This Day In History - June 15th
June 15th
On this day in history in ....
1961 - Scott Norton is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brad Armstrong is born in Marietta, Georgia.
1962 - Sailor Art Thomas defeats The Mummy for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas.
1971 - Chuck Palumbo is born in Providence, Rhode Island.
1979 - Seiji Sakaguchi and Riki Choshu defeat Hiro Matsuda and Masa Saito in Los Angeles, California for the NWA North American Tag Team Title.
1979 - The Blond Bombers (Larry Latham and Wayne Farris) defeat Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Tupelo, Mississippi, ending Lawler and Dundee's third reign.
1980 - Sangre Chicana defeats Cachorro Mendoza for the NWA World Middleweight Title in Monterrey, Mexico.
1982 - One day after losing the World Class American Title to Fritz Von Erich in Fritz' retirement match, King Kong Bundy is awarded the title due to Fritz vacating it. This was Fritz' 15th and final reign.
1986 - Rufus R. Jones and Mike George defeat Hacksaw Higgins and J.R . Hogg in Sedalia, Missouri, to win the NWA Central States Tag Team Title.
1990 - John Tatum defeats Bill Dundee for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas, ending Dundee's second reign and beginning Tatum's second.
1992 - Eddie Gilbert defeats Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Lawler's 12th reign with the gold.
1996 - Dick Murdoch dies from a heart attack at age 49.
1996 - Brickhouse Brown defeats Bart Sawyer for the vacant USWA Television Title in Memphis, Tennessee.
1997 - WCW held their Great American Bash Pay-per-view in Moline, Illinois, earning a 0.60 buyrate. Here are the results:
- Ultimo Dragon defeated Psicosis via submission with the Dragon Sleeper after Psicosis accidentally kicked his manager, Sonny Ono, who was holding Dragon for the kick.
- Harlem Heat defeated Rick & Scott Steiner via disqualification when Vincent ran in and elbowdropped Booker T. This was done because the Outsiders wanted the Steiners to lose, and not be in line for a tag title match down the road.
- Konnan defeated Hugh Morrus via submission with the Tequila Sunrise.
- Glacier defeated Wrath after hitting him with a chair that Mortis had tossed in for Wrath to lose. Post-match, Mortis, Wrath and James Vandenburg handcuffed Glacier to the ropes and beat him up.
- WCW Women's Champion Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa with a brainbuster, forcing her to retire due to a pre-match stipulation. Following the match, there was an unintentionally funny moment when Mean Gene Okerlund asked a crying Madusa what she would do to make a living now.
- Chris Benoit defeated Meng via submission in a Death match with the Crippler Crossface.
- Kevin Greene defeated Steve McMichael after Jeff Jarrett mistakenly hit McMichael with a metal briefcase.
- WCW World Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Kevin Nash defeated Ric Flair & Roddy Piper. Flair ended up fighting with Syxx to the locker room, and Piper was left alone, where he got pinned by Hall after an Outsider Edge.
- Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Page hit Savage with a Diamond Cutter, but Scott Hall ran in and kicked referee Nick Patrick to stop the count. Savage hit Page with Hall's tag title belt, Hall delivered the Outsider Edge, and Savage hit the top rope elbowdrop for the pin (after Hall revived the referee).
1997 - Cibernetico defeats Mascara Sagrada for the Mexico National Heavyweight Title in Pantitlán, Mexico.
1998 - The Monday Night War waged on, with WWF RAW is WAR posting a 4.3 rating, and winning the night, with their show from San Antonio, Texas, featuring a Hell in a Cell match in the main event (a match that has since been ignored when discussing Hell In The Cell matches every since). Steve Austin and The Undertaker fought Mankind and Kane to a no contest. Meanwhile, in Uniondale, New York on WCW Monday Nitro, which got a 4.0 rating, the show featured WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg defeating Glacier, a no contest in a Randy Savage-Diamond Dallas Page Steel Cage match and Chris Jericho being awarded his fourth WCW Cruiserweight Title.
1999 - FMW holds their monthly pay-per-view event at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The results:
- Ricky Fuji defeated Nanjyo Hayato.
- Jado defeated Flying Kid Ichihara.
- Hisakatsu Oya and Hideki Hosaka defeated Yoshinori Sasaki and Naohiro Yamazaki, when Hosaka pinned Yamazaki.
- Chikako Shiratori defeated Kaori Nakayama.
- Koji Nakagawa and Gedo defeated Sabu and Super Leather, when Gedo pinned Leather, to retain the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title.
- Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeated FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion Yukihiro Kanemura, Mr. Gannosuke and Hido in a "Scramble Ladder Dog Food match" when Kuroda pinned Hido. As a result, Kodo Fuyuki had to eat dog food.
2001 - The "Memphis Clash of the Legends" is held at the historic Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, before 4,700 fans. The results:
- PG-13 (J.C. Ice and Wolfie D.) defeated Spellbinder and Reggie B. Fine.
- Brian Christopher defeated Mike Rapada.
- King Cobra, Chris Harris and Tommy Rogers beat Porkchop Cash, Mad Dog and Tracy Smothers.
- The Kat defeated Ying Yang.
- Bill Dundee and Robert Gibson defeated The Galaxians.
- The Moondogs and The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) fought to a double disqualification.
- Rocky Johnson and Jimmy Valiant defeated Buddy Landell and Billy Joe Travis.
- The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) fought Stan Lane and Curt Hennig to a no contest.
- Jerry Lawler defeated Lord Humongous. Guest referee was Lance Russell.
- Jimmy Hart won a 20-man battle royal to win a 2002 Cadillac Escalade.
2001 - Misae Genki defeats Kyoko Inoue for the NWA Pacific Women's Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2002 - Major League Wrestling holds its first-ever event, "Genesis" at Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, featuring an eight-man MLW World Heavyweight Title tournament. The results:
- Jerry Lynn defeated La Parka in a quarterfinal match.
- Vampiro defeated Christopher Daniels in a quarterfinal match.
- Taiyo Kea defeated The Wall in a quarterfinal match.
- Shane Douglas defeated Steve Corino in a quarterfinal match.
- Prince Nana, Super Hentai and Ultra Taro, Jr. defeated Devon Storm, Abunai and Rising Son.
- P.J. Friedman defeated Shirley Doe.
- Shane Douglas defeated Jerry Lynn in a semifinal match.
- Vampiro and Taiyo Kea fought to a draw. Both men advanced to the finals as a result.
- Shane Douglas defeated Vampiro and Taiyo Kea in a three-way match to become the first MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Post-match, Douglas threatened to throw down the belt (as he did with the NWA World Title many years earlier) but was informed that he would be forced to defend the title.
2002 - Ricky Murdock defeats Doug Gilbert in Greenville, Mississippi to win the NWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title. This began and ended each's second reign.
2002 - Steve Austin's then-wife Debra called the San Antonio police to their home to investigate an incident of alleged violence. The story would receive mainstream news coverage over the next several months.
KMOL, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, TX, would later report that Stone Cold Steve Austin had been "arrested on charges of spousal abuse". With the charges stemming from the June 15 incident where police were called to Austin's home after an alleged altercation with his wife Debra. At the time, Debra claimed that her husband punched her in the face and back when she called police. Austin fled the home before police arrived that day. Austin was charged with a class A misdemeanor assault. Austin turned himself into authorities, arriving at a court house with his lawyers. He was charged with an assault that caused a bodily injury, was booked and fingerprinted before posting his bond.
On November 25th Steve Austin pleaded No Contest to the assault charges. Austin was given a $1,000 fine, one year's probation, forced to perform 80 hours of community service and told to undergo domestic violence counseling. As part of the plea, Austin will be prohibited from drinking alcohol for the year.
2003 - WWE holds Bad Blood at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas. The results:
- On Sunday Night Heat, Ivory pinned Molly Holly after a Poison Ivory.
- Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von), when Nowinski pinned Bubba after hitting him with his protective face mask.
- Scott Steiner pinned Test after a Steiner Flatliner to win the managerial services of Stacy Keibler.
- Booker T defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian by disqualification, when Christian hit Booker with the title belt.
- La Resistance defeated Rob Van Dam and Kane, when Grenier and Dupre pinned Van Dam after a Bonsoir, to win the World Tag Team Title.
- Goldberg pinned Chris Jericho after a Spear and Jackhammer.
- Ric Flair pinned Shawn Michaels after Randy Orton interfered and hit Michaels with a steel chair.
- Steve Austin defeated Eric Bischoff in a "Redneck Triathlon" held throughout the event. Austin defeated Bischoff in a Burping Contest. Bischoff defeated Austin in a Pie-Eating Contest (featuring Mae Young as the pie) by forfeit, which then results in Mae giving Bischoff a bronco buster. Both men agreed they were horrible singers, so the Singing Contest was a draw. Austin won the tie breaker by throwing Bischoff into a pig pen.
- Triple H defeated Kevin Nash in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the World Heavyweight Title, pinning Nash after a sledgehammer shot and a Pedigree.
2004 - At a WWE SmackDown! taping in Chicago, Illinois, Rey Mysterio defeats Chavo Guerrero, Sr., who was on his way out of the company, for the WWE Cruiserweight Title, beginning his eighth reign overall, and third in WWE. At the same taping, The Dudley Boyz (Buh-Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley) defeat Charlie Haas and Rico to win the WWE Tag Team Title, becoming the first team to win both current WWE Tag Team Titles (the other being the World Tag Team Title).
2004 - Tack defeats Gotti to win the HWA Television Title in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Thanks to Ryan Martinez for all his help with the above.
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