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January 18th
On this day in history in ....
1967 - Billy Robinson defeats Billy Joyce in Manchester, England to win the British Heavyweight Title, ending Joyce's sixth, and final reign.
1971 - At Madison Square Garden in New York City, Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino with a top rope kneedrop to win the WWWF World Championship, ending Bruno's reign of over seven years.
1971 - Gwynn Davies defeats Albert Wall to win the British Heavyweight Title for a second time in Loughborough, England.
1974 - Ron & Terry Garvin defeat Bobby Shane & Gorgeous George Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title.
1980 - Ernie Ladd defeats Mike Sharpe in Shreveport, Louisiana to win the Mid-South Wrestling Louisiana Heavyweight Title.
1982 - At New York's Madison Square Garden, Adrian Adonis defeats WWF World Champion Bob Backlund when the referee stopped the match due to Backlund's excessive bleeding. However, because the title could only change hands on a pinfall or submission, Backlund retained the championship.
1988 - Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura defeat Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki to win the IWGP World Tag Team Title in Takuyama, Japan.
1990 - Manami Toyota defeats Mika Takahashi in Matsuda, Japan for the All Japan Singles Title, which had been vacated the previous October when champion Reibun Amada had retired.
1993 - WWF had a broadcast and taping of Monday Night Raw at the Manhattan Center in New York City. During the live broadcast, Ric Flair and Curt Hennig attacked each other during their respective matches, and Flair challenged Hennig to a "Loser Leaves WWF" match for the following week, which was taped later that night. That match saw Hennig pin Flair with the Perfect Plex as Flair attempted a backdrop. Flair would appear in the Royal Rumble the following week (before the Loser Leaves WWF match would air), and would wrestle on WWF house shows for two more weeks after the match aired before leaving. It would be almost a decade before Ric Flair would return to WWF television.
1994 - The Gladiator & Big Titan defeat Atsushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niiyama in a tournament final in Misato, Japan to become the first FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions.
1997 - WWE aired their short-lived late night show, Shotgun Saturday Night, on the eve of the Royal Rumble, from the Denim & Diamonds night club in San Antonio, Texas. The show included a few matches (Rocky Miavia defeated Triple H via countout, Faarooq defeated Road Dogg Jesse James, Steve Austin defeated Goldust) and a few silly skits (Sunny led the crowd in the Macarena, Honky Tonk Man beat Mini-Mankind in a game of blackjack) but the highlight of the night was an in-ring interview with Terry Funk, in which Funk, on live television, said that Vince McMahon was a "Yankee Bastard", Jim Ross was an "Oklahoma A**hole" and that he would run through every man in the Royal Rumble and every wrestler in WWF, because "no one in WCW wants a piece of me". The comments went out over the air in most markets, angering the management of several channels carrying the show. Funk also called out Steve Austin and the two brawled throughout the club.
1998 - WWF's Royal Rumble Pay-per-view is held in San Jose, California at the San Jose Arena. Here are the results:
- Vader defeated Goldust with a Vader Bomb.
- Max Mini, Mosaic & Nova defeated Battalion, El Torito & Tarantula. Sunny was the special referee. Max pinned Torito with a cradle.
- Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia defeated Ken Shamrock via DQ. Shamrock pinned Rock, but Rock told the referee to search Shamrock. The referee found brass knuckles on Shamrock (that Rock had planted earlier in the match), and reversed the decision and disqualified Shamrock.
- The Legion Of Doom defeated WWF World Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws via DQ when Road Dogg hit Animal with a chair.
- Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating Rocky Maivia after a stunner. The Rumble also saw Mick Foley participate three times (and get eliminated three times), using his Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love personas. Other participants in the match were: Steve Blackman, Justin Bradshaw, Tom Brandi, D'Lo Brown, Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk), Chainz, Eight Ball, Faarooq, Henry Godwinn, Phinneas Godwinn, Goldust, Owen Hart, Mark Henry, Honky Tonk Man, Jeff Jarrett, Ahmed Johnson, Kurrgan, Marc Mero, Headbanger Mosh, Kama Mustafa, Ken Shamrock, Skull, Headbanger Thrasher, Vader, & Savio Vega.
- WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels defeated The Undertaker in a casket match. Los Boricuas and DeGeneration X interfered on behalf of Michaels, but Kane ran out and cleared the ring. Kane then turned on Undertaker and chokeslammed him into the casket, giving Michaels the win. This was the match where Michaels suffered a back injury after being slammed on the casket, an injury that would ultimately result in his temporary retirement.
2003 - The Original Sheik, Ed Farhat, passes away at the age of 79 in a Michigan hospital. A huge star in the 50's, 60's and 70's, both in the U.S., Canada, and Japan, the Sheik remained active all the way into the 90's. He is also the uncle of Sabu, and taught both Sabu and Rob Van Dam how the wrestle.
2003 - Christopher Daniels defeats champion Amazing Red, Low Ki, American Dragon and Mike Kruel in a Five-Way match to win the ECWA Heavyweight Title in Wilmington, Delaware.
2003 - Two new champions were crowned at the Combat Zone Wrestling event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nate Hatred defeated Nick Mondo and John Zandig in a "Fans Bring The Weapons" match to claim the vacant CZW Death Match Title (previous champion Wifebeater retired). On the same show, Ruckus defeated Trent Acid to become a two-time CZW World Junior Heavyweight Champion.
2005 - Pistol Pez Whatley, aka Shaska Whatley, a fixture on Saturday Night wrestling on TBS during the 80's, passed away at age 54 after dealing with kidney problems for several years.
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