WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 12/31/12 Review (New Year's Wrasslin' Eve)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw 12/31/12. With this being the final Raw of 2012, does it end the year with a bang? Let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Rhodes Scholars vs Awesome Kiddies

We open up the show with Miz TV. It starts off with John Cena talking about Dolph and AJ, but immediately switches over to Rhodes Scholars interrupting the segment. We get a bad example of Cena trying to be funny by making updated sports references and poking fun of Cody Rhodes' mustache. I think Cena's saving up his material for the new year. We end up getting a match because umm…saving up stuff for 2013? Yeah, let's go with that. The match wasn't bad, but it doesn't take long for the enviable to happen. Cena and Miz work together to take out Rhodes Scholars. I don't really have an issue with this. Worse things could've happened. I mean, Cena could start being called the Superman of WWE programming….wait a minute?

Winner via pinfall: John Cena and Miz

Match #2: Antonio Cesaro vs Sgt. Slaughter; US Championship

Antonio is the champion of a pentagon? Wow, this is news to me. The theme of the night is the champions get to choose their opponents. Antonio wanted to fight the symbol of America, but since Captain America wasn't available, we get the Sergeant instead. The match doesn't last very long and it ends with the Neutralizer. Antonio really needs a rival. Sure, they had R-Truth for a while, but I would prefer something that would take a little effort. Since Antonio has this anti-American thing going, how about the Miz? Yeah, I'm sure that could work. If you wanted one last shot for the guy, somebody like Jack Swagger could even work. Hey, it's just a thought.

Winner via pinfall and still US Champion: Antonio Cesaro

Daniel Bryan and Kane wanted to go up against the Shield, but thanks to that tricky, tricky, CM Punk, Ryback has the Shield booked for later tonight. Team Hell No is thinking of another alternative. Well, it just so happens that 3MB want to continue to remain unimportant, so they get the title match. Meanwhile, Big Show wants to continue the Mexican stereotypes and challenges Ricardo Rodriguez to a match. Oh, the loophole that is letting the champions decide their opponents. In fact, I'm kinda disappointed by this. Why not just give Pee Wee Herman a world title match while you're at it? Hey, I would rather watch that than Eve vs Mae Young at this point. 

Match #3: Team Hell No vs 3MB; WWE Tag Titles

Despite the disadvantage in numbers, Daniel and Kane work together to take out 3MB with the Flying Goat. Any day now, I expect PETA to call some new type of bulls*** with that finish. Team Hell No really had one hell of a year. Definitely one of my favorite things to watch unfold. 

Winner via pinfall and still Tag Champs: Team Hell No

CM Punk brings out his doctor to tell people a full evaluation on his condition. If only people gave a s***. Vince McMahon arrives  and says WWE doctors will evaluate Punk next week and THEY will determine if the match takes place or not. After Pauly goes on a rant about Vince's actions, Vince makes another decision. If Punk isn't able to compete, it will be Paul Heyman vs Ryback for next week. So, I have to bring up how the GM role is unimportant since Vince will occasional make the calls without any rhyme or reason. I think if you look up Vickie Guerrero's job description, it just says "annoyance".  

Match #4: Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus

This match wasn't too bad, but I've seen better Sheamus/Dolph matches. Big E Langston ends up saving Dolph from embarrassment. Just as Sheamus is thinking dark meat, Shield arrives to attack. The injustice Sheamus served was not tanning for the general public. Yeah, the Shield means business when they start targeting this subject. 

Winner via DQ: Sheamus

Mae Young is pregnant? I guess the sexual chocolate is back on tour again. Why in the world attempt this? What possible payoff would you expect from this? I'm not even angry about this. I'm just waiting for that train to hit this with force and watch the casualties go up. That's all you can expect at this point. With Eve gloating in the ring, Kaitlyn arrives since she still has some issues to deal with. This pretty much results in a brawl that forces Eve to retreat. I love how Eve is still Booker's assistant since that whole storyline pretty much stopped. You know you've reached a new level of wrestling logic when you write stuff like this. Einstein would lose is damn mind trying to figure how this works. Oh, and Brad Maddox is now in the unemployment line. Despite not having a job, he'll still find a way to make it in the building next week. This is the moment the smarks tell you how Maddox obviously has a job since he wouldn't be there. Learn how to develop a sense of humor. It might make you less cranky. 

Match #5: Big Show vs Ricardo Rodriguez; WHC

Can we really call this a world title match? Ricardo got tossed around and the match ended when Alberto Del Rio attacked Show. After the match, Del Rio finishes off Show with a series of kicks. So, it appears that Del Rio's face turn has made him get a future world title shot…..again. I wouldn't be surprised if Del Rio has gotten more world title matches than anyone else in the past two years. I still don't see the big appeal with Del Rio. His wrestling isn't bad and he isn't a bad talker, but he never has anything interesting to say and his feuds are mostly boring. Especially his world title feuds. At the same time, there's something refreshing about Del Rio playing face this time around. It isn't new or exciting, but I find it a little more appealing than Del Rio's previous work. Does anyone else feel like that? I would really like to know what you folks think of Del Rio's face turn. I look forward to the responses.

Winner via DQ and still WHC: Big Show

Match #6: Kofi Kingston vs Wade Barrett; IC Championship

Wade shows off his cunning by basically tricking Kofi to give him this title match. One thing I should address is this rivalry. While I'm not big on the pairing, one positive is the match quality. For the most part, these have been fun matches to eat up some time. I love how all the commentators fail to call the move 'Wasteland'. It isn't his finisher anymore, therefore, it no longer has a name. Wade hits the Bull Hammer and we have a new IC champion. I have mixed feelings on this. While it gives Wade something to do, I still think he's getting underused. I really feel he should be in the main event bracket. At the same time, I would rather see him do something rather than nothing. His first IC championship reign was pretty forgettable, so I hope they can do better a second time around. As for Kofi, it looks like the wildcat needs a tune-up. 

Winner via pinfall and NEW IC Champion: Wade Barrett 

YES! This is exactly what I want to see on my television. A man looking at Mae Young's baby-maker. Well, the IWC finally got what it wanted. I mean, how in the world can you classify this as being too childish? I love how we get that scene, but only to be followed up with the Christmas episode recap. With all things considered, I thought Del Rio running over Santa was hilarious. People need to chill out and stop taking wrestling so seriously. Yeah, I said it. It's funny that I bring this up since Mae would end up giving birth to Hornswoggle. Well, at least the child doesn't have a high-five on his forehead. Was it stupid? Of course it was. Am I pissed off about it? No because it was a one-shot comedy segment to celebrate the new year. Nothing more and nothing less. 

Match #7: Ryback vs Shield

Seconds into the match, Sheamus and Randy Orton arrive to help out. So, it seems like people are joining up against the Shield. I know people would've like to see more Shield tonight, but this is mostly a holiday episode. Because of that, they are mostly gonna wait until next week to get things moving towards the Royal Rumble. It will be interesting to see how the Shield gets used in 2013. 

No Contest

Dolph Ziggler and AJ poke fun of Cena until Cena comes out to make jokes about their relationship. After some very good promo work by both guys, the show ends with Dolph and AJ covered up in a big, steaming, pile of bulls***. And I'm being literal right now. Talk about being on the s*** end of the stick. It also gives new meaning to the term 'brown eye'. I personally didn't care for the stunt, but the promos were intriguing enough to not make me care about any of that. Seriously, Dolph and Cena did some good stuff here. Cena also throws his hat in the Royal Rumble match. As the date gets closer, I will give more and more thoughts on the RR match itself. With the way things are looking, I think the RR winner would end up challenging for the WHC. I can't see the winner challenging for the WWE title. After all, why do that when we can give it to a guy who has to make 10-12 appearances for the whole year?

Overall Impression:

I didn't expect much from tonight's episode. After all, it was New Year's Eve and it wasn't fair to expect much. With that said, I thought this was a fair show with all things considered. The matches were at least fair and the show did progress a few of their storylines. Show/Del Rio seems to be the new WHC rivalry. While not the biggest fan of Del Rio getting ANOTHER world title shot, I think Del Rio playing face is fresh enough to at least give a chance. We crowned a new IC Champion tonight that gives me mixed feelings. Still, something about Wade being IC champion seems more interesting than Kofi as champ. The show had some ridiculous moments as well, but I've certainly seen worse from the WWE. Not an amazing episode to close 2012, but a fair episode that's worth a look. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. There's still time to vote for Best and Worst of WWE/TNA for 2012. Make your voice get heard and check the bottom links if you're interested. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

PS: 2012 was a great year for this page. I never thought I would see this much activity on this page. The pageviews I've gotten this year has been ridiculous. I personally don't think I deserve any of this, but I appreciate every single time anybody comes by to take a look. YOU are the reason this page is still going strong. I want to thank each and every single one of you that have given me the chance to be myself and I'll see you in 2013. Happy New Year!!!

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