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May 3rd

On this day in history in .....

1884 - H.M. Dufur defeats James McLaughlin for the American Collar-and-Elbow Title in Chicago, Illinois. This ended McLaughlin's fourth reign and began Dufur's second.

1915 - Stu Hart was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

1946 - Lou Thesz defeats Buddy Rogers to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas. This began Thesz's third reign and ended Rogers' third.  This is well over a decade before the two would be involved in the NWA World title match that led to the formation of the WWWF (WWF/WWE) World Title.

1951 - Sonny Myers defeats Dennis Clary for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas.

1956 - Joe Scarpello defeats The Mystery Man to win his third Midwest Wrestling Association Junior Heavyweight Title in

1957 - Don McIntyre defeats Kurt Von Brauner to win the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Von Brauner's second reign and beginning McIntyre's 13th.

1961 - The Mysterious Medics defeat Jackie and Joey Fargo for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Mobile, Alabama, beginning their third reign.

1963 - Dick Steinborn defeats Tarzan Tyler to win the Georgia World Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia.

1963 - Lee Fields and Joe Scarpa (Jay Strongbow) defeat Tiger Tomasso and Pancho Villa for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Dothan, Alabama, to begin their second reign. Tomasso and Villa had won the title from Fields and Scarpa just two days earlier.

1967 - NWA Big Time Wrestling held a five-team tournament for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in San Antonio, Texas. The results:
Quarterfinals:
- Paul DeMarco and Luis Hernandez defeated Mike Paidousis and Kinji Shibuya.
- Jim Bernard and Tarzan Tyler defeated Bob Ellis and Yamamoto.
Semifinals:
- Jim Bernard and Tarzan Tyler defeated Buddy Moreno and Bearcat Wright.
Finals:
- Paul DeMarco and Luis Hernandez defeated Jim Bernard and Tarzan Tyler to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title.

1967 - Ripper Collins and Curtis Iaukea defeat Johnny Barend and Hans Mortier to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1968 - Ron Etchison wins his second NWA Central States Heavyweight Title from Harley Race in St. Joseph, Missouri.

1969 - Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeat Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title. This began the Von Steigers' fourth reign and ended Borne and Mayne's fifth.

1974 - Buddy Colt defeats Bill Watts for the Tri-State NWA North American Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida, ending Watts' third reign.

1976 - Big Bad John and Bill Dundee defeat Plowboy (Stan) Frazier and Jerry Lawler to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, to begin their second reign.

1979 - Steve "Monsta" Mack is born in Brooklyn, New York.

1979 - Mr. Sato and John Tolos defeat Akihisa Takachiho (The Great Kabuki) and Ricky Romero) to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Title in Amarillo, Texas.

1980 - The Sheik defeated Mighty Igor in Detroit, Michigan for the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title, beginning his 12th and final reign. The Sheik's Big Time Wrestling closed in October. At that same event, Frankie Laine and George Steele won the Detroit NWA World Tag Team Title from John Bonello and Randy Scott.

1982 - Jimmy Garvin wins his second NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in West Palm Beach, Florida, ending Mr. Wrestling II's second reign.

1983 - Bret Hart defeats Leo Burke for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Regina, Saskatchewan, ending Burke's eighth reign. This began Hart's sixth and final run with Stampede's top title.

1985 - Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams defeat The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) to win the Mid-South Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas, ending the Express' third reign.

1987 - The World Class Wrestling Association held the fourth-annual Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The event took place just three weeks after the death of Mike Von Erich. The results were:
- Matt Borne and Steve Casey defeated Black Bart and Jack Victory, when Borne pinned Bart.
- Cousin Junior defeated The Grappler.
- Steve Doll defeated Killer Tim Brooks.
- Spike Huber and Red River Jack defeated Abdullah the Butcher and Eli the Eliminator, when Huber pinned Eli.
- Red River Jack defeated Gary Hart by countout.
- Mil Máscaras defeated Al Madril.
- Skip Young defeated Brian Adias in a lumberjack match.
- WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich fought Nord the Barbarian to a double-countout to retain the title.
- Steve Simpson and The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) defeated Eric Embry and The Rock 'n' Roll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) in a scaffold match.
- Bruiser Brody defeated Jeep Swenson.
- Candi Divine won a six-woman mudpit match.

1990 - John Tatum defeats Bill Dundee for the USWA Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas.

1991 - Eric Embry ends Jeff Jarrett's fifth USWA Heavyweight Title reign in Dallas, Texas.

1992 - WCW held an event at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The results were:
- Michael Hayes defeated Diamond Dallas Page.
- WCW United States Tag Team Champion Greg Valentine defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell.
- Nikita Koloff defeated Big Van Vader (with Harley Race) by disqualification when Race interfered.
- Ron Simmons defeated WCW United States Tag Team Champion Terry Taylor.
- Johnny B. Badd defeated Tracy Smothers.
- Tom Zenk defeated Mr. Hughes.
- Dustin Rhodes and WCW World Television Champion Barry Windham defeated Steve Austin and Larry Zbyszko.
- WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude defeated Ricky Steamboat by disqualification to retain the title, after Steamboat hit Rude with a chair.
- The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton in a steel cage match to win the title, beginning their third reign.

1993 - New Japan Pro Wrestling held "Wrestling Dontaku '93" at the Fukuoka Dome in Fukuoka, Japan with 55,000 fans in attendance. The results were:
- Takayuki Iizuka, Akira Nogami and El Samurai defeated Satoshi Kojima, Osamu Nishimura and Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, when Nogami pinned Yamamoto.
- Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Akitoshi Saito.
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Masa Saito.
- Masashi Aoyagi, The Great Kabuki, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Kengo Kimura and Shiro Koshinaka defeated Tatsutoshi Goto, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Hiro Saito and Super Strong Machine, when Koshinaka pinned Goto.
- Tiger Mask (Koji Kanemoto) defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger.
- Scott Norton fought Sting to a double-disqualification.
- Yoshiaki Fujiwara defeated Hiro Hase by submission.
- IWGP Tag Team Champions The Hellraisers (Hawk Warrior (Road Warrior Hawk) and Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki)) defeated Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto, when Power pinned Chono, to retain the title.
- WWF Champion Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Mutoh. Neither title was at stake.
- Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki defeated Riki Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu, when Fujinami pinned Choshu.

1993 - Papa Shango defeated Jerry Lawler in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title, ending Lawler's 14th reign.

1995 - New Japan held "Wrestling Dontaku '95" at the Fukuoka Dome in Fukuoka, Japan with 48,000 fans in attendance. The results:
- Yuji Nagata defeated Manabu Nakanishi by submission.
- Takayuki Iizuka and El Samurai defeated Norio Honaga and Akira Nogami, when Iizuka pinned Nogami.
- Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) defeated 2 Cold Scorpio.
- Sabu defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Koji Kanemoto to win the title.
- Junji Hirata defeated Hiro Saito.
- The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated Scott Norton and Road Warrior Hawk, when Scott pinned Hawk.
- Terry Funk and Shiro Koshinaka defeated Masahiro Chono and Hiromichi Fuyuki, when Koshinaka pinned Chono.
- Ric Flair defeated IWGP Tag Team Champion Hiroshi Hase by submission.
- Antonio Inoki and Koji Kitao defeated Riki Choshu and Genichiro Tenryu, when Inoki pinned Choshu.
- Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroshi Tenzan.
- IWGP Tag Team Champion Keiji Mutoh defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto to win the title. This began Mutoh's second reign and ended Hashimoto's second reign.

1995 - Psicosis defeats El Hijo del Santo for the Mexican National Welterweight Title in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

1996 - Ray Stevens died from a heart attack while he slept at his home in Fremont, California, at the age of 60. Stevens won titles all over the United States, including five AWA World Tag Team Titles, and three NWA San Francisco World Tag Team Titles, as well as many more over his four-decade career.

1997 - New Japan held "Strong Style Evolution" before 43,000 fans at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. The results were:
- Koji Kanemoto, Hanzo Nakajima, Shinjiro Otani, Mens Teioh and Dick Togo defeated Gran Hamada, Norio Honoga, El Samurai, The Great Sasuke and Super Delfin in a best-of-three falls match, 2-0. Otani pinned Delfin and Togo pinned Hamada.
- Kazuo Yamazaki defeated Kendo Kashin.
- Shiro Koshinaka defeated Kengo Kimura.
- Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
- nWo Sting and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Syxx defeated Takashi Iizuka and Tadao Yasuda, when Syxx pinned Iizuka.
- Vicious and Delicious (Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton) defeated The Giant and Lex Luger, when Norton pinned Luger.
- Masahiro Chono and WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) defeated Keiji Mutoh and The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott), when Hall pinned Rick.
- Antonio Inoki and Tiger King defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara and J-Crown Champion Jushin Liger, when Inoki made Fujiwara submit.
- Satoshi Kojima and Manabu Nakanishi defeated IWGP Tag Team Champions Riki Choshu and Kensuke Sasaki, when Kojima made Choshu submit, to win the title.
- IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto defeated Naoya Ogawa by submission to retain the title.

1998 - The opening matchup on a WWF house show in Hamilton, Ontario features future seven-time WWF Tag Team Champions, as well as multi-time future World champions against one other, as Adam Copeland (Edge) defeated Christian Cage. Edge had had a few matches on WWF house shows over the previous months under his real name, and this was Christian's very first WWF match. Edge and Christian made their respective television debuts on June 22 and September 27 of that year.

1998 - In the fourth title change in as many days, Booker T defeats Chris Benoit for the WCW World Television Title at a house show in Savannah, Georgia. This began Booker's fourth reign and ended Benoit's second.

1998 - ECW held its "Wrestlepalooza '98" pay-per-view at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Georgia, which got a 0.24 buyrate. The show drew 3,400 fans, and was nicknamed "On Enemy Turf", since the show was being held so close to WCW headquarters in Atlanta. Prior to the show starting a "Legends" ceremony was held with Dick Slater, Bob Armstrong, The Assassin and Junkyard Dog (his last public appearance before his death). The results:
- The Blue Meanie & Super Nova defeated Tracey Smothers & Little Guido when Nova pinned Guido after a Blue Light Special.
- Justin Credible defeated Mikey Whipwreck with That's Incredible (tombstone piledriver).
- ECW World Tag Team Champions Chris Candido & Lance Storm defeated Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten when Candido pinned Balls after Storm had dropkicked him and Candido shoved Storm out of the way so he could get the pin.
- Shane Douglas and Taz engaged in a brawl during an interview segment.
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated New Jack after New Jack knocked himself out on a balcony dive.
- Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman defeated D-Von & Bubba Ray Dudley with stereo DDTs.
- ECW World Television Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu ended in a thirty minute draw.  Manager Bill Alfonso was in the corners of both men for the match.
- ECW World Champion Shane Douglas defeated Al Snow by reversing a sunset flip for the pin.

1998 - Dave the Rave and Rip Rogers defeat The Lords of the Ring (Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Title in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

1999 - The Monday Night War continued, with WWF RAW is WAR winning the night over WCW Monday Nitro, 6.4 to 3.4 in the ratings.

WCW Monday Nitro was live from the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The results:
- WCW World Tag Team Champions Billy Kidman and Rey Misterio, Jr. defeated The Armstrong Brothers (Scott and Steve).
- Buff Bagwell defeated Ernest Miller (with Sonny Onoo).
- Bam Bam Bigelow and Hak fought to a no-contest in a hardcore match.
- Konnan defeated Horace Hogan by disqualification.
- Meng defeated David Flair (with Torrie Wilson).
- Curt Hennig defeated WCW World Television Champion Booker T by disqualification. Booker retained the title.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page defeated Ric Flair to retain the title.

WWF RAW is WAR was taped the previous night, May 2, at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The results were:
- Billy Gunn defeated X-Pac.
- Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson defeated The Mean Street Posse (Pete Gas and Rodney) by countout.
- Test defeated The Big Bossman, Mideon and Viscera in a handicap match.
- Vince McMahon defeated Shane McMahon.
- The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) defeated Mankind in a handicap hardcore match.
- Triple H defeated Ken Shamrock. Chyna was the guest referee.
- The Big Show defeated The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) by disqualification.
- Nicole Bass (subbing for WWF Women's Champion Sable) defeated Debra in an evening gown match.
- WWF Champion Steve Austin fought The Rock to a no-contest in a lumberjack match to retain the title.

1999 - Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Masato Tanaka defeat Kodo Fuyuki and Hayabusa in a tournament final for the FMW Bass Knuckles Tag Team Title in Nagoya, Japan.

2000 - Gedo, Jado and Kouji Nakagawa defeat Kodo Fuyuki, Kyoko Inoue and Chocoball Mukai for the WEW Six-Man Tag Team Title in Fukuoka, Japan, to begin their second reign.

2002 - Crash Holly enjoys his short 16th reign as WWF Hardcore Champion, after ending Steven Richards' fifth reign, before losing the title right back to Richards. This took place at a house show in Birmingham, England.

2002 - Ace Steel defeats Vic Capri for the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title in Indianapolis, Indiana, beginning his second reign.

2003 - Hotstuff Hernandez defeats Jorge Estrada to win the NWA North American Heavyweight Title in Cornelia, Georgia.

2003 - 3PW held "A Funkin' Classic" at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- Trent Acid defeated Ric Blade.
- Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monsta Mack) defeated Jeff Rocker and Rockin' Rebel.
- Kid Kash defeated Homicide.
- Balls Mahoney defeated Ian Rotten.
- Josh Daniels defeated Damian Adams and Chris Chetti in a three-way dance.
- The Blue Meanie and Roadkill defeated Joey Matthews and Christian York.
- 3PW Heavyweight Champion Gary Wolfe defeated Kevin Sullivan.
- Terry Funk defeated Jerry Lawler.

2003 - Black Jack Tatum defeats Calvin Rose in Greenville, Mississippi to win the NWA Southern Brass Knuckles Title.

2003 - John Saxon defeats Sirus Levay for the NWA Southern Television Title in Yazoo City, Mississippi, ending Levay's second reign and beginning Saxon's second.

2004 - Shocker defeats Vampiro to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Puebla, Mexico, beginning his second reign.

2004 - Mike Woods defeats Tommy Capone for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title in Columbia, Tennessee, beginning his third reign.

2005 - WWE taped the May 5 edition of SmackDown! and the May 7 Velocity at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. SmackDown! got a 3.0 rating on UPN. The results were:
- In a dark match, Charlie Haas defeats Big Vito.
Velocity:
- WWE Cruiserweight Champion Paul London defeated Akio.
- The Big Show defeated José and Joél Maximo in a handicap match.
- The Basham Brothers (Danny and Doug) defeated Funaki and Nunzio, when Danny pinned Funaki.
- Mark Jindrak defeated Spike Dudley.
SmackDown!:
- Matt Morgan defeated Rob Eckos.
- Booker T defeated WWE United States Champion Orlando Jordan.
- WWE Tag Team Champions MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro (with Melina)) defeated Shannon Moore and Scotty 2 Hotty, when Mercury pinned Scotty, to retain the title.
- Carlito defeated Hardcore Holly.
- Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Guerrero in a street fight.

2005 - Tack defeats The Hussla to win the Heartland Wrestling Association Television Title in Cincinnati, Ohio, beginning Tack's third reign.

2006 - CM Punk defeats Brent Albright in a strap match at OVW's weekly television taping in Louisville, Kentucky to win the OVW Heavyweight Title, ending Albright's second reign.

2006 - Koji Kanemoto defeats Tiger Mask for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in Fukuoka, Japan, to begin Kanemoto's fifth reign and end Tiger Mask's third.

2006 - Shiori Asahi and Makoto Oishi defeat Mike Lee, Jr. and Mr. X for the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Title in Chiba, Japan.

2007 - Iron Cross and Bobby Houston defeat Jake Manning and Scott Sterling for the NWA All-Star Wrestling Tag Team Title in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

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