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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: AFTER OVER A YEAR OF HYPE, STING VS. HOGAN AT STARRCADE

December 28th

On this day in history in ....

1876 - James Owens defeats James McLaughlin in New York City, New York to win the American Collar-and-Elbow Title, ending McLaughlin's second reign.

1949 - Leroy McGuirk defeats Billy Goelz for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Des Moines, Iowa, ending Goelz's second reign. McGuirk had already been recognized as champion by the National Wrestling Association since 1939.

1959 - Mike Clancy defeats Jackie Fargo to win the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title in Birmingham, Alabama.

1960 - Pancho Villa defeats Lee Fields for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama, ending Fields' third reign and beginning Villa's second.

1961 - Whipper Billy Watson and Yukon Eric defeat Chris and John Tolos to win the Toronto version of the NWA International Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario.

1963 - Chris and John Tolos defeat Killer Kowalski and Gorilla Monsoon for the WWWF United States Tag Team Title IN Teaneck, New Jersey.

1963 - Bob Orton (grandfather of Randy Orton) defeats Eddie Graham in Jacksonville, Florida for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Graham's fourth, and final, reign. This was the first of three runs with the belt for Orton.

1968 - The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser win their fourth AWA World Tag Team Title and third World Wrestling Association Tag Team Title, defeating Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto (Tor Kamata) for both in Chicago, Illinois. This ended Arakawa and Moto's second WWA reign.

1970 - Gene Kiniski defeats Don Leo Jonathan for the Vancouver version NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title in Vancouver, British Columbia, ending Jonathan's second reign and beginning Kiniski's second.

1971 - Dutch Savage defeats Jonathan Boyd to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title, ending Boyd's second reign and beginning Savage's third.

1972 - Rip Hawk defeats Jerry Brisco for the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Title in Greensboro, North Carolina, ending Brisco's second reign and beginning Hawk's fourth.

1973 - Archie Gouldie wins his seventh Stampede North American Heavyweight Title, defeating Omar Atlas in Calgary, Alberta. Due to that win, Gouldie's Eastern Sports Association North American Heavyweight Title was vacated, ending his third reign with that belt.

1975 - Bob Sweetan defeats Rip Tyler for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Pensacola, Florida, ending Tyler's second reign.

1980 - Angelo Mosca defeats Hussein Arab (The Iron Sheik) in Toronto, Ontario to win the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title, ending Arab's second reign and beginning his own second run with the belt.

1980 - Kerry Von Erich (subbing for his injured brother Kevin) defeats Gino Hernandez in Dallas, Texas to win the vacant NWA American Heavyweight Title. The title had been held up on December 20 after a match between Kevin Von Erich and champion Hernandez.

1984 - Ron Garvin defeats Bob Roop in Saginaw, Michigan to win the Georgia version of the NWA World Television Title (formerly NWA Georgia/National Television Title), beginning his fourth reign.

1984 - Terry Taylor defeats Eddie Gilbert to win the CWA International Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Gilbert's second reign.

1987 - The Moondogs (Spike and Spot) defeat Tom Brandi and Prince Mike Kaluha for the International Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title.

1988 - Two International Championship Wrestling titles change hands in Augusta, Maine. Jonathan Boyd ends Joe Savoldi's third ICW Heavyweight Title reign and Robbie Ellis defeats Eric Sbraccia to win his second ICW Light Heavyweight Title.

1989 - Phil Apollo and Eric Sbraccia defeat The Undertaker (Henchman and Punisher) for the ICW Tag Team Title in Portland, Maine, beginning their second reign.

1990 - Super Astro wins his third UWA World Middleweight Title in Tijuana, Mexico, ending the second reign of Yoshihiro Asai.

1992 - WCW held Starrcade '92 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Omni, using the "BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery" concept again of having "random" tag team matches with the winners moving on to a battle royal. The show also featured several non-Lethal Lottery matches. Here are the results:
- In a dark match, Brad Armstrong defeated Shanghai Pierce.
- In a Lethal Lottery tag team match, Van Hammer & Danny Spivey defeated Johnny B. Badd & Cactus Jack when Hammer rolled up Jack for the pin after Badd hit Cactus while they were arguing.
- In a Lethal Lottery tag team match, Big Van Vader & Dustin Rhodes defeated Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian when Rhodes pinned Barbarian after he collided with Sasaki. After the match, Vader attacked Rhodes.
- In a Lethal Lottery tag team match, The Great Muta & Barry Windham defeated Brian Pillman & 2 Cold Scorpio when Muta pinned Scorpio with a moonsault.
- In a Lethal Lottery tag team match, Steve Williams & Sting defeated Jushin Liger & Erik Watts when Williams pinned Watts with a Hot Shot.
- NWA & WCW World Tag Team Champions Shane Douglas & Ricky Steamboat defeated Barry Windham & Brian Pillman when Douglas pinned Windham with a belly-to-belly suplex.
- Sting defeated Big Van Vader to win the King of Cable tournament by powerslamming Vader as he jumped off the top rope.
- WCW World Champion Ron Simmons defeated Steve Williams via DQ. The match ended in a double countout, but the referee disqualified Williams after the bout for continuing to attack Simmons.
- NWA World Champion Masahiro Chono defeated The Great Muta via submission with an STF.
- The Great Muta won the Battlebowl battle royal by eliminating Barry Windham with a dropkick. The match also included Steve Williams, Sting, Big Van Vader, Dustin Rhodes, Van Hammer and Danny Spivey.

1992 - Ron and Don Harris defeat The Moondogs (Spike and Spot) for the USWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending The Moondogs' second reign.

1997 - WCW held Starrcade '97 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., featuring the long awaited showdown between Sting and Hollywood Hulk Hogan after over a year of building to it. Here are the results:
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated Dean Malenko with a frog splash to Malenko's injured knee.
- Scott Hall was having an in-ring interview, with the Giant attacking him.  The Giant was supposed to wrestle Kevin Nash on the show, but Nash wasn't there (which was never quite explained).
- Randy Savage (who was subbing for Konnan), Scott Norton & Vincent defeated Ray Traylor and Rick & Scott Steiner when Savage pinned Scott with a top rope elbow.
- Bill Goldberg defeated Steve McMichael with a jackhammer.
- Perry Saturn (subbing for Raven, who came out and said he didn't feel like wrestling) defeated Chris Benoit in a No DQ match after Raven DDT'd Benoit.
- Buff Bagwell defeated Lex Luger after Scott Norton knocked out Luger.
- Diamond Dallas Page defeated Curt Hennig with a Diamond Cutter to win the WCW United States Title.
- Larry Zbyszko defeated Eric Bischoff via DQ to take control of Monday Nitro. Bret Hart was the guest referee.
- Sting defeated Hulk Hogan via submission to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title. Hogan actually won the match via a fast count from referee Nick Patrick after a legdrop (although it didn't look fast at all, it was sold as being fast, which came across very poorly to the audience). Bret Hart came out to restart the match as referee, saying he wasn't going to let anyone get screwed, and Sting won via submission with the Scorpion Deathlock. The match, the pinnacle of the NWO vs. WCW feud, was considered a disappointment, with the screwy ending annoying many fans who had been waiting over a year for Sting to score a clean win over Hogan in his return to action.

1997 - Yuko Kosugi and Jaguar Yokota defeat Cooga and Leogna in a tournament final to become the first JDStar TWF World Women's Tag Team Champions in Tokyo, Japan.

1998 - The Monday Night Wars continued on. The ratings were very close that night, with WWF RAW is WAR's 4.9 rating edging out WCW Monday Nitro's 4.6. RAW in Albany, New York's main event was WWF Hardcore Champion Road Dogg defeating Mankind after an interfering Rock hit the Rock Bottom on Mankind. Vince McMahon fired WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels after the match. Nitro was in Baltimore, Maryland, and its main event saw Ric Flair defeat Eric Bischoff to become WCW President for the next 30 days. Also, Scott Steiner defeated Konnan to capture his second WCW World Television Title.

1999 - At a SmackDown! taping in Richmond, Virginia, a title match between WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho and Chyna results in a double-pinfall, after Jericho back suplexed Chyna onto a chair, with two referees counting both competitors' shoulders down for three. Stephanie McMahon would rule on the January 3 RAW that Jericho and Chyna were co-Intercontinental Champions.

2001 - Glacier and Jason Sugarman defeat The New Heavenly Bodies (Casanova Chris and Vivacious Vito) to win the NWA World Tag Team Title in Deland, Florida.

2001 - Wrecka defeats Ron Zombie for the Assault Championship Wrestling Hardcore Title in Meridan, Connecticut, ending Zombie's second reign.

2002 - Ring Of Honor held their "Final Battle" event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, headlined by a 45-minute draw between Low Ki, Steve Corino, Samoa Joe and American Dragon in a four-way match.

2002 - Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling holds "Year End Mayhem" at Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- Josh Daniels defeated Matt Striker.
- Jason Knight defeated The Blue Meanie.
- Rob Eckos defeated Damian Adams.
- Kid Kash defeated Syxx-Pac.
- Roadkill defeated Rockin' Rebel.
- Joey Matthews defeated Nosawa.
- Abdullah the Butcher defeated Bam Bam Bigelow.
- Gary Wolfe defeated 3PW Heavyweight Champion Sabu to win the title, beginning his second reign.

2002 - Shark Boy defeats Danny Daniels for the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title in Clarksville, Indiana.

2002 - Rainman defeats Tony Mamaluke in a tournament final to win the NWA Wildside Television Title in Cornelia, Georgia.

2002 - Club International (Seth Knight and Skag Rollins) win their second ECCW Tag Team Title, defeating Larry Blackwell and James Watkins at a Bay Area Wrestling event in Hayward, California, just one day after Blackwell and Watkins won them from Club International.

2002 - Spazman Anthony and Kevin Featherstorm defeat The Highwaymen for the National Wrestling League Tag Team Title in Hagerstown, Maryland, ending The Highwaymen's second reign.

2002 - Ray Idol wins his third Southern States Wrestling Young Guns Television Title in Kingsport, Tennessee, defeating Rick Karloff.

2006 - Phat Blues, Inc. (Kelly Bell and Buzz Stryker) defeat The Bruiser and Genesis for the Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Dundalk, Maryland.

2010 - During a live edition of Raw from Hartford, Connecticut, Vince McMahon officially announced Bret Hart as the Guest Raw Host for the 1/4/10 Raw in Dayton, Ohio. During the announcement, McMahon played an awesome video feature on Hart before bringing up the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, the last time Hart appeared in a WWF ring. At that point, McMahon began heeling Bret to play up the heat from the Screwjob and build their new storyline and declared Hart will "never" be a Guest Host on Raw.  This led to Shawn Michaels coming to the ring and Michaels goading McMahon into officially announcing Hart would return next week, promising McMahon, "Only good things will happen" when Hart returned.

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