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June 26th
On this day in history in ....
1936 - Everett Marshall defeats Ali Baba for the NWA (National Wrestling Association) Heavyweight Wrestling Title Marshall was already the Midwest Wrestling Association Heavyweight Champion.
1942 - James J. Dillon (real name James
Morrison) is born in Trenton, New Jersey.
1961 - Hard Boiled Haggerty defeats his former partner, Gene Kiniski, for
control of their AWA World Tag Team Title in St. Paul, Minnesota, ending their
second reign together. Haggerty chose Bob Geigel as his new partner.
1968 - Peter Maivia and Billy White Wolf defeat Curtis Iaukea and Ripper
Collins to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii, ending Iaukea
and Collins' third reign.
1971 - Ripper Collins and Mad Dog Mayne defeat Sunni War Cloud and Steven
Little Bear for the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii, beginning
their second reign.
1973 - Johnny Valentine defeats Ron Fuller for the Florida version of the
NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
1974 - Matt Striker (real name Matthew Kaye) is born in Ossining, New
York.
1975 - Antonio Inoki defeats Tiger Jeet Singh to win the National
Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan, beginning his
second reign.
1978 - The WWWF runs its monthly Madison Square Garden event. The
results:
- Stan Stasiak defeated Special Delivery Jones.
- Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Jack Brisco defeated Butcher Vachon.
- Mil Mascaras defeated Ken Patera.
- George Steele defeated Tony Garea.
- Andre the Giant and Ivan Putski defeated "Crazy" Luke and
"Superstar" Billy Graham.
- The Yukon Lumberjacks (Eric and Pierre) defeated Dino Bravo and Dominic
DeNucci to win the WWWF World Tag Team Title.
- Bob Backlund defeated Spiros Arion to retain the WWWF World Heavyweight Title.
1982 - Bret Hart wins his fourth Stampede
North American Heavyweight Title, defeating Leo Burke, ending his seventh reign.
1982 - Invader I and Pierre Martel defeat The Kangaroos (Don Kent and
Johnny Heffernan) for the WWC World Tag Team Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1983 - The Sheik's Army (Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) defeat The High
Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to win the AWA
World Tag Team Title. This ended The High Flyers' second reign, which lasted
just over two years.
1987 - Frank Lancaster and Eric Embry
defeat The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton) to win the World Class Tag
Team Title in Dallas, Texas, ending the Fantastics' second reign.
1988 - Bull Nakano defeats Yumiko Hotta in the finals of the
fourth-annual AJW Grand Prix Tournament in Tokyo, Japan.
1992 - The original "Nature Boy", Buddy Rogers (born Herman
Rohde, Jr.), a former NWA World Champion and the first WWWF World Champion, dies
a short time after suffering three strokes, two of which happened on the same
day. Rogers was on life support following this, and passed away. He was 71 years
old.
1992 - New Japan Pro Wrestling holds an event at Tokyo, Japan's Budokan
Hall. The results:
- Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Yamamoto defeated Koji Kanemoto and Osamu
Nishimura.
- Super Strong Machine pinned The Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit).
- Kokina and Samu defeated Scott Norton and The Killer Bee (Brian Blair), when
Kokina pinned Bee.
- El Samurai pinned Jushin Liger to win the IWGP World Junior Heavyweight Title,
ending Liger's fifth reign.
- Keiji Mutoh and Hiroshi Hase defeated Black Cat and Takayuki Iizuka, when
Hashimoto pinned Cat.
- Hiroshi Hase pinned Kensuke Sasaki.
- The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner) defeated Big Van Vader and Bam
Bam Bigelow, when Rick pinned Bigelow, to begin their second IWGP World Tag Team
Title reign.
- Riki Choshu pinned Masahiro Chono to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Title.
1995 - Yoshiko Tamura defeats Misae Watanabe for the vacant AJW Junior
Title in Sapporo, Japan.
1995 - Billy Jack Haynes defeats Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This ended Christopher's 17th run with the belt.
1996 - Masato Tanaka, Kouji Nakagawa and
Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeat Super Leather and The Headhunters (A and B) to win the
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
1997 - J.C. Ice defeats Tyrin for the IWA Mid-South Light-Heavyweight
Title in Louisville, Kentucky.
1997 - The Masked Maniac defeats Chris Michaels for the USA Pro Wrestling U.S. Heavyweight Title in New York.
1998 - Buck Quartermaine defeats Freedom
Ryder for the Indepenent Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Pinellas Park,
Florida.
1999 - ECW held "Hostile City Showdown" at the ECW Arena in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results were:
- Rhino pinned Christopher Daniels.
- Spike Dudley pinned Rhino.
- Skull von Crush pinned Lance Diamond.
- Danny Doring and Roadkill beat Nova and Chris Chetti when Roadkill pinned
Nova.
- El Mosco pinned Kid Kash.
- Little Guido pinned Super Crazy.
- Taz defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri by submission to retain the ECW World
Heavyweight Title.
- Rob Van Dam pinned Balls Mahoney to retain the ECW World Television Title.
- The Impact Players (Justin Credible and Lance Storm) defeated Sabu and Jerry
Lynn in a Death match when Storm pinned Lynn.
2000 - WWF RAW is WAR solidly defeats WCW Monday Nitro in the Monday
Night War this week. RAW, featuring WWF Champion The Rock defeating Triple H and
Kurt Angle in a three-way non-title match in the main event, scored a 6.4
rating. That edition of RAW also included former WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels
appointing Mick Foley his successor. Nitro would only muster less than half of
RAW's rating, getting a 2.8. That show featured a main event of WCW World
Champion Jeff Jarrett defeating Kevin Nash, Goldberg and Scott Steiner in a four
corners match.
2000 - Mick Foley was named WWF Commissioner during an edition of Raw. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on that show.
The 6/26 RAW aired live from the Worcester Centrum......Rock came out with the WWF World Title belt to a huge ovation. He said Vince McMahon should consider himself lucky that he still owns a multi-million dollar company, a big house, expensive cars, and his penile implant. He said the era of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction is over and the Rock era has begun. Vince arrived and congratulated Rock on his title victory. He said that as he lay there on the mat, a beaten man at the hands of Rock, he realized that the reason Linda has been throwing so many obstacles in his path is because she loves him. He said he loves Linda, too, and from now on he'll give Linda all the love she can handle, either soft & tender or rough & ready. He said he thinks Linda wants another baby and called himself a "genetic jackhammer" and said he's going to go home and give her total attention. Vince offered to shake Rock's hand. Rock shook it but then said that no matter what Vince says, he's still a total asshole. Rock left Vince laying with the Rock Bottom......A limo arrived and Shawn Michaels emerged......Vince limped out to his limo with Stephanie wondering what he was doing. He said he was going home and to tell Hunter Hearst Helmsley that he's sorry. Stephanie just looked baffled, which is understandable since it really was baffling.......Rikishi defeated Chris Benoit in 2:25 by DQ to retain the IC Title. Clips were shown of Benoit "injuring" Rikishi's shoulder at the PPV. Rikishi kept selling the bad shoulder in this match. Tazz made his return, running in and hitting Rikishi with a chair for the DQ. Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler wondered aloud why Tazz would hit Rikishi instead of his rival Benoit. After the match, Benoit mauled Rikishi's shoulder more, including a diving headbutt onto it.......HHH arrived and Stephanie tried to explain to him about Vince's behavior and conveyed Vince's "I'm sorry" message. HHH was seething and looked angry enough to explode.......X-Pac beat Chris Jericho in 2:43. Clips were shown of Jericho kissing Stephanie at the PPV. Jericho described it by saying that kissing Stephanie was like kissing roadkill and said "Kirk Angel" owes winning the King of the Ring to a bottom feeding (etc.) ho. Stephanie was with X-Pac instead of Tori, who suffered a shoulder injury at the PPV. Jericho tried to kiss Stephanie again but Road Dogg made the save. Jericho hit the lionsault but Stephanie distracted the ref. Dogg walloped Jericho and rolled X-Pac on top as the ref returned to action for the pin. Afterward, Dogg & X-Pac held Jericho and Stephanie slapped him and kicked him in the balls.......Kurt Angle was polishing his crown backstage and bragging about himself.......They cut to the WWF restaurant in New York where Godfather arrived with four cute hos. They later showed them partying there.......Val Venis defeated Eddie Guerrero by DQ in 2:55 in a European Title match. Trish Stratus kept interfering. She didn't get caught, but Chyna did when she interfered and Eddie was DQ'ed, but retained the belt. Eddie & Chyna double DDT'd Val afterward and Chyna gave Trish a killer powerbomb. The heat for this was great and Chyna looked like she was really enjoying herself. She and Eddie hugged before leaving.......Kurt Angle had an arena employee with him, boring the guy (whom he called a commoner) by asking whether he should call himself King Angle or King Kurt.......Shawn Michaels came out and destroyed the throne they had set up for the King of the Ring coronation by shoving it off the ramp. Michaels said he has business to take care of before any coronation can take place, and that the announcement concerned the #1 contendership to the WWF Title. HHH suddenly arrived. He reminded Michaels that they were old friends and said that surely it must hurt him to know that he (HHH) was screwed out of the belt at the PPV since he wasn't pinned. He complained that people had been pointing at him all day and saying "loser". HHH was confident that Michaels would do the right thing and make him top contender. Michaels agreed that HHH had a point and should be #1 contender, but reminded him that he is no longer commissioner. He then introduced Mick Foley, to a huge pop, as the newly appointed commissioner. Foley came out with his new short haircut and a "commissioner"" T-shirt. He told HHH that he now has a lot of power courtesy of Linda and that with Vince apparently gone he'll have even more power. He said he was going to see to it that no one ever has to listen to boring 20 minute HHH promos again. HHH was furious and said he'd beat the hell out of Foley if he didn't give him the contendership. Foley said he won't be intimidated and would make the decision based on who was most deserving. Kurt Angle arrived with crown and scepter. He said he deserves the contendership by beating three guys and becoming King of the Ring and that even the commoners in Worcester (he pronounced it War-ches-ter) know it. Foley laughed at Angle's regal outfit. He then ruled that there will be a three-way match later on the show between HHH, Angle, and Rock. If Rock wins, then both HHH and Angle are eliminated as contenders, but if either HHH or Angle win, they will get a title shot at Rock on Smackdown. HHH slugged Angle and hurled him from the ring.
Hour two saw Dean Malenko shooting pool as several babes fawned over him. Terri was worried about the upcoming match where she would have to strip if Malenko loses. As incentive, she promised him a private viewing if he wins. Malenko was so excited he missed a shot...... Kat promised Jerry Lawler that if he wins, she'll give him the bronco ride he's been wanting........Lawler beat Malenko in the strip gimmick match in 3:15. The rules were that every time a man went over the top to the floor, the gal he represented had to remove an article of clothing until someone was topless. Both guys bumped over twice and the girls stripped accordingly. Malenko then bumped over and Terri had to take off her top but Stevie Richards came out wearing a suit and looking very clean-cut and held up a sign that said "censored" so no puppies could be seen. Everyone, including me, hated Richards, who I assume will do a prude gimmick.......Edge & Christian told Foley that they want their own locker room like Rock has now that they're World Tag Team Champions for the second time. Foley didn't treat their request seriously at first, but finally got them a room of their own.......Lawler was furious that Richards had "censored" Terri's puppies......Edge & Christian were in their room, talking like Foley was some kind of pushover since he gave them their request so easily. He came in and they told him to get them some sodas. Foley shocked them by announcing that he had scheduled them for a non-title match against Undertaker & Kane. ....... The Acolytes won a tag team battle royal in 3:52 to become top contenders to the tag titles. The other teams were the Hardy Boyz, the Dudleys, Too Cool. Al Snow & Steve Blackman, Perry Saturn & D-Lo Brown, Test & Albert, and Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki........They promoted the USA Weekly "Wrestling vs. Baseball" special featuring Rock. They also showed the clip of Donald Trump at the Madison Square Garden house show again.......Foley brought Edge & Christian each a soda to try and be a nice guy. They acted like they wouldn't agree to fight UT & Kane but Foley said he'd strip them of the belts if they didn't.........Undertaker & Kane beat Edge & Christian in 1:26. Edge & Christian whined about it being unfair that they had to wrestle them and cancelled their pose in protest. The match didn't last long with UT & Kane pinning both foes with chokeslams. .......Footage aired of Jerry Toliver winning a drag race in Madison, IL in the WWF racer.......Rock beat HHH and Kurt Angle in the three-way in 8:54. Rock got a huge ovation again. The match was pretty good though much of it was the usual routine where the third man breaks up any pin attempt. HHH almost had it won when he Pedigreed Angle but Chris Jericho broke up the pin and snapped HHH's neck on the top ropes. The ref didn't see this since he was arguing with Stephanie. Hmmmm. Anyway, HHH staggered back and Rock gave him the Rock Bottom for the pin. Overall an okay show which elevated Angle to the top and brought back the much-needed Mick Foley.
2001 - At a SmackDown! taping at Madison
Square Garden in New York City, New York, Albert defeated Kane to win the WWF
Intercontinental Title.
2001 - Tom Howard defeats Tony Jones to win the UPW Southern California
Title in Santa Ana, California.
2001 - Albert (A-Train) defeats Kane for the WWF Intercontinental Title in New York City at Madison Square Garden during a taping of Smackdown.
2002 - TNA Wrestling's second weekly pay-per-view event, which was taped one week prior along with TNA's first-ever event which aired live, airs on television. The results:2007 - The Associated Press issued the following:
Wrestler Benoit Found Dead With Family
Tuesday June 26, 8:54 am ET
By Debbie Newby, Associated Press Writer
Authorities Await Autopsies in Deaths of Wrestler Chris Benoit, Wife, 7-Year-Old Son
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Pro wrestler Chris Benoit canceled a pay-per-view appearance at the "Vengeance" event in Houston because of "personal reasons" a day before he, his wife and their 7-year-old son were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
Details of the deaths "are going to prove a little bizarre" when released to the public, Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in DeKalb County.
Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects.
Investigators believe Benoit, (pronounced ben-WAH) killed his wife and son over the weekend and then himself sometime Monday. The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three different rooms of the house on Green Meadow Lane, in a subdivision off a gravel road about two miles from the Whitewater Country Club.
Ballard told The Associated Press a gun was not used in any of the deaths. But he declined to say how the three died.
"We're pretty sure we know, but we want to confirm it with the crime lab," Ballard said early Tuesday.
Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not return phone calls. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.
World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."
Sheriff's Lt. Tommy Pope told WSB-TV that the three were found about 2:30 p.m., but he wouldn't release other details.
Stamford, Conn.-based WWE also said on its Web site it had been asked by authorities not to release further information on the deaths of Benoit, 40; his wife, Nancy, 43; and son, Daniel.
Benoit was born in Montreal. He was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles over his career. He was known by several names including "The Canadian Crippler."
"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the company said in a statement on its Web site.
Benoit had maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling.
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.
Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name, "Woman," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing story line on World Championship Wrestling, the newspaper said.
Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.
Benoit Strangled Wife, Smothered Son
Tuesday June 26, 2:24 pm ET
By Greg Bluestein, Associated Press Writer
AP: Wrestler Benoit Strangled Wife, Smothered Son, Hanged Himself in Weight Room
Authorities also said they are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths of Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son. Steroid abuse has been linked to depression, paranoia, and aggressive behavior or angry outbursts known as "roid rage."
"We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at," said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard. He said test results may not be back for weeks.
Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects. The official who described the manner of death spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was to be released at a news conference later Tuesday.
Investigators believe Benoit (pronounced ben-WAH) killed his wife, 43-year-old Nancy, and son Daniel during the weekend and then himself Monday. The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three separate rooms of the house, off a gravel road about two miles from the Whitewater Country Club.
Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not return calls seeking comment. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.
Asked about the condition of the interior of the house, sheriff's Sgt. Keith Whiteside said investigators found "nothing really out of the ordinary." He said Benoit was found in the home's weight room, his wife in an office and the son in an upstairs bedroom.
Neighbors said the Benoits led a low-key lifestyle.
"We would see Chris walking in his yard from time to time. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't really outwardly warm," said Alaina Jones, who lives across the street.
Jimmy Baswell, who was Benoit's driver for more than five years, placed a white wreath at the Benoits' gate. "They always seemed like they were the happiest people," he said.
World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."
The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., said authorities asked that it not release further information on the deaths.
Benoit, born in Montreal, was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles. His names in the ring included "The Canadian Crippler."
"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the company said in a statement on its Web site.
"He was like a family member to me, and everyone in my family is taking it real hard," said fellow Canadian Bret Hart, a five-time champion with the World Wrestling Federation. The federation has since changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment.
Benoit had maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling. The Fayette County Tax Assessors Office lists the value of the house, situated on more than 8.5 acres, at nearly $900,000.
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.
Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name "Woman." They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of a story line on World Championship Wrestling, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.
Associated Press writers Debbie Newby and Jason Bronis contributed to this report.
World Wrestling Entertainment posted a timeline of their final contact with Chris Benoit prior to the bodies of he and his family being found by authorities on Monday, noting Benoit claimed a family emergency would force him to miss a house show on 6/22. WWE re-arranged his travel so he could make the Vengeance PPV on 6/23 but could not contact him to confirm.
The company noted they attempted to reach Benoit all day Sunday but were unable to. They also noted (and republished) several text messages Benoit sent to co-workers early Sunday morning between 3:53 am and 3:58 am Sunday morning. When WWE officials were made aware of the text messages at 12:20 PM Monday, they contacted authorities in Fayetteville, who went to the Benoits' home and discovered their bodies.
In regard to their tribute of Benoit on Raw, WWE.com posted, "The decision to cancel the live event scheduled in Corpus Christi that night was made between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. In keeping with company policy, and with limited knowledge regarding facts of the case, WWE choose to air a memorial dedicated to the career of Chris Benoit. As facts emerged surrounding the case, all tributes to Chris Benoit were removed both on-air and on WWE.com."
ECW on SciFi opened with Vince McMahon stating that the previous night, Monday Night Raw was a tribute show to the late Chris Benoit. He then stated that 26 hours later, "the facts of this "horrific tragedy are now apparent." McMahon said that after his comments, there will be no mention of Benoit's name and the show will be dedicated to everyone affected by the Benoit tragedy. McMahon said, "Tonight will be the start of the healing process and WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world - entertain you."If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
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