Wrestling History

July 31st – On This Day In Wrestling History

July 31st - On This Day In Wrestling History

1984 – In the main event of the AJPW Sumo Hall Show in Tokyo, Japan, Giant Baba defeated Stan Hansen to win the PWF Heavyweight Title. Baba would hold the title for one day under a year before losing it back to Hansen on July 30th 1985.

1986 – The AJPW Budokan Hall Show took place in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen beat NWA International Title holder Jumbo Tsuruta to become a double champion.

1988 – WWF WrestleFest ’88 took place at the County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in front of 25,866 fans. On the show:

  • Big Boss Man defeated Scott Casey.
  • Brutus Beefcake defeated Hercules Hernandez.
  • Jacques and Raymond Rougeau defeated The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell).
  • Bad News Brown defeated Bret Hart.
  • Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man via disqualification, meaning Honky Tonk retained the belt.
  • The Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian) defeated The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zuhkov) with the Barbarian getting the pin on Volkoff after a diving headbutt.
  • Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart defeated ‘Leaping’ Lanny Poffo.
  • Macho Man Randy Savage defeated Ted DiBiase to retain the WWF Championship.
  • Curt Hennig defeated Terry Taylor.
  • Jake Roberts and Rick Rude fought to a double countout.
  • Haku defeated Sam Houston.
  • The Ultimate Warrior defeated Bobby Heenan with a Sleeper Hold in a ‘Loser Wears A Weasel Suit’ match.
  • Demolition (Ax and Smash) defeated The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship belts.
  • Dino Bravo defeated Ken Patera.
  • Hulk Hogan defeated Andre the Giant in a steel cage match in just under 10 minutes. The end of the match came about after Hogan tied Andre in the ropes and escaped over the top to the outside.

1999 – Cham Pain defeated Madd Maxx in the main event of the OMEGA Beauville Show in North Carolina to win the OMEGA Heavyweight Title.

2000 – On WCW Nitro at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lance Storm became a triple champion when he defeated Chavo Guerrero via submission for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. (He already held the United States and Hardcore titles).

2002 – Bruce defeated Taylor Vaughn on the NWA/TNA Weekly PPV to win the Miss TNA title.

2004 – On Day 4 of CHIKARA Young Lions Cup in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Larry Sweeney defeated Jigsaw in the main event to win the tournament.

2008 – At the DCW TV Taping in Louisville, Kentucky, the OVW Women’s Title was won by Serena after she beat Josie.

2009 – The main event of CMLL Infierno en el Ring was a 15-Man Steel Cage Last Man Loses Hair Match. All 15 men started off in the ring at the same time but escapes weren’t allowed until five minutes in to the fight. Mictlán, Heavy Metal, Blue Panther, Shigeo Okumura, El Terrible, Máximo, Shocker, El Texano Jr., Ray Mendoza Jr., Negro Casas, Héctor Garza, Black Warrior, and Yujiro all escaped (in that order) leaving Naito and Toscano to face off in a one on one match to see who would lose their hair. Naito pinned Toscano using a Dragon Suplex for the win, meaning Toscano was then shaved bald.

2010 – FIP Cage of Pain III took place at the National Guard Armory in Crystal River, Florida. Jake Manning defeated Brad Allen to win the FIP Florida Heritage Title, and then later in the show The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis) took the FIP Tag Team Titles from Chris Gray and Tommy Taylor.

2011 – Pimpinela Escarlata won the AAA Reina De Reinas Championship at AAA Verano de Escandalo in Mexico in an 8-Way Elimination match, which also featured Cynthia Moreno, Faby Apache, Jennifer Blake, Lolita, Mari Apache, Mickie James, and Sexy Star.

2012 – DDT Beer Garden Fight 2012 ~ KENNY OMEGA PRODUCE DAY took place in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event of the show Gota Ihashi defeated Hiroshi Fukuda to win the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Title.

2015 – ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper passed away at the age of 61. The WWE Hall Of Famer and former Intercontinental Champion passed away as a result of a heart attack.

2016 – At PROGRESS Chapter 33: Malice In Wonderland in London, England, Marty Scurll became the new PROGRESS Title holder after beating William Eaver in the main event.

2016 – Joey Ryan won the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Title at Beyond Americanrana in Providence, Rhode Island. After the win Ryan thanked the audience for his victory and said that the title was just as much theirs as it was his, which the referee interpreted as a forfeit, and awarded the audience the championship. (The reign is credited to “Beyond Wrestling audience”, not each person separately). The audience then start clapping and slapping their hands against the ring as they celebrate their victory, to which Ryan tells the referee that they’re tapping out, and so Ryan is awarded the title once again.

2019 – Jay Bradley defeated Big Zo at the OVW TV Tapings in Louisville, Kentucky, to become the OVW Television Champion.

2020 – Day One of IWA-MS King of the Deathmatch took place in Connersville, Indiana. In the opening match Jake Crist outlasted Ace Perry and Kevin Giza in a Three-Way match to win the IWA:MS Heavyweight Title.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays:

  • Max Caster (1989)
  • Texano, Jr. (1984)
  • Kid Kash (1969)
  • John Laurinaitis (1962)