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May 11th

On this day in history in ....

1976 - The Executioners defeat Tony Parisi & Louis Cerdan for the WWWF Tag Team Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Executioners, who wore masks, were Killer Kowalski and Big John Studd.

1976 - Seiji Sakaguchi defeats Pedro Morales via countout to win the 3rd Annual New Japan Pro Wrestling World League. Morales was actually well ahead on points in the round robin portion of the tournament, but lost this final match to Sakaguchi. 

1985 - The very first WWF Saturday Night's Main Event was aired on NBC, earning an 8.8 rating in the timeslot normally used for Saturday Night Live.  The matches were taped the previous night at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. 
Here are the matches that aired on the show:
- Barry Windham, Mike Rotundo & Ricky Steamboat defeated The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff & George "The Animal" Steele when Windham pinned Steele.  After the match, Sheik and Volkoff turned on Steele, leading to a face turn for the "Animal" who was befriended by Captain Lou Albano. 
- WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Cowboy Bob Orton via DQ when Roddy Piper interfered.
- WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter defeated The Fabulous Moolah with a small package.
- Junkyard Dog defeated Pete Dougherty with a powerslam.
- Also on the show was an edition of Piper's Pit where Roddy Piper blamed Paul Orndorff for the Wrestlemania I loss, leading to Piper and Orton beating down Orndorff and Mr. T making the save.  They also filmed a "Mother's Day Party" backstage, hosted by Cyndi Lauper in one of her last WWF appearances. 

1996 - ECW held their "A Matter Of Respect" show at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are the results:
- El Puerto Ricano vs. Damien 666 ended in a no contest when Sabu ran out and put both men through a table.
- Devon Storm & Damien Kane defeated Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley via disqualification when D-Von hit the referee with a chair.
- JT Smith & Little Guido defeated Axl Rotten & Hack Myers when Guido sat down on Myers during a sunset flip attempt and got leverage from Smith to get the pin.
- Taz defeated Beef Wellington.
- ECW World Champion Raven defeated The Sandman & Pitbull #2 in a three way dance. Raven pinned Pitbull #2 first, then pinned The Sandman with a DDT onto a length of steel guardrail to get the win.
- Chris Jericho defeated Mikey Whipwreck with a double underhook superplex off the top rope.
- Shane Douglas defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win the ECW World Television Title with a top rope belly to belly superplex. After the match, Douglas gave a long victory speech, and asked Scorpio to strap the belt around his waist. Scorpio laid out Douglas with the belt instead.
- Rob Van Dam defeated Sabu in a "Respect" match. Van Dam gave Sabu a fisherman's buster off the second rope, but Sabu kicked out at two. Van Dam then won the match with a split legged moonsault. Sabu, after initially leaving the ring, came back and took the mic saying "Respect" and offering his hand to Rob Van Dam. Van Dam refused to shake his hand, saying he didn't respect Sabu. As Van Dam left, he met Bill Alfonso and Taz in the aisle, saying he did respect them. Sabu then collapsed in the ring, selling that Van Dam had injured his neck.
- Tommy Dreamer & The Gangstas defeated Brian Lee & The Eliminators when New Jack pinned Saturn after the 187 flying chairshot.

1997 - WWF held their "A Cold Day in Hell" Pay-per-view at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, drawing 9,381 fans. Here are the results:
- In a match that was broadcast on the "Free For All" before the PPV, Rockabilly (Billy Gunn) defeated Jesse James (Road Dogg) with a DDT.
- Triple H defeated Flash Funk (2 Cold Scorpio) with a Pedigree.
- Mankind defeated Rocky Maivia with the Mandible Claw.
- Ahmed Johnson defeated Crush with a roll up as Crush went for a heart punch.
- Ahmed Johnson defeated Savio Vega via disqualification when Vega purposely beat down Ahmed with a chair.
- Faarooq defeated Ahmed Johnson with the Dominator.  If Johnson had won all three matches, the Nation Of Domination would have been forced to disband.
- Ken Shamrock defeated Vader with an anklelock in a No Holds Barred match.  This was Shamrock's WWF debut.
- WWF World Champion The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin with a tombstone piledriver.  Post match, the Hart Foundation attacked Undertaker, but Austin took the crutches from an injured Bret Hart to make the save, then gave Undertaker a stunner afterwards anyway.
- In a match held after the PPV broadcast ended, The Legion Of Doom defeated WWF World Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith via disqualification.

2001 - Spanky defeats Tyler Gates to win the Memphis Championship Wrestling Light Heavyweight Title in Coldwater, Mississippi, starting Spanky's third and final reign as champion.

2002 - Messiah pins Justice Pain during a scaffold match with Messiah & Nick Mondo vs. Adam Flash & Justice Pain to win the CZW World Heavyweight Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.