From the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T & Josh Matthews
Championship's roll call: WWE Champion: CM Punk… World Champion: Daniel Bryan… Intercontinental Champion: Cody Rhodes… United States Champion: Zack Ryder… Tag Team Champions: Air Boom… Diva's Champion: Beth Phoenix
Big Show comes out to open the show; Michael Cole signals his eventual heel turn by supporting him. Show cannot believe Daniel Bryan is the champion; he reiterates that it took him nine years to get back to the point of champion. He puts over Mark Henry as a monster and was proud to defeat him to become champion… and then it was gone. He's gone through the ringer of emotions and then he reshows Josh Matthews telling him that he has the shortest world champion reign in history. Show it proud of himself for not snapping and then is interrupted by Mark Henry. He is appalled that Show is proud of being the shortest champion in WWE history; he feels that Show should be embarrassed and humiliated and should quit. It's the Holiday season, he could get a job as Santa Claus somewhere; I'm guessing that's a reference to Jingle All the Way. Henry wants his rematch with Bryan, which brings the champ to the ring. He says that there is no one in the arena who fully believes he's the champ… including himself. He says he is not the strongest or the biggest, or the smartest, doesn't have a good catch phrase, no cool name or discernible charisma and was just told he isn't very attractive; there is nothing about him that screams "WWE Superstar" …but he is a great wrestler and is the World champion. Henry calls him a pipsqueak and demands a rematch tonight; Show cuts in with, "Hey, I pinned you at TLC". Show remembers that… all forty-five seconds of it. BURNED! Show gets angry so lecherous old man GM Teddy Long comes out and says that they will face each other and the winner is the number one contender. He then congratulates Daniel Bryan; Show and Bryan shake hands and Show puts a little extra mustard on it. Bryan offers Henry a shake as well and then pulls a Ric Flair. 5/10 So Bryan is going for the happy-go-lucky dorky champion, which has been his modus opperendai the entire time thus far in the WWE. I don't mind it but I'm guessing a title loss will bring the Danielson out of Bryan. The Big Show heel turn is obvious; the question is whether it will cost Bryan a title.
Zack Ryder vs. Cody Rhodes: Here we have a non-title, champion versus champion match, which should be rather entertaining. Cody taunts Booker T with the IC title, as does Michael Cole throughout the match. Ryder opens with a shoulderblock so Rhodes drop-toeholds him into an armbar; Ryder comes out of it and hits a pair of arm drags into another armbar. Rhodes backs him into the corner and charges but Ryder tips-over into another arm drag. Rhodes comes back, countering a backdrop with a Gutter Punch, and then tosses Ryder to the floor; Zack tenaciously charges right back in, fitting with his bravado, like when ill-advisedly pescadoed onto the pile of heels on Monday night, he meets a boot and gets clotheslined to the floor again. Cody goes out after him but Ryder gets a knee in. They battle on the floor where Rhodes tosses Ryder into Booker at the commentary table. They exchange glances, like strangers in the night as we head to commercial. Back from break, Rhodes plants Ryder with the Alabama, Slam for two; he settles into a unique wear down hold wrapping his arm around his leg and applying a crossface. Ryder fights free but misses a running crossbody and crashes into the ring ropes; Cody gets a pair of nearfalls and segues into another STF-like move. Zack frees himself again and knock heads in the corner; Ryder recovers and begins the comeback with forearms and a faceplant. He hits a running forearm in the corner followed by the Broski Boot, for two. Wow, he usually goes for the Rough Ryder immediately following that move, changing up the comeback, which is always good to prevent staleness. Ryder tries a second-rope missile dropkick but Cody catches him on the way down and stamps him. All of a sudden, Booker T grabs the mic, stands on the announce table, and sings "Cody the Red-Nosed Reindeer"… who had a very broken nose. Cody is not happy… ROUGH RYDER! Here is your winner, Zack Ryder. Post-match, Booker finishes the ditty… SUCKA! 5.5/10 Pretty decent match that was going well until the storyline kicked in; funny thing is, Booker was totally in the wrong there, and pulled a heel maneuver to best the heel Cody Rhodes. Book and Josh Matthews share a laugh whilst Michael Cole goes into cataplexy.
In his office Teddy Long is surprised by the Cobra and Santino Marella; he applies for "assistants to the General Managers of the SmackDowns" position. Aksana interrupts; Long introduces her to Marella. Lots of sexual double entendres follow. She leaves and Marella raises the Cobra in a boner-like fashion; Vickie Guerrero interrupts with Dolph Ziggler, and the Cobra goes limp. Dolph says the US title rematch will come in time but would rather face Daniel Bryan tonight. Long books the match and dances.
Big Show and Mark Henry come out for their match but are interrupted by David Otunga, who comes out with a microphone and heads into the ring. He introduces himself and says he is speaking for John Laurinaitis, the VP of Talent Relations, and that Henry is not medically cleared, and therefore, the match will not happen. He wishes everyone, on behalf of the Raw GM, a happy and healthy holidays. Big Show knocks him out with the WMD. 2/10 I guess this will explains Henry taking off time to recover from a severely pulled groin. It also reminds everyone Laurinaitis' other position in the WWE.
The Miz is here tonight, in the back, and bumps into Teddy Long. Miz ponders why he was asked to be there; Long says that he was not informed. Miz goes off on a rant about how Raw is the superior show over SmackDown and promises to disrupt the show; Long says he'll send someone out there to meet him. Back from break (and a Tribute to the Troops highlight package), Miz is in the ring taunting Long; he shows highlights of him injuring R-Truth and John Morrison. He thinks the SmackDown locker room is a bunch of cowards. He rips the entire SmackDown locker room and professes his awesomeness until the greatest of all whites interrupts…
Sheamus vs. The Miz: This should be a good litmus test for Miz (and Sheamus) to see where he stands in the main event pecking order since Sheamus is on a hot streak (as is Miz), running over everyone since he turned babyface midway through 2011. They lock up and Miz pounds away until Sheamus comes back with a bunch of bodyslams; Miz, the thinking wrestler much like Ted Dibiase, Sr. was, heads to the floor to break momentum; he takes over while Sheamus tries to reenter the ring after overaggressively charging out after him. Miz posts Sheamus and rolls him back into the ring, for a one count, so he applies an overhand armbar. Sheamus tries to fire back but misses a charge in the corner allowing the Miz the Vintage Clothesline and a pair of running boots, followed by the Dangerous DDT, for two. He chokes Sheamus in the corner with a boot and then tries the Vintage Clothesline again but runs right into an Irish Hammer; several more follow before he drops Miz with the Irish Curse. The Celtic Cross is countered and Miz boots him in the chest; he tries the Skull-Crushing Finale but Sheamus reverses that into the Brogue Kick and pins Miz clean as a sheet. 4.5/10 I'd call that a big win for Sheamus considering that Miz was just in the main event of a couple of pay-per-views. I still feel this is pushing to a Sheamus Royal Rumble victory. This match was no different from the squash versus Jinder Mahal from Raw; Miz just got a little more offense in.
Wade Barrett, who I am seriously pushing in my WWE '12 season, comes out for some perils of wisdom. He says the "BAH-rrett BAH-rrage" is in Randy Orton's head; a few speed bumps were unable to derail the BAH-rrage for long. He shows a series clips; one from the initial match between the two on SmackDown a month ago, where he defeated Orton with a "thumb to the eye", one from Survivor Series where he pinned Orton after Wasteland, and the final clip is the Wasteland through the table from Raw this past Monday. Barrett feels, because of his success against Orton, he deserves a title shot and wishes, as they say in England, a "happy Christmas". He takes his leave but Randy's music meets him in the aisle and the battle ensues. Orton gets the better of Barrett and tries an RKO but Barrett counters and heads for the hills. Orton chases him into the back where they fight in the bowels of the arena and into the parking garage. Orton SPRAYS him with a hose, which Barrett sells, and then dumps garbage all over him from a nearby rubbish can; Randy pounds on him atop a car and then KILLS Barrett with an RKO onto the roof. 4/10 This feud is booked so even sided, which is good for Barrett, placing him on the same level of Orton. Even if Orton wins the eventual blowoff match (perhaps at WrestleMania, which means the storyline will have started pre-Survivor Series and lasted all of the way to WrestleMania; that's a WrestleMania blowoff), Barrett has been successfully elevated and has recovered well from a dismal 2011.
Before the next match occurs, a 01/02/12 promo interrupts.
Kofi Kingston (w/Evan Bourne) vs. Primo (w/Epico & Rosa Mendes): I'm glad they are continuing this feud and perhaps (finally) beginning to rebuild a tag division. Primo attacks at the bell and pounds Kofi down; he applies an armbar. Kingston tries to struggle free but Primo maintains control with a Russian leg sweep into an octopus-like stretch. Primo sweeps the leg and then drops a leg and elbow, for two; he misses a charge in the corner and Kofi comes back with dropkicks and a double-jump crossbody block off the top. He catches Primo with the pendulum kick in the corner but then all sorts of outside stuff occurs between Bourne, Rosa and Epico; Primo seizes the opportunity to arm drag Kingston off the turnbuckles, for a close nearfall. The match slows down and then Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere and gets the three count. 2/10 Nothing special here; the match wasn't very indistinguishable and Kofi gets a rare singles victory.
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero): Well, this is Dolph's foray into the main event area; Bryan is relatively new in it too... and he's the champ! There is some time for this match here, almost a half hour. They lock up and Bryan gets a dropkick. A test of strength is battled and Bryan rolls around into a headlock; they run the ropes and Bryan catches Ziggler mid-leapfrog and applies the Whoa Surfboard Stretch (fans still don't know what to do with it yet). Ziggler struggles and slides to the ropes. Dolph holds the ropes to counter another dropkick and Ziggler stomps the crap out of Bryan. He SHOWS OFF (with sit-ups in the ring) and Bryan nearly completes the LeBell Lock; he maintains control with Euro uppercuts until Ziggler drop-toeholds him in the corner and then a nice inverted powerslam, for two. Back from commercial, Bryan runs into a dropkick; he applies a chinlock. Michael Cole, the anti-Bobby Heenan, continues to trash and bury Bryan's size and ability, throughout the match. Bryan comes back, so Ziggler whips him off the ropes, and they collide in a double crossbody spot; Jack Swagger meanders down to the ring to root Ziggler on. Bryan backdrops Dolph to the floor and then clobbers him with a topé. Vickie runs interference while Swagger knocks Bryan out with a running shoulderblock. Big Show heads out to ringside as well as the conspiracy portion of my brain begins to tingle like Kris Kringle. Ziggler applies the sleeper hold but Bryan quickly rolls through and O'Connor rolls him out of the corner; Bryan, then one-ups himself, rolling through that into a BEAUTIFUL bridging German suplex. Nice cooperation by Ziggler there as well. It gets two. Bryan begins to unload with roundhouse kicks but Dolph ducks the last one and tries the Zigzag; Bryan shrugs him off and connects with the buzzsaw kick. Big Show applauds Bryan; Ziggler kicks out at two. He props Dolph on the buckles and tries a super Frankensteiner but Ziggler rolls thought for a close nearfall. Ziggler seizes control with the Hashtagger and gets another nearfall. Ziggler props Bryan atop the ropes and tries his own Frankensteiner but Bryan slips out and crotches him; Bryan with a top-rope reverse superplex and… Dolph gets his foot on the ropes. Both guys are down so Swagger attacks Show on the floor; Jack runs into the ring with Show in pursuit and gets caught in a goozle. Teddy Long, hoping to preserve this worthy match, runs down to try to talk sense into the Big Show; he changes the match into a tag match after the commercial…
Daniel Bryan & Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger (w/Vickie Guerrero): Swagger is trying to wrest the Big Show but he gets overpowered and hammered. Show with a HUGE headlock takeover. He chops Swagger in the corner and he tags in Ziggler, who is in no hurry to get into the match. Show dominates him with punches, chop, piss, vinegar and stomps. He slams Ziggler and tags in Bryan to "finish him". Bryan kicks the ever loving snot out of Dolph in the corner and whips him cross-corner but misses the running dropkick and lands on the back of his head. Swagger gets the tag and lands a Swagger Bomb, for two; Jack applies a double-armlock as Show implores Bryan to tag. The heels trap Bryan in the corner, he tries to fight out, but the numbers overwhelm him and Swagger ties him to the Tree of Woe. Dolph adds some extra punishment, with zeal, while Swagger distracts referee Scott Armstrong. Swagger softens the ankle up with a spinning-toehold; Dolph comes in and continues the psychology with a half crab. Bryan crawls to his corner but gets cut off with an elbow drop. Ziggler applies the sleeper hold but Bryan posts his shoulder and Dolph takes his contractually obligated Hennig-oversell, flying out of the ring, between the ropes, to the floor. Dolph crawls back into the ring but is unable to cut off the hot tag to Big Show. He knocks Swagger across the ring with a Pounce and then kicks Dolph out of the ring. He goozles Swagger but Jack slips over and clips Show's leg; he stumbles into the corner where Bryan blind-tags (to Show) and leaps off the top… right into the ankle lock! Bryan, however, reverses that into the LeBell Lock and Swagger eventually taps out. Post-match, Bryan celebrates with the world title as Big Show watches longingly on the floor. 8.5/10 This score is for the entire main event, as in both matches. I knew this match(es) would be good, especially after I saw 1:33 on my DVR, which means a lot of time to build a good match… we did get a good match, followed by a pretty good little tag match at the end there; a great way to cap off a rather pedestrian SmackDown this week. I guess the SLOW BURN to the heel turn for Big Show is in the making.
OVERALL 6/10 This show was all main event tonight. There was some pretty good stuff but all of it leads to something bigger; the main event matches were great and puts a good taste in the mouth heading into the holidays. Happy Holidays everyone.
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