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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: EDDIE GUERRERO WINS THE WWE TITLE, MR. T VS. BOXING BOB ORTON AND MORE

February 15th

On this day in history in ....  

1962 - Rikidozan & Toyonobori defeat Luther Lindsay & Ricky Waldo to win the All Asian Tag Team Title for the second time in Tokyo, Japan.

1969 - The Medics (Billy Garrett & Jim Starr) defeat Bobby & Lee Fields in a rematch to win back the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.  The belts had been held up following a match between the two teams.

1982 - WWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Johnny Rodz vs. Davey O'Hannon ended in a draw.
- Mr. Fuji, Mr. Saito & Captain Lou Albano defeated Tony Garea, Rick Martel & Pat Patterson in a three out of five falls match.
- Jesse Ventura defeated S.D. Jones.
- WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Adrian Adonis in a Texas Death Match with Ivan Putski as the referee.
- Pierre Martel defeated Larry Sharpe via DQ.
- Steve Travis defeated Charlie Fulton.
- Rick McGraw defeated Jose Estrada.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales defeated Greg Valentine in an Alley Fight match with Ivan Putski as the referee.
- Tony Atlas vs. Killer Khan was ruled a draw due to the MSG curfew.

1986 - WWF taped the fifth edition of Saturday Night's Main Event (broadcast on NBC on March 1st) in Phoenix, Arizona.  This is the show that set up several angles for Wrestlemania 2. The show also featured the debut of Hulk Hogan's "I Am A Real American" music video.   Here are the results of the show:
- Mr. T defeated Boxing Bob Orton (Randy Orton's father) via countout in the second round of a boxing match.  Roddy Piper attacked Mr. T after the match, setting up their Wrestlemania 2 boxing match.
- King Kong Bundy defeated Steve Gatorwolf.
- WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defeated The Magnificent Muraco via disqualification.  The storyline was that Muraco's manager, Mr. Fuji, had taken ill, so Bobby Heenan took his place at ringside.  King Kong Bundy (a Heenan charge) came out, and with the help of Muraco, injured Hogan with several avalanches, setting up their Wrestlemania 2 steel cage match.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine (who came out to the ring using Queen's "We Are The Champions" as entrance music) defeated The British Bulldogs when Valentine and Dynamite Kid collided head to head, and Valentine fell on top of Dynamite for the pin.  A rematch would be signed for Wrestlemania 2.
- The Junkyard Dog defeated Adrian Adonis.
- In a match that was not televised, Pedro Morales defeated Bret Hart.

1991 - Eric Embry defeats Bull Dundee in Dallas, Texas to win the USWA Texas Heavyweight Title for the second time.

1993 - Ron & Don Harris defeated the Moondogs (Spot & Splat) for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, starting their third reign with the belts. 

1998 -  WWF held their "In Your House: No Way Out Of Texas" Pay-per-view at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas. Results from the show saw:  
- The Headbangers defeated Goldust & Marc Mero when Thrasher cradled Mero for the pin as Mero and Goldust were trying to separate Luna and Sable at ringside. 
- Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku defeated Pantera with a Michinoku Driver.  After the match, TAKA took out Brian Christopher and Jerry Lawler at ringside with a top rope dive. 
- The Godwinns defeated Jacques Rougeau & Pierre Outlette when Phinneas pinned Pierre. 
- Justin Bradshaw defeated NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett via disqualification when Jarrett used Jim Cornette's tennis racket.
- Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, Chainz (Brian Lee), Eight Ball (Ron Harris) & Skull (Don Harris) defeated Faarooq, Rocky Maivia, D'Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa & Mark Henry when Shamrock forced Rocky with the anklelock. 
- Kane defeated Vader with a tombstone. 
- Steve Austin, Cactus Jack, Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) & Owen Hart defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn & Savio Vega (subbing for Shawn Michaels) in a no-disqualification match when Austin pinned Road Dogg with a stunner. 

1998 - Louis Mucciolo, known in the ring as Louie Spicolli, died in his home at age 27 after mixing alcohol and somas (a painkiller/relaxer) and vomiting in his sleep. Spicolli was a 10-year veteran who had worked in WWF, ECW, Mexico and was in WCW at the time of his death, about to be pushed as a "lackey" to the NWO.  

1999 - During an live edition of Raw from Birmingham, Alabama The Rock defeated Mankind for the WWF World Heavyweight Title in a ladder match after Paul Wight chokeslammed Mankind, ending Mankind's second run with the title and starting his own third title reign.  On the same show, Shane McMahon pinned X-Pac to win the WWF European Title in a tag team match with Shane & Kane vs. X-Pac & Hunter Hearst Helmsley in which the title was on the line.

2003 - Cody Hawk & Chet Jablonski defeated Rory Fox & Matt Stryker for the Heartland Wrestling Association Tag Team Title.

2004 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan wins a tournament for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan.  Here are the results:
Quarterfinals:
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Kensuke Sasaki.
- Yuji Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda.
- Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Yoshihiro Takayama.
- Genichiro Tenryu defeated Masahiro Chono.
Semifinals:
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Yuji Nagata.
- Genichiro Tenryu defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Finals:
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title.

2004 - WWE held their No Way Out Pay-per-view in San Francisco, California, headlined by Eddie Guerrero defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Heavyweight Title.  Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show:

WWE's No Way Out (2/15 from the San Francisco Cow Palace) was one of those shows that started weak but ended with a bang. Much of the undercard came across like a standard wrestling TV show. The show began to build with the strong Cruiserweight Title match, slipped back just a little with the three way match, and reached a great climax with the main event. The commentary was generally good from Tazz & Michael Cole, though Tazz was clearly the star. The live crowd pretty much followed the trend line of the show, warming up as the show improved, and exploding at the end.

RIKISHI & SCOTTY 2 HOTTY beat THE BASHAM BROTHERS & SHANIQUA in 8:16 in a handicap match to retain the Smackdown World Tag Titles. Scotty skinned the cat in an early spot. He then almost killed Danny Basham with a spinning headscissors. Doug tagged in and bumped all over to sell Rikishi's girth. Shaniqua got knocked down in the corner and Rikishi almost backed his ass into her face. Doug got laid out, and Scotty went for the worm on him but Shaniqua blocked it. Scotty got worked over for a while before hot tagging. Rikishi cleaned house. He no-sold Shaniqua's offense and then slammed her. Doug & Danny saved her from the Bonzai ass drop. Scotty took out the Bashams, allowing Rikishi to Samoan drop Shaniqua and then ass drop her for the pin. Just a regular TV type match.

JAMIE NOBLE defeated NIDIA in 4:26. The rules here required Noble to wear a hood so he couldn't see. Most of the match was Nidia taking advantage of him, smacking him in the face, kicking him in the ass, and so forth, with Noble staggering around blind. They teased Noble grabbing her tits once. Nidia pulled Noble's trunks down, tripping him up. Noble finally grabbed Nidia by the hair and ripped a wad of it out. The finish saw Nidia go up to the top, but Noble lifted his hood (behind the ref's back), saw her there, and slammed her hard to the mat. He then choked her until she tapped. As wrestling, this sucked, but it was somewhat entertaining.

Kurt Angle cut a promo. John Cena arrived and the two got into it, ending in a pull-apart brawl.

CHARLIE HAAS & SHELTON BENJAMIN beat the A.P.A. in 7:21. Benjamin outwrestled Faarooq. Faarooq turned the tables and outbrawled Benjamin. The APA doubled on Haas, who sold big. Faarooq called a spot a little too loudly. Haas & Benjamin tied Faarooq up in their corner and worked over his bad arm. They were doing the old Minnesota Wrecking Crew spots of fast tags and focusing on one body part. Faarooq managed to tag in Bradshaw, who sent Haas & Benjamin bumping. Bradshaw gave Benjamin a high powerbomb. Haas posted Faarooq. Bradshaw did the fall away slam on Benjamin. Bradshaw began throwing the killer lariats, but hurt his injured arm (part of the story of this match was guys selling injuries from prior matches between these teams), allowing Benjamin to nail Bradshaw with a thrust kick for the pin. Not all that good. Haas & Benjamin need a higher profile feud.

Bill Goldberg arrived to take his front row seat. I guess he saw the booking sheet and didn't bother with the first three matches. As soon as he sat down, Paul Heyman hit the ring and went off on him. Heyman was screaming at the top of his lungs, warning Goldberg that he'd better do nothing more than sit there and view the superior Smackdown product. He vowed that if Goldberg dared to cross the ring barrier, he'd be ejected, arrested, prosecuted, etc. etc. etc. Brock Lesnar came out and began taunting Goldberg. He dared him to come in the ring, accusing him of being afraid to do so. Heyman kept asking Lesnar to stop, but it was one of those deals where you could see they were working out a plan. Lesnar said Goldberg was such a coward he would do nothing but sit in his seat like the little bitch he is. Naturally, Goldberg could take no more and came over the barrier and into the ring, as Heyman freaked out. Lesnar looked like he was ready to bail and run, but Heyman distracted Goldberg, giving Lesnar the opening to jump him. Lesnar went for the F5, but Goldberg escaped and hit the jackhammer to a strong pop. Heyman freaked out even more, if that was possible, and he began literally screaming for security. Security charged the ring and Goldberg was handcuffed and arrested. Actually, they did it a lot easier than they probably should have, as Goldberg didn't do the Steve Austin routine of resisting arrest. He just submitted to it. He was hauled out as the stunned Lesnar staggered back up. This was okay as an angle to continue the build for what will surely be a WrestleMania match. On commentary, Tazz & Cole endorsed the arrest of Goldberg, doing the gimmick of defending Smackdown against RAW invaders.

HARDCORE HOLLY defeated RHYNO in 9:55. This match was set up on Heat. Holly arrived at the ring while Lesner was still reviving. The moment Lesnar saw Holly coming in, he got the hell out of there and fled. Rhyno came out and the brawling began. Holly threw some chops. Rhyno hit a shoulderblock and hooked a legscissors. Rhyno scored some twos. Holly scored some twos of his own with a suplex, a lariat, and a running dropkick. Rhyno got a near fall with a superplex. Holly hit an inverted DDT for a two count. Rhyno connected with the gore, but Holly managed to bump out to the floor to avoid being pinned. He recovered and caught Rhyno with the Alabama Slam for the pin. Another standard TV type match. Not bad, just not PPV type action.

An Undertaker promo appeared on the giant screen, promising the dead will rise in 28 days (WrestleMania, long known for raising the dead).

CHAVO GUERRERO JR. defeated REY MYSTERIO JR. in 17:21 to capture the Cruiserweight Title. Chavo Jr. had his dad Chavo Sr. in his corner, while Mysterio had boxing great Jorge Paez. Someone had a sign that said of Chavo, "He Lies, He Cheats, He Sucks". Mysterio hit a fast arm drag. Chavo tried to take Mysterio's mask. Mysterio hit a dropkick and a headscissors, scoring some twos. Chavo scored two with a slam and a kick. They did a couple of sloppy spots leading into Mysterio hitting the 619. Mysterio went for the West Coast Pop, but Senior tripped him up. Paez KO'ed Senior with a punch to the jaw. This prompted the ref to order Paez back to the locker room, though I'm not sure if that ruling could be supported by all precedents. Chavo went out to help his dad, allowing Mysterio to nail him with a springboard plancha. Back in the ring, Mysterio hit a springboard legdrop for a near fall. Chavo hit a backbreaker type move off the top, scoring some twos off of it. On the mic, Cole kept reciting Cow Palace history, though I think he got some things wrong, including confusing the Cow Palace with the Los Angeles Olympic on some things. Each wrestler scored a ton on twos as the match continued. Chavo hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Mysterio hit a bulldog and a reverse Russian legsweep. They traded DDT's. Mysterio hit a moonsault. Mysterio hit the 619 again and went for a senton splash but, in a neat move, Chavo rolled through on it and hooked a submission hold. Mysterio made the ropes. Mysterio went to the top, but Senior, who finally revived from the earlier punch, shoved him off and he bumped on the ropes. Chavo easily cradled Mysterio for the pin and title change. Not an off-the-charts match, but very good. This match ignited the crowd and helped save the show.

In a post-victory promo, Chavo boasted that his uncle Eddie Guerrero would never be a champion because he's a loser and an addict.

KURT ANGLE defeated BIG SHOW and JOHN CENA in a three-way match in 12:17 to earn the shot at the Smackdown version of the World Title at 'Mania. Cena did a pre-match rap. Show overpowered both Angle and Cena early. Angle and Cena slugged it out. Angle suplexed Cena, who ended up bumping out and selling that he hurt his bad knee. Show slowly pounded Angle, and then did the same to Cena. Show gave two legdrops to Cena. As always in a three way, pin attempts started being broken up by the third man. Show bumped out, so Angle and Cena traded some twos. Angle hit three German suplexes on Cena. They broke up one another's pin attempts some more. Up to this point, the match was kind of boring but it picked up steam when Cena gave the huge Show an FU. He also DDT'd Angle. Cena tried to pin Show but Show made the ropes. Angle Olympic slammed Show for a near fall. Angle put the ankle lock on Cena. Show made the save by chokeslamming both of them. Angle revived quickly and put the ankle lock on Show, who escaped. Cena went for an FU on Angle. Show stopped it by walloping Cena in his bad knee. Angle put Show in position for an Olympic slam, and dumped him from the ring for a big bump. Angle then forced Cena, whose knee was in bad shape, to tap to the ankle lock. The last few minutes were good, with strong crowd heat. Overall, it was below the level of a typical Angle match.

EDDIE GUERRERO defeated BROCK LESNAR in 30:04 to capture the WWE World Title. Eddie got a huge reaction coming out. Lesnar started off strong, using his superior strength to toss Eddie all over the place. Lesnar kept yelling, "You ain't nothin'" at him. Eddie bumped like crazy from high suplexes and backdrops. Lesnar was totally confident, throwing high knees and slamming Eddie like a rag doll. Eddie finally managed to take Lesnar down and wrap his knee around the ringpost. Lesnar recovered and tied Eddie up after a Samoan drop. Eddie escaped but Lesnar lariated him. Lesnar went for another high knee, but Eddie moved and Lesnar's knee hit the turnbuckle, with Lesnar then bumping hard out to the floor. Eddie dived out onto him. Back in the ring, Eddie went after the injured knee. He hooked an STF. Lesnar escaped using his strength. Eddie stomped the knee and tried for a figure four, which Lesnar blocked. Lesnar rallied, but Eddie cut him off with a headscissors and more stomps to the knee. Eddie hooked the figure four. The crowd was loving this. Lesnar made the ropes. Eddie hooked another STF but Lesnar escaped it as well. They did an awesome job presenting Lesnar as a monster here, even in losing. Lesnar hit a German suplex and a spinebuster. Eddie went for a missile kick, but missed when Lesnar moved. Lesnar got rammed into the turnbuckles and got a bloody nose. Lesnar threw more suplexes and tried to squeeze the life out of Eddie, who wouldn't quit. Lesnar, frustrated, kept saying, "Just die" to Eddie. Eddie hit a headscissors again, followed by three suplexes. Eddie went for the frog splash, but Lesnar rolled clear and Eddie crashed hard to the mat. Lesnar hit the F5, but in doing so bumped the ref. Lesnar scored a visionary fall, with the ref out cold. Lesnar retrieved his title belt. Before he could use it, Goldberg charged in to a massive pop and speared Lesnar. Guess Goldberg made bail. Eddie crawled on top of Lesnar but only scored two as the ref was slow to revive and do the count. The crowd was going nuts. Eddie tried to hit Lesnar with the belt. Lesnar blocked it and Eddie dropped the belt. Lesnar took Eddie up for the F5, which Eddie reversed into a DDT right onto the belt. Eddie then hit the frog splash. The ref, still groggy, revived again and counted three as Eddie scored the pin. Excellent match, excellent heat, and excellent closing pop. Eddie celebrated his win with his family (excluding Chavo Jr. & Sr.) afterward. Great ending, which sets up Eddie vs. Angle and Lesnar vs. Goldberg.

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