The Saturday Night's Main Event special opens live from Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, AL as Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are joined by Matt Striker on commentary. Advertised for tonight's main event is a six-man tag team match between World Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson, Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler going against WWE Champion CM Punk, Chris Jericho and THE UNDERTAKER.
John Cena and the Nexus enter and Cena tells the WWE Universe that while one member of the Nexus may have failed him this past week in the Royal Rumble qualifying matches, McGillicutty and Mason Ryan both still have a chance to provide him with backup in the Royal Rumble Match on January 29. Cena insists that he will not be stopped and that no man on RAW, Smackdown...or ECW will keep him from headlining Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship.
At this announcement, Sheamus enters and tells Cena to put his money where his mouth is and says he has no problem blowing the dust off of their personal business and kicking Cena's arse all over again. The Nexus exits the ring, Cena preps for the match and the bell rings to get the match underway.
Sheamus def. John Cena via DQ
Finish came as Sheamus escaped from an F-U attempt and squared up for a Brogue Kick. Cena ducks out of the ring and Nexus storms in, drawing a DQ. Sheamus beats them all to the punch, however, clubbering Husky Harris with a Celtic Hammer, driving Mason Ryan from the ring with a Brogue Kick and forcing Cena and the Nexus to watch as he drops McGillicutty with the High Cross Powerbomb. Sheamus celebrates in the ring as Ryan pulls McGillicutty from the ring and the Nexus retreat backstage.
Matt Striker recaps the Royal Rumble card
Muhammad Hassan interrupts the proceedings and informs everyone that he is frustrated with being stigmatized based on the proceedings of his departure in 2005. Hassan tells the crowd that his reign atop the WWE begins at the Royal Rumble, where he vows to outlast 39 other participants and main event Wrestlemania. Just as he begins his tirade, R-Truth interrupts to a huge pop and tells Hassan that Lil’ Jimmy says if he plans to win the Royal Rumble, Hassan will have to go through him. Truth tells Hassan to stop ducking The Truth and man up before smacking him across the face. A brawl ensues and Teddy Long intervenes to set up a one-on-one match between the two next as we go to commercial.
Muhammad Hassan def. R-Truth when The Great Khali interfered
Truth connects with a Lie Detector and is about to set up for Lil’ Jimmy when Khali lumbers to the ring and creates enough of a distraction for Hassan to premiere a brand new, devastating finisher that’s a nasty combination of a Maxillae Claw and a Complete Shot for the duke. After the match, The Mideast Exchange comes to the ring and begins beating the tar out of R-Truth, which draws out LAX once again. The crew chases Hassan’s posse off leaving Truth to drop Hassan with Lil’ Jimmy and celebrate with LAX in the ring.
Del Rio and Miz are backstage, still fuming about the fact that CM Punk arranged for Chris Jericho to swoop in and steal the title shot that they believe belongs to them. Theodore Long wanders up behind them and tells them that since they seem to be of similar mindset tonight, they should team up because Long has arranged for them to go head-to-head with the team of The Big Show and Kane later tonight.
Drew McIntyre & Beth Phoenix def. Jeff Hardy & Natalya
Unbelievable finish. Solid match between the corresponding partners, particularly McIntyre and Hardy. Ref took a bump mid match as McIntyre countered a Twist of Fate and threw Hardy into the ref. Finish came when McIntyre took advantage of an unconscious referee and dropped Natalya squarely on her head with FutureShock. WOW. Beth Phoenix hits the Glam Slam for good measure and logs a three count. After the match, McIntyre clocks Hardy with a steel chair as he tries to plead his case to the official. McIntyre opens the folding chair and drops Hardy with FutureShock as well. EMTs rush down to tend to the unconscious partners as we go to break.
Zack Ryder def. Cody Rhodes
Good back and forth match, ending with Ryder finding his opening in the smallest of windows. Rhodes attempted the Beautiful Disaster, but Ryder ducked and Cody only briefly lost his footing upon landing, but it was enough. Ryder comes back with a Rough Ryder and picks up the victory. An embarrassed and angered Intercontinental Champion gets on the mic and vows to quit, thus vacating the IC Title, if he fails to qualify for the Royal Rumble next Friday.
The Rated-R Superstar and new GM of RAW, Edge is seen walking backstage. The Cutting Edge with ECW is next!
Cutting Edge segment opens with Edge introducing ECW’s Paul Heyman, Jack Swagger and Christian, who assure the fans that ECW will not only exist as its own entity after the Royal Rumble but one of their own will win the Royal Rumble Match, Headline Wrestlemania and make off with the WWE Championship, claiming it for ECW. Swagger and Christian get into an argument over who will win the Royal Rumble match, and Edge points out that Swagger hasn’t even qualified to participate in a qualifying match yet. Edge tells Christian that even though he was the first of five representatives who will inevitably get a shot, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s still a ginormous tool. Edge smacks Christian across the face and Swagger gets into Edge’s face, telling him that he’s the best entity that WWE or ECW has ever had the pleasure of signing to a contract.
This brings out Alex Riley, who has unfinished business with Swagger and tells him that at Wrestlemania, he (Riley) will make history as the first man to simultaneously hold the United States and WWE Championships. Riley tells Swagger that anytime he wants a match for the title that the door is open. Riley takes Swagger upside the head with a mic and a brawl ensues. The numbers game ultimately catches up and Christian and Swagger begin to double team the United States Champion. This brings out Ted DiBiase to chase them off.
Edge says that since he’s the closest GM to the epicenter of the situation, it’s his jurisdiction to make the match. Edge books Alex Riley and Ted DiBiase versus Christian and Jack Swagger, right now!
Alex Riley and Ted DiBiase def. Christian and Jack Swagger
Finish came when Swagger locked in the Ankle Lock and Riley countered into a Victory Roll to secure a surprise pinfall. After the match, Heyman tries to feed a chair to Christian, but overshoots it and the chair is intercepted by DiBiase instead, who levels both Swagger and Christian as they flee the ring. Edge captures Heyman from the back of his trench coat and hurls him into the ring as DiBiase stands guard with the bent chair. Edge grabs two more and executes a beautiful Con-Chair-To to Heyman for a HUGE pop. Edge celebrates in the ring with Riley and DiBiase.
Punk is backstage with Jericho, asking him what it will take to convince him that he’s not intent on defecting to ECW with the WWE title in tow. Jericho simply tells him that actions speak louder than words and the primary focus will be to put differences aside for the benefit of the team tonight, then beat the hell out of each other at the Rumble. Punk tells Jericho that there is absolutely no way that either of them will be able to stay out of the other’s business until then. Jericho just smirks and walks away as we go to break.
Kane and The Big Show def. Alberto Del Rio and The Miz
Realizing about mid-match that this effort is a lost cause, Miz jumps down off the ring apron as Del Rio attempts to make a tag and walks away. Del Rio turns around and walks into a Double Chokeslam before Show polishes him off with WMD. Miz stands on the stage with a thousand-mile gaze which the announcers can’t decipher whether it’s one of cold determination and focus or one of overwhelming frustration. Either way, The Miz appears to have a bigger agenda than just this night.
Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler look ahead to Monday Night RAW from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi; a full slate of Royal Rumble Qualifying Matches PLUS CM Punk and Chris Jericho will both be in action in tune-up matches for their marathon at the Rumble. This will be Jericho’s first singles match in WWE since September 2010.
Matt Striker follows up by promoting the huge card Smackdown has in store for Laredo, TX this Friday, including their own full docket of Rumble qualifying matches, a World Championship Match between Bryan Danielson and Wade Barrett and what is sure to be an extremely violent Texas Bull Rope Match between Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler.
John Morrison def. Wade Barrett
Another good match, the finish comes as Morrison counters the Winds of Change Side Slam into a float-over DDT and hits Starship Pain to pick up the win.
Orton backstage with the World Champion, The Viper says the same rules apply tonight as applied last night as it concerns both the team effort and as it concerns Ziggler. Danielson says he can handle himself and tells Orton to only be concerned with whether or not he can keep HIS priorities in order instead of blindly chasing his opponents backstage. Orton locks into a staredown with the champion as we go to our final break.
Bryan Danielson, Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler def. CM Punk, Chris Jericho and The Undertaker
This one unraveled fast. The turning point came when Undertaker was attempting Snake Eyes to Ziggler, but Ziggler ducked the boot, sending Undertaker crashing into the WWE Champion. Furious, Punk fired back by sliding into the ring and setting up the Deadman for the GTS. Before Punk could carry out the attack, however, Jericho made a blind tag and struck from behind, dropping Punk (and thus the still aloft Undertaker) with a Codebreaker. Amidst the confusion, Randy Orton tags in and drops Jericho with an RKO to pick up the win.
After the match, the chain of finishers ensued. Ziggler hit a ZigZag on Orton, Danielson struck from the top with a Missile Dropkick, Jericho regained his bearings and locked Danielson in the Walls of Jericho, Punk threw a Roundhouse kick and dropped Jericho with a GTS, and the sequence finished as The Undertaker tombstoned Punk, leaving both contenders for the title (one being his apparent challenger at Mania) unconscious. Taker drops to one knee to salute the crowd as the arena goes dark to end the show.
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