This Day in Wrestling History (September 25 and 26)

Two days, one post. Quite a bit happened on September 25, so I couldn't really skip it. So, two days, one post.

21 years and a day ago today, Shawn Michaels, then the WWF Intercontinental Champion, walks out on the company. Allegedly, the falling out had to do with Michaels testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Michaels was actually offered a job in WCW in his time away, but ultimately turned it down and returned in November at Survivor Series as a substitute for Jerry "The King" Lawler. He would then engage in a feud with Razor Ramon that culminated in a classic ladder match at Wrestlemania X.

21 years and a day ago today at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Brian Christopher makes his WWF debut against a returning Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Unsurprisingly, Snuka won, but Christopher would go on to greater pastures in the WWF a few years later as Grandmaster Sexay.

14 years and a day ago today, WWF presented the first RAW is WAR on TNN. It is the first RAW on a network other than USA since its debut in 1993. The show emanated from the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania.

• Kane fought Rikishi to a double disqualification.
• Tazz pinned Bubba Ray Dudley.
• The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) defeated Edge & Christian in a ladder match to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
• X-Pac defeated Chris Jericho in a first blood match.
• Eddie Guerrero defeated Val Venis to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
• The Rock defeated Chris Benoit to retain the WWF Championship.

14 years and a day today on Nitro, Vince Russo defeated Booker T in a Caged Heat (similar to Hell in a Cell) match to win the WCW Championship. On the same show, The Natural Born Thrillers (Sean O'Haire & Mark Jindrak) won a tag team battle royal to win the vacant WCW Tag Team Championship.

13 years and a day ago today at a Smackdown taping from Dayton, Ohio, Test & Booker T defeat The Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker & Kane) to win the WCW Tag Team Championship.

8 years and a day ago today, RAW from Oklahoma City opened with a brownout. The show opened with Candice Michelle and Lita facing off without the lights, with Lita quickly getting the win following a spear by Candice Michelle. It wouldn't be her only match that night: she would face a one-armed John Cena in the main event, and the one-armed Cena won.

7 years and a day ago today at a Smackdown taping in Indianapolis, Indiana, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship held by Hornswoggle is vacated by general manager Vickie Guerrero. Born as the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship in October 1991, 38 men and two women (Madus and Daffney) held the championship. The Light Heavyweight Championship was contested in 1991 and 1992 in WCW before the championship was abandoned. The Cruiserweight Championship was born in 1996 with Shinjiro Otani winning the title in a tournament final. The belt would be contested up to WCW's demise, then brought into the WWF after the buyout. The Cruiserweight Championship was unified with the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship late in 2001 and became a staple of Smackdown when the roster split in 2002.

4 years and a day ago today in Rahway, New Jersey, Jay Lethal defeated The Amazing Red to win the TNA X Division Championship.

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37 years ago today, Dusty Rhodes defeated WWWF Champion Superstar Billy Graham via countout in Madison Square Garden in New York City. To say this bout was anticipated would be an understatement: the Garden sold out, so a few thousand had to watch at the Felt Forum via closed circuit television.

19 years ago today in Tokyo, Japan, "The Gladiator" Mike Awesome defeated Hayabusa in a tournament final to win the FMW Brass Knuckles Championship.

15 years ago today, WWF presented Unforgiven (WWE Network link) from the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. 15,799 were in attendance, with about 330,000 homes watching on PPV; however, some estimates have the number as high as 408,000 buys. This was the last PPV by the WWF before the company went public in October 1999. The event also featured replacement referees for nearly all the matches, as the regular officials were on "strike" due to the continuous physical abuse they took in recent months. The only regular official to work a match on the show was Jimmy Korderas.

• Val Venis defeated Steve Blackman.
• D'Lo Brown defeated Mark Henry to win the WWF European Championship.
• Jeff Jarrett defeated Chyna by disqualification to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
• The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von).
• Ivory defeated Luna Vachon in a hardcore match to retain the WWF Women's Championship.
• The New Age Outlaws (Mr. Ass and Road Dogg) defeated Edge & Christian to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
• Al Snow defeated The Big Boss Man in a Kennel From Hell match to retain the WWF Hardcore Championship.
• X-Pac defeated Chris Jericho (w/ Curtis Hughes) by disqualification.
• Triple H defeated The Rock, Mankind, Kane, The Big Show, and The British Bulldog (with Steve Austin as Special guest referee) in a 6-Pack Challenge to win the vacant WWF Championship.

10 years ago today, Marianna Komlos passed away from breast cancer. She was just 35. Born September 3, 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Komlos began taking up bodybuilding after weighing close to 200 pounds. In 1993, she got into the competitive bodybuilding circuit, eventually winning the British Columbia Championships as a middleweight in 1997. Komlos would appear on the cover of many fitness magazines, including in a span of four months in 1997 Muscle & Fitness, Flex, and Women's Physique World. In 1999, she entered the WWF as Mrs. Cleveage, the "mother" of Beaver Cleavage in one of wrestling's most infamous angles. Following the abrupt killing of that angle, Marianna was portrayed as an abused girlfriend of the former Beaver Cleavage, Chaz Warrington. After it was revealed she was faking the abuse, Komlos was written off and subsequently released. She was diagnosed with breast cancer soon after. Less than a week after marrying mixed martial artist and stuntman Paul Lazenby, Komlos died of breast cancer.

9 years ago today, exactly five years and a day after RAW debut on Spike TV, RAW was broadcast for the last time on Spike. Despite the fact that Vince McMahon thanked the network for their relationship the last five years, Spike wasn't exactly cordial. They muted RAW's new home (USA Network) at every mention for much of the show, pushed their UFC block, noting there were no scripts, and in one instance, muted their own network mention. For the record, in the main event, Carlito & Chris Masters defeated John Cena & Shawn Michaels.

6 years ago today, Smackdown airs for the final time on the CW Network. The show, emanating from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, had a title change: Carlito and Primo defeated Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.

5 years ago today, Ring of Honor presented Glory by Honor VIII: The Final Countdown from the Manhattan Center in New York City. The show is noted for the final appearances of both Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness in ROH before heading to WWE (Nigel would end up in TNA after failing a physical for WWE) and the return of Jim Cornette just days after he was let go from TNA. Plus Bret Hart appeared.

• Colt Cabana defeated Rhett Titus.
• The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) defeated Up in Smoke (Cheech & Cloudy.
• Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kenny Omega.
• Roderick Strong defeated Delirious, Grizzly Redwood, and Sonjay Dutt in a Four Corner Survival Match.
• The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) defeated El Generico & Kevin Steen in a Ladder War to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
• Chris Hero defeated Eddie Kingston.
• Austin Aries defeated Petey Williams by countout to retain the ROH World Championship.
• The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe).
• Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness via submission.

One year ago today, Hulk Hogan "quits" TNA at the conlusion of an Impact taping in Little Rock, Arkansas. In a last gasp, Dixie Carter wrapped herself around Hogan's leg as she begged her to stay and "join the Dixie train". As it turned out, not surprisingly, it was Hogan himself that orchestrated his exit from the company. Despite rumors that Hogan would resign around Bound for Glory, Hogan returned to WWE this past February as the host of Wrestlemania XXX.