THIS DAY IN HISTORY: WRESTLEMANIA XIX, THE NEW DX IS FORMED, TOKYO WRESTLEFEST AND MORE

By Ryan Martinez on 2008-03-30 08:03:24

March 30th

On this day in history in ....

1870 - James H. McLaughlin begins his second reign as American Collar-and-Elbow Champion in New York City, New York, by defeating Homer Lane.

1945 - Ron Garvin is born in Montreal, Quebec.

1952 - Lucky Simunovich defeats Al Kashey in Honolulu, Hawaii to win the Hawaii Heavyweight Title.

1957 - Miguel Perez and Antonino Rocca defeat Wildman (Jackie) Fargo and Don Stevens (Fargo) in New York City, New York to win the Capitol Wrestling NWA World Tag Team Title.

1958 - Mike Rotunda is born in St. Petersburg, Florida.

1968 - The WWWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The results:
- Bill Miller defeated Gino Brito (subbing for Louis Cerdan).
- Baron Mikel Scicluna (subbing for Miguel Perez) defeated Bull Johnson.
- Virgil the Kentucky Butcher defeated Dominic DeNucci.
- Helen O'Connell and Barbara Owens (subbing for Ethel Young) defeated Patty Nileson and Toni Rose.
- Little Beaver and Joey Russell defeated Cowboy Bradley and Frenchy Lamont.
- Eduard Carpentier defeated Crybaby Cannon.
- Victor Rivera defeated Hans Mortier.
- Earl Maynard defeated Prof. Toru Tanaka.
- WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Bull Ramos.

1969 - El Goliath defeats Henry Pirousso in Juarez, Mexico for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title.

1971 - Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk defeat Jack and Jerry Brisco to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.

1973 - Ron Miller and Larry O'Day defeat Don Carson and Dick Dunn for the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Title in Sydney, Australia.

1973 - Rene Guajardo defeats Anibal for the NWA World Middleweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico, to begin his sixth reign.

1974 - The WWWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The results were:
- Pete Doherty defeated Johnny Rodz.
- Larry Zbyszko defeated Ed Sullivan.
- Otto Von Heller defeated JosÃ© Gonzalez.
- Gorilla Monsoon defeated Stan Stasiak.
- Pedro Morales defeated Mr. Fuji.
- Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Larry Hennig.
- Nikolai Volkoff defeated Dean Ho.
- Tony Garea fought Prof. Toru Tanaka to a no-contest.
- Don Leo Jonathan defeated WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino by countout.

1976 - Rick Gibson defeats Duke Miller in Mobile, Alabama for the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign and ending Miller's third.

1977 - Bob Roop and Alexis Smirnoff defeat Pepper Gomez and Pat Patterson to win the San Francisco NWA World Tag Team Title in Sacramento, California.

1981 - Eric Embry defeats El Solitario in Puebla, Mexico to win the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title.

1981 - Ron Bass defeats Ken Lucas for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title in Birmingham, Alabama.

1981 - Masa Fuchi and Mr. Onita (Atsushi Onita) defeat The Dream Machine and Bill Dundee to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee.

1982 - El Talisman defeats El Supremo for the Mexican National Welterweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.

1984 - Bad News Allen defeats The Dynamite Kid to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Calgary, Alberta, his third title.

1984 - Cien Caras wins his second Mexican National Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico, by defeating Rayo de Jalisco, Jr.

1985 - Jimmy Golden wins his eighth NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title in Dothan, Alabama, defeating Boomer Lynch.

1986 - The WWF held an event at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- King Tonga pinned Iron Mike Sharpe with a sunset flip.
- Hercules defeated Lanny Poffo by submission with a backbreaker.
- Nikolai Volkoff pinned Tony Atlas with a reverse roll-up and a handful of tights.
- Paul Orndorff defeated Bob Orton, Jr. by countout after Orndorff threw Orton from the ring and into the ringside barrier.
- WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Ricky Steamboat defeated Mr. Fuji, Don Muraco and Johnny V (subbing for Bobby Heenan) in a handicap match, when Hogan pinned Fuji with the legdrop.
- Sivi Afi pinned Tiger Chung Lee with a reverse roll-up.
- The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated B. Brian Blair and Tony Garea (subbing for Jim Brunzell), when Neidhart pinned Garea after the Hart Attack.
- Jake Roberts pinned Special Delivery Jones after the DDT.
- King Kong Bundy pinned Hillbilly Jim with a splash.

1986 - Reyna Gallegos defeats La Briosa for the Mexican National Women's Title in Apatlaco, Mexico.

1988 - La Briosa defeats Zuleyma in a tournament final to win the Mexican National Women's Title in Apatlaco, Mexico.

1990 - Zuleyma defeats La Marquesa for the Mexican National Women's Title in Mexico City, Mexico.

1991 - 42,000 fans attended the WWF and Super World of Sports' WrestleFest event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The results were:
- The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels), when Hart pinned Michaels.
- Earthquake pinned Koji Kitao.
- Ted DiBiase and Haku defeated Takashi Ishikawa and The Great Kabuki, when DiBiase pinned Ishikawa.
- Samson Fuyuki, Tatsumi Kitihara, Masao Orihara and Apollo Sugawara defeated Don Arakawa, Fumihiro Niikura, Kenichi Oya and Goro Tsurumi, when Fuyuki pinned Oya.
- The Ultimate Warrior pinned Sgt. Slaughter.
- Masa Funaki defeated Naoki Sano by submission.
- Kerry Von Erich defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect by disqualification.
- Ishinriki and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated The Barbarian and Jimmy Snuka, when Yatsu pinned Barbarian.
- Randy Savage pinned George Takano.
- The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk) defeated WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Genichiro Tenryu by countout.

1991 - TNT (Savio Vega) defeats Action Jackson to win the WWC Television Title in BayamÃ³n, Puerto Rico, beginning his third reign.

1994 - Felino wins his second CMLL World Welterweight Title in Acapulco, Mexico from CiclÃ³n Ramirez.

1994 - Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda defeat Yumiko Hotta and Takako Inoue for the UWA World Women's Tag Team Title in Naha, Japan.

1995 - Todd Bullet defeats Vance Nevada for the Canadian Junior Heavyweight Title in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1998 - WCW Monday Nitro beat WWF RAW is WAR, 4.2 to 3.8 in the ratings, in this week of the Monday Night War.

WCW Monday Nitro's 133rd show was live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The results:
- Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom defeated High Voltage (Kaos and Rage).
- Perry Saturn defeated Fit Finlay.
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Marty Jannetty by submission to retain the title, after which Jericho delivered his famous "1,004 holds" promo against Dean Malenko.
- Prince Iaukea defeated Glacier.
- Chavo Guerrero, Jr. defeated Kaz Hayashi.
- Buff Bagwell defeated Raven by countout.
- Disco Inferno defeated Billy Kidman.
- Jim Neidhart defeated Curt Hennig by disqualification.
- WCW World Television Champion Booker T fought Chris Benoit to a time-limit draw to retain the title.
- Psychosis defeated Ultimo Dragon.
- Goldberg defeated Ray Traylor.
- WCW World Tag Team Champion Kevin Nash and Randy Savage defeated Lex Luger and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting.
- Roddy Piper defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan by disqualification.

WWF RAW is WAR's 253rd episode was held live at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York. The 50th edition of Shotgun Saturday Night was taped beforehand. The results were:
Dark matches:
- The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) and Ray Rougeau defeated Tom Brandi, Adam Copeland and Shawn Stasiak, when Pierre pinned Brandi after the Cannonball.
- Scott Taylor pinned Brian Walsh after a powerbomb.
Shotgun Saturday Night:
- The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated Too Much (Brian Christopher and Scott Taylor).
- Bradshaw pinned Savio Vega after a lariat.
- 8-Ball and Skull defeated Roy Raymond and Brian Walsh.
- Armageddon (Buchanan and Poirier) defeated Nick Barberry and Dave Webber.
RAW is WAR:
- LOD 2000 (Animal and Hawk (with Sunny)) defeated Los Boricuas (JosÃ© and JesÃºs) after the Doomsday Device.
- Kurrgan (with The Jackyl) defeated Chainz by submission.
- Jeff Jarrett (with Tennessee Lee) defeated Aguila by submission with the Figure Four leglock.
- Steve Blackman and Ken Shamrock defeated Faarooq and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock (with D'Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa and Mark Henry), when Shamrock pinned Faarooq after a belly-to-belly suplex, after Rock refused to tag into the match.
- Marc Mero (with Sable) pinned WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku after the TKO. After the match, three unknown Japanese men attacked Taka Michinoku. This was the debut of Kaientai.
- The New Midnight Express (Bodacious Bart and Bombastic Bob (with Jim Cornette)) defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher), when Bob got the pin after a frog splash, to win the title.
- The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) defeated Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie in a steel cage match, when Gunn pinned Cactus after a spike piledriver, after X-Pac hit Cactus several times with a chair while Chainsaw was handcuffed to the cage, to win the vacant WWF Tag Team Title. Cactus and Chainsaw had won the title from the Outlaws in a dumpster match the night before at WrestleMania XIV, but the title was held up because the Outlaws were not put in the correct dumpster. After the match, The Outlaws joined D-Generation X, along with Triple H, Chyna and X-Pac, who made his return from WCW earlier in the night.
- In a dark match after the show, WWF Champion Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock and The Undertaker defeated Kane, WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock and WWF European Champion Triple H.

1999 - Flash Flanagan and Trailer Park Trash defeat Jebediah Blackhawk and Cousin Otter for the OVW Southern Tag Team Title in Louisville, Kentucky, ending their second reign.

2001 - CMLL held its El Jucio Final (Final Justice) pay-per-view at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico before a crowd of 17,670 fans. The results:
- Ultimo Dragoncito and Tsuki defeated El Fierito and Pierrothito in a best-of-three falls match.
- Astro Rey, Jr., Felino and Pantera defeated Arkangel, Rencor Latino and El Veneno in a best-of-three falls match.
- Atlantis, Brazo de Plata and Negro Casas defeated Apolo DantÃ©s, Scorpio, Jr. and Dr. Wagner, Jr. in a best-of-three falls match.
- Mr. Niebla, OlÃmpico and Safari defeated Mexican National Trios Champions Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera and El Signo in a best-of-three falls match to win the title.
- Black Warrior, SatÃ¡nico and Shocker defeated Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy and Ãšltimo Guerrero in a best-of-three falls match.
- Universo 2000 pinned Perro Aguayo in a Hair vs. Mask match to take Aguayo's hair.

2002 - Wrongful Death (Dagon Briggs and Naphtali) defeat Nick Berk and Z-Barr for the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Crystal River, Florida, beginning their second reign.

2002 - Shane Somers defeats Butch McClain in Rolla, Missouri to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title, newly-revived by NWA Midwest.

2002 - The Premiere Players (Dash Bennett and Daron Smythe) defeat Bison and Rapture to win the NWA Pro Wrestling eXpress Tag Team Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

2003 - WWE held WrestleMania XIX before 54,097 fans at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. Here is Mike Johnson's report on the show:

WrestleMania XIX

March 30, 2003

Location: Seattle, Washington
Arena: Safeco Field
Announced Attendance: 54,097

Results:

*WWE Cruiserweight Champion Matt Hardy pinned Rey Mysterio.

*The Undertaker beat The Big Show & A-Train (9:45) in a Handicap match when he pinned A-Train. Nathan Jones was scheduled to be Taker's partner but was "laid out" in the back by Show and Train while chasing Nunzio who "stole his wallet." Jones would soon be gone from the company.

*In a good match, Trish Stratus beat Victoria and Jazz in a Triple Threat match to win the WWE Women's Title when she pinned Victoria.

*WWE Tag Champs Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (Mania debuts) defeated Chris Benoit & Rhyno and Eddie & Chavo Guerrero when Benjamin pinned Chavo. They ended up being given the sign to go five more minutes during the bout, so they ended up changing gears midway, which you can see watching the show. This was Benoit and Rhyno's return to Wrestlemania after their neck injuries and the debut of Haas, who did his late brother Russ proud. Haas even flew out his mentor Jim Kettner to the show as a show of thanks, which was a classy thing to do.

*In the return of the "Showstopper" to Wrestlemania Shawn Michaels pinned Chris Jericho in his first Mania bout since Wrestlemania 14. This was a tremendous back and forth match with tons of near falls.

*WWE World Champ Triple H pinned Booker T with a pedigree.

*Hulk Hogan pinned Vince McMahon in a Streetfight. Roddy Piper showed up and teased hitting Vince with a pipe but laid out Hogan instead. Piper then flipped off both men before leaving. McMahon bled a gusher here. Hogan pinned Vince with a legdrop and then stood over him as Shane McMahon came out to check on his father.

*The Rock pinned Steve Austin with a rock bottom in what turned out to be Austin's retirement match.

*Brock Lesnar pinned Kurt Angle to win the WWE championship with a F-5. Lesnar had missed a shooting star press attempt and crashed down face first on the mat, nearly knocking himself out. Angle called an audible to finish the match. As it stood, Angle was working with a broken neck. When it was all said and done, both men ended up in the hospital but it was a tremendous match given the circumstances.

Celebrities: Ashanti was brought in to sing "America the Beautiful" . Limp Bizkit performed two songs, the Wrestlemania theme and the Undertaker's old "Rollin'" theme song to bring him to the ring. The Miller Lite Catfight Girls of commercial fame were brought in for several campy segments with Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson culminating in a lame catfight on a couch on the stage of the building, ending with Jonathan Coachman being pinned.

Notes: This was the first Wrestlemania after the "brand split". They set a new Safeco Field attendance record with the show. WWE World Tag Champs Lance Storm & Chief Morley (Val Venis) beat Kane & Rob Van Dam when Storm pinned Van Dam in a Sunday Night Heat match. The Dudleys were listed as Kane and RVD's opponents in the program to the show, but were actually in the corner of the champions. Austin ended up in the hospital due to stress and other issues the night before the show. Much of the PPV was filmed and ended up being used as part of the excellent "Mania before the Mania" documentary voicedover by Jesse Ventura that was aired to build to Wrestlemania XX.

Booker T on Wrestlemania XIX: "WrestleMania is something I'd worked all year for, never knowing if it was going to happen. When I finally found out I was going to be in the main event portion for Raw against Triple H for the world title at Mania, it meant everything. That was one of my final goals in the wrestling business to headline WrestleMania. And that night we had a great bout and left everything we had right in the middle of the ring. The fans got everything that they could out of that match except me walking out with the world title! Losing the match wasn't a disappointment at all because I don't look at my career in terms of wins and losses. I look it at that as long as I gave the fans something that they can remember for a long time, then that is the only thing that really matters to me." (London Sun Interview, May 2003)

Trish Stratus on Wrestlemania XIX: "....at WrestleMania XIX you had 54,000 people cheering us. I won the title back that night and it was amazing. I'd wrestled in front of that many people before the year before at Mania in my hometown of Toronto but I'd never won in front of that many people before, and all those people wanted me to win. Me, Jazz and Victoria really worked our butts off and I think it was as good as the men's bouts. I am proud to say that most of the time our matches are on a par with the men's, and I think we work as hard as they do." (London Sun article, 2004)

Mike Johnson: Production-wise I loved this show. There were some great stuff here just from a visual standpoint including the exploding pyro for Shawn Michaels' entrance. Kurt Angle proved he was the man once and for all having an excellent match with Brock Lesnar, working with a broken neck. Lesnar nearly ending up with one of his own was one of the more frightening things I've ever seen live at a show. There was an awesome Jericho vs. Michaels match on here that ranks as my favorite matches of 2003. Rock vs. Austin didn't touch their previous two Wrestlemania matches but was such a fun bout given the circumstances. It was a fitting last match to Austin who did the right thing with a clean loss to his greatest rival. Hogan vs. McMahon was fun, especially the appearance of Roddy Piper. Although Piper's run here afterwards was poor (Sean O'Haire? Why?), this was a true Wrestlemania moment. There was misuse of talent here as well though. Brian Kendrick's push was killed after building to his Wrestlemania debut and they shifted gears to Rey Mysterio. Kendrick would quit the company within a year. The Dudley Boyz didn't have a match on the show and they were workhorses for the tag division. Rob Van Dam worked on Heat. It was mind boggling then and now how some of the talent was used. Still, this was a great PPV.

Jess McGrath: I would say Mania 19 was better than 18 but not as good as 17. They had several good matches on this show, including Angle-Lesnar, Rock-Austin, Hogan-Vince, and Michaels-Jericho. I was not as big a fan of Angle-Lesnar as some others were. They were working a mat wrestling match in a domed stadium at Wrestlemania. That made no sense to me. Of course, Angle was limited by what some suspected at the time might be a career ending neck injury, and the fact that he went in there and still had a great match does speak volumes for his ability and his guts. Same with Austin, who still had an excellent bout with Rock despite it being what was (so far) his last career match. I admire tremendously the way he put Rock over clean, which was smart business since Rock was headlining next month's PPV with Goldberg.

Buck Woodward: I remember being annoyed with a lot of things early in the show. ... I was annoyed that the World Tag Team Champions were relegated to Heat, and had a commercial taken during their bout. ... I was annoyed that Hardy-Mysterio got less than six minutes. ... I was annoyed that Nathan Jones was on the card, but I was overjoyed that he got beat up and didn't do much. ... It was nice to see the women's title match get more time than they traditionally do at Mania. ... Benjamin, Haas, Benoit, Rhyno, Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero in one match, and you give them less than nine minutes? That should be illegal. ... Michaels vs. Jericho was arguably the second best WWE match of the year (behind Benoit-Angle at the Rumble). ... Triple H vs. Booker T was good, but not great. ... As much as I was disturbed by the hype over McMahon vs. Hogan overshadowing everything else, I'd be lying if I didn't say the Roddy Piper run-in didn't pop me. ... The Miller Lite Catfight Girls crap was just that. ... Limp Bizkit made me wish Men On A Mission were back rapping. ... It was interesting to see Austin put over Rock, even though Rock was going to be spending less time wrestling. After two Mania wins over him in the past, Austin returned the favor to The Rock. ... If not for the botched Shooting Star Press, Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle would probably be considered one of the best Wrestlemania main events ever. The ironic part of it is, from the time Brock Lesnar debuted, I said he should save the Shooting Star Press for a really important match. When Wrestlemania approached, I said that he should use the Shooting Star to beat Kurt Angle, never do it again, and let that move stay in the highlight reels forever. In hindsight, I wish I hadn't been so right with my prediction.

Dave Scherer: This was a lot better show than the previous year's, and I remember enjoying it a lot. There were a lot of good bouts as well as seeing what has been Steve Austin's last match and Brock Lesnar surviving a truly scary landing on his Shooting Star Press.

2003 - Michael Modest defeats Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Title in Fukuoka, Japan, ending Kanemaru's second reign.

2004 - WWE taped the 242nd episode of SmackDown! and the 97th edition of Velocity at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. SmackDown! aired on UPN on April 1 and got a 3.2 rating. The results were:
- In a dark match, Carly ColÃ³n defeated Paul London.
Velocity:
- Mark Jindrak pinned Shannon Moore after the Mark of Excellence.
- Rico (with Miss Jackie) pinned Jamie Noble.
- Orlando Jordan pinned Brent Albright with the Flatliner.
- Billy Gunn pinned Danny Basham (with Doug Basham) after the Fameasser.
SmackDown!:
- Big Show pinned WWE Tag Team Champion Rikishi in a Kurt Angle Great American Award qualifying match, after the chokeslam.
- Spike Dudley and Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Classic and WWE Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero, when Spike pinned Chavo, Jr. with the Acid Drop.
- Charlie Haas and Rob Van Dam fought to a double-countout in a Kurt Angle Great American Award qualifying match, but Angle came out and said Haas won on points.
- Booker T pinned Hardcore Holly in a Kurt Angle Great American Award qualifying match with a roll-up and a handful of tights.
- The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated Akio and Sakoda, when D-Von pinned Akio after the 3D.
- WWE United States Champion John Cena defeated The F.B.I. (Nunzio and Johnny Stamboli) in a handicap Kurt Angle Great American Award qualifying match, by pinning Stamboli after the FU.
- The show closed with Kurt Angle announcing that JBL was the fourth and final Great American Award nominee. The winner of the Great American Award would receive a WWE Title match.

2004 - Rory Fox defeats El Temor for the Heartland Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title in Cincinnati, Ohio.

2007 - Ring of Honor held All Star Extravaganza III at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Expo Center in Detroit, Michigan. The results were:
- Adam Pearce (with Shane Hagadorn) defeated Colt Cabana, Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney and Tank Toland) and Matt Sydal in a Four Corners Survival match.
- FIP Florida Heritage Champion Erick Stevens defeated Alex Payne in a Do or Die match.
- Masaaki Mochizuki defeated Davey Richards.
- Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey defeated B.J. Whitmer and Daizee Haze in an Anything Goes Mixed Tag Team match.
- FIP Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay and Mark) defeated ROH World Tag Team Champions Naruki Doi and Shingo to win the title, beginning their fourth ROH reign.
- Yamato defeated Pelle Primeau.
- Brent Albright (with Larry Sweeney) defeated Nigel McGuiness.
- Homicide defeated Christopher Daniels.
- FIP Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong defeated Jack Evans.
- CIMA, Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka defeated Austin Aries, Claudio Castagnoli, Delirious and Rocky Romero in a Dragon Gate Rules match.

2007 - Alex Arion and Max Bauer defeat Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze in Lowell, Massachusetts for the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Title.

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: WRESTLEMANIA XIX, THE NEW DX IS FORMED, TOKYO WRESTLEFEST AND MORE