This Day in Wrestling History (September 16)

19 years ago today, ECW held "Gangsta's Paradise" at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia. A few iconic ECW moments occurred on this night.

• The Pitbulls defeated Raven and Stevie Richards in a two out of three falls dog collar match to win the ECW Tag Team Championship. During the match, 911 finally chokeslammed referee Bill Alfonso. Pitbull #2 was stretchered out during the third fall of the match and Tommy Dreamer entered as a substitute, and even had the deciding fall on Raven, but it was never counted by Alfonso. Pitbull #2 eventually returned and The Pitbulls superbombed Raven and Richards, then ECW commissioner Tod Gordon counted the fall.
• In their ECW debuts, Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeated Psicosis.
• In the show's main event, Mikey Whipwreck & Public Enemy defeated The Sandman, 2 Cold Scorpio, and New Jack in a tag team steel cage match. Near the end of the bout, Rocco Rock and Scorpio both fell off the top of the cage and went through three tables back in the ring.

12 years ago today on RAW from Denver, Colorado, Rico scored one of the biggest upsets in WWE history when he defeated Ric Flair.

11 years ago today during a Smackdown (WWE Network link) taping in Raleigh, North Carolina, Los Guerreros (Eddie & Chavo) defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Hass & Shelton Benjamin) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. In the show's main event, Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle five falls to four in a sixty-minute Ironman match.

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8 years ago today, Ring of Honor made its debut in the Manhattan Center in New York City. In the show's featured bout, Bryan Danielson defeated KENTA via submission. The tag titles changed hands that night as The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castignoli) defeated Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. And the GHC Championship was defended for the first time on US soil as Naomichi Marufuji defeated Nigel McGuinness.

7 years ago today, WWE presented Unforgiven (WWE Network link) from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. About 12,000 were in attendance, with 210,000 homes watching on PPV, which was down from 289,000 in 2006. The show featured the return of the Undertaker since he went to a draw for the World Heavyweight Championship in May and was taken out by Mark Henry post-match.

• In a preshow dark match, Kane defeated Kenny Dykstra.
• CM Punk defeated Elijah Burke to retain the ECW Championship.
• Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter defeated Deuce and Domino to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
• Triple H defeated Carlito.
• Candice Michelle defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Women's Championship.
• Batista defeated The Great Khali and Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat Match to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick to retain the World Tag Team Championship.
• Randy Orton defeated John Cena by disqualification in a WWE Championship match.
• The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry.

4 years ago today, Lindsay Hayward, aka Aloisia, announces in an interview that she had been released from WWE. Lindsay was supposed to be a part of the all-women's season of NXT, but her developmental deal was pulled following a background check produced questionable photos. The 6'8" Hayward would have been the tallest woman to compete in a WWE ring in company history. In an interesting twist, her replacement Celeste Bonin (aka Kaitlyn) would win NXT season 3.

3 years ago today, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announces that he would return to the ring at Survivor Series to team with John Cena. It would be his first match since Wrestlemania XX.

3 years ago today, Claudio Castignoli signs a WWE developmental deal. Today, he is known as Antonio Cesaro. He's found moderate success, most notably winning the United States Championship and winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania XXX.

2 years ago today, WWE presented Night of Champions (WWE link) from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. 14,886 watched in the building, with 189,000 homes tuning in on PPV. That was up 20,000 from the 2011 edition.

• In a preshow match, Zack Ryder won a 16-man battle royal to become the #1 contender for the United States Championship. Other participants included Brodus Clay, Primo, Epico, Justin Gabriel, Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Michael McGillicutty, Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, Heath Slater & Santino Marella.
• The Miz defeated Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, and Rey Mysterio in a Fatal Four-Way Match to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
• Kane & Daniel Bryan defeated R-Truth & Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.
• Antonio Cesaro defeated Zack Ryder to retain the United States Championship.
• Randy Orton defeated Dolph Ziggler.
• Eve Torres defeated Layla to win the Divas Championship.
• Sheamus defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
• CM Punk fought John Cena to a draw in a WWE Championship Match.