Wrestling History

April 8th – On This Day In Wrestling History

April 8th - On This Day In Wrestling History

Our full On This Day In Wrestling History section can be found here.

1992 – At the WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping in Kalamazoo, Michigan a match up between The Undertaker and The Berzerker was ruled as a no contest after The Berzerker attacked and The Undertaker with a gimmick sword to set up a series of house show match ups across the US.

1995 – Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock) won the ECW Tag Team Titles in the Three-Way Tag Team main event against Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Rick Steiner & Tasmaniac at ECW Three Way Dance in Philadephia. Also, Eddie Guerreo pinned 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW World Television Title.

1996 – On a taped edition of WWF Monday Night Raw from San Bernardino in California Vader, injured Yokozuna during a match up to the point that the former WWF Champion was helped away from the ring on a forklift. Also the Ultimate Warrior made his first WWF TV appearance in three and a half years, and Diesel attacked WWF Champion Shawn Michaels after his non-title victory over Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler.

2002 – Spike Dudley pinned William Regal to win the WWF European Title on WWF Raw from Phoenix, Orgeon.

2013 – Dolph Ziggler cashed in his Money In The Bank opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio on the night after Wrestlemania XXIX on WWE Raw from East Rutherford, New Jersey. Also Wade Barrett pinned The Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship.

2014 – James Brian Hellwig better known as The Ultimate Warrior passed away from a heart attack aged 54 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and made an appearance at Wrestlemania XXX over the preceding weekend, and made his final public appearance on WWE Raw the night before his passing. The Ultimate Warrior is one of the most recognisable superstars for long term wrestling fans in particular from his height of popularity during the late eighties and early nineties. In the WWE he held the Intercontinental title on two occasions, and defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania VI in Toronto.

2018 – Wrestlemania XXXIV was held in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The city is praised by fans and critics as one of the most popular host cities for the annual event based on the close proximities of venues linked with hosting wrestling themed, leisure, and entertainment festivities linked with the event. The record breaking crowd of 78,133 fans surpassed the previous Wrestlemania event held in New Orleans four years earlier, and boasted the local economy by $175 million over a seven day period. The event also marked the in-ring wrestling debut of the most prominent female combat athlete in history and former UFC champion, Ronda Rousey.

On the Wrestlemania Kick Off Show:

  • Matt Hardy eliminated Baron Corbin to win the fifth Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
  • Cedric Alexander pinned Mustafa Ali in the tournament final to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
  • Naomi eliminated Bayley to win the very first Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal.

On the main card:

  • Seth Rollins defeated The Miz and Finn Balor to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
  • Charlotte Flair defeated the very first Women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka by submission to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Flair’s victory ended Asuka’s WWE undefeated streak of nearly two and a half years.
  • Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode and Rusev in a Fatal four-way match for the WWE United States Championship.
  • Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey defeated Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley in a mixed-tag team marquee match.
  • The Bludgeon Brothers Luke Harper & Eric Rowan defeated The Usos, and The New Day Kofi Kingston & Big E for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.
  • The Undertaker defeated John Cena in their only Wrestlemania match. The uniqueness of the build up to this match was the kayfabe suspense of whether The Undertaker would appear at the event in response to an open challenge from Cena made six weeks prior to the event.
  • Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn by submission in a tag team match. This was Bryan’s first competitive wrestling match since his retirement from physical competition four years prior. The stipulation for this match was that if Owens & Zayn were victorious, then they would be rehired to Smackdown.
  • Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship.
  • A.J. Styles retained the WWE Championship against the Men’s 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura.
  • Braun Strowman and Nicholas defeated Sheamus & Cesaro for the Raw Tag Team Championship. Nicholas is the son of WWE referee John Cone who was kayfabe planted in the crowd for Strowman to choose as a mystery partner for the match. This win made Nicholas the youngest title holder in WWE history.
  • Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in the main event.

2020 – On an episode of NXT, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano battled in a hybrid empty arena/cinematic match that was billed as the very last chapter of their storied rivalry, with neither man permitted to face each other again after the match was over. Gargano emerged victorious after his wife, Candice LeRae, turned heel to aid him in victory. The match went 48 minutes, making it the longest in NXT TV history.