This Day in Wrestling History (May 12)

26 years ago today, Rowdy Roddy Piper ends his two year retirement when he returns to the ring at a WWF house show in Los Angeles. Substituting for Jake "The Snake" Roberts, he defeats Ted DiBiase.

21 years ago today at a WCW Worldwide taping in Orlando, Florida, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal in a Marquis of Queensbury Rules match.

18 years ago today at a RAW is WAR taping in Newark, Delaware, Rob Van Dam makes his WWF debut and defeats Jeff Hardy. Van Dam was actually competing for ECW at the time, and the WWF and ECW were having an interpromotional feud.

11 years ago today, TNA announces that they would begin producing a weekly television series for Fox Sports beginning in June. That series: TNA Impact.

8 years ago today, Ring of Honor tapes its first-ever PPV, Respect is Earned, from the Manhattan Center in New York City. The show, airing on PPV July 1, was a two-hour edited version of the event. The full event (save for the dark match) was released on DVD.

• In a dark match, Brent Albright defeated Tank Toland.
• Takeshi Morishima defeated BJ Whitmer to retain the ROH World Championship.
• Naomichi Marufuji defeated Rocky Romero.
• Davey Richards defeated Erick Stevens via submission.
• The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal to retain the ROH World Championship.
• Sara Del Rey defeated Daizee Haze.
• El Generico & Kevin Steen defeated Adam Pearce & Jimmy Rave, Irish Airborne (Dave & Jake Crist), and Mitch Franklin & Pelle Primeau in a four-team four corners survival match.
• Roderick Strong defeated Delirious.
• Bryan Danielson & Takeshi Morishima defeated KENTA & Nigel McGuinness via submission.

4 years ago today, Brock Lesnar is pulled from a scheduled bout UFC 131 against Junior Dos Santos due to coming down with diverticulitis, a digestive disorder, for the second time (his first came in 2009). Just over two weeks later, Lesnar underwent surgery to have a foot-long piece of his colon removed. Lesnar would return that December at UFC 141, but would lose in the first round to Alistar Overeem. He retired following that match.

3 years ago today, Ring of Honor presented Border Wars from the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• In a preshow dark match, Grizzly Redwood defeated Delirious.
• Eddie Edwards defeated Rhino.
• The All-Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) & TJ Perkins defeated Mike Mondo & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson).
• Jay Lethal defeated Tommaso Ciampa.
• Lance Storm defeated Mike Bennett.
• Michael Elgin defeated Adam Cole.
• Roderick Strong defeated Fit Finlay to retain the ROH World Television Championship.
• Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) defeated The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) in a "Fight Without Honor" to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
• Kevin Steen defeated Davey Richards to win the ROH World Championship.