It’s my favorite PPV of the year and it generally delivers. We’ve done tremendous coverage on the show on the site so far with our preview articles and all that’s left is the wrestling.

1. Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show

The story of this match is that Daniel Bryan is a pinball and he’s bouncing around for Big Show and Mark Henry. Mark Henry couldn’t really do anything. He was not the world’s strongest man tonight. He could barely get his foot off the ground.

Bryan went to the top of the cage to try and leave, but the every so swift Big Show kept catching him. Big Show trapped Daniel Bryan’s arm and then also had him by his head so it looked like Bryan was hanging from the top of the cage, which was pretty cool. Show had a grip on him and Bryan was hanging from Show’s wrists, and finally let go and won the match.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Bryan did the “Yes” screams after the match. (Photo sent in by my friend Jenn who is there live.)

2. The Bellas, Natalya, and Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox, Eve, Kelly Kelly, and Tamina

Beth Phoenix tagged herself in by slapping one of the bellas pretty hard, immediately gave Kelly Kelly the Glam Slam for the win. Beth projects her character better than most of the dude wrestlers.

Winner: The Bellas, Natalya, and Beth Phoenix

3. John Cena vs. Kane
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Sometimes, cards that don’t look great on paper turn out to be fun. As a fan, your expectations are lowered and you can just enjoy the action. Let’s hope that UFC 142 is that way because on paper, it looks like a bit of an afterthought.

The big news yesterday was that Anthony Johnson’s body shut down when he was trying to cut weight and he weighed in at 197 for a 185 pound fight. Vitor accepted the fight as long as Johnson didn’t weigh more than 205 this morning and Johnson has to give him 20% of his purse. The fight will go on.

1. Terry Etim vs. Edson Barboza

The first round featured a ton of leg kicks and some nice boxing. Neither guy really got the advantage and while a lot of strikes scored, no one was in trouble. Leg kicks may hurt Etim in the next couple rounds.

Etim started to gain some momentum late in the round, but Barboza’s striking is more varied and he’s landing the harder shots. Etim needs to close out strong to win this one.

Holy cow! Barboza threw a wheel kick and caught Etim right in the face with his heel. Etim went stiff and out.

Winner: Edson Barboza by way of 1st round TKO

2. Carlo Prater vs. Erick Silva

Well, that was fast. Silva landed a right hand, then a knee when Prater buckled and them hammer fists on the ground and it was over. Uh oh. The referee is going to take away Silva’s victory because of shots to the back of the head. There have been many worse occurrences of hitting in the back of the head. Silva got a raw deal.

Winner: Carlo Prater by way of disqualification

3. Mike Massenzio vs. Rousimar Palhares
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As I said in the preview, I’m kind of surprised that this fight is happening. With all the injuries this year, the two biggest guys in the UFC made it through unscathed. It’s really a monster movie kind of fight. And, it’s also a your classic striker vs. wrestler match-up.

The undercard was all decisions. That tells me we’ll see all finishes on the main card.

1. Jimy Hettes vs. Nam Phan

Hettes owned the entire first half of the round. He took Phan down a couple times, locked in a guillotine, and was laying into him with the ground and pound. I thought it was going to be stopped. Phan was able to get back up, which tells me that Hettes might not be a hard hitter. Phan looked like he was going to start doing well in the standup, but Hettes hip tossed him. Hettes went for an arm bar, but Phan fought it, taking a beating in the process. Has to be a 10-8 round.

It was Hettes’ round yet again. Not quite 10-8 this round. He was using all kinds of throws to get Phan on his back and was going for submissions, but Phan was fighting them. If Hettes could punch a bit, this fight would be over.

Both guys are pretty tired. If Phan had a chance, it was when they were standing up and Hettes looked to be more tired. But soon thereafter, Hettes took him down again and was slamming him with punches and elbows from the top. He gave him another beating to easily win the fight.

Winner: Jimy Hettes by way of unanimous decision

The scores were 30-25, 30-25, 30-26.

2. Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
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WWE’s year end PPV wasn’t put together very well. John Cena, the top draw isn’t even on the show. Yet, Triple H and Kevin Nash are having a ladder match, in their first match of the feud. This PPV feels like the writers just threw s*it (and I’m not talking about Rosey) against the wall and went with what stuck. That being said, I’m looking forward to Dolph Ziggler against Zack Ryder and Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T. Those matches have been booked fairly well. I don’t really care too much about any of the main events, but the triple threat TLC match should be good nonetheless.

1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder

Ziggler was fantastic in this match, just such a great animated heel. The match picked up near the end with some really great near falls. Vickie was throw out of the match for putting Dolph’s foot on the rope to save him. Ziggler hit the Fame Asser for a near fall. Ryder hit a Frankensteiner from the top rope for a near fall. Ziggler ran into the corner for a splash and was hit with knees to the face and then the leg lariat for the pin. Fun match. Zack is the new US champ.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Cody attacked Booker in the back and Booker’s eyes went wide and he was puffing out his cheeks. He’s been taking his vitamins as he looks good.

2. Air Boom vs. Primo and Epico

Evan Bourne’s not getting the slap on the wrist quite yet. Fun tag team match, and very much by the books, except with all of Bourne’s high flying. Kofi hit Primo with the Trouble In Paradise for the pinfall.

Winner: Air Boom

3. Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton
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I admit, I’m a sucker for gimmick Pay Per Views. Royal Rumble, old-school Survivor Series, King of the Ring, and the blood-filled Hell in the Cell.

I missed the very first fight and from what I gather, the Korean Zombie knocked out Mark Hominick in 7 seconds. Holy crap! You just never know with this sport.

If upsets are the story of the night, there will be some unhappy people.

2. Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick

Not the most entertaining first round, but still interesting. Patrick had a guillotine attempt on early, but Ebersole wasn’t in trouble. The rest of the round was mostly striking up against the cage, with no one really doing much, but Ebersole probably getting the better of the action. Not really sure how to score the round.

A lot of the same as the end of the first round. Who wins the round is based on who did the most damage in a round that wasn’t all that pretty to watch.

Patrick had three nice submissions, but Ebersole got out of each one. There was some great ground work and ground defense in this round and the last minute of the round was excellent.

Winner: Brian Ebersole by way of split decision

Ebersole got two of the 29-28 scores while Patrick got one. Not a lot of people happy with that decision, including one Lorenzo Fertita.

3. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz
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