Plot Synopsis

Each holiday season since 2003, wrestlers from the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) have performed before thousands of men and women of the U.S. military, thanking them for their commitment to the country and recognition of their sacrifices. For the first seven years, WWE stars, musicians and Hollywood celebrities traveled to the Middle East, usually Iraq or Afghanistan, to entertain the troops, but the annual event has been held within the United States since 2010, at places like Fort Hood (2010); Fort Bragg (2011); Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA (2012); Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington (2013); Fort Benning in Columbus, GA (2014); Florida's Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (2015); Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (2016); Naval Base San Diego (2017); Fort Hood, Texas (2018); Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC (2019); Amway Center in Orlando, FL (2020); Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA (2021); Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (2022). The inaugural WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS was held in Baghdad, Iraq, and was broadcast on Christmas night in 2003 as part of UPN's weekly series WWE SMACKDOWN, featuring these matches: The APA def. The World's Greatest Tag Team, Rikishi def. Rhyno, Torrie Wilson def. Dawn Marie & Sable, and John Cena def. Big Show. After two years on Thursday Night's WWE SMACKDOWN, this event switched to USA Network's Monday Night RAW from 2005-2007. The program returned to broadcast television in 2008, when NBC aired it first from 2008-2010. From 2011-2014, USA Network premiered a two-hour, annual event in mid-December with NBC airing a one-hour condensed version just days later, except in 2013 when only NBC aired its one-hour program. Starting in 2015, NBC no longer broadcasts the one-hour version of the special, but USA Network premiered the full two-hour event in mid-December through 2018. WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS was not televised in 2019, but the event returned to the small screen in 2020 on FOX on Sunday afternoon, adjacent to the networks coverage of the NFL, where it continued in 2021, airing closer to Veteran's Day. For 2022, the event returned to its traditional early/mid-December debut.
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On Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 2:30pm ET/11:30am PT, FOX premiered the 2022 WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS as a one-hour special. The 20th anniversary event was taped on Friday, November 11 from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN, following the conclusion of SmackDown. The three televised matches include: LA Knight vs. Braun Strowman; SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Emma and Tamina Snuka; and Sheamus, Drew McIntyre and Ricochet vs. Imperium's Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci and WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER.