This Day In Wrestling History – April 1st (Recaps of WrestleMania VI, X-Seven, XXIII, and XXVIII)

For everything else in the wrestling world that happened on April 1st, click on this link.

1990 – WrestleMania VI is held at SkyDome in Toronto, in front of 67,678 fans.  It’s the first WrestleMania to be held outside of the United States.  In attendance were future WWF/E  stars Edge & Christian (both 16 years old), and Lance Storm (20 years old).  Also in attendance was future WWE interviewer & commentator Renee Young (age 4 at the time), and eight-year old Stephen Amell (currently starring in Arrow on The CW, and Neville’s tag team partner at SummerSlam 2015).

Dark Match:
– Paul Roma defeats The Brooklyn Brawler.
PPV:
– Rick Martel defeats Koko B. Bare.
– Demolition (Ax & Smash) defeat The Colossal Connection (Andre The Giant & Haku) (with Bobby Heenan), to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
– Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeats Hercules.
– Brutus Beefcake defeats Mr. Perfect (with The Genius).  This ends Mr. Perfect’s lengthy undefeated streak (in televised matches).
– Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fight to a double countout.
– The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeat The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov).
– The Barbarian (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Tito Santana.
– In a Mixed Tag Team Match, Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire (with Miss Elizabeth) defeat Randy Savage & Queen Sherri.
– The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) (with Mr. Fuji) defeat The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) via countout.
– Jim Duggan defeats Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart & Earthquake).
– Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) defeats Jake Roberts by countout, to retain the Million Dollar Championship.
– The Big Bossman defeats Akeem (with Slick).
– Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Jimmy Snuka.
– In a Champion vs Champion Match, The Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan, to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title AND win Hogan’s WWF Championship.  Warrior would have to vacate the Intercontinental Championship;  rules prohibited any wrestler from holding onto more than one singles belt simultaneously.

2001 – WrestleMania X-Seven is held at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, in front of 67,925 fans.  This event is often cited as the conclusion of the Attitude Era.

Sunday Night Heat:
– X-Factor (Justin Credible & X-Pac) (with Albert) defeat Steve Blackman & Grand Master Sexay.
PPV:
– Chris Jericho defeats William Regal, to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
– In a Six-Man Tag Team Match, Tazz & The APA (Bradshaw & Farooq) (with Jacqueline) defeat Right To Censor (Val Venis, The Goodfather, & Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards).
– Kane defeats Raven and The Big Show, in a Triple Threat Hardcore Match, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship.
– Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeats Test, to win the WWF European Championship.
– Kurt Angle defeats Chris Benoit.
– Chyna defeats Ivory, to win the WWF Women’s Championship.
– In a Street Fight, Shane McMahon defeats Vince McMahon (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley).  Mick Foley served as special guest referee.
– In TLC II, Edge & Christian defeat The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff), to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
– The Iron Sheik wins a 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal, last eliminating Hillbilly Jim.
– The Undertaker defeats Triple H.
– In a No Disqualification Match, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeats The Rock, to win the WWF Championship.  Stone Cold turns heel as he’s assisted by a former nemesis, Mr. McMahon.  After winning the title, Austin shakes hands with McMahon in the middle of the ring.

2007 – WrestleMania XXIII is held at Ford Field in Detroit, in front of 80,103 fans.  It broke several records, becoming the highest grossing one-day event in WWE (around $5.4 million in ticket sales).  It also broke the record for the biggest WrestleMania buyrate, with around 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.

Dark Match:
– Carlito & Ric Flair defeat Gregory Helms & Chavo Guerrero Jr., in a Lumberjack Match.
PPV:
– Mr. Kennedy wins the Money In The Bank Ladder Match.
– The Great Khali defeats Kane.
– Chris Benoit defeats MVP, to retain the WWE United States Championship.
– The Undertaker defeats Batista, to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
– In an 8-Man Tag Team Match, The ECW Originals (Sabu, The Sandman, RVD, & Tommy Dreamer) defeat The New Breed (Marcus Cor Von, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, & Matt Striker) (with Ariel).
– Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump) defeats Umaga (with Vince McMahon) in a Hair vs Hair, Battle Of The Billionaires Match.  Since Umaga lost, Vince had to get his head shaved.
– In a Lumberjill Match, Melina defeats Ashley Massaro, to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.
– John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels, to retain the WWE Championship.

2012 – WrestleMania 28 is held Sun Life Stadium in Miami, in front 78,363 fans.  It was built as The Rock vs. John Cena: Once In A Lifetime.

Pre-Show:
– In a Triple Threat Match, Primo & Epico (with Rosa Mendes) defeat The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso), and Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd, to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
PPV:
– Sheamus defeats Daniel Bryan (with AJ Lee), to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
– Kane defeats Randy Orton
– The Big Show defeats Cody Rhodes, to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
– Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos defeat Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix.
– The Undertaker defeats Triple H, to move THE STREAK to 20-0.
– Team Johnny (Drew McIntyre, The Miz, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, David Otunga, & Dolph Ziggler) defeat Team Teddy (The Great Khali, Zack Ryder, Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, & Booker T).  With the win, John Laurinaitis becomes General Manager of both WWE RAW and SmackDown.
– CM Punk defeats Chris Jericho via submission, to retain the WWE Championship.  If Punk had been disqualified, he would have lost the championship.
– The Rock defeats John Cena.

SOURCES: WrestleMania VI on Wikipedia, gerweck.net

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