In “I Was There” 3MBooth provides a first hand account of a things we attend.

The Holiday Season of 2013 brought us the gift of live wrestling. We were able to open one present early in the form of Ring of Honor: they held their last Pay Per View of 2013, Final Battle, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. This year brought us a Strap Match between Silas Young and Mark Briscoe. The Young Bucks and Adrenaline Rush got everyone excited with their high flying, non-stop theatrics. Kevin Steen and Michael Bennett had a Stretcher Match where Steen was the Santa of package piledrivers: he delivered 1 to Bennett, 1 to Bennett again (this time on a set of steel chairs) and a third to Maria Kanellis, proving that this Santa has no Nice list.

Final Battle also said goodbye to Eddie Edwards, who is moving on to other opportunities, and BJ Whitmer, who had to retire due to injury, as they faced off against Roderick Strong and Jay Lethal. It wouldn’t be ROH (or Christmas) without a surprise so when BJ Whitmer, at the instruction of Jimmy Jacobs, attacked Eddie Edwards, it let the air out of the Hammerstein. Also doing their part to put the Hammerstein Ballroom on edge was Outlaw Inc. The pair of Homicide and Eddie Kingston spent as much less time fighting the Tag Champions, reDragon, and more time fighting the fans in the arena. We also saw Tommaso Ciampa win the TV Title in record time, defeating not just former champ Matt Taven, but tearing through Taven’s entourage like a kid unwrapping presents.

The main event was a triple threat match between “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin, the ROH Champion Adam Cole and Jay Briscoe, the self proclaimed ROH Champion. Cole did his best to force his opponents to attack each other and even tried to get a count out victory after Elgin and Briscoe fell through a table. Ultimately, Cole did retain but also found a new surprise awaited him: Chris Hero made his return to Ring of Honor and his intentions known via a well well placed elbow to Cole’s chin. Check out our photos from the event.

The WWE Universe descended on the Madison Square Garden on the day after Christmas. Turning Boxing Day into “Wrestling Day,” the Superstars of the WWE put on an entertaining show in the home of Wrestlemania 1, 10 and 20 (but not 30). We posted our reactions to the appearances of Rey Mysterio and the Big Show, who were promptly booed, and Cody Rhodes’ massive moonsault from the top of the steel cage. There were other surprises too, like the pro-wrestling pro wrestling audience casting more votes for Diva Dancing than Diva Wrestling:

or seeing the Big Show face Kane. Since Kane no longer wears his mask and hair, would he still don his signature tights? It turns out he does but now it looks weirder than usual. Kane looks like his suit got lost and the only clothes he had left were his old ring attire.

Maybe this odd looked is what fueled Kane into chokeslamming The Big Show from the second rope! Kane also got a little too overzealous and went to chokeslam Special Guest Referee Booker T; unfortunately, he got a thrust kick from Booker T and a Knockout  punch from Big Show for his troubles.

The main event saw the newly crowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton, face John Cena. The crowd cheered on each competitor in this bout as the “Let’s Go Cena! / Cena Sucks!” shook the foundation of the newly renovated MSG. Both Superstars fought tooth and nail, kicking out after RKOs and Attitude Adjustments that seemingly ended the match. However Orton ultimate won by losing. He delivered a low blow to John Cena, losing the match by disqualification by retaining the championship. The decision split the crowd almost as much as Orton split Cena, who delivered a post-match Attitude Adjustment to Orton to express his frustration. Cena then ended the night by addressing the crowd (when Cena asked if the new MSG was just as passionate as the old MSG, we responded with “YES! YES! YES!”) and wishing everyone a Happy Holidays. Check out our photos for more, including Michael P.S. Hayes moonwalking!

Live wrestling is one of the best presents someone can get. Don’t wait until the Holiday Season to take yourself or someone to a wrestling show, no matter the wrestling company or the venue. Big or small, independent or major promotion, everyone has a great time!