Wrestling History

May 1st – On This Day In Wrestling History

May 1st - On This Day In Wrestling History

1981 – Four days after losing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Tommy Rich, Harley Race recaptures the title in Gainesville, Georgia.

1986 – WWE taped the sixth edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event in Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The show would air on NBC two days later. The opening match saw Hulk Hogan and The Junkyard Dog defeat Terry and Hoss Funk. The main event was a two out of three falls match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The match saw The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid) defeat The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, 2-1.

1998 – At the APW Grimes/O’Grady Send-Off Show in Hayward, California, Vic Grimes defeated Maxx Justice to become the new APW Universal Heavyweight Champion. Grimes vacated the belt eight days later as he was leaving the APW to join the WWF.

1998 – In Sandford, North Carolina, Joey Matthews won the OMEGA Light Heavyweight title after defeating Kid Dynamo.

1998 – AJPW ‘Showdown At The Egg’ was held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan in front of 58,300 fans. In the main event Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuharu Misawa to win the All Japan Triple Crown championship.

1999 – APW ‘Good Things Happen To Bad Boys’ was held in Pinole, California. Boyce Legrande became the new APW Universal Heavyweight Champion on the show after beating Maxx Justice by pinfall.

2000 – On Monday Night Raw, tag team champions Edge and Christian made their way to the ring. On the microphone Edge said that he know’s everyone is disappointed that they didn’t run through the crowd, because it’s ‘become a bit much. Instead, for the next five seconds, we will pose for everyone of you with the benefit of flash photography.’ And so, the famous ‘Five-Second-Pose’ was born.

2003 – Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette) died as a result of acute toxicity in Marietta, Georgia. She was 42 years old.

2004 – At CZW Apocalypse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chris Hero defeated Jimmy Rave to win the CZW Ironman Title.

2004 – ‘Kaiju Big Battel Mayday! May Day! Boston SOS!’ was held in Boston, Massachusetts. Unibouzu (a radioactive sea urchin) defeated Hell Monkey (a one-eyed red monkey) in the Danger Cage to win the Kaiju Grand Championship, but was then challenged straight away by Dr. Cube (square box for a head). During the match, Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle (a giant can of soup) attacked both wrestlers and then Cube managed to get up and dive from the top of the cage on to Unibouzu, hit him with the Iconoclysm and get the pin to become the new Kaiju Grand Champion.

2005 – WWE Backlash was held in the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, in front of 14,000 fans. On the show:

  • Shelton Benjamin defeated Chris Jericho with a roll through bridge pin to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
  • Rosey and The Hurricane defeated Tajiri and William Regal, The Heart Throbs (Antonio and Romeo), Simon Dean and Maven, and La Resistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier) in a Tag Team Turmoil match to win the World Tag Team Championship.
  • Edge defeated Chris Benoit in a Last Man Standing match.
  • Chris Masters defeated Melissa Coates in a Masterlock Challenge.
  • Kane (accompanied by Lita) defeated Viscera (accompanied by Trish Stratus). After the match Trish berated Viscera for losing until he got her in a Bear Hug and followed it with a Big Splash. Trish was taken out on a stretcher and was (kayfabe) out of action for four months.
  • Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels defeated Muhammad Hassan and Daivari after Michaels hit Daivari with Sweet Chin Music allowing Hogan to get the pin and win.
  • In the main event, Batista defeated Triple H to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

2006 – Joey Styles ‘quit’ as play by play commentator on Monday Night Raw with one of the most effective ‘worked shoot’ promos in WWE history. After targeting Vince McMahon and others with a scathing speech, Styles pulled the WWE branded collar off his microphone and resigned. The angle was designed to remove Styles from Raw to allow him to act as the lead commentator for the soon to relaunch ECW brand with a real Attitude-infused edge to him.

2011 – WWE Extreme Rules took place at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, in front of roughly 10,000 fans. On the PPV:

  • Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a last man standing match after hitting him with an RKO from the top rope.
  • Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus in a tables match to win the WWE United States Championship for the second time.
  • Michael Cole and Jack Swagger defeated Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler in a Country Whipping match.
  • Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The match ended in the ring after Mysterio spit mist into Rhodes’ face, delivered the 619 and then hit a springboard splash for the pin.
  • Layla defeated Michelle McCool in a no disqualification, loser leaves WWE match. Post-match, Michelle McCool is beaten down by a debuting Kharma (Awesome Kong).
  • Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career.
  • Big Show and Kane defeated Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a lumberjack match to win the WWE Tag Team belts.
  • John Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat steel cage match to win the WWE Championship for an eighth time. After the show went off the air, Cena announced to the live audience that terrorist Osama Bin Laden had been ‘caught and compromised to a permanent end.’

2015 – At AAW ‘Take No Prisoners’ in Merrionette Park, Illinois, Josh Alexander defeated both Eddie Kingston and Samoa Joe in a Three-Way Elimination match to win the AAW Heavyweight title.

2016 – IWA-MS Derby Madness was held at the Pride Bar and Lounge in New Albany, Indiana. In the main event of the show Reed Bentley won the IWA:MS Heavyweight title after beating Kongo Kong.

2016 – On the DTU Luchando por los Ninos show in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, the DTU Nexo titles changed hands when Titan and Tritón outlasted the teams of Drastik Boy and Jinzo, and Lanzeloth and Rocky Lobo in a Three-Way tag team match.

2016 – WWE Payback was held in Chicago, Illinois in front of 13,250 fans. On the show:

  • A Number One contenders match between Enzo Amore and Big Cass against the Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) ended in a No Contest after Amore’s head hit the ring mat hard after bouncing off the middle rope, followed by Amore falling onto the floor at ringside, apparently knocked out.
  • Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn following a Pop-Up Powerbomb.
  • The Miz retained the Intercontinental Championship against Cesaro after a distraction at ringside from Zayn and Owens gave the Miz the chance to get a roll-up pin on Cesaro.
  • Dean Ambrose defeated Chris Jericho by pinfall.
  • In a repeat of the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya when referee Charles Robinson called for the bell as Charlotte applied the sharpshooter, despite Natalya not having submitted.
  • In the main event Roman Reigns defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles. Styles won the match by count-out but Shane McMahon announced the match would be restarted and would now be a ‘No Count-out’ match. Later in the match the referee thought that Reigns hit Styles with a low blow and called for the bell. However Stephanie McMahon showed up to announce the match would carry on as a ‘No Disqualification’ match. Reigns finally won the match by pinfall after hitting Styles with a Spear and retained the World Heavyweight belt.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays:

  • Acey Romero (1990)
  • Joe Hendry (1998)
  • Human Tornado (1983)
  • Jack Bull (1970)
  • Tim Storm (1965)