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December 24th
On this day in history in ....
1958 - Lee Fields defeats Billy Wicks in Mobile, Alabama to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title, ending Wicks' second title reign.
1971 - Daniel "Christopher Daniels" Covell is born in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
1979 - Chris "Chris Hero" Spradlin is born in Dayton, Ohio.
1985 - Camille Tourville, better known as Tarzan Tyler, fellow wrestler Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre and referee Adrien Desbois died, when the car they were traveling in struck a tow truck on an ice-covered road, after an International Wrestling event in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Tourville was one-half of the very first WWWF World Tag Team Champions with "Crazy" Luke Graham in 1971, and was 58 years old. Lefebvre was just 30.
1986 - Perro Aguayo wins his sixth WWF World Junior Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico, ending Fishman's second reign.
1994 - The Rock N' Roll Express defeat The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa) in Knoxville, Tennessee to win the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Title. This would begin the tenth, and final reign for Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson.
1994 - Russian Assassins I and II defeat The Italian Stallion and George South for the Pro Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title in Charlotte, North Carolina.
1998 - The Bounty Hunters (J.J. and Johnny) defeat Full Force (Bobo Brazil, Jr. and Andy Chene) to win the Independent Association of Wrestling Tag Team Title in Adrian, Michigan, beginning their second reign.
2001 - For the only time ever (to date), Monday Night Raw aired a Christmas Eve episode. The episode, which was taped in advance, still managed to earn a 3.2 rating. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show, which included the first-ever "eggnog match" with Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson.
The 12/24 episode of RAW IS TAPED was filmed on 12/21 in Miami due to the Christmas holidays. It was by definition going to be something of a throwaway show, as ratings will be way down due to it being Christmas Eve. It was an entertaining show with a hot live crowd. The dueling Christmas parties idea was good, though we could have done without the gratuitous stuff with Fabulous Moolah & Mae Young.
Rock came out wearing his #94 jersey from his days with the University of Miami Hurricanes. The crowd went nuts for him. He slightly altered his opening catch phrase, saying "finally, the Rock has come back.....home!" He promised it would be a special homecoming since the TV main event would be Chris Jericho defending the Undisputed World Title against him. Rock read his own special version of "The Night Before Christmas", which proved there's at least one thing he doesn't do well, namely compose Christmas poems:
Twas the night before Christmas, and all though the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The weather was warm, not a trace of snow, as the Rock got ready to whoop Chris Jericho.
Jericho's claim to be the best, the Rock found quite brutal. Clearly Chris Jericho's a man who has no strudel.
"I am a living legend", Y2J would sing, as he trembled with fear heading into the people's ring.
And faster than Scrooge saw the ghost of Christmas past, as Rock hit the people's ring he whooped Y2J's ass.
It seemed quite certain the title would switch, as the Rock made Chris Jericho his own punk-assed bitch.
And after the Rock pinned Chris Jericho 1-2-3, and stood over his limp body in victory,
The Rock grabbed the mic and told everyone in sight, "Merry Christmas to all...."
But before Rock could finish with, "and to all a good night", Kurt Angle interrupted him. The crowd gave Angle hell with all the "whats". Angle said if Santa Claus sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake, he must be a pervert. He said he hopes Santa isn't watching because he plans on being very naughty tonight. He added that there's one man more powerful than Santa, namely Vince McMahon, and that Vince had given him a great Christmas present. Specifically, the present was that Vince had added Angle to the Jericho vs. Rock main event, making it a triple threat match. Rock asked Angle to be quiet for a minute to allow the crowd to call him an "asshole", which they did. Angle said Rock's chance of winning the title in front of his hometown losers just went from slim to none. Rock, in a vague attempt to be poetic, said Angle's ass would end up redder than Rudolph's nose and that both Angle and Jericho would end up on the canvas looking up at Rock after he whips both their candy asses.
Vince was having a Christmas party backstage. Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco were dressed as elves, including pointed ears. Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler later noted the size of Brisco's ears, which was an inside joke. Vince told them they both looked ridiculous, proving he occasionally tells the truth. Each one said it was the other's idea to dress as elves. Various heel wrestlers (such as Christian and Test) and sub-stooges like Harvey Whippleman and Brooklyn Brawler were hanging around. Bubba Ray Dudley was dressed as Santa Claus. He was also the luckiest guy on earth as Santa's helper Stacy Keibler was sitting on his lap. She whispered her gift requests to Bubba Claus and he said she had indeed been a naughty girl. Booker T arrived and Vince praised him for beating Steve Austin in the first blood match on Smackdown. Vince announced that it was time for the "raindear" to arrive, so in came a few stripper type girls, one of whom began stripping.
Rikishi beat Test by DQ in 1:35. Rikishi took his good spin bump. Test kept getting in the face of referee Tim White. He dared White to punch him. White did, so Test beat him up. Of course, he got DQ'ed in there somewhere. He can't be fired, but he can be DQ'ed. Rikishi laid Test out and squashed him with the Banzai ass drop.
Ric Flair was having a Christmas party of his own. Most of the mid or lower card babyface wrestlers were there (Edge, Hurricane, etc.). Trish Stratus and Jackie were there. So was Torrie Wilson, who was Santa's helper, sitting on the lap of Tajiri Claus. Tajiri Claus gave Torrie her present, which was a bra and panties which combined contained about as much material as the little finger on a glove. Kane was there and was being his usual stoic self. Edge & Albert tried to get him into the party mood by giving him champagne and putting Christmas bows on his mask. Debra threatened the festive mood by arriving with a big tray of Christmas cookies she had baked herself. Flair saw this as a good sign, though, as it meant Austin was on his way there.
Meanwhile, at Vince's party, more girls were dancing and stripping. One of the stripper babes was sitting on Bubba Claus' lap, as Bubba chugged down the champagne. Tazz told Bubba he wasn't being a very good representative of Christmas or Santa. Bubba told Tazz he's just jealous because elves are taller than he is. Chuck Palumbo and Billy Gunn traded Christmas gifts. Each had gotten the other a red headband with his name on it. Howard Finkel came in and said two really super hot babes had arrived. It turned out to be Fabulous Moolah & Mae Young. When Vince saw them, he decided he needed another drink.
Palumbo & Gunn beat the APA in 1:49. Palumbo & Gunn were wearing their little headbands, with JR sarcastically calling them "special", almost like it was a gay type of thing. Bradshaw cleaned house, but when he had Gunn up for a slam, Palumbo tripped him. Gunn fell on top and Palumbo held Bradshaw's leg out of view of the ref and Gunn got the pin.
Rob Van Dam arrived at the arena and began looking for Jericho. He found Jericho's locker room, without even having to ask directions. I guess it's easier to find Jericho's locker room than Rock's. But Jericho wasn't there. Instead, RVD found Lance Storm. Storm said Jericho was out preparing for his title defense, but had left a message for RVD, which was that Jericho doesn't have time for losers such as him. RVD said if Jericho doesn't have time for losers he shouldn't have picked Storm as his messenger boy. They argued back and forth and ended up agreeing to face each other in the ring.
Arn Anderson arrived at Flair's party, followed by Austin. Austin began passing out beer. By the way, Big Show was at Flair's party and was pretty hilarious doing a Hulk Hogan imitation. Tajiri Claus kept ringing some bells. Austin made him stop, but then sat on his lap (sort of) and made his Christmas requests. After each request, the other guests all shouted "what". Austin wanted beer (he asked for that about three times), a match against Booker T, a shot at the Undisputed Title, a new truck, a new deer rifle (great for shooting Rudolph), and another middle finger so he can flip more people off.
RVD beat Lance Storm in 2:27. It was a good ECW style match while it lasted, which was less than two-and-a-half minutes. Some pretty stiff shots and good near falls. RVD won with a spinkick and the five star frog splash.
At Vince's party, Test held some mistletoe over his head and tried to get Terri to kiss him. She brushed him off. Maybe he should have hit on Moolah. Moolah & Mae were getting drunk on the spiked punch. Sharmell (formerly Paisley in WCW) interviewed Maven. He put over the new season of Tough Enough. He also mentioned the grocery store brawl between Austin and Booker, calling it one of the funniest things ever. Booker overheard this and didn't like it. He got in Maven's face, backed up by Big Bossman, and challenged Maven to a match.
They aired a promo for HHH's 1/7 return, which got a big pop.
To start hour two, Torrie beat Stacy in 1:55 in a match in a pool of eggnog. Lawler loved this. I kind of liked it myself. Stacy dipped her finger in the eggnog and sucked it off. Lawler nearly passed out. Then Torrie came out sucking on a candy cane. Lawler wished he was a cane. Lawler then said this was good quality Christmas programming. Yeah, this was a scene right out of "It's a Wonderful Life". Anyway, Torrie pinned Stacy in the eggnog. Stacy attacked Torrie afterward.
Back at Vince's party, Bubba Claus & D-Von were sad that Stacy lost. They said she would have won if it had been a Dudleyville cranberry sauce match. Chris Jericho came in and was upset that Vince had added Angle to the main event since it increased his chances of losing. Vince was trying to come up with an explanation when Stephanie came in. Vince took her arrival as an opportunity to get out of his conversation with Jericho. Stephanie was all humble and even crying a little. She had a Christmas present for daddy, a new money clip with his initials on it. However, Vince said she was just trying to manipulate her way back into the WWF. He told her to get the hell out, and she left crying. JR said the McMahons sure aren't the Waltons.
Christian beat Hurricane in 3:37 to retain the European Title. Christian called the Miami Hurricanes a bunch of thugs and petty criminals who won't be winning any bowl games. Another match that was good but short. Hurricane did a senton plancha. Christian did a baseball slide that knocked Hurricane into Mighty Molly. Hurricane managed to crawl back in the ring but was pinned with the unprettier.
Tazz showed up at Flair's party and said Tajiri was a better Santa than Bubba. He sort of stirred up a fight by saying Bubba thinks he's tougher than Tajiri. Austin stepped up and suggested that their Santa should fight Vince's Santa, so the challenge went out for Tajiri Claus vs. Bubba Claus. Austin then began singing Christmas songs very badly as he played a guitar with a broken string.
JR & Lawler announced that the Santa vs. Santa match was a done deal, calling it match that would draw big on PPV at the North Pole. Lawler said he wished JR was more like Santa, only coming around once a year.
Booker T beat Maven in 3:06. Bossman was in Booker's corner. Maven got in a little bit of offense, including one great dropkick. Booker won with the flapjack.
Tajiri Claus beat Bubba Claus in 5:20. A pretty good match for two guys wearing Santa outfits. Tajiri hit an Asai moonsault. JR called one spot a "malfunction at the junction", which was a tribute to Calgary wrestling commentator Ed Whalen, who died recently. Bubba whipped Tajiri with a belt as if he were Rudolph the red-nosed government mule. Bubba missed a senton bomb and Tajiri hit the springboard elbow. Bubba hit a superplex and set Tajiri up for a wazzup. D-Von got on top to (illegally) deliver it, but Tazz ran out and caused D-Von to get crotched. Tajiri sprayed the mist, hit a kick, and got the pin on Bubba.
Angle showed up at Vince's party and promised to humiliate Rock in front of his hometown fans and thus strip him of his dignity. Mae heard the word "strip" and got up on a stage and began stripping, to everyone's dismay.
A video package aired of Undertaker mauling Jeff Hardy & Lita on last week's RAW, and slaughtering Matt Hardy on Smackdown. Lawler said the Hardys and Lita are having a black & blue Christmas.
Mae continued stripping. The cameras thankfully only showed her from the knees down, but we were led to believe she had taken it all off. Everyone else had left in disgust except for the drunken elves Patterson and Brisco, Moolah, and Vince. Vince was about to leave when Austin charged in. He KO'ed Vince, drowned Brisco in the punch bowl, and put Patterson's head between Mae's legs, looking up at her supposedly exposed private parts, and he began gagging as if about to throw up. It was one of those really gratuitous and stupid incidents that make you wonder how sick some of the people who write this stuff really are.
Jericho beat Rock and Angle in the three-way match to retain the Undisputed WWF Title in 12:43. A good match with awesome heat, though it followed the booking pattern they've established where Jericho survives as champ only because of flukes. Jericho, as champ, was actually introduced first. Rock was last, which did make some sense as it was Rock's hometown and they were popping huge for him. The first part of the match saw Jericho and Angle conspire to double on Rock, with Rock making occasional comebacks. Angle took a bump into the stairs and was out on the floor for a while, allowing Rock and Jericho to go at it. Jericho went for his lionsault but Rock got his knees up. Angle recovered and tripped Rock. Rock came back and nearly pinned Angle with a suplex but Jericho made the save. They did a spot where Jericho was laid out on the mat and Angle fell on him with his head hitting Jericho's crotch. Rock put the sharpshooter on Angle, but Jericho broke it up. Rock gave Jericho a spinebuster and went for the people's elbow but Angle caught Rock in the ankle lock. This forced Jericho to go after Angle to save his title. Angle and Jericho began arguing. Angle gave Jericho the German suplexes. Jericho tried for the walls on Angle but Angle reversed it into an ankle lock on Jericho, which Rock broke up. There was the expected ref bump. Rock put the walls on Jericho, who tapped, but there was no ref. What a surprise! Angle swung a chair at Rock but accidentally hit Jericho, though it was set up so that it wasn't really clear whether it was an accident or not, as they're obviously doing a storyline where Vince's "boys" Jericho and Angle are rivals. Rock hit Angle with a Rock Bottom but Jericho stopped the reviving ref from counting. Angle DDT'd Rock on a chair, but sold it as if he hurt himself as well. As a result, Angle was unable to make the pin and Jericho crawled on Rock and got the pin to retain the belt as the show ended.
2006 - Minoru defeats Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. This ended Kanemoto's fifth reign and began Minoru's fourth.If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
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