WWE RAW Results: 12-15-08
Results courtesy of
PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results.
-- KELLY KELLY & MELINA vs. Women's champion BETH PHOENIX & JILLIAN HALL
Early on, a handful of hair on Kelly by Beth put Kelly on the mat to set up Jillian on the offensive attack. Kelly then flipped out of a side slam, but Jillian cut her off. Jillian then directed her attention to Melina and Kelly rolled her up from behind for the win.
Post-match: Beth and Jillian pounced on Kelly to beat her down after knocking Melina off the apron. Suddenly, Kane's music hit and the pyro freaked out Beth and Jillian. The divas split, then Kane stood over Kelly's fallen body. Kelly woke up and realized what was going on, so she slowly crawled away. Kane matched her inch by inch until leaning down to slowly extend his hand. Kelly breathed heavily, but then slid out of the ring to escape Kane. Kane didn't like that, so he took off after Kelly, who walked backwards up the entrance ramp to the backstage area. Kane chased after her inch by inch until they faded to break.
WINNERS: Kelly & Melina in 2:00. Melina was apparently flown into Pittsburgh for her entrance only, as she saw zero action tonight. Post-match was um...wait for a follow-up. (1/2*)
2 -- REY MYSTERIO vs. SIM SNUKA
Snuka went right after Rey while Manu looked carefully, scouting Snuka for potential inclusion in their group. Rey made a comeback at 2:00 with a head scissors, then Snuka caught him off the ropes and threw him high into the air. Snuka then followed with a leaping knee smash to the bridge of the nose for a two count. Nice sequence. Snuka started arguing with the ref, though, which allowed Rey to come back with an elbow smash and high kick. Rey then wanted the 619, but Snuka moved. Rey then followed with a seated plancha on the floor that took out Snuka. Cody hopped up to his feet and shoved Rey, which led to an attack on Rey with the match thrown out.
Rey then slid out of the ring for safety, but Mike Knox attacked Rey from behind. Kids screamed in horror as Knox grappled Rey and gave him the Knox Out on the floor. So, is he the son of Bruiser Brody or Hillbilly Jim? Apparently he's not part of the Legacy group, as the 2Gers walked away. Fans were not happy with Knox and they let him know about. Boo and hiss. Dang that Knox. After a replay of the post-match, Knox was shown still standing over Rey and glaring at no one in particular.
WINNER: Rey via DQ in 3:00. Good development with Knox actually being physical to advance the storyline attack on the not-yet-named Cruiserweight division. Deuce...er...Hijo del Snuka looked impressive for a few moments without the Greasers gimmick holding him back. (*)
3 -- World tag team champions THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON vs. C.M. PUNK & KOFI KINGSTON
Back and forth start here. Meanwhile, Cole said Regal's goal is to bring prestige back to the IC Title. Good. Cole said WWE is the longest-running episodic TV show, beyond Gunsmoke and such. And Punk fashions himself as a maverick. Bad. Punk then chased Miz around the ring, kicked Morrison away, then hit a swinging neckbreaker on Miz for a two count. Deal broke down at 3:00, then Kofi cleared the heels to the floor and teased a big dive. Miz and Mo thought they were in the clear, but Kofi flipped Punk over the top rope with a splash on the champs before they cut to break.
Breaking News: Heels in control out of the break after babyfaces got their shine leading to the break. Kofi escaped a chinlock from Morrison and we had an early hot tag to Punk, who nearly bridge-pinned Miz before Miz blocked a springboard smash and went on the attack. The champs then tried to set up a Doomsday Device on Punk, but Punk fought off Morrison and found himself on the top rope for a superplex on Miz. Nice spot. Punk wanted the hot tag to Kofi at 10:00, and he got it.
Morrison tried to cut off Kofi, but Kofi came off the top with a hot splash before nailing a leaping dropkick and clothesline. Kofi marched around the ring, then nailed the boom-boom leg drop for a two count. Kofi followed with a sick Russian legsweep, and Miz broke up a pin. Whole deal broke down, then Punk splashed Miz on the floor. Kofi and Morrison legal and in the ring. Kofi then bridged Morrison, but JoMo slipped out.
Kofi then missed with a big turnaround splash and Morrison followed with a decisive springboard kick for the finish, but Punk broke up the pin. Miz then shoved Punk out of the ring. Things broke down, then Kofi found himself on the wrong end of Moonlight Drive from Morrison, who made the pin for the win.
WINNERS: Miz & Morrison in 12:00 to retain the World tag team titles. Heck of a tag team match. When WWE rarely features those independent style tag matches where they inevitably break down into Texas Tornado action for no rhyme or reason, it actually means something to enhance the drama of a tag match. Miz & Morrison were great, as expected, and Kofi looked better than he has in months. (***)
Post-match: Kane's music hit and he came out on stage. Regal freaked out, but Kane kept on walking. He then approached all four men in the ring and turned his attention to Miz, who took a boot to the gut and a chokeslam before nailing a big Tombstone Piledriver. The lights went down and out, then Kane walked out of the ring leaving Miz staring up at the lights. Apparently Kelly and Miz are a couple? Or Kelly is smarter than we think and she planted Miz's name to have him beat up?
4 -- DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. SANTA CLAAS
"Santa, Santa" chant to start things, then Cole: "Santa may have the home field advantage in the Igloo." Oh Lord help us. Haas, with a big fat gut, landed a big splash in the corner to start things off, but Dolph snapped off a dropkick that rocked Haas's beard. Dolph followed with a leaping elbow drop for a two count. Haas did the big elbow combo to escape a chinlock while Lawler went to his bag of Mae Young jokes. Have to clear the cobwebs every few months. Fans tried to rally behind Santa Haas while Dolph continued to work his faux beard into his mouth. Lawler said it's kind of surreal.
Santa Haas appeared to be tapping out from a chinlock, which would have been a first and orgasmic for Randy Orton, but Haas escaped and avoided an elbow drop. Haas then ripped off the beard and Santa'ed up with left hand jabs and a dropkick. Haas charged Dolph in the corner before missing a second corner splash and he walked into a leaping neckbreaker for the pin and the win.
Post-match: Dolph tried to ruin every Cena fan's night by tearing apart Santa Haas until ref Marty stopped him from ripping out the stuffing from Haas's suit. Dolph finally had enough for one night and left the ring satisfied with himself. Where's Sting to beat some respect into him?
WINNER: Dolph in 4:00. Dolph remained impressive despite having to drag Santa around the ring for four minutes. In all seriousness, if that's possible, Haas worked pretty well in the suit during the "WWE Kids Rulz" portion of the show.
5 -- World Hvt. champion JOHN CENA & BATISTA vs. LEGACY (RANDY ORTON & MANU & CODY RHODES)
Really crisp action to start things off. After Manu and Cena opened the match, Cody entered and began taking a pounding from the babyface tandem. Cena and Batista worked in and out of the ring before Cody caught Batista off the ropes with a double sledgehammer. Randy Orton, after doing some player-coaching, tagged in and quickly took a clothesline from Batista. Batista missed with another clothesline and Orton capitalized by tackling Batista and stomping him in the gut. Grab a break.
Back from break, the Legacy dominated Batista and worked him over from head-to-toe before Cena got the inevitable hot tag at 12:00. Manu was the legal man and he accepted the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He was in position for the FU, but Cody dropkicked Cena and Manu fell on top of Cena's previously injured neck. Cena sold a neck injury as he shook and tried to Cena Up on Orton, who nailed him with an uppercut before stomping on him. Cena was then hung out across the middle rope and he nailed the horizontal spike DDT for a two count.
At the top of the hour, Cena took a pounding with an offensive attack on the neck area. Cena tried a comeback to the delight of the kids, but Cena missed a corner splash. Cody then busted out a moonsault at 16:00 and he connected, with Cena kicking out in time. TV feed broke up momentarily, then Cena made the hot tag to Batista at 17:00 and he cleared Orton off the apron before giving Cody a spinebuster. He called for the end, but Orton shoved Manu into Batista. All heck broke loose, then Orton dropped Batista square on the mat with the RKO.
Cena tried to get back in the ring, but Cody and Manu held him back and beat him down on the floor. Orton then shoved the ref away and wanted Batista for The Punt. Ref Chiota called for the bell to toss this one out, then Orton lined up Batista and kicked him square in the head. Batista slumped down, then did a little shake to sell spasms from being rocked. Crowd response was pretty intense here, by the way.
Cena saw what happened, then he fought off Legacy and slid into the ring to stand over Batista's fallen body. Orton then closely guarded his buddies and they eventually slowly made their way out of the ring after making their point. Cena continued to stand over Batista, who remained KO'ed, then Legacy collectively raised their arms on the floor to loud boos. Refs spilled into the ring to check on Batista, who showed movement as the credits came on the screen. Crowd continued to scream as they faded out.
WINNERS: No Contest in 18:00. Really intense finish and post-match activity, re-establishing Randy Orton as a main event player after he lost last night. That's called getting your heat back. Cena played his role well as the Star Babyface and Batista worked his style through his limitations in the ring. They created a good TV main event with 20 minutes of overall time and set the stage for next week. Good conclusion to a strong show. (***)
