WWE Live Holiday Tour

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – WWE brought its superstars to the Bryce Jordan Center as part of the company’s Live Holiday Tour on Dec. 10, and it didn’t disappoint.

Like other live events, the Holiday Tour featured lineups from both Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown.

There were five wrestlers confirmed to be there: Seth “Freakin’” Rollins, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, Maxxine Dupri, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. The first two advertised the event on their social media, and the other three filmed a TikTok in downtown State College.

The event kicked off at 7 p.m. with the first event being LA Knight versus Solo Sikoa, a SmackDown match.

LA Knight and Kevin Owens over Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso

LA Knight, the fan-favorite, was winning until Sikoa’s brother Jimmy Uso got involved in the match and gave Sikoa an unfair advantage.

That is until Kevin Owens came running out of the back and challenged Sikoa and Uso to a tag-team match, which the latter two denied until Owens insulted them enough to get them back into the ring.

This was a fun match overall, and LA Knight and Owens’s personalities got the crowd heavily involved. YEAH!

Alpha Academy over Imperium

In a Monday Night RAW match we’ve all seen before, Chad Gable and Otis of Alpha Academy took on Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci of Imperium in another tag-team match.

This wasn’t anything important or new, but fans were impressed by Gable’s athleticism, Imperium’s aesthetics and Otis’s in-ring performance.

Drew McIntyre over Jey Uso

This was a total surprise, especially since McIntyre and Uso were having a match on Dec. 11’s RAW.

McIntyre has been on a revenge tour for a hot minute now, and Uso is a huge target since he cost McIntyre the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns.

Now that Uso is out of the Bloodline, McIntyre has been out for blood, and the hard-hitting match was a preview of what’s to come on RAW.

Cody Rhodes over Damian Priest (State College Street Fight)

As part of the aftermath from Survivor Series WarGames, Rhodes and Priest dogged it out in a State College Street Fight, meaning everything goes.

Fans chanted “We want a table,” and they got not one, but two, as Rhodes fell victim to the weapon.

Because the Judgment Day can’t ever do things by themselves, JD McDonagh came flying out of the entrance to try to help the Punisher, but Rhodes had him beat by a mile.

Everybody loves when wrestlers use sticks, chairs and tables against each other, and the down-to-earth Rhodes stuck around after the match to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

Nia Jax over Shayna Bazsler

This was the only women’s match of the night, and it wasn’t anything awe-inspiring.

Fans have seen Jax and Bazsler before, but they have to appreciate that these are two of the baddest women in the business.

Gunther over Bronson Reed, The Miz and Ricochet (Intercontinental Championship)

For some reason, this was a rematch of the top contenders for the Intercontinental title from a few weeks ago on RAW.

Everybody knew Gunther would retain, most importantly, because the rule of the longest-reigning IC title-holder of all time was not going to end on an event that wasn’t televised.

This was a great match, combined with Gunther’s hard-hitting chops, Reed’s size and strength, The Miz’s swag and Ricochet’s high-flying techniques.

Seth Rollins over Shinsuke Nakamura (World Heavyweight Championship)

Same with the IC title, the World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t going to change on the Holiday Tour.

There was a weird vibe to the match, as all of the lights on the backboard were off, so it was dark all around with the only lights coming from the bulbs above the ring. Fans didn’t see the sinister Nakamura advertised on television, but Rollins didn’t hold back at all and pulled out all the stops to secure the victory.

The best part? Fans chanting CM Punk’s name during the match.

Adrianna Gallucci is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.