My SmackDown, November 19th Recap

Mick Foley kicked of the Christmas holiday special SmackDown dressed in a full Santa outfit. He then introduced the rest of the announce team who had also dressed up for the occasion, Michael Cole was Rudolph, Booker T was Santa and Josh Matthews was an elf. Cody Rhodes interrupted them to halt what he called a "farce" because he felt this was time being taken away from people who were still active in ring competitors, which was actually a fair enough point I thought. Rhodes also added that Booker T was jealous of him because he will never be a champion again like himself. Mick Foley stopped Cody and decided to set things straight by making a match up between Rhodes and Booker later on in the show.   
Brie Bella won a Divas mistletoe on a pole match where she earned the right to be able to kiss any wrestler of her choosing from now up until Christmas. The match was pretty worthless as you'd expect but at least it was quick.
Justin Gabriel defeated Jinder Mahal in a brief but decent bout. Justin Gabriel got the win with his signature 450 splash after Jinder was distracted by Ted DiBiase who began handing out presents to members of the audience. Jinder looked quite solid here in the ring, at least he's in a real feud now with Ted DiBiase too rather then just appearing on Superstars which is obviously a step in the right direction for both men.
There was then a backstage segment which included the likes of the Usos, Foley and Hornswaggle. In an entertaining moment Dusty Rhodes claimed that "There are some weird people here" only to turn to see his son Dustin Rhodes dressed up as Goldust. David Otunga arrived and decided that to play it safe and to not violate any laws that the party should be closed down. foley decided that since Otunga was technically on the blue brand he was SmackDown talent so he put him in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight match against Randy Orton.    
We then got another nice new teaser for the return of Kane with the simple words 'Kane resurrected' now appearing at the end of it. I don't think he is coming back with the mask on myself, although a lot of people are swaying that way. 
During an interview with Matt Stryker, Booker T was attacked from behind by Cody Rhodes. I thought it was a bit too soon to have them face off in a match just yet. I'd personally have it saved until the Royal Rumble.
Kofi Kingston defeated Tyson Kidd in an enjoyable and quite fast paced match up. For the finish Kinston had grabbed the Rudolph head from Cole's costume and wore it as he performed the winning maneuver, a cross bosy from the top rope.  
Randy Orton defeated David Otunga in a surprisingly entertaining Miracle on 34th Street Fight. I know I've already said it a few times now but for me Orton has been on great form this year. Wade Barrett predictably interfered by big booting Orton during the bout and leaving Otunga to pick up the pin, but that wasn't enough to stop 'The Viper' who struck with an RKO for the victory.   
Hornswaggle won the Christmas battle royal to earn himself a wish from Santa. He last eliminated Sheamus after tricking him and pushing him from the outside of the ropes. Backstage afterwards he wished to be able to talk and sure enough he began to talk perfect English. So at least we won't have to hear those annoying noises he comes out with anymore, it's a Christmas miracle!
Mark Henry (c) defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the World Heavyweight championship in an exciting Steel Cage match. Although Bryan lost he still looked like a real competitor here and this recent storyline involving him and Mark Henry has been a definite step in the right direction for the Money In The Bank holder. After he won MITB he wasn't really doing much of anything and he didn't look like a future World champ at all, but now he's gained a lot of credibility and the booking team have finally stepped up for him. The actual bout was executed well, with Bryan logically targeting Henry's injured leg and a nice finish with Henry World Strongest Slamming Bryan off of the top rope. I'm just hoping that Henry retains the title at TLC and moves on from this feud with Big Show.   

My Raw, November 28th Recap

Raw opened with a Piper's Pit with special guest John Cena. 'Rowdy' tried to explain that if Cena was going to beat The Rock at WrestleMania he would need to feed off the"energy" from the crowd and turn them around from booing him in favour of the Rock. Cena responded by saying that he lived by his latest T-Shirt slogan 'Rise Above Hate' and that's why the responses he receives from crowds will never bother or "rattle" him. He also added that this was the reason why "I know I can beat The Rock at WrestleMania." In an attempt to bring something out of Cena, Piper slapped him across the face. But Cena didn't rise to it as he left the ring.
Before The Miz versus John Morrison Falls Count Anywhere match could even begin The Miz had attacked Morrison from behind with a lead pipe. But this wouldn't keep down the valiant face, Morrison who limped to the ring to face The Miz. The bout was quite entertaining, although nothing on their brilliant Falls Count Anywhere match from January 3rd of this year on Raw. Morrison fought back and even had Miz crawling back down the ramp after a flurry of kendo stick shots. But Miz turned it around and forced Morrison head-first into the statue at the top of the ramp of the WWE symbol. Miz stood victorious as the referee called for the match to end. Well if Morrison is going to leave the company that's certainly a smart way to do it, by enhancing a fellow wrestler and big name for the future.
The Miz grabbed a mic afterwards and gave a superbly executed speech on how "there is only one superstar that can make this kind of impact, this kind of statement. That person, is me." I'm liking this more serious Miz who is just taking out anyone he chooses. And the way he gave the promo in such a monotone fashion as apposed to his usual egotistical style (which I'm also a fan of, but wouldn't have suited this as well) was a stroke of genius.          
Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly defeated the Bella twins in a match which they mostly bumbled their way through. Although I'll give some credit to Fox, she looked pretty competent in there and got the winning pinfall. So I'm guessing she's next in line to face Phoenix for the title before Natalya most likely turns face and takes on Phoenix herself. During the bout Beth Phoenix and Natalya ran around the ring and to the back again in a jogging session to distract Fox and Kelly.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Randy Orton in a humungous win for the United States champion. The match itself was another brilliant addition to their series of exciting one on one bouts. Ziggler is looking more and more like a main eventer this year and Orton has been on great form for the majority of it too. The finish came when Wade Barret, who had been guest commentating for the match up, jumped up on the rope and distracted Orton which left Ziggler free to Zig Zag him for the one-two-three. It's rare for anyone in the company to get a pinfall victory over 'The Viper' so things are looking very positive for Dolph right now. In a funny piece of irony after the match, an advertisement for WWE '12 came on straight after where Orton claimed that "I never loose," oh dear... 
Michael Cole interviewed the number one contender to the World Heavyweight title, Daniel Bryan. He called him a "hypocrite" after Bryan had claimed he was going to wait and cash in at WrestleMania, but instead had attempted to cash in on last Friday's SmackDown against Mark Henry. Bryan admitted to the accusation but also told Cole that "plans change" and after Henry had attacked him backstage a few weeks ago he realised that the Money In The Bank contract "doesn't guarantee me anything" and that he wanted to make the most of the opportunity. Henry made his way out, still on a crutch after Big Show's attack. He said that it was unfair of Teddy Long to make him defend the title on tonights SmackDown after not being fully healed yet but warned Bryan that even in his condition "You can't beat me." Bryan retaliated by kicking Henry in the injured leg, causing him to drop to one knee and walked away.    
Zach Ryder defeated Jack Swagger in a short but decent enough match. I'm guessing WWE are back on Ryder's side, and rightfully so. I also imagine they're waiting to have Ryder challenge for the US title until the next pay-per-view TLC.  
CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the WWE Championship in a solid main event. While it wasn't as good as their previous encounter at Survivor Series or the Orton vs Ziggler match earlier on, it was still entertaining, especially towards the end with some nice near falls. Del Rio at one point attempted to get Punk disqualified by pretending he had struck him with a steel chair (a stipulation was added earlier on by the dull John Laurinaitis that if Punk got himself disqualified he would loose the title) but failed as Punk in an Eddie Guerrero-esque moment threw the chair back and fell to the floor, much to the crowd's delight. The referee was about to disqualify Del Rio but the match continued as Punk attempted to pin him with a school boy roll up but only reached two. Del Rio then attempted to irish whip Punk into an exposed turnbuckle he had ripped the pad off earlier but CM Punk thwarted that and instead snake eyed Del Rio into the turnbuckle and picked up the winning pin.
After the bout Ricardo Rodriguez complained to the referee about what ahd just gone down, so Punk decided to quiten him but applying the GTS. Overall it was a pretty decent Raw I thought, nice change having Daniel Bryan on the show. And there were some solid matches. Now on to the live SmackDown tomorrow.     

News on the debut of Brodus Clay

Source: PWInsider.com

"PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE keeps on postponing Brodus Clay's Raw debut simply because the recent episodes of Raw have been getting re-written and Clay's debut just isn't being written into the formats. WWE apparently wants to "wait for the right time" for Brodus to make his debut."

Really? So they have time for Cole's worthless challenge and the awful 'This is Your Life' segment with Foley and Cena and yet they can't fit in a wrestler with a potential future's debut? It's like they've almost forgotten how to make future big names anymore.

My Raw, November 21st Recap

CM Punk kicked things off with a typically entertaining speech from the new WWE champion. He talked about how he wanted to once again make the title interesting and fun and how unlike most champions lately (including himself) he was going to keep hold of it for a long time. Just taking the title off of Del Rio has already made the title more interesting in my eyes. He also announced how he would like the current interim General Manager John Laurinaitis to become the "former Raw General Manager" due to how fake he comes across and how out of touch he is with the fans and what they want. The tediously dull Laurinaitis made an appearance and announced that he would face Dolph Ziggler that night and how rather then face Del Rio in a rematch for the title like Punk requested, that was going to be moved to next weeks Raw instead which Punk called "stupid." Which was due to the fact that it was unoriginal and that the fans clearly wanted to see Ryder face off against Ziggler for the US championship.  
Alberto Del Rio defeated Zach Ryder in a weird decision by WWE. Why have one of the most clearly popular wrestlers in the company beaten like this the night after he received a huge ovation at Survivor Series? They should be carrying on the momentum and pushing him further, but when have they done that with younger talent in recent years? The actual match was decent enough, Ryder was given a fair amount of offence but Del Rio was the predictable victor after making Ryder tap to his armbar.
Sheamus defeated Jack Swagger in a quite forgettable match that just felt like a repeat of all their previous bouts of recent weeks. Swagger deserves better then to be in this position in my opinion, at least when he was in a tag team with Ziggler he was relevant again.
Kevin Nash spoke more on the mic about his sledgehammer assault on Triple H and how 'The Game' had let him down. He also claimed that out of the original Kliq "the real survivor of that group, stands before you now!" Can't say I'm overly excited about seeing Nash back in the ring but the storyline has been executed well I feel and I can't help but want to know what happens next. I can also see Shawn Michaels appearing soon to confront Nash.
Cody Rhodes defeated Santino Marrella in a brief match up after he applied the Cross Rhodes and gained the one-two-three. Afterwards he confronted Booker T who had been guest announcing on the show due to Jerry Lawler's voice all but being gone (which made a nice change.) and threw a cup of water in his face. Looks like the rumours of a Booker T Cody Rhodes rivalry is definitely in the works. I'm looking forward to it myself, the in-form Rhodes deserves high calibre feuds at the moment and Booker returning to the ring should definitely prove popular.  
CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler in a entertaining enough bout after hitting him with the GTS. The match went back and fourth and once again Ziggler was allowed to look competitive against some main event level competition and looked like he belonged there too. The future is looking good for him I reckon.
Big Show claimed that at Survivor Series he proved that he was "better then the world's strongest man" and that when he returns from the leg injury that Show inflicted, he would be waiting for another World Heavyweight title shot. I was really hoping that they were going to end this feud after last night's pay per view, but it looks like we're going to have to endure it for another month at least.
Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston in an decent enough effort, but nothing outstanding. During the bout Randy Orton came out and sat at ringside to witness the continuation of the 'Barrett Barrage' as Wade's calling it. After the win Barrett grabbed a mic and rubbed in the win as Orton was about to walk away, Orton threatened an attack but merely made Barrett flinch.
The goofy John Cena spoke about the match with The Rock the night before and basically buttered up his future WrestleMania opponent and the same man who had been constantly mocking him for months now and barely given him any credit at all. Same Cena character.
Awesome Truth came out to make it interesting and honestly told everyone that they weren't going to let Cena get away without admitting how The Rock had shown him up at Survivor Series and how the fans were totally against him, even chanting "don't tag Cena" to Rock at some points. R-Truth also mentioned how The Rock is going to destroy him at WrestleMania. Cena then nonsensically buried the two of them by saying how no one cared about them and how they weren't even considered a threat, even though the two of them get more cheers then Cena has in years. So once again we have Cena completely bury an act not only inside the ring but on the mic too. The management should carefully plan out every word he says in the future when discussing the up and coming talent who have potential in the company. He also stirred things up by saying how Miz really thinks R-Truth is stupid and how R-Truth believes The Miz to be "pompous" and "attention seeking." The two began to confront each other in the ring while Cena snuck away until Miz convinced Truth that Cena was trying to mess with them and how they could take him out together. But as they were leaving down the ramp Miz suddenly applied the Skull-Crushing Finale to Truth.
For me like many story lines this year WWE have just completely rushed the split of Miz and R-Truth. The tandem still had life in them and were one of the most entertaining things on Raw for the past few months. Plus it was another credible tag team for the company who sorely need them. I have faith that Truth could probably pull off turning face and the rivalry should be entertaining enough but there was just no need to start it this rapidly. 

Sin Cara Out 6-9 Months Due To Injury

WWE.com is reporting that Sin Cara, who was injured during tonight's Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match, suffered a ruptured patellar tendon at tonight's Survivor Series pay-per-view event and is expected to be out 6-9 months following surgery.

It was actually a genuine injury then? Never nice to hear about people getting injured but it could have been someone worse to be fair. The big issue is now SmackDown have just lost two of their regular performers in Sin Cara and Christian, do WWE bring someone over from Raw or push someone else up to that next level? With Rhode and Barrett's current push they could fill the void left by Christian for now (although they're not quite at the same level.) I'm not sure about Sin Cara though.

My Survivor Series 2011 Recap

Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated John Morrison to retain the United States championshipin a good effort by both men and a solid opener. The match was filled with nice near-falls and also had strong chants of "We want Ryder" and "Woo woo woo" throughout. It may have started a little slow but the ending was strong and made even the chants for Ryder die down.
Afterwards Ziggler explained how he may be a show off and brag a lot but he backs up everything he says. Zach Ryder then raced out and delivered a Rough Ryder to the champ. I honestly cannot thing of any reason at all why they didn't have Ryder face Ziggler one on one for the title at the pay per view? It had the perfect setting, the fans would've been solidly behind it. It baffles me.
Beth Phoenix (c) defeated Eve Torres to retain her Divas championship in a Lumberjill match. The bout itself was a pretty average divas one but with a nicely executed finish where Beth Glamslammed Eve off of the top rope. As for Beth's possible next contender it could well be Natalya I predict, there have been plenty of rumours about WWE turning her face lately and Phoenix has gone as far as she really can with Eve and Kelly in my opinion.
Backstage David Otunga visited CM Punk and passed on a message from John Laurinaitis that Michael Cole could sue Punk for putting his hands on him or Punk could go out and publicly apologise for what he did. Punk said he'd think about it.
The Rock then gave an (you guessed it!) electrifying promo on his history in the company form his debut at Survivor Series 96 with "the worst haircut known to mankind." He even at one point did a rendition of "New York, New York" along with the crowd in attendance when talking about how special the city truly is. 
Team Barrett defeated Team Orton in the traditional five on five Survivor Series match. Dolph Ziggler was the first eliminated after an RKO from Orton early on, while it was disappointing to see him go it made sense after him already having competed in a competitive match earlier on in the night. There were yet more chants of "we want Ryder" emitting from the crowd when things quieted down during the match up as they checked on the injured Sin Cara, who had to be next eliminated from the match due to an apparent hyperextended knee from a simultaneous flip dive with Kofi Kingston to the outside. Mason Ryan was next eliminated by Cody Rhodes after a Cross Rhodes. Ryan had mostly played out to boos for the majority of his time in the bout due to his lack of character and ability in the ring, I don't blame them. Rhodes, who had gotten the biggest cheer during the entrances and during the actual match got a nice ovation after eliminating Mason. Kingston next went after a Wasteland from Barrett. Sheamus was disqualified after ignoring the referee's five count when kneeing Swagger on the ropes, but he left a parting gift as he Bro Kicked Jack Swagger. Leaving Orton free to get the one-two-three and eliminate him form the match. Orton, now on his own, then RKO'd Hunico as he made a springboard dive from the ropes and pinned him. As Rhodes distracted Randy, Barrett managed to apply his Wsteland to him to win the match for his team.
The match up itself was entertaining enough, I wouldn't have minded seeing a little more offence from Hunico perhaps. Good choice picking Barrett as the one to win the match and pin 'The Viper' also. Him and Rhodes had a lot more to gain by being the sole survivors in the traditional Survivor Series match, now's the time to start building them up as future World champions. Lord knows SmackDown needs it with Henry as their premier heel, that says it all on how desperate they are for fresh faces in the main event scene.
Before the Big Show versus Mark Henry match we saw the ring being reinforced before the two fat men came out, just incase they destroyed it again like at Vengeance. Am I the only one sick of them going on about it like it was a once in a lifetime thing? It wasn't even original, they did the exact same thing back in 2003. What, that's been erased form history now?  
Big Show won via disqualification against Mark Henry (c) after Henry low blowed him in front of the ref. The match was as I predicted, mostly a bore. The crowd even lost interest as chants of "boring," "Undertaker" and "Daniel Bryan" began to fill Madison Square Garden. In the most exciting part Big Show did a diving elbow drop from the top rope onto Henry. Although it did take him a while to get his balance up there.
After the match Henry attempted a dive onto Big Show's leg which had been wrapped with a steel chair but Show managed to avoid it and knocked Henry out with a punch. He then leg dropped Henry's legs which had also been wrapped with the steel chair as retribution. 
In a hilarious moment just before the VT for the CM Punk versus Del Rio match we heard the useless and bumbling King say "And it all started at Survivor Series" and Cole had to correct him and say "SummerSlam." Why do they have Lawler on commentary still? The man is worthless.
Also before the match began Punk had his own ring announcer in Hall of Famer Howard Finkel. The reaction overwhelmed Finkel as he began to well up which made the announcement go on long a little longer then expected as Punk amusingly signaled to a fake watch as he saw Finkel on his way out.
CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio (c) to win the WWE Championship in a solid World title match. The bout started off a little slowly but the ending really brought the excitement with near falls and submission attempts. The crowd was (predictably) firmly behind the challenger throughout. Punk got the win by forcing Del Rio to tap to the Anaconda Vice and as a bonus 'The Fink' announced his title victory.
Although I felt Del Rio needed a win here to solidify himself as a credible main eventer, I can't help but be relieved that his rather dull title reign has come to an end. Del Rio is just too one dimensional as a character right now. And with his time on the mic it was if he just didn't listen to anyone he was interacting with, he just keeps spouting out the same old cliche heel bragging. I really hope he develops further as he clearly has the ability in the ring.   
The Rock and John Cena defeated R-Truth and The Miz in an exciting and thoroughly enjoyable tag team match. The Rock started off the bout and looked good as he didn't miss a single beat. The crowd was even more hostile towards Cena then I had anticipated as they booed him throughout and even when Miz signalled to Rock to tag him in. Like others I wasn't sure how damaging this match would be to Awesome Truth but they were smartly made to look competitive against The Rock and Cena and came out undamaged in my opinion. As usual the Madison Square Garden crowd in NYC were awesome all night but especially in the main event as they just didn't seem to let up at all. It was the most crowd excitement I've witnessed in WWE since Money In The Bank for CM Punk. 
Overall Survivor Series had it's dips here and there (mainly Big Show versus Henry and the Divas bout wasn't outstanding) but I enjoyed the majority. Anyone else getting a little excited for WrestleMania yet?

My SmackDown, November 18th Recap

The show kicked off with Mark Henry attacking Daniel Bryan backstage. He then took it to the ring and World Strongest Slammed Bryan a couple of times until the referees came out to his aid. Henry grabbed a mic and gave another boring speech on how much pain he delivers and how Big Show is going to be carried out after their match at Survivor Series. He brings across this intensity for sure but I just can't find Henry as a character or an in ring competitor that interesting.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Sin Cara in a decent enough match up. Ziggler got the win after grabbing Sin Cara's tights during a roll up pin. Ziggler's looking good overall lately, on the mic and in between the ropes. I just hope he gets the elevation he deserves though. Afterwards Swagger raced out to help Dolph who was getting beaten by an unhappy Sin Cara and they took him out. Then Mason Ryan also joined them and took out Ziggler just before his match against Swagger.
Mason Ryan defeated Jack Swagger in an average bout. No doubt Ryan has the perfect look for the company but I just can't really get behind him, he's nothing special in the ring and he's not really bringing across much character either. Plus Swagger deserves to be in a much better position then he's been in for the last year, I thought he made a decent World Heavyweight champion myself and had some good title matches.
The injured Christian came out and blamed the aggravating Teddy Long for his injury after putting him in a match against Sheamus when he claimed he was already injured. He also said he was still going to help inspire team Barrett to victory at Survivor Series.
Ted DiBiase defeated NXT's Derek Bateman in an average bout, although probably one of Bateman's better ones to date. It's a good sign for him that he's getting appearances on the blue brand too. Speaking of NXT I cannot wait for them to finally finish off this latest season already. The only decent parts have been Tyson Kidd and Yoshi Tatsu's feud on it. I think Johnny Curtis is doing a decent job as the conniving heel too.
Big Show came out and threatened the World champion Mark Henry. He also claimed that he was going to make Henry pay for all his atrocities. I've said it before but I'm just so looking forward to this feud between these two ending and Henry moving on to finally loose his title to someone who's actually worthy of it. 
Kofi Kingston defeated Hunico in a good match up between the two and probably Hunico's best singles match to date in the company. He showed off some exciting moves from his arsenal, let's hope he gets his chance at Survivor Series too and doesn't get eliminated too early on. As another bonus it seems Kingston may well be out of WWE's dog house after what's happened with Bourne over the last fortnight. I hope so, he doesn't deserve that treatment.  
Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated AJ and Kaitlyn in a match that was actually better then I was expecting. Natalya made AJ tap with the Sharpshooter after bending back the flexible AJ as far as she could for an effective-looking finish. Kaitlyn seemed distant and disappointed with her partner and the result which would seem to hint at a heel turn in her future which I'm all for. With Kaitlyn's image and build she could easily join up with Phoenix and Natalya's Pin Up Strong movement which could only benefit her for the future. Plus she'd get a lot more exposure on both brands.  
Randy Orton and Sheamus won via disqualification against Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett in an exciting main event. The DQ came after the injured Christian struck Sheamus in the throat with one of his crutches. Cody and Barrett then began to beat down Sheamus and Orton until they turned the tables and each took out Rhodes and Wade with an RKO and Celtic Cross respectively. 
Well next up is Survivor Series folks! I'm personally really looking forward to the event, the card is looking mostly solid (bar certain matches like Henry versus Big Show) and although some people have complained about how overpowering the Rock is and how much attention he's received, can you blame WWE? He's a major name and there's a reason he's created so much buzz since his return, and I for one can't wait to see him in action on Sunday.