12-16-13 Raw results and thoughts

 Coverage and thoughts on the December 16, 2013 Raw

The show starts with the whole roster on the stage & HHH & Stephanie are in the ring. Stephanie welcomes everyone to this historic Raw. Time for everyone around the world, the superstars & divas from the past & present to honor 1 guy. HHH says last night the dawning of a new era took place as the WWE & World Titles were unified. A champion of champions was crowned & they’re here to pay honor to the new WWE World Champion Randy Orton. Orton comes out, stares at Cena & holds up the belts & then takes his sweet time getting in the ring. Then Orton says it’s a nice feeling when your faith is rewarded but the fans never had faith Orton would the “most important” match in WWE history. We all bought into the lie he was handed everything but he showed that wasn’t true. He earned what he took last night & made the 2 titles 1. Last week Orton stood in the ring with former champions & none of them have accomplished what he has. He says that he is better than everyone on the stage. He’s the most powerful guy in the ring. He’s the WWE World Champion. His reign will…Cena cuts him off & calls him an idiot. Orton doesn’t want Cena to ruin his moment. Cena just finishes whatever Orton was gonna say & throws in the handcuffs that were used. Then he congratulates Orton. Orton was the better champion & he earned it. Then Cena reminds us that Stonecold says that title forces you to put up or shut up. Orton tells Cena he won’t get his rematch tonight. Cena wasn’t talking about himself. Cena wants to be champion but last week he told a guy that if he won he’d give him a title match. He said that because unlike Orton he listens to the fans. Cena is talking about Orton facing “him.” Cena points to Daniel Bryan. Orton doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Cena says this would a great way to prove his legacy by defending the titles against Daniel. Orton doesn’t have to listen to Cena, Daniel, the idiot fans; he doesn’t have to listen to anybody. Then Stephanie says, “Except us.” Orton says that giving Daniel a title match tonight can’t be best for business. HHH agrees with Orton that Daniel doesn’t deserve a title match. Stephanie says that for reasons she can’t understand the fans voted for Daniel as superstar of the star. HHH says he & Stephanie always listen to the fans (Bull). Orton says that he was in a TLC match last night & went through a war. HHH can’t think of a better way to kick off the champion of champions era then for Orton to face the guy everyone says he can’t beat, Daniel Bryan. This was a mixed bag opening in ring promo. Orton was his usual boring, slow talking self, Cena’s promo was good & I liked he put Daniel over again. HHH & Stephanie were they’re usual selves.

The fans can vote for which team they wanna see The Rhodes Brothers face tonight. The Real Americans, Ryback & Curtis Axel or Big Show & Rey Mysterio. All 3 teams that they beat last night. I knew they were gonna give us some version of a rematch from the PPV.  

Goldust & Cody are in the ring. Time to find out who they will face next. No App plugging this time. They just play Mysterio’s music & he comes out. Then out comes Big Show.

WWE Tag Team Champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show & Rey Mysterio. Big Show & Mysterio win when Rey pins Goldust. This was a good match. It looks like Rey & Big Show will be getting a tag title match again. Afterwards Big Show & Cody pick up Goldust.

During this Lawler took pictures of himself, JBL & Michael Cole on his phone. Why’d the do that during this match? Then JBL tells Cole to call the match. UGH!    

Michael Cole says that on the App fans can vote for whole Punk will team with tonight to face The Shield. The Usos, Los Matadores or The Primetime Players. Another version of a PPV rematch & Punk has a choice of 3 mid card teams to team up with.

Time for Bad News Barrett. He says over half a billion dollars is at steak this weak in the lottery. He’s got bad news. None of them will win the jackpot. They’ll have to return to their homes & continue to live their boring life styles. Who cares? This gimmick is crap.

Michael Cole mentions that they’re auctioning a Slammy on wwe.com. WHAT!? Who would want that!?

Backstage we see HHH, Stephanie & Kane. Orton comes in & flips out for having to face Daniel later tonight. Stephanie says that last night Daniel was almost decimated by the Wyatts. They value Orton as their champion & their friend. Orton is the “first” Undisputed champion. Now Orton has to face double the competition. HHH tells Orton everyone is gunning for him. Orton has to show why he’s champion every single night. They got his back. Orton storms out. This was your typical McMahons-Orton backstage bit.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Fandango. Dolph gets the pin. This was a decent match.

Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston & Mark Henry vs. The Real Americans. Big E & Henry win when Big E pins Cesaro. This was a good match & I like the Big E-Mark Henry team.

Backstage we see Sandow dressed as Santa & AJ Lee & Tamina are his helpers. He asks some little girl what she wants. Then he says it doesn’t matter, they have stupid lighting & Sandow says Christmas is canceled. Then we find out that Mark Henry will face Damien Sandow in a battle of the Santas next week.

R-Truth & Xavier Woods are on commentary.

Ryback & Curtis Axel are in the ring.

Then out come Brodus Clay, Tensai, Naomi & Cameron. I thought Brodus turned heel.

Tons of Funk vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel. Ryback & Axel win when Ryback pins Tensai. This wasn’t much.

Afterwards Brodus splashes Tensai twice. Then Truth & Woods hit the ring & they double dropkick Brodus out of the ring.

Then Truth says Naomi & Cameron haven’t had a lot to dance to lately. Woods says they’re all dressed to dance so they should come on in & do a little dancing. Naomi & Cameron get in the ring & the 4 of them dance. This was terrible.

CM Punk comes to the ring. He says that he was saying how The Shield would take him down. He thought for sure he they would, but last night not only did he not get taken out he beat the entire Shield. They’ll make excuses as to why they lost & this is far from over. The fans chant CM Punk. Then Punk says this isn’t about The Shield. The “Authority” doesn’t wanna admit they send The Shield after him. Punk feels like someone is trying to sweep him under the rug. Punk isn’t that great with authority. He showed that when he punched HHH in his mouth. Then Punk says before HHH puts him in a 16 on handicap match, why doesn’t HHH come out now & they can settle their problems face to face. Unless HHH is afraid of what Punk ca do to him with the mic. He asks the Dallas fans if he should give HHH a couple more seconds. Punk figured he wouldn’t come out. Cue Shawn Michaels’ music & he comes to the ring. Punk tells Shawn he wasn’t finished. Then he says whenever HHH or Stephanie wanna talk he’s waiting. Shawn gets Punk’s obsession with the authority & not liking Hunter. Then the fans give Shawn a you sold out chant. Then Shawn rags on the fans. He then says that Punk has to get over this obsession. Punk’s issue shouldn’t be with HHH. I should be with Shawn since he kicked him. Punk wants to talk about that. Punk respects Shawn. Everybody does, but if he tries to kick Punk again Punk will kick him back. Shawn’s always liked Punk & what Shawn did last week pained him more than it pained Punk. Also what he’s about to do now will pain him more than Punk. Shawn brings out The Shield. This was a solid in ring promo. Punk was great as usual & Shawn was solid on the mic too. It looks like Michaels is the tweener in this storyline. Are they possibly setting up a Punk-Michaels match? That would be interesting to watch.

Time to find out who the fans picked to be Punk’s partners. It will be The Usos (Not surprising since The Usos have had issues with The Shield in the past).

CM Punk & The Usos vs. The Shield. The Shield wins when Reigns pins Punk. This was a really good match.

Next we see the Wyatt family backstage. Bray says Daniel is a coward & a liar. He held Daniel in his arms & told him he could take the pain away. Bray’s sorry for doubting Abigail. Bray now knows what he must do. If Daniel refuses to walk with the reapers than he will burn with the Saints. Then they show Bray’s rocking chair. This was the usual creepy promo we get from Bray.

Natalya & The Bellas vs. Divas Champion AJ Lee, Tamina Snuka & Alicia Fox. AJ, Tamina & Alicia win when AJ pins Nikki. This was ok.

Backstage we see Mark Henry dressed as Santa. The Bellas are his helpers & Hornswoggle’s there too. A little boy comes in & says he heard a bad Santa was cancelling Christmas. Henry is the good Santa & this will be the Merriest Christmas of them all, because that’s what Santa Henry does. This was ok too.

Backstage Renee Young interviews Orton. Orton complains about having to face Daniel. How many times does he have to beat Daniel. Orton knows what’s truly best for business & that’s if everyone bends over & kisses his ass. Thankfully this was short.

The Rhodes Brothers will face Luke Harper & Erik Rowan this week on Smackdown.

Daniel Bryan vs. WWE World Champion Randy Orton. Daniel wins by DQ when Orton punches Daniel in the groin. This was a really good back & forth match & I expected there wouldn’t be a clean finish.

Then John Cena storms to the ring, takes down Orton & then throws him out of the ring. Cena checks on Daniel. Then Orton gets back in the ring & gives Cena an RKO. Then Orton holds both titles over his head & stands over the fallen Cena & Daniel to end the show.

I thought this was a solid show for the most part. The opening in ring promo was a mixed bag. Cena was good but Orton was dull and HHH & Stephanie were their usual irritating selves. I enjoyed the Daniel-Orton match at the end & I knew there wouldn’t be a clean finish but I was ok with that. I liked Cena coming out afterwards too & taking out Orton only for Orton to RKO Cena & stand tall over Daniel & Cena. I also liked the Punk-Michaels promo. Punk was great as usual & Michaels was good here too. If they have a Punk-Michaels match that would be interesting. The 6 man tag was also really good. I knew The Usos would be teaming with Punk since they’ve had Shield issues too. The Santa Sandow bit was lame but the Santa Henry bit was ok. The 6 Divas tag was ok too. Ziggler-Fandango was decent but it was a rematch from last night. The Rhodes Brothers-Big Show & Rey Mysterio match was also solid. Bray Wyatt’s promo was the usual creepiness we get from him. Tons of Funk vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel wasn’t much & I wasn’t into the post-match stuff either. I think they could’ve done a better job with the Brodus heel turn. Mark Henry & Big E vs. The Real Americans was good too. I like the Big E-Mark Henry tag team. The backstage bit where Orton flipped out on HHH &Stephanie was your typical McMahons-Orton segment. Orton’s interview with Renee Young later on was solid though. Overall I thought this was a solid show.