This Day In Wrestling History – May 10th

Trivia

1981 – Verne Gagne announced he was retiring as AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Verne vacated the title (it was his 9th or 10th reign, depending on what records you use), & it would later be awarded to number-one contender Nick Bockwinkel, who Gagne had defeated for the belt on July 18, 1980

1985 – The 1st WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event is held in Long Island, New York. It would be televised the next night on NBC

2001 – Vince McMahon announced the closure of the XFL

2005 – The Amazing Red received a tryout with WWE, taking on CM Punk in a dark match that opened a Smackdown taping in Reading, PA.  Red wasn’t signed but would find his niche nationally in TNA’s X-Division soon enough.  The same taping featured future ROH star Jimmy Jacobs wrestling Eddie Guerrero in a bout that was broadcast

2007 – TNA released former NWA World Tag Team champions “The Naturals” Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas

Events

In 1990,  NWA held a live event at the Dome Arena, in Rochester, NY:

– NWA U.S. Tag Team Champion Brian Pillman (subbing for Abdullah the Butcher) defeated the Cuban Assassin
– Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane defeated Johnny Ace & Jonnie Stewart
– Mike Rotunda defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Sir Oliver Humperdink) via DQ
– NWA World Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons)
– NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk defeated the Samoan Savage (Tonga Kid) & Samu

Also in 1990, the WWF held a live event in Green Bay, Wisconsin:

– Akeem defeated Jimmy Snuka
– Brutus Beefcake defeated the Genius
– Dino Bravo defeated the Red Rooster
– The Bushwhackers fought Greg Valentine & the Honky Tonk Man to a double DQ
– WWF World Champion the Ultimate Warrior defeated Mr. Perfect
-Brutus Beefcake won a 12-man battle royal

In 1997. ECW ran at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 1st event held in ECW’s home base following the Barely Legal Pay-per-view. Nicknamed “Chapter 2”:

– Shane Douglas & Bam Bam Bigelow defeated The Pitbulls. During the match, Rick Rude came out and carried Francine to the back
– Axl Rotten defeated Chris Chetti
– The FBI (Little Guido & Tracy Smothers) defeated Spike Dudley & Balls Mahoney (subbing for an injured Mikey Whipwreck)
– ECW World Tag Team Champions The Eliminators defeated PG-13
– Tommy Dreamer (with Beulah) defeated Louie Spicolli
– Big Dick & D-Von Dudley defeated The Gangstas
– Taz & Chris Candido defeated Sabu & Rob Van Dam
– ECW World Champion Terry Funk defeated Raven, The Sandman, & Stevie Richards in a Four Way Dance

In 2014, Ring of Honor & New Japan Pro Wrestling Global Wars was held live on iPPV from Ted Reeve Arena, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With an attendance of 1,500. The event was originally billed as “Border Wars” as it had been in 2012 & 2013. With the exception of 1  interpromotional match, wrestlers from NJPW & ROH were kept separated from each other with the bookers from each promotion handling their own half of the show:

Pre-Show:
– TaDarius Thomas (with Jimmy Jacobs) defeated The Romantic Touch (Rhett Titus)
iPPV:
– Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) defeated ACH
– Michael Elgin defeated Takaaki Watanabe
– The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated The Decade (Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer) (with TaDarius Thomas), & reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) in a 3-way tag team match
– Cedric Alexander defeated Roderick Strong (The Decade was banned from ringside)
– The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) defeated Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero), & Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & Kushida) to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles in a 3-way tag team match
– Jushin Liger & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Chaos (Jado & Shinsuke Nakamura)
– Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) defeated Silas Young, Matt Taven, & Tommaso Ciampa to retain the ROH World Television Title in a 4-corner survival match
– Bullet Club (AJ Styles & Karl Anderson) defeated Chaos (Gedo & Kazuchika Okada)
– Adam Cole defeated Kevin Steen to retain the ROH World Title

Title Changes

1946 – Buddy Rogers defeated Lou Thesz to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas

1966 – The Assassins (1 & 2) defeated Stan Kowalski & The Great Matsuda in the final of a tournament to win the vacant TSW United States Tag Team Titles

1968 – The Big O (Johnny Valentine under a mask) defeats Mr. Wrestling to win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia

1968 – The Sicialians (Lou Albano & Tony Altimore) defeated WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino & Battman Tony Marino in the main event of a WWWF event in Johnstown, PA

1980 – Rick Steamboat & Jay Youngblood defeated Ray Stevens & Greg Valentine to win the NWA World Tag Team Title in Greensboro, North Carolina

1999 – on Raw, Sable defeated Debra in an Evening Gown Match, however, Commissioner Shawn Michaels claims that Debra is the winner as she lost her dress. Michaels awards the WWF Women’s Title to Debra

1999 – Atlantis defeated Dr. Wagner Jr to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title

Birthdays

Happy birthday to former WCW wrestler Air Paris (37), former NWA Tag Team star Jerry Brown (77), & 2-time WWF/E Intercontinental Champions William Regal (46), & Tito Santana (61)

Also, some sources give today as the birthday of WWE Hall of Famer Verne Gagne, who according to said sources would be 90. I cannot confirm the accuracy of these sources as yet. Other sources give the date as February 26 and/or the year as 1926.

In Memoriam

On this day in 1983, the wrestling world lost famed promoter Frank Tunney at the age of 70. Tunney 1st became involved with wrestling in a secretarial role at the Queensbury Athletic Club, who were soon moving to new premises at the Maple Leaf Gardens. The Athletic Club controlled the local wrestling promotion & Tunney eventually ascended the ranks to become its book-keeper. In 1939, QAC owner Jack Corcoran died suddenly of influenza, leaving Tunney to take the reins. The promotion struggled to stay afloat while Tunney was learning the ropes, as Wild Bill Longson was the only top draw left in the area. Eventually, after a great deal of work on his part, Whipper Billy Watson was elevated to main event status and a star was born. Watson’s drawing power almost single-handedly saved the financial situation of the promotion, which in turn allowed Tunney to bring in more stars for him to feud with. Eventually, Tunney bought a stake in the NWA St Louis territory, in an attempt to bring yet more stars to his promotion (Montreal and Toronto did not receive NWA backing until 1949). His promoting abilities and respect within the wrestling business saw him elected NWA President for one term in 1960-61. Tunney remained involved with his 3 promotions well into the 1970′s, but had gradually begun to step away from active duties. Eventually, control of the Canadian territories was passed to Watson and he sold his stake in St Louis. Tunney lived out a quiet retirement & died peacefully in his sleep whilst visiting Hong Kong. His status was such that his pallbearers included Sam Muchnick, Billy Watson, Vince McMahon, Gene Kiniski, & Jim Crockett