Trivia
1996 – During a Friday night edition of Raw (due to U.S. Open Tennis) Jim Ross shocked & confused fans by saying that Razor Ramon & Diesel were in talks to return to the WWF. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall, who were working for WCW, deny Ross’ claim. Ross would repeat the statement again on WWF shows, & would later introduce the “new” Diesel (Glen Jacobs, aka Kane) & “new” Razor Ramon (Rick Bogner, aka Big Titan). Since WWF did own the names & characters of Diesel & Razor Ramon, they were within their rights to have new wrestlers portray the roles
1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Monday Night Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 4.4 to 4.1 in the ratings
2005 – TNA announced they had signed Gail Kim to the company. She’d go on to become the 1st ever TNA Knockout’s champion
2007 – Former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman began his new job at ESPN
2008 – Darren Aronosfsky’s “The Wrestler” was awarded the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival
2009 – NWA announced it’s 2009 Hall of Fame Class. Which would consist of: Paul Orndorff, Terry Funk, Tully Blanchard, Gene Kiniski, Jerry Jarrett, Mil Mascaras, & Dennis Coralluzzo
Events
In 2003, “ROH Beating The Odds” was held at the Charbonneau Field House, in Wakefield, Massachusetts. With an attendance of 750:
– Colt Cabana defeated Jimmy Rave in a Field of Honor Tournament Match
– Slyk Wagner Brown defeated Diablo Santiago
– The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere) defeated The Ring Crew Express (Kevin Dunn & Kirby Marcos), The SaT (Jose & Joel Maximo0, & Special K (Izzy & Dixie) in a Tag Team Scramble Match
– Matt Stryker defeated John Walters in a Field of Honor Tournament Match
– The Carnage Crew (Justin Credible, HC Loc, & Tony DeVito) defeated Special K (Deranged, Angel Dust, & Hydro)
– Mark Briscoe defeated B.J. Whitmer
– Homicide defeated Trent Acid in a Field of Honor Tournament Match
– Jay Briscoe defeated A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, & Chris Sabin in a Four Corners Survivor Match
– Raven defeated CM Punk in a Clock Work Orange House of Fun Match
Also in 2003, All Japan Pro Wrestling held an untitled PPV in Tokyo, Japan:
– Toshiaki Kawada defeated The Gladiator
– Shinjiro Ohtani defeated Satoshi Kojima
– Hiro Yokoi & Kohei Sato defeated Shigeo Okumura & Nobukazu Hirai to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– Kendo Kashin defeated The Great Sasuke to retain the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Title
– Keiji Mutoh & Arashi defeated Gigantes & TAKA Michinoku to retain the AJPW Tag Team Titles
– Toshiaki Kawada defeated Shinjiro Ohtani to win the vacant AJPW Triple Crown Title
Title Changes
1972 – The Sheik defeats Seiji Sakaguchi to win the NWA United National Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. That belt is now part of the All Japan Triple Crown
1981 – Ron Bass defeated Greg Valentine to win the NWA Television Title in Asheville, North Carolina
1993 – The Moondogs (Spike & Cujo) defeated The Dogcatchers to win the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee
1997 – Steven Dunn defeated Doomsday (Kane) to win the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. He would be the last man to hold the title, as the company would close 2 months later
2003 – Nigel McGuiness defeated Chad Collyer to win the Heartland Wrestling Association Title in Batavia, Ohio
2008 – Kensuke Sasaki defeated Takeshi Morishima to win the GHC Heavyweight Title
2010 – Jay Lethal defeated Douglas Williams to win the TNA X-Division Title
Birthdays
Happy birthday to one-time WWE Divas Champion Jillian Hall (34), 2-time TNA X-Division Champion Low Ki (35), former WWF & WCW star The Barbarian (56), European star Bambikiller (33) and WWE Hall of Famer Wendi Richter (53)
In Memoriam
In 2011, legendary midget wrestler Little Tokyo (real name Shigeri Akabane) passed away at the age of 70. It is believed Akabane suffered a heart attack, although he had been battling tongue cancer for much of the last year