Today In Wrestling History- September 8th

Trivia

1991 – The National Wrestling Alliance officially stripped Ric Flair of the NWA World Heavyweight Title, only 2 days before Flair made his WWF in-ring debut. World Championship Wrestling had stripped Flair of “their title” back in July, when Flair could not come to terms with WCW for a new contract. This would cause the splintering of the WCW & NWA title lineage

1997 – The Monday Night War continued: WCW Monday Nitro defeated WWF Monday Night Raw: 4.3 to 2.2 in the ratings

2004 – TNA held it’s final weekly PPV event

2008 – Fox Searchlight Pictures  purchased the rights to “The Wrestler” for $4 million, beating out Lionsgate, Overture, The Weinstein Co., & Sony Pictures

2008 – WTVD-TV in North Carolina reported that Ashley Fliehr (current NXT Divas Champion Charlotte), daughter of Ric Flair, had been arrested in conjunction with an incident that left the Hall Of Famer “bloodied & bruised”

2009 – “The Wrestler” actor Mickey Rourke was voted International Man Of The Year at the GQ Awards

2009 – Gunner Eudy, the 16 year old son of former WWF & WCW World champion Sid Vicious debuted over the weekend as Lord Humongous, a gimmick his father did in the old Continental territory early in his career

Events

In 1946, the EMLL 13th Anniversary Show was held in Mexico City:

– Steve Morgan defeated Tarzan Lopez to win the NWA Middleweight Title
– Steve Morgan defeated Firpo Segura to win the Mexican Heavyweight Title

In 1991, the CMLL 58th Anniversary Show was held in Mexico City:

– Mascara Sagrada defeated Pirata Morgan to retain the Mexican Light Heavyweight Title
– Octagon, Atlantis, El Vampiro, Rayo de Jalisco Jr & Konnan defeated Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000, Javier Cruz, Pierroth Jr., & Perro Aguayo
– Anibal, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Lizmark defeated Nitron, Mascara Ano 2000, & Universo 2000
– Konnan defeated Cien Caras & Perro Aguayo in a 3-Way Hair Vs Hair Match. Perro Aguayo was shaved as he was the 1st to lose 2 falls

Title Changes

1983 – Stan Hansen defeated Giant Baba to win the Pacific Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title (now part of the All Japan Triple Crown) in Chiba, Japan

1990 – Kim Duk (aka Tiger Chung Lee) defeated Invader #1 to win the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

2001 – Arashi & Koki Kitahara defeated Shigeo Okumura & Nobutaka Araya to win the vacant AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles

2004 – Chris Harris & Elix Skipper defeated The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles

2007 – Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defeated Paul London & Brian Kendrick to win the World Tag Team Titles

Birthdays

Happy birthday to one-time WCW World Champion David Arquette (43), former WCW wrestler Lodi (44), 3-time NWA Tag Team Champion Rick Michaels (40), 2-time ECW World Champion Raven (50), & ‘Asian mist’ innovator The Great Kabuki (66)

In Memoriam

On this day in 1999, the wrestling world lost former WCW referee Mark Curtis aged just 37. Curtis began his career as a manager in the north-eastern territories, working under a number of gimmicks, including an evil Jewish character ‘Hymie P. Weiss’. He began in-ring training under Dominic DeNucci in 1986, but still rarely wrestled, seemingly preferring his other on-screen roles. He became a referee for Smoky Mountain in 1992, where he also wrestled as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character (in full costume) named ‘Kowabunga’. A brief stint in ECW followed before he moved on to WCW. Here, he gained fame after preventing a fan from interfering in a match between Psychosis & Dean Malenko. Curtis kicked the fan in the head & applied a Guillotine Choke until security took the fan away, prompting Bobby Heenan’s famous line‘The smallest referee in the world just took him down!’. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 1997, but continued working through the following year. In 1999, a benefit show was promoted by Cody Michaels in Curtis’ hometown of Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania. The event was notable as it featured stars from all of the big three promotions, including Mick Foley, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Shane Douglas, Bruno Sammartino and many more. Curtis’ last match as a referee took place just days before his passing, with WCW staging a ten-bell salute in his honour at their next live event. Several independent promotions also held tribute/memorial shows across the following years