12/22/08: WWE Tribute to the Troops Special Recap

We open with a shot of the USO tours featuring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Marilyn Monroe. "Tonight we continue the tradition, as we bring the largest entertainment show of the year to the United States Armed Forces. The men and women of our military will be treated to a slice of Americana." It's time for the Tribute to the Troops! George W. Bush says he's honored to join with WWE in saluting the military. No, seriously - THE George W. Bush. This isn't TNA - they didn't bring in a Dubya impersonator. "Over the past 8 years, they've demonstrated an outstanding commitment to our men and women in uniform. WWE superstars bolster morale at hospitals, send care packages to our soldiers overseas, and supported our military families." All true. "Our troops are our finest citizens, and we owe them a debt that can never fully be repaid." In a way I feel like this entire show is also a tribute to our resident military member Nikes the Sneaker Pimp. Bro, this one's for you. Thanks for all you do for our country.

By the way for what it's worth keep in mind that the results of this show are generally considered to NOT COUNT as events at this show are entirely self-contained and not part of WWE continuity. Therefore you shouldn't be surprised to know that Jeff Hardy doesn't come out with his WWE Championship to the ring, or that CM Punk doesn't have the tag titles he was a part of back when this was filmed. We've got a six man tag out in the desert in front of one of Sadaam Hussein palaces. Thousands of men and women in uniform surround the ring.

* Jeff Hardy, CM Punk & R-Truth v. Morrison, Miz & JBL

Cole and Lawler ponder whether or not the men and women of uniform watch "The Dirt Sheet." I'm guessing these good people are a little too busy serving our country to waste time on that. Instead of JBL's usual white limo, he's brought to the ring in an armored vehickle, and has on 2 or 3 flak suits to protect himself. I wouldn't say that's really necessary given they advertised WHEN AND WHERE this special was going to be taped, so fears of an attack by insurgents was clearly at an all-time low.

R-Trith and Morrison start us off. Truth takes a knee to the gut and is quickly overpowered by Morrison in the corner of the ring. On a whip to the otherside Truth leaps over him, cartwheels, and tosses him around like a ragdoll. Miz runs in to interfere and is thrown right back out. Bradshaw tries to get a piece, Hardy makes the save, and then the other babyfaces do suicide dives to the outside to wipe out the heels. This takes us to the first commercial break.

And we're back at Camp Victory, where CM Punk is getting triple teamed by the rudos. The soldiers are chanting for Punk to make a comeback all the while. We see that during the "commercial break" Punk got posted into the barricade around the ring. We're told that to create the stands around the ring, soldiers pulled up their armored vehicles staggered to create a good vantage point (although in some cases the soldiers had to stand). Hardy gets tagged in, as does Miz, and Hardy is working him over to the approval of the troops. Whisper in the Wind connects! Two count before Morrison breaks it up, and Punk comes in to help. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate but Bradshaw clocks him in the face. Before Bradshaw can send him the faces make the save, but Hardy still gets a Bradshaw boot to the face anyway. It doesn't help JBL mutch because he ducks the Clothesline From Hell, hits a Twist of Fate and goes up for the Swanton 1-2-3. WINNERS: JEFF HARDY, CM PUNK & R-TRUTH.

We see Art Myers in the crowd as Hardy's music plays and the soldiers cheer. This throws us to a video package as JBL, Mickie James and Chris Jericho visit with the men and women of the armed forces. All the divas give the boys hugs, and all the men give them pounds. One soldier says he got here an hour and a half early just to meet the WWE superstars. One latina is overcome with emotion to be meeting Cena. Rey Mysterio goofs off with a soldier on a pogo stick while the divas pose on armored vehicles and helicopters. Rey does a crowd dive and the soldiers surf him over the top. Batista makes a girl cry too. Cryme Tyme does "Army, army, YEAH YEAH." All of the wrestlers are beloved by the troops whether they are babyface or heel. One guy imitates Batista's opening at the top of the ramp perfectly. Cena: "On behalf of the United States of America I want to say thank you very much for what you do for our country." Commercial.

We're back with more of "Tribute to the Troops" on NBC, with another s-xman tag promised for the main event later. First though Lilian Garcia is dressed up as Santa's sexiest helper ever. She says the soldiers have been so good they deserve not one but TWO Santas this year, so we're going to get a CRYME TYME CHRISTMAS! I don't know how many people here have seen the Ying Yang Twins holiday EP, but that's exactly what Cryme Tyme look like right now on their way to the ring, decked out in red white and crunk. Shad Gaspard and JTG run through their whole routine. "J J J, how can we do Santa's business without Santa's helpers!" Out come the WWE divas, decked out in outfits as good as Lilian's if not better. Mickie James can definitely stuff my stocking! I KEED, I KEED. The divas toss t-shirts into the crowd and give the men AND women at ringside kisses on the cheek.

From here we go to a video package of letters that WWE brought with them to the troops from school children. There's really not much to say about it other than that. The letters are narrated as we see how much the soldiers miss their own families left behind at home. Commercial. After a promo for "ER: The Final Season" we come back to 225 PSD Camp Korean Village giving a promo for the show, and then we see a montage of armored vehicles at work in Iraq. One commander says in his own division he's lost 88 men and 1 woman. Jericho: "We're standing here chatting, and a year or two ago someone was bombing this place. It shows you the kind of progress that was made." JBL says they visited a mosque that was once bombed. Big Show says they're trying to make sure democracy flourishes here, and everybody talks about the people reopening their shops and businesses now that peace has returned. Even the Iraqi army soldiers are happy to see the WWE superstars and mug for the cameras with them.

* Big Show, Chris Jericho & Randy Orton v. Batista, Rey Mysterio & John Cena

An entire commercial break is taken between the introduction of the heels and the babyfaces (in that order). Mysterio has some red, white & blue trunks on which Michael Cole says were specifically made just for this trip. You know Cole & Lawler really aren't my favorite announce team, but on a show like this it's hard to complain about anything. Even the matches themselves are being kept pretty simple - six-man tags with easy to follow heat and comeback segments. The troops are enjoying it though and so am I. The first two men to start us off in this main event are Batista and Randy Orton. For some reason the video feed on my NBC DVR of the show cuts out for a couple of seconds, but when it comes back Jericho has tagged in to work over Batista. That quickly failed. Batista tagged out to Rey, Rey dropped Jericho onto the ropes, but before he could hit the SIX-ONE-NINE Big Show caught him on the outside and threw him down to the ground. Commercial.

Before we return to action in the ring, we get a montage of photos of the wrestlers spending times with the troops - in the streets, in the bases, in the recovery wards, everywhere that men and women of uniform are in Iraq. I don't know the song that this photo montage is set to, but it features the words "when our innocence died." The last shot is Maria in a red and green Christmas bow outfit being held up by the troops.

Jericho is working over Rey when we come back to live action. Credits are rolling on the bottom of the screen putting over all the WWE personnel, producers and camera people who made the trip to Iraq to film this show. Jericho gets into an argument with Big Show at ringside, he takes exception to it and steps over the ropes, Jericho mushes him in the face and Big Show responds with a chokeslam! Show abandons his team with a smug grin on his face and walks back to the tent that's doubling as the gorilla position for this show. Cena tags in and goes to work on a freshly tagged Randy Orton. It doesn't take long for Cena to knock him down, go for the YOU CAN'T SEE ME and follow up with the five-knuckle shuffle. Jericho cuts Cena off before he can finish the match. Cena gets a back cracker and Orton waits to leap up and hit him with the RKO. Cena blocks it and throws Orton into Jericho for a noggin knocker. Rey hits a double six-one-nine when they fall into the ropes! Cena and Batista both hit finishers and make simultaneous three counts. WINNERS: CENA, BATISTA & MYSTERIO.

Cole and Lawler say thank you to the troops and remind us they support all the men and women of the armed forces. We get one more montage of the wrestlers making their way to Iraq in various vehicles and cargo planes just so they can spend time with the troops. On behalf of the armed forces of the United States, I would also like to thank you for serving your country, and say that I hope our country has the good sense and decency to bring you home safely soon to your wives, hubsands, daughters and sons like they brought my father home to us when he served the Navy in Vietnam. Thanks for reading this recap and thank you to WWE for paying Tribute to the Troops. That's all! Merry Christmas and happy holidays.