This Day In Wrestling History – April 27th

1962 – Dick Beyer wrestles as The Masked Destroyer for the first time, and defeats Seymour Koenig in San Diego.

1981 – Tommy Rich defeats Harley Race, to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

1990 – Keiji Mutoh & Masahiro Chono defeat Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

1992 – Lauren Davenport defeats Dirty White Girl, to win the USWA Women’s Championship.  Elsewhere, Barry Windham defeats Steve Austin, to win the WCW World Television Championship (aired on the May 9th episode of WCW Saturday Night).

1997 – Jerry Lawler defeats King Reginald, to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, for the 28th and final time.

1998 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (5.7 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (1.72 rating).  Nitro was a one-hour show airing at midnight on the East Coast.  Tuesday Nitro aired the following night (I’m not sure what time), receiving a 2.28 rating.  On RAW, live from Hampton, VA, D-Generation X decided to head to Norfolk, VA, where Nitro was being taped for its Tuesday airing.  DX appeared outside the Norfolk Scope in fatigues, shouting insults at WCW through a bullhorn, and challenging Eric Bischoff to come out and face them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIS3X1rQtmw

2000 – Two titles change hands on this evening’s SmackDown.  Dean Malenko defeats Scotty 2 Hotty, to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.  Crash Holly defeats Matt Hardy, to win the Hardcore Championship.  This episode also featured Stone Cold Steve Austin’s first appearance in six months;  Austin, operating a crane, dropped a concrete barrier onto the DX Express Bus, causing the bus to explode (video below).

2000 – The Prototype defeats Smelly, to win the Ultimate Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship.  The Prototype is known today as John Cena.

2003 – WWE Backlash is held in Worcester, Mass. in front of 10,000 fans.

Match that aired on Sunday Night Heat:
– Scott Steiner defeats Rico.
PPV:
– Team Angle (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) defeat Los Guerreros (Eddie & Chavo) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
– Sean O’Haire (with Roddy Piper) defeats Rikishi.
– Rob Van Dam & Kane defeat The Dudley Boyz, to retain the World Tag Team Championship.  Chief Morley served as special guest referee.
– Jazz (with Theodore Long) defeats Trish Stratus, to win the WWE Women’s Championship.
– Big Show defeats Rey Mysterio.
– Brock Lesnar defeats John Cena, to retain the WWE Championship.
– In a Six-Man Tag Team Match, Chris Jericho, Triple H, & Ric Flair defeat Kevin Nash, Booker T, & Shawn Michaels.
– Goldberg defeats The Rock.

2007 – WWE Studios’ motion picture The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin, premieres in theaters.  The film bombed at the box office, and was the weakest of the company’s films up until that point.  The film would rank 9th for the weekend, and would only gross $8,642,858 worldwide.

2008 – WWE Backlash is held in Baltimore, in front of 11,277 fans.

Dark Match:
– WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz & John Morrison defeat Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang (non-title match).
PPV:
– Matt Hardy defeats MVP, to win the WWE United States Championship.
– Kane defeats Chavo Guerrero, Jr. (with Bam Neely), to retain the ECW Championship.
– Big Show defeats The Great Khali.
– Shawn Michaels defeats Batista.  Chris Jericho served as special guest referee.
– Victoria, Jillian Hall, Layla, Melina, Natalya, & Beth Phoenix defeat Cherry, Maria, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly,  Mickie James, & Ashley Massaro (12-Diva Tag Team Match).
– The Undertaker defeats Edge, via submission, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– In a Four-Way Elimination Match, Triple H defeats Randy Orton, John Cena, and John Bradshaw Layfield, to win the WWE Championship.

2008 – La Familia de Tijuana (Halloween & Extreme Tiger) defeat The Mexican Powers (Joe Lider & Crazy Boy), to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship.  Elsewhere, Keiji Mutoh defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

2010 – The WWE Supplemental Draft is aired live on WWE.com.  This was a continuation of the Draft held the night before, live on Monday Night RAW.

– The Great Khali & Ranjin Singh were drafted to RAW.
– Chavo Guerrero, Jr. was drafted to SmackDown.
– Cody Rhodes was drafted to SmackDown.
– Natalya was drafted to RAW.
– Chris Masters was drafted to SmackDown.
– Ezekiel Jackson was drafted to RAW.
– Goldust was drafted to RAW.
– Hornswoggle was drafted to SmackDown.
– Rosa Mendes was drafted to SmackDown.
– The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd) were drafted to RAW.
– MVP was drafted to SmackDown.

2014 – At CZW To Infinity, The Juicy Product (JT Dunn & David Starr) defeat The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver), to win the CZW World Tag Team Championship.

2014 – TNA Sacrifice is held at the Impact Zone in Orlando, in front of 1,400 fans.

– In a 3-on-2 Handicap Match, The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) defeat The BroMans (Jesse Godderz, Robbie E, & DJ Z), to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
– Mr. Anderson defeats Samuel Shaw in a Committed Match.
– Kurt Angle & Willow defeat Ethan Carter III & Rockstar Spud.
– Sanada defeats Tigre Uno, to retain the TNA X Division Championship.  This was the final match of a Best-of-Three Series.
– Gunner defeats James Storm in an ‘I Quit’ Match.
– Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky) defeats Madison Rayne, to win the TNA Knockouts Championship.
– Bobby Roode defeats Bully Ray in a Tables Match.
– Eric Young defeats Magnus, to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

2016 – The team of Rey Misterio, Jr., Prince Puma, & Dragon Azteca, Jr. win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship.  Misterio, Puma, and Azteca win the titles in a Fatal Four-Way Trios Elimination Match.  The other teams were Cortez Castro, Joey Ryan, & Mr. Cisco, the team of Fenix, PJ Black, & Jack Evans, and the team of Angelico, Son of Havoc, & Ivelisse.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Former WWE Tag Team Champion Vladimir Kozlov (38 years old);  former TNA X Division Champion Johnny Devine (43 years old);  and former ROH & SHIMMER wrestler Lacey (34 years old).

SOURCES: 1962 Match Statistics for The Destroyer, wrestling-titles.com, The Internet Wrestling Database, wrestlingdata.com, gerweck.net