Tables Ladders and Chairs 2010
Date: December 19, 2010
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Jerry Lawler

It’s the all gimmicks all the time show which was fun last year so we have that to hope for at least. The card looks decent and I’d expect a seventh match to pop up on here. The show is kind of predictable in theory though, but it’s nothing I’m worried about. Well I’m out of filler lines and the show is starting so let’s get to it.

Opening video/montage is about Cena vs. Nexus. Never mind as apparently it’s about champions, which makes more sense. The video is getting me hyped up at least so that should be a good sign.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler

That’s what I figured would be the opener. Nothing like a hot opener to be, you know, the opener. King says that Vickie isn’t as cute as Bill Dundee in another line that most people won’t get at all. Weird kind of three way brawl to start and we get a LOUD Kofi chant. Ziggler to the floor and Cole and Lawler start chatting about ladder matches which should be interesting.

First ladder brought in by the champion but both challengers shove him off as the champion touches the belt. Sweet dropkick by Kofi takes down Swags. In a smart spot Kofi shoves the ladder down onto Swaggers’ hands/arms as he’s using the ropes to get up. Another ladder in now, also by Ziggles. Swagger has to get his arm looked at as Kofi lands back first on a ladder.

Slingshot from the mat into the ladder draped over the middle rope. It may help if I say Swagger launched Ziggler into it. This is going WAY too fast to call play by play and such. Ziggler hits a Fameasser onto Kofi onto a ladder onto Swagger. Everyone is out so Vickie comes in. Lawler: who does she think she is, Michael Cole? She tries to go up for no adequately explored reason so Kofi starts to tip over the ladder until the heels make the save.

Everyone on the floor now as the fans are WAY behind Kofi still. He goes up the ladder but Swagger grabs the ankle lock. Ziggler climbs up their backs and nearly pulls it off. Ziggler vs. Kofi on top as Jack is down on the floor. Big BOMBS being thrown here. Dolph manages to get the freaking Sleeper on top of the ladder! He fights out and gets a big shot to put Dolph down a bit.

TEST OF STRENGTH on top of the ladder but Kofi shoves Dolph off. Swagger goes up now as this is awesome stuff with incredible balance. Both guys pull down the title….and Ziggler grabs it off the mat to retain. The fans boo the heck out of it but Striker points out you have to have possession of it which while a stretch does actually make logical sense. If nothing else we got to hear Lawler say “he’s clutching it to his bosom.”

Rating: B. This was more of an intellectual ladder match which is something you don’t see. They brought out some leverage and thinking spots which work far better than the usual high spots which we’ll get later on with Morrison. This was much better than I was expecting and sets a very good pace for the show.

Barrett addresses Nexus and we have a tag title match tonight apparently. Cena is a cancer, Nexus is united tonight, you know the drill I’m sure.

Beth Phoenix/Natalya vs. Laycool

Quick recap video which is of the table on Friday which didn’t work. No tagging here thank goodness. The pink table with the painting from Friday is brought in as Laycool is down early. Crowd is QUIET here. Lawler says he’s never seen a Diva go through a table. That’s just amusing. Double fireman’s carry by Beth is very impressive. Striker makes an important point: any method of going through the table counts. Also it’s only one Diva required for a win.

Laycool in control now as the fans do not care at all. Beth is on the floor now as Laycool takes over. SICK landing by Beth as her foot gets hooked on a rope and she lands straight on her back/head. That was painful as all goodness, it had to be. Michelle sets for a Faithbreaker (Styles Clash) through a table on Nattie but Beth comes back for the save.

Not table for Michelle (“JUST WAIT UNTIL MARK HEARS ABOUT THIS!!!”) as Layla rakes Beth’s eyes. Layla beats on Beth for awhile but can’t suplex her through it. Double gorilla press by the blondes to Layla until Michelle kicks both in the ribs. Beth may have fallen out for a bit. HOLY CRAP!!! Natalya puts Layla on top of Michelle and puts them BOTH in a Sharpshooter at the same time. TAKE THAT BRET!!!

The nice chicks set up the tables but Michelle sends Beth to the floor to make it 2-1 again. They set for a double superplex but Beth saves again. A lot of near finishes in this one indeed. Down goes Beth so they set for it again but they’re shoved off. The table DID NOT BREAK so Natalya is like screw it and splashes them through it to end this.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t as bad as you would have thought as Laycool fought them off far better than people would have predicted. It was a good match even but did anyone ever think Laycool had a realistic shot out there? Not a bad match or anything but at the same time it didn’t really get me into the match and it kind of dragged. Still fun though and that Sharpshooter was GREAT.

Ad for WWE Week which is cool indeed.

Kane talks about his childhood sucking but this year he gets toys: tables, ladders and chairs. He beats the tar out of a bunch of Christmas decorations while shouting MERRY CHRISTMAS. Oddly good actually.

Tag Titles: Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel

Santino does his usual funny stuff about how awesome he and Kozlov are. McGillicutty and Harris are with the guys in yellow. Santino vs. the homeless South African guy to start as this is a standard match. Surprisingly this is a pretty solid technical showdown to start. Off to the Wendy’s chick/man now with a hot crowd doing a Santino chant. The Cobra is the TLC tonight: Totally Lethal Cobra.

Now the fans like Kozlov. Harris clips him and the evildoers have won the day! Ok so they’re just in control but it sounds more triumphant the other way. Big Wendy’s chant now as we’re still being funny and not getting into TNA territory. Vlad gets beaten down for awhile until he uses his head to get Santino in. Santino raises the roof and cleans a few rooms. Cobra is set up but McGillicutty runs in for the LAME DQ.

Rating: D+. Nothing here at all and Santino is the guy getting hot tags now? Just a quick match but apparently they’re setting up the post match thing which is coming here. Nothing that couldn’t have been done on Raw here, but at least Nexus got their rematch out of the way now.

Nexus beats the champions down with Barrett coming down and killing Santino and Kozlov with a chair which makes sense.

Don’t try this at home. Try it in a place that I haven’t made a joke about a dozen times already.

Sheamus vs. John Morrison

Oh yes. These two have that weird chemistry that guys like Warrior and Rude did: you can’t explain it but it’s definitely there. Lawler will not shut up about Cole costing him the title still. They actually hit the mat almost immediately which is odd indeed. We hit the floor and Sheamus sets up a ladder early. Winner is #1 contender if I forgot to mention that.

Morrison slides under the ladder that is set up between the announce table and the apron. He teases Sheamus to get him to also but the big white dude can’t do it and gets kicked in the head. A fan calls Sheamus Casper which cracks me up. Morrison jumps over part of the crowd to hit a forearm, which is a former AJ move. Into the ring and they fight over a ladder which results in Morrison diving over a ladder to take down Sheamus.

Morrison goes up but isn’t in the right position and down he comes. He gets hung upside down with his leg getting caught and he’s stuck hanging upside down. Sheamus’ solution: shove him forward which could hurt his knee and head as well. Sheamus works the knee as a smart Irishman. The fans seem to be divided here but not equally. I think they’re for Morrison but I’m not sure.

Cole tries to make this tank vs. fighter jet which is a cool analogy. Morrison is somehow able to stand after a beating like that one. That’s quite impressive. After a slam onto a ladder where Morrison’s knee gets caught, Sheamus heads up. He naturally takes too long and here comes Johnny Boy. Sheamus charges at him with a ladder but Morrison gets a drop toehold to send the King’s face into the ladder.

BIG kick puts Sheamus down and we’re getting good now. Irish Curse takes down Morrison again though and he hits the floor. Both guys have ladders so they slug it out with the ladders and Sheamus gets his hand hurt. Morrison’s next step? CHUCK THE LADDER AT SHEAMUS’ HEAD!!! Why mess with the basics I guess. Atomic drop onto the ladder makes Jerry squeak in a loud voice.

Instead of climbing immediately John throws a ladder over the top to crush Sheamus all over again. Hand on the contract but a Brogue Kick to the knee/ladder brings Morrison down to the floor. Sheamus goes up but the contract is flying all over the place. Here comes Morrison but the both go down again. Headscissors sends Sheamus to the floor and here goes Morrison again. ALMOST but Sheamus shoves the ladder down for the save. Sweet stuff so far.

Sheamus backdrops Morrison over the top where he crashes to the floor but luckily he didn’t land on the ladder which is still bridged from the beginning of the match. They fight on the same ladder with their backs to the bridged one. Both guys fall backwards, Morrison to the floor and Sheamus THROUGH THE LADDER. That spot never gets old, period. Morrison is all alone in the ring, other than a ladder that is, but here comes Sheamus somehow! Cole asks if he’s the Terminator and I might believe it. Morrison KICKS HIM IN THE FACE and is the #1 contender, more or less sealing Miz retaining later on.

Rating: A. That’s probably a bit overrated but DANG this was good stuff. The se two have MAD chemistry together and every single one of their matches have been awesome. The announcers say this is Morrison’s best match ever, and I can’t really argue against it. Morrison vs. Miz is going to be sweet stuff at the Rumble indeed. Great match.

Miz says that he’s the new face of the company. Everyone has said he can’t do it and he’s proven everyone wrong. Indeed he has.

Barrett won’t talk to Grisham as it’s powwow time. Nexus is LAID OUT with chairs everywhere and only Harris, who was with Barrett, left standing. I smell a setup.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. Randy Orton

Orton is power walking down to the ring. This is a tables match remember. We get a quick recap video of Miz cashing in which while semi-predictable was still great stuff. Big match intros are always sweet. Orton pounds him down early and we’re off. Miz is in gold trunks, just like Sheamus was. Orton misses a charge and eats buckle as Miz takes over. We get into the Superstar of the Year argument again which goes nowhere.

Orton hits the floor and grabs a table from under the ring as I guess the seven or eight in the aisle aren’t good enough for them. Riley moves the table to save his boss/friend/teacher/dom to his sub. Orton gets his sweet dropkick. Miz gets in a cheap shot and here comes Miz, setting up a table. Orton is sent into the steps and it’s table time all over again.

Miz’s table breaks/falls apart though. Clearly not an awesome table. Miz goes up but Orton rolls off the table which was stupid because he could have won if he hadn’t moved early. Table #3 pulled out by Miz. Even the Artists Formerly Known as the Dudleys say REALLY to that many being brought out by one guy. Running clothesline in the corner has Orton in trouble.

Angle Slam by Orton and he puts Miz on the top. Superplex off the top but Riley again moved the table. There’s the snap powerslam and the elevated DDT. Riley moves the table again so Orton puts him down for fun. Table set up in the middle of the ring and we have an RKO chant. Backbreaker keeps Miz down. Orton sets for the RKO but Riley comes in AGAIN.

Skull Crushing Finale is blocked and we lose a referee. Powerbomb to Riley through the table but there’s the Skull Crushing Finale to Orton. I think I know what’s coming. Yep, Miz moves Riley off the broken table and puts Randy on it. The referee wakes up and Miz retains the title! AWESOME!

Ok wait maybe not as the referee sees the video and we’re on again! Orton hammers away and boy is he ticked off. And never mind as Riley shoves Orton off the apron and through the table to tapdance on the pieces of the broken hearts of the fans while the magic fairies of instant replay were repairing them. AWESOME AGAIN!

Rating: B-. I loved the ending here as it played into the whole Miz defies the odds thing. They also covered that this is fair. It’s probably a bit too highly rated but I had a lot of fun in this one. Also the right guy won as Orton goes back a bit now so we don’t have to deal with him for awhile. I liked it a lot as this whole show has been awesome.

Royal Rumble ad which is about how one person is going on while 29 aren’t. Other than the other guy getting a title match that is.

Off to Alberto and some hot chick in the back near his car. Edge is standing in it and bouncing up and down. He offers an alliance between the three of them to take out Kane. Alberto thinks about it but Edge says no not really as that never works.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

You win by gaining custody of the title. Dang it Rey has the advantage now since he had a custody ladder match before! Rey is dressed….like Gene Simmons of KISS? Really? Entrances take a very long time here. Kane goes straight for Edge as the expected pairings go off together. Striker goes through everyone’s experience in four ways or TLC matches to waste some time.

Alberto shoves Rey off a ladder as Rey jumps onto Kane and Edge, taking them both out with ease. Rey hits a Seated Senton onto the ladder onto Alberto which was cool. The problem with these matches becomes apparent very early as we know the match isn’t ending this early. Chokeslam is countered into an Edgecution by Edge to put the champion down.

Baseball slide to the ladder puts Kane down again, ticking off Cole since it knocked down his Slammies. Alberto and Mysterio kind of disappeared and we have the original title match now. Ah there’s Alberto with all four guys on the floor. Kane rips the legs of a table off which is rather impressive strength. Edge is in the crowd now and not by his own choice.

For some reason he jumps off the barricade to break up a double chokeslam on both Spanish speakers. Everyone but Del Rio combines to put Kane through a table, leaving only Rey to climb the ladder. Running enziguri in the corner has Rey down so Alberto speaks some Spanish. For no apparent reason Del Rio pauses to go get a chair which doesn’t work. Spears for both Del Rio and Rey and Edge climbs up.

Kane is back though and Edge gets crotched on the top rope as a result. Out to the floor (again) with Kane killing everyone (Katie Vick anyone?) with a chair. Everyone but Rey is on the stage where Edge spears the champion down. Rey climbs up onto the tables that hang from the ceiling to take down Kane with another seated senton. Everyone else is down so Rey is like screw it and hits the ring but is too small to get the big ladder up, allowing Del Rio to stop him again.

619 for both Edge and Del Rio but Edge stops his with a chair shot. Two ladders go up, one of which Edge couldn’t reach the title from the very top of. Edge and Rey go up the huge ladder but crash down in a painful looking drop. Ricardo tries to get Del Rio up before going up the ladder himself. And never mind as Kane is back. Chokeslam to “Eddie Munster (I love Striker)” and one to Alberto as well.

Edge through a table now as Rey gets rid of the ladders and beats on Kane for a bit. Del Rio somehow stops him from getting up the HUGE ladder and there’s the Cross Armbreaker which Rey taps to, not that it means anything. Striker thinks you can’t climb a ladder with a bad arm. Morrison did it earlier with a bad leg but you can’t do it with a bad arm? And people wonder why teachers get so little respect.

Alberto goes up and gets his hands on the belt but Rey saves by shoving the big ladder over, sending Alberto CRASHING through two tables on the floor. Big old sick spot there. Kane saves again and a Tombstone flattens Rey one more time. The top of Kane’s head is cut a bit. Kane goes up but Edge pops him a few times with a chair. I think our announcers are out. Edge spears Kane off the apron and there he goes and there’s World Title #10. Riveting.

Rating: B. Fun match but it was a step behind what I thought it would have been. This is LIGHT YEARS ahead of what Edge vs. Kane would have been though so that’s a perk. There wasn’t a good pick to win this one really as everyone would be pretty boring. Somehow this is the weakest big match so far, which is saying a lot as it was still good stuff. Good match, but nothing legendary.

And here’s Cody Rhodes. Uh why? Rhodes is straight up ROCKING the suit he’s in. He talks about the jowel (not a typo) which is where the jaw meets the chin or something. He runs down Houston for some cheap heat which is perfectly fine. Houston is the fattest city in America apparently. And here comes Santa with the Bellas. It’s Santa Show this time. Jerry: it looks like Santa got bigger this year. Striker: if I was around the Bellas I’d get bigger too.

Show and the Bellas throw out DVDs which apparently are all of Knucklehead. Not a bad thing for free I guess. Cody makes fun of Show in his underwear on the DVD cover. Show shills the DVD and makes fun of Cody. Cody says Show looks like a vanilla Shrek. Show threatens Cody with being in Knucklehead II. Spinebuster to Cody and the suit gets ripped off. Cody has Sunday written on his underwear.

Cena takes out Harris and says see you out there to Barrett, who was next to Harris when he got cracked by a chair. Cena is a  ninja!

And here’s CM Punk, apparently taking over for Striker for the main event.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett

This is PPV main event number……five for Barrett in his seven months on the main roster. Not that WWE made a new star or anything. BIG reaction for Cena as this is a chairs match. DUELING CHANTS!!!! Barrett hits the floor and Cena cuts him off as the fight is on. There must be twenty chairs at ringside. Barrett gets the first one so instead of picking up another, Cena slowly backs up and tries to keep fighting.

Both guys in the ring with chairs which last a few seconds as we’re back to the slugout. The idea here is that neither guy can get to the chair which they’re treating as something special here, which I like. They hit the floor with Barrett in control. Barrett gets a chair shot to the back of Cena but it’s in the aisle. Barrett sets up the steps which would be illegal wouldn’t they?

Cena slams him on the stage and goes to the back. He comes back with a rolling chair in a rather funny moment. He puts Barrett in it and wakes him up with some water. Cena gets a running start and throws Barrett down the ramp in the chair into the steps. Awesome spot and kind of funny at the same time. Barrett gets control way too quickly and we’re back in the ring and the English dude has a chair.

He chokes away with it as someone as the announce table can’t stop coughing. In an amazing strength move, Cena has Barrett sitting on the chair on top of him. Cena says screw it and bench presses his way out of it. HOW STRONG IS THIS GUY? Barrett gets a chair up to stop a shoulder block and Cena hits the floor. Cena gets tied up in the ropes and Barrett has a freaking field day on him with the chair.

Cena fights out and hits the Protoplex and the Shuffle but can’t get the FU. Bossman Slam gets two. Chair is wedged in between the top and middle rope. STF is countered with Cena being launched into the wedged chair. Barrett goes up with the chair and dives off (think Foley diving off the apron with one) but gets canvas instead. Top rope Fameasser with the chair but Cena won’t cover.

He sets up about six chairs in a two rows of three facing each other. I think I see an FU coming. Hey what do you know I’m right. In the FREAKING OW MAN spot of the night, the chairs DON”T MOVE and Barrett just stops cold. The pin is academic and for once and for all, the feud is OVER.

Maybe it isn’t as Barrett crawls away and Cena picks up another chair. Let the beatdown begin. They’re up by the stage and Cena gets some kind of a metal pallet thing. Cena looks up at all the chairs hanging from the ceiling and THEY ALL FALL ON BARRETT. Nice job as Barrett is BURIED to end the show and the year. The visual on the replay of a bunch of them just falling straight down is great.

Rating: B. Not a great match or anything, but it certainly worked. I don’t usually do this, but I’m going to include the post match stuff in the rating for this one. That part is the real aspect here, as Cena didn’t beat Wade Barrett. He defeated him. That’s a key difference here. Cena did exactly what he said he’d do: he defeated Nexus. It’s not a great match, but it’s a great ending. That’s what the important thing is here, and it worked like a charm.

Overall Rating: A. This show was fun. That’s the best possible description that I can give it. You have at least one great match with Morrison vs. Sheamus and depending on your tastes another in the TLC match. There wasn’t a single bad match here with the worst certainly being the tag titles, but that was under seven minutes and really not that bad. Also it’s early enough in the show that it doesn’t hurt anything, plus it was a bonus match so it’s not like anyone has anything to be disappointed in either.

The key thing to me though is that for once we got the END of an angle here. That’s the important part of this show to me. Instead of having a show just be the next chapter in a story, it was the final chapter in it and the whole thing is done. It’s a perfect way to close out the year and it worked very well. Excellent show and exactly what it was supposed to be: incredibly violent and fun. No complaints at all.

NXT
Date: December 14, 2010
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

It’s week 2 of NXT and things are looking good so far. Last week was a good start so hopefully that continues here. I’d like to see more of their characters come out this time though which isn’t something we got to see much of on the season premiere. It’s weird to be getting ready for NXT and to have a positive outlook on it. Let’s get to it.

We open as always, with Striker bringing out the rookies. We’re opening with a karaoke challenge. I already don’t like this. There are six envelopes with wrestlers’ theme songs that they have to sing. O’Brian gets Sheamus and we FINALLY get the official words to Sheamus’ song. Surprisingly it doesn’t say Lobster Head. His voice is all nasal and this is just awful.

Bateman gets Miz. He’s not bad but the pacing is all off. He throws in a shoutout to the college football team which is smart.

Novak gets a pop as he comes up for some reason. He gets Dolph Ziggler, who happens to be his pro. Novak sounds really quite drunk. He more or less just says the words which might be the best course of action.

Clay, the white Viscera, goes third with Cody Rhodes’ song….and doesn’t do half bad. It’s more talking but there was a little flair to it. Best so far.

Curtis gets Orton and gets down in the slither pose. I know nothing about music and I’m not sure if this worked or not. Imagine a guy trying to sing like James Hetfield without having talent and singing Orton’s song and that’s about it.

Saxton is last and draws Shawn Michaels whose name gets a bigger pop than anything else so far. He messes up one of the most famous lyrics in wrestling history. How is that possible? He does dance a bit which helps somewhat. Saxton wins which I guess is the best choice as he was definitely trying.

Masters/Saxton vs. DiBiase/Clay up next.

Profile on Novak who says he used to play every spots, including football. They had a motto on the team: DTD – Determined to Dominate. He says he’s destined to dominate. That’s a good line. Novak says he’s the most like Jack Swagger on the roster and that you have to look out for #1, and that’s him. Kind of a generic promo/character but he sold it quite well.

Chris Masters/Byron Saxton vs. Ted DiBiase/Brodus Clay

See I told you it was up next. You didn’t think I’d lie to you did you? Josh talks about having dinner with Brodus recently and that he’s a fascinating person. He actually comes off as that which is good. The rookies start us off. Clay shoves him around with ease so here’s Masters instead.

After a little back and forth stuff Ted comes in and we actually take a break on NXT. Back with Ted holding a chinlock on Masters. I like this Brodus guy. Masters fights out of the corner but walks into a dropkick from Ted for two. In a funny bit Masters brings in Saxton and in a Shawn Stasiak like moment he charges and is taken down immediately.

Clay hits a huge spinebuster but tags DiBiase back in. A kneedrop misses and Saxton is able to get out and it’s pro on pro again. Another spinebuster, this time from Masters, hits DiBiase as does an accidentally shot from Clay. Masters calls for the Masterlock but Saxton gets a quick tag and walks into Dream Street to end it at approximately 7:00.

Rating: C-. Not a great match or anything but it did its job with Clay looking good for a big man and Saxton getting a bit of character development as being a headstrong guy that isn’t as good as he thinks he is. This worked ok though and wasn’t a bad match at all.

We go to the back where Bateman is warming up when Bryan comes in. He says that Bateman has a match tonight so Bryan is going to teach him a hold. It’s a heel hook which Bryan demonstrates step by step (Hey kids! Pay attention as the United States Champion shows you a basic way to snap someone’s ankle in three easy steps!) how to do it and tells Bateman to do it now. Bateman goes insane and shouts about how he’s doing submission wrestling while Bryan is telling him what to do. In order to get Bateman to chill, Bryan KICKS HIM IN THE FACE! I told you that was the best solution to a lot of problems! Funny segment.

Obstacle Course time, but this time it’s for TWO immunity points. Novak goes first and does relatively well until he gets to the push-ups where he has to start over. He sets the time to beat at 37.9 seconds.

Saxton goes second and is a jerk to Striker. I guess he’s not all bad. Saxton falls going over the hurdles and slams his head. He can’t do push-ups either and goes over a minute.

O’Brian is third but messes up on the wall/hurdle as well. He can’t do the balance beam that well and winds up getting 42.7.

Bateman is fourth and the referees are REALLY anal about these push-ups. Bateman manages to break the time at 35.7.

Curtis says he’s feeling very gazelle-like and breaks the time but the referees say he messed up on the balance beam so it’s a disqualification.

Brodus Clay is last and literally throws the walls out of his way. Naturally he’s disqualified though.

Curtis gets another chance to a chorus of boos. He destroys the time at 31.4 seconds.

Profile on Curtis who talks about dabbling in a lot of stuff. He and a friend of his trained in a ring in the woods apparently and the friend was killed in a car wreck so he has dog tags on his tights because of it. That’s a cool story.

Raw Rebounds wastes some time.

Jacob Novak hits on Vickie for some reason. Ziggler comes in and asks Vickie to leave. He’s not happy and more or less says hands off. Is there a reason why Vickie is going to be a focal point of a storyline on this show in back to back seasons?

Ad for the 50 Greatest Superstars DVD which might be worth looking at.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Derrick Bateman

This should be short in theory. Alberto asks Ricardo to take out Bateman. Del Rio dominates early on as you would expect him to. The fans aren’t exactly thrilled by this match to put it mildly. Bateman makes a brief comeback and gets a modified neckbreaker. Think the Moonlight Drive that Morrison used back on ECW. Cross Armbreaker ends it in about 3:20. Not much more than a squash.

Rating: C. Really hard to grade this as it’s barely a competitive match. They tend to have one of these a season and I’m not entirely sure I get the point to them. Del Rio has a major match on the PPV so why would we believe that Bateman stands a chance against him? Also, why not have a rookie against Bateman? Either way it wasn’t bad but it was rather short.

Overall Rating: B. Another good episode this week as things continue to look up for this season. We got some character development, two challenges that went by pretty fast and two matches. That’s pretty good for a little under an hour I’d say, especially considering a 3-4 minute Raw Recap plus commercials. I’m liking this 6 man set of rookies as it’s definitely more workable. Nothing bad at all here and some decent stuff make this a solid outing for the second episode of the season. Good show.

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 13, 2010
Location: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: CM Punk, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s Slammy night which is almost always fun. Tonight we find out who the fans deemed the best of 2010 which should be interesting. In storyline terms tonight we have the ultimatum for Barrett: either rehire Cena and end the attacks or he’s out of Nexus. Most interesting indeed. Let’s get to it.

There’s either a new theme song or it’s for the Slammys. There are tables, ladders and chairs in front of the announce table.

We open the show, I kid you not, with David Arquette. He more or less cuts a promo at the presentation table with a deep voice and talks about beating Eric Bischoff for the world title. He’s booed out of the building to be nice about it. He’s presenting Shocker of the Year.

Nominees:

Miz Cashing in Money in the Bank
Nexus’ Initial Attack on Raw
Paul Bearer Turns on Undertaker at Hell in a Cell
Orton Punts Jericho

Winner: Nexus’ Initial Attack on Raw. That’s without a doubt the right choice. The last two aren’t surprises at all as Bearer constantly turns on Taker and Orton’s punt meant nothing really. Miz was a shock but we all knew it was coming eventually. NO ONE saw Nexus coming.

Barrett comes out to accept on his own and says he’s responsible for Nexus being here. He hasn’t made his mind up about the Cena situation but he will by the end of the night. Barrett turns to leave and we get an E-Mail. In short, we’re getting a match right now.

Wade Barrett vs. Big Show

Show grabs the Slammy out of Barrett’s hand as he comes to the ring. Barrett hides from Show and hits the floor before any contact is made. Ah here we go as Show pounds away. Punk says Barrett is a hero for getting rid of Cena. Barrett gets a Greco-Roman thumb to the eye and goes after Show’s leg. Everyone tries that strategy and it rarely works.

Show wakes up and we head outside again for a BIG chop. Barrett’s back looks awful with all the welts on it. He grabs his Slammy and takes the walk for the count out at 2:45. No rating due to the shortness and the fact that a lot of that was Show setting for chops and Barrett hiding.

Voting is still open for Superstar of the Year.

There’s a battle royal for Diva of the Year later tonight.

Kelly Kelly is here for the Despicable Me Award, along with Tyson Kidd and his bodyguard who towers over both of them. Kelly can barely read her teleprompter. This is more or less the biggest heel move of the year. Tyson introduces his bodyguard, Jackson Andrews. Kidd makes fun of Kelly’s intelligence and she says he doesn’t talk much. I see why she hardly ever talks.

Nominees:
Drew McIntyre Making Teddy Long Lay Down
Kane Buries Undertaker Alive
Mr. McMahon Kicks Bret in the Gut
CM Punk Sings Happy Birthday to Rey Mysterio’s Daughter

Winner: CM Punk. That’s the best one probably as he was more or less pure evil there. This is his third Slammy and he celebrates like crazy in a funny bit. He says if you work hard you can achieve your dreams but tonight there is someone in the back that has wronged him. Punk will get him and what he did to Rey is nothing. He doesn’t say who it is.

Kofi Kingston/Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase/Dolph Ziggler

Bryan has the Bellas with him again. I would have expected Swagger instead of DiBiase but this works I guess. Ziggler is in traditional tights now instead of the shorts. We take a break before the bell. Back with the match already going. The heels beat on Bryan as we’re told that some awards were already handed out and those can be found on WWE.com.

Lots of chinlocks follow before Bryan gets away long enough to bring in Kofi. The Jamafrican gets Trouble in Paradise to Ziggler to win at 3:00 shown. Again there’s not enough here to rate as this was barely a match from what we were able to see. The Bellas looked great though.

Morrison vs. Sheamus again tonight.

Santino and Vladimir are here for the Guest Star Shining Moment of the Year Award. We get a MacGruber reference and Vlad isn’t happy with is so Santino kisses him. These two are rapidly growing on me.

Nominees:
Mike Tyson Knocks Out Chris Jericho
Pee Wee Herman vs. Miz
Wayne Brady Takes an RKO
William Shattner Sings Theme Songs

Winner: Pee Wee Herman. None of them are here tonight but Pee Wee accepts the award via satellite. I liked Shattner better which was awesome beyond words. Punk wants a recount.

Nexus confronts Wade about his decision with Otunga saying Barrett’s singles career isn’t looking good after his loss to Show. Barrett says he has his decision now and leaves.

Best Performance By a Winged Specimen: Raw Chicken
Best Use of Exercise Equipment: Rosa Mendes Uses a Shake-Weight
Most Menacing Haircut: Tyler Reks
Best Family Values: Kane Beats Up Jack Swagger Senior
Superstar/Diva Most in Need of Make-up: Sheamus
Cole in Your Stocking: Daniel Bryan Beats Up Cole on NXT
Outstanding Achievement of Baby Oil Application: Dashing Cody Rhodes
Frequent Tweeter Award: Goldust
Best WWE.com Exclusive TV Show: WWE NXT
Most Annoying Catchphrase: Zach Ryder for “Woo Woo Woo You Know It.”

Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes

Random matches for the win I guess. Cody tries basic stuff and gets LAUNCHED away. Mark grabs his face and messes it up. Why not go with basic attacks I guess? Cody trips him up and stomps away which is probably the best he’s going to be able to do. Henry keeps shoving him away with eas.

This is the basic formula for most super strong wrestlers: non-strong guy does what he can, strong guy does basic stuff, small guy moves out of the way of something to get the win. In this case it’s a charge from Henry that misses to set up the Beautiful Disaster and a top rope kneedrop to end it at 2:49. What’s with the short matches tonight? Match was ok but like I said there was more or less nothing going on there so again no rating. Sorry about the lack of them tonight.

Holy *#&$ Award next.

Lawler is presenting this one and is in his full attire. His co-presenter: Vickie. Oh joy indeed. This is the Holy @*$& Award. King says he was at the vet all night with his lizard who had reptile dysfunction. I hate my life. Vickie has slimmed down a bit so Lawler makes fat jokes.

Nominees:
John Morrison Dives off the Set at Hell in a Cell
Kofi Kingston’s Boom Drop at Money in the Bank
John Cena’s FU to Batista at Over the Limit
Randy Orton RKOs Evan Bourne Out of AirBourne

Winner: John Cena. That is RIDICULOUS. It was an FU off a car and that’s it. I was at the Raw where Orton hit the RKO and the place erupted. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. This wasn’t even the best FU he’s ever hit and it wins an award? Give me a break.

Barrett comes out to accept the award and give his decision. He says that he’s not going to make his decision unless Cena is here so come on out. Cena comes through the crowd as you would expect him to. As Punk said last week: “We have the worst security in the world.” At least try to make it seem like he’s fired. Have a guard escort him or something.

Wade says that this is a huge decision and here comes Nexus. They surround the ring and Cena is officially rehired on two conditions. Number one is he has to face Barrett at TLC in a chair match. Wasn’t there already one of those scheduled? Number two is he faces Otunga tonight. Odd choice but ok.

Barrett says this is why he rehired him and Nexus attacks. Barrett grabs a chair and cracks Cena over the back with it. Nice shot so he does it again. Nexus leaves Cena laying. I’m really not big on them rehiring him that fast. That could have gone on for months but they pull the trigger that fast? I’m not digging that at all.

Next week there is a special two hour live Smackdown on USA and the Tribute to the Troops has an encore. The SD would be to avoid the show being on Christmas Eve which makes sense.

Arquette is back again, dressed like a low rent Elvis impersonator. He’s opening a theater in Hollywood or something like that. He’s presenting the Crowd Reaction of the Year.

Nominees:
Kid Reacting to Cena Joining Nexus
Woman Crying When Shawn Lost at Wrestlemania
Some Dumbstruck Moron (no event specified)
DEMON CHILD! (huge pop for that actually)

Winner: Do I even need to say this one? She’s here! She’s really quiet and here comes Miz. Oh this should be great. He offers to take the award for safekeeping and wants to see the face again. The girl gets all sad and leaves. Miz, Riley and Arquette come to the ring as the girl just leaves all sad.

Miz lists off his accomplishments this year which really are impressive. He says on Sunday he’s going to dominate Orton but we get an E-Mail. They actually have text on the monitor now. Both Miz and Orton are facing former champions tonight and Miz’s match is now.

The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

I think there’s something wrong with the audio there as the theme music is somewhat quiet. Rey sends him to the floor as we take a break. Back and they go for Rey’s sit out bulldog and botch the HECK out of it. Rey may have tweeked his knee but he sets for the 619. Here’s Del Rip and Rey charges at him.

Miz catches him and sets for a powerbomb but drops backwards to send Rey face first into the apron which looked brutal. It gets two as it took awhile to get back into the ring. Rey’s knee looks fine so maybe he just landed oddly. Ah it was his ribs that he hurt. Superplex is blocked and Rey lands a big springboard crossbody for two.

Rey sets for the 619 but again Del Rio gets in his way. Miz is sent into him though and down goes Alberto. Rollup by Rey gets two. He sets for the 619 again but Del Rio interferes again and a small package gets the win for the champion at 3:30 shown of 7:00.

Rating: C+. This was pretty fast paced and it worked rather well. Miz cheated to win but that’s his job as a heel. He keeps getting victories over these big guys which is the best thing he can do to gain credibility. Decent little match with more added to the Rey vs. Alberto feud and Miz gets a nice win. What more can you ask for other than more time?

E-Mail says Orton vs. Arquette/Riley tonight. Oh dear.

Back from break and Edge is here for the Oh Snap Meltdown Award. Kane was supposed to co-present with him but he’s having a meltdown of his own. He needs a co-presenter so he brings out Christian. Nice indeed. So are they brothers or just friends at this point? He wants Alberto to win for various reasons.

Nominees:
Big Show Breaks Swagger’s Trophies
Alberto Del Rio Breaks Rey’s Arm/Wrist
Edge Destroys the Laptop
Batista Quits

Winner: Edge. I know people that that was awful but it really wasn’t so bad. I liked it a lot actually and it made sense. Edge says this is odd as he’s always been calm and cool and loses his mind about the laptop again. He apparently has a match with Swagger later and

Christian gets an E-Mail on his phone. Edge: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Christian: Yes I am. Funny stuff. Edge cuts a short promo and says that things always stay the same. Christian does the e-mail sound into the microphone so Edge can say “And I quote: Michael Cole is still a huge tool.” I love these two.

Sheamus vs. John Morrison

It’s the inbred spawn of Batman and Satan! Morrison spears Sheamus down and it’s on early. Sheamus spears Morrison down just as hard and it’s a big brawl. It’s thrown out in 30 seconds for a double DQ. And before people freak out, that ending is perfect. It sets up the PPV and doesn’t give the match away again so soon. It’s perfect.

An E-Mail says Morrison vs. Sheamus at TLC in a ladder match for the #1 contendership. I’ve been calling Miz vs. Morrison at the Rumble for months so that would make perfect sense. Sheamus jumps Morrison post E-Mail and spears him with one of the ladders that were at ringside. He sets the ladder up at an angle against the apron and launches Morrison over the top to land back first on the ladder. FREAKING OW MAN!

Back from a break with JTG and William Regal presenting Knucklehead Moment of the Year. Regal tries to get through this quickly because he doesn’t understand JTG.

CM Punk Tries to Hide from Show and Gets Unmasked
Mae Young Wins at Old School Raw
Beth Phoenix is in the Rumble and Eliminates Great Khali
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov Have a Dance-Off

Winner: Mae Young and Laycool. I’m not sure what the point of this was as those weren’t really knuckleheaded moments. Either way Laycool comes out and look great to accept it.

Diva Battle Royal next.

Battle Royal

Laycool, Kelly, Maryse, Eve, Bella Twins, Rose, Melina, Alicia, Kaitlyn, Beth, Tamina, Natalya

I think that’s everyone but I’m not sure. Everyone surrounds Laycool and to their credit they’re like BRING IT ON. Tamina chills in the corner for a bit but puts out Kaitlyn. You can go through the ropes here. Rosa is out second. She has never won a match on the main roster. Tamina is out.

A Bella is out as they’re flying out of here insanely fast. The other Bella goes out with ease as Laycool is dominating. Maryse is gone. There’s no particular rhyme or reason here as you would expect in a battle royal. Michelle, looking GREAT in those red shorts, puts out Kelly who looks GREAT in those white shorts. Beth Glam Slams Melina out.

Down to Laycool, Beth, Natalya, Gail and Alicia. Beth kicks Layla out and she FREAKS. She distracts the Glamazon long enough to let Michelle put out Beth. Natalya puts out Alicia and Gail and walks into a big kick from Michelle who wins this at approximately 3:30.

Rating: C. This is hard to grade as battle royals aren’t something that there are standards for. This was fine for what it was and one of the girls that should have won it got the award so I can’t complain. Also you have hot women so how much can you really complain? Good stuff.

Another E-Mail says Beth/Natalya vs. Laycool in a tag team tables match. The look on Michelle’s face is AWESOME.

Quick recap of Kane accidentally killing Paul Bearer on Smackdown.

Edge vs. Jack Swagger

Triple threat ladder match at the PPV for the IC Title: Ziggler vs. Kofi vs. Swagger. Wow this is going to be all gimmick matches isn’t it? Swagger overpowers Edge to start as it’s pretty clear that Kane will be involved here somewhere. After a brief beating, Edge gets an Edge-O-Matic to take over again. DDT gets two.

Swagger gets a shot in and sets for the Vader Bomb with Edge having his knees up before Swagger gets to the corner. Thankfully he winds up landing on his feet and grabs the ankle lock. Much better. Edge reverses the ankle lock into a rollup for two. There’s the Impaler and the spear ends this completely clean at 4:50. No Kane? Really?

Rating: C+. Quick match but it worked pretty well for the most part. Edge winning clean works but Swagger can’t buy a break for the most part as he’s constantly losing clean. If he’s going into a title match Sunday, couldn’t they get someone else to fight Edge? Like Chavo or someone? Decent little match though.

Riley, Miz and Arquette have a stupid moment. Arquette has energy. You have to give him that.

We see clips of the Slammy winner for video game moment of the year. It’s nothing special at all.

Big Show is here to present moment of the year. He talks about some great moments and mentions Hogan, Superfly and Austin. Tonight something joins them. I doubt that.

Nominees:
Cena is Free or Fired
Sheamus Jumps HHH as he Says Goodbye to Shawn
Edge’s Huge Spear at Wrestlemania
Streak vs. Career

Winner: Streak vs. Career. Thank goodness. Shawn…isn’t here, but he appears on satellite and is in an undisclosed location which he won’t say because WWE would try to make him come back. Funny line. He has a big cut on his nose. Shawn says he doesn’t miss it but does miss the fans who he might see soon.

Randy Orton vs. Alex Riley/David Arquette

I never thought I’d have to type that. Riley starts and actually gets Orton down. Then Arquette comes in and runs away after Orton sets for the RKO. Backbreaker to Riley and the knee drop hits. Then it misses. Arquette is wearing what Punk calls Clubber Lang’s Gi. That fits rather well actually. Orton hits an Angle Slam on Riley and there’s the RKO for the easy pin at 2:45. No rating for an extended workout for Orton.

Miz blasts Orton with the briefcase post match and they try to put him through a table. He fights them off and Arquette goes through it instead as every WCW fans ejaculates at once. Somewhere Russo is saying we just didn’t get it. Stretcher ride for Arquette.

We run down the TLC card. I kind of like them just saying screw it: let’s go all the way with the gimmicks. It makes it more appealing than last year’s.

The presenter for the Quote of the Year: Michael Cole.

There are too many nominees to list off. It’s more or less every funny line of the year with some very funny ones in here, my favorite being “I would RKO my own Grandmother to get back the WWE Title.”

Winner: Michael Cole. Apparently he wins in general. He of course has a speech ready. He gets played off and the Superstar of the Year is next. Isn’t there supposed to be a Match of the Year award?

Teddy Long comes out to do Superstar of the Year.

Nominees:
Edge
The Miz
Kane
John Cena
Rey Mysterio
Randy Orton

Winner: John Cena. Is anyone really surprised by that? He says that his fans never gave up on him and runs down a list of things he’s done this year. Cena talks about getting all of Nexus and having only Barrett and Otunga to go.

John Cena vs. David Otunga

Otunga hasn’t come to the ring yet and it’s 11:05. How long do you think this is going to go on for? Cena looks pretty good for a guy that took two chair shots earlier. We see a clip of that attack as we apparently need to waste more time. Otunga high flives every Nexus member other than Barrett but they smile at each other.

Barrett sends Nexus to the back and leaves as well. Cena attacks as Otunga turns around and methinks this isn’t going to last long. Cena is all kinds of ticked off. He misses a charge in the corner and here comes Otunga. He’s clearly winning here. You know he will right? I mean he’s DAVID OTUNGA! A kind of Pounce/elbow smash hits and there’s the STF to end it in 1:58. Well they made it quick. Just a squash.

Post match Cena destroys Otunga with a chair as Barrett just stands there watching.

Overall Rating: B. I liked the show. A lot of things were set up for the PPV and overall the show was fun. It’s no classic and last week’s was better, but overall this worked rather well I thought. It’s not an incredibly serious show but then again it’s not supposed to be. It was a fun go home show for a gimmick PPV and it worked fine for what it was supposed to be. Pretty solid show and rather fun. Good stuff.

NXT
Date: December 7, 2010
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Josh Matthews

Season Four of NXT debuts tonight with only six rookies this time. That might be a good thing indeed as having the full monty of eight is too many due to there being dead weight amongst them that takes too long to get rid of. This almost has to be better from a quality perspective than last season doesn’t it? Anyway, let’s get to it.

Wild and Young is back. Awesomeness all over again.

Striker brings out the Pros who bring out their rookies. There’s no Cole this season???

R-Truth – Johnny Curtis
Ted DiBiase – Brodus Clay (He is a BIG old boy. Think a white Viscera)
Chris Masters – Byron Saxton
Dolph Ziggler – Jacob Novak
Daniel Bryan – Derrick Bateman
Alberto Del Rio – Conor O’Brian

Striker says the winner gets a championship match but says nothing about PPVs. Everyone is going to get to introduce themselves.

Curtis says he isn’t going to ask people to cheer him. Instead he wants to give some shoutouts, one of which is to his gym teacher. A vote for Curtis is a vote for freedom apparently.

Clay says he’s coming to this with lemon juice and razorblades. This was almost like a rap thing.

Saxton sounds like Token from the News Reporters episode of South Park. This is rather cheesy indeed.

Novak talks about board games, saying his favorite is Monopoly because you get to own your competition, which he’s going to do this season. Not bad.

Bateman says he’s from Ohio and that today will live in infamy (it’s December 7 if you didn’t get the reference) and he’s mantastic.

Conor does a weird voice to get our attention and says he looks like a rat. Apparently he’s going to take the cheese or something like that. Wow indeed.

Alberto yells at him and says he’s boring, just like Daniel Bryan. The obvious tag match is made.

We get a profile on Byron Saxton who is from a privileged background and has never had to really do anything. He’s a good person apparently and we get a clip of him as a kid wrestling. He mentions being a conglomerate type of man, which I think was the stable he led in FCW.

Johnny Curtis vs. Jacob Novak

Fairly nice back and forth match so far. Both guys look decent out there which is why this show works so much better than something like Tough Enough did. Curtis gets a discus lariat for no cover. I’m sorry for the lack of play by play here but I’m trying to check out both guys instead. Novak misses a charge in the corner and Curtis goes up top. After misstepping a bit he hits a decent looking guillotine legdrop for the pin at about 3:05.

Rating: C-. Nothing that great here but it was fast paced and the finish was clean. This doesn’t really tell us anything about either guy though as neither played to the crowd or showed anything unique at all. This was really just a match and nothing else. Nothing bad though.

Profile on Brodus Clay who comes from Pasadena and a broken home. He liked to be with his brother apparently. We hear about him being a bodyguard for Snoop Dog which is interesting I suppose. He’s in business for himself now though.

It’s already time for our first challenge, in this case capture the flag. You have to run down, get a ladder that is set up at ringside, put it in the ring, climb up and get a flag then run back to the stage to win. Curtis goes first with a time of 28.6 seconds.

Conor (that’s how the on screen graphic spells it) is second and gets a time of 28.2 to take over. This is just for an immunity point I think.

Clay is third and as expected he’s strong but not quick. The time is past the mark to beat by the time he hits the floor to come back.

Saxton is fourth and says he’ll just be himself. He has his own way of climbing a ladder? And he loses too due to intentionally taking his time. He tries to jump down which is illegal apparently. He gets a time of nearly a minute.

Novak is fifth and gets a good start at least. It pays off too as he gets 26.9 to take the lead.

Bateman is last and gets cheered by Bryan. He has a chance at it but just barely misses it.

Back with the Raw Rebound to what I thought was an excellent show.

Ted and Maryse talk to Clay. Maryse won’t shut up and Ted yells a bit.

Saxton is getting ready and Masters comes up and they have a bromance moment. Masters wants to give him some workout tips and Saxton says he has it covered.

Daniel Bryan/Derrick Bateman vs. Alberto Del Rio/Conor O’Brian

No intro for the heels. The rookies start us off with O’Brian being rather aggressive. Off to Alberto who beats on Bateman a bit also. No Bryan yet other than trying to get in once Alberto hits him but to no avail. Bateman gets an airplane spin of all things to make the hot tag to Bryan.

Bryan adds an airplane spin of his own as we all channel our inner Gorilla Monsoons. We actually take a break on an NXT match to see Gene Okerlund pitch us old school apparel. Back with Bryan working on the arm of O’Brian. I guess he doesn’t like the O’ part. The pros are in now.

The announcers try to make small talk by saying Alberto’s last name means the River. It actually means of or from the river but who cares about being correct? Ziggler of all people says something on a mic but I’m not sure what it was. According to a guy that was at the show he was yelling that he doesn’t suck to the crowd and didn’t realize his mic was partially on or something. Works as well as anything I guess.

Bateman gets a running neckbreaker for two on Del Rio as Bryan hits a huge dive to the floor to take out O’Brian. Being alone with Del Rio isn’t a good thing as the cross armbreaker ends this a few seconds later at approximately 10:00 (assuming the commercials were in real time for this).

Rating: C+. Not bad at all here with a decent tag match. Bryan is someone that I wasn’t huge on when he got to the company but he’s been nothing but impressive since. This was another decent match for him but the focus was more on the rookies here which is a good thing. Nothing great or anything but for what it was supposed to be, this was perfectly acceptable.

Overall Rating: B-. Nothing great or anything here overall but like the last match it did exactly what it was supposed to do. We saw a little bit from everyone and got four of them in the ring with vignettes from the other two. The rookies look kind of weak this season but the show at least looks ok. Pretty good start.