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The Gary Albright Benefit Memorial Show was a professional wrestling event produced by World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion which took place on April 19, 2000, at the Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania . It was held in memory of wrestler Gary Albright , the son-in-law of promoter Afa Anoaʻi and a mainstay of All Japan Pro Wrestling , who suffered a fatal heart attack at a WXW event in Hazleton, Pennsylvania three months earlier. Twelve professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, with two including championships.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
The event featured wrestlers from both All-Japan Pro Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation , as well as members of the Anoaʻi family including Afa, Jr. and Lloyd Anoaʻi , Samula Anoaʻi and Jimmy Snuka . Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , another relative, made a special afternoon appearance at the Wild Samoan Training Center to make a pre-recorded message aired at the start of the event; this was followed by a live appearance by WWF Hall of Famer Bob Backlund later on in the show.[ 4] Although a number of major stars were scheduled to be on the card, including Gangrel and Luna Vachon , Cactus Jack , Sabu and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , many were unable to attend at the last minute. Others, most notably Rob Van Dam , were on hand for autograph signings.[ 5]
The main event was a standard wrestling match between WWF wrestlers, Rikishi Phatu , and the challenger, The Road Dogg , which was followed by an impromptu four-way match with Too Cold Scorpio and Chris Jericho .[ 6] Another featured match was Chris Jericho versus WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero , in a non-title match which Jericho won. The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher ) beat Kai En Tai (Sho Funaki and Taka Michinoku ), and Maunakea Mossman , who was accompanied by Nicole Bass , defeated Johnny Smith .[ 4] This was the first-ever match that Mossman had wrestled in the United States.[ 7]
^ a b World Xtreme Wrestling (Producer) (2000-04-19). WXW Gary Albright Benefit Memorial Show (DVD). Allentown, Pennsylvania : RF Video . Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-02-21 .
^ a b Cawthon, Graham. "2000" . Graham Cawthon's History of the WWE . TheHistoryofWWE.com. [unreliable source ]
^ a b Woodward, Buck (April 19, 2007). "This Day In History: Crockett Cup, Spring Stampede, Eugene Debuts And More" . PWInsider.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011 .
^ a b c Kost, Frank J. (2000). "The Memorable Gary Albright Memorial Show" . AfaJr.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011 .
^ Maher, John (August 6, 2000). "Ring of death". Austin American-Statesman .
^ "04/20/2000 - Hey, its the Road Dogg's day today! 4:20, bay-bee!" . News & Rumors . DoggyStylin.com. April 20, 2000. Retrieved 20 February 2011 .
^ Horie, Masanori (January 22, 2001). "View From The Rising Sun: Taiyo Kea" . View From The Rising Sun . Rob Moore, Texas Wrestling Announcer. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2011 .
^ Grimm, Lucifer (May 16, 2000). "Lucifer's Past Commentary" . Official Website of "The Crimson Idol" Lucifer Grimm. Retrieved 20 February 2011 .