This Day In Wrestling History – February 28th
Happy birthday to Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat!
1961 – Dick the Bruiser defeats Bobo Brazil, to win the NWA (Detroit) United States Heavyweight Championship.
1968 – In Stampede Wrestling, Archie Gouldie defeats Pat O’Connor, to become the inaugural Stampede North American Heavyweight Champion.
1969 – Johnny Valentine defeats Dan Miller, to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
1975 – Louie Tillet & John Tolos defeat The Hollywood Blonds (Jerry Brown & Buddy Roberts), to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship. Elsewhere, Al Madril defeats El Gran Markus, to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
1976 – Roddy Piper & Crusher Verdu defeat Chavo & Gory Guerrero, to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship. Los Guerreros had just won the titles one day earlier, defeating Karl Von Brauner & Senor X.
1977 – Perro Aguayo defeats Ringo Mendoza, to win the AAA Mexican National Middleweight Championship. Mendoza had been champion since November 29, 1974, a span of 822 days.
1982 – Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen defeat Jack & Jerry Brisco, to win the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship.
1987 – Buddy Landell defeats Ron Fuller, to win the NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship.
1992 – In the Global Wrestling Federation, Barry Horowitz defeats Ben Jordan, to win the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
2000 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (6.5 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (2.6 rating). On Nitro, the three members of 3 Count (Shane Helms, Evan Karagias, & Shannon Moore) simultaneously defeat Brian Knobbs, to become WCW Hardcore Co-Champions. WCW allowed the Freebird Rule; all three wrestlers were able to defend the title.
2002 – On this evening’s SmackDown, Goldust defeats Maven, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship for the first time. Goldust would become a 9-time Hardcore Champion in the next 2+ months.
2002 – WWF Tough Enough 2 premieres on MTV. Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda would be declared the winners at the end of the season.
2010 – Charlie Haas is released by WWE.
2011 – It is announced that Bob Armstrong will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania Weekend. It is also announced that Chris Jericho will participate in Season 12, of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
2011 – This evening’s RAW features The Rock responding to John Cena’s “rap” from one week earlier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuUao8M4TGA
2013 – On a live edition of Impact Wrestling, Kenny King defeats Rob Van Dam, to win the TNA X Division Championship.
2014 – At SHINE 17, The Lucha Sisters (Leva Bates & Mia Yim) defeat Made In Sin (Taylor Made & Allysin Kay) to become the inaugural SHINE Tag Team Champions.
2015 – In Ohio Valley Wrestling, Adam Revolver defeats Rump Thump, to win the OVW Television Championship.
2015 – At OMEGA Wrestling’s Night of a Champion, Jeff Hardy wins a Six-Way Elimination Match (with Matt Hardy, Trevor Lee, C.W. Anderson, Tommy Dreamer, & Caprice Coleman), to win the OMEGA Heavyweight Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: WWE Hall of Fame 2009 Inductee Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (64 years old); 2-time WCW Hardcore Champion Norman Smiley (52 years old); former WWF/E wrestler Aaron “Jesus” Aguilera (40 years old); indy wrestler Thomas Dubois (29 years old); and former ECW World Heavyweight Champion & Tag Team Champion Masato Tanaka (44 years old).
Today would’ve been the 78th birthday for Dewey “The Missing Link” Robertson. Robertson had a very brief run in the WWF from May – October of 1985. He had success in a few NWA territories; a 2-time NWA Central States Heavyweight Champion & 5-time Central States Tag Team Champion, 3-time NWA (Toronto) International Tag Team Champion in Maple Leaf Wrestling, and 2-time NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion.
SOURCES: Dewey Robertson on Wikipedia, wrestlingdata.com, gerweck.net, The Internet Wrestling Database
