Official Raw Thread 02/06/06-The HHH Tourney Begins Tonight

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The Road to WrestleMania continues as RAW rolls into Atlanta tonight.

A tournament will be held to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship, and it will begin on RAW. The opening round of The Road to WrestleMania Tournament, which will feature four matches, will be completed by the time RAW goes off the air.

In first round action, Rob Van Dam will take on Carlito. Carlito aggravated RVD's knee injury on the Cabana back in June, which set Mr. Monday Night back another six months. Now that he's back, RVD not only has the WWE Championship on his mind, but also some revenge.

Chris Masters, along with Carlito, was responsible for eliminating Kane from the New Year's Revolution Elimination Chamber. Then, last week the Big Red Machine was unable to break the Master Lock. Will Kane have better luck this week as he takes on Chris Masters in another first-round matchup?

The history between Ric Flair and Triple H is well-documented...and very personal. They have been the best of friends and the worst of enemies. And they will get to write another chapter to their rivalry in the first round of the tournament.

Also in the first round, Shawn Michaels will take on Big Show. HBK already has a lot on his mind with Mr. McMahon, and now his son Shane. The Showstopper will need to focus all of his attention on Big Show if he hopes to advance in the tournament.

Last week, Edge defeated John Cena by disqualification when Lita hit the Rated R Superstar with the WWE Championship while Cena had him set up for the F-U. While Edge won the match, the gold did not change hands, leaving the Rated R Superstar still a challenger. On top of all of this, Edge and Lita left the arena separately. How will all of this impact their relationship?

Also last week, Shane McMahon struck again, nailing Shawn Michaels with a chair as Mr. McMahon looked on. How will HBK react to this latest setback in his standoff with the WWE Chairman?

Plus, the tensions between Trish Stratus, Ashley and Mickie James continue to rise. How will Ashley and Trish react to Mickie’s actions during her celebration for the Women’s Champion last week?

Tune into RAW tonight at 9/8 CT on the USA Network to see what happens.