This Day In History - May 25th

May 25th

On this day in history in ....

1853 - William Muldoon, regarded as the first major American star in professional wrestling, is born in Belfast, New York.

1957 - Verne Gagne and Edouard Carpentier defeat Nikolai and Boris Volkoff for the Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Title in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ending the Volkoffs' second reign.

1959 - Kurt Von Poppenheim and Dan Manoukian defeat Nick Kozak and Al Kashey to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title.

1964 - The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan) defeat Bearcat Wright & Enrique Torres for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Title.

1976 - Bob Orton, Jr. defeats Jack Brisco to win the Florida Heavyweight Title, ending Brisco's fourth reign.

1980 - Skull Murphy and Gypsy Joe defeat Rocky Johnson and Jimmy Valiant for the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

1980 - Mark Lewin defeats Gino Hernandez for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas, ending and beginning both mens' third reigns.

1980 - Perro Aguayo defeats Gran Hamada in Naucalpan, Mexico to win the UWA World Light Heavyweight Title.

1980 - The Great Hussan Arab (later known as the Iron Sheik) defeats Dewey Robertson (later known as the Missing Link) to win the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1981 - Kevin Sullivan and Wayne Farris (later The Honky Tonk Man) begin their second reign as AWA Southern Tag Team Champions, ending the second reign of Bill Dundee and Dream Machine in Memphis, Tennessee.

1982 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) defeats Les Thornton to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Shizuoka, Japan, ending Thornton's fourth reign.

1982 - Steve Grey defeats Jim Breaks for the British Welterweight Title in Croydon, England, ending Breaks' sixth reign.

1985 - The WWF ran a show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results were:
- The Spoiler defeated Salvatore Bellomo.
- Paul Roma defeated Johnny Rodz.
- Bob Orton, Jr. defeated Paul Orndorff by disqualification.
- Charlie Fulton defeated Jim Powers.
- WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Ken Patera.
- Big John Studd defeated Steve Lombardi.
- George Steele defeated Barry O.
- WWF Tag Team Champions The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff defeated The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) by disqualification.

1987 - Soldat Ustinov & Boris Zukhov defeat Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Five months later, Zukhov would leave for the WWF, and Doug Somers would take his place in the championship team.

1989 - Russian amateur wrestling great Salman Hashimikov defeats Big Van Vader for the IWGP Heavyweight Title in Osaka, Japan, ending Vader's reign at just one month. On the same show, Jushin Liger defeats Shiro Koshinaka to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. To date, Liger has held the belt a record eleven times.

1990 - Matt Borne defeats Kerry Von Erich to win the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas, ending and beginning both mens' second reigns.

1990 - Mariko Tsurugi defeats Eagle Sawai in Tokyo, Japan for the UWA Women's International Title.

1992 - Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeat The Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas) to win the AJPW All-Asia Tag Team Title in Miyaga, Japan, ending the Express' fourth reign.

1997 - Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin defeat Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Evansville, Indiana. The partners, who did not get along, would vacate the belts soon after.

1999 - The WWF taped the May 31 edition of RAW is WAR in Moline, Illinois, which featured Jeff Jarrett defeating The Godfather for the WWF Intercontinental Title, beginning Jarrett's fourth reign. Jarrett's late tag team partner Owen Hart, who died two nights earlier in an accident at Over the Edge in Kansas City, Missouri, had been scheduled to win the title from The Godfather prior to the tragedy that occurred that night. Also, on the same episode of RAW, The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) won their first WWF Tag Team Title, defeating X-Pac and Kane.

1999 - Fantasia last eliminates The New Jersey Devil in a battle royal to win the vacant House of Pain Wrestling Federation Cruiserweight Title in Hagerstown, Maryland.

2000 - The 3rd Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show was held, featuring talent from WWF, WCW and ECW, in addition to independent talent. Here is Mike Johnson's original report from that event.

Pillman 2000's Independent wrestling showcase began with Jeremy Lopez and Jet Jaguar, from Florida, taking on "Rapid Delivery" Rory Fox and "The Future" Logan Caine. Caine is Al Snow's brother. Fox is the Les Thatcher student seen in the MTV "My Life" Documentary on pro wrestling. Fox and Lopez started off with some nice counter wrestling. Fox and Lopez began exchanging knife edge chops. Fox hit a nice head and arms Tazplex. The babyfaces combined to hit a double dropkick on Lopez. Jaguar tagged in and hit several suplexes on Caine. Jaguar hit several uppercut forearms in the corner. Caine hit a handspring elbow in the corner. Fox leaped over the ropes, snapping Jaguar's throat over the ropes, and followed up with a dropkick. Jaguar hit a running clothesline on Fox, then tossed him to the floor. Jaguar hit a springboard plancha to the floor which got a nice reaction from the crowd. Lopez hit a brainbuster on Fox. Fox got a twocount with a sunset flip, but was cut off with a clothesline by Lopez. The heels continued to get heat on Fox. Lopez hit a tiger driver on Fox, The heels continued to work over Fox, and the referee missed a tag. Jaguar gets a 2 count with a splash off the top rope. Fox makes the hot tag to Caine, who cleans house and hits a spinebuster on Jaguar, followed by a frog splash. All four brawled in the ring. Lopex had Fox on his shoulders, and Jaguar dove off. Fox hit a victory roll on Lopez, which caused Jaguar to hit nothing but mat. Both babyfaces made simultaneous pins. Good finish to a good traditional style tag team match.

Ring announcer Dave Penzer from WCW pointed out Ricky Steamboat signing in the building with proceeds going to the Brian Pillman Memorial Fund.

The next match was a battle of World Wrestling Federation developmental talent, as B.J. Payne, managed by Heartland Wrestling Association manager G.Q. Masters III faced Rico Constantino from Ohio Valley Wrestling. Masters demanded a standing ovation from the crowd, saying he was the greatest wrestling manager in attendance. He ripped on Constantino, calling him a third rate American Gladiator knockoff. Masters guarantees that Payne will not get screwed out of a victory tonight. Constantino made his way to the ring. Constantino landed on his feet after being hiptossed and hit a spinkick and a somersault legdrop. He began working on Payne's arm. Payne went to the top rope, but Constantino bounced off the ropes, crotching him, then hit a hurancanrana off the top into the ring. Payne powerslammed Constantino for a two count. He began choking Constantino in the corner, and followed up with a legdrop off the ropes, which missed. Payne got a two count wiht a face first suplex. Constantino was hit with a spinning gut buster, but came back with a DDT. He began unloading with rights, and hit a backdrop, then a flapjack. Constantino did a standing backflip into a splash for a two count. Masters got on the apron and was grabbed by Constantino. Payne hit him with Master's clipboard and then a chokeslam into a tiger bomb for the three count. Your winner, B.J. Payne. Another solid match with both guys and Masters all working hard. Constantino is going to be a star one day.

In a World Championship Wrestling Powerplant match, the New Blood's "Main Event" Chuck Palumbo came out to Lex Luger's old theme music and got a big heel reaction. He did the Lex Luger posing bit. His opponent, Sean O'Hare got a modest reaction. He's got a great physique. After some stalling, they locked up, and O'Hare caught Palumbo in a side headlock. Palumbo powered out and put a hammerlock on him. O'Hare reversed and went back to the headlock. Palumbo drilled O'Hare with a clothesline. Palumbo began beating him with kicks, and hit a suplex. Palumbo hit a dropkick. Palumbo hits a flying clothesline off the top for a two count. Much slower paced match than the previous two bouts. They battled. O'Hare did a standing flip off the ropes, landed on his feet and hit a karate kick on Palumbo. It got a nice rise out of the crowd. Palumbo kicks him low and locked him in the Torture Rack for the submission. O'Hare showed some promise. Palumbo, well, he came off like Lex Luger, which I guess is the idea. Whether it's a good idea you can decide for yourself.

The next match featured another WWF Developmental talent bout, as Reckless Youth from Memphis Championship Wrestling came out to a nice pop. Youth has started to grow his hair out. His opponent is Scotty Sabre, who looks somewhat like the WWF's Edge. They started off quick with Youth shoulderblocking Sabre, and Sabre coming back with a series of armdrags. Good exchange of wrestling moves. Youth hit a headscissors which got a nice pop. Sabre backdropped Youth to the floor. Sabre ran to do a dive, but Youth shoulderblocked him. Sabre got awesome hangtime on a running dive over the ropes to the floor, getting a huge pop. Sabre went to the top, but Youth dropkicked him off, and he went to the floor. Youth hit an awesome running senton over the ropes to the floor. Youth began choking Sabre, and ran him into the turnbuckles. He hit a nice side kick on Sabre after whipping him into the ropes. Youth worked him over with a side chinlock. Sabre fought to his feet and hit a DDT. Both men struggled to their feet as the referee began to count them out. Youth hit a shortarm clothesline on Sabre, then missed a springboard moonsault. Sabre hit a standing dropkick on Youth. The women in the crowd are popping for Sabre big time. Sabre hit a springboard missile dropkick for a two count. They battled atop the ropes and Youth hit an inverted atomic drop on Sabre. Youth hit a swinging DDT and a splash off the top. The crowd is popping for everything. Sabre saved a miscue on a piledriver, hit it, then it an awesome moonsault. he went to the top again, but Youth caught him and tried to superplex him off, but Sabre caught him with a sunset flip off the top into a powerbomb for the pinfall. Another great match! Youth is as great as those of us who had the pleasure of seeing him in the Northeast already knew and Sabre is a star waiting to be found. Both men got a nice ovation after the bell.

The next bout saw Flash Flanagan and Matt Styker, managed by the HOT Helena Heavenly challenge the HWA Tag Team champions, "Surfer" Cody Hawk and "Mad Anthony" McMurphy, the taxi driver. (I'm not kidding, his gimmick is he's a taxi driver!). Stryker and Hawk did some nice counter wrestling. Flanagan and McMurphy tag in. McMurphy armdrags Flanagan, who begs off. The crowd began chanting "Taxi."The heels regrouped at ringside, but Taxi was right back at it, working over Flanagan's arm. Hawk tagged in and the Surfer gave Flanagan more of the same. The heels again backed out of the ring to regrp, but Cody hit a sliding kick out of the ring on Flanagan. He's taking a ton of abuse! Taxi clotheslines Flanagan over the ropes to the floor. I told ya! McMurphy cleans house on the heels, then does a plancha over the ropes on Flanagan. Flanagan comes back with a bulldog from behind on McMurphy. Stryker hit a great suplex on McMurphy, followed by an uppercut forearm that would make Dory Funk, Jr. proud. Flanagan hit a great running senton off the ropes. Cody Hawk did a flip off the ropes on both. Stryker then dove off the top on all three. Flanagan hit a sunset flip over the top to the floor, powerbombing Hawk to the concrete which got a big pop. They brawled on the floor. Flanagan brought a chair in the ring, and sprinted across the ring, off the chair, and springboarded off the ropes to the floor on McMurphy. The crowd is really into the match now after a slow start. Flanagan locks a chin lock on Cody. The crowd gets behind Cody, who makes a comeback and tags McMurphy. Stryker hit a high knee on McMurphy. McMurphy hit a flip into a sunset flip for a two count. Flanagan tagged in and did a corkscrew legdrop after bouncing off the ropes. Heavenly choked McMurphy, and got a ton of crowd heat. McMurphy came back to hit a powerbomb on Flanagan, who has taken a ton of great bumps. Cody Hawk got the hot tag and cleaned house on the challengers. Heavenly got on the apron and Hawk pulled her into the ring The faces whipped the heels into her, and then McMurphy pressed and tossed her over the top onto Flanagan. Hawk got the pin after jumping off McMurphy's shoulders on Stryker to retain the HWA Tag Team championships. Another strong match that got better as it progressed. Everyone was really good, especially the hot as hell Helena Heavenly.

A ceremony honoring Pillman was held, with Les Thatcher, The Pillman family, Ricky Steamboat, Dallas Page, Kevin Nash, and others.

In the next match, HWA Cruiserweight champion Shark Boy took on Jamie-San of WCW's Jung Dragons, managed by Tony Marinara of the early WCW Mamalukes storyline. When Shark Boy's music started, the lights went out and a spotlight began racing around the arena. He got a nice pop when he came out. They started with some counter wrestling and Shark Boy got a near pin with a rollup. They continued to counter each other's moves and got an ovation when jumping to their feet. Shark Boy tossed Marinara over the ropes when he tried to interfere, then dove on Jamie and Marinara. Jamie whipped Shark Boy into the guard rails and began chopping him. He tossed Shark Boy back in the ring, and and hit a running chop. Jamie tossed Shark Boy into the corner, but jumped up and over into a twisting sunset flip for a two count. Jamie worked over Shark Boy with a side chinlock and the crowd began chanting his name. Shark Boy is over! Shark Boy hit an inverted atomic drop and a DDT. Shark hits a flying hurrancanrana off the top on Jamie. Shark Boy goes for Diamondust, his finisher, but Jamie catches it and reverses it into a reverse DDT in a nice exchange. Jamie misses a swan dive headbutt of the top. Shark Boy goes for Diamondust again, hits it, and scores the pinfall to retain the HWA Cruiserweight championship. Solid match. After the bout, Marinara shoved Jamie-San, who returns the favor by kicking him and shooting him into the air, landing face first. Marinara retreated as Jamie-San's music played.

In the finals of the HWA Heavyweight championship Tournament, Chip Fairway took on Race Steele. D-Lo Brown, who once held the championship, was introduced as presenting the championship belt to the winner of the bout. Brown took the mic, and says that he came to the show to pass the torch for the championship he never lost. He says he is going to watch the match and make sure the best man wins. Fairway showed some good mat skills early on in the match. He wears argyle boots and has a preppy golfer gimmick and moves well for a guy his size. Steele is a big muscular guy. Fairway hits some of the hardest chops I've ever seen. Steele presses and slams him, then connects with a pair of clotheslines. Steele hits a killer Frankensteiner. Steele nearly killed himself with a dive over the ropes to the aisle on Fairway. They brawled on the floor, where Steele took an awesome backdrop on the concrete. Back in the ring, Fairway got a two count with an Alabama Jam. Steele began battling back with punches but Fairway hit a spinebuster, followed by a quebrada. Fairway missed a nasty elbow off the top. The local DJ who was in Fairway's corner got on the apron, and D-Lo took Fairway's golf club from him. Seele whipped Fairway into the DJ, who took a bump, then hit a diamond cutter for the pin and the championship. Several of the HWA workers who performed earlier in the evening came out with champagne to celebrate the victory, which was a nice touch as it made the title change seem important. OK match with Fairway and Steele both taking good risks and bumps

Cody Michaels, who broke into the business in the same class with Mick Foley, Brian Hildebrand and Shane Douglas, took on the Taxi Driver, Mad Anthony McMurphy, who's doing double duty. Michaels started out fast dropping him throat first over the railing and beating him around the ring, then tossing him back in the ring. Michaels dives off the top on McMurphy on the floor. McMurphy charged Michaels, who caught him with a boot and got a two count by putting his feet on the ropes. McMurphy got a small package for a near fall and a powerslam for another. McMurphy goes to the top rope, but gets crotched by Michaels. McMurphy knocks Cody off the ropes and hits a sunset flip off the top for the pinfall. Your winner by pinfall, Mad Anthony McMurphy. McMurphy looked tired from his earlier match, while Michaels looked really crisp. The heat for this match wasn't up to the level of the others, possibly because a camera crew was following Shark Boy around and he was getting SWARMED by fans. The guy was over!

A brief note on the last match: Terry Taylor was scheduled to face Michaels, but I was just told he suffered a neck injury and could not work.

Dr. Tom Pritchard made his way to the ring, preparing to face "White Lightning" Tim Horner, managed by Missy Hyatt. It's a Smoky Mountain Wrestling reunion! Well, except for Missy. Hyatt says that last year she managed Pritchard against Terry Taylor, and he lost, so she tells Horner to "kick his butt." They start off with a lot of good mat wrestling and exchanges of holds. Lots of old school wrestling tonight. Steve Corino would be proud. The crowd applauds a clean break by Horner. Lots of back and forth work on the mat. Horner keeps working on Pritchard's arm. They fight a bit on the floor. Pritchard suplexes Horner in for a two count. Pritchard works over the reverse chinlock, and then tosses Horner to the floor when he fights his way up. Horner gets the pin with a sunset flip. Pritchard tried to grab the ropes but Missy flashed up her Pillman 2000 Tshirt, shocking him, and allowing Horner to get the pin. Solid match. The crowd was very respectful of the match, considering it was mostly basic wrestling and matwork.

The next match featured Ron and Don Harris taking on Billy Kidman and Disco Inferno, who is a substitute for David Flair. No idea where Flair is, although Les Thatcher did say they had some people with travel problems during the opening of the show. I am pretty sure this is true, as I had a hell of a time flying down here this morning. By the way, Vampiro is here and dressed to work. Torrie Wilson is at ringside....WOW. They introduced special referee Shawn Casey, the first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. Kidman starts out with one of the Harris Boys and gets tossed around. Kidman hits headscissors on the Harris Boys and he retreats out of the ring. The Harris shoves referee Casey, who shoves back. This Red ain't taking no crap! Disco tags in and takes over the Harris with an armdrag. The Harris hits a sidewalk slam. Kidman hits an Acid Drop like bulldog after running the ropes. The Harris Boys work over Kidman in the corner. Kidman tags in Disco, who hits a neckbreaker on one Harris, but the other breaks the count. Out of nowhere, Kidman turned on Disco and the Harris Boys hit the H Bomb. Sean Casey refused to count the pin so WCW referee Charles Robinson hit the ring and counted three. Casey and Robinson argued and Casey cleaned house on all the heels, getting a big pop. Your winners, the Harris Boys.

Captain Rection, the artist formerly known as Hugh Morrus, made his way to the ring. Vampiro's music began and the place just erupted. He is OVER. I could see Vampiro psyching himself up before he came out to the crowd, and he is just intense. Cap takes down Vampiro with a massive shoulderblock. He missed a running clothelsine, but Vamp rebounds off the ropes and hits a spin kick. Vampiro dove out of the ring on Cap. Cap gets whipped into Kevin Nash who was sitting inside the rails. Nash isn't happy about it, and gets into a brief brawl with Vamp. Cap and Vampiro brawl into the crowd and at one point are right below me. They brawl towards the entranceway with the crowd swarming. Morrus drops an elbow from the first level of the building onto Vampiro on the floor. They set up a table against the wall of the building and take turns throwing each other into it. The crowd chanted "ECW." Vampiro one upped Cap by diving off the level. They brawl back to the ring. Cap hits a powerslam but missed a beautiful moonsault. Vamp hits the Nail of the Coffin for the pinfall. Great brawl!

Steven Regal, wearing purple tights comes out to a huge pop. Regal is in awesome shape. The crowd starts chanting "Regal." His opponent is the WWF Intercontinental champion, Chris Benoit. The crowd chants, "Benoit." They tie up and Benoit muscles Regal into the corner. They vie for the advantage, and Benoit finally gets it working over the shoulder and arm. Benoit muscles him over into a hammerlock. Regal reverses, sweeps Benoit's legs and holds him down pin a wristlock and hits him with a fireman's carry. Fluid wrestling! Benoit holds Regal down, but he kips up and monkey flips Benoit over. Regal floats over and Benoit headbutts him, opening him hardway. Benoit dropkicks Regal out of the ring, then yanks him facefirst on the canvas outside. Benoit gets a two count, then follows up with a belly to back suplex. Regal sweeps Benoit's legs and locks on an STF. The crowd applauds, they are starting to get into the match. Regal hits a standing dropkick to Benoit's face. Regal locks up Benoit's legs, and then pulls him back into a bow and arrow, then pulls reverse chinlock on the stretched Benoit. The crowd is popping for the moves like an All Japan match. Benoit hits a German suplex. They start trading chops, headbutts and kicks. It's stiff as hell. Regal gets the better of it and the crowd chants "Regal." Benoit hits the trinity of German suplexes. The crowd stands up for the spot. Benoit goes to the top rope but Regal cuts him off. Regal hits a butterfly superplex. The Arena is going nuts! The two butt heads in the middle of the ring. Benoit goes for the cover but can't get a three count. Regal floats over a suplex attempt and rolls up Benoit for a two count. Benoit gets a two count with a backslide. Regal scored with European uppercuts, and goes for a tombstone. Benoit reverses and hits it. He goes to the top rope and the place goes nuts. He dives off but misses the swan dive headbutt. Both men are down and the referee is counting, and the crowd is counting with him. They get up and after a series of reversals, Benoit hits a Dragon Suplex and locks on the Crippler Crossface for the submission. The Arena gives both men a standing ovation. Les Thatcher says, "I don't know what you see on television, but you just saw a wrestling match here tonight." Benoit gives Regal a hand getting up and the crowd chants Regal's name. Benoit tells Regal he's been away for awhile, but all the boys and the fans missed him and it is great to have Regal back. The crowd chants Regal's name. Benoit and Regal leave together. This was the best wrestling match of the year BY FAR. Nothing anyone has done anywhere this year can touch this match. It was Regal's return to form, and it was a very special moment with a crowd reacting in a way rarely seen today anywhere. An amazing match on an amazing night, and there is still more to come.

Shane Douglas' music began to play and the "Franchise" made his way to the ring in street clothes. Douglas said he would have been at Pillman '99 but Les Thatcher told him that there was someone who was booked on the show last year that didn't want Shane there. Shane rips on the person he says has held him back in the sport, and came to WCW on a mission of a shoot, a clear mission to take that "jackass Dick Flair" and run him out of WCW. Douglas says he is more efficient than he thought, because he beat Flair once and Flair was gone. He says he beat the man, and that makes the "Franchise" the man. Douglas says that there are some "old jackasses" who won't give the younger wrestlers what is rightfully theirs. He says Hulk Hogan always talks about how Andre the Giant passed the torch to him, but he won't do the same. The crowd chants "Hogan sucks." He says that if they won't pass the torch, then it will be taken by force. He rips on the Millionaire's Club. Douglas says that everyone says Diamond Dallas Page is the hardest working man in wrestling and Shane disagrees. He says that the one thing he will agree on is that DDP had the hottest looking b*tch in wrestling. Page's music hits and he comes out drinking a beer. Shane and Page begin brawling in the ring, and Shane is beating him down. DDP hits the Diamond Cutter out of nowhere, counts his own pinfall, and leaves the "Franchise" laying. When Shane finally gets up, he says, "God bless you Brian. That was for you buddy."

Next up is the ECW World Heavyweight championship match! Raven made his way to the ring first, followed by the ECW World Heavyweight champion, Justin Credible. There was no ring music and sadly, no Francine. The crowd chanted "ECW" as the guys came out. The crowd was on Credible immediately, chanting "Just an @ssh*le." Credible says he comes all the way here out of the kindness of his heart for a good cause for a real wrestler and a great family, but obviously the fans don't have respect for a true World Heavyweight champion. He tells the fans that they suck, then tells Raven that everyone knows Credible has beaten Raven and taken his girl. Raven says, "That's alright, because I had your Mom." Credible goes to cane him, but Raven ducks under and whips him into the corner. Credible bumps up and over to the floor. Raven drills him with a chair. Justin is busted open above the eye. Raven chokes Justin with the cane, then tosses him to the floor. They brawl to the floor and across the Arena. Raven tosses Credible into a row of chairs. They fight back to the ring, where Raven tosses a chair in the ring. He whips Credible into the ropes, but the champion reverses and hits a drop toe hold into the chair. Raven is now busted as well. Justin is busted open bad, possibly the most blood I've ever seen him lose. They brawl around the ringside area. Justin chokes Raven down with a side chinlock. Justin sets up a table at ringside. Justin locks on a sleeper. Raven hits the "Mr. Wrestling 2" kneelift and uses the snotrag. Justin hits a superkick for a two count. Both guys have been looking good. Raven hits the evenflow DDT for a REALLY close two count. Justin hits a lowblow and rolls up Raven for a near fall. Justin hits the That's Incredible spinning tombstone, but Raven gets his shoulder up. Raven hits the drop toe hold on the chair on Justin for an near fall. Justin goes for That's Incredible again, hits it, and scores the pinfall, retaining the ECW World Heavyweight championship. Solid match. When Raven got up, he got a huge ovation from the crowd.

Before the main event, Les Thatcher talks about how all the performers on the show tonight gave up a free night at home to wrestle and support the Pillman family. The crowd gives them a huge ovation. They introduce Diamond Dallas Page, who comes out with Brian and Brittany Pillman. Page draws the winner for auctions giving away a piece of artwork of Pillman signed by everyone on the show and a specially made Brian Pillman championship belt signed by everyone on the show. Page did a great job entertaining the crowd which was obviously tired after over five hours at the show. They announce that the Brian Pillman Memorial Fund had raised $36,936.00. They presented a supersized check to the Pillman family.

This leads into the main event, as Eddy Guerrero comes out and takes the mic, saying that Mamacita couldn't be here tonight, so he and she decided to have Young watch out for Eddy. Young says that he was told to watch Eddy's back and he can do that because he's bad. Guerrero says he's mad about someone in the WWF using his frog splash, and tells D-Lo Brown to come out. D-Lo's music hits and he comes out with Reds player Danny Graves. Brown tells Guerrero to back up so he can talk about it to the Strikeout King, Dimitri Young. Graves says that he and Brown are going to take out Guerrero and Dimitri. Brown rips on Eddy's frog splash and the fight is on. They go back and forth with Brown mostly in control. They chop each other back and forth. Brown hits a suplex. He follows up with a belly to back suplex. D-Lo hits his trademark legdrop. Eddy superplexes Brown off the top rope. Dean Malenko hits the ring and attacks both men. As he brawls with Eddy, Perry Saturn hits the ring. It ends up with Eddy & D-Lo against Dean & Perry. Eddy takes the mic and says that if they like jumping people from behind, he and Brown have two things in common, the frog splash and heat..as D-Lo has "Brother Heat." D-Lo challenges them to make it a tag team match and we are on!

Perry Saturn asks the crowd if they want to see a tag match and they cheer in anticipation. Saturn says to forget it and he and Malenko walk out. Brown and Guerrero rip on Malenko and Saturn, and they hit the ring. Our new main event is underway! Eddy and Dean start off. Dean shoots Eddy into the air, and then into his corner, where Saturn chokes him with the tag rope. Saturn presses Eddy and drops him into a jackhammer, but Guerrero reverses it into a Mexican armdrag. Saturn locks a chinlock on Eddy, but Guerrero suplexes him and tags in Brown. Brown cleans house on Perry, but is distracted by Malenko, and taken out. The Radicals double team Brown. Malenko pumps Brown's arm and works on an armbar. Eddy pokes him in the eye, which allows the Radicals to switch places while the referee admonishes him. Saturn locks a short arm scissor on Brown, Brown works his way to his feet and throws Saturn off. Perry cuts off Brown and tags Malenko, who hits him with a high running kick to the face. Perry works over Brown's arm and Eddy comes in and dropkicks him. The referee forces him back allowing more double teaming. Brown and Malenko hit a neckbreaker on each other and after recovering, struggle to tag their partners. The hot tag is made and Eddy cleans house on Saturn, hitting a dropkick. He hits a high kick on Malenko. All four brawl and Malenko and Brown are whipped into each other. Brown hits a frog splash on Saturn for the pin. Good finale. Your winners, Eddy Guerrero and D-Lo Brown...Brother Heat?

2001 - The Memphis Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title switches twice in Marmaduke, Arkansas as The Island Boys (Ekmo and Kimo) defeat Russ and Charlie Haas, then the Haas' win the titles back.

2001 - Samir defeats Dash Riproc for the NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title in North Richland Hills, Texas, beginning his second reign.

2002 - Steve Corino defeats Danny Doring in a tournament final for the vacant NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in St. Petersburg, Florida.

2003 - The final World Wrestling All-Stars event, a pay-per-view in Auckland, New Zealand, is held. The results were:
- Rick Steiner defeated Mark Mercedes.
- Teo defeated Puppet and Meatball in a three-way Midget Hardcore match.
- Crowbar defeated Konnan in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
- TNA X Division Champion Chris Sabin defeated WWA International Cruiserweight Champion Jerry Lynn, Frankie Kazarian and Johnny Swinger in a four-way match to unify the two titles.
- Sabu defeated Joe E. Legend.
- NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated WWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting to unify the two titles.

2003 - Rory Fox wins his fourth HWA Cruiserweight Title, defeating J.T. Stahr and T.J. Dalton in Cincinnati, Ohio.

2007 - Vince McMahon made a surprise appearance at a Chaotic Wrestling charity event. Steve from Maine sent this report.

We went to meet John Cena today at Triton (not kidding) High School in Byfield Ma. for an autograph session. We arrived about 3:20 PM and waited outside with a good size crowd, but not out of control by any means. Cena's brother is a local policeman and they had plenty of police around so it was a real nice and peaceful wait. The whole process was extremely organized, which is relaxing to parent of an 7 year old boy.

We moved into the gym and they had a table set up at one end with John Cena sitting there with his brother next to him. The session was 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., but the line moved fairly quick, not because the were rushing people but because they had it set up perfectly. For all the fans who don't like John Cena I can tell you the guy is a class act. The way they had the gym set up you could see him interact with people while you waited. The guy was a gentleman, first class. He did everything people asked of him. If a woman wanted a picture with his arm around her, he politely hopped up from behind the table and came around and posed. I must have seen him do about 10 different poses with people (and I was in the first third of the line) and every time he treated the fan like he was thanking you for coming out not, like he was doing you a favor. I was worried he'd only sign the photo they gave out and my son insisted on bringing his "The Marine" poster that we got from the video store. I didn't want to be greedy and ask him to sign it but John saw me holding it and pointed at the poster and motioned to give it to him and signed it for my son. He posed for a few photos with my son and my friend's son, who is older but has some special needs. When his camera's battery was dead and John could see he was disappointed, he told him to wait and had me come back over and take a picture of them together. With a large line waiting to meet him that was really classy. He signed everything people asked. It was the beginning of an unbelievable night. My son also got an autograph from Killer Kowalski. I told my son in front of Killer it was like meeting wrestling's version of Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays and Killer smiled. When we approached him I said, "I always wanted to meet one of the Executioners" and Killer's wife chuckled. I told him growing up in the 70's my older brother would keep me in that darn stomach claw for 15 minutes at a whack thanks to him and current wrestlers should bring back the move. We all laughed.

The Chaotic Wrestling Show started about 8 PM and had some real good action. I was very impressed with the hard work these guys put in. When one of the heels beats up the ref early on, John Cena came out to announce that he would ref the title bout. Cena gave his speech and it was great. It was such an intimate setting it was like he was doing the show personally for you. The gym went crazy.

Eugene wrestled and they worked him and another guy pretty hard for almost the whole 20 minutes, with Eugene getting the win.

In the Main Event, Cena got hit over the head by the Chaotic Champ's belt and was out cold on the mat. While Cena was out, none one other than Vincent Kennedy McMahon came to the ring and helped the heel champ beat down the challenger. Cena finally came to, got up and FU'd Vince and then the Chaotic Champ. The place was going bonkers and it was almost 11 PM and we had been there since 3 PM. Vince slipped out the back door and Cena DQ'd the champ.

After the match they had a raffle with Cena signing about 50 items, including an exact replica spinner belt with his autograph on it. He announced the winning number and presented it to winner personally. He walked back through the crowd hugging kids, signing things, he was great. I can see why Vince would come out to a small HS gym in Massachusetts on a hot and humid holiday weekend night to help John Cena and his family raise money for local police and M.A.D.D. It's because he knows and respects Cena for the class act that he is. Change your mind Cena haters, the guy really is a Champ in and out of the ring. I saw it firsthand.


PWInsider.com

Thanks for this.