This Day In Wrestling History – April 2nd
Events
In 1989, WWF Wrestlemania V was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey
– Demolition (Ax & Smash) defeat The Powers Of Pain (The Warlord & The Barbarian) & Mr Fuji in a Handicap Match to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Jake Roberts defeats Andre The Giant by DQ with Big John Studd as special guest referee
– Rick Rude defeats The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Hulk Hogan defeats Randy Savage to win the WWF Title
Also in 1989, NWA Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin’ Cajun went head-to-head with Wrestlemania on free TV in an attempt to hurt the PPV rating. It was held in New Orleans, Louisiana
– The Varsity Club (Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams) defeat The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Referee Teddy Long fast-counted the pinfall on Hawk, so he was (kayfabe) fired
– Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner defeat Dan Spivey & Kevin Sullivan to retain the NWA United States Tag Team Titles
– Ricky Steamboat defeats Ric Flair in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to retain the NWA World Title
– In a post-show dark match, Sting defeats Rip Morgan to retain the NWA Television Title
– In a post-show dark match, Lex Luger defeats Jack Victory to retain the NWA United States Title
In 1995, WWF Wrestlemania XI was held in Hartford, Connecticut
– Razor Ramon defeats Jeff Jarrett by DQ (Jarrett retains the WWF Intercontinental Title)
– The Undertaker defeats King Kong Bundy with Larry Young as special guest referee
– Owen Hart & Yokozuna defeat The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart) to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Bret Hart defeats Bob Backlund in an I Quit Match with Roddy Piper as special guest referee
– Diesel defeats Shawn Michaels to retain the WWF Title
– Lawrence Taylor defeats Bam Bam Bigelow with Pat Patterson as special guest referee
In 2000, the aptly named WWF Wrestlemania 2000 was held in Anaheim, California. This is the only Mania in history not to feature a standard one-on-one wrestling match
– Hardcore Holly won a Hardcore Battle Royal to win the WWF Hardcore Title. Crash Holly was champion going into the event
– Edge & Christian defeat The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) & The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff) in a Triangle Ladder Match to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
– There was a 2-fall Triple Threat Match between Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle for the WWF Intercontinental and European Titles. Benoit took the first fall to win the WWF European Title, with Jericho taking the second to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– Triple H defeats The Rock, Mick Foley & The Big Show in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match to retain the WWF Title
In 2005, the WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony was held in Los Angeles, California. The class of 2005 are:
– Hulk Hogan
– Roddy Piper
– Bob Orton
– Jimmy Hart
– Paul Orndorff
– Nikolai Volkoff
– The Iron Sheik
In 2006, WWE Wrestlemania 22 was held in Rosemont, Illinois
– Kane & The Big Show defeat Carlito & Chris Masters to retain the World Tag Team Titles
– Rob Van Dam wins the Money In The Bank Ladder Match
– JBL defeats Chris Benoit to win the WWE United States Title
– Edge defeats Mick Foley in a Hardcore Match
– Mickie James defeats Trish Stratus to win the WWE Womens Title
– The Undertaker defeats Mark Henry in a Casket Match
– Shawn Michaels defeats Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred Match
– Rey Mysterio defeats Kurt Angle & Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match to win the World Heavyweight Title
– John Cena defeats Triple H to retain the WWE Title
In 2011, the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony was held in Atlanta, Georgia. The class of 2011 are:
– Shawn Michaels
– Jim Duggan
– Bob Armstrong
– Sunny
– Drew Carey
– Abdullah The Butcher
– The Road Warriors (Hawk, Animal & Paul Ellering)
Also in 2011, ROH Honor Takes Centre Stage was held across 2 days in Atlanta, Georgia. This was day two
– Colt Cabana defeats Dave Taylor
– Daizee Haze & Tomoka Nakagawa defeat Ayumi Kurihara & Hiroyo Matsumoto to retain the Shimmer Tag Team Titles
– The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay) defeat The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)
– El Generico defeats Roderick Strong
– Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) defeat The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards)
Title Changes
1960 – Red & Lou Bastien defeat Jerry & Eddie Graham to win the NWA Northeast United States Tag Team Titles
1968 – The Fabulous Moolah defeats Yukiko Tomoe to win the NWA Womens Title. Current WWE title histories do not recognise this change
1993 – Tony Stetson & Larry Winters defeat The Super Destroyers (Al Petrucci & Doug Stahl) to win the ECW Tag Team Titles
1993 – Dr Wagner Jr defeats Pierroth Jr to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title
1993 – Tracy Smothers defeats The Dirty White Boy to win the SMW Heavyweight Title
1999 – Negro Casas & El Hijo del Santo defeat Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr to win the CMLL Tag Team Titles
2002 – on Smackdown, Billy Kidman defeats Tajiri to win the WWF Cruiserweight Title
2005 – BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs defeat Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe to win the vacant ROH Tag Team Titles
2005 – Averno & Mephisto defeat Atlantis & Blue Panther to win the CMLL Tag Team Titles
2007 – on Raw, The Hardys (Matt & Jeff) defeat John Cena & Shawn Michaels to win the World Tag Team Titles
Birthdays
Happy birthday to one-time AAA Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion Jack Evans (30) and UK star Jody Fleisch (32)
Also, today would have been the birthday of 3-time AWA Tag Team Champion Hard-Boiled Haggerty (88)
In Memoriam
On this day in 2010, the wrestling world lost former WCW and WWF Tag Team Champion Chris Kanyon at the age of 40. Kanyon made his wrestling debut in 1992, and 3 years later would begin appearing in WCW, having already had a stint as a WWF jobber. In 1997, he had a brief-but-memorable run as Mortis, feuding with Glacier and Ernest Miller, but the angle was quietly dropped at the end of the year, with the persona being dropped early the following year after a confrontation with Raven. Kanyon began competing under his own name, first against, then alongside Raven. In 1999, Kanyon, Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow formed The Jersey Triad, winning the WCW Tag Team Titles twice. In 2000, he had another brief-but-memorable run as ‘Positively Kanyon’, a play on DDP’s autobiography (titled ‘Positively Page’). Kanyon began imitating Page, dying his hair blonde and adopting Page’s Diamond Cutter finisher as his own, calling it the Kanyon Kutter. The end of this run saw the infamous Judy Bagwell on a Pole Match between Kanyon and Buff Bagwell. Kanyon took time off from WCW from late-2000 to early-2001, returning just in time to see the promotion go out of business. Kanyon was one of many wrestlers who became part of the Invasion angle, in fact, he became a fairly substantial part of the early stages of the storyline, having been awarded the WCW United States Title by Stephanie McMahon and Booker T. Following this title ‘win’, he began calling himself ‘The MVP of the Alliance’ and coined the phrase ‘Who betta than Kanyon?’. He later had a brief spell as WWF Tag Team Champion alongside Page, before slowly sliding down the card, appearing almost exclusively on the WWF’s B-shows. In October 2001, he suffered a serious knee injury which would keep him out of the rest of the Invasion storyline, eventually returning to the ring in April 2003 having suffered a further injury during his recovery. He retired from the ring in late 2004, only to return the following year. Kanyon’s last major wrestling appearance came at TNA Turning Point 2005, wrestling as Chris K in a loss to Raven. He received a great deal of publicity in 2006, having apparently come out as gay, though he has since given conflicting interviews as to whether it was real or just a publicity stunt. In the lead-up to his death, Kanyon had been suffering from bi-polar disorder and had threatened suicide on a number of occasions. He eventually overdosed on anti-depressants, having left a note of apology to his family.