WWE Tribute to the Troops 2011: Wrestlers Say Thanks to Our Armed Forces

Last night was the annual Tribute to the Troops show. The event has been held at overseas bases in the past, but this year they decided to visit Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

Every year for the last eight years WWE has tried to say thank you to our troops by putting on a free show for all the WWE fans in the armed services, and every year they put on a good show.

This night is not meant to be a normal show where the main focus is feuds. This night is meant to be fun and entertaining while giving fans some memorable moments.

The rest of the year WWE also allows military personnel to attend WWE shows for free as their way of saying thank you.

JBL is credited with having brought the idea to Vince McMahon and helping execute it. This is truly one of the most honorable things WWE does year after year.

This night saw a couple musical performances by Mary J. Blige and Nickelback, who performed the Raw theme song to the crowd.

Various celebrities also recorded messages to say thanks to the troops that aired during the show, including an always-enjoyable Robin Williams, but some others showed up and wrestled.

E! host Maria Menounos made her return to the WWE ring in a Divas tag match, which saw her get the pin for her team over Beth Phoenix with an impressive sunset flip.

Menounos is one of the few celebrities who has stepped into the ring over the years who looks like she took her training very seriously. I am not saying she should leave her day job for a career in wrestling, but she is more believable in the ring than some of the current Divas.

Another nice surprise for the crowd was the WWE's resident military drill sergeant making an appearance to cheer on Zack Ryder against Jack Swagger.

Even though I get why they had Swagger play his usual heel role I think WWE missed an opportunity to have the All-American American play the babyface just for one night.

What better guy to have a one-night face turn in front of the troops than the one who wears red white and blue every week?

Either way, seeing Sergeant Slaughter put Swagger down was entertaining. Even though the rest of the night was giving time to some of the feuds leading into TLC it was still entertaining.

Randy Orton and Wade Barrett fought to a double count out. After the match Barrett was looking to put Orton through a table, but Otunga ended up getting in the way by trying to take revenge from the beating he received from Orton a few weeks back.

After Barrett took off toward the back Orton left his mark for the night by power bombing Otunga through a table at the ringside area.

Another feud that saw some attention was Cody Rhodes and Booker T. Rhodes lost a match to Daniel Bryan after a little interference from Booker.

One thing which surprised me a little bit was an appearance by Drew McIntyre. He squared off against Sheamus in a losing effort.

Epico and Primo ended up getting the only heel victory of the night when they defeated current tag champs Air Boom. This could be setting up for Epico and Primo to get a run with the tag team titles.

They were accompanied to the ring by Rosa, who looks more like Melina every time I see her. Hunico being absent was not much of a shock, but it would have made sense for him to be at ringside with them.

The main event of the evening saw WWE Champion CM Punk team with John Cena and Big Show to face off against World Champion Mark Henry, Miz and Alberto Del Rio.

Team Punk won the match after everyone delivered their finishers to the opposing team to end the night's action on a positive note.

The night ended with all the Superstars and Divas standing at the top of the ramp while Cena delivered a speech to the troops to close the show.

It was a great night, as WWE always does a great job of paying respect to those who serve their country.

Normally I would ask you what you thought of the show at the end of my recaps/reviews, but this time I am going to do something different. Please share a story about yourself or someone else you know in the military whom you'd like to thank.