WWE Main Event - December 19, 2012
by Scrooge McSuck
- I typically recap Main Event either live or, if I have to work a night shift, the following morning, so doing a recap on the cusp of it being saturday shows how pre-occupied I've been. We're coming to you, taped on December 18th, 2012, from... somewhere we aren't supposed to know. The main event was originally meant to be Kane vs. Cody Rhodes, but with the victory for Rhodes and Sandow at TLC over Mysterio and Sin Cara, they are granted contendership again, and so we get a tag title match, instead. Michael Cole and the Miz are calling the action from ringside.
- We recap the injury from a few weeks ago on Main Event and the new mustache of Cody Rhodes. We then recap the unlikely tag team of Daniel Bryan and Kane, a.k.a "Team Hell No." They've definitely been one of the most interesting and entertaining parts of WWE programming over the past few months. I still get a kick out of Bryan telling Kane he looks like someone slapped him in the face with a fruit roll-up. With a full detailed recap setting up this match, I have a strong feeling we're going to see the titles change hands tonight.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
Kane & Daniel Bryan © vs. Damian Sandow & Cody Rhodes:
What kind of condition can the champions be in after the brutal match they went through at TLC? Will Cody Rhodes' mustache bring good luck? We'll find out after a commrcial and som pimping of the Tribute to the Troops, 10th Anniversary Edition!
Bryan and Rhodes look to be starting, but Rhodes demands that Kane start the match. Revenge is a dish best served with a side of fruit roll ups. Rhodes pounds on Kane, but gets shoved away like he's a small child. Rhodes tries again, using his speed to outmanuever Kane. He unwisely charges into the corner, allowing Kane to finally take over. Whip to the ropes, Kane drops Rhodes going for what I guess was a bulldog, then sends him staggering across the ring with a shoulder tackle. Sandow tags in and quickly loses a slugfest faster than Glass Joe. Kane pulls Sandow back in from the apron with a hip toss, then tags in Bryan, who comes off the top with a double axehandle. Criss-cross, Bryan with a knee into the midsection. He lands a series of No! Kicks to the chest. He turns Sandow over for a surfboard, but just slams the knees into the canvas. Kane in with a nasty looking basement dropkick for two. Kane with a side headlock takeover... who would think I'd be calling THAT? Whip to the corner, and Bryan tags back in to further the punishment on Sandow. Bryan takes him down with a wristlock, then turns it into a pinning combination by stepping on the tricep. I've never seen someone do that in WWE. He drives knees into the elbow, all while the crowd chants "yes" for each one. Kane with a scoop slam, but he misses the jumping elbow drop. After 15 years, you think he would stop trying for it. Rhodes tags in, and gets slammed shoulder-first onto the canvas. He rolls to the floor, playing his best Bret Hart, and rams Kane into the steps as he follows.
We return from commercial, with Sandow stomping away on Kane and covering for a two count. Rhodes tags in, and continues with the stomping tradition. Sandow with an elbow across the back, then applies a front facelock. Kane catches him coming off the ropes with a forearm, but Rhodes makes sure to cut off the tag. Rhodes with a knee to the chest, but a slugfest is not working for anyone other than Kane. Sandow with boots to the midsection, followed by choking. They take Kane over with a double suplex for a two count. Sandow leaps off the middle rope, right into an uppercut. Bryan gets the fake hot tag (as in he'll play face-in-peril shortly afterwards), and kicks at Sandow repeatedly. Whip to the corner, Bryan backflips off the top rope, and comes off the ropes with a clothesline. He charges into the corner with a running dropkick, but it only gets two. Sandow catches Bryan with his head down, but a charge goes against him, being flung over the top rope. He fakes a knee injury, but Bryan isn't falling for it, and comes off the apron with a knee to the face. Rhodes tries a sneak attack, but in the long run, it helps Sandow, knocking Bryan off, into the security wall.
We come back from another break, with Rhodes dropping Bryan with a front suplex. Rhodes with a knee to the midsection, followed by a headbutt. Sandow continues working him over, then distracts the referee to allow Rhodes some shots from the apron. Sandow with a snap suplex for two. Sandow with a drop toe hold to prevent a tag, allowing Rhodes to drop a knee across the back of the head. Rhodes with a step-over armbar, turned into a chinlock. Bryan fights free for a slugfest, a bit more even than what we sae earlier. Rhodes remains in control. Sandow with a russian leg sweep and the wind-up elbow drop. No count, with Kane breaking it up early. The challengers continue to work over Bryan. Whip to the corner, Sandow meets a boot on a charge. Bryan comes charging out with a side heel kick. Kane gets the hot tag and puts Rhodes down with a boot. Whip to the corner, clothesline and the side suplex for a two count. Kane takes a cheap shot at Sandow and heads to the top rope, but gets caught by Rhodes. Sandow tags in, but Kane shoves them both off and completes a big clothesline on Rhodes. Sandow with the neck breaker, but Bryan breaks the cover. Rhodes with the Cross-Rhodes on Bryan, knocking him to the floor. Rhodes tags in proper and hits the Disaster Kick on Kane for TWO! Rhodes goes for a moonsault, but Kane avoids it. Bryan gets the tag, Kane plants Rhodes with a chokeslam, and Bryan with the swandive headbutt for three at 17:53 (minus two commercial breaks) to retain the Tag Team Championship. That was much, much better and what I was expecting out of their previous match, had Rhodes' mid-match injury not taken place. Definitely the best tag team match we've seen on Main Event, but where does this leave this program? To further continue? Hopefully not, but they kind of have to, I guess.
- Hype video for Tribute to the Troops. It's the same thing every time. No disrespect to our serving men and women, but I'm recapping a rasslin' show. I know nothing about what our military has been up lately.
- Raw Recap. Our main event between John Cena and Vicki Guerrero against Dolph Ziggler and A.J. Lee turned into a singles match seconds into the match as the women left the ring area. With John Cena on the verge of victory, A.J. returns to the ring with Big E. Langston from NXT. For whatever reasons, he's wearing the old Nation of Domination color scheme (black, with red, yellow, and green). Please, I'm begging... take A.J. off my television, computer screen, whatever you watch rasslin' on. Now.
Santino Marella & Zack Ryder vs. The Primetime Players:
Time for our filler match of the night. Remember when the PTP were supposed to be in line for the Tag Titles, until Kane and Bryan got over as a team, and then we got Rhodes and Sandow taking over as the top heels? The heels have their names on their tights, just in case we couldn't tell them apart. Marella and O'Neil start. Lockup, with O'Neil shoving Marella across the ring. Ryder tags in, pounding away, but O'Neil quickly grabs a front facelock and tags in Young. He grabs a headlock, and gives Young a noogie? Whip to the ropes, Young with a shoulder tackle. Criss-cross ends with a one man flapjack from Ryder for a two count. Ryder with a dropkick to the back of the head for a two count. Miz name drops some awesome late 80's tag teams, making me long for those days... and then Cole says BEVERLY BROTHERS. There's an awesome joke for you. Marella with a headlock. Young takes over and stomps the nads. Marella avoids a charge, takes him over with an arm drag, then hooks an armbar. This match is dying a slow, painful death for me. Miz argues with Cole over the difference between a title and a belt, in reference to the Million Dollar Belt. We take a break, come back with Marella taking a beating. Ryder gets the hot tag, hits the Broski Boot on O'Neil. Young breaks it up and takes a Cobra Strike from Marella. O'Neil with a sitout spinebuster, and it's a victory for the PTP at 6:38. Boring filler.Final Thoughts: Outstanding Main Event this week. The rest of the show was whatever, but when the big attraction delivers, it doesn't matter how the rest comes across, there's usually only about 20-minutes left at that point to cover the Raw Rewind and a Superstars quality filler match. Give the Tag Title Match a look, or you know, watch the show every week. It's almost always worth watching. Except that one time. So... boring...
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