Raw 12/26/11:
-RAW GM Michael Cole opens the show. He announces that he is still in the Christmas spirit, and tonight eight men who have never been WWE Champion will be given the opportunity to earn a WWE Championship match next week on the first Raw of 2012. These eight men will compete in a series of one-on-one matches, with the winners facing off in a 4 way elimination match in tonight's main event. The winner gets the title opportunity next week.
-Match 1: Jack Swagger VS David Otunga
-Swagger beats Otunga pretty easily, finishing him off with the gutwrench powerbomb. (**)
-John Cena came to the ring for a promo. Cena says he is ecstatic that he has the WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble against whoever the champions is at that time. Cena says he wants his match against the Rock at WrestleMania to be for the WWE Championship, and that if he had not won last week's BattleBowl, he was not going to enter the Royal Rumble match. Cena has some choice words for Alberto Del Rio, then finally the Rock before leaving.
-Match 2: John Morrison VS Mason Ryan
-Morrison tried, but this wasn't very good. Morrison has the momentum, when Ryan's tag team partner Ezekial Jackson interferes. Jackson gets caught, however, and Ryan is disqualified. Domination start to double-team Morrison, when Big Show rushes out to the ring as fast as he can to make the save. (*3/4)
-WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio cut a promo backstage. He advised John Cena not to look ahead to WrestleMania. Del Rio says he will successfully defend his title next week to open 2012, then defeat John Cena at the Royal Rumble, and move on to the real main event at WrestleMania.
-Match 3: Santino Marella VS United States Champion Dolph Ziggler
-Ziggler wins in short order with the Zig Zag. Not much to see here. (**1/2)
-CM Punk came out to the ring for a promo. Punk says that the "powers that be" in WWE do not want him anywhere near the WWE Championship or the main event at WrestleMania. Punk says they think he's too "dangerous" and "uncontrollable". Punk says that they're right, but that won't stop him from winning the Royal Rumble, then winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
-Match 4: Zack Ryder VS Ezekial Jackson
-Not great, but a lot better than I had feared. Jackson is using his power game to take control of the match, when Big Show again makes his way back out to the ring. Jackson leaves to fight Show, and gets counted out in the process. (**1/4)
-WWE Tag Team Champions Awesome Truth come out to the ring, and proclaim themselves the greatest tag team in WWE. They say to prove this, they have issued an open challenge to any tag team that has ever competed in WWE, and will put the titles on the line against whoever steps up to face them. Miz says they know they have challengers for tonight, and calls on them to come out...
-Match 5 for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Awesome Truth [c] VS Cryme Tyme
-Yup, JTG is a face again and Shad Gaspard is back. That doesn't mean much for tonight, as Truth pins JTG clean with the Little Jimmy to retain the titles. (**1/4)
-Match 6: Jack Swagger VS John Morrison VS Dolph Ziggler VS Zack Ryder
-FIRST FALL: Ryder manages to hit the Rough Ryder on Morrison, but Ziggler sneaks in and floors Ryder with the Zig Zag to eliminate him.
-SECOND FALL: Swagger catches Morrison with the gutwrench powerbomb, but Ziggler tosses Swagger out of the ring, and eliminates Morrison with the sleeper.
-THIRD FALL: Swagger fights out of a sleeper and blocks a Zig Zag, before catching Ziggler with the ankle lock for the submission win. (**1/2)
Smackdown 12/30/11:
-Smackdown GM Teddy Long opens the show by announcing that next week, the World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry will defends his championship on the first Smackdown of 2012 against the winner of tonight's "Beat the Clock" challenge. Whoever wins their match in the fastest time will earn the title shot for next week.
-Match 1: Trent Barreta VS Drew McIntyre
-Trent put up a surprisingly good fight in this match. McIntyre does win with the Future Shock DDT, but it took him quite a while to do it. (**1/4)
-World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry cut a quick backstage promo. He says that this situation with the Beat the Clock Challenge and the title match next week is proof that Teddy Long does not want Henry to be the World Heavyweight Champion. It won't matter, Henry says, because there isn't a man in the world that can take the title from him.
-Match 2: Daniel Bryan VS Brodus Clay
-Bryan managed to very effectively use his speed advantage to mitigate Clay's power advantage. Bryan could not win the match in time, however, so it ended in a draw. As Bryan left the ring, he was jumped and laid out by Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. (**1/4)
-Randy Orton cut a backstage promo. He faces his rival Christian in tonight's final match. Orton says he will to Christian what he did to him all summer: beat him.
-A video profiling and hyping Justin Gabriel aired.
-Match 3: Ted DiBiase VS Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes
-Rhodes looked to have the match won, but Daniel Bryan came to ringside, providing a distraction. Bryan was held back by WWE Officials so he couldn't get to Rhodes, but the distraction did allow DiBiase to hit Dream Street and win the match in time to set the new time to beat. (**3/4)
-Match 4: William Regal VS Heath Slater
-Regal loaded up the Power of the Punch and managed to hit it without the referee noticing, and Regal got the win to set the new time to beat. (***)
-Christian cut a backstage promo. Christian says he, and everyone else, knows that Christian can beat Orton, and he will do so tonight to get the World Heavyweight Championship match next week.
-Match 5: Sin Cara VS Sin Cara II
-Another excellent match between these two. Sin Cara I hit La Mistica on Sin Cara II, but the time limit expired before he could get the pin. (****1/4)
-Match 6: Randy Orton VS Christian
-Disappointing match. Neither could earn the win before the time limit expired, so William Regal gets the title shot next week. A frustrated Orton hit Christian with a big RKO to end the show. (**3/4)
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