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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: HART RETURNS TO WWF AND ATTACKS HBK, ECW'S FOURTH BARBED WIRE MATCH AND MORE

December 7th

On this day in history in ....

1973 - Johnny Powers & Pat Patterson come to Japan for a tour and are billed as National Wrestling Federation North American Tag Team Champions, making them the first team to hold the belts without actually winning them in a tournament or match.

1981 - Junkyard Dog defeats The Great Kabuki in New Orleans, Louisiana for the Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Title, beginning his third reign with the belt.

1987 - NBC taped WWF's 14th Saturday Night's Main Event program at the Landover Arena in Landover, Maryland. The show would air on January 2, 1988. The show saw the following results:
- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeat King Kong Bundy with a legdrop.  After the match, Andre The Giant attacked Hogan.
- WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force (Rick Martel & Tito Santana) defeat The Bolsheviks (Boris Zuhkov & Nikolai Volkoff) in two straight falls of a three falls match.  Martel made Zuhkov submit to a Boston crab to win the first fall, and Santana pinned Zuhkov after he collided with Volkoff to win the second. 
- Jake Roberts defeat Sika with a rollup.  After the match, Roberts DDT'd manager Mr. Fuji.
- Greg Valentine defeated Koko B. Ware with a figure four leglock.

1987 - Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura defeat Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch to win the New Japan Pro Wrestling's Japan Cup Tag League in Tokyo.

1988 - The NWA held their fourth Clash Of The Champions event, subtitled "Seasons Beatings" at the UTC Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here are the results of the show, which was aired lived on TBS:
- The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton) defeated Eddie Gilbert & Ron Simmons in a tournament final to win the United States Tag Team Title. The belts had been vacated the previous September when then-champions The Midnight Express won the NWA World Tag Team Title.
- Steve Williams defeated The Italian Stallion.
- Ivan Koloff defeated Paul Jones. Koloff had to wrestle with one hand tied behind his back.
- Road Warrior Animal defeated Dusty Rhodes by disqualification. As a result, The Road Warriors gained possession of the World Six Man Tag Team Title that they had shared with Rhodes. They selected Genichiro Tenryu as their new partner.
- Ric Flair & Barry Windham defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) when Windham pinned Eaton.

1989 - Riki Choshu defeats Shinya Hashimoto to win New Japan Pro Wrestling's World Cup Tournament in Tokyo, Japan at Sumo Hall. Choshu defeats Masahiro Chono in the semifinals, while Hashimoto defeated Steve Williams.

1990 - Terry Gordy & Steve Williams win the All Japan World Tag Team Title by winning the annual Real World Tag League tournament in Tokyo, Japan. The belts had been vacated in July when The Great Kabuki (who held the belts with Jumbo Tsuruta) jumped with Genichiro Tenryu to SWS (Super World Sports). William & Gordy defeat Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey on the final night of the tournament, winning the tournament by one point.

1992 - Leslie Belanger defeats Miss Texas in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA Women's Heavyweight Title, ending Miss Texas' fourth reign as champion.

1996 - Raven defeats The Sandman in a Barbed Wire match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the ECW Arena to win the ECW World Heavyweight Title for a second time. This was the fourth no-ropes barbed wire match in ECW history (there were only five total in ECW). This would end Sandman's fourth ECW Title reign, and it would be over four years before he would win it back.

1997 - WWF held their D-Generation X Pay-per-view in Springfield, Massachusetts at the Civic Center. This event saw the return of Owen Hart to WWF television for the first time since the Survivor Series "Montreal Screwjob" the previous month. Here are the results:
- TAKA Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher with the Michinoku Driver in the finals of a month long tournament to win the WWF World Light Heavyweight Title. TAKA defeated Devon Storm and Mr. Aguila to reach the finals, while Christopher defeated Flash Flanagan and Scott Taylor (Scott 2 Hotty).
- Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez, Jesus Castillo & Jose Estrada) defeated DOA (Chainz, Skull and Eight Ball) when Estrada pinned Chainz.
- Butterbean defeated Marc Mero via DQ in the fourth round of a Toughman boxing match when Mero hit Butterbean with a lowblow.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Road Dogg defeated The Legion of Doom via DQ when Hawk took a slop bucket from Henry Godwinn (who had come down to interfere) and used it as a weapon.
- Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Sgt. Slaughter in a Bootcamp match with a Pedigree after Chyna gave Slaughter a low blow.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated The Undertaker via DQ when Kane interfered and chokeslammed Jarrett when Jarrett got in his way as he went after Undertaker.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin defeated Rocky Maivia with a stunner.
- Ken Shamrock defeated WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels via DQ when Triple H and Chyna attacked Shamrock as he had Michaels in an anklelock. After the match, Owen Hart came out from the crowd and attacked Michaels, the first time Owen had been seen since Montreal. Sadly, WWF dropped the ball and decided not to to follow-up with a Owen vs. Shawn feud.

2002 - Ring Of Honor held their "Night Of The Butcher" event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are the results:
- Paul E. Normous defeated Mace.
- American Dragon defeated Marcos.
- Paul London defeated Angel Dust.
- Da Hit Squad defeated The Outkast Killaz.
- AJ Styles defeated Jimmy Rave.
- Michael Shane defeated Jeremy Lopez.
- Colt Cabana defeated CM Punk.
- Paul London defeated EZ Money.
- American Dragon defeated Chad Collyer.
- Jose & Joel Maximo defeated Special K, Da Hit Squad, and Jay Briscoe & Amazing Red in a Tag Team Scramble match.
- Divine Storm defeated Jeff Starr & Shockwave.
- Paul London defeated American Dragon.
- Ring Of Honor Champion Xavier defeated AJ Styles.
- Homicide & Abdullah The Butcher defeated The Carnage Crew.

2008 - Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is crowned the first (and to date, only) champion of Hulk Hogan's "Celebrity Championship Wrestling" on CMT, a reality show where celebrities trained to be wrestlers under Brutus Beefcake and Brian Knobbs, and were judged by Hulk Hogan.   Rodman, who had wrestled multiple times for WCW and I-Generation in the past, was not a surprise winner.  However, many felt Todd Bridges and Danny Bonaduce were the true standouts of the show, showing a tremendous aptitude for promos and wrestling.

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