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December 9th
On this day in history in ....
1986 - Ronnie Garvin & Barry Windham defeat Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khrushchev in Spartansburg, South Carolina to win the NWA United States Tag Team Championship.
1988 - Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Kerry Von Erich for the World Class Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan when Von Erich cannot continue due to blood loss. However, Fujinami refused to accept the belt, and returned the championship to Von Erich the next day.
1991 - Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto defeat Gregory Veritchev & Koba Krutanize in the finals of a tournament to win the FMW-based WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
1995 - Tarzan Goto & Mr. Gannosuke defeat Cactus Jack & Tiger Jeet Singh in the finals of a tournament in Saitama, Japan to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which was being revived by the IWA promotion. However, the belts would be vacated when Goto & Gannosuke left the promotion.
1995 - ECW held their "December To Dismember" event at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, Pennsulvania. The show was headlined by an "Ultimate Jeopardy" cage match, but the big news out of the event was The Sandman winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title by defeating Steve Austin and Mikey Whipwreck in a Three Way Dance. Here are the results of the show:
- Dances With Dudleys & Dudley Dudley defeated The Bad Crew.
- Taz defeated El Puerto Ricano.
- Hack Myers defeated Bruiser Mastino.
- The Eliminators defeated The Pitbulls.
- Raven defeated Tommy Dreamer.
- JT Smith defeated Tony Stetson.
- The Sandman defeated ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Austin in a Three Way Dance to win the title. Austin pinned Whipwreck to eliminate him first, then Sandman pinned Austin to win the title. This was Steve Austin's second, and last, actual match in ECW (the previous month, he lost to Mikey Whipwreck in a singles match) although he did interviews for several more weeks of ECW television before going to the WWF.
- Public Enemy defeated The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Rey & Tom Pritchard).
- In an Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage match, Public Enemy, The Pitbulls & Tommy Dreamer defeated The Heavenly Bodies, The Eliminators, Raven and Stevie Richards when Dreamer pinned Richards. As a result, Richards was locked in the cage with all of his opponents for five minutes.
1997 - Bull Pain defeats Paul Diamond in Louisville, Kentucky to become IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion for the fourth time. The belt had been held up after a match between champion Pain and challenger Diamond ended in a double pin on November 11th. On the same show, Chip Fairway defeats Cash Flo to win the IWA Mid-South Television Title.
2001 - Two championships changed hands on the Pro Wrestling Noah event in Tokyo, Japan. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori defeat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa to win the Global Honored Crown Tag Team Title, while Naomichi Marufuji defeats Tatsuhito Takaiwa for the Global Honored Crown Junior Heavyweight Title.
2001 - WWE held their first Vengeance Pay-per-view in San Diego, California, headlined by Chris Jericho winning a mini-tournament to become the "Undisputed" World Champion. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show:
WWF's Vengeance was a good show, with it's biggest grace being the choice of Chris Jericho as undisputed, which in this case means WWF, World Champion. It would have been all too typical of them to have given us Austin vs. Rock in the finale, but they went with a surprise and it worked. Now, if only they'll give Jericho a chance to get over as a heel Vince McMahon style corporate champion, rather than having him drop the belt to Austin or Rock on RAW or Nitro before the end of the month. All three of the matches for the undisputed title were good, though none were in the match-of-the-year range. That's probably to be expected as at least one participant in each match had to wrestle twice. Rob Van Dam vs. Undertaker was a decent gimmick brawl. The rest of the show was typical TV type matches that you could see on Smackdown. The Hardy vs. Hardy match was disappointing. Commentary was strong from Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler. The crowd was mostly hot, but not always. The opening promo was awesome, with footage of some past WWF greats, including some who are persona non grata.
Vince came out to do a promo about ass kissing. I guess he figured doing one on PPV wouldn't unpop the ratings. He said that one man could ever make him kiss ass, but that he was victimized on Smackdown by Rock, Austin, and Ric Flair all working in synch to force him to kiss Rikishi's ass. He said the fans may be laughing at his humiliation, but reminded them that he who laughs last, laughs best. Flair came out to a pop and said the fans paid to see a PPV show and it's starting right now. Whoooooo! Vince didn't appear to appreciate the interruption.
ALBERT & SCOTTY 2 HOTTY beat TEST & CHRISTIAN in 6:19. Albert & Scotty came out doing a full Too Cool imitation. Lawler kept making jokes about them being white boys who are "fly". The match was plenty stiff, and had good crowd heat. In fact, it was a good opener. Albert did a giant swing on Christian. I still don't think anyone has broken Kyoko Inoue's record on Cutie Suzuki from 1993 at Yokohama Arena. They did a good sequence where Christian tried the worm but got blocked, and it led into a series of spots by all four wrestlers. Scotty later did the worm on Test. Albert won for his team with a Baldo Bomb on Christian.
EDGE beat WILLIAM REGAL to retain the IC Title in 9:07. Regal did a good promo before the match. JR was worried that Regal might have brass knux again but Lawler assured him that wouldn't be possible since Regal flew in and couldn't have gotten knux past airport security. The early part was mat wrestling which didn't get heat. Regal suplexed Edge and pounded him. Edge tried to spear Regal from off the apron but hit the stairs. This allowed Regal to get some knux he had hidden under the apron. However, before he could use them Edge speared him and got the pin.
They did a funny segment where Kurt Angle visited Flair and said Flair was umpteen times WWF, WCW, and NWA champ but he never won a gold medal and was never undisputed champ. Angle kept going on and on about how he'll be undisputed champ by the end of the show. Flair just kept humoring him by saying he agreed, clapping his hands, etc..
Matt Hardy apologized to Lita for dragging her into his rivalry with Jeff. She said that as Matt's girlfriend, she'll always side with him, but as a referee, she has to call it down the middle. Matt said that was okay since he was confident of beating Jeff, and that after it was all over he would take Lita out to celebrate.
JEFF HARDY beat MATT HARDY in 12:30. The match had the least heat of the show, mainly because the fans just don't want to see this. There are some teams that just shouldn't be broken up. Edge & Christian was one. Likewise, imagine the Dudleys being broken up. Anyway, it was a disappointing match. The focus was on special ref Lita trying to call it down the middle, and Matt not liking it. They did a bunch of spots where she forced Matt to break a hold and he looked upset. Jeff sold a knee injury, and Matt went to work on the knee, with Lita trying to get him to back off. They did a couple of standard highspots, but not many. The finish saw Matt try to give Jeff a twist of fate from off the top. Jeff blocked it and Matt crashed to the mat, where Jeff swantoned him. Jeff went for the pin, and Matt draped his leg over the ropes but, naturally, Lita didn't see it and Jeff scored the three count. Matt was furious at Lita afterward.
Trish Stratus went to thank Rock once again and kissed him. Rock said that right now the only thing on his mind is kicking all those candy asses and becoming undisputed champ. But he said that after winning the main event, he'd let Trish smell what the Rock is cooking.
The Dudleys beat Big Show & Kane to retain the WWF Tag Ttiles in 6:49. Stacy Keibler was out there. The match was rapidly approaching five stars just for that. Actually, it was a standard TV type match. The Dudleys sold early for Show & Kane's power moves. Kane came off the top onto both Dudleys on the floor. Stacy came in and Show jerked her shorts down and spanked her pantied behind. The Dudleys came back and did the wazzup, which is no longer called that. It's weird how the WWF practically advertises that all this is staged, but they won't let the Dudleys use the word "wazzup" because it sounds cool and the fans might think the Dudleys aren't "bad guys". Kane accidentally nailed Show with a move off the top rope. Show got mad at Kane. This team's brand new and they're already breaking up. Show then accidentally walloped Kane. The Dudleys ended up 3D'ing Show on an exposed turnbuckle for the pin.
Lita tried to apologize to Matt in the locker room but he wouldn't listen and walked out.
UNDERTAKER defeated ROB VAN DAM in 11:04 to capture the Hardcore Title. They immediately left the ring and brawled through the crowd. UT took a flag from a kid and choked RVD. RVD did a moonsault off a barrier. UT hurled RVD over a rail, and it fell on him. They ended up brawling around the video wall with assorted objects. RVD used a fire extinguisher. UT tried to give RVD a Last Ride off the ramp but he grabbed the video wall to save himself. RVD hit a Van Daminator. UT used a chair. RVD came off an elevated area with a crossbody. The finish saw UT chokeslam RVD off the ramp through a table for the title win.
Chris Jericho went to Flair's office and vowed to win the undisputed big one. He kept going on and on, too, and Flair just said, if you can win, more power to you.
They aired a great HHH video.
TRISH STRATUS beat JACKIE in 3:34 to retain the Women's Title. The crowd wanted puppies. So did Lawler. They tried a lot of stuff and looked like they hurt each other a few times. Trish won with a backslide.
Rikishi did a promo at WWF New York. He said he nearly had to have Vince's head surgically removed from his ass after the ass kissing scene on Smackdown. He said he's ready to back up his ass again.
STEVE AUSTIN beat KURT ANGLE in 15:00 to retain the WWF World Title. JR went through a quick pseudo-history of world title lineage, mentioning Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt and how by the 1930's there were several claimants to the world title. He kind of contradicted the show's theme by later saying Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt had been for an undisputed title. Austin immediately attacked Angle and pounded him. He also flipped him off. Angle brawled back but Austin hurled him out. Angle takes great bumps to the floor. Deadly looking floor bumps are either a sign of a great worker or a lousy one, in this case the former. Angle got the ankle lock but Austin made the ropes. Angle wrapped Austin's leg around a post and also applied the figure four around the post. Lots of chops. Angle hit the multiple German suplexes but missed on a moonsault. Austin hit multiple suplexes of his own. Angle hit his Olympic slam but only scored a two count. He threw a little tantrum as a result, allowing Austin to nail him with a stunner for the pin. Good match!
Trish was primping in front of a mirror when Test came in. She got all upset about him seeing her in a towel, which begs the question of why a cameraman was in there. Anyway, Test said she's the luckiest chick alive since she has a chance to be with a good looking guy like himself. He said he can't be fired, as if he can do whatever he wants. She threw him out. He can't be fired, but he can be thrown out. By the way, why wasn't her door locked?
CHRIS JERICHO beat ROCK to capture the former WCW World Title in 19:04. They traded standard spots until Jericho springboard dropkicked Rock off the apron. Jericho went on offense with suplexes and chops. Rock came back with a Samoan drop. There were some good near falls. Jericho hit a lionsault and shoved the ref when he only got a two count. Rock rolled through on a crossbody in a good spot. They ended up on the floor where Jericho tried to do a Rock Bottom through the broadcast desk. Rock blocked it and DDT'd Jericho through the desk. In the ring, Jericho blocked a Rock Bottom and hit the Breakdown. Jericho went for a People's Elbow, which Rock blocked and turned into a sharpshooter, but Jericho reversed that into the Walls. Rock made the ropes after a struggle. Rock hit a Rock Bottom but was still hurting from the Walls and by the time he went for a cover, Vince had arrived. Rock slugged Vince, gave Jericho a spinebuster, and hit another People's Elbow, dragging Vince into the ring in the process. However, Jericho low blowed Rock and got a pin with a Rock Bottom.
CHRIS JERICHO beat STEVE AUSTIN in 12:34 to become undisputed WWF World Champion. Austin ran in and attacked Jericho, who was exhausted from the prior match, before the bell even rang. Angle ran in and hit Austin with a chair. Rock then gave Jericho a Rock Bottom. Rock chased Angle to the back. The bell finally rang, with both guys laid out. Jericho recovered first. Austin made a comeback and sent Jericho out to the floor. They brawled out there with a lot of chops. Austin lifted up one of the mats and each guy ended up taking a partial bump on the exposed floor. Jericho tried to hook the Walls on the broadcast desk but Austin escaped. Back in the ring, Austin hit the post and sold it as an arm injury for the rest of the match. Jericho hooked the Walls. Austin made the ropes. There was a major ref bump. Jericho gave Austin a low blow and then gave Austin a stunner. Vince ran out and sent corrupt former WCW ref Nick Patrick in but Flair arrived and beat Patrick up. Vince nailed Flair from behind and posted him. Austin recovered and beat Vince up. Austin put the Walls on Jericho and he tapped (a little too quickly) but there was no ref. Booker T Who Doesn't Even Work For The WWF arrived and laid out Austin with the title belt. Jericho pinned Austin as the ref recovered. Good match, even with too much interference. Vince was shown getting the last laugh as his boy Jericho halted both Rock and Austin's Title dreams.
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