This Day In Wrestling History – July 3rd
1967 – Karloff Lagarde defeats Vento Castella, to win the NWA World Welterweight Championship.
1969 – The JWA All Asia Tag Team Titles are vacated by Antonio Inoki & Kintaro Ohki, so Ohki could focus on defending the All Asia Heavyweight Championship.
1975 – Johnny Valentine defeats Harley Race, to win the NWA (Mid-Atlantic) United States Championship.
1977 – Ringo Mendoza defeats Perro Aguayo, to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship.
1986 – At a live event in Brisbane, Australia, Velvet McIntyre defeats The Fabulous Moolah, to win the WWF Women’s Championship.
1987 – Tiger Mask II & Jumbo Tsuruta defeat Ted DiBiase & Stan Hansen, to win the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Tag Team Championship.
1989 – P.Y. Chu-Hi defeats Eric Embry, to win the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
1992 – In a tournament final, El Dandy defeats Negro Casas, to win the vacant CMLL World Middleweight Championship.
1993 – Mano Negra defeats Oro, to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship.
1995 – The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) defeat PG-13 (J.C. Ice & Wolfie D), to win the vacant NWA Tag Team Championship.
2000 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (5.3 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (2.3 rating).
2002 – In a tournament final, AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn defeat The Rainbow Express (Bruce & Lenny Lane), to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
2006 – Kaz Hayashi defeats Katsuhiko Nakajima, in the finals of the AJPW Junior League. Also, Taiyo Kea defeats Satoshi Kojima, to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship.
2006 – On RAW, Edge defeats John Cena and Rob Van Dam, to win the WWE Championship (3-Way No Disqualification Match).
2008 – WWE announces that Trevor Murdoch had been released from his contract. Murdoch had been drafted to the SmackDown Brand in the WWE Supplemental Draft June 25th, but had yet to appear on SmackDown at the time of his release.
2010 – At UFC 116, Brock Lesnar defeats Shane Corwin, via submission (arm-triangle choke), to retain the Heavyweight Championship.
2012 – WWE’s Super SmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash is held in Corpus Christi, TX. The live SmackDown special draws a 1.7 TV rating on Syfy (2.54 million viewers).
– In a Mixed Tag Team Match, The Great Khali & Layla defeat Antonio Cesaro & Aksana.
– Cody Rhodes defeats Christian, in a World Heavyweight Title Money In The Bank Match Qualifying Match.
– Dolph Ziggler defeats Alex Riley, in a World Heavyweight Title Money In The Bank Match Qualifying Match.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Santino Marella, & Sgt. Slaughter defeat Camacho, Hunico, & Drew McIntyre.
– Ryback defeats Curt Hawkins (with Tyler Reks)
– In The Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal, Zack Ryder last eliminates Kane, to win the position of Guest General Manager, for the July 13th SmackDown.
2013 – Ring of Honor Match-Coordinator Nigel McGuinness announces that the ROH World Championship would be vacated by Jay Briscoe; Briscoe suffered an injury at the June 23rd TV tapings and was declared unable to compete for the foreseeable future.
2014 – On this evening’s Impact Wrestling, Gail Kim defeats Angelina Love, to win the TNA Knockouts Championship for the 4th time. Also, TNA Executive Director Kurt Angle declares the Television Championship ‘inactive.’ The title had not been seen defended, seen, or even mentioned, throughout the entirety of Abyss’s reign as champion; Abyss had defeated Devon for the title at Slammiversary XI on June 2, 2013.
2016 – Matt Sydal, Ricochet, & Satoshi Kojima defeat The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson), to win the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Former NWA Tag Team Champion Johnny Swinger (42 years old); independent wrestler Trent Gibson (26 years old), David Osborne (32 years old), & Deranged (33 years old); current Dragon Gate ‘Open The Triangle Gate’ Champion Takashi Yoshida, aka Cyber Kong (35 years old); and retired luchador Sombrita (49 years old).
Today would have been the 52nd birthday for former IWGP Heavyweight & AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto, and the 71st birthday for WWWF/NWA/WCCW wrestler Arman Hussian.
