This Day In History - January 2nd
January 2nd
On this day in history in ....
1958 - Herb Freeman and Henry Lenz defeat Kurt Von Himmler and Juan Oinada for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title.
1959 - Fred Blassie defeats Ray Gunkel in Atlanta, Georgia to win the NWA Georgia Southern Heavyweight Title for the eighth time, ending Gunkel's third reign.
1965 - Sonny Myers defeats Tom Clark for the Central States version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Waterloo, Iowa, beginning his second reign.
1970 - Dick Dunn defeats Rocket Monroe to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title in Dothan, Alabama.
1971 - Ripper Collins defeats Johnny Barend for the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii. This ended Barend's second reign and began Collins' seventh.
1979 - Dick Slater defeats Jos LeDuc to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
1979 - Randy Alls (Randy Rose) defeats Dick Murdoch to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri.
1980 - Ox Baker defeats Bruiser Brody for the World Class American Heavyweight Title in San Francisco, California, ending Brody's fourth reign and beginning Baker's second.
1981 - Mike Graham and Barry Windham defeat The Cowboy Connection (Bobby Jaggers and R.T. Tyler) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Orlando, Florida.
1982 - Jimmy Valiant defeats Ivan Koloff for the NWA Television Title in Hampton, Virginia, ending Koloff's second reign.
1983 - Jacques Rougeau defeats Sabu the Wildman (Coco Samoa) to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning Rougeau's second reign.
1987 - The MOD Squad (Basher and Spike) defeat Todd Champion and Dave Peterson for the NWA Central States Tag Team Title in Kansas City, Kansas.
1988 - The WWF's 14th "Saturday Night's Main Event" show, which was taped on December 7 in Landover, Maryland at Capital Centre, airs on NBC. The results:
- WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) defeats The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) in a Two out of Three Falls match in two straight falls to retain the titles. Martel made Zhukov submit with the Boston Crab to win the first fall, and Santana pinned Zhukov to win the second.
- Jake Roberts pinned Sika with a roll-up.
- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned King Kong Bundy with the legdrop.
- Greg Valentine defeated Koko B. Ware by submission with the figure-four leglock.
1988 - I-Ton and Dory Singh defeat Atomic Kid and The Frog for the Universal Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Title in Cloverdale, British Columbia.
1990 - Arn Anderson defeats The Great Muta in Gainesville, Georgia to win the NWA World Television Title. This match aired on the January 13th edition of "Power Hour" and began Anderson's second reign.
1991 - Danny Davis defeats Joseph Magliano (Joey Maggs) for the USWA Junior Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning his second reign.
1996 - The Equalizer and George South end The Italian Stallion and Star Ryder's second reign as Pro Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions in Mooresville, North Carolina.
1997 - Brian Christopher wins his 23rd USWA Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, defeating Wolfie D.
1997 - Caveman Broda and Steve Stryker defeat Todd Bullet and Wildman Firpo to win the Canadian Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title.
1998 - Yoshihiro Tajiri and Ryuji Yamakawa win their second BJW Tag Team Title, defeating Gedo and Jado in Tokyo, Japan.
1999 - Samu defeats Sean Evans to win the Pro Wrestling eXpress Heavyweight Title in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, ending and beginning each's second reign.
1999 - Baldo (Matt Bloom) defeats Lance Jade for the Power Pro Wrestling Young Guns Title in Memphis, Tennessee.
2000 - Tomoaki Honma defeats Ryuji Yamakawa to win the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Title in Tokyo, Japan, ending Yamakawa's second reign.
2000 - Yasushi Kanda and Susumu Mochizuki defeat Black Dragon and Fantasy in a tournament final to become the first IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Champions in Naucalpan, Mexico.
2002 - Bison and Rapture defeat Axl Law and Scott Venom to win the NWA PWX Tag Team Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
2003 - WWE holds an event at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, taping the January 4th Velocity. SmackDown! aired live on UPN, featuring the wedding of Al Wilson and Dawn Marie. The results:
Velocity:
- Jamie Noble and Nunzio defeated Jim Lucas and Jeff Michaels, when Noble made Michaels submit with the Trailer Hitch.
- A-Train pinned Derek Selsvold after a backbreaker.
- Funaki pinned Charles Schipporeit after a tornado DDT.
- WWE Tag Team Champion Chavo Guerrero pinned Tajiri with his feet on the ropes.
SmackDown!:
- John Cena pinned Rikishi with a roll-up.
- Bill DeMott pinned Chuck Palumbo after a reverse neckbreaker.
- WWE Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman pinned WWE Tag Team Champion Eddie Guerrero with the Shooting Star Press after John Cena ran in and hit Eddie with his chain.
- Chris Benoit and Edge defeated Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) by disqualification after Angle hit Benoit with his WWE Title belt.
- Nunzio pinned Crash Holly after a flying armbar DDT.
- Brock Lesnar pinned Matt Hardy after the F5.
2003 - Kaori Yoneyama defeats Princesa Sandy for the vacant BJW Women's Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2004 - Great Kosuke (Satoshi Kojima) and Shiryu (Kaz Hayashi) defeat Mr. Gannosuke and Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2004 - Red Devil defeats Andy Simmonz in a tournament final for the vacant Italian Championship Wrestling Italian Heavyweight Title in Barzio, Italy. The title was vacated because previous champion Manuel Majoli had been injured.
2004 - Shockwave defeats Kid Krush to win the World of Hurt Wrestling Fusion Cruiserweight and Dynamite Titles in Hudson Falls, New York.
2004 - Craziness defeats Dynamite Dan for the United States Wrestling Organization Television Title in Madison, Tennessee.
2007 - Brian Jennings defeats Jon Moxley to win the Heartland Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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