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January 19th
On this day in history in ....
1880 - At the original Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, William Muldoon defeats Thiebaud Bauer to become the first American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Champion. He would hold the title until his retirement at the end of 1891.
1937 - Red Devil (Elmer Guthrie) defeats Dobie Osbourne for the Florida Heavyweight Title in Jacksonville, Florida.
1940 - Bobby Bruns defeats Orville Brown in Kansas City, Kansas to become the first Kansas City Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion.
1941 - Pat Patterson, the first man to be WWF Intercontinental Champion, is born in Montreal, Quebec.
1948 - Arthur White defeats Mike Chacoma to win the Mid-America World Light Heavyweight Title in Birmingham, Alabama, ending Chacoma's second reign.
1951 - Nell Stewart wins her second NWA Texas Women's Title, defeating Mars Bennett in Houston, Texas.
1954 - "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase is born in Miami, Florida.
1960 - Tex Riley and Len Rossi defeat Don and Jackie Fargo to win the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Title in Nashville, Tennessee. This began Riley and Rossi's second reign and ended the Fargos' sixth.
1960 - Mike DiBiase defeats The Red Raider (Pedro Godoy) for the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
1960 - In Winnipeg, Manitoba, George Eakin defeats John DePaulo to win the Madison Wrestling Club Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.
1961 - The Medics (Tony Gonzales and Donald Lortie) defeat John Paul Henning and Sonny Myers in a tournament final in Kansas City, Kansas to become the first NWA Central States Tag Team Champions.
1962 - King Curtis and Haru Sasaki end Herb and Seymour Freeman's second NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title reign.
1966 - Ripper Collins defeats Ron Reed to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1968 - Ray Gunkel and Buddy Fuller defeat Butcher Vachon and Stan Vachon (Stan Pulaski) for the Georgia NWA World Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.
1970 - Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeat Tony Borne and Moondog Maybe for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title, beginning the Von Steigers' fifth reign and ending Borne and Mayne's eighth reign.
1970 - Dennis Hall and Johnny Walker defeat Al and Don Greene to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. This ended the Greene's fourth reign and began Hall and Walker's second.
1972 - Mitsu Arakawa and Yoshino Sato defeat Dominic DeNucci and Tony Parisi in a tournament final for the vacant National Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Title in Buffalo, New York.
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.
1973 - Johnny Valentine defeats Harley Race for the held up NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title in St. Louis, Missouri. The title was held up after a December 16 match between them, with Race as champion.
1973 - Ken Lucas defeats The Wrestling Pro to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title in Dothan, Alabama. This began Lucas' third reign and ended the Pro's second.
1976 - Jerry Lawler defeats Ricky Gibson for the held up Mid-America NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee. The title was held up after a match between them earlier in the month. This began Lawler's fifth reign.
1977 - Greg Valentine defeats Rufus R. Jones in Raleigh, North Carolina for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title, beginning his second reign.
1979 - Ole Anderson and Ivan Koloff win their third NWA Georgia Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia, defeating Jack and Jerry Brisco.
1980 - Kato Kung Lee defeats Americo Rocca to win the NWA World Welterweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.
1981 - Carlos Colón and Invader I defeat Danny (Dennis) Condrey and Dutch Mantel for the WWC North American Tag Team Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1984 - Johnny Saint wins his third British World Lightweight Title in Hastings, England, defeating Jackie Robinson.
1985 - Rick Davis and Tim Patterson defeat Butch Moffat and Elton Stanton to win the Vancouver NWA Canadian Tag Team Title in Cloverdale, British Columbia. Stanton wouldn't be without gold for long, as he defeated Moffat in a tournament final on the same day for the vacant Vancouver NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title.
1987 - The WWF holds an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
- Brad Rheinghans pinned Frenchy Martin after a middle-rope shoulderblock.
- Rick Martel and Tom Zenk defeated Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine, when Martel pinned Valentine with a springboard splash.
- Ron Bass pinned Special Delivery Jones after a double underhook facebuster.
- Paul Orndorff defeated George Steele by disqualification after Steele swung a steel chair at the referee.
- Tiger Chung Lee pinned Jerry Allen after an elbow drop.
- WWF Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Kamala after a legdrop in a no disqualification match.
- Lanny Poffo pinned The Red Demon with a somersault splash.
- The Junkyard Dog defeated King Harley Race by countout.
- Billy Jack Haynes (subbing for The Dynamite Kid) and WWF Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), when Haynes made Hart submit with a full nelson. If one of the Hart Foundation members had defeated Smith, the title would have changed hands.
1987 - Owen Hart defeats Makhan Singh (Mike Shaw) for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
1987 - Hercules Ayala defeats David Schultz in Montreal, Quebec to win the International Wrestling International Heavyweight Title.
1991 - The WWF holds the third-annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida. The results:
- In a dark match, Jerry Sags pinned Sam Houston.
- The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato), when Jannetty pinned Tanaka with a sunset flip.
- The Big Bossman pinned The Barbarian after he rolled through a high crossbody.
- Sgt. Slaughter pinned WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior after an elbow drop, after Randy Savage came out and hit Warrior with his scepter, to win the title.
- The Mountie pinned Koko B. Ware after a two handed chokeslam. This was Jacques Rougeau's debut as The Mountie.
- Ted DiBiase and Virgil defeated Dusty and Dustin Rhodes, when DiBiase pinned Dusty with a roll-up. After the match, DiBiase demanded that Virgil put the Million Dollar Belt around his waist. Virgil, after months of abuse from DiBiase, finally stood up to him, and hit him with the belt.
- Entering at #24, Hulk Hogan won his second consecutive Royal Rumble Match, last eliminating Earthquake, who entered #22. The ironman of the 1991 Rumble match was Rick Martel, who broke Ted DiBiase's 1990 longevity record of 44:47, lasting 52:17 in the match.
1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta wins his third AJPW Triple Crown Title, ending the second reign of Stan Hansen in Matsumoto, Japan.
1992 - The WWF holds the fourth-annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York. The results:
- In a dark match, Chris Walker defeated The Brooklyn Brawler by reverse decision.
- The New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato), when Hart pinned Tanaka after a Rocket Launcher.
- Roddy Piper defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion The Mountie by TKO with a sleeper hold to win the title.
- The Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau Beverly) defeated The Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch), when Blake pinned Butch after a double axehandle from Beau.
- The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) by countout, LOD retained the title.
- Ric Flair, entering from the #3 spot, won the Royal Rumble match to win the vacant WWF World Title. The final two participants were Flair and Sid Justice (#29). Hulk Hogan (#26), who was just eliminated by Sid, was not pleased over the result and grabbed Sid's arm. This help from Hogan assists Flair's elimination of Sid to win the match. Flair was the ironman in this Rumble match, at 59:26, which broke Rick Martel's 1991 record of 52:17.
1992 - Art and Jesse Barr defeat The Bruise Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Vancouver, Washington, ending their fifth reign.
1992 - The UWA World Tag Team Title changes hands twice in Tokyo, Japan, as 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 in Tokyo, Japan. At the same event, Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada defeat Lady Apache and Kaoru to become the first UWA Women's World Tag Team Champions. Also, El Solar I defeats Canelo Casas to become the first UWF Super Middleweight Champion.
1997 - The WWF holds the ninth-annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The event featured several wrestlers from the AAA promotion in Mexico. The results were:
In Free For All matches:
- Venum 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, when Sagrada pinned Mini Vader.
In PPV matches:
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Goldust after the Pedigree to retain the title.
- Ahmed Johnson defeated Faarooq by disqualification, after the Nation of Domination interfered and attacked Johnson. Johnson put one of the Nation members through Jacques Rougeau, Sr. and Raymond Rougeau's French announce table.
- Vader pinned The Undertaker after a Vaderbomb.
- Perro Aguayo, Canek and Héctor Garza defeated Jerry Estrada, Fuerza Guerrera and Heavy Metal, when Aguayo pinned Metal after a diving double foot stomp.
- Steve Austin, who entered from the #5 position, eliminated #21 entrant Bret Hart to win the Royal Rumble match. After being eliminated, Mankind and Terry Funk began a brawl outside the ring that had to be broken up by the two referees at ringside. As this was going on, Hart eliminated Austin but as the referees were preoccupied with the brawl, Austin's elimination was unseen. Austin snuck back in and illegally eliminated Vader and the Undertaker and then Bret Hart. When the referees' attention returned to the ring, they saw Austin alone, and gave him the victory. Austin was the ironman of this Rumble match, in the ring for 45:07.
- Shawn Michaels pinned WWF Champion Sycho Sid, after the Sweet Chin Music, following a shot with a television camera, to win the title. The camera shot was payback for Sid's attack on Michaels' mentor, José Lothario, with a camera at November's Survivor Series. This began Michaels' second reign as champion.
1997 - Super Uchuu Majin and Goro Tsurumi defeat Iron Hercules I and Iron Hercules II in Yokohama, Japan for the International Wrestling Promotion World Tag Team Title for the second time, ending the Iron Hercules' second reign.
1998 - This week of the Monday Night War was a close one, 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 garnered much mainstream attention. WCW Monday Nitro won the night, however, with a 4.5 rating on their show.
RAW was live from Selland Arena in Fresno, California. The January 24 Shotgun Saturday Night was also taped beforehand. The results were:
- Mike Tierney defeated Christopher Daniels in a dark match,
Shotgun Saturday Night:
- The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (with Barry Windham and NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett) by disqualification.
- Mark Henry defeated The Black Phantom.
- Steve Blackman defeated Bob Bradley by submission.
- Max Mini pinned El Torito with a backslide.
- El Pantera pinned Chilongo with a roll-up.
RAW is WAR:
- The Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Ball, Skull and Chainz) fought The Nation of Domination (D'Lo Brown, Faarooq and Kama Mustafa) to a double disqualification when everyone started brawling in the ring.
- The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) defeated Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) by disqualification, when Cactus put the Mandible Claw on the referee.
- NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett (with Jim Cornette and NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock 'n' Roll Express) pinned Blackjack Bradshaw (with Blackjack Windham), after Windham accidentally clotheslined Bradshaw. Windham turned on Bradshaw after the match, which means Windham was aligned with the NWA stable before he actually joined it, since the Shotgun episode aired later.
- Owen Hart, The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku defeats Los Boricuas (Jesús, José, Miguel and Savio), when Hart made José submit with the Sharpshooter.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock pinned Ahmed Johnson, after Mark Henry hit Johnson with a chair.
- WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) defeated The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas), after Gunn hit Phineas with a stuffed pig loaded with a brick.
- In a dark match after the show, Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated The Nation of Domination (WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock, Faarooq and Mark Henry), when Hawk pinned Faarooq after the Doomsday Device.
Nitro was live from the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The results:
- Rick Martel defeated Eddie Guerrero.
- Chris Benoit defeated Mart Jannetty.
- Ernest Miller defeated Jerry Flynn.
- WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner) defeated Buff Bagwell and Konnan.
- WCW World Television Champion Booker T defeated Mortis.
- Chris Jericho defeated Juventud Guerrera.
- Lex Luger defeated Scott Hall.
- The Giant defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan by disqualification.
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 Chad Austin & Jimmy Cicero and Joey Matthews & Christian York in a three-way match in Glen Burnie, Maryland to win the vacant Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title. The title was vacated on December 5 when Jerry Lawler, who held the title with The Bruiser, was unable to defend.
2000 - Ali defeats Steve Bradley to win the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Bradley's third reign.
2001 - 3 Count (Shane Helms and Shannon Moore) defeat Suicidal Tendencies (Adam Jacobs and John Phoenix) for the NWA Wildside Tag Team Title in Cornelia, Georgia.
2001 - The Black Attack (Mike Anthony and Al Jackson) defeat Hell's Crew (The Dark Angel and Gravedigger) to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in North Richland Hills, Texas.
2001 - The Damned defeat Hooch Hollar Boy Skeeter and Draven McKnight (subbing for the injured Hooch Hollar Boy J.D.) for the International Wrestling Association Tag Team Title in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Damned would be recognized as the first Tag Team Champions in Steve Corino's Premier Wrestling Federation in March.
2001 - Two Atlantic Terror Championship Wrestling titles change hands in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Mark Shrader and Gregory Martin defeat Jimmy Cicero and Dino Divine for the ATCW Tag Team Title and Terry Allen defeats Nick Fury for the ATCW Hardcore Title.
2001 - Al Katrazz defeats Brooklyn Thrill Kill to win the United Independent Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title in Port Hueneme, California.
2002 - Jimmy Jacobs defeats John E. Bravo to win the Great Lakes Wrestling Cruiserweight Title in Westland, Michigan. Also, Nova defeats Elvis Elliot for the vacant GLW Heavyweight Title.
2002 - B.J. Turner wins a tournament final for the vacant NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title in Beaumont, Texas.
2002 - Colt Steele defeats The Russian Assassin to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Hardcore Title in Walterboro, South Carolina.
2002 - Shirley Doe defeats Kid Senstation for the International Wrestling Cartel High Stakes Heavyweight Title in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, beginning Doe's second reign.
2003 - The WWF holds the 15th-annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view event at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first Rumble event since the Brand Extension.
- In a match airing on Sunday Night Heat, Spike Dudley defeated 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 and Abyss and Miguel Pérez, Jr. for the IWA World 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 MXPW Cruiserweight Title and Gangrel defeats Simon Diamond for the MXPW Heavyweight Title.
2005 - The Thrillseekers (Matt Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter) defeat MNM (Joey Matthews and Johnny Nitro) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Title in Louisville, Kentucky.
2006 - The Filipino Crippler defeats Nightmare for the NWA Hawaii Junior Heavyweight Title in Waipahu, Hawaii.
2007 - Former WWE, WCW and ECW wrestler Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow was found dead in his Hudson, Florida home. The cause of death was not known at the time, but nearly two months later it was reported that the autopsy showed high levels of cocaine and an anti-anxiety medication in his system, and that he was suffering from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. "The Beast from the East" was 45 years old. Bigelow made his WWF debut in 1987 before leaving to work for Jim Crockett Promotions and New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he won its tag team title with Vader in 1992. He returned to the WWF that same year, where he remained until 1995. That year, he had a match which gained mainstream attention, his WrestleMania XI match when he was defeated by former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Bigelow left the WWF for ECW in 1996, where he won the World Heavyweight and Television titles and was a member of the Triple Threat with Shane Douglas and Chris Candido. Bigelow was a member of another three-man stable in WCW in 1999, the Jersey Triad, with Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon. He left when the WWF bought WCW in 2001, and spent the remainer of his career on the independent circuit until he retired in October 2006.
2007 - Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX holds "Over the MAX: Night One" at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, airing live on Samurai TV. The results:
- Shota Takanishi defeated Osamu Namiguchi.
- Gha-cha-ping besiegt Rikiya Fudo.
- Bambikiller and AWA World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino defeated Kamikaze and Tatshuito Takaiwa.
- Mammoth Sasaki and Daisuke Sekimoto defeats Yoshihito Sasaki and NWA United National Heavyweight Champion Ryouji Sai.
- Ikuto Hidaka defeated AWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Minoru Fujita to win the title.
- Kohei Sato, NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion Yoshihiro Takayama and Hirotaka Yokoi defeated Kazunari Murakami, Takao Omori and Shinjiro Otani.
2007 - The Majors Brothers (Brian and Brett Majors) defeat William Regal and Dave Taylor and The Samoan Fight Club (Afa, Jr. and Sonny Siaki) in McDonough to win their second Deep South Wrestling Tag Team Title. The title was vacated the previous day, when The Gymini, who had held the title since December 14, were released along with several other WWE talent.
2007 - Dingo defeats Kraig Keesman, Mark Sterling and Jeremy Wyatt in a four-way match in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the vacant NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title. The title was vacated on December 29, after champion Abyss had won the NWA World Title at TNA's Genesis on November 19.
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