Today In Wrestling History- May 20th

Trivia

1987 – A Memphis court judge ruled that due to Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against the WWF for promoting Harley Race as “the King of Wrestling” Race could not use the nickname in Tennessee nor could he come to the ring wearing his crown & robe.   Lawler, who had been using the moniker for many years, took offense to WWF nationally promoting Race with that nickname

2002 – NWA: TNA announced that they had signed AJ Styles to a 1 year deal.  The company also signed hardcore midgets Puppet & Teo to deals and announced Ed Ferrara & Don West would be working on the announcing team for their weekly Wednesday night PPV events

2010 – Jerry Lawler’s Memphis Wrestling launched, holding a free TV Taping.  The promotion would only last several months, shutting down after being unable to maintain sponsors & a TV slot

Events

In 2001, WWF Judgment Day was held at the ARCO Arena, in Sacramento, California. With an attendance of 13,623:

Sunday Night Heat:
– 
Raven defeated Val Venis
– Crash Holly & Hardcore Holly defeated Kaientai (Funaki & Taka Michinoku)
PPV:
– William Regal defeated Rikishi
– Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match to retain his Olympic Gold Medal
– Rhyno defeated Test, & The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWF Hardcore Title
– Chyna defeated Lita to retain the WWF Women’s Title
– Kane defeated Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) in a Chain Match to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho won a 7-Team Tag Team Turmoil Match. Also in the match was: Edge & Christian, X-Factor (X-Pac & Justin Credible) (with Albert), The Dudley Boyz (with Spike Dudley), The APA (Bradshaw & Farooq), The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff), & Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn (with Terri)
– Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred Match to retain the WWF Title

In 2007, WWE Judgment Day was held at the Scottrade Center, in St Louis, Missouri. With an attendance of 10,500:

Dark Match:
– Kane defeated William Regal (with Dave Taylor)
PPV:
– Ric Flair defeated Carlito
– Bobby Lashley defeated Team McMahon (Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, & Umaga) in a Handicap Match (Lashley believed he had won the ECW Title, but champion Vince McMahon declared that as he had not been pinned, he retained the title)
– CM Punk defeated Elijah Burke
– Randy Orton defeated Shawn Michaels by knockout
– The Hardys (Matt & Jeff) defeated Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch to retain the World Tag Team Titles
– Edge defeated Batista to retain the World Heavyweight Title
– MVP defeated Chris Benoit in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to win the WWE United States Title
– John Cena defeated The Great Khali to retain the WWE Title

In 2012, WWE Over The Limit was held at PNC Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina. With an attendance of 8,000:

Pre-Show:
– 
Kane defeated Zack Ryder
PPV:
– Christian won a 20-man Battle Royal to earn either a IC or US Title Match of his choosing. Also in the match was: The Great Khali, The Miz, Ezekiel Jackson, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Michael McGillicutty, Heath Slater, Yoshi Tatsu, Alex Riley, Tyler Reks, Jinder Mahal, Curt Hawkins, William Regal, The Usos, Darren Young, Titus O’Neil, Tyson Kidd, & David Otunga
– Kofi Kingston & R-Truth defeated Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger (with Vickie Guerrero) to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– Layla defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Diva’s Title
– Sheamus defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez), Randy Orton, & Chris Jericho in a Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the World Heavyweight Title
– Brodus Clay (with Cameron & Naomi) defeated The Miz
– Christian defeated Cody Rhodes to win the WWE Intercontinental Title
– CM Punk defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Title
– Ryback defeated Camacho (with Hunico)
– John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena

Title Changes

1971 – Roger Kirby defeated Danny Hodge to win the NWA Junior Heavyweight Title

1985 – Hiro Saito defeated The Cobra to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title

1993 – The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue) defeated The Miracle Violence Connection (Steve Williams & Terry Gordy) to win the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Titles

2012 – Joe Doering & Seiya Sanada defeated Manabu Soya & Takao Omori to win the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles

Birthdays

Happy birthday to former WWF and NWA Tag Team Champion BG James also known as Road Dogg (45), 2-time All Japan Junior Heavyweight Champion KAI (31), &  former WCW wrestler Dale Veasey who competed as Lt James Earl Wright (56)

In Memoriam

In 2011, the wrestling world lost former WWF, WCW, AWA, & USWA Champion ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage at the age of 58. Savage actually started his sporting career in baseball, playing minor league in the St Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds & Chicago White Sox farm systems. He began wrestling in the 1973 off-season, initially wrestling as ‘The Spider’ before adopting the ‘Randy Savage’ persona at the suggestion of promoter Ole Anderson. By 1974, he had abandoned his baseball career to wrestle full-time & soon began wrestling for his father’s ICW promotion, where he and brother Lanny became two of the top stars. After the demise of ICW, Savage moved to Jerry Lawler’s CWA promotion, quickly becoming a major star there as well. In 1985, the WWF came calling and he debuted as ‘the top free agent in pro wrestling’. Less than a year later, he had won his first and only WWF Intercontinental Title while also holding two countout victories over WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. From 1987 to 1989, Hogan & Savage teamed together as ‘The Mega Powers’, during which time he won his 1st WWF Title, holding it for a little over a year before losing it to Hogan (who he had recently turned on) at WrestleMania V. After two years of competing as ‘The Macho King’, Savage was defeated by The Ultimate Warrior in a Retirement Match at WrestleMania VII, following which he became an announcer. After his memorable in-ring wedding to Miss Elizabeth, Savage was goaded into a return by Jake Roberts who he defeated in a feud lasting through to February 1992. At that year’s WrestleMania, he won his second and final WWF Title by defeating Ric Flair, losing the title back to Flair in September. Savage began to wrestle less often, becoming a color commentator when Monday Night Raw began in January 1993, eventually leaving the promotion for WCW in 1994. On debut in WCW, Savage resumed his feud with Flair, trading the WCW World Title with him through to 1996. After initially fighting against the nWo, Savage joined the group in 1997, winning his third WCW Title, before joining Kevin Nash’s nWo Wolfpac. In 1998, Savage took time off, returning to lead his ‘Team Madness’ group to a fourth and final WCW Title before leaving the promotion in 2000. Savage took a break from wrestling, appearing in ‘Spider-Man’ & releasing a rap album before an ill-fated spell with TNA in 2004-5. Savage retired from wrestling in 2005 after several appearances for Harley Race’s WLW. Savage died after suffering a heart attack at the wheel of his Jeep. It was later discovered that he had advanced coronary artery disease