On June 23rd in pro wrestling history…
Today is the 19th anniversary of the birth of ‘Austin 3:16’, as Steve Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament by last defeating Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and cutting the infamous promo that kickstarted his Hall of Famer career. Shawn Michaels also headlined the show by defending the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against The British Bulldog in a classic match.
1978: NJPW held a show in Omiya with all kinds of international talent, headlined by Pedro Morales and Peter Maivia (The Rock’s grandfather) taking on Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi. Chavo Guerrero Sr. also faced off against WWE Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami, and Larry Zbyszko fought Shozo Kobayashi.
1992: The Super Destroyers defeated Glen Osbourne and Max Thrasher in a small tournament to crown the first ever ECW Tag Team Champions.
1994: Ric Flair and Sting had yet another one of their classic matches at WCW Clash of the Champions XXVII.
2002: The Undertaker defended the WWE Undisputed title against Triple H in one of the worst PPV matches in either man’s career. More importantly, Brock Lesnar defeated Test and finally Rob Van Dam to win the 2002 King of the Ring tournament, Molly Holly won the Women’s title from Trish Stratus, and Jamie Noble defeated The Hurricane for the Cruiserweight title.
2004: Jeff Jarrett defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Ron Killings (R-Truth) in the main event of the 99th TNA Weekly PPV. AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy also fought over the X-Division title.
2006: Ring of Honor put on their ‘Throwdown’ event featuring Roderick Strong vs. Kenta (Hideo Itami) in the main event. Homicide also locked up with Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro), and Daniel Bryan won a 3-way elimination match against BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs.
2007: At Ring of Honor ‘Driven’ Kenta (Hideo Itami) defeated Daniel Bryan in a fantastic 25-minute match. Nigel McGuiness wrestled Chris Hero, The Briscoes defended their tag titles against Kevin Steen (Owens) and El Generico (Sami Zayn), and Cesaro wrestled Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne).
