This Day In Wrestling History – March 5th
Happy birthday to Beyond Wrestling’s Jordynne Grace!
1971 – Wahoo McDaniel defeats Toru Tanaka, to win the NWA American Heavyweight Championship.
1978 – Johnny Weaver defeats Baron von Raschke, to win the NWA Television Championship.
1980 – Hans Schroeder defeats Peter Maivia, to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship.
1985 – On this evening’s Prime Time Wrestling, Leilani Kai defeats Wendi Richter, to win the WWF Women’s Championship. The match originally occurred February 18th, as a dark match prior to MTV’s The War to Settle the Score.
1986 – Kendall Windham defeats The Cuban Assassin, to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship.
1994 – Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmanic defeat The Bruise Brothers, to win the NWA-ECW World Tag Team Championship.
2000 – On Hardcore TV, Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka win the ECW World Tag Team Championship; Dreamer & Tanaka defeat Justin Credible & Lance Storm.
2001 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (4.5 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (2.1 rating). On RAW, The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the 4th time, defeating The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & Devon). This was the first RAW with Paul Heyman on commentary; Heyman replaced Jerry Lawler, who quit the WWF on February 27th.
2005 – Jay Lethal defeats John Walters, to win the ROH Pure Championship.
2005 – At Day 10 of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Navigate for Evolution ’05, Muhammad Yone defeats Naomichi Marufuji, to win the GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship. Also, Takeshi Rikio defeats Kenta Kobashi, to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
2006 – At Day 10 of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Navigate for Evolution ’06, Minoru Fujita & Ikuto Hidaka defeat Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura, to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
2007 – Memphis Wrestling airs an angle, where Hulk Hogan signed a contract to wrestle Jerry Lawler. The match didn’t come to take place. WWE had pressured Lawler to drop out, leading to a lawsuit from promoter Cory Maclin, which was later settled.
2010 – Eddie Edwards defeats Davey Richards, in a tournament final, to become the inaugural ROH World Television Champion. The match would air on Ring of Honor Wrestling April 26th.
2010 – Citing Impact! moving to Monday nights as conflicting with his plans to wrestle for both TNA and CMLL, Sean Morley (aka Val Venis in WWE) decides to quit TNA.
2011 – At the Women Superstars Uncensored 4th Anniversary Show, Sassy Stephie defeats Brittney Savage, to win the WSU Spirit Championship. Also, Marti Belle & Jazz win the vacant WSU Tag Team Championship, after winning a Three-Way Fans Bring the Weapons Match. Marti & Jazz defeat The Cosmo Club (Amy Lee & Cindy Rogers) and The Soul Sisters (Jana & Luscious Latasha).
2012 – On RAW, Santino Marella defeats Jack Swagger, to win the WWE United States Championship. The general managers for RAW and SmackDown switched shows for one night only; Teddy Long was GM of this evening’s RAW and John Laurinaitis would be GM of SmackDown March 9th.
2016 – At Dragon Gate’s Champion Gate 2016 in Osaka, Yosuke (Loves) Santa Maria defeats Kotoka, to win the Open the Brave Gate Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Jordynne Grace from BEYOND Wrestling (27 years old); and Lucha Underground’s Marty “The Moth” Martinez (32 years old).
Today would’ve been the 64th birthday for former NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo, and the 90th birthday for former WWWF wrestler Chief Big Heart.
SOURCES: wrestlingdata.com, gerweck.net, The Internet Wrestling Database
