This Day in History: October 31st By: RingInsider.com on 10/31/04
October 31st
On this day in history in ....
1979 - Giant Baba defeats Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Wrestling Title in Nagoya, Japan, ending Race's third reign with the belt, and starting Baba's second run as champion.
1989 - WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event was taped in Topeka, Kansas at the Kansas Coliseum. The show aired on NBC on November 25, 1989, doing a 8.7 rating. Interesting to note, by the time the show aired, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson were already gone from the company (Anderson wrestled his last match a few days earlier at Survivor Series and went to WCW, Blanchard was suspended for failing a cocaine test). Here are the results from the show:
- The Ultimate Warrior defeated Andre The Giant via disqualification.
- Lanny Poffo defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via countout. After the match, Mr. Perfect destroyed the WWF Title belt with a hammer.
- Dusty Rhodes defeated Big Bossman.
- Mr. Perfect defeated Red Rooster.
- The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) defeated The Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson) in a three falls match. Jannetty pinned Blanchard in the first fall, Blanchard pinned Michaels in the second fall, and Michaels pinned Anderson in the third and final fall. This would be the last televised match featuring Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson as a tag team.
1997 - Joe Rules wins a battle royal in Bayonne, New Jersey, to become the first Jersey All-Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, then loses the belt on the same night to Pitbull #2.
1998 - Mitsuharu Misawa defeats Kenta Kobashi for the All Japan Triple Crown in Tokyo, Japan. With this win, Misawa tied Stan Hansen's record for most Triple Crown title reigns at four (Misawa would go on to have five, which has since been tied by Toshiaki Kawada).
2000 - Ivory defeats champion Lita, Trish Stratus and Jacqueline for the WWF Women's Title in Rochester, New York, in a four way match. This would begin Ivory's third (and to date, final) run with the belt.
