By Graham "GSM" Matthews Daniel Bryan def. Fandango To my knowledge, these two have never faced off before, so it was a nice, fresh match to kick off the show with. The match went longer than I initially expected it to (which is a good thing) and Fandango looked good in defeat. This was Fandango's first competitive match in quite some time and I would hope that he would be utilized more like this going forward, even if I'm not his biggest fan. Bryan was super over with this crowd and his post-match interaction with The Wyatt Family was well done. Damien Sandow def. Santino Marella With Sandow contending for the Intercontinental Championship at TLC, it was important for him to look dominant in this matchup. Thankfully, it was a basic squash match that was successful in doing just that. Big E Langton did better on commentary this week than he did last week and I liked his post-match confrontation with Sandow. It is good to see a story developing in the mid-card for once.
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Brief match between Damien Sandow and Rey Mysterio. They work well together, so I would've liked to see this bout go a bit longer. As always, I love it when in-ring action kicks off the show. I have no problem with Sandow losing since Rhodes avenged his loss later in the night. Awesome return from The Boogeyman. It happened at the most random moment that it came as a huge shock to the live audience and fans watching at home. Boogeyman has always been a fun, unique act, so it was nice to see him back for one night only. As for Kofi Kingston winning the Slammy Award, I couldn't care less. Fine match with Kaitlyn defeating Divas Champion Eve. We've seen this bout numerous times before, so there was nothing new here whatsoever. Kaitlyn scoring the non-title victory ensures she gets yet another title shot down the line (preferably on Christmas Eve). Aren't there other Divas that can feud with Eve aside from Kaitlyn and Layla? Meaningless match with Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeating Tensai. The match lasted a mere minute, so this contest served no purpose at all. However, Wade Barrett's post-match attack on Kingston was well done and I'm glad to see the feud between them continue going forward. Intriguing segment with AJ kissing Dolph Ziggler. I've hoped for them to be a couple for quiet some time now, so I'm happy to see it finally come to fruition. Ziggler looked a bit shocked, though, so it doesn't appear as if they've been in cahoots all along. I found it mind boggling as to why the Kiss of the Year Award was presented on Raw but the Diva of the Year award was presented on WWE.com. Throwaway match between The Great Khali and David Otunga. Both guys are terrible in the ring, so why WWE would put these two together in a match is beyond me. This is third time we've seen it in recent months, and it's practically the same match every single time. Thankfully, it was over quickly with Khali as the obvious victor. Entertaining segment featuring WWE Champion CM Punk and the returning Ric Flair. Firstly, WWE did an excellent job in creating hooks for these series of continuous segments and keeping the viewers in suspense. Secondly, I realize that it's illogical to give John Cena the Superstar of the Year since he practically accomplished nothing in 2012, but the awards hardly mean anything anyway, so what's the point in getting mad over that? Flair did a tremendous job here and the live crowd was hot for his comeback. He and Punk had a hilarious exchange and an enjoyable brawl that even saw Flair connect with the Figure Four leglock on Paul Heyman. Strong brawl featuring The Shield, Team Hell No and Ryback. The Shield received great heat for targeting Ric Flair and it was a nice way of building off their victory from the night before at WWE TLC. Ryback came out to an explosive pop when making the save and it was very cool to see him, Flair, and Team Hell No all in the same ring together at the same time. Although some may argue that the opening segment with Jim Ross and Michael Cole was pure campy comedy at its worst, it's been proven in the past that Ross increases ratings. Sure, Ross forgot his lines during the rap, but his attempt at a Spin-a-roonie got a chuckle out of this viewer. It's always good to see The Million Dollar Man and Mick Foley make appearances on Raw, but I would have much rather preferred to see the RKO on the steel steps take the Slammy here. Ironically enough, Big Show and Wade Barrett much of the same during their match this year as they did at last year's Slammys, with it being complete throwaway with a weak finish. Barrett didn't need to lose momentum to Show, but at least he was able to regain it back later in the night. Hilarious segment from CM Punk and his inside jokes regarding the man formerly known as Johnny Ace. The montage of various mistakes, botches, and flat out silly instances from the past year was great as well. Bonus points for the BG James return and not losing his magic on the mic. Kelly Kelly may have captured the Divas Championship for the first time in 2011, but any of the other candidates winning the Slammy for Divalicious Moment of the Year would have been fine by me, especially Kharma's electric debut back in May. The never-ending feud between Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix unfortunately rolls on, but the slap Kelly delivered could be heard all around the world. If nothing else, nice cameo appearance by the influential Lita to host the award. Triple H's return was well done, at least making an attempt to hype his upcoming Ladder match with Kevin Nash at TLC as more than an afterthought. On a side note, I'm afraid the Game was hinting at a third match with Undertaker at next year's WrestleMania, which is the last thing I would like to see occur in Miami at this point. |
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