In 2017, a grinchy company made the decision to have the stars and employees of WWE work Christmas Day for a live episode of Raw.
Although it very much fits the narrative that on a cold December night, wrestling’s own Ebeneezer Scrooge, Vince McMahon, was the one who made the call to force the stars, employees and arena staff to cut one of the biggest days of the year short to go to work, this was actually a call made by the USA Network, who was the home of the red brand during this time. Potentially seeing a gap in the market or desperate for ratings, the Allstate Arena in Chicago hosted a full 3-hour showing of the flagship show.
When it was announced ahead of time that Raw would be live at Christmas, fans were not exactly impressed with the decision and let it be known online. Along with the feeling that it was unnecessary, given that the Royal Rumble was still more than a month away, there was the fact that it just felt unnecessary in general.
2017 was a very different time for Monday Night Raw compared to what it is today. The Undertaker looked to have retired after losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33, there were no signs that CM Punk would be making a return to wrestling, and AEW was not even in discussion. The closest competition was TNA, who were also at one of its lowest points in interest and attendance. As such, the company struggled to capture the fans’ interest, resulting in ticket sales being underwhelming for shows at the best of times.
WWE On Christmas
In previous years, WWE has been well aware that families watching TV has not been high on the priority list for most families, and those that do will favour live sports over anything else. As such, WWE has previously either aired a recap package of the biggest moments of the year, or broadcast a pre-taped show that is generally missable as they know viewership will be at its lowest of the year. There have been the odd mid-card title changes here and there, but WWE was never going to have The Rock and Roman Reigns go face to face on this day.
With this in mind, fans were not expecting much when Raw went live on December 25, 2017. But when the show was over, did the live fans in attendance and those watching at home get a Christmas special for the ages, or just another underwhelming night of wrestling?
What Happened On WWE Raw?
Credit to WWE that they did include some starpower on the show and didn’t completely phone it in as John Cena kicked off the broadcast. After hyping up the Chicago crowd, Cena was interrupted by Elias. Following an exchange between the two, the fans quickly hijacked the opening segment with loud CM Punk chants. As Punk was jaded with the company at this time, and showed no signs of coming back, Elias had some fun with the fans by saying Punk wouldn’t interrupt him. Eventually, Elias and Cena had a match with Cena picking up the victory.
Cruiserweight action came next as Hideo Itami [better known as KENTA] faced Brian Kendrick as part of WWE’s failed attempt to revive the division. While the action was generally exciting, the company never made the fans really care about the undersized stars, generally putting the matches on pre-shows or the spots to allow fans to go to the bathroom. The fans were not into it, except for when Itami hit the GTS, which once again got the crowd riled up about CM Punk.
Even though the company announced that there would be a Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018, the company had a long way to go at this point. In what was the only women’s match on the show, Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville defeated Mickie James, Sasha Banks and Bayley. There was nothing wrong with the match per se, but there could have been something much more big time to warrant the Christmas Day show, especially with what else was on the show.
In what was a very short match, Kane beat Heath Slater in 2 minutes. It was what it was for a 2-minute match. Next, Finn Balor beat Curt Hawkins in another squash.
The traditional holiday match came next as more stars of the Cruiserweights faced off in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight 6-man tag match. Although it was a No DQ match, weapons were hardly used and the competitors tagged in and out. Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa & Mustafa Ali defeated Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari in the third nothing match in a row, very much giving the feeling that WWE was phoning it in on Christmas.
Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns put his title on the line against Samoa Joe next. Although Joe was very much the heel in this scenario, the combination of fan hatred towards Reigns at this point coupled with the Chicago crowd meant that The Big Dog did not receive a warm, festive welcome. Sadly booked into a corner with this one as the company wanted neither man to lose, Reigns lost the match via DQ after he shoved the referee, meaning that he was still champion. A post-match scuffle ensued and finally gave the fans something worth watching, but more could have been done here to hook the viewers, considering what came before.
Unfortunately, it was back to squash matches again as Braun Strowman beat Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in a 2 on 1 handicap match. Strowman won in about a minute, meaning that 3 squash matches took place on the show.
Alexa Bliss then appeared live for a promo talking about the Women’s Royal Rumble. As Bliss was the champion, she was not going to be in the match, but said that she would be observing closely. Asuka interrupted and made her case to win, which did happen. Bliss and Asuka had a fun exchange here to build to the historic match.
Then it was time for the main event, which saw Seth Rollins team up with Jason Jordan to challenge Sheamus and Cesaro for the Tag Team Championships. For those that don’t remember, this was also the period where Jordan was Kurt Angle’s son, and was given preferential treatment by the Raw GM. Ending the show with something newsworthy for the Chicago fans, who cut their Christmas short to be there, Rollins and Jordan won the tag titles together. Unfortunately for Jordan, this would be the start of his final days as a pro wrestler, as he and Rollins lost the titles back to The Bar at Royal Rumble 2018. For Jordan, this was also his final match as he was forced to retire prematurely due to neck-related issues.
The Aftemath And Takeaways
When all was said and done, was it worth it? According to the website Cagematch, the December 25 Raw obtained an average rating of 5.07, meaning that it only just passed the threshold of being passable. Very much a filler episode, there was little to take away when all was said and done, apart from the title change. 2.703 million at a time when Raw was drawing around 3 million. There is a reason why the company never did this before or since, because the market just wasn’t there for it.
Although the TKO era of WWE is not short on criticisms, with high ticket prices, overbearing sponsorships and shorter PLE cards often being called out by the fans, one of the positives has been how the talent are now given time off for the holidays, and any shows that fall on those days are pre-taped ahead of time. While pro wrestling is a major source of entertainment, escapism and even a career for many, it is nice to see that family still comes first in the increasingly corporate environment.
WWE and professional wrestling as a whole have prided themselves on the fact that there is never an off-season and that the stars will work every week of the year. However, with interest in wrestling being low at this time of the year and the show guaranteed to have poor ratings regardless of what happens, maybe it is time to give the fans a break to make that first show in 2026 all the more anticipated.
Featured image logo: WWE
