Today In Wrestling History- August 16th

Trivia

1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Monday Night Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 6.6 to 2.3 in the ratings

2006 – Layla El won the WWE Diva Search. Other participants included The Garcia (Bella) Twins, Maryse Ouellet, Brooke Adams, Milena ‘Rosa Mendes’ Roucka, & Rebecca DiPietro

2009 – Togi Makabe defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the G1 Climax Tournament

2010 – WWE retired the World Tag Team Titles in favor of the WWE Tag Team Titles

Events

In 2008, ROH Night of The Butcher II was held at the Frontier Fieldhouse, in Chicago Ridge, Illinois:

– Kevin Steen defeated Kenny King
– The Vulture Squad (Jigsaw & Ruckus) defeated Trik Davis & Mitch Franklin, The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay, and The Phoenix Twins (Dash & Tweek) in a Tag Team Scramble Match
– El Generico defeated Tyler Black
– Erick Stevens defeated Chris Hero to retain the FIP World Heavyweight Title
– Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries defeated Claudio Castagnoli & Nigel McGuinness
– Larry Sweeney defeated Roderick Strong in a Sweet N’ Sour Inc. Gauntlet Match (Strong had to defeated Bobby Dempsey, Adam Pearce, Shane Hagadorn, & Chris Hero to finally face Sweeney)
– Brent Albright defeated Go Shiozaki to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title
– Jimmy Jacobs defeated Necro Butcher in a NO DQ Match

In 2009, TNA Hard Justice was held at the Impact Zone, in Orlando, Florida. With an attendance of 1,100:

– Daniels defeated Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, Suicide, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, D’Angelo Dinero, & Consequences Creed in a Steel Asylum Match to become the #1 contender for the TNA X-Division Title
– Abyss defeated Jethro Holliday (WWE’s Trevor Murdoch) in a $50,000 Bounty Challenge (if Holliday had won, he’d have claimed the bounty)
– Hernandez defeated Rob Terry (with Brutus Magnus & Douglas Williams) to retain his TNA World Title Shot Feast or Fired briefcase
– The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) defeated Beer Money Inc. (James Storm & Robert Roode) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– ODB & Cody Deaner defeated The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Angelina Love) (with Madison Rayne). Deaner pinned Sky to win the TNA Knockout’s Title for ODB
– Samoa Joe (with Taz) defeated Homicide to win the TNA X-Division Title
– The Main Event Mafia (Booker T & Scott Steiner) (with Sharmell) defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) in a Falls Count Anywhere Match to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles
– Kevin Nash defeated Mick Foley to win the TNA Legends Title
– Kurt Angle defeated Sting & Matt Morgan in a 3-Way Match to retain the TNA World Title

Also in 2009, New Japan Pro Wrestling held an untitled PPV in Tokyo, Japan:

– Togi Makabe defeated Takashi Sugiura
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi
– Toru Yano, Giant Bernard, & Karl Anderson defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Koji Kanemoto
– Masahiro Chono & Yuji Nagata defeated Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii
– Togi Makabe defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the G1 Climax Tournament

In 2011, WWE Smackdown was taped here at Rabobank Arena, here in Bakersfield, Ca. I was at this show in person. Was very cool to see Alberto Del Rio return as WWE Champion 2 days shy of exactly a year after he had made his WWE TV debut in the same arena:

Superstars:
– Wade Barrett defeated Trent Barreta
– Brodus Clay defeated Jose Vargas
Smackdown:
– Bo Dallas defeated Joey Ryan
– Cody Rhodes defeated Ezekiel Jackson to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– Justin Gabriel defeated Tyson Kidd
– Alberto Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan
– Kelly Kelly & AJ Lee defeated Alicia Fox & Natalya
– Mark Henry won a Battle Royal to become the #1 contender for the World Title (The match included: Great Khali, Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, The Usos, Heath Slater, Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, Johnny Curtis, Jinder Mahal, Trent Barreta, Ted Dibiase Jr., Tyson Kidd, Wade Barrett, William Regal, Zack Ryder, & Yoshi Tatsu)

Title Changes

1946 – Ted Cox defeated Dave Levin to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas

1969 – Danny Hodge defeated Chuck Karbo to win the TSW North American Title

1977 – Porkchop Cash & Mike George defeated The Medics (1 & 2) to win the TSW United States Tag Team Titles

1992 – The Great Muta defeated Riki Choshu to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title & the Greatest 18 Championship in Fukuoka, Japan

1993 – Jimmy Del Ray defeated Ricky Morton to win the vacant SMW Television Title

2003 – Justin Credible defeated Terry Funk to win the 3PW Heavyweight Title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Electric Factory

2012 – Miss Tessmacher defeated Madison Rayne with Taryn Terrell as special guest referee to win the TNA Knockouts Title

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Japanese hardcore star Tarzan Goto (51)

Also, today would have been the birthday of former WWF wrestler Stan ‘Uncle Elmer’ Frazier (77), one-time WWF Tag Team Champion & NWA star Dick Murdoch (68), & WWE Hall of Famer Fritz Von Erich (85)

In Memoriam

The wrestling world has lost two personalities on this date:

Firstly, in 1990, former NWA & AWA World Champion Pat O’Connor died of cancer at the age of 65. O’Connor was an established amateur wrestler in his native New Zealand, winning the New Zealand Heavyweight Championships twice as well as a silver medal in the 1950 British Empire Games (known today as the Commonwealth Games). Shortly after the games, he traveled to America where he began training to be a professional wrestler under Len Levy. His 1st professional championship came in 1955, when he & Roy McClairty won the NWA Chicago Tag Team Titles. He would also find success in Canada before defeating Dick Hutton to become NWA World Champion in 1959. During this reign, he was also announced as the 1st AWA World Champion following their secession from the NWA, but would never defend the championship & was stripped of it after 90 days in favor of Verne Gagne. O’Connor’s NWA Title reign came to an end in 1961 when he was defeated by Buddy Rogers in front of a then-record crowd at Comiskey Park, Chicago. The match set attendance & gate records that would stand until the wrestling boom in the 1980′s. By the late 60′s, O’Connor’s career was on the decline. He won his last major championship, the AWA Tag Team Titles, in 1967 but would only hold them for a month. He remained involved in wrestling through to the 1980′s, but his appearances became rarer as time passed. His final major appearance came at a WWF event in 1987, where he competed in an ‘Old Timers Battle Royal’ in front of just 5,000 people.

Secondly, in 2007, former WWF and WCCW wrestler Dewey ‘The Missing Link’ Robertson lost his battle with cancer at the age of 68. Robertson’s career began in Canada in the early 1960′s, where he soon became a popular fan favorite. He left for the United States in 1973, & quickly won the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Titles alongside Dennis Stamp. This gained him a reputation as a tag team specialist; over the course of his career, he would win a further 10 tag team titles in various promotions. In 1979, he won his 1st singles title, defeating Greg Valentine to win the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title. He became ‘The Missing Link’ in 1983, a feral wildman gimmick, which he took to Oklahoma, Texas and Florida before being signed by the WWF. His tenure with the promotion was brief; he arrived in May 1985 & left in October that same year, after a run of defeating jobbers but consistently losing to more established wrestlers. He then had brief spells with World Class, UWF, & WWC before retiring in the early 90′s