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December 5th
On this day in history in ....
1977 - Bill Dundee & Norvell Austin defeat Dennis Condrey & Phil Hickerson in Memphis, Tennessee to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title. On the same show, Jerry Lawler defeats Jimmy Valiant for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title, starting his third of an eventual 33 runs with the belt.
2004 - TNA held their "Turning Point" Pay-per-view in Orlando, Florida, featuring Randy Savage's return to in-ring action, and an incredible spot by Elix Skipper, who walked along the top of a steel cage like a tight rope before giving James Storm a rana off of it during the final match of the evening. Mike Johnson's original PPV report is Page 2!
2006 - During an investors conference call, Linda McMahon explained the decision to stop ECW house shows, stating that WWE felt ECW running smaller venues for live events, while a "unique experience" for fans, was not going to help them in building the brand, and that is why they decided to cancel the ECW events and instead pair up ECW and Smackdown, with the idea that ECW will have their own shows again down the road in larger venues. Obviously, a year has passed, and ECW does not have their own house shows, and actually has become even more closely associated with Smackdown, as the two brands now share talent.
An investor asked why WWE isn't running the three brands as separate companies, each with their own budget and management. The caller noted that he sees no difference in the three brands, and the crossovers make it seem like one large product, not three distinct brands. Linda said that they originally split the brands to create separate touring groups. She said that WWE having separate brands has resulted in them creating more stars and has also resulted in licensing growth. Linda said (and boy, was this one a stretch) that WWE has created distinct brands, and that the crossovers enable them to have more interesting storylines and create a greater sense of competition between the brands. She didn't acknowledge the part of the question that brought up the idea of the brands being run independently of each other.
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