This Day In Wrestling History – July 31st
Happy birthday to John Laurinaitis!!
1959 – Dick Gunkel defeats Fred Blassie, to win the NWA (Georgia Version) Southern Heavyweight Championship.
1964 – Killer Karl Kox defeats Bull Curry, to win the NWA (Texas) Brass Knuckles Championship.
1976 – Huracan Castillo defeats Jose Lothario, to win the L&G Caribbean Heavyweight Championship.
1979 – Pampero Firpo defeats Abdullah the Butcher, to win the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship.
1979 – Roddy Piper makes his WWF television debut, at a taping in Allentown, PA, defeating Steve King.
1984 – Giant Baba defeats Stan Hansen, to win the PWF World Heavyweight Championship.
1986 – Stan Hansen defeats Jumbo Tsuruta, to win the NWA International Heavyweight Championship.
1986 – In a tournament final, Hiro Saito defeats Brad Armstrong, to become the inaugural AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion.
1988 – Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu defeat Terry Gordy & Stan Hansen, to win the AJPW World Tag Team Championship.
1988 – WWF’s WrestleFest is held at County Stadium in Milwaukee, WI, in front of 25,866 fans. The event was not televised or made available on pay-per-view, but was later released via Coliseum Home Video. Fifteen matches were on the card.
– Big Boss Man defeats Scott Casey.
– Brutus Beefcake defeats Hercules Hernandez.
– The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau) defeat The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell).
– Bad News Brown defeats Bret Hart.
– Jim Duggan defeats Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart), via disqualification.
– The Powers of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian) (with Mr. Fuji) defeat The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zuhkov).
– Jim Neidhart defeats Lanny Poffo.
– Randy Savage defeats Ted DiBiase, to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
– Curt Hennig defeats Terry Taylor.
– Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude ends in a double countout.
– Haku defeats Sam Houston.
– The Ultimate Warrior defeats Bobby Heenan, in a “Loser Wears A Weasel Suit” Match.
– Demolition (Ax & Smash) defeat The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith), to retain the WWF World Tag Team Championship.
– Dino Bravo defeats Ken Patera.
– Hulk Hogan defeats Andre the Giant, in a Steel Cage Match.
1992 – The WCW United States Tag Team Championship is retired, as WCW opts to place sole focus on the (unified) NWA & WCW World Tag Team Championships. The final United States Tag Team Champs were The Barbarian & Dick Slater.
1992 – The Ebony Experience (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeat The Goodfellows (Gary Young & Steve Dane), to win the Global Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship. On the same show, Alex Porteau defeats Terry Simms, to win the GWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
1997 – Bull Pain defeats Ian Rotten, to win the IWA Mid–South Heavyweight Championship.
2000 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (6.4 TV rating) defeats WCW Monday Nitro (2.7 rating). On Nitro, WCW Hardcore & United States Champion Lance Storm defeats Lieutenant Loco (with Gen. Rection & Cpl. Cajun), to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Storm is NOT classified as a Triple Crown Champion in WCW, which consisted of the World Heavyweight Championship, Tag Team Championship, and United States Championship
2002 – Allan Funk, wrestling as ‘Bruce,’ defeats Taylor Vaughn, to win the Miss TNA title.
2011 – In a Four-Way Match at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, OH, Adam Pearce defeats Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave, and Shaun Tempers, to win the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The title had been stripped from The Sheik, for his refusal to defend the title against Pearce.
2011 – In an Eight-Way Elimination Match, Pimpinela Escarlata defeats Cynthia Moreno, Faby Apache, Jennifer Blake, Lolita, Mari Apache, Mickie James, and Sexy Star, to win the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. Escarlata is the first male to hold this title.
2015 – WWE Hall of Famer ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper dies at the age of 61, after going into cardiac arrest while sleeping.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Past RAW guest host Mark Cuban (59 years old); former RAW & SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis (55 years old); former ECW Television Champion, WWE Cruiserweight Champion, & TNA X Division Champion Kid Kash (48 years old); former ROH Pure Champion John Walters aka RJ Brewer (38 years old); Tough Enough Season 5 contestant Eric Watts (32 years old); and 2-time AAA Mega Champion El Texano Jr. (33 years old).
