The Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling event held between 1996 and 1999 as a tribute to wrestler Ilio DiPaolo and featured talent from World Championship Wrestling as well as appearances from older wrestling stars of the "television era". Several of these wrestlers came out of retirement to face their former rivals on the first three shows.
The show was organized by Dennis DiPaolo, along with family and friends of the late Ilio DiPaolo, and the proceeds were generally donated to charitable organizations. The second show, held at the Marine Midland Arena in 1997, was attended by over 16,000 people and raised $70,000 each for the Sick Children's Hospital and the Ilio DiPaulo Scholarship Fund. Jim Kelly, a former quarterback for Buffalo Bills, also received a plaque in recognition for his charity work and was one of several guest celebrities to appear on the show.[1] Although many celebrities were paid for their appearances, wrestlers such as Johnny Barend did not accept payment to perform at the event.[2]
June 7, 1996 in Buffalo, New York (Buffalo Memorial Auditorium)
| Results | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pee Wee Jones pinned Farmer Pete | Singles match | 7:54[3] | |
| 2 | Gino Brito beat The Missing Link via disqualification | Singles match | 6:12 | |
| 3 | Dominic DeNucci & Tony Parisi defeated Bruiser Bedlam & Danny Johnson when Parisi pinned Johnson | Tag team match | 12:46 | |
| 4 | Diamond Dallas Page pinned Alex Wright | Singles match | 9:17 | |
| 5 | Konnan pinned Big Bubba Rogers to retain the WCW United States Championship | Singles match | 6:37 | |
| 6 | VK Wallstreet pinned Joe Gomez | Singles match | 7:14 | |
| 7 | The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) defeated The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) in a "street fight" match when Knobbs pinned Grunge | Tag team match | 9:10 | |
| 8 | Lex Luger pinned Jim Duggan to retain the WCW Television Championship | Singles match | 5:15 | |
| 9 | Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair | Singles match | 12:05 | |
| 10 | The Giant defeated Sting by disqualification to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship | Singles match | 7:09 |
June 6, 1997 in Buffalo, New York (Marine Midland Arena)
| Results | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gino Brito & Tony Parisi defeated Dory Funk, Jr. & Greg Valentine by disqualification | Tag team match | n/a[4] | |
| 2 | Dean Malenko defeated Alex Wright to retain the WCW United States Championship | Singles match | n/a | |
| 3 | The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) defeated The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) | Tag team match | n/a | |
| 4 | Diamond Dallas Page defeated Randy Savage | Singles match | n/a | |
| 5 | Chris Benoit defeated Meng by countout | Singles match | n/a | |
| 6 | Dean Malenko wrestled Rey Misterio, Jr. to a time-limit draw to retain the WCW United States Championship | Singles match | n/a | |
| 7 | The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) defeated Lex Luger & The Giant to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship | Tag team match | n/a |
June 11, 1998 in Buffalo, New York (Marine Midland Arena)
| Results | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dean Malenko defeated Scotty Riggs by submission to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship | Singles match | 6:11[5] [6] | |
| 2 | Juventud Guerrera pinned Billy Kidman | Singles match | 7:08 | |
| 3 | Booker T defeated Chris Benoit by disqualification | Singles match | 16:41 | |
| 4 | Konnan defeated Scott Putski by submission | Singles match | 4:06 | |
| 5 | Saturn pinned Glacier | Singles match | 3:42 | |
| 6 | The Giant & The Disciple fought to a no-contest with Randy Savage & Lex Luger | Tag team match | 1:11 | |
| 7 | Bill Goldberg pinned Konnan to retain the WCW United States Championship | Singles match | n/a | |
| 8 | Kevin Nash & Diamond Dallas Page defeated Hollywood Hogan & Bret Hart | Tag team match | n/a |
June 11, 1999 in Buffalo, New York (Marine Midland Arena)
| Results | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Duggan defeated The Barbarian | Singles match | n/a[7] | |
| 2 | La Parka, Psicosis & Damien defeated Silver King, El Dandy & Villano V | Trios match | n/a | |
| 3 | Konnan defeated Disco Inferno | Singles match | n/a | |
| 4 | Johnny Swinger defeated Evan Karagias | Singles match | n/a | |
| 5 | Rey Misterio, Jr. & Billy Kidman defeated Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko | Tag team match | n/a | |
| 6 | Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair | Singles match | n/a | |
| 7 | Sting defeated Diamond Dallas Page | Singles match | n/a |