12/29 WWE in Miami Holiday Tour results: Rousey vs. Rodriguez, six-man main event, more

WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT
DECEMBER 29, 2022
MIAMI, FLORIDA
REPORT BY JAVIER MACHADO, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

(1) Kofi Kingston & Riddick Moss & Emma defeated Joaquin Wilde & Cruz del Toro & Zelina Vega

Scheduled to be an eight-man tag, they cut to the back to the aftermath of an attack on Xavier Woods. Santos Escobar was pulled from the match to make it three on three. Kofi got a big reaction when he got the hot tag. Santos kept interfering in the match until Emma hit a big crossbody from the corner onto Santos on the outside to take him out leading to Kofi hitting his finisher for the win. The kids in the audience were very into Kofi.

(2) Karrion Kross defeated Drew Gulak

Crowd was politely into this to start with but got behind Gulak when he made his comeback. Alas, Kross no-sold a flying clothesline, hit a a few doomsday saitos and hit an elbow to the back of the head for the win. Gulak got a polite ovation on the way out.

(3) Liv Morgan defeated Shayna Baszler in a Street Fight

Morgan was in an ankle lock and got a kendo stick to get out of it. Crowd started a “tables” chant. Morgan went for the table but was stopped. Baszler got the mic and insulted Miami as she put the table away. Shayna sucks chant started. Shayna played to it, going after Morgan’s arm with a chair. The more they booed Shayna, the more violent she got with Morgan. Table came out getting the biggest pop of the night thus far. Thirty minutes later Morgan finally got the table set (I exaggerate). Shayna went for a super-plex but Morgan drove Shayna’s head into the turnbuckle to escape. Shayna helpfully collapsed onto the table and Morgan drove her through the table for the win.

(4) Gunther defeated Ricochet to retain the Intercontinental Championship

Ludwig tailored his Gunther intro more to the Miami crowd. It’s the same match we’ve seen it on Smackdown with less of Gunther’s stiff shots and less Ricochet craziness, but it still got the “this is awesome” chant. Ludwig’s distraction led to Gunther hitting his power slam for the win. Ricochet did hit what looked like a jackhammer though.

(5) Bray Wyatt defeated Jinder Mahal

Jinder came out cut a promo about being disrespected, especially for being a former champion, and laid out an open challenge. Wyatt answered. Simple straight forward match. Bray won with sister Abigail. Wyatt then met with everyone at ringside leading into intermission.

(6) Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dollar defeated Mace & Mansoor

Mace and Mansoor cut a promo and did a 5 min pose. Hit Row interrupted. There was ha-ha with Mansoor using a brush to brush his hair after every exchange early in the match. Basically, this was a Fashion Police type of match. There was a “you can’t wrestle” chant, and I’m not sure who it was directed at. Mansoor did a strip tease and had tape on his nipples. Top Dollar ripped the tape off and Adonis got the pin. Mildly entertaining but went too long.

(7) Ronda Rousey defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship

This was the exact same match that aired on the following Smackdown (12/30/2022) only Miami wasn’t told that Rousey was the heel and Raquel the face. All of Raquel’s offense was booed, all Rousey of Rousey’s was cheered. Rousey hit her finisher for a clean win.

(8) Kevin Owens & Sheamus & Braun Strowman defeated Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso & Sami Zayn

Huge reaction for the Bloodline especially Sami. Everyone got their spots in. Solo interfered here and there. Sami kept away from KO for most of the match. Eventually when they faced off the ref was bumped and Sami hit a low blow on KO. Chaos reigned until Strowman was the last man standing. Solo confronted him and the fans went nuts when he took off his jacket. They went at it New Japan style and Strowman went over until Sami hit another low blow. Sami cocked his fist and stopped an attacking KO with a Superman-punch. Sami howled and went for the spear only to eat a Stunner for the KO win. KO cut a promo to hype up the next night’s Smackdown and thanked the crowd.

Overall fun event that never dragged (except maybe MMM vs. Hit Row). This was my friends first time attending a wrestling show and he enjoyed it. He got a kick out of watching the referees cleaning out the ring after the table spot since it’s something you never see on TV.

Top 10 crowd reactions were:

1. Bray Wyatt (kids VERY engaged)

1a. The Bloodline (mostly Sami)

3. Braun Strowman

4&5. Kevin Owen and Sheamus

6. Ronda Rousey (big surprise)

7. Table comes into play

8. Kofi’s hot tag

9. Table is broken

10. New Day music playing

CATCH-UP: WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 12/30: John Cena return misses, Sikoa vs. Sheamus hits, more