WWE House Show 12/28/2008

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Entertainment House Show
Date: 12/28/2008
From: New York, NY

There were two matches that weren’t recorded in full. WWE Tag Team Champions Miz & John Morrison retained the titles against Cryme Tyme. ECW World Champion Matt Hardy pinned Jack Swagger following the Twist of Fate.

Opening Contest: Mark Henry vs. Finlay: Henry quickly takes Finlay down with a big power slam after Finlay delivered a few kicks. Finlay is across the middle rope and Henry splashes on top of him for a two count. Finlay comes off the middle rope but is caught by Henry who delivers a clothesline. Henry misses a splash in the corner and Finlay dumps Mark over the top to the floor. Finlay rolls Tony Atlas into the ring and Hornswoggle hits a top rope splash! Henry comes back in and decks Finlay before sending him to the floor. Hornswoggle is left in the ring but is ready to fight but is knocked down. Finlay whacks Henry with the shillelagh and wins the match. (1/2*. A short match that didn’t have much going for itself.)

Second Contest: WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall vs. Melina & Kelly Kelly: This is a really quick match was Melina pins Hall with her standing leg slam or whatever you want to call it. After looking it up, I guess it was called the Primal Scream.

Third Contest: Kane vs. Shawn Michaels: This is joined in progress with Michaels working over Kane with several strikes and chops in the corner. Kane catches Michaels on a cross body attempt but Michaels gets out and chop blocks Kane a few times to drop the monster to the canvas. Michaels works over the left knee dropping elbows to keep Kane on the mat before putting a figure four on but isn’t able to get a submission. Kane drops Michaels with an uppercut but misses a clothesline in the corner. Shawn flips in the corner and crashes over the top to the floor. John Layfield is at ringside trying to manage Michaels. Kane keeps control of the bout sending Michaels hard into the corner. Kane drives Michaels down with a back breaker but only gets a two count. Kane works over the lower back of Shawn in the corner.

On the floor, Kane is wrapping Michaels back around the ring post and hits a baseball slide to send Michaels into the post again. Kane has a bear hug on Michaels to keep control of the contest. Michaels gets out of the hold and hits a swinging neck breaker. Michaels drops Kane with a leaping forearm smash. Michaels kips up and atomic drops Kane. Shawn heads to the top rope and hits an elbow drop. Michaels signals for the Sweet Chin Music but John Layfield gets on the apron to seemingly cause a distraction. Michaels turns around and is met with a clothesline from Kane for a two count. Kane heads to the top and hits a leaping clothesline. Kane signals for the choke slam while Michaels struggles to his feet. Kane grabs Layfield on the apron and Michaels hits the Sweet Chin Music but doesn’t cover. Kane grabs Michaels but is met with another kick for the win. (**. For what was shown, it was a fine match that was rather basic. It was certainly not an earth shattering match or anything.)

Fourth Contest: WWE Intercontinental Champion William Regal vs. CM Punk: Early on, Punk takes Regal down to the canvas several times but isn’t able to get a pin fall in the opening minute. Regal drops Punk with an elbow strike however Punk quickly sends the champ over the top to the floor. Punk takes Regal out with a dive to the floor! Back in the ring, Punk gets a two count following a dropkick. Punk brings Regal in from the apron with a suplex for a two count. Regal takes Punk down with a suplex and Punk rolls to the floor. Regal gets a two count following a knee strike and pummels Punk in the corner. Regal keeps control with a modified cobra clutch. Regal hits an overhead suplex but misses a running knee. Regal gets out of the GTS attempt with forearm strikes. Regal crotches Punk on the top rope but Punk fights back with right hands to knock the champ off. Punk gains footing on the top rope and hits a cross body for a two count.

Punk drops Regal with a spinning heel kick for a two count. Punk nails Regal with a high knee in the corner but Regal counters a bulldog attempt with a back suplex. Punk gets a backslide on Regal but only gets a two count. They trade strikes with Punk getting the better of the exchange and nails Regal with a kick to the head for a two count. Punk heads to the top and hits a springboard clothesline with the crowd heavily behind him. Punk attempts the GTS but Layla gets on the apron to cause the distraction. She might have seriously fallen off and hurt herself. Anyway, Regal hits a knee strike and pins Punk to retain the belt. (**1/2. A solid match between these two, but the finish wasn’t all that great, though it protects Punk. Regal was really good in his role as heel champ.)

Fifth Contest: Rey Mysterio Jr. & Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton: Mysterio and Rhodes kick off the match. Rhodes takes Mysterio down to the mat but is met with a kick and Rey has control with a near fall on a rollup attempt. Cody shoulder blocks Rey and delivers a strike to the midsection but Mysterio takes Rhodes down with a head scissors. Kofi springboards off the middle rope to strike Rhodes across the shoulder. Rey tags back in and springboards off the top to splash Cody’s arm and keeps control by wrenching on the arm. Kofi tags back in but is scoop slammed by Cody. Orton gets the tag and enters much to the delight of the fans. Orton misses Kofi in the corner and Kingston takes Randy over with an arm drag. Rey tags in and kicks Randy’s arm followed by a dropkick to send Orton to the floor. Orton stops Mysterio with an uppercut.

Orton and Rey trade strikes until Rey drop toe holds Orton across the middle rope but misses the 619 and Orton decks Mysterio with a clothesline, which was a good sequence. Cody tags back into the match and scoop slams Mysterio followed by a knee drop. Rhodes kicks Rey in the midsection and Orton returns to the match to take advantage of a weakened Mysterio. That is short lived as Cody comes back in and delivers a flurry of strikes on Rey. Cody catches Rey in the corner but Mysterio counters with a tornado DDT! Kofi gets the tag and here comes Orton as well. Kofi and Orton trade right hands with Kingston winning that battle and drops Orton with a dropkick. Kofi hits a jumping clothesline and leg drop but Manu pulls Kingston to the floor and hits a clothesline on the floor. Orton covers but Kingston kicks out at two.

Rhodes has a Gory Special on Kingston who is upside down with this version. Orton returns to the match and keeps control of Kofi on the canvas. Rhodes comes back in and dropkicks Kingston for a near fall. Cody drives Kingston down to the canvas with a side Russian leg sweep. Kingston teaks Rhodes down with a head scissors and Rey gets the tag to hit a springboard splash. Rey nearly pins Rhodes with a springboard cross body. Rey hits a hurricanrana on Rhodes followed by a kick to Cody’s head. Orton enters to make the save and hits Kingston with a headlock back breaker. Kingston avoids the RKO with a dropkick and sends Manu over the top to the floor. Kingston dives onto Manu. Mysterio hits a double 619 and splashes Rhodes from the top for the win. (***. A good tag team match that the crowd was really into it. I thought everyone did pretty well, most notably Rhodes who worked the heel side for most of the match while Orton’s work came across very minimal.)

Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs. Chris Jericho in a steel cage match: Jericho tries to run through the cage door but is quickly stopped by Cena who sends Jericho into the corner and hits a suplex for a near fall. Jericho tries to escape over the top of the cage but is again stopped by Cena. Jericho and Cena trade strikes on the top rope with Jericho getting the better of the exchange. Jericho attempts a superplex but gets dropped face first to the canvas. Cena leaps off the top and hits a leg drop but only gets a two count. Cena drops Jericho with a forearm strike and tries to send Jericho into the cage but isn’t able to do so. Jericho sidesteps Cena and sends Cena face first into the steel cage. Jericho kicks Cena as the champ struggles to get up from the canvas. Jericho sends Cena into the steel cage again. Jericho is pushing Cena face first into the cage. Jericho hits a vertical suplex and sends Cena into the cage face first again.

Jericho has control with a sleeper hold but Cena gets out only to run into a big boot. Cena drives Jericho down with a side slam for a two count. Cena begins to climb the cage, which Jericho could have easily walked out the door, but it’s wrestling so Jericho stops Cena and hits an electric chair slam. Jericho hits a springboard moonsault but only gets a two count. Jericho dropkicks Cena into a corner and hits a springboard dropkick to knock Cena down in the corner. Jericho sends Cena into the cage as the fans get behind Cena pretty loudly. Cena goes for the AA but Jericho counters with a DDT for a two count. Cena tries to get out of a sleeper hold but Jericho knocks Cena back down to the mat. Cena avoids a bulldog and tosses Jericho shoulder first into the cage. Cena sends Jericho into the cage several more times and hits a side slam.

Cena signals for and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena attempts the AA but Jericho holds onto the cage to prevent the move from happening. Jericho gets out of the hold and attempts the Walls of Jericho but Cena rolls out of it and Cena is sent into the cage. Jericho gets the Walls of Jericho locked in this time but isn’t able to get a submission. Cena crawls to the door and tries to escape while in the hold! Jericho prevents Cena from escaping as Cena kicks him away and locks in the STFU! Jericho nearly wins with an inside cradle but Cena rolls through and attempts the AA but Jericho lands on his feet to hit the Codebreaker for a two count. Cena hits the AA as Jericho stumbled around but Jericho kicks out at two! Cena attempts to escape the cage but is stopped by Jericho. They are on the top rope after Jericho pulls Cena back over the top into the ring. Cena crashes to the canvas after Jericho rams John head first into the top of the cage. Jericho is hanging over the top of the cage but Cena hangs onto him and brings Jericho back into the cage with Jericho on his shoulders and hits a top rope AA for the win. (****. I really liked this cage match. They had some really good action and some good escape spots. Jericho trying to escape early on just reminded me of Owen Hart, for some reason. Anyway, it’s a really fun cage match for the main event at MSG.)

Final Thoughts:
A good tag match and a great cage match makes this a good viewing experience especially when the bad stuff was kept very short. If you can, checkout the Jericho/Cena match as it was a lot of fun, at least to me.

Thanks for reading.