Wrestling History

July 21st – On This Day In Wrestling History

July 21st - On This Day In Wrestling History

1981 – The WWF Tag Team Championship changes hands in Allentown, Pennsylvania when Rick Martel and Tony Garea defeat The Moondogs, Rex and Spot. This is Garea’s fifth title reign with four different partners.

1984 – Tully Blanchard defeated Magnum TA in Charlotte, North Carolina to win the NWA United States Championship.

1995 – At an event in Tampa, Florida, Dean Malenko defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the ECW World Television Championship. This was the same event in which dozens of fans invaded the ring after the main event between The Gangstas and The Public Enemy which ended with the ring collapsing, a shot that was used in ECW’s TV intro from then on in. Also at the event, an angle with The Sandman delivering 10 Singapore Cane lashes to Mikey Whipwreck (To the obvious sexual pleasure of Woman) resulted in ECW being briefly banned from regional cable operator, The Sunshine Network.

1996 – WWE In Your House 9: International Incident took place at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The main event saw Camp Cornette (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog and Vader) defeat Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and Sycho Sid in a six man tag team match. Vader pinned Michaels in the match to set up a WWE Championship match between the two at SummerSlam. Sid was a last minute replacement for The Ultimate Warrior who abruptly departed the promotion in the weeks prior.

2002 – WWE Vengeance took place at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The main event saw The Rock win his then record breaking WWE Championship with a triple threat victory over The Undertaker and Kurt Angle. Another title change on the night saw The UnAmericans (Lance Storm and Christian) end the only WWE Tag Team Championship reign of Hulk Hogan’s career when they defeated him and his partner Edge.

2005 – ‘Lord’ Alfred Hayes, most famous for his stint as a backstage interviewer in WWE in the late 1980s and early 90s passed away at the age of 76 after multiple strokes.

2009 – At an Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando Florida, The British Invasion (Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus) defeated Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Also on the show, Mick Foley won the TNA Legend’s Title in a tag team match pitting he and Bobby Lashley against Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle. As Foley got the pin, he won the title. His TNA World Heavyweight Championship was also on the line.

2012 – In Kansas City, Kansas, Adam Pearce defeated Colt Cabana to win his 5th and final NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays:

  • ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (1991)
  • Fabian Aichner (1990)
  • Dave Mastiff (1984)
  • Kenny King (1981)
  • Shinjiro Otani (1971)
  • Shawn Stasiak (1970)
  • Giant Silva (1963)
  • Mark Youngblood (1963)
  • Hiro Matsuda (1937)