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May 7th

On this day in history in....

1979 - Bill Dundee & Robert Fuller defeat The Assassins in Memphis, Tennessee to win the AWA Souther Tag Team Title. 

1992 - Sabu & Horace Boulder defeat Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto in Tokyo, Japan to win the WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Title. 

1999 - Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) defeats Rob Conway for the Ohio Valley Heavyweight Title. Ironically, Dinsmore would later make his WWE television debut, as Eugene, against Conway.

2000 - WCW held their Slamboree Pay-per-view at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the event.

WCW's Slamboree from Kansas City's Kemper Arena was a pleasant surprise. Not only was it a mostly good show, but the main event was better than almost anyone could have dreamed going in. The multi-tiered cage gimmick has in the past been unbelievably horrible in WCW's hands but this time, with an unathletic actor and an injured participant, they managed to pull it off. One of the things that helped the show was the crowd, which was very heated throughout and was the type of crowd WWF should have had at Backlash. Commentary continues to improve with the team of Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, and Mark Madden having good chemistry and there was no contrived effort to make then appear cool by having them use four letter words like on Spring Stampede. If they would just add a couple of hot Cruiserweight (the real ones) matches to these shows and let them really go at it they could produce some really great PPV's.

The show opened with the Millionaire's Club arriving on their bus as the New Blood watched in disdain.

CHRIS CANDIDO defeated THE ARTIST in 8:00 to retain the Cruiserweight Title. Candido worked hard but Artist was lost out there for much of the match. Candido did a cool roll-up but Artist botched a German suplex. Candido took a killer bump over the top. They nearly knocked over a cameraman brawling on the floor. Candido hit a crossbody off the top. Artist hit a huracanrana and suplexed Candido out to the floor. Candido used a low blow (the first of around 463 on this show) to turn things around. Candido went for a huracanrana but Artist blocked it and then Artist totally botched a schoolboy attempt. Tammy distracted the ref, leading to a catfight with Paisley. Tammy went for a chairshot on Paisley but hit Artist, who got his shoulder up at two when Candido went for the pin, but the bell still rang. The ref said the match would continue and Candido won with a piledriver and diving headbutt. Afterward, Paisley tore off Tammy's skirt but she was wearing short pants underneath and wasn't wearing anything revealing like a thong, but she still ran off as if she had been stripped nude.

TERRY FUNK defeated NORMAN SMILEY & RALPHUS in a handicap match to retain the Hardcore Title in 10:17. Ralphus was Smiley's mystery partner and wore a hood so he wasn't identified at first. Funk thought Smiley was hiding in the men's room as usual but it turned out to be Ralphus. Smiley sprayed Funk from behind with a fire extinguisher. They brawled around for several minutes backstage with Funk takng bumps a man his age probably shouldn't be taking. Ralphus was mostly standing around acting clueless (which was his gimmick). Funk took some chairshots. Ralphus went up on top of a bunch of rolled up carpets and began tossing boxes. Funk threw chairs up at him and some hit pretty hard. Funk put Norman through a table. They knocked over a lot of equipment, including Gene Okerlund's interview set. They brawled down the ramp to the ring and Funk pulled off Ralphus' hood to reveal his identity. Ralphus' pants were falling down to reveal an ass crack the size of the Grand Canyon. His shirt also came off to reveal a huge belly and massive navel. He must have had a fire hose for an umbilical cord. Funk hit him across the back with some pretty stiff chairshots. Norman hit Funk with a ladder and then dropped the ladder on him from the upper turnbuckle which looked dangerous. Funk took some hard chairshots. Norman got behind Funk and did the doggie style wiggle. Ralphus then did it, too. Either that or I was watching a remake of "Deliverance". Funk plastered Ralphus with a chairshot and then simply cradled Norman for the pin. Funk had a laceration on his face, I think from the ladder shot. Norman and Ralphus did the wiggle afterward, despite losing. It was silly, I guess, but highly entertaining.

David Arquette arrived alone in a limo and admitted being scared about the main event. He complained that Dallas Page didn't regard him as a real "sports entertainer", setting the stage for his turn.

SHAWN STASIAK defeated CURT HENNIG in 7:54. I thought something had gone wrong with the video equipment and the signal had slowed down, but it was just Stasiak's wrestling. He did everything in slo-mo. They mostly just brawled around and went through the motions. Van Hammer, Lash LeRoux, and Chavo Guerrero Jr., all of whom were recently "fired", were shown sitting in the front row. Angle alert. Hennig sold a back injury and they went to rest holds. Stasiak catapulted Hennig into the turnbuckle in ultra slo-mo and won with a fisherman suplex. It was funny because they chose to replay this as the Western Union Speed Move Of The Night.

SCOTT STEINER beat HUGH G. RECTION in 9:23 to retain the U.S. Title. Rection was Hugh Morrus, who came out looking like a refugee from the Boer War and said Morrus wasn't his real name, and that he would go by his real name from now on, which he said was Capt. Hugh G. Rection. Get it? And I thought Crash the Terminator was his real name. Before the match, Vince Russo hugged Steiner and wished him luck but Steiner warned Russo not to touch him. Steiner came out with two bimbos, who were cute. One of them was named Carrie M. Plants. Okay, I made that up. The match was actually okay and had great heat. Nothing fancy, but a lot of chops and suplexes. Capt. Rection was in command until the chicks caused him to crotch himself. Steiner then unleashed the suplexes and scored some two counts. He kept screaming at the ref for not counting fast enough. He also argued a lot with the crowd. Steiner went for a tombstone piledriver but Rection reversed it. The babes came in but really didn't do anything. Rection went for a moonsault and Steiner tried to roll clear but rolled the wrong way and Rection's knee clocked him in the head. Steiner still hooked the Recliner for a submission win. Hammer, LeRoux, and Guerrero then came over the rail and were going to charge the ring but the New Blood security guys held them off. However, Booker T (he got his T back) ran in and sidekicked the hell out of Steiner.

MIKE AWESOME fought CHRIS KANYON to a no-contest in 11:59. It was kind of ironic seeing Awesome come out under the Western Union "money transfer" sign. A real good brawling match. Awesome did his tope suicida over the top. He snapped Kanyon hard off the ropes and hit a diving lariat. Awesome continued to brawl on offense to an "ECW" chant, using a chair and a water bottle. Awesome scored some near falls as the commentators discussed his powerbomb, suggesting that only Kevin Nash has a better one. I guess that's why Oz was such a smash in New Japan. Awesome used a chair again but Kanyon laid him out with a neckbreaker off the top and went on offense. Kanyon scored several twos. Awesome came back and delivered a powerbomb that looked ultra-scary as Kanyon almost came down straight on his head. Awesome lifted the floor mats and was going to powerbomb Kanyon out a la Masato Tanaka but Kanyon escaped. Awesome hit a released German suplex. Things were going great but Kevin Nash then went in, followed by several New Blood guys, plus Ric Flair and Lex Luger, and also the security guys so about 20 guys were fighting in the ring and the match was ruled a no-contest.

LEX LUGER defeated BUFF BAGWELL in 9:30. Not all that good but the crowd was into it. In fact, Lex was over like crazy. Before the match, Russo was shown ridiculing Miss Elizabeth, whom he now owns via her contract. The match was mostly power moves with plenty of posing by both guys. Bagwell got a few twos on Lex. He also hooked a very weak looking Camel Clutch. Backstage, Liz got tired of listening to Russo and hit him with a bat, which he didn't sell very well. She came out to the ring but Buff got the bat from her and used it on Lex. But when Buff went to the top for the grand finale, Liz regained the bat and hit him with a weak shot to the shoulder. He fell off and Lex racked him for the win and a huge pop. Chuck Palumbo (WCW Power Plant rookie) went in wearing trunks and kneepads identical to Luger's, with the logo of Luger's Main Event Gymnasium, and flattened Luger and racked him. Buff grabbed Liz and returned her to Russo.

SHANE DOUGLAS beat RIC FLAIR in 8:44. Flair wrestled in pants and shirt again. He talked about the Kansas City wrestling tradition and mentioned Harley Race, saying he was trying to preserve the purity of professional wrestling. Good luck. There was some solid brawling here with Flair laying in his patented chops. Shane hooked the figure four and afterward continued working on Flair's legs. Flair raked the eyes and used a low blow to get back on top. Shane pulled a chain out of his boot and used it on Flair. Flair sold big, as usual. He began a comeback and had Shane reeling with the chops but Bagwell came back out with someone dressed like Sting, with the announcers acting like it was Russo. Their interference allowed Shane to score the pin. Afterward, Flair got on the mic and said he wanted the five minutes with Russo that he earned last week on TV. Lex showed up and tossed the Sting character in the ring but it turned out to be David Flair. Ric ended up being laid out by his own son as the commentators expressed disbelief, which was pretty funny since this is the second time David has turned on his dad in his brief career. Russo then ran in, not selling the bat shot he took earlier at all, and Ric was destroyed with the bat. Kevin Nash strolled casually in, doing a Sandman gimmick without the cane or beer. He flattened David but Daffney hit Nash in the balls and he was also left laying with the bat as Russo left triumphantly with David at his side.

STING defeated VAMPIRO in 6:47. A basic, good match. They began brawling on the ramp and Sting hit a missile kick when they made it to the ring. Sting hit a dive off the top. They began brawling and bashed each other with a lead pipe, which made for good action though one shot from a real lead pipe should be enough to finish a match. I guess we had to suspend disbelief on that part. There was great crowd heat here. Sting powerbombed Vampiro, hit two Stinger Splashes (one with the pipe), and two Scorpion Death Drops to score the pin. He went back in afterward and hit Vampiro with a final pipe shot for good measure.

Nash was shown looking around backstage for Russo.

HULK HOGAN defeated BILLY KIDMAN in 13:29. Kidman came out with Torrie Wilson, while Hogan had his nephew Horace with him. Score one for Kidman. Special referee Eric Bischoff made Horace leave. Kidman cradled Hogan for a quick two count. Hogan tossed Kidman out for a major bump. Hogan dropped Kidman on a chair. Kidman came back with a huracanrana. Kidman used Torrie as a shield. Hogan used his weight belt as a weapon. Bischoff took it from him and then gave it to Kidman to use. Hogan came back again and had Kidman covered but Bischoff wouldn't count. The crowd chanted "asshole". I kept looking around for HHH but then I remembered that there's far more than one asshole in wrestling. Hogan actually looks cooler in this feud than he has in years and this was his best match in a long, long time. Hogan missed a series of elbows as Kidman used his quickness to escape. He began laying in the stomps on the much larger Hulkster. It looked like Chikayo Nagashima stomping Aja Kong, except Aja has no bald spot. Hogan began yet another comeback and hit a boot to the face but Bischoff blocked the legdrop. Hogan slugged Bischoff and hit the legdrop, anyway. Hogan brought in two tables to a major pop. One of the tables fell apart before he could set it up. For the record, WCW uses the cheapest tables in wrestling while All Japan Women uses the best quality, which is why they rarely break when one of the girls gets plastered on top. Hogan was about to put Bischoff through a table when Kidman juiced him with a good chairshot. Hogan kicked another chair into Kidman's face and then succeeded in putting Bishoff through the table. The crowd was going crazy. Hogan got yet another table but Kidman laid him out on it with a chair. However, Hulk rolled clear when Kidman came off the top and Kidman went through the table. Horace returned and used the unconscious Bischoff's hand to make the count as Hogan covered Kidman. Good match!

Russo fled from Nash, and dumped Liz off on the Millionaire's Club bus to get rid of her. He then stole a car and escaped.

JEFF JARRETT defeated DALLAS PAGE and DAVID ARQUETTE in 15:26 in a three-tier cage match to capture the WCW World Title. To win, you had to get on top of the third cage and get the title belt, which was hanging from the ceiling. Page was competing injured since he fell through one of the cage doors the previous day while inspecting the cage. Earlier, he told Arquette just to stay out of everyone's way and leave the fighting to him and Jarrett. Mostly Arquette did avoid contact though he got caught a few times with shots aimed at someone else. He also tried a splash off the top but missed. Page and Jarrett brawled in the lower cage and it was all good action. Jarrett got busted open on the cage. It took a ladder to reach the second tier, and both Jarrett and Page did some neat ladder spots. You have to give credit to Page for his performance after his injury. The crowd was big time into the match. Page and Jarrett finally made it up to the second tier where there were assorted weapons legally available. Page got juiced with a serving tray. Jarrett was put through a table. There were also chair and garbage can shots. A kitchen sink was there as well. They fought out onto the exposed part of the second tier which was scary. As they brawled, Arquette went up to the top but made no effort to get the belt, with the announcers acting like he was waiting there to help Page. Mike Awesome climbed up to help Jarrett but Page laid him out with a Diamond Cutter. Finally, Page and Jarrett reached the third tier, which was called the guitar room since it was full of guitars, which they fought with. Page handed a guitar up to Arquette as both he and Jarrett went up to the very top. But, as was telegraphed earlier, Arquette used the guitar on Page and Jarrett got the belt, hugging Arquette as he celebrated. Chris Kanyon arrived to aid Page but Awesome, who had recovered, nailed him and hurled him off the cage and he crashed to the ramp below. It looked spectacular and deadly but the ramp had been gimmicked similar to the Mick Foley retirement cage spot. It was kind of eerie seeing these high spots in Kemper Arena, though. But the match itself was cool and a strong main event.

2002 - Johnny The Bull defeats Race Steele in Cincinnati, Ohio to win the Heartland Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title, ending Steele's fifth title reign.

2003 - Christopher Daniels defeats Amazing Red & Jerry Lynn in a handicap match via disqualification to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in Nashville, Tennessee.