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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: SURVIVOR SERIES VS. STARRCADE, DIESEL BEATS BACKLUND IN EIGHT SECONDS, SMW SHUTS DOWN AND MORE

November 26th

On this day in history in ....

1942 - Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Orville Brown for the Midwest Wrestling Association version of World Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas. This was a rematch following a bout where Lewis beat Brown on November 5th.

1960 - Al Costello & Roy Heffernan defeats Johnny Valentine & Chief Big Heart for the United States Tag Team Title, which is the forerunner to the WWF World Tag Team Title.

1981 - Mid South Wrestling ran the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here are the results:
- Terry Orndorff defeated Don Serrano.
- Jerry Novak defeated Tony Charles.
- Ed Wiskowski defeated Jimmy Garvin.
- Frank Monte & Barbi Doll defeated Ricky Ferrara & Diamond Lil.
- The Iron Sheik defeated King Cobra.
- Ernie Ladd defeated Kerry Von Erich via countout.
- Dusty Rhodes defeated The Great Kabuki.
- Mid South Wrestling North American Champion Ted DiBiase defeated Bob Roop/
- Mid South Wrestling Tag Team Champions Junkyard Dog & Mike George defeated Paul Orndorff & Bob Orton, Jr.

1987 - The first, and only, head-to-head Pay-per-view war between the WWF and NWA/Jim Crockett Promotions, takes place. After years as a live and closed circuit event, the decision was made to turn Starrcade into the very first non-WWF Pay-per-view wrestling event. However, WWF countered them by presenting the very first Survivor Series. Due to WWF's track record with Pay-per-view (Wrestlemania III was the biggest event of its kind on PPV), many cable systems opted to present WWF's event over the unproven Starrcade. The result was Survivor Series pulling in a 7.0 buyrate, while Starrcade (on a lot less systems) did a 3.3. Cable companies stepped in after this showdown and made it clear that they would not allow the companies to go head to head (at least PPV to PPV) again.

The first WWF Survivor Series was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, drawing 21,300 fans to see the first in-ring meeting of Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant since Wrestlemania III. The show was a unique event, as the card was made up of four elimination matches, one of which featured 10 tag teams in one bout.

The fifth annual Starrcade event was the first non-WWF Pay-per-view event, and was presented from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois, drawing 8,000 fans. As with other Starrcade events, the show was also broadcast in closed circuit locations throughout the country. The show also annoyed some longtime NWA fans, as the event was taken out of the South and presented in Chicago. Here are the results of the show:
- Sting, Michael Hayes, & Jimmy Garvin vs. Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner, & Larry Zbysko ended in a 15-minute draw just as Hayes had Gilbert pinned with a sunset flip.
- UWF Champion Steve Williams defeated Westen States Champion Barry Windham (only the UWF belt was on the line) when Windham missed a flying bodypress and Williams cradled him for the win.
- The Rock N' Roll Express defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) in a Scaffold match.
- NWA World Television Champion Nikita Koloff defeated UWF Television Champion Terry Taylor to unify the titles with the Russian Sickle.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated The Road Warriors via DQ. The Road Warriors actually got the pin, but original referee Tommy Young (who was knocked out during the match) reversed the decision and disqualified the Warriors for throwing Arn over the top rope before the pinfall. The Chicago crowd (Warriors were billed as being from Chicago) chanted "Bulls***" and many feel this "Dusty Finish" killed Chicago as an NWA town.
- Dusty Rhodes defeated Lex Luger in a Steel Cage match to win the NWA United States Title with a DDT on a chair.
- Ric Flair defeated Ronnie Garvin in a Steel Cage match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title with a Hot Shot into the cage.

1987 - World Class Championship Wrestling held their Thanksgiving Star Wars card in Dallas, Texas at Reunion Arena. Here are the results from the show:
- Tim Brooks defeated Vic Steamboat.
- Kerry Von Erich defeated The Thing.
- Frankie Lancaster defeated Al Madril.
- The Spoiler defeated Tony Falk.
- Chris Adams & Matt Borne defeated The Iron Sheik & The Thing via DQ.
- Shaun Simpson defeated Eric Embry to win the World Class Light Heavyweight Title.
- Kevin Von Erich defeated Al Perez in a Texas Death Match.
- Kerry Von Erich defeated Brian Adias.
- Kerry Von Erich defeated Al Perez.

1994 - Three days after winning the WWF World Title from Bret Hart, Bob Backlund loses the title in Madison Square Garden in New York City to Diesel (Kevin Nash), who had turned babyface three days earlier (at Survivor Series) as well. Backlund, who had come out earlier in the show for a rambling interview, came out for his match and lost in eight seconds, with Diesel kicking him in the gut, hitting a Jacknife powerbomb, and pinning him. Later in the show, Diesel came back out, got on the mic, and said "Big Daddy Cool says thank you."

1995 - After over four years of running shows, Smoky Mountain Wrestling held it's final event, Thanksgiving Thunder in Cookeville, Tennessee. The promotion, run by Jim Cornette, was very reminiscent of an old-school territory, taping TV once a month and then running a loop of house shows in the same Kentucky-Tennessee market. At the close of the final show, all of the wrestlers attacked Jim Cornette, hitting him with their finishing maneuvers, and laying him out in the ring. Referee Mark Curtis (the late Brian Hildebrand, who was Cornette's right hand man in running SMW), then, fittingly, pinned Cornette, while the wrestlers counted three, ending SMW forever.

1995 - WCW's World War 3 Pay-per-view took place at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Here are the results:
- WCW Television Champion Johnny B. Badd defeated Diamond Dallas Page.
- Big Bubba Rogers defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a Taped Fist match.
- Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto defeated Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki when Nakano pinned Ozaki.
- WCW United States Champion Kensuke Sasaki defeated Chris Benoit.
- Lex Luger defeated Randy Savage via submission.
- Sting defeated Ric Flair via submission.
- Randy Savage won the 60-man, three ring World War 3 Battle Royal.

2000 - WCW's Mayhem Pay-per-view was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Cellular Arena. Here are the results:
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Mike Sanders defeated Kwee Wee.
- Three Count (Shannon Moore & Shane Helms) defeated Evan Karagias & Jamie Knoble and The Jung Dragons in a triangle match when Shane Helms pinned Yang.
- Mancow defeated Jimmy Hart.
- WCW Hardcore Champion Crowbar defeated Reno and Big Vito in a Triangle match when he pinned Reno.
- Rey Mysterio, Jr. & Billy Kidman defeated Alex Wright & Kronik in a Handicap match when Kidman pinned Wright.
- Ernest Miller defeated Shane Douglas.
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated A-Wall.
- General Rection defeated Lance Storm to win the WCW United States Title.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Buff Bagwell.
- Kevin Nash & Diamond Dallas Page defeated Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak to win the WCW World Tag Team Title when Nash pinned Stasiak. The belts were later returned to Palumbo & Stasiak.
- Bill Goldberg defeated Lex Luger.
- Scott Steiner defeated Booker T in a Straight Jacket Steel Cage match to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title.

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