WWE RAW Coverage: Christmas and Kendo Sticks

If this week’s RAW was just about Piper’s Pit and Hulk Hogan as Santa Claus, it would have been cool, but add in a deep card and plenty of moments that’ll play a huge part in the development of the Royal Rumble and this was a damn good episode of RAW.

Simply put, between the John Cena/Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler/Luke Harper match ups, the solid in-ring performances led the way. The Bray Wyatt.Dean Ambrose main event was no slouch either and the Piper’s Pit segment, coupled with Roman Reigns’ win over Big Show and Nattie Neidhart’s surprise win over Brie Bella made sure that the mid-card was developed for the future as well.

Matches:

Seth Rollins w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury: vs. John Cena: Rollins set the tone early with a Blockbuster and got plenty of help on the outside from Mercury and Noble, but couldn’t put Cena away. Although Cena attempted a comeback, Rollins kept the pressure on with a Suicide Dive and a nasty Super Kick while Cena was on his knees. After a failed Attitude Adjustment, Cena was unable to hit a Five-Knuckle Shuffle and Rollins countered with an Enzigieri. But after a sit-out Powerbomb, Cena began to mount his first legitimate comeback. After a Belly-to-Back Suplex, Cena hit the Five-Knuckle Shuffle and sent Rollins to the outside. After the Sicilian Slice, Cena got his first near-fall of the match. Rollins quickly answered back with a Turnbuckle Powerbomb, but couldn’t put Cena away either. After Rollins went for the Curb Stomp, Cena countered into the STFU and after Noble and Mercury interfered, Cena hit a Double AA on both Mercury and Noble and finished off Rollins with the Attitude Adjustment for the win.

Fandango w/Rosa Mendez vs. Jack Swagger: “The Real American” was in control, but after a few kicks on the apron, Fandango was able to hit the stunned Swagger with the Top Rope Leg Drop for the win.

R-Truth vs. Adam Rose w/Bunny: After a dance-off gone wrong, Truth Rolled Up Rose for the win. After Bunny tried to calm down Rose, Rose nailed with the Spinebuster and an onslaught on the the outside.

The Big Show vs. Big Show: A Superman Punch on the outside sent Show over the announce table and caused Show to get a livid Show counted out to earn Reigns the victory.

Brie Bella w/Divas Champion Nikki Bella vs. Natalya Neidhart w/Tyson Kidd: Neidhart missed an opportunity with the Sharpshooter, but used the School Boy to get the win over Brie. After the match, Neidhart made sure Nikki couldn’t protect her sister, sending her flying off the apron with a knee.

Stardust and Goldust vs. El Torito, Diego and Fernando: A disaster. A travesty. Torito got the win with the Lionsault on Goldust.

Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper: Ziggler took a huge beating before the match, but even a Super Kick and Seated Powerbomb from Harper could put him away. Harper continued to dominate with various Suplexes and strikes and a Michinoku Driver, but Ziggler continued to kick out. Harper proved his moxie later completely fighting off a Super Kick and nearly winning with the Discus Clothesline. Ziggler fought back with a Fameasser to get a near-fall, but Harper wasn’t done yet either. Two Super Kicks and a Zig-Zag later though and Ziggler was the winner.

Santa’s Helper Six-Man Tag: Alicia Fox, Emma and Naomi vs. Cameron, Summer Rae and Paige: After some back and forth, Fox got the win with a version of The PlayMaker.

WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz w/Damien Sandow vs. Jey Uso w/Jimmy Uso: All Miz needed was a handful of tights to secure the win with a Rollup.

34th Street Street Fight: Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose: A hardcore epic that included Christmas trees, tables, TVs and Kendo sticks. The battle continued up the ramp where Wyatt sent Ambrose through a table after the Lunatic fringe missed with a chair. Once back in the ring, Ambrose got the advantage with a Bulldog, but quickly went back to the Kendo Stick. After a few strikes, Ambrose used the Steel Chair from the second rope for a near-fall. Ambrose then added the ladder into equation, but Wyatt spider-walked into Ambrose and hit the Urinage for a near-fall of his own. Ambrose fought back again and hit his Signature Standing Elbow Drop, but Wyatt kicked out and then slammed Ambrose’s face into the Kendo Stick propped out of  the turnbuckle for the win. After the bell however, Ambrose sprayed Wyatt with a fire extinguisher and Elbow Dropped him through a table on the outside to end the show.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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