WWE Insurrextion DVD Collection - UK PPV
This Day in Wrestling History (May 4): The Last WWF Show Ever
This Day in Wrestling History (May 4): The Last WWF Show Ever
it was made public that Andre the Giant had suffered a broken ankle at the hands of Killer Khan. Upon Andre's recovery, he and Khan would have a series of grudge matches.
WWE has held on to the cast used to set the ankle and is on display annually at
Tokimitsu Ishizawa & El Samurai defeated Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa.
Akira Nogami, Takayuki Iizuka, and Osamu Kido defeated Akitoshi Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara, and Tatsutoshi Goto by submission.
Kuniaki Kobayashi, The Great Kabuki, and Kengo Kimura defeated Norio Honaga, Hiro Saito, andShinichi Nakano.
Jushin Liger vs. Satoru Sayama (the original Tiger Mask) fought to a ten-minute time limit draw.
The Hellraisers (Road Warrior Hawk & Power Warrior Kensuke Sasaki) defeated Rick & Scott Steiner to retain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
Rick Rude defeated Sting to win the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. It would turn out to be Rude's final match, as he severely injured his neck during the bout. Rude eventually would be stripped of the championship on a technicality. Rude would remain out of the wrestling business until his ECW debut in 1997.
Shinya Hashimoto defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
(WWE Network link) from Wembley Arena in London, England. 9,308 were in attendance.
talent (technically making this the first ever split-branded supercard).
More importantly, this is the last ever show presented under the World Wrestling Federation name. The next day, WWF quietly removes all references to the famous initials after the Court of Appeal of England and Wales rules in favor of the other WWF—the World Wildlife Fund—after the wrestling company was founded to have violated an agreement between the companies. More on this tomorrow.
In a preshow dark match, Mr. Perfect defeated Goldust.
Rob Van Dam defeated Eddie Guerrero by disqualification in a WWF Intercontinental Championship match.
Trish Stratus and Jacqueline defeated Molly Holly and Jazz.
Booker T defeated Steven Richards to win the WWF Hardcore Championship, only to lose it to Crash Holly, who loses it to Booker T, who loses it to again to Steven Richards.
The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) defeated Brock Lesnar and Shawn Stasiak.
Spike Dudley defeated William Regal to retain the WWF European Championship.
Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Big Show. Ric Flair was the special enforcer.
taping in Tuscon, Arizona (WWE Network link), Jacqueline defeated Chavo Guerrero to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
She became the first, and ultimately, only woman to win the championship in WWE. Two other women, Madusa and Daffney, held the same championship when it was in WCW.
WWE publicly confirms for the first time that they were resurrecting ECW as a full-time entity, beginning with next month's
was going back to Thursday night effective May 13, ending their experiment with a Monday night show after just two months.
The press release in part from senior vice-president of sports and specials for Spike, Brian Diamond:
"The fans have spoken and with their input we have determined the best timeslot to maximize the TNA audience is on Thursday nights where we are confident it will be among the most-watched shows with young men."
was on Monday nights, the show performed worse than it did in its previous timeslot (0.9 average when starting at 8pm, 0.6 average when starting at 9pm), bottoming out with a 0.56 rating for a late April episode.
Also announced in the press release, Spike greenlights up
, a post-show documentary-style program advancing storylines following
. The series debut would be pushed back twice before finally beginning in August. It would be cancelled after just 23 episodes.
The Band (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Eric Young) defeat Matt Morgan in a handicap match to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. All three members of The Band were recognized tag team champions under the Freebird rule.
, Syfy announces Adam "Edge" Copeland would join the series Haven as a guest star. His character, Dwight Hendrickson, has since become a recurring character on the series.
(WWE Network link) from the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 15,907 were in attendance, with 107,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 245,000 homes for the 2013 edition.
The cause for the sharp decline is twofold: the introduction of the WWE Network (it rolled out a little over two months prior), and DirecTV and Dish Network's decision to discontinue carrying WWE PPVs.
In a kickoff show match, El Torito defeated Hornswoggle in a WeeLC match.
Cesaro defeated Jack Swagger and Rob Van Dam in a three-way dance.
Alexander Rusev defeated R-Truth & Xavier Woods in a 2-on-1 handicap match.
Bad News Barrett defeated Big E to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) defeated Evolution (Triple H, Seth Rollins Insurrextion 2002 Review , and Batista).
Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a steel cage match.
Paige defeated Tamina Snuka to retain the WWE Divas Championship.
Daniel Bryan defeated Kane in an Extreme Rules match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
from Montreal, Quebec, Canada (WWE Network link), former NXT Champion Sami Zayn makes his WWE main roster debut as the latest mystery challenger in the John Cena United States Open Challenge.
Cena defeats Zayn to retain the WWE United States Championship, but that’s not the story. Before the opening bell, Zayn injured his shoulder in getting the crowd pumped.
later in the month, wrestling to a no contest against Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship in the show’s main event. It would be his final bout until the new year.
of Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, but wrestling fans knew him best as
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Fujiwara made his professional wrestling debut in December 1965 under his real last name Mr. Fujiwara. He won his first championship within a month of his debut, the NWA Hawaii tag team championship, with King Curtis Iaukea, in January 1966. He spent the next few years across various NWA territories, most notably NWA Pacific Northwest Wrestling in Portland, where he was a heavyweight champion and four-time tag team champion.
In 1972, Fujiwara, shortened by this point to Mr. Fuji, joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He teamed with Professor Toru Tanaka and the duo were managed by The Grand Wizard. Tanaka and Fuji made a perfect pairing, with Tanaka’s brawn complimenting Fuji’s brains (he was nicknamed “The Devious One”, especially for his signature trick, throwing salt in the eyes of his opponents.
The two quickly moved up the ladder, winning the WWF World Tag Team Championship from Sonny King and Chief Jay Strongbow on June 27, 1972. They defended the titles against all comers for nearly a year, even defeating the superteam of Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino. Fuji himself would get a shot at Pedro’s WWWF Championship on August 22, 1972, but Morales retained with a countout victory. Tanaka and Fuji would lose the titles on May 30, 1973 to Tony Garea and Haystacks Calhoun, 337 days later (briefly the longest tag title reign in company history; the reign is still good for fourth-longest all time). They wouldn’t be without the titles long; Tanaka and Fuji would win them back on September 11, but lose them again to Garea and new partner Dean Ho on November 14. After Tanaka and Fuji failed to recapture the titles, they left the WWWF.
Fuji and Tanaka would renew their rivalry with Garea and Ho shortly after joining Georgia Championship Wrestling in August 1975. In September, Fuji and Tanaka defeated Garea and Ho in a tournament final for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles just a month later to Bob Backlund and Jerry Brisco.
After spending the next two years across several different territories, Fuji and Tanaka returned to the WWWF under new management in Freddie Blassie. In September 1977, the two won the WWWF tag team titles for the third time, defeating Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko in a tournament final. They would lose the titles about six months later to Dino Bravo and Dominic Denucci. Shortly after losing the titles, the two left WWWF again.
By 1979, Tanaka and Fuji split up and went on singles careers. After two more years of touring the territories, including World Wrestling Council, NWA New Zealand, and Maple Leaf Wrestling, Fuji returned to the WWWF, known by this time as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In October 1981, Fuji and Mr. Saito under management of Captain Lou Albano defeated Tony Garea and Rick Martel for the WWWF Tag Team Championship.
Fuji and Saito would feud with the Strongbows (Chief Jay and Jules), a feud that would span for about a year. Significant bouts between the two teams included a match Madison Square Garden in June 1982 where the Strongbows won the titles, a July 13 episode of
where Fuji and Saito won the titles back in a best of three falls match, and an October 30 episode of
Soon after the feud ended, Fuji sporadically teamed with Tiger Chung Lee, but the five-time tag champion had little success with Lee. The team broke up following a bout with The Wild Samoans in 1984, and Fuji and Lee would feud, with Fuji winning the feud by defeating Lee in a grudge match. Fuji wrestled solo until his retirement from full-time in-ring competition in 1985.
Soon after retiring, Fuji became a heel manager, blinding opponents of his charges with salt or hitting them with his cane. He wore a black tuxedo and bowler hat, a la Oddjob of the James Bond film series. He first took on George “The Animal” Steele, feuding with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. It culminated with Hogan and “Mean” Gene Okerlund defeating Steele and Fuji.
After Steele left Fuji, he took on a new client in Don Muraco. The two feuded with Ricky Steamboat, but the duo is most remembered for the
. After briefly managing Jim Neidhart, Fuji took on his first tag team, Demolition, after buying the contract from Luscious Johnny V. Demolition would win the WWF Tag Team Championship at
. Shockingly, about eight months later, Fuji would turn on Demolition at
and manage Demolition’s rival, The Powers of Pain. Fuji’s reason: his old team basically began questioning his orders. Seems like the feeling was mutual, as Demolition called their former manager a parasite and stooge.
when Demolition successfully defended the tag titles in a three-on-two match against The Powers of Pain and Fuji. The Powers split soon after and Fuji would manage the Orient Express, who defeated The Rockers at
. Fuji would reunite with Demolition in late 1990 when the group, now a trio, joined the Orient Express in assaulting the Legion of Doom. The feud ended at
when The Perfect Team (Demolition & Mr. Perfect) lost to The Ultimate Warriors (Ultimate Warrior, The Legion of Doom, and The Texas Tornado). Fuji briefly managed The Berzerker in late 1991.
Fuji’s greatest managerial success would come in the form of the monstrous Yokozuna. Debuting in November 1992, Yokozuna became an immediate player, winning the 1993 Royal Rumble match and the WWF Championship twice later in the year (from Bret Hart at
). Fuji also managed Crush after he had turned on Randy Savage in late 1993 and early 1994. Around this time, he would abandon his tuxedo and hat for a traditional kimono. Fuji would manage Yokozuna until 1996, by which point Yokozuna became a fan favorite, essentially making Fuji a fan favorite for the first—and only time—in his career. He would retire shortly after
Post-wrestling career, Fujiwara lived in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1997, Fuji sued the makers of
, alleging that the Master Fuji character was based on him. In actuality, it wasn’t (it was based on Japanese wrestler Yoshiaki Fujiwara), but a judge found it was close enough and Fujiwara won.
Fujiwara briefly operated a wrestling school in Jefferson City, Tennessee and was also a part-time usher at a Knoxville movie theater.
Worst Manager of the Year award eleven of twelve years from 1984 to 1995 (Paul Jones was the only other winner in that span, getting the honor in 1986), getting the honor in 1986) Insurrextion 2002 Review
co-star Don Muraco. Fuji, 72 at the time, was confined to a wheelchair due to multiple knee operations.
On August 28, 2016, Fujiwara passed away in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was 82. No official cause of death was made public. At the time of his passing, he was survived by seven children (Tyran Wong, Teri Deettula, Tami Nelson, Kimberly Brewster, Toni Will, Kelli Fujiwara Sloan and Kevin Fujiwara), thirteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
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The latest rumors, including when we could see the Dead Man on TV next, a signe Neville might not be done with WWE, the future of the Brie/Maryse feud, the sequel to Greatest Royal Rumble and more!
WWE didn’t offer up much in the way of anything compelling on "Raw" this week, except, of course, the great Trish Stratus returning in Toronto.
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