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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: AUSTIN WINS BACK THE WWF TITLE, THE WCW TAG TITLE CHANGES HANDS ... ON RAW AND MORE

October 8th

On this day in history in ....

1978 - Evelyn Stevens defeats The Fabulous Moolah for the NWA Women's World Heavyweight Title, ending Moolah's fourth reign, in Dallas, Texas. She would drop the title back to Moolah two days later.

1986 - Barry Windham defeats Outlaw Ron Bass for the vacant Florida State Heavyweight Title to begin his sixth reign with the belt in Tampa. The belt had been held up following a September 24th match in which Bass used chloroform to beat Windham.

1989 - Mima Shimoda defeats Asayo Obata for the vacant All Japan Junior Title in Tokyo, Japan.

1990 - Jerry Lawler won a 21-man tournament to begin his seventh (of an eventual 27) USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title reign in Memphis, Tennessee. The title was vacated when The Snowman no-shows a title defense on August 27, 1990 and left the company. Here are the results of the tournament:
First Round:
- Mark Callous (The Undertaker) defeated Bill Dundee.
- Dick Slater defeated Danny Davis.
- Jeff Gaylord defeated Doug Gilbert.
- Terry Funk defeated Brickhouse Brown.
- Steve Keirn defeated Tony Anthony.
- Dick Murdoch defeated The Samurai.
- Austin Idol defeated Gary Young.
- John Tatum defeated King Cobra.
- Eddie Gilbert defeated Jimmy Valiant.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Sheik Hussein.
- Jerry Lawler was given a bye into the next round.
Second Round:
- Jerry Lawler defeated Mark Callous.
- Dick Slater defeated Jeff Gaylord.
- Terry Funk defeated Steve Keirn.
- Austin Idol defeated John Tatum.
- Eddie Gilbert defeated Jeff Jarrett.
- Dick Murdoch was given a bye into the Quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals:
- Jerry Lawler defeated Dick Slater.
- Terry Funk defeated Dick Murdoch.
- Austin Idol defeated Eddie Gilbert.
Semifinals:
- Jerry Lawler defeated Terry Funk.
- Austin Idol was given a by into the Finals.
Finals:
- Jerry Lawler defeated Austin Idol.

1991 - The York Foundation (Terrance Taylor, Richard Morton, & Thomas Rich), managed by Alexandra York (Terri Runnels) defeats Dustin Rhodes, Tom Zenk, & Big Josh (Matt Borne) for the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Title in Montgomery, Alabama. The belts would be forgotten, permanently, by WCW a month later.

1999 - ECW on TNN airs, including a controversial segments where Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny) was interview by an off-camera Paul Heyman.  During the interview, Sytch talked about women in the business using drugs in order to stay in shape, and discussed the death of Louie Spicolli due to soma use.  Sytch also talked about having a drinking problem before proclaiming that she was "back" at the end.  ECW received a great deal of criticism at the time for the segment. 

2001 - Raw aired from Indianapolis, Indiana and saw a WWF World Title change as well as a WCW World Tag Team Title change. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show:

The 10/8 RAW aired live from Indianapolis. Jim Ross promoted it as the biggest RAW in WWF history while Paul Heyman said the Kurt Angle re-match against Steve Austin for the WWF Title was the most anticipated match ever. Well, those were exaggerations, but it was still an excellent show and a complete turn around from last week's boring RAW.

Footage aired of Rob Van Dam's non-title win over Kurt Angle on Smackdown, which earned Austin his title shot.

Big Show & Spike Dudley & Tajiri beat The Dudleys & Tazz in 1:35. Stacy Keibler came out with the Dudleys, wearing a camouflage pattern outfit and taped Dudley glasses. She still looked awesome! Stacy will fight Torrie Wilson at No Mercy in a lingerie match, which is what DDP would call a good thing. The Dudleys clotheslined Show over to the floor. Tajiri kicked Tazz and got a quick pin. Afterward, Bubba Ray threw Spike out for a hard bump. Stacy laid Torrie out from behind and Bubba got that "I wanna put a chick through a table" look on his face. Tazz held Tajiri in a choke position and forced him to watch as Bubba put Torrie through a table. William Regal and some EMT's rushed to the ring to Torrie's aid. Backstage, Torrie was fitted with a neck brace and stretchered out. Tajiri was all upset.

Stephanie came out. JR acted surprised to see her after she suffered such "serious injuries" two weeks ago. Steph said it was no big deal that Torrie got put through a table, and that it was nothing compared to how Chris Jericho brutalized her. She showed footage from the Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam match where she took all the bumps. She claimed to have suffered two herniated discs, a bruised sternum, and a concussion. She added that she was just an innocent bystander, while Torrie deserved what happened to her. However, she said she now feels great and is looking forward to seeing Austin regain the belt in the main event. This brought Jericho out, to a big pop. Heyman noted that the fans cheering Jericho are the same ones who cheered Bobby Knight. Jericho started the sexual innuendo routine but was quickly interrupted by Shane McMahon. Shane said Jericho has been insulting Stephanie for years, and even quoted his famous "filthy, dirty, disgusting, bottom-feeding, trash bag ho" line. He admitted that Jericho is funny, which Steph didn't appreciate. However, Shane then asserted that Jericho is largely a comic act and said if he had put as much effort into winning titles as he did into insulting Stephanie, he might be a champion and a top tier wrestler. He said Jericho's a joke, just like the Colts and Pacers. Jericho responded by challenging Shane & Steph to a handicap match. But Steph refused, saying that Jericho just wants to get his hands on her body. After arguing some more they finally settled on Rock & Jericho vs. Shane & RVD. Jericho called Shane & Steph "ass clowns" as he departed.

Booker T & Test encountered RVD backstage. Booker was still steaming over RVD winning the vote on Smackdown to get the match against Angle. He told RVD that if he had gotten that match, he would have beaten Angle even faster than RVD. He called himself a five time WCW Champion. RVD said, "I can't believe you lost the WCW Title five times!" Booker did his "tell me you did not say that" catch phrase. Test finally calmed Booker down by reminding him they have a WCW Tag Title defense coming up and they need to stay focused.

A new Dallas Page promo aired. This one was actually good. It featured a chick named Jennifer who claimed she was once so fat her husband wouldn't touch her, but that she learned about DDP's "positive stretching" and by following his regimen, she's now in great shape and her husband wants to touch her all the time. She then bent over with her ass right in the camera lens. DDP arrived and said he'd like to touch Jennifer, too, and encouraged everyone to learn "positive stretching" and to learn to like themselves.

The Hardys beat Booker T & Test in 3:40 to capture the WCW Tag Titles. A good but short match. Lita gave Booker a huracanrana. Matt then gave Booker the twist of fate but Test made the save. Test threw Lita over the security barrier and Matt went after him. This distracted the ref, allowing Undertaker to go in and give Booker the Last Ride. That was actually cool! Jeff hit a swanton and pinned Booker for the title change.

Backstage, Booker was furious and told Test he's been disrespected ever since he arrived. He said he's going to earn respect and the only way to do that is to take out the most respected guy around.

Hurricane & Mighty Molly confronted Lita, accusing her team of winning the WCW Tag Titles due to cheating and heinous tactics with the Undertaker run-in. Molly said winners never cheat and cheaters never win, and challenged Lita to a match. Lita accepted.

Edge beat Rhyno by DQ in a U.S. Title match in 2:29. Christian came out to do color commentary. He gave a little kid his sunglasses, but then took them back, saying the kid's ugly. Christian claimed he taught Edge everything he knows about ladder matches and that it was always he (Christian) who climbed the ladder to retrieve the belts when they won tag title ladder matches. JR said Christian has selective memory. By the way, Christian faces Edge at the PPV in a ladder match. Anyway, Christian ended up getting on the apron, and was accidentally gored by Rhyno. Rhyno went for a powerbomb on Edge but lost him. Edge hit a DDT but Christian broke up the pin attempt for a weak DQ ending. Edge speared Christian afterward.

Hour two began with Shane McMahon & Rob Van Dam beating Rock & Chris Jericho in 7:36. Good match with good heat! RVD did his trademark kicks and hit the rolling thunder move. Rock put RVD in the sharpshooter but Shane made the save. Jericho put the walls on RVD on the floor. Shane saved again, and also bulldogged Jericho into the steps. Jericho juiced a major gusher. Rock chased Shane but got caught with a kick. Rock rolled clear when RVD did the frog splash. Rock gave RVD a Rock Bottom but Shane made yet another save. Jericho came back in, partially blinded by all the blood, and swung a chair at Shane but accidentally nailed Rock hard. RVD pinned the downed Rock.

Backstage, all the Alliance guys congratulated RVD for pinning Rock and began chanting "RVD". This was right outside Steve Austin's locker room. He was nowhere to be seen but the implication was that he heard it all.

Footage aired of Chris Benoit's appearance on HEAT where he predicted Angle will beat Austin in the re-match.

Lance Storm & Ivory appeared at WWF New York. Storm said Benoit doesn't speak for all Canadians, and predicted an Austin win. Ivory ran down the fans for supporting Angle.

EMT's were attending to Jericho's ugly cut when Rock came in and demanded to know what happened. Jericho said he had been trying to hit Shane but missed. Rock was angry but seemed to accept the explanation and started to leave. Jericho said something under his breath, wondering what the hell Rock's problem was. This brought Rock back. He said everyone makes mistakes but a real man owns up to it. They got in each other's face and ended up in a pull-apart brawl, which upset JR very much. Heyman, of course, was delighted.

Michael Cole was outside Austin's door, reporting that Austin would finally speak after the next match.

X-Pac beat Scotty 2 Hotty in 3:31 to retain the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. An okay match, but less heat than other matches. Scotty nearly scored a pin with the worm but X-Pac got his leg over the rope. X-Pac then won with the X-Factor.

Debra told Cole that Austin had changed his mind and wouldn't be speaking after all. She then made Cole give her directions to Commissioner Regal's office.

Mighty Molly beat Lita in 2:41. Oddly enough, a clean match and a clean pin, as Molly scored an upset with a roll-up and bridge. Afterward, Hurricane declared the Hurricycle to be the Mollymobile (for one night only) and they drove off into the night.

Debra praised Regal's office decor and put over the queen. She then mentioned Regal's ban on Alliance members at ringside for her husband's match and said that surely the ban doesn't apply to wives. Regal said it most certainly does apply to wives and that Debra should bake some cookies to occupy herself. She left in anger.

Angle did a promo where he said he proved at Unforgiven that he can beat Austin and that Austin can't beat him. He added that Austin can whine all he wants about his hand being under the ropes but the fact remains that Austin tapped out to his ankle lock.

Steve Austin beat Kurt Angle in 17:19 to regain the WWF World Title. Austin came out and we got our first glimpse of him since his title loss. Debra also came out, but Regal had her ejected and took up a seat at ringside. Austin got in Regal's face but Angle then arrived and the brawl began. The crowd was a little slow getting into it but by the end they were very hot. Mostly brawling at first, much of it on the floor. Angle got posted. Austin took a bump over the announcers' desk. Angle lifted the floor mat but they ended up back in the ring so no concrete piledrivers occurred. Austin began working on Angle's knee. Twice Austin got a chair but each time Regal took it from him. Angle did a big comeback and started throwing the suplexes. Austin shoved Angle into referee Earl Hebner, who took a big bump. Austin got the title belt and was about to use it when Regal went in the ring and took it from him. However, it was a set up, as Regal then clobbered Angle with the belt. JR freaked out over Regal's turn. Regal rolled Hebner back in but Angle kicked out at two to a huge pop. Austin then hit a stunner and scored the pin. Really good main event! The show left the air with Austin as champ again and JR fuming about Regal's treachery.

2001 - Vince Russo, who announced he was no longer going to be involved with the World Wrestling All-Stars tour of Australia, claimed he was going to retire from wrestling and that once his Time-Warner contract from his WCW days expired on October 10, 2001, he would not longer be involved in the business.  As we all know by now, that wasn't the case. Speaking of retirements, NWA World Champion Steve Corino also announced his retirement from wrestling once he lost the title, which he later rescinded.

2002 - WWE Ring Announcer Lilian Garcia releases her debut single "Shout" on October 8, 2002 on Universal Records, further fueling speculation that WWE's "Smackdown Records" label was going to be shut down.

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