WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Smackdown Holiday Special Review 11/29/11 (Why am I reviewing this?)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Smackdown 11/29/11. How will a Holiday edition of SD fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

I'm not even sure if I should be reviewing this. It was a Holiday themed show, so you knew you would get lots of comedy and filler. Still, I'm sure somebody out there wants to read this, so I will go through with it. We open up the show with Mick Foley. He talks about loving Christmas and even thought it's still a month away, he wants to celebrate early. He says there will be a world title match, a miracle on 34th street fight, and a battle royal in which the winner gets a wish from Santa. He brings out Michael Cole, who is dressed up like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Josh Matthew was already on the headset and is an elf. Cole wasn't happy about his getup. Booker T comes out next and is dressed up like Santa Claus....which is already strange since Foley is already dressed up like Santa. I have a joke in mind, but it isn't appropriate for this show. After a spin a roonie, Cody Rhodes interrupts. Cody talks down to Booker while Booker says he doesn't have a problem with Cody, but he can still fight if it comes to it. Mick makes it Booker vs Cody for later tonight. Seems kinda early for Cody and Booker to square off since their rivalry is just getting started, but we will get to that later on in the show. Chances are you will hate the rest of the show if you have no Christmas spirit or you're taking the show too seriously (AKA: the IWC).

Match #1: Mistletoe on a pole match
Yeah, this is a real match. It works like any other blank on a pole match, but the divas are trying to get a mistletoe. The match is really short and it ends when Brie Bella wins the match. Still can't tell the difference between Brie and Nikki, but who cares? After the match, Foley Claus says Brie didn't win a Divas title match, but a free kiss between now and Christmas. Brie doesn't seem too thrilled about it at first, but starts to warm up to the idea. What's next for the Bella Whores? Tune in next week.

Winner: Brie Bella

Match #2: Justin Gabriel vs Jinder Mahal
Two Gabriel matches in as many weeks? Whoa whoa whoa, pace yourselves, WWE. You don't want to overwork him. Joking aside, nice to see Gabriel making appearances. The match was short. Not only is Jinder boring to listen to, he's boring to watch in the ring. Jinder gives you no reason to care about him. He's so cliche that he isn't even worth mentioning. During the match, Ted DiBiase showed up and handed gifts to the audience while Jinder goes on his rants. I swear, the Swedish Chef makes more sense than Jinder...

With the distraction, Gabriel was able to get back in the match. A 450 Splash later and Gabriel has won the match. They're trying something with DiBiase, but I would care a lot more if he was working with another opponent. This rivalry seems like something you would see on Superstars, not Smackdown. Well....I'll give it a chance.

Winner via pinfall: Justin Gabriel

Backstage where it's Christmas party/random cameos galore. Piper, Dusty, Usos, Trent Barreta, and many others were in this scene. The bit between Dusty Rhodes and Goldust was pretty funny, but something about this scene seemed off. It didn't seem like it had direction since the cameraman was going all over the place as if he was drunk. Did someone spike the egg nog? I wouldn't be surprised if they told everyone involved in this scene to just wing it. Anyway, David Otunga shows up and talks about copyright infringement, so he wants to shut down the Christmas party. Why can't these lawyers be like Harvey Birdman? Foley has an idea and books him in a street fight against Randy Orton. I just figured it out. Otunga isn't drinking coffee. He's drinking the Robonitis Kool-Aid. There was also a backstage interview with Booker, but is attacked by Cody. Rhodes uses the IC title belt on Booker's arm and leaves. The scene ends with officials attending to Booker. The match was basically called off because of the attack. I can see people being disappointed with this, but I'm kinda glad they did this. It was too soon for a Rhodes/Booker match and they should take more time to build this baby up. I think somewhere around TLC would be a good spot.

Match #3: Kofi Kingston vs Tyson Kidd
Am I watching WWE Superstars? I was wondering why this match was happening on SD, but my question would be answered eventually. The match takes place on the outside for a while and Kofi makes fun of Cole's reindeer outfit. He takes his antlers and red nose and puts it on. Kofi went up the top rope and there you have it, a reindeer jumping the shark...er, I mean flying. Yeah....that's what I meant. If I wanted to watch reindeer fly, I would watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which just happened to be on CBS tonight. Get off my back, I love Christmas. The match was okay. It was a throwaway match, but it was put on for the sole purpose of the holiday spirit. Families might get a kick out of this.

Winner via pinfall: Kofi Kingston

Match #4: Randy Orton vs David Otunga in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight
There was a lot of Christmas trees propped up for this match. It has been a while since I've seen Otunga in the ring and I have to be honest. Even though he got his ass kicked for majority of the match, he has improved in the ring. There was many times where it seemed like Otunga was lost in the ring, but he seems to be getting a better understand of it. He still has a long way to go, but at least he has made some sort of progress. Orton tossed Otunga into most of the Christmas trees that were on display. Orton even ate a cookie and used the cookie sheet as a weapon on Otunga. Otunga was even tossed into some presents. The cardbox box.....my mortal enemy. The audience seemed to be enjoying this, no matter how silly it was. Again, just another holiday match. I really shouldn't be reviewing this episode based on the fact it was a holiday theme. The finish comes when Wade Barrett makes his only appearance of the night and attacks Randy. It appears Otunga is about to pick the bones, but Orton kicks out. If you are asking yourself why would Wade help Otunga......wrestling logic, let's move on. After Orton's kick out, he gets back in the match and hits RKO for the victory. You really shouldn't be surprised to see Randy get this victory. He kinda needed it.

Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton

Match #5: Battle Royal
Oh boy. I recall earlier in the evening that Foley said he wanted to redeem himself for his train wreck of "This is your life" from a few weeks back. Well, after watching this match, I'm not sure which was worse. I'm fine with WWE getting into the Christmas spirit, but I think they went a little too far at this point. Unfortunately, this match will only add to the complaints in how people don't like the PG era. There was a lot of unused talents in this battle royal. I think Sheamus was the only major star in this whole match. Hornswoggle was in this match.....great. Now, I'm trying to sit back and find ways to defend this....but I can't do it. I'll admit, the entire bit was pretty stupid. So, we get to the finish of this battle royal. Hornswoggle is just sitting under the ring because that's what his gimmick does.....for about 5 years. It was down to Sheamus and a bunch of low level heels. They took him on the outside and did a 4 on 1 attack on Sheamus. They didn't go over the top rope, so it's technically legal. The heels get in the ring and Jinder Mahal (Two Mahal matches in one night? I think I'm gonna cry) orders the other heels to get Hornswoggle. They grab him and start tossing him around. They are ready to throw him out of the ring, but the Great White arrives to clear house. In a matter of seconds, Sheamus eliminates those four other guys and it's down to Sheamus and Hornswoggle. Sheamus wants him to leave, but Hornswoggle won't back down. Sheamus starts to get angry, but he doesn't want to hurt the little guy. He picks him up to toss him out of the ring, but he still holds onto the rope. Both are standing on the ring apron and they are both ready to hug, but Hornswoggle conned Sheamus and pushes him off the ring apron. That's right.....Hornswoggle wins. Feel free to vent your anger if it makes you feel any better. I didn't like it, but I understand it was for the holidays. Still, Hornswoggle winning is a little too much for a holiday special. After the match, Sheamus is really angry, but keeps his cool and Hornswoggle gets to buy himself another 15 minutes. I don't want to talk about this any further, so let's just move to the next scene.

Winner: Hornswoggle

I thought we were moving to the next scene? Anyway, since Hornswoggle won the match, he gets a wish from Santa. He wishes for the ability to talk. He starts talking and for once, Hornswoggle actually got me to laugh. Mick shows up, but not as the Santa Clause. They thought Mick was doing the wishing, but it turned out to be someone else in the Santa suit. They turn around and....OMG, he's gone. It's a conspiracy!!!

Match #6: Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan; Steel Cage Match for the WHC
This was pretty much the only thing I was looking forward to for the evening. I wouldn't call this match good, but Bryan/Henry did make it work despite the obvious size difference. Bryan did have an uphill battle, but did make it a fight and almost got the victory over the big guy. Still, at the end of the day, Henry was just too much. The finish comes when Henry gets Bryan and hits World's Strongest Slam from the second rope. Have to admit, that spot was pretty cool. The show ends with Henry posing with the world title as he prepares for Big Show at TLC. I think the booking made sense. Henry and Show haven't finished their rivalry and they need to end it, hopefully at TLC. As for Bryan, he didn't look too bad and it was appropriate for him to lose the match like this. Keep in mind that Bryan is a small guy while Henry is a giant. I still think they are trying something with Bryan, and they really need to since he still has the MITB. There are more fans getting behind Bryan, but this is going to take some time. Plus, he got a kiss from AJ. Lucky bastard.

Winner via pinfall and still WHC: Mark Henry

Overall Impression:
I really didn't want to review this show. Mainly because it was a holiday themed show and you knew they would fully embrace this concept. Some people might think WWE went a little too far with embracing the holidays, and.....yeah, you have a decent argument. Then again, the show wasn't really design to build up new rivalries or showcase new storylines. It was put forth to get people in the Christmas spirit, and that of itself kinda makes the show unreviewable. In terms of holiday theme wrestling shows, this was okay. It wasn't great and there was some very silly moments, but it was expected.  Was there plenty of stupid moments? Yes, but you shouldn't really take an episode like this seriously since it was all geared towards the holidays. Holiday themed wrestling shows are a lot like filler episodes of pro wrestling, except more festive. Okay, I'm done talking about this and I hope you enjoyed this for what this was worth. Tell me what you thought of this attempt at a review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time and Happy Holidays.