WWE Tribute to the Troops 2009

2009 WWE Tribute to the Troops Recap:

The WWE's 2009 Tribute to the Troops special aired on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 on NBC at 9PM EST. It opened with a video showing black and white footage of previous entertainers like Bob Hope and Marilyn Monroe performing overseas to lift the spirits of the troops. Tonight the WWE will continue the tradition overseas as they present their brand of sports entertainment.

Michael Cole was on commentary to open tonight's show from the largest military base in Northern Iraq. Jerry Lawler was also on hand to say they were providing commentary from WWE's HQ in Stamford, CT. Tonight's main event pits John Cena against Chris Jericho. Rey Mysterio came out in all camoflauge gear to open the show.

Rey Mysterio & Mark Henry vs. Carlito & C Punk

A mixed tag team match from Raw and Smackdown opened the show. Late in the match with both Carlito and Punk down against the middle rope, Mysterio hit a double 619 on them. Mark Henry got in the ring to hit the World's Strongest Slam on Carlito, while Mysterio did a Springboard off the top rope onto Punk. They scored double pins to win it.

Winners: Rey Mysterio &Z Mark Henry win via pinfall over Carlito & CM Punk.

Later tonight, The Miz battles John Morrison, and in the main event its Cena versus Jericho, first time in Iraq.

They rolled a slideshow of still images highlighting the WWE's trip to Iraq and the troops with a Bob Dylan "Forever Young" song as the background music. John Cena, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, The Miz, Mark Henry, and R-Truth were among the superstars shown in the images.

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Eve Torres was handling tonight's ring announcer duties and introduced Santa Claus. R-Truth came out dressed as Santa Claus to enlist the troops in his "What's Up" theme song. Truth started talking about his sweet tooth and how he keeps putting on weight because of it. He said he had something extra sweet for them, and the WWE divas came out with bags of gifts. The Bella Twins, Layla, Alicia Fox, and Kelly Kelly were all dressed as Santa's helpers to toss gifts to the crowd. Lawler yelled out that the divas are also giving out kisses to troops in the crowd.

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced President Barack Obama's previously recorded video message for the troops. The president expressed his gratitude for the troops service and sacrifice, wishing them and their families a happy holidays.

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When the show returned, they again hyped Jericho vs Cena for later on, then launched into an extended behind the scenes video about the WWE's visit to the Troops in Iraq. Chris Jericho, MVP, Rey Mysterio, John Cena and R-Truth were shown as were the various divas such as Eve, Bella Twins, Kelly and Alicia. CM Punk was shown getting run down by a militar dog and bitten on the arm in a special protective suit. The Bellas and Kelly Kelly were shown hugging and dancing with troops. They also showed various superstars firing military weapons into the desert sand. Various soldiers said this is the best thing to happen in their lives and the visit makes them happy.

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General David Petraeus delivered a video message to the troops and thanked the WWE for this tribute to the US troops around the world. They showed video footage of the efforts the troops are making overseas. Various soldiers showed off pictures of their significant others and kids. Another music video was displayed of the troops and the WWE superstars meeting with them.

John Morrison vs. The Miz
Champion vs Champion match

In the late stages of the match, Morrison got up on the corner with Miz and eventually superplexed him. The move left both guys down on the mat, but Morrison made a cover. Miz got his arm up to prevent the pinfall. Morrison went for Starship Pain from the corner, but Miz moved out of harm's way. From there, he did a rollup pin on Morrison using the corner as leverage to place his feet on the ropes. The ref didn't see it and awarded The Miz the victory.

Winner: The Miz wins via pinfall over John Morrison.

They said John Cena will defend the WWE title in the main event tonight, making the outcome a bit anti-climactic. A Cena highlight video from his appearances at previous Tribute to the Troops was shown, with Cena delivering a heartfelt speech on the mic. Various images were shown of Cena's time spent overseas with the troops.

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Chris Jericho vs. John Cena
WWE Title Match

Cole noted that Jericho lost in the TLC match at TLC PPV, as did Cena to Sheamus in the Table match for the WWE title.

In the early part of the match, Jericho dominated, and eventually knocked Cena to the outside. Tribute to the Troops took a commercial break.

Back from break, they showed video footage from a re-enlistment ceremony which various WWE superstars attended including John Cena, The Bella Twins, Mysterio, R-Truth and Vince McMahon. In the ring, Cena was able to get Jericho up for an Attitude Adjustment, but Jericho slid off and turned it into the Walls of Jericho. Cena couldn't grab the ropes so he used his weight to flip Jericho over and then put him into the STF. Jericho was able to crawl his way to grab the bottom rope.

The two opponents ended up battling on the corner of the ring, with Cena lifting Jericho onto his shoulders, teasing the attitude adjustment. Jericho countered and headbutted Cena down to the mat. He flew off the corner into a flying cross body press, but Cena rolled right through. He turned it into an Attitude Adjustment to win via pinfall.

Winner: John Cena wins via pinfall over Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Title.

Cole and Lawler closed things out thanking tonight's musical artists who provided background music including Nickelback, Bob Dylan, David Cook and Bon Jovi. Lawler gave his thanks to all the troops, as well as a Happy Holidays.

See the 2009 Tribute to the Troops music & songs list here.

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