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December 4th
On this day in history in ....
1970 - Rey Mendoza defeats John Tolos in Los Angeles, California for the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. That belt is now part of All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown championship.
1973 - Mariko Akagi & Peggy Kuroda defeat Sarah Lee & Sylvia Hackney for the WWWA World Tag Team Title in Osaka, Japan to start their second reign as champions.
1976 - Hercules Ayala & Victor Jovica defeat Higo Hamaguchi & Gordon Nelson in Caguas, Puerto Rico for the WWC North American Tag Team Title.
1978 - Jerry Lawler defeats Don Fargo in Memphis, Tennessee to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Fargo's second reign. For Lawler, this would be the fourth of an eventual thirty-three AWA Southern Heavyweight Title wins.
1979 - Bill Watts defeats Mike George in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to win the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Title. Before you groan over a promoter giving himself the top title in his own territory, realize that Watts would lose it back to George two days later, and never held the title again.
1993 - Kevin Sullivan & Tazmaniac defeat Tommy Dreamer & Shane Douglas (subbing for Johnny Gunn) to win the ECW Tag Team Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when Douglas turned on Dreamer. This would be the first ECW championship held by the Tazmaniac (later Taz, now Tazz in WWE). Ironically, Tazz would lose his last ECW title (the ECW World Heavyweight Title) to Tommy Dreamer in 2000.
1997 - Cash Flo defeats Rollin' Hard for the IWA-Mid South Television Title in Lexington, Kentucky.
1998 - Ian Rotten defeats Corporal Robinson in Salem, Indiana to become a four-time IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion. Within the first few minutes of the match, Ian hit Robinson in the head with a window pane that had florescent light tubes attached to it. It cut an artery above Robinson's temple, and blood was literally spurting out of his head. Ian quickly pinned Robinson with a double arm DDT, winning the title, and ending the match in less than four minutes. Robinson was taken to a hospital, and suffered a brain aneurysm due to a blood clot. He eventually returned to wrestling.
1999 - Ryuji Yamakawa defeats Shadow WX in Yokohama, Japan for the Big Japan Pro Wrestling Death Match Title. This match ended Shadow WX's third reign, and started the second reign for Yamakawa.
1999 - Rico Constantino defeats Steve Bradley for the Memphis Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Bradley's second reign with the title.
2001 - During a taping of Smackdown at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, Vince McMahon was given a Stinkface by Rikishi, putting an end (at least for a while) to the Vince McMahon "Kiss My Ass" club. The Rock had the honors of having Vince kiss his rear end (the result of a prematch stipulation on Raw), but instead teased that Vince would have to kiss Jim Ross' or Trish Stratus' rear (Vince actually like the idea of kissing Trish's) before bringing out Rikishi. Vince refused to kiss Rikishi's rear, so Rock gave him a Rock Bottom, then rammed Vince's face into Rikishi's posterior. An earlier plan by Vince to have Kurt Angle come out and save him was stopped when Steve Austin beat up Angle backstage.
2003 - WWE runs in Seoul, South Korea with World Champion Brock Lesnar defeating Chris Benoit.
2006 - Paul Heyman made his exit from World Wrestling Entertainment. Heyman was sent home from a Raw/ECW taping in North Carolina following a meeting with Vince McMahon, one day after the disastrous ECW December To Dismember Pay-per-view. Heyman was removed from the ECW Creative team, while a storyline reason for his departure was posted on WWE.com, stating Vince sent him home because: "The WWE Chairman cited slumping television ratings and a disgruntled talent roster as causes for Mr. Heyman's dismissal." Heyman had been portraying the heel "ECW Representative" on television.
The backstage story was that Vince McMahon was irate about how awful the PPV was and wanted to pin the blame on Heyman for it, despite many feeling that the poor PPV (which ended a half hour early) was the result of what the McMahons (Vince and Stephanie) booked for the show. Heyman was said to be unhappy with the way that the PPV was booked and backstage sources claim he voiced that concern both before the show began and after it. It was obvious that there were issues between Vince McMahon and Heyman because of the how the show played out on PPV, with everyone knowing it was a disaster.
A number of sources stated that a meeting was held around two o'clock with Heyman, Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. Heyman came out of the meeting and seemed like his normal self, with no one realizing what had just taken place. Shortly thereafter, Heyman gathered his things and left the building to go home.
In the years that followed, Heyman launched his "Heyman Hustle" online series and co-authored Brock Lesnar's autobiography. He turned down all wrestling-related bookings and began work on his own still to be released autobiography. When Lesnar returned to WWE, Heyman initially turned down coming in with him but would soon relent, working with Lesnar and WWE champion CM Punk.
2006 - The Big Show wrestled his final match before a long sabbatical for WWE during the ECW taping in North Carolina, losing to ECW Champion Bobby Lashley. The match was set up by a pre-taped Paul Heyman promo (done the night before at the December To Dismember PPV) where a crying Heyman, upset over Lashley having become ECW champion, announced the match before stating "I'm done, thanks" and walking off. Show would not return until the build for Wrestlemania 24 in early 2008.
2009 - Eddie Fatu, better known to WWE fans as Umaga, passes away.2010 - WWE Raw ran Las Vegas. Thomas Brunette filed the following live report:
Just thought I would pass along some notes from tonight's WWE house show here in Las Vegas.
The crowd was hot all night and it everything which is good and it was a pretty nice sized crowd considering the rodeo is in town. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer and his arm was in a sling. First match of the night was Chris Masters who was over huge as a babyface took on Tyler Reks. It was a pretty good match with Masters in control early. Masters won but unfortunately I don't recall how he won but it might've been with the Masterlock.
Next match of the night saw Drew McIntyre take on Chavo Guerrero who got a really nice pop too since he's not on TV either. This was another good match as Chavo got in a lot of offense. Drew worked over Chavo's arm during the match and even slammed it into the ring steps. Chavo hit the frog splash but only got two as Drew grabbed the bottom rope. Chavo hit two of the three amigos as Drew blocked the third one and poked Chavo in the eye which led to the future shock DDT for the win.
Our third match of the night saw Alex Riley take on Primo who got an ok pop but nothing special. I think Riley has improved since the last time I saw him which was back in August of 2008. A lot of people were chanting DUI at Riley. I didn't see how but Riley picked up the win. After the match as Primo was going to back to the locker room, I believe Gabriel and Slater attacked him. I couldn't see who did it from where I was but I did see Gabriel and Slater get into the ring so I'm guessing it was only those two. Tons of heat here for the tag champs as Slater said on the mic that they weren't the champs by luck and challenged any team to a match which was accepted by Santino and Kozlov. Now before the match began, the anonymous Raw GM dinged in and Justin Roberts announced that the GM was making this a dance off. Now how the Raw GM was able to ding in is beyond me but that's besides the point. People did boo when the lights flickered and the noise sounded. So anyway, Santino and Kozlov danced an then got attacked by the champs which started the match. It was an OK match with Nexus in control a lot and doing a lot of double teaming to huge heat. Kozlov played the babyface in peril and made the hot tag to Santino who did all his usual spots including the cobra. Santino went for the pin but Gabriel broke it up. Kozlov went charging after Gabriel but Gabriel pulled the top rope down and Kozlov flew over. Santino went after Gabriel but Slater nailed Santino with a variation of the Zig Zag. Slater pulled Santino to the corner and made the tag to Gabriel who went top to the top and nailed the 450 for the pin. After the match Nexus continued beating down Santino but Kozlov chased them away with a chair.
Next up we had what was supposed to be an Intercontinental Title match between Dolph Ziggler and Kaval but before Kaval came out Dolph got the mic and said that his beautiful girlfriend Vickie Guerrero told him he only had to defend the championship every 30 days so we wont be getting a title match. Kaval then came out to a not so good reaction but did get on the mic and called Dolph chicken as Dolph said he was gonna leave. Dolph changed his mind and wanted Charles Robinson to take his vest off but Kaval took it off instead and put it on himself to a nice reaction. These two had a decent match but I thought Survivor Series was a little better. Kaval won over the crowd near the end. Kaval got the pin after reversing a Dolph rollup and bridging to a huge pop. The crowd was all over Dolph calling him chicken and he couldn't believe Kaval had pinned him.
Rosa Mendes by the way showed off some merchandise and had a little kid be the guest bell ringer for I believe the tag title bout. After the IC Title match we had an appearance by the new WWE Champion The Miz. Miz told us that if we would've bet on him five years ago when he debuted we would be millionaires but none of us did as nobody believed in him and nobody gave him a chance. Miz then went on to say that he was the ultimate opportunist by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. This brought out Edge who clotheslined Riley over the top and then Miz. Edge took the mic and said that he was the only ultimate opportunist in the WWE. Edge said that The Miz is copying Edge's blueprint by winning money in the bank which Edge won the first one. Then cashing it in which Edge did and then the following week having a TLC match with a WWE legend which he did (btw, there were no Woo's when Edge said that), then Edge said he went on to have a live sex celebration but Miz didn't have Lita so Miz would have one with Riley. Edge then said later in the night that it would be a triple threat match between him, Miz and Barrett and Edge would become the WWE Champion for the 10th time. Edge then left which took us to intermission.
After intermission we have Layla challenging Natalya for the Divas title and I have to say that TV does neither woman justice. So Layla brings in some ball and dribbles it and then does leg exercises with it. Natalya then grabbed the ball and threw it in Layla's face to start the match. It was a decent match with Natalya winning with the sharpshooter.
Next up we had Cody Rhodes and Alberto del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio. Rey was over huge with the crowd as there were a lot of 619 chants. Before the match begins Alberto teases throwing his towel into the crowd since Kofi threw his shirt into the crowd but instead Del Rio dropped it on the mat to a chorus of boos and then dropped it outside the ring, Kofi and Rey grab the towel and have some fun with in including Kofi pulling it between his legs. When the match finally starts Rey drops Alberto in the corner sitting down and then Cody charges at Rey but Rey drops Cody right into Alberto's crotch face first. Rey and Kofi win after a 619 and a big splash off the top onto Cody. After the match Kofi and Rey get Cody's jacket daring him to come get it which he doesn't so instead Kofi does the boom drop on it to a big pop.
Before the match Justin Roberts thanks us for coming and looks forward to seeing us in the future.
Main event time as Miz comes out to huge heat, Barrett gets small boos and Edge gets a big pop. It was a good match between the three as they used the ring post a lot. They all got their usual spots in and when Edge hit the spear on Barrett with Miz out on the floor, Riley pulled Edge off of Barrett and to the outside. Riley then threw Edge into the steel guardrail while Miz slipped in and hit the skull crushing finale on Barrett for the three. After the match Riley threw Edge into the ring and he and Miz double teamed him. Riley held Edge for Miz to hit him with the belt but Edge moved and Miz hit Riley to a pop. Edge then speared Miz to send the crowd home happy. Afterward, Edge walked around ringside slapping hands.
Overall it was a fun show to attend and am glad I went. I would say the biggest pop for sure went to Rey Mysterio and the most boos went to The Miz and Riley followed by Gabriel and Slater.
Ring of Honor in Greensboro, NC results:
*Mike Bennett defeated TJ Perkins in a good opener.
*The All Night Express defeated Bravado Brothers. The Young Bucks took out Rhett Titus before the match and Kenny King wrestled as a handicap match. Titus came out for the hot tag to get the victory.
*ROH TV champ Jay Lethal defeated Adam Cole in a Proving Ground match. Another good bout.
*The Young Bucks over Caprice Coleman and Alexander ? in another strong match.
Intermission.
*Right Leg Andy Ridge over much a bigger opponent. Both busted open hardway.
*Eddie Edwards, El Generico and ROH Tag Team champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin defeated the Briscoes, Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin in an 80 minute Elimination match. This was the best match I've ever seen in Greensboro and I've seen a lot of them. The order of elimination was Benjamin, one Briscoe, Haas, the other Briscoe, Generico, Elgin, and Strong. This was an incredible main that built to a fever pitch with all eight outside the ring going at it for nearly 10 minutes and they did this twice. One crazy spot saw Strong throw Edwards off the top turnbuckle through a table.
All seats were fantastic. If you didn't like this show, you don't like Wrestling. I can't wait for their return.2011 - CHIKARA held their third and final Joshimania event in New York City. Mike Johnson filed the following live report:
CHIKARA results from Joshimania Night Three at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, which is an awesome intimate venue to watch a show. This was the fourth show I'd seen in three days (live coverage was out of the question for this one) and was damn near perfect, building fluidly.
As a company, CHIKARA undertook a hell of an expensive outing this weekend. For myself and for fans who loved watching tapes of All Japan Women, you couldn't have asked for a nicer blessing. I can't even begin to mathematically account for the cost of the visas, flights, etc. involved but the promotion certainly deserves a lot support and appreciation for trying to do something classy and unique that might never be attempted again here in the States.
Onto the results:
*Los Ice Creams defeated Dasher Hatfield & Saturyne. Hatfield was supposed to team with Sugar Dunkerton, but he wasn't there. They did a comedy bit where they pulled a mystery partner out of a hat. They pulled Kwang and Kelly Kelly's name, then pulled Saturyne's name. Out came a masked athletic woman who they said was making her CHIKARA debut. This was a really good match with some fun comedy. If Saturyne was working her first match, she was damn good.
*GAMI defeated Portia Perez. Both are heels. This was another really good match. I've loved Perez' work in SHIMMER for years so it was awesome to finally see her work in person.
*Brodie Lee defeated Ultramantis Black Lee played total evil monster heel, Bruiser Brody style, including chasing ring announcer Gavin Loudspeaker into the crowd and forcing him to take a nasty looking fall into the first row. He was awesome in the role. At one point, they brawled onto the stage, where Lee drilled Mantis with a big boot. Some good near falls.
*In what was billed as her final U.S. appearance Toshie Uematsu & The Batiri (Obaryon, Kodama & Kobold) defeated Cherry and The Colony's Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant. Another good match with some great action.
*Mayumi Ozaki defeated Kaori Yoneyama. The story here was heel veteran Ozaki vs. Yoneyama, who was making her final appearance in the States. Good back and forth match.
*In a must see bout that was one of the best matches of the year, Aja Kong, Mio Shirai & Tsubasa Kuragaki defeated Manami Toyota, Sawako Shimono & Hanako Nakamori. This was incredible, reminding me of the atmosphere of the Michinoku Pro six man at the first ECW PPV or DGUSA six mans in ROH where the match was this incredible and perfectly built back and forth match with amazing near falls and actions. Kong was in all her glory here, just being the monster I've seen her be on tape for years. They teased Toyota vs. Kong early but made everyone wait for it. They did an incredible series of dives to the stage, which was great. Absolutely worth going out of your way to see. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much bell to bell.
*Sara Del Rey defeated Ayako Hamada in another great back and forth match. In a lot of ways, one of the main stories of the weekend was Del Rey, who is one of the best female workers in the States, having competitive bouts and beating some of the best international talents. Great stuff. Del Rey looked every bit of a top talent as you can imagine and all I kept thinking watching this was how ridiculous TNA was for how they utilized Hamada.
When the main event ended, all the joshi stars, who were at ringside for this, entered the ring for a final bow as the building chanted "We Love Joshi". Aja Kong looked happy as hell and was chanting along and smiling. They all basically said they wanted to come back. I sure as hell hope they do.
Notes and Thoughts:
I estimated the attendance around 400 fans. If nothing else, CHIKARA has tapped into a unique fan base that are smart but not so smart that they ruin the crowd for themselves and others around them. There's this tongue in cheek hipster feel to it with fans who are "in on the joke" and enjoy the silliness and the wrestling, similar to the old ECW fan base at the ECW Arena. There is this really fun feel to the shows and presentation. It's absolutely something that everyone who has the opportunity to check out should.In attendance were Jumping Bomb Angel Itsuki Yamazaki, Juggalo Championship Wrestling announcer Kevin Gill, NYWC's Alex Reynolds and Shane, LLUSA's Reby Sky, EVOLVE's Larry Dallas and DGUSA's Sal Hamaoui.
Gavin Loudspeaker, who is damn awesome in his role as the "rock and roll ring announcer" actually sang a song about joshi on his guitar before the show started, bringing out Yamazaki and name checking the Crush Girls and Bull Nakano among others in the song. The crowd was extremely respectful and loved it.
The joshi stars were selling signed photos for $15 and larger poster sized cards signed for $10. A photo with them or an autograph on your own item was $5. They also brought posters, programs and DVDs to sell.
The promotion noted they hoped to return to the venue in the Spring.
Most importantly, DVDs from all three nights of Joshimania will be available for purchase and immediate shippping within 48 hours at www.smartmarkvideo.com. As I noted earlier in the report, when a promotion takes the chance in bringing over such a unique experience as the Joshi talents, the only way they can make money and attempt such an undertaking again (or hopefully, a larger one) is if fans support them financially. If not, it's a failed experiment. So by all means, SUPPORT THESE SHOWS by ordering them. Philly was a very good show. I can't comment on MA but NYC was awesome.
More than that, be sure not to overlook CHIKARA, which is proving time and time again to be the promotion that attempts and succeeds again and again to be the type of enjoyable pro wrestling with a distinct flair that so many fans are complaining they cannot find anymore. Well, not only can you find it, but they have done an amazing job of making CHIKARA this unique Ellis Island where anyone internationally can arrive and help create this incredible melting pot of action. Mike Quackenbush and company should be applauded for what they've created, not flying under the radar or dismissed as the promotion with the masked guys. Kudos to all involved in every aspect of CHIKARA.
2011 - Former WWE Tough Enough competitor and Miss USA Rimah Fakih was arrested in Michigan on suspicion of drunk driving. While she has denied the arrest, her attorney confirmed it to the Detroit Free Press.If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
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