5 WWE Superstars who competed as Santa Claus

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the land, not a creature was stirring, except Zack Ryder getting tanned.

That's right, it is Christmas Eve, and the WWE is no stranger to getting into the festive spirit, with Superstars on both RAW and SmackDown Live feeling the festive spirit.

For as long as WWE programming has been on TV, there have been sightings of Santa Claus constantly in the winter, and even the brief character of Xanta Claus, a reverse of St. Nick, who would punish those who were good.

But despite Xanta's wicked ways, there have been plenty of Superstars who have embraced the meaning of Santa, whilst also delivering a beating to their opponents.

Here are five WWE Superstars who showed their festive spirit, when they wrestled as the big man himself, Santa Claus.

#5: John 'Bradshaw' Layfield

JBL was on the naughty list in 2005 but changed his ways the next year.

As one of the longest reigning WWE Champions in SmackDown history, JBL didn't exactly share the message of peace and goodwill, often using nefarious means to hold on to the gold.

But at Tribute to the Troops 2006, JBL was seemingly a changed man, when he donned the red and white to answer Chris Masters' Masterlock challenge.

Failing to break the Full Nelson, Bradshaw-Santa was attacked by the Masterpiece, who issued a new challenge to a soldier.

Proving that he knows if you've been bad or good, Santa-JBL retaliated, attacking Masters, helping the soldier to break the Masterlock.

Interestingly, JBL had competed as Bad-Santa just one year earlier, at Tribute to the Troops, proving that people can change at this festive time.

Perhaps he was visited by three ghosts whilst he slept...

#4: The Big Show

A very tall Santa, Big Show dwarfed the massive Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Everyone expects Santa Claus to be able to jiggle his belly like a bowlful of jelly, but very few expect him to be over 7 foot tall, or be a former WWE, ECW, WCW and World Heavyweight Champion.

But in 2010, it was the Big Show's turn to don the red and white suit, when he hosted a segment with Rosa Mendes and WWE's resident elf, Hornswoggle.

Things were going well until Cody Rhodes crashed the party, attacking Hornswoggle, certifying himself as the Grinch.

Interestingly, this wouldn't be Show's first time wearing the suit, as he would also wear it in the Christmas classic Jingle All The Way.

Squaring off against Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was after the latest toy craze 'Turboman', Show's time in the film is brief, but is a must-watch for every wrestling fan this season.

#3: John Cena

Santa-Cena shared festive cheer, despite his arm in a sling.

With his face plastered on WWE programming for years, as well as his recent success in Hollywood, John Cena is one of wrestling's most recognisable stars.

But at Tribute to the Troops 2007, the doctor of Thuganomics wore the suit when he laid out his own boss Vince McMahon with an AA.

To be fair, McMahon certainly had it coming, with acts such as the Montreal Screwjob, his war with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and teaming with the Undertaker against his own daughter, making him a lifetime member of the naughty list.

Cena-Claus even managed to AA despite his arm being in a sling, a sign of Big Match John's raw power, after he had been stripped of the title (by McMahon) following an injury he had suffered a few months prior during a match with Randy Orton.

#2: Mark Henry

The Battle for Christmas saw the Intellectual Santa come up short against the World's Strongest Santa.

The WWE have had plenty of bizarre storylines, but the 2013 feud between Santa Claus and Santa Claus may take the (Christmas) cake.

With Damien Sandow as the evil Claus, he would berate children calling them ungrateful, whilst his elves Tamina Snuka and then Diva's Champion AJ Lee looked on in glee.

Eventually, though, Damian Santa-dow was stopped in his tracks by the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry.

Touted as the battle for Christmas (I guess if Sandow had won, there'd be no more Christmas?) the match had some pretty high stakes.

In a no-DQ match as well, Sandow-Santa used all sorts of means to end the holiday once and for all, even a Singapore (candy) Cane, but was thwarted, thanks to a World's Strongest Slam by the World's Strongest Santa.

#1: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Austin punished a very naughty Vince McMahon.

He may have spent his WWE career drinking beer and beating up everyone, but even Steve Austin isn't immune to the festive spirit.

And when the WWE went to visit the Troops for a special 'Christmas from Baghdad' episode of SmackDown, there was no way that the Texas Rattlesnake was going to miss the show.

After Vince McMahon proved himself to be a complete grinch (again!), Santa-Austin appeared, with the Boss clueless on who was behind the beard.

Shoving Santa over, and berating him for never giving Vince a gift (though I don't think pushing over St. Nick is helping), Austin finally let loose, revealing his true identity and dropping the Chairman of the board with a stunner.

If you want Santa Claus to crack open a couple of Egg Nogs and raise some festive cheer, give me a Hell yeah!