May 4th – On This Day In Wrestling History

1986 – WCWA Parade of Champions III took place in Irving, Texas, in front of 24,121 fans. The event was held by WCCW promoter Fritz Von Erich in memory of his son David Von Erich who died in 1984. In the main event of the show Kerry Von Erich, Lance Von Erich and Steve Simpson defeated Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy in a ‘6-Man Tag Lumberjack Strap Elimination’ match to win the WCCW 6-Man Tag Team titles.

1994 – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku was held at the Fukuoka Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. On the show Shinya Hashimoto defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and, in his last ever match Rick Rude defeated Sting to win the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. As a result of an injury suffered in this match, Rude never wrestled again other than a small role in an ECW six-man tag team match in 1997.

1998 – Fit Finlay defeated Booker T on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro to win the WCW World Television Title, the fifth time in five days the title changed hands.

1999 – The OVW Light Heavyweight Title was won by American Eagle when he defeated Jason Lee in Louisville, Kentucky.

2000 – MCW (Memphis) ‘The Big Show in Oxford’ was in Oxford, Mississippi. In a singles match Ronnie James Mullet defeated Todd Morton to win the MCW Tag Team Titles, but then in the main event Bull Pain and Todd Morton beat David Lee Mullet and Ronnie James Mullet to take the belts.

2002 – WWF Insurrextion was held at the Wembley Arena in London, England, in font of 10,500 fans. This was the last PPV held under the WWF name before re-branding as WWE. It was also following this show that the infamous ‘Plane Ride From Hell’ took place when the superstars were flying back to America, resulting in both Scott Hall and Curt Hennig being fired from the company. On the show:

• Rob Van Dam defeated Eddie Guerrero by disqualification in a WWF Intercontinental Championship match, meaning Guerrero retained the title.
• Trish Stratus and Jacqueline defeated Molly Holly and Jazz.
• X-Pac defeated Bradshaw following interference from Scott Hall.
• Booker T defeated Steven Richards to win the WWF Hardcore Championship, then Crash Holly won it from Booker T, Booker T won it BACK from Holly but then lost it to the original champion of the night, Steven Richards.
• The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) defeated Brock Lesnar and Shawn Stasiak, with Stasiak getting pinned.
• Spike Dudley defeated William Regal to retain the WWF European Championship.
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Big Show with Ric Flair acting as the special enforcer.
• Triple H defeated The Undertaker with the Pedigree and pin.

2003 – JCW (NJ) It All Ends Here was held in Passaic, New Jersey. Giant Silva won the UWA Heavyweight Title after outlasting everyone else in a Gauntlet match and in the main event Tony Blaze and Warpath took the Jersey Championship Wrestling Tag Team Titles from E. C. Negro and K.C. Blade.

2004 – At a WWE Smackdown! taping in Tucson, Arizona, Jacqueline defeated Chavo Guerrero to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, becoming the only woman to hold the belt in the WWE. (Both Madusa and Daffney were Cruiserweight champions when the belt was in WCW).

2007 – Marcela defeated Princesa Sujei at CMLL Super Viernes in Mexico City to become the new Mexican National Women’s champion.

2009 – DDT Max Bump was held in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The main event of the night saw HARASHIMA beat Sanshiro Takagi to win the KO-D Openweight title.

2010 – At a TNA iMPACT! taping in Orlando, Florida, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall defeated Matt Morgan in a Handicap match to become the new TNA World Tag Team champions. Eric Young was also recognized as a champion and Young, Nash and Hall, calling themselves The Band, defended the championship under the Freebird Rule.

2011– At DDT Max Bump in Tokyo, Keisuke Ishii defeated Masa Takanashi for the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal title but then lost it back to him in the bvery next match. In the main event Shuji Ishikawa became the new KO-D Openweight champion after beating Dick Togo.

2012 – Shigehiro Irie and Shuji Ishikawa defeated Shinobu and Yoshihito Sasaki at the DDT Union Pro Golden Union show to win the BJW Tag Team titles.

2012 – DDT Max Bump was in Tokyo, Japan and in the main event Yuji Hino beat Masa Takanashi for the KO-D Openweight title.

2013 – In the main event of DREAMWAVE Retaliation in LaSalle, Illinois, Jason Hades outlasted both Christian Rose and Nick Brubaker in a Triple-Threat match to become the new DREAMWAVE World Title holder.

2014 – Matt Cross won the Smash Wrestling Title at SMASH (Canada) Gold in Toronto, after defeating Chris Hero, Josh Alexander, Kevin Steen, and Takaaki Watanabe in a 5-Way Elimination match.

2014 – Day Three of the JCW Road to the Gathering Tour was held in Toledo, Ohio. The JCW Heavyweight title was won by 2 Tuff Tony after beating Krimson.

2014 – WWE presented Extreme Rules from the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in front of 15,907 fans. On the show:

• Cesaro defeated Jack Swagger and Rob Van Dam in a Triple-Threat Elimination match.
• Alexander Rusev defeated R-Truth and Xavier Woods in a 2-on-1 Handicap match when Rusev forced R-Truth to submit to the Accolade.
• Bad News Barrett defeated Big E to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
• The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) defeated Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista) after Reigns his Batista with A Superman Punch followed by the Spear to get the pin.
• Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a steel cage match. During the match Cena attempted to escape through the door but the arena lights went off. When they came back on a demonic child appeared singing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, distracting Cena. Wyatt then hit Sister Abigail on Cena and escaped through the door to win the match.
• Paige defeated Tamina Snuka by submission to retain the WWE Divas Championship.
• Daniel Bryan defeated Kane in an Extreme Rules match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

2018 – Tessa Blanchard defeated Chelsea Green at the PCW ULTRA May the 4th show in California to win the PCW ULTRA Women’s title.

2019 – In Tijuana, Mexico, Rey Horus won the Crash Heavyweight title in a Four-Way match that also featured Adam Brooks, Austin Theory, and Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

2019 – J. T. Dunn defeated Brad Hollister to woin the NEW Heaveyweight title at the NEW Arena in Bethany, Connecticut.

Notable Wrestling Birthdays:

• Da Mack (1987)
• Brad Maddox (1984)
• Jim Steele (1967)
• Mr. Fuji (1934)