SPOILER: New IC Champion crowned, former star temporarily retires

Image source: diamondkillswitch.blogspot.com

If you watched Monday Night RAW last night, you saw Kofi Kingston defeat Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title match. This was done as a way to hype their title match for WWE‘s new program, Main Event, with the IC title being on the line between the two men. Kingston promised Miz he would defeat him twice in a row, and it has been confirmed that this is exactly what has happened.

For those that don’t know, Main Event is actually taped Tuesday night, along with Friday Night Smackdown! and WWE’s other new show, Saturday Morning Slam. As a result, the match was taped earlier tonight, and we now have a new IC Champion in Ghana, West Africa’s own Kofi Kingston. This actually marks Kingston’s 4th run with WWE’s second-oldest singles championship. Kingston first won the title from Chris Jericho in June of 2008, and again in May 2010 (from Drew McIntyre), and January 2011 (from Dolph Ziggler).

As for his opponent, Miz actually suffered legitimate injuries as a result of the match Monday night. In the closing moments, Kingston hit his finisher, Trouble in Paradise, on an unsuspecting Miz. However, he wound up making full contact to Miz’s face, not only busting him open hard-way (legitimately cutting someone, as opposed to “gigging”, which involves pre-cutting the skin to make it split easier and leave less of a scar), but possibly giving him a concussion. Miz went impact testing after the match, and will go through with further testing tomorrow in order to determine the severity of the injury, as well as how much time he may need to take off, should he have suffered a concussion.

In other news, current CMLL star Hector Garza is being forced into a temporary retirement. Garza has been diagnosed with pulmonary cancer, a form of lung cancer (often as a result of smoking), and will require six full chemotherapy sessions to attempt to rid his body of the disease. Garza briefly worked for WWE (then WWF) in 1997, as part of a cross-promotional deal with AAA, with whom Garza was working at the time. He was brought in as part of an attempt to revive the Light Heavyweight division, and wrestled in a featured 6-man match on the 1997 Royal Rumble PPV card. After his short time in WWF, Garza spent time in WCW before returning to Mexico. He worked for chief WWE rival TNA in 2004, and has since become a major star in both CMLL and rival promotion Perros Del Mal. At the time of retirement, Garza was the reigning Mexican National Heavyweight Champion, winning the belt on February 14th of this year.