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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: HART FOUNDATION VS. BULLDOGS, HARDCORE HEAVEN, JUDGMENT DAY AND MORE

May 16th

On this day in history in ....

1977 - WWWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham defeating Gorilla Monsoon and Bruno Sammartino defeating George Steele when the match was stopped due to blood.

1987 - The Hart Foundation versus British Bulldogs feud arguably reached it's peak as the main event of a WWF house show in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Saddledome, as the two teams met in a steel cage match in Bret Hart's hometown.  The match ended when Dynamite Kid and Jim Neidhart had escaped the cage, and Bret Hart climbed out of the cage for the win as Davey Boy Smith went for the door and had it slammed in his face by manager Jimmy Hart.

1998 - ECW ran at the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The main angle of the show saw Taz agree to protect injured ECW Champion Shane Douglas in exchange for a future title shot, saying he respected Douglas for defending his title while injured against Al Snow at Wrestlepalooza. However, Taz quickly turned on Douglas and went after his injured arm.  Here are the results of the show:
- Justin Credible defeated Jerry Lynn in a three falls match.
- Chris Chetti defeated Jamie Dundee.
- Mikey Whipwreck defeated Mike Lozanski.
- John Kronus defeated Danny Doring. Post match, Doring, Ulf Herman and Equalizer attacked Kronus with Jack Victory, who was in the crowd, and New Jack making the save.  However, Victory then turned on New Jack and joined in beating down New Jack and Kronus. This was Jack Victory's first ECW appearance.
- Super Nova & The Blue Meanie vs. The FBI ended in a no contest when the FBI attacked Nova & Meanie with steel chairs and left them bloody before the match could even start.  This brought out Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten who wrestled, and defeated, The FBI. 
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Al Snow.

1999 - ECW held their Hardcore Heaven Pay-per-view in Poughkeepsie, New York at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center with the following results:
- In a dark match, Skull Von Krush defeated Danny Doring.
- ECW World Champion Taz defeated Chris Candido with the Tazmission in about a minute.
- ECW World Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz defeated Balls Mahoney & Spike Dudley.
- Super Crazy defeated TAKA Michinoku.
- Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Little Guido.
- Lance Storm defeated Tommy Dreamer.
- ECW Television Champion Rob Van Dam defeated Jerry Lynn.
- Sid Vicious vs. Justin Credible was a no-contest when Sabu interfered and put them through tables.
- ECW World Champion Taz defeated Bubba Ray Dudley.

1999 - WWF held their UK-Only PPV, No Mercy, in Manchester, England, with the following results:
- Tiger Ali Singh defeated Gillberg.
- Viscera & The Acolytes defeated The Brood.
- Steve Blackman defeated Droz.
- Kane defeated Mideon.
- Nicole Bass defeated Tori.  Bass was a substitute for Sable, who cut a promo saying she had a cold and couldn't wrestle Tori.  It would turn out to be Sable's last WWF appearance for several years.
- Shane McMahon defeated X-Pac.
- Billy Gunn defeated Mankind, who was attacked before the match by the Corporate Ministry.
- WWF World Champion Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker and Triple H in a No Holds Barred match by pinning Triple H with a Stunner.

2000 - WWF taped Smackdown in Detroit, Michigan, highlighted by an unusual title change.  WWF Hardcore Champion Crash Holly, exhausted by the 24/7 defense rule, paid the APA to let him sleep in their office and not have to worry about being attacked.  However, when the APA left the office with rapper Joe C, Gerald Brisco covered the sleeping Crash to get the win and take the title.

2004- WWE held their Judgment Day PPV in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center.  Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show:

WWE Judgment Day (5/16 from Los Angeles) looked to be weak on paper. It turned out to be a thumbs-in-the-middle show, featuring a mix of good matches, weak matches, and average matches. In that sense, it was a success, though it may not have drawn much of a buyrate. Considering the drama in the main event, perhaps this could be considered a narrow thumb's up show. It's a close call in that regard. The live crowd seemed to enjoy it. The only thing that stood out as truly memorable, though, was the amazing amount of blood in the Eddie Guerrero vs. John Bradshaw Layfield main event. That match was good, but ended in a disappointing DQ. Commentary was fine.

ROB VAN DAM & REY MYSTERIO JR. defeated THE DUDLEYS in 15:19. D-Von immediately blindsided RVD and pounded him. RVD fought back and sent both Dudleys bumping out to the floor. RVD hit a somersault plancha on Bubba while Mysterio splashed D-Von from off the top. Back in the ring, RVD went wild with the kicks until Bubba held down the ropes, causing him to bump over. RVD got worked over for a while until hot tagging Mysterio. Mysterio did some great springboard moves and hit a spinning headscissors on Bubba. D-Von blocked Mysterio from hitting Bubba with the 619. Bubba caught Mysterio when he tried for the West Coast Pop and then hotshotted him. D-Von went to work on Mysterio and scored several twos. Mysterio did a cool springboard into a bulldog on D-Von. Mysterio made the hot tag, but the ref didn't see it and disallowed it. Bubba hooked Mysterio in the tree of woe, but somehow Mysterio managed to give Bubba a neckbreaker from that position. Mysterio then moonsaulted Bubba for a near fall. RVD hot tagged and threw all the kicks, hitting the rolling thunder on D-Von. Bubba vaulted Mysterio high out to the floor. D-Von went up for the wazzup, but Mysterio crotched him. RVD catapulted Mysterio up, where he did a huracanrana on D-Von. Bubba & D-Von both ended up hanging over the ropes after taking some kicks. Mysterio did a 619 on them both, and RVD frog splashed D-Von for the pin. Good, fast-paced opener!

Booker T was shown in his locker room, where he was burning candles and trying to invoke supernatural powers to help him combat Undertaker.

Luther pushed a large box out onto the ramp. It was a mechanical apparatus which contained an elevated wheelchair for Kurt Angle. Angle went off on Los Angeles, saying it's full of self-important phonies on cell phones and lazy incompetents who sit around waiting for a big break that never comes. He said L.A. has an overrated basketball team whose star player will miss the Olympics due to being on trial. He complained that the city is full of Eddie Guerrero fans and predicted they'd riot when he loses the World Title, since rioting is what they do best. He concluded by hoping the city gets hit by the biggest earthquake ever.

TORRIE WILSON defeated DAWN MARIE in 6:15. Before the match, Angle ruled that Torrie would be fired if she lost. She didn't. Pretty much the usual Smackdown type catfight. They rolled around and did a few standard moves. In other words, good T & A but not good wrestling. Torrie ripped Dawn's tights to expose her thong panties. Torrie won with a backslide, keeping her job.

John Bradshaw Leyfield did a promo. He went off on Eddie Guerrero's fans. He said he wasn't talking about the ones who wash his car, shine his boots, and sell fruit along the roadside, since they at least are working. Instead, he meant the ones who lie, cheat, and steal, and who have nine kids while on welfare. He guaranteed he would beat Eddie in the main event.

MORDECAI defeated SCOTTY 2 HOTTY in 3:01. This was Mordecai's debut, doing an occult gimmick. He came out in a long white robe carrying some sort of occult symbol, which he showed great respect for. His hair, beard, and even eyebrows were dyed pure white. He knelt and did some sort of prayer before the match. It was an interesting entrance, but the three minute match was just a routine squash with little heat. Mordecai dominated in the slow, methodical big man style. Scotty briefly rallied, but Mordecai cut him off when he went for the worm. Mordecai won with a razor's edge, and kept staring up toward the sky (or, in this case, the ceiling). The gimmick may need a little more exposure on TV to get over.

Jacqueline laughed at Chavo Guerrero Jr. for losing his Cruiserweight Title to a girl. She gave him a pink bra & panties combo as a gag gift. Chavo was furious, but his dad kept fondling the undies as if interested in them.

RICO & CHARLIE HAAS defeated HARDCORE HOLLY & BILLY GUNN to retain the Smackdown World Tag Titles in 10:26. This one was played for comedy as neither Holly nor Gunn wanted to tie up with the gay Rico. Finally, Haas agreed to start out for his team. Haas kept frustrating Holly by countering his every move. Rico tagged in and got behind Holly "doggy style". Holly ran and tagged Gunn in. Rico grabbed Gunn's ass. He then rode and spanked Gunn and tried to position Gunn's face in his crotch. Gunn begged to tag out, but Holly wouldn't tag in. Hey, Gunn seemed to like this stuff when Chuck Palumbo was doing it. Anyway, Gunn flattened Rico with a punch as Holly went at it with Haas. They doubled on Haas for a while as Miss Jackie tried to rally the crowd for her team. They scored several twos on Haas. Holly hit a solid dropkick. Haas tagged Rico after connecting with a boot to Holly's face. Rico hit an inverted atomic drop on Gunn. Gunn came back with a famouser. The finish saw Holly come in, but Rico kicked him and he staggered back into a sunset flip from Haas for the pin. A mix of comedy and standard Smackdown TV level action.

Undertaker & Paul Bearer did one of their classic R.I.P. promos.

CHAVO GUERRERO JR. defeated JACQUELINE to regain his Cruiserweight Title in 4:48. The rules required Chavo to fight with one arm tied behind his back. So this was another match played for comedy. Man, they've ruined the Cruiserweight division, which should be one of the Smackdown highlights. Chavo dominated with kicks until colliding with a ringpost. Jackie put the boots to Chavo. Chavo Classic (as Chavo Sr. is now called) got on the apron, but Jackie bumped him off. Chavo lariated Jackie. Jackie scored a near fall after a low blow. Chavo rolled out, where his dad secretly untied the rope holding Chavo's arm. Chavo Classic kept distracting the ref, allowing Chavo to use both arms to brutalize Jackie. After a face first Gori bomb, Chavo pinned Jackie and regained his belt. Chavo's dad pretended to untie his arm after the match. That part was funny, but the match was a reminder of how they've buried this important division.

JOHN CENA defeated RENE DUPREE in 9:55 to retain the U.S. Title. Cena cut a rap promo on Dupree before the match. Dupree is in excellent shape and looks to have big potential. Cena went to work with fists, prompting Dupree to bail. They did a ton of brawling early and ended up on the floor, where Dupree posted Cena. Dupree dominated back inside the ring, using standard offense but doing a very good job of it. Cena took a big bump out to the floor, selling a back injury. Dupree went to work on the bad back, scoring some twos. Dupree put Cena in a bearhug. Cena brawled back and went for the five knuckle shuffle, but Dupree moved and Cena hit the mat. Cena then moved when Dupree tried a similar move. Dupree hit a DDT. Cena went for the FU, but Dupree evaded it and hit a neckbreaker. They traded near falls, with Dupree getting a busted lip in there somewhere. Cena caught Dupree out of nowhere with the FU for the pin. A solid, no frills match, which the live crowd seemed to enjoy.

UNDERTAKER defeated BOOKER T in 11:27. Booker came out carrying the small bag the psychic voodoo lady gave him on Smackdown. Undertaker started off with fists. Booker bailed out and rubbed the bag all over himself, as if it was some sort of charm. UT hit a sideslam and a legdrop. Booker came back with a missile dropkick. They slugged it out, and naturally UT won that round. UT hooked a submission hold, but Booker made the ropes. UT went for the last ride. Booker escaped, and in the process the ref got bumped. With the ref down, Booker threw dust from the small voodoo bag in UT's eyes. It had no effect, presumably because UT's supernatural powers are greater. However, UT ended up missing a charge into the corner and hurting his leg. Booker worked on the leg, wrapping it around the post. Booker threw some kicks and hit a scissor kick, but only scored two. UT sat right back up, starting the big babyface comeback from which there is no escape. UT hit a boot to the face, a chokeslam, and a tombstone piledriver to score the pin. Pretty much a standard UT match, with the gimmick giving it some added entertainment value.

JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD beat EDDIE GUERRERO by DQ in 23:11 in a WWE World Title match. Before the match, JBL ran down all the illegal aliens in the crowd and "generously" offered to hire Eddie's mother as a housekeeper when she recovers from her heart attack. Eddie got a huge pop coming out. Eddie quickly attacked, using brawling tactics to place JBL on the defensive. He rammed JBL into the security rail and the stairs, and threw him across the Spanish announcers' table. JBL tried to flee up the ramp but Eddie pounded him back to the ring. JBL managed to hurl Eddie into the stairs to finally take command of the match. He hurled Eddie across the Spanish desk. Inside the ring, JBL briefly dominated. Eddie came back with some stinging armdrags, prompting JBL to bail out. Eddie went for a plancha but JBL caught him and gave him a fall away slam on the floor. JBL backdropped Eddie on the highly abused Spanish desk. In the ring once again, JBL scored some near falls. Eddie escaped a bearhug and went for the three amigos (triple suplexes) but JBL blocked the third one. There was a major ref bump as Eddie collided with the ref while going for a rope rebound. With the ref down, they brawled out to the floor, where Eddie sent JBL crashing over the (English) desk. JBL grabbed a chair and hit Eddie with a hard chairshot. Eddie juiced a gusher that was literally sick. Blood was spurting out like a fountain and there were pools of it all over the floor. JBL clocked Eddie with the stairs, threw him back in the ring, and hit the lariat from hell. But when JBL covered Eddie for the pin, the ref was still down from the earlier bump. A substitute ref finally ran in, but Eddie had had time to recover and kicked out at two when JBL went for another pin. This second ref soon got bumped. JBL hit a powerbomb, with the original ref reviving to count the pin. Eddie kicked out at two, despite continuing to bleed like a faucet. The mat was stained red with puddles of blood all over the place. Eddie made a comeback and hit a DDT, but JBL rolled clear when Eddie went for the frog splash. JBL went out and got the title belt and a chair. The ref took the chair, and Eddie ended up getting the belt. Eddie hit JBL with it in plain view of the ref, who ordered the DQ. Of course, Eddie retained the title, but JBL did score the win as he had guaranteed. Eddie went nuts afterward, hitting JBL with two hard chairshots which bloodied him up and then frog splashing him. It took a bunch of refs and road agents to subdue Eddie afterward. This was a good main event, better than I thought it would be. Other than the DQ, they booked this great to get around the style clash between these two and it came off as quite dramatic. Even the DQ was understandable, as they need to keep this program going given its gravity (a heart attack angle) and the fact that Eddie really has no other credible opponents right now.

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