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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: STEAMBOAT BEATS FLAIR FOR THE U.S. TITLE

By Buck Woodward on 2009-12-18 08:00:00
December 18th

On this day in history in ....

1970 - Toru Tanaka defeats Fritz Von Erich in Houston, Texas to win the NWA American Heavyweight Title (later to become the World Class World Heavyweight Title), ending Fritz' eighth reign as champion.

1975 - Giant Baba won All Japan Pro Wrestling's 20-man Open Championship tournament in Tokyo with 11 points, beating out second place finishers Abdullah The Butcher and Dory Funk Jr. by one point.

1978 - Ricky Steamboat defeats Ric Flair in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to win the United States Title for a second time.  This also marked the end of Flair's second reign with the belt.

1991 - Blue Panther defeats Satanico in a tournament final to become the first CMLL World Middleweight Title in Acapulco, Mexico.  Panther would vacate the title six months later when he jumped to the rival AAA promotion.

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