The Shield's debut match and 5 of the most iconic WWE moments that happened in December
The month of December in WWE history has contained some of the most memorable moments.
WWE's Premium Live Events hosted in December over the years include multiple editions of In Your House, Armageddon and TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, and once each of Vengeance, December to Dismember, Roadblock: End of the Line, and Clash of Champions.
There is no main roster event this year, with NXT: Deadline being the sole Premium Live Event produced by the company on December 10, 2022.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the company won't have anything in store, as there are several intriguing stories to look out for heading into WrestleMania season.
In the meantime, let's look at six of the most iconic moments that happened in December.
Note: As there is a numbers limit here, some of your favorite moments may not be on the list. Feel free to leave your favorite matches/moments that happened in December in the comments section below.
#6. Randy Orton turns out to be the last World Heavyweight Champion
Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a TLC match on December 15, 2013, at the TLC Premium Live Event, unifying both the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship in the process.
Throughout WrestleMania season in 2014, Orton was seen on weekly television holding both belts. Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and Brock Lesnar did the same when the titles changed hands. Post that glorious squash match main event at SummerSlam 2014. Brock Lesnar was presented with a new belt to represent the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, subsequently retiring the big gold belt.
However, WWE recognizes Orton as the last World Heavyweight Champion. Little did we know at the time, but in retrospect, The Viper's win over long-time rival John Cena was a stand-out moment in history.
#5. The Ultimate Opportunist breaks his own record as World Heavyweight Champion
At TLC 2010, Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship for a record sixth time. He defeated champion Kane, Alberto Del Rio, and former tag team partner Rey Mysterio in a TLC match.
Both Del Rio and Mysterio feuded for months prior to this match, while Kane and Edge met at Survivor Series the previous month in a match that ended in a draw. WWE booked all four superstars together, and the result was an underrated, action-packed headliner.
The title changed hands between The Rated-R Superstar and Dolph Ziggler on SmackDown on February 18, 2011, giving the former a seventh title win before his first retirement. This, however, was only a minor blemish on Edge's title reign, which began at TLC and was cut short post-WrestleMania 27 due to injuries.
#4. The Undertaker and Randy Orton left it all inside Hell in a Cell
The Undertaker and Randy Orton were embroiled in a tense, dark, and at times ridiculously supernatural feud in 2005.
The story involved Randy and Bob Orton burning a casket containing The Deadman, Orton being haunted by his ghost subsequently, and Taker possessing Josh Matthews in an interview segment with the latter and The Legend Killer.
While there may be some detractors for this storyline that lasted an entire calendar year, the feud remains a legendary one with many memorable matches on PLE, the last of which came at Armageddon.
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The two met later in their careers many times, but never got involved in a feud or a big match ever since.
#3. The Shield's debut match in 2012
While The Shield made their debut on the main roster at Survivor Series, interfering in the main event WWE Championship match between CM Punk, John Cena, and Ryback, their in-ring debut happened on December 17, 2012, at TLC, where the trio defeated Ryback and Team Hell No in a violent TLC match.
The six-man tag matches weren't very popular on PLE until The Shield came along, and this match officially kickstarted a long list of memorable tag matches, and launched the careers of the three most important superstars of that defined the last decade.
#2. Chris Jericho defeats The Rock and Steve Austin on the same night to become the first-ever Undisputed Champion
This entry is one of the most important moments in WWE history. Despite The Alliance storyline in 2001 being mostly a flop, there were some good things that came with it.
At Vengeance, two matches were contested for the WWF Championship and WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle and The Rock vs. Chris Jericho. The winners will compete in the headliner of the evening, a title unification match.
Jericho and Austin advanced to the main event. After several shenanigans, Y2J prevailed, thus etching his name in the history books as the first-ever Undisputed champion.
Honorable Mentions: The six-Man Hell in a Cell match in 2000 and Bret Hart versus The British Bulldog at In Your House 5 in 1995
While there's not much to take home here as Kurt Angle retained his world championship, the match itself was one of the most brutal and iconic. The Undertaker choke slamming Rikishi from atop the cell is used in several highlight reels of WWE even today.
The match went 30 mintues, with six of the company's finest performers leaving it all in the ring, in a match concept that was sadly never revisited.
The Hitman and his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith, were contested in a WWF Championship match in the main event of In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings on December 17, 1995. This was a rematch of their remarkable SummerSlam 1992 bout.
Forget the ridiculous name of the event. Both men were at the top of their game, delivering a hard-hitting, dramatic and captivating main event.
Looking back, 1995 was not one of WWE's best years, but this forgotten classic is definitely worth a revisit.
#1. Jeff Hardy is finally your WWE Champion
Few moments in wrestling made me as happy as Jeff Hardy winning his first WWE Championship at Armageddon 2008 đđ https://t.co/R0Nqh8OYpd
Few moments are harder to top than others, such as Eddie Guerrero's sole WWE Championship win or KofiMania. Much like these two, Jeff Hardy's world title win at Armageddon in 2008 remains the best and reminds us why we love pro wrestling.
The Charismatic Enigma spent a whole year scratching and clawing to get his hands on the gold. A year earlier, in the 2007 edition of Armageddon, Hardy beat Triple H to become the #1 contender to Randy Orton's WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble in 2008, Hardy failed to capture the gold.
Throughout the latter half of the year, he lost match after match to The Game, was left out of the Survivor Series card before finally getting his moment in December.
The triple threat match between Hardy, Edge, and Triple H was a great bout that was elevated to iconic status thanks to the booking. The right guy went over on December 14, 2008, and everyone went home happy they got to witness it.