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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: JIM ROSS CONFUSES RAW VIEWERS, WWE LOADS FIRST FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN AND MORE

By Buck Woodward on 2010-09-06 07:00:00

September 6th

On this day in history in ....

1972 - The Sheik defeats Seiji Sakaguchi in Tokyo, Japan to win the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. That belt is now part of the All Japan Triple Crown. 

1975 - WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeats Bugsy McGraw & Lou Albano in a handicap match at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1981 - Ron Bass defeats Greg Valentine to win the NWA Television Title in Ashville, North Carolina, ending Valentine's fourth, and final, run with the belt. 

1993 - The Moondogs (Spike& Cujo) defeat The Dogcatchers for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, starting their second reign.

1996 - During a Friday night edition of Raw (due to U.S. Open Tennis) Jim Ross shocks and confuses fans by saying that Razor Ramon and Diesel were in talks to return to the WWF. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, working for WCW, deny Ross' claim. Ross would repeat the statement again on WWF shows, and would later introduce the "new" Diesel (Glen Jacobs, aka Kane) and "new" Razor Ramon (Rick Bogner, aka Big Titan). Since WWF did own the names and characters of Diesel and Razor Ramon, they were within their rights to have new wrestlers portray the roles. However, the idea was not warmly accepted by the fans. 

1997 - Steven Dunn defeats Doomsday (Kane) for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. He would be the last man to hold the title, as the company would close down two months later. 

2002 - At a non-televised event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defeats World Champion Triple H in a rare bout between the Smackdown and Raw champions. Before the match, it was announced that only Lesnar's title was on the line.

2003 - Toshiaki Kawada defeats Shinjiro Ohtani in a tournament final to win the Triple Crown in Tokyo, Japan. This would begin Kawada's fifth reign as champion, tying for the record of most Triple Crown wins with Mitsuharu Misawa.

2003 - Nigel McGuiness defeats Chad Collyer for the Heartland Wrestling Association Title in Batavia, Ohio. 

2005 - WWE tapes the first edition of Friday Night Smackdown in Atlanta, Georgia, with Eddie Guerrero defeating Rey Mysterio in a steel cage match, U.S. Champion Chris Benoit defeating Orlando Jordan with the Crippler Crossface in 22.5 seconds, and World Champion Batista defeated JBL in a bullrope match. Unfortunately, due to a benefit concert pre-empting the show in many markets, WWE's loaded lineup would not be a ratings success.

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