For better or worse, a big part of WWE’s identity over the years has tended to be that it leans into “sports entertainment” over traditional “professional wrestling.” That includes flights of fancy that have little to do with even pre-determined, scripted sport, as well as often catering to family’s and particularly children. Booking Santa Claus to be part of the show is a pretty good representation of this dynamic.
Related: 10 WWE Superstars Who Dressed As Santa ClausSometimes, WWE has been overtly tongue-in-cheek, like when it booked a “Good Santa vs. Bad Santa” match in which babyface Mark Henry prevailed over heel Damien Sandow, each in Old Saint Nick gear. Other times, there has been more of a suggestion that the actual Santa is involved in the proceedings.
Bobby Heenan Tarnishes The Santa Claus Name
Christmas night 1989, a holiday-themed episode of WWE Prime Time Wrestling occurred. After he’d lost a bet, heel broadcaster Bobby Heenan was charged with wearing a Santa Claus costume for the studio part of the episode, while babyfaces Roddy Piper and Gorilla Monsoon poked fun at him.
Things took an interesting turn when Heenan teased a big reveal and ultimately removed the costume piece by piece, while telling the kids watching that Santa wasn’t real. This led to Hot Rod pummeling him in one of the more surreal moments of Prime Time Wrestling, after which Monsoon clarified to the fans watching at home that Heenan was a mean-spirited liar. According to Bruce Prichard on his Something to Wrestle podcast, WWE actually got some flack from the USA Network for potentially ruining Christmas by pulling back the curtain on Chris Kringle in such a manner.
Santa Claus Gives A Boost To Unproven Top Babyfaces
In the early 1990s, WWE had not yet started promoting PPV events in December, meaning that Survivor Series was the last major event on the calendar. Moreover, the company tended to cool off a bit around the holidays—accepting a marginally down period before ramping back up their promotional efforts in the build to the Royal Rumble in January.
So it was that the kid-friendly promotion unofficially wrapped up its year at Survivor Series, and simultaneously observed the holiday season was upon its fans in 1992 and 1993. During this post-Hulkamania period, when first Bret Hart and then Lex Luger were relatively new to the position of being the face of the company, WWE not only had them prevail in Survivor Series main events, but poured snow from the ceiling and had Santa Claus celebrate their victories with them. One might dismiss these theatrics as harmless holiday fun, but there may have also been a subtext that WWE didn’t fully trust Hart or Luger were all the way over with fans. What better way to shore up their clout than to send an even bigger babyface, Santa, to endorse them in the ring?
Xanta Claus Gives A Children’s Folk Hero A Heelish Twist
The mid-1990s saw Ted Dibiase transition to a managerial role. His pre-established credibility, gift for gab, and gimmick of being wealthy enough to buy off different talents all served him well, despite having relatively few titles or major victories to show for his time managing The Million Dollar Corporation. In addition to hiring on heel mainstays like Sid, Bam Bam Bigelow, and King Kong Bundy and turning folks like Tatanka and Nikolai Volkoff, he introduced fans to Xanta Claus.
Best known in wrestling as Balls Mahoney the heel used a camel clutch variant to finish off opponents. Perhaps it was the silliness of the gimmick, but it never really went anywhere. Still, the Christmas tie-in did make the character more memorable than others that lasted for such a short period of time.
Santa Got Run Over By A… lberto Del Rio?
One of the more infamous instances of Santa Claus finding himself in the WWE arena came on the episode of Raw that aired on Christmas Eve 2012. Santa Claus made his entrance, only for Alberto Del Rio to roll out in his automobile-enhanced entrance—inadvertently running over Old St. Nick (played by Mick Foley) in the process.
Related: 10 Best Holiday Themed Matches EverThe silly, campy nature of the scenario was fitting enough for a holiday episode that catered to children. Moreover, it set up a confrontation between Del Rio and an avenging John Cena. They blew off the one-night angle with a Miracle on 34th Street Fight in the main event.
Santa Claus has been a recurring presence in WWE for decades now, filling different roles from the subject of verbal or physical abuse, to a the Xanta heel re-imagining, to backing up babyfaces and many points in between. Perhaps under Triple H’s aesthetic, which skews a bit more serious, we might see less of the Christmas icon. Then again, The Game is, himself, a parent, and may well keep the holiday magic alive.
