WWE Raw TV taping report
December 18, 2012
Taped in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Results submitted by Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist

Raw SPOILERS 12/24

The ramp is decked out with Christmas trees and gifts. The show started with guest host Santa, and Del Rio "accidentally" ran him over with his car! Santa gave a thumbs up on the way out.

(1) WWE tag champion Kane beat Cody Rhodes. Slow, prodding match. Nothing special. Kane wins with a chokeslam.

(2) Kaitlyn & Layla & Alicia Fox & Natalya beat Divas champion Eve & Tamina & Aksana & Rosa Mendes in an eight-Divas Santa's Helper match. Basic Divas match. The crowd was pretty dead other than the normal cat-calls. Kaitlyn ended up pinning Eve, keeping their feud going.

They placed yellow crime scene police tape around Del Rio's car, which is still parked at stage side...

(3) Sheamus beat World Hvt. champion Big Show in a non-title Lumberjack Match. Basic back and forth. Lumberjacks were afraid to get Show back in the ring. One of the Prime Time Players had a whistle that was used to "quiet the crowd" from booing the lumberjacks. Funny. Nothing too exciting for most the match, actually, and not a lot of interaction with the lumberjacks. Of course, when Sheamus was tossed out, the jacks beat him around, as expected. A few nearfalls included Sheamus kicking out of a chokeslam. Rally from Sheamus, then Show kicked out of White Noise. Sheamus was tossed out and a brawl ensued. Both men ended up back in the ring. Brogue kick, 1-2-3, Sheamus won by pinfall. A brawl ensued afterward in the ring as faces cleared heels.

David Otunga cut a promo on his Harvard alumni status. As a lawyer, he wanted to opine about Del Rio running over Santa. He said Santa is guilty of trespassing, etc. Ryder interrupted Otunga and said they have a match.

(4) Zack Ryder beat David Otunga. Boring match, as expected. The crowd was solidly behind Ryder with chants throughout. Ryder won with the Rough Ryder.

(5) IC champion Kofi Kingston & The Miz beat U.S. champion Antonio Cesaro & Wade Barrett. Funny how Miz and Kofi hated each other just a month ago, and now they're tagging? Slow start, and I actually heard "Miz is awesome" chants! Miz got the pin on Barrett with Skullcrushing Finale after a boot from Kofi. Surprising finish here.

Brad Maddox came out singing "Brad Maddox is coming to Raw."

(6) Great Khali beat Brad Maddox. Khali was dressed as a big elf. He looked ridiculous. Slow match, and hard to get into. Khali won with double-hand chokeslam. I can't see how Maddox will ever get over after he keeps getting jobbed out. They must have a hell of a re-package in mind.

After the match, Hornswoggle said, "Get well soon, Santa." Khali sang and the crowd just laughed since no one could undestand him. Ugh.

Punk came out to revive the crowd! The crowd started a "Steelers" chant! Punk ad-libbed and attacked the fans. Priceless. Punk said he's still unfit to compete, Ryback has ruined Christmas and Hannakah, and his punishment is a reward of a title match. He went back to berating the crowd. Too priceless to quote.

Heyman told the crowd not to boo Punk, as he's been champ 400 consecutive days now (on Monday when Raw airs). Ryback came out to a huge pop. Heyman told Ryback that he'll sue Ryback if he touches Punk. Ryback said their title match in two weeks is still a title match...and it's TLC!

(7) WWE tag champion Daniel Bryan beat Damien Sandow. Bryan and Sandow engaged in back and forth "Yes" and "No" chants to start. Some decent back and forth action with Sandow getting most of the offense in. Bryan fought back and won with No Lock!

12-man tag next. Ouch on covering this.

(8) The Usos & Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd & Santino & Brodus Clay beat Prime Time Players & Tensai & 3MB in a 12-man tag match. Each guy seemed to get a few moments to get in some ring work. Nothing overly exciting. "Albert" chants still lingered from the Smackdown tapings with Tensai in the ring. Eventually, there was an array of finishers with one of the Usos hitting a splash on Slater for the pin.

Cena and Del Rio - who just kinda turned face - is being billed as the main event as the overall TV taping passes the four-hour mark.

Ricardo Rodriguez came out after John Cena crying about Santa. Kinda funny.

(9) John Cena beat Alberto Del Rio in a Street Fight. The "You Killed Santa" chants aimed at Del Rio were back from earlier. A lot of back and forth campy humor in the ring with Cena and Del Rio using a microphone. Rodriguez broke up a pinfall for Del Rio as well. More of a silly Street Fight than anything. A pie was even introduced as a weapon gift-wrapped at ringside. Many of the gifts were used as weapons and this turned into one of the sillier Street Fights I've ever witnessed. Definitely an attempt at a comedy style match. Teddy bears and pies were introduced. A "Use the tree" chant started. Cena hit Del Rio with a Christmas Tree and eventually rolled a bowling ball down the entrance ramp into Del Rio's crotch...twice! Eventually, a run-in occurred from Santa. Santa used Mr. Socko (didn't appear to be Foley, but hard to tell!). Cena then won with an AA.

Rodriguez hugged Santa post-match. Santa then gave gifts to Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto Del Rio. This ended the taping.

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