This Day In Wrestling History – December 8th
Happy birthday to the Certified G!! (photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment)
1980 – Pedro Morales defeats Ken Patera, to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
1994 – On a taping for a future episode of WCW Saturday Night, Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) win the WCW World Tag Team Championship for the first time; Harlem Heat defeat Stars & Stripes (Marcus Alexander Bagwell and The Patriot) to win the titles. The match would air on the January 14, 1995 episode of Saturday Night.
1997 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (4.3 TV rating) beats WWF Raw Is War (3.0 rating). On Nitro, Disco Inferno defeats Perry Saturn, to win the WCW World Television Championship. Over on RAW, Stone Cold Steve Austin decides to relinquish the Intercontinental Championship to The Rock (video is below).
2001 – In World Wrestling All-Stars, Psicosis defeats Juventud Guerrera, to win the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship.
2005 – It is announced that WWE diva Stacy Keibler will be a contestant on the second season of Dancing with the Stars. Keibler makes it all the way to the final episode (February 24, 2006) but opts not to return to WWE afterwards.
2007 – Matt Sydal defeats Mike Kruel, to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Sydal is the final champion while Ohio Valley Wrestling is used as a developmental territory by WWE.
2007 – Wataru Inoue defeats Ryusuke Taguchi, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
2008 – After an 11-year absence, WWE revives the annual “Slammy Awards” on this evening’s episode of RAW. The event was brought back as part of a strategy to air more “special episodes” of RAW, and to boost ratings for the program.
-Chris Jericho won Superstar of the Year.
-Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels from Wrestlemania XXIV won Match of the Year.
-Beth Phoenix won Diva of the Year.
-CM Punk cashing in his Money In The Bank won OMG Moment of the Year.
-Edge & Vickie Guerrero won Couple of the Year.
–John Morrison & The Miz won Tag Team of the Year.
-Evan Bourne’s “Air Bourne” won Finisher of the Year.
-Jeff Hardy’s Swanton on Randy Orton from the top of the set won Extreme Moment of the Year.
-Vladimir Kozlov won Breakout Star of the Year.
2014 – The annual Slammy Awards are presented on this evening’s WWE Monday Night Raw.
-Roman Reigns won Superstar of the Year.
-Team Cena vs Team Authority at Survivor Series won Match of the Year.
-AJ Lee won Diva of the Year.
-Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak won OMG Moment of the Year.
-Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella won Couple of the Year.
–The Usos won Tag Team of the Year.
-Sami Zayn won NXT Superstar of the Year.
-Chris Jericho’s cross-body slam on Bray Wyatt from the top of a steel cage won Extreme Moment of the Year.
-Dean Ambrose won Breakout Star of the Year.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions Jerrelle Clark (41 years old) and Jimmy Rave (34 years old); former WWF manager “Slick” Johnson (59 years old); 3-time Stampede Wrestling World Mid-Heavyweight Champion Gama Singh (62 years old); 5-time AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada (53 years old); WWE RAW & RAW-exclusive PPV announcer Michael Cole (48 years old); and current WWE RAW star Enzo Amore (30 years old).
SOURCES: wrestlingdata.com, Gerweck Archives
