August is quite a memorable month, when we talk about professional wrestling history. Not only because of WWE's second biggest annual PPV - SummerSlam, but because of the various great events that took place in this sacred month, throughout the years.
Today, lets take a look at August 25 and see how some of the biggest events held on this day, changed the landscape of professional wrestling:
August 25, 1984
The legendary team of The Road Warriors defeated The Crusher and Baron Von Raschke for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hawk and Animal went on to hold the belts for over a year, greatly dominating the tag team scene.
August 25, 1991
Sting defeated Steve Austin in a tournament final to capture the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The match took place infront of a passionate crowd of wrestling fans in Atlanta, Georgia.
The title had been vacate when Lex Luger won the WCW World Championship.
Following are the results of the tournament:
Round 1
- Sting defeated Arn Anderson
- Diamond Stud defeated Bobby Eaton
- Barry Windham received a bye
- Steve Austin defeated Tom Zenk
- Johnny B. Badd vs. Yellow Dog ended in a draw
- Ricky Morton vs. Dustin Rhodes ended in a double DQ
Semi Finals
- Sting defeated Diamond Stud
- Steve Austin defeated Barry Windham
Final Round
- Sting defeated Steve Austin
August 25, 2002
WWF held their SummerSlam PPV at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
The show is regarded by many as "beyond excellent, with not one bad match!"
The show did not have a lot of segments or backstage skits, instead, it was just about wrestling - which is what fans loved the most!
Following were the show's results:
Kurt Angle defeated Rey Mysterio. The match lasted about 9 minutes and 20 seconds
Backstage, Stephanie was seen bragging about the match, saying that it proved how great SmackDown wrestlers are. She then had an argument with Eric Bischoff before the two agreed to share the office space.
Ric Flair defeated Chris Jericho. The match lasted about 10 minutes and 23 seconds.
Backstage, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were seen watching a promo for a new Hulk Hogan history video.
Edge defeated Eddie Guerrero. The match lasted 11 minutes and 46 seconds.
Jonathan Coachman interviewed "The Unamericans."
Lance Storm and Christian defeated Booker T and Goldust to retain the WWE World Tag Titles. The match lasted about 9 minutes and 36 seconds.
Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Benoit to retain the Intercontinental Championship. This was the longest match of the night so far, and lasted about 16 minutes and 29 seconds.
The Undertaker defeated TEST in 8 minutes and 17 seconds.
Shawn Michaels defeated Triple H in 27 minutes and 10 seconds, in a non sanctioned match.
Howard Finkel got on the mic. This was his first PPV announcing job in Nassau Coliseum since WrestleMania II. Trish Stratus then came out and acted as if she was attracted to Howard. The announcer fell for it and was about to go "all the way" with her and that is when Lilian Garcia returned to kick him between his legs.
Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock in 16 minutes to capture the Undisputed WWE World Championship.
August 25, 2010
A bizarre, would-be startup, "Worldwide Wrestling Promotions" made an even more bizarre move. The promotion claimed to have big backing and even signed a number of talents at first.
However, on August 25, 2010, they issued the following email to those signed to their roster, just as they were about to start operations:
"Hello Team: I apologize for the lack of updates lately but guys there has been ALOT going on and I really wanted to give you all as much information as I could as to where things stand in this update. First of all I think you all know that this is a huge project that we have taken on. With WWP we are not just launching a new independent promotion or something that is going to be on the long list of fly by night wrestling companies that have come and gone. We are planning on being here for the long run and in becoming over the next decade the premiere wrestling company in the world. That obviously does not happen over night nor does it happen without hitting some bumps in the road. Well we have hit more than our fair share of bumps recently. To be honest there are many forces in the wrestling business doing whatever they can to sabotage everything we are trying to do and doing everything in their power to make sure that this company will never launch. I can promise you though that no matter how many hurdles we have to jump over that there are people here dedicated to doing everything they can to make sure this company WILL launch and we will be a long time player in this industry. That said guys this is a tough process and those working with us on the financing side realize now that there were mistakes made in setting things up and in order to guarantee that this company will not be one of the countless entities that have come out with a bang and have fizzled and burnt out before ever really leaving the ground we have had to make some painful decisions that we are not at all happy about. The most serious decision is that we have been told our original time table is not at all feasible. While we were all committed to launching in October we know now that has become an impossible goal. Our new goal is to start operations in the first part of the new year however we do not as of today have a firm date. That unfortunately means that contracts will have to be changed to a new starting date. Now I know that none of you will be happy with this decision and I HATE to be the one that has to write this but it is something that the corporate side of this company feels has to be done. Trust me when I say that Pete and I have fought this decision KICKING AND SCREAMING (literally) but unfortunately it comes down to either this move is made or this company does not move forward. I have been told that there will be addendums to your contracts drawn up by our attorney. If you decide you do not wish to sign the contract addendums we fully understand. You will still be welcome to come back to work for us in the future once we are up and running in the early part of the new year. For those of you that sign the contract addendums you will be receiving extra shares of company stock and the addendums will also spell out our full health and benefits plan that will be made available to you. I want to thank Mister St. Laurent and Kevin Kleinrock for doing a great job of signing everyone they were asked to and want everyone to know that they had nothing to do with this decision made and feel just as terrible about this as Pete and I. I want you all to know that we are 100% committed to you being the first roster of WWP and if you stick by us through these growing pains we will make sure you have the ride of your lives as part of our company. On the positive side of things we did sign a major deal this week that I am going to be able to give you the details on very soon along with hopefully the news of an even bigger deal that will put us in a very advantageous position to launch our product. I should be able to give you all details in the next couple of weeks. Thanks, R. Sean Pascoe Vice President Worldwide Wrestling Promotions, INC."
It has been over 10 years and the promotion is yet to see the light of the day.
August 25, 2010
USA Network issued the following press release in observance of WWE RAW's upcoming 900th episode celebration:
USA NETWORK PRESENTS MONDAY NIGHT RAW’S 900TH EPISODE CELEBRATION WHAT: On Monday, August 30, USA Network will present the historic 900th episode of its hit series, WWE Monday Night Raw with a special celebration. The episode will celebrate Monday Night RAW’s historic smashing of the 900th episode milestone – making it the longest-running weekly prime time episodic series in television history. The show will feature WWE Superstars and Divas from RAW, SmackDown and NXT. It will originate from Boston’s TD Garden at 9/8c. WWE Monday Night RAW has been a staple on cable television since its debut on USA Network in 1993 and has been the No. 1 ranked weekly basic cable entertainment series since it went live in 1999. With its blend of humor, action and drama, Monday Night RAW continues to appeal to a variety of demographics generation after generation. Monday Night RAW Television Highlights: - RAW made its cable television premiere on January 11, 1993. - The first episode was taped at the Manhattan Center and aired on USA Network. - Monday Night RAW has aired more original episodes than some of the most popular television series of all time, including Gunsmoke (633), Lassie (588), Bonanza (430), The Simpsons (420 plus), Dallas (357), ER (309 plus),Cheers (275) and Seinfeld (180). - 37% of RAW’s viewers are female and RAW is a Top 5 ad-supported cable program among Females 12-34. - Monday Night RAW is a global phenomenon broadcast in more than 30 languages to more than 145 countries and seen by nearly a half a billion homes worldwide weekly, including Japan, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and Iraq. - RAW is the birthplace of such household names as The Rock®, Stone Cold Steve Austin™, Triple H®, John Cena®, Undertaker® and Shawn Michaels.® - A pop culture phenomenon, RAW has been a destination for actors, athletes and musicians not only to promote projects but to also enjoy ringside excitement as fans. Donald Trump, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Ashton Kutcher, Jewel, Jeremy Piven and Rob Reiner have all appeared on RAW. WHEN: Monday, August 30, 2010 9:00 PM – 11:05 PM ET/PT WHERE: USA Network
August 25, 2011
Bill Simon's ESPN sub-site, Grantland published a major story on Ric Flair, painting him as a real life version of "Randy the Ram" who was recently evicted from his home due to non-payment of rent and "continues to wrestle because he needs the money, despite suffering from alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
Ric Flair refused to be interviewed on the story.
August 25, 2011
WWE Opened an office in Istanbul.
The company released the following press release:
LONDON, Aug 25, 2011 -- WWE(R) WWE -2.28% today announced that it has appointed Emre Mumcuoglu as General Manager, WWE Turkey to lead WWE's expansion across all lines of business within Turkey and Central Asia. Mumcuoglu will be based in WWE's new Istanbul office and report into Dominic Hayes, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of WWE International. This marks WWE's second international office opening in 2011, demonstrating a continued focus on its international expansion in key emerging markets. Mumcuoglu most recently served as Program Director for Fox Turkey, where during his four year tenure with the company worked with major distributors including Sony, Disney and Warner Bros. Prior to Fox Turkey, he held positions at Discovery Networks and Kanalturk, where he was instrumental in the launch of the channel. "WWE has enjoyed substantial growth in Turkey and Central Asia in recent years and we will continue to focus on giving our fans in Turkey increased access to WWE through our multiple platforms," said Dominic Hayes. "The addition of Emre, a highly accomplished senior executive with a wealth of television experience, is representative of this focus and the next stage in our development strategy for the region." Additional information on WWE WWE -2.28% can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to wwe.com/worldwide. About WWE: WWE, a publicly traded company WWE -2.28% , is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Additional information on WWE WWE -2.28% can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide
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