 Mick Foley brings some holiday cheer to SmackDown. Average opener to kick off the show. Mick Foley's love for Christmas didn't do much for me, but I did get a minor chuckle of Michael Cole's reindeer suit. The best thing about this segment was the involvement from Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, who further explained as his actions as to why he despises Booker. No words regarding the Divas Mistletoe on a Pole Match, as it was nothing out of the ordinary for the dying division. Why they were all brawling and not attempting the retrieve the mistletoe is beyond me. Decent match from Justin Gabriel and Jinder Mahal, but it was nothing to what they can truly accomplish if they were given more time. As much as I love Gabriel picking up victories, Mahal really needed the win here if he's ever going to be taken seriously. At this point, the audience has been given no reason to care about this feud whatsoever. The holiday party segments featured throughout the show were extremely cliche, as we've become accustomed to these pointless parties for years now. However, I was excited to see Goldust back, involved in a funny run-in with his father Dusty Rhodes no less. Nicely done beat-down from Cody Rhodes backstage when he ambushed Booker T. It's too early in the feud for this match to take place, so I'm glad to see it being held back while giving Booker T a reason to get back in the ring with revenge on his mind.  Mark Henry delivers a massive World's Strongest Slam. Meaningless match between Kofi Kingston and Tyson Kidd that served absolutely no purpose. These two have great chemistry, but Kofi's comedy antics ruined it for this viewer. I had small hope Kidd was going to capitalize when Kingston was distracted, but no such luck.
Fun brawl between Randy Orton and David Otunga, mainly because Orton used pretty much every Christmas object available to him as a weapon. On the other hand, Otunga can't sell a move for his life, so that took away from the bout big time. Barrett's interference was logical, but it was a very smart move in not having Otunga pick up the upset victory here. Pointless battle royal that was predictable the second I realized Sheamus and Hornswoggle were participants in the match-up. Everyone else involved was basically enhancement talent, and I highly doubt the audience knew who half of them actually were. The final minutes of the contest were painful to watch and agonizing to say the least, as the thought of Hornswoggle somehow outsmarting Sheamus to emerge victorious still leaves me speechless with my hand on the pulse of changing the channel. With all that being said, I can't stress enough how annoying it was to see Hornswoggle's "wish" of being able to talk come to fruition. It's not that I can't picture him talking from now on, but the thought of a talking leprechaun whose spent five years mumbling is completely illogical. They should really invest in keeping Hornswoggle off television indefinitely. In what was the saving grace of this horrendous show, the World Heavyweight Championship match was a solid way to close the show. Both men gave it their all, and developed a great story during their match-up. Their excellent chemistry has me wanting more, so hopefully we see the renewal of this rivalry come WrestleMania. Bryan looked strong in defeat, while the cool finish from Henry was certainly the highlight no doubt. The steel cage was a nice stipulation and was used efficiently. All in all, this was one of the better television matches of the year with great booking all around. Overall, a very disappointing show that didn't live up to the excessive hype it was given on this week's Raw. After numerous strong weeks of enjoyable shows, this holiday special was merely filler and did nothing to get me excited about the upcoming TLC pay-per-view with minimal mention of the event. Maybe it was the rare move to Tuesday nights that made this show less entertaining, but the lack of star power and wrestling on this show was inexcusable.
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