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December 22nd
On this day in history in ....
1917 - Wladek Zbyszko defeats Ed "Strangler" Lewis in a
tournament final to stake his unrightful claim as the World Heavyweight Champion
in New York City, New York. He would lose to the rightful champion, Earl Caddock
on February 8, 1918 in Des Moines, Iowa.
1941 - Wild Red Berry defeats Billy Varga to win the NWA World Light
Heavyweight Title in Hollywood, California, beginning his fourth reign.
1950 - Frank Stojack defeats Leo Wallick in Tacoma, Washington to win the
Pacific Northwest Junior Heavyweight Title for the third time.
1954 - Rikidozan becomes the first and only Japanese Heavyweight Champion
in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Masahiko Kimura. The title would be abandoned on
August 27, 1958 when Rikidozan defeats Lou Thesz for the NWA International
Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California.
1956 - Enrique Torres and Ronnie Etchison defeat Ben and Mike Sharpe for
the San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team Title in Fresno, California,
ending the Sharpes' 12th reign.
1959 - The Red Raider (Pedro Godoy) defeats Ray Villmer to win the
Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida, ending
Villmer's second reign.
1960 - Bill Monroe defeats Mike Clancy for the NWA Southern Junior
Heavyweight Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1969 - Mr. Saito defeats Dale Lewis to win the Florida Heavyweight Title
in Tampa, Florida.
1970 - Tarzan Tyler defeats Dusty Rhodes for the Florida Brass Knuckles
Title in Tampa, Florida.
1971 - The Australians (Larry O'Day and Ron Miller) defeat The Alaskans
(Mike York and Frank Monte) to win the Florida Tag Team Title in Miami, Florida,
beginning the Australians' third reign.
1972 - Tarzan Tyler wins a tournament to win the vacant Florida Brass
Knuckles Title in Tampa, Florida. The title had been stripped from champion
Dusty Rhodes for his violence towards NWA President Sam Muchnick.
1979 - Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk defeat Invaders I and II for the WWC
Tag Team Title in Bayamón, Puerto Rico,
beginning and ending both team's second reigns.
1980 - Bill Dundee and Tommy Rich defeat Guy Mitchell and Roger Kirby for
the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.
1984 - Tony St. Clair wins a tournament to become the first Catch
Wrestling Association World Middleweight Title in Bremen, Germany.
1990 - Bull Power defeats Otto Wanz to win the Catch Wrestling
Association World Heavyweight Title in Bremen, Germany, ending Wanz's fourth
reign and begin Power's third.
1991 - Ricky Rice defeats The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) for the Pro
Wrestling America Light Heavyweight Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ending The
Kid's second reign.
1996 - Buddy Wayne defeats Bart Sawyer to win the Championship Wrestling
USA Television Title in Vancouver, Washington, beginning and ending each man's
fourth reign.
1997 - Long before Kevin Nash let Hulk Hogan pin him with the push of a finger, WWF did a similar angle during an edition of Raw (show was taped on December 11th). Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, at the start of the show, ordered Shawn Michaels to defend the WWF European Title against DX partner Triple H. During the show, tensions seemed to rise between the two, with Michaels calling Helmsley a loser and saying he could never beat him in a match. When the bout took place at the end of the show, Michaels simply laid down in the ring and let Triple H pin him for the title, showing the argument to all be an act.
The rest of the show, which scored a 3.1 rating, saw the following results: The Headbangers defeated The Godwinns via DQ. ... Undertaker defeated Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia via DQ. ... Marc Mero defeated Scott Taylor. ... Kurrgan defeated Eight Ball. ... Ken Shamrock defeated D'Lo Brown.
However, Nitro beat out Raw, scoring a 3.5 for a show that featured the
following: Randy Savage defeated Lex Luger. ... Buff Bagwell defeated Chris
Jericho. ... Harlem Heat defeated Scotty Riggs & Lodi. ... U.S. Champion
Curt Hennig defeated Television Champion Disco Inferno. The TV belt was not on
the line. ... Rick Steiner defeated Scott Norton via DQ. ... Chris Benoit
defeated Van Hammer via DQ. ... Rey Mysterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera & Hector
Garza defeated La Parka, Psicosis & Silver King. ... Steve McMichael
defeated Meng. ... Fit Finlay defeated Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero via
countout.
1997 - Gedo and Jado defeat Ryuji Yamakawa and Yoshihiro Tajiri to win
the Big Japan Pro Wrestling Tag Team Title in Isezaki, Japan.
1998 - New Jersey Devil defeats Fumar for the House of Pain Wrestling
Federation Cruiserweight Title in Hagerstown, Maryland.
2000 - In Nashville, Tennessee, Mike Rapada defeats Sabu to win the NWA
World Heavyweight Title for the second time. Also, Bad Attitude (Rick Michaels
and David Young) defeat Air Paris and Rob Williams to gain recognition in
Nashville as the NWA World Tag Team Champions. They had recognition elsewhere
previously.
2000 - A Christmas Day edition of Raw was taped in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, featuring Raven winning the Hardcore Title. Champion Steve
Blackman pinned Hardcore Holly on the hood of a car in a three way match with
Raven to retain the title, but Raven then hit him with a 2x4 and pinned him for
the belt, taking advantage of the "24/7" rule for the belt. This was
the first of an eventual 27 Hardcore Title wins for Raven and ended Blackman's
fourth reign.
2001 - A.J. Styles defeats Rick Michaels for the NWA Wildside Heavyweight
Title in Cornelia, Georgia.
2001 - Sasuke and Sasuke the Great defeat Dick Togo and Gedo to win the
Universal Wrestling Association/Universal Wrestling Federation Intercontinental
Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2002 - Reina Takase defeats Mika Nishio to win the All Japan Women's
Junior Title in Kawasaki, Japan. At the same event, Kayo Noumi defeats noki-A
for the All Japan Women's All-Pacific Title.
2002 - Smackdown was taped in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Chris Benoit
defeating The Big Show with a diving headbutt to earn a World Title match with
Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble.
2002 - Taro (Kevin Lyon) defeats Super Dragon to win the Revolution Pro
Wrestling Junior Heavyweight Title in City of Industry, California.
2005 - Derrick Neikirk defeats Mike (The Miz) Mizanin for the Deep South
Heavyweight Title in McDonough, Georgia.
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