On this day in history in ....
1922 - Sam Hanna defeats Kid Ross to become the first Canadian Welterweight Champion in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada.
1937 - Lou Thesz defeats Everett Marshall for the National Wrestling Association and Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Titles in St. Louis, Missouri. Thesz would also be awarded the vacant American Wrestling Association (Boston) World Title shortly after.
1955 - Fritz Von Erich and Karl Von Schober defeat Whipper Billy Watson and Ilio DiPaolo for the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning Von Erich and Von Schober's second reign.
1955 - Bob Geigel defeats Roy Heffernan to win the NWA Southwest Heavyweight Title in Amarillo, Texas.
1956 - Ben and Mike Sharpe defeat Enrique Torres and Ron Etchison in Fresno, California to win the San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team Title for the 13th time.
1960 - Tiny Mills and Stan Kowalski defeat Whipper Billy Watson and Ilio DiPaolo for the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ending Watson and DiPaolo's fourth reign.
1961 - Don Curtis defeats Karl Krauser (Karl Gotch) to win the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio.
1964 - Tarzan Tyler defeats Bob Orton in Tampa, Florida to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Orton's second reign.
1967 - Bob Kelly defeats Don Carson for the NWA Tri-State Louisiana Heavyweight Title in Lafayette, Louisiana, ending Carson's third reign.
1968 - Curtis Iaukea wins his fourth NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1972 - Rick Gibson defeats The Wrestling Pro for the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title in Dothan, Alabama.
1972 - Buddy Colt wins the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title for the second time, defeating Bob Armstrong in Atlanta, Georgia.
1973 - Moondog Mayne defeats Pat Patterson for the San Francisco version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title in San Francisco, California, ending Patterson's third reign.
1973 - Don Greene and Bearcat Brown defeated The Interns (Tom Andrews and Jim Starr) to win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1974 - Fritz Von Erich defeats Blackjack Lanza for the WCCW American Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas, beginning his 13th reign as champion.
1974 - The Crusaders (Dewey Robertson and Billy Red Lyons) defeat The Love Brothers (Reginald and Hartford Love) to win the Toronto version of the NWA International Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning and ending both team's second reigns.
1975 - Billy Robinson defeats The Masked Destroyer (Killer Kowalski) for the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title.
1979 - George Wells defeats Bob Sweetan to win the San Francisco version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title in San Francisco, California.
1979 - Ciclon Negro defeats Dick Steinborn in Bayamón, Puerto Rico to win the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title, ending Steinborn's third reign.
1985 - Stan Hansen defeats Rick Martel for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
1985 - Stan Hansen defeats Rick Martel in East Rutherford, New Jersey to win the AWA World Heavyweight Title. Hansen had Martel in the Brazos Valley Backbreaker (Boston Crab) and when Martel would try to power out of it, Hansen would press his head against the middle turnbuckle to keep the hold on. Martel eventually submitted.
1986 - Adrian Street defeats Wendell Cooley in Birmingham, Alabama to win the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title for the fourth time, ending Cooley's second reign.
1990 - Askari El Gringo defeats El Hijo del Black Shadow for the World Wrestling Association World Lightweight Title in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico.
1991 - Baron Von Raschke and Ken Patera defeat The Punishers (Sledge and Hammer) to win the Pro Wrestling America Tag Team Title in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1991 - Starrcade '91 was held at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. The show introduced the "BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery" concept, as "randomly selected" tag teams competed in matches, with the winners moving on to a two-ring battle royal at the end of the night. Here are the results:
- Marcus Bagwell & Jimmy Garvin defeated Tracey Smothers & Michael Hayes when Bagwell pinned Smothers.
- Steve Austin & Rick Rude defeated Big Josh & Van Hammer when Rude pinned Hammer.
- Richard Morton & Dustin Rhodes defeated Larry Zbyszko & El Gigante when Rhodes pinned Zbysko.
- Bill Kazmeier & Jushin Liger defeated Diamond Dallas Page & Mike Graham when Liger pinned Page.
- Ricky Steamboat & Todd Champion defeated Cactus Jack & Buddy Lee Parker when Steamboat pinned Parker.
- Lex Luger & Arn Anderson defeated Tom Zenk & Terrance Taylor when Luger pinned Taylor.
- Sting & Abdullah the Butcher defeated Bobby Eaton & Brian Pillman when Sting pinned Eaton.
- Big Van Vader & Mr Hughes defeated The Nightstalker & Rick Steiner when Vader pinned Nightstalker.
- Scott Steiner & Firebreaker Chip defeated Arachnaman & Johnny B. Badd when Steiner pinned Arachnaman.
- Thomas Rich & Ron Simmons defeated Steve Armstrong & PN News when Simmons pinned Armstrong.
- Sting won a two-ring "Battlebowl" battle royal" featuring all the winners of the previous matches.
1995 - ECW ran their Holiday Hell event in Queens, New York at the Lost Battalion Hall. Subtitled the "New York Invasion", the show was held literally four blocks away from the Elks Lodge, which would go on to become ECW's New York home, "The Madhouse Of Extreme". Here are the results of the show:
- Taz defeated Koji Nakagawa.
- Hack Myers defeated JT Smith.
- Mikey Whipwreck defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win the ECW World Television Title and the ECW World Tag Team Championship that Scorpio held with The Sandman. Cactus Jack, who helped Whipwreck win, took the other half of the tag championship, despite Whipwreck not approving of Cactus being a part of Raven's nest.
- The Eliminators defeated The Pitbulls.
- Raven defeated Tommy Dreamer. As a result, Raven received a World Title match later in the show.
- Bruiser Mastino defeated El Puerto Ricano.
- Buh Buh Ray Dudley defeated The Blue Meanie.
- ECW World Heavyweight Champion The Sandman defeated Raven.
- The Gangstas, making a surprise return to ECW to substitute for the Heavenly Bodies, defeated The Public Enemy.
- Sabu defeated Cactus Jack.
1996 - WCW Starrcade '96 was held in Nashville, Tennessee at the Municipal Auditorium. It featured, for the first time ever, a clean finish in a match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, over a decade after their initial WWF feud had been the hottest rivalry in wrestling.
- In a dark match, Mascarita Sagrada & Octagoncito defeated Jerrito Estrada & Piratita Morgan when Sagrada pinned Morgan.
- J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon defeated Dean Malenko to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title.
- Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa to become the first WCW Women's Champion.
- Jushin Liger defeated Rey Mysterio, Jr.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Chris Benoit.
- WCW Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Kevin Nash defeated Meng & The Barbarian when Nash pinned Barbarian.
- Eddie Guerrero defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win a tournament for the WCW United States Title.
- Lex Luger defeated The Giant.
- Roddy Piper defeated Hulk Hogan with a sleeperhold.
1997 - The Monday Night Wars continued, with WWF RAW is WAR scoring a 3.6 rating which featured the debut of Terry Funk as "Chainsaw Charlie," an appearance by George "The Animal" Steele, and Owen Hart defeating WWF Champion Shawn Michaels by disqualification. WCW Monday Nitro scored a 4.6 rating to win the night, which featured Ultimo Dragon defeating Eddie Guerrero to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title (one year to the day of his first WCW Cruiserweight Title win), Booker T defeating Disco Inferno for the WCW World Television Title and a Sting-Hollywood Hogan no-contest main event, Sting retained the WCW World Title.
1998 - Doug Basham defeats Rip Rogers in Louisville, Kentucky to win the NWA Ohio Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Title for the second time, ending Rogers' second reign.
1998 - Mankind defeats The Rock to win the WWF World Title at a RAW is WAR taping in Worcester, Massachusetts. The show would air on the following Monday, January 4, 1999. That night Tony Schiavone would reveal the result during WCW Monday Nitro, airing live that night, noting that Mankind as champion "ought to put a lot of butts in the seats."
1998 - Luis Ortiz defeats Tre for the NWA New England Cruiserweight Title in Somerville, Massachusetts.
2000 - Paul E. Smooth defeats Mark Wolf in Charlestown, Indiana for the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.
2001 - The New Heavenly Bodies (Casanova Chris and Vivacious Vito) win their second NWA World Tag Team Title in Live Oak, Florida, defeating Glacier and Jason Sugarman, who won the titles from The Bodies the previous night in Deland, Florida.
2001 - Sachie Abe and KAZUKI defeat Sumie Sakai and Hiroyo Muto for the Trans-World Wrestling Federation World Women's Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2001 - Dirk Ciglar defeats Brandon K to win the Pro Wrestling eXpress Triple Crown Heavyweight Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, ending K's second reign.
2001 - Eddie Brown defeats Madd Maxx for the Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in Graham, North Carolina.
2003 - Hero! and Kudo defeat Tomohiko Hashimoto and Seiya Morohashi to win the DDT KO-D Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan. At the same show, Danshoku Dino defeats O.K. Revolution for the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title, beginning and ending each man's sixth reign.
2005 - Elix Skipper and Sonny Siaki defeat The Naturals (Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas) for the vacant NWA Wrestle Birmingham Tag Team Title in Irondale, Alabama. The title was vacated on October 8, when champions Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden were broken up when Golden lost a loser-leaves-town match to The Bullet (Bob Armstrong).
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!