Today In Wrestling History- April 2nd

Triva

2010 – Lance Cade was released by WWE for the 2nd & final time.  Cade was brought back to the company in October 2009 but was never used on the main roster

2012 – Brock Lesnar returned to WWE live on Monday Night Raw

Events

In 1989, WWF Wrestlemania V was held at Trump Plaza, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. With Attendance of 18,946:

– Hercules defeated King Haku (with Bobby Heenan)
– The Twins Towers (The Big Bossman & Akeem) (with Slick) defeated The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)
– Ted Dibiase (with Virgil) & Brutus Beefcake fought to a double countout
– The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond) (with Jimmy Hart)
– “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig defeated The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart)
– Demolition (Ax & Smash) defeated The Powers of Pain (The Warlord & The Barbarian) & Mr Fuji in a Handicap Match to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) defeated Ronnie Garvin
– The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel)
– Jake Roberts defeated Andre The Giant (with Bobby Heenan) via DQ with Big John Studd as special guest referee
– The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeated Greg Valentine & The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart)
– Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Bad News Brown & Jim Duggan fought to a double DQ
– The Red Rooster (Terry Taylor) defeated Bobby Heenan (with The Brooklyn Brawler)
– Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage to win the WWF Title

Also in 1989, NWA Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin’ Cajun went head-to-head with Wrestlemania on free TV in an attempt to hurt the PPV rating. It was held in New Orleans, Louisiana:

– The Samoan Swat Team (Fatu & Samu) defeated The Midnight Express
– The Great Muta defeated Steven Casey
– Junkyard Dog defeated Butch Reed
– Bob Orton defeated Dick Murdoch
– The Varsity Club (Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams) defeated The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Referee Teddy Long fast-counted the pinfall on Hawk, so he was (kayfabe) fired
– Ranger Ross defeated The Iron Sheik via DQ
– Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner defeated Dan Spivey & Kevin Sullivan to retain the NWA United States Tag Team Titles
– Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to retain the NWA World Title
– In a post-show dark match, Sting defeated Rip Morgan to retain the NWA Television Title
– In a post-show dark match, Lex Luger defeated Jack Victory to retain the NWA United States Title

In 1995, WWF Wrestlemania XI was held at the Hartford Civic Center, in Hartford, Connecticut. With attendance of 16,305:

– The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) defeated The Blu Brothers (Jacob & Eli) (with Uncle Zebekiah)
– Razor Ramon (with The 1-2-3 Kid) defeated Jeff Jarrett (with The Roadie) via DQ (Jarrett retains the WWF Intercontinental Title)
– The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated King Kong Bundy (with Ted Dibiase) with Larry Young as special guest referee
– Owen Hart & Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) defeated The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart) to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund in an I Quit Match with
– Diesel (with Pamela Anderson) defeated Shawn Michaels (with Jenny McCarthy & Sid) to retain the WWF Title
– Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Ted Dibiase) with Pat Patterson as special guest referee

In 2000, the aptly named WWF Wrestlemania 2000 was held at the Arrowhead Pond, in Anaheim, California. This is the only Mania in history not to feature a standard one-on-one wrestling match. With attendance of 18,034:

– The Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather & D’Lo Brown (with Rapper Ice-T (who also performed their theme song live), & the Hos)
– Hardcore Holly won a Hardcore Battle Royal to win the WWF Hardcore Title. Crash Holly was champion going into the event
– T & A (Test & Albert) (with Trish Stratus) defeated Head Cheese (Al Snow & Steve Blackman) (with Chester McCheeserton)
– Edge & Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von), & The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) in a Triangle Ladder Match to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Terri Runnels (with The Fabulous Moolah) defeated The Kat (with Mae Young) in a Catfight with Val Venis as the special guest referee
– Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grand Master Sexay) & Chyna defeated The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, & Dean Malenko) in a 6-person intergender tag team match
– There was a 2-fall Triple Threat Match between Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle for the WWF Intercontinental & European Titles. Benoit took the 1st fall to win the WWF European Title, with Jericho taking the 2nd to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Rikishi & Kane (with Paul Bearer) defeated D-Generation X (Road Dogg & X-Pac) (with Tori)
– Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) defeated The Rock (with Vince McMahon, Mick Foley (with Linda McMahon), & The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match to retain the WWF Title

In 2005, the WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony was held at the Universal Amphitheater, in Hollywood, CA. The class of 2005 were:

– Hulk Hogan (inducted by Sylvester Stallone)
– Roddy Piper (inducted by Ric Flair)
– Bob Orton (inducted by Randy Orton)
– Jimmy Hart (inducted by Jerry Lawler)
– Paul Orndorff (inducted by Bobby Heenan)
– The Iron Sheik (inducted by Sgt. Slaughter)
– Nikolai Volkoff (inducted by Jim Ross)

In 2006, WWE Wrestlemania 22 was held at the Allstate Arena, in Rosemont, Illinois. With attendance of 17,159:

Dark Match:
Viscera won a 18-person interpromotional battle royal last eliminating Snitsky
PPV:

– Kane & The Big Show defeated Carlito & Chris Masters to retain the World Tag Team Titles
– Rob Van Dam wins the Money In The Bank Ladder Match
– JBL (with Jillian Hall) defeated Chris Benoit to win the WWE United States Title
– Edge (Lita) defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore Match
– The Boogeyman defeated Booker T & Sharmell in a Handicap Match
– Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus to win the WWE Women’s Title
– The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in a Casket Match
– Shawn Michaels defeated Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred Match
– Rey Mysterio defeated Kurt Angle & Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match to win the World Heavyweight Title
– Torrie Wilson defeated Candice Michelle in a Playboy Pillow Fight
– John Cena defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Title

In 2011, the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony was held at the Philips Arena, in Atlanta, Georgia. The class of 2011 were:

– Jim Duggan (inducted by Ted Dibiase)
– Bob Armstrong (inducted by his sons: Scott, Brian (Road Dogg), & Brad)
– Sunny (inducted by All the WWE Divas)
– Drew Carey (inducted by Kane)
– Abdullah The Butcher (inducted by Terry Funk)
– The Road Warriors (Hawk, Animal & Paul Ellering) (inducted by Dusty Rhodes)

Also in 2011, ROH Honor Takes Center Stage was held across 2 days in Atlanta, Georgia. This was day 2:

– The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) defeated Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly
– Colt Cabana defeated Dave Taylor (with Prince Nana, R.D. Evans, Princess Mia, & Ernesto Osiris)
– Daizee Haze & Tomoka Nakagawa defeated Ayumi Kurihara & Hiroyo Matsumoto to retain the Shimmer Tag Team Titles
– The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay) defeated The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)
– El Generico defeated Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini)
– Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards)

Title Changes

1960 – Red & Lou Bastien defeated Jerry & Eddie Graham to win the NWA Northeast United States Tag Team Titles

1968 – The Fabulous Moolah defeated Yukiko Tomoe to win the NWA Women’s Title. Current WWE title histories do not recognize this change

1993 – Tony Stetson & Larry Winters defeated The Super Destroyers (Al Petrucci & Doug Stahl) to win the ECW Tag Team Titles

1993 – Dr Wagner Jr defeated Pierroth Jr to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title

1993 – Tracy Smothers defeated The Dirty White Boy to win the SMW Heavyweight Title

1999 – Negro Casas & El Hijo del Santo defeated Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr to win the CMLL Tag Team Titles

2002 – on Smackdown, Billy Kidman defeated Tajiri to win the WWF Cruiserweight Title

2005 – BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs defeated Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe to win the vacant ROH Tag Team Titles

2005 – Averno & Mephisto defeated Atlantis & Blue Panther to win the CMLL Tag Team Titles

2007 – on Raw, The Hardys (Matt & Jeff) defeated John Cena & Shawn Michaels to win the World Tag Team Titles

Birthdays

Happy birthday to one-time AAA Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion Jack Evans (31), & UK star Jody Fleisch (33)

Also, today would have been the birthday of 3-time AWA Tag Team Champion Hard-Boiled Haggerty (89)

In Memoriam

On this day in 2010, the wrestling world lost former WCW & WWF Tag Team Champion Chris Kanyon at the age of 40. Kanyon made his wrestling debut in 1992, & 3 years later would begin appearing in WCW, having already had a stint as a WWF jobber. In 1997, he had a brief-but-memorable run as Mortis, feuding with Glacier & Ernest Miller, but the angle was quietly dropped at the end of the year, with the persona being dropped early the following year after a confrontation with Raven. Kanyon began competing under his own name, first against, then alongside Raven. In 1999, Kanyon, Diamond Dallas Page & Bam Bam Bigelow formed The Jersey Triad, winning the WCW Tag Team Titles twice. In 2000, he had another brief-but-memorable run as ‘Positively Kanyon’, a play on DDP’s autobiography (titled ‘Positively Page’). Kanyon began imitating Page, dying his hair blonde & adopting Page’s Diamond Cutter finisher as his own, calling it the Kanyon Kutter. The end of this run saw the infamous Judy Bagwell on a Pole Match between Kanyon & Buff Bagwell. Kanyon took time off from WCW from late-2000 to early-2001, returning just in time to see the promotion go out of business. Kanyon was 1 of many wrestlers who became part of the Invasion angle, in fact, he became a fairly substantial part of the early stages of the storyline, having been awarded the WCW United States Title by Stephanie McMahon & Booker T. Following this title ‘win’, he began calling himself ‘The MVP of the Alliance’ & coined the phrase ‘Who betta than Kanyon?’. He later had a brief spell as WWF Tag Team Champion alongside Page, before slowly sliding down the card, appearing almost exclusively on the WWF’s B-shows. In October 2001, he suffered a serious knee injury which would keep him out of the rest of the Invasion storyline, eventually returning to the ring in April 2003 having suffered a further injury during his recovery. He retired from the ring in late 2004, only to return the following year. Kanyon’s last major wrestling appearance came at TNA Turning Point 2005, wrestling as Chris K in a loss to Raven. He received a great deal of publicity in 2006, having apparently come out as gay, though he has since given conflicting interviews as to whether it was real or just a publicity stunt. In the lead-up to his death, Kanyon had been suffering from bi-polar disorder & had threatened suicide on a number of occasions. He eventually overdosed on anti-depressants, having left a note of apology to his family