This Day In Wrestling History – November 25th
Happy birthday to Connor Michalek!!
1982 – Stagger Lee defeats Ted DiBiase to win the Mid-South North American Championship. Stagger Lee was actually Junkyard Dog wearing a mask; Junkyard Dog had lost a ‘Loser Leaves Town for 90 Days’ match, and had returned under a different name & attire.
1985 – At Madison Square Garden in NYC, The Spider (The Fabulous Moolah in disguise) defeats Wendi Richter, to win the WWF Women’s Championship. This match has been dubbed ‘The Original Screwjob.’ The referee, who was in on the plan, delivered a quick three-count event though Richter had kicked out after one count. The ‘screwjob’ was planned by Vince McMahon, due in part to Richter refusing to sign a new WWF contract (Richter has said she was still under her original five-year contract). It was Vince who brought in Moolah, even though Moolah wasn’t scheduled to compete. After the match, Richter left the arena, still wearing her wrestling gear, and booked a flight out of New York. She never competed in the WWF again; she also never spoke to The Fabulous Moolah again. However, Richter did accept induction into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2010.
1987 – Shaun Simpson defeated Eric Embry, to win the WCWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.
1991 – Kamala defeats Jerry Lawler, to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship.
1992 – On Thanksgiving Eve, WWF Survivor Series is held at Richfield Coliseum (outside Cleveland), in front of 17,500 fans. The card needed a major reshuffle, after The Ultimate Warrior, Davey Boy Smith, and The Mountie all left the company in the weeks prior to the event. Smith was released after steroid allegations. The Ultimate Warrior had just quit days earlier, after being suspended for steroid use. And The Mountie had left the company a month earlier, after losing a match to Bret Hart in just 30 seconds.
Dark Match:
– Crush defeats Repo Man.
Survivor Series PPV:
– The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) defeat High Energy (Koko B. Ware & Owen Hart).
– Big Boss Man defeats Nailz, in a Nightstick on a Pole Match.
– Tatanka defeats Rick Martel.
– Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage defeat Ric Flair & Razor Ramon, via disqualification.
– Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji) defeats Virgil.
– In a 4-on-4 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match, The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) and The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) defeat Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster & Ted DiBiase) and The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake).
– The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeats Kamala (with Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee), in a Casket Match.
– Bret Hart defeats Shawn Michaels, to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
1994 – Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Mutoh defeat The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior), to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
1995 – Tommy Rich defeats Brad Armstrong, to win the SMW Heavyweight Championship. This would be the final reign, as Smoky Mountain Wrestling shuts down the very next day.
1996 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.1 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.1 rating).
2005 – On SmackDown, Juventud defeats Nunzio, to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
2006 – Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal defeat The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli), to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
2007 – Former WCCW American Heavyweight Champion, David ‘Angel of Death’ Sheldon, passes away at the age of 54.
2010 – New Japan Pro Wrestling Hall of Famer Kantaro Hoshino passes away after a battle with pneumonia. Hoshino was 67 years old.
2011 – Money in the Bank winner Daniel Bryan attempts to cash in his contract, after World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry is knocked out by Big Show. Bryan pins Henry, but Teddy Long comes out and announces that Henry was not medically cleared to compete. Long voids the match, Henry retains the World Championship, and the MITB Briefcase is returned to Bryan.
2013 – Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan guest-stars on Monday Night RAW. He would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 1, 2014.
2017 – WWE Starrcade is held in Greensboro, NC. It’s the first Starrcade event held by WWE, and the first since December 2000 when it was produced by WCW. Starrcade ’17 was a SmackDown-brand house show, and was not available for viewing on pay-per-view or WWE Network. Results courtesy of Michael Riba.
– Bobby Roode defeats Dolph Ziggler. Arn Anderson served as special guest enforcer.
– In a 12-Man Tag Team Match, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan), Rusev, Mike Kanellis, and The Colons (Primo & Epico) defeat Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango), Tye Dillinger, The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor), and Sin Cara.
– Naomi defeats Tamina (w/Lana).
– The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes defeats Dash Wilder.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeats United States Champion Baron Corbin via disqualification; Corbin retains the title.
– In a Fatal Four-Way Match, The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) defeat The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston w/Big E), Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin, and Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. After the match, Matt Hardy and his son, Maxel, came to the ring. They were joined by The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express. The New Day then got back into the ring and everyone danced.
– In a Steel Cage Match, Charlotte Flair defeats Natalya, to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
– In another Steel Cage Match, AJ Styles defeats Jinder Mahal (w/The Singh Brothers), to retain the WWE Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Impact Wrestling commentator Josh Matthews (37 years old); WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Valiant (71 years old); Michinoku Pro Wrestler Yuki ‘Kenbai’ Sato (32 years old); former AJPW World Tag Team Champion, Kengo Mashimo (39 years old); retired indie wrestler Kirby Mack (34 years old); and 2-time NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion, Steve DeMarco (43 years old).
Today would’ve been the 41st birthday for 2-time NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Champion, Adam Firestorm.
Today would’ve been the 12th birthday for WWE Hall of Famer/inaugural Warrior Award recipient, Connor ‘The Crusher’ Michalek.
