Today In Wrestling History- April 5th

Trivia

1982 – In their famous match at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, Andy Kaufman defeats AWA Southern heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler via  disqualification, after Lawler hit Kaufman with a piledriver, a banned move. After the match, Lawler gave Kaufman a 2nd piledriver, with Kaufman being wheeled out on the stretcher

1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 5.8 to 4.3 in the ratings

2008 – TNA debuts on Fox8 in Australia

2010 – The TNA vs. WWE Monday Night War continued: WWE Raw defeated TNA Impact: 3.2 to 0.85 in the ratings

Events

In 1992, WWF Wrestlemania VIII was held at the Hoosier Dome, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was only the 2nd to feature a non-title main event. With an attendance of 62,157:

Dark Match:
The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake)
PPV:
– Shawn Michaels (with Sensational Sherri) defeated “El Matador” Tito Santana
– The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jake Roberts
– Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– The Big Bossman, Virgil, Jim Duggan, & Sgt. Slaughter defeated The Repo Man, The Nasty Boys, & The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) in a 8-man tag team match
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ric Flair (with Mr. Perfect) to win the WWF Title
– Tatanka defeated Rick Martel
– The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) defeated Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R Schyster) (with Jimmy Hart) via countout (Money Inc retain the WWF Tag Team Titles)
– Owen Hart defeated Skinner
– Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice (with Harvey Wippleman) via DQ. Sid was DQ’ed when Wippleman interfered. But the original plan was for Papa Shango to run in & cause the DQ. Shango missed his mark, & Sid had to kick out of the leg drop

In 1999, WCW Monday Nitro was live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada:

– Hak (with Chastity) defeated Kendall Windham in a Kendo Stick match
– Konnan defeated Lizmark, Jr
– Scott Steiner defeated Meng in a WCW United States Heavyweight Title tournament semifinal match
– Jim Duggan defeated Lenny Lane
– Stevie Ray defeated Brian Adams, Horace, & Vincent in a battle royal to win leadership of the black & white nWo
– Raven & Perry Saturn defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio, Jr. via DQ. Kidman & Mysterio retained the title
– Booker T defeated Chris Jericho in a WCW United States Heavyweight Title tournament semifinal match
– Buff Bagwell defeated Bam Bam Bigelow
– Goldberg defeated Diamond Dallas Page, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair & Hulk Hogan in a four-way match. Flair retained the title

In 2009, WWE Wrestlemania XXV was held at Reliant Stadium, in Houston, Texas, I was at this event live in person, it was my 3rd WM, & to date the best wrestling event I’ve ever witnessed in person. The Undertaker/HBK Match was truly amazing. Everything that has been said about this match is true.  Attendance was 72,744:

Dark Match:
The Colons (Carlito & Primo) defeat John Morrison & The Miz in a Lumberjack Match to unify the WWE Tag Team Titles & the World Tag Team Titles
PPV:
– CM Punk wins his second Money In The Bank Ladder Match defeated MVP, Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas), Finlay (with Hornswoggle), Kofi Kingston, & Shelton Benjamin
– Santina Marella (Santino Marella in drag) becomes Miss Wrestlemania by winning a 25-Diva Battle Royal last eliminating Beth Phoenix
– Chris Jericho defeated Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka & Ricky Steamboat (with Ric Flair) in a Handicap Elimination Match
– Matt Hardy defeated  Jeff Hardy in an Extreme Rules Match
– Rey Mysterio defeated JBL to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels
– John Cena defeated Edge & The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match to retain the World Heavyweight Title
– Triple H defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Title

Also in 2009, NJPW Resolution was held in Tokyo, Japan

– Masahiro Chono, Jushin Liger, & AKIRA defeated Riki Choshu, Super Strong Machine & El Samurai in a ‘Heritage Tag Team Match’
– The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
– Tiger Mask defeated Black Tiger in a Title vs Mask Match to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title and force Black Tiger to unmask
– Takashi Iizuka defeated Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage in a Chain Death Match
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Togi Makabe
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kurt Angle to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title

In 2014, the WWE held the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony live from the Smoothie King Center, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The entire ceremony was shown in it’s entirety live on the Network:

– Lita (was inducted by Trish Stratus)
– Mr. T (was inducted by his son T Jr., & Mean Gene Okerlund)
–  Paul Bearer (was inducted by his 2 sons, & Kane)
–  Carlos Colon (was inducted by his son’s Carlito & Primo, & his nephew Epico)
– Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) (was inducted by Kevin Nash)
– Jake Roberts (was inducted by Diamond Dallas Page)
– The Ultimate Warrior (was inducted by Linda McMahon)

Title Changes

1953 – Bobby Bruns & Bobby Managoff defeated Al Kashey & Tom Rice to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii

1961 – Bobby & Don Fields defeated The Mysterious Medics to win the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Mobile, Alabama

1961 – Skull Murphy defeated Guy Mitchell to win the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Georgia

1968 – Harley Race defeated Sonny Myers to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri

1968 – Spoiler #1 defeated Fritz von Erich to win the WCCW American Heavyweight Title. However, the title is immediately held up as Gary Hart had interfered in the match

1974 – Pat Barrett & Tony Kontellis win a tournament to win the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Title in Sydney, Australia

1976 – Big Bad John & Bill Dundee defeated Roger Kirby & David Schultz in Memphis, Tennessee ti win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee

1978 – Steve Grey defeated Bobby Ryan in a tournament final to win the British Lightweight Title in Blackburn, England

1978 – Ernie Ladd & The Assassin defeated Ray Candy & Steven Little Bear to win the TSW United States Tag Team Titles

1996 – Jerry Lawler defeated Bill Dundee to win the vacant USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title

2002 – Bruce & Teddy Hart defeated Apocalypse & Dave Swift in a tournament final to win the Stampede International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta

2002 – Yuji Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title

2010 – Ted DiBiase awards the Million Dollar Championship to his son, Ted DiBiase Jr.

2010 – Matt Morgan injures Hernandez, forcing LAX to vacate the TNA Tag Team Titles. Morgan proclaims himself sole champion

2010 – I had to give this one it’s own entry because it’s just so damn complicated! Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Daffney & Tara win a Lockbox Match to each win a key to one of four boxes. Tara won back her pet spider, Sky won a contract to face any opponent with any stipulation at any time, Love won the TNA Knockouts Title &  Daffney was forced to strip to her bra & panties (though for some reason, Lacey von Erich did it instead)

Birthdays

Happy birthday to former WWF Tag Team Champion Sika Anoa’i (69), former WCW Champion Diamond Dallas Page (58), & current WWE developmental talent Ashley ‘Charlotte’ Flair (28)

In Memoriam

On this day in 1980, Ralph “Ruffy” Silverstein dies at age 66