This Day In Wrestling History – March 11th

Mar 11, 2017 - by Bill Fenbers

1964 – Antonio Inoki makes his pro wrestling debut in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1989 – The 20th edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event airs on NBC, and receives a 10.0 TV rating.

-Brutus Beefcake defeats Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) via disqualification.

-Hulk Hogan (with Miss Elizabeth) defeats Bad News Brown.

-Ted DiBiase defeats The Blue Blazer.

-The Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson) (with Bobby Heenan) fight The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) to a double countout.

-The Red Rooster defeats The Brooklyn Brawler (with Bobby Heenan).

1989 – Jeff Jarrett defeats Dutch Mantel, to win the CWA Heavyweight Championship.

1991 – Jerry Lawler wins the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship for the 8th time, defeating Terry Funk.

1993 – At a house show in London, England, Sting defeats Big Van Vader, to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

1995 – In Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Bobby Blaze defeats Jerry Lawler, to become the new SMW Heavyweight Champion.  Blaze would successfully defend his title later in the evening, defeating Buddy Landel.

1996 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.2 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.9 rating).

2002 – On RAW, Al Snow defeats Goldust, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship for the 6th time.

2007 – TNA Destination X is held in Orlando in front of 900 fans.  In a Two-out-of-Three Falls Match, Chris Sabin defeats Jerry Lynn, to retain the TNA X Division Championship.  In the main event, Christian Cage defeats Samoa Joe, to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

2007 – Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

2009 – Former WWF Intercontinental champion & MMA legend Ken Shamrock was suspended for 1 year & fined $2,500 by the California State Athletic Commission.  Shamrock tested positive for 3 different types of steroids, Norandrosterone, Noretiocholanolone & Stanozolol.  The tests occurred after a February 13th win in California over Ross Clifton.  It was Shamrock’s first win in almost four years.  The suspension effectively canceled a planned Shamrock vs. Bobby Lashley MMA bout.

2010 – Former WWWF Tag Team Champion Jerry Valiant passes away at age 63, after battling Alzheimer’s.

2010 – Sandy Scott, a 20-time Tag Team Champion among various promotions and territories, passes away at age 75;  Scott had been battling pancreatic cancer.

2012 – In Florida Championship Wrestling, Leo Kruger defeats Mike Dalton, to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.

2013 – WWE RAW opens with a tribute to Paul Bearer, who had passed away six days earlier.

2015 – At Family Wrestling Entertainment’s FWE XIX, AJ Styles defeats John Hennigan, to win the FWE Heavyweight Championship (Two-out-of-Three Falls Match).  Styles is the final champion, as this was FWE’s final event before closing down.  Their website, http://fwewrestling.com/home, is still up, though it has not been updated since the promotion’s final event.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: former TNA/ROH/Dragon Gate Wrestler Jonny Fairplay (43 years old);  former ECW Television & Tag Team Champion Pitbull #1 (50 years old);  former AJPW Junior Heavyweight & All Asia Tag Team Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima (29 years old);  2-time European Heavyweight Champion Robbie Brookside (51 years old);  and current Impact Wrestling backstage interviewer McKenzie Mitchell (age unknown).

SOURCES: WrestleView, Saturday Night’s Main Event XX on Wikipedia, gerweck.net, wrestlingdata.com

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