Wrestling History

June 17th – On This Day In Wrestling History

June 17th - On This Day In Wrestling History

1983 – WCCW Wrestling Star Wars was held in Dallas, Texas, in front of 21,000 fans. David Von Erich defeated Jimmy Garvin (of the Fabulous Freebirds) to win the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Championship then in the main event Bruiser Brody and Kerry Von Erich took the WCCW American Tag Team Titles from the other two Fabulous Freebirds, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy.

1985 – Two debuts were made at a WWF TV taping in Poughkeepsie, New York, both against Aldo Marino. The first one was former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk who made his mark by attacking the ring attendant before making Marino submit. The other was Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage. During his match against Marino nearly every manager came from the back to watch Savage in action. After Savage pinned Marino (following two top rope Elbow Drops) Bobby Heenan, Mr. Fuji, Freddie Blassie, Jimmy Hart, and Johnny V all got in the ring to congratulate him on his victory and to offer their services as a manager.

1995 – ECW Barbed Wire Hoodies & Chokeslams was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the main event of the show The Sandman retained the ECW World Heavyweight Title against Cactus Jack in a Barbed Wire match following some controversy. Cactus Jack appears to have the match won because the Sandman can’t answer the 10-count. However, Bill Alfonso refuses to acknowledge the win because the title can’t change hands under those conditions. The match is restarted, the Sandman chokes Jack with barbed wire and tosses him to the floor and Alfonso decides that Cactus Jack can’t continue and stops the match, giving the Sandman the win. The fans in the arena were NOT happy with the decision and Alfonso had to be smuggled out in the boot of a car due to fans waiting for him with baseball bats outside.

1996 – NJPW Skydiving J was held in Tokyo, Japan. Shinjiro Otani defeated Kazushi Sakuraba to win the vacant UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, then later in the show Jushin Thunder Liger beat Dick Togo to become the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champion.

2000 – At JCW (NJ) Monsterslam in Lodi, New Jersey, Inferno defeated Kevin Knight to win the Jersey Championship Wrestling Television Title.

2000 – Bobby Casanova and Brian Fury won the HWA Tag Team Titles at the weekly HWA show in Hamilton, Ohio, when they beat Anthony McMurphy and Cody Hawk.

2006 – wXw Fans Appreciation Night was held in Essen, Germany, and it wasn’t a good night for Assassin A. First of all he lost the GSW/AWo Extreme World Heavyweight Title to Assassin B, then afterwards he lost a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match to Assassin Invisibulus.

2006 – In the main event of IWA-MS School’s Out from Streamwood, Illinois, Toby Klein defeated Trik Davis to become the IWA:MS Heavyweight Champion.

2006 – HUSTLE HustleAid was held in Saitama, Japan, in front of 14,012 fans. On the show the female team of Erica and Margaret (known elsewhere as Aja Kong and Awesome Kong respectively) defeated the male team of Ryouji Sai and Wataru Sakata to become the HUSTLE Super Tag Team Champions.

2007 – TNA Slammiversary was held at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, in front of 3,500 fans. On the PPV:

  • Rhino and Senshi defeated Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez).
  • Jay Lethal defeated Chris Sabin by pinfall to win the TNA X-Division Championship.
  • Jerry Lynn and Frank Wycheck defeated James Storm and Ron Killings, with Wycheck getting the pin on Storm after a Piledriver.
  • Bob Backlund defeated Alex Shelley by pinfall.
  • The Voodoo Kin Mafia (Kip James and B.G. James) defeated Basham and Damaja in less that three minutes.
  • Eric Young defeated Robert Roode with a Small Package to get the pin.
  • Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) defeated Rick Steiner and Road Warrior Animal to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship following a 3-D to get the pin.
  • Sting beat Christopher Daniels with a Scorpion Death Drop to get the pinfall.
  • Abyss defeated Tomko in a No Disqualification match.
  • Kurt Angle outlasted Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Chris Harris, and Christian Cage in a King of the Mountain match to win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

2011 – AAW Day of Defiance was held in Berwyn, Illinois. On the show Jordan McEntyre and Knight Wagner defeated Brett Gakiya and C. J. Esparza to win the AAW Tag Team Championship belts.

2012 – WWE No Way Out was held at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in front of around 10,000 fans. On the PPV:

  • Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler with a Brogue Kick to get the pin and retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
  • Santino Marella defeated Ricardo Rodriguez in a Tuxedo match Marella won by stripping Rodriguez down to his underwear.
  • Christian retained the Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes following a Spear to get the pin and win.
  • In a Fatal Four-Way match The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil) defeated Epico and Primo, International Airstrike (Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd), and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) to become the Number One Contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
  • Layla defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Divas Championship.
  • Sin Cara defeated Hunico by pinfall.
  • CM Punk defeated Daniel Bryan and Kane in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship. The match ended when Punk hit the GTS on Kane to get the pin.
  • In a Handicap match Ryback defeated Dan Delaney and Rob Grymes in just 96 seconds, hitting both men with the Shell Shock at the same time to then get the pin.
  • In the main event of the PPV John Cena defeated The Big Show in a Steel Cage match. With the win, general manager John Laurinaitis was fired. (If Cena had lost, he would have been fired). After the match Cena put Laurinaitis through the Spanish announcers’ table with an Attitude Adjustment as the show went off air.

2012 – Day One of AJPW 40th Anniversary Year Crossover was in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event Manabu Soya and Takao Omori defeated Joe Doering and Seiya Sanada to win the AJPW World Tag Team Titles.

2016 – SHINE #35 took place at The Orpheum in Ybor City, Florida. The main event was a Four-Way match featuring Ivelisse, SHINE Champion Taylor Made, TNA Knockouts Champion Allysin Kay, and SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles. The stipulation in the match was that whoever lost the fall would lose their title. Ivelisse won the match after pinning Taylor Made to become the new SHINE Champion.

2017 – At DWW Invasion in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Pete Dunn beat both Josh Alexander and Psycho Mike in a Three-Way match to win the DWW Title.

2018 – Defiant ‘Built to Destroy’ was held in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. The Defiant Women’s Title changed hands when Bea Priestley defeated Millie McKenzie.

2018 – WWE Money in the Bank was held at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, in front of 15,214 fans. On the PPV:

  • Daniel Bryan defeated Big Cass via submission.
  • Bobby Lashley defeated Sami Zayn after Lashley hit the Fallaway Slam, a Spinebuster and three Vertical Suplexes on Zayn to get the pinfall.
  • Seth Rollins retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Elias.
  • The women’s Money In the Bank Ladder match was won by Alexa Bliss. The match also featured Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Ember Moon, Lana, Naomi, Natalya, and Sasha Banks.
  • Roman Reigns defeated Jinder Mahal by pinfall after hitting him with the Spear.
  • Carmella retained the Smackdown Women’s Championship when she pinned Asuka, following interference from a returning James Ellsworth who appeared dressed as Asuka on the apron.
  • The WWE Championship was retained by A.J. Styles against Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match.
  • Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax retained the title against Ronda Rousey following interference from Alexa Bliss. Bliss then cashed in her newly won Money In The Bank contract on Jax, got the pin and became the Raw Women’s Champion.
  • Braun Strowman won the men’s Money In the Bank Ladder match after outlasting Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Rusev, Samoa Joe, and The Miz.

2018 – At Day Two of NJPW Kizuna Road in Tokyo, Japan, Hirooki Goto defeated Michael Elgin to become the NEVER Openweight Champion.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays:

  • Millie McKenzie (2000)
  • Kotaro Suzuki (1978)
  • Minoru Suzuki (1968)
  • Mitsuharu Misawa (1962)