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Before the show, Sarah Schreiber came out to warm up the crowd and read fan tweets. She was the ring announcer for the evening, and said that some superstars would not be there because of COVID.
Like the Supershow I attended in July, WWE had a camera crew there to broadcast wrestlers’ entrances on the video board, as well as the victors as they left the ring. Throughout the night, the faces took selfies and fist-bumped the ringside fans after their matches.
No NXT talent appeared on the show.
RK-Bro came out to begin the show. Riddle wished everyone a happy holiday and asked Orton what his favorite Christmas song was. The Dirty Dawgz interrupted and challenged them to a title match. That brought out the Street Profits, turning the bout into a triple-threat steel cage match.
1. Finn Balor pinned T-Bar.
2. Natalya pinned Nikki A.S.H. (accompanied by Rhea Ripley) with a rollup and her feet on the ropes, although there was no official announcement of her as the winner. Before the match, Natalya called Nikki a pathetic superhero “just like the Pittsburgh Steelers are a pathetic football team.”
3. Rhea Ripley beat Natalya by submission. Rhea tried to tell the referee that Natalya’s feet were on the ropes, then the match started a few minutes later. Natalya tried to run to the back, but Ripley brought her back to the ring.
The Miz came out for Miz TV. Right off the bat he said how much he hated Pittsburgh and didn’t want to be there. He said that we didn’t deserve to see Maryse. Miz bragged about being a great dancer and said that the only reason he lost on Dancing With the Stars is “because the so-called loyal fanbase didn’t vote for me.” He then channeled his inner Rick Rude by telling all of us fat, out of shape, Pittsburgh sweat hogs to keep the noise down while he took his robe off to show the ladies what a real sexy man looks like.
Damian Priest came out and challenged Miz to a match. Miz accepted on the condition that the US title was on the line. Priest then said he would beat Miz “like the Steelers will beat the Browns!” A brief “Here We Go Steelers” chant broke out.
4. United States champion Damian Priest beat The Miz to retain the title.
Schreiber shilled merchandise, including the tour program, the “I WAS THERE” shirt, and a limited number of signed Randy Orton posters.
INTERMISSION
5. Rey & Dominik Mysterio beat Alpha Academy. Before the match, Gable said Otis was his holiday gift to us and bragged about his masters degree and 4.0 GPA. Then came my personal favorite moment of the night: Gable referenced a moment from Pittsburgh’s very first Raw in 1997 when he said “if they were gonna give the United States of America an enema, they’d stick the hose right here in Pittsburgh!” Bret Hart said that exact same thing at the Civic Arena in the opening segment almost a quarter-century ago. I was there for that show, so a nice little throwback there.
6. AJ Styles pinned Kevin Owens. Owens beat up an inflatable Santa that was near the entrance on the way to the ring. A lot of stalling at the beginning, as Owens sat on the top turnbuckle for several moments before the bell rang. Early in the match, he took the microphone and asked us for complete silence.
After the match, Owens beat up a snowman and reindeer that were also part of the entrance set.
WWE announced that Pittsburgh will host the final Raw before WrestleMania, on March 28th.
Small break while the ring crew set up the cage.
7. Raw tag team champions RK-Bro beat the Dirty Dawgz and The Street Profits in a triple-threat steel cage match to retain the titles. Before the match, fans let out a collective “whoa!” when all the lights in the arena went off, except for the rig directly above the ring.
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