This Day in Wrestling History (June 6): Tommy Dreamer Finally Beats Raven

37 years ago today in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon defeated Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship.

31 years ago today, Ken Patera and Masa Saito are found guilty of battery on a police officer, causing criminal damage to property, and obstruction of justice.

This stems from an April 1984 incident where Patera threw a rock through the window of a McDonald's in Waukesha, Wisconsin after they were refused service after hours, then the two men assaulted the arresting officers when they were found at a hotel.

Patera was convicted on two counts of battery and one count of criminal damage. Saito was convicted on three counts of battery and one count of obstruction of justice. Both men were sentenced to two years in prison.

23 years ago today in Albany, New York, Shawn Michaels defeated Marty Jannetty to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Of note, Kevin Nash made his WWF debut as Shawn Michaels' bodyguard, Diesel.

18 years ago today, ECW presented Wrestlepalooza '97 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Highlights of the event played on the June 14, June 21, and June 28 episodes of ECW Hardcore TV (WWE Network links)

• Shane Douglas defeated Chris Chetti to retain the ECW World Television Championship.
• The Pit Bulls (Pitbull #1 & Pitbull #2) defeated The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido & Tracey Smothers).
• The Dudley Boyz (D-Von Dudley & Buh Buh Ray Dudley) defeated The Sandman & Balls Mahoney.
• Terry Funk defeated Chris Candido to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
• Tommy Dreamer defeated Raven in a loser leaves town match. As a result, Raven was forced to leave ECW. This, by the way, was Dreamer's first ever win over Raven. Post-match, WWF commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler made a surprise appearance. This, of course, was Raven's final appearance for ECW, as he was leaving for WCW. He would return to the promotion in 1999.
• Sabu defeated Taz.
• Taz defeated Shane Douglas win the ECW World Television Championship.
• The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) defeated The Dudley Boyz (D-Von Dudley and Buh Buh Ray Dudley).

16 years ago today at a Thunder taping in Knoxville, Tennessee, Chavo "Lt. Loco" Guerrero defeated Daffney and Disco Inferno in a three-way match to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

Despite being in WCW since May 1996, this is Chavo's first championship with the company. On the same show, Eric Bischoff awards the WCW Hardcore Championship to Big Vito and Johnny the Bull. Bischoff allowed the duo to defend the championship as a team since they helped with his win over Terry Funk a night earlier.

11 years ago today, Joey Styles signs a deal with WWE to announce ECW One Night Stand and additional ECW material on WWE Classics on Demand. The deal eventually led to Styles becoming—albeit briefly—the lead announcer for RAW before being moved to the revived ECW brand a year later. Today, Styles mainly oversees WWE.com.

11 years ago today on RAW from St. Louis, Missouri (WWE Network link), John Cena is the first man selected in the WWE Draft Lottery.

The Draft Lottery was formatted differently from the 2002 and 2004 editions, with the ten selections (five for RAW, five for Smackdown) spread out over a few weeks. Cena at the time was the WWE Champion. With the World Heavyweight Champion Batista still on RAW, that would leave Smackdown without a world champion for a few weeks (that would be rectified when Batista, still World Heavyweight Champion, is announced as the final pick in the draft lottery for Smackdown).

8 years ago today at ROH Up for Grabs in Hartford, Connecticut, The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) defeated Kevin Steen and El Generico in the finals of a one-night tournament to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Fans were not happy with Jacobs and Black winning; so much so, fans threw trash in the ring. One fan even threw a chair in.

6 years ago today, AAA presented TripleMania XVIII from Palacio de los Deportes (the Sports Palace) in Mexico City.

• Octagoncito defeated Mini Abismo Negro, Mini Charly Manson, Mascarita Divina, Mascarita Sagrada, Mini Chessman, Mini Psicosis, and Mini Histeria in a TLC match to win the AAA Minis Championship.
• Las Gringas Locas (Jennifer Blake, Rain, and Sexy Star) defeated Cinthia Moreno, Faby Apache, and Mary Apache. As a result of the loss, the Apaches and Moreno were forced to become slaves to Las Gringas Locas for a month.
• Los Manicos (Silver King and Ultimo Gladiator) defeated La Hermanad Extrema (Nicho and Joe Lider), Beer Money (James Storm and Robert Roode), and Go Shiozaki and Atsushi Aoki in a four-team elimination match to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship.
• Team Hijo de Tirantes (Alex Koslov, Chessman, and Hernandez) defeated Team Pierro (Heavy Metal, Octagon, and Pimpinela Escarlata) 3-2 in a steel cage Lucha de Apuesta match. As a result of the loss, Pierro's head was shaved.
• Cibernetico and Abyss defeated Vampiro and El Zorro in an extreme rules match.
• Jack Evans defeated Nosawa, Christopher Daniels, and Xtreme Tiger to win the AAA Cruiserweight Championship.
• Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Electroshock to win the AAA World Heavyweight Championship.
• L.A. Park defeated La Parka to keep the "La Parka" name.

5 years ago today, Tommy Dreamer announces he was leaving TNA after the two sides failed to come to terms on a new contract. He would have his final appearance for the company five days later in Memphis. Dreamer, real name Thomas Laughlin, was in the company for just a year, but he had a hand in putting together the ECW reunion show for TNA, Hardcore Justice.

5 years ago today, Andy Leavine is announced the winner of the Tough Enough reboot on RAW from Richmond, Virginia. Just two months after his win, he violates the WWE's Wellness Policy and is suspended for 30 days. He's released in April 2012, less than a year after his win. Today, he's competing for World Wrestling Council based out of Puerto Rico.

4 years ago today, Barbie Blank, aka Kelly Kelly, is granted time off by WWE.

On the road full-time since she was 19, Barbie was looking to spend time with her family and boyfriend and "recharge her batteries"...and possibly look for endorsements and other opportunities outside WWE. Once reports of her looking for endorsements and other opportunities outside of WWE surfaced, the company attempted to sign her to a new deal, which she would turn down. The feeling among the locker room was she may not be back for a long time, if ever. She did come back in early August, but would be released less than two months later.

In a December 2012 interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, Blank said she needed time off to recover from a neck injury and had plans to model. Outside of an appearance for North East Wrestling in December 2012, she has been away from wrestling ever since.

It's a happy 31st birthday for Drew Galloway.

Perhaps best known for his as Drew McIntyre during his WWE run from 2007 to 2014, Galloway is currently in TNA under his real name, where he is their world heavyweight champion. Galloway has also won heavyweight titles for British Championship Wrestling, Evolve, Florida Championship Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling, and the Scottish Wrestling Alliance.

In the last year, Galloway has debuted for AAA, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Preston City Wrestling (recently, he won the There Can Only Be One gauntlet match for a PCW Heavyweight Championship match).

Galloway was married to fellow wrestler Taryn Terrell for a year (the couple made news when Terrell was involved in a domestic incident with Galloway in August 2010) before getting divorced in May 2011. Galloway once again got engaged in February 2016.