This Day In Wrestling History: December 2nd

The day has dawned gray and cold, let’s warm ourselves up with some historical facts, Today we have Vince McMahon apologizing to CM Punk! Guess it was so cold that day, hell froze over.

Born On This Date

• 1966 – Kensuke Shinzaki (Jinsei Shinzaki)
• 1980 – Mario Bokara
• 1981 – Sal Takavoli (Thomaselli)

On This Day In Wrestling History

1969 – Dory Funk, Jr. and Antonio Inoki fight to a 60-minute draw for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At the time of the bout, it was the first NWA world title match in Japan since 1957.

1974 – Blackjack Lanza defeats Fritz Von Erich in Dallas, Texas to win the NWA American Heavyweight Title, ending Von Erich’s 11th reign as champion.

1974 -Giant Baba defeated Jack Brisco 2-1 in a best of three falls match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He would lose it just one week later back to Brisco.

1979 – The Assassins defeat Steve Regal & Hector Guerrero for the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

1983 – The Von Erichs (David, Kevin & Kerry) defeat The Fabulous Freebirds for the World Class Six-Man Championship in Dallas, Texas, starting the second reign as champions for the Von Erich brothers.  However, Michaels Hayes had lost a “loser leaves town” match to Kerry on November 24th, so he was not able to defend the six-man title with Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy.  Instead, David, Kevin & Kerry defeated Roberts, Gordy, and NWA World Champion Ric Flair, who substituted for Hayes in the title match (and loss).

1991 – Tom Prichard defeats Eric Embry in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Embry’s third reign and starting his own third run with the belt.  On the same show, Jerry Lawler defeats Kamala to start his eleventh run as USWA Unified World Champion.

2000 -WWF presented Rebellion from the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. The UK-exclusive event was released on WWF home video on February 27, 2001.

• The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated Edge and Christian and T & A (Test and Albert) in a three-team elimination tables match.
• Ivory defeated Lita to retain the WWF Womens Championship.
• Steve Blackman defeated Perry Saturn to retain the WWF Hardcore Championship.
• Crash Holly defeated William Regal to win the WWF European Championship.
• Chyna and Billy Gunn defeated Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero.
• Kane defeated Chris Jericho.
• Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather) defeated The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
• The Undertaker defeated Chris Benoit.
• Kurt Angle defeated Rikishi, Steve Austin, and The Rock in a fatal four-way match to retain the WWF Championship.

2007 – TNA presented Turning Point from the Impact Zone at Universal Orlando. The show, which featured a shoot Samoa Joe promo just moments before the main event in response to Scott Hall not appearing, is best remembered for the introduction of TNA’s version of Money in the Bank, the Feast or Fired match. In the bout, about a dozen competitors fight to grab one of four briefcases hanging on poles. They can only claim the prize if they leave the ring with both feet on the floor and the case in their possession. The match continues until all four cases are claimed. On the first Impact following the match, the contents of the cases are revealed, a la Deal or No Deal. However, in the 2007 edition, case winners could exchange their case with someone else’s, or sell it outright for a guaranteed $50,000. The cases contain one of the following: (a) a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match, (b) a TNA World Tag Team Championship match, (c) a TNA X Division Championship match (any of which can be used at any time by the holder—albeit only once—for up to one year), or (d) a pink slip (whoever holds the fired case once revealed in banished from TNA effective immediately.

2010 – MVP requested and received his WWE release.  He moved onto New Japan, where he became the first-ever IWGP Intercontinental champion.He had a two-year stint there before joining TNA in January 2014 as the promotion’s new investor. He left amid controversy in July 2015 after he was the fall guy for Hernandez joining TNA while still under contract to Lucha Underground; the breach of contract forced TNA to re-edit or not use all footage shot with Hernandez with the company. MVP would wind up in Lucha Underground in March 2016; he lasted all of a week before he was fired due to him inadvertently violating the company’s non-disclosure agreement by interviewing members of the roster.

2014 – The Stone Cold Podcast premiered on the WWE Network, with none other than Vince McMahon as the first guest. While Vince discussed many topics, including: what he looks for in a superstar, Cesaro, and Shane working in Japan, one of the biggest takeaways was his apology to CM Punk. Vince personally apologized for Punk getting his termination papers on his wedding day. He said he was very sorry about the timing, claiming that in a company their size, sometimes the different areas don’t communicate as they should.

2017 – CHIKARA held their Closing Time event in Philadelphia, PA. There is a banner advertising the Chikara action arcade game coming in 2018, a game they had successfully crowdfunded.

2018 – ICW held its annual “Fear & Loathing” event in Glasgow, Scotland. The show was opened by ICW owner and founder Mark Dallas. Dallas confronted his old friends Chris Toal and Scott Reid. As Toal expressed his criticism against Dallas’s recent actions, Dallas had both Toal and Reid forcibly removed from the ramp.

Died On This Date

• 1997 – Shirley Crabtree Jr. (Big Daddy)