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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 3 COUNT WIN HARDCORE TITLE, CENTRAL STATES TOURNAMENT, RAW WINS BIG AND MORE

By Buck Woodward & Ryan Martinez on 2011-02-28 08:00:00

February 28th

On this day in history in ....

1913 - Jean Paradis defeats Eugene Tremblay to win the World Lightweight Title in Montreal, Quebec.

1933 - Jim Hesslyn defeats Jack Ross for the Southern Lightweight Title in Augusta, Georgia.

1934 - Charley Fischer defeats Joe Banaski to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Light Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio. This ended Banaski's third reign.

1952 - Enrique Torres defeats Bob Orton for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas.

1953 - Ricky Steamboat is born in West Point, New York.

1953 - Ray Greenfield defeats Len Holt to win the Australian Middleweight Title in Sydney, Australia.

1957 - Dory Funk defeats The Great Bolo in Amarillo, Texas for both the Amarillo NWA North American Heavyweight Title and Southwest Junior Heavyweight Titles. This began Funk's second and ninth respective reigns.

1958 - Angelo Savoldi defeats Mike Clancy for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, ending Clancy's third reign.

1961 - Dick the Bruiser defeats Bobo Brazil to win the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Detroit, Michigan, beginning his fourth reign.

1963 - Bulldog Brower and Johnny Valentine defeat Bruno Sammartino and Whipper Billy Watson to win the Toronto NWA International Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario.

1963 - Jerry Graham and Jim Wright defeat Dominic Bravo and Ron Etchison for the Stampede International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta.

1966 - Paddy Barrett and Tom Geohagen defeat The Black Terror (Bobby Graham) and John Tolos to win the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Title in Vancouver, British Columbia. This began Barrett and Geohagen's second reign.

1968 - Archie Gouldie defeats Pat O'Connor in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to become the first Stampede North American Heavyweight Champion.

1968 - Curtis Iaukea defeats Jim Hady for the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii, ending Hady's second reign and beginning Iaukea's third.

1969 - Johnny Valentine defeats Dan Miller to win his third NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas.

1969 - Dick Murdoch defeats Don Kent for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri.

1971 - Dutch Savage defeats Jonathan Boyd for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title, ending Boyd's second reign and beginning Savage's third.

1971 - The Wrestling Pro defeats Bob Kelly in Pensacola, Florida to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title, ending Kelly's third reign and beginning the Pro's second.

1972 - Tim Woods defeats Bobby Shane to win the held-up Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title. This was a rematch from February 15.

1973 - Masato Tanaka is born in Wakayama, Japan.

1973 - Mr. Kleen ends Buddy Colt's fourth Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title reign in Miami, Florida.

1974 - Bob Brown and Lord Alfred Hayes end Jim Brunzell and Mike George's second reign as Central States NWA World Tag Team Champions in Kansas City, Kansas.

1975 - Al Madril defeats El Gran Marcus for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas.

1975 - Louie Tillet and John Tolos defeat The Hollywood Blonds (Jerry Brown and Buddy Roberts) for the NWA Americas Tag Team Title in Los Angeles, California, to end the Blonds' second reign.

1975 - The Great Mephisto defeats George Gouliovas in Sydney, Australia to win the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Title.

1975 - Ron Fuller defeats Ron Wright for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title in Knoxville, Tennessee. This began and ended both men's second reigns.

1976 - The WWWF held an event at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The results:
- Johnny Rodz defeated Mark Tendler.
- Baron Mikel Scicluna (subbing for Frank Monte) defeated Kevin Sullivan.
- Louis Cyr defeated Pat Barrett.
- Ivan Putski defeated Bugsy McGraw.
- Dominic DeNucci defeated Jerry Blackwell.
- NWA World Women's Champion The Fabulous Moolah defeated Kitty Adams to retain the title.
- WWWF Tag Team Champions Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi fought Superstar Billy Graham and Ernie Ladd to a double-disqualification to retain the title.
- WWWF Heavywight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Ivan Koloff by disqualification to retain the title.

1976 - Roddy Piper and Crusher Verdu defeat Chavo and Gory Guerrero to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title.

1977 - Perro Aguayo defeats Ringo Mendoza for the Mexican National Middleweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.

1978 - Mike Graham and Steve Keirn defeat Jack and Jerry Brisco to win the Florida NWA United States Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida, beginning their second reign.

1980 - Bob Morgan defeats Larry Lane in a tournament final in Amarillo, Texas for the vacant NWA Western States Heavyweight Title.

1981 - Los Pastores (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) defeat Carlos Colón and Invader I for the WWC North American Tag Team Title in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

1982 - A 10-team tournament was held in Atlanta, Georgia for the NWA World Tag Team Title. The title was vacated in December after Gene Anderson was injured in October, forcing he and Ole Anderson to give up the title. The results were:
First round:
- Jack and Jerry Brisco defeated Ron Bass and Kevin Sullivan.
- Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk defeated Rip Oliver and Buddy Rose.
- Leroy Brown and Ron Fuller defeated The Masked Superstar and The Super Destoryer.
- Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Rick Harris (Black Bart) and The Mongolian Stomper.
- Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen defeated Brad Armstrong and Tommy Rogers.
Quarterfinals:
- Jack and Jerry Brisco defeated Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk.
- Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Leroy Brown and Ron Fuller.
Semifinal:
- Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen defeated Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta.
Final:
- Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen defeated Jack and Jerry Brisco to win the vacant NWA World Tag Team Title.

1983 - Bobby Eaton wins his 12th and final NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title, defeating Sweet Brown Sugar in a Loser Leaves Town match in Memphis, Tennessee. Sweet Brown Sugar would return as the masked Stagger Lee, and is best known as Koko B. Ware.

1984 - Future Jumping Bomb Angels square off in Sagamihara, Japan as Itsuki Yamazaki defeats Noriyo Tateno for the vacant AJW Title.

1986 - Dick Slater defeats Jake Roberts for the Mid-South Television Title in Houston, Texas. He was the last to hold the title, as Mid-South Wrestling became the Universal Wrestling Federation in March.

1987 - Buddy Landel defeats Ron Fuller to win the NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee, ending Fuller's second reign.

1988 - The NWA held an event at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The results were:
- Ricky Santana defeated Black Bart.
- Rick Steiner defeated The Italian Stallion.
- The Jive Tones (Tiger Conway, Jr. and Pez Whatley) defeated Ron Simmons and Kendall Windham.
- NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) defeated Jimmy and Ron Garvin to retain the title.
- Sting defeated Larry Zbyszko by disqualification.
- Barry Windham defeated NWA World Television Champion Mike Rotundo by disqualification. Rotundo retained the title.
- Road Warrior Hawk and Paul Ellering fought The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) to a no-contest.
- Ole Anderson, Lex Luger and NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair.

1988 - The WWF held an event at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. The results:
- Bad News Brown defeated Johnny K-9.
- Sika defeated Iron Mike Sharpe.
- The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) defeated The Junkyard Dog and George Steele.
- The Islanders (Haku and Tama) defeated The British Bulldogs (The Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) by disqualification.
- Jim Duggan defeated Butch Reed.
- Rick Rude defeated Jake Roberts.
- Don Muraco defeated The One Man Gang by countout.

1989 - Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner defeat Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams to win the NWA United States Tag Team Title at a television taping in Columbia, South Carolina. The match aired on March 25 on "World Championship Wrestling".

1991 - The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) defeat Team America (Heidi Lee Morgan and Misty Blue Simmes) in Laughlin, Nevada for the Ladies' Professional Wrestling Association Tag Team Title.

1992 - Barry Horowitz defeats Ben Jordan for the GWF Light Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas. This began Horowitz's second reign.

1994 - Brian Christopher defeats Doug Gilbert in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA Heavyweight Title, ending Gilbert's second reign and beginning Christopher's 11th.

1996 - Silver King and Dr. Wagner, Jr. win the vacant CMLL World Tag Team Title in a tournament final in Mexico City, Mexico, defeating Dos Caras and Ultimo Dragon.

1996 - Doug Gilbert and Tommy Rich defeat PG-13 (JC Ice and Wolfie D) for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This began Gilbert and Rich's fourth reign and ended PG-13's 11th reign.

1997 - Bobby Jay defeats Robby Royce for the Canadian Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title and Chad Ripley ends J.T. Atlas' second CWF Junior Heavyweight Title reign.

1998 - Ace Darling and Devon Storm defeated The Misfits (Derek Domino and Harley Lewis) at the "3rd Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to win the NWA United States Tag Team Title. This ended the Misfits' second reign.

1998 - J.B. Destiny defeats Sean Evans for the PWX Television Title in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.

1998 - The Tennessee Volunteers (Steven Dunn and Reno Riggins) defeat Ladies' Night Out (Shane Eden and Frenchy Riviera) in Lebanon, Tennessee to become the first two-time Music City Wrestling North American Tag Team Champions.

1998 - The Youth of America (Chris Church and Nate Mattson) defeat The Outlaws (Bobby and Woody Lee) to win the Southern Michigan Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Monroe, Michigan.

1999 - Chicky Starr and Victor the Bodyguard defeat Ricky Santana and Shane Sewell for the WWC World Tag Team Title in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.

1999 - Shadow WX defeats Abdullah the Butcher in Tokyo, Japan to become the first two-time BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champion.

1999 - Azumi Hyuga defeats Hikari Fukuoka in Tokyo, Japan to win the JWP Openweight Title.

2000 - WWF "RAW is WAR"'s 6.5 rating more than triples WCW "Monday Nitro"'s 2.1 rating in this week of the Monday Night War.

"Nitro" was live in front of 4,638 fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The results were:
- WCW World Tag Team Champions The Mamalukes (Johnny the Bull and Big Vito) defeated The West Hollywood Blondes (Lenny Lane and Lodi) to retain the title.
- Booker T and Billy Kidman fought to a no-contest.
- 3 Count (Shane Helms, Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore) defeated WCW Hardcore Champion Brian Knobbs in a Handicap match to win the title. This ended Knobbs' second reign.
- Dustin Rhodes defeated Norman Smiley.
- WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Vampiro to retain the title.
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea defeated David Flair to retain the title.
- The Maestro defeated Ernest Miller.
- Ric Flair defeated Curt Hennig.
- Buff Bagwell defeated Lex Luger by disqualification.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious defeated Tank Abbott to retain the title.

"RAW" was live before 12,256 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The March 4 edition of "Jakked" was taped beforehand. The results:
- In a dark match, Joey Abs defeated ???.
Jakked:
- Test defeated Mideon.
- The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated The Inferno Kid and Kevin Landry.
- WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Essa Rios (with Lita) defeated Funaki to retain the title.
- D'Lo Brown and The Godfather defeated Albert and The Big Bossman.
RAW:
- The Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt) defeated The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq).
- Rikishi defeated WWF European and Intercontinental Champion Kurt Angle by countout. Angle retained the European title.
- Edge and Christian (with Terri) defeated Steve Blackman and Al Snow.
- The Rock defeated The Brooklyn Brawler.
- Chris Jericho (with Chyna) defeated Perry Saturn (with Dean Malenko).
- Mark Henry (with Mae Young) fought WWF Hardcore Champion Crash Holly to a no-contest after Mae gave Crash a splash and then collapsed in pain. Crash retained the title. Backstage later on, Mae Young gave birth to she and Mark Henry's baby, which turned out to be a hand.
- Tazz defeated Chris Benoit by disqualification.
- WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) fought Road Dogg and X-Pac (with Tori) to a no-contest to retain the title.
- The Rock defeated The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) and WWF Champion Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) by disqualification in a Handicap match.

2000 - Supreme defeats Kronus in a tournament final in Los Angeles, California to become the first XPW King of the Deathmatch Champion.

2001 - The CZW World Heavyweight Title changes hands thrree times in Dover, Delaware, going from Justice Pain to Nick Berk to Yoshihiro Tajiri, and finally to Zandig, beginning his third reign.

2002 - The WWF's "Tough Enough 2" debuts on MTV. The premiere airing got a 1.6 rating. That competition was won by Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles, and also included future WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan and independent wrestler Kenny King.

2002 - Mega and Ultra Mega defeats Fantasy and Star Boy in Naucalpan, Mexico for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Title.

2003 - The Ultimate Fighting Championship held "UFC 41: Onslaught" at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The results were:
Preliminary card:
- Lightweight: Yves Edwards defeated Rich Clementi by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:07 of round three.
- Heavyweight: Gan McGee defeated Alexandre Dantas by TKO (strikes) at 4:49 of round one.
- Lightweight: Din Thomas defeated Matt Serra by split decision.
Main card:
- Heavyweight: Vladimir Matyushenko defeated Pedro Rizzo by unanimous decision.
- Middleweight: Matt Lindland defeated Phil Baroni by unanimous decision.
- Lightweight: B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a split draw, leaving the UFC Lightweight Title vacant. Scoring was 48-47 Uno, 48-46 Penn and 48-48. At "UFC 39: The Warriors Return" in September, Uno defeated Din Thomas and Penn defeated Matt Serra to advance to this fight.
- Heavyweight: Frank Mir defeated Tank Abbott by submission (toe hold) at 0:46 of round one.
- Heavyweight: Tim Sylvia defeated UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez by knockout (strikes) at 3:09 of round one to win the title.

2003 - X (Sean Waltman) defeats Kaos in Los Angeles, California for the XPW Television Title.

2003 - Yoshihiro Sakai defeats Shouichi Ichimiya to win the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. This began Sakai's second reign and ended Ichimiya's seventh.

2004 - Pablo Marquez defeats Diabólico to win the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title in Caguas, Puerto Rico, ending Diabólico's second reign and beginning Marquez's third.

2004 - Super Atomo defeats Paparazzi for the IWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. This ended Paparazzi's second reign.

2004 - Ace Darling defeats Prince Nana for the ECWA Mid-Atlantic Title. in Wilmington, Delaware.

2004 - Dru Onyx defeats Tank in Montreal, Quebec to become the first Championship Wrestling Association (now NWA Quebec) Heavyweight Champion.

2004 - J.D. Escalade defeats Rocky Reynolds in Fairmont, West Virginia to become the first NWA Tri-State X Division Champion.

2004 - Fahrenheit 420 (David Mercury and Stash) defeat Scoot Andrews & Antonio Banks (MVP), Shockwave (Mikey Batts and Erick Stevens) and The Untouchables (Rod Steel and Mikey Tenderfoot) in a four-way Elimination match in St. Petersburg, Florida to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title.

2004 - Nikita Allanov defeats Justin Idol in McKeesport, Pennsylvania to win his second NWA/PWX Heavyweight Title.

2004 - Il Marchese and Pain defeat Corvo Bianco and Puck for the Italian Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Carugate, Italy.

2005 - Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, having ended its membership in the NWA four months earlier, becomes a member of AWA Superstars of Wrestling.

2005 - WWE aired "RAW" live and taped the March 6 "Sunday Night Heat" at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. On Spike TV, "RAW" got a 4.1 rating and "Heat" got a 0.7 rating. The results were:
Heat:
- Rhyno pinned Simon Dean after the Gore.
- Val Venis pinned Vito after the Money Shot.
- World Tag Team Champions William Regal & Tajiri defeated Christian & Tyson Tomko and La Résistance (Rob Conway & Sylvain Grenier) in a Triple Threat Elimination match to retain the title. Christian pinned Grenier after the Unprettier and Tajiri pinned Tomko after the Buzzsaw Kick.
RAW:
- World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and The Hurricane's match never got underway as Triple attacked Hurricane before the match could begin.
- Chris Benoit defeated Muhammad Hassan (with Daivari) by disqualification when Hassan gave Benoit a low blow as he was about to German suplex him.
- WWE Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin pinned Gene Snitsky after an Exploder suplex.
- Chris Masters defeated ??? by submission with the Master Lock.
- Chris Jericho defeated Maven by submission with the Walls of Jericho.
- Shawn Michaels pinned Edge in a Street Fight after Sweet Chin Music.

2006 - Payed Daily & Sheik Samir Hussein defeat Shannon Ballard & Moose and Erica D'Erico & Morgan in a tournament final to win the vacant Impact Zone Wrestling Tag Team Title.

2006 - Hawaii Allen defeats Omry Balely for the Israeli Pro Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title in Tel Aviv, Israel.

2007 - Hale Collins and Vik Dalishus defeat Bull Buchanan and Johnny Swinger to win the Great Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Phenix City, Alabama.

2008 - Cru Jones defeats A.J. Steele for the GCW Interstate Heavyweight Title in Phenix City, Alabama, ending Steele's second reign.

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