Today in 2001 the WWE held its yearly Backlash PPV. The main event was Stone Cold Steve Austin and HHH vs Kane and The Undertaker, but the night belonged to Kurt Angle and the late Chris Benoit. They brought the house down with a 30 minute ultimate submission match.
IS BATISTA LEAVING WWE FOR GOOD THIS WEEK? - Rumors of Batista leaving WWE have been coming up for a while but the topic is heating up this week with PWInsider.com suggesting that this week could be his final one with the company. Batista has been quite unhappy lately and the decision to pull him from the "Killing Karma" WWE Studios movie and replaced by Triple H didn't go down too well with the former heavyweight champion. PWInsider adds that the reason Batista was switched with HHH was because they didn't want him to be in one of their movies if he wasn't going to be under a contract once the movie comes out. Batista's deal with World Wrestling Entertainment is reportedly expiring very soon and he did not sign a new contract. Batista is involved in tonight's Extreme Rules pay-per-view main event with John Cena in a Last Man Standing match.
MARK HENRY ARRESTED IN BELFAST LAST WEEKEND - The Derry Journal in Northern Ireland is reporting that WWE Superstar Mark Henry was arrested last weekend following an incident with a fan at the Hilton hotel where everyone was staying while stuck in Europe. The fan, James McClay, claimed that Henry threw a drink at him and followed that with a verbal assault after he tried to get signatures on a birthday card. "Mark Henry was abusive and ignorant but I got his signature and walked away. Suddenly he threw a drink around me from behind." The fan said that Cena and Orton grabbed Henry's arm and held him back to avoid further confrontation. "I honestly thought I was in one of the plot lines backstage. I felt like I was watching this happen to someone else. Suddenly Chavo Guerrero piped up egging Mark Henry on, that really annoyed me as I am a fan of his. I thought this is going to get really bad as all these wrestlers were on their feet." The Superstars were described to be all "genuinely nice people" by McClay and Henry did end up signing the card even though he called him a "little punk bitch." McClay said that the incident ruined the whole weekend for him. "I was left humiliated afterward. He did this soaking me and my fiancée and our friend. The birthday card is all covered in drink also." Henry was also given an adult caution following the incident in the hotel bar. (personally Henry needs to stick to carrying bags, this should surprise no one)
Well I couldnt find this match from Saturday Night's Main Event today in 1988 but I found the same 2 teams meeting up at Wrestlefest 88 in Milwaukee. From July 1988.
1964 - Dick the Bruiser defeats Fred Blassie for the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California, ending Blassie's fourth reign. Dick the Bruiser started his own promotion in Indiana that same year, also called the World Wrestling Association, with him as the first champion.
1988 - The WWF tapes the 16th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event at the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. The show aired on NBC on April 30. Three episodes of Wrestling Challenge were also taped afterward, featuring the debut of ring announcer Mike McGuirk. The results: - Jim Duggan defeated Hercules by disqualification when André the Giant interfered, with Ultimate Warrior making the save. - Brutus Beefcake defeated Danny Davis by submission with a sleeper hold. - WWF Champion Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) pinned One Man Gang (with Slick) after a flying elbowdrop to retain the title.
- WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash (with Mr. Fuji)) defeated The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) by disqualification. - Ted DiBiase pinned Don Muraco. - Rick Rude pinned Koko B. Ware after the Rude Awakening.
2000 - ECW held its fifth-annual CyberSlam event at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results were: - Masato Tanaka defeated 2 Cold Scorpio. - Dawn Marie and Lance Storm defeated Jazz and Super Nova, when Dawn Marie pinned Jazz. - Little Guido defeated Super Crazy and Kid Kash in a three-way match. - C.W. Anderson and Billy Whiles defeated Danny Doring and Roadkill, when Anderson pinned Doring. - Balls Mahoney and New Jack defeated Da Baldies (Angel and DeVito). - Steve Corino defeated Dusty Rhodes. - Rhino defeated ECW World Television Champion Yoshihiro Tajiri to win the title. - Tommy Dreamer defeated ECW World Heavyweight Champion Tazz to win the title, ending Tazz's second reign. - Justin Credible defeated ECW World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Dreamer to win the title.
Today in 1997 from Rochester NY, the WWF held its 14th In Your House PPV called "Revenge of the Taker".
The WWF Title was on the line as the Champion, The Undertaker defended against Mankind and the main event was Stone Cold Steve Austin against Bret "The Hitman" Hart.
Here is the opening and the opening match, the WWF Tag Team Titles at stake as the Legion of Doom takes on the champions, Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart.
And here is the Heavyweight Title match with Undertaker and Mankind
Last night on TNA Impact on Spike TV, Rob Van Dam became the New TNA Heavyweight Champion by pinning AJ Styles. He now has held the ECW, WWE and TNA titles.
Today we mark the 8th anniversary of the passing of Chief Ed "Wahoo" McDaniel. He died this day in 2002 from complications of diabetes, he was 64. A long career in the ring was proceeded by a career in the AFL and NFL as a defensive back most notably with the New York Jets where he wore "Wahoo" on his jersey and heard the crowd yell his name when he made a play.
I am right now reading the book "The Death of WCW" by RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez. Tremendous stuff and one little tid bit I just read about involved the the NWO in 1996 (the year that WCW/NWO could do no wrong). At the Nitro after the 1996 Road Wild PPV, the Giant joined the NWO after being pinned by Hogan and losing his title at the PPV the Saturday before, there was supposed to be a suprise 4th memeber of the NWO debut. Well that was going to be Davey Boy Smith, but for some reason on the day he was to leave for Atlanta, he re-signed with the WWF and this left WCW scrambling for a new 4th memeber. Well lo and behold they made a good choice with the Giant.
The really great part about the whole NWO story and angle was how every thing looked like a "shoot" or actually a real happening and not a staged or set up and this played a major part in the fans buying into it and making WCW the biggest wrestling promotion in the world in 1996/1997
SMACKDOWN MOVING TO SYFY ON OCTOBER 1 - In a press release issued earlier today, come Fall 2010 WWE's Friday Night Smackdown will be moving from network to cable television, leaving MyNetworkTV for SyFy. While terms were not disclosed, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that it is believed that SyFy will be paying $30 million a year for the show, up from the $20 million that MyNetworkTV currently pays WWE for production. The move will not change the night the show airs on as SyFy plans to keep Smackdown in its current Friday night time slot. Smackdown moved to MyNetworkTV in late 2008 after seven years on UPN and then two on the CW Network. With Smackdown on SyFy, WWE will have its two main shows on NBC Universal-owned channels.
NXT LEAVING SYFY IN OCTOBER, POSSIBLY CANCELED - NXT, the "ground breaking original show" that WWE hyped for weeks leading up to its debut on SyFy looks like it will cease to exist come October when Smackdown moves to SyFy. The cable network will be moving its Friday night drama shows to Tuesday nights to make space for Smackdown and in the press release issued today from WWE it was stated that NXT will leave SyFy when Smackdown joins the channel's schedule. NXT made its debut on February 23 as a replacement for ECW. Unless another home adopts NXT by October, the show will eventually have the same ending of the show it originally replaced.
The annual three-hour draft show was announced for 4/26 in Richmond, VA. No guest host is scheduled at press time although we're told they are working on someone A-list. If not they may end up using a legend.
Today in 1999 Kenji Mutoh(the Great Muta) defended his IWGP Title against Don Frye at the Tokyo Dome as the main event of the NJPW Strong Style Symphony. Don Frye had won the UFC championship at UFC 8 in 1996 from Puerto Rico.
Yesterday April 5th was the 18th anniversary of Wrestlemania VIII from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis Indiana. The main event was Sid Justice facing Hulk Hogan, but from friends that were there the highlight may have been the Randy Savage vs Ric Flair match for the WWF Championship.
FIRST MAIN EVENT FOR EXTREME RULES SET One of the main events for the Extreme Rules pay-per-view was set yesterday during Monday Night RAW. The WWE title will be on the line as John Cena will defend against number one contender Batista in a Last Man Standing match. The pay-per-view will be taking place on April 25.
THE DRAFT COMING THIS MONTH The 2010 WWE Draft will be taking place on April 26 during a special three hour edition of Monday Night RAW. The Draft is now back between RAW and Smackdown for the first time since 2005 as in 2006 ECW was added to the mix. So far the Draft has been held a total of eight times since 2002 with the year 2003 the only time that it was not held since it started.
VANCOUVER OFFICIALS HOLDING MEETING WITH WWE OVER WRESTLEMANIA The Vancouver Sun has a story regarding the city of Vancouver bidding to host WrestleMania in 2012 or the two years following that, entering a race with another dozen of cities who want the show to their area. WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said that while city officials haven't thrown in their bid yet, private interests have indeed approached WWE to host the show in Vancouver. "We haven't received any official word from the City of Vancouver yet," Zimmerman said. "They'd have to send correspondence that they're interested in doing something with us, then the city would have to meet our criteria to even be allowed to submit a full bid." A conference call between WWE, the Vancouver Athletic Commission and the Vancouver WrestleMania bid committee is scheduled for Friday. A final decision on the venues for the next three events is due in February 2011.
April 4th is the anniversary of the gaudiest and strangest of all Wrestlemanias as Wrestlemania 9 was held at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas. The outdoor arena was site for the some of the strangest things ever seen in the WWF.
Coming soon from WWE home video is "Ricky Steamboat: Life of a Dragon", this will be 3 disc but I have not seen any match list or list of features for this dvd. This we be released June 29th.
The 28 year old Oklahoma native Jack Swagger successfully cashed in his Money In The Bank on Smackdown yesterday defeating Chris Jericho and becoming the new World Heavyweight champion. After getting speared by Edge in the opening segment, Swagger ran to the ring, asked for a referee, and gutwrench powerbombed Jericho out of his shoes to become one of the youngest World champions ever. This was the quickest cashing in since Money in the Bank started in 2005 and Swagger became the fifth guy to win the title following his win at WrestleMania. Only Mr Kennedy failed to cash in after he put his briefcase up for grabs against Edge in 2007. Edge eventually went on to win the title that same week from The Undertaker.
Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of WCW's Clash of Champions VI that was held in the Louisana Superdome (yes they were a very hot promotion) and carried live on WTBS.
The main event was another classic between Ricky 'the Dragon" Steamboat and Ric Flair. Here is the complete card:
The Samoa Swat Team defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane ) when Samu pinned Eaton after Fatu hit Eaton with Paul E. Dangerously's phone. - The Great Muta defeated Steve Casey with a moonsault. - The Junkyard Dog defeated Butch Reed after Reed collided with manager Hiro Matsuda. - Bob Orton defeated Dick Murdoch after manager Gary Hart tripped Murdoch during a brainbuster attempt and Orton fell on top. - Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams defeated The Road Warriors to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship when Williams pinned Hawk with a rollup after referee Teddy Long had refused to count a Road Warriors cover. - Ranger Ross defeated The Iron Sheik via DQ when Rip Morgan attacked Ross. - United Stated Tag Team Champions Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner defeated Dan Spivey & Kevin Sullivan when Gilbert pinned Sullivan with a cradle after hitting him with Missy Hyatt's purse. - NWA World Champion Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair in a 2 out of three falls match that lasted over 55 minutes. Ric Flair one the first fall with a small package. Ricky Steamboat won the second fall by forcing Flair to submit to a double chicken wing. Steamboat won the third fall with a bridge out of a double chicken wing, but Flair's foot was under the ropes, setting up the WrestleWar 89 rematch between the two.
The WWF also held Wrestlemania V on this day in 1989 (Clash VI was WCW's competition to Wrestlemania) at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City NJ.
here is the entire card:
Hercules defeated King Haku with a back suplex. - Big Bossman & Akeem defeated Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty when Akeem pinned Michaels with a splash. This was Shawn Michaels' first Wrestlemania. - Brutus Beefcake vs. Ted DiBiase ended in a double countout. - The Bushwackers defeated Jacques & Raymond Rougeau when Luke pinned Raymond after a Battering Ram. - Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig defeated The Blue Blazer with a Perfect Plex. - WWF World Tag Team Champions defeated The Powers Of Pain & Mr. Fuji in a handicap match when Ax pinned Fuji after the Demolition Decapitation. - Dino Bravo defeated Ronnie Garvin with a side suplex. Before the match, Jimmy Snuka was introduced to the crowd, marking his return to the company after being gone for over four years. - Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated Tito Santana & Rick Martel when Arn pinned Tito with a spike piledriver after Martel had walked out on the match. - Jake Roberts defeated Andre The Giant via DQ after Andre headbutted guest referee John Studd. - Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine when Hart pinned Honky after hitting him with Jimmy Hart's megaphone. - Rick Rude defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental Title when Bobby Heenan tripped Warrior on a suplex attempt and held his leg down for the pin. - Hacksaw Duggan vs. Bad News Brown ended in a double DQ when Brown grabbed a chair and Duggan grabbed a 2x4 and they started swinging at each other. - The Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan in under a minute. - Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage to win the WWF World Title after a legdrop.
NASTY BOYS GONE FROM TNA - The Nasty Boys' run in TNA has come to an end as Brian Kobbs and Jerry Sags have reportedly been let go from the company. The two close friends of the Hulkster made their TNA debut on the live January 4 three hour iMPACT! and then stuck around for a program with Team 3D. (courtesy wrestlingonline.com)
