WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs (December 2010)

Original Airdate: December 19, 2010

From Houston, Texas; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Matt Striker, and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler v Jack Swagger v Kofi Kingston: All three guys slug it out to start, with the champ getting the worst of it, and getting dumped to the outside. Swagger and Kingston knock heads coming out of the corner, allowing Ziggler to slide in with a ladder, and Dolph nearly gets the gold before getting tipped over. Kofi hits Jack with the ladder to allow him to try a climb, but Ziggler returns with a smaller ladder to hit him with. Kofi gets the better of it, so Vickie Guerrero comes in to try and grab the belt on Ziggler’s behalf, but that ends badly for her. She ends up running for the hills after nearly getting tipped by Kofi, and Jack takes everyone out with a ladder. Jack climbs, but Kofi uses another ladder to smack him in the hand to put a stop to it. Kofi dumps him, but Dolph then dumps him, and all three men end up down on the outside. Kofi recovers and climbs, so Jack puts him in an anklelock as he does. Kofi fights him off, so Ziggler climbs the opposite end, and puts Kingston in a sleeper at the top! Kofi fights that off, but Swagger cuts him off before he can get the gold. They fight it out at the top, and the title belt gets knocked loose, falling to the mat. Neither man grabbed it, however, and Ziggler dives on the football for the win at 8:56. Unique (albeit terrible) finish. ¾*

Tables Match: Natalya and Beth Phoenix v Michelle McCool and Layla: Natalya and Beth wreck them to start, and bring the first table into play. Beth lifts both heels onto her shoulders to try and slam through it, but she gets fought off, and dumped to the outside. LayCool isolate Natalya in the ring and work her over, as the match just dies, with nothing interesting going on. Layla tries suplexing Beth through a table, but Natalya saves, and puts both heels in a double Sharpshooter! The heels tap, but it means nothing in the match type. Meanwhile, Beth sets up a (bright pink) table, but the heels fight them off. They take Natalya upstairs for a superplex through the table, but Natalya shoves them off… though the table fails to break. No worries, as Natalya dives with a splash to put them through it to end this nightmare at 9:23. DUD

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov v Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel: Santino starts with Justin, and Gabriel dominates on the mat. Santino gets the better of him as it goes on, however, and a big right hand sends Justin reeling. Tag to Slater, and Santino dominates him on the mat. Waistlock cradle gets him two, and it’s over to Kozlov. Kozlov biels him, and a fallaway slam ends with Slater on the outside. Kozlov drags him back in, but gets nailed by Husky Harris on the way, and the tide has turned. The Nexus cut the ring in half on Kozlov, until he manages to block a big charge from Slater, and Marella gets the hot tag. He runs wild on Justin, and it’s cobra time, but Nexus run in for the DQ at 6:26. ¾*

#1 Contender's Ladder Match: Sheamus v John Morrison: Winner becomes top contender to the WWE Title. Feeling out to start, and they spill to the outside, where Sheamus chucks him into the barricade. They fight over a ladder out there, and John brings it in for a climb, but Sheamus knocks him off. Morrison responds with a corkscrew dive from the ladder, and he climbs again, but Sheamus cuts him off again. Sheamus beats on him with the ladder for a spell, and he climbs, but John throws a ladder to knock him off. Sheamus responds by going to work on the leg, and he charges with a ladder, but John blocks him with a drop-toehold. John delivers an enzuigiri, but Sheamus fights him off with a uranage backbreaker before he can mount more of a comeback. Sheamus goes for the climb, but Morrison knocks him out of the ring, and sets the ladder up for himself. The bad leg slows his climb, however, allowing Sheamus to knock him off again. Sheamus climbs, but the contract is swinging in the wind now, and he can’t get his hands on it. That buys John enough time to climb after him, and they slug it out. That ends in Morrison dumping him to the outside, and he climbs, but Sheamus tips him over again. Sheamus climbs, but Morrison tips him big, and Sheamus takes a bump to the outside, through a planked ladder. That allows Morrison to climb, and he grabs the contract, but can’t get it unhooked. That allows Sheamus to recover, but John fights him off this time, and grabs the contract at 19:07. I didn’t love this, but both guys were trying, and the crowd was into it. * ½ 

WWE Title Tables Match: Miz v Randy Orton: Orton wins a slugfest at the bell, and a bodyslam sets up a kneedrop. Randy hammers on him, but misses a corner charge, and Miz hammers back. Miz with a cross corner whip, but Orton rebounds with a clothesline, and he dumps Miz to the outside. Randy follows to pound him against the barricade, and a vertical suplex on the floor follows. Miz fights him off, and sets up a table, but fails to use it. He bashes Orton with the steps instead, though, but Orton gets control on the way back inside, and hits the champ with a table. RKO through a table, so Alex Riley comes in to distract him, and the referee gets bumped. Orton takes Alex out, but wastes time putting him through a table, and Miz recovers with a Skull Crushing Finale. He quickly rolls Riley out of the rubble, puts Orton in his place, and revives the official - who is stupid enough to award Miz the match without actually seeing Orton go through the table at 13:00. What a boring match. It started off well enough, but got really dull after the first few minutes. ¾*

World Heavyweight Title Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: Kane v Edge v Rey Mysterio v Alberto Del Rio: Everyone fights it out at the start, and little Rey somehow gets the better of it all. He makes the first climb, but Del Rio tips him over, and everyone except Alberto is left down on the outside. Del Rio climbs, but Rey recovers, and goes after him. Kane beats them both up, however, and gets control… just long enough for Edge to hit him with a bodypress ropechoke. The match goes along with everyone trading off with little direction, and we get a big spot with Edge doing a dive from the ladder inside the ring to drive Kane through a table on the floor. Everyone brawls over to the entrance stage to fight it out, which is basically little more than setup for Rey to do a dive off of the set. Back to the ring, Del Rio eats a 619, as does Edge. Del Rio ends up climbing, but Rey tips him, and Alberto takes a plunge through a table on the outside. Rey tries a springboard moonsault press on Kane, but gets caught in a tombstone, and Kane climbs. Edge uses a chair to stop him, and he puts the champ through a table. That allows Edge to climb, and I was expecting some big last minute save/fight off, but nope, he just grabs the gold at 22:42. A few big bumps, little else. Three ladder matches in one night is a lot to stomach. *

Main Event: Chairs Match: John Cena v Wade Barrett: Cena takes him down early, sinking his teeth into a side-headlock. Barrett escapes, and goes to the outside to grab a chair, but John follows, putting him in a standing front-facelock to prevent him from getting one. Wade fights him off and grabs the weapon anyway, but John dodges his swings. Barrett eventually catches up with him, and a series of chair shots leave Cena down on the ramp. The announcers clarify that, while it’s a Chairs match, you can also use any other weapon, since there’s no disqualifications anyway. So why even bother with the stipulation? Why not just make it a No DQ match, and let what happens happen? Barrett tries a powerbomb on the entrance stage, but Cena counters with a backdrop, and he brings an office chair from the Gorilla Position into play. He sits Wade down in it, and rolls him down the ramp, into the steps. Into the ring, Barrett gets control again, and uses the chair. Cena gets tied up in the ropes and abused, but manages to reverse Barrett into the corner. STF, but Wade shoves him into a corner mounted chair for two. He tries a slam on the chair, but Cena reverses, and uses a chair to assist him through a flying rocker dropper. That knocks Barrett cold, but John doesn’t cover, instead bringing more chairs in. He sets six up to Attitude Adjust Wade on, and that’s it for Barrett at 19:07. ¼*

BUExperience: I didn’t like this show at all, but the crowd was surprisingly into it, actually. So, there’s that?

DUD