This Day In Wrestling History – February 22nd
1957 – Pepper Gomez defeats El Medico, to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
1971 – Fritz Von Erich defeats Toru Tanaka, to win the NWA American Heavyweight Championship.
1974 – Harley Race defeats Archie Gouldie, to win Stampede Wresting’s North American Heavyweight Championship.
1976 – In a No Disqualification Match, Tommy Rich defeats Jerry Lawler, to win the NWA (Mid-America) Southern Heavyweight Championship.
1978 – The Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma defeat Animal Hamaguchi & Mighty Inoue, to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship.
1983 – Dick Slater defeats Mike Rotunda, to win the NWA Television Championship. Elsewhere, The Great Gama defeats The Dynamite Kid, to win the vacant Stampede Wrestling World Mid-Heavyweight Championship. Records indicate that this begins a 2,196-day reign as champion for Gama, lasting until February 26, 1989.
1984 – In Tokyo, Japan, Jumbo Tsuruta defeats Nick Bockwinkel, to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.
1987 – Abdullah the Butcher defeats Hercules Ayala, to win the International Wrestling International Heavyweight Title in Montreal, Quebec. Abdullah would be the final champion, as International Wrestling closed later that year.
1988 – In a rematch from a week earlier, The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) defeat The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton), to win the held up AWA World Tag Team Championship. The Rockers were two-time champions heading into the February 15th match vs The Express. Records indicate the titles were not vacated, as is usually the case after a “held up” match. The Rockers are not credited with a third title win; this is a continuation of their second title reign that began December 27, 1987.
1993 – This evening’s WWF Monday Night RAW features Hulk Hogan’s first appearance, since WrestleMania VIII in April 1992. Hogan announces a new alliance with Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. The new team was called The Mega-Maniacs, with Jimmy Hart as their manager.
1994 – Javier Llanes defeats El Dandy, to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship.
1998 – WCW SuperBrawl VIII is held in San Francisco in front of 12,620 fans. Booker T defeats Rick Martel, to win the WCW World Television Championship; Martel suffered a torn knee ligament during the match. Booker would then immediately defend the title vs Saturn, but wins and retains the title. The British Bulldog defeats Steve McMichael, who suffers a broken arm during the match. The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) defeat The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott), to win the World Tag Team Championship. In the main event, Sting defeats Hollywood Hogan, to win the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
2004 – Kaz Hayashi defeats Blue-K, to win the vacant AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship.
2010 – In a tournament final on RAW, Maryse defeats Gail Kim, to win the vacant WWE Divas Championship. It is also announced that Wendy Richter would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania Weekend.
2011 – Rush defeats Ephesto, to win the CMLL Light World Light Heavyweight Championship.
2015 – WWE Fastlane is held in Memphis in front of 13,263 fans. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro become the new WWE Tag Team Champions, after defeating The Usos. Rusev retains the United States Championship, defeating John Cena via submission. After feuding in the ring and attacking one another, a match between Sting and Triple H is made official for WrestleMania 31. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeats Daniel Bryan, to become the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship; Reigns will face Brock Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: former WCW wrestler Super Calo (46 years old); and 2-time CMLL Mexican Trios Champion Psicosis II (50 years old).
SOURCES: gerweck.net, SuperBrawl VIII on Wikipedia, wrestlingdata.com
