This Day In Wrestling History – August 16th

Happy birthday to Big Cass!! (photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.)

1946 – Ted Cox defeats Dave Levin, to win the Texas Heavyweight Championship.

1969 – Tojo Yamamoto & Johnny Long defeat Dennis Hall & Johnny Walker, to win the Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship.

1973 – Betty Nicoli defeats Vivian Vachon, to win the AWA World Women’s Championship.  Nicoli would hold the title until her retirement on March 27, 1975 – a span of 587 consecutive days as champion.

1975 – The Crusher & Dick The Bruiser defeat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens, to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship.

1980 – ‘Bulldog’ Bob Brown defeats Killer Karl Kox, to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship.

1981 – The Dream Machine defeats Steve Keirn, to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

1982 – Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar defeat The Dream Machine & Jim Mitchell, to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship.

1985 – Taras Bulba defeats Jerry Lawler, to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

1986 – The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) defeat The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton), to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

1992 – The Great Muta defeats Riki Choshu, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship AND the Greatest 18 Championship.

1992 – On this evening’s WCW Main Event, Ron Simmons defeats Big Van Vader, to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.  Simmons is recognized by WWE as the first African-American to win a professional wrestling world championship.  Simmons received a title shot after winning a raffle to determine the #1 contender.  The raffle was needed as Sting, who was scheduled to have a rematch against Big Van Vader, was out with an injury.

1993 – The Dog Catchers (#1 & #2) defeat The Moondogs (Spike & Cujo), to win the USWA World Tag Team Championship.

1997 – On this evening’s WCW Saturday Night, Chris Jericho defeats Alex Wright, to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

1999 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (6.6 TV rating) defeats WCW Monday Nitro (3.3 rating).

2001 – WWF SmackDown debuts a new set, featuring a fist centered above the entrance, and glass panes along the sides resembling shattered glass.  This replaced the OvalTron set used since the show’s debut on August 26, 1999.

2006 – Layla El wins the 2006 WWE Diva Search.  Other contestants included Maryse Ouellet and The Bella Twins (known at the time as The Garcia Twins).

2008 – Ring of Honor’s Night of the Butcher II is held at the Frontier Fieldhouse, in Chicago Ridge, Illinois.

– Kevin Steen defeats Kenny King via submission.
– In a Tag Team Scramble Match, The Vulture Squad (Jigsaw & Ruckus) defeat Trik Davis & Mitch Franklin, The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay), and The Phoenix Twins (Dash & Tweek).
– El Generico defeats Tyler Black.
– Erick Stevens defeats Chris Hero, to retain the FIP World Heavyweight Championship.
– Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries defeat Claudio Castagnoli & Nigel McGuinness
– Larry Sweeney defeats Roderick Strong, in a Sweet N’ Sour Inc. Gauntlet Match (Strong had defeated Bobby Dempsey, Adam Pearce, Shane Hagadorn, and Chris Hero, before finally facing Sweeney).
– Brent Albright defeats Go Shiozaki, to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
– Jimmy Jacobs defeats Necro Butcher in a No Disqualification Match.

2009 – TNA Hard Justice is held at the Impact Zone in Orlando, in front of 1,100 fans.

– In a Steel Asylum Match, Daniels defeats Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, Suicide, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, D’Angelo Dinero, and Consequences Creed, to become the #1 contender for the TNA X Division Championship.
– Abyss defeats Jethro Holliday in a $50,000 Bounty Challenge (if Holliday had won, he would have claimed the bounty on Abyss).
– Hernandez defeats Rob Terry (with Brutus Magnus & Douglas Williams), to retain his TNA World Heavyweight Championship “Feast or Fired” briefcase.
– The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) defeat Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm & Robert Roode) to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
– ODB & Cody Deaner defeat The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Knockouts Champion Angelina Love).  Deaner pinned Sky, allowing ODB to become the new Knockouts Champion.
– Samoa Joe (with Taz) defeats Homicide, via submission, to win the X Division Championship.
– In a Falls Count Anywhere Match, The Main Event Mafia (Booker T & Scott Steiner) defeat Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon), to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
– Kevin Nash defeats Mick Foley, to win the TNA Legends Championship.
– In a Three-Way Match, Kurt Angle defeats Sting and Matt Morgan, to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

2009 – Togi Makabe defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to win the G1 Climax Tournament

2010 – WWE retires The World Tag Team Championship which had been competed for since 1971, in favor of continuing the lineage of the other WWE Tag Team Championship, which was created in 2002 after the Brand Extension.  Both the World & WWE Tag Team Championships had been unified by The Colons (Carlito & Primo), at WrestleMania XXV.

2010 – Monday Night RAW is guest-starred by Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day, co-stars of the film “Going the Distance” (released in North America on September 3rd).

2012 – On Impact Wrestling, Miss Tessmacher defeats Madison Rayne, to win the TNA Knockouts Championship for the second time.

2014 – Kotaro Suzuki & Kento Miyahara defeat Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie, to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship.

2015 – reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeat The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson), to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

2015 – Hiroshi Tanahashi defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, to win the G1 Climax Tournament.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  WWE Cruiserweight Cedric Alexander (28 years old);  WWE’s Big Cass (31 years old);  current GWC Champion Daisuke (34 years old);   CMLL’s Sensei (39 years old);  indy wrestler Justin Sane (28 years old);  Mexico indy wrestler Rey Astral (24 years old);  and Japanese hardcore star Tarzan Goto (54 years old).

Today would have been the 80th birthday for former WWF wrestler Stan ‘Uncle Elmer’ Frazier, the 71st birthday for former WWF Tag Team Champion Dick Murdoch, and the 88th birthday for WWE Hall of Famer Fritz Von Erich.