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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: HARLEM HEAT BECOME THE FIRST NINE-TIME WCW TAG CHAMPS, FUNK TRIES TO SUFFOCATE FLAIR, ORTON'S TITLE REIGN ENDS AND MORE

September 12th

On this day in history in ....

1970 - WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeats Crusher Verdu in a Texas Death match at the Boston Garden in Massachusetts. 

1982 - Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle defeated Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki in a tournament final for the NWA World Tag Team Title. Well, not really. This was totally fictitious, as Baba & Inoki weren't even a tag team at the time. This was simply the NWA's way of putting the title on Slaughter & Kernodle after previous tag team champions Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen split up.

1988 - The Samoan Swat Team (Fatu & Samu) defeat John Tatum & Jimmy Jack Funk (Jesse Barr) to win the World Class Championship Wrestling Texas Tag Team Title. 

1989 - Clash of the Champions VIII was held in Columbia, South Carolina at the USC Carolina Coliseum. Here are the results: 
- The Road Warriors defeated The Samoan Swat Team when Hawk pinned Fatu after a Doomsday Device.
- Tom Zenk defeated The Cuban Assassin via sleeperhold.
- Sid Vicious defeated Ranger Ross.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions The Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) defeated Rick & Scott Steiner.
- Brian Pillman defeated Norman the Lunatic.
- Steve Williams defeated Mike Rotundo.
- United States Champion Lex Luger defeated Tommy Rich.
- Sting & Ric Flair defeated Dick Slater & The Great Muta via disqualification when Terry Funk interfered and tried to choke Ric Flair by putting a plastic bag on his head.

1999 - WCW Fall Brawl was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Here are the results:
- Rey Mysterio Jr., Eddie Guerrero & Billy Kidman defeated Vampiro & The Insane Clown Posse when Kidman pinned Vampiro after a Guerrero hit a missile dropkick and Kidman followed with the shooting star press.
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Lenny Lane defeated Kaz Hayashi with a full nelson into a forward legsweep.
- Hugh Morrus & Brian Knobbs defeated Dean Malenko & Shane Douglas in a no disqualifications match when Morrus pinned Malenko with a moonsault.
- WCW Television Champion Rick Steiner defeated Perry Saturn with a top rope bulldog.
- Berlyn defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan with a neckbreaker.
- Harlem Heat defeated Barry & Kendall Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Title when Booker pinned Kendall with a missile dropkick. With this victory, Harlem Heat became the first ever nine-time WCW World Tag Team Champions.
- Sid Vicious defeated Chris Benoit to win the United States Title with a powerbomb after Benoit missed a top rope dropkick.
- Bill Goldberg defeated Diamond Dallas Page with a spear and jackhammer.
- Sting defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title with the Scorpion Deathlock after hitting Hogan with a baseball bat. The match saw interference from Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, and Diamond Dallas Page. This match made Sting a six-time WCW World Champion.

2003 - Takashi Sugiara defeats Michael Modest in Tokyo, Japan to win the Pro Wrestling Noah Junior Heavyweight Title.

2004 - WWE held their Unforgiven PPV. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show: 

WWE's Unforgiven (9/12 from Portland, OR) proved to be a thumb's in the middle show from my perspective. There was one real good match and one that was horrible. Everything else was average-to-decent TV type action, including the main event. It was once again clear that they rushed way too fast into the Triple H vs. Randy Orton deal. It was basically standard stuff other than the ladder match. The live crowd was strange. It got hot on occasion but at other times was very cool. Commentary from Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler was fine.

CHRIS BENOIT & WILLIAM REGAL defeated RIC FLAIR & BATISTA in 15:05. Really strange seeing Benoit in an opening match after being RAW World Champion for five months. He went for a crossface early, but Batista made the ropes. Regal tagged in against Batista and they had a major style clash. Flair came in and traded hard chops with Benoit. The live crowd, as always, was into that. Flair took a backdrop. He also took his face-first bump after a series of shots from Benoit. Regal returned, but Flair raked his eyes and chop blocked him. Benoit managed to tag back in and he sent Flair into another face-first bump with an enzuigiri. Benoit tried for the sharpshooter on Batista but he powered out. Flair & Batista cornered Regal and put a beating on him. Flair hooked the figure four. Benoit made the save. Benoit chopped Flair some more and backdropped him again. He did the triple Germans on Flair, and also did one on Batista when he ran in. Benoit put the crossface on Flair, with Batista breaking it up. Batista gave Regal a spinebuster. Regal suffered a busted lip. Batista and Regal ended up fighting out on the floor as Flair laid Benoit out and went for the figure four. Benoit countered it and hooked the crossface. Flair, always the fall guy, submitted. Average opener with decent heat.

Backstage, Christian and Trish Stratus were arguing. Trish wanted Tyson Tomko to accompany her to the ring for her women's title defense, but Christian wanted Tomko to stay backstage with him in case Chris Jericho attacked. Trish said Tomko needed to be out there with her in case she was attacked from behind. Christian said it wouldn't be the first time she's taken it from behind. Tomko didn't know which side to take, but then Trish came on to him and promised some favors to him in the locker room later. Tomko looked at Christian and said, "good luck", as he left with Trish. Christian compained that Trish really is a slut.

TRISH STRATUS defeated VICTORIA in 8:20 to retain the women's title. Victoria did a hip toss. Trish hit some kicks. Victoria dropped Trish across her knee and kicked her out to the floor. Victoria tried to go out after Trish but Tomko protected her. Trish posted Victoria and kicked her hard. Trish scored some twos. Victoria scored twos of her own with a sideslam and a standing moonsault. Victoria headbutted Trish and then made the mistake of doing a plancha onto Tomko out on the floor. Tomko tossed her right back in, where Trish nailed her with the stratusfaction for the pin. An okay women's match, but it had little heat. Afterward, Tomko was planning to slam Victoria but the "mystery woman" ran in and DDT'd him for the save.

TYSON TOMKO beat STEVEN RICHARDS in 6:25. Tomko got on the mic and demanded that the "mystery woman" come out and fight him. To prove he wasn't a complete idiot, he called "her" a cross-dressing hermaphrodite. Poor JR & Lawler had to walk the thin line between pretending not to know the obvious and breaking kayfabe. The "mystery woman" returned and the impromptu match began. Tomko quickly stripped off the dress to reveal a bra & unsexy panty clad Richards. Lawler noted the, uh, bulge in the panties to indicate that the "mystery woman" was a male. The crowd hated this match, and I mean they really hated it. And they were right, because it sucked. Tomko tossed Richards around, seemingly forever, calling him a punk and a big sissy. Richards put a claw hold on Tomko's crotch and rallied briefly. Then, for reasons no one knows, Richards went to pick up his bra (which had fallen off) and Tomko gave him a swinging neckbreaker for the pin. Horrible match.

CHRIS JERICHO defeated CHRISTIAN in a ladder match in 22:28 to win the vacant IC Title. It was announced that no one would be allowed at ringside for this match, to explain Trish & Tomko's absence. They brawled at first. Jericho hit two suplexes. Jericho vaulted Christian high over the top and out to the floor. Jericho threw a ladder at him but the post got in the way and that spot sort of looked bad. Jericho hit an enzuigiri on Christian and successfully hit him with the ladder. They brawled over the rail and into the crowd. Jericho used a cable to choke Christian, which was legal since this match was no-DQ. Christian hit an umprettier on Jericho on the floor, and took the opening to try and climb to retrieve the belt. Jericho pulled him down. Each took turns ramming the other into the ladder. They took some stiff blows here. Christian tried to climb again but Jericho stopped him and then threw the ladder on him. Jericho climbed to the top rope and rode the ladder down onto Christian. That looked scary. Christian recovered and used the ladder on Jericho. Christian started to climb, but came back down when Jericho flipped him off. That spot didn't look all that sensible. Jericho dropkicked the ladder into Christian. He then bulldogged Christian on the ladder and sandwiched him using the ladder. Jericho went for the lionsault and landed on the ladder. He sold his knee big time, and really there's no way to protect yourself on a spot like that. Christian climbed and grabbed the belt but couldn't get it loose. Jericho pulled the ladder away, leaving Christian hanging from the belt. He then used the ladder to knock Christian off for a killer bump. The crowd, which had been amazingly cool for most of this match, erupted into a Y2J chant. Jericho tried to climb. Christian turned the ladder over. Christian went up, and Jericho caught him and put a form of the walls hold on him on the ladder before both bumped off. Jericho went up again and almost got the belt, but he took a seriously dangerous bump when Christian knocked the ladder over. Jericho just missed serious injury when he landed partly on the ladder. Next, both went up separate ladders, and both bumped off hard. Jericho recovered first and climbed to successfully retrieve the belt for the win. Great match and great effort by both guys. Clearly the show's highlight.

Todd Grisham went to Kane's locker room to interview him. Lita came out and ran Kane down, expressing hope that Shawn Michaels would hospitalize him. Kane arrived and informed Lita that Eric Bischoff had made the match a no-DQ bout. He forced a kiss on her and dragged her off to the ring. This begged the eternal question: Why do male wrestlers who are having troubles with their valets, wives, girlfriends, or whatever, take them to the ring with them?

Jonathan Coachman interviewed Jericho, who was clearly in legit pain from his match. He put over being the first ever seven time IC champ. Edge arrived and said Jericho's win was hollow since he didn't beat the champ to get the belt. He promised to take the title back once he heals up. Jericho said he'll be ready.

SHAWN MICHAELS defeated KANE in the no-DQ match in 18:01. Kane started with brawling. The Heartbreak Kid hit a Thesz press and pounded Kane with fists. HBK kicked Kane out to the floor, where Kane went for a lariat but ended up hitting the post. Back in the ring, HBK came off the top but was caught with a fist. Kane hit a lariat, and then went out to argue with Lita, who was cheering for HBK. HBK hit him with a plancha. Kane used Lita as a shield to block further HBK aggression. Kane slammed HBK on the Spanish broadcast desk. The desk didn't break, so Kane slammed him again and this time it did break. Returning to the ring, Kane did his methodical offense, pounding HBK with legdrops and slams, and whipping him into the corner to hurt his bad back. Kane scored some twos. Kane hit a neckbreaker and a lariat. HBK came back with a DDT and a flying forearm. Kane hurled HBK into the corner and he took the Flair flip bump out to the floor. Kane rammed HBK into the stairs and he juiced. Kane got a chair but HBK blocked the shot. Kane hit a big elbow to HBK's face. HBK posted Kane and hit an elbow off the top. The crowd finally started getting into the match, as their pattern seemed to be to wait for the closing minutes to get hot. HBK went for the sweet chin music, but Kane outmaneuvered him and caught him with a boot to the face for a two count. Kane hit a lariat off the top. HBK used a low blow to block a chokeslam. HBK hit Kane with a hard chairshot, but then went down himself, I guess from exhaustion. Kane revived first and got the chair. Lita struggled with him over it, allowing HBK to recover and hit the chin music for the pin. Overall a decent match, especially the closing couple of minutes.

Grisham interviewed HHH, who took full credit for making Randy Orton into a star. It was the standard HHH bragging promo. He said he'll spit in everyone's face the way Orton spat in his.

LA RESISTANCE defeated RHYNO & TAJIRI to retain the RAW World Tag Titles in 9:40. Tajiri and Sylvan Grenier started off with mat action. Rhyno backdropped Rob Conway. Conway evaded the gore. Rhyno got tied up for a while in the heel corner. Tajiri tagged in and kicked Conway hard. Tajiri got doubled on, and the crowd chanted "USA" for him. Rhyno hot tagged and cleaned house. He put Grenier down with a spinebuster, with Conway making the save. The match sort of got lost for the closing minutes. Tajiri hit Grenier in the balls with the Quebec flagpole. Rhyno gored Grenier, but Conway put Grenier's boot on the rope to stop the count. Grenier then hit Rhyno with the flagpole and scored the pin, even though the ref should have seen Grenier tossing the flag away after the blow. Basically, a standard match.

TRIPLE H defeated RANDY ORTON to capture the RAW World Title in 24:43. HHH shoved Orton. Orton slapped him twice. They brawled with fists. Orton hit a backdrop and sent HHH crashing out to the floor. HHH returned and was caught with some uppercuts. HHH hit a chop block, posted Orton, and went after Orton's left knee. HHH worked the knee over for a few minutes in the methodical, old school style. Orton rallied but HHH put him down with a facebuster for a near fall. HHH hooked the figure four. He held it for a long time, with the idea being to put over Orton's toughness, as he didn't submit despite his injured knee. HHH was eventually caught using the ropes for leverage and forced to break the hold. Orton blocked a second attempt by HHH to hook the figure four and sent him careening into the post. HHH juiced. Orton scored twos with a dropkick and a DDT. They traded sleepers. Orton, despite his knee pain, went to the top and hit a high crossbody for a near fall. On the floor, Orton sent HHH into the stairs. Back in the ring, Orton scored a near fall with a neckbreaker. Orton went for the RKO. HHH blocked it and referee Earl Hebner took a bump. HHH went for the pedigree. Orton blocked it and hit the RKO, but of course there was no ref. Flair ran in, with Orton disposing of him. Ditto for Batista. HHH caught Orton with a low blow and Coach ran in wearing a ref shirt to make the count, but Orton kicked out at two. Orton punched Coach. Batista gave Orton a spinebuster. HHH covered him and Coach counted but again it was only two. Orton backdropped HHH and gave Coach an RKO. Flair came in with a chair but Orton RKO'd him. Orton then gave Batista a low blow. HHH, however, caught Orton with a chairshot and then pedigreed him on the chair. Batista revived Hebner and rolled him in to make the count for the title change. I thought this match was okay. It was solid, but slow paced and had little heat until the end, when there was way too much interference. They really rushed into this entire HHH-Orton deal, and this match seemed to take some of the steam out of what strength it had. An okay match, but disappointing as a main event.

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