This Day in Wrestling History (March 14)

37 years ago today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dino Bravo and Dominic Denucci defeated Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka to win the WWWF Tag Team Championship.

28 years ago today, NBC aired the 10^th edition of WWF Saturday Night's Main Event (WWE Network link). The show, taped February 21, emanated from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The show featured a tribute video for Roddy Piper set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way". Piper was set to retire following Wrestlemania III.

• Randy Savage defeated George Steele by countout to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
• Hercules Hernandez last eliminated Billy Jack Haynes to win a 20-man battle royal. Other participants included André the Giant, Outlaw Ron Bass, Demolition (Ax & Smash), Hillbilly Jim, The Honky Tonk Man, Hulk Hogan, The Islanders (Haku & Tama), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell), Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Orndorff, Lanny Poffo, Butch Reed, Sika, Nikolai Volkoff, and Koko B. Ware. Of note, Andre the Giant, the challenger for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania III, eliminated Hogan.
• King Kong Bundy defeated Jake Roberts by disqualification.
• The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeated Tito Santana & Dan Spivey to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
• Ricky Steamboat defeated The Iron Sheik.

28 years ago today in Atlanta, Georgia, Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch defeated Ron Garvin and Barry Windham to win the NWA United States Tag Team Championship.

15 years ago today, WCW presented Uncensored (WWE Network link) from Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. 15,930 were in attendance, with 325,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 415,000 homes for the 1998 event. This was the last WCW PPV before another major shakeup in creative that resulted in the returns of both Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo.

• Billy Kidman defeated Mikey Whipwreck to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
• Stevie Ray defeated Vincent in a Harlem Street Fight.
• Kevin Nash defeated Rey Mysterio, Jr.
• Jerry Flynn defeated Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo in a handicap match.
• Hak defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Raven in a triple threat falls count anywhere match.
• Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham in a lumberjack match to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
• Perry Saturn defeated Chris Jericho in a dog collar match.
• Booker T defeated Scott Steiner to win the WCW World Television Championship.
• Ric Flair defeated Hollywood Hogan in a first blood steel cage match to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Flair bled first, yet referee Charles Robinson never stopped the match. Flair won when Hogan's shoulders were down while Flair had the figure four leglock applied. The win also gave Flair complete control of WCW...control that he would give up less than a month later when WCW storylines were reset.

16 years ago today in Yokohama, Japan, Naoya Ogawa defeated Dan Severn to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The win ended Severn's run at 1,479 days, or just a shade over four years, the third longest in the history of the championship.

11 years ago today, WWE presented Wrestlemania XX: Where It All Begins Again (WWE Network link) from Madison Square Garden in New York City. About 20,000 were in attendance, with 885,000 homes watching on PPV. That's up from 560,000 for Wrestlemania XIX. At $2.4 million, Wrestlemania XX was at the time the highest grossing event in the history of Madison Square Garden. And at four and a half hours, it's the longest Wrestlemania ever. By comparison, the first Wrestlemania, held in the same building, lasted about half as long.

Star ratings courtesy of Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer.  All ratings are out of 5. Ratings can also be found at the Internet Wrestling Database.

• John Cena defeated The Big Show to win the WWE United States Championship. (1.25/5)
• Rob Van Dam and Booker T defeated Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak, The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) and La Résistance (René Duprée and Rob Conway) in a fatal four way tag team match to retain the World Tag Team Championship. (1.5)
• Christian defeated Chris Jericho. (3.5)
• Evolution (Randy Orton, Batista and Ric Flair) defeated The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley) in a in a three-on-two handicap match (3.5)
• Torrie Wilson and Sable defeated Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie in a Playboy Evening Gown match. (0.25)
• Chavo Guerrero won a Cruiserweight Open to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. (2.5)
  • Último Dragón pinned Shannon Moore.
  • Jamie Noble defeated Dragon by submission.
  • Noble pinned Funaki.
  • Noble defeated Nunzio by countout.
  • Billy Kidman pinned Noble.
  • Rey Mysterio pinned Kidman.
  • Mysterio pinned Tajiri.
  • Mysterio defeated Akio by forfeit.
  • Chavo Guerrero pinned Mysterio with interference from Chavo Guerrero, Sr.
• Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar. Steve Austin was the special referee. (1.25) Of note, this was the final WWE match for both men. Goldberg has not returned since, and Lesnar did not return until 2012.
• Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin), The Basham Brothers (Danny and Doug) and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) in a fatal four way tag team match to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. (1.25)
• Victoria defeated Molly Holly in a hair versus title match to retain the WWE Women's Championship. (1) With the win, Victoria got to shave Molly's head.
• Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWE Championship. (4)
• The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated Kane (1.25)
• Chris Benoit defeated Triple H (c) and Shawn Michaels via submission in a triple threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship (4.75)

10 years ago today on RAW, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) defeated La Resistance (Rob Conway & Sylvain Grenier). This was the first match for The Rockers as a team since December 1991. On the same show, Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel featured Jake "The Snake" Roberts. It was his first WWE appearance since his firing in February 1997.

7 years ago today, Vince McMahon receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

7 years ago today in an Albany, New York court, Dr. Gary Brandwein pleads guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance. Brandwein was a Florida doctor who wrote prescriptions for performance-enhancing drugs including steroids and HGH to celebrities and professional wrestlers. He was in the crosshairs as part of the Signature online pharmacy scandal. Brandwein would serve a year in jail, followed by a year of probation. In exchange for the plea agreement, he would assist the prosecution in their investigation into the pharmacy.

7 years ago today, Ring of Honor made its debut in Dover, New Jersey. Between matches, the final scenes of The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke were being filmed. The scene involved Randy the Ram, played by Rourke, facing his arch rival, the Ayatollah, played by Ernest Miller, at an ROH show.

5 years ago today in Charlotte, North Carolina, Adam Pearce defeated Blue Demon, Jr. and Phil Shatter in a three-way bout to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

4 years ago today on RAW from St. Louis, Missouri, Vickie Guerrero defeated Trish Stratus to regain her position as General Manager of RAW. Post-match, Vickie on behalf of Laycool (Layla & Michelle McCool) and Dolph Ziggler issues a challenge to John Morrison, Trish, and Snooki of Jersey Shore fame to a Wrestlemania match, which they accept. In an interesting bit of trivia, Vickie Guerrero is the first person to defeat Trish in a one-on-one televised match since July 2006.