May 20th – On This Day In Wrestling History

1974 – Bruno Sammartino pinned Killer Kowalski in a Texas Death match to retain the WWWF World Heavyweight Title at a house show in Madison Square Garden.

2000 – At the ECW Hardcore TV tapings in Columbia, South Carolina Justin Credible retained the ECW World Heavyweight Title against Jerry Lynn. Also, Dusty Rhodes defeated Jack Victory in a “Bullrope” match.

2001 – WWF ‘Judgement Day’ came from Sacramento, California. In the main event WWF Champion ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin retained the title against The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match and Triple H lost the Intercontinental Title to Kane in a Chain match. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit showcased another wrestling clinic in a Two-out-of-three-falls match with Angle’s Olympic medals on the line. Benoit won the first fall in a regular singles match, Angle won the second fall by submission with an Angle Lock, and Angle retrieved his gold medal to win the contest in a Ladder Match. Later in the evening Benoit teamed up with Chris Jericho to win a Tag Team Turmoil match and became the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team Titles. In Chyna’s final appearance the WWF she defended the Women’s Championship successfully against Lita.

2002 – The Undertaker retained the WWE Undisputed Title against Rob Van Dam in the main event of WWE Raw from Memphis, Tennessee.

2007 – At WWE ‘Judgement Day’ from St Louis, Missouri, WWE Champion John Cena retained the WWE Championship in the main event by making The Great Khali submit. Bobby Lashley defeated the team of Umaga, Vince & Shane McMahon in a Handicap match for the ECW Championship. However, Lashley did not win the title as he did not pin the ECW titleholder Vince McMahon. Also, MVP defeated Chris Benoit for the United States Championship in a Two-out-of-three-falls match and Edge retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista.

2011 – Randy “Macho Man” Savage sadly passed away aged 58 in Seminole, Florida. Savage had suffered a heart attack whilst driving in his Jeep Wrangler which tragically collided with a tree. Savage is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers to have ever lived. During his 32 year career Savage held 29 championships including the WWF World Title on two occasions which he won at WrestleManias IV and VIII respectively. He also held the WCW World Title on four occasions.

Savage is also credited in bringing credibility to the WWF’s secondary primary championship the Intercontinental Championship through his incredible in-ring work which was displayed in his match with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at Wrestlemania III which to this day is regarded as one of the greatest matches in the history of the event.

2012 – The third and final Over The Limit WWE pay-per-view took place in Raleigh, North Carolina. John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena in the main event and Christian defeated Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship. Also, CM Punk retained the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan and Sheamus retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal-Four Way match against Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, and Randy Orton.

2015 – At NXT Takeover: Unstoppable in Winter Park, Florida the main event NXT Championship match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn ended in a no contest. Sasha Banks retained the NXT Women’s Title against Becky Lynch.

2017 – Matt Riddle retained the WWN Title against Kyle O’Reilly in the main event of EVOLVE #84 from Summit, Illnois.

2017 – Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate for the WWE United Kingdom Championship at NXT Takeover: Chicago. This was the first title change since the championship’s inception in January that year. Bobby Roode retained the NXT Championship against Hideo Itami, Asuka won a Triple-Threat match against Nikki Cross & Ruby Riot to retain the NXT Women’s Title and in the main event The Authors of Pain Akam & Rezar defeated DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) to retain the NXT Tag Team titles. After the match, Ciampa viciously attacked Gargano bringing to an end the beloved DIY tag team.

2018 – At ‘PROGRESS Chapter 69: Be Here Now’ from Manchester, England Doug Williams won the PROGRESS Atlas Title in a Four-Way match against Joseph Conners, Rampage Brown & Rob Lynch, and Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate lost a Handicap Tag match to Flash Morgan, Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins. Also Travis Banks retained the PROGRESS Title against Jack Sexsmith, Zack Sabre Jr defeated Mark Andrews, and Walter pinned David Starr. In the main event Jinny defeated Toni Storm for the PROGRESS Women’s Title.

2019 – In the main event of Raw from Albany, New York the Universal Champion Seth Rollins & WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley in a No Disqualification Tag Team match.

2020 – “BROKEN” Matt Hardy defeated Sammy Guevara in the main event of the go-home edition of AEW Dynamite before the Double Or Nothing PPV.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays on May 20th

• Akam (1993)
• Kota Ibushi (1982)
• Road Dogg (Brian James) – (1969)