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On this day in history in ....
1917 - Frank Gotch, an early professional wrestling great who many feel was the first true crossover celebrity into the mainstream entertainment world, died of kidney failure brought on by Uremic Poisoning at the age of 38 (some reports list him as being 40).
1949 - Verne Gagne defeats Leo Newman in Houston, Texas to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title.
1954 - Ray Villmer defeats Joe Dusek in Kansas City, Kansas to win the NWA Central States Title.
1971 - Ole Anderson defeats Jack Brisco in Tampa, Florida for the NWA Florida Television Title, ending Brisco's second reign with the belt.
1984 - Blue Panther defeats El Matematico in Mexico City, Mexico for the UWA World Welterweight Title.
1987 - The WWF held their second annual "Slammy Awards" in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Caesar's Palace. Here are the winners:
Best Performance by an Animal: George Steele
Woman of the Year: Miss Elizabeth
Best Ring Apparel: Harley Race (This was followed by Race brawling with Hacksaw Duggan, who was presenting the award. For the rest of the show, Race and Duggan brawled all over the building and backstage, while Gorilla Monsoon, following them with a camera crew, provided commentary.)
Hulk Hogan Real American Award: Billy Graham
Jesse "The Body" Award: Rick Rude
Greatest Hit: Jim Duggan
Manager of the Year: Presenter Gorilla Monsoon announced that the envelope was empty, so there was no winner, ticking off Bobby Heenan, Mr. Fuji, Jimmy Hart, and Slick.
Best Personal Hygiene: Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zuhkov and Slick
Best Vocal Performance:
Song of the Year: There was no winner, as Sika the Samoan ate the envelope.
Best Group: One Man Gang
Humanitarian of the Year: Ted DiBiase (the story was that he bought the award)
Best Head: Gene Okerlund and Bam Bam Bigelow
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award: Islanders Haku and Tama, Andre the Giant, Hercules, King Kong Bundy, and Harley Race (who were all managed by Heenan at the time).
This was the infamous program where Vince McMahon sang "Stand Back", footage that still haunts many fans to this day.
1990 - WCW held their Starrcade Pay-per-view at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri. The show centered around the Pat O'Conner International Tag Team Tournament, and also featured an end to the months-long storyline of the "Black Scorpion" that had been hounding WCW World Champion Sting, claiming to be someone from his past. Here are the results from the show:
- In a match held before the PPV broadcast, Bill Irwin defeated TC Carter.
- Bobby Eaton defeated Tom Zenk with a small package after Zenk missed a top rope dropkick.
- Tag Team Tournament, First Round: Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Sgt. Krueger (Matt Borne) & Col. DeKlerk (Rocco Rock) when Scott pinned DeKlerk with a Frankensteiner.
- Tag Team Tournament, First Round: Konnan & Rey Misterio defeated Chris Adams & Norman Smiley when Konnan pinned Smiley with a superplex.
- Tag Team Tournament, First Round: The Great Muta & Mr. Saito defeated Jack Victory & Rip Morgan when Muta pinned Victory with a German suplex.
- Tag Team Tournament, First Round: Victor Zangiev & Salman Hashimikov defeated Danny Johnson & Troy Montour when Hashimikov defeated Montour via submission with an armbar.
- Michael Wallstreet defeated Terry Taylor with a Samoan Drop.
- The Skyscrapers (Dan Spivey & Sid Vicious) defeated Big Cat & Motor City Madman in one minute when Vicious pinned Madman after a double powerbomb.
- Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton defeated Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin when Morton pinned Garvin with a rollup after manager Little Richard Marley's interference backfires. The Freebirds would beat up Marley afterwards for the mistake.
- Tag Team Tournament, Semifinals: Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Konnan & Rey Mysterio when Rick pinned Mistero with a powerbomb as Misterio went for a rana.
- Tag Team Tournament, Semifinals: The Great Muta & Mr. Saito defeated Victor Zangiev & Salman Hashimikov when Saito pinned Zangiev with a backdrop driver.
- Lex Luger defeated Stan Hansen in a Bullrope match to win the NWA United States Title by touching all four corners. The referee was knocked out as Luger touched the fourth, and a second referee came out and declared Hansen the winner after seeing him touch all four corners, but the first referee woke up and said he say Luger touch four corners first, so he was declared the winner.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom vs. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham (subbing for Ric Flair) in a street fight ended in a no-contest when Windham pinned Ron Simmons with a small package and Butch Reed pinned Anderson with a clothesline at the same time.
- Tag Team Tournament Finals, Rick & Scott Steiner defeated The Great Muta & Mr. Saito when Rick pinned Saito with a sunset flip as Saito was putting Scott in a sleeper to win the tournament.
- NWA World Champion Sting defeated The Black Scorpion with a flying bodypress in a steel cage match. Dick The Bruiser was the special referee, and after the match a slew of Scorpions attacked Sting and Bruiser. Barry Windham and Arn Anderson finally jointed the brawl, and the Scorpion that Sting defeated was unmasked to reveal Ric Flair.
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