This Day In Wrestling History – December 6th
1965 – Terry Funk makes his wrestling debut, in NWA Western States Wrestling.
1979 – Antonio Inoki vacates the WWF Heavyweight Championship, after a rematch with Bob Backlund ends in a no-contest due to interference from Tiger Jeet Singh.
1997 – In a Three-Way Dance, Chris Candido and Lance Storm defeat The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon) and the team of Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney, to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship.
1999 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF Raw Is War (6.0) scores double the rating of WCW Monday Nitro (3.0 rating). Daffney makes her WCW debut, as the girlfriend & manager of David Flair. Also on Nitro, Jushin Thunder Liger wins the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating Psychosis. Psychosis had replaced titleholder Juventud Guerrera, after Guerrera had suffered a fractured right arm.
2000 – On this evening’s WCW Thunder, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. defeats Mike Sanders, to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
2003 – Jerry Tuite, known as “The Wall” in WCW, dies at the age of 36 after suffering a heart attack.
2004 – In the main event of this evening’s WWE RAW, Lita wins the Women’s Championship for the second time; Lita defeats Trish Stratus to win the title.
2010 – On this evening’s WWE RAW, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov become the new WWE Tag Team Champions; Marella and Kozlov win a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match that included The Usos, Mark Henry & Yoshi Tatsu, and incumbent champs The Nexus (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater).
2012 – On this evening’s Impact Wrestling, Devon defeats Samoa Joe, to win the TNA Television Championship.
2012 – On a taping of NXT, Big E Langston defeats Seth Rollins, to win the NXT Championship. The title change would air on January 9, 2013.
2014 – Former Smoky Mountain Wrestling & United States Wrestling Association Tag Team Champion Jimmy Del Ray passes away at the age of 52, after suffering a heart attack.
2014 – At Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Great Voyage 2014 in Tokyo Vol. 3, Atsushi Kotege defeats Daisuke Harada, to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
2014 – In All Japan Pro Wrestling, Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori) defeat Go Shiozaki and Kento Miyahara, to win the World’s Strongest Tag Determination League, and become the new AJPW World Tag Team Champions.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Indy wrestler Shane Canterbury (31 years old) current World Wrestling Association Middleweight Champion Olimpico (51 years old); former CMLL Japan Tag Team Champion El Oriental (44 years old); and former GHC Openweight/Hardcore Tag Team Champion Kentaro Shiga (42 years old).
Today would’ve been the 82nd birthday for WWE Hall of Fame 2007 Inductee Nick Bockwinkel.
SOURCES: Pro Wrestling Wiki, WrestlingData.com, The Internet Wrestling Database, Gerweck Archives
