This Day In History - January 1st
January 1st
On this day in history in ....
1927 - Ira Dern defeats Clarence Eklund for Ohio's World Light Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio, ending Eklund's second reign.
1931 - Joe Banaski defeats Nick Bozinis in Columbus, Ohio to become the first Midwest Wrestling Association World Light Heavyweight Champion.
1936 - The Great Mephisto defeats Walter Roxey to win the MWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Detroit, Michigan.
1940 - Pete Belcastro defeats Ernie Piluso for the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Title in Eugene, Oregon.
1943 - Billy Thom defeats Martino Angelo for the MWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio. This began Thom's second reign and ended Angelo's second.
1944 - Jimmy Hart is born in Jackson, Mississippi.
1946 - Larry Tillman defeats Marshall Estep to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title.
1949 - Dizzy Davis defeats Antonino Rocca for the Texas Heavyweight Title in Waco, Texas. This began Davis' second reign and ended Rocca's second.
1949 - Johnny Demchuk defeats Tommy Martindale for the MWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio. This began Thom's second reign and ended Angelo's second.
1950 - Jack O'Reilly defeats Buck Weaver to win the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Title in Portland, Oregon, beginning his second reign.
1954 - El Santo defeats Sugi Sito for the NWA World Middleweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico, to end Sito's second reign.
1959 - Billy Wicks defeats Lee Fields to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama, beginning his third reign.
1961 - Rocket and Sputnik Monroe defeat Duke Keomuka and Mad Dog Vachon to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in Fort Worth, Texas.
1962 - Larry Chene defeats Jim Bernard for the Wolverine Wrestling Michigan Heavyweight Title in Saginaw, Michigan.
1963 - Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff defeat Mr. High (Doug Gilbert) and Mr. Low (Dick Steinborn) for the AWA World Tag Team Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1963 - Art and Stan Neilson win the American Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title for the fourth time by defeating Karl and Kurt Von Brauner.
1968 - Mike Lozansky is born in Calgary, Alberta.
1970 - Kimberly Page is born in Chicago, Illinois.
1970 - Rodney is born in Rutherford, New Jersey.
1970 - Dick Murdoch defeats The Lawman (Don Slatton) for the Amarillo NWA Brass Knuckles Title in Amarillo, Texas, ending Lawman's second reign.
1970 - Stan Pulaski defeats Tarzan Tyler in Omaha, Nebraska for the AWA Midwest Heavyweight Title, to begin his second reign.
1970 - Bulldog Brower defeats Johnny Powers to win the NWF North American Heavyweight Title in Cleveland, Ohio.
1971 - Bob Geigel wins his fifth NWA Central States Heavyweight Title, ending Roger Kirby's second reign in St. Joseph, Missouri.
1975 - Rocket Monroe and Randy Tyler defeat Jackie Fargo and George Gulas to win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title in Nashville, Tennessee. This ended Fargo and Gulas' second reign.
1977 - Robert Roode is born in Peterborough, Ontario.
1978 - Blackjack Mulligan defeats Ricky Steamboat in Greensboro, North Carolina to win his fourth NWA United States Heavyweight Title.
1979 - Jack and Jerry Brisco defeat Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.
1980 - Ricky and Robert Gibson win their second AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, by ending The Assassins' second reign.
1982 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) defeats The Dynamite Kid in Tokyo, Japan for the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight Title. Tatsumi Fujinami had vacated the title in December when he moved up to the heavyweight division.
1982 - The St. Louis Wrestling Club held the "Sam Muchnick Retirement Show" before 19,821 at The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. The results:
- NWA Central States Tag Team Champion Bob Brown and Jerry Brown fought to a draw.
- NWA World Women's Tag Team Champions Joyce Grable and Wendi Richter defeated Early Dawn and Sandy Partlow to retain the title.
- Pat O'Connor defeated Bob Sweetan.
- Jerry Blackwell defeated Ox Baker and Bruce Reed in a Handicap match.
- Rufus R. Jones and David Von Erich fought Harley Race and Greg Valentine to a double-disqualification.
- Dick the Bruiser defeated NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion Ken Patera to win the title, beginning the Bruiser's third reign and ending Patera's second.
- NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes in a Best-of-Three Falls match, 2-1, to retain the title.
1983 - Southwest Championship Wrestling held a one-night 16-man tournament for the SCW Southwest Heavyweight Title. Dick Slater had left the promotion in December, leaving the title vacant. The results were:
First round:
- Tully Blanchard defeated Ken Lucas.
- Jerry Lawler defeated SCW Southwest Tag Team Champion Grappler #1.
- Scott Casey defeated Bobby Jaggers.
- Mike Graham defeated SCW Southwest Tag Team Champion Grappler #2.
- Adrian Adonis defeated Steve O.
- Ricky Morton defeated The Ninja Warrior.
- Tonga John defeated Baron Von Raschke.
- Bob Sweetan defeated Gino Hernandez.
Quarterfinals:
- Tully Blanchard defeated Jerry Lawler.
- Mike Graham defeated Scott Casey.
- Adrian Adonis defeated Ricky Morton.
- Bob Sweetan defeated Tonga John.
Semifinals:
- Tully Blanchard defeated Mike Graham.
- Bob Sweetan defeated Adrian Adonis.
Final:
- Tully Blanchard defeated Bob Sweetan to win the vacant SCW Southwest Heavyweight Title. This began Blanchard's seventh reign.
1983 - The Assassin and Rip Oliver defeat Billy Jack (Haynes) and Stan Stasiak for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Portland, Oregon. This began their second reign.
1983 - Norman Frederick Charles wins a tournament for the vacant Southeast NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Title.
1984 - Negro Casas defeats Black Terry to win the UWA World Lightweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.
1985 - Jay and Mark Youngblood defeat Krusher Khrushchev and Jim Neidhart to win the Florida NWA United States Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.
1986 - Dick Slater defeats Butch Reed for the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Title in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ending Reed's second reign. At the same event, Jake Roberts won the Mid-South Television Title, defeating Dick Slater in the finals of a month-long tournament. Roberts had defeated Eddie Gilbert, Buzz Sawyer and one other man to reach the finals. Slater had beaten Al Perez, Steve Williams and Jim Duggan.
1988 - Masahiro Chono defeats Mike George in Des Moines, Iowa to become the last NWA Central States Television Champion. The promotion closed later in the year.
1989 - Juicio defeats El Corallilo to win the Mexican National Featherweight Title in San Lorenzo, Mexico.
1991 - Los Villanos (I, IV and V) defeats Los Brazos (El Brazo, Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata) for the UWA World Trios Title in Puebla, Mexico. This began and ended both teams' third reigns.
1993 - El Signo defeats Villano III to win the WWF World Light Heavyweight Title in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, to end his sixth reign.
1994 - Villano V defeats Silver King for the UWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, beginning his second reign.
1999 - Mr. Showtime defeats Johnny Gunn and Franklin Ray in a three-way match to become the first Warriors of Wrestling Federation (later NWA Mid-South) Junior Heavyweight Champion.
2000 - The Rebellion (Kurt Reigns and Tejas) defeat The Sterling Studs (Trent Atkins and Mike Fox) for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in North Richland Hills, Texas.
2003 - Naphtali, the reigning NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight Champion, is awarded the title as the first NWA Florida X Division Champion, and the prior title is vacated.
2005 - Místico wins the NWA World Middleweight Title from Averno in Mexico City, Mexico.
2005 - The New York Connection (Glenn Gilberti and Johnny Swinger) defeat John Bogie and Elix Skipper to win the GCW Tag Team Title in Columbus, Georgia.
2005 - Todd Sexton ends Jeremy V's second NWA Wildside Television Title reign in Cornelia, Georgia.
2005 - J.T. Hogg defeats The Juggulator in Parkersburg, West Virginia for the NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Title.
2006 - Hator defeats El Zorro to win the UWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Monterrey, Mexico, ending Zorro's fourth reign.
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