Monday Night Raw Review - December 27, 2010

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk Interrupted John Cena

This is one of my favorite Punk promos, not only because his delivery was fantastic but also because essentially everything he said was true. From how Cena basically bullied Vickie Guerrero the week prior to how he "injured" Batista and Wade Barrett when he didn't need to, Punk hit the nail right on the head with all of his points. Cena's only response was to fight, which was so typical of his character. Punk's line at the end about giving Cena the surprise of a lifetime later in the night was a great cliffhanger for the remainder of the show.

WWE Tag Team Champion Santino Marella def. Ted DiBiase

DiBiase and Maryse lost a mixed tag team match to Santino and Tamina the week prior, so this should have been DiBiase's opportunity to bounce back with a victory. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, he lost in the matter of a minute to Santino before being embarrassed afterward by Santino and Tamina. It was evident that WWE had no clue how to use him and that his partnership with Maryse was doing nothing for him whatsoever.

John Morrison def. Alex Riley to Earn the Right to Choose the Stipulation for His Match with WWE Champion The Miz

As a match, this was extremely forgettable because no one in the arena thought for a second that Riley was going to beat Morrison, even with help from The Miz. The stipulation was that Morrison would get to choose the stipulation for his WWE Championship match with Miz the following week if he won, and he would forfeit his shot at the strap if he lost. Needless to say, he won with ease, choosing to face his former tag team partner in a Falls Count Anywhere matchup.

Mark Henry def. Tyson Kidd

Prior to this match during a backstage segment, Kidd claimed he wanted Daniel Bryan's United States Championship in the new year, and that he would win the gold with assistance from his new bodyguard, Jackson Andrews. This was our first look at Andrews, and he was promptly made to look weak by Henry after Kidd was squashed. This was a waste all around that might have marked the shortest push of any kind in recent memory for Kidd.

Jerry Lawler def. WWE Champion The Miz by Count-out (Non-title)

Lawler and Miz had been feuding basically since Miz became WWE Champion in November, and their matches were actually better than expected despite Lawler's age. Their TLC match as well as their championship clash at Elimination Chamber 2011 were way better than this, but this was given decent time and allowed Miz and Morrison to further their feud with Morrison costing Miz the win. Miz retaliated later on by attacking Lawler at the commentary desk and looking like a threat going into his first title defense in the new year.

Melina and Alicia Fox def. Gail Kim and Eve Torres

Melina earned the right to contend for Natalya's Divas Championship by winning a Triple Threat match before immediately turning heel the week prior, but Natalya sat on commentary for this bout. It was your typical Divas matchup that was kept brief and featured nothing special in the slightest. Melina picked up the victory as she should have, but Natalya scored a measure of revenge by slapping her post-match.

United States Champion Daniel Bryan def. Zack Ryder (Non-title)

This match was joined in progress during a commercial break and ended no more than a minute later. I understand it was designed to be a squash, but it would have been nice to see Ryder score some offense and have it be a bit of a competitive contest. Nonetheless, the real focus here was on The Bella Twins being infatuated with Bryan and gushing all over him.

Randy Orton def. King Sheamus

The commentators weren't wrong when they said this was one of the more memorable rivalries of 2010. It wasn't all amazing, but the matches they had were certainly solid and for a TV match, this was excellent. The "king" gimmick for Sheamus was beyond dumb and actually led to him embarking on a losing streak in 2011, but this did set up Orton for another WWE title match at the Royal Rumble.

CM Punk and The Nexus attacked John Cena

As previously noted, Punk teased at the beginning of the show that he had a huge surprise in store for Cena, and him revealing himself as the new leader of Nexus was what it was. Nexus hadn't been seen since Cena disposed of the faction at TLC, but every member was present in the beatdown of Cena here with the exception of Wade Barrett. It was a cool moment and Punk was on a roll returning from injury, but Nexus could hardly be salvaged by this point.

Overall Show

The final Raw of 2010 definitely did not deliver in spades, but it did feature a few notable moments and matches to make it a passable show. The central storyline with Punk, Cena and Nexus got people talking coming out of the episode, and Miz and Morrison did plenty to hype up their Falls Count Anywhere WWE Championship match that next week. Everything else was whatever, but the important stuff kept me engaged for the most part.