On December 21’s RAW, A.J. Styles wanted answers from The Miz after the events of WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Miz took the opportunity to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, turning Styles’s bid to claim the WWE Championship from reigning champ Drew McIntyre into a Triple Threat TLC match for the title. McIntyre retained the title, and Styles, with Omos at his side, of course, demanded to know what Miz was thinking, ruining both their odds against McIntyre. On “Miz TV”, rather than offering a crafty ploy, Miz delivered a mea culpa monologue of histrionic remorse and grievances, pleading his case for seizing his first shot at the WWE Championship in ten years.
A swaggering McIntyre interrupted the proceedings, with pals Sheamus and Keith Lee in tow, mocking Styles, Miz, and John Morrison with a cheeky limerick. “Miz TV” soon erupted into a brawl, with Sheamus, Lee, McIntyre, Miz, Morrison, and even Omos trading blows. Styles kicked Lee into Sheamus, and tension between Lee and Sheamus ignited. They’d already traded words in weeks past, Lee casting doubt on Sheamus’s loyalty to McIntyre. McIntyre, for his part, seems determined to create a stable, flanked by the two men that he trusts most on the RAW roster. McIntyre kept the peace between the two, but they were clearly far from the dream team McIntyre might have wished.
This dust up was just an opening salvo for the Holiday Street Fight. Sheamus was clearly still perturbed at Lee as the teams assembled, but McIntyre continued to run interference and hold the center between his two friends. Sheamus and Morrison opened the proceedings, trading blows, Sheamus getting Morrison in a lock. Morrison tagged in Miz, but Morrison also took an illegal shot at Sheamus.
Styles was tagged in, and withstood a clothesline from Sheamus. Miz, entering the fray once more, held the Celtic Warrior whilst Morrison kicked him. Sheamus managed to tag in McIntyre. McIntyre’s left knee was injured at TLC, and provided a clear and easy target for Morrison. Not easily deterred, McIntyre turned things his way and issued a Glasgow Kiss headbutt to Morrison. McIntyre tagged in Lee, and as he exited he and Lee hoisted Morrison and threw him across the ring.
Despite their earlier static, Lee and Sheamus clotheslined Morrison in tandem, and also fended off A.J. Styles. The two men exchanged congratulatory chest slaps, but when Lee seemed to take it too far, once again Sheamus took offense, and for the second time that night McIntyre was also compelled to play peacekeeper. Back on track and focusing on his opponents rather than his teammates, Sheamus faced off against A.J. Styles. He targeted Styles’s arm, and used his grasp on Styles to set up a clothesline. Sheamus and McIntyre drew on their old tag team cohesion, and taking hold of Miz and Morrison, respectively, and thumped their chests in tandem. They sent Miz and Morrison on their way to Keith Lee, who sent the pair slamming into the barricade, and threw Styles like a paper plane back into the ring.
Styles had a nasty shock for Sheamus, driving his shoulder into the post, but quickly tagged in Miz. Morrison and Miz began to turn the tide a bit, with Morrison launching Sheamus through a table, then rolling him back into the ring and getting a cover; Sheamus kicked out at two, Morrison tagged in Miz. Miz, clearly still enraged at losing his Championship opportunity through his own miscalculation, unleashed a ddt on Sheamus and nearly put him away, but Sheamus fought out. Styles reentered, and kicked Sheamus, and Lee as he seemed to be stepping forward to defend his erstwhile teammate. Sheamus recovered, delivering his signature White Noise maneuver. He also managed to tag in McIntyre, who entered the ring swinging, delivering heavy-hitting clotheslines and belly to belly throws to Miz and Morrison.
As McIntyre attempted a future shock DDT, Miz took a swipe at his injured knee. Still a stoic to his pain, McIntyre lost no time and delivered a spine buster to Miz and covered him, but his victory was dashed by intervention from Styles. More blows were traded, and the match soon devolved into mayhem by the barricade, as candy cane Kendo sticks were drawn, and the athletes sent each other flying into Christmas trees and tables laden with a holiday spread.
Sheamus seemed to be looking for his moment in the match, and tagged in just as McIntyre was gearing up for a Claymore. When the victory was actually clinched by Keith Lee delivering a spirit bomb to, and getting a successful cover on Miz, Sheamus was disgruntled and lashed out at Lee physically, kicking him.
McIntyre was dismayed, his nascent team already dissolved and derailed. McIntyre will surely want answers for Sheamus’s betrayal, and with no love lost between Sheamus and Lee anyway, his actions have now set the stage for an all-out feud between the two.
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