This Day In History - May 2nd
May 2nd
On this day in history in ....
1982 - Buzz Sawyer defeats Tommy Rich for the Georgia National Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Rich's third title reign.
1987 - Curt Hennig defeats Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in San Francisco, California after Larry Zbyszko handed him a roll of quarters to knock him out with.
1994 - Larry Zbyszko defeats Lord Steven Regal for the WCW Television Title in Atlanta, Georgia. This was part of a storyline where Zbyszko, who was a heel announcer, got tired of Regal bashing the United States. Zbyszko came out of retirement, defeated Regal in a non-title match, then beat him again to win the belt. Regal would win it back just under two months later.
1994 - Jake Roberts defeats Tony Anthony for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Harriman, Tennessee. This ended Anthony's second reign.
1994 - Doug Gilbert defeats Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Wrestling Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Christopher's 12th reign with the title, and beginning Gilbert's third. Ironically, on the same show Christopher teamed with Doug's brother, Eddie Gilbert, to lose the USWA Tag Team Title to The Eliminators.
1998 - Chris Benoit defeats Booker T for the WCW Television Title in Charleston, South Carolina. This was the third of five days in a row that the Television title changed hands, with four of those changes being between Benoit and Booker.
2000 - Chris Jericho defeats Chris Benoit for the WWF Intercontinental Title in Richmond, Virginia, starting Jericho's third reign with the belt.
2002 - The WWF Hardcore Title changed hands several times during a house show in Glasgow, Scotland. Shawn Stasiak pinned Crash Holly with a roll up in a four way match with defending champion Steven Richards and Justin Credible to win the title. However, due to the 24/7 defense rule, Justin Credible then superkicked Stasiak and pinned him to win the title. This was followed by Crash bulldogging Credible and pinning him to win the title, then Richards hit Crash with a guitar and pinned him to win back the title he started the night with. However, before he could leave the ring, Stasiak rolled him up from behind and pinned him to win back the title, only for Richards to reverse and then pin Stasiak to win back the title, which he then left with. So, there were six title changes, with Stasiak and Richards winning the title twice each over the course of the match.
2005 - During an edition of Raw in Boston, Massachusetts, General Manager Eric Bischoff announced a "Gold Rush Tournament" to determine the number one contender to the World Title held by Batista. Here are the results of the first round:
- Kane defeated Christian with a chokeslam.
- Shawn Michaels defeated Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin with a superkick as Shelton attempted a springboard clothesline in what was considered to be one of the best Raw matches of the year.
- Edge defeated Chris Jericho with a spear after hitting him with the Money In The Bank briefcase.
- Chris Benoit defeated Triple H via submission with the Sharpshooter following a brawl that involved Ric Flair and Batista.
2006 - During an edition of Smackdown from Cincinnati, Ohio, Mark Henry cleanly pinned World Champion Rey Mysterio with a powerslam in a non-title match. Mysterio, who was to defend the title against JBL at Judgment Day, had stated he wasn't afraid to face anyone, which led to JBL bringing out Henry for him to wrestle. This would not be the only time Mysterio was cleanly beaten during his title reign.
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