This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 31) covering the period of 7/30 thru 8/5. Running Time: 5 Hours 28 Minutes This Week In Wrestling History hosted by Don Tony first aired in 2018 and spanned two seasons. After much demand, these retro episodes return REMASTERED and UPDATED FOR 2025. Wrestling history up to and including 2024 has been added! Hundreds of hours of original wrestling clips & stories. Enjoy this deep dive into pro wrestling's awesome history. SYNOPSIS: S3 E31 (07/30 - 08/05) Bruno Sammartino 'refuses' the NWA World Heavyweight Title after def champion Buddy Rogers who suffered an 'injury' during the match. A common finish back in the golden era of wrestling. Memorable bloodbath between Bruno Sammartino and Superstar Billy Graham (Special Referee: Gorilla Monsoon) takes place at Madison Square Garden Roddy Piper and Tony Atlas make their WWWF TV debuts Audio: Roddy Piper trolls fans in WWWF TV debut (1979) Audio: Roddy Piper 2nd WWWF TV match vs Jose Estrada (1979) Roddy Piper stabbed in the chest following NWA Mid Atlantic Title match against Jack Brisco Bonus Audio: Roddy Piper '$10,000' promo and match against Jack Brisco for NWA Mid Atlantic Title (1982) Bob Backlund's original WWF run ends (1984) Miss Elizabeth makes her WWF debut Audio: Eddie Gilbert vs Shane Douglas (original opponent: Sting) for UWF TV Title (1987) Looking back at WWF Wrestlefest '88 event (1988) United States Wrestling Association (USWA) is created Looking back at the one and only WCW appearance of 'The Pearl' Audio: Nikita Koloff vs Rick Rude + Sting 'injury' by Jake 'The Snake Roberts (making WCW debut) leads to Ron Simmons vs Vader for WCW Heavyweight Championship (1992) Audio: Ron Simmons def Vader to become the first ever Black WCW Heavyweight Champion (1992) Hulk Hogan wrestles final WWF match before exiting in 1993 Looking back at SMW 'Night Of Legends' event (1994) and the match that had Chris Jericho break the 'Muta scale' WCW Collision In Korea airs on PPV Looking back at ECW 'Wrestlepalooza' 1995. Audio: Memorable ECW match between The Steiners and Eddie Guerrero vs Cactus Jack, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Dean Malenko (1995) Becky Two Belts? Chump Change: Great Sasuke def Ultimo Dragon to win J-Crown Tournament and becomes 'Sasuke Eight Belts' Looking back at ECW 'The Doctor Is In' event and the final ECW appearance by Chris Jericho (1996) Looking back at WWF 'Summerslam' PPV (1997) Audio: Lex Luger def Hollywood Hulk Hogan to win WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1997) Looking back at ECW 'Heatwave '98' PPV (1998) Audio: Sunday Night Heat makes it's debut on USA Network Audio: 'Choppy Choppy, Val Venis' Pee Pee! Looking back at the Brian Hildebrand Benefit Show 'Curtis Comes Home' (1999) Becky Two belts? Chump Change: Lance Storm wins WCW Cruiserweight Title and becomes 'Lance Three Belts' Looking back at i-Generation Superstars Of Wrestling 'Rodman Down Under' event (2000) Pro Wrestling NOAH holds its inaugural show Audio: First promo confrontation between The Rock and Booker T post WCW closing its doors (2001) WWE Niagara Falls opens in Canada Official autopsy report is released on the death of Miss Elizabeth Playstation 2 Magazine (UK) launches 4 commemorative covers featuring WWE Divas. Or did they? Audio: Shawn Michaels' infamous Hulk Hogan impersonation on 'Larry King Live' (2005) ROH 'Fight Of The Century': Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) and Samoa Joe battle to a 60 minute time limit draw Audio: CM Punk makes his WWE/ECW debut (2006) Audio: NY WWE fans tell viewers to 'change the channel' during Batista / Big Show match (2006) Did the arrest of vandals spray painting DX throughout New Hampshire town spark the idea of DX 'spraypainted' on WWE Headquarters building? Vince McMahon loves c*** Vince McMahon makes regular return to WWE programming after Chris Benoit tragedy - and is 'served' with a paternity lawsuit Matt Morgan signs with TNA Wrestling Audio: John Morrison vs Joey Ryan: 15 Minutes Of Fame match from WWE/ECW TV (2007) Last WWE Saturday Night's Main Event airs on NBC (2008) With Summerfest right around the corner, looking back when Celebrity Guest Host Dr Ken Jeong (w/ Jeremy Piven) was dropped on his head on Raw (2009) TNA suspends Samoa Joe after backstage tirade over TNA (creative) handling of match against Jeff Hardy WWE releases Melina, Chris Masters, Vladimir Kozlov, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and several developmental wrestlers Audio: Memorable confrontation between Triple H and newly crowned WWE Champion, CM Punk (2011) Gail Kim announces her departure from WWE Billy Corgan announces the creation of Resistance Pro Wrestling promotion Booker T becomes the new General Manager of Smackdown (2012) Audio: Abraham Washington makes a dopey Kobe Bryant rape joke on WWE Raw which ultimately leads to his WWE release (2012) Vince McMahon makes regular return to WWE programming after Chris Benoit tragedy - and is 'served' with a paternity lawsuit Looking back at NJPW first ever iPPV event (2012) Audio: 'And the crowd goes mild!' Remembering the less than stellar TNA 'August 1st Warning' storyline and revelation (2013) Following Ronda Rousey's heartfelt tribute to Roddy Piper at UFC 190, Dana White calls WWE 'fake sh**' Audio: The Broken Hardys become 'Woken' (2017) Joey Ryan counters Mr Socko with the D*** Flip WWE releases Eva Marie Audio: The Big Show Show: Netflix and WWE announce production for a Comedy series starring Big Show Audio: The Rock (2019) chooses who he thinks could be the next John Cena or Hulk Hogan in WWE The Rock reaches a deal to purchase the XFL for Fifteen Million Dollars Audio: WWE debuts RAW Underground hosted by Shane McMahon on RAW Looking back at the debut and qucik demise of the faction Retribution WWE hires Nick Khan as the new President and Chief Revenue Officer of WWE Looking back at the incident on AEW Dynamite involving Matt Hardy, Sammy Guevara and a pair of folding chars Audio: AEW launches AEW Heels WWE releases Bray Wyatt, Ric Flair, Mercedes Martinez, Jake Atlas, Bobby Fish, Desmond Troy, Tyler Rust, Leon Ruff, Kona Reeves, Zechariah Smith, Giant Zanjeer, Asher Hale and Ari Sterling Audio: The Boss Is Back: Sasha Banks' memorable WWE return and turn on Bianca Belair Looking back at Impact Wrestling: Homecoming 2021 Acknowledge Your Daddy: Roman Reigns! Looking back at WWE SummerSlam 2022, 2023, 2024 Audio: Highlights of Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar: Last Man Standing Match for Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from SummerSlam 2022 Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan are removed from filming of Queen Of The Ring movie and replaced with Kamille and Toni Storm Looking back at NXT Great American Bash 2023, 2024 Audio: Fans quickly turn on Gable Steveson during his NXT debut match against Baron Corbin Audio: Highlights of Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso: Tribal Combat Match for Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and recognition of Tribal Chief by Anao'i Family (from SummerSlam 2023) Bonus Audio: Paul Heyman's memorable promo hyping up Tribal Combat match between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso Audio: Joe Hendry Concert from NXT Great American Bash 2024 Audio: Highlights of Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley and the memorable Dominik Mysterio turn on Rhea Ripley from SummerSlam 2024 Audio: Highlights of Damian Priest vs Gunther for WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the memorable Finn Balor turn on Damian Priest (From SummerSlam 2024) Audio: Eric Bischoff says Mercedes Mone should be terrified about losing her spot on top the AEW Women's Division due to low TV ratings. 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