Leighty’s WWE Holiday Tour: Pittsburgh Report 12.28.21

-My eight-year-old nephew has become a wrestling fan and I decided to get him tickets to the WWE Holiday Tour that came to Pittsburgh. My parents got roped into going as well. My mother took my sister to a house show back in 1996 during the time my sister was a fan thanks to her love of Shawn Michaels. My step-dad took me to my first WWE show in 1990. It was a house show that featured Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake in the Main Event. Obviously, I have been attended countless shows since including RAW, SmackDown, PPVs and 3 WrestleManias. This was my first house show since that original one in 1990 though unless you count a TNA show in 2010 and a WWE ECW show (the one right before RVD got pulled over by the police), so I was curious what they were like now.

-We arrived about 30 minutes before the show and were able to get right in. I will note there was signs recommending masks, but nothing was enforced. I wore mine just because I am so used to wearing it at work and anywhere I go. We hit up the merchandise stand for my nephew and the only youth shirts were the Holiday Tour shirts which he actually like the best anyway as it had Kofi Kingston on it (among others). He also got a WWE Title toy and AJ Styles pendant. For a house show there was a bigger crowd than I expected. No seats were sold in the upper decks as they were all curtained off, but the lower bowl was pretty full. My rough guess was about 5,000 or so there. The crowd was loud and into everything for the majority of the night.

-We were informed that due to COVID some stars would not be there, but they were doing all they could to give us a show. The show started proper with a recording of Lillian Garcia singing The National Anthem.

-Team RK-Bro then came down and started singing Christmas songs before The Dirty Dawgs interrupted. They challenged RK-Bro to a match for the RAW Tag Titles, but that brought out The Street Profits. Since they won the RK-Bronament they felt any tag title match should involve them. Riddle then tossed out the idea of a Triple Threat and Orton liked that idea and said he would get approval for a WWE official. Riddle then came back saying it would be a cage match. To me this was a fine substitute for whatever our planned Main Event was supposed to be.

-Match 1: Finn Balor pins T-Bar: Fine opening match. The crowd loved Balor and didn’t care much for T-Bar sadly, but they were able to get the crowd into the match. Being a house show they were given time and it was fun. They played the big man vs little man formula which always works. Finn got the win with the Coupe de Grace. Finn then took some photos with fans at ringside.

-Match 2: Natalya pins Nikki A.S.H: Nattie heeled all over the crowd as she took cheap shots at The Steelers. She bragged about being in the Guiness Book of World Records and promised to beat Nikki and then Rhea Ripley. Decent match that had some good heat as Nattie did a good job of getting the crowd to hate her. Nattie gets the win with a roll-up with her feet on the ropes.

-Match 3: Rhea Ripley taps out Natalya: Another decent match as Nattie gets to pull double duty. Nattie tried to cheat to win again, but Nikki was there to push her feet off the ropes. Rhea then gets the win via tap-out.

-Miz TV: Miz (from Cleveland) was out for Miz TV and told us all how he hated being in Pittsburgh and his wife hates it so much that she wasn’t even here tonight. He then went through a Rick Rude tribute as he called us fat and out of shape sweathogs that needed to keep the noise down while he took off his robe. Damian Priest interrupts and Priest gets in the good graces of the crowd by telling Miz he is going to get his ass beat like the Steelers are going to do to The Browns. This leads to a US Title Match between the two.

-Match 4: US Title: Damian Priest pins The Miz: Some comedy early on as they did some Dancing with The Stars spots and Miz strutted around the ring like Ric Flair and swiveled his hips like Rick Rude. They got serious and turned in a solid match with strong heat as again, Miz is great at getting people to hate him. Priest gets angry and wins with The Reckoning.

-Intermission was next.

-Match 5: The Mysterios over Alpha Academy: The crowd really loves Rey! My nephew was fired up to see Rey and this match made his night. Gable got cheap heat by quoting Bret Hart by saying if you wanted to give The US an enema you would put the hose in Pittsburgh. Fun tag match and these are the matches that will only help Dom improve. They played the tried and true tag formula as Dom was the face in peril before the hot tag to Rey. They hit the high spots and Rey pins Gable after a frogsplash.

-Match 6: AJ Styles pins Kevin Owens: This was a pleasant surprise and made the show for me. KO attacked the inflatable Santa and Frosty on the way down to the ring. AJ is clearly a face again which is wonderful to see. Owens stalled and got on the crowd before they had their normal very good match. This was the match of the night for me and everything they did looked crisp. AJ gets the pin with The Phenomenal Forearm. After the match an enraged KO gave the inflatable Rudolph at the entrance way a Stunner. KO is a National Treasure!

-As they built the cage for our Main Event, they played a countdown of the Top 10 moments of NXT 2.0. They then announced that RAW would be in Pittsburgh on March 28 which is the final RAW before WrestleMania. That could be fun!

-Match 7: RAW Tag Titles: Cage Match: Rated RK-Bro over The Dirty Dawgs and Street Profits: They shut off the Tron and turned off the lights for a cool, old-school vibe. The crowd was way into Orton more than anyone else in the match which shouldn’t be shocking. The majority of the match was Dawgs vs Profits with Ford playing face in peril. The cage was used quite a bit as people were bounced off it. Hot tag to Dawkins as he ran wild bit got close to Riddle who tagged himself into the match. Everything broke lose as we got all six men in the ring and finisher SPAM. The Profits got taken out after being thrown into the cage which let Riddle hit an RKO and then Orton hit one on Ziggler for the pin.

-Overall, this was an enjoyable night and even with the changes to COVID I never felt cheated by what we got. A cage match was a good makeup and Styles vs KO was good enough for me. The crowd was also a lot of fun. There were a lot of kids who were into everything and booed and cheered like we all used to. House shows are a blast as they get more time in the ring and interact with the fans more than they can during TV. If you ever get the chance definitely check out a house show if it comes to your area. Thanks for reading!