We start out with a short video recapping last week's main event, where Big Show ran over AJ. They are clearly implying that Daniel Bryan did it on purpose. I don't know if I like that – Bryan could be a good heel, but I hope it stays as a slow build. However, the crowd has clearly turned on him as he gets massive heat when he enters. And Michael Cole is sympathetic to him. Clearly he is a heel. He emphasizes the fact that AJ is his girlfriend repeatedly, and then starts claiming that Big Show did it on purpose which is... kind of funny. Bryan is trying to get the crowd to turn on Big Show, but it isn't happening. Okay, seriously, he says “my girlfriend AJ” every time he mentions her. It's getting kind of ridiculous. Is it just me, or is Bryan channeling Randy Savage and his relationship with Miss Elizabeth? I really like this promo overall.
When we go to the back, Alicia Fox blows on her own dice, and Aksana remains awkward. I really don't like her – she's incredibly boring. Cody Rhodes spins, and chooses to face Hornswoggle. I will admit that I laughed at Michael Cole's comment right before they went to commercial.
Cody Rhodes is one of my favorite wrestlers right now – he has great mic and ring skills, and he's being used really well. Rhodes attacks Hornswoggle before he even gets into the ring, and Justin Gabriel comes to rescue him. Gabriel's new haircut is crazy – how does it stay up while still moving? However, he seems like he needs to work on his mic skills. He's solid in the ring, though – a lot of good high flying moves, and there are a lot of dropkicks flying around. This match he doesn't do as many high flying moves, but demonstrates that he's solid even when he isn't flying. Gabriel could become a solid midcarder this year, and could be a main eventer in a year or two. However, he is facing Rhodes, who will be a main eventer before the end of the year. He hits Gabriel with the Cross Rhodes for the win.
After the match we get a brief segment with Mark Henry and Teddy Long, where Henry almost seems to be becoming a face briefly. Then he turns right back to a heel. I think? He's not a great talker, so he doesn't convey his intentions very well. It does reveal that his match with Daniel Bryan will be a Lumberjack match.
I love that they have to show a clip from a house show where Air Boom dropped the belts. I realize that Evan Bourne is suspended, but they had a match on Raw – they could have waited to exchange the titles until then. And the rematch clause can be ignored – it seems Dolph Ziggler has forgotten about his rematch with Zack Ryder. In case you couldn't tell, this really bothers me, mostly because I was watching during the golden age of Tag that included The Hardy Brothers, the Dudleys and Christian and Edge. I suppose Epico and Primo are good enough, and the Usos have a lot of potential. In fact, they have one of my favorite entrances in the WWE today. And Booker T is a child. The fact that this is a Tornado Tag match doesn't seem to matter that much. It should have been a regular tag match with a different condition. I don't know what, but it could have been better.
Ugh, another segment between Teddy Long and Aksana. It does lead to some fun innuendo, though. Up next is Brodus Clay! This is so exciting! I love everything about his new gimmick. Somebody call my momma! He seems like he's having so much fun, which is always what makes a gimmick like this work. He is then joined by Vickie Guerrero, who is going to face Brodus Clay in a dance off. She looks like she's having some sort of awkward seizure. Even Michael Cole is laughing at her! Even the ring announcer is cracking up once Brodus is done dancing. And then William Regal comes out? This is off the wall! This segment makes no sense, and I love it! William Regal is fantastic, coming out to defend Vickie's honor or something. Wow, I think Brodus missed the n in funky. Regal is better than I expected, but Clay hits him with the Awww, Funk It! Which is the best name for a finisher ever.
We come back for Wade Barrett and Sheamus's tables match. I enjoy Barrett, though a large part of that is the fact that it's fun to say “Barrett Barrage” in his accent. There are some good moves avoiding the tables, and this is overall a good match. Jinder Mahal interferes, allowing Barrett to grab the victory, though Sheamus gets revenge as he puts Mahal through a table.
Next we have Hunico vs. Ted Dibiase in a flag match. So, two wrestlers that I don't care about in a gimmick match that I've never heard of. It looked great when Hunico threw Dibiase over the ropes, but then Kamacho (or however you spell it) apparently doesn't know how to sell at all. Overall a very boring match. Can we please never see this type of match again?
I love the short segment between Santino and Drew Macintosh. Santino is great for the same reason Brodus is – he's hilarious! Unfortunately, their match has to be a blindfold match, though they are clearly using the one way fabric. Regardless, this is not an impressive match. It's not terrible, considering the gimmick, but I would have rather had the match be a standard match. I wonder what the plan for Drew is – maybe he'll get fired and start attacking the other wrestlers? That could be interesting.
Why are they announcing that Randy Orton will return next week? And why is he returning two days before the Royal Rumble? It makes no sense to me. In the Bryan vs. Henry Lumberjack match, I love Bryan saying “Don't you touch me” and Barrett saying “Or what?” Not a bad match – Henry gets to show of his strength, while Bryan gets to do some impressive moves. I especially liked the flip he did when Henry clotheslined him. Barrett is the first to jump into the ring to attack Bryan, but he is quickly joined by a number of other wrestlers. It ends with a huge brawl in the ring, allowing Bryan to crawl away, ending the match with another No Contest. That leaves us with the announcement that there will be a triple threat cage match between Bryan, Henry and Big Show at the Royal Rumble.
I don't know how to rate this. It had some good parts, and a whole lot of mediocre.
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