August 23rd holds a very special place in wrestling history. On this day, the world saw Triple H win his first ever WWF Championship, CM Punk headline a WWE MSG event, SummerSlam 2009 and more!
Check out the biggest events that took place on August 23rd in Wrestling History:
August 23, 1965
The WWWF held an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The show's main event saw WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeat the WWWF United States Tag Team Champion Dr. Bill Miller in 48 seconds to retain the title.
This was Bruno Sammartino's shortest title defence ever.
The results for the event's full match card were as follows:
Arnold Skaaland defeated Wild Red Berry.
Miguel Pérez defeated Rick Sexton.
Chief Big Heart defeated The Magnificent Maurice.
Tarzan Tyler defeated Chief White Owl.
Johnny Valentine defeated The Golden Terror.
WWWF United States Heavyweight Champion Bobo Brazil and Argentina Apollo defeated Smasher Sloan and Waldo Von Erich.
Bill Watts defeated Gorilla Monsoon.
WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated WWWF United States Tag Team Champion Dr. Bill Miller.
August 23, 1968
The professional (Doug Gilbert) defeated Tarzan Tyler to win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
August 23, 1980
WWE held a star studded event at the Spectrum win Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some of the stars featured on the show included The Hangman, Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Pat Patterson and the show's main event featured Larry Zbyszko vs Ivan Putski in a Texas Death Match!
The results were as follows:
Dominic DeNucci defeated The Hangman.
Hulk Hogan defeated René Goulet.
André the Giant and Pedro Morales defeated Capt. Lou Albano and WWF Tag Team Champion Afa.
Pat Patterson defeated Tor Kamata.
Baron Mikel Scicluna defeated Johnny Rodz.
WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Patera defeated Gorilla Monsoon to retain the title.
Rick McGraw defeated José Estrada.
Larry Zbyszko defeated Ivan Putski in a Texas Death match.
August 23, 1999
The WWF more than doubled WCW's viewership in this week of the Monday Night War.
While "RAW is WAR" drew a 5.68 rating, "Monday Nitro" lagged way behind at 2.95 rating.
Following are the results of the episode of Nitro held that week, in Las Vegas, Nevada:
Chase Tatum pinned Mikey Whipwreck after a powerbomb.
Buff Bagwell pinned Ernest Miller (with Sonny Onoo) after the Blockbuster.
Juventud Guerrera defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Lenny (with Lodi) by disqualification when Sid Vicious interfered.
The Barbarian, Brian Knobbs and Hugh Morrus (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Revolution (Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn), when Knobbs pinned Saturn after a splash.
Kidman and Rey Misterio, Jr. defeated The Insane Clown Posse (Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J (with Vampiro)), when Kidman pinned Shaggy after Vampiro hit Shaggy by mistake, intending to hit Kidman.
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Steiner defeated Chris Benoit by disqualification, after Sid Vicious interfered, to retain the title.
The West Texas Rednecks (Barry and Kendall Windham (with Bobby Duncum, Jr. and Curt Hennig)) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), when Kendall pinned Booker after Hennig hit Booker with a cowbell, to win the title. This ended Harlem Heat's eighth reign.
Vampiro pinned Eddie Guerrero.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan fought Sting to a no-contest to retain the title, after Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner interfered.
Following were the results of the week's winner, RAW is WAR, held in Ames, Iowa:
WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow fought Road Dogg to a no-contest to retain the title, after Chris Jericho and Road Dogg fought backstage, after Snow had been powerbombed through a table on the floor. The Big Bossman came out, hit Snow with his nightstick, and stole Snow's dog, Pepper.
WWF Tag Team Champions The Big Show and The Undertaker fought The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) to a no-contest to retain the title, after Kane and X-Pac got involved.
D-Lo Brown (taking Meat's place in the match after attacking him backstage) defeated WWF European Champion Mark Henry (with Debra, WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett and the debuting Miss Kitty) by disqualification when Jarrett broke up the cover after D-Lo had hit Henry with the Lo-Down. Henry retained the title.
The Rock pinned Gangrel (with the Hardy Boyz) after the People's Elbow.
Crash and Hardcore Holly fought to a no-contest after they fought outside of the building.
Mideon and Viscera defeated Kane and X-Pac, when Viscera pinned X-Pac after a splash. The Acolytes attacked Kane on the floor during this.
Triple H (with Chyna) pinned WWF Champion Mankind after the Pedgree to win the title, ending Mankind's third reign. This was The Game's first ever WWF Championship Win!
August 23, 2002
Madison defeated Bam Bam Bambi at an ECCW event in British Columbia to win the vacant NWA World Women's Title.
August 23, 2008
WWE ran a non televised, live event at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show featured numerous top names, such as Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, the beloved team of the late great, Shad Gaspard and JTG - "Cryme Tyme," and John Cena.
The show was headlined by CM Punk.
Following is a report from the event:
Primo Colon made his MSG debut, where he pinned William Regal.
Kelly Kelly asked a family in attendance, a trivia question. The question was "which was the site of WrestleMania XXIV?" The family answered the question correctly and won front row seat upgrades.
WWE Women's Champion Beth Phoenix defeated Mickie James.
Jamie Noble defeated Snitsky
WWE Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase defeated Cryme Tyme.
Kelly Kelly picked a young WWE fan in attendance to be a "guest bellringer."
WWE Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella (with Beth Phoenix) defeated Kofi Kingston.
John Cena and Batista defeated Chris Jericho and Kane.
WWE World Champion CM Punk defeated JBL in a steel cage match.
August 23, 2009
WWE held their SummerSlam PPV in Staples Center, Los Angeles.
Following is a report from the PPV event:
Intercontinental Championship Match: Rey Mysterio (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler
MVP defeated Jack Swagger
Actors, Luke Perry and Fredie Prinze Jr. were shown in the crowd.
Unified Tag Team Championship: Big Show & Jericho (c) defeated Cryme Tyme
Kane defeated The Great Khali
WWE shows Vince McMahon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Maria Menounos of the Today Show is shown in the crowd, along with Robert Patrick from Terminator 2 and Slash from Velvet Revolver
DX (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) defeated Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase)
ECW Championship: Christian (c) defeated William Regal
WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) defeated John Cena
World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy (c)
August 23, 2010
Ring of Honor announces the signing of The Briscoes, Adam Cole and Mike Bennett.
August 23, 2010
WWE ran Monday Night RAW. Following were the show's results:
Match One: Edge defeated R-Truth
Match Two: Chris Jericho defeated The Great Khali
Match Three: Melina defeated Jillian Hall for the Divas Title
Match Four: The Miz defeated John Cena via DQ
Match Five: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov defeated The Usos with Tamina
Match Six: Randy Orton defeated John Morrison and Ted DiBiase
Match Seven for the WWE Championship: Sheamus defeated Zack Ryder
August 23, 2011
Long time WWE announcer, Todd Grisham finished with the company at an NXT TV Taping. He left the WWE for a position with ESPN.
August 23, 2013
WWE ran SmackDown. Following were the show's results:
Match One: Curtis Axel defeated Cody Rhodes
Match Two: Dolph Ziggler defeated Big E Langston (with AJ Lee)
Match Three: Alberto Del Rio defeated Christian
Match Four: Big Show and Mark Henry defeated Health Slater, Jinder mahal and Drew McIntyre
Match Five: Darren Young defeated Antonio Cesaro
Match Six: Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett
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