This day in history - 7th March
March 7th
On this day in history in ....
1940 - Ray Steele defeats NFL great Bronko Nagurski for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in St. Louis, Missouri.
1961 - Eddie Graham defeats Buddy Austin in Tampa, Florida to begin the first of four NWA Southern Heavyweight Title reigns.
1963 - Buddy Austin & The Great Scot defeats Buddy Rogers & John Barend for the WWWF Tag Team Championship in Washington, D.C.
1967 - WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino and NWA International World Champion Giant Baba battled to a draw in Tokyo, Japan in a three falls match. Baba scored the first fall and Sammartino the second, but the one hour time limit expired during the third fall. The International Title is now part of All Japan's Triple Crown.
1969 - WWWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeating Killer Kowalski via countout in the main event.
1983 - Jerry Lawler defeats Austin Idol for the AWA International Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee.
1984 - Mark Youngblood defeats Dick Slater in a tournament final in Spartanburg, South Carolina to become the NWA Television Champion.
1988 - WWF taped the 15th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show would air on March 12th on NBC, earning a 10.0 broadcast rating. Here are the results:
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Greg Valentine when Valentine used a back suplex, but Beefcake got his shoulder up at the two count, while Valentine's were down for three.
- Hulk Hogan defeated Harley Race with a legdrop. During the match, Race went to headbutt Hulk Hogan off the ring apron through a table. Hogan moved, and Race injured his sternum when he crashed through the table.
- Ted DiBiase defeated Randy Savage via countout when Andre The Giant attacked Savage on the outside. Hulk Hogan made the save.
- The Islanders (Haku & Tama) defeated The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell) in a two out of three falls match, but only the first fall (Tama pinning Blair after a superkick from Haku) was televised on the show.
- The One Man Gang defeated Ken Patera when OMG fell backwards on Patera as he applied a full nelson.
1989 - Paul Boesch, legendary promoter in Houston, Texas, passes away at the age of 76. His career spanned six decades, first as a wrestler, until an auto accident ended his in-ring activities in the 1940's, and then as a promoter. Boesch was considered a pioneer in televised wrestling with his "Houston Wrestling" program.
1994 - USWA held their Memphis Memories event at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. The show, featuring some of the legends of Memphis wrestling, drew over 8,000 fans.
- The Nightmares (Danny Davis & Ken Wayne) & Skull Von Crush defeated Spellbinder, King Cobra & Jeff Gaylord when Davis pinned Gaylord.
- JC Ice vs. Wolfie D ended in a double countout.
- Koko B. Ware defeated Billy Travis.
- Tommy Rich defeated Jimmy Valiant via DQ.
- USWA Tag Team Champions The Moondogs (Spot & Rex) defeated Leatherface & Frankenstein.
- Jerry Lawler, Austin Idol & Brian Christopher defeated Terry Funk, Eddie Gilbert & Doug Gilbert via DQ.
- Jerry Lawler won a ten-man "Four Corners" elimination match.
* Brian Christopher defeated Doug Gilbert.
* Tommy Rich defeated Jimmy Valiant.
* Jerry Lawler defeated Tommy Rich.
* Brian Christopher defeated Moondog Spot.
* Austin Idol was disqualified.
* Koko B. Ware and Brian Christopher were both counted out.
* Terry Funk was disqualified.
* Jerry Lawler defeated Eddie Gilbert to win the match.
1995 - Mr. Pogo & Yukihiro Kanemura defeat Atsushi Onita & Mr. Gannosuke to win the FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title in Iwate, Japan.
2006 - During a Smackdown taping in Mobile, Alabama, Paul Burchall debuts his new gimmick, dressing and acting like a pirate, and defeats William Regal. Also on the show, Bobby Lashley and Fit Finlay battle to a no-contest in a Money In the Bank qualifying match when the two start brawling in the aisle and end up in the parking lot, where Lashley turns over a car in an attempt to get Finlay.
