By Jason Powell

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Philadelphia, Pa.

[Q1] The opening montage started the show. Kane is now featured in the opening video... A drumroll played as a shot of the set was shown. C.M. Punk welcomed viewers to Philadelphia, the entertainment capital "of this state." The images of the TLC match appeared on the screen as Punk teased who the winner was before announcing himself as the winner.

Punk headed to the ring while Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the show. Punk stood in the ring and soaked up the cheers from the crowd. Punk took his second jab of the night at John Laurinaitis and talked about how he managed to retain his WWE Title. A loud "C.M. Punk" chant broke out.

Punk said he's beat up and soar. He said he has a title that many people thought he was never hold. Punk brought up the U.S. Championship match. "Who was the winner of the United States Championship match?" Punk asked. The drumroll played again and the images of Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder were shown on the screen. Punk announced that Ryder won the U.S. Title.

Zack Ryder headed to the ring while Cole labeled his win a fluke. Punk said they saved the biggest for last. They did the drumroll bit again by showing Mark Henry and Big Show's faces on the screen. Punk said it makes him proud to say that the winner of the World Hvt. Championship was Daniel Bryan.

Daniel Bryan headed to the ring to a favorable reaction, yet still received the softest reaction of the three. Punk said that if any city can appreciate the scene in the ring, it would be Philadelphia. He put the city over for being entrenched in pro wrestling history. The crowd cheered and then an ECW chant broke out.

Punk recalled meeting Bryan ten years ago at the Murphy Rec. Center (original home of Ring of Honor), which received a good reaction. Punk said he's the guy without a filter between his brain and mouth, but this isn't all about him. He said he wanted to hear from the two new champions.

Ryder said he had to call his dad to see if he was really the champion today. "Do you know what he said?" Ryder asked. "Woo Woo Woo, you know it." Bryan said some people said he'd never make it to WWE, and said people like Michael Cole don't think he should be there. Bryan got fired up when saying that he's not just there, he's the champion, and not just any champion, he's the World Hvt. Champion.

The Miz walked onto the stage and glared toward the ring. Dolph Ziggler joined Miz on the stage. They were then joined by Alberto Del Rio. "Who asked last night's losers to come out here?" Lawler asked on commentary. The heels eventually headed to ring and tried to enter, but the faces blocked them.

Ryder flipped onto the heels at ringside, but he was quickly rammed into the ring steps. Punk and Bryan chased the faces chased the heels up the ramp while Ryder stayed at ringside selling his shoulder.

[Q2] John Laurinaitis came out and broke up the fight. Laurinaitis, who received the "What?" treatment, booked them all in a six-man tag main event match. Ryder remained on the ground holding his shoulder...

The announcers hyped the six-man tag match, and said they show Kane's return, and John Cena speaking out later in the show... Separate shots aired of Wade Barrett and Randy Orton walking backstage. The announcers said their match was up next... [C]

Powell's POV: A good opening that instantly caught my attention because it was something different. It was cool to see the trio out there. I had to laugh when the fans chanted ROH even though it seemed like Punk was hoping for an ROH chant. A strong segment that set up the main event nicely, and then the announcers also set up two other notable segments before they went to the first break.

Randy Orton made his entrance and the latest mystery man teaser URL address popped up in place of the Twitter plug...

1. Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett by DQ in 7:45. Barrett was in control when the show cut to commercial a couple minutes in. [C] Later, Barrett avoided the DDT off the ropes, but Orton dodged his Wasteland attempt.

[Q3] In the end, Barrett gouged his thumb in Orton's eye and was disqualified. Barrett roughed up Orton and hit him with a side slam, which Barrett calls Winds of Change. Barrett brought a table inside the ring and continued to rough up Orton. Barrett scooped up Orton and performed the Wasteland through the table...

Powell's POV: The crowd died whenever Barrett was on offense, which is an ongoing trend. They fired up for Orton. I hope they can get Barrett back on track, but there's something missing right now. Call me crazy, but I don't think that using the name of a Scorpions song as his new side slam is going to be enough. The Wasteland finisher through the table was fine, but the announcers didn't put it over effectively. They called that spot with the same enthusiasm they would for any forgettable mid-match move.

The announcers turned their focus to the Triple H vs. Kevin Nash match from TLC. They narrated still shots of the match. Cole said it will take at least six weeks for Nash to recover, and Lawler said he wouldn't be surprised if we never see Nash again...

A split screen shot showed Alicia Fox wearing an animal head piece on her head and Beth Phoenix walking in another part of the building... [C]

Powell's POV: Well, I think those were still shots. Nash moves pretty slowly these days, so it's kind of hard to tell the difference. Meanwhile, Alicia Fox must be a Packers fan, as they are the only people I know who wear dead animals on their heads on television. No, I'm not kicking the Packers fans while their down. If 13-1 is down, I wish the Vikings would be "down" every season.

Check out the latest January 2 mystery video at Youtube.com/prophetless2012 . The little girl can't help the boy anymore and wants to know if he understands. The closing graphic reads "Prophetless"...

2. Alicia Fox defeated Beth Phoenix in 0:45. Alicia came out wearing the dead animal on her head. The crowd didn't seem to be impressed, but Cole couldn't wait to tell us that she was trending on Twitter. Alicia hit her finisher and pinned Phoenix clean. Alicia took the mic after the match and said, "Hi, I hope everyone has a Foxy holiday." Her music played and she left the ring without the dead animal...

The announcers hyped the six-man tag match...

Powell's POV: Great, now little girls everywhere will be wearing dead animals on their heads and walking around like strippers while shitty techno music plays. Meanwhile, they made Beth look really good at the pay-per-view by having her dominate Kelly only to have her lose like this to the suddenly annoying Alicia Fox.

[Q4] [C] Highlights aired of Sheamus beating Jinder Mahal on Smackdown...

3. Shemaus defeated Jinder Mahal. Jinder came out wearing a turban cut a promo while walking to the ring. He said Sheamus has no class and no honor, and it's about time someone puts him in his place. Lawler said Jinder asked for the rematch. Jinder got some offense in this time around. Sheamus finished him off with the Celtic Cross...

Powell's POV: I'm not sure what the point of that was, nor do I think WWE creative knows where to go with Sheamus.

The announcers hyped John Cena's first comments since Kane attacked him for after the break... The WWE Network video aired... [C] Highlights aired from last week of Kane returning and attacking John Cena...

[Q5] John Cena made his entrance and said something about the City of Brotherly Love and how their favorite son had come home. His shirt has the "Be a Star" logo on the side. Cena was booed loudly, though the cameras focussed on the women and children who cheered him.

Cena said some people, including The Rock, don't like him. He said he doesn't understand why Kane attacked him. He said he was willing to let bygones be bygones if it was an accident, but they have business if it wasn't an accident and he's ready to face his fears.

Mark Henry's music played and walked gingerly to the ring. Henry said that Cena would be the newest member of the Hall of Pain if it hadn't been for Kane. Henry said Cena is doing a monologue full of jokes. The crowd chanted "Sexual Chocolate." Henry said he's not in the mood for jokes because he lost his title at TLC.

Henry said he was there to address his injuries and why he lost. He suggested that Cena get out of his face. Cena squared off. The pyro went off. After the same length pause as last week, Kane's music played. He came out wearing both masks again. Henry ducked to ringside while Cena remained in the ring.

Kane walked toward Henry at ringside as the announcers questioned who Kane was there for. Henry yelled that he's hurt right now as Kane glared at him. Kane turned slowly toward John Cena. He climbed onto the ring apron and removed the large mask. Once he entered the ring, Cena attacked him and clotheslined him out of the ring.

Kane landed on his feet and pulled Cena to the floor, where he threw him into the announce table. Kane roughed up Cena at ringside and caught him with a punch to the throat, which Cena sold by coughing and gagging. Kane covered Cena's face with his hand. Cena gargled. When Kane pulled his hand away, Cena had blood on his lip.

Kane ripped Cena's t-shirt off and left Cena lying on the announcers' table. Kane's music played and he headed up the ramp with Cena's t-shirt. Cena sat up on the announcers' table with a shocked look on his face... [C]

Powell's POV: Okay, so Kane came back to start a t-shirt collection. A good segment, though. I liked the way they teased Kane going after Mark Henry, who is responsible for putting him on the shelf. One can only hope that a serious feud with Kane will lead to some serious mic work from bad joke John Cena.

Primo and Epico were in the ring with jiggling Rosa Mendes. The Uso Brothers did their war dance entrance...

[Q6] 4. Epico and Primo (w/Rosa Mendes) defeated The Uso Brothers in 2:50. A shot aired of Air Boom watching backstage. There was a good finishing sequence with some rapid fire spots that concluded with Epico hitting the Backstabber on one of the Uso Brothers and then scoring the pin...

Powell's POV: Neither team received much of a reaction, but why would they when they haven't been given any meaningful time on Raw? It's going to take some time to reestablish the tag teams, but you have to start somewhere. By the way, black is definitely the hair color for Rosa. They may have to turn Epico and Primo because Rosa dancing is going to lead to a lot of cheers if they give the act enough TV time.

The Royal Rumble commercial with Santino Marella aired...

Backstage, Josh Mathews interviewed Cody Rhodes, who said the video with Santino was the most ridiculous thing ever. He said it was as ridiculous as Booker T returning to the ring to face him. Rhodes said if anyone actually looked into a crystal ball, they would see his face emerging.

Cody was interrupted in mid-sentence by Santino, who offered him a Christmas present. Santino stuck his hand through the basket and was wearing The Cobra glove. One of the announcers giggled. Everyone else was either quiet or groaning... [C]

5. Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella in a non-title match in 1:25. Cody dominated the bulk of the match. Santino went for The Cobra late, but Cody hit the Alabama Slam and scored the clean pin...

[Q7] A WWE Tribute to the Troops video aired with John Cena's speech while the wrestlers stood on the stage. A video aired to the live version of the newest shitty Nickelback song...

Backstage, the Bella Twins bickered and complained to John Laurinaitis about Teddy Long. They bitched so much I'm not even sure what they said, but it was probably about him being a horny old pervert at the pay-per-view. The Bellas kissed Laurinaitis on the cheek. He flashed a dopey smile and nod to David Otunga. Vickie Guerrero entered the scene and was victim of a Hornswoggle mistletoe kiss...

Powell's POV: Now this is where WWE should be obligated to air the "Don't Try This At Home" disclaimer. That's all they need is a bunch of lonely, horny wrestling fans being charged with assault for impersonating Hornswoggle.

The announcers recapped Zack Ryder's win and then set up an interview with Ryder's father from the WWE website...

Backstage, Josh Mathews interviewed Big Show, who expressed frustration over having the World Hvt. Championship in his hands at TLC. He said it's his fault for encouraging Daniel Bryan to cash in the MITB contract on Mark Henry. Show said he has to give "the little guy" credit for living his dream.

"Come on, Show," Mathews said. He said Show has the shortest World Hvt. Championship reign in history and it will probably not be broken. "I'm okay," said a visibly frustrated Show...

Powell's POV: Awesome! And not just because that was the next word we heard as part of The Miz's entrance. Big Show as great here. He did a good job of trying to say the right thing while establishing how upset he really is with his body language. He's really improved his mic work and acting ability over the years.

As ring entrances for the main event were taking place for the main event, the latest mystery person video was shown on the screen...

Powell's POV: That little witch shoved the poor kid's notebook off his desk! Anyway, Dot Net Member Kid Mojo wrote that he believes the notebook has the name "Chris" crossed out. I thought I was able to make out the "C" in the crossed out name. Of course, this could be a swerve, but it's an interesting catch if it's accurate.

[Q8] [C] 6. Daniel Bryan, C.M. Punk, and Zack Ryder defeated The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) in a six-man tag in 12:15. Ryder, Bryan, and Punk (in that order) made separate entrances through the crowd. Fast paced action to start with the faces hitting moves onto the heels at ringside, concluding with Punk diving off the top rope onto the heels. [C]

After the break, the heel trio went on the offensive while Vickie cheered them on from ringside. Ryder did the bulk of the selling for his team while Cole spent time bitching about Bryan and Ryder being nerds.

[Overrun] Around ten minutes in, Ryder made the hot tag to Punk, who performed some of his signature spots. He hit the GTS on The Miz, who rolled out of the ring. Del Rio attacked Punk from behind and knocked him out of the ring. Del Rio ran Bryan through the ropes and into the post. However, Bryan came back and got the submission win.

The babyface trio celebrated with the fans around the ringside area while holding up their respective title belts. Punk stood on the announcers' desk and raised his belt while Cole questioned why he was doing this to close the show...

Powell's POV: A babyface love fest to close the Christmas week show. This was pretty much what I expected from WWE tonight in terms of delivering an entertaining show that recapped the pay-per-view, yet didn't give too much away since it's the holidays. I was worried we'd get a bunch of campy comedy, so the focus on Punk, Bryan, and Ryder was an unexpected treat.

Overall, a good show and a memorable night for fans of Punk, Bryan, and Ryder. I'll have more to say about the show in a Dot Net All Access Podcast that will be available on Tuesday. Thanks for watching along with me tonight and happy holidays.

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