This Day In Wrestling History– July 26th

Trivia

1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Monday Night Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 7.1 to 3.4 in the ratings

2005 – Then-WWE developmental talent The Miz worked a dark match during a Smackdown taping in Rochester, NY, teaming with Tough Enough winner Matt Cappotelli to defeat The Highlanders.  The taping also featured one of two televised appearances by Frankie Kazarian, who defeated Funaki on Velocity.  Kazarian would quickly request a WWE release after being asked to cut his hair.  He would eventually return to TNA & find a place on their roster as a member of Fortune.  The taping itself is most remembered for a promo cut by Eddie Guerrero declaring that he, not Rey Mysterio, was the father of Mysterio’s legitimate son Dominick, which kicked off an extremely heated feud between the 2

2007 – WWE announced the release of Rene Dupree

2007 – WWE began plans to move forward with HD broadcasting in January 2008

Events

In 1998, WWF Fully Loaded: In Your House was held at the Selland Arena,  in Fresno, California. With an attendance of 9,855:

– Val Venis defeated Jeff Jarrett (with Tennessee Lee)
– D’Lo Brown (with The Godfather) defeated X-Pac (with Chyna)
– Faarooq & Scorpio defeated Justin Bradshaw & Terry Funk
– Mark Henry defeated Vader
– The Disciples of Apocalypse (Skull & 8-Ball) (with Paul Ellering) defeated LOD 2000 (Hawk & Animal)
– Owen Hart defeated Ken Shamrock in a Dungeon Match with Dan Severn as special guest referee
– The Rock fought Triple H (with Chyna) to a time limit draw in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Jacqueline defeated Sable via DQ in a Bikini Contest (with Jerry Lawler master of ceremonies) (Sable won, but the decision was reversed the following night on Raw, due to the fact Sable was not wearing a bikini top, & had hand prints painted on her chest)
– The Undertaker & Steve Austin defeated Kane & Mankind (with Paul Bearer) to win the WWF Tag Team Titles

In 2003, CZW Tournament of Death II was held in Dover, Delaware:

1st Round Tournament Matches:
– Zandig defeated Nate Webb in a Panes of Glass Match
– Nick Mondo defeated JC Bailey in a Light Tubes & Ladders Match
– Necro Butcher defeated Corporal Robinson in a 4 Corners of Pain Match
– Ian Rotten defeated Nick Gage in a Barbed Wire Boards & Light Tube Table Match
Non Tournament Matches:
– Trent Acid defeated Z-Barr
– Ian Knoxx defeated Jude, Chri$ Ca$h, Cory Kastle, Niles Young, & Rick Feinburg in a 6-way match
– Johnny Kashmere defeated Nick Berk
Semi-Final Tournament Matches:
– Ian Rotten defeated Necro Butcher in a Fans Bring The Weapons Match
– Nick Mondo defeated Zandig in a 2/3 Light Tube Log Cabins Match
Non Tournament Tag Match:
– B-Boy & The Messiah defeated Ruckus & Sonjay Dutt
Tournament of Death Finals:
– “Sick” Nick Mondo defeated Ian Rotten in a Barbed Wire Ropes, 200 Light Tubes Match (due to injuries he sustained, Mondo would have to vacate his CZW Iron Man Title)

In 2003, PWG held its debut event at Frank & Son’s, in City of Industry, California:

– Charles Mercury, Sara Del Rey, & Supa Badd defeated Ryan Drago, Topgun Talwar, & Zokre
– Excalibur defeated Chris Bosh
– Super Dragon defeated M-Dogg 20
– TARO defeated Babi Slymm
– Hook Bomberry & Apolo Kahn defeated Mr. Excitement & Disco Machine
– Hardkore Inc. (The Hardkore Kidd, Alkatrazz, & Adam Pearce) defeated The X-Foundation (Funky Billy Kim, Scott Lost, & Joey Ryan)
– NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles defeated Frankie Kazarian

In 2005, AJPW Heavy Fighting Yoyogi was held in Tokyo, Japan:

– Mazada defeated Nosawa Rongai in a Loser Leaves All Japan Match
– Toshiaki Kawada defeated Kazushi Miyamoto
– Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Shuji Kondo & Brother Yasshi to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– Taiyo Kea, Jamal, TAKA Michinoku, & Masahiro Chono defeated Taru, Giant Bernard, Chuck Palumbo, & Johnny Stamboli
– Satoshi Kojima defeated Keiji Muto to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title

In 2008, ROH New Horizons was held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds & Expo Center, in Detroit, Michigan. It aired on PPV on September 26th, 2008:

Dark Matches:
– Ernie Osiris, Alex Payne, & Kyle Durden defeated Ninja White, Ninja Yellow, & Rocky Fontaine
– D-Ray 3000 defeated Shane Holister
– Silas Young defeated Kenny Omega
PPV:
– The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay) defeated Silas Young & Mitch Franklin
– Erick Stevens defeated Delirious, Ruckus, & Shane Hagadorn in a 4 Corner Survival Match
– Kevin Steen defeated Necro Butcher in a No Disqualifications Match
– Nigel McGuinness defeated Claudio Castagnoli to retain the ROH World Title
– Roderick Strong & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Chris Hero & Go Shiozaki (with Larry Sweeney)
– Bryan Danielson defeated Tyler Black
Dark Main Event:
– Ruckus won the Honor Rumble Match. Defeating: Kyle Durden, Bushwhacker Luke, Bobby Dempsey, Erick Stevens, Jay Briscoe, Necro Butcher, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Briscoe, Rhett Titus, Ernie Osiris, Delirious, Nigel McGuinness, Alex Payne, & Sara Del Rey

In 2009, WWE Night Of Champions was held at the Wachovia Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With an attendance of 17,774:

Dark Match:
– Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard & JTG) defeated The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & DH Smith)
PPV:
– Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho & The Big Show) defeated The Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr.) to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles
– Christian defeated Tommy Dreamer to win the ECW Title
– Kofi Kingston defeated MVP, The Miz, Carlito, Jack Swagger, & Primo in a Six-Pack Challenge Match to retain the WWE United States Title
– Michelle McCool defeated Melina to retain the WWE Women’s Title
– Randy Orton defeated Triple H & John Cena in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE Title
– Mickie James defeated Maryse to win the WWE Divas Title
– Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Maria) to retain the WWE Intercontinental Title
– Jeff Hardy defeated CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Title

Title Changes

1946 – Dave Levin defeated Kay Bell to win the Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas

1950 – Ray Clements defeated Frank Murdoch to win Amarillo’s Southwest Junior Heavyweight Title in Lubbock, Texas

1968 – Fritz Von Erich defeated Spoiler #1 to win the held-up NWA American Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas

1972 – Fred Blassie defeated Johnny Barend to win the Hawaii NWA North American Heavyweight Title

1980 – Greg Valentine defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic United States Title. However, the title change is not recognized by current WWE Title Histories

1980 – Barry Windham defeated Masa Saito to win the NWA Florida Television Title in St. Petersburg, Florida

1980 – Cien Caras defeated Tony Benetto to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Title in Puebla, Mexico

1981 – Angelo Mosca defeated Mr. Fuji to win the Toronto NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title in Toronto, Ontario

1984 – The Grapplers (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) defeated The Uptown Boys (Marty Jannetty & Tommy Rogers) to win the NWA Central States Tag Team Title in Kansas City, Kansas

1986 – Dusty Rhodes defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Title

1991 – The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat) defeated Billy Black & Joel Deaton to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles

1994 – Peggy Lee Leather defeated Bambi to win  the unofficial NWA World Women’s Title,  recognized by Jim Crockett Promotions in East Ridge, Tennessee

1999 – on Raw, D’Lo Brown defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the WWF Intercontinental Title

2002 – The Lynch Mob (2 Tuff Tony and Corporal Robinson) defeated The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere) for the vacant Insane Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title in Hamtramck, Michigan

2002 – the WWE Hardcore Title’s 24/7 Rule sees the belt pass from Bradshaw to Raven, to Justin Credible, to Shawn Stasiak, & back to Bradshaw

Birthdays

Happy birthday to 4-time USWA Heavyweight Champion Tommy Rich (58), & ROH Triple Crown Champion Roderick Strong (31)

Also, today would have been the birthday of former ECW Tag and Television Champion ‘Pitbull #2′ Anthony Durante (46)