When last night’s special three-hour edition of Raw ended, I’m guessing most viewers reacted in one of two ways: they were either completely surprised by the final segment and anxious to see where it leads, or they just rolled their eyes at an angle that perhaps was too over-the-top.

The show, which was built around the WWE draft as well as it being Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night, concluded with Vince McMahon’s limo exploding into flames just seconds after the WWE chairman had gotten inside it.

In my opinion, WWE hit a home run in its attempt to end the show with a cliffhanger so compelling that you can’t wait to see the next episode. There have been very few angles in recent years that have surprised me, but they definitely caught me off-guard this time. We all knew something was going to happen when McMahon left the arena, but I don’t think anyone could have guessed we were about to see a scene right out of The Godfather (especially since WWE has always said that it doesn’t depict murder in its story lines).

Ultimately, I may end up joining the camp of those who groaned when the car exploded. I have never been a fan of story lines that insult the viewers’ intelligence, such as wrestlers being set on fire, or thrown off buildings, or involved in horrific car accidents, only to walk away relatively unscathed. For now, however, I’m going to give WWE the benefit of the doubt on this one until I see how it plays out.

On the WWE Web site after Raw went off the air, the incident was presented as breaking news. WWE reported that McMahon “has been presumed dead” as the result of an “apparent car bombing.” The story added that “no body had been recovered from the incinerated wreckage.”

Since the point has been made that McMahon had numerous enemies, I guess we are left with a “whodunit.” I’m betting it will be revealed in the end that the whole thing, including McMahon “losing his mind” recently, was an intricate ruse orchestrated by McMahon himself. When some unsuspecting high-level babyface least expects it, the evil McMahon will reappear to screw him over.

As for last night’s draft, it wasn’t nearly as unpredictable as the McMahon angle. Of the 10 performers who switched shows, the only one that really surprised me was Mr. Kennedy going from Smackdown to Raw. I figured a feud between Edge and Mr. Kennedy for the world heavyweight title was a given based on Edge cheating him out of his “Money in the Bank” contract last month.

The draft again made it clear what the pecking order is when it comes to the three brands. Raw, the flagship of WWE, gained the most and gave up the least. Raw landed three top-tier guys (Mr. Kennedy and King Booker from Smackdown and Bobby Lashley from ECW) and a monster heel getting a push (Snitsky of ECW).

Smackdown, the “B” show, got four performers from Raw in The Great Khali, Chris Masters, Ric Flair and Torrie Wilson. Flair, if used correctly, could make an impact. But The Great Khali is coming off three high-profile losses to WWE champion John Cena, Masters looks to be a mid-carder at best and Wilson is just another pretty face at this point.

ECW, already viewed as a distant third in a three-team race, lost Lashley (its champion and top babyface) and Snitsky (its top heel). In return, ECW got Chris Benoit and The Boogeyman from Smackdown. I think the Benoit move will actually benefit him and ECW, as he was never going to get a decent push on the other two shows and he gives the brand some credibility. Plus, guys like CM Punk, Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von can learn a lot by working with him.

Benoit would be my choice to be the new ECW champion (Lashley was stripped of the title last night after being drafted to Raw), but the drawback is that it would reinforce the perception of ECW as an inferior brand since he is coming off pinfall losses to Lashley, Edge and MVP.