This Day In Wrestling History – March 11th
1964 – Antonio Inoki makes his pro wrestling debut in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1989 – The 20th edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event airs on NBC, and receives a 10.0 TV rating.
-Brutus Beefcake defeats Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) via disqualification.
-Hulk Hogan (with Miss Elizabeth) defeats Bad News Brown.
-Ted DiBiase defeats The Blue Blazer.
-The Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson) (with Bobby Heenan) fight The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) to a double countout.
-The Red Rooster defeats The Brooklyn Brawler (with Bobby Heenan).
1989 – Jeff Jarrett defeats Dutch Mantel, to win the CWA Heavyweight Championship.
1991 – Jerry Lawler wins the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship for the 8th time, defeating Terry Funk.
1993 – At a house show in London, England, Sting defeats Big Van Vader, to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
1995 – In Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Bobby Blaze defeats Jerry Lawler, to become the new SMW Heavyweight Champion. Blaze would successfully defend his title later in the evening, defeating Buddy Landel.
1996 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.2 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.9 rating).
2002 – On RAW, Al Snow defeats Goldust, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship for the 6th time.
2007 – TNA Destination X is held in Orlando in front of 900 fans. In a Two-out-of-Three Falls Match, Chris Sabin defeats Jerry Lynn, to retain the TNA X Division Championship. In the main event, Christian Cage defeats Samoa Joe, to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
2007 – Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
2009 – Former WWF Intercontinental champion & MMA legend Ken Shamrock was suspended for 1 year & fined $2,500 by the California State Athletic Commission. Shamrock tested positive for 3 different types of steroids, Norandrosterone, Noretiocholanolone & Stanozolol. The tests occurred after a February 13th win in California over Ross Clifton. It was Shamrock’s first win in almost four years. The suspension effectively canceled a planned Shamrock vs. Bobby Lashley MMA bout.
2010 – Former WWWF Tag Team Champion Jerry Valiant passes away at age 63, after battling Alzheimer’s.
2010 – Sandy Scott, a 20-time Tag Team Champion among various promotions and territories, passes away at age 75; Scott had been battling pancreatic cancer.
2012 – In Florida Championship Wrestling, Leo Kruger defeats Mike Dalton, to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.
2013 – WWE RAW opens with a tribute to Paul Bearer, who had passed away six days earlier.
2015 – At Family Wrestling Entertainment’s FWE XIX, AJ Styles defeats John Hennigan, to win the FWE Heavyweight Championship (Two-out-of-Three Falls Match). Styles is the final champion, as this was FWE’s final event before closing down. Their website, http://fwewrestling.com/home, is still up, though it has not been updated since the promotion’s final event.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: former TNA/ROH/Dragon Gate Wrestler Jonny Fairplay (43 years old); former ECW Television & Tag Team Champion Pitbull #1 (50 years old); former AJPW Junior Heavyweight & All Asia Tag Team Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima (29 years old); 2-time European Heavyweight Champion Robbie Brookside (51 years old); and current Impact Wrestling backstage interviewer McKenzie Mitchell (age unknown).
SOURCES: WrestleView, Saturday Night’s Main Event XX on Wikipedia, gerweck.net, wrestlingdata.com
