This Day in Wrestling History (June 16)

We're heavy on the WCW again for this edition of This Day in Pro Wrestling History.

22 years ago today was WCW Clash of the Champions XIX (WWE Network link) from McAlister Field House at the Citadel. 4,600 fans were in attendance. This was the second and final Clash to be held on campus at the Citadel, as the next one they hosted  in the area would be at the North Charleston Coliseum. It featured the complete first round and one second round match in the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament. The titles were vacant since early 1991 when Doom were referred to as the WCW tag team champions, even though they were the NWA tag team champions at the time. The remainder of the tournament took place at the 1992 Great American Bash, which was won by Terry Gordy and Steve Williams.

• Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff defeated Joe and Dean Malenko, when Koloff pinned Dean.
• Rick Rude and Steve Austin defeated Marcus Bagwell and Tom Zenk, when Rude pinned Bagwell.
• Terry Gordy and Steve Williams defeated Larry and Jeff O'Day, when Williams pinned Larry.
• Rick and Scott Steiner defeated Miguel Perez, Jr. and Ricky Santana by forfeit.
• Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton, when Rhodes pinned Eaton.
• The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) defeated The Cowboys (El Texano and Silver King).
• Jushin Liger and Brian Pillman defeated Chris Benoit and Beef Wellington, when Liger pinned Wellington.
• Akira Nogami and Hiroshi Hase defeated The Headhunters (Arn Anderson and Bob Cook).
• In the first second round tournament match, Terry Gordy and Steve Williams defeated Rick and Scott Steiner, when Williams pinned Scott.

21 years ago today was WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII (WWE Network link) from the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. This event is highlighted by Ric Flair's first match since his return to WCW following a brief stint in the WWF.

• Ron Simmons pinned Dick Slater.
• Steven Regal pinned Marcus Bagwell.
• Maxx Payne defeated Johnny B. Badd by forfeit.
• Barry Windham pinned 2 Cold Scorpio to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
• Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious and Rick Rude defeated Dustin Rhodes, Sting and Davey Boy Smith, when Rude pinned Rhodes.
• The Horsemen (Ric Flair and Arn Anderson) defeated The Hollywood Blondes (Brian Pillman and Steve Austin) in two straight falls in a two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles. However, the second fall win was by disqualification, so the Blondes retained the titles.

18 years ago today was WCW's tenth Great American Bash (WWE Network link) from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. About 9,000 were in attendance (7,323 paid) with a live gate of $123,406 and 170,000 homes purchasing the PPV, which was up 70,000 from the 1995 edition.

- The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated Fire and Ice (Scott Norton and Ice Train), when Scott pinned Norton after a Frankensteiner.

- Konnan pinned El Gato (Pat Tanaka), after a Flapjack Spinebuster into a Jackknife Pin, to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Title.

- Diamond Dallas Page pinned Marcus Bagwell after a Diamond Cutter.

- Dean Malenko pinned Rey Misterio, Jr., after a Powerbomb and using the ropes, to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title.

- John Tenta pinned Big Bubba Rogers after a Powerslam. After the match, Tenta shaved Rogers' goatee off.

- Chris Benoit defeated Kevin Sullivan in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After the match, Arn Anderson came to the ring and helped Benoit attack Sullivan.

- Sting defeated Lord Steven Regal by submission with a Scorpion Deathlock.

- Ric Flair and Arn Anderson defeated Kevin Greene and Steve McMichael, when Flair pinned Greene after McMichael turned on Greene and hit him with a steel briefcase. After the match, Chris Benoit came out and helped attack Greene. McMichael became the fourth in the new Four Horsemen along with Flair, Anderson and Benoit.

- The Giant pinned Lex Luger after a Chokeslam to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title.

The event is best remembered for an interview conducted by Eric Bischoff with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who both recently made their WCW debuts. During the interview, both men explicitly said that they were no longer working for the World Wrestling Federation. The interview ended with Nash powerbombing Bischoff through the stage.

12 years ago today, KMOL News in San Antonio reported that a 4 a.m. Debra Williams called the police to report Stone Cold Steve Austin (Steve Williams) had "hit her". They noted that she told police she was scared to call because her husband was a world famous wrestler. Apparently when police went to their home on the North West side she had welts and bruises on her body.  She noted to the police that it had happened before. Steve was not at the home when police arrived.   Austin reportedly got into a yellow 2002 Corvette and left the home before the police arrived.  Espinoza told us that Austin did call home when the police arrived and spoke with one of the officers, but refused to come home.  WWE officials told the station that the situation was not a publicity stunt.  Austin, who walked out on the company a few days before, was removed from the WWE roster page.

The police report for the incident stated that Debra had a swollen cheek and bruises on her back, but listed her condition as good. It also reiterates the story that made television news this weekend that Debra was nervous about calling police because her "husband is famous" and that she "can't believe he hit her".

The report also details the conversation Steve Williams had with police when he called his home, and that Williams understood, and also thanked the officer, when he was told that a detective would be making a follow-up visit concerning the assault. The event is highlighted by CM Punk's first match since his loss to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29.

One year ago today was WWE Payback (WWE Network link) from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. About 12,500 were in attendance at the event, with 186,000 homes purchasing the event, which was slightly down from the previous year's No Way Out event this time in 2012.

• Curtis Axel (with Paul Heyman) defeated The Miz, & Wade Barrett in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
• AJ Lee (with Big E Langston) defeated Kaitlyn by submission to win the WWE Divas Championship. Lee would hold the title until April 7 when Paige defeated her in her main roster debut on RAW in just 79 seconds.
• Dean Ambrose defeated Kane via countout to retain the WWE United States Championship.
• Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez) defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Big E Langston & AJ Lee) to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
• CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) defeated Chris Jericho.
• The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) defeated Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
• John Cena defeated Ryback in a 3 Stages of Hell Match two falls to one to retain the WWE Championship. The first fall, a lumberjack match, was won by Ryback, while Cena swept the next two falls, a tables match and an ambulance match.

The Sandman Entrance - ECW One Night Stand 2005 by zep81videos

Happy 51st birthday today to five-time ECW Champion Jim "The Sandman" Fullington. Here's his epic entrance from ECW One Night Stand 2005. With the classic Metallica theme.

Today would have been the 55^th birthday of Jim Hellwig, aka The Ultimate Warrior (legally Warrior from 1993 to his death earlier this year). Warrior died on April 8 by a heart attack due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In the days before his death, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, made an appearance at Wrestlemania XXX, and made one last public appearance on RAW that Monday.