May 18th – On This Day In Wrestling History
1997 – In the main event of WCW Slamboree from Charlotte, North Carolina Kevin Greene, Ric Flair & Roddy Piper defeated The nWo’s Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Syxx in a six-person tag match. Also, Steven Regal defeated Ultimo Dragon for the WCW World Television Championship, Dean Malenko retained the WCW United States Championship against Jeff Jarrett, Madusa pinned Luna Vachon and The Steiner Brothers defeated The Dungeon of Doom.
1998 – On WWF Raw from Nashville the main event Handicap Tag Team match between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin versus Gerald Brisco & Pat Patterson ended in a no contest. Also, 8-Ball & Skull from the Disciples of Apocalypse defeated The Legion of Doom.
2002 – ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith passed away aged 39 in Invermere, Canada from a heart attack. Smith was best known for his appearances in the WWF as a tag team and singles competitor where he won a number of singles and tag-team titles. Smith’s most notable career highlight was winning the Intercontinental Championship from real life brother-in-law Bret The Hitman Hart in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in England in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 which many fans and critics regard as one of the greatest pure wrestling matches of all time. Smith was also the very first WWF European Championship and holds the longest reign as the titleholder, 206 days, until he dropped the title to Shawn Michaels at the UK-exclusive One Night Stand pay-per-view. Smith initially found popularity with wrestling fans as part of The British Bulldogs tag-team where his teamed up with his cousin The Dynamite Kid. The British Bulldog was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 by his wife Diana Smith-Hart, and his two children Harry and Georgia Smith.
2003 – Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Championship against The Big Show in a Stretcher Match in the main event of Judgement Day from Charlotte in North Carolina. Also, Christian won the reinstated Intercontinental Championship in a battle royal where he was originally eliminated by Booker T. Christian illegally rejoined the match attacking Booker T with the title belt and eliminating him over the top rope in the front of the bumped referee who regained conscious on the arena floor and awarded the match and title to Christian.
2004 – Chavo Classic won the WWE Cruiserweight Title in a Triple Threat between Chavo Guerrero and Spike Dudley at the Smackdown taping in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2008 – At WWE Judgement Day from Omaha, Nebraska, Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the main event Steel Cage match. The Undertaker defeated Edge for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship and Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho. Also, John Cena defeated John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield, and John Morrison & The Miz defeated CM Punk & Kane to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
2013 – Jay Briscoe retained the ROH World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of ‘ROH: Relentless’ from Richmond, Virginia. Also Tommaso Ciampa defeated Chris LeRusso, Kevin Steen pinned Jimmy Jacobs in a No Disqualification match and C&C Wresting Factory (Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander), and Jay Lethal defeated Matt Taven, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly in a six man tag match.
2015 – NXT Champion Kevin Owens makes his WWE main roster debut when he answers John Cena’s weekly United States Championship open challenge. The match never takes place as Owens attacks Cena to set up a champion vs. champion match at the forthcoming WWE Network special, Elimination Chamber.
Notable Wrestling Birthdays:
- Colten Gunn (1991)
- Max Voltage (1987)
- Truth Martini (1975)
- The Blue Meanie (1973)
- Gary Albright (1963)
- Dick Slater (1951)
- Kamala (1950)
- Moondog King (1949)
- ‘Superfly’ Jimmy Snuka (1943)