This Week In WWE TV – December 23-29, 2013

This week: WWE does Christmas, with the battle of the Santas and adds yet more matches to the lengthy 2013 best of list. Including, Antonio Cesaro versus William Regal on NXT and John Cena against Seth Rollins on Smackdown. Plus, an NXT recap show, Khali carolling, Bad News Barrett steals people’s money which I’m pretty sure is a crime and Batista is on his way back.

RAW CHRISTMAS

– The show started with Good Santa and Bad Santa vowing victory. Lawler apparently had Christmas off as he wasn’t on commentary. HHH, Stephanie and Kane all came out wearing Santa hats. Kane had an elf with him and handed out candy to the crowd. Candy Kane. Get it? He was rough with one fan wearing a Daniel Bryan t-shirt. They gave a speech and hyped the show before Orton interrupted. He thanked them for having faith in him and said he was their Christmas gift, before thanking them for the night off. They shared a group hug and Kane wished everyone Merry Christmas. Most of the crowd were wearing Santa hats all night as well it should be noted.

– Jingle Belles Match: The Bellas, Natalya, The Funkadactyls and Eva Marie d. Tamina Snuka, Kaitlyn, Summer Rae, Aksana, Alicia Fox and Vickie Guerrero (Natalya submitted Aksana) in 3:47. AJ did commentary and everybody in the match wore Christmas outfits, of course. The match turned into a big brawl and there was a wacky multiple person clothesline spot before Natalya beat Aksana with the sharpshooter. Sin Cara d. Curtis Axel in 5:22 and also did an inset promo, in English and Spanish. Axel controlled things for a while before Sin Cara hit a somersault dive and got the win with a swanton.

– A video aired announcing Batista would be back, January 20th. They showed footage of Bad News Barrett collecting money on the street. The Wyatt Family d. Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Bray pinned Cody) in 16:13. The Wyatts cut off Cody, Goldust and Bryan in turn. Goldust pulled out a code red at one point and a middle rope hurricanrana. Bryan made a big comeback before he was cut off trying to go after Bray. In the end Cody ran wild, Bryan hit Bray with a missile dropkick and a dive, Goldust took out Rowan with a cannonball off the apron, Cody hit the disaster kick to Harper, but Bray blind tagged and won with the Sister Abigail. After the match Goldust and Bryan were taken out and instead of giving Bryan the Sister Abigail, Bray sent him a message and went back to his chair.

– They showed Barrett collecting money again. Renee then hosted a Christmas carol singing contest, with Truth and Xavier, Drew and Jinder and Santino and Khali. Xavier was pretty good. Nobody else was, although to be fair they weren’t supposed to be. Santino and Khali won, mostly for Khali. Drew and Jinder attacked but were quickly taken out by the other four, who then sung some more. Intercontinental #1 Contendership, Christmas Present On A Pole Match: Fandango d. Dolph Ziggler in 4:43. Both went for the present straight away. Finish saw Fandango send Ziggler in the pole and Ziggler fall off the ropes into the steps, allowing Fandango to get the Intercontinental title shot the next week.

– The Usos d. The Primetime Players (Jimmy pinned Young) in 4:53. The PTP did a promo before the match and Darren got the name of the town wrong, presumably deliberately, before Titus got everybody to do the millions of dollars dance. The crowd chanted “This is Austin”, so mark that down on your crowd chants that were actually clever this year list. Jimmy beat Young with the superfly splash, while wearing a Rudolph red nose, because Christmas. They all did the millions of dollars dance afterwards.

– In the epic battle of the Santas, The Good, World’s Strongest Santa Mark Henry d. The Bad, World’s Smartest Santa Damien Sandow in 3:18. Presents around the ring were apparently legal. For some reason there was a toilet, which Sandow got his head shoved in. Sandow tried to use a fire extinguisher but forgot to pull the pin and Henry used it on him instead. Sandow ruined the Christmas set with a candy cane kendo stick. Henry used the fire extinguisher again and won with the World’s Strongest Slam, so Christmas wasn’t cancelled, incase you were still wondering. Sandow got a face full of Christmas cupcakes after the match as well.

– Renee interviewed Punk. Punk said he asked Santa for help and he got it, in Cena and Big E. Cena cut a wacky amped up 1980s style Survivor Series promo. The Real Americans d. Los Matadores (Diego pinned Swagger) in 3:20. Zeb claimed Santa was an illegal immigrant before the match, but at least he only stayed one night and insisted it was Merry Christmas, not Feliz Navidad. El Torito was dressed in white for Christmas, with Christmas lights on his tail and horns. We got a giant swing before Los Matadores pulled some TWIN MAGIC. Torito gored Cesaro and Diego pinned Swagger with a crossbody.

– Ryback d. Kofi Kingston in 5:46. Kofi hit a big dive early and built momentum at the end, but Ryback managed to hit the meathook and Shell Shocked. At his podium, Bad News Barrett delivered the Bad News that he’d raised thousands of dollars, but he wasn’t affiliated with any charities, so he was keeping the money. The Shield cut a promo backstage addressing all three opponents one by one. And in the main event, John Cena, CM Punk and Big E Langston d. The Shield by DQ in 12:56. The Shield worked over Cena. Punk got a tag a hit a dive to Ambrose, before he was suplexed on the floor and The Shield regained control. Reigns took out Cena, but Punk tagged Big E. Big E made a comeback on all three Shield members and hit a splash on Ambrose and Rollins. A Rollins enziguri almost lead to a pin but Cena saved, then caught Rollins only for Reigns to stop the AA with a spear. Punk then took out Reigns and Ambrose got rid of Punk, but turned into the Big Ending. Which you’d have thought would be the pin, but Rollins and Reigns broke it up and instead we got a DQ. Not sure why it couldn’t have just been a pin, but oh well. Cena and Punk made the save after and hit a stereo AA and GTS to Rollins and Ambrose, then they played all three guys’s music to end the show, with Big E’s last. They’re clearly trying with Big E and they kept him and Reigns apart again. Really good match if the finish doesn’t bother you too much.

MAIN EVENT

– Goldust d. Jack Swagger in 13:49. Zeb had another sign, one side of which read “Press 1 for American, Press 2 for I.N.S”, so I guess that’s his thing now. Back and forth at the start before Swagger got the upper hand on the outside. Goldust made a comeback before Swagger got the ankle lock. As Goldust tried to grab the rope, Cesaro pulled it away. Cody took out Cesaro though, while Goldust escaped the hold and hit the Final Cut for the win.

– In the other matches, The Bellas and Natalya d. AJ, Tamina Snuka and Aksana (Nikki pinned Tamina) in 5:50 when Nikki beat Tamina with a roll up. And Fandango d. Kofi Kingston in 13:43. Kofi was on top early and Fandango got so mad, he threw his fancy shirt at Kofi. Kofi threw the shirt into the crowd, which made Fandango even madder, before Kofi sent him outside and hit a dive. Fandango eventually sent Kofi into the post to take over and worked on the arm. Kofi came back into it by the end and set up Trouble In Paradise but Fandango ducked and hit a roundhouse kick. Kofi blocked a superplex, but Summer Rae distracted him. And that allowed Fandango to hit a super falcon arrow, before finishing him with the top rope legdrop.

NXT REWIND

– Most of the show consisted of year end recaps, with Renee as the host. They focused on the major title changes, the guys who’d been called up, the future NXT stars and the guest appearances from people from the main roster (a couple of which including Cena’s appearance didn’t air on the show). There were also comments from Big E, The Wyatts and The Shield. Paige was interviewed by Devin who talked up her match with Emma and sent a message to all the divas, including AJ, that sooner or later she’d make history as a wrestler. When she left, Bo came in and wanted to talk about his Bolievers before introducing his own recap. Later Devin interviewed Sami about his match with Cesaro. Sami mentioned wanting the NXT Title and challenged Kruger to a 2 out of 3 falls match next week.

– Aside from the clips, the show also had the match between Cesaro and Regal. Cesaro did a promo during the show saying he respected Regal and appreciated Regal helping him get to WWE, but there was only room for one of them now and he was the far better man. Regal also did a promo and basically agreed. He said in his career he was a vicious fighter, a unique entertainer and had never become World Champion. Regal said people knew he’d always been a second to none technical wrestler, but Cesaro was ten times the man and wrestler he was and he knew Cesaro wanted to prove that. Regal said he needed a miracle to win but he’d compete with everything he had left and if this was his last match, he couldn’t think of a better way to go out than losing to the ultimate competitor.

– Antonio Cesaro d. William Regal in 16:07. Howard Finkel did the ring announcements. A very technical match as you’d expect. It was fairly even until Regal started kicking Cesaro in the corner, but Cesaro got upset and clipped Regal’s knee. Cesaro focused on the knee and took off Regal’s knee brace. Regal tried to mount a comeback but Cesaro hit an absolutely brutal looking european uppercut. Cesaro used the giant swing but Regal countered the Neutraliser. He tried to take out Cesaro’s arms and went for the knee trembler but couldn’t run. Regal blocked a headbutt with a knee instead. Cesaro countered the double arm powerbomb and the Regal Stretch though, before hitting a dropkick and a double stomp to the back of the head. After showing some reluctance, Cesaro then finished a clearly helpless Regal off with the Neutraliser. Great match. After the match, Cesaro actually shook Regal’s hand as he was being carried out.

SUPERSTARS

– Natalya d. Aksana by submission in 5:06 with the sharpshooter and Antonio Cesaro d. Dolph Ziggler in 9:01. Highlight of the match was probably Cesaro doing the Ziggler hip swivel. Swagger distracted Ziggler to give Cesaro the advantage. Ziggler fought back and almost won a couple of times, before Swagger got involved again, leading to the giant swing and the Neutraliser for the win.

SMACKDOWN

– The Wyatt Family d. The Usos (Rowan pinned Jey or Jimmy) in 1:11. Usos started hot, which meant they wrestled with their shirts on again which apparently meant nobody could tell them apart. One of the Usos hit a dive, but a blind tag led to Harper hitting the spinning clothesline and Rowan following up with the splash on the other. Bray gave the first Uso the Sister Abigail after the match. You’d think telling them apart would be easier by now. Cena then came out for a promo. He goofed around for a while talking about New Year’s resolutions and called out Orton. The Shield came out instead and attacked Cena. Mark Henry made the save and when he was overwhelmed Big E made the save for him. When The Shield were cleared from the ring, Kane came out and announced three singles matches for later.

– Renee interviewed Orton. Orton suggested entering the Rumble, winning and watching Wrestlemania from a skybox, then retiring and entering himself in the hall of fame. Ziggler interrupted and Kane put them in a match as well. Kane then warned Orton things needed to stay under control backstage. Antonio Cesaro d. Cody Rhodes in 4:11 with a roll up after Swagger distracted Cody and The Primetime Players d. Rybaxel (Young pinned Axel) in 4:52 after Young reversed a cradle pin on Axel.

– Randy Orton d. Dolph Ziggler in 13:14. Ziggler held his own at the start, before being thrown into the post and out of the ring onto the steps. He beat the count back in but Orton took control. Ziggler made a big comeback and had a number of near falls, before Orton used a thumb to the eye and won with the RKO. Orton beat Ziggler up outside after the match and gave him the DDT off the barrier. Backstage, The Shield said 2014 would be just like 2013 for them and they all addressed their opponents for tonight. Daniel Bryan d. Damien Sandow in 4:01. Bryan fought back to win with the running knee. Afterwards the Wyatts appeared on the stage and Bray I guess tried to recruit him again.

– Big E Langston d. Dean Ambrose in 2:47. The rest of The Shield, Big E, Henry and Cena were all at ringside for each other’s matches. Big E won the first match fairly decisively with the Big Ending, after Cena and Henry warded off any interference from Rollins and Reigns. There was a brief stare down between Reigns and Big E afterwards, before Roman Reigns d. Mark Henry in 4:09 with a samoan drop, a superman punch and then a spear. In the final match of the series, John Cena d. Seth Rollins in 17:08. Rollins got a lot of offense here and had the advantage for a large part of the match. Cena tried to fight back, but Rollins was able to cut him off each time, including escaping an AA and hitting a second rope blockbuster. Cena got a close near fall with his neckbreaker move and Rollins almost won with the standing sliced bread. Cena got another big near fall with a sit out powerbomb, before Rollins avoided another AA and got two counts with an enziguri and a top rope knee. Cena then countered the Blackout into the STF but Rollins made the ropes. Ambrose tried to run in but Big E took him out. Reigns clotheslined Big E before being launched over the announce table (and into Ambrose who it looked as though got kicked right in the face) by Henry. That left Cena to roll through a crossbody and hit the AA to get the win. Another really good match worth seeking out.