This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 51: 12/17 – 12/23)

This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 51) covering the period of 12/17 thru 12/23. Running Time: 5 Hours 10 Minutes.

This Week In Wrestling History hosted by Don Tony first aired in 2018 and spanned two seasons. After much demand, these retro episodes return REMASTERED and UPDATED FOR 2025. Wrestling history up to and including 2024 has been added!

Hundreds of hours of original wrestling clips & stories. Enjoy this deep dive into pro wrestling's awesome history.

SYNOPSIS: SEASON 3 EPISODE 51 (12/17 - 12/23)
RUNNING TIME: 5 HOURS 10 MINUTES

• Memorable match featuring Superstar Billy Graham defending the WWWF Championship against Mil Mascaras at Madison Square Garden
• Tarzan Tyler, Mad Dog Lefebvre, and Referee Adrien Desbois die in a tragic auto accident
• Audio: New Jack Hustler: The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa) hype an upcoming SMW match against The Rock N' Roll Express
• Audio: Madusa (Alundra Blayze) returns to WCW and throws the WWF Womens Championship in the trash on Monday Nitro
• Audio: Degeneration X HBK and Triple cut a memorable Christmas Promo wearing only G-Strings and Mistletoe
• Audio: Long before Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan' Fingerpoke Of Doom, HBK lays down for Triple H in a WWF European Title Match
• NWO takes over Monday Nitro for a night. DT looks at Raw vs Nitro ratings before and after NWO Monday Nitro
• Hulk Hogan receives a Christmas Present: A severed dummy head of himself
• Taz lays down and 'intentionally' loses his unsanctioned FTW Championship to Sabu
• Looking back at WCW Starrcade 1999
• Audio: Bret Hart vs Goldberg at Starrcade '99 and Nitro the following night: A career ending mule kick, a forfeited WCW Title, a pissed off Kevin Nash, an unhinged Roddy Piper, two Screwjobs, a faction reformation and lots more
• Mike Awesome def Masato Tanaka for ECW World Heavyweight Championship
• ECW holds its last ever event at ECW Arena
• Edge and Christian def The Rock and Undertaker for WWF Tag Team Titles
• Audio: Remembering the infamous Supermarket Brawl between Steve Austin and Booker T, including bonus rare commentary from Steve Austin
• Audio: The Rock performs his version of 'The 12 Days Of Christmas'
• Audio: One of the greatest rivalries in recent history begins: Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar
• Audio: Vintage John Cena live rap (w/ B-Squared) from Smackdown (2002)
• DT looks back at XPW 'Merry F'n X-Mas' event, the emergence of Shark Boy, and the scary incident involving Lizzy Borden and the timekeepers table (occupied by DT)
• Looking back at WWE Tribute To The Troops: Christmas From Baghdad 2003 and 2004
• Looking back at WWE Armageddon 2005, 2006
• Looking back at WWE: Tribute To The Troops 2005, 2010, 2018, 2022
• Audio: Vladimir 'Dont Call Me Viktor' Kozlov makes his 'Double Double E' debut - and is not seen again on WWE TV for 16 months
• Audio: The infamous controversial appearance of 'President George W Bush' on Raw
• Looking back at Ring Of Honor 'Final Battle' 2006, 2009-2011, 2015, 2020, 2024
• WWE signs Nuevo Gran Apolo
• Looking back at the wackiest gimmick themed night in TNA history: Christmas 2007
• Audio: Origins of 'Donzilla vs Samoa Joe' DTKC Show Intro
• Audio: AJ Styles is forced to wear a Reindeer Costume after losing a 'Grab The Reindeer' (Costume On A Pole) Ladder Match
• NBC officially cancels American Gladiators (hosted by Hulk Hogan)
• Maryse begins her 216-day reign at WWE Divas Champion
• Kid Kash arrested and accused of identity theft and forgery (charges that were later dropped)
• Looking back at TNA Final Resolution PPV 2009
• TNA tapes the All-Women's Impact: New Years Knockout Eve
• WWE releases Kaval (aka Low Ki)
• WWE reveals their list of Top 10 'Submission Specialists Of All Time': Do you agree?
• Looking back at WWE: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2010, 2011, 2020
• Audio: Highlights from Kevin Steen (Owens) vs El Generico (Sami Zayn) 'Fight Without Honor' brawl from ROH Final Battle 2010
• Audio: Big Show wins WWE World Heavyweight Championship def Mark Henry, just to lose it seven seconds later
• Audio: Daniel Bryan cashes in MITB Briefcase and captures his first WWE Heavyweight Championship (def Big Show)
• WWE roster performs 'Jingle Bells' (2012)
• WWE announces the return of Batista to WWE in January 2014
• Jeff Jarrett officially exits TNA Wrestling
• Braun Strowman makes pro wrestling debut at NXT house show
• Audio: CM Punk' savage appearance on TSN: Off The Record with Michael Landsberg. Exactly one year after the CM Punk interview disaster, OTR is canceled
• Looking back at 2015 WWE Slammy Awards featured on Monday Night RAW
• Audio: R-Truth pulls a 'Steve Harvey' and announces the wrong Slammy Award winner
• Looking back at WWE Roadblock: End of the Line PPV
• Cesaro and Sheamus end New Day's 483-day reign as RAW Tag Team Champions.
• Audio: Chris Jericho helps his best friend Kevin Owens retain WWE Universal Title (vs Roman Reigns) - by hitting Kevin Owens with a Codebreaker???
• Neville (PAC) proclaims himself 'King Of The Cruiserweights'
• Audio: Dallas Cowboys hire Sting as their Intimidation Coach?
• Audio: Stephanie McMahon announces the first ever Women's Royal Rumble Match to take place at the 2018 Royal Rumble
• Looking back at WWE: Clash Of The Champions 2017
• Audio: Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H 'take back' WWE RAW and SmackDown, and proclaim the FANS are now the 'Authority' LOL
• Impact Wrestling announces their programming will be moving from Pop TV to the Pursuit Channel
• Looking back at the All Women's NXT LIVE House Show from 2019 featuring Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Reina Gonzalez (Raquel Rodriguez), Deonna Purrazzo, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi Blackheart, Mia Yim, Chelsea Green and many others
• Dragon Lee and Ivy Nile get married (not to each other!)
• Impact Wrestling releases Killer (Karrion) Kross after a bitter contract dispute
• Audio: Tony Schiavone announces he will never accept a WWE Hall Of Fame Induction. And he's instructed his family never to accept one even after he is deceased
• Infamous moment on AEW Dynamite involving the Dark Order's Creepers, a bunch of phantom punches and Dustin Rhodes
• Audio: Highlights of the Firefly Inferno Match, Randy Orton setting The Fiend (Bray Wyatt) on fire, and the segment that followed on RAW with Randy Orton visiting Alexa's Playground
• Audio: Memorable segment on SmackDown as Roman Reigns fires Paul Heyman, which leads to the surprise return of Brock Lesnar
• 'Gentleman' Jack Gallagher makes his MMA debut with an embarrassing loss
• Audio: Memorable 'Winner Takes All Ladder Match' on WWE RAW featuring The Miz vs Dexter Lumis and the surprise return of Bronson Reed
• Audio: "You're a big mother fu**er!": Infamous moment on AEW Dynamite featuring Rick Ross, the creation of the Mogul Affiliates, and Swerve Strickland double stomping a cinderblock thru the chest of Keith Lee
• Audio: Not a good 24 hours for Chelsea Green, as she loses her WWE Women's Tag Team Championships AND her infamous Samantha Irvin introduction
• Audio: Looking back at another failed venture (some call it a scheme) by Ric Flair: Wooooo! Coin LOL
• Audio: LA Knight honored with the Key To The City to his hometown of Hagerstown, MD
• Warner Brothers Discovery announces future AEW Programming to be available on MAX (HBO MAX) streaming platform
• Tony Khan announces AEW Rampage will be coming to an end
• Audio: Chris Jericho discusses his pro wrestling future, if he would want a retirement tour and how he would prefer to retire as an active wrestler
• And so much more!

RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE to download the AUDIO episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E51 (12/17 – 12/23)

CLICK HERE to listen to COMMERCIAL FREE episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E51 (12/17 – 12/23)

CLICK HERE to listen to THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E51 (12/17 – 12/23) online

CLICK HERE to access previous episodes for all the shows

====

CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE WITH THE DTKC 20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHIRT!

CLICK HERE for DTKC Pro Wrestling Tees Store

====

Want to help promote our shows and get a special shout-out on the next show? Stop by Apple Podcasts (CLICK HERE) or SPOTIFY (CLICK HERE) and leave a review!

Join Don Tony And Kevin Castle Show Patreon Family, and get a special shout-out on the next show! CLICK HERE

====

DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE *PATREON* AND *YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIPS:

You can send additional support for Don Tony And Kevin Castle and help grow the brand, by becoming a member of DT/KC PATREON and/or YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP FAMILY. Don Tony and Kevin Castle's PATREON has been around for over seven years! You can access all seven years of BONUS CONTENT right now including:

• Ad-Free episodes of all of the weekly Non-Patreon shows
• Retro episodes of The Don Tony And Kevin Castle Show going back as early as 2004 (Retro Episodes added each week!)
• Weekly Patreon podcasts hosted by Don Tony
• Kevin Castle's entire library of Patreon exclusive shows.
• 2000+ hours of Patreon exclusive shows never released publicly! (Over 8 Years of Patreon Exclusive Content!)

CLICK HERE to access DT/KC Patreon now!

YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIPS:
Another option is to become a CHANNEL MEMBER on YouTube. Get exclusive enhanced versions of weekly shows, access to DT's weekly Patreon show, retro DTKC Show episodes, giveaways and more.

CLICK HERE for more details and to join The DT/KC YouTube Channel Member Family!

====

CHECK OUT OUR CONTENT ACROSS THESE PLATFORMS:

• CLICK HERE FOR APPLE PODCASTS
• CLICK HERE FOR SPOTIFY
• CLICK HERE FOR ANDROID
• CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON MUSIC
• CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PODCASTS
• CLICK HERE FOR PANDORA
• CLICK HERE FOR PODBEAN
• CLICK HERE FOR IHEARTRADIO
• CLICK HERE FOR DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE SHOW MERCHANDISE!

====

WEEKLY SHOW SCHEDULE (UPDATED: APRIL 2025):

• WWE RAW RECAP AND WRESTLING NEWS REPORT: LIVE EVERY MONDAY NIGHT at 10:45PM ET after WWE RAW on DTKCDiscord.com
• PRO WRESTLING NEWS UPDATES: Posted every WEDNESDAY morning at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms)
• DT VIPATREON CHRONICLES: Patreon Exclusive Show hosted by Don Tony LIVE EVERY THURSDAY at 8:30PM on DTKC Patreon Channel (https://www.patreon.com/dontony)
• THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY: Posted every FRIDAY at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms)
• PRO WRESTLING NEWS UPDATES: Posted every SATURDAY morning at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms)
• THE SIT-DOWN w/DON TONY: VIDEO PODCAST hosted by Don Tony LIVE EVERY SUNDAY at 8PM on YouTube (www.YouTube.com/DonTony)
• WWE/AEW PPV RECAP/REVIEW: (Posted MONDAY NIGHTS)

====

SOCIAL MEDIA / WEBSITE / CONTACT INFO:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dontonyd
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dontony
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/DTKCShow
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dontony