This Day in Wrestling History (March 28)

16 years ago today, WWF presented Wrestlemania XV: The Ragin' Climax (WWE Network link) from the First Union Center (today known as the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 20,276 were in attendance, with a then-WWF record of 800,000 homes watching on PPV. That's up from 730,000 for Wrestlemania XIV.

Star ratings are from Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer as recorded in the Internet Wrestling Database. All star ratings are out of five.

• In a Sunday Night Heat preshow match, Jacqueline defeated Ivory.
• In a Sunday Night Heat preshow match, D'Lo Brown and Test co-won a 21 man battle royal for the right to challenge for the WWF Tag Team Championship during the show. Other participants were Steve Blackman, Bradshaw, Brian Christopher, 8-Ball, Skull, Droz, Faarooq, Gillberg, The Godfather, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Hawk, Animal, Mideon, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Tiger Ali Singh, Scott Taylor and Viscera.
• Hardcore Holly defeated Billy Gunn and Al Snow in a triple threat match to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. (1.25/5)
• Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeated Test & D'Lo Brown to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. (1.25)
• Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn by knockout in just 35 seconds in a Brawl for All match. Vinny Pazienza was the special referee. Judges for the bout were trainer Kevin Rooney, boxer Chuck Wepner, the inspiration for the Rocky film series, and WWF Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon in his final public appearance before his death a few months later. (no rating)
• Mankind defeated The Big Show by disqualification to earn the right to referee the WWF Championship match. (0.75)
• Road Dogg defeated Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and Val Venis in a four corners elimination match to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship. (1.5)
• Kane defeated Triple H by disqualification. (1.25)
• Sable defeated Tori to retain the WWF Women's Championship. Nicole Bass made her WWF debut near the end of the match. (-2)
• Shane McMahon defeated X-Pac to retain the WWF European Championship. (2.75)
• The Undertaker defeated The Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match. (0)
• Steve Austin defeated The Rock in a no disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. Mankind was initially unable to referee the bout due to the injuries he suffered during the match against Big Show. Vince McMahon made himself the referee, which was overturned by Shawn Michaels. Two regular WWF officials (Mike Chioda and Tim White) were taken out during the match, then McMahon and a returning Mankind appeared. It was Mankind that counted the fall. (3.5)

15 years ago today at Smackdown taping in San Antonio, Texas, Stephanie McMahon defeated Jacqueline to win the WWF Womens Championship. The win made Stephanie the third McMahon in just over a year to win a championship in the company.

14 years ago today, the entire staff of World Championship Wrestling was informed that they were being laid off following a meeting regarding their futures under WWF ownership. Many of the staff were unable to retrieve personal possessions on their desks or files on their computers, as following the meeting, they were escorted out of their offices.

5 years ago today, WWE presented Wrestlemania XXVI (WWE Network link) from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. 72,219 were in attendance, with 885,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 960,000 for Wrestlemania 25. The $5.8 million gross in ticket sales made it the highest grossing event in the history of the building at the time. This was the first time since Wrestlemania XI that a championship match did not close the show.

• In a preshow dark match, Yoshi Tatsu won a 26 man battle royal. Other participants were Carlito, Caylen Croft, Chris Masters, David Hart Smith, Finlay, Goldust, The Great Khali, Hornswoggle, Jimmy Wang Yang, JTG, Kung Fu Naki, Luke Gallows, Mark Henry, Mike Knox, Primo, Santino Marella, Shad Gaspard, Slam Master J, Trent Baretta, Tyler Reks, Tyson Kidd, Vance Archer, Vladimir Kozlov, and William Regal.
• ShoMiz (Big Show & The Miz) defeated John Morrison & R-Truth to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship.
• Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase in a triple threat match.
• Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston in a Money in the Bank ladder match. The win gave Swagger a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship match at any time through next year's Wrestlemania. Swagger cashed it in just two days later and won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Jericho.
• Triple H defeated Sheamus.
• Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk. Had Mysterio lost, he would have been forced to join the Straight Edge Society.
• Bret Hart defeated Mr. McMahon by submission in a no holds barred lumberjack match. Bruce Hart was the special referee.
• Chris Jericho defeated Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Alicia Fox and Vickie Guerrero defeated Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Gail Kim and Beth Phoenix.
• John Cena defeated Batista by submission to win the WWE Championship.
• The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels in a no disqualification, no countout match. With the loss, Shawn Michaels was forced to retire.

4 years ago today, WWE announces that The Road Warriors and their longtime manager Paul Ellering would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.