This Day In Wrestling History – December 8th

Another day, another look back. Today’s highlights include Stone Cold Steve Austin vacating a title, the return of the Slammy’s and Kurt Angle going to MMA?

Born On This Day

• 1954 – Gadowar Singh Sahota (Gama Singh)
• 1957 – Kenneth Johnson (Slick)
• 1963 – Toshiaki Kawada
• 1968 – Michael Sean Coulthard (Michael Cole)
• 1975 –  Vincent Jerrelle Clark
• 1982 – James Guffey (Jimmy Rave)
• 1986 – Eric Arndt (Enzo Amore)

On This Day In Wrestling History

1990 – Tony Anthony & Doug Gilbert defeat Jeff Jarrett & Cody Michaels in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA World Tag Team Title for the second time.

1994 – Harlem Heat, Booker T & Stevie Ray, defeat Stars & Stripes (The Patriot & Marcus Bagwell) to win the WCW World Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending the second reign of Bagwell & Patriot. This was the first of an eventual ten WCW World Tag Team Title reigns for Harlem Heat.

1997 – Disco Inferno defeated Perry Saturn to win the WCW World Television Championship on Nitro.

1997 – The Rock defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin via forfeit to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Claiming that he had nothing to prove by beating him again, Austin forfeited the championship to The Rock without a fight. He then stuns The Rock and takes possession of the belt, only to throw it in a river in New Hampshire the next night. Following all this, Austin began his pursuit of the WWF Championship, winning it four months later at Wrestlemania XIV.

2001 – Psicosis defeats Juventud Guerrera to win the World Wrestling All-Stars International Cruiserweight Title in Glasgow, Scotland.

2000 – WWE presented Tribute to the Troops   from Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. The show would air on Christmas Day.

• John Cena defeated Edge.
• CM Punk defeated Shelton Benjamin.
• The Undertaker defeated Johnny Nitro.
• Bobby Lashley defeated Hardcore Holly.
• Umaga defeated Jeff Hardy.
• Carlito defeated Randy Orton.

2005 – It is announced that WWE Diva Stacy Keibler would be a contestant on the second season of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”.  After appearing on the show and making it to the final episode, Keibler would never appear in WWE again.

2006 – Kurt Angle appeared on the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show, and claimed he would be having a Mixed Martial Arts fight. Angle stated his first “shoot” fight would take place in May or June on a “TNA broadcast.” Angle commented that the fight wouldn’t be in association with PRIDE or UFC, then dropped Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture (all of whom were associated with UFC at the time) and Daniel Puder as his potential opponents before saying that he couldn’t confirm who it would be. Angle commented he has 3 or 4 fights in him and that he was making the rules for his fight, which would see headbutts legal. He stated the “shoot fight” (his terminology) would ignite a new “wrestling war” and commented that if he lost, it would “kill his career”. He said that the chances were worth taking the fight because it would do “a million PPV buys.”  The fight would never happen.

2008 – WWE presented the Slammy Awards as part of their Raw broadcast. These were the first Slammys presented by the company since 1997.

• Superstar of the Year: Chris Jericho
• Match of the Year: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania XXIV)
• Diva of the Year: Beth Phoenix
• OMG Moment of the Year: CM Punk’s Money in the Bank cash-in win on the June 30 RAW
• Couple of the Year: Edge & Vickie Guerrero
• Tag Team of the Year: John Morrison & The Miz
• Finishing Maneuver of the Year: Evan Bourne’s Shooting Star Press
• DAMN! Moment of the Year: The Great Khali hosts the Kiss Cam on the November 7 Smackdown
• Extreme Moment of the Year: Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Bomb from the top of the RAW set on the January 14 RAW
• Best WWE.com Exclusive: “The Dirt Sheet”
• Breakout Star of the Year: Vladimir Kozlov
• Best Musical Performance: R-Truth for “What’s Up?” on the September 15 Smackdown
• Announce Team of the Year: Todd Grisham and Matt Striker
• Best Impersonation: Charlie Hass as the Glamahaas on the October 27 RAW

2014 – WWE presented the 2014 Slammy Awards on a special edition of RAW  from Greenville, South Carolina. For the first time, all of the awards were decided via fan vote. Fans voted thru a variety of social media apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…etc etc.

2015 – WWE taped Tribute to the Troops 2015   from the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The show aired on NBC on December 23.

• In a preshow match, Titus O’Neil defeated Heath Slater.
• Jack Swagger defeated Rusev via submission in a Boot Camp match.
• Mark Henry defeated Bo Dallas.
• Ryback defeated Kevin Owens by countout.
• Team B.A.D. (Sasha Banks, Naomi, and Tamina) and Paige defeated Team Bella (Brie Bella & Alicia Fox), Charlotte, and Becky Lynch by submission.
• Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso), The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley), Ryback, and Kane defeated The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and King Barrett), and The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman).

Died On This Day

• 1953 – Gust Johnson