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July 22nd

On this day in history in ....

1960 - Danny Hodge defeats Angelo Savoldi in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, ending Savoldi's third reign as champion.

1969 - Ciclon Negro & Jack Brisco defeat Hiro Matsuda & Missouri Mauler to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.

1981 - Bob Roop defeats Super Destroyer in Shreveport, Louisiana to win the Mid-South Wrestling Association Louisiana Heavyweight Title.

1985 - Butch Reed defeats Dutch Mantell in Shreveport, Louisiana to win the Mid-South Wrestling Association Television Title.

1988 - Jerry Morrow & Cuban Assassin defeat Bad Company (Bruce Hart & Brian Pillman) to win the Stampede International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, ending Bad Company's second, and final, tag title reign.

1999 - Chris Candido defeated champion Ace Darling and 2 Cold Scorpio in a three-way match to win the Independent Superstars Of Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Wildwood, New Jersey.

2000 - Lobo defeats John Zandig to win the CZW World Heavyweight Title in Sewell, New Jersey, ending Zandig's second reign as champion.

2001 - WWE held their Invasion Pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio.  The event drew one of the highest buyrates in recent memory for a "non-major" (Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series), Pay-per-view, a 1.43.  Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show.

WWF's Invasion, airing live 7/22 from Cleveland's Gund Arena, was hardly the most important night in the history of sports entertainment, as it had been hyped. But it was a good PPV on balance, and they did what they could with what they had, at least as far as the storyline goes. That storyline saw Steve Austin join the WCW-ECW contingent at the end of the main event. It was something everyone saw coming a mile away, but it does for the first time give the WCW-ECW squad a true superstar in their ranks and sets up programs between Austin and Kurt Angle (who was over like crazy as a babyface) and later against Rock & HHH, and possibly Chris Benoit, when they return. Crowd heat was mostly good and often great. It died for a couple of matches, though they were both boring so it was understandable. The lower card was so-so, but the main event was strong and the Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy match was excellent. Camera work seemed a little off sometimes. Jim Ross & Michael Cole were okay on commentary.

On HEAT, Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Scotty 2 Hotty in a brief match to give the WCW-ECW team an early lead in the inter-promotional series.

EDGE & CHRISTIAN defeated LANCE STORM & MIKE AWESOME in 10:09. Storm started to give a speech but Edge & Christian interrupted him with their ring entrance. These are two good teams but they didn't work well at first. Awesome and Christian traded some standard spots. Edge hit a missile kick on Storm and then went to dropkick Awesome off the apron. He missed by a mile but Awesome sold it anyway. Edge vaulted Storm out onto Awesome and Storm landed pretty hard. Christian then tried to vault off of Edge over onto Storm & Awesome but didn't clear the ropes and took an unscheduled bump right down to the floor. Christian got up on the ropes but Awesome crotched him, which the camera mostly missed, making it look like he had just slipped up and fallen. Awesome hit his frog splash on Christian for a near fall. I wonder if they'll make him drop that spot since it's one of Rob Van Dam's key moves. Awesome tried for his Awesome Bomb off the top but Christian turned it into a backdrop. Edge hit Awesome with a spear for a near fall. The ending sequence got pretty good as they did a lot of hot two counts. The finish saw Awesome going for a running Awesome Bomb on Edge but Christian speared him and Edge fell on top for the pin.

Backstage, Vince McMahon cheered Edge & Christian's win, which tied things up at 1-1. He said E & C reek of awesomeness. William Regal came in and said Austin had arrived, but Vince recommended leaving Austin alone and giving him some "space". Vince encouraged Regal for his upcoming match against Raven by telling him to squash Raven just like George Washington did to the Redcoats in the American Revolution. Vince admitted afterward that might not have been the best analogy to use with Regal.

EARL HEBNER defeated NICK PATRICK in 2:49. Both guys were accompanied by their fellow referees. Mick Foley came out as the special ref for this match. It wasn't exactly clear who picked Foley to be a special ref, or why. It was pretty much what one would expect. They brawled around, not looking all that good. But it was okay since the whole idea was that these were two non-wrestlers fighting each other. They got great crowd heat. Patrick used a low blow on Hebner. The other WCW refs got involved and Foley had them ejected. Patrick argued with Foley over this and Hebner speared him and got the pin. After Patrick recovered, he got in Foley's face. Foley punched him and put Mr. Socko on him for a good pop.

Sara and Debra were having coffee backstage. Debra went off on Dallas Page for kidnapping her on Smackdown. For the record, he later left her on a street corner. Sara promised that her husband would massacre Page in the main event.

THE ACOLYTES (A.P.A.) defeated SEAN O'HAIRE & CHUCK PALUMBO in 7:15. This was a battle of the WWF Tag Champs vs. WCW Tag Champs, though neither set of titles were on the line. O'Haire & Palumbo attacked immediately. Mostly standard brawling. The WCW team tied Bradshaw up in their corner and then did the same to Faarooq. Bradshaw did his fall away slam on Palumbo. All four began fighting. Palumbo superkicked Faarooq but Bradshaw hit Palumbo with the lariat from hell, which got a pop, for the pin.

Vince talked with Chris Jericho. Jericho noted that he had been in both WCW and ECW. He said WCW had no leader when he was there and the inmates ran the asylum. In contrast, ECW had a psychotic leader named Paul Heyman. Jericho went off on Heyman's looks, talking about his fatness, baldness, etc. and said that however ugly Heyman is physically, he's even more so in his mind.

Stephanie saw Jericho's speech on the monitor and began screaming that she hates him. Shane tried to give a basic pep talk to Billy Kidman, who assured everyone that he would win his match against X-Pac. Heyman then went off about how they are now down 1-3 and are losing momentum and need to turn the tide fast. Shane seemed upset over Heyman's outburst. Kidman vowed to prove that X-Pac really does suck.

BILLY KIDMAN defeated X-PAC in 7:11. A decent match on balance. It was the lightweight champs of both federations against one another, though like in the tag match the titles weren't on the line. Jim Ross mentioned how WCW had once fired X-Pac via fed-ex after an injury. X-Pac was the lone WWF guy on the show who got booed, as the "X-Pac sucks" chants started. The poor guy couldn't buy a cheer. They traded some mat spots. Kidman hit a huracanrana and sent X-Pac out with an enzuigiri. X-Pac returned to the ring and hurled Kidman out, hitting a springboard plancha. They traded sleeper attempts. Kidman came off the top and X-Pac was supposed to catch him in the X-Factor, but he just sort of barely caught him and the move didn't come off right. X-Pac went for the bronco but got kicked in the family jewels. Kidman then hit the shooting star press for the pin.

Happy with Kidman's win, Shane & Stephanie & Heyman celebrated backstage, along with Dallas Page.

Torrie Wilson & Stacy Keibler bragged about their boobs, asses, and legs. They had quite a bit to brag about. They were confident of victory in their upcoming bra & panties match, meaning the fans wouldn't get to see them stripped down to their undies. They mentioned maybe giving the Hardys a private viewing.

RAVEN beat WILLIAM REGAL in 6:33. The crowd heat died here. Just a lot of slow, standard wrestling, which isn't what the fans came to see, especially since Raven is usually involved in gimmick brawls. Raven distracted the ref and Tazz ran in. He suplexed Regal. Raven then hit the Raven Effect for the pin to tie the series up 3-3.

Vince gave a pep talk to Undertaker & Kane. He brought up the Sara stalker videos and UT got so enraged that he shoved Vince against the wall. This actually delighted Vince since it meant UT was fired up.

SHAWN STASIAK & CHRIS KANYON & HUGH MORRUS defeated BIG SHOW & ALBERT & BILLY GUNN in 4:21. JR mentioned that Stasiak had actually started his career in the WWF but got blackballed. That was after he was caught secretly taping people in the locker room. This was the second match in a row that wasn't very good. The crowd wasn't much into it, though they did pop for a couple of spots. Gunn got a pop for the Famouser. Morrus ended up pinning Gunn with help from Stasiak. Afterward, Show chokeslammed Morrus and Stasiak and gave his flapjack-type move to Kanyon.

Shane told Booker T they are now up 4-3 and gave him another of those boxer-type pep talks like in the Rocky movies.

YOSHIHIRO TAJIRI defeated TAZZ in 5:42. A decent short match. Tazz did his trademark suplexes and Tajiri did his kicks. Tajiri hit a handspring elbow, which started the crowd back to life after the two prior "cold" matches. Tajiri did the tarantula. He then kicked the hell out of Tazz. Tazz came back with a suplex but Tajiri sprayed the mist out of nowhere for a big pop and then pinned Tazz with a kick to the head.

The Hardys were talking backstage when Rob Van Dam charged them from behind, laying Matt out with a chairshot. He said Jeff's next, as he retreated.

Hardcore Holly was at WWF New York signing autographs. A guy came up wearing a WCW T-shirt. Holly verbally ridiculed him and ripped his shirt off.

ROB VAN DAM defeated JEFF HARDY to capture the Hardcore Title in 12:30. This was the only title match on the show. It was also an excellent match, as RVD is looking like the one WCW-ECW invader who has a big shot at getting over as a star. He was the only WCW-ECW wrestler to get cheered. They traded fast spots early with each guy countering the other's moves. RVD posed and Jeff dropkicked him from the ring. RVD ducked a crossbody and hit a backflip. He then hit a flip splash. RVD went to the top but Jeff shoved him off for a big bump. Jeff went for his run along the ring barrier but RVD knocked him off. They brawled into the crowd, where RVD did a moonsault off an elevated seating area. Jeff got hung over the barrier and RVD came off the apron with a legdrop. Jeff sunset flipped RVD off the apron into a powerbomb on the floor. Jeff brought out a high ladder and climbed it, only to take a major scary bump when RVD tipped it over. Jeff was limping afterward. RVD got a chair but Jeff managed to get it from him. He then used it on RVD. He started to swing the chair again but RVD surprised him with the Van Daminator and Jeff took a sicko bump off the ramp top. RVD dragged Jeff to the ring and hit another Van Daminator. Jeff was juicing. RVD went for the split-legged moonsault but, in a great counter, Jeff got his knees up. Jeff suplexed RVD but missed a swanton when RVD rolled clear. RVD then frog splashed Jeff, with the title belt laying on Jeff's stomach, and got the pin.

Vince lectured Kurt Angle. He told him he needs to be in the right frame of mind for victory and started talking about the American flag. But Angle surprised everyone by saying he's had enough of the Americana "bull****". Vince was shocked, in a pleasant way, to hear Angle using profanity. Angle said he kicked ass in the Olympics and will do so in the inter-promotional brawl, for the USA, for the WWF, but mostly for himself.

TRISH STRATUS & LITA beat TORRIE WILSON & STACY KIEBLER in 5:02. Foley was special ref again. This wasn't good as wrestling but it served its purpose as T & A and the crowd was big time into it. Stacy's top got ripped off. Lita's did, too. They did one neat spot where Torrie ripped Trish's top off but Trish managed to roll Torrie up and ripped off her bottom. Lita then ripped Torrie's top off. Trish bulldogged Stacy and finished stripping her to end the match. So the WWF gals tied things up going into the main event. Foley was seen collecting female garments after the match.

Shane & Stephanie & Heyman encouraged their five man main event team. Heyman was great here.

Vince visited Austin, who acted like the old Stone Cold saying he's ready to kick ass because Stone Cold says so.

BOOKER T & DALLAS PAGE & RHYNO & THE DUDLEYS defeated STEVE AUSTIN & KURT ANGLE & UNDERTAKER & KANE & CHRIS JERICHO in the inter-promotional brawl in 29:02. They introduced the participants by alternating between WWF and WCW-ECW. The WWF guys all got big pops. Angle's pop was enormous. Booker was introduced before Page, even though he was supposedly his team's leader. I presume that was so Undertaker could attack Page to start the match right before Austin's arrival. Austin cleaned house, chopping the hell out of Rhyno and then superplexing him. Jericho came in and got tied up in the wrong corner for a while before fighting his way out. The crowd was hot and stayed that way for most of the match. Angle came in to great heat and dominated Booker. Kane came in but got doubled on by the Dudleys. Undertaker tagged in and destroyed everyone until being subdued after a drop across the ropes. Austin and Booker brawled on the floor. There were a million near falls throughout the match but another team member always broke the pin up. JR compared the WWF sports entertainment style positively to the bland WCW style and the dangerous career-shortening ECW style. Angle came in and was on fire until getting overpowered in the opposing corner. He fought his way out and tagged Austin but the ref didn't see it and disallowed the tag. Page gave Angle a diamond cutter but UT ran in and all ten men began brawling all over. UT chokeslammed Page and was about to give him the last ride when WCW ref Charles Robinson attacked him. UT gave Robinson the last ride. UT then chased Page through the crowd and they vanished to the back, not being seen again for the rest of the match. Booker rammed Austin's knee into the stairs and he sold it like it was a legit injury, laying on the floor clutching the knee in pain for the next several minutes. Meanwhile, Kane chokeslammed D-Von through one of the announcers' desks. Rhyno & Bubba Ray then suplexed Kane through the other desk. Jericho came off the apron and put Rhyno through a table, selling it like it hurt him, too. Bubba & Booker attacked Angle, who had recovered from the earlier diamond cutter. Angle fought back, suplexing Booker and giving Bubba the Angle Slam. Angle went for the ankle lock on Booker, who escaped and flapjacked Angle. Vince tossed the WWF World Title belt to Angle but Shane got it and flattened Vince with it. Angle laid Shane out and hurled Bubba from the ring. He then Angle Slammed Booker and hooked the ankle lock. Booker tapped but the ref was preoccupied elsewhere. Austin then suddenly "recovered" from his knee "injury" and dragged the ref into the ring, presumably to see Booker tap out, but instead Austin attacked Angle, gave him a stunner, and put Booker on top for the pin. JR was furious, screaming that Austin had sold out to WCW-ECW. It was good match with great heat, though Austin's turn will require some storyline explaining on RAW & Smackdown. The show ended with Austin celebrating by drinking beer with Shane, Stephanie, and Heyman.