WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs - December 18, 2011
1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder for the WWE United States Championship - This was a hell of an opening match, possibly the best opening match Ive personally seen in a WWE ppv for a long while. Great back and forth action throughout with a hot crowd and a bunch of great near falls. I think everyone could sense that the title was probably going to change here but Ziggler got some great near falls, including when he hit Zig Zag, as to create just enough doubt to really get this match. I think we were expecting just a good solid match but both men worked really hard and made the match better than I think most were expecting. In the end, Ryder does hit the Rough Ryder finisher at the 10.5 minute mark to win the United States Championship. Great show of emotion from Ryder and, again, the crowd was white hot for the guy. ***1/4
2. Air Boom vs. Epico & Primo for the WWE Tag Team Championship - Id read a report last night that this match might be added to the card. All in all, a solid match and one that I was pleasantly surprised by. I figured that, if this match did take place, that Kofi & Bourne would drop the titles as it just seems like Bourne would be punished more for his WP violation. There was some good action and the crowd was more into this match than I figured they would be. There was no real build here, just a couple of good teams going at it. Some nice high spots from Air Boom and Epico & Primo looked good as well, they didnt look like they were outclassed. Surprisingly, Air Boom retained here, pleasantly surprised I might add, after Kofi lands Trouble in Paradise. Not a barn burner of a match, but a solid effort and good work from all involved, especially when you look at this match just being added on. **1/4
Backstage Segment - This was awful, just a really awful backstage segment featuring Teddy Long & Hornswoggle. The attempts at humor here were truly awful and even a joke on Ebonics. This had the kind of humor all over it that Vince McMahon likes, which is terrible. Thumbs Down
3. Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett in a Tables Match - Good effort that I thought made good use of the table stipulation. The match only went to the 10.5 minute mark so it didnt have really an epic sort of feel about it, but it was still a match in which both wrestlers looked strong. The most important thing that needed to come out was Wade Barrett not looking like a chump against Orton and WWE was able to accomplish that. The ending comes when Barrett is going to jump off the second rope and put Orton through a table. Orton catches him with an RKO, however, for the win. Orton gets a win here, but its a win that doesnt involve Barrett getting pinned. As I alluded to earlier, Barrett looked on equal footing with Orton through the match, Orton just happened to outmaneuver him at the last moment. **3/4
4. Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly for the WWE Divas Championship - Overall, a well above average effort for a Diva match. Its not like thatd be hard to do, but Beth Phoenix controlled most of the match and Kelly Kelly did a good job of selling Beths moves with her screams and facial expressions. The end comes at the 5 minute mark with Beth hitting Kelly in a kind of modified Electric Chair/Flapjack kind of move to retain the title. *1/4
5. Triple H vs. Kevin Nash in a sledgehammer Ladder Match - I thought this was a really good effort from both guys. Of course, some are going to hate this match because they werent moving at a pace of 90 miles an hour. I thought that the two made good use of the ladder, using it as a weapon, without a ton of high spots. It wasnt a fantastic ladder match but, in all honesty, I thought these two put out a good effort and gave a solid performance. By the end of the match, both of them looked like they were pretty out of it so they were either selling extremely well, whether Nash was really showing his age or maybe some combination of the two. I went into the match sort of cringing that it was gonna be horrible but, honestly, it wasnt. It wasnt a classic either but considering the type of match this is and who is involved, I appreciate the effort that was put into it. Trips gets the win at the 18 minute mark and leaves Nash laying after hitting him with the sledgehammer. **1/2
6. Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger - Decent enough match overall, but its not as if this wasnt something that we couldnt or really havent seen on SD! at an any given time. Swagger got in some good offense and gave Shamus a competitive match for a while but, ultimately, Sheamus is able to land the Brogue Kick for the win at the 6 minute mark. *1/2
7. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show in a Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship - I was disappointed here. Since Henry has become champion, this is really the first match Ive seen him in where I was a little disappointed. At the same time, however, Ive read reports that Henry suffered a badly pulled goin that originated from his match with John Cena this past Monday on Raw. The match only went for about 6 minutes, but the match did tell a decent story. Both guys used the chairs some, with Henry doing the logical thing by going after Shows hand. Eventually, however, Show is able to hit the WMD for the win and became the new WHC. *1/2
Daniel Bryan - As Show is laying there, however, her comes Daniel Bryan and Bryan cashes in his MITB contract and wins the title. The internet will probably break down due to this. As with other attempts at cashing in MITB, this one caught everyone a little off guard. There was a small Daniel Bryan chant after the Henry vs. Show match, but I didnt expect Bryan to cash it in. Bryan is the new World Heavyweight Champion. Im feeling mixed emotions on this. On one hand, its cool that Daniel Bryan has had this moment. Hes won a World Championship in WWE and thats something a lot of people never believed would happen when it was announced that he was coming to WWE. On the other hand, it makes me wonder if the WWE did this to give Bryan his moment and give him a brief run as theyre not sure about putting him in the title picture come WrestleMania and thatd be a huge shame. People will be debating this all week Im sure and Im ultimately not sure where I stand. How they follow things up, of course, will say a lot. First instinct, I think a lot of people will be expecting a repeat of what we saw with Jack Swagger and, unfortunately, thats a possibility. Bryans win comes just a few days after cleanly losing to the reigning Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Not sure what to ultimately make of this, but its a cool moment thats going to keep people interested for a while. Also, theres the peeve Ive got of the sudden change of titles. Show won the title from Henry then loses it not 30 seconds later to Bryan. It just pisses me off to see titles used in that sense. Just have Henry retain the damn thing and then allow Bryan to cash in. Thumbs In The Middle
8. Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T for the WWE Intercontinental Championship - Pretty much what I expected it to be, which is a good solid outing from both guys. It was a good heel victory for Cody Rhodes as there were a couple of backstage segments shown in the show where Booker T was attacked. It gave Booker an out for losing the match tonight, it puts heat on Cody and it gives WWE an opportunity to keep this feud going a little longer. The crowd was pretty hot for this match but it seemed like they were still reeling from the shock of the unexpected title change. As Booker does the Spin-A-Roonie, he sells the effects of Codys earlier attacks. Cody winds up hitting a scissor kick of his own to get the win at the 7.5 minute mark. Booker showed that he can still go inside the ring and Cody got a respectable heel victory. **1/2
9. CM Punk vs. The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio in a TLC match for the WWE Championship - This match was just flat out, friggin awesome. Great action, great storytelling went on throughout the match. The WWE toned down on the dangerous high spots in this match but they made up for it, in my view, with much better storytelling than you typically see in this sort of environment. The spot of the night goes to Ricardo Rodriguez. He took one helluva bump, a scary looking one too, so I hope Vince gives him a nice bonus for it. The stuff with Miz handcuffing Punk to the turnbuckle was a great touch. It just added to the story of Punk being a tenacious guy that will do anything to hold onto his title. In the end, Punk does manage to scale the ladder and retain the WWE Championship at the 18 minute mark. This was the match of the night and ultimately stole the show. ***3/4
Final Thoughts - Definitely something of a roller coaster for the WWE to close the year out as far as ppvs go. There was a lot of good wrestling on the show, though I did think the unannounced additions to the card hurt the show some. After all, Sheamus vs. Swagger was hardly necessary and it was the 3rd match that was just added to the card. Ziggler vs. Ryder was a damn good match that exceeded expectations. It was also nice to see Air Boom retain the tag titles. The Diva match was nothing special and while Orton vs. Barrett wasn't exactly epic, it was still a really solid match that ultimately still made Wade Barrett look good. Despite the doubts many had, I thought Triple H & Nash pulled off a solid match. I would have much rather had Ziggler & Ryder had the ladder match, but Trips & Nash did both work really hard to deliver here and while it wasn't a classic, it was a good brawl. Henry vs. Show was a disappointment but Henry was working with a badly pulled groin from what I understand. Daniel Bryan cashing in MITB to beat Show seconds after Show won was definitely a surprise. I don't know how I feel about this ultimately. It was a cool moment that the crowd loved, but I think we're all a little worried of maybe another Jack Swagger type of run here. As for the main event, it definitely delivered. Best match of the night and I think one of the best matches of the year. It was a noteworthy show that, in my view, didn't suffer one bit for the lack of John Cena not being on it.
Grade: B
