12-19-11 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the December 19, 2011 episode of Raw

The show starts with a long drum roll and then CM Punk’s voice comes over the speakers that live from philly it’s Monday Night Raw. Then he rags on Johhny Ace for being uncreative. Then he says, “Who was the winner of the TLC match” and Del Rio’s, Miz’s & Punk’s pics show up on the screen and said that he the best wrestler in the world won. Punk’s music plays and he comes out. Punk talks about the TLC match and that he managed to retain the WWE Title. Then he talks about the U.S. Title match and does the who was the winner bit and then Dolph’s & Zack’s pics show up on the tron. Then Ryder’s music plays and he comes out. Punk says that he has saved the biggest for last and he talks about the World Title match and does the “who won” bit again. Henry’s & Show’s pics show up on the tron. Punk says that Show won and then the unthinkable happened and that Daniel Bryan became World Champion. Bryan’s music plays and he comes out. Punk says he figures that Philly would a city that would appreciate this and the fans chant ECW! Punk then says that he and Bryan met 10 years ago and who would’ve thought that 10 years later they would be standing in a WWE ring as WWE & World Champion. Then he puts over Ryder and Punk says this his crazy. Then he says that tonight is not about him, but about Ryder & Bryan. He mentions how he has watched them both break their backs for the fans. Ryder says that he asked his dad if was really the U.S. Champion and his dad said the Ryder catchphrase. Then Bryan says that people never expected him to get to WWE and then he says now he is not only there but he is THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! He was going to say more but The Miz, Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio come out. They try to attack the faces but they hold them off. The heals strategize on the outside and then Ryder dives onto them and the brawl starts. Then Johnny Ace comes out (boo!) and says that last night he gave them all opportunities. Then he says that tonight’s main event will be Daniel Bryan, CM Punk & Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio, The Miz & Dolph Ziggler. He says that this is their Christmas present and wishes everyone Happy Holidays. This was a really awesome opening segment. Punk cut a great promo as usual and seeing him in there with Ryder & Bryan all as champions was a great moment. The mini brawl was good too, but of course Johnny Ace was his usual boring self and made the predictable 6 man tag, but that should be a good match.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett. Orton wins by DQ after Barrett thumbs him in the eye. Afterwards Barrett continues attacking Orton and gives him the Boss Man Slam. Then he gets a table out from under the ring. Orton gets up and Barrett gives him a big boot. Then he set up the table gave Orton Waste land through the table. This was good too I thought. They’re continuing this feud and I’m ok with that. This feud has been good.

They show still shots of the Triple H-Kevin Nash match from last night and they mention that Nash got injured and will be out 6 weeks. Actually from what I read/heard that was his final on screen appearance.

Alicia Fox vs. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix. Alicia gets the pin. This was short and pointless. I don’t know why they continue to have Natalya & Beth lose in 1-2 minutes. Alicia gets the mic and hopes everyone has a foxy holiday. Lame! It looks she will be the challenging for the Divas Title next. Oh joy! (Not!)

Sheamus vs. Jinder Mahal. Before the match Jinder says that Sheamus has no class and no honor and that it is about time that somebody puts him in his place. Sheamus gets the pin. This was a short decent match.

John Cena comes to the ring. First he mentions that a lot fans don’t like and gets all sarcastic about it. Then he mentions his match with Rock at WrestleMania 28. Then he talks about Kane choke slamming him last week. He says that he is here to face his fears and then says that if he choke slammed Cena last week on purpose they should handle their business now. Mark Henry’s music plays and he comes out. He says that he had Cena last week and that if it weren’t for Kane he would be in the hall of pain. Then he mentions how Cena’s out here making jokes and he says he’s not in the mood for any. Then he talks about losing the World Title last night and that he is here to talk about his injuries and why he lost. Then he tells Cena to beat it. Kane’s music then plays and he comes out. Henry goes outside the ring and Kane stares him down as Henry backs off. Then Kane turns to Cena. He takes his helmet off and gets in the ring and Cena clotheslines him out of the ring. The Kane throws Cena on to the announce table and then he places his hand on Cena’s face and smothers him. He rips Cena’s shirt off and walks out as Cena gasps for air. This was some decent stuff. Cena’s promo at the start was lousy as usual, but Henry cut a good promo and him backing down from Kane but also telling him he’s not scared of him was ok. The beat down on Cena was ok too.

The Usos vs. Primo & Epico. Primo & Epico win when Epico pins Jimmy. They show Kofi & Bourne watching the match on a monitor backstage. This was a solid match. All these guys are really talented. They should be booked better, but it looks like Primo & Epico will be challenging for the Tag Titles.

Josh Mathews interviews Cody Rhodes and asks him how he fells after beating Booker T. He says Booker’s come back was idiotic and then he talks about the Royal Rumble. Santino Marella then comes in and he has a Christmas cobra for him. This was dumb. Cody’s promo was good but the Santino bit is way old.

Santino Marella vs. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Cody gets the pin. This was a squash.

They show the end of last week’s Tribute to the Troops show.

They show The Bellas backstage with Johnny Ace and they argue with each other and tell him about Teddy Long. Ace says that mangaemnet is watching Long and he wishes them a Merry Christmas. Vickie Guerrero then comes in and says that Dolph got cheated out of his U.S. Title. She goes nuts and David Otunga comes in and then Hornswoggle comes in with a missile toe and kisses Vickie. Vickie flips out some more. This was idiotic.

They show Zack Ryder celebrating his U.S. Title win with his dad and his dad says that he is proud of him.

Josh Mathews interviews Big Show and Show mentions that after 9 years he had the World Title in his hand and that it went away in seconds. He says that he was speechless and he blames himself because he encouraged Bryan to cash in the MITB case. Then he gives him credit and says that Daniel’s living his dream. Then Josh says that Show the shortest World Title reign in history. Show says he is ok and he walks off. This was a decent promo.

Before the 6 man tag they show another 1/2/12 video.

World Champion Daniel Bryan, WWE Champion CM Punk & U.S. Champion Zack Ryder vs. The Miz, Alberto Del Rio & Dolph Ziggler. Bryan, Punk & Ryder win when Bryan makes Del Rio tap. This was a really good match. The faces celebrate with the fans as Bryan stands on the ring barrier and Punk stands on the announce table to end the show.

I thought that his week’s show was good overall. It was easily way better than last week’s! I liked the opening segment with Punk, Bryan & Ryder in the ring as champions and the heels coming out led to a really good main event 6 man tag. The Usos and Primo & Epico had a good match too. They should really give these guys the push they deserve. Big Show’s promo was good too. I’m not sure if he will turn heal but  we’ll see in the next few weeks. They might do Bryan vs. Show for the Title at the Rumble. The Divas stuff was pointless as usual. I have no idea why they have Natalya & Beth lose in such short matches. It makes them look really weak. The Cena-Kane-Henry stuff was good too I thought. Henry’s going to be out for awhile because of injuries so him backing down from Kane was ok. Kane attacking Cena was ok too. The Cody promo was good till Santino came in. On the whole I thought that the good outweighed the bad this week and they did a decent job in setting up the follow up storylines.