This Week In WWE TV – December 24-30, 2012

This week: Santa got run over. What more of a hook do you need?

CHRISTMAS EVE RAW

– Before the show we got a video of the roster singing a WWE Christmas song. That was something.

– The show itself started with Santa coming out. Innocuous enough, you might think. Except as he handed out presents to the crowd, Del Rio drove out. Next thing you know, Santa was run over by Del Rio and had a nearby Christmas tree fall on him just to make things worse. Santa took a great bump here. Del Rio and Ricardo freaked out as Santa was checked on by EMTs. Thankfully as he was stretchered away, Santa was able to give the big thumbs up spot to let everyone know he was okay. One of the greatest openings to Raw ever? Probably. They replayed Santa being run over repeatedly during the show and I’ll be honest, it was still never enough for me. The scene was later cordoned off with police tape.

– Backstage, Booker informed concerned members of the roster that Santa was “down” and he “didn’t look good”. Booker said Santa would want the show to go on. Alberto appeared and everybody, particularly Cena, got mad at him. Booker informed Alberto that Santa’s last words before becoming unconscious were that Alberto would face Cena in a Miracle On 34th Street Fight tonight. Booker told Cena to do it for Santa and the roster chanted for Santa.

– Kane d. Cody Rhodes in 5:56. Cody took the fight to Kane and this was a competitive match. Cody exposed a turnbuckle and it came back to cost him as Kane sent him into it, before winning with the chokeslam.

– Santa’s Helper 8 Diva Tag Match: Layla, Kaitlyn, Natalya and Alicia Fox d. Eve Torres, Aksana, Rosa Mendes and Tamina Snuka (Kaitlyn pinned Eve) in 5:29. After a big series of moves at the end, Kaitlyn gave Eve the gutbuster to pick up the win.

– Dolph and AJ were spending Christmas together, watching AJ cost John Cena the match at TLC.

– Lumber Jack Frost Match: Sheamus d. Big Show in 13:02. All the lumberjacks were wearing Santa hats. Because, you know, Christmas. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick early but Show escaped and the lumberjacks were too scared to do anything about it. Big Show sang Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer while he had Sheamus in an armbar. The lumberjacks fought with each other when Sheamus was attacked by some of them. In the end Sheamus was able to hit White Noise for two before a Brogue Kick was blocked. The lumberjacks fought again as Show set up the KO punch. But Sheamus ducked and won with the Brogue Kick. The good lumberjacks cleared the ring of the bad lumberjacks and celebrated.

– Zack Ryder d. David Otunga in 4:43. Otunga spoke before the match, claiming Santa was to blame for being run over. Zack got the win here (it’s a Christmas miracle!) with the Ruff Ryder.

– Maddox interrupted Booker and Teddy and was given another opportunity, against one of “Santa’s elves”.

– The Miz and Kofi Kingston d. Antonio Cesaro and Wade Barrett (Miz pinned Wade) in 6:57. Cesaro and Wade worked over Miz briefly before Wade had to evade a Trouble In Paradise. Kofi was cut off, with Miz making the big comeback. And after a Trouble In Paradise from the floor by Kofi, Miz pinned Wade with the Skull Crushing Finale.

– Dolph and AJ exchanged presents. AJ revealed to Ziggler that she was wearing his t-shirt and they kissed.

– Great Khali d. Brad Maddox in 3:13. Brad sung a quite frankly beautiful rendition of “Brad Maddox Is Coming To Raw” on his way to the ring and wished all the ladies happy holidays. Maddox assumed he was facing Hornswoggle. Instead, he faced Khali, who was dressed as an oversized elf. Brad got Khali down briefly and attacked his leg, but it didn’t last. And after Khali won with the Punjabi Plunge, Khali sung, well, something, before wishing us a happy Christmas and new year too. Whatever it was was fantastic.

– Punk and Heyman came out. First thing Punk did was imitate Khali singing, which was also fantastic. He said Ryback had ruined Christmas and Hannukah by injuring him. Punk complained that Ryback hadn’t been fired, or suspended, or even fined but instead was getting a title shot. Heyman put Punk over for being champion for 400 days. He said Ryback had been given two chances and failed. Punk bragged about being better than Ryback until Ryback interrupted and announced his match with Punk would be a TLC match.

– Daniel Bryan d. Damien Sandow by submission in 5:38. Sandow and Bryan got into a NO / SILENCE off at the start of the match. Bryan missed a headbutt and Sandow went for Terminus, but Bryan reversed it into the NO Lock for the submission.

– 12 Days Of Christmas 12 Man Tag Team Match: Brodus Clay, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Santino Marella and The Usos d. Tensai, The Prime Time Players and 3MB (Jey pinned Slater) in 6:16. Momentum swung a number of times here, before things inevitably broke down. Kidd and Gabriel hit dives on Drew and Jinder. Brodus took out 3MB and Santino gave Tensai the Cobra. Slater hit the Smash Hit on Santino, but a superkick from Jimmy set up a moonsault by Gabriel, a springboard elbow by Kidd and a superfly splash by Jey.

– Backstage, Bryan was excited about Christmas. Kane didn’t share that sentiment, but gave Bryan a gift. It wasn’t wrapped, but inside was a Slammy. Bryan then gave Kane his present, which was a really ugly dog in a sweater. Kane said he was starving and Bryan wasn’t down with this.

– Meanwhile AJ read a Christmas story to Ziggler. It rhymed butt wiggler with Ziggler, so it could have been worse. And then they kissed. A lot.

– Striker, who had been giving updates all night, said Santa had taken a turn for the worse when, suddenly, his heart monitor began to play Jingle All The Way and Santa began to recover. Hooray!

– Miracle On 34th Street Fight: John Cena d. Alberto Del Rio in 11:18. Ricardo tried to introduce Alberto, but couldn’t because he was still so distraught over Santa. Once Alberto had Cena down, Alberto got on the microphone and insisted what happened to Santa was an accident. Cena blocked a microphone shot and screamed “Santa” before fighting back. Both made use of presents around the ring and stage which were a steel chair, a pie (which Ricardo was accidentally hit by), a TV monitor, a teddy bear (which Alberto threw at Cena, only for it to bounce harmlessly off of his chest). Alberto got all the crappy presents. Cena also used a tree on Alberto and a Christmas wreath on Ricardo. Cena unwrapped a bowling ball and rolled it down the ramp into a vulnerable part of Alberto’s anatomy. He sprayed Alberto with a fire extinguisher before Ricardo put him in a sleeper. Santa came out to make the save. Ricardo ran to embrace him and got laid out with the sack of presents. “Santa” then pulled out a stocking and gave Alberto the mandible claw, to set up an AA from Cena. Goofy fun, but fun nonetheless. As throwaway holiday shows go, this will be a pretty memorable one thanks to the Santa stuff I’m sure.

MAIN EVENT

– Great Khali won a 20 Man Battle Royal, last eliminating Wade Barrett, to become number one contender to the United States Championship.

Participants: Great Khali, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Primo, Epico, Darren Young, Titus O’Neil, Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase, Wade Barrett, William Regal, Yoshi Tatsu, Brodus Clay, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso

Cesaro joined commentary for the battle royal. Yoshi went straight after Khali and was immediately thrown out as a result. Brodus tossed Primo quick too. Tyson was able to eliminate Drew, but Drew then pulled him off the apron. Moments later Gabriel took himself and Jinder out with a crossbody, leading to a brawl between those four. Barrett eliminated Jey Uso and Sandow threw out Regal. Ted and Cody renewed some old history. Santino got rid of Epico. We got the always popular two big men in a battle royal showdown which Khali won, dumping out Brodus.

Jimmy Uso was put out by Ryder as Khali started to dominate. Khali fought off the PTP and threw both of them out in quick succession, soon followed by both Cody and Sandow. That left the final four of Khali, Santino, Zack and Wade. Wade was hit with the Cobra and Zack’s boot in the corner, but Santino then opportunistically eliminated Zack, before being tossed out himself by Barrett. Wade was able to get Khali down, but eliminating him was another matter. And Khali chopped out Barrett to win and get a shot at Cesaro next week. After the match Cesaro shook Khali’s hand.

– Striker then tried to interview Khali backstage, but Cesaro attacked him from behind. Khali fought Cesaro off though and Cesaro escaped, only to leave behind his belt for Khali to admire.

– Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel d. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre of 3MB (Kidd pinned Jinder) in 11:57. Before the match 3MB attempted to play to the crowd, but poor Heath had no voice and claimed Gabriel and Kidd had hurt his larynx on Raw. Kidd and Gabriel had things going their way early before Tyson was cut off. Gabriel ran wild but missed the moonsault. He managed to survive 3MB’s attack though and Kidd took out Drew, before a double team blockbuster got the win.

NXT

Was a Best Of 2012 show.

SUPERSTARS

Was a recap show as well.

SMACKDOWN

– Sheamus came out and said his new year’s resolution was to become World Champion, but the new year was too far away. He called out Big Show. Show said he’d beaten Sheamus when it counted and Sheamus only won on Raw because Show was in Christmas vacation mode. Booker came out to prevent a fight breaking out. Show said nobody was worthy of facing him for his title, so Booker announced Show would be facing an opponent drawn from a tumbler tonight. The ‘entire roster’ came out and Santino’s name was picked. Show laughed this off.

– Brodus Clay d. Primo in 1:14. Easy win for Brodus with the splash. Cameron and Naomi then gave Rosa a double suplex and some splits legdrops when she confronted Brodus.

– Sheamus tried to give Santino some advice. Santino wanted to learn the Brogue Kick. He ended up pulling a hamstring.

– Wade Barrett and Team Rhodes Scholars d. Kofi Kingston and Team Hell No! (Wade pinned Kofi) in 6:33. Kofi teased a Trouble In Paradise early leading to a stand off between the two teams. When things resumed, Bryan was isolated. Kofi made a big comeback and after the two tag teams fought outside, Kofi gave Cody Trouble In Paradise, but Wade hit the Bull Hammer for the pin.

– Booker told Show that Santino couldn’t compete and Show assumed he had the night off. Booker said they’d draw another opponent. This time, it was Ricardo and Show again seemed amused. Show intimidated Ricardo a little and then KOed him.

– Antonio Cesaro d. Zack Ryder in 3:28. Zack had a brief flurry, but missed his boot in the corner and fell to the Neutraliser.

– Dolph Ziggler d. The Miz in 7:50. Dolph had AJ and Big E with him. Which was lucky, as Miz threw Ziggler out of the ring and Big E caught him in his arms in a great moment. Ziggler took control after that. Both traded near falls towards the end, before Miz decided to mockingly blow a kiss to AJ. AJ sent Big E to deal with him and Miz spotted Big E climbing the steps, but got caught with a Zig Zag for the pin. Fair to say this wasn’t quite up to their Main Event match a couple of months ago. After the match, Miz made the mistake of insulting AJ. Ziggler went after him and it turned into a brawl until Big E laid out Miz and hit his falling powerslam.

– In the trainer’s room Booker checked on Ricardo, who also couldn’t compete. Maddox showed up and asked for another chance, so Booker put him in a match. Alberto came to check on Ricardo and Booker gave him the match with Big Show instead.

– Sheamus d. Brad Maddox in 3:51. Maddox said his new year’s resolution was to become a WWE superstar and he’d never broken a resolution. He didn’t fare so well here though and ate a Brogue Kick.

– The Usos d. The Prime Time Players (Jimmy pinned Young) in 2:09. Young ended up hitting Titus accidentally. He hit the double knee gutbuster on Jey, but The Usos pulled off a switch allowing Jimmy to surprise Young with an inside cradle.

– A promo from The Shield aired. They said 2012 would be remembered for the scar they left. Clips of them powerbombing various people played and they said their mission would be the same in 2013. Ambrose said they answered to no-one and justice would reign in 2013.

– Striker interviewed Big Show. He complained about having to face Del Rio. Show said he’d make tonight a trifecta. Technically he didn’t do anything to Santino, but okay.

– World Championship: Big Show (c) d. Alberto Del Rio in 5:23 to retain the title. Del Rio took the fight right to Big Show, with mixed results. After taking a beating he went for Show’s arm, causing Show to walk out. Sheamus ran out and tried to attack Show but was sent into the post. As Show went to leave again though, the rest of the roster attacked and sent him into the ring, where Alberto hit an enziguri and Sheamus delivered a Brogue Kick.