To steal a line from WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross, business is about to pick up.

In what is shaping up to be an eventful nine days for WWE, Edge made a big impact in his return at the Survivor Series pay-per-view last night; Chris Jericho is expected to make his long-waited comeback on Raw tonight; and Ric Flair reportedly is going to be at Raw next Monday in Charlotte, N.C. That’s all good news for WWE, especially since its top star, John Cena, is expected to be sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle until the spring.

Last night, WWE delivered a solid pay-per-view that was highlighted by two exceptional world title matches.

Edge, who last July also suffered a torn pectoral muscle, interfered in the Hell in a Cell match between world heavyweight champion Batista and The Undertaker. The two big men were having a classic bloody brawl that went approximately 22 minutes. Just as it appeared that Undertaker would win the title, Edge, disguised as a cameraman, attacked “The Dead Man” and placed Batista’s limp body on him for the pin. Edge continued to attack The Undertaker with a chair after the match.

Some fans and critics will probably say that Edge’s interference and the lack of a clean finish hurt the match, but I don’t see it that way. The match lived up to the hype and it succeeded in making Edge’s return a big deal and creating an intriguing new story line. It will be interesting to hear why Edge chose to attack The Undertaker and not Batista. …

The WWE title match, in which Randy Orton retained his championship with a clean pin of Shawn Michaels, was an example of great storytelling. Unable to use the superkick due to the match stipulations, Michaels instead mat-wrestled Orton and went for submission moves. I fully believed all along that Orton would win the match, but when Michaels had him in an anklelock, I actually thought for a couple seconds that “The Heartbreak Kid” might pull it off.

The finish was perfectly booked, as Michaels started to use the superkick, hesitated, and then Orton caught him with the RKO for the pin at around the 18-minute mark. This match gave added credibility to Orton’s title reign, which is the smart thing to do as WWE builds him for a likely WrestleMania match with Triple H. …

The 10-man elimination match also was well-booked, although I was disappointed that Matt Hardy wasn’t there due to the knee “injury” he suffered at the hands of MVP on Smackdown. I had expected him to limp out there and try to wrestle, only to have MVP do further damage to the knee.

Having Triple H and Jeff Hardy beat the odds and emerge as the survivors made sense, and it’s encouraging to see WWE keeping Jeff strong. I think the company has finally realized that he is ready and able to take it to the next level, and I would love to see an Orton-Jeff Hardy title program.

The promo with Triple H’s team before the elimination match was pretty entertaining. Kane brought up the Katie Vick incident and Jeff Hardy mentioned that Triple H once put him in the hospital, to which Triple H responded, “My bad.” It does seem ridiculous that these guys would team together given their histories, but it would be even more ridiculous to not acknowledge their past. …

The triple-threat match in which ECW champion C.M. Punk retained the title against John Morrison and The Miz was decent, but Punk is in desperate need of some fresh challengers. …

I’m not sure what to make of the “match” between The Great Khali and Hornswoggle, which ended with Finlay saving his leprechaun friend and attacking Khali with the shillelagh. I’m not sure if this means that Finlay is doing a babyface turn, but I think he is better as a heel. I did get a kick out of Hornswoggle blowing the green mist into the eyes of Khali’s translator. It brought back memories of The Great Kabuki and Great Muta.

The funniest part of the Khali-Hornswoggle match wasn’t scripted. With Shaquille O’Neal sitting ringside, the crowd in Miami began chanting for him. It took away from the “action” in the ring, and at one point, O’Neal actually started to get out of his seat. Vince McMahon was either legitimately ticked off by the distraction or he was putting on a great act. …

The world tag-team title match, which saw champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeat Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly, was nothing special until the finish, when Murdoch hit his version of the Canadian Destroyer on Rhodes for the pin. The last time I saw Murdoch attempt that move he nearly killed Matt Hardy. …

I thought the divas 10-woman match was going to be elimination style, but it turned out to be a one-fall contest. That shows that either I wasn’t paying close enough attention or WWE never made it clear.

It was good to see Mickie James score the winning pin. Not only does the crowd react more to her than any of the other women, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing her new finisher, The Long Kiss Goodnight.