WWE's annual Tribute to the Troops special is one of the company's most unique events. Storylines take a backseat for the night while Superstars and Divas put on a show for America's armed forces.

John Bradshaw Layfield came up with the idea as a way to give back to all the people who serve in the United States military. Past years have seen WWE take the roster overseas to different war zones, but the past few shows have been held on or near domestic military bases.

This year's event will feature five matches, a comedy set from Howie Mandel and a performance by Train. We also got the usual array of touching video packages showing Superstars and Divas meeting troops and their families.

Let's take a look at everything that happened at the 2015 WWE Tribute to the Troops.

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger and Rusev had a long feud when the Bulgarian first arrived on the scene, so this is a match we have seen many times.

They work well together because they are both powerhouses with a surprising amount of quickness. They also both studied some form of grappling before moving on to pro wrestling.

They wrestled in a boot-camp match, which is essentially a street fight with some empty ammo containers and other various weapons scattered around the ring.

Rusev and Swagger beat each other up in and out of the ring, with Swagger getting in more offense than he has during the entirety of 2015. It was a physical match that surprisingly ended with Swagger picking up a clean win.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• It's nice to see Swagger defeating someone who used to dominate him, but this probably isn't the beginning of a new push. He only won because of his patriotic gimmick.
• It also seemed out of place for Swagger not to address the troops after the match.
• Lana is back to wearing her old suits and hair in a bun. She looked better with her hair down with normal clothes.

Mark Henry vs. Bo Dallas

This match is kind of funny because Mark Henry was Bo Dallas' first real feud when he was called up to the main roster, but the once promising NXT standout wasn't able to upset the World's Strongest Man this time.

Henry is another Superstar with patriotic roots. He represented the U.S. in the Olympics for powerlifting in 1992 and 1996, and he has devoted a lot of time to working with the armed services.

This was nothing more than a throwaway match meant to put over a babyface. Henry got the win in less than two minutes using the World's Strongest Slam.

While this would have gotten an F on any other night, Dallas' comedic antics helped keep it from being a total bust.

Grade: D

Notes and Highlights

• Henry should have worn his red, white and blue singlet, but the blue camo design looked cool.
• Henry couldn't keep himself from laughing at Dallas dressed as Uncle Sam.
• How did Dallas manage to keep his hat on for the whole match?

Train

How you feel about Train as a band will be the only deciding factor in your thoughts about this performance. They are a popular group that has achieved plenty of success, but their music isn't for everyone.

They performed a song titled "Merry Christmas, Everybody." Lilian Garcia introduced it as their new single, but it's actually a cover of a popular song by a band called Slade.

Of all the Christmas songs we are inundated with this time of year, this is one of the least annoying of the bunch. Train did a decent job of performing the holiday hit, so for once, a musical performance during a WWE event didn't feel totally out of place.

Grade: First song (B), second song (C-)

Notes and Highlights

• The lead singer sounds different live. His vocals must be overproduced on his albums.
• Did anyone else expect a bunch of Divas to come out and dance on the stage? It's happened before during musical performances at WWE events.
• Train came back out later and played one of their big hits. It was less enjoyable than the first song they performed.

Kevin Owens vs. Ryback

Kevin Owens came out and delivered a promo bashing America and putting over Canada. While the U.S. and Canada are friends, his words were obviously going to insult the soldiers in the crowd.

Owens is a great antagonist, and using him as a foreign heel in this situation worked perfectly. He even took the cowardly route and got himself counted out to give Ryback the win.

Owens usually brings out the best in his opponents, but nothing memorable happened during this match. It was too short for either man to show off what he is capable of. Owens' promo was the only thing that saved it.

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• This was filmed before TLC, so none of the champions had their belts so it didn't look too obvious that it was pretaped.
• Owens got so much heat for speaking French. It was kind of funny to hear the crowd's reaction.
• WWE did a good job of editing in commentary that mentioned how Owens lost the title at TLC. You couldn't even tell it was recorded at a different time than the rest of the show.

Howie Mandel

Just like Train, whether or not you enjoy Howie Mandel's comedy will affect how you felt about this segment.

It was a little surprising to see Mandel perform at a WWE event, but it's more likely that he did it because it was for a good cause and not because he is a huge wrestling fan.

Younger fans may know him as the host of Deal or No Deal, but anyone who grew up in the '90s probably has a soft spot for Bobby's World. It was one of those cartoons that were both funny and family-friendly.  

Mandel's set was all right, but it felt a little random to have a comedian perform in the middle of the show. At least WWE didn't bring back Larry the Cable Guy.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Fun fact: Mandel did several voices for the first two seasons of The Muppet Babies.
• Ether Mandel got one of the biggest pops of the night, or WWE edited in some canned crowd noise.
• Be honest: You popped a little when he did Bobby's voice, didn't you?

8-Diva Tag Match

Team B.A.D. and Paige took on Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Alicia Fox and Brie Bella in an eight-Diva tag match. It's not that weird for Paige to team up with Sasha Banks, Tamina and Naomi since they are all heels, but it was a little strange to see the other team work together.

It's hard for any bout with this many people to be anything more than an excuse for a huge brawl, so expectations weren't high going into it.

Team B.A.D. and Paige picked up the win after Banks forced Fox to tap out to the Banks Statement. The match was a little on the short side, but it wasn't terrible. 

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• Does this mean we are supposed to think Alicia Fox and Brie Bella are babyfaces now? Nikki gave a mostly babyface acceptance speech at the Slammys, so it's possible the group is being slowly turned so Team B.A.D., Paige and Charlotte can be the heels in the division.
• Do you think most of the Divas wore red on purpose, or was it just a coincidence?
• It was shocking to see the heels pick up the win. WWE usually books the babyfaces to go over at this event to keep the crowd happy.

16-Man Tag Match

Some might question why WWE would put so many people in one match, but there is a simple explanation. WWE wanted to give the troops a chance to see as many of their favorites as possible, and this was the best way.

Sure, a Battle Royal would have been a good alternative, but this allows several babyfaces to get the big win instead of just one.

Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, The Usos, Kane, Ryback and The Dudley Boyz took on The League of Nations and The Wyatt Family in a crowded yet surprisingly fun match.

Maybe it's the atmosphere that made it more enjoyable, because this bout would have been perceived differently on any other night.

Everyone got a chance to wrestle for a few moments, and since so many people were involved, nobody was in the ring longer than a minute or two.

As expected, all hell broke loose, and everyone stormed the ring. After most of the people were cleared out, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Luke Harper to pick up the win for his team.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• The show started with all 16 of these men brawling, which is what led to this match.
• It was kind of weird how we returned from a break to see the match already in progress. It was obviously done to save time, but it would have been better to see the whole match and one less musical performance.
• Bubba Ray shouldn't have been allowed to make a tag while he was on the top turnbuckle. The rules exist for a reason, and it's not so the referee can ignore them.
• The heels stole The New Day's routine of trading tags while stomping an opponent in the corner.
• Has anyone else noticed how JBL brings up The Walking Dead a lot?

Final Thoughts

The past two weeks have been a busy time for WWE. There was the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view, NXT TakeOver: London, Tribute to the Troops, the normal episodes of Raw, Main Event and Superstars, a regular SmackDown and a special live SmackDown.

Everyone has been working overtime to end the year on a high note, and if it wasn't for all the injuries to current Superstars, the beginning of 2016 might look brighter.

Tribute to the Troops was a good show in terms of entertainment value, but if you were hoping for some storyline development, you were out of luck.

This isn't an event that is meant to advance feuds. It's just supposed to be a fun night for the men and women of the Unites States military, and judging from the reactions in the crowd, WWE accomplished its mission.

What did you think of this year's Tribute to the Troops?

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor. Happy Holidays!