This Day In History - August 8th
August 8th
On this day in history in ....
1960 - Red & Lou Bastien defeat Al Costello & Roy Heffernan for the U.S. Tag Team Title, the precursor to the WWWF (then WWF, then WWE) Tag Team Title.
1961 - Verne Gagne defeats Gene Kiniski for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota, starting his second title reign.
1963 - Verne Gagne defeats Fritz Von Erich for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in Amarillo, Texas to start his fifth title reign.
1981 - Wahoo McDaniel defeats Roddy Piper for the NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1993 - Tito Santana defeats Don Muraco for the ECW Heavyweight Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to end Muraco's second title reign.
1997 - Dutch Mantel defeats Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. Mantel would be the final champion, as the promotion would close in November of 1997. On the same card, Steven Dunn & Flash Flanagan defeat PG-13 for their third USWA Tag Team Title run, and ending PG-13's 14th title reign.
1998 - WCW held their Road Wild Pay-per-view in Sturgis, South Dakota at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally. Here are the results:
- Meng defeated The Barbarian, with Jimmy Hart, via disqualification when Hugh Morrus attacked Meng. Hacksaw Duggan made the save.
- Public Enemy defeated Disco Inferno & Alex Wright, with Magnum Tokyo, when Johnny Grunge pinned Disco Inferno after Tokyo accidentally splashed him.
- Saturn defeated Raven and Chris Kanyon in a Falls Count Anywhere Triangle Match with Saturn pinned Raven after a Death Valley Driver.
- Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeated Psicosis with a springboard hurricanrana.
- WCW Television Champion Stevie Ray defeated Chavo Guerrero, Jr. with a Slapjack.
- The scheduled Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner match didn't take place, because Rick had "injured" Scott with a chairshot before the show. The match was rescheduled for Fall Brawl.
- Steve McMichael defeated Bryan Adams.
- Juventud Guerrera defeated Chris Jericho to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title with a rana off the top rope. Dean Malenko was the guest referee, and helped Guerrera by launching him into the rana.
- Bill Goldberg won a nine man Battle Royal which included The Giant, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Konnan, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Scott Norton, and Sting. Goldberg, the only non-NWO participant, pinned The Giant with a jackhammer to win the match.
- Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno defeated Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff when Kevin Eubanks gave Bischoff a Diamond Cutter, allowing Leno to pin him.
- Following the wrestling, Travis Tritt performed on the PPV.
