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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: CHRISTIAN CAGE WINS NWA TITLE, PILLMAN AND ZENK WIN WCW U.S. TAG TITLE, EARL HEBNER'S TNA DEBUT AND MORE

By Ryan Martinez & Buck Woodward on 2008-02-12 08:18:48
February 12th

On this day in history in ....

1912 - Walter Evans defeats Tom Rolowitz to win the World Welterweight Title.

1932 - Pinky Gardner defeats Joe Banaski to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Light Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio, ending Banaski's second reign.

1942 - Nanjo Singh defeats Earl McCready for the Toronto British Empire Heavyweight Title in Toronto, Ontario.

1942 - Billy Thom defeats Jules Larance in Columbus, Ohio to win the MWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, ending Larance's third reign.

1957 - Bill and Ed Miller defeat Guy and Joe Brunetti to win the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title in Hamilton, Ontario, ending the Brunetti's third reign.

1960 - George "One Man Gang" Gray is born in Spartanburg, South Carolina

1960 - Adnan Kaissey and Hogan Wharton defeat Joe Christie and Man Mountain Managoff for the Texas NWA World Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas.

1962 - Jackie Fargo and Lester Welch defeat Dante and Mephisto to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This ended Dante and Mephisto's sixth reign and began Fargo and Welch's third.

1965 - Chin Lee defeats Dick Dunn to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama, beginning his second reign and ending Dunn's second.

1966 - Dominic DeNucci defeats Killer Kowalski in Sydney, Australia for the International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title, ending Kowalski's third reign and beginning DeNucci's third.

1966 - Joe McCarthy defeats Lorenzo Parente for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, ending Parente's second reign.

1974 - Duke Miller wins his second NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama, ending The Mysterious Medic's third reign.

1976 - Mike George defeats Ed Wiskoski for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas, beginning his second reign.

1977 - Toru Tanaka defeats Chavo Guerrero to win the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title in San Bernardino, California, ending Guerrero's eighth reign.

1977 - Moose Cholak and Paul Christy defeat The Bounty Hunters (David and Johnny Novak) for the World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Title in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1978 - Ted DiBiase defeats Dick Slater to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title in St. Louis, Missouri.

1979 - Bill Cody and Salvatore Martino defeat Igor Volkoff and UFO for the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Title in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1979 - Frankie Laine and Dutch Mantel defeat Chief Thunder Cloud and José Rivera in Bayamón, Puerto Rico for the vacant WWC North American Tag Team Title. The title was vacated on February 4 when Pierre and Rick Martel lost a loser-leaves-town match to Invaders I and II.

1979 - Toru Tanaka wins Ron Fuller's AWA Southern Heavyweight Title by forfeit in Memphis, Tennessee.

1982 - Sweet Brown Sugar defeats Bobby Lane for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California. At the same event, The Scorpions defeat Carlos Mata and The Kiss to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title.

1983 - Scorpio and Mr. Tempest defeat Gran Apolo and Pierre Martel for the WWC World Tag Team Title in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

1983 - Tony Arce and Rocco Valente defeat Misterioso and Volador to win the Mexican National Tag Team Title in Mexico City, Mexico, ending their second reign.

1984 - In front of over 20,000 fans in Naucalpan, Mexico, UWA World Heavyweight Champion Canek defeats André the Giant in a two-out-of-three falls match, scoring a rare pinfall win over André in the deciding fall to retain his title.

1985 - Jimmy Hart makes his World Wrestling Federation debut at a television taping in Poughkeepsie, New York, managing Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine and Jim Neidhart.

1985 - Jerry Lawler defeats Eddie Gilbert for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning Lawler's 32nd reign.

1985 - Jesse Barr wins his second NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida, ending Brian Blair's second reign.

1988 - Ivan Koloff and The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) defeat Paul Ellering (subbing for Road Warrior Animal), Road Warrior Hawk and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1989 - Moon Akiko and Eagle Sawai defeat Mitsuyo Mura and Maiko Tsurugi for the vacant JWP Pacific Coast Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

1990 - Brian Pillman and Z-Man (Tom Zenk) defeat The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) in a tournament final to win the vacant WCW United States Tag Team Title in Gainesville, Georgia.

1990 - Steve Doll and Rex King win their second USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, defeating Robert Fuller and Brian Lee, ending their second reign.

1995 - El Texano defeats Takashi Okano to win the vacant Universal Wrestling Association World Middleweight Title in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Ultimo Dragon had vacated the title after he won the NWA World Middleweight Title on November 8.

1997 - Battlanger and Masaaki Mochizuki defeat Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title in Toyohashi, Japan, ending Storm and Yasuraoka's second reign.

1999 - An interesting turn of events took place at ECW's show at the Elks Lodge in Queens, New York (aka the Madhouse of Extreme). Originally, the Public Enemy, who had just recently returned to the company from WCW, were going to continue their new feud with the Dudley Boyz at the show. However, the Public Enemy bolted from the company and went to the WWF. In need of a surprise, ECW brought back Mustafa Saed and reformed the Gangstas with New Jack. However, the reunion didn't last long, as Mustafa turned on New Jack and joined with the Dudleys, revealing himself to be the "financial benefactor" of the Dudleys, and was soon called "Mr. Mustafa".

1999 - Trooper Gilmore defeats Curtis Slamdawg in Mansfield, Massachusetts for the NWA New England Heavyweight Title.

1999 - Steve Sharp defeats Greg Valentine in Springfield, Missouri to become the first World League Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.

2000 - Creative Control (Gerald and Patrick (Ron and Don Harris)) defeat The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Johnny the Bull) at a house show in Oberhausen, Germany to win the WCW World Tag Team Title, ending the Mamalukes' second reign and beginning their third.

2000 - Leilani Kai defeats Strawberry Fields in a tournament final to become the first NWA Mid-Atlantic Women's Champion in Denver, North Carolina.

2000 - Derrick King wins his third Power Pro Wrestling Young Guns Title in Memphis, Tennessee, defeating Chris Michaels and Allen Steel in a three-way match.

2002 - Dukes Dalton defeats John Walters to unify his Chaotic Wrestling Light Heavyweight Title with Walters' Television Title in Lowell, Massachusetts..

2003 - Kid Kash defeats Sonny Siaki to win the TNA X Division Title in Nashville, Tennessee.

2004 - Villano IV defeats Tinieblas, Jr. for the IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Title in Naucalpan, Mexico.

2005 - Ricky Banderas wins the IWA World Heavyweight Title for the fifth time in Caguas, Puerto Rico, ending Glamour Boy Shane's seventh reign.

2005 - IWA Mid-South held "Givin' Em The Business" at the Lincoln Center in Highland, Indiana. The results:
- Nate Webb defeated Ken Westbrooks.
- Milanito Collection AT defeated Larry Sweeney.
- Jimmy Jacobs defeated Midwest Pro Wrestling Universal Champion Joey Envy and Josh Abercrombie in a three-way match to win the title.
- Claudio Castagnoli defeated Chris Hero by disqualification in round three of a European Rules match.
- Eric Priest & Silas Young defeated Icarus & Shane Storm, Pomp and Circumstance (Ace Rockwell & Shaun Tempers) and Dysfunction & T.J. Dalton in a four-way match to become #1 contenders to the IWA Mid-South Tag Team Title.
- Daizee Haze defeated NWA Midwest/IWA Mid-South Women's Champion Ariel, Cheerleader Melissa, Mickie Knuckles, MsChif and Sara Del Ray in a six-way elimination match, last eliminating MsChif, to win the title.
- IWA Mid-South Tag Team Champions Brad Bradley and Trik Davis defeated The Fannin Family (Chandler McClure and Steve Stone) to retain the title.
- IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion Delirious defeated Arik Cannon to retain the title.
- IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Danny Daniels defeated Masada.
- B-Boy, Ian Rotten, NWA Midwest X Division Champion Matt Sydal and Brandon Thomaselli defeated The Iron Saints (Sal and Vito Thomaselli), Todd Sexton and Tank.

2005 - GENTARO defeated Onryo for the UWA World Middleweight Title in Chiba, Japan.

2005 - Ru Starr defeats Mike Bennett in a tournament final in Framingham, Massachusetts to become the first New England Championship Wrestling Television Champion.

2005 - A.J. and Damien Steele defeat Glenn Gilberti and Johnny Swinger to win the Georgia Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Columbus, Georgia.

2005 - Will Owens and Cecil Pleazing defeat champions Rastas Polk & Theodore Tutwiler III and Adam Armor & Adam Roberts for the Ultimate NWA Tag Team Title in Hanceville, Alabama. At the same show, Chris Lee defeats Mike Jackson to become the first Ultimate NWA Junior Heavyweight Title.

2006 - TNA held the second-annual Against All Odds pay-per-view at the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, Florida. The results were:
Pre-show matches:
- Ron Killings pinned A-1 after an axe kick.
- Lance Hoyt, Cassidy Riley and Shark Boy defeated Shannon Moore and The Diamonds in the Rough (Elix Skipper and David Young (with Simon Diamond)), when Hoyt pinned Skipper after a Texas Towerbomb.
Pay-per-view matches:
- The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens) defeated Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, when Douglas pinned Aries after the Natural Disaster.
- Jay Lethal defeated Matt Bentley (with Traci), Alex Shelley and Petey Williams in a four-way match, when he pinned Williams with a bridge after Bentley hit Williams with a back body drop.
- The James Gang (B.G. James and Kip James) defeated The Latin American Exchange (Homicide and Machete (with Konnan)), after B.G. pinned Machete after a pumphandle drop. After the match, LAX attacked The James Gang until Bob Armstrong made the save.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm (with Gail Kim)) defeated Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin, when Storm pinned Dutt after the Death Sentence, to retain the title.
- Rhino defeated Abyss (with James Mitchell) in a Falls Count Anywhere match, after giving Abyss a Gore off the stage through four tables.
- TNA X Division Champion Samoa Joe defeated A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels in a three-way match, by pinning Styles after the Muscle Buster, to retain the title.
- Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young (with Scott D'Amore)), when Brother Ray pinned Young after the 3D. After the match, America's Most Wanted and Team Canada attacked Team 3D until Ron Killings made the save.
- Christian Cage pinned NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett after the Unprettier, to win the title. Earl Hebner made his TNA debut officiating this match. Earlier in the evening, Larry Zbyszko had warned that anybody interfering in the main event would be fired. Gail Kim hit Cage with Jarrett's guitar during the match, but she was never fired. This ended Jarrett's fifth reign as champion.

2006 - Daron Smythe defeats Crusher Hansen for the NWA Pro Wrestling eXpress Heavyweight Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, ending Hansen's third reign. At the same show, Sam Slej defeats Devil Bhudakahn to win the NWA PWX Brass Knuckles Title.

2006 - Iron Cross and The Rasslin' Evangelist defeat Eddie Browning and Michael Jameson (subbing for Colt Steele) for the NWA All-Star Wrestling Tag Team Title in Castlewood, Virginia, ending Browning and Steele's second reign.

2007 - Matt Sydal defeats Masato Yoshino in Kobe, Japan for the Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Title.

2007 - Osaka Pro Wrestling held "Osaka Hurricane 2007" at Gran Cube Osaka in Osaka, Japan. The results were:
- Daisuke Harada defeated Robert Tanaka.
- Condor and Kazushi defeated Atsushi Kotoge and La Uchida.
- Super Dolphin defeated Asian Cougar.
- Gunsou Suuchi won a 10-man battle royal, last eliminating Kuishinbo Kamen and Miracle Man, to win the vacant OPW World's Best Attraction Title. Other participants were: Don Arakawa, Dingo, Ebessan, Takaku Fuke, Ice Penguin, Peckey and YUKA.
- Hideyoshi & Masamune defeated OPW Tag Team Champions GAINA & Zeus and Flush Moon & Tsubasa in a three-way elimination match to win the title, beginning their second reign.
- The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin defeated Gran Hamada and Ultimo Dragon.
- Tigers Mask defeated OPW Champion Billy Ken Kid to win the title, ending his second reign.

You can write Ryan Martinez at freshprinceofatlanta@gmail.com.

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