WWE "Tribute to the Troops" TV taping report
December 11, 2011
Fayetteville, N.C.
Report by Keystra Williams, PWTorch reader

First, WWE production staff is to be commended for the gorgeous set-up. There was a giant American flag hanging behind the commentators's desk, and the stage and lighting was drop-dead gorgeous. The arena was about 98 percent full. I saw a few empty seats here and there.

Second, I've been to several WWE events at the Crown Coliseum and this is the loudest that I have ever heard that building. The crowd was very enthusiastic and excited, and that energy helped make this show truly special. I was in Section 103, right next to the stage, and this provided a very interesting experience as I watched the production guys scurry about all night long. I may get the order of some of these matches wrong, but this is everything that I saw.

Dark Match: Santino beat Jinder Mahal via Cobra. Santino was very over, and Jinder got some cheap heat by speaking Punjabi to the troops. Loud U-S-A chant as he approached the ring.

Tribute to the Troops taping SPOILERS

-Lilian Garcia (looking beautiful in a sparkly silver dress) sang the most bone-chilling rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that I've ever heard. She always sings it well, but tonight she added a little extra oomph to the song, and the crowd gave her a massive ovation when she was finished. I truly hope that her singing makes the broadcast, because it deserves to be seen. Phenomenal job!

-Jerry Lawler headed to the commentary table to a nice ovation, and Michael Cole walked out to the most heat of the night. The man was booed out of the building!

-They opened with a nice video package, then the opening pyro, followed by Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett. Orton got a huge ovation, and I saw several soldiers doing his pose along with him.

(1) Randy Orton beat Wade Barrett via DQ. As I mentioned before, I was right next to the stage, and as this match was being contested, I noticed David Otunga and referee Scott Armstrong watching the match next to the stage from behind a curtain. The crowd couldn't see them because of the curtain that was set up to hide Del Rio's car, which was also sitting right in front of me, covered up. I couldn't figure out why Otunga was just standing there, but then he did a run-in and attacked Orton to end the match via DQ. Barrett had set up a table in the ring before Otunga ran in, and after Barrett rolled out of the ring, Orton hit an RKO on Otunga. The crowd chanted "TABLE! TABLE!" and Orton obliged, putting Otunga through the table before having a stare down with a retreating Barrett.

-Video package about the WWE crew meeting troops at Fort Bragg. At some point, there was a backstage segment with Air Boom being wished good luck by Miss USA.

-Jack Swagger, accompanied by Dolph Ziggler, faced off with Zack Ryder, who brought Sergeant Slaughter to the ring with him.

(2) Zack Ryder (w/Sgt. Slaughter) beat Jack Swagger (w/Dolph Ziggler). Slaughter and Ziggler scrapped outside the ring, with Slaughter sending Ziggler over the announce table. Ryder won, which made the crowd very happy.

-Booker T walked out to the announce table to a nice ovation.

-Cody Rhodes vs Daniel Bryan was next, and if you see everyone in the crowd looking toward the stage during this match, it's because this is when WWE chose to set up the stage for Mary J. Blige's performance. There was no way that the crowd could not be distracted by dozens of men scurrying about the stage, but Daniel Bryan did his best to keep the crowd's attention. They might have to pipe in some cheers for this match, because everyone was watching the stage.

(3) Daniel Bryan vs. IC champion Cody Rhodes. Rhodes got into it with Booker T, who climbed into the ring and threw a few punches to send Rhodes running. He hit a spin-a-rooni, which got a big pop. By the way, Rhodes's new music sounds fantastic blaring through the arena speakers.

-Mary J. Blige performed and, I have to say, she nailed it. I've seen musical acts get met with silence on WWE programming, but the crowd was very into her performance. People were on their feet jamming to every song. There's a strong R&B/Hip-Hop contingent in Fayetteville/Fort Bragg, so this might have had something to do with it. She sounded great and looked even better in a white suit with knee-high leopard-print boots.

-I believe the Divas match was right after her performance. The Bella Twins teamed with Natalya and Beth Phoenix to take on Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve Torres, and Extra's Maria Menounos.

(4) Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox & Eve & Maria Menounos beat Bella Twins & Natalya & Divas champion Beth Phoenix in an eight-Divas match. This was a nothing match, although Natalya/Beth's ring entrance cracked me up. They each had a box of tissues and threw them at soldiers as they walked to the ring. Maria got the pin on Beth with a surprisingly good-looking roll-up maneuver. You could hear the crowd let out an audible "WHOA!" when she pulled it off. I noticed that as the girls were posing on the ramp post-match, ref Scott Armstrong was standing right next to the cameraman, and was prompting the girls to celebrate more and act more enthused for the camera. It was like Armstrong was directing a scene in a movie or something. Armstrong was corralling talent all night long, from sending Otunga in for his run-in against Orton, to directing people to head up the ramp at certain times throughout the night.

(5) Epico & Primo (w/Rosa Mendes) beat WWE tag champions Air Boom (Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston) in a non-title match. Hornswoggle was the guest ring announcer. I was disappointed that Evan did not hit the Shooting Star Press on anyone.

(6) Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre featured two finishes. This was very strange. I believe they shot two endings to this match in rapid succession. Sheamus was beating on McIntyre and the ref was trying to get him to stop, he didn't, and I heard the bell ring to signify that Great White had been DQ'ed. His music even started playing at one point, as if the match was over. But, then, Sheamus got McIntyre out of the ring and beat him up. His music stopped at this point. Sheamus brought Drew back into the ring, hit a Brogue Kick, and pinned him! The ref counted 1-2-3, the bell rang again, and his music played again. I guess we'll find out which ending they use on Tuesday. Also, they used this match to set up for the Nickelback performance, so again, people were distracted by production guys onstage.

-Nickelback performed a few songs, ending with the Raw theme song. The only good thing that I can say is that the pyro looked good.

-There was a backstage segment where Rey Mysterio was being interviewed. He said he was not cleared to compete, but that there was no way that he'd miss this show. Miz and Del Rio walked up behind him and Del Rio called Mysterio "my little chihuahua." Mysterio no-sold the insult and then Miz and Del Rio got into a little tiff about who would beat Punk on Sunday. Then, Punk appeared next to Mysterio and told the heels to beat it. They asked Punk if Mysterio was his friend, and he replied that he simply didn't hate Rey as much as he hated them. Miz and Del Rio left, leaving Punk with Mysterio. What happened next was the highlight of my night. Punk and Mysterio greeted each other with a nonchalant "hey" and Mysterio said, "Your hair's grown back." Punk then asked, "How's Aliyah doing?" If you remember, Aliyah is Rey's daughter, who Punk infamously sang Happy Birthday to during their feud. Mysterio said that she was fine, and that she'd just turned 10. Punk said, "Well, tell her I said happy birthday." Rey said that his daughter still has nightmares about Punk singing to her, and the segment was over. I was howling laughing about this callback to their feud, but the crowd's reaction to this segment seemed muted. I don't know if people in the crowd remembered Punk singing Happy Birthday or not, but it got little reaction. It was a great moment of acknowledging continuity that WWE rarely does anymore.

-Comedian George Wallace came out and told a few corny jokes for a few minutes. The crowd ate it up.

-The main event was a six man match with Punk/Cena/Big Show vs. Mark Henry/Miz/Del Rio. Before the match started, I watched Del Rio get into his Rolls Royce next to the stage and attempt to stay warm. There was a very cold draft on that side of the stage all night long, and I could see Del Rio shivering in the front seat. Punk got a very loud reaction, but, my God, Cena blew the roof off with his entrance.

(7) John Cena & WWE champion C.M. Punk & Big Show beat World Hvt. champion Mark Henry & The Miz & Alberto Del Rio in a six-man tag match. This was a very fun match with a bunch of great spots. There was one moment where Punk tagged in Cena and they double-teamed on Miz. Although Cena was the legal man, Punk went for the pin before realizing his mistake and rolling out of the ring, laughing hysterically. Not sure if that was a botch or not, but Punk's reaction when he realized his error was pretty funny. Punk stood on Show's shoulders to do an elbow drop at one point, and Show quieted the crowd to deliver one NASTY chop. Funny note: during this match, I noticed Evan Bourne checking out the Rolls Royce that was parked backstage. He actually got into the passenger seat and inspected the car before posing for pics next to the car with his tag team belt for fans. Back in the ring, Cena got the pin to send the crowd home happy.

Punk, Show, and Miz all posed on the ropes while the whole roster poured out onto the stage. I noticed Triple H was there, as was Michael Hayes, Laurinaitis, and Road Dogg Jesse James. No McMahons from what I could see. Miss USA walked out after everyone and Laurinaitis made a point of grabbing her around the waist and escorting her to stand right in front of him. Then, Cena gave a nice speech about supporting the troops that riled the crowd up. Then, everyone walked around slapping hands with the soldiers at ringside at the show ended.

I can honestly say that this was the best live event that I've ever been to. The talent all did a great job, the set-up looked fantastic, and the crowd was truly grateful to WWE for putting on the show for them. I've been a wrestling fan since I was a child, and this weekend was like a dream come true for me. From meeting and greeting the stars on Friday to going to this highly-entertaining show Sunday night, I think that only WrestleMania itself will be able to touch this experience for me. Huge thanks to WWE, and even bigger thanks to our troops for everything that they do.

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