John Cena opened the show to talk about his 2012 resolutions. He promised to beat the Rock at Wrestlemania and remain who he is no matter what.
He moved onto his beef with Kane and basically called him out. John finished by kissing the crowd's ass a little, thanking them for the reactions they give him whether they are good or bad.
Kane's music hit and we heard his voice over the speaker system telling John that he had something special in store for him tonight.
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Daniel Bryan v.s. Cody Rhodes
This is a champion versus champion match as Rhodes is the Intercontinental champ while Bryan is the World Heavyweight champ. Cody hit a Beautiful Disaster kick midway in the match but only got a two count. Daniel reversed a suplex into a small package to get the win out of nowhere. Quick match. Rhodes looked pissed at the result.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
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Backstage we caught Miz and John Laurinaitus talk about R-Truth's return and attack last week. Ace reminded Miz that he likely did what he did because of their fight last month ending with Miz hitting Truth with the Skull Crushing Finale.
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Wade Barrett v.s. Santino Marella
Barrett got on the microphone before the match and bragged about his injuring of Randy Orton last week on Smackdown. Santino reminded Wade that last year in the Royal Rumble he lasted longer in the match then him. He also told him that his Barrett barrage would get run over by his Santino chu-chu train.
Squash match with Barrett basically kicking the crap out of Marella and avoiding the Cobra. Wade finished him with the "Winds of Change" spinning side slam a.k.a. the Bossman slam or the Blackhole slam.
Winner: Wade Barrett
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Sheamus v.s. The Miz
R-Truth has been stalking Miz from afar behind the scenes throughout the night which made Miz a little paranoid during his entrance. Miz attacked Sheamus before the match even started but Sheamus fought back and hit a dozen of his Irish hammers to the chest.
Miz bailed and tried running away but Truth appeared in the crowd and told Miz that Little Jimmy told him that he didn't like him and that he needed to "get got". Miz turned around into a brogue kick by Sheamus. Truth nailed Miz with a bottle of water to end the assualt. Weak sauce.
No Contest
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WWE Championship Match - Dolph Ziggler v.s. CM Punk
Backstage before the match Ziggler did a headstand and claimed doing it was as easy for him as it will be winning the match tonight. This would be a great long term rivalry if WWE would pull the trigger on Ziggler sooner rather than later.
Johnny Ace came out while Ziggler was in the Anaconda Vice and distracted the referee while Dolph tapped out. Punk nearly hit the Go To Sleep but Ziggler pushed him off and Ace pulled the top rope down spilling Punk to the outside. Ziggler won the match by count out. No title change as a result.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
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The Bella Twins v.s. Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres
Not much to say about this match. Standard, filler diva bout. The Bellas did some twin magic after Eve hit the moonsault. They botched the frigging PIN finish.
Winners: The Bellas
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Backstage CM Punk confronted Johnny Ace who announced that at the Royal Rumble Dolph Ziggler would get another shot at the WWE title and he would be the special guest referee. Punk told him if he screws him over he would make him his bitch.
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We saw the final 1-2-2012 video which lead to the expected return of Chris Jericho. He came out to a big pop complete with an all-new sparkling vest. I heard my daughter cheering for him in the living room. She loves her some Y2J.
Chris milked the hell out of the crowd's response. This lasted over ten minutes and included him running around the ring high fiving everyone before leaving. WTF? Total heel move regardless of how he was acting. I bet this is a set up for him telling the crowd next week what big hypocrites they were for cheering him on.
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Zack Ryder, John Cena and Big Show v.s. Kane, Jack Swagger and Mark Henry
This match was changed to a handicap match after they announced that Kane would not be appearing in this match. I guess I haven't been paying close attention because I just now noticed that Show has new tights. Henry and Show battled on the outside and got counted out eliminating themselves in the process.
Ryder and Swagger jumped in the ring and Zack hit the Broski Boot setting up for the Rough Ryder but Swagger countered it into a powerbomb followed up with the ankle lock. Ryder managed to make it over to Cena and tag him in.
John hit his signature moves and finished off Swagger with an Attitude Adjustment quickly to win the match for his team.
Winners: John Cena, Zack Ryder and Big Show
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After the match, Kane's music hit and John went out to the ramp to cut him off but Kane came up from the middle of the ring, taking out Ryder before rape choking Cena out once again outside the ring.
Kane turned his attention back on Ryder and dragged him into the hole inside the ring. Cena recovered and pulled Ryder away from Kane before he could take him away. The hole burst into flames as the show ended.
