This Day In Wrestling History – March 26th
Happy birthday to Spirit Squad member (and former World Tag Team Champion) Mike Mondo!! (Photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.)
1956 – Bull Curry defeats Don Evans to win the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship.
1957 – Fred Blassie defeats Mike Clancy, to win the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship. However, the title is immediately held up due to a controversial finish.
1970 – Gene & Ole Anderson defeat George Becker & Johnny Weaver, to win the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship.
1971 – Antonio Inoki defeats John Tolos to win the NWA United National Championship.
1973 – Jerry Lawler & Jim White defeat Jackie Fargo & Jerry Jarrett, to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Hair vs Titles Match).
1976 – The Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma win the revived All Asia Tag Team Titles, now promoted by All Japan Pro Wrestling.
1977 – The Medics (Billy Garrett & Jim Starr) defeat Bob Sweetan & Tony Rocco, to win the NWA (Tri-State) United States Tag Team Championship.
1978 – Jack Brisco defeats Bob Roop, to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship. Baron von Raschke defeats Johnny Weaver, to win the NWA Television Championship. Dutch Mantel defeats Randy Savage, to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship.
1980 – Don Muraco defeats Manny Fernandez, to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship.
1981 – Perro Aguayo defeats Gran Hamada, in a tournament final, to become the inaugural WWF Light Heavyweight Champion.
1987 – Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada defeat Keiji Mutoh & Shiro Koshinaka, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
1993 – El Canek & Dr. Wagner, Jr. defeat Pierroth Jr. & Vampiro Canadiense, to become the inaugural CMLL World Tag Team Champions.
1994 – Eastern Championship Wrestling’s Ultimate Jeopardy is held at the Valley Forge Music Center in Devon, Pennsylvania.
– Crash the Terminator defeats Pitbull #1.
– 911 defeats Don E. Allen, Blue Mask (Chad Austin) and Hack Meyers, in a 1-on-3 Handicap Match.
– J.T. Smith defeats Rockin’ Rebel, to retain the ECW Television Championship.
– The Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don) defeat Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka).
– Tommy Cairo defeats The Sandman.
– Jimmy Snuka defeats Tommy Dreamer in a Steel Cage Match.
– Shane Douglas, Mr. Hughes, and The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock) defeat ECW Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk, Road Warrior Hawk, Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac, in a War Games match. Douglas pinned Funk after suffocating him with a plastic bag. Due to pre-match stipulations, Douglas becomes the new ECW Heavyweight Champion.
2001 – In the final ratings battle in the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR in Cleveland (4.7 TV rating) beats the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro in Panama City (3.0 rating). Vince McMahon thought he had bought his competition. But his son Shane, via satellite from Panama City, shocks everyone with the announcement that it was actually HE, that bought WCW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RhCSwSifMg
The final Nitro was dubbed as “The Night of Champions,” with all five titles on the line:
– In a Title vs Title Match, Booker T defeats Scott Steiner (with Midajah) to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship AND retain the WCW United States Championship.
– The Filthy Animals (Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman) defeat 3 Count (Shannon Moore & Evan Karagias), & The Jung Dragons (Yun Yang & Kaz Hayashi), in a 3-way match, to become the #1 contenders for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.
– Shane Helms defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr, to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
– The Natural Born Thrillers (Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo) defeat Team Canada (Mike Awesome & Lance Storm) to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
– Shawn Stasiak (with Ms. Hancock) defeats Bam Bam Bigelow, in a “The Loser Gets A Tattoo” Match.
– The Filthy Animals (Rey Misterio Jr & Billy Kidman) defeat Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo, to win the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.
– Sting defeats Ric Flair, in the last ever WCW match. The two faced each other in the very first episode September 4, 1995.
Other notes: While WCW’s World Championship, Tag Team Championships, and Cruiserweight Championship made their way onto future WWF programming, the WCW Hardcore Championship was retired (despite nobody holding it, since final champion Meng left for the WWF in January 2001). The Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles were retired as well, with Kidman and Mysterio recognized as the final champions. Road Dogg, fired by the WWF two months earlier, arrived in Panama City on Nitro’s final night, looking to return to WCW after a seven-year absence. After finding out WCW had been bought by the WWF, Road Dogg had to look for other employment options (he would wind up in the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion). And finally, in a vignette that aired to open RAW, Vince McMahon was seen watching Jeff Jarrett within the WCW venue on a television set. Vince, on-air, makes an announcement about Jarrett’s future (in the video below).
2005 – El Dandy defeats L.A. Park, to win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship.
2006 – In Maryland Championship Wrestling, Julio Dinero defeats Genesis, in a tournament final, to win the newly revived MCW Heavyweight Championship.
2016 – At Combat Zone Wrestling’s Proving Grounds 2016, Lio Rush defeats Joey Janela, Dave Crist, and David Starr, to win the CZW Wired Television Championship (Four-Way Match).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Former World Tag Team Champion & Spirit Squad member Mike Mondo (34 years old); and 4-time World Tag Team Champion (in WWE) Sylvain Grenier (40 years old).
SOURCES: WCW Monday Nitro on Wikipedia, gerweck.net, wrestlingdata.com,
