This Day In Wrestling History – May 20th

1984 – Villano III defeats Gran Hamada, to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.

1985 – Hiro Saito defeats The Cobra, to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship.

1987 – A Memphis court judge ruled that due to Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against the WWF, for promoting Harley Race as “the King of Wrestling,” Race could not use the nickname in Tennessee, nor could he come to the ring wearing his crown and robe.   Lawler, who had been using the moniker for many years, took offense to WWF nationally promoting Race with that nickname.

1993 – The Holly Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue) defeat Satsujin Gyorai (Terry Gordy & Steve Williams), to win the AJPW World Tag Team Championship.

1996 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.1 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.3 rating).

1996 – Pimpinela Escalarta defeats La Parka, to win the AAA Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship.

2001 – WWF Judgement Day is held in Sacramento, CA, in front of 13,623 fans.

Sunday Night Heat:
– Raven defeats Val Venis.
– Crash Holly & Hardcore Holly defeat Kaientai (Funaki & Taka Michinoku).
PPV:
– William Regal defeats Rikishi.
– With his Olympic Gold Medals on the line, Kurt Angle defeats Chris Benoit, in a Three Stages of Hell Match.  Benoit won the first match (a traditional singles match).  Angle won the next two matches (a Submission Match and a Ladder Match, in which he was able to retrieve his medals.).
– In a Triple Threat Match, Rhyno defeats Test and The Big Show, to retain the WWF Hardcore Championship.
– Chyna defeats Lita, to retain the WWF Women’s Championship.  This would turn out to be Chyna’s final WWF match.
– Kane defeats Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley), in a Chain Match, to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
– Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho win a 7-Team Tag Team Turmoil Match, last eliminating Edge & Christian, to become #1 contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship.
– In a No Holds Barred Match, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeats The Undertaker, to retain the WWF Championship.

2002 – TNA Wrestling announced that they had signed AJ Styles to a one-year deal.  The new company also signed hardcore midgets Puppet and Teo to contracts.  It’s also announced that Ed Ferrara and Don West would be working on the announcing team, for their weekly Wednesday night PPV events.

2007 – WWE Judgement Day is held in St. Louis in front of 10,500 fans.

Dark Match:
– Kane defeats William Regal (with Dave Taylor).
PPV:
– Ric Flair defeats Carlito, via submission.
– With the ECW Championship on the line, Bobby Lashley defeats Team McMahon (ECW Champion Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and  Umaga), in a Handicap Match.  Lashley believed he had won the ECW Title, but champion Vince McMahon declared that as he had not been pinned, Lashley did not win the title (Lashley had pinned Shane).
– CM Punk defeats Elijah Burke.
– Randy Orton defeats Shawn Michaels, via knockout.
– The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) defeat Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, to retain the World Tag Team Championship.
– Edge defeats Batista, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– In a Two-Out-of-Three Falls Match, MVP defeats Chris Benoit 2-0, to win the WWE United States Championship.  This would be the last time Benoit would ever compete in a pay-per-view match.
– John Cena defeats The Great Khali, via submission, to retain the WWE Championship.

2011 – Four-time WCW World Champion, & 2-time WWF World Champion ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage passes away at the age 0f 58.  Savage had suffered a heart attack while behind the wheel of his Jeep.  One of most noticeably absent figures from the WWE Hall of Fame, Savage was finally inducted, posthumously, in 2015.

2012 – WWE Over the Limit is held in Raleigh, NC in front of 8,000 fans.

Pre-Show:
– Kane defeats Zack Ryder.
PPV:
– Christian wins a 20-man Battle Royal, last eliminating The Miz, to earn his choice of either an Intercontinental Championship Match, or a United States Championship Match.  Christian opted for an IC Title Match vs Cody Rhodes.
– Kofi Kingston & R-Truth defeat Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger (with Vickie Guerrero), to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
– Layla defeats Beth Phoenix, to retain the WWE Divas Championship.
– In a Fatal Four-Way Match, Sheamus defeats Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez), Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– Brodus Clay (with Cameron & Naomi) defeats The Miz.
– Christian defeats Cody Rhodes, to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
– CM Punk defeats Daniel Bryan, to retain the WWE Championship.
– Ryback defeats Camacho (with Hunico).
– With his General Manager job on the line, John Laurinaitis defeats John Cena in a No Disqualification Match.  Laurinaitis would’ve been fired had Cena won.

2012 – Joe Doering & Seiya Sanada defeat Manabu Soya & Takao Omori, to win the AJPW World Tag Team Championship.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  6-time WWF/E Tag Team Champion Road Dogg (48 years old);  2-time AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion KAI (34 years old);  and former WCW wrestler Lt. James Earl Wright (57 years old).