WWE Classic of the Week: Wrestling with the Holidays

The holiday season is finally upon us and, to celebrate, we will be taking a break from the traditional format of WWE Classic of the Week to relive some of the more festive moments and matches in the history of Vince McMahon's sports-entertainment empire.

Christmas-themed shows are something World Wrestling Entertainment is quite fond of and, more importantly, tend to do quite well.

Recognizing the fact that fans are gathered around with their loved ones, the shows are typically family-friendly, featuring more style than substance and a humorous edge rather than the serious tone many of the other episodes carry throughout the year.

They are festive, fun and have very little bearing on anything else going on in the WWE Universe. Fans of Christmas consider them cult favorites and enjoy the break from ongoing stories the episodes typically provide.

Not your mother's Hallmark movie specials, Miracle on 34th Street Fights have become a staple of the shows, as have Santa's Little Helpers and jolly old Saint Nick himself, though there is no guarantee that the big guy is going to emerge without suffering a beating of his own.

Yes, WWE's Christmas adventures are classics in their own right. Like A Christmas Story, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Die Hard (yes, Die Hard), they are holiday specials that help fans get in the spirit and relieve the stress.

Most of all, it allows them to watch Superstars and Divas beat each other senseless with candy cane-wrapped kendo sticks rather than take their own frustrations out on their overbearing relatives.

In celebration of the holidays, here now are some of WWE's most memorable holiday matches and moments.

Santa Stunned

The December 22, 1997 episode of Raw is WWE's answer to It's A Wonderful Life, a holiday classic of sorts that the company regularly played every December while its Classics On Demand service was still in existence.

With holiday decorations creating a festive environment inside the Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts, the show featured heavy Christmas themes throughout. 

D-Generation X got started with a very special "X-Mas" gift for the female fans in the audience, while Vader disguised himself as Kris Kringle and blasted The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust with a giant sack of gifts.

Sable wowed audiences in a skimpy little Santa's Helper outfit, and Kane showed Undertaker no brotherly love.

The most memorable segment to come out of the entire episode, however, featured a despicable Santa Claus impostor poking fun at a little boy, only to be confronted by the Texas Rattlesnake himself, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Austin trash-talked the North Pole native and delivered a crowd-pleasing Stone Cold Stunner to end the segment.

While the company has produced many a holiday spectacular since, none has managed to perfectly mesh the world of pro wrestling and the spirit of Christmas the way that 1997 episode did.

Santa Got Run Over By Alberto

The 2012 Christmas episode of Raw kicked off with Santa Claus (aka Mick Foley) greeting the WWE Universe and disbursing presents to the young audience members. Then, from out of nowhere, he was accidentally run over by Alberto Del Rio.

Del Rio was in the midst of a babyface turn, so it was a bit baffling that he would be chosen to be the Ebenezer Scrooge of this particular episode, but that was neither here nor there. The important part was that all-American good guy John Cena stepped up to the plate and challenged Del Rio to a Miracle on 34th Street Fight.

Cena battered his opponent with holiday-themed weapons before Santa emerged from a coma-like state, made his way to ringside, dispatched of Del Rio's personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez and applied a Christmas stocking-assisted Mandible Claw.

From there, Cena delivered the Attitude Adjustment and scored the win, sending fans home happy and ending the show on a positive note.

2001: An Eggnog Odyssey

Airing on Christmas Eve, the 2001 holiday episode of Raw featured two distinct Christmas parties unfolding in the locker room. The babyfaces had their little shindig, complete with Tajiri playing the role of Santa Claus, while the heels had theirs, with Bubba Ray Dudley sporting the white beard and bright red suit.

By night's end, the two Santas would battle for Saint Nick supremacy, but it was their female seconds and their match that really stood out.

For the first and only time in WWE history, Divas competed in an Eggnog match as "Duchess of Dudleyville" Stacy Keibler battled Torrie Wilson.

The ladies had been rivals dating back months. Their matches had captivated males in the audience for months, including a pay-per-view Lingerie Match at October's No Mercy.

Looking to spread holiday cheer, they rolled around the pool of holiday beverage before Torrie scored a roll-up win over her leggy opponent.

Xanta Claus

Not everything WWE has ever done related to the holidays has been a hit, though.

At the December 1995 In Your House pay-per-view, suitably nicknamed "Season's Beatings," Ted DiBiase interrupted Savio Vega and a seemingly innocent Santa Claus from distributing presents to the WWE fans. He claimed he could buy anything and anyone, including Vega.

Too proud to ever accept a dollar from DiBiase, Vega proved that was not the case. What he never could have expected, though, was that Santa himself would be on the take. 

He pummeled Vega and, with DiBiase, put the boots to the popular babyface.

"Say it ain't so!" Vince McMahon exclaimed on commentary.

Over the course of the next week, fans would be introduced to the man under the iconic outfit. His name? Xanta Claus, the very definition of a poorly conceived gimmick.

After all, it had a very short shelf life. By the time Christmas came and went, so did the character. 

The performer, though, would go on to achieve moderate success in ECW as chair-swinging freak Balls Mahoney, completing one of the most unique transformations of all time.

Happy Holidays

WWE's tradition of injecting its late-December shows with holiday-themed matches, characters and stories is not one likely to go away anytime soon.

And that is not a bad thing.

The company thrives on bringing smiles to faces and, though a certain portion of the audience may not necessarily agree with or appreciate the family-friendly programming the company currently produces, it is hard to find fault with it for taking a break from its normal episodic television to present a show that allows both fans and performers the opportunity to have fun.

Over the last few years, WWE has even produced Internet-exclusive video messages wishing its supporters the happiest of holidays.

Whether it is Mark Henry battling Damien Sandow in a battle of good and evil Santa Clauses or Hornswoggle receiving the gift of speech, there is a certain charm and innocence that comes with WWE's most festive shows, a charm that cannot (and should not) be discounted.

From the Bleacher Report WWE family to yours, have a wonderful, safe and joyous holiday!