This Day In Wrestling History – May 24th
1973 – Harley Race defeats Dory Funk, Jr., to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
1976 – Ric Flair defeats Wahoo McDaniel, to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship.
1984 – Vince McMahon, Sr., who ran the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, later renamed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (and later again renamed the World Wrestling Federation), dies at the age of 69. Vince Sr. had been battling pancreatic cancer. He’s the father of Vincent Kennedy McMahon, whose company Titan Sports, Inc., bought the WWF stock from his dad in 1982.
1984 – At a house show in Yokosuka, Japan, Ric Flair defeats Kerry Von Erich, to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
1985 – Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura defeat Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis, in a tournament final, to win the re-activated WWF International Tag Team Championship. The title had been deactivated in 1972. It was re-activated as part of a partnership between New Japan Pro Wrestling and the WWF. However the partnership would end October 31, 1985, and the International Tag Team Titles would be permanently deactivated.
1985 – Oprah Winfrey makes an appearance at a WWF event in Chicago. The three top matches aired on “AM Chicago” on 5/27/85, with Oprah doing commentary, and also interviewing Hulk Hogan and Don Muraco.
1996 – Akira Taue defeats Mitsuharu Misawa, to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship.
1999 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (7.2 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (3.8 rating). RAW airs one night after the tragic death of Owen Hart, at the Over the Edge pay-per-view. Titled RAW IS OWEN, the program began with a ten-bell salute (as did Nitro), with the entire WWF roster standing in solidarity on the entrance ramp. Various wrestlers offered shoot interviews and were given the option of working or not working. All rivalries and storylines were set aside for the evening’s program.
2000 – In a Triangle Match on Thunder, Kevin Nash defeats Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner, to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. It was the 9th time since WCW’s April 10th “reboot,” that the World Title changed hands.
2001 – In the first Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match on network television, Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit defeat The Dudley Boyz, Edge & Christian, and The Hardy Boyz, to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. The match (better known as TLC III) aired on this evening’s SmackDown on UPN.
2001 – Triple H undergoes surgery to have his torn quadriceps muscle. The procedure was performed by Dr. James Andrews. The quad tear occurred on the May 21st RAW, in a tag team match with Stone Cold, against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. The surgery would be successful; after a long rehab Triple H would return to action in January 2002. He would suffer a similar injury again, this time with his right quad muscle, at New Year’s Revolution in January 2007.
2009 – TNA Sacrifice is held at the Impact Zone in Orlando, in front of 1,100 fans.
Pre-show:
– Amazing Red defeats Kiyoshi.
PPV:
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Eric Young and Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed) defeat Sheik Abdul Bashir and The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin).
– Taylor Wilde defeats Daffney (with Abyss) in a Monster’s Ball Match.
– With the X Division Championship on the line, Suicide vs. challenger Christopher Daniels ends in a draw. Suicide retains the title.
– Angelina Love defeats Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) to retain the Women’s Knockout Championship.
– Samoa Joe defeats Kevin Nash.
– Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm) defeat The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Douglas Williams), in the finals of the Team 3D Invitational Tag Team Tournament.
– AJ Styles defeats Booker T, in an ‘I Quit’ Match, to retain the TNA Legends Championship.
– Sting defeats Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, and Jeff Jarrett, in a Four Way Ultimate Sacrifice Match. Each man wagered an important aspect of their career on the match; Angle’s leadership of the Main Event Mafia, Sting’s career, Jarrett’s stake in TNA, and Foley’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Sting defeated Angle to gain control of the Main Event Mafia, and as a result, Foley retains the TNA World Title.
2010 – One night after losing an ‘I Quit’ Match to WWE Champion John Cena at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, Batista demands a rematch on this evening’s RAW (guest-starred by Jon Lovitz). However, the new RAW General Manager, Bret Hart, requires Batista face Randy Orton, in a qualifying match for the following month’s Fatal 4-Way PPV. Batista refuses, and would legitimately quit the company. Also on RAW, R-Truth defeats The Miz, to win the vacant United States Championship. The title had been vacated by new GM Hart, who had defeated Miz for the title a week earlier.
2014 – Melvin Maximus defeats Adam Revolver, to win the OVW Television Championship. Elsewhere, the West Coast Wrestling Connection (WCWC) airs the first episode of its wrestling television program, on PDX-TV in Portland, Oregon. The station still airs the one-hour program every Saturday at 11pm Pacific Time.
HAPPY BIRTHAY TO: Impact Wrestling commentator ‘The Pope’ D’Angelo Dinero (39 years old); past RAW guest star Will Sasso (42 years old); former WWF wrestler Rich Myers (44 years old); 2-time AAA Mexican National Tag Team Champion Super Parka (61 years old), and former indy wrestler Bambi (50 years old).
Today would’ve been the 86th birthday for 11-time NWA Western States Tag Team Champion & 5-time Heavyweight Champion ‘Rapid’ Ricky Romero.
