Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted January 6, 2003 From Dave Meltzer: ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY 1/6 1953 - Paul Gomez, the 1949 Mr. California makes his pro debut under the name Pepper Gomez in El Paso, TX under the tutelage of Mexican wrestling legend Miguel "Blackie" Guzman. Gomez blew out his knee in his first match. Gomez ended up being a huge star, particularly in Texas and California as "the man with the cast iron stomach." He still holds the record holding the Texas heavyweight title on 12 occasions between 1955 and 1963, and his 1963 match with Ray Stevens still holds the record for the largest sports crowd ever in the San Francisco Cow Palace. 1967 - "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig & "Handsome" Harley Race regained the AWA world tag team titles from Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher at the old Minneapolis Auditorium. 1973 - Ray Stevens & Nick Bockwinkel regained the AWA tag titles from Verne Gagne & Billy Robinson, the top two singles stars in the company, after a reign of only one week. 1983 - Carlos Colon, who held the recognized world heavyweight title from the WWC, faced Ric Flair, who held the recognized world title of the NWA, to create an undisputed title known as the Universal title which Colon won, however Flair returned to the United States still recognized as world champion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest dreamer420 Report post Posted January 7, 2003 1983 - Carlos Colon, who held the recognized world heavyweight title from the WWC, faced Ric Flair, who held the recognized world title of the NWA, to create an undisputed title known as the Universal title which Colon won, however Flair returned to the United States still recognized as world champion. I guess title unification matches never meant anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted January 7, 2003 The title changes were never acknowledged in the States but they were a huge deal in PR which helped give the WWC credibility along with cement Colon's Demi God status there as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites