It’s been said that “there’s no off-season” in pro wrestling, as it’s a year-round sport that fans can tune into pretty much any day of the week at this point. When it comes to the majors like World Wrestling Entertainment, that means that its programming tends to air consistently, including on holidays.
While some holiday episodes of Raw, SmackDown, and the like often feature some weaker, low-stakes segments and matches on the assumption that fewer fans will be watching, there have been some legitimately good holiday bouts. Some of these holiday bouts turned out to be all-time classics.
10 New Year’s Day: Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (Monday Night Raw, 1/1/2018)
By New Year’s Day 2018, Roman Reigns was about 40 days into his first -- and, to date, only -- run with the WWE Intercontinental Championship when he defended it against Samoa Joe on Raw. The whole affair is a great brawl between the veteran Joe and one of WWE’s top stars that goes like 24 minutes before Reigns gets the win. While not necessarily a “Match of the Year” candidate or anything, this bout started 2018 off on a very strong note.
9 Valentine’s Day: AJ Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena (SmackDown, 2/14/2017)
In the eponymous match of 2017’s Elimination Chamber PPV, Bray Wyatt defeated five other wrestlers to become WWE Champion, earning his first main roster singles title ever. Days later -- and on Valentine’s Day, at that -- Wyatt also made his first defense, defeating AJ Styles and former champion John Cena in a triple threat match on SmackDown. It’s a great main event match and would prove to be Wyatt’s only successful title defense of this reign.
8 St. Patrick’s Day: The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan (WrestleMania X-8, 3/17/2002)
On the world’s most beloved Irish-based holiday, WWE fans were treated to a huge dream match at the 18th annual edition of WrestleMania as Attitude Era icon The Rock took on Golden Era legend Hulk Hogan, under his “Hollywood Hogan” gimmick.
It’s a fun match and a tremendous rush to see these two titans of American pro wrestling clash, but what really elevates this match is the live crowd atmosphere. The fans are so stoked for this bout that it’s infectious.
7 April Fool’s Day: Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian (WrestleMania X-7, 4/1/2001)
St. Patty’s Day isn’t the only holiday to host a WrestleMania. WrestleMania X-Seven -- considered by many to be the end of the Attitude Era, took place on April Fool’s Day, which is appropriate given that the Steve Austin vs. The Rock main event ended in a shocking plot twist. It’s a great show, with lots of show-stealing performances, most of all the insane three-way match between the Dudleys, the Hardys, and Edge and Christian for the WWF Tag Team Titles. This was only the second TLC match ever, with the first happening at SummerSlam the previous year.
6 Cinco De Mayo: The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield (Monday Night Raw, 5/5/2014)
Cinco De Mayo exists to celebrate Mexico defeating French forces in 1862, but for many Americans, it’s mostly an excuse to drink tequila and problematically wear a sombrero. The best WWE match to happen on this day had The Shield taking on The Wyatt Family in a six-man tag effort for the fourth and final time ever. While not as groundbreaking as their initial Elimination Chamber 2014 bout, it was still a ridiculously fun match to watch.
5 Juneteenth: Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson (United Kingdom Championship Tournament - Night 2, 6/19/2018)
In mid-2018, WWE ran its second UK-based tournament, with the winner getting a title shot at Pete Dunne’s WWE United Kingdom Championship. Night 2, on June 19th, had strong matches like Mustache Mountain defeating Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Titles, but even better than that was the main event where Dunne defended his title against tournament winner Zack Gibson. This 17-minute bout ended with Dunne retaining, but Gibson’s performance was a standout.
4 Independence Day: Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor (Beast in the East 7/4/2015)
While the United States was celebrating its independence from England, WWE was in Japan, running a WWE Network special called Beast in the East. While this glorified house show was -- based on the title -- promoted based on Brock Lesnar wrestling a match on the card, the match that followed proved to be the most significant.
Just before the main event tag team match featuring John Cena, Kevin Owens defended the NXT Championship against Finn Balor, who used to wrestle for Japanese audiences under the moniker Prince Devitt. The near-20-minute bout not only proved to be a quality match but ended with Balor capturing his first championship in WWE.
3 Halloween: Mansoor vs. Cesaro (Crown Jewel, 10/31/2019)
WWE’s deal to produce shows in Saudi Arabia has proven controversial in so many ways, as dicey political situations involving the Saudi government have put the promotion in a weird position, to say the least. Despite the various factors, however, WWE continues to stage shows in the country, including 2019’s Crown Jewel, which aired on Halloween. For the fans that chose to watch the show, many found the best effort to be a midcard singles match where Cesaro took on Saudi-born 205 Live competitor Mansoor.
2 Thanksgiving: Chavo Guerrero & Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle (SmackDown 11/28/2002)
While these days it’s a Friday program, SmackDown originally aired on Thursdays for about seven years since its inception. As a result, many episodes have aired on Thanksgiving, including this 2002 holiday edition of SmackDown. Days earlier, Los Guerreros -- Eddie and Chavo -- won the Tag Team Championship at Survivor Series and proceeded to defend the titles against Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle on SmackDown. Los Guerreros would successfully retain, but not without their signature cheating.
1 Christmas: The Bar vs. Jason Jordan & Seth Rollins (Monday Night Raw 12/25/2017)
For the most part, WWE’s Christmas shows seem to be the least essential viewing for many fans. They’re pre-taped, so spoilers often reach the Internet before the broadcast, and, outside of the odd novelty holiday match, there’s nothing necessarily “important” that happens. However, on the Raw that aired on Christmas 2017, the tag team of Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins were able to defeat Cesaro and Sheamus -- The Bar -- for the Raw Tag Team Championships. It’s a strong effort with a surprising finish, given that this happened on a Christmas episode.