This Day in Wrestling History (June 11): Mr. McMahon's limo blows up

40 years ago today, James Ervin Mondt, professionally known as Joseph Raymond Mont, but is best known by his nickname "Toots" Mondt, died after a long battle with pneumonia. He was 82.

Born January 18, 1894 in Garden Grove, Iowa, Mondt began wrestling at age 18. A chance meeting with Stu Hart led to a wrestling lesson with Jack Taylor for Mondt. After dabbling with acrobatics, Mondt returned to wrestling and would be discovered by Farmer Burns.

Under the recommendation of Burns, he joined the camp of Ed "Strangler" Lewis and would serve as a jack-of-all-trades for Lewis: sparring partner, trainer, opponent, and police officer. While sparring with Lewis, they would work on new holds and counters. Eventually, Mondt would combine elements of boxing and Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling and call it "Slam Bang Western-Style Wrestling".

Mondt, along with Lewis and manager Billy Sandow, together known as the Gold Dust Trio, set a template that would revolutionize the wrestling business. Lewis and Sandow served as bookers and agents for wrestlers signing up for their events. Mondt would institutionalize time limits and script finishes for matches. The new style worked, taking wrestling out of burlesque theaters and back alley halls and into major sports venues.

After a falling out between Mondt and Billy Sandow's brother Max, he partnered with Philadelphia promoter Ray Fabiani. With champions Dick Schikat and Jim Londos, they would promote throughout the Northeast, but not in New York City thanks to promoter Jack Curley and future world champion Lou Thesz. But eventually, he got the New York area, forming a secret alliance with Rudy Dusek. With other New York area promoters including Jack Pfeffer and Jess McMahon (great-grandfather of Vince McMahon) and financial backer Bernarr McFadden, Mondt was able to promote in New York City, but not in Madiosn Square Garden, as Tex Ricard prevented wrestling from being booked in the building for most of the 1940s (it would be a Mondt-promoted event that was the first wrestling bout promoted in the Garden in the 1940s—in 1949).

Eventually Mondt and Fabiani brought in Vince McMahon Sr., primarily to keep their champion Antonio Rocca happy. McMahon, Sr. and Mondt famously broke away from the NWA in 1963 to form the WWWF. While Mondt parted with the NWA on good terms, lest he be seen as an enemy of NWA president Sam Muchnick, McMahon...well, not so much. Mondt was the man who created the fictional story of Buddy Rogers winning a tournament in Rio de Janeiro to become the first WWWF Champion following the split from the NWA. Two years later, Vince Sr. took over as promoter for Madison Square Garden from Mondt, and it was Mondt that convinced McMahon to build the WWWF around Bruno Sammartino based on his instant likeability among crowds, though McMahon saw him as a midcarder at best who would flame out in about three years. Turned out Toots was right.

Mondt's influence diminished in his later years...as did his bank account. With television becoming a significant part of the wrestling business, Toots was never able to grasp the business changing around him and eventually was muscled out of ownership of the New York territory. His gambling addiction contributed at least in part to Mondt being phased out as an owner. McMahon would buy Toots' share of the New York territory, then reduce him to a salaried employee. His gambling vice rendered Mondt virtually broke in his final years.

On June 11, 1976, after a long battle with pneumonia, Mondt passed away. Posthumously, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008.

17 years ago today, AAA presented TripleMania VII from Centro de Convenciones de Madero in Madero, Mexico.

• Los Spice Boys (Alan, Billy and Vangelis) defeated Los Payasos (Coco Rojo, Coco Verde, Coco Amarillo) in a lucha libre rules match.
• Los Vatos Locos (Charly Manson, El Picudo, Nygma and May Flowers) went to a double Disqualification with Los Vipers (Histeria, Psicosis II, Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced) in an atomicos match.
• Pentagón defeated Xóchitl Hamada by disqualification.
• Heavy Metal and El Felino defeated Kick Boxer and Thai Boxer in a hair versus hair match. With the win, El Tirantes' hair was shaved and Pepe "Tropi" Casas' hair was spared.
• Perro Aguayo, Octagón and El Cobarde defeated El Texano, Perro Aguayo, Jr. and Sangre Chicana.

16 years ago today, WCW presented The Great American Bash (WWE Network link) from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD. 7,031 were in attendance, with 85,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 185,000 homes for the 1999 edition.

The event is noted for the shocking heel turn of Bill Goldberg, who had been babyface (arguably their top babyface at the height of his career) for pretty much his entire run in WCW.

• Lt. Loco defeated Disco Inferno to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
• KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) defeated The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Johnny the Bull).
• Mike Awesome defeated Diamond Dallas Page in an ambulance match.
• GI Bro defeated Shawn Stasiak in a "boot camp" match.
• Shane Douglas defeated The Wall 3-2 in a best of five tables match.
• Scott Steiner defeated Rick Steiner and Tank Abbott by submission in a 1-on-2 handicap asylum match to retain the WCW United States Championship.
• Hulk Hogan defeated Billy Kidman to earn a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match. Had Hogan lost, he would have been forced to retire. Horace Hogan was the special referee.
• Ric Flair defeated David Flair. Had Ric Flair lost, he would have been forced to retire.
• Vampiro defeated Sting in a "human torch" match.
• Jeff Jarrett defeated Kevin Nash to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Ernest Miller was the special referee.

13 years ago today at an NWA-TNA weekly PPV taping in Nashville, Tennessee, AJ Styles defeated Jeff Jarrett and Raven in a three-way match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

At the same taping, Kim Nielsen, aka Desire, suffers a back injury during a match for Xplosion. She finished the match, but collapsed in the locker room a few minutes later. She suffers a compression fracture of her L1 vertebrae. Nielsen returned to the ring in April 2004 and wrestled sporadically until her retirement the next year due to lingering injuries and pregnancy. Nielsen ended up gaining about 80 pounds following the pregnancy, and at the suggestion of her husband Sonny Siaki, she tried out for The Biggest Loser in 2012. She made it to the finals of that season, losing 118 pounds.

10 years ago today, WWE presented ECW One Night Stand (WWE Network link) from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. A sold-out 2,460 were in attendance, with 340,000 homes watching on PPV. That's up from 309,000 homes for the 2005 event. The show effectively served as the relaunch of the ECW brand.

• Tazz defeated Jerry Lawler by submission in just 35 seconds.
• Kurt Angle defeated Randy Orton by submission.
• The F.B.I. (Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke) defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy.
• Rey Mysterio fought Sabu to a no contest in an Extreme Rules match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Mick Foley, Edge and Lita defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty in an Extreme rules intergender tag team match.
• Balls Mahoney defeated Masato Tanaka in an Extreme Rules match.
• Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena in an Extreme Rules match to win the WWE Championship.

9 years ago today, WWE presented the 2007 WWE Draft Lottery on a special edition of RAW from the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Pick #	Brand (to)	Employee	Brand (from)
1	SmackDown!	The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh	Raw
2	ECW	The Boogeyman	SmackDown!
3	Raw	Booker T and Sharmell Huffman	SmackDown!
4	ECW	Chris Benoit	SmackDown!
5	SmackDown!	Torrie Wilson	Raw
6	SmackDown!	Chris Masters	Raw
7	Raw	Bobby Lashley	ECW
8	SmackDown!	Ric Flair	Raw
9	Raw	Snitsky	ECW
10	Raw	Ken Kennedy	SmackDown

Supplemental Draft (held June 17)

Pick #	Brand (to)	Employee	Brand (from)
11	Raw	Paul London & Brian Kendrick	SmackDown!
12	SmackDown!	Kenny Dykstra	Raw
13	ECW	Viscera	Raw
14	Raw	The Sandman	ECW
15	Raw	Hardcore Holly	ECW
16	ECW	The Miz	SmackDown!
17	Raw	Daivari	SmackDown!
18	SmackDown!	Bret Major and Brian Major	ECW
19	Raw	William Regal	SmackDown!
20	SmackDown!	Victoria	Raw
21	Raw	Jillian	SmackDown!
22	SmackDown!	Eugene	Raw
23	ECW	Johnny Nitro	Raw

But the story of the evening was the show's B-plot, "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night".

Losing his mind following the days of his loss of the ECW Championship, Vince McMahon hoped that someone somewhere would cheer him up and tell him that he's appreciated. It didn't quite work out that way as one former superstar after another (including one Bret Hart in his first WWE appearance since going in the WWE Hall of Fame the previous year) and a few celebrities buried him.

It drove McMahon into dejection and despondence, and McMahon took a slow walk to his limo. When he shut the door, the limo exploded, killing McMahon. Or more accurately, "killing" McMahon. Needless to say, people FREAKED OUT. WWE.com reported his death as legitimate just minutes after the show ended. People in attendance called police. News outlets picked up the story as legit. It was the perfect wrestling angle... or so it seemed.

Business partners were left confused. Stock prices fell. And critics blasted the stunt, especially after this press release came out the next day:

Who Blew Up WWE® Chairman Mr. McMahon?

STAMFORD, Conn., June 12, 2007 ...While some might say "The Sopranos" went out with a whimper, last night on USA Network, WWE's "Monday Night RAW" went out with a bang. At the end of his self-anointed "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon entered his limousine when it suddenly exploded. The shocking ending raised a myriad of questions: How could Mr. McMahon have survived the fiery explosion? And who could have committed such a heinous act?

Although full details have not been disclosed, initial reports indicate that Mr. McMahon is presumed dead. An official investigation into Monday night's events is currently underway with no one being ruled out as a suspect. Throughout the night, people from Mr. McMahon's past - from Donald Trump to Snoop Dogg to Bob Costas to Stone Cold Steve Austin - had less than flattering things to say about the WWE Chairman, but would any go so far as to actually blow him up? The question of "whodunit", as well as the fate of Mr. McMahon, will be on everyone's minds as the WWE saga continues on "Monday Night RAW" on USA (9 p.m. ET/8C).

But the storyline wouldn't stick around; just two weeks later, Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and his son Daniel were found dead in their home outside Atlanta, Georgia. The June 25 RAW, originally scheduled as the McMahon funeral, was scrapped, as was the storyline as a whole when details of the deaths surfaced. Outside of a one-off appearance to address the passing of Benoit on June 26, Vince wouldn't appear on WWE programming again until August.

6 years ago today, WWE releases Bryan Danielson, aka Daniel Bryan, just days after he is busted for choking Justin Roberts with his own necktie on camera during the Nexus debut angle.

The incident was seen as someone overstepping the boundaries of projecting the PG image the company has. The firing creates a great deal of sympathy from fans and wrestlers alike, and Bryan returns to the company just two months later in the Summerslam main event.

It's a happy 57^th birthday of Terrance Wayne "Terry" Allen, best known to wrestling fans as Magnum T.A.

Allen was a two-time NWA United States Champion with a somewhat striking resemblance to actor Tom Selleck (the basis for his ring name was named after the TV series Magnum, P.I.), Allen was one of the most popular performers in the NWA, seemingly on track for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

In October 1986, Allen lost control of his Porsche in the rain and crashed into a telephone pole in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was left in the car for two hours before a witness called 911. The accident caused Allen's C4 and C5 vertebrae to explode, effectively ending his wrestling career. Allen worked as a commentator and manager for NWA and would make sporadic appearances until leaving the business for good in 1993.

Today, Allen, a born again Christian, works in building aircraft, runs a communication towers business, and runs a small community hedge fund. He is the stepfather of wrestling prodigy Tessa Blanchard and the godfather of former WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes.