January 19th
On this day in history in ....
1880 - William Muldoon defeats Thiebaud Bauer to become the first American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Champion in New York City, New York.
1937 - Red Devil (Elmer Guthrie) defeats Dobie Osbourne for the Florida Heavyweight Title in Jacksonville, Florida.
1948 - Arthur White defeats Mike Chacoma to win the Mid-America version of the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Birmingham, Alabama, ending Chacoma's second reign.
1951 - Nell Stewart defeats Mars Bennett to win the NWA Texas Women's Title in Houston, Texas, beginning her second reign.
1960 - Tex Riley and Len Rossi defeat Jackie and Don Fargo in Nashville, Tennessee to win the Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Title for the second time. This ended the Fargos' sixth reign.
1960 - Mike DiBiase (father of Ted DiBiase) defeats Red Raider (Pedro Godoy) in Tampa, Florida to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title.
1961 - The Medics (Tony Gonzales and Donald Lortie) defeat Sonny Myers and John Paul Henning in a tournament final in Kansas City, Kansas to become the first NWA Central States Tag Team Champions.
1962 - King Curtis and Haru Sasaki defeat Herb and Seymour Freeman for the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title, ending the Freemans' second reign.
1966 - Ripper Collins defeats Ron Reed to win the Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1968 - Ray Gunkel and Buddy Fuller defeat Butcher Vachon and Stan Vachon (Stan Pulaski) for the Georgia version of the NWA World Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.
1970 - Johnny Walker and Dennis Hall defeat Don and Al Greene for the Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This began Walker and Hall's second reign and ended the Greenes' fourth.
1970 - Kurt and Karl Von Steiger defeat Moondog Mayne and Tony Borne to win their fifth Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title, ending Mayne and Borne's eighth reign.
1971 - Jack Brisco defeats Tarzan Tyler in Tampa, Florida to win his third NWA Florida Heavyweight Title.
1972 - Bob Kelly wins the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title for the sixth time, defeating Donnie Fargo in Mobile, Alabama, ending Fargo's second reign.
1972 - Mitsu Arakawa and Yoshino Sato defeat Tony Parisi and Dominic DeNucci in a one-night tournament final for the vacant National Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title in Buffalo, New York.
1973 - Ken Lucas defeats The Wrestling Pro in Dothan, Alabama, to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title. This ended The Pro's second reign and began Lucas' third.
1973 - Johnny Valentine defeats Harley Race to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title in St. Louis. The belt had been held up following a match between champion Race and Valentine on December 16, 1972 in St. Louis.
1977 - Greg Valentine defeats Rufus R. Jones for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title in Raleigh, North Carolina, beginning his second reign.
1979 - Ole Anderson and Ivan Koloff defeat Jack and Jerry Brisco in Atlanta, Georgia to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title for the third time.
1980 - Kato Kung Lee defeats Americo Rocca for the NWA World Welterweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.
1981 - Carlos Colón and Invader I defeat Dutch Mantel and Dennis Condrey to win the WWC North American Tag Team Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1984 - Johnny Saint defeats Jackie Robinson to win his third British World Lightweigh Title in Hastings, England.
1985 - Tim Patterson and Rick Davis defeat Butch Moffat and Elton Stanton for the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Title in Cloverdale, British Columbia, Canada.
1987 - Owen Hart defeats Makham Singh in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title for the first time. This was Owen's first major championship.
1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta defeats Stan Hansen in Matsumoto, Japan to win his third, and final, All Japan Triple Crown Title (NWA International, NWA United National and Pacific Wrestling Federation World belts), ending Hansen's second Triple Crown reign.
1991 - The Royal Rumble was held in Miami, Florida at the Miami Arena. The show saw the final WWF PPV appearance of Dusty Rhodes, the long awaited face turn of Virgil, a WWF World Title change, and the first time a wrestler ever won two consecutive Royal Rumbles. Here are the results:
- In a dark match, Jerry Saggs defeated Sam Houston.
- The Rockers (Marty Janetty & Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka & Kato) when Kato whipped Janetty towards Tanaka for a chop, only to have Michaels hit Tanaka, setting up for Janetty to hit a sunset flip for the pin.
- Sensational Sherri Martel came out to issue a challenge to the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on behalf of Randy Savage, saying that Sgt. Slaughter had already promised him a title shot if he won the belt. Warrior turned down the challenge.
- The Mountie defeated Koko B. Ware after zapping him with a cattle prod.
- Big Bossman defeated The Barbarian by rolling through a cross bodyblock into a pin.
- Sgt. Slaughter defeated The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF World Heavyweight Title with an elbowdrop after Randy Savage (who was the "Macho King" at the time), came down and smashed Warrior with his scepter. This was when Slaughter was doing an anti-American, pro-Iraq gimmick.
- Ted DiBiase & Virgil defeated Dusty & Dustin Rhodes when DiBiase pinned Dusty with rollup. After the match, Virgil turned on DiBiase, laying him out with the Million Dollar Belt after having enough of DiBiase's orders.
- Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble for the second consecutive year, last eliminating Earthquake after a big boot, bodyslam and clothesline. Rick Martel set a new longevity record for the match, coming in at number six and lasted for 53 minutes, being one of the last five men in the match along with Hogan, Earthquake, Davey Boy Smith and Brian Knobbs. Randy Savage never came out for his spot in the match, because he left the building to avoid an enraged Ultimate Warrior. Other participants in the Rumble were: Dino Bravo, The Bushwhackers, Demolition Crush & Smash, Shane Douglas, Jim Duggan, Haku, The Hart Foundation, Mr. Perfect, Hercules, The Legion of Doom, Jake Roberts, Paul Roma, Tito Santana, Saba Simba, Jimmy Snuka, Tugboat, The Undertaker, Greg Valentine, Kerry Von Erich, and Warlord.
1992 - The Royal Rumble was held in Albany, New York in the Knickerbocker Arena. The event saw Roddy Piper win his only WWF championship, and Ric Flair set a new Rumble longevity record on his way to, arguably, the most famous Royal Rumble victory of all time. Here are the results:
- In a dark match, Chris Walker defeated The Brooklyn Brawler via DQ.
- Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated The Orient Express (Kato & Pat Tanaka) when Hart pinned Tanaka after a rocket launcher.
- Roddy Piper defeated The Mountie with a sleeperhold to win the WWF Intercontinental Title. This was Piper's only singles championship victory in the WWF.
- The Beverly Brothers defeated The Bushwhackers when Blake pinned Butch after a top rope ax handle.
- Earthquake & Typhoon defeated WWF World Tag Team Champions The Legion Of Doom via countout when Typhoon just beat the count back in during a brawl on the floor.
- Ric Flair lasts an hour (coming in number three) to win the Royal Rumble and the WWF World Heavyweight Title. This made Flair the second person (Buddy Rogers being the first) to have held both the NWA and WWF World Titles. The championship had been vacated following controversial the Hogan-Undertaker title changes in November 1991. Flair last eliminated Sid Justice (Vicious), who had just eliminated Hulk Hogan, and Hogan helped pull Justice over the top rope to the floor. The fans booed Hogan for his actions, although WWF would later dub in cheers when showing replays of the finish on their syndicated programs. Other participants in the match were: Barbarian, The Berzerker, Big Bossman, Ted DiBiase, Jim Duggan, Haku, Hercules, Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels, Col. Mustafa, Roddy Piper, Repoman, Jake Roberts, Jerry Sags, Tito Santana, Randy Savage, Irwin R. Schyster, Skinner, Sgt Slaughter, Davey Boy Smith, Jimmy Snuka, The Undertaker, Greg Valentine, Virgil, Nikolai Volkoff, Kerry Von Erich, and Warlord.
1992 - Jesse and Art Barr defeat The Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don Bruise) in Vancouver, Washington for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title, ending the Bruise's fifth reign.
1992 - Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada defeat Lady Apache and Kaoru to become the first UWA Women's Tag Team Champions in Tokyo, Japan.
1992 - The Universal Wrestling Association Tag Team Title changes hands twice in Tokyo, Japan. Gran Hamada and Kendo defeat Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata for the vacant title, then The Cowboys (Silver King and El Texano) win the titles from Hamada and Kendo.
1996 - La Rosa and Sirenita defeat Neftali and La Broisa to win the Mexican National Women's Tag Team Title.
1996 - Eddie Bruiser defeats Iron Man for the Southern States Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Fall Branch, Tennessee.
1997 - The WWF holds the 10th-annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view before 60,525 fans at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This particular Rumble featured wrestlers from the Mexican AAA promotion. The results:
In matches airing on the Free for All:
- Venom and Perro Aguayo, Jr. defeated Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced
- Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr. and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Heavy Metal, Abismo Negro and Histeria.
- Mascarita Sagrada and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader.
In pay-per-view matches:
- Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Goldust to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title.
- Ahmed Johnson defeated Faarooq by disqualification after the rest of the Nation of Domination interfered.
- Vader pinned The Undertaker.
- Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo and Canek defeated Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal and Fuerza Guerrera when Aguayo pinned Metal.
- Steve Austin, entering at number five, won the Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Bret Hart. Austin was eliminated by Hart just before Austin eliminated Hart, however, the two referees at ringside were tied up with The Undertaker and Vader, who were also eliminated by Austin.
1998 - The Monday Night Wars continued, with WWF RAW is WAR posting a 4.0 rating, featuring the WWF debut of Mike Tyson, and subsequent confrontation with Stone Cold Steve Austin, which received much mainstream attention. WCW Monday Nitro won the night, however, with a 4.5 rating on their show, featuring a Giant vs. Hollywood Hogan main event.
1999 - Gator B. Long defeats J.R. James for the Future of Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
2000 - The Holy Rollers (Earl the Pearl and Rich Myers) defeat the teams of Jimmy Cicero & Chad Austin and Joey Matthews & Christian York in a three-way match for the vacant Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
2000 - Ali defeats Steve Bradley to win the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Bradley's third reign.
2001 - 3 Count (Shannon Moore and Shane Helms) defeat Suicidal Tendencies (John Phoenix and Adam Jacobs) to win the NWA Wildside Tag Team Title in Cornelia, Georgia.
2001 - Black Attack (Al Jackson and Mike Anthony) defeat Hell's Crew (Gravedigger and The Dark Angel) for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in North Richland Hills, Texas.
2001 - Al Katrazz defeats Brooklyn Thrill Kill to win the United Independent Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title in Port Hueneme, California.
2001 - Both Atlantic Terror Championship Wrestling titles change hands in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Mark Shrader and Gregory Martin defeat Jimmy Cicero and Dino Divine for the Tag Team Title and Terry Allen defeats Nick Fury for the Hardcore Title.
2002 - B.J. Turner wins his second NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title by winning a one-night tournament in Beaumont, Texas.
2002 - Shirley Doe defeats Kid Senstation for the International Wrestling Cartel High Stakes Heavyweight Title in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, beginning Doe's second reign.
2002 - Colt Steele defeats The Russian Assassin to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Hardcore Title in Walterboro, South Carolina.
2002 - Iceman John Black defeats Johnny Dynamite for the Empire Wrestling Federation Americas Title in Fontana, California.
2003 - The Royal Rumble is held in Boston, Massachusetts at the Fleet Center. In a Sunday Night Heat match, Spike Dudley defeats Steven Richards. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the event:
WWE's Royal Rumble (1/19 from the Fleet Center in Boston) was a two match show, but they were more than enough to put the show into the usual thumbs' up column. Until the last two matches, the show was overall mediocre at best. The opener was good, followed by a tag match that was average. But the catfight and the Triple H vs. Scott Steiner bout were not good and they had the effect of weakening the live crowd until Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit revived them. Commentary from the split crews was fine. Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler handled the Rumble commentary, even though it featured 15 wrestlers each from RAW and Smackdown.
BROCK LESNAR defeated BIG SHOW in 6:28 to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble. Lesnar gets better matches out of Big Show than just about anyone because he can credibly toss the big man around, so it isn't the usual match where a much smaller guy gets squashed until either losing or winning on a fluke. Show shoved Lesnar around until Lesnar retaliated with a shoulder block into the corner. Lesnar gave Show some belly-to-belly suplexes (and, by the way, suplexes were almost a theme of this show as they were highlighted in three of the matches). Those suplexes on Show always look scary because it almost appears as if he'll come down on top of his head. Show tossed Lesnar out for a rough looking bump on the edge of the ring apron. Show pounded Lesnar. Lesnar came back with a German suplex. Paul Heyman grabbed Lesnar's leg, allowing Show to boot him in the face. Lesnar did a neat arm drag into a roll-up for a near fall. Lesnar dragged Heyman into the ring and was about to F5 him, but Show made the save by chokeslamming Lesnar. Lesnar kicked out at two to a big pop. The finish saw Show somewhat weakly collide with Heyman, setting him up for the F5 and the Lesnar win. Good pop for the three count. Lesnar has clearly been WWE's one big success story of the past year, and Show's stock has risen thanks to Lesnar and Angle.
Terri interviewed Chris Jericho, who was upset that Shawn Michaels got the #1 entry position in the Rumble, leaving him with #2. I'm not sure what difference there is between being #1 and #2. Maybe #1 should have to wrestle himself for 90 seconds before #2 comes in, just to be sure there's some wear and tear. Anyway, Jericho vowed to hurl 29 other guys over the top rope to win the Rumble and earn the Wrestlemania shot at the World Title.
THE DUDLEYS defeated WILLIAM REGAL & LANCE STORM in 7:23 to capture the RAW World Tag Titles. The ref searched Regal & Storm for brass knux before the bell. This was pretty much a standard tag match. The Dudleys, as babyfaces, dominated early. D-Von then got tied up in the heel corner for a while. Bubba hot tagged in and did his Dusty routine. They did the wazzup. The Dudleys had just done the flapjack on Storm (JR mentioned it as an old Midnight Express move) when Chief Morley arrived at ringside. He was out there to distract the ref so that Regal could retrieve the knux from wherever it was they were hidden. But the scheme failed as the Dudleys 3D'ed Regal, who dropped the knux. D-Von KO'ed Storm with them, and scored the pin as the ref returned to action. On RAW last week, Vince McMahon requested that the Dudleys do their tables routine in this match, but I guess that got forgotten somewhere along the line.
Nathan Jones did a promo from prison, as he'll be doing an ex-con shoot gimmick.
TORRIE WILSON defeated DAWN MARIE in 3:36. This was billed as the first ever step-mother vs. step-daughter match, as if anyone cared. It sucked, and was made even worse by the stupid angle leading up to it. All those people on the WWE writing crew who get a kick out of either weddings or funerals should get a job writing bad schlock for some of the daytime soap operas. One good way to get them started on that new career would be to fire them from WWE. At least this death angle got Al Wilson off TV, unless he comes back as a ghost, or has a twin brother who comes back for revenge, or was cloned by some UFO cult. None of those ideas, sadly, are beyond the realm of WWE possibility. As for this match, Torrie won with a neckbreaker.
Stephanie encountered Eric Bischoff, who was talking with Randy Orton. Steph began talking to Orton, angering Bischoff since Orton is a RAW wrestler. Steph sneeringly began predicting that Bischoff's days are numbered, thanks to Vince's 30 day warning. Bischoff promised to drop a bombshell which will turn his fortunes around. Steph said she has a bombshell of her own for Smackdown.
They aired a Sean O'Haire promo. He was basically encouraging people to go ahead and be as bad as they want because if God exists, he'll forgive them, and if he doesn't exist, everyone's free to behave however they wish. Apparently O'Haire's gimmick is that he's a moral relativist. I'm not sure how that relates to wrestling, but.....Oh wait, I do see how that relates to wrestling.
SCOTT STEINER defeated TRIPLE H by DQ in a RAW World Title match in 18:11. Earl Hebner told both wrestlers, plus Ric Flair, that he wouldn't take any crap from them. They started out brawling. Steiner hit HHH with a ton of chops. They went out to the floor and continued brawling. It looked weak out there. Steiner dominated the match so much that it telegraphed that he wasn't going to win the title. Steiner no-sold a facebuster and locked on a bearhug. The crowd didn't die, but the heat dropped to a lukewarm level for this match since it was so slowly paced. Steiner threw a ton of suplexes, which did look good since they're his specialty. HHH came back finally after Flair's interference. He put Steiner down with a boot to the face and went on a methodical offense. They traded some more suplexes. Steiner slipped and fell going for what looked to be a powerbomb, and the crowd booed and sort of turned on him from that point forward. Flair tried to lead HHH back to the locker room in an effort to deliberately get counted out, but Steiner ran after them. HHH tried to use the title belt as a weapon. Steiner blocked it and then juiced HHH big with the belt. Back in the ring, Steiner threw a few more suplexes. Flair asked the ref to stop the match for HHH's blood loss. Presumably he thought that would be like a DQ or count-out loss and not lead to a title change, though logically it should. Logic, of course, doesn't always prevail in WWE. HHH then grabbed Hebner and threw him out of the ring. Hebner started to call for the DQ, but changed his mind since he knew that's what HHH wanted. The crowd heat began to pick up a little. HHH got the sledgehammer from beneath the ring. He hit Steiner in the stomach with it, and this time Hebner did call for the DQ, which seemed a little silly after making such a big deal out of not DQ'ing him earlier. So HHH retained the title. Hebner stopped HHH from mauling Steiner with the sledgehammer. In the struggle, Steiner got the weapon and used it on HHH and Flair. The crowd was booing the ending, and they didn't seem to like the match at all. Steiner put HHH in the recliner, which did look good because of all the blood streaming down HHH's face. It took a bunch of refs and agents, and finally Bischoff, to get Steiner to release the hold.
KURT ANGLE defeated CHRIS BENOIT in 19:46 to retain the WWE World Title. The ref sent Team Angle (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) back to the locker room. This was one of those matches that starts out good and then gets better. It didn't have much crowd heat at first because the prior two bouts cooled the crowd, or drew the wrong kind of heat. But by the end, the crowd was on fire. They started out with mat action, with Benoit going after Angle's bad knee. Angle threw forearms while Benoit threw chops. Benoit gave Angle a hard DDT on the apron. Angle rolled clear of a diving headbutt attempt. Benoit hooked the sharpshooter, with Angle making the ropes. They started throwing the suplexes, helping to make this show a suplex showcase. They were throwing suplexes all over the place, scoring some twos, which ignited the crowd for the remainder of the match. Benoit hooked a crossface out of nowhere. Angle escaped to the ropes. Benoit hooked an ankle lock, which Angle countered with an ankle lock of his own. Angle used an Olympic slam to escape a crossface. The crowd was popping like crazy for each two count. They went back to the suplexes, with Angle doing a complete flip on one released German suplex for a big bump. Angle kicked out after a diving headbutt. Benoit did the same following an Olympic slam. These near falls were excellent. Tazz & Michael Cole put over big that this was a fantastic match. Benoit hooked another crossface, which Angle reversed into an ankle lock. Benoit kicked Angle off, but Angle re-hooked it and Benoit finally tapped. Huge pop for the clean win, a big contrast from the negative response to the previous match. Haas & Benjamin ran out and hoisted Angle up on their shoulders. The crowd also gave Benoit a standing ovation as he left, which was a class act.
Kane told tag partner Rob Van Dam that the Rumble is every man for himself, and that he'd oust RVD if he had to. RVD said he'd do the same to Kane.
BROCK LESNAR won the 30 MAN ROYAL RUMBLE at the 53:44 mark to earn the Wrestlemania WWE World Title shot. You all know the rules, so here's how it went. The first two in were SHAWN MICHAELS (#1) and CHRIS JERICHO (#2). Christian actually served as a decoy, pretending to be Jericho (shrouded in the light from the pyro and the Titantron) which allowed the real Jericho to come in from behind and give a low blow to Michaels. Jericho stomped the hell out of Michaels, and bloodied him up big time with a chairshot (blading, of course). CHRISTOPHER NOWINSKI (#3) came in. Actually, he stood around at ringside and shewdly didn't go in for a while. Jericho continued pounding on Michaels, shockingly eliminating him by tossing him over the top. REY MYSTERIO JR. (#4) was next. He had Jericho reeling with springboard dropkicks and other fast paced moves. EDGE (#5) came in. Nowinski finally went in, too. Mysterio hit a huracanrana on Jericho, who bumped out through the ropes (not an elimination since you must be thrown over the top for that). Edge and Mysterio went at it, highlighting the "every man for himself" aspect. Edge avoided a 619. Edge ended up bumping over the top in a spot where he was supposed to just miss touching the floor. It looked like both feet did hit the floor, but everyone had to pretend they didn't since it wasn't his time to be eliminated. CHRISTIAN (#6) was in next. He hugged Edge and tried to make a deal with his "brother" to work together. Edge speared him. Nowinski tried to hoist both Edge and Mysterio out, but they saved themselves and went for a double missile kick on Nowinski. It was a scary looking spot because Mysterio hit Nowinski first, and he went down and Edge landed right on his face. Up next was CHAVO GUERRERO JR. (#7). Mysterio hit him with a 619. He also gave Christian a 619 and then ousted Nowinski. Jericho immediately ousted Mysterio. TAJIRI (#8) came in, opening up with some kicks. Next was BILL DEMOTT (#9), the former Hugh Morrus. All six remaining wrestlers brawled. TOMMY DREAMER (#10) came in with a garbage can and two canes. He began caning everyone. One cane shot hit Jericho right in the forehead at a bad angle and a bloody knot raised up. It looked sick. Edge & Dreamer eliminated DeMott, while Jericho & Christian threw Dreamer out. Jericho eliminated Tajiri when he tried for a tarantula. Bull Buchanan, now called B2 (#11), came in. He was quickly eliminated by Edge. Edge then ousted Chavo. Jericho eliminated both Edge and Christian as they struggled to throw each other out. Earlier, Jericho had nearly been thrown out but he skinned the cat. It looked pretty close. Jericho was now alone until RVD (#12) arrived. RVD hit his kicks and the rolling thunder. He nearly tossed Jericho out, but he held on. MATT HARDY (#13) arrived. He and Jericho teamed up on RVD, but RVD still flattened them both. Jericho missed a moonsault and RVD frog splashed him. EDDIE GUERRERO (#14) came in. Matt laid RVD out and Eddie frog splashed him. Matt then gave Eddie the twist of fate. JEFF HARDY (#15) arrived. Matt wanted to make up with him, but Jeff attacked him. They did a funny spot where Jeff threw Matt over but he was kept from hitting the floor by his lackey Shannon Moore at ringside. Moore also protected Matt from a swanton. In next was ROSEY (#16). Rico was with him. Everyone was brawling. TEST (#17) went in, getting a good luck kiss from Stacy Keibler. Test began lariating everyone, but no one went over the top rope. In next was JOHN CENA (#18). It took him a while to actually go in, as he did a long rap routine. RVD finally went out and threw him in. Next was CHARLIE HAAS (#19). The ring was starting to fill up, but Test reduced things by one by tossing Jeff out. RIKISHI (#20) went in. He and blood relative Rosey teased an alliance, but quickly broke up. JAMAL (#21) came in. Rikishi backed his ass into Jamal's face. KANE (#22) arrived, and cleaned house on just about everyone. He eliminated Rosey. In next were SHELTON BENJAMIN (#23) and BOOKER T (#24) as the ring was filling up even more. Booker scissor kicked Kane, flattened Matt, did a spinaroonie, and eliminated Eddie Guerrero. A-TRAIN (#25) was in next. He went at it with Rikishi. At this point, Michaels ran in illegally, his head all bandaged up. He attacked Jericho, which provided the opening for Test to send Jericho over the top. Jericho, who was furious, had a pull-apart with Michaels on the floor. MAVEN (#26) arrived, followed 90 seconds later by GOLDUST (#27). Goldust didn't last long before being eliminated by Haas. Haas & Benjamin then ousted Booker. BATISTA (#28) came in and quickly eliminated Test. He also ousted Rikishi. BROCK LESNAR (#29) arrived, obviously having "drawn" a good number after winning his earlier match to get into the Rumble. Lesnar ousted Haas & Benjamin, and then F5'ed Matt out on top of them for another elimination. The final entrant was UNDERTAKER (#30). UT ousted Jamal, and as he was doing so, Maven tried to dropkick him over from behind (as he did last year). It didn't work, and UT ousted him. A-Train powerbombed UT. Kane chokeslammed Lesnar. RVD & Kane joined forced to throw A-Train out, but then Kane surprised RVD by dumping him over, too. This left Lesnar, UT, Kane, and Batista (whom they were clearly wanting to elevate). Lesnar gave Kane an F5 while UT put Batista down. Lesnar and UT had a staredown and then went at it. UT gave Lesnar a tombstone piledriver, which is a move only used for special occasions. UT then eliminated Batista. UT shook hands with Kane, but then turned on him and threw him over the top. Batista came back in illegally with a chair, but UT blocked the shot and used the chair on Batista. But this gave Lesnar, who had recovered from the piledriver, the opening he needed and he threw UT out for the win. Good pop to end a good Rumble. The winner wasn't really a surprise, and a few deserving guys like Eddie Guerrero got kind of lost in the shuffle during periods when there were a lot of guys in the ring, but in a 30 man match you can't highlight everyone, and they did a good job with this overall, ending the show with a credible winner. UT was a good sport about losing, congratulating Lesnar as the show left the air.
2003 - Eric Alexander and Andy Anderson defeat Miguel Perez, Jr. and Abyss for the IWA Tag Team Title in Levittown, Puerto Rico.
2003 - In Livonia, Michigan, Maximum Pro Wrestling sees two titles switch as Truth Martini defeats Chris Sabin for the Cruiserweight Title and Gangrel defeats Simon Diamond for the Heavyweight Title.
2005 - The Thrillseekers (Johnny Jeter and Matt Capotelli) defeat MNM (Joey Matthews and Johnny Nitro) in Louisville, Kentucky to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Title.
2006 - Filipino Crippler defeats Nightmare for the NWA Hawaii Junior Heavyweight Title in Waipahu, Hawaii.
Thanks to Ryan Martinez for his help with the above.
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