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Last night was the 24th annual WWE Thanksgiving tradition, Survivor Series. It wasn't a great show, it wasn't a terrible show. It was a middle of the road show with a few decent matches and one big angle (that turned out to be not much of an angle ... on the PPV anyway). I would think it will generate a lot of interest in tonight's Raw, and if TNA has taught us anything, it's that you use your PPVs to draw viewers to your free television shows.
~Daniel Bryan d Ted Dibiase to retain the United States Championship. Good opener that showcased Bryan's skills. They got 10 minutes. Not as good as the Ziggler matches, but that's because Ziggler is better than Dibiase. ***1/2
~John Morrison d Sheamus. This was the biggest surprise of the night to me. Really not sure where they're going here with HHH's return pending, and I can't see them elevating Morrison to a main event spot. **1/2
~Dolph Ziggler d Kaval to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Pretty good match that the crowd was unfortunately dead for. Ziggler may have legitimately broke his nose after a stiff kick from Kaval. Reports are we will see this match again on Smackdown. Hopefully they get more time. ***
~Team Mysterio d Team Del Rio in a Traditional 5 on 5 Survivor Series Elimination Match. Mysterio and Show were the survivors. Del Rio left after a Knockout Punch without actually being eliminated. Match was fine and the crowd was into it, but nothing special. MVP was the first to be eliminated... in his home town. **1/2
~Natalya d LayCool in a handicap match to win the Divas Championship. Match ended in three minutes out of nowhere with a Sharpshooter. LayCool attacked Natalya after the match with Beth Phoenix returning to make the save. *
~Kane and Edge wrestled to a TIE (yes, they called it a tie), so Kane retained the World Heavyweight Title. Finish came when both men's shoulders were down for a dual pin. Not a good match. Neither man has had a good match in a long time. And for a program built around Paul Bearer, Bearer was nowhere to be found on the entire show. *1/2
~Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel d Santino and Kozlov to retain the Tag Team Titles. Another nothing match that was put in the dead spot on the show. *
~Randy Orton d Wade Barrett to retain the WWE Championship. Almost a repeat of last month's match at Bragging Rights, and that's not a good thing. Slow, plodding, boring. The finish had Cena shove Barrett right into an RKO. Cena debated counting the fall, but since he is such a man of honor and high moral standing, he counted the 3 giving Orton the victory and firing himself from WWE. They did an long, drawn out, overly dramatic segment to end the show where Cena saluted the fans and ran through the crowd giving them high fives. The problem was, no one was in shock over Cena being "fired". Rather, all the Cena fans were still cheering for him. **
The show started with promise, but really fizzled out with both main events severely failing to deliver.
Many were also expecting something major to happen during the show. HHH's return. Miz cashing in Money in the Bank. Cena turning heel. Nothing happened. Instead it felt much more like a three hour Raw as compared to one of the supposed Big Four shows of the year.
The TLC PPV is still four weeks away, so knowing WWE, they have three weeks to screw around before actually putting a card together. Nothing has been announced, but I'm expecting tonight's show to be largely based around a Cena firing ceremony. My guess is he's on the show for his "final goodbye" speech. Maybe an angle comes out of it tonight where Cena ends up not missing any time at all. I really find it hard to believe they would put Cena on the shelf during the biggest shopping period of the year. Plus, I can't see them not having a healthy Cena involved in the TLC show.
We'll also see what happens with Wade Barrett. This is the second straight PPV he was arguably screwed out of winning the WWE Title. So logic says he will get another shot in a stipulation match at TLC. However, I really don't think I can sit through another Barrett/Orton match, and I can't see fans getting very excited for it if Cena's not involved this time.
So if they don't do Orton vs Barrett, what does that leave for Orton? Perhaps that's why Morrison got the clean win last night. You would assume they need someone athletic to face Orton at TLC, so Morrison would fit that mold. I just don't see anyone buying Morrison as a legitimate threat to the title.
The last thing about TLC. There is only one TLC match. Then there is one tables match, one ladder match, and one chair match. Yes, the always highly anticipated chair match.
News and Notes.... post'em if you got'em.