This Day In Wrestling History – May 3rd
Along with the usual title changes, birthdays, etc., today I recap ten Wrestling Dontaku events held by New Japan Pro Wrestling. This includes eight straight from 2009-2016, as the event is held on May 3rd every year.
1946 – Lou Thesz defeats Buddy Rogers, to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
1983 – Bret Hart defeats Leo Burke, to win the Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship.
1987 – The Universal Wrestling Association forces Perro Aguayo to relinquish the Light Heavyweight Championship, after a title defense against Villano III ends in controversy.
1987 – The fourth annual WCCW / WCWA Parade of Champions is held at Texas Stadium, just outside Dallas. The ’87 event drew 5,900 fans, compared to 24,121 the previous year.
– Matt Borne & Steve Casey defeat Jack Victory & Black Bart.
– Steve Doll defeats Killer Tim Brooks.
– Cousin Junior defeats The Grappler.
– Spike Huber & Red River Jack defeat Eli The Eliminator & Abdullah The Butcher (with manager Gary Hart). Per match stipulation, since Jack and Huber won the match, Jack receives a match with Gary Hart.
– Red River Jack defeats Gary Hart, via countout.
– Mil Mascaras defeats Al Madril.
– Skip Young defeats Brian Adias, in a Lumberjack Match.
– Bruiser Brody defeats Jeep Swenson (with Gary Hart).
– Candi Divine wins a 6-women Mud Pit Battle Royal.
– Kevin Von Erich wrestles Nord The Barbarian to a double countout. Von Erich retains the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship.
– In a Six Man Scaffold Match, Steve Simpson and The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) defeat Eric Embry and The Rock n Roll RPMs (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane).
1992 – At a house show in Chicago, The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) defeat Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton, to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
1993 – New Japan Pro Wrestling’s inaugural Wrestling Dontaku is held in Fukuoka, Japan, in front of 55,000 fans. Several WCW and WWF stars participated in the event, as part of the working relationship between NJPW, WCW, and WWF.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Akira Nogami, El Samurai, & Takayuki Iizuka defeat Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, Osamu Nishimura, & Satoshi Kojima.
– Michiyoshi Ohara defeats Akitoshi Saito.
– Brutus Beefcake (with Jimmy Hart) defeats Masa Saito.
– In a Ten Man Tag Team Match, the team of Great Kabuki, Kengo Kimura, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Masashi Aoyagi, & Shiro Koshinaka defeat the team of Ashura Hara, Hiro Saito, Super Strong Machine, Takashi Ishikawa, & Tatsutoshi Goto.
– Tiger Mask III defeats Jushin Thunder Liger.
– Scott Norton and Sting wrestle to a no-contest.
– Yoshiaki Fujiwara defeats Hiroshi Hase.
– The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior) defeat Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto, to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeats The Great Muta.
– Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami defeat Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu.
1995 – New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Wrestling Dontaku is held in Fukuoka, Japan in front of 48,000 fans. For the third year in a row, stars from WCW participated in the event.
– Yuji Nagata defeats Manabu Nakanishi.
– El Samurai & Takayuki Iizuka defeat Akira Nogami & Norio Honaga.
– Wild Pegasus defeats Too Cold Scorpio.
– Sabu defeats Koji Kanemoto, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– Junji Hirata defeats Hiro Saito.
– The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) defeat Hawk Warrior & Scott Norton.
– Shiro Koshinaka & Terry Funk defeat Hiromichi Fuyuki & Masahiro Chono.
– Ric Flair defeats Hiroshi Hase.
– Antonio Inoki & Koji Kitao defeat Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu.
– Kensuke Sasaki defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
– Keiji Mutoh defeats Shinya Hashimoto, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
1995 – On a taping of WCW Worldwide, Harlem Heat (Booker & Stevie Ray) defeat The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags), to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The title change aired on tape delay June 24th. Between May 3rd and June 23rd, The Nasty Boys had regained the titles at Slamboree on May 21st, Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck had won the titles at the June 21st taping of WCW Saturday Night (airing July 22nd), and Harlem Heat’s May 3rd win over The Nasty Boys hadn’t even aired yet.
1998 – At a house show in Savannah, Georgia, Booker T defeats Chris Benoit, to win the WCW World Television Championship. This was the fourth straight day the title had changed hands between Benoit and Booker T.
1998 – ECW Wrestlepalooza is held at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Georgia, in front of 3,407 fans. Of the four Wrestlepalooza events, this was the only one to air on pay-per-view. This was also the final TV appearance for The Junkyard Dog, who died a month later in a car accident.
– The bWo (The Blue Meanie & Super Nova) defeat The FBI (Little Guido & Tracey Smothers) (with Tommy Rich).
– Justin Credible (with Jason & Chastity) defeat Mike Whipwreck.
– Chris Candido & Lance Storm (with Tammy Lynn Sytch) retain the ECW World Tag Team Championship, after defeating The Hardcore Chair Swingin’ Freaks (Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney).
– Bam Bam Bigelow defeats New Jack.
– Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman defeat The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von).
– Rob Van Dam and Sabu fight to a time-limit draw; RVD retains the ECW World Television Championship.
– Shane Douglas (with Francine) defeats Al Snow, to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
1999 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (6.4 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (3.4 rating).
2002 – At a house show in Birmingham, England, Crash Holly defeats Steven Richards, to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. With the 24/7 Rule in effect, Richards defeats Crash later in the night, to reclaim the title.
2006 – Koji Kanemoto defeats Tiger Mask IV, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
2009 – NJPW’s annual Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center in front of 5,500 fans.
– Mitsuhide Hirasawa defeats Nobuo Yoshihashi (dark match).
– Milano Collection A.T. & Taichi defeat Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Akira, Kazuchika Okada, & Wataru Inoue wrestle Black Tiger, Gedo, & Jado to a draw.
– Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori defeat Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano defeat Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma.
– Jushin Thunder Liger & Cima defeat Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask IV.
– Yuji Nagata defeats Takashi Iizuka, in a Dog Collar Chain Match.
– In a match to determine the #1 contenders for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeats Hirooki Goto, to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2010 – In the final Monday Night War between TNA and WWE, Monday Night RAW (3.05 TV rating, with Wayne Brady as special guest host) beats Impact! (0.8 rating). Spike TV announces that Impact! would move back to its Thursday night timeslot, effective May 13th.
2010 – NJPW’s annual Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center in front of 6,000 fans.
– Mitsuhide Hirasawa defeats Nobuo Yoshihashi (dark match).
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Akira, Tiger Mask IV, & Tomoaki Honma defeat Gedo, Takashi Iizuka, & Tomohiro Ishii.
– Manabu Nakanishi defeats King Fale.
– Jushin Thunder Liger defeats Negro Casas, to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship.
– In a Three-Way Match, Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata defeat Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi, and Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson, to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– Hirooki Goto and Masato Tanaka wrestle to a draw.
– Naomichi Marufuji defeats Ryusuke Taguchi, to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– Toru Yano defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi.
– Togi Makabe defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2011 – The annual NJPW Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 6,500 fans.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Hiromu Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tomoaki Honma defeat Gedo, Jado, & Killer Rabbit.
– Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeat Kushida & Tiger Mask IV.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, & Toru Yano defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, King Fale, & Wataru Inoue.
– Jushin Thunder Liger defeats Mascara Dorada, to retain the CMLL World Middleweight Championship.
– Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi) defeat The No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero), to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
– Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) defeat Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi, to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– Hirooki Goto & Tama Tonga defeat Makoto Hashi & Takashi Sugiura.
– Yuji Nagata defeats Masato Tanaka.
– Togi Makabe defeats Satoshi Kojima.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2012 – The annual NJPW Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 6,500 fans. The event was part of New Japan’s 40th Anniversary celebration.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Jado, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi defeat Captain New Japan, Strong Man, & Tama Tonga.
– Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeat Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi.
– Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV defeat Gedo & Rocky Romero.
– Low Ki defeats Prince Devitt, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama defeat Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Karl Anderson.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito defeat Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi.
– Kazuchika Okada (with Gedo) defeats Hirooki Goto, to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2013 – The annual NJPW Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 6,800 fans.
– In an Eight Man Tag Team (Dark) Match, the team of Jushin Thunder Liger, Yuji Nagata, Maximo, & Tiger Mask IV defeat the team of Gedo, Jedo, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi.
– Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero defeat Alex Shelley & Kushida, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
– Bad Luck Fale & Prince Devitt defeat Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi.
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima win a Four-Way Match, to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The other tag teams were Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer, Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano, and Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man.
– Masato Tanaka defeats Tomoaki Honma, to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.
– Togi Makabe defeats Yujiro Takahashi.
– Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata wrestle to a draw.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi defeats Karl Anderson (with Tama Tonga).
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Shelton X Benjamin, to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
– Kazuchika Okada (with Gedo) defeats Minoru Suzuki, to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2014 – NJPW’s eleventh Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 7,190 fans.
– In an Eight Man Tag Team (Dark) Match, the team of Bushi, Captain Japan, El Desperado, & Mascara Dorada defeat the team of Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kushida, Tiger Mask IV, & Yohei Komatsu.
– The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) defeat Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero, to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
– Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano defeat Minoru Suzuki & Shelton X Benjamin, via disqualification.
– Satoshi Kojima defeats Wes Brisco, to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
– Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibaata defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata.
– Kota Ibushi defeats Ryusuke Taguchi, to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeats Tomoaki Honma, to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship.
– In an Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Match, the team of Jushin Thunder Liger, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, & Togi Makabe defeat the team of Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, & Tama Tonga.
– Daniel & Rolles Gracie defeat Kazushi Sakuraba & Shinsuke Nakamura, in a Mixed Martial Arts Match.
– AJ Styles defeats Kazuchika Okada, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
2015 – NJPW’s twelfth Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 5,180 fans.
– In an Eight Man Tag Team Match, the team of Jushin Thunder Liger, Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask IV, & Yuji Nagata defeat the team of Captain New Japan, Kushida, Manabu Nakanishi, & Ryusuke Taguchi.
– Kota Ibushi & Yohei Komatsu defeat Sho Tanaka & Tetsuya Naito.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, & Tomoaki Honma defeat Bad Luck Fale, Cody Hall, & Tama Tonga.
– In a Three Way Match, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship; The Young Bucks defeat Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero), and reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly).
– Kenny Omega defeats Alex Shelley, to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– In a Six Person Intergender Tag Team Match, Maria Kanellis, Michael Bennett, & Matt Taven defeat Amber Gallows, Doc Gallows, & Karl Anderson.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata, & Togi Makabe defeat Kazushi Sakuraba, Tomohiro Ishii, & Toru Yano.
– AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi defeat Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi.
– Hirooki Goto defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
2016 – NJPW’s thirteenth Wrestling Dontaku is held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, in front of 5,299 fans.
– Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi defeat Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson.
– In an Eight Man Tag Team Match, the team of Gedo, Kazushi Sakuraba, Will Ospreay, & Yoshi-Hashi defeat the team of David Finlay, Jay White, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Tiger Mask IV.
– Matt Sydal & Ricochet defeat Beretta & Rocky Romero, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
– In a Six Man Tag Team Match, The Elite (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, & Matt Jackson) defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, & Yoshitatsu, to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
– Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa defeat Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma, to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– Yuji Nagata defeats Katsuyori Shibata, to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.
– Kushida defeats Jushin Thunder Liger, to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
– Evil defeats Hirooki Goto.
– Kazuchika Okada defeats Sanada.
– Tetsuya Naito defeats Tomohiro Ishii, to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: 7-time Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) Tag Team Champion Monsta Mack (38 years old); indy wrestler Heather Monroe (27 years old); and former ROH wrestler Colby Godwin (32 years old).
Today would’ve been the 102nd birthday for WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart, and the 96th birthday for Mexican National Lightweight & Tag Team Champion The Black Shadow.