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April 25th
On this day in history in ....
1970 - WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeats Ivan Koloff in a Texas Death Match in Boston, Massachusetts.
1977 - WWWF runs at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Carlos Rocha defeated Rocky Tomayo.
- Larry Zbyzsko defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Billy Whitewolf defeated Doug Gilbert.
- Ivan Putski defeated Tor Kamata.
- Gorilla Monsoon defeated Nikolai Volkoff.
- Chief Jay Strongbow vs. Stan Stasiak ended in a draw.
- Ken Patera defeated Tony Garea by countout.
- Bob Backlund defeated Executioner 2.
- WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Baron Von Raschke.
1980 - An event at the famed Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri saw both the WWF and NWA World Titles defended, as WWF champion Bob Backlund defeated Bulldog Bob Brown and NWA champion Harley Race defeated Ric Flair. Also on the show, Ken Patera defeated Kevin Von Erich to win the Missouri State Championship.
1983 - WWF runs at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Eddie Gilbert defeated Jose Estrada.
- Salvatore Bellomo defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Mr. Fuji defeated S.D. Jones.
- Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Johnny Rodz.
- Pedro Morales defeated Swede Hanson.
- Ray Stevens defeated Tony Garea.
- Jimmy Snuka defeated Superstar Billy Graham. This would be one of Graham's final WWF appearances following an incident where he was rushed to the hospital the previous day after overdosing on pills. He would not return to the company for several years.
- Rocky Johnson defeated Intercontinental Champion Don Muraco via countout.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions The Wild Samoans defeated Chief Jay Strongbow & Jules Strongbow.
- Andre The Giant defeated Big John Stuff via countout.
- WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Ivan Koloff.
1988 - WWF runs at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Brady Boone defeated Steve Lombardi.
- Dino Bravo attacked Ken Patera during an arm wrestling contest between the two, as a result the scheduled wrestling match between the two didn't take place.
- Bret Hart vs. Bad News Brown ended in a 20 minute draw.
- One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow via DQ when Bigelow ignored the referee's order to stop fighting on the ropes.
- Ted DiBiase defeated WWF World Champion Randy Savage via countout when Virgil shoved Savage off the top rope to the floor.
- Barry Horowitz defeated Jose Luis Rivera.
- WWF Women's Champion Sherri Martel defeated Desiree Peterson.
- The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules Hernandez.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition defeated Rick Martel & Tito Santana.
1989 - WWF taped Saturday Night's Main Event in Des Moines, Iowa, to be broadcast on NBC on May 27th. Here are the results from the NBC taping (the show also had matches taped for the syndicated WWF programs):
- King Hacksaw Duggan defeated Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude via countout. Interesting to note, Hacksaw actually didn't win the "King" designation from Haku until the next night at a television taping.
- Randy Savage defeated Jim Neidhart.
- Hulk Hogan defeated Big Bossman in a steel cage match. Prior to the match, Hogan was attacked by Zeus (actor Tiny Lister) who was the co-star in Hogan's upcoming movie, No Holds Barred.
- Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition via DQ when the referee was hit during a brawl.
- Jimmy Snuka, making his WWF return after being gone for over three years, defeated Boris Zhukov.
1992 - ECW (then known at Eastern Championship Wrestling) crowned their first ECW Champion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Taber Youth Association. Two separate Battle Royales were held (with different participants), with Sal Bellomo winning the first, and Jimmy Snuka winning the second. Snuka then defeated Bellomo to become the first ECW Champion.
1999 - WWF held the Backlash Pay-per-view in Providence, Rhodes Island at the Civic Center. Here are the results:
Heat Matches:
- Val Venis & Nicole Bass defeated D'Lo Brown & Ivory.
- Droz & Albert defeated Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor.
- Kane defeated The Big Bossman.
- Viscera defeated Test.
PPV bouts:
- The Acolytes & Mideon defeated The Brood (Edge, Christian & Gangrel) when Bradshaw pinned Christian with the Clothesline From Hell.
- Al Snow defeated Hardcore Holly to win the WWF Hardcore Title after hitting him with Head.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion The Godfather defeated Goldust with a Death Valley Driver.
- The New Age Outlaws defeated Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett when Gunn gave Hart a Fameasser as he had Road Dogg in a Sharpshooter.
- Mankind defeated Big Show in a Boiler Room Brawl by pinning him with a pile of pipes.
- Triple H defeated X-Pac with the Pedigree.
- The Undertaker defeated Ken Shamrock with a tombstone piledriver.
- WWF World Champion Steve Austin defeated The Rock in a No Holds Barred match when special referee Shane McMahon accidentally hit Rock with the title belt. Austin then gave Rock a stunner, but Shane refused to count the pin, so Vince McMahon came out with a second referee and hit Shane with the title belt.
2000 - During an edition of Raw from Charlotte, North Carolina, Steve Austin used a crane to drop a steel beam on the DX Express tour bus, crushing the bus in the parking lot during the show. Also on the program, Dean Malenko defeated Scotty 2 Hotty to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title and Crash Holly defeated Matt Hardy to win the WWF Hardcore Title when he interfered during a scheduled match between Matt and Jeff Hardy.
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