This Day in Wrestling History (March 26)

Whoops. Sorry. Wrong time of year everyone.

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58 years ago today in Nashville, Tennessee, Fred Blassie defeated Mike Clancy for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The title is immediately held up, however.

21 years ago today, in Devon, Pennsylvania, Shane Douglas, Mr. Hughes, and The Public Enemy defeated Terry Funk, Road Warrior Hawk, Kevin Sullivan, and The Tazmaniac in an Ultimate Jeopardy War Games rules match. With the win, Douglas won the ECW Championship. He would hold the championship for the next year, during which, Douglas relinquishes the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, ECW leaves the NWA, and ECW establishes its own world heavyweight championship.

20 years ago today in Yokohama, Japan, Manami Toyota defeated Aja Kong to win the WWWA World Singles Championship.

This for some people is the first news they've heard of WCW being bought out.

14 years ago day, WCW presented the final edition of Nitro from Club La Vela in Panama City, Florida. Dubbed a "Night of Champions", every championship in WCW was at stake on the show. Following the final match, a segment on WCW's future would be simulcast on TNT and TNN. In a side nugget, the last images of wrestling on the Turner networks were a promo for that evening's RAW main event and a 30-second ad for that weekend's Wrestlemania.

• Booker T defeated Scott Steiner to unify the WCW World Heavyweight and United States Championships.
• Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman defeated 3 Count (Shannon Moore & Evan Karagias) and The Jung Dragons (Kaz Hayashi & Yang) to become the #1 contenders for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.
• Shane Helms defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
• Sean O'Haire & Chuck Palumbo defeated Lance Storm & Mike Awesome to retain the WCW Tag Team Championship.
• Shawn Stasiak defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in just 83 seconds. Had Bigelow won, he would have gotten to tattoo Stasiak.
• Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman defeated Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo to win the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship. They would be the last Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions, as the championship would not carry over post-purchase.
• Sting defeated Ric Flair by submission.

14 years ago today, WWF presented RAW is WAR (WWE Network link) from the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It would be the last RAW not only before Wrestlemania X-Seven, but the last of the Monday Night Wars. An announcement on WCW's future was made about halfway through the show. The announcement: Shane McMahon, not Vince, bought WCW. The announcement set the stage for the WCW (and eventually ECW) Invasion. In a side nugget, during a preshow meeting, Vince McMahon gave his intentions to run WCW as its own entity and that there would be a minimal swapping of talent, but life would eventually present a different set of plans.

• Tazz defeated Val Venis in just 52 seconds in a lumberjack match.
• William Regal defeated Crash by disqualification.
• Chris Benoit & The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) defeated Christian, Edge & Kurt Angle.
• X-Pac defeated Test. Eddie Guerrero was the special referee.
• The Big Show defeated Chris Jericho.
• Steve Austin & The Rock defeated The Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker & Kane).

13 years ago today at a Smackdown taping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Raven defeated Maven to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. On the same show, Billy and Chuck defeated The Dudley Boyz. This would be the last match the duo wrestled as a unit for...all of eight months, as they were split up following the previous night's draft. The Dudleys reunited at Survivor Series. Also, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Kane defeated the nWo (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac), which produced the most awesome thing. THE MOST AWESOME THING.

8 years ago today, WWE releases Adam Birch, aka Joey Mercury. Birch famously had his face mangled in a four-team ladder match at Armageddon three months earlier. Birch would return to the company in 2010 as a performer, but today primarily works as a producer.

4 years ago today, SHIMMER Women Athletes presented Volume 37 from the Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois.

• In a dark match, Jessie Brooks defeated Jett Riley
• In a dark match, Brittany Force defeated Rhia O'Riley
• MsChif defeated Kellie Skater.
• Mena Libra defeated Courtney Rush.
• LuFisto defeated Tomoka Nakagawa.
• Regeneration X (Allison Danger & Leva Bates) defeat Jamilia Craft & Mia Yim.
• Christina Von Eerie defeated Sara Del Rey by countout.
• Cheerleader Melissa defeated Athena.
• The Knight Dynasty (Britani Knight & Saraya Knight) (w/ Rebecca Knox) defeated Pretty Bitchin (Ariel & Nikki Roxx) by disqualification.
• Serena defeated Daizee Haze.
• Hamada defeated Jessie McKay.
• Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata defeat The Canadian Ninjas (Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez) to win the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship.
• Madison Eagles defeated Mercedes Martinez to retain the SHIMMER Championship.

They also presented Volume 38, which includes that bit of awesomeness up there.

• Daizee Haze defeated Courtney Rush.
• Tomoka Nakagawa defeated Jessica James.
• Pretty Bitchin (Ariel & Nikki Roxx) defeat Regeneration X (Allison Danger & Leva Bates).
• Sara Del Rey defeated Christina Von Eerie.
• Cheerleader Melissa defeated Melanie Cruise.
• Jessie McKay & Serena defeat The Canadian Ninjas (Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez).
• Mercedes Martinez defeated Rachel Summerlyn.
• Madison Eagles defeated MsChif to retain the SHIMMER Championship.
• Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata defeat The Knight Dynasty (Britani Knight & Saraya Knight) to retain the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship.
• Hamada defeated Ayumi Kurihara.

2 years ago today, a documentary on GLOW: The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling is released on DVD. The doc's title: Glow: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.