• OLD SCHOOL HISTORY (April 19, 2001) – WWF SmackDown!
On this day in 2001, the World Wrestling Federation aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWF SmackDown!’.
It was broadcasted from the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee and featured pre-taped matches & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWF Backlash 2001’ PPV.
Here’s the card:
1. WWF Hardcore Title: Kane vs. Rhyno
2. Bradshaw, Faarooq, Funaki & TAKA Michinoku vs. Right To Censor
3. WWF European Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Brian Christopher
4. Tables Match: Dudley Boyz vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit
5. WWF Women’s Title: Chyna vs. Molly Holly
6. WWF Tag Team Titles – No DQ: Edge & Christian vs. The Undertaker & Kane
WATCH: We Bet You’ve Never Seen Sonya Deville Like THIS Before:
• WWF Veteran Says Ronda Rousey Taking Time Off After 1 Year In WWE Is Insulting
Ronda Rousey dropped the RAW Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35 and is currently on a hiatus to start a family (she also broke her hand at WrestleMania 35 and recently underwent surgery).
Old School ECW & WWF Veteran Taz discussed Rousey’s status on a recent edition of The Taz Show podcast and had the following to say about The Baddest Woman On The Planet:
“I gotta tell ya. It’s a little tough to swallow. Because, look, she’s entitled to do whatever she wants, I understand that. But she’s been in the game for a year, and she’s got pushed to the moon, and skyrocketed because of her credibility and her legitimacy over the years in the MMA game and now is a UFC Hall of Famer and all these other great accolades she has. And she’s earned every one of them, I’m not knocking her for that. But to take a break from the business after a year is a little tough for a lot of the lifers in the game, and people who follow that business and respect the business.
It’s insulting to the people that this is their lifestyle. Being a professional wrestler, no matter if you’re in the WWE or anywhere else, is your life. It’s not a job. I never looked at all my years in the ring or even segueing into broadcasting, I never looked at that as a job. I looked at it as a career, but it’s part of my life, it just encompassed my job. It wasn’t a 9 to 5 gig.
The revolution for women’s wrestling didn’t start with Ronda Rousey. It started way before that…Ronda Rousey definitely helped bring some casual fan awareness because of her star power as an MMA or UFC fighter, I get all that, and I think that’s cool. That was great, but, the women’s revolution for pro wrestling it started way before Ronda Rousey.
WWE did just as much for her, if not [more], and the girls she worked with, to get her over, and to give her that platform.”
