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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: ECW'S FINAL PPV, RATED RKO VS. DX, SABIN WINS ULTIMATE X AND MORE

January 7th

On this day in history in ....

1913 - Jess Westergaard defeats Henry Ordemann for the American Heavyweight Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1929 - In a disputed victory, Charlie Fischer defeats World Middleweight Champion Johnny Meyers in Chicago, Illinois. Meyers obtained a court order preventing the Illinois State Athletic Commission from awarding the title to anyone else, however the commission would recognize Gus Kallio as champion, who defeated Meyers by decision after a 2½ hour match on August 7, 1928.

1941 - Ivan Rasputin defeats Bobby Managoff in San Francisco, California to win the Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title for the second time.

1949 - Chavo Guerrero, Sr. is born in El Paso, Texas.

1953 - Carl Engstrom and Frank Stojack defeat Johnny Cretorian and Kurt Von Poppenheim for the Big Time Wrestling Northwest Tag Team Title in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1954 - Hombre Montana and Whipper Billy Watson defeat Al and Tiny Mills to win the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario, ending the Mills' second reign.

1958 - Casey and Danny McShain win a tournament for the vacant NWA Texas Tag Team Title in Dallas, Texas.

1961 - Don Leo Jonathan defeats Dr. X (Bill Miller) to win the Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Title in Omaha, Nebraska.

1965 - Mr. Fujiwara and Curtis Iaukea defeat Lord James Blears and Neff Maivia for the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii, ending Blears and Maivia's fourth reign.

1966 - Gene Kiniski defeats Lou Thesz for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in St. Louis, Missouri, ending Thesz's third reign.

1966 - Bob Geigel wins his second NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri, ending the 11th reign of Sonny Myers.

1971 - Chris "C.W. Anderson" Wright is born in Emit, North Carolina.

1974 - Sharon Lee and Jackie West defeat Mariko Akagi and Peggy Kuroda to win the WWWA World Tag Team Title in Niigata, Japan, ending Akagi and Kuroda's second reign.

1976 - Greg Valentine and Bill Watts defeat The Hollywood Blonds (Jerry Brown and Buddy Roberts) to win the vacant Tri-State version of the NWA United States Tag Team Title. Previous champions Killer Karl Kox and Dick Murdoch had split up in December.

1978 - Ted DiBiase wins the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title for the second time, defeating Bob Brown in Kansas City, Kansas, ending Brown's ninth reign.

1979 - Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes defeat Bobby Eaton and George Gulas in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title.

1980 - The Assassins (Jody Hamilton and Tom Renesto) defeat Ricky and Robert Gibson for their third AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, just six days after the Gibsons' defeated the Assassins to win their own second title.

1984 - Spike Huber defeats Bobby Colt to win the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the same show, Dick the Bruiser and Jeff Van Kamp defeat Abdullah the Great and Jerry Valiant for the WWA World Tag Team Title.

1985 - Billy Haynes defeats Gino Hernandez (subbing for an absent Chris Adams) for Adams' World Class Television Title in Fort Worth, Texas, ending Adams' third reign.

1986 - The fourth edition of the WWF's "Saturday Night's Main Event" airs on NBC, earning a 10.4 rating. The show was taped at The Sundome in Tampa, Florida on December 19, and was the second-ever WWF event in Tampa. The results:
- Bob Orton, Jr., Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura defeated Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer and Cousin Luke, when Piper made Luke submit to a sleeper hold following Orton hitting Luke in the head with his cast.
- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Terry Funk after a lariat.
- Randy Savage pinned George Steele after a double axehandle.
- Nikolai Volkoff pinned Corporal Kirchner after a stungun and knee to the chest in a Peace match.
- The Junkyard Dog and Ricky Steamboat defeated Mr. Fuji and Don Muraco, when JYD pinned Fuji.

1986 - Rocky Morgan defeats Chic Cullen in Croydon, England to win the British Heavy Middleweight Title, ending Cullen's second reign.

1987 - Coco Samoa and Ricky Santana defeat Abbuda Dein and Mike Miller for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Portland, Oregon, ending Dein and Miller's second reign.

1989 - The Southern Rockers (Steve Doll and Scott Peterson) defeat Abbuda Dein and The Grappler to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Portland, Oregon, beginning their sixth reign.

1990 - Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, a fullback for the Chicago Bears as well as a multiple-title winning wrestler, dies at age 81 in International Falls, Minnesota.  He was one of the first football players to succeed as a professional wrestler. Nagurski won the World Heavyweight Title in 1937 and also held the Los Angeles, Minneapolis and National Wrestling Association versions of the title, as well as winning the Minneapolis NWA World Tag Team Title with Verne Gagne in 1957. Nagurski played eight seasons with the Bears, two of those years championship years (1931 and 1932), and is a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1963).

1991 - The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) defeat Tony Anthony and Doug Gilbert for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Anthony and Gilbert's second reign.

1993 - Masayoshi Motegi defeats Ray Gonzalez to win the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan. This began the title's 14-month period in the W*ING promotion until its close.

1995 - Kevin Von Erich defeats Greg Valentine in Dallas, Texas to win the NWA North American Heavyweight Title.

1996 - Mabel defeats Carlos Colón for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title in San Germán, Puerto Rico, ending Colón's 16th reign. Colón had just defeated Mabel the previous day in Caguas for the title, which was held up after a match between the two on December 16 in Bayamón.

1999 - Jun Akiyama and Kenta Kobashi end the fifth AJPW Unified World Tag Team Title reign of Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue in Kochi, Japan.

1999 - BDL defeats Twiggy Ramirez and The Suicide Kid in a three-way match to win the vacant IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title in Louisville, Kentucky. The title was stripped from Adam Pearce for not defending.

1999 - Romeo Valentino defeats King Kong Bundy for the Maryland Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Glen Burnie, Maryland, becoming the first two-time champion.

2000 - Gary Albright suffers a heart attack in the ring wrestling for his father-in-law, Afa Anoa'i's World Xtreme Wrestling in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He was pronounced dead just minutes after being taken from the ring. Albright was 36. Albright was a state amateur wrestling champion in his home state of Rhode Island, as well as a two-time All-Japan Tag Team Champion with Stan Hansen and Steve Williams. Albright also worked in Nobuhiko Takada's UWF International.

2000 - Tomoaki Honda and Ryuji Yamakawa defeat Kamikaze and Shunme Matsuzaki to win the BJW Tag Team Title in Osaka, Japan.

2000 - Mr. Showtime defeats Joey Venture for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title in Dyersburg, Tennessee.

2001 - ECW holds its final pay-per-view event, "Guilty as Charged", at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York. The results:
- Bilvis Wesley pinned Mike Bell in a dark match.
- Cyrus and Jerry Lynn defeated Joey Matthews and Christian York, when Cyrus pinned Matthews after Lynn hit Matthews with the cradle piledriver. After the match, Da Baldies (Angel and DeVito) attacked Matthews and York, as well as their manager Joel Gertner. Cyrus then paid off Da Baldies, and took Gertner's place on commentary with Joey Styles.
- ECW World Tag Team Champions Danny Doring and Roadkill defeated Hot Commodity (Julio Dinero and EZ Money), when Doring pinned Dinero, to retain the titles. All three members of Hot Commodity (Dinero, Money and Chris Hamrick) all attacked the champs until Nova made his surprise return and cleared the ring.
- Nova pinned Chris Hamrick in an impromptu match.
- Tommy Dreamer defeated C.W. Anderson in an I Quit match.
- The Unholy Alliance (Yoshihiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck) defeated The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke) and Super Crazy and Kid Kash in three-way dance to become #1 contenders for the ECW World Tag Team Title. Mamaluke pinned Kash after Sal E. Graziano interfered and splashed Kash, then Whipwreck pinned Guido and Tajiri pinned Mamaluke with simultaneous tiger suplexes.
- Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger fought Balls Mahoney and Chilly Willy to a no contest after Rhino interfered. Rhino ducked a chair from Mahoney, then Gored Mahoney, Dawn Marie, Chilly Willy and The Blue Boy in succession, and gave Jasmin St. Claire a second-rope piledriver.
- The Sandman defeated ECW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino and Justin Credible in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Canes match to win the title, after both Corino and Credible went through tables. They shook the new champion's hand before being attacked by Da Baldies, with the four men then fighting to the locker room. Rhino ran in and Gored the new champion, and got him to defend the title.
- ECW World Television Champion Rhino pinned ECW World Heavyweight Champion The Sandman to win the World Heavyweight Title in an impromptu match after a piledriver on a piece of one of the broken tables. Cyrus celebrated with Rhino in the ring and challenged anyone to come out and face him. Rob Van Dam, who hadn't appeared at an ECW show in over two months, came out and had a staredown with Rhino before Jerry Lynn attacked RVD.
- Rob Van Dam pinned Jerry Lynn in an impromptu match after the Van Terminator, with Joel Gertner holding the chair.
- Following the PPV, Justin Credible & Steve Corino cut a promo announcing their alliance as the new Impact Players.

2001 - FMW holds a pay-per-view event at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The results were:
- Kyoko Inoue won a battle royal.
- Chris Candido pinned Azusa Kudo.
- Ricky Fuji and Flying Kid Ichihara defeated WEW Six-Man Tag Team Champion Jado and Kaori Nakayama, when Ichihara pinned Nakayama.
- WEW Hardcore Champion Kintaro Kanemura pinned Masato Tanaka.
- Goemon and Onryo defeated WEW Hardcore Tag Team Champions Hideki Hosaka and Mammoth Sasaki, when Goemon pinned Sasaki, to win the title, ending Hosaka and Sasaki's second reign.
- Masato Tanaka and WEW Six-Man Tag Team Champion Gedo defeated WEW Tag Team Champions Tetsuhiro Kuroda and WEW Heavyweight Champion Kodo Fuyuki, when Gedo pinned Fuyuki, to win the title. The title would be vacated on February 21, when Gedo and Tanaka left FMW.

2001 - One Man Gang defeats champion Carlos Colón and Abdullah the Butcher in a three-way match to win the WWC Hardcore Title in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

2002 - WWE RAW at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York featured the long-awaited return of Triple H from his first quadricep tear, suffered on May 21 in San Jose, California. He stated on the "Triple H: The Game" DVD that even he was taken back by the tremendous ovation when his music hit in the Garden. Triple H came to the ring and announced he was entering the Royal Rumble match, followed by Kurt Angle doing the same. The show ended with Triple H hitting Angle with the Pedigree. Match results from the event were.
In dark matches:
- Brock Lesnar pinned Rico Constantino.
- Randy Orton pinned Ron Waterman.
In matches taped for the following weekend's "Jakked":
- The Hurricane pinned Funaki with a flying crossbody.
- Crash Holly pinned Prince Nana with a tornado bulldog.
- Perry Saturn defeated John Jirus (Xavier) by submission with the Rings of Saturn.
- Christian pinned Lo-Ki after the Unprettier.
In RAW matches:
- Rob Van Dam pinned Test after the Van Daminator and Five-Star Frog Splash.
- Billy and Chuck defeated Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty, when Gunn pinned Scotty after the Fameasser.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Edge pinned Lance Storm after the Edgecution.
- Steve Austin and The Rock defeated Big Bossman and Booker T, when Austin pinned Bossman after the Stone Cold Stunner.
- WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho pinned Rikishi after hitting him with one of his title belts.
- Spike Dudley and Tazz defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) to win the title, ending the Dudleys' sixth reign.
- WWF Women's Champion Trish Stratus and Terri had a no contest in a wet T-shirt contest when Jazz attacked Trish.

2002 - Richard Garza, known professionally as "The World's Strongest Wrestler" Mighty Igor Vodic, among other names, dies at age 70. Vodic held the AWA World Heavyweight Title for one week in 1965, as well as titles in his native Detroit, Michigan.

2004 - TNA holds its 76th weekly pay-per-view event at the TNA Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. The results:
In dark matches:
- Sonny Siaki defeated Dirty Money.
- Elix Skipper defeated Justin Kage.
- Glenn Gilberti and David Young defeated Sean Lee and Matt Power.
- Kid Kash defeated Matt Sydal.
In pay-per-view matches:
- Abyss and Red Shirt Security (Joe Legend and Kevin Northcutt) defeated A.J. Styles and America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm), when Abyss pinned Styles.
- NWA World Tag Team Champions 3Live Kru (B.G. James and Ron Killings) defeated Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger, when Killings pinned Diamond, to retain the title.
- Chris Vaughn pinned Kid Kash.
- Julio Dinero and CM Punk defeated Raven and The Sandman, when Punk pinned Raven.
- Chris Sabin defeated champion Michael Shane, Christopher Daniels and Low Ki in an Ultimate X match to win the TNA X Division Title for the second time.

2004 - Nick Dinsmore defeats Johnny Jeter for the vacant OVW Heavyweight Title in Louisville, Kentucky, beginning his eighth reign. The title was vacated on December 10, after a three-way match on December 3 between then-champion Mark Magnus, Dinsmore and Jeter resulted in Magnus being pinned by both of the challengers at once.

2006 - J.D. Escalade and The Juggulator leave with three the NWA Tri-State titles between them, by winning a tag team match in Parkersburg, West Virginia. They defeated NWA Tri-State X Division Champion Vance Desmond and Heavyweight Champion Chris Kahn to win their singles titles, as well as the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Title. This ended Desmond's third X Division Title reign.

2006 - Jersey All Pro Wrestling holds "Wild Card II" at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey. The results:
- Mercedes Martinez defeated Alicia by disqualification.
- Monsta Mack defeated Trent Acid.
- Monty Brown defeated EC Negro.
- Frankie Kazarian defeated Xavier.
- JAPW Tag Team Champions The S.A.T. (Joél and José Maximo) defeated The Outcast Killaz (Diablo Santiago and Oman Turtuga) and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe) to retain the title.
- Teddy Hart defeated JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion Azrieal in the finals of a Gauntlet match to win the title, ending Azrieal's third reign. The match also included Arcadia, Javi Air, Quiet Storm, Grim Reefer and M-Dogg20.
- Rhino defeated JAPW Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal to win the title.

2006 - Handsome Joe defeats TAKA Michinoku to win the Kaientai Dojo Strongest-K Title in Tokyo, Japan.

2006 - Jason Blackman and Jeremy V defeat Pomp and Circumstance (Ace Rockwell and Shaun Tempers) for the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Title in Cornelia, Georgia.

2006 - Mike Carter defeats Kevin Northcutt to win the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title in Magee, Mississippi, ending Northcutt's second reign.

2006 - Rob McBride defeats Mitch Connor to win the Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic Television Title.

2007 - At WORLD-1's two "Rebirth of Destruction" events in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Cheerleader Melissa defeats Allison Danger to win the Queen's Cup tournament at the afternoon event. At the evening show, Josh Daniels defeats Greg Spitz for the King's Cup, Kirby Mack wins a six-way match over champion T.J. Mack, Shane Hagadorn, Pelle Primeau, Alex Payne and Rhett Titus to win the AWA World Light Heavyweight Title, and Steve Corino defeats Ric Converse for the AWA World Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.

2007 - The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe) defeat Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Takashi Sugiura to win the Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan, ending Kanemaru and Sugiura's second reign.

2007 - Gedo and Jado defeat Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki for the Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

2007 - Yuji Hino and Saburo Inamatsu defeat Handsome Joe and Yasu Urano for the Kaientai Dojo Strongest-K Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

2007 - WWE holds the third-annual "New Year's Revolution" pay-per-view at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.  Coverage of the event is on Page 2!

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