Tuesday, December 13, 2011

12/13/11 Tribute to the Troops

Ratings:
Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton: *1/4

Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger: *

Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Alicia Fox, & Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Brie Bella, & Nikki Bella: 1/2*

Cody Rhodes vs. Daniel Bryan: *3/4

Primo & Epico vs. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne: *1/2

Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre: *

CM Punk, John Cena, & Big Show vs. Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, & The Miz: **1/2
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Nine years of this already? Wow. Fort Bragg tonight. Obama with the thank you to the troops via taped message. Nice touch there.

Orton and Barrett start things off. Good physicality, but a double countout. Aw. Otunga gets involved and wants to put Orton through the table, but eats an RKO. Loud "Table!" chants. And Otunga gets nuked.

Nickelback comes out to do the RAW opening theme live (of course changing the lyrics to make it PG). Attended one of their concerts in Portland...actually the only one I've gone to so far. Not really one for the loud concert vibe.

Superstars jumping out of an airplane! Yeah, no thanks.

Swagger in the ring and he's soaring around the ring again. Oh, it's Zack Ryder! And it's Sgt. Slaughter! And Sarge dons the headband! Yes! That was probably the best part of the segment.

Bellas in camouflage, nice segment at West Point with that obstacle course. I'm too out of shape for West Point, unfortunately. Really...Maria Menounos from "Extra" gets in this eight-diva tag match? Where can I get a gig so I can participate in a WWE match? I'll be better than...Jenna Morasca. Yeah, setting the bar high for myself (sarcasm). Kudos to Menounos for starting the match, and she did OK for her 30 seconds of fame. Wait, WTF? Maria got the win?! Dang, that was sweet. Vintage Savage impersonation from Lawler!

George Wallace out for some entertainment. Good stuff. Maybe it's because of my studying, but he was talking pretty damn fast.

Booker T is calling some action tonight -- of course during the Cody Rhodes match with Daniel Bryan. DB weighs 210 now? So he gained over 10 pounds lately, huh? Vintage bow and arrow from Cody! Booker gets involved eventually. KTFO (sorta) to Cody! Why can't Daniel Bryan actually get a clean win over someone nowadays? It's been a while, hasn't it?

Whenever Cole goes postal -- especially on DB -- I'd like to see Booker or King employ some Heenan tactics ("where? didn't see a thing!"...that sorta shtick). I think it would be fresh and a great use of "heel" commentary in a "face" manner to counter Cole's extreme heel outbursts. Yeah, so Cole's being fed lines from Vince or whomever. I'd still want someone to neutralize the guy.

Hey, Air-Boom is back! Bourne's been back from his suspension for about a week now, I think. Miss USA? Yes, please! Air Boom with new music...I think? Can't remember if that was their theme before Bourne's suspension. Primo and Epico helped make this a pretty fun match. I hope they stay together for a while, especially because Rosa will benefit from the screen time.

Nickelback comes back for an encore song. Yay.

Christian's here! Gotta give him a heel promo. Canadian Army! Out comes Sheamus, one of the reasons Christian is on the sidelines. Don't think McIntyre will be getting a push anytime soon. I hope he's not a midcard lifer. Match was over in about three minutes. Ugh.

Mary J. Blige came out for her encore song. I liked that better than Nickelback.

Six-man tag time. I think Punk inadvertently (on instinct) went for the cover with Cena already going to pin Miz. Pretty funny there. Wait, Cena with a slap to the chest? Oh right, Big Show's coming in. OW. I think Miz's heart stopped. And then Alberto's probably did the same. Welp, that leaves Mark Henry. Good staredown. Henry and Show actually took up a good amount of time here. Punk on top of Show...Savage elbow! Cena gets the final hot tag because he's Cena. Fun finishing sequence.

Great way to end the show. All the talent on the ramp, with Cena being the spokesperson. Talent all comes down to mingle and shake hands with the fans. Now that's what being a part of WWE and the WWE Universe is all about.

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