SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 10 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE Holiday Tour results
December 26, 2013
Chicago, Ill.
Report by Dylon Wells, PWTorch correspondent
Chicago did not disappoint again in crowd size, as it was pretty full in the Allstate Arena.
(1) Dolph Ziggler defeated Ryback at 11:50. Pretty good opener. The first few minutes, Dolph played around with the crowd and Ryback and got a very good response. The final 6 or 7 minutes was very good with convincing nearfalls. Dolph won after reversing Shell Shocked into a roll-up for the three count. (**)
(2) Natalya defeated A.J. Lee (w/Tamina Snuka) via submission at 6:41 in a non-title match. It was originally for the Divas Title, but A.J. announced before the match that her “Christmas” gift was for her to not put the title on the line. Not a bad match. It was decently paced and a little better than the televised Divas matches. Natalya won after A.J. accidentally bumped into Tamina and Natalya took advantage by locking in the Sharpshooter for the win. (*1/4)
– A Miz TV segment took place after this match. Miz ranted about how his carpet and other usual Miz TV props were missing. He asked all of us how our Christmas was and such, then eventually brought up his problems as of late with Kofi Kingston. He introduced him as his guest tonight.
Kofi flash-backed to how his little feud with The Miz started and called him a coward for his recent actions. Miz shouted “Really!” and looked towards us, stating that when he says “Really!” we’re supposed to go along and say “Really!” with him. Miz went on to call Kofi mediocre and also bragged about being a movie star, a former WWE champion, and a WrestleMania main-eventer. Kofi then went on to acknowledge the scar on Miz’s forehead. He said that he would smash Miz’s face again just like the Chicago Bears will smash the Green Bay Packers, which got a loud cheer.
Suddenly, “Excuse Me!” blared through the arena and Vickie Guerrero came out. But, the Chicago crowd booed her out of the building! Miz acknowledged the boos and made fun of Vickie by saying the boos were too loud and he couldn’t hear her. Eventually, she was able to say that since they obviously can’t stand each other that they have to team up tonight against the Prime Time Players.
(3) Prime Time Players defeated The Miz & Kofi Kingston in 11:00. Nice tag team action between these two teams. Nothing new really. For the last minute or so, The Miz left Kofi hanging in the middle of a tag. Miz left to the ramp, but came back, tagged in, slapped Kofi, and attempted a figure-four leglock on Titus, but Titus shoved Miz, who ate a Trouble in Paradise kick from his tag partner. Titus then scored the win after hitting his finisher. (*1/2)
The Shield cut a promo on the jumbotron, announcing a three-on-one handicap match tonight against hometown star C.M. Punk.
(4) “Bad News” Barrett defeated Tyson Kidd at 7:58. A bit slow at times, but towards the end the action was pretty decent. Barrett won after hitting the Bullhammer in mid-air after Kidd attempted a springboard neckbreaker from the apron. (*)
The steel cage was brought into the arena, as the next match was announced as The Wyatt Family vs. The Usos & Daniel Bryan! The rules for this match were that all three team members had to successfully climb out of the cage.
(5) Daniel Bryan & The Usos defeated The Wyatt Family in a Steel Cage match in 14:41. Really good action between these six men. Jey Uso escaped early in the match, so it was a two-on-three situation for a bit until Harper and Rowan opened the door for Bray and he casually walked out. Rowan and Jimmy escaped several minutes afterward and it was Harper vs. Bryan for the final minutes. Bryan and Harper fought it off on the top rope until Harper landed “down there” and Bryan escaped for the victory. Really good outside antics and action as well. (**3/4)
[Intermission]
Back from the intermission, the fans were asked to vote on the stipulation on tonight’s match between Mark Henry and Fandango. The choices were… (a) Dance-Off or (b) Match.
(6) Big E. Langston defeated Damien Sandow and R-Truth in a three-way match at 9:28 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Not bad action. At the beginning, Damien left the match and ran backstage, then returned to stop a few pinfalls before hiding under the ring. Truth and Big E. eventually got Sandow out of there and got the upper hand. Sandow gave some punishment to Truth for a bit and kept Big E. on the outside. Eventually, Big E. cleaned house and hit the Big Ending on Sandow for the win. It never really sparked but it was watchable. (*1/2)
The results of the poll for Henry vs. Fandango were revealed and the stipulation decided was… Dance Off with 53 percent vs. Match with 47 percent. The crowd erupted in boos after the result was revealed. Fandango looked relieved since he didn’t have to wrestle the World’s Strongest Man. Fandango then did his usual ballroom routine with Summer Rae to a chorus of boos.
Mark Henry danced to a mixed reaction. Then, all of a sudden, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” started playing and the crowd went nuts! Henry was about to dance until Fandango attacked him. Henry got the upper hand after a few moves, then delivered the World’s Strongest Slam. “Billie Jean” continued to play as Mark riled up the crowd and walked off.
(7) C.M. Punk defeated The Shield at 21:15 in a three-on-one handicap main event. The match became better as it progressed with some really good nearfalls. Towards the end, Roman Reigns attempted to spear Punk as Punk was about to GTS Dean Ambrose, but Punk dropped Ambrose, who was almost speared. Punk then kicked Roman down. Seth Rollins then tried to attacked Punk, but got tossed out of the ring. Ambrose tried to attack once again, but Punk was able to hit the GTS for a three count. The Chicago Blackhawks’s theme played after the win as the crowd sang along. (**3/4)
Punk then grabbed the mic shortly after and apologized for missing last year’s show because of his torn meniscus injury surgery. Punk then heard a few “You Suck” chants and said that it doesn’t matter what you think of him. He asked if you would rather see Cena vs. Orton in MSG and also said that their opinions really don’t matter to him. He closed by saying that he’s not John Cena or Hulk Hogan, that he is C.M. Punk.
Overall, very good show. Not really any dull moments in these three full hours. The next announced return date to the Allstate Arena was announced for March 3, 2014 for a Raw TV taping.
Biggest Pops:
(1) C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan iIt was too close to call; the roof exploded!)
(2) The Usos
(3) Mark Henry
(4) Dolph Ziggler
(5) Big E. Langston
Most Heat:
(1) Vickie Guerrero
(2) Fandango
(3) Damien Sandow
(4) The Miz
(5) Bad News Barrett
RECOMMENDED NEXT: 10 YRS AGO – NXT TV Report (12/25/2013): William Regal vs. Cesaro, The Shield appear, plus Big E, Future Stars video with Rusev, Sasha, Graves, Zami, Bayley
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: WWE at MSG results (12/26): Murphy’s report on CM Punk vs. Dominik Mysterio, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship, Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Bull Rope match
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