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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: HUGE CROWD IN KOREA, 'GOOD FRIENDS, BETTER ENEMIES', THESZ AND CANDIDO PASS AWAY

By Buck Woodward on 2009-04-28 08:00:00

April 28th

On this day in history in ....

1979 - WWF ran at the Philadelphia Spectrum with Greg Valentine defeating WWF World Champion Bob Backlund when the match was stopped due to Backlund's excessive bleeding.  However, because there was no pinfall or submission, Backlund retained the title. 

1990 - Jimmy Valiant defeats Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Lawler's fifth reign with the title and beginning Valiant's second run. On the same show, Brickhouse Brown & Sweet Daddy Falcone defeated Rex King & Steve Doll for the USWA Tag Team Title.

1990 - Saturday Night's Main Event, "The Tussle In Texas" aired on NBC, showing matches that were taped on April 23rd in Austin, Texas. Here are the matches that aired:
- Hulk Hogan defeated Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig with a legdrop.
- Earthquake defeated Hillbilly Jim with an Earthquake splash.
- The Hart Foundation vs. The Rockers ended in a double DQ when Demolition came in and all three teams started brawling.
- WWF World Champion The Ultimate Warrior defeated Haku with a splash.
- The Big Boss Man defeated Akeem via DQ when Ted Dibiase interfered.

1995 - A new record for the largest crowd to attend a professional wrestling event is set in Pyongyang, North Korea for a New Japan event held in Pyongyang Stadium as part of the World Peace Festival.  The show drew a crowd of 150,000, but the record would only stand for one day, as it would be shattered the next night.  Here are the results from the show: 
- Yuji Nagata defeated Tokimitsu Ishizawa with a choke.
- Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto defeated Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida when Nakano pinned Yoshida.
- Hiroshi Hase defeated Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) with a Northern Lights Suplex.
- Masahiro Chono & Hiro Saito defeated El Samurai & Tadao Yasuda when Chono pinned Samurai.
- 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Shinjiro Ohtani when the referee stopped the match due to excessive bleeding.
- Kensuke Sasai defeated Masa Saito.
- IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs. Scott Norton ended in a twenty minute draw.

1996 - In Your House VII, "Good Friends, Better Enemies" aired on Pay-per-view from Omaha, Nebraska at the Civic Auditorium. The show would feature the final WWF Pay-per-view appearances of Diesel (Kevin Nash) and Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) before their historic move to WCW.
Here are the results:
- In a match shown on the "Free-For-All" preshow, Marc Mero defeated The 1-2-3 Kid via DQ when Hunter Hearst Helmsley ran in and gave Mero a pedigree.
- Davey Boy Smith & Owen Hart defeated Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson when Smith made Roberts submit to a half crab after Jim Cornette hit Roberts in the leg with his tennis racket.
- The Ultimate Warrior defeated Intercontinental Champion Goldust via countout when Goldust refused to return to the ring and face the Warrior.
- Vader defeated Razor Ramon with a sit-down splash as Ramon went for a sunset flip.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions The Bodydonnas defeated The Godwinns.
- WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Diesel in a no-disqualification match with a superkick. During the match, Diesel pulled the prosthetic leg off of Mad Dog Vachon (who was sitting at ringside) and used it to hit Michaels.
The following matches were held after the PPV broadcast had ended:
- Savio Vega defeated Steve Austin.
- Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Marc Mero.
- The Undertaker defeated Mankind.

1997 - Owen Hart defeats Rocky Maivia for the WWF Intercontinental Title in Omaha, Nebraska with a backslide, putting an end to Rock's first-ever WWF championship reign.

1999 - Rob Conway defeats Nick Dinsmore for the Ohio Valley Heavyweight Title.

2002 - Lou Thesz, who many consider to be the greatest wrestler of all time, passes away at 86.

2003 - During an edition of Raw from Boston, Massachusetts, Chris Jericho debuts his interview segment, the Highlight Reel.  His first guest was Bill Goldberg. 

2005 - Chris Candido, who worked for every major U.S. promotion (WWF, WCW, ECW, SMW, TNA) during his career, passed away at the age of 33 due to a blood clot, the result of surgery he had undergone several weeks earlier.  Candido had broken his leg during a TNA match and underwent surgery to repair it.  He continued to appear on TNA television in a managerial role, leading The Naturals to the NWA World Tag Team Championship on April 26th, a match that would air the day after his passing.

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