On this day in history in ....

1969 - Hiro Matsuda & Missouri Mauler defeated Cyclon Negro & Jack Brisco for the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, starting their second reign.

1986 - Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido defeated Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura to win the IWGP Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

1988 - Iceman King Parsons defeated Kerry Von Erich (subbing for Kevin Von Erich) to win the World Class Texas Heavyweight Title in Dallas.

1994 - The Rock n' Roll Express defeat Chris Candido & Brian Lee for the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title in Knoxville, Tennessee, starting their eighth run with the belts.

1996 - The Great Sasuke defeats Ultimo Dragon in the finals of a tournament to unify eight separate junior heavyweight titles into one unified J-Crown championship. By winning the tournament Sasuke, already the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, became the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, WAR International Junior Heavyweight Champion, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champion, WWF World Light Heavyweight Champion, UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion, WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion, and NWA World Welterweight Champion.

1996 - The Moondogs (Spot & Rover) defeat Brickhouse Brown & Reggie B. Fine for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

2000 - Pro-Wrestling Noah, the new wrestling company formed by Mitsuharu Misawa and a group of wrestlers who left All Japan Pro Wrestling, ran their first ever event at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan. Here are the results:
- Takeshi Morishima defeated Makato Hashi.
- Haruka Eigen, Jun Izumida & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeated Rusher Kimura, Mitsuo Momota & Takeshi Rikio.
- Kentaro Shiga & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
- Yoshinari Ogawa, Masahito Kakihara & Daisuke Ikeda defeated Takao Oomori, Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako.
- Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi defeated Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue in two straight falls of a three fall match. Akiyama forced Misawa to submit to win the first fall, then pinned Taue to win the second for his team.

2008 - The Gillespie Agency, on behalf of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, issued the following statement to PWInsider.com:

WWE and I parted on the best of terms. This gives me the chance to pursue new opportunities...corporate speaking engagements, product sponsorships, autograph shows for my loyal fans (who made me what I am today) and film and television roles. My agent and I are very excited about what the future holds!

Ric Flair

2009 - WWE held a conference call with investors this morning to discuss their second quarter financial results, which you can read by clicking here. Participating in the call were Chief Executive Officer Linda McMahon, Chief Operating Officer Michael Sileck and Chief Financial Officer George Barrios.

Linda read a prepared statement, noting that Wrestlemania, normally a part of the second quarter, fell into the first quarter this year. She also put over the Million Dollar giveaway, and praised their international growth, specifically their new television deal in India. Linda mentioned their targeting of younger fans with the new kid's magazine, and pointed out that all WWE programming was now rated PG. She noted the rise in expenses due to growth, and that they are working to slow down those expenses going forward.

Michael Sileck then read his statement and put over the success of the European and Australian tours. It was noted an increase in PPV buyrates and revenue has made up for the removal of New Year's Revolution from the PPV calendar. In discussing WWE.com traffic, he noted it was down from last year due to the major boost the website got last year from the Vince McMaion limo explosion angle, but that all other Internet indicators were up.

George Barrios reemphasized that WWE is going to be looking to control the expenses that they have been incurring due to their growth. Barrios then reviewed the financial numbers that you can view at the link above. He also reemphasized that Wrestlemania being in the first quarter this year made the PPV numbers look weaker in this quarter in comparison. He noted that year-to-date PPV numbers for 2008 show a 6% increase compared to last year. He put over the 25% growth in home video sales versus last year.

They then held a Q&A session. Here are some highlights:

- When discussing the economic downturn in the U.S. having an impact on WWE revenue, it was noted that they are also starting to see a drop in the U.K. as well.

- Concerning the launch of WWE Fan Nation, they noted the creation was done, in part, to bring back fans that were going to other websites for rumors and news. They also said that they were working to make the videos on WWE.com more important to the storylines and characters.

- Regarding the WWE Film business, they have one theatrical release (12 Rounds) and one straight-to-DVD release (Behind Enemy Lines 3 with FOX) in post-production.

- They talked about being careful not to "burn out" their International strongholds by only visiting certain cities a certain number of times a year. Linda stressed that their European tours are always "very calculated" in terms of areas and building sizes, allowing them to always be a success.

- They sort of steered clear of explaining where cost cuts would be made to reduce expenses going forward, only to say that they were looking for more than a "one quarter fix".

- The JAKKS-Pacific lawsuit is starting to "speed up" as discovery continues and they have a court date scheduled for 2010.

- One person asked if there would be more emphasis on the undercard matches on PPV events, rather than just pushing the top matches with storylines. The person also asked if Freddie Prinze Jr. being added to the creative team was going to make a change in whether more matches would have storyline background. Linda avoided it, noting she isn't the "creative expert", but they like the direction they are going in.

- The same person continued to ask about the lack of storylines and emphasis put on ECW and the tag division, and Linda McMahon point blank said "I do not follow storyline creation, in fact it is not always told to me". Linda said she likes that "surprise" element, and pretty much brushed off the creative questions by once again saying she likes "the direction we're going in".

- The last caller (and I don't think it was a coincidence he was last) was a long-time investor who took them to task as being "disingenuous" in their explanation of the $100 million expense WWE is incurring to expand their production facility. The caller noted that WWE's sole explanation for the expense was that it was for "raw materials and maintenance" and said the "long suffering" stockholders deserved more of an explanation, saying that the company has been spending money "like drunken sailors". Sileck responded by stating that they hadn't upgraded the production facility in 20 years, and that they had done a "damn good" job of bringing in revenue and that the expense was justified with the upgrade to HD and expansion of their television and video product. That ended the Q&A session of the call.

2008 - WWE broadcast ECW on Sci Fi. Mike Odd filed the following TV report:

ECW comes to us from Atlanta, GA and our announcers are Todd Grisham and Matt Striker (filling in for Taz)

Match #1
Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely vs. Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz

During the entrances they showed Ortiz's win over Chavo followed by him being beat down and saved by Bourne. Match begins with Bam and Ortiz. Ortiz gets the early advantage. Neely rolls out of the ring to converse with Chavo. The action resumes. They go back and forth. Ortiz tags in Bourne. Bam brings Bourne into Chavo's corner, tags Chavo in, and he and Bourne go back and forth. Bourne tags in Ortiz. Ortiz hits a shoulder block on Chavo and goes for the pin. Ortiz goes for the ropes and is distracted by Bam. This gives Chavo and Bam the advantage. Neely works over Ortiz, gets a couple two counts, and tags Chavo back in. Ortiz powers his way out of a chin lockand turns it into a back suplex. Chavo tags Bam and Ortiz gets the hot tag on Bourne. Evan Bourne hits a double knee drop off the top rope on a standing Bam Neely and Chavo runs in. He and Ortiz go over the top rope; Even Bourne rolls up Bam Neely for the three count.

They plug the Dirt Sheet later tonight with Mark Henry and Matt Hardy and then we go to commercial.

The WWE Slam of the Week is Morrison's beat down of Hornswaggle followed by Mike Knox attacking Finlay.

Mike Knox is in the ring. He's not here to explain why he did what he did last week. He's here to expose the fraud that is Finlay. He shows the video of Finlay and Hornswaggle dancing from the Summer Slam commercial. He says Finlay used to be tough, now he dances like a leprechaun. He's interrupted by Finlay's music. Finlay tells Mike Knox that the video was funny. He says he still loves to fight but he also likes to have fun and he loves his son. He tells Mike Knox that if he has a problem with that to look him in the eyes and take a shot. Finlay takes off his coat and tells Mike Knox to take his shot and he better knock him out or he'll find out whether Finlay has gone soft or not. Mike Knox leaves the ring.

Now we're watching the RAW Rebound and they show John Cena and Batista winning the tag team titles.

Match #2
Armando Estrada vs. Tommy Dreamer

The announcers put over that this is Armando's last chance to get an ECW contract. The match starts with some back and forth with Armando and Dreamer. Dreamer with a hip toss and clothes lines Estrada over the top rope. Dreamer tries to bring Armando back into the ring with a suplex but it is reversed and Armando gives him a stunner on the ropes. Dreamer hangs Estrada in the tree of woe. Colin Delaney shows up at ringside with a chair. Dreamer sees him and Delaney jumps behind the announcers desk. Delaney interferes again distracting Dreamer long enough for Estrada to win with a school boy.

They push the Dirt Sheet again for later tonight and we go to commercial.

They show a recap of the end of the Dreamer/Estrada match. Armando is shown in the back celebrating. Colin Delaney comes in and Armando asks why he would help him after all of the hell he put him through. Teddy Long comes in and tell him after his antics tonight he will be in an Extreme Rules Match next week with Tommy Dreamer.

We are treated to a Smackdown Rebound recapping the awesome Edge/Foley angle.

We then go down the card for Summerslam.
Edge vs. Undertaker - Hell in a Cell
John Cena vs. Batista
Triple H vs. The Great Khali - WWE Title
CM Punk vs. JBL - World Title
Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy - ECW Title

Braden Walker is shown walking backstage and we go to commercial.
We're back and the same clip that they showed last night involving Sargent Slaughter and Steve Austin is shown again.

Match # 3
Braden Walker vs. James Curtis

Curtis starts with a wrist lock before being overpowered by Walker and having the wrist lock reversed. Curtis tries some offense and Walker counters. Suplex by Walker. Walker continues to work the arm of Curtis. Curtis pokes Walker in the eye to gain the advantage. The crowd is chanting "boring!" Walker hits a couple of clotheslines followed by a flying clothesline. Walker goes for another suplex. Curtis fights out of it. It's Walker in the corner. Walker powers out and hits another clothesline. Walker then hits a Fisherman's Suplex out of nowhere for the three count.

Up next is the Dirt Sheet.

We're back. Mizorrison is in the ring and they welcome us to The Dirt Sheet. They introduce their first guest, the great Mark Henry. We see a picture of Mark Henry on the screen with someone else's mouth moving (a la Conan O'Brien), they ask him questions and he replies by grunting. They taunt him about his weight and how much better looking they are. Now we hear Mark Henry's music and he storms to the ring followed by Tony Atlas. The Miz assures them they were just messing around. Atlas says they didn't come on The Dirt Sheet to be made fun of. They then bring out Matt Hardy and do the same gimmick. They make Matt Hardy sound like Forrest Gump. For some reason Mark Henry cuts a promo on the picture, then Matt Hardy's music hits. Hardy comes out microphone in tow. He applauds Mizorrison. Hardy brings up that they must be big Conan O'Brien fans; he says he's here to join the party. Hardy then turns his attention to Mark Hardy and says he'll be the ECW champion by Summerslam. The Miz gets in Matt Hardy's face. Hardy hits The Miz. Morrison swings at Hardy who ducks and Henry gets hit. Mark Henry then destroys John Morrison while Hardy gives Miz a Twist of Fate. The show ends with Henry and Hardy staring each other down.

Continued ...