This week: It’s the shocking power shift that nobody in the world could have predicted (well, one guy did, but I think he’s stayed quiet about it, right?). The New Generation rises again, as the era of hard working, talented, persistant, underdog wrestlers done good begins and the underground favourites get their chance to shine on the big stage. It truly is a Christmas miracle. Plus, Kane grabs himself a new Cena t-shirt for the holidays, John Laurinaitis: Ladies Man, Foxy Holiday wishes and special musical performances from Derrick Bateman and Booker T in this Christmas special that is really in no way Christmassy or special whatsoever.
RAW SUPERSHOW
– Raw started with a drum roll and an introduction from CM Punk. Punk ‘reminded’ everyone who won at TLC and came out. Reminded, informed to those who didn’t watch TLC, one of the two. Punk reminded slash revealed that Zack Ryder won the US Championship which brought Zack out. Fans were happy. And finally, Punk brought Daniel Bryan out. So, Punk, Bryan and Ryder were all in the ring with their belts. Punk said if any city would appreciate this scene, it would be a city entrenched in pro wrestling history like Philidelphia. People chanted ECW, presumably fans of Zack Ryder’s 2009 run on Sci-Fi. Punk brought up he and Bryan meeting at the Murphy Rec Center and 10 years later being WWE and World Champions. They all did the Ryder fistpump. Punk said it wasn’t about him tonight, it was about Bryan and Zack. Zack did his catchphrase. Bryan acknowledged Michael Cole saying he shouldn’t even be in WWE, but now he was World Champion.
– Eventually The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio all came out onto the stage and approached the ring. The champions fended them off and Zack hit a dive on Dolph, but was sent into the steps by Miz and Alberto. Punk and Bryan chased them off and Laurinaitis broke things up. Laurinaitis booked a six man tag later.
– Randy Orton d. Wade Barrett by DQ in 4:59. Rematch from TLC, without the tables stip of course. Orton was in control early. Wade got the advantage suplexing Orton gut first over the barrier. In the end, Orton made his big comeback and had Wade in his crosshairs for the RKO, but Wade thumbed him in the eye for the DQ. Which would have been a weak finish, but at least it was a call back to the first match. Wade attacked after and hit the Winds Of Change, before bringing out a table and driving Orton through it with the Wasteland.
– Alicia Fox d. Beth Phoenix in 0:47. Alicia won quick with the somersault legdrop, which she managed to hit Beth right in the head with, legit. Alicia then wished us all a Foxy Holiday.
– Sheamus d. Jinder Mahal in 1:55. The rematch we were all dying to see, right here. Jinder promised to put Sheamus in his place. And then proceeded to lose in two minutes to the Celtic Cross.
– Cena came out, not universally loved in Philly. Cena acknowledged that some people didn’t like him. Cena mentioned The Rock and Wrestlemania. He said he understood why Rock didn’t like him, but there was no rhyme or reason for Kane chokeslamming him last week. Cena said he hoped he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And if it was an accident, he’d let bygones be bygones. But, if it wasn’t, he was calling him out. Instead, Mark Henry hobbled out. Henry said if it weren’t for Kane, he’d have put Cena in the Hall Of Pain. Crowd chanted “Sexual Chocolate” at Mark. Mark said he wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He told Cena to leave. Kane interrupted. Kane teased going after Henry, who backed off saying he was hurt. Instead, Kane turned his attention to Cena and Cena tried to fight him off, but Kane beat Cena around ringside. Kane then simply tried to smother him, before tearing Cena’s Rise Above Hate shirt off and walking away with it.
– Primo and Epico d. The Usos (Epico pinned Jimmy) in 2:54. Bourne and Kingston were watching backstage. Primo and Epico isolated Jey, Jimmy made a brief comeback, but Jey took a header over the top and after Jey superkicked Primo, Epico hit the backstabber for the pin.
– Josh interviewed Cody Rhodes. Cody said Santino’s Royal Rumble commercial was as ridiculous as Booker T thinking he could have won at TLC. Cody said he’d win the Rumble this year, when Santino walked up. He had a Christmas gift for “Coby”. It was a trick box and Santino’s Cobra popped out of it, making Cody jump. Cody wasn’t impressed.
– Cody Rhodes d. Santino Marella in 1:25. Santino’s Marella Martial Arts didn’t impress either and Cody dominated. Santino had a brief flurry, but it lead to an alabama slam to win Cody the match.
– In John Laurinaitis’s office, The Bellas were arguing. Laurinaitis told them to calm down and wished them a Merry Christmas. They each gave him a kiss on the cheek. Mr. Excitement was happy. Vickie walked in, demanding a rematch for Dolph. Hornswoggle appeared with mistletoe and kissed Vickie, who freaked out.
– Josh interviewed Big Show, who was frustrated, saying he’d waited nine years and in seconds it was taken away. Show tried to be magnanimous about being the guy who encouraged Bryan to cash in. But it was clear he was simmering. Josh pointed out he had the shortest World Title reign in history. Show just stared at him and tried not to get mad, before walking off.
– CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder d. The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler (Bryan submitted Del Rio) in 10:20. During the intros, another of the Itbegins videos cut in. Zack, Punk and Bryan all made their entrances through the crowd. Cole went into full “Cole mode” here. Which is always unwelcome. He was really bad at times here. And that’s on the Cole sliding scale. They did a sequence where Bryan faked Miz and Del Rio out on a dive to set up and dive from Zack, followed by Bryan taking out Dolph and Punk coming off the top. The heels were able to cut Bryan off. Ryder came in off the tag, which lead to Punk getting the big tag a minute or so later. Punk got the Anaconda on Miz which was broken up. Ziggler fought with Ryder, as Punk gave Miz the GTS. Del Rio took Punk out, but Bryan countered the armbreaker and forced Del Rio to tap to the Labell Lock. Fun main event, Cole aside
NXT
– Derrick Bateman came out. He said it had been 127 weeks since he came back to NXT and he came back to win. Along the way, he found true love and he vowed to win back the Bonnie to his Clyde, the Courtney to his Kurt, the Max to his Beta. Johnny Curtis came out and said they were tag team partners tonight. Striker explained he made the match because they had to learn to work together. Not sure why, but okay. Curtis decided to show footage of him kissing Maxine. He told insincerely Bateman to let bygones be bygones and asked for a handshake. Bateman didn’t.
– The Usos d. Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis (Jimmy pinned Curtis) in 3:36. Curtis blind tagged himself in and got the advantage in the match. When he went to tag Bateman back in though, Bateman jumped off the apron and backed away. That left Curtis to the Usos and he was finished off with a superfly splash
– Backstage Trent walked up to Yoshi and Yoshi agreed to have his back tonight. Hawkins and Reks walked in and grabbed Yoshi, locking him in a small side room and walking off amused with themselves.
– Curt Hawkins d. Trent Barreta in 4:46. Hawkins had Tyler with him and, of course, no Yoshi with Trent. After suffering much of the match, Trent fought back and went for the whisper in the wind. Reks provided a distraction, allowing Hawkins to cut Trent off and pick up the win with a modified neckbreaker.
– Kaitlyn d. Maxine in 3:04. Kaitlyn was able to use her power early. Maxine managed to ground Kaitlyn briefly, when suddenly Bateman showed up. Maxine got distracted allowing Kaitlyn to roll her up. Bateman realised he’d made a boo-boo and looked concerned as Maxine freaked out at him. Bateman tried to profess his love for her by singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin Feelin”. Apparently not a Righteous Brothers fan, Curtis jumped Bateman from behind. Maxine just walked right past both of them, unimpressed.
– Tyson Kidd d. Percy Watson in 4:02. After starting strong, Percy got cut off. He fought back briefly, but Kidd countered a superplex by hanging him across the ropes and followed up with a springboard elbow drop.
– Striker left to go backstage briefly, having to deal with an arguement between Curtis, Maxine and Bateman. Striker set up a match between Curtis and Bateman next week.
– Titus O’Neil d. JTG in 3:55. Darren Young joined commentary. He had his arm in a sling, thanks to the attack last week by Titus. Titus ended up getting the win with the sky high. Afterwards Young made a move towards the ring. JTG grabbed a distracted Titus by the ankles and Young ripped off his sling, attacking Titus, revealing he wasn’t hurt. He laid Titus out with the double knee gutbuster and told Titus to finish the job next time he tried to take someone out.
SUPERSTARS
– Justin Gabriel d. Heath Slater in 6:15. The Nexus slash Corre slash group of equals explode! During this match, the “I hate you Heath Slater!” guy returned. I don’t know if it was the same guy, but the sentiment was the same. They had a solid match, which Gabriel won with the 450. They got a camera shot from the ground for the landing, which looked cool.
– Hunico d. Ezekial Jackson in 2:56. In important news, Hunico’s running (or cycling) buddy is called Camacho and Zeke’s hair is now grown out. Jackson had Hunico ready to be finished, but Camacho got on the apron for the distraction. This allowed Hunico to take Zeke out and win, shockingly, with the senton. Camacho didn’t technically interfere, just distract, so Hunico won by his own hands. Did not expect that.
– Alex Riley d. Michael McGillicutty in 5:16. People still like A-Ry. He hasn’t competed on Raw in three months now by my count. Stanford told some story about McGillicutty dunking a basketball on some 8 year old kid, because his name was Riley, so A-Ry was looking for revenge. Wacky. Anyway, Riley got revenge with a TKO which is called the Final Score.
– Air Boom d. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks (Bourne pinned Hawkins) in 9:59. The Tag Champions kept a fast pace early on and used a number of double team moves. Kofi and Evan took their opponents out with stereo dives off the top. Eventually Reks and Hawkins were able to cut Bourne off. Kofi ran wild off the tag and had Hawkins set up for Trouble In Paradise, but Tyler provided a distracted. Instead Kofi hit the SOS, but Reks saved. But Bourne was able to take out Reks and a Trouble In Paradise, Air Bourne combo put Hawkins away. Good stuff here.
SMACKDOWN
– Big Show came out at the start of the show. Show admitted he thought he’d have been World Champion tonight, but he wasn’t. He put Henry over. He said it took nine years and he was finally there on Sunday, but just like that it was gone. He said he had lots of mixed emotions. They replayed Josh telling him he had the shortest World Title reign in history. Show said he was proud of himself for not going over the edge. Mark Henry interrupted. Henry taunted Show for having the shortest reign ever. He said Show should be humiliated, just like him. He told Show to quit the business. Henry wanted a rematch tonight. Daniel Bryan came out. He’s back on top of Booker’s Fave Five. Bryan did a weird self depricating promo. He listed things he wasn’t, but said he was a great wrestler and the World Heavyweight Champion. Henry demanded his rematch. Show said he should get it since he beat him at TLC. So Teddy made Show versus Henry in a number one contendership match. Big Show and Bryan shook hands and Show sort of hung on a couple of seconds longer than Bryan expected. Bryan then offered Henry a handshake, but pulled away at the last second and walked off laughing. Hmm.
– Zack Ryder d. Cody Rhodes in 6:10. United States Champion versus Intercontinental Champion. Zack gave Cody the run around early on, until Cody shoved Ryder into Booker and took advantage of the distraction. Booker decided not to go after Cody, keeping his cool. After a collision of heads, Ryder made a comeback. Cody blocked a missile dropkick, but Booker T got on the microphone and started singing about “Cody the Red Nosed Reindeer” singing to distract Cody, leaving him to fall to the Ruff Ryder.
– In Teddy’s office, Santino showed up and asked to be his new assistant. Aksana’s sexy music came in. Aksana flirted with him, as usual. Vickie and Dolph walked in. Dolph said he’d demand his rematch whenever he chose. Dolph ragged on Daniel Bryan and Teddy made the match.
– Big Show and Mark Henry came out for the number one contenders match. But before the match could get underway, David Otunga interrupted. Otunga, on behalf of John Laurinaitis, explained Henry wasn’t medically cleared and cancelled the match. He wished everyone a happy and healthy holidays. Big Show knocked him out moments later.
– Teddy ran into Miz backstage. Miz said he was told to be there, but Teddy said it had nothing to do with him. Miz got annoyed and ran down Teddy, before promising to go out and disrupt his show. Miz dared him to find someone to deal with him.
– Sheamus d. The Miz in 3:05. Miz went after Sheamus’s arm and took the fight to Sheamus. Sheamus fought back and after countering the Skull Crushing Finale, won with the Brogue Kick.
– Wade Barrett cut a promo, bragging about getting in Orton’s head. He said a minor speed bump couldn’t stop his Barrett Barrage and showed a replay of his win against Orton last month, his elimination of Orton at Survivor Series and then his attack on Raw. Barrett said Orton was one of the best in WWE, until he ran into him. Barrett talked about getting a World Title shot down the line. He thanked everyone for their time and wished them a Happy Christmas like a good English gentleman. But as he went to leave, Randy Orton ran out. They brawled and Orton tried for an RKO, but Wade shoved him off and ran away. Orton wasn’t done and chased him backstage. The brawl continued through the corridors and into the parking lot. Orton found a hose and started spraying Wade down, then dumped trash over him, before giving Barrett an RKO on the top of a car.
– Kofi Kingston d. Primo in 3:08. Primo attacked on the bell. A distraction from Epico allowed Primo to catch Kofi with an armdrag off the top. But Kofi hit Trouble In Paradise to get the pin.
– Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest. Both men exchanged holds in the early stages, with Bryan getting the better of it. Once Ziggler found an opening, he quit with the rasslin and just put the boots to Bryan. Ziggler stopped to do some sit-ups mid-match and almost got caught in the Labell Lock as a result. Ziggler took over. Jack Swagger came down to the ring during the course, while Bryan took out Ziggler with a dive. And Swagger took Bryan out while Vickie distracted the ref. This brought Big Show out. Bryan used the Chaos Theory German for a close two count. After Bryan and Ziggler exchanged big moves and near falls towards the end, Swagger and Show brawled into the ring and Teddy ran out to put a stop to it. Teddy announced he was changing the match to a tag matc. No surprise here, this was really good. Just a shame it didn’t have a finish.
– Daniel Bryan and Big Show d. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger (Bryan submitted Swagger) in 6:54. So, it all transferred into a tag match. Show dominated Ziggler and Swagger as Bryan watched on. Bryan missed a dropkick in the corner to allow the heels to take over. Show made a comeback running through both guys, until Swagger clipped his ankle. Bryan tagged back in and countered the ankle lock into the Labell Lock for the submission. Big Show looked on as Bryan celebrated with the World Title. This was good in it’s own right. Strong end to the show.