This Day In Wrestling History – April 1st (Recaps of WrestleMania VI, X-Seven, XXIII, and XXVIII)

Apr 1, 2017 - by Bill Fenbers

For everything else in the wrestling world that happened on April 1st, click on this link.

1990WrestleMania VI is held at SkyDome in Toronto, in front of 67,678 fans.  It’s the first WrestleMania to be held outside of the United States.  In attendance were future WWF/E  stars Edge & Christian (both 16 years old), and Lance Storm (20 years old).  Also in attendance was future WWE interviewer & commentator Renee Young (age 4 at the time), and eight-year old Stephen Amell (currently starring in Arrow on The CW, and Neville’s tag team partner at SummerSlam 2015).

Dark Match:
Paul Roma
defeats The Brooklyn Brawler.
PPV:
Rick Martel defeats Koko B. Bare.
Demolition (Ax & Smash) defeat The Colossal Connection (Andre The Giant & Haku) (with Bobby Heenan), to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeats Hercules.
Brutus Beefcake defeats Mr. Perfect (with The Genius).  This ends Mr. Perfect’s lengthy undefeated streak (in televised matches).
Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fight to a double countout.
The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeat The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov).
The Barbarian (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Tito Santana.
– In a Mixed Tag Team Match, Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire (with Miss Elizabeth) defeat Randy Savage & Queen Sherri.
The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) (with Mr. Fuji) defeat The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) via countout.
Jim Duggan defeats Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart & Earthquake).
Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) defeats Jake Roberts by countout, to retain the Million Dollar Championship.
The Big Bossman defeats Akeem (with Slick).
Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Jimmy Snuka.
– In a Champion vs Champion Match, The Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan, to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title AND win Hogan’s WWF Championship.  Warrior would have to vacate the Intercontinental Championship;  rules prohibited any wrestler from holding onto more than one singles belt simultaneously.

2001WrestleMania X-Seven is held at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, in front of 67,925 fans.  This event is often cited as the conclusion of the Attitude Era.

Sunday Night Heat:
X-Factor (Justin Credible & X-Pac) (with Albert) defeat Steve Blackman & Grand Master Sexay.
PPV:
Chris Jericho defeats William Regal, to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
– In a Six-Man Tag Team Match, Tazz & The APA (Bradshaw & Farooq) (with Jacqueline) defeat Right To Censor (Val Venis, The Goodfather, & Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards).
Kane defeats Raven and The Big Show, in a Triple Threat Hardcore Match, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship.
Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeats Test, to win the WWF European Championship.
Kurt Angle defeats Chris Benoit.
Chyna defeats Ivory, to win the WWF Women’s Championship.
– In a Street Fight, Shane McMahon defeats Vince McMahon (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley).  Mick Foley served as special guest referee.
– In TLC II, Edge & Christian defeat The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff), to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
The Iron Sheik wins a 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal, last eliminating Hillbilly Jim.
The Undertaker defeats Triple H.
– In a No Disqualification Match, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeats The Rock, to win the WWF Championship.  Stone Cold turns heel as he’s assisted by a former nemesis, Mr. McMahon.  After winning the title, Austin shakes hands with McMahon in the middle of the ring.

2007WrestleMania XXIII is held at Ford Field in Detroit, in front of 80,103 fans.  It broke several records, becoming the highest grossing one-day event in WWE (around $5.4 million in ticket sales).  It also broke the record for the biggest WrestleMania buyrate, with around 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.

Dark Match:
Carlito & Ric Flair defeat Gregory Helms & Chavo Guerrero Jr., in a Lumberjack Match.
PPV:
Mr. Kennedy wins the Money In The Bank Ladder Match.
The Great Khali defeats Kane.
Chris Benoit defeats MVP, to retain the WWE United States Championship.
The Undertaker defeats Batista, to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
– In an 8-Man Tag Team Match, The ECW Originals (Sabu, The Sandman, RVD, & Tommy Dreamer) defeat The New Breed (Marcus Cor Von, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, & Matt Striker) (with Ariel).
Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump) defeats Umaga (with Vince McMahon) in a Hair vs Hair, Battle Of The Billionaires Match.  Since Umaga lost, Vince had to get his head shaved.
– In a Lumberjill Match, Melina defeats Ashley Massaro, to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.
John Cena defeated Shawn Michaels, to retain the WWE Championship.

2012WrestleMania 28 is held Sun Life Stadium in Miami, in front 78,363 fans.  It was built as The Rock vs. John Cena: Once In A Lifetime.

Pre-Show:
– In a Triple Threat Match, Primo & Epico (with Rosa Mendes) defeat The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso), and Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd, to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
PPV:
Sheamus
defeats Daniel Bryan (with AJ Lee), to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
Kane defeats Randy Orton
The Big Show defeats Cody Rhodes, to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos defeat Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix.
The Undertaker defeats Triple H, to move THE STREAK to 20-0.
Team Johnny (Drew McIntyre, The Miz, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, David Otunga, & Dolph Ziggler) defeat Team Teddy (The Great Khali, Zack Ryder, Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, & Booker T).  With the win, John Laurinaitis becomes General Manager of both WWE RAW and SmackDown.
CM Punk defeats Chris Jericho via submission, to retain the WWE Championship.  If Punk had been disqualified, he would have lost the championship.
The Rock defeats John Cena.

SOURCES: WrestleMania VI on Wikipedia, gerweck.net

Follow me on Twitter at @Bill_Fenbers.

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