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September 8th
On this day in history in ....
1950 - Verne Gagne defeats Miguel Guzman in Houston, Texas for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title, ending Guzman's fifth title reign, and beginning his second run with the belt.
1967 - El Mongol defeats Mr. Wrestling for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, starting his fourth run with the belt.
1979 - Intercontinental Champion Pat Patterson defeats WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via countout in a rare champion vs. champion match in Springfield, Massachusetts.
1983 - Stan Hansen defeats Giant Baba for the Pacific Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title (now part of the All Japan Triple Crown) in Chiba, Japan, ending Baba's third title reign.
1990 - Kim Duk (aka Tiger Chung Lee) defeats Invader #1 for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, ending Invader's fifth title reign.
1991 - The National Wrestling Alliance officially strips Ric Flair of the NWA World Heavyweight Title, only two days before Flair makes his WWF in-ring debut. World Championship Wrestling had stripped Flair of "their title" back in July, when Flair could not come to terms with WCW for a new contract. This would cause the splintering of the WCW and NWA title lineage.
1999 - Brian Hildebrand, better known to fans as referee Mark Curtis, passes away at the age of 37 after a battle with cancer. Hildebrand was one of the backbones of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and went on to work for WCW after SMW had closed. Hildebrand, who worked with Mick Foley and Shane Douglas early in their career at Dominic Denucci's gym, was considered one of the classiest people in the business. A website dedicated to this great man can be found at http://www.brianhildebrand.com/.
2003 - During an edition of Raw in Huntsville, Alabama, Kane defeats Rob Van Dam in a steel cage match. At the start of the match, Kane repeatedly throws Van Dam into the cage, to the point that the cage "breaks" and swings open and Van Dam falls to the floor. He is declared the winner, but Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff orders that the match continue, since the rules stated that you had to win by pinfall, escaping the cage through the door, or by going over the top of the cage. Kane would go on to win with a top rope chokeslam.
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