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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: TITLE CHANGE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ... OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, JANNETTY'S BIG COMEBACK MATCH AND MORE

By Buck Woodward on 2007-03-15 08:00:00

March 15th

On this day in history in ....

1905 - Tom Jenkins defeats Frank Gotch in a two out of three falls match at Madison Square Garden in New York City to win the American Heavyweight Title for the third time. 

1946 - El Santo defeats Pete Pancof in Mexico City, Mexico to become the first NWA World Welterweight Champion. 

1956 - Whipper Billy Watson defeats Lou Thesz via countout in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title, ending Thesz' first reign as champion.

1991 - Tom Pritchard defeats Jeff Jarrett in Dallas, Texas to win the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Jarrett's third reign.

1997 - ECW ran their Hostile City Showdown event at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This would be the first Hostile City Showdown event to not be released on ECW Home Video. This was also the last ECW Arena event before ECW's first Pay-per-view, Barely Legal. Here are the results:
- The Full Blooded Italians (Tommy Rich & Little Guido) defeated Tracey Smothers and Chris Chetti when Smothers spin kicked Chetti, turning on him and joining the FBI.
- Taz defeated Rob Van Dam via submission with the Tazmission.
- Sabu defeated Spike Dudley with the Tazmission. Sabu then actually spoke, calling out Taz. Bill Alfonso came out, and Sabu put him through a table, leading to a brief brawl with Taz.
- ECW Commissioner Tod Gordon came out and announced that at Barely Legal, it would be The Sandman, Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer in a three way dance, with the winner getting a title match with Raven. Dreamer got on the mic and said he wanted to give his spot to Terry Funk, saying it was Funk's last chance to win the title. During the segment, the fans chanted "Four Way Dance", which was not part of the plan, and resulted in the segment not being shown on television (they used still shots instead). 
- Chris Candido defeated Louie Spicolli in a three falls match. Spicolli won the first fall with a rollup, Candido won the second with a top rope rana, and Candido won the third with a figure four leglock.
- ECW World Television Champion Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull #1 in an I Quit match to retain the title. Pitbull #1 was tied in the ropes, and the Triple Threat were blasting Pitbull #2 with chairshots until he agreed to quit.
- The Sandman defeated Balls Mahoney with a DDT.
- The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von) defeated The Eliminators (John Kronus & Perry Saturn) to win the ECW World Tag Team Title after Bubba Cutters on both men.
- Terry Funk defeated Brian Lee with a DDT on a garbage can.
- In what originally was supposed to be a mystery partner tag team match, ECW World Champion Raven defeated Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer in a Three Way Dance that saw most of the locker room get involved, including a New Jack dive off the entranceway onto a pile of wrestlers.

1998 - WCW holds their Uncensored Pay-per-view in Mobile, Alabama at the Civic Center. Here are the results: 
- WCW Television Champion Booker T defeated Eddie Guerrero with a missile dropkick. After the match, Guerrero brawled with Chavo Guerrero Jr., who had taunted Eddie during the match. 
- Juventud Guerrera defeated Konnan with a rollup.
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Dean Malenko via submission with a Liontamer.
- Lex Luger defeated Scott Steiner after interference from Rick Steiner.
- WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page defeated Chris Benoit and Raven in a Triangle match when Page pinned Raven after a top rope Diamond Cutter through a table.
- The Giant defeated Kevin Nash via DQ after the NWO (Bryan Adams, Konnan, Vincent) attack The Giant.
- Bret Hart defeated Curt Hennig via submission with the Sharpshooter. After the match, Hennig and Rude beat down Hart, with Rude giving Hart a Rude Awakening neckbreaker.
- WCW World Champion Sting defeated Scott Hall with a Scorpion Death Drop.
- Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage ended in a no-contest in a Steel Cage match. Brutus Beefcake came out and hit the referee, then joined Hogan in the cage. Sting descended in from the rafters to help Savage, but Savage knocked out Sting, gave Hogan the "4 Life" sign, and left the cage. 

2003 - AJ Styles & Amazing Red defeat Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan to win the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Title in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

2004 - The Ring Of Honor Tag Team Title goes from Colt Cabana & CM Punk to BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff to Jay & Mark Briscoe and then back to Colt Cabana & CM Punk over the course of a round robin tournament match in Lexington, Massachusetts. 

2005 - During an edition of Smackdown from Savannah, Georgia, Kurt Angle defeated Marty Jannetty via submission with an ankle lock after blocking an attempted Rocker Dropper.  The match, Jannetty's second bout with the company in eight years (he returned the previous night on Raw), was a near-20 minute classic, and ended up receiving serious Match Of The Year consideration.  The bout was part of the storyline leading to Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, but Jannetty's performance convinced WWE to offer Jannetty a contract.  However, legal problems from Jannetty's past would result in his career (once again) being stalled. 

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