On this day in history in ....
1920 - Paul Bowser defeats Billy Schoeber in Newark, Ohio for the American
Middleweight Title.
1939 - Octavio Gaona, recognized as World Middleweight Champion by EMLL,
defeats National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Champion, Gus Kallio,
in Mexico City, Mexico. Gaona became the first NWA World Middleweight Champion
with this win, which was upon EMLL's entrance as a member of the NWA.
1942 - Bill Longson defeats Sandor Szabo for the National Wrestling
Association World Heavyweight Title in St. Louis, Missouri.
1942 - Marshall Estep defeats Steve Brody to win the Midwest Wrestling
Association World Junior Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri. This began
and ended each man's second reign.
1943 - Bill Longson defeats Bobby Managoff for the National Wrestling
Association World Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas, to begin his second
reign.
1948 - Big John Studd is born in Butler, Pennsylvania.
1948 - Wayne Martin wins the Southwest Junior Heavyweight Title from Al Getz
in Amarillo, Texas.
1954 - The Japan Wrestling Association held an event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo,
Japan. The results:
- Harold Toki and Kiyomigawa fought to a draw.
- Surugaumi defeated Kaichi Nagasawa.
- Kokichi Endo defeated Bob Mumphrey.
- Bobby Bruns defeated Toshio Yamaguchi.
- Masahiko Kimura and Rikidozan fought Ben and Mike Sharpe to a 1-1 draw in a
Two-out-of-Three Falls match.
1957 - Wilbur Snyder wins the Chicago NWA United States Heavyweight Title in
Chicago, Illinois from Hans Schmidt. This made Snyder the first two-time
champion.
1958 - Mr. Moto defeats Sandor Szabo for the Alaska Heavyweight Title in
Anchorage, Alaska.
1959 - Don and Luke (Bobby) Fields defeat The Corsicans (Jean and Joe) in
Chattanooga, Tennessee to end their ninth and final Mid-America NWA World Tag
Team Title reign.
1963 - Hiro Matsuda ends Eddie Graham's third Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight
Title reign in Tampa, Florida.
1966 - Bill Watts defeats Kinji Shibuya for the San Francisco NWA United
States Heavyweight Title in San Francisco, California, ending Shibuya's second
reign.
1968 - In New York City, New York, the WWWF held its first event in the fourth
and current incarnation of Madison Square Garden. The previous Madison Square
Gardens opened in 1879, 1890 and 1925, respectively. The new MSG had opened
officially two days earlier. The results of the show were:
- The Magnificent Maurice defeated Karl Steif.
- Virgil the Kentucky Butcher defeated Édouard Carpentier.
- Victor Rivera defeated Hans Mortier.
- Dominic DeNucci and Prof. Toru Tanaka fought to a draw.
- Miguel Perez defeated Gil Gordon.
- The Sheik defeated Louis Cerdan.
- Earl Maynard defeated Luke Graham with a West Indian backbreaker.
- Little Beaver and Little Jackie defeated Little Brutus and Sky Low Low.
- WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Bull Ramos by
submission.
1969 - Gene Kiniski wins the Hawaii NWA North American Heavyweight Title from
Toru Tanaka in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1970 - The Great Kojika defeats El Medico in Bakersfield, California for the
Los Angeles NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title.
1974 - Danny Doring is born in Pepper Pike, Ohio.
1976 - Bob Geigel and Akio Sato defeat Ken Mantell and Ron Bass for the
Central States NWA World Tag Team Title in St. Joseph, Missouri.
1978 - Maple Leaf Wrestling held an event at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto,
Ontario. The results were:
- Billy Red Lyons defeated Chris Tolos.
- Stan Stasiak defeated The Wolfman.
- Dewey Robertson defeated The Wildman by disqualification.
- AWA World Tag Team Champions The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne)
defeated AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan to
retain the title.
- British Heavyweight Champion Billy Robinson defeated Duncan McTavish to
retain the title.
- WWWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham defeated Édouard
Carpentier to retain the title.
- Angelo Mosca defeated Peter Maivia by referee decision.
- Dusty Rhodes defeated Ken Patera.
1978 - Stan Frazier and Terry Sawyer defeat Dennis Condrey and Phil Hickerson
to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. The title had
been vacated after Norvell Austin and Bill Dundee split up.
1979 - Mark Lewin and The Spoiler defeat David and Kevin Von Erich for the NWA
American Tag Team Title in Fort Worth, Texas.
1981 - Shawn Spears, also known as Gavin Spears in WWE, is born in St.
Catharines, Ontario.
1982 - Spike Huber and Wilbur Snyder win their second World Wrestling
Association World Tag Team Title in a possibly fictitious match in Peoria,
Illinois, from The Kelly Twins (Mike and Pat).
1983 - The WWF held an event at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The results:
- José Estrada defeated Curt Hennig.
- Johnny Rodz defeated José Luis Rivera.
- Tony Garea defeated Charlie Fulton.
- Swede Hanson defeated S.D. Jones.
- Eddie Gilbert defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Big John Studd defeated WWF Champion Bob Backlund by countout. Backlund
retained the title.
- The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) defeated Chief Jay and Jules Strongbow in a
Two-out-of-Three Falls match. The Strongbows were disqualified in the first
fall, with the second fall a double-disqualification. This gave the Wild
Samoans a 2-1 victory.
- André the Giant, Salvatore Bellomo, Rocky Johnson, Pedro Morales and Jimmy
Snuka defeated Mr. Fuji, Superstar Billy Graham, Don Muraco, Buddy Rose and
Ray Stevens in a Three-out-of-Five Falls match, 3-1. Fuji pinned Bellomo,
Bellomo pinned Fuji, Snuka pinned Rose, and André pinned Rose. This was the
first 10-man tag team match at the Spectrum.
1989 - The WWF held an event at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. The
results were:
- Paul Roma defeated Jose Estrada.
- Koko B. Ware defeated Nikolai Volkoff.
- The Blue Blazer defeated Danny Davis.
- King Haku defeated Jim Powers.
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Rick Rude.
- The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) defeated The Rockers
(Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels).
- Greg Valentine defeated Jim Neidhart.
- Andre the Giant defeated Jake Roberts.
1990 - The WWF held an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New
York. The results:
- Tito Santana pinned Buddy Rose after a flying forearm. This match aired on
the March 5 edition of Prime Time Wrestling.
- Earthquake pinned Ronnie Garvin with the Earthquake Splash.
- Rick Martel defeated The Red Rooster by submission with the Boston Crab. The
match aired on Prime Time Wrestling on March 12.
- Brutus Beefcake and WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defeated The Genius and Mr.
Perfect, when Hogan pinned the Genius after the legdrop.
- Bad News Brown pinned Jim Brunzell after the Ghetto Blaster.
- Dusty Rhodes (with Sapphire) defeated Akeem (with Slick) by countout after
Slick accidentally hit Akeem on the floor.
- Jim Duggan and The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated Mr.
Fuji and The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord), when Jannetty
pinned Fuji after Duggan hit Fuji with his 2x4.
1994 - The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard) defeated The Rock
'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) for the SMW Tag Team Title
at a Midwest Territorial Wrestling event in Taylor, Michigan. This began the
Bodies' second reign and ended the Express' sixth.
1994 - Vicky Carranza and Briosa defeat Pantera Sureña and Martha Villalobos
for the Mexican National Women's Tag Team Title in Xochimilco, Mexico City,
Mexico.
1994 - Two of West Coast Championship Wrestling's three titles change hands in
Cloverdale, British Columbia. The New Canadians (Johnny Canuck and Mike Starr)
defeat The Billionaire Boys' Club (Mike Roselli and Randy Tyler) for the WCCW
International Tag Team Title, and Dillon Powers wins the WCCW Mid-Heavyweight
Title from Al Tomko.
1995 - WCW held its fifth-annual SuperBrawl pay-per-view event at the
Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, before 13,390 fans. The show got a
0.95 buyrate. The results:
- Alex Wright pinned Paul Roma after a roll-up after a dropkick from behind.
- Jim Duggan pinned Bunkhouse Buck (with Col. Robert Parker and Meng) after a
running clothesline after knocking Parker off the apron.
- Kevin Sullivan (with The Butcher) pinned Dave Sullivan with a roll-up and
grabbing Dave's tights after ramming Dave into The Butcher on the apron.
- WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray (with
Sister Sherri)) defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) by
reverse decision to retain the title. Knobbs had originally pinned Stevie Ray
after Sherri accidentally hit him with her loaded purse, but referee Randy
Anderson came to the ring and informed match referee Nick Patrick that Sags
threw Booker from the ring over the top rope soon before.
- The Blacktop Bully (with Col. Robert Parker) pinned Dustin Rhodes when
Parker grabbed Rhodes' leg as he tried to suplex the Bully into the ring.
Parker then held Rhodes foot down for the cover.
- Randy Savage and Sting defeated Avalanche and The Butcher, when Sting pinned
Avalanche with a crossbody off the top.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeated WCW
United States Heavyweight Champion Vader by disqualification to retain his
title, when Hogan attacked Ric Flair, who interfered.
1995 - Koji Kanemoto ends Norio Honaga's third IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
reign in Tokyo, Japan.
1998 - The Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title
changes twice in Alexandria, Virginia, as Lance Diamond ends Cueball
Carmichael's third reign, then loses the title to Jimmy Cicero.
1999 - AAA held its first-annual Reina de Reinas (Queen of Queens) Tournament
at Arena Puebla in Puebla, Mexico. The tournament featured 16 women in 5
four-way matches. The results were:
Semifinals:
- Xóchitl Hamada defeated La Fugitiva, Alda Moreno and Venus.
- Miss Janeth defeated Lady Discovery, La Migala and Princesa Sujei.
- Rossy Moreno defeated Vicky Carranza, La Nazi and Linda Starr.
- Esther Moreno defeated Briosa, Sahori and Martha Villalobos.
Final:
- Xóchitl Hamada defeated Miss Janeth, Esther Moreno and Rossy Moreno to win
the Reina de Reinas.
1999 - Brian Adias defeats Khris Germany to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight
Title in North Richland Hills, Texas, beginning his second reign.
1999 - The Ark Angels (Damon D'Archangelo and Phoenix King) win the NWA New
England Tag Team Title from The House of Pain (Frank and Joe Gulli) in
Mansfield, Massachusetts. Later the same night, The House of Pain won the
title back, beginning their second reign.
1999 - The Bushwhackers win the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation Tag Team
Title from The House of Kane in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, then vacated the
title right after. Also at that event, The Black Cat defeats Bad Bubba Brewer
for the APWF Heavyweight Title.
2000 - Chris Candido wins the vacant NWA Jersey Heavyweight Title in Barnegat,
New Jersey by defeating The Equalizer.
2000 - Ray González wins his 11th WWC Universal Heavyweight Title in
Carolina, Puerto Rico by defeating Carly Colón.
2000 - The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) defeat Bad
Attitude (Rick Michaels and David Young) to win the NWA Wildside Tag Team
Title in Cornelia, Georgia.
2000 - Mason Cage defeats Shane Black in Hazleton, Pennsylvania to win his
second WXW Cruiserweight Title, ending Black's third. At the same show, Sugaa
wins the WXW Heavyweight Title from Jak Molsonn, ending his third reign.
2000 - Jeff Peterson defeats Frankie Capone for the IPW Light Heavyweight
Title in Crystal River, Florida, to begin his second reign.
2000 - Cody Hawk and Anthony McMurphy defeat Alexis Machine, GQ Masters III
and Suicido in a Handicap match in Hamilton, Ohio to win Machine and Brian
Fury's HWA Tag Team Title. Also at that event, Shark Boy becomes the first
two-time HWA Cruiserweight Champion by defeating Matt Stryker. Stryker won a
battle royal earlier in the night for the right to face Shark Boy for the
title, which had been stripped from Rory Fox for no-showing.
2000 - Dirk Ciglar and Scott Venom defeat Armageddon (Rapture &
Revelation) and Brian Anthony & Brandon K in a three-way tournament final
to become the first Pittsburgh Wrestling League Tag Team Champions.
2000 - Alexander Worthington III defeats Dave Vicious for the Eastern
Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title in Lewiston, Maine.
2002 - WWE taped February 24's Sunday Night Heat and February 21's SmackDown!
at the MetroCenter in Rockford, Illinois. The results:
Dark matches:
- Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty defeated Brock Lesnar and Ron Waterman.
- Leviathan (Batista) and Mr. Perfect defeated Shelton Benjamin and Randy
Orton.
Heat:
- WWF Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri defeated The Hurricane to retain the
title.
- Test defeated The Godfather.
- Booker T defeated Val Venis.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion William Regal defeated Rikishi to retain the
title.
SmackDown!:
- Kane defeated Kurt Angle.
- Edge defeated Christian by submission.
- The Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt) and Rob Van Dam defeated The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von) and Lance Storm.
- Billy and Chuck (with Rico) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Spike Dudley and
Tazz to win the title.
- Triple H and The Undertaker's match never got underway when The Undertaker
refused to wrestle.
2002 - Robbie Brookside wins his second European Heavyweight Title in a
tournament final in Yeovil, England. He defeated Justin Starr. The title was
vacated after The Flatliner suffered a broken leg.
2003 - Nick Dinsmore defeats champion The Damaja and Doug Basham in a triple
threat match in Louisville, Kentucky to win the OVW Heavyweight Title for the
seventh time.
2004 - Shiro Koshinaka and Takao Omori defeat Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka
in Tokyo, Japan for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title, ending Otani and
Tanaka's second reign. At the same event, Low Ki and Leonardo Spanky (Brian
Kendrick) defeat Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo to win the NWA International
Lightweight Tag Team Title.
2005 - Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer defeat The Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes and
Rocky Romero) at the Third Anniversary Show in Elizabeth, New Jersey to win
the ROH Tag Team Title.
2005 - Taka Michinoku wins the Michinoku Pro Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Title
from The Great Sasuke in Iwate, Japan.
2005 - 3PW held its Third Anniversary Show at the New Alhambra Arena in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- Amish Roadkill defeated Damian Adams.
- Mike Kruel defeated Matt Striker.
- April Hunter defeated The Blue Meanie by submission.
- A.J. Styles defeated Simon Diamond.
- C.J. O'Doyle defeated Rob Eckos.
- Simon Diamond and Mike Kruel defeated Damian Adams and Monsta Mack to win
the vacant 3PW Tag Team Title. Gary Wolfe had held the title with Mike Kruel,
but was fired from the promotion.
- Matt Striker defeated Rockin' Rebel.
- Slyck Wagner Brown defeated 3PW Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels to
win the title.
2005 - S.U.V. (Onslaught and Tiger Wylde) are named American Championship Pro
Wrestling's first Tag Team Champions in Wilmington, Delaware.
2006 - WWE held its eighth-annual No Way Out pay-per-view event at the 1st
Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. 11,000 fans attended the SmackDown!
brand show, which got a 0.56 buyrate. The results were:
- In a match taking place on Sunday Night Heat, The Boogeyman pinned Simon
Dean after a pumphandle slam.
- WWE Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms defeated Funaki, Kid Kash, Brian
Kendrick, Paul London, Nunzio, Psicosis, Scotty 2 Hotty and Super Crazy to
retain the title, by pinning Psicosis.
- JBL (with Jillian Hall) pinned Bobby Lashley after the Clothesline from
Hell. This ended Lashley's undefeated streak. JBL got the win after Finlay
came to the ring, threw ring announcer Tony Chimel in the ring, and hit
Lashley in the head with his shillelagh.
- Matt Hardy and Tatanka defeated WWE Tag Team Champions MNM (Joey Mercury and
Johnny Nitro (with Melina)), when Tatanka pinned Mercury after the Trail's
End. Hardy and Tatanka were now #1 contenders for MNM's title.
- Chris Benoit defeated WWE United States Champion Booker T by submission with
the Crippler Crossface to win the title. This began Benoit's second reign and
ended Booker's third.
- Randy Orton pinned Rey Mysterio, by avoiding Rey's 619 and rolling him up
while using the ropes, to win Mysterio's WrestleMania 22 world title shot.
- World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle pinned The Undertaker by countering a
triangle choke into a roll-up, to retain the title.
2006 - New Japan held an event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The results:
- Koji Kanemoto defeated GENTARO.
- Gedo, Jado and Jushin Liger defeated Badboy Hido, Tetushiro Kuroda and
Kintaro Kanemura, when Gedo pinned Hido.
- Takashi Iizuka and Naofumi Yamamoto defeated Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, when
Yamamoto pinned Yano.
- El Samurai and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team
Champions Hirooki Goto and Minoru to win the title, when Samurai made Minoru
submit.
- Tiger Mask IV defeated NWA World and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Black
Tiger IV (Rocky Romero) to win both titles. This began Tiger Mask's third IWGP
reign.
- IWGP U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Yuji Nagata.
- IWGP Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated
Akebono and Riki Choshu, when Lesnar pinned Choshu.
- IWGP Tag Team Champions Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Giant
Bernard and Manabu Nakanishi to retain the title, when Chono pinned Nakanishi.
2006 - Keith Loughman and Robbie Morrisey defeat Justin Bred and Danny Butler
for the NWA Ireland Tag Team Title in Bray, Ireland.
2007 - WWE held a live RAW and taped WWE.com Heat at Rabobank Arena in
Bakersfield, California. The results were:
Heat:
- Chris Masters defeated Eugene.
- Super Crazy defeated Mike Wellington.
- Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton
Benjamin and Charlie Haas).
RAW:
- Umaga (with Armando Alejandro Estrada) pinned WWE Intercontinental Champion
Jeff Hardy after the Samoan Spike to win the title. This ended Hardy's third
reign.
- Carlito (with Torrie Wilson) and Ric Flair defeated Lance Cade and Trevor
Murdoch, when Carlito pinned Murdoch after the Backcracker.
- Edge pinned Rob Van Dam after a spear to qualify for WrestleMania 23's Money
in the Bank Ladder match.
- Melina pinned WWE Women's Champion Mickie James with a roll-over countered
from a hurricanrana to win the title. This ended Mickie's second reign.
- The Great Khali defeated The Highlanders (Rory and Robbie McAllister) in a
Handicap match by pinning Robbie with one foot after a tree slam.
- World Tag Team and WWE Champion John Cena defeated Randy Orton by
disqualification when Edge interfered and speared Cena as he had Orton up for
the FU. Edge and Orton went for a Conchairto on Cena with Shawn Michaels
making the save.
- In a dark match after Raw, World Tag Team Champions - WWE Champion John Cena
and Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) to retain the
title.
2008 - WWE taped February 22's Friday Night SmackDown and aired ECW live from
the Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The results were:
- In a dark match, Michelle McCool defeated Victoria.
SmackDown:
- Shelton Benjamin pinned Jimmy Wang Yang with Paydirt to qualify for
WrestleMania XXIV's Money in the Bank Ladder match.
- Jesse and Festus defeated Deuce and Domino (with Cherry) when Jesse pinned
Domino with a Rocket Launcher.
- Batista pinned WWE United States Champion MVP with the Batista Bomb.
- Kane pinned The Great Khali by falling backwards while Khali had a head vice
locked on Kane.
- Chuck Palumbo pinned Matt Jackson with the Full Throttle.
- Rey Mysterio pinned ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero (with Vickie Guerrero and
Theodore Long) with a rolling cradle after avoiding the frog splash.
- Ric Flair and CM Punk defeated Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke, when Burke
submitted to Flair's Figure-Four.
ECW:
- Kofi Kingston pinned Jason Riggs after the Jamaican Buzzsaw.
- WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz pinned Colin Delaney (with Tommy Dreamer)
after the Reality Check.
- Stevie Richards pinned James Curtis after the Stevie-T.
- In a dark match after the tapings, Batista, Kane and The Undertaker defeated
World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.
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