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  2. This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 34: 8/20 – 8/26)

This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 34: 8/20 – 8/26)

Aug 23, 2025

This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 34) covering the period of 8/20 thru 8/26. Running Time: 5 Hours 58 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 E34 (08/20 - 08/26)

  • Dusty Rhodes def Harley Race to win NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, ending Race's run at 926 days. Rhodes' title reign would last five days
  • Audio: Roddy Piper returns to Georgia Championship Wrestling TV two weeks after stabbing incident
  • Looking back at SummerSlam '91: A Match Made In Heaven, A Match Made In Hell!
  • Sting def Steve Austin to win his first WCW United States Title
  • Looking back at SummerSlam Spectacular 1993
  • Audio: Bizzaro Land: Vince McMahon makes his memorable heel debut in USWA, Bret Hart booed in Memphis, and lots more
  • Looking back at USWA 'A Matter Of Pride' 1993
  • Looking back at WCW Clash Of The Champions XXVIII
  • Ricky Steamboat suffers career ending back injury
  • Final ECW Match: Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko: Best 2 Of 3 Falls
  • Audio: Cactus Jack vs Terry Funk: IWA King Of The Death Match Tournament Final (1995)
  • Looking back at WWF EX-perience event 1996
  • Audio: Arn Anderson announces his in ring retirement on WCW Monday Nitro (1997)
  • Looking back at WCW Clash Of The Champions XXXV
  • Looking back at WWF Friday Night's Main Event (1997)
  • Audio: Bart Gunn vs Bradshaw: Brawl For It All Tournament Final (1998)
  • Looking back at WWF Summerslam PPV (1999)
  • WWF tapes the first weekly episode of Smackdown
  • Raven quits WCW and returns to ECW
  • Audio: Raw vs Nitro Main Event Battle (1999): Triple H wins his first WWF Heavyweight Title (Raw) vs KISS and the KISS Demon (Nitro)
  • Lillian Garcia and Miss Kitty make their WWF debuts
  • Audio: Paul Heyman appears on MSNBC hyping upcoming ECW on TNN debut
  • Audio: First Women's Main Event in Monday Night Raw's history: Stephanie McMahon vs Lita for Womens Championship
  • Sara (Undertaker's Ex-Wife) vs Diamond Dallas Page
  • The Rock interviews Booker Wee - Sucka! 
  • Looking back at WWE SummerSlam 2002-2003, 2005-2007, 2009, 2015-2017, 2020-2021
  • Audio: Last ever WWF Hardcore Title Match: Rob Van Dam vs Tommy Dreamer
  • Audio: Howard Finkel vs Lillian Garcia: Tuxedo vs Evening Gown Match (2002)
  • Jimmy Snuka squashed by Three Minute Warning
  • Jaime Koeppe wins 2003 WWE Divas Search
  • Audio: Hulk Hogan vs Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 2005)
  • Audio: HBK Post SummerSlam promo from Raw
  • John Cena vs Chris Jericho: "You're Fired' Match
  • Hulk Hogan wrestles his last ever WWE match
  • WWE Headquarters 'spray painted' with DX Logo
  • WWE releases Daniel Rodimer and Serena Deeb
  • Matt Hardy and MVP play Basketball on Smackdown.
  • Sting def AJ Styles, Christian Cage, and Samoa Joe to become Tag Team Champion with Kurt Angle
  • Big Show, Khali, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase appear on The Tonight Show w/ Conan O'Brien
  • Audio: Dashing Cody Rhodes' Grooming Tips (2010)
  • Wacky incident between Balls Mahoney and The Outpatient
  • Todd Grisham leaves WWE for ESPN
  • Hunico begins performing under the mask as Sin Cara
  • Daffney escapes serious near fatal injuries in auto accident due to wearing a seatbelt
  • Audio: NXT fans are treated to CM Punk and Seth Rollins vs Kassius Ohno and Cesaro (Kings Of Wrestling)
  • Audio: AJ Lee cuts her own 'Pipebomb' towards Total Divas (2013)
  • El Rey Network officially announces the launch of Lucha Underground
  • Audio: Nikki Bella wishes Brie Bella died in the womb!
  • Looking back at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn (2015)
  • Audio: The Dudleys return to WWE Raw after ten year absence (2015)
  • Sting makes surprise appearance on Raw and confronts The Authority and Seth Rollins
  • Audio: Braun Strowman makes his WWE main roster debut
  • Audio: Closing moments of first ever WWE Universal Title Match: Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor
  • Asuka (NXT Women's) and Finn Balor (WWE Universal) forced to relinquish titles due to injury
  • Audio: Heated exchange between Daniel Bryan and The Miz on Talking Smack
  • One year after making a memorable return, WWE bids farewell to The Dudleys
  • Audio: Chris Jericho discusses backstage fight with Brock Lesnar following match against Randy Orton
  • AAA strips Sexy Star of Reina de Reinas Championship due to intentionally injuring Rosemary during their match at TripleMania XXV
  • Looking back at AAA TripleMania XXVI
  • Five years before UFC/WWE merger, AEW teams up with Endeavor to create WWE Podcast Network
  • Possibly the only time this has ever occurred: AEW and Chris Jericho sends a positive message to NXT and is looking forward to Wednesday night programming
  • Shawn Spears and Peyton Royce get married'
  • Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch get engaged
  • Cathy Kelly reveals her breakup with Velveteen Dream. And the first creep to hit her DMs? Well Joey Ryan of course!
  • FOX Sports' Rob Stone defeats R-Truth to win WWE 24/7 Championship
  • Due to the Pandemic, WWE offers a Virtual Meet and Greet to fans. At a ridiculous price of $125 for a two-minute conversation
  • Looking back at NXT TakeOver: XXX and Karrion Kross relinquishing the Title after four days due to injury
  • Looking back at NXT TakeOver: 36, Karrion Kross' final NXT match and Samoa Joe forced to relinquish the Title without having a single title defense
  • Promoted or Demoted? Karrion Kross moves from NXT to WWE RAW roster with an abbreviated entrance, without Scarlett and the addition of the infamous Gladiator helmet and outfit
  • Audio: Ilja Dragunov vs Walter (c) for NXT Unified Kingdom Championship (From NXT TakeOver: 36)
  • Audio: Becky Lynch makes surprise return at SummerSlam 2021 after a 15+ month absence and defeats Bianca Belair in 26 seconds
  • Audio: Excellent Nick Khan interview with 2021 that foreshadows WWE current deals with Peacock, ESPN, Netflix and more. Including reasons behind pulling WWE Network, why AEW is not considered competition and more. It's an interview that is still relevant today
  • Audio: AEW Rampage 'The First Dance': CM Punk arrives in AEW and pops an amazing TV rating for AEW Rampage
  • Audio: CM Punk battles Jon Moxley for the Undisputed AEW World Championship with an abruptly shitty outcome
  • Ava Raine wins her first ever singles match in NXT (beats Ivy Nile)
  • Audio: Looking back at the night Chad Gable handed Gunther his first ever singles loss on WWE main roster
  • Audio: Remembering Terry Funk (79) and Bray Wyatt (36) who passed away within a day of each other
  • John Cena explains why he chooses Roman Reigns over The Rock as the greatest of all time in WWE
  • Audio: Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Jasmyn Nix form Fatal Influence
  • Looking back at AEW All In 2024
  • Audio: Mariah May challenges Timeless Toni Storm for AEW Women's World Championship (From AEW All In 2024)
  • Audio: Rikishi' infamous rant suggesting Jey Uso consider jumping to AEW, expressing frustration with WWE creative' use of Jey Uso
  • And so much more!

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  • PRO WRESTLING NEWS UPDATES: Posted every WEDNESDAY morning at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms)
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