Worst in the World: The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)

 

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a fun & safe holiday season. And because it's the merriest day of the year, I thought it was only fitting to take a look at a Christmas-themed match for this edition of the Worst in the World. So I decided to take a trip back to TNA's 2007 Christmas episode. The whole episode is a ton of silly, Yuletide fun with every match on the show being Christmas-themed, all while Eric Young throws an episode-long Christmas party. There's one match on the show, however, that stands out for just how ridiculous it ends up being. Officially, it's called the "Silent Night, Bloody Night" match, but this match is probably better known as the "Barbed Wire Christmas Tree" match (so much so that IMPACT themselves uploaded the whole match on YouTube as the Barbed Wire Christmas Tree match) for its inclusion of a Christmas Tree made out of barbed wire as a weapon...that was also hanging in the middle of the ring for some reason.

The match is a hardcore four-way match with weapons in presents between Abyss, Shark Boy, Black Reign, and Rellik. Abyss & Shark Boy are pretty well known in wrestling, but who are Black Reign & Rellik? Well, at the risk of getting blocked by Dustin Rhodes on Twitter, let's dive in.

Black Reign is Dustin Rhodes' darker side, aka, Goldust if you put a black-and-white filter over him.

It's not a great stint for Rhodes, who was going through a period of addiction while he'd gained a noticeable amount of weight. Black Reign would only exist in TNA for about a year before Rhodes was released from the company, but not before introducing a companion to IMPACT in Rellik. Rellik is former WCW & WWE wrestler Johnny Stamboli/Johnny the Bull, who was billed as being from "the deepest, darkest corner of Black Reign's mind." Stamboli had been doing the gimmick on the indies under the name "REDRUM" and got hired, likely changing the name to avoid legal issues with Warner Bros. The name "Rellik" is "killer" spelled backward, and if you didn't catch that the minute you saw it, fear not, Mike Tenay reminded you of it every time Rellik showed up.

EVERY.

SINGLE.

TIME.

Let's get into this.

Rellik is out first and...

This might be an opinion that I get flamed for...but I think Rellik is kind of cool. Yes, the fact that his name is just "killer" backward is dumb, and having your origin be attached to Black Reign is basically a death sentence for any character, but I think that mask is sick and his entrance theme is awesome. And like I said that last time he popped up in the series, Johnny Stamboli wasn't a bad worker, and he has his moments in this match. Maybe if Rellik had existed on his own and had a different name he could've been at least a fun midcard heel, but I digress. Shark Boy is out next. He hasn't gotten his Stone Cold repackaging yet, but he is comically injured. He's even got a little bandage X on his fin.

That's a great touch, I love it. Cue the MYUH MYUH MYUH, Black Reign is out next along with Misty the Arctic Fox, aka, a rat in a cage.

And finally, outcomes Abyss, who also has a great entrance theme. The bell rings as Abyss charges right at Reign. Reign dodges a corner splash, only to get tossed out of the ring immediately by Abyss. Abyss follows Reign out of the ring to brawl on the outside as Rellik spits red mist into the air for no reason before opening a present containing a golf club. The camera then cuts to Abyss & Reign brawling, and the next thing we see in the ring is Shark Boy hitting Rellik with the club. Terrible camera work by TNA. Shark Boy knocks Rellik out of the ring, following him out so he can choke Rellik with the club. Abyss & Reign brawl into the ring, where Reign catches Abyss with a back elbow, only to eat a big boot and a corner splash for his troubles. Abyss follows up with a hip attack in the corner, only for Rellik to sneak into the ring and catch him with a nice superkick. This blog is now a Rellik stan page. Rellik & Reign follow up with a Hart Attack on Abyss as the show goes to a commercial break.

When we come back, Shark Boy is beating down Black Reign & Rellik with a kendo stick before giving each man a single knee facebreaker (i.e. half a Codebreaker.) Shark Boy opens another present to reveal Black Reign's spiked hammer called Darkness Falls. Darkness Falls is also the name of a terrible horror movie about a killer tooth fairy. If that's where Dustin Rhodes got the name for the hammer, then I hope he started watching better movies, because if I see him hit a move called "Halloween Kills" on Dynamite next week, I'm gonna break something. Shark Boy doesn't get to use the hammer, however, as he turns right into a Blackout from Reign, which is a terrible Pedigree where he doesn't hook the arms. James Mitchell appears on the ramp as Reign beats down Shark Boy. Rellik & Reign take turns beating down Shark Boy, forcibly pulling the other off so they can get a turn before Reign whips Shark Boy into the tree. Rellik then remembers that this isn't a tag match and attacks Reign, only for an Irish whip to get reversed, sending him towards the tree. We then get a moment that defies professional wrestling physics. Reign whips Rellik towards the tree, and Rellik...stops. Someone getting whipped in the ring and being unable to stop themselves without grabbing the ropes, leading to them running back-and-forth multiple times is one of the biggest staples in wrestling, and Rellik just proved that you can just stop yourself. I've seen wrestlers explicitly call themselves a character on TV, and this right here still might be the most kayfabe-shattering thing I've ever seen.

Rellik follows up this revelation by clotheslining Reign and decking Abyss as he tries to get into the ring. Rellik & Reign then make up in record time as the two hit an assisted sit-out wheelbarrow slam. The two fight over who gets to make the cover, leaving them open to a double clothesline from Abyss. Abyss opens another present and finds a barbed wire-wrapped bat, hitting both men with it before opening another present, this one containing a bag of thumbtacks. Abyss empties the bag before finding another bag in another present, this one containing shards of glass. Until Nick Gage wrestled Chris Jericho on Dynamite earlier this year, this is probably the closest we ever got to deathmatch wrestling on TV. Abyss tries to double chokeslam Rellik & Reign, but the two fight out of it. Shark Boy re-enters the fray, diving off the top rope with a forearm before helping Abyss whip Rellik into the corner, where Reign has crawled to. The two babyfaces throw the tree at the heels. Rellik dodges it, while Reign catches it because that's the only way to make it look like it stuck to him.

That's James Mitchell's cue to come down to the ring, distracting referee Rudy Charles as Abyss chokeslams Reign and gets the visual three. As Abyss grabs Mitchell on the apron, the lights go out, and when they come back on, this guy is in the ring.

Remember Mil Muertes? The giant, undead killer from Lucha Underground? That's him. Looks a lot smaller here, doesn't he? A guy like Muertes looks a lot less impressive when he's standing across the ring from a 6'8 giant like Abyss and not guys shorter than 5'10. Turns out TNA couldn't figure out what Lucha Underground did. Presentation is everything. But anyway, this is Judas Mesias, aka Ricky Banderas from AAA almost seven years before his biggest break as Mil/King Muertes in Lucha Underground & currently MLW. If you're wondering why his biggest break wasn't working for the second largest company in America at the time, just read the above paragraph again. Judas spits blood into the air before hitting Straight to Hell, a move that could only be described as jumping and throwing your opponent's head into the ground, sending Abyss into the thumbtacks. Meanwhile, my new favorite wrestler Rellik hits a Jackhammer (which he calls the Demon Driver) on Shark Boy for the three and the win. Rellik immediately leaves the ring so Judas can celebrate.

The Verdict

It's an extremely silly match, with emphasis on the "extreme." The match is almost entirely brawling with very little actual wrestling, all topped off with a gimmick that wasn't really thought out too well in the hanging Christmas tree. That being said, there are no real mistakes and, while it's a bad gimmick, it's still pretty fun, and I'd recommend giving it a watch and having a laugh.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
8. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
9. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
10. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
11. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
12. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
13. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
14. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
15. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
16. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
17. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
18. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
19. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
20. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
21. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
22. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
23. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
24. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
25. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
26. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
27. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
28. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
29. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
30. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
31. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
32. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
33. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
34. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
35. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
36. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
37. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
38. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
39. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
40. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
41. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
42. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
43. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
44. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
45. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
46. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
47. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
48. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
49. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
50. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
51. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
52. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
53. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
54. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
55. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
56. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
57. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
58. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
59. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
60. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
61. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
62. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
63. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
64. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
65. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
66. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
67. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
68. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
69. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
70. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
71. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
72. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
73. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
74. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
75. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
76. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
77. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
78. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
79. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
80. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
81. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
82. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
83. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
84. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
85. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
86. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
87. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
88. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
89. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
90. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
91. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
92. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
93. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
94. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
95. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
96. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
97. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
98. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
99. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
100. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
101. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
102. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
103. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
104. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
105. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
106. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
107.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
108. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
109. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
110. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
111. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
112. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
113. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
114. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
115. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
116. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
117. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
118. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
119. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
120. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
121. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
122. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
123. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
124. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
125. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
126. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
127. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
128. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
129. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
130. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
131. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
132. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
133. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
134. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
135. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
136. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
137. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
138. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
139. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
140. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
141. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
142. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
143. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
144. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
145. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
146. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
147. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
148. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
149. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
150. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
151. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
152. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
153. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
154. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
155. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
156. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
157. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
158. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
159. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
160. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
161. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
162. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
163. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
164. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
165. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
166. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
167. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
168. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
169. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
170. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
171. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
172. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'll be taking a look at a match from the feud that killed the WWE career of a third-generation wrestler. Until then...