This is a script for my Youtube video which you can view here: https://youtu.be/-451x13THig
Wrestling has always had an interesting and slightly bizarre relationship with Christmas. Back in the territory days Christmas night would be mean a packed house filled with babyface wins to send the crowd home happy. We are far from those days now, and Christmas themed gimmicks have gotten more elaborate and frankly, awful as time has passed. Here are a few stories from wrestling's ghost of Christmas past. Thats's me if the analogy wasn't clear enough...
WWE once had an evil version of Santa Claus, because of course they did. On December 17th 1995 WWE presented In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings from Hershey Pennsylvania. In one of the most bizarre moments I've ever seen. Savio Vega heads to ringside with Santa, who is throwing presents out to the crowd. They are interrupted though, by the devious Million Dollar Man. Ted Dibiase goes on a rant about how Santa isn't real, with Savio protesting that he is. Eventually, the Santa in the ring attacks Savio from behind, as he and Dibiase put the boots to him. While this is happening Jerry Lawler is gleefully shouting that Santa has been bought by the Million Dollar Man which isn't surprising, as he likely booked weird stuff than this in Memphis. More on Memphis later...
The evil Santa would make a couple more appearances, but would never be seen again after the holiday season ended. At least he got a longer run than the Gobbledy Gooker. After his shocking betrayal of Savio Vega, and every child on earth, Santa would undergo a drastic makeover. Gone was the long white hair and thick beard and in its place shorter darker replacements. His costume was also changed from the classic red and white look to red and black. He looked like the bad guy in a Home Alone straight to video sequel. Perhaps most pointlessly, his name was changed to Xanta Klaus, with and X and a K.
As noted, Xanta would have a short run on WWE television, but one more strange fact lies in who the wrestler who played the character was. Prior to this character, Jon Rechner had been an enhancement talent for WWE, and had also had a run in Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling. After playing Xanta, Rechner would go on to become ECW's hardcore chair swinging freak, Balls Mahoney. Though he is sadly no longer with us after suffering a heart attack in 2016, Rechner's run as Balls would become what he was most famous for, and thankfully, not for being the evil Santa.
I mentioned that I'd be getting back to Memphis and here it is, because in 1992 Jerry Lawler actually did book what might even be a stranger character with an even more famous wrestler under the hood. Jerry Lawler once booked wait for it, the Christmas Creature. The character was actually the idea of Lawlers son Kevin who also ran some shows in the area. He approached recurring character of this channel, a young Glenn Jacobs who would go on to be Kane. Kevin sent him concept pictures of a swamp monster looking costume equipped with tinsel and other Christmas decorations. Kane has claimed that he wasn't thrilled by the idea, but had nothing else going on at thew time so took the booking. The final full body suit would actually be made by Kane's mother which right away reminds me of Homer Simpson dressing Lisa as Florida. Kane has also noted that the costume had working lights in it thanks to a hidden battery pack. Unlike Xanta Klaus, he also noted that the character would live on well into January before I assume heading back to the swamp.
The final story I have for now comes from the December 20th 1999 episode of Raw. This was an interesting period in WWE, as following a major swerve in which Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had banished Vince in storyline and created the McMahon-Helmsley regime, which ran roughshod over the vast majority of storylines at the time. Triple H would use his newfound power to humiliate one of his most fierce rivals of the time, Mankind.
On the December 20th 99 Raw, Mankind would be booked in a boiler room brawl with of all people, Santa Claus. Any fan of Mick Foley will know about his absolute genuine love of Christmas, and so this was designed to mess with him. To make sure Mankind entered the match, the Mean Street Posse blindsided him and threw him into the boiler room where Saint Nick was waiting. Mankind reasons with Santa that he should just walk out of the boiler room and win, only for him to be ambushed by three more Santa's. It's not clear who these men were, but Foley did a number on them. On his way out of the boiler room Mankind is attacked by two more Santa's, who turn out to be Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. Foley would once again get the upper hand and attempt to leave the boiler room before he is attacked by one last Santa, who turns out to be Triple H himself, who leaves the boiler room and claims victory.
On the following weeks Raw Triple H wouldn't rest until one of his most credible challengers was out of the picture, so he booked Mankind vs The Rock in a "pink slip on a pole" match, with the winner keeping their job. Rock would win the match leaving Mankind to be fired just two days after Christmas, but the rest of that story is for another day.
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