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February 20th
On this day in history in ....
1978 - At Madison Square Garden in New York City, Bob Backlund defeats Superstar Billy Graham with an atomic drop to win the WWWF World Heavyweight Title. In a bit of poetic justice, Graham's foot was on the bottom rope for the pin, but the referee didn't see it, as Graham used the ropes for leverage in his title win over Bruno Sammartino.
1984 - WWF ran at New York's Madison Square Garden, selling out the building in advance, so a closed circuit broadcast was set up at the smaller Felt Forum in the Garden complex.
- Jose Luis Rivera defeated Charlie Fulton.
- Iron Mike Sharpe defeated B. Brian Blair.
- Samoan Afa defeated Tony Garea.
- The Iron Sheik defeated Eddie Gilbert.
- Rowdy Roddy Piper & David Schultz defeated The Invaders.
- Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana defeated Don Muraco via countout.
- Andre The Giant defeated The Masked Superstar. This was Superstar's last appearance in Madison Square Garden, although he would return years later as Demolition Ax.
- Salvatore Bellomo defeated Swede Hanson.
- Pedro Morales defeated Playboy Boddy Rose.
- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Orndorff via countout.
- Jimmy Snuka defeated Samoan Samula.
- Ivan Putski, Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas defeated Mr. Fuji, Sgt. Slaughter & Tiger Chung Lee.
1989 - The NWA held the Chi-Town Rumble Pay-per-view at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois, headlined by the first of the three-match classic between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Here are the results of the show:
- Michael Hayes defeated The Russian Assassin (Jack Victory).
- Sting defeated Butch Reed.
- The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette defeated Randy Rose, Jack Victory (subbing for Dennis Condrey) & Paul E. Dangerously in a Loser-Leaves-Town match when Stan Lane pinned Rose. As a result, Rose had to leave the company.
- Mike Rotundo defeated Rick Steiner to win the NWA Television Title.
- Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham to win the United States Title.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors defeated Steve Williams & Kevin Sullivan when Hawk pinned Sullivan.
- Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
- Kendall Windham defeated Steve Casey. This match was held after the PPV for the fans in the arena. Part of the match did air, without commentary, on some cable systems.
1989 - WWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Jim Powers defeated Iron Mike Sharpe.
- Brooklyn Brawler defeated Red Rooster.
- Big John Studd defeated Akeem via countout. This was Studd's final MSG appearance.
- The Bushwackers defeated The Rougeau Brothers.
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Rick Rude.
- Rick Martel vs. King Haku ended in a draw.
- Greg Valentine defeated Jim Neidhart.
- WWF World Champion Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior via countout when Rick Rude attacked Warrior on the floor.
1992 - WWF Intercontinental Champion Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated WWF World Champion Ric Flair in a steel cage match in Niagara Falls, New York. It was a non-title bout.
1995 - Sid Vicious returns to the national wrestling scene for the first time since the infamous hotel brawl with Arn Anderson in England, appearing on Monday Night Raw in Macon, Georgia as the new bodyguard for Shawn Michaels.
2001 - During a taping of Smackdown from Kansas City, Missouri, The Kat wrestled Ivory to a no-contest when the Right To Censor interfered. Jerry Lawler tried to make the save, but was beaten down by Right To Censor. This was Kat's last WWF match, as she was being released, and Lawler, who had a real-life relationship with her, quit the company in protest.
2005 - WWE held their No Way Out PPV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original report for that PPV is on Page 2!
2006 - During an edition of Raw from Trenton, New Jersey, Shelton Benjamin defeated Ric Flair with an Exploder suplex after hitting him with a oxygen tank while Mama Benjamin distracted the referee to win the Intercontinental Title. On the same show, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam and Big Show in a three way match by pinning Van Dam with a Pedigree after Van Dam had given Big Show a frog splash to earn a WWE Title match with John Cena at Wrestlemania.
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