Wrestling History

December 13th – On This Day In Wrestling History

Our full On This Day In Wrestling History section can be found here.

1971 – Antonio Inoki is fired from the Japan Wrestling Association after a failed coup to take over the company. The following year he would start his own company – New Japan Pro Wrestling.

1989 – Andre The Giant won the last title of his illustrious career as he and Haku (The Colossal Connection) beat Demolition in Huntsville, Alabama to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

1989 – WCW presented ‘Starrcade ’89: Futureshock’ from The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was built around two round-robin tournaments, one singles, and one tag. Sting won the singles tournament over Lex Luger, Ric Flair and The Great Muta. The tag team tournament was won by The Road Warriors and also included Doom, The Steiner Brothers and The New Wild Samoans.

1993 – In the final of a tournament to crown the first WWF Women’s Champion since 1990, Alundra Blayze beat Heidi Lee Morgan in Poughkeepsie, New York.

1995 – Two years to the day since being brought back into the company, the WWF Women’s Championship was deactivated after champion Alundra Blayze and the rest of the women’s division were released in a cost-cutting move. Blayze would soon turn up on WCW Monday Nitro and famously throw the belt, which she retained possession of, in the trash.

1998 – WWE presented ‘In Your House: Rock Bottom’ from General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the main event, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match. In a match for the WWE Championship, Mankind defeated The Rock by knockout. As the finish wasn’t by pinfall or submission, Rock retained the title.

1998 – The ECW Tag Team Championship changed hands in Tokyo, Japan when Rob Van Dam and Sabu defeated D-Von and Buh Buh Ray, The Dudley Boyz.

1999 – On Monday Nitro from New Orleans, Louisiana, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (The Outsiders) defeated Goldberg and Bret Hart to win the WCW Tag Team Championship.

2005 – At a SmackDown taping, Batista and Rey Mysterio won the WWE Tag Team Championship from MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro).

2008 – In a match in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, The Miz and John Morrison won the World Tag Team Championship from Kofi Kingston and CM Punk.

2009 – WWE’s first ‘TLC: Tables, Ladders And Chairs‘ PPV took place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Three titles changed hands on the card. The first was the Intercontinental Championship when Drew McIntyre defeated John Morrison. Later on, Sheamus won his first WWE Championship with a victory over John Cena in a tables match.

The main event saw D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a TLC match against Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show). The Undertaker also took on Batista in a Chairs Match.

2010 – The annual Slammy Awards took place on Raw. John Cena took home the award for Superstar Of The Year.

2015 – WWE ‘TLC: Tables, Ladders And Chairs‘ took place at the TDGarden in Boston, Massachusetts. At the event, Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental Championship from Kevin Owens. In the main event, Sheamus retained his WWE Championship in a TLC match against Roman Reigns.

2016 – WWE Tribute To The Troops was taped at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. The main event saw Roman Reigns and Big Cass defeat Rusev and Kevin Owens.

2019 – It was a momentous night in Ring of Honor as their ‘Final Battle’ PPV took place in Baltimore, Maryland as three title changes took place in the final three matches of the card. Dragon Lee defeated Shane Taylor for the ROH Television Title in the first change of the night. In the following match, Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham bested Jay and Mark Briscoe to win the ROH Tag Team Championship. Finally, PCO defeated Rush for the Ring Of Honor World Heavyweight Championship.

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