By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
We are looking for reports on all of the WWE Holiday Tour live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report or even basic results to dotnetjason@gmail.com
WWE Live Event
December 26, 2024 in New York, New York at Madison Square Garden
Report by Dot Net reader Sourajit Dey
I was here for Smackdown in June. The setup looked smaller, most likely because it is a house show as opposed to a TV taping. My seat was the same as last time too, in front of the entrance. There was a steel cage hanging on top of the ring.
Byron Saxton kicked off the pre-event festivities around 7:00. He did a plug for the wrestlers showing up, as well as WrestleMania 41 tickets. He came back ten minutes before kickoff again to promote WWE on Netflix.
The national anthem played. Then WWE’s opening credits – Then, Now, Forever, Together. The Raw Theme and opening played.
Byron Saxton was the Ring announcer.LA Knight made his entrance. He held a mic to the crowd, which chanted his name. Knight did his “Let me Talk to Ya promo”. Santos Escobar made his entrance to not as much heat as silence.
1. LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar in approximately 7:00. The bell rang and a huge LA Knight chant erupted. Escobar left the ring after the first bit of offense from Knight, and got boo’ed until he came back to the ring. Knight won countering Escobar’s finisher with his.
Otis came out and interacted with the floor crowd on the way to the ring. New Day came out. Immediately, Xavier Woods asked for the music to be cut. Both walked to the ring cutting a promo to heat. They got mega heat by saying they left their families to perform for the fans in the city that smells like piss. They also questioned why the fans are booing them when they were speaking the truth.
2. Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston) defeated Otis in approximately 6:00. Five minutes in, Otis ripped his shirt and performed the worm. Woods kicked out of the worm. Kofi distracted Otis, allowing Xavier to hit an elbow dive for the win. After the match Xavier bickered with a fan on his way out.
A Ludwig Kaiser video promo aired to build to his match with CM Punk.
3. Bron Breakker defeated Sami Zayn in approximately 12:00 in a best of three falls match to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The match started around 8PM. The crowd started chanting “Sami Uso” before the bell rang. Sami won the first fall in approximately six minutes with a Helluva Kick.
Bron did an amazing move off the turnbuckle for a two count. Sami hit a Blue Thunder Bomb to a kickout at two. Sami went for a Helluva Kick and was met with a spear. Bron picked up the second fall in around three minutes.
Sami took a while to get up for the third fall. The referee had to keep Bron away from Sami during this time. Sami countered Bron running the ropes with a kick and got a two count pin. Sami went to the top rope. Bron met him there and was pushed down. Sami jumped from the top but got hit with a spear for the three count pin in two minutes.
4. Seth Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio in approximately 12:00. After Seth’s entrance, the arena went dark with a spotlight on Rollins. At first the crowd was singing his song, but soon started chanting “CM Punk”. Rollins laughed and did the GTS gesture. Dom left the ring until he was chased by Rollins at ringside back to the ring. Seven minutes into the match Dom was thrown a chicken tender to eat from ringside. He then took a mic and cut a promo to boos. He proceeded to kick Seth, who was on the ground while Dom was talking on the mic. Dom tried to pick Rollins up but was quickly countered. A “chicken tenders” chant broke out. Dom kicked out of a falcon arrow at two. Dom missed a 619 attempt to Rollins’ pedigree and kicked out at two. The ref was in the corner of the ring blinded by Dom, who kicked a low blow to Seth. Dom hit the frog splash. Seth countered and hit the Stomp for the win. After the match, Seth threw a shirt to the crowd and interacted with fans at ringside on his way out. He also signed a couple of autographs.
5. CM Punk defeated Ludwig Kaiser in approximately 10:00. Punk did the Five Knuckle Shuffle to huge pops. He hit the GTS for the win. Punk did snow angels in the ring after the match and asked the ref to join him. The ref did. Punk took photos with fans after.
Byron Saxton promoted the merch available. We then had a brief intermission.
Before ending the intermission, Byron interviewed a young fan, who said it was her first WWE event. He asked her who would win on the Netflix debut on Raw, CM Punk or Seth Rollins. She said Punk. They then pointed at the production crew and thanked them for what they do.
The Final Testament made their entrance. Karrion Kross got on the mic and asked for respect. He then issued an open challenge. The Wyatt Sicks came out.
6. “Wyatt Sicks” Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy, and Nikki Cross defeated “The Final Testament” Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar, and Scarlett (w/ Paul Ellering) in an eight-person tag match in approximately 9:00. The Wyatt Sicks entrance was surreal to see on the fourth anniversary of Luke Harper/ Brodie Lee’s passing. Rest in peace, Brodie.
7. Liv Morgan (w/Raquel Rodriguez) defeated Iyo Sky in approximately 13:00 to retain the Women’s World Championship. Three minutes into the match, Morgan tried to escape the arena while being carried by Raquel. The fans expected Rhea Ripley to come out, however Iyo got to the top of the stage and stopped Morgan from leaving. She attacked Raquel and shoved Morgan to the barricade. Eventually, Iyo and Morgan were back in the ring while Raquel took her time to get back to ringside.
Seven minutes into the match, Liv went to lose with her title in the middle of the ring and was rolled up by Iyo for a two count. Later Morgan hit a code breaker for a two count. She then put Iyo into a submission. As Iyo’s knees got to the ground she picked up and slammed Morgan to the ring. Iyo hit two clotheslines, then hit Morgan on the ring corner, went up to the top rope for a drop kick. She only managed to get a two count.
Morgan left ringside again, only to be hit by Iyo, who jumped off the top of the ropes with a backwards moonsault. The ref started counting until Iyo got Morgan back in at three, and got a two count pin on Morgan. Iyo went back up top of the ring corner to hit her finisher only to be distracted by Raquel, who was kicked out by the ref. Iyo hit a running knee kick to Morgan, who was lying by the turnbuckles, and managed to get a two count. Iyo went to the top of the turnbuckles to hit her finisher and was met with Morgan’s knees. Morgan hit Oblivion for the win.
After the match, Iyo bowed to the crowd in the ring to a standing ovation. She got a standing ovation as she left the arena.
Byron announced that Monday Night Raw would be at MSG in early March, with a QR code for tickets being shown. The code did not work for me, as it went to the Netflix Debut show tickets.
The steel cage came down to music and lightening. There was a steel cage video graphic playing.
8. Gunther defeated Damian Priest in a steel cage match in approximately 14:00 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The match had only the lights around the ring on for a cool visual, with the screens and Jumbotron off. Gunther tried to escape the cage a few times unsuccessfully through the first few minutes of the match. Damian went for the first pin attempt and got a two count pin seven minutes into the match. Damian tried to hit his finisher, but Gunther tried to escape. While trying to escape, Gunther got caught in a choke slam, which he also got out of, and then was hit by a kick.
Gunther then hit Damian with a powerbomb and held on to him. This led to Damian’s shoulders hitting the mat for a two count. The crowd started chanting “This is awesome.” Gunther then tried to escape the ring only to be picked up by Damian, who tried to go for his finisher. Gunther and Priest fought on the top of the ropes until they hit a move on another to the floor of the mat. Ludwig Kaiser came out and entered the cage to stop Priest from chokeslamming Gunther. Kaiser and Gunther hugged. Kaiser attacked Priest while Gunther tried to escape the ring. Priest knocked Kaiser onto Gunther. Priest chokeslammed Gunther. Dominik Mysterio hit Damian with the cage door, which led to Gunther hitting his finisher for the win.
After the match Gunther left quickly while Damian was attacked by Kaiser and Mysterio. CM Punk came out in a bathrobe towel and a shower cap to make the save. The shower cap was hilariously on top of Mysterio, which Damian picked up and offered back to Punk. They then got the mic and Punk spoke well of Damian and gave him the mic. Priest got a “You deserve it” chant. Damian said he used to watch wrestling at MSG when he was younger and named dropped the previous wrestlers he used to watch. He then led the crowd to an “All Rise” chant, which he wanted to world to hear from the fans. Damian’s music played to end the show.
Note: The top Jumbotron on top of the Ring did not show the matches as they were happening, which was annoying. During title matches, it showed a picture of the title being defended throughout the match. The show ended around 10:20 pm, but Damian stayed to interact with fans afterward.
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