Today in Wrestlemania History

Wrestlemania 3 was held today in 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome just outside of Detroit. This is probably the most remember Wrestlemania because of the Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant title match and the fact that the WWF/WWE still claims that it was 97,000 fans that attended the event. That numbered has been debated over the years but it is considered the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom and also gave us one of the all time greatest matches ever seen, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage for the Intercontinental Title.
I paid to watch this event on closed circuit tv at the Indianapolis convention center and that was because we wanted to see Andre beat Hogan but this match was what had the whole place just going nuts. I remember my uncle saying as we tried to catch our breath "we just saw one of the greatest matches ever". Yes we did.

Undertaker ends Shawn Michaels' career in thrilling rematch to cap off Wrestlemania XXVI

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Undertaker ends Shawn Michaels' career in thrilling rematch to cap off Wrestlemania XXVI

This was a good show this year. I wasnt real thrilled with the Money in the Bank match, not a crazy as past ones, they must be saving it for the Money in the Bank PPV. I liked the CM Punk/Rey Mysterio match, I enjoy watching Punk and he is a great personality and has talent to top it off. The UT/Shawn Michaels match was of course the best of the night (as it should be) but the Batista/John Cena match was a lot better than I anticipated. Batista can really pull of the bad ass heel and can really do some good work in the ring and he seemed to bring out the best in Cena last night. Jericho/Edge was good and ended with a great high spot of Jericho getting speared off the mexican announcers table. The biggest let down of the night was Bret Hart/VKM, as they gave away the turn and killed whatever heat the match had built up and the crowd was into until Bret put Vince in the sharpshooter. Give Vince credit he took some hard shots and about 13 really stiff chair shots and that is something for non in ring performers.

Gorgeous George

I would be remiss if I didnt mention that yesterday March 24th was the birthday of the late great legend of wrestling Gorgeous George Wagner. He paved the trail for the modern day wrestler on tv with his gimmick that had never been seen before. It is said he sold more television sets than Milton Berle with people just wanting to see the strange man get his tail whipped every week.
The WWE will finally acknowledge its godfather by inducting George into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend at Wrestlemania 26.

WrestleMania 26 : WrestleMania has always been special for Hart Dynasty

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - WrestleMania 26 : WrestleMania has always been special for Hart Dynasty

Wrestlemania 13

Wrestlemania 13 was held today in 1997 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago Illinois.
The main event was a WWF Heavyweight title match between the Champion Sycho Sid and The Undertaker, but the show was stolen from them by Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret "Hit Man" Hart.
The 5th match of a 7 match card had the newly turned heel Bret Hart and the soon to be hero Stone Cold Steve Austin in a submission match with UFC headliner Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee. Austin garnered all kinds of support and love after bleeding profusely but not submitting to the evil canadian Hart. This had all come about after Austin interfered in Hart's title defense against Sycho Sid on Monday Night RAW the monday before WM13 and cost Hart his belt. In wrestling terms Hart and Austin tore the roof off and left the crowd exhausted and the poor match between Sid and UT made the main event almost an afterthought.

Worst Wrestlemanias

the Camelclutch blog has a list of the worst Wrestlemanias .

Wrestlemania 10

Today in 1994 the WWF held its 10th annual Super Bowl, Wrestlemania.
The main event of the night was Yokozuna defending his WWF title against Bret "HitMan" Hart with Rowdy Roddy Piper as the surprise guest referee.
Earlier in the night Yokozuna had defeated Lex Luger and Bret had lost to his brother Owen, but because he had won the Royal Rumble, Bret still got his title shot.
Also that night Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon became icons with the first ladder match in Wrestlemania histroy.

WCW Uncensored 1995

Today in 1995 WCW helds its first Uncensored PPV in Tupelo Mississippi. This is what set the standard for bad PPVs from top to bottom.
Here is a rundown of the show

• The Blacktop Bully defeated Dustin Rhodes in a King of the Road match
  • Bully rung the bell to win.
  • This match was taped days earlier outside of Atlanta, Georgia and was heavily edited, due to their no-blood policy at the time. Rhodes and Bully were fired for blading during the match.
• Meng defeated Jim Duggan (w/Sonny Onoo as the Special Guest Referee) in a martial arts match (7:04)
  • Meng pinned Duggan.
• Johnny B. Badd defeated Arn Anderson in a boxer versus wrestler match (0:22 3rd round)
  • Badd knocked out Anderson.
• Randy Savage defeated Avalanche by disqualification (11:44)
  • Avalanche was disqualified when a "fan" (Ric Flair in drag) attacked Savage.
• Big Bubba Rogers defeated Sting (13:43)
  • Rogers pinned Sting.
• The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) in a Falls Count Anywhere match (8:43)
  • Knobbs pinned Booker.
• Hulk Hogan defeated Vader in a Leather Strap match (15:28)
  • Hogan won when he dragged an interfering Ric Flair and touched all four turnbuckles.

Mat Matters Editorials: Mat Matters: Still intimidated by The Lariat

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Mat Matters Editorials: Mat Matters: Still intimidated by The Lariat

Rick Martel

Today is the 54th birthday of former AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel.

Here from May 13th 1984 in St Paul Minnesota, Rick Martel defeats AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta.
This is the night that Martel would win his one and only World Heavyweight title. He held the belt until Dec 31st 1985 when he would submit to Stan Hansen's boston crab.

Today in Wrestling History

1997 - WCW held its Uncensored PPV at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston SC.

The main event was a Triangle Elimination Match between Team nWo (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage) (with Dennis Rodman) defeated Team Piper (Roddy Piper, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett) and Team WCW (Lex Luger, The Giant and Scott Steiner)

Here is a rundown of the rest of the card:

• Dean Malenko defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (19:14)
  • Malenko pinned Guerrero after hitting him with Syxx's camera.
• Último Dragón (with Sonny Onoo) defeated Psicosis (13:17)
  • Dragon pinned Psicosis after a Tornado DDT.
• Glacier defeated Mortis (9:04)
  • Glacier pinned Mortis after a Cryonic Kick.
  • After the match, Bryan Clark came out and performed a Cobra Clutch Slam on Glacier.
• Buff Bagwell defeated Scotty Riggs in a Strap match (12:25)
  • Bagwell touched all four turnbuckles to win.
• Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) defeated The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) in a Texas Tornado match (13:17)
  • Booker pinned Rock after a Harlem Hangover.
• Prince Iaukea defeated Rey Misterio, Jr. to retain the WCW World Television Championship (13:41)
  • Iaukea pinned Mysterio with a sunsetflip.

Monday Ratings

TNA posted its lowest ratings since 2006.

Personally, what I did see last night wasnt bad but it was like watching WCW at the end, none of it made any sense and seemed to go nowhere and things were done with no rhyme or reason.

TNA 03/15/2010

Because I know no one watched here is a little dose of Monday Night TNA

WWE Hall of Fame

Last week it was announced that Bob Uecker will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and now this Monday with some really cool news:
WWE announced today that the late Gorgeous George will be inducted in the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame and his former wife, 96 year old Betty Wagner will accept the honor on his behalf. "Gorgeous George's was a pop-culture innovator who took risks pushing the social envelope and did things that no other performer had ever dared to do," said CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon.
"He was a cultural tour-de-force who set the standard that many in the world of sports and entertainment still emulate today." WWE Studios also secured the rights to his story for a major motion picture which is scheduled to start production in the first quarter of 2011.

WCW Uncensored 1999

March 14th 1999 WCW held its 5th annual UNCENSORED from Freedom Hall in Louisville KY.
The results were:
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman pinned Mikey Whipwreck after a shooting star press to retain the title.
- Stevie Ray pinned Vincent in a Harlem Street Fight, after hitting him with a slapjack, to gain control of nWo black and white.
- Kevin Nash (with Miss Elizabeth and Lex Luger) pinned Rey Misterio, Jr. after a Jackknife powerbomb.
- Jerry Flynn defeated Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo in a handicap match by pinning Onoo.
- Hak (The Sandman) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Raven (with Chastity) in a Falls Count Anywhere Triple Threat match, by pinning Raven after Chastity hit a low-blow headbutt on Raven.
- Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham) in a Lumberjack match, when Benoit pinned Hennig after a diving headbutt, to win the title. The lumberjacks for the match were Arn Anderson, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Kenny Kaos, Meng, Hugh Morrus, Prince Iaukea, Norman Smiley and Kendall Windham.
- Saturn pinned Chris Jericho (with Ralphus) in a Dog Collar match, after a Death Valley Driver.
- Booker T pinned WCW World Television Champion Scott Steiner to win the title, after Buff Bagwell hit Steiner with a chair intended for Booker. This began Booker's sixth reign as TV champ, and ended Steiner's second.
- Ric Flair defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan in a First Blood Steel Cage match to win the title. Flair pinned Hogan with Hogan in the Figure-Four leglock. Flair bled first, but referee Charles Robinson never stopped the match. This began Flair's sixth reign and ended Hogan's fifth. This also was Flair's overall 16th official World title win.

Saturday Night's Main Event 03/14/1987

1987 - The WWF aired the 10th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC, which got an 11.6 rating. The show was taped on February 21 in Detroit, Michigan at Joe Louis Arena. The results were:
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated George Steele by countout after Savage hit Steele with a chair on the floor. Savage retained the title and Miss Elizabeth, as both were on the line.
- Hercules won a 20-man battle royal, last eliminating Billy Jack Haynes. Also in the match were: André the Giant, Ron Bass, Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Demolition Ax, Demoliton Smash, Haku, Hillbilly Jim, The Honky Tonk Man, WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Orndorff, Lanny Poffo, Butch Reed, Sika, Tama, Nikolai Volkoff, and Koko B. Ware.
- King Kong Bundy (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Jake Roberts by disqualification, after Roberts attacked the referee after he tried to prevent Roberts from grabbing his snake bag.
- WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (with Danny Davis and Jimmy Hart)) defeated Tito Santana and Dan Spivey, when Hart pinned Santana after Davis hit Santana with Jimmy Hart's megaphone while Santana had Bret in the Figure Four leglock.
- Ricky Steamboat pinned The Iron Sheik (with Slick) after a chop off the top rope.

Today in Wrestling History

A lot of title changes on this day in wrestling history.
(courtesy PWInsider.com)

1887 - Evan "Strangler" Lewis defeats Joe Acton in Chicago, Illinois to win the World Catch-as-Catch-Can Heavyweight Title.

1918 - Young Hackenschmidt (Neil Olsen) defeats Louis Nelson for the World Welterweight Title in New York City, New York.

1944 - Babe Sharkey defeats Ed "Strangler" Lewis to win the Maryland World Heavyweight Title in Baltimore, Maryland.

1947 - Vic Christy defeats Orville Brown to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri.

1952 - Hombre Montana and Leo Nomellini defeat Ben and Mike Sharpe for the San Francisco NWA World Tag Team Title in Oakland, California, ending the Sharpes' fifth reign.

1970 - Dale Lewis and The Missouri Mauler defeat Bronko Lubich and Chris Markoff for the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.

1978 - Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci defeat Mr. Fuji an Prof. Tanaka in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the WWWF World Tag Team Title, ending Fuji and Tanaka's third reign.

1980 - Tiger Conway, Jr. and Jose Lothario defeat Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada for the World Class American Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas.

1980 - The Junkyard Dog defeats Ernie Ladd to win the Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Title in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1982 - Bobby Eaton and Sweet Brown Sugar defeat Ricky and Robert Gibson in a tournament final in Louisville, Kentucky to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title.

1984 - Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham defeat Black Bart and Ron Bass for the Florida NWA United States Tag Team Title in Miami, Florida.

1987 - Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch defeat Ron Garvin and Barry Windham for the NWA United States Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.

1999 - Naoya Ogawa ends Dan Severn's four-plus-year reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion in Yokohama, Japan. Severn had held the title since February 24, 1995, when he won the title from Chris Candido at a SMW event in Erlanger, Kentucky.

2001 - The infamous Bob Costas interview of Vince McMahon airs on HBO's "On the Record with Bob Costas". McMahon looked very intense and visably upset when Costas asked him questions about the fledgling XFL and the sex and violence in the WWF.

2008 - Vince McMahon receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame

"Gentlemen" Jerry Valiant R.I.P.

John Hill, better know to the wrestling world as Gentleman Jerry Valiant died Thursday in Franklin, Indiana. He had his last big run with the Dick the Bruiser owned WWA in Indianapolis in the middle 80s. Here is his memorial page at the funeral home website.
He was part of the famous or infamous Valiant Brothers in the 70s with "Handsome" Jimmy and "Luscious" Johnny. They held the WWF tag team titles in 1979.

Today in Wrestling History

2004 - The WWE

held their Hall Of Fame induction ceremony at The Hilton in New York City. This event marked the revival of the Hall Of Fame, as there had been no inductees since 1996. The inductees were Jesse Ventura, Don Muraco, Tito Santana, Superstar Billy Graham, Big John Studd (posthumously), Sgt. Slaughter, Greg Valentine, Bobby Heenan, Harley Race and The Junkyard Dog (posthumously). Baseball great Pete Rose was inducted into the "celebrity wing" of the Hall Of Fame. The event was released on DVD and was a success, prompting WWE to make the event a regular part of Wrestlemania

weekend.

Ernie 'Big Cat' Ladd

Today is the 3rd anniversary of the passing of legendary wrestler/NFL legend Ernie Ladd.

May he rest in peace

(not the best video but its worth watching)


And here is one of the few times Ernie Ladd was not the biggest cat in the ring.

Champions

Here is the list of the current champions for the major promotions in the world.

Batista (WWE Raw)
Chris Jericho (WWE SD!)
A. J. Styles (TNA)
Blue Demon, Jr. (NWA)
Tyler Black (ROH)
Satoshi Kojima (AJPW)
Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW)
Takashi Sugiura (NOAH)

Monday Night RAW 03/15/2010

Monday Night TNA 03/08/2010

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Impact: Sting's choice, RVD's arrival and Hogan-Flair, Chapter 70

RAW 03/08/2010: Vince freaks Cena's mind

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - RAW: Vince freaks Cena's mind

Update on Hart Family DVD

here is the artwork for the cover of the Hart Family Anthology DVD courtesy of Wrestling Online.com

The Masked Terror!!

I love this cartoon!! its so great and a great parody of something that was hard to parody in the 50s, pro wrestling. Everyone who watches wrestling should see this, you will laugh and remember this for ever! its "Slapshot" for the wrestling crowd.
"Fresh Meat"

Extreme Rules PPV

The poster for the WWE Extreme Rules PPV in April.

Hart Family DVD

The chapter listings special features for the new Hart Family DVD from the WWE can
be found at WrestlingOnline.

Today in Wrestling History

March 6th 1999 - Vader defeats Akira Taue for the AJPW Triple Crown in Tokyo, Japan.
The title had been vacated by Toshiaki Kawada on January 29 after he suffered a broken arm during his January 22 title win over Mitsuharu Misawa.



2004
Ray Fernandez, better known as Hercules Hernandez, dies in his sleep at his home in Tampa, Florida due to heart disease. Fernandez made his debut in the early 1980s in Florida and Texas before moving to Central States and later to Jim Crockett Promotions, where he was known as The Masked Assassin II. After this, he moved to Mid-South Wrestling where he was the first of many to be known as Mr. Wrestling III, before moving back to Florida. He got his first national exposure in 1985 when Hercules dropped his last name in the WWF, where he was until 1992. Fernandez was 46 years old. (Thanks to PWInsider.com)

Angelo Poffo was wrestler, promoter, father to two stars

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Angelo Poffo was wrestler, promoter, father to two stars

The father of Randy "Macho Man" Savage and "Leapin" Lanny Poffo passed away today.

Monday Night RAW news

PETE ROSE TO HOST RAW BEFORE WRESTLEMANIA
- WWE Hall of Famer Pete Rose - man does that sound funny or what? - will be guest hosting the final RAW before WrestleMania on March 22 in San Jose, CA. Rose, believe it or not, had more appearances at WrestleMania than some Superstars on the WWE roster, having appeared at WrestleMania 2000, XV and XIV. On all three occasions, Rose had an angle played out with Kane, who delivered the Tombstone on the former MLB player several times. Criss Angel
will host RAW next week and Stone Cold Steve Austin returns the following week.

Wrestlemania XXVI update

Thanks to the Online Wrestling Network
HART VS MCMAHON OFFICIAL FOR WRESTLEMANIA
- The match that many thought would never see is finally happening at WrestleMania XXVI. In just 26 days, Bret "Hit Man" Hart will lace up his boots for one more time as he steps into the ring to take on the mastermind behind the Montreal screw job, Vince McMahon. This will be Bret Hart's first WrestleMania appearance since 1997. That year, he and Stone Cold Steve Austin had one of the most memorable matches in WrestleMania history in Chicago. Bret's current WWE deal expires just after WrestleMania. He signed a four month deal which started in January rumored to be worth $500,000 plus the usual cut from WrestleMania.

MAD DOG VACHON NEWEST INDUCTEE TO THE WWE HALL OF FAME
- Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon was announced for the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony yesterday on Monday Night RAW. Another WWE Hall of Famer, Pat Patterson, will be inducting him.
The 80 year old Vachon made his pro wrestling debut in 1954 and gained fame when he joined the AWA in the early 60s. On May 2, 1964, Vachon won the AWA title from Verne Gagne but lost it just two weeks later. From that year to 1967, he went on to win the AWA World Heavyweight title for a total of five times. In 1984 he joined the then World Wrestling Federation but only spent a year there. He retired from active wrestling in 1986. He later appeared on WWE television in 1996 during the In Your House pay-per-view where he was sitting front row. Kevin Nash -as Diesel at the time - ended up ripping Vachon's artificial leg off to use it against Shawn Michaels in their main event match. He also appeared two years later at the Over The Edge pay-per-view where he knocked Jerry Lawler out of the ring.

Separated at birth?

RAW: A bad trip on the Road to Wrestlemania

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - RAW: A bad trip on the Road to Wrestlemania

Ok maybe I was wrong, last week was a classic compared to this complete disaster of a show.