This Day In Wrestling History – October 1st
1979 – Bill Dundee defeats Jerry Lawler, to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for the 5th time. Also, The Blue Bombers (Wayne Farris and Larry Latham) defeat Sonny King and Ricky Morton, to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship.
1989 – Greg Gagne retires from in-ring competition after suffering a knee injury, at the hands of Kokina Maximus.
1993 – Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson are awarded the ECW World Tag Team Championship, after the titles are stripped from The Dark Patriot and Eddie Gilbert (Gilbert no-showed the evening’s Bloodfest: Part 1 event). He ultimately left ECW.
1999 – Naoya Ogawa defeats Gary Steele, to reclaim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Steele had defeated Ogawa for the title six days earlier. Also, The New Dr. X defeats Jimmy James, to win the NWA Texas Hardcore Championship.
1999 – Canyon and Bull Schmidt defeat The Sterling Studs, to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship.
2000 – ECW Anarchy Rulz is held in Saint Paul, Minnesota in front of 4,600 fans.
-In the dark match, Nova defeats Bilvis Wesley.
-In a tag team match, Danny Doring and Roadkill defeat The Bad Street Boys (Christian York and Joey Matthews).
-Kid Kash defeats EZ Money.
-Joel Gertner defeats Cyrus.
-In a tag team match, Da Baldies (Angel and Tony DeVito) defeat Balls Mahoney and Chilly Willy.
-Steve Corino defeats C.W. Anderson, to become the #1 contender for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
-The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke) defeat The Unholy Alliance (Mikey Shipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri), to retain the World Tag Team Championship.
-Rhino defeats Rob Van Dam, to retain the ECW World Television Championship.
-Jerry Lynn defeats Justin Credible, to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
2005 – TNA Impact debuts on SPIKE TV, airing Saturdays at 11pm ET. The program had previously aired on the FOX Sports Net regional networks. The first episode on SPIKE scores a 0.78 TV rating (after averaging at 0.22 on FSN).
2005 – Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke defeat B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs, to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
2010 – WWE Friday Night SmackDown begins airing on it’s new home, Syfy. Despite airing live, rather than the usual three-day tape delay, the first episode on Syfy only receives a 1.78 TV rating.
2011 – Ayako Hamada and Ayumi Kurihara defeat Daizee Haze and Tomoka Nakagawa, to win the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.
2014 – On this evening’s episode of Impact Wrestling, Havok defeats Gail Kim, to win the TNA Knockouts’ Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Former TNA Television Champion, X Division Champion, and two-time World Tag Team Champion Robbie E (33 years old), former WWE Tag Team Champion and Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel (37 years old), former AWA World Tag Team Champion Hector Guerrero (62 years old), Ring of Honor co-founder Rob Feinstein (44 years old), former TNA television interviewer Leticia Cline (38 years old), two-time WWE Tag Team Champion Rico (55 years old), and current Pure Wrestling Association Women’s Elite Champion Leah Vaughan (29 years 0ld).
Today would’ve been the 56th birthday of Timothy James Burke, aka Lucifer. Lucifer was a Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion; he was inducted into the Maryland Championship Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. Lucifer passed away June 21, 2011 after a long battle with cancer.
Today would’ve been the 92nd birthday of Bob Geigel. Bob was NWA President for most of the time period from 1978-1987. He ran the NWA Central States promotion from 1963-1986, until it was bought out by Jim Crockett Promotions. Among his accomplishments in the ring, Bob Geigel was a 4-time AWA Tag Team Champion, 6-time NWA Central States Heavyweight Champion, and a 4-time NWA Central States World Tag Team Champion. Bob passed away at the age of 90 on October 30, 2014, after battling Alzheimer’s Disease.
SOURCES: Google, Wikipedia, gerweck.net, tpww.net
