The Raw Report (12/25/06): Tribute to the Troops
Submitted by Chad Matthews on Monday, December 25, 2006 at 10:19 PM EST





Merry Christmas, everyone…I’m at home spending time with family and friends, so I got the results for the Tribute to the Tributes for you. However, I won’t be doing a typical review for it. I’ll be back next week with the usual report, but see the bottom of the page for a special “CMV1 Year-End Review.”


The Raw Report (12/25/06)

Match 1: WWE Champion John Cena vs. World Tag Champion Edge
-Cena defeated Edge.


Match 2: CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin
-Punk defeated Shelton. (CMV1 note- nice to see Punk included on the tour)


Match 3: The Undertaker vs. Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina)
-Taker defeated Nitro.


Match 4: ECW Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Hardcore Holly in a Non-Title Match
-Lashley defeated Holly.


Match 5: Umaga vs. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy
-Umaga defeated Hardy.


Match 6: Carlito vs. World Tag Champion Randy Orton
-Carlito defeated Orton.


Chris Masters faced “Santa Claus” (JBL in disguise) in a Masterlock Challenge. Torrie Wilson, Maria and Kristal played Santa’s helpers and handed out presents.

(CMV1 note- the WWE was awarded a Humanitarian Award for their efforts over the years in supporting the troops. Vince McMahon accepted the award, but later handed it over to JBL. Apparently, JBL came up with the idea a few years back)


All in all…Merry Christmas to everyone, and special thanks to the men and women who fight for the United States. Politics aside, everyone needs to support those that fight for us. Risking your neck for someone else’s freedom and the protection of your own country is the noblest act there is, in my book…



(CMV1 note- I want to thank all those that give me feedback to these Raw and PPV reports. I really appreciate the time you take to do that, as it honestly keeps me motivated to write even when the product does not. For that reason, I’ve put together a little year-in-review awards section, which all those that don’t are about my opinions are encouraged to skip. This is a one-time thing since the WWE wasn’t pushing any storylines tonight, but I thought I’d open the door for the readers to send me their year-end awards…if I get enough responses, I may put together a quick poll results section after next week’s Raw. Thanks again, everyone…)

ECW MVP - (CMV1’s pick- The Big Show) (CMV1 note- Show carried the brand when RVD dropped the ball and became a very respectable champion. He had several strong performances, utilizing the Extreme Rules matches to the best of his ability. While none of his stuff really stood out, he had as good an in-ring run during his first few months as ECW champ as he’s ever had)

ECW TV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- RVD vs. Test from 10/03/06) (CMV1 note- I was blown away at how good this match was…and while I’m not calling it a four-star effort, I am calling it the best ECW TV match since the brand started in June. They worked their asses off and should be commended. At 20-minutes in length, it was one of the better TV matches of the fall, overall)

ECW PPV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- Well, since there were so few ECW PPV matches, I’m going to go with the Hardys vs. MNM from December 2 Dismember. I thought that was the best tag team match since 2003)

Raw MVP - (CMV1’s pick- Edge) (CMV1 note- he gets the nod over John Cena because he really has shined for the entire year. His first title run was such a nice surprise, as he stepped up his game and proved why he shouldn’t just be a transitional champion. Each of his matches with John Cena got better and better, culminating in a very nice series at Summerslam and Unforgiven. He also had a good feud with Mick Foley and has been great as a member of Rated-RKO. As the top heel on Raw in 2006, Edge has solidified himself as a main-event player for years to come)

Raw TV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro in a ladder match from 11/20/06) (CMV1 note- This was the most difficult choice of all the awards, because there’s really only been 3 matches on Raw in the entire year that stand out in my mind as anything worth noting. It came down to this match, Edge-Flair TLC, and Cena-Edge in a cage…but at the end of the day, I thought Nitro and Hardy deserved the nod because of how they managed to come up with new spots in a gimmick that has become increasingly hard to be innovative in. They did run out of gas at the end and the finish was weak, but the rest of the bout was very good)

Raw PPV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- Edge vs. John Cena in a TLC match from Unforgiven) (CMV1 note- Easily the best gimmick match of the year…and I stress the word gimmick. Cena and Edge had a great rivalry in 2006, and this payoff match was, in my opinion, tied w/ Taker-Angle at NWO for match of the year. They worked some fantastic spots into this match and took more punishment than I would’ve ever thought they would. Edge was never the star of the original TLC matches, but he’s the clear cut star of the new TLC singles matches. Great effort from both and a memorable match)

Smackdown MVP - (CMV1’s pick- TIE – King Booker and Finlay) (CMV1 note- I called it a tie because I couldn’t decide between the brand’s best wrestler or the brand’s best character. Both men are different in their approach, and I wondered at the beginning of the year if they’d be able to make their style or gimmick work. Finlay made his wrestling style work perfectly for SD, putting over Lashley and becoming a star on the cusp of main-event status. Booker, meanwhile, got his King character over and rode it to the World title. While Book’s in-ring performances were as hit or miss as ever, his character was the most consistently entertaining reason to watch SD over the course of the year)

Smackdown TV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- JBL vs. Chris Benoit in a cage match from 4/14/06) (CMV1 note- this was another tough choice, as there were several candidates that also included Taker-Angle, Benoit-Orton, Finlay-Benoit, and Orton-Mysterio. However, Benoit and JBL’s cage match gets my nod because I found more flaws in all the other matches than I did this one. I expect the most diverse feedback for this choice)

Smackdown PPV Match of the Year - (CMV1’s pick- Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker from No Way Out) (CMV1 note- Easily the best wrestling match of the year…and I stress the word wrestling. Taker and Angle had great chemistry and did some excellent submission counters, as well as taking the action to the outside and doing a spot with the announce table. So, it basically had everything you could want and pretty much combined the best of both of these guys. The only thing that really kept it from being a five-star classic was the crowd. They just didn’t really react that much. Nothing can be taken away from Angle and Taker, though, and had this match taken place at Wrestlemania like it should have, I think it would’ve been five-stars)





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