WWE's Tribute to the Troops live from Fort Dix in Trenton, New Jersey opens with the usual video tribute package to the fighting men and women of the United States Armed Forces and pyro to open the show. Jim Ross welcomes us to the show and is joined on commentary by Jerry "The King" Lawler and Matt Striker.
The show begins with the introduction of Santa Claus who makes his way down the entrance ramp, throwing WWE merchandise to the troops and families in attendance and invites his "helpers" to spread the joy as well, Santa is then trailed by a train of divas including Stacy Keibler, Sable, Ashley, Maria, Trish, Lita, Natalya, Chyna, Layla, Torrie Wilson, Mickie James and Melina. The divas each have a cannon and launch t-shirts to the crowd. Santa starts to wish everyone in attendance a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season when the proceedings are interrupted by The Arab Exchange.
Daivari comes out shouting epithets at the crowd in Farsi and Muhammad Hassan cuts a promo on how his people have been stigmatized as being extremists in their entirety and spouts off about how he is sick and tired of the blind prejudices that shroud the majority of the Western Hemisphere. Hassan takes out his frustrations by assaulting Santa Claus and locking in the Camel Clutch. This brings out Air Boom, Brodie Lee and Batista to chase off the aggressors. The resistance surrounds Hassan, but as Hassan tries to escape, Santa Claus gets back to his feet and clocks him with a Cobra. Santa removes the wig and beard to reveal that Santa Claus was Santino Claus all along. RAW GM Shawn Michaels emerges and tells Hassan and company that all five of them will be in action tonight as they compete in a 10-man tag team match against Batista, Brodie Lee, Air Boom and Santino Marella.
While out on the entrance ramp, Michaels announces that his decision regarding the ECW walkout last Monday stands as follows: Any superstar who participated in the walkout last week is hereby excluded from participating in the Royal Rumble Match. No exceptions. In light of this, ECW will compete tonight as Team ECW, comprised of Christian, Jack Swagger, JBL and Rhyno will compete against Team WWE, which features Randy Orton, John Morrison, Sheamus and Triple H as we go to commercial.
CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Alex Riley def. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett
Finish came down to Danielson and Barrett, as Miz and Riley brawled into the stands and Punk and Ziggler traded blows at the ringside area, Barrett set up for Wasteland, but Danielson countered mid-toss into a flying armbar and locked in the Crossface to pick up the submission victory. After the match, Miz and Ziggler tried to get the jump on the World Champion, but Riley drops Ziggler with an A-Bomb and Punk cuts the Miz off at the pass and connects with a GTS. The champions celebrate at ringside with the troops.
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes is seen heading to the ring to issue his open challenge as we go to another break.
Cody Rhodes is in the ring as we return and announces that he is presenting an open challenge to any member of the roster that feels that they have what it takes to beat him tonight. Should they be victorious, Cody promises an IC Title match on the final Smackdown of 2011. The challenge is quickly answered by--THE MASTERPIECE, CHRIS MASTERS.
Chris Masters def. Cody Rhodes to earn a shot at the IC Championship
Cody controlled the tempo of this match and appeared to have it won after connecting with The Beautiful Disaster. Cody locks in the inverted facelock, setting up for Cross Rhodes, when Ted DiBiase comes down to the ring apron and creates a diversion. The distraction is enough to allow Masters to counter out of Cross Rhodes and directly into the Master Lock. Ted watches intently as Cody struggles to remain conscious, before ultimately succumbing to the hold. Chris Masters will challenge for the Intercontinental Championship this Friday on Smackdown.
Beer Money heads to the ring, James Storm still clearly distracted by the Chris Harris situation. Their tag team title defense against London and Kendrick is NEXT!
Skillet performs "Hero". Troops in attendance loved it.
Beer Money, Inc. def. London and Kendrick via DQ to remain Tag Team Champions
Storm connects with a Last Call to London and is prepping to go after the pinfall when Chris Harris arrives and knocks Robert Roode senseless with a steel chair and the ref calls for the bell. Storm and Harris begin arguing and even engage in a mini shoving match before Storm picks up his title belt and walks back to the locker room area. Interesting to note that while Storm did get into it with Harris that he left his partner Roode lying unconscious in the ring.
John Morrison seen performing Parkour backstage in preparation for his main event match tonight and runs into Jeff Hardy. Hardy himself is meditating prior to his match with The Undertaker, which he just learned will be an Extreme Rules Match. Morrison wishes Hardy luck. Hardy comes out of his trance and tells JoMo that while Morrison may not have been in the ring with Undertaker before, he’s crossed paths with him twice and got the better of him on the most recent exchange. Hardy tells Morrison he doesn’t need luck tonight, and he won’t need it as he tosses Morrison over the top rope at the Royal Rumble, either. Hardy storms toward the ring as we go to another break.
Back from commercial and Halestorm performs “Slave to the Grind”. Lzzy Hale was VERY over with the crowd.
Jeff Hardy def. The Undertaker in an Extreme Rules Match when the Arab Exchange Interfered
Easily a candidate for match of the night. Hardy and Taker each had several nasty spots and nearfalls, but the finish came as Taker went for the kill with a Tombstone Piledriver and The Great Khali locked on the Vice Grip. As Taker wilted, Hardy wriggled free of the waist lock and starting throwing assorted weapons at the assailants, including a “Swing for the Fences” chairshot that actually sent Khali flying off of his feet. Hardy dropped Daivari and Singh each with a Twist of Fate, took out Mahal with a Suicide Plancha to the arena floor and nailed Hassan with a Swanton Bomb, before picking up a steel chair and slamming to the canvas in defiance for the fact that he just cleaned house on five thugs by himself.
GM Michaels emerges and tells Hassan and his cronies, who are still laid out, that they look ready to compete, so Michaels decides to make the match a 10-man Elimination Tag Match. Enter the opponents.
Batista, Brodie Lee, Santino Marella and Air Boom def. The Arab Exchange
Quick and Easy. Batista whips Mahal back into the ring and drops him with a Batista Bomb for the first fall. Brodie Lee winds up and clobbers the Great Khali with a vile Big Rig Boot for the second fall. Ranjin Singh and Daivari fall victim to Trouble in Paradise and Air Bourne respectively, leaving Hassan against the world. A unanimous “U.S.A.” chant fires up in Fort Dix as Hassan takes all finishers, concluding with the Cobra for the final fall. The fan favorites celebrate the victory by jumping into the crowd and playing to the crowd one member at a time.
The feed cuts out during the celebration and a clock appears on the screen reading: IT BEGINS--SHARE HIM, REJOICE: 6 DAYS, 23 HOURS, 42 MINUTES, 49 SECONDS. The clock proceeds to tick down as we go to commercial.
Back from break and Skillet returns to play “Monster”.
Kane def. John Cena via DQ when Nexus Interfered
Cena threw everything he could at the Big Red Machine, but to no avail. Kane even kicked out of the F-U. Kane was about to finish off the Nexus commander when his troops marched to his aid and drew a disqualification. Kane chokeslams Harris, McGillicutty AND Mason Ryan before turning his attention back to Cena, dropping him with a Tombstone Piledriver to a HUGE POP.
Alberto Del Rio confronts Zack Ryder backstage and tells him that just because he was the one who saved WWE from the Nexus at TLC doesn’t mean that he’s anywhere near the same league as Del Rio. Ricardo Rodriguez winks at Ryder and wanders off as their match is NEXT!
Back from break and at long last New Jersey’s own Bon Jovi performs “Superman Tonight”. As expected, the New Jersey crowd is HOT for their native son.
Zack Ryder versus Alberto Del Rio ended in a no contest
Long Island Iced Z plays HUGE at Fort Dix, but the match ultimately ends in a no contest when Ryder connects with the Rough Ryder and goes for the pin. Ricardo Rodriguez pulls Ryder off of the pin and clear out of the ring which makes the ref call for the bell, but Ryder isn’t finished, taking Rodriguez upside the head with a flurry of rights and lefts before nailing him with a big right hook. Del Rio jumps Ryder from behind and begins wailing on him. Diamond Dallas Page rushes down to a TREMENDOUS ovation and throws Del Rio off of Ryder. Shawn Michaels emerges again and tells them that there’s been a change of plans and that the match will now be Alberto Del Rio teaming with Ricardo Rodriguez against the team of Zack Ryder and Diamond Dallas Page. Crowd explodes with approval upon hearing DDP will be in action.
Zack Ryder and DDP def. Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez
Ryder connects with a Broski Boot to Del Rio and lines up for the Rough Ryder, but Del Rio rushes to the corner and tags in Ricardo. Ricardo cowers in the corner as Ryder blitzes Del Rio to the outside and up the entrance ramp. Unaware that he made a blind tag, Rodriguez looks up to see that he is in fact in the ring with DDP. Ricardo falls quickly to a Diamond Cutter and Fort Dix erupts with a massive “DDP” chant. Page logs the pinfall and the New Jersey crowd rains down cheers upon the former World Champion.
Another promo runs for the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV. Striker and Lawler mention that Qualifying Matches for the Rumble begin next week.
Bret “Hitman” Hart enters to the shock of EVERYONE and greets the troops at Fort Dix, but quickly admits that he’s here on business. Hart mentions that last week everyone saw CM Punk introduce Randy Savage as the first inductee into this year’s WWE HOF class. Bret says that after extended deliberations with Martha, he has “persuaded” her to stop standing in the way of what her late husband truly deserves. Bret says he is proud to introduce the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012, Owen Hart. The roof comes off the arena with roars and applause. The Owen Hart tribute video plays and boisterous chants of “Thank You Owen” burst from the crowd as Bret tells Owen that he loves and misses him as we go to commercial.
Back from break and Bon Jovi returns for his encore performance, playing “Living On A Prayer” much to the crowd’s pleasure. The arena at Fort Dix echoes as the crowd sings along word for word.
Drew McIntyre def. The Big Show after Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger interfered
Finish came when Big Show threw a WMD intended for McIntyre, but McIntyre ducked and Big Show clobbered the ref instead. With the ref out, Big Show was tripped from outside the ring by Swagger and dropped with a ZigZag across the top rope before staggering into FutureShock. McIntyre makes the surprising cover as another ref runs down and logs the fall.
Christian, JBL and Rhyno shortly join Swagger at ringside, entering to the Old School ECW Theme as they await Team WWE’s arrival as we go to our final break.
Triple H, Randy Orton, Sheamus and John Morrison def. Christian, Jack Swagger, Rhyno and JBL
Finishers are hit in sequence at the end of the contest, starting with Swagger hitting Morrison with a Gutwrench Powerbomb, Sheamus responds with a Brogue Kick and Rhyno gores the HELL out of Sheamus. Orton hits an RKO and JBL connects with a Clothesline from Hell. Triple H pedigrees JBL and turns around into a Spear by Christian. Captain Charisma walks directly into a Flying Chuck and Morrison punctuates the blow with Starship Pain to pick up the win for Team WWE.
After the match, Triple H grabs a mic as the entire WWE roster files out onto the stage. The Game thanks all of the United States Armed Forces for their service, for the sacrifices and for their dedication to both this business and to their country. Triple H wishes them all a safe and happy Christmas and Holiday season as various superstars make their way through the crowd, shaking hands and playing to the crowd some more. Triple H motions for a giant American flag to be brought to the ring. Hunter sticks the pole into the top of the turnbuckle post, salutes it and then salutes the crowd by posing on the middle turnbuckle in the shadow of the flag.
Bon Jovi performs the closing number “Baby Please Come Home” as a montage of WWE’s experience over the weekend at Fort Dix is captured through a montage of video and still shots on the titantron to end the show.
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