WWE, pro wrestling, and the holiday season have always gone hand in hand. For example, Thanksgiving was long a big day in the wrestling business, traditionally speaking, with Starrcade and the Survivor Series taking place around the holiday. Similarly, the Christmas season was always filled with big live events around the country as fans flocked to arenas to see their favorite stars after a visit from Santa Claus.
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With WWE’s national expansion in the 1980s, wrestling and the Christmas holiday became part of television as well. And over the years, we have seen some great holiday themed moments from WWE.
Below is a fun, but not complete, list of some of the best WWE Christmas and holiday moments from over the years. What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments section at the end of the article!
Roddy Piper Attacks “Santa Claus” Heenan
The Christmas Day edition of Prime Time Wrestling in 1989 featured Roddy Piper attacking Bobby Heenan on set, who was dressed up as Santa Claus. Even so, the USA Network reportedly received some blowback for the segment even though it was clear it was Heenan in disguise. Check out the clip above.
Heenan and Monsoon – Decorating In 1990
Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon had unparalleled chemistry whenever they were on screen together. The Christmas edition of Prime Time Wrestling in 1990 featured some funny banter between the two real life friends as Heenan fumbles around with some Christmas decorations, having not set-up the decorations ahead of time as planned. Heenan says it was because he was out doing good deeds like delivery presents to under-privileged children. Speaking of toys, check out the WWF Hasbro figures and Tonka Wrestling Buddies on set.
Bret Hart and Santa Claus
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels faced-off for the first time on PPV at the 1992 WWE Survivor Series. Hart was the World Champion at the time, while Michaels was the Intercontinental Champion. This was not a title vs. title match, though, and Michaels had just won the Intercontinental Championship 11 days earlier.
The two gave us a glimpse of what we’d get in their feud over the years, producing a very good match that ended in a Sharpshooter victory for the Hitman. Afterward, Santa Claus came out to celebrate with the champ.
Stone Cold Stuns Santa Claus
1997 went out in memorable fashion on the December 22nd edition of Raw. This show featured Steve Austin giving a Stone Cold Stunner to Santa Claus in mid-ring. Bruce Prichard recounted the segment years later on an episode of Something To Wrestle:
“The funny part about it is that Steve actually stunned Santa Claus. I remember when we had Roddy Piper attack Santa Claus when it was Bobby Heenan, how much shit we went through because people thought that someone was attacking Santa Claus and not Bobby Heenan. The USA network was up in arms.”
“I kept telling him, ‘Man, Steve, you gotta take the stuff off of him first to prove he isn’t actually Santa Claus,’ but as usual nobody listened to me. They just went ahead and they finally got it off of him, but you never saw that it was just some guy. Never got the beard off of him, but they got a little hair off of him and the hat off of him.”
The Rock’s 12 Days of Christmas
Always one of the best on the microphone in the wrestling industry, The Rock delivered his spin on the 12 Days of Christmas before a match with Test on the December 20th, 2001 edition of WWE SmackDown.
Tribute To The Troops
It’s hard to think of the holiday season in WWE without thinking of WWE’s annual Tribute To The Troops show. WWE’s gesture to the United States Armed Forces has received a lot of great recognition over the years and is one of the highlights for performers each and every year. The first episode aired on Christmas Day, 2003.
Oh yeah, that first episode also featured Steve Austin dressing up as Santa Claus and delivering a Stunner to Vince McMahon, which is hard to forget.
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