Tag: WWE holiday tour

WWE announces new Raw, SmackDown, Holiday Tour dates

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced more than a dozen new show dates ranging from the start of December into 2026.

In total, there are 17 new events announced with three being Raw episodes, four being SmackDowns, and 10 being house shows. All of the house shows are part of WWE’s annual Holiday Tour that takes place in the weeks surrounding Christmas.

Here is the full list of dates:

  • Friday, December 5: SmackDown at Moody Center in Austin, Texas
  • Friday, December 12: SmackDown at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania
  • Monday, December 15: Raw at GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania
  • Friday, December 19: SmackDown at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Friday, December 26: WWE Live Holiday Tour at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Saturday, December 27: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida
  • Saturday, December 27: WWE Live Holiday Tour at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Sunday, December 28: WWE Live Holiday Tour at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida
  • Sunday, December 28: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York
  • Monday, December 29: Raw at Kia Center in Orlando, Florida
  • Tuesday, December 30: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Hertz Arena in Ft. Myers, Florida
  • Tuesday, December 30: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan
  • Thursday, January 1, 2026: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Upstate Medical Arena in Syracuse, New York
  • Friday, January 2, 2026: SmackDown at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York
  • Saturday, January 3, 2026: WWE Live Holiday Tour at DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Sunday, January 4, 2026: WWE Live Holiday Tour at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut
  • Monday, January 5, 2026: Raw at Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York

The general public on-sale date for all events is next Friday (October 24) at 10 a.m. local time. A pre-sale (with “WWETIX” as the access code) will begin next Wednesday.

On the schedule, Raw and SmackDown do not have live episodes on December 22 and December 26 during Christmas week. Both shows will likely air pre-taped episodes that night. WWE does have a December 26 house show date in Baltimore but is not running its usual post-Christmas event at Madison Square Garden.

WWE returning to Madison Square Garden in December

Posted on by Josh Nason

After some questions regarding the lack of a holiday tradition when their December schedule was announced in late-September, WWE will indeed be returning to Madison Square Garden during the holidays after all.

In a video played during Monday’s New York Knicks game at MSG, Knicks’ star Jalen Brunson made the announcement that WWE will run the famed arena on Thursday, December 26th. Tickets will go on sale this Friday.

WWE routinely runs MSG during the holidays, traditionally within a few days after Christmas. It will be one of two shows WWE is running that night as they will also be at Jacksonville, Florida’s Vystar Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Brunson was part of a televised angle with Indiana Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton as part of a June SmackDown held at MSG. Several days ago, Brunson was asked about the angle and joked he should have hit Haliburton with a chair. The Knicks do not have a game scheduled that night, meaning the possibility of Brunson making an appearance is a definite possibility.

Sami Zayn returning for WWE Holiday Tour house shows

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After a few weeks off, Sami Zayn is returning for WWE’s holiday week house shows.

Zayn made a social media post on Tuesday confirming that he’ll be wrestling at five WWE house shows this week. They will be his first matches since the December 4 episode of Raw, which included an injury angle where Zayn was attacked by Drew McIntyre.

Zayn wrote:

I WILL be performing on WWE’s Holiday Tour. 5 great cities in 5 nights to end 2023, the wildest year of my career.

Tonight – MSG. New York City

Tomorrow – Boston

Dec 28 – Montreal

Dec 29 – Toronto

Dec 30 – Los Angeles

Crazy times. Lots of love. Thanks for letting me play x

Haven’t been very active on here [X/Twitter] lately. It’s been a crazy and in some ways difficult time for me, but I’m so grateful to be in such great cities, with such great fans, to end such a remarkable year. This life has been too good to me. Just know I’m very happy to be here with you.

Dave Meltzer reported after the Zayn/McIntyre attack angle that Zayn had asked for time off recently and had been granted it. Zayn wasn’t scheduled for the December 28 house show in his hometown of Montreal/Laval at that time, though Meltzer noted that it was possible Zayn would be added.

Zayn & Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor & Damian Priest is advertised for tonight’s Madison Square Garden house show.

CM Punk announced for two WWE Holiday Tour house shows

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

It’s also been announced that CM Punk vs. Dominik Mysterio will take place at WWE’s Holiday Tour house show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday, December 26.

**********

CM Punk will be in action when WWE’s holiday house show tour comes to Los Angeles later this month.

The Kia Forum in Inglewood, California announced today that Punk will face Dominik Mysterio at WWE’s Holiday Tour house show at the venue on Saturday, December 30. It was previously advertised that Dominik would be facing Cody Rhodes in a Last Man Standing match at the event.

Punk hasn’t wrestled any matches since returning to WWE at Survivor Series. He’s made two appearances on Raw, one on SmackDown, and one at NXT Deadline.

Last night, Punk officially joined the Raw roster. Punk also declared that he’ll be competing in the 2024 men’s Royal Rumble match.

WWE appears to be building to Punk challenging Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40. Punk and Rollins had their first face-to-face confrontation last night.

Punk also had a brief interaction with Dominik and the rest of Judgment Day on Raw.

Dominik wrestled at NXT Deadline this past Saturday, losing the NXT North American Championship to Dragon Lee.

The Kia Forum is the same arena where Punk suffered a broken foot during an episode of AEW Dynamite in June 2022.

WWE announces new dates for 2023 Holiday Tour

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced new show dates for this holiday season.

In a press release issued on Friday, WWE announced 12 new show dates for the company’s 2023 Holiday Tour. Ten house show dates were announced, along with two episodes of Raw.

It was revealed that Raw will take place from Pechanga Arena in San Diego on New Year’s Day 2024. There won’t be a live episode of Raw on Christmas Day this December.

WWE also confirmed that it will be back at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday, December 26 for its annual house show the day after Christmas. There will be a house show in Baltimore that night as well.

Here’s the full list of new events:

  • Monday, November 20: WWE Raw at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Sunday, December 10: WWE Holiday Tour SuperShow live event at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania
  • Tuesday, December 26: WWE Holiday Tour live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City
  • Tuesday, December 26: WWE Holiday Tour live event at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Wednesday, December 27: WWE Holiday Tour live event at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Wednesday, December 27: WWE Holiday Tour live event at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan
  • Thursday, December 28: WWE Holiday Tour live event at Place Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • Thursday, December 28: WWE Holiday Tour live event at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
  • Friday, December 29: WWE Holiday Tour live event at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Friday, December 29: WWE Holiday Tour live event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Saturday, December 30: WWE Holiday Tour SuperShow live event at Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California
  • Monday, January 1: WWE Raw at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California

WWE also announced 26 show dates for its 2023 calendar earlier this month.

Reigns, Lynch, Rollins, Big E, Belair off WWE house shows

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Major changes have taken place to both of today’s WWE Holiday Tour house shows in New York City and Tampa, Florida. 

WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will not take part in the advertised main event in Tampa as he, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre, Sir Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had been the advertised main event. McIntyre and Sheamus are now challenging The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team titles on that show. 

At Madison Square Garden in New York, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Big E and Bianca Belair are off that show. Big E vs. Rollins vs. Kevin Owens, and Lynch vs. Belair in steel cage matches had been the advertised main events. Edge was brought in for MSG and will now be facing Owens in a cage match in a first-time matchup. Natalya was also reportedly brought in to New York for the show. 

There is no word from WWE as to the reason for the changes to the lineups, but earlier in the week, it was reported that a number of both WWE talents and staff had tested positive for COVID-19 following last weekend’s house shows. Sunday marked the beginning of a five-day stretch in which WWE is running two shows a day. On Saturday, WWE holds their Day 1 pay-per-view in Atlanta, GA.

Dave Meltzer noted on Twitter that “there are people being kept off the shows who haven’t tested positive to minimize risk so the PPV headliners are at less risk of having to miss the event on Saturday.” 

While not directly admitting he has the virus, Rollins did tweeted the following on Sunday indicating he was home:

Some WWE talent, staff reportedly test positive for COVID-19

Posted on by Josh Nason

According to PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, a number of WWE talent and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 coming off this past weekend’s TV tapings and live events.

Citing multiple sources, Johnson said some talent and staff were feeling run down after the weekend, prompting them to get tested. He also reported that “others who were feeling sick are still waiting for their test results to return.”

No names have been reported, nor a number of those who could be pulled off the road.

While this Friday’s SmackDown is fine because it was already taped, it’s unknown how much the positive tests will affect the upcoming live events and TV tapings after Christmas. 

On Sunday, the company begins a five-day stretch in which they are running two shows a day in various locations as part of their annual holiday tour. That includes stops at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Toronto, Washington, DC, and Orlando.

Johnson said there are no plans to cancel any U.S. shows as of now. WWE did have to postpone their December 30th show in Laval, Quebec, due to a COVID-19 related lockdown.