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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: MIKE VON ERICH DIES, ROCK 'N' ROLL EXPRESS, WILD SAMOANS, STEINER AND STING WIN TAG GOLD AND MORE

April 12th

On this day in history in ....

1909 - Walter Willoughby defeats Ed Atherton for the World Middleweight Title in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1947 - Tarzan López defeats Black Guzmán to win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Title. This began López's second reign and ended Guzmán's second reign.

1948 - Mike Kelly defeats Gory Guerrero for the NWA World Middleweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.

1958 - Verne Gagne defeats Dick the Bruiser in Chicago, Illinois to win the Chicago/Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign, which carried over into the AWA. Gagne held the title until August 1960 when he won the AWA World Title.

1960 - Tony Anthony is born in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1961 - The Mysterious Medics defeat Bobby and Don Fields in Mobile, Alabama for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title, ending the Fields' fourth reign and beginning the Medics' second.

1963 - Karl Von Schober and Ricky Waldo defeat The Masked Destroyer and Jim Wright for the Stampede International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta.

1967 - Ricky Romero defeats Stan Pulaski to win the California Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California.

1968 - Mr. Wrestling defeats El Mongol in Atlanta, Georgia to win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title, ending Mongol's fourth reign and beginning Mr. Wrestling's second.

1969 - Moondog Mayne defeats Luther Lindsay for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title. This began Mayne's sixth reign and ended Lindsay's fourth.

1970 - Bill Watts defeats The Spoiler to win the Tri-State NWA North American Heavyweight Title in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1972 - Bob Kelly defeats Don Fargo for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama, ending Fargo's third reign and beginning Kelly's seventh. At the same event, Gorgeous George, Jr. defeats Bill White for the City of Mobile Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.

1973 - The Wrestling Pro defeats Bob Kelly to win the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, ending Kelly's 11th of 18 total reigns.

1976 - Don Leo Jonathan and Jimmy Snuka defeat Gene Kiniski and Siegfried Steinke to win the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Title in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1977 - Fritz Von Erich defeats Bruiser Brody in Dallas, Texas to win his 14th of 16 NWA American Heavyweight Titles.

1980 - The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) defeat Ivan Putski and Tito Santana for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1980 - Bob Orton, Jr. and Tony Peters defeat Terry Gibbs and Bob Roop to win the International Championship Wrestling Southeastern Tag Team Title in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1982 - Bill Dundee and Steve Keirn win their second AWA Southern Tag Team Title from Bobby Eaton and Sweet Brown Sugar in Memphis, Tennessee.

1983 - Ron Bass and Stan Hansen defeat Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta for the NWA International Tag Team Title in Matsuyama, Japan, ending Baba and Tsuruta's fourth reign.

1984 - The Spoiler defeats Brad Armstrong to win the NWA National Heavyweight Title in Wheeling, West Virginia.

1984 - The Grapplers (Len Denton and Tony Anthony) defeat Jerry and Ted Oates in Kansas City, Kansas to win the NWA Central States Tag Team Title, ending the Oates' second reign.

1985 - Cien Caras and Sangre Chicana defeat Cachorro and Ringo Mendoza for the Mexican National Tag Team Title in Mexico City, Mexico.

1986 - Billy Jack Haynes defeats Bobby Jaggers to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title in Portland, Oregon. This began Haynes' fourth reign and ended Jaggers' fourth reign.

1987 - The first of three untimely deaths by suicide in the Von Erich family occured when Mike Von Erich intentionally overdosed on Placidyl, a tranqulizer. The overdose occurred after Mike wrapped himself in a sleeping bag in the woods near his home. He was one-third of the World Class Six-Man Tag Team Champions at the time, along with Kevin and Lance Von Erich. Mike had replaced his brother Kerry in the team after he was injured in a motorcycle accident during the previous summer. Mike Von Erich was just 23 years old.

1987 - Rick Steiner and Sting defeat Chris Adams and Terry Taylor to win the UWF World Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.

1988 - Kendo Nagasaki and Mr. Pogo defeat Chris and Mark Youngblood for the WWC World Tag Team Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to begin their third reign. This was a rematch of their March 19 match in Caguas.

1990 - Robert Fuller and Kendall Windham defeat Brian Knobbs and Hurricane Walker (subbing for Jerry Sags) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.

1990 - The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) defeats Matt Derringer to win the Pro Wrestling America Light Heavyweight Title in Fridley, Minnesota.

1991 - Eric Embry defeats Bill Dundee for the USWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas. This began Embry's fifth reign and ended Dundee's second. At the same event, Jeff Jarrett defeats Tom Prichard in a rematch from their April 8 match, also in Dallas, to win his third USWA Southern Heavyweight Title.

1993 - Simply Devine (Steve Doll and Rex King) win their fourth USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennesseee, ending The Moondogs (Splat and Spot)'s fourth reign.

1996 - Ray Roberts defeats D'Lo Brown in Westland, Michigan for the Great Lakes Wrestling Heavyweight Title.

1997 - New Japan Pro Wrestling holds Battle Formation '97 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, before 60,500 fans, the 24th largest crowd attending a professional wrestling event. The results were:
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Manabu Nakanishi by submission.
- El Samurai pinned Shinjiro Otani.
- Chris Benoit pinned Kevin Sullivan.
- Junji Hirata and Satoshi Kojima defeated Osamu Kido and Kazuo Yamazaki, when Kojima pinned Kido.
- Shiro Koshinaka pinned Takashi Ishikawa.
- J-Crown Champion Jushin Liger pinned The Great Sasuke to retain the titles.
- Antonio Inoki defeated Tiger King by submission.
- Keiji Muto pinned Masahiro Chono.
- Riki Choshu and Kensuke Sasaki defeated IWGP Tag Team Champions Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura to win the title, ending Fujinami and Kimura's fourth reign.
- Naoya Ogawa, in his professional wrestling debut, defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto by TKO.

1997 - NWA New Jersey's second-annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl is held at West High School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The results:
- The Beach Bullies (The Inferno Kid and Ray Odyssey) defeated NWA United States Tag Team Champions Downward Spiral (Adrian Hall and Twiggy Ramirez) to win the title, ending their second reign.
- Mr. Puerto Rico defeated Steve Corino.
- The Black Scorpion (Rick Ratchet) defeated Donnie B. Deviously.
- Tommy Gilbert defeated Ian Rotten.
- King Kong Bundy defeated Don Montoya.
- Lance Diamond defeats Cheetah Master and NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Reckless Youth in a triangle match to win the title.
- Marty Jannetty defeated Harley Lewis.
- NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn fought Dory Funk, Jr. to a double-countout to retain the title.
- I-Con won a battle royal.
- Doug Gilbert defeated Buddy Landell.
- Flash Funk defeated Ace Darling.
- Goldust defeated Derrick Domino.

1997 - The Shooting Stars (Jerry Faith and Troy Haste) defeat Flash Flanagan and Billy Travis for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Flanagan and Travis' second reign. At the same event, King Reginald (Reggie B. Fine) defeats Jerry Lawler, ending Lawler's 26th USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title reign.

1997 - Otis Apollo and Denny Kass defeat Maximum Intensity (Bobby Clancy and Mike Legacy) to win the Border City Wrestling Can-Am Tag Team Title in LaSalle, Ontario.

1998 - ZAP I (Kaoru Itoh) and ZAP T (Tomoko Watanabe) defeat Takako Inoue and Kumiko Maekawa in Tokyo, Japan to win the WWWA World Tag Team Title, which had been vacated by Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda on January 9. At the same show, Momoe Nakanishi wins her second AJW Singles Title, defeating Emi Motokawa.

1999 - In this week of the Monday Night War, WWF RAW is WAR got a 6.3 rating, beating WCW Monday Nitro's 4.4 rating.

The WWF held a live RAW is WAR at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The results were:
- The Big Show defeated Christian.
- Val Venis fought Billy Gunn to a no contest.
- Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) defeated The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) by disqualification.
- The Godfather defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust to win the title, ending Goldust's third reign.
- Hardcore Holly defeated D-Lo Brown (with Ivory).
- WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and X-Pac defeated Test and Triple H (with Chyna) to retain the title.

WCW Monday Nitro was live from the Yakima Sundome in Yakima, Washington, coming off the Spring Stampede pay-per-view. The results:
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Misterio, Jr. defeated Juventud Guerrera by disqualification to retain the title.
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Hugh Morrus (with Jimmy Hart) in a kendo stick match.
- El Dandy and La Parka fought The Master Blasters (with Jimmy Hart) to a no-contest.
- Kidman defeated Psychosis.
- WCW World Television Champion Booker T defeated Rick Steiner to retain the title.
- Goldberg defeated Kenny Kaos.
- Sting defeated Ric Flair (with Arn Anderson).
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page (with Kimberly) defeated WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner to retain his title.

2000 - The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) defeat Steven Dunn and Jackie Fulton (subbing for Reno Riggins) for the NWA World Tag Team Title in Waegwan, South Korea. This began the Express' fourth reign.

2000 - Chris Michaels defeats Sean Casey in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to win his second OVW Light Heavyweight Title, ending Casey's third reign.

2000 - Zodiac defeats Navajo Warrior for the American Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title in Window Rock, Arizona, ending Warrior's second reign and beginning Zodiac's second reign.

2001 - S.A.T. Red (The Amazing Red) defeats Billy Bax and champion Evan Leppy in a three-way match in Pottstown, Pennsylvania to win the Premier Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Title.

2002 - The WWF Hardcore Title changes hands four times at a house show in Amarillo, Texas. William Regal, the original challenger for the title, became a brief double-champion (he also held the WWF European Title) when he won the title from Bubba Ray Dudley, ending Bubba Ray's third reign and beginning Regal's third. Spike Dudley began his second reign as Hardcore Champion by defeating Regal. Spike then lost the title to Goldust, his fourth title win. Bubba Ray Dudley left with the title though, beating Goldust, and beginning his fourth reign.

2002 - Jazmynn Viktoria defeats Katerina Heiss to win the NWA East Women's Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. This began Viktoria's second reign and ended Heiss' third. She was the final champion, the title was abandoned the same year.

2003 - Jeff Daniels defeats Tommy Capone for the NWA Main Event Television Title in Columbia, Tennessee.

2003 - Sinister X defeats Smokey M. to win the CyberSpace Wrestling Federation (later NWA Cyberspace/Shockwave) Heavyweight Title in Rahway, New Jersey.

2003 - All Japan Pro Wrestling held the 13th and final event of its annual Champion's Carnival tour at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan with 16,000 fans in attendance. The results were:
- Gran Hamada pinned Gran Naniwa.
- Gigantes and George Hines beat Hiroshi Hase and Masayuki Kono, when Gigantes pinned Kono.
- Ryuki Ueyama defeated Ryuji Hijikata by submission.
- Kaz Hayashi and Jimmy Yang beat Omega Griffon and NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion Low Ki, when Hayashi pinned Griffon.
- AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Kendo Kashin defeated Carl Contini by submission to retain the title.
- Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka defeated Hideki Hosaka and Shigeo Okumura, when Otani pinned Hosaka.
- AJPW All Asia Tag Team Champion Nobutaka Araya, Nobukazu Hirai and Genichiro Tenryu defeated Tomohiko Hashimoto, Tomoaki Honma and Kazushi Miyamoto, when Araya pinned Hashimoto.
- Keiji Muto and AJPW Unified World Tag Team Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Masa Fuchi and Toshiaki Kawada, when Kojima pinned Fuchi.
- AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto defeated AJPW All Asia Tag Team Champion Arashi by TKO to retain his title.

2003 - Combat Zone Wrestling held its third-annual Best of the Best event at Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- Sonjay Dutt and CZW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Ruckus defeated Chris Cash in a three-way falls count anywhere Best of the Best Tournament first round match.
- CZW World Tag Team Champion Trent Acid and Ric Blade defeated Tony Mamaluke in a three-way Best of the Best Tournament first round match.
- B-Boy and Lil' Cholo defeated Deranged in a three-way Best of the Best Tournament first round match.
- Jay Briscoe and Jimmy Rave defeated Jason Cross and A.J. Styles in a four-way Best of the Best Tournament first round match.
- Nate Hatred won a 30-man battle royal, where the winner received a shot at the title of his choosing.
- Sonjay Dutt defeated Mark Briscoe (replacing the injured Ruckus) in a Best of the Best Tournament quarterfinal match.
- Trent Acid defeated Ric Blade in a Best of the Best Tournament quarterfinal match.
- B-Boy defeated Lil' Cholo in a Best of the Best Tournament quarterfinal match.
- Jay Briscoe defeated Jimmy Rave in a Best of the Best Tournament quarterfinal match.
- Sonjay Dutt defeated Trent Acid in a Best of the Best Tournament semifinal match.
- B-Boy defeated Jay Briscoe in a Best of the Best Tournament semifinal match.
- CZW World Heavyweight Champion The Messiah defeated Nick Gage to retain the title.
- B-Boy defeated Sonjay Dutt to win the Best of the Best Tournament.

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