Today In Wrestling History- May 3rd

Trivia

1975 – Giant Baba wins the revamped AJPW Champion’s Carnival by defeating Gene Kiniski, The Destroyer & Mr. Wrestling in a Round Robin League

1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 6.4 to 3.4 in the ratings

2008 – WWE Diva Ashley Massaro was named in a  Rolling Stone article about a high-end escort service in L.A. operated by Michelle Braun (Who ironically I’ve known my entire life. We basically grew up together, as her parents & my parents have been very good friends since before of us were born) who set up women like Maxim & FHM models, porn stars, & Playboy Playmates with rich clients who would pay up to $25,000 a night.  Ashley is mentioned, with a photo, as a WWE star and Playboy cover girl who was amongst a number of Los Angeles based women attached to the escort service. There was no implication that she ever had sex for money, just that she was among the celebrity-type women the service took a fee for in return for setting up meetings with their clientele

2011 – Former WWE star Shawn Daivari worked a dark match at a Smackdown taping as a babyface.  He does not return to the company

Events

In 1987, WCCW Parade of Champions 4 was held at Texas Stadium, in Irving, Texas. This event drew 5,900 fans, compared to nearly 25,000 the previous year:

– Matt Borne & Steve Casey defeated Jack Victory & Black Bart
– Steve Doll defeat Killer Tim Brooks
– Cousin Junior defeated The Grappler
– Spike Huber & Red River Jack defeated Eli The Eliminator & Abdullah The Butcher (with Gary Hart) to earn a Jack vs. Hart match
– Red River Jack defeated Gary Hart via countout
– Mil Mascaras defeated Al Madril
– Skip Young defeated Brian Adias in a Lumberjack Match
– Bruiser Brody defeated Jeep Swenson (with Gary Hart)
– Candi Divine won a 6-women Mud Pit Match
– Kevin Von Erich fought Nord The Barbarian to a double countout to retain the WCWA World Title
– The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) & Steve Simpson defeated The Rock n Roll RPMs (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane) & Eric Embry in a Scaffold Match

In 1998, ECW Wrestlepalooza was held at the Cobb County Civic Center, in Marietta, Georgia. This was the 1st & only one to be held on ppv. With an attendance of 3,405:

– The bWo (The Blue Meanie & Super Nova) defeated The FBI (Little Guido & Tracey Smothers) (with Tommy Rich)
– Justin Credible (with Jason & Chastity) defeated Mike Whipwreck
– Chris Candido & Lance Storm (with Tammy Lynn Sytch) defeated The Hardcore Chair Swingin’ Freaks (Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney) to retain the ECW Tag Team Titles
– Bam Bam Bigelow defeated New Jack
– Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von)
– Rob Van Dam fought Sabu to a time-limit draw to retain the ECW Television Title
– Shane Douglas defeated Al Snow to retain the ECW World Title

In 2004, NJPW Nexess was held in Tokyo, Japan:

– Koji Kanemoto, Ultimo Dragon & American Dragon defeated Heat, Tiger Mask & Naomichi Marufuji
– Yoshihiro Takayama & Minoru Suzuki defeated Masa Chono & Kazunari Murakami to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Sean O’Haire
– Musashi defeated Katsuyori Shibata via KO
– Bob Sapp defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title

Every year since 2009, NJPW Wrestling Dontaku has been held in Fukuoka, Japan:

In 2009,

– Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
– Jushin Liger & CIMA defeated Tiger Mask & Koji Kanemoto
– Yuji Nagata defeated Takashi Iizuka by KO in a Dog Collar Chain Death Match
– Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) defeated Ten-Koji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Hirooki Goto to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title

In 2010,

– Jushin Liger defeated Negro Casas to win the CMLL World Welterweight Title
– Blue Justice Army (Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue) defeated NO LIMIT (Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito), & Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) in a 3-Way Match to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Naomichi Marufuji defeated Ryusuke Taguchi to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
– Togi Makabe defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title

In 2011,

– Jushin Liger defeated Mascara Dorada to retain the CMLL World Middleweight Title
– Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated The No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
– Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title

In 2012, the event was part of New Japan’s 40th anniversary celebrations

– Low Ki defeated Prince Devitt to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
– Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito defeated Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi
– Kazuchika Okada defeated Hirooki Goto to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title

Title Changes

1884 – H.M. Dufur defeated James McLaughlin to win the American Collar-and-Elbow Title in Chicago, Illinois

1946 – Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas

1961 – The Mysterious Medics defeated Jackie & Joey Fargo to win the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Mobile, Alabama

1973 – Rip Tyler & Eddie Sullivan defeated The Hollywood Blondes (Jerry Brown & Buddy Roberts) to win the TSW United States Tag Team Titles

1980 – The Sheik defeated Mighty Igor to win the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Detroit, Michigan

1983 – Bret Hart defeated Leo Burke to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Regina, Saskatchewan

1985 – Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams defeated The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) to win the MSW Tag Team Titles

1990 John Tatum defeated Bill Dundee to win the USWA Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas

1991 – Eric Embry defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the USWA Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas

1992 – The Steiner Brothers (Scott & Rick) defeated Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton to win the WCW Tag Team Titles

1993 – Papa Shango defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title

1995 – Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) to win the WCW Tag Team Titles. Interestingly, this title change was recorded for WCW WorldWide 18 days before it aired, meaning that the Nasty’s lost the titles before they had officially won them!

1995 – Psicosis defeated El Hijo del Santo to win the Mexican National Welterweight Title in Aguascalientes, Mexico

1995 – Sabu defeated Koji Kanemoto to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title

1995 – Keiji Mutoh defeated Shinya Hashimoto to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title

1997 – Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Riki Choshu to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles

1998 – Booker T defeated Chris Benoit to win the WCW Television Title

2002 – Crash Holly defeated Steven Richards to win the WWF Hardcore Title, but loses the belt back to Richards later in the night

2006 – CM Punk defeated Brent Albright to win the OVW Heavyweight Title in a strap match at OVW’s weekly television taping in Louisville, Kentucky

2006 – Koji Kanemoto defeated Tiger Mask IV to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title

2011 – on Smackdown, Randy Orton defeated Christian to win the World Heavyweight Title

Birthdays

Happy birthday to 7-time JAPW Tag Team Champion Steve ‘Monsta’ Mack (35)

Also, today would have been the birthday of WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart (99)

In Memoriam

On this day in 1996, the wrestling world lost former AWA & WWWF United States Champion Ray Stevens at the age of 60. Stevens began his career in 1950 aged just 15 & within 2 years, was main eventing alongside Gorgeous George, undeniably the most popular wrestler of the era. His first championship reign came in 1959, when he teamed with Roy Shire to win the NWA Chicago Tag Team Titles. In 1961, Stevens relocated to the San Francisco territory, which would become his home promotion for the next decade. This part of his career saw Stevens at the height of his popularity. In 1962, a card headlined by a match between himself & Pepper Gomez set an attendance record for The Cow Palace (which I believe, though cannot confirm, still stands). In the same year, a local television station conducted a survey of wrestling fans, which discovered that Stevens was both the ‘most hated’ & ‘most popular’ wrestler in the area. Towards the end of the decade, he defeated WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino by countout, & also held the AWA Tag Team Titles alongside Pat Patterson. In 1971, he switched home promotions, becoming an AWA regular. Here, he achieved a further 3 Tag Team Titles (all alongside Nick Bockwinkel) as well as several more regional NWA titles (including 3 Tag Team Title reigns in JCP). A brief stint in the WWF followed, before a return to the AWA saw him taking on fewer in-ring appearances. After stints as an announcer, Stevens formally retired from wrestling in 1992, almost 42 years to the day since he began his career. Stevens died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Fremont, California. One of his little-known legacies was the invention of the ‘turnbuckle flip’, where wrestlers would whip him into the corner, causing him to somersault out of the ring. The ‘move’ was later popularized by Ric Flair.