This Day in Pro Wrestling History (July 13)

Is it possible to get into hot water for two things totally unrelated in the same day? Indeed it is, because WWE somehow managed to do just that once.

18 years ago today, ECW presented Heatwave '96 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a featured bout, Shane Douglas defeated Chris Jericho, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Pitbull #2 (Gary Wolfe) in a 40-minute four corners elimination match to become the new ECW Television Champion. The event would be one of the final appearances for Chris Jericho, as he would debut for WCW a month later. In the main event, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, and Terry Gordy defeated Raven, Brian Lee, and Stevie Richards in a steel cagematch.

17 years ago today, WCW presented Bash at the Beach (WWE Network link) from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. 7,851 people were in attendance, with 325,000 homes purchasing the event on PPV. That's up 75,000 from 1996's edition. The event is highlighted by Kevin Sullivan's final WCW match and Dennis Rodman's in-ring debut.

• Mortis and Wrath defeated Glacier and Ernest Miller.
• Chris Jericho defeated Ultimo Dragon to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
• The Steiner Brothers defeated The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono.
• Juventud Guerrera, Héctor Garza, and Lizmark, Jr. defeated La Parka, Psicosis, and Villano IV.
• Chris Benoit defeated Kevin Sullivan. As a result of the loss, Sullivan was forced to leave WCW.
• Jeff Jarrett defeated Steve McMichael to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.
• Scott Hall and "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig.
• Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair.
• Lex Luger and The Giant defeated Dennis Rodman and Hollywood Hogan.

16 years ago today, on an episode of RAW is WAR from the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Kane and Mankind defeated the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

9 years ago today, controversy erupts in WWE on two fronts.

First, UPN, the network that broadcast SmackDown at the time, tells WWE to pull the Muhammad Hassan character following a controversial angle involving Hassan and The Undertaker that aired on the same day as the terrorist attacks in London, England. The angle receives massive mainstream coverage, including a cover story in the New York Post. WARNING: THE ABOVE VIDEO MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL VIEWERS.

Second, on WWE.com's Byte This!, Matt Hardy calls in, confronting Amy Dumas (aka Lita) during an interview as to why she left him for Adam Copeland (aka Edge).

7 years ago today, funeral services were held for Nancy and Daniel Benoit in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nancy and Daniel, along with Chris Benoit, all died two weeks prior in a double murder/suicide in their home in Atlanta.

6 years ago today, TNA holds Victory Road (pay link) from Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas.

• Team TNA (Curry Man, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin) defeated Team International (Alex Koslov, Doug Williams, and Tyson Dux), Team Japan (Milano Collection A.T., Masato Yoshino, and Puma), and Team Mexico (Último Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, and Averno) in a Four Team Triple Elimination match in the third round of the World X Cup tournament.
• Gail Kim defeated Angelina Love.
• Sonjay Dutt defeated Jay Lethal.
• The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Hernandez) defeated Beer Money (James Storm and Robert Roode) in a "Fan's Revenge" Lumberjack match to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
• Taylor Wilde defeated Awesome Kong to retain the TNA Women's Knockout Championship.
• Volador Jr. defeated Kaz, Naruki Doi and Daivari in a Ultimate X match in the final round of the World X Cup tournament. The win clinches the tournament for Team Mexico.
• Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) and Kurt Angle defeated Rhino, Christian Cage, and A.J. Styles in a Full Metal Mayhem match.
• Samoa Joe (c) fought Booker T to a no-contest for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

2 years ago today, AJ Styles defeated Rob Terry to win the TNA Global Championship. On the same episode of Impact, Madison Rayne is awarded the TNA Knockouts Championship after threatening to sue the company following the controversial finish to the title match at Victory Road earlier in the week.

Happy 41^st birthday to Sean Waltman. Here's his most famous victory, as a spry 20-year old, defeating Razor Ramon on RAW in 1993.

Happy 39^th birthday to Dylan Summers, aka Necro Butcher. He makes a cameo appearance in The Wrestler. Here he is from 2012 against New Jack in what was billed as New Jack's final match. WARNING: THE ABOVE VIDEO MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL VIEWERS.