12/10/12 RAW

Ratings:
R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett: *

Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Primo & Epico (Elimination): **1/2

Eve Torres vs. Alicia Fox: N/A

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler: ***1/4

Alberto Del Rio vs. Zack Ryder: *1/2

Vickie Guerrero vs. AJ Lee: N/A

Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston: **3/4

Big Show vs. John Cena: **1/2
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
We're in Newark, and Ziggler starts the show on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring. Tables, ladders, and chairs surround the ring. Ziggler's confident he'll beat Cena and retain his MITB briefcase, then become World Heavyweight champ. Enter Sheamus. Big Show and his blah blah blahs. Sheamus pushes Ziggler off the ladder. Ow.

Vince is back. More awkward Vickie Guerrero segments. Vince says Show and Cena in one main event, thanks to Vickie. But Vince wants two main events. Sheamus now in a match against Ziggler. Good job, Vickie. Oh wait, three main events! Vickie says AJ in a handicap match? Nah, AJ against Vickie instead. Talk about having the mic blow back up in your face. Pipebomb...

Truth and Barrett next. Kofi and Cesaro at ringside on commentary. Pumphandle slam countered and Truth steals the win with a victory roll.

An energetic AJ Lee gets to barge into the men's locker room again. Fun, isn't it?

Fatal Four Way elimination tag match to determine #1 contenders. Cody Rhodes is back after healing damn quick from his injuries. Usos eliminated Primo/Epico and the PTPs. Camera got a good shot of Cody's mustache. Hey Cody, Movember is over already. "Cody's Mustache" chants?! WTF. Usos looked like they'd run the table, but Cody got the knees up on the splash. Cross Rhodes gets three.

Divas will get more than one wrestling match tonight! Yeah, I'm even counting Vickie's upcoming participation as a match this time. Eve and Alicia are up first. Alicia with a colorful outfit. Basic match, mostly dead crowd. Eve wins with the neckbreaker in under 3 minutes.

Punk on crutches this week. No, his injury is not really that bad. Regardless, he's off the TLC PPV. We see Ryback's dominance on Punk again from last week. Punk's focus switches to Rock now at the Royal Rumble.

Ziggler and Sheamus next. Sheamus quickly attacks Ziggler's left leg (hamstring taped up). Sheamus into the ringpost and Ziggler attacks the injured shoulder. Ziggler scales the ropes and scores a super facebuster for two. Each guy with counters and several near falls at the end. Ziggler ducks the Brogue Kick and uses the chair for the DQ. Sheamus Brogue Kicks the chair back in Ziggler's face.

Vickie's a little tight, so Hornswoggle and Khali offer to help Vickie stretch. Vince walks in. Thought it was supposed to be a family show. ROFL. Vintage awkwardness. That how you like it, Vickie?

More Shield promos. Win.

Del Rio and Ryder next. Crowd still loves Zack. More time given to this match than I thought they'd give. ADR ducks the Broski Boot and right into the cross armbreaker for the submission win.

AJ and Vickie are finally up. AJ with the homestate pop. Vickie doesn't get ring music. There's no ref in the ring. Oh, it's Brad Maddox in a ref's shirt! AJ with the slap and Maddox doesn't count. Vickie with the rollup and Maddox counts three. Yup. Not sure why Maddox didn't just count fast there. Vickie skips and AJ with the screaming tirade. AJ slaps Justin Roberts pretty hard. Ow.

10th Tribute to the Troops will air over the holiday season. Oh, and the Slammy Awards return next week!

Cesaro vs. Kofi in another champion vs. champion match. Nice match here. Even the little things like grabbing the rope on the SOS was great. DAMN, Cesaro caught Kofi off the top and into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Neutralizer gets three. Impressive.

This show has felt ridiculously long.

Miz TV is next. Nice suit, Miz. Guests are Rhodes Scholars a.k.a. "The Beardo and the Weirdo." Miz with the jokes for Cody's mustache. More shots at Pacquiao getting KO'd. Ow. Miz trying to create tension between the two tag partners. "Cody's Mustache" should just get its own shirt. "The Pink and the Stink." BURN.

AJ wants to accompany Cena for his match. Ziggler on commentary. Show basically controls most of the match. Show can't put Cena away. AA hits. Shield hits the ring one by one to attack Cena. Team Hell No comes in to attack Shield. Ziggler works on Cena. Show works on Cena. Sheamus enters and goes after Ziggler because of the no-contact rule with Show. Cena spears Show through the table. Ryback time. Loved how he tossed a ladder to nail all three guys. Big brawl ends the show. TLC this Sunday.