WWE, USA Network and NBC honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces with the ninth annual holiday special “WWE Tribute to the Troops,” presented by Slim Jim. The program will air as a one-hour special on NBC on Saturday, Dec. 17 (9-10 p.m. EST / 8-9 p.m. CST).

“It’s a huge undertaking WWE does every year to show these men and women how important they are to all of us — to beam it across the television sets that we’re routing for them,” said WWE superstar Cody Rhodes, who participated in a conference call to promote the extravaganza. “What we do is what they fight for, and I was ecstatic to be part of it.”

In the grand tradition of Bob Hope, the most patriotic holiday special of the year will feature performances by Grammy award winning R&B sensation Mary J. Blige, multi-platinum rock band Nickelback, comedian George Wallace, and WWE’s biggest superstars and divas for thousands of Fort Bragg military personnel and their families at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, N.C.

“I thought it was an awesome event for WWE to give back to the troops who have given so much to us,” said Wallace, the new Mr. Vegas. “A person like me being invited to the show to give some humor to Tribute to the Troops was just a wonderful experience.

“I choked up a few times, seeing the servicemen and servicewomen out there. It was just wonderful that we could give back and make them happy and make them laugh. That’s what we do.”

In comedic fashion, Wallace challenged Rhodes to a match during the conference call.

“I’m looking for this match. I don’t care if he brings his brother [Goldust]. He can bring his daddy. Listen to me. Cody and I didn’t like each other from the get-go. Let’s make the perfectly clear,” Wallace joked. “That Sunday night was a different thing. We were doing it for the troops, but I don’t like him, and he don’t like me, and that’s the bottom line.”

After the verbal tirade from the pranking Wallace, the second generation superstar delivered some choice words for the old school wrestling fan, a fan of Cody’s father, WWE Hall of Famer The American Dream Dusty Rhodes.

“Before George answered that so eloquently, I was going to say that I would love to have George Wallace as my manager,” Rhodes countered, “but now that he’s gone out there and said what he’s said. George Wallace is welcome to come back to [WWE] Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown or any of the WWE pay-per-views or anywhere he’d like to step foot in the ring with the Intercontinental champion. I 100 percent welcome that.”

(Rhodes is the current WWE Intercontinental champion.)

Wallace interjected: “Don’t you push me. Don’t you push me. We don’t have to wait til Raw, we can do it tonight right here at the airport, but you brought up me being a manager. That’s different. Now we’re talking money.”

Rhodes continued: “George is a big guy, and I’m not the slightest bit intimidated. He talks such a big game. That’s Ali like. If he can back it up, I’m in trouble.”

Wallace chuckled: “We can do it at Madison Square Garden. We can do it in Miami. We can do it anywhere Cody wants. I learned everything from his daddy.”