This Day In Wrestling History – May 8th

Trivia

1974 – Antonio Inoki won the 1st NJPW World League, defeating Seiji Sakaguchi & Killer Karl Krupp in a round robin playoff

1976 – Abdullah The Butcher won the revamped AJPW Champion’s Carnival, defeating Giant Baba in the final after both men tied on 18 points. This was the 1st time that Baba had not won the competition since its inception in 1973, & would be one of only 3 Carnivals which he entered but didn’t win

2002 – WWE released Curt Hennig due to his conduct on the “plane ride from hell” where he & Brock Lesnar got into a physical confrontation, wrestling in the aisle of the plane

2004 – The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, housed in Schenectady, New York held their 2004 induction ceremonies. The 2004 inductees were Mae Young, Gordon Solie, Lord Little Brook, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Verne Gagne, William Muldoon, Vince McMahon Sr., Angelo Savoldi, Freddie Blassie, The Vachons, Len Rossi, & Dr. John Bonica. In attendance at the ceremonies were Paul & Maurice Vachon, Angelo Savoldi, Mae Young, The Fabulous Moolah, Harley Race, Verne Gagne, Johnny Rodz, Killer Kowalski, Nick Bockwinkel, Dave O’Hannon, Lord Littlebrook, (The Missing Link) Dewey Robertson, Destroyer Dick Beyer, S.D. Jones, Angelo Mosca, Jim Powers, Ida Mae Martinez, Bill Eadier, Johnny Valiant, & Terry Funk

2009 – Dwayne Johnson was in attendance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, accompanied by his ex-wife & business manager, Dani, who he remains friends with

2008 – WWE announced the release of Torrie Wilson, who had been sidelined for some time with a back injury. Wilson would return for a Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 25 but to date, never wrestled again after her WWE release beyond that appearance

Events

In 1988, the final WCCW Parade of Champions was held at Texas Stadium, in Irving, Texas. With an attendance of 7,000:

– The Missing Link & Jason Sterling defeated Vance Apollo & The Angel of Death
– Steve Casey defeated Eric Embry
– Black Bart defeated Bill Irwin via DQ
– Terry Taylor defeated Chris Adams to retain the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Title
– Terry Gordy defeated Michael Hayes in a Triple Dome of Terror Match
– Bruiser Brody & Kevin Von Erich defeated Buddy Roberts & A Masked Man (Solomon Grundy)
– John Tatum & Jack Victory defeated Terry Gordy & Steve Simpson via countout to win the vacant WCWA Wild West Tag Team Titles
– Kerry Von Erich defeated Iceman Parsons to win the WCWA World Heavyweight Title

In 1997, ECW ran The Madhouse of Extreme, the Elks Lodge in Queens, NY:

– Axl Rotten defeated Chris Chetti
– Spike Dudley defeated Little Guido
– Balls Mahoney defeated  the New Jersey Devil (Bill Wiles)
– Tommy Dreamer defeated Louie Spicolli
– ECW World TV Champion Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull #1
– ECW World Tag Team Champions The Eliminators defeated The Gangstas, & D-Von & Big Dudley in an elimination match
– Raven defeated the Sandman, & Stevie Richards in a Three-Way Dance
– ECW World Champion Terry Funk defeated Raven
– Taz & Chris Candido defeated Rob Van Dam & Sabu

In 2002, World Wrestling Entertainment presented “The Slammy Awards 2002” at their World Restaurant in Manhattan as a way to establish the WWE as an entertainment brand to advertisers & sponsors. The event was not open to the public. The point of the “Awards” presentation was that the WWE was competing not just within sports-entertainment but against the entire entertainment industry. Each category which had an “award” given out featured a WWE character competing against 2 non-WWE entities or performer:

– Best Comedic Performance (presented by Edge): Kurt Angle won, defeating Drew Carey & Ray Ramano. They showed the clip from Smackdown several weeks back with Edge giving him pictures with “You Suck” & other insults written on the back, & Angle’s reaction
– Best Dramatic Performance (presented by Torrie Wilson): Chris Jericho defeated James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”), & Alison Chaney (“The West Wing”). They aired a clip of Jericho intensely yelling & demanding the Rock respect him because he is the Undisputed champion
– Best Performance In An Action Series (presented by Stacy Keibler): WWE Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Kiefer Sutherland (“24”) and Jennifer Garner Alias (“Alias”)
– Best Performance In A Soap Opera (presented by Billy & Chuck): Triple H (for his wedding storyline) defeated Katie Holmes (“Dawson’s Creek”), & Kerri Russel (“Felicity”)
– Most Successful Run of Television Programming (presented by Ivory): WWE programming (accepted by Vince McMahon) defeated The Tonight Show, & 60 Minutes

Title Changes

1970 – The Hollywood Blondes (Jerry Brown & Buddy Roberts) win a tournament to win the vacant TSW United States Tag Team Titles

1974 – Jimmy & Johnny Valiant defeated Tony Garea & Dean Ho to win the WWWF Tag Team Titles

1983 – NWA World Champion Ric Flair defeated Billy Jack Haynes via DQ in Cetralia, Washington

1985 – The Snowman wins a tournament to win the vacant MSW Television Title

1988 – Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Big Van Vader to win the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title

1993 – Wolfie D defeated Danny Davis to win the USWA Middleweight Title

1999 – J.R. Smooth defeated Michael Hayes to win the Memphis Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee

2000 – on Raw, Chris Benoit defeated Chris Jericho to win the WWF Intercontinental Title

2002 – Tom Howard defeated Christopher Daniels to win the Ultimate Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Santa Ana, California. Howard, already the UPW Shoot Champion, unifies the two belts

2007 – on Smackdown, Edge cashes in his Money In The Bank & defeated The Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Title

2010 – El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto defeated Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Takaguchi) in the final of a tournament to win the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles

Birthdays

Happy birthday to British indy regular Dean Ayass (38), ROH manager Truth Martini (39), current Zero1 and former AJPW Tag Team Champion Akebono (45), & one-time AJPW and GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue (55)