has made a splash by signing away WWE’s castoffs, including Kurt Angle (who WWE wanted to sign to an out-of-ring role due to Angle’s neck and health concerns), Booker T, and more. While the condition of the rivalry between WWE and TNA doesn’t approach anywhere near the old Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW, TNA could have gotten a lot of mileage out of signing Carlito so soon after snatching up Booker T.

So, in the end, while Vinnie Mac is probably not pleased with Carlito’s work ethic and development to date, he’s still too young and promising a talent to allow him to slip into a TNA role. For the foreseeable future, Carlito will still be spitting in the face of people who don’t want to be cool, rather than Vince McMahon’s face.

WWE Monday Night Raw turned 15 years old this past week, and it doesn’t take Doink the Clown dressed in a pair of golf shoes to point out what a watershed moment that marks. The 15th anniversary show had plenty of guest appearances for nostalgia’s sake, including Marty Jennetty, Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and a 15-man battle royale involving a lot of lesser-name jobbers from the past decade and a half.

Of course, personally, I had a lot of favorite moments that I appreciated. It was fun seeing Chris Jericho confront Eric Bischoff so soon into Jericho’s return after a two year absence; Bischoff, in the storyline, fired Jericho when Y2J left WWE to pursue his music career. Having Jericho come back and get his revenge was a satisfying storyline moment for longtime fans.

I also enjoyed the Evolution reunion, especially the flashback when Evolution betrayed Orton. Back then, Orton was the babyface and Evolution were the heels; now those roles have changed and it was surprising how well the betrayal moments still worked.

The only two notable superstars missing on the night were Bret “the Hitman” Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Too bad.

During the first five years of WWE Raw is War, Bret “the Hitman” Hart was one of the cornerstones of the weekly broadcast. Although the WWE approached Hart to appear on the Raw 15th anniversary broadcast, he has reportedly turned them down cold.

According to TSN’s “Off the Record” interview, Hart said of the invitation to appear, “I don’t think you’ll see me on that show anytime soon.” Since he left the company amidst the infamous “Montreal Screw Job,” Hart as appeared only once in a WWE-related event; that was earlier this year, when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame prior to WrestleMania; even then, Hart kept his remarks brief and bitter.

Of course, if anyone has cause to be bitter toward WWE, it is the Hart family. Bret had received a “lifetime contract” from WWE that was among the richest in the industry, then had that contract pulled. He felt he had reached an agreement to “go out a champ” with the WWE Title still around his waste, only to have Shawn Michaels pin him in an “unscripted moment.”

To add insult to injury, brother Owen Hart perished a few years later in an unfortunate mishap during a gimmick entrance at a PPV event that went horribly, fatally wrong. And another Hart family member, Davey Boy Smith, once a member of the British Bulldogs tag team, is basically confined to a wheelchair due to injuries sustained over the course of his career.

It’s understandable that Bret has a beef with the WWE and the McMahon family; it’s unfortunate that he can’t see his way to putting the past in the past 10 years later, however. No one blames Bret for his bitterness, but it is nevertheless a sad thing to see him holding onto it after all this time. Still, there are some hurts that even a truckload of wholesale flowers won’t make up for.

Tonight, WWE Monday Night Raw will celebrate its 15th anniversary. After 15 years on the air, surviving the Monday Night Wars against WCW, the celebration is set to run three hours plus overrun, and the guest list is growing by the hour.

Currently confirmed to appear in some way, shape, manner or form tonight on Raw are the following:

* Hulk Hogan
* Stone Cold Steve Austin
* The Undertaker
* Mick Foley
* Sunny
* Trish Stratus
* Lita
* Eric Bischoff
* Evolution Reunion (Ric Flair, Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista)
* 15-person gimmick Battle Royale featuring stars from the last 15 years

All in all, it’s building up to be a great show, and even greater if The Rock decides to make a cameo. C’mon, Dwayne Johnson, don’t make us beg! Cat5E!

They don’t always draw attention to it, but the WWE’s founding family, the McMahons, are pretty giving, caring people in their private life. Sometimes it spills over into their business, such as the WWE’s ongoing commitment to bringing WWE action and the Christmas spirit to our armed forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq; the annual Tribute to the Troops specials are indeed coming up soon.

However, they McMahons, and many WWE superstars, also do a lot of charity work and giving behind the scenes, only a fraction of which is ever publicized.

One worthy and unique charity is Car Angel, a nonprofit group that will take something like a car donation and turn it into funds which they use to produce and distribute helpful videos for kids and teens in need.

It may seem a bit odd and off the beaten path, but with over 2.4 million videos given away to kids and teens so far, it’s certainly been an effective approach. During a time when most people are thinking about gifts for themselves and others in their immediate lives, it’s nice to see a group that’s dedicated to helping out strangers.

And that’s the bottom line, ‘cuz ProWrestlingViews.com said so!

Mutilchannel News broke the story that NBC-Universal and the WWE have extended their current TV contract by an additional two years, through 2010; the current deal only ran through 2008.

Although no Cartier watches were exchanged, the new contract does call for a higher payout to WWE for programming, above the current level of $31 million per year.

NBC-Universal airs WWE Monday Night Raw on the USA Network, as well as ECW broadcasts on the SciFi Channel; the agreement also means there will be more WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event specials on NBC periodically throughout the year, when Saturday Night Live would normally be broadcasting reruns.

The agreement keeps the lion’s share of WWE-branded programming on NBC-Universal venues; the exception is WWE Friday Night SmackDown, which airs on the CBS-Warner Brothers-owned CW Network.