This Day in History - February 2nd, 2011
February 2nd
On this day in history in ....
1914 - Charlie Cutler, American Heavyweight Champion for just over a year at this point, defeats Henry Ordemann, who claimed the title, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1928 - Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Wayne Munn in Michigan City, Indiana win the Illinois and Michigan version of the World Heavyweight Title and unify it with his undisputed title.
1939 - Lou Plummer defeats Sandor Szabo to win the San Francisco Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title in Salinas, California, ending Szabo's fifth reign.
1949 - Rube Wright defeats Albert Mills for the Montana Heavyweight Title in Great Falls, Montana.
1950 - Genichiro Tenryu is born in Katsuyama, Japan.
1956 - Gene Stanlee defeats Bill Miller for the Ohio Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio.
1957 - Ed Francis and Henry Lenz defeat Red Bastien and Roy Heffernan to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title.
1965 - Naoki Sano is born in Yokohama, Japan.
1966 - Johnny Barend defeats Nick Kozak to win the Hawaii NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1970 - Raúl Reyes defeats Goliath in Monterrey, Mexico for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title.
1970 - Ricky Romero defeats The Beast to win the NWA Western States Heavyweight Title in El Paso, Texas.
1971 - Kintaro Ohki defeats Bill Dromo in Hiroshima, Japan to win the JWA All Asia Heavyweight Title. This made Ohki the first to hold the title twice.
1973 - Mariko Akagi and Jumbo Miyamoto defeat Masked Lee and Princess War Star to win the WWWA World Tag Team Title in Okayama, Japan. This began their third title reign.
1973 - Fred Curry and Tony Marino defeat Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz in Detroit, Michigan for the Detroit NWA World Tag Team Title. This began and ended both teams' second reigns.
1976 - Dragon Kid is born in Tokai, Japan.
1976 - The WWWF held an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The results were:
- Frank Monte defeated Pete Sanchez.
- Louis Cyr defeated Francisco Flores.
- Spiros Arion defeated Kevin Sullivan.
- Ernie Ladd defeated Dominic DeNucci.
- Ivan Putski and Ivan Koloff fought to a time-limit draw.
- The Coco Kid and Little Louie defeated Billy the Kid and Little Johnny in Best-of-Three Falls match, 2-0.
- WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated Superstar Billy Graham by referee stoppage due to blood to retain the title.
- Baron Mikel Scicluna defeated Pat Barrett.
- Bobo Brazil (subbing for Louis Cerdan) and WWWF Tag Team Champion Tony Parisi defeated Jerry Blackwell and Bugsy McGraw in Best-of-Three Falls match, 2-0.
1977 - Conrad Kennedy III is born in Toledo, Ohio.
1977 - Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda defeat Strong Kobayashi and Seiji Sakaguchi for the New Japan NWA North American Tag Team Title in Osaka, Japan.
1978 - Yuki Miyazaki is born in Anjo City, Japan.
1978 - Dory Funk, Jr. and Larry Lane defeat Brute Bernard and Frank Morrell in Amarillo, Texas for the NWA Western States Tag Team Title.
1980 - Teddy Hart is born in Calgary, Alberta.
1981 - The Bounty Hunters (David and Jerry Novak) defeat Bill Dundee and Tommy Rich in a no-disqualification Title vs. Hair match for the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Dundee and Rich's second reign and beginning the Hunters' fifth. The hair at stake was that of the Bounty Hunters' manager, Jimmy Kent.
1983 - Mia Martinez is born in Chicago, Illinois.
1985 - The WWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The results:
- Moondog Spot defeated José Luis Rivera.
- Brutus Beefcake defeated Rick McGraw.
- WWF Tag Team Champion Mike Rotundo defeated The Iron Sheik.
- Nikolai Volkoff defeated WWF Tag Team Champion Barry Windham.
- Paul Orndorff defeated Ivan Putski.
- Don Muraco defeated George Wells.
- Bret Hart defeated Mr. X.
- WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter defeated Judy Martin to retain the title.
- André the Giant and the Junkyard Dog defeated Ken Patera and Big John Studd in a Texas Tornado match.
1986 - The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton) defeat The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) in Atlanta, Georgia to win the NWA World Tag Team Title, ending Gibson and Morton's second reign. This match aired five days later on "Superstars on the Superstation" on TBS.
1986 - Dirty Rhodes (Roger Smith) defeats Buddy Landel for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Landel's third reign. At the same show, Rick Casey (Wendell Cooley) ends Dutch Mantel's second CWA International Heavyweight title reign.
1987 - The Continental Wrestling Association held a 14-man tournament at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. It was to fill the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title vacancy left when Jerry Lawler was injured earlier in the month. The results were:
First round:
- Austin Idol defeated Billy Travis to advance to the semifinals.
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Boy Tony.
- Big Bubba defeated Tracy Smothers.
- CWA International Heavyweight Champion Soul Train Jones defeated Tommy Rich.
- The Hunter defeated CWA International Tag Team Champion Paul Diamond.
- Goliath defeated CWA International Tag Team Champion Pat Tanaka.
- Alan West defeated Tarzan Goto.
Quarterfinals:
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Big Bubba.
- CWA International Heavyweight Champion Soul Train Jones defeated The Hunter.
- Goliath defeated Alan West.
Semifinals:
- Austin Idol defeated Jeff Jarrett.
- CWA International Heavyweight Champion Soul Train Jones defeated Goliath.
Non-tournament:
- The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) and The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) fought to a no-contest.
Final:
- Austin Idol defeated CWA International Heavyweight Champion Soul Train Jones to win the vacant AWA Southern Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.
1987 - The World Class Wrestling Association held a "Wrestling Star Wars" event at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The results:
- Steve Simpson defeated Roberto Soto.
- The Dingo Warrior defeated WCWA Texas Heavyweight Champion Bob Bradley to win the title. This was the future WWF World and Intercontinental Champion's first career singles title win. The Warrior had held the WCWA World Tag Team Title with Lance Von Erich for two weeks in late 1986.
- Matt Borne defeated Scott Casey.
- Red River Jack defeated Killer Tim Brooks.
- David Manning defeated Gary Hart.
- WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich defeated WCWA World Tag Team Champion Al Madril to retain the title.
- Abdullah the Butcher defeated Tony Atlas by countout.
- The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) and The Rock 'n' Roll RPM's (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) fought to a double-countout.
- Kerry Von Erich defeated WCWA World Tag Team Champion Brian Adias.
1989 - The World Wrestling Alliance (the former Central States Wrestling), in conjunction with All Japan Pro Wrestling, held "International Bash" at Memorial Hall in Kansas Vity, Kansas. The results were:
- Rick McCord defeated Bobby Jaggers.
- Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) defeated Tommy Sharpe.
- Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk defeated Doug Somers and Gary Young, when Terry made Young submit.
- Genichiro Tenryu defeated Bill Irwin.
- Akio Sato defeated Curtis Hughes.
- The British Bulldogs (The Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) and The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) fought to a 30-minute draw. Pat O'Connor was referee.
- NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated AJPW Unified World Tag Team Champions - NWA United National and PWF Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy, when Tsuruta pinned Gordy, to win the title. This ended Gordy and Hansen's second reign and began Tsuruta and Yatsu's fourth.
- WWA World Heavyweight Champion Mike George defeated Stevie Ray by countout to retain the title.
1991 - The WWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The results:
- The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) defeated Demolition (Ax and Smash) by disqualification.
- The Big Bossman defeated Haku.
- The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels), when Saggs pinned Michaels.
- The Barbarian defeated Koko B. Ware.
- The Undertaker defeated Tugboat.
- Roddy Piper defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect by countout. Perfect retained the title.
- Jim Duggan defeated Gen. Adnan (subbing for WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter) in 48 seconds.
- WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter (subbing for Randy Savage) defeated The Ultimate Warrior in a Steel Cage match to retain the title, after Sensational Queen Sherri interfered.
1991 - Carlos Colón defeats Greg Valentine in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, in a rematch from December 15, to win the vacant WWC Universal Heavyweight Title, and begin his 12th reign.
1991 - Brad Anderson and The Hood (Ricky Santana) defeat The Wrecking Crew (The Equalizer and The Grappler) for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Portland, Oregon, ending the Crew's second reign.
1992 - Dos Caras defeats Canek to win the UWA World Heavyweight Title in Naucalpan, Mexico. This began Caras' third reign and ended Canek's 10th.
1995 - Vance Nevada defeats Mr. Torture in Miami, Manitoba for the Canadian Unified Junior Heavyweight Title.
1996 - Konnan defeats The Killer in Querétaro, Mexico to become the first AAA Americas Heavyweight Champion.
1997 - Stevie Richards defeats Axl Rotten for the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title in Gaithersburg, Maryland, ending Rotten's second reign.
1999 - Damaja and David C win their second OVW Southern Tag Team Title, ending the seventh reign for The Lords of the Ring (Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore) in Louisville, Kentucky. Also at that event, Rod Steele ends Rip Rogers' third OVW Heavyweight Title reign.
1999 - Harry Palmer defeats BDL in Louisville, Kentucky to win the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title, his second.
2000 - WCW's 98th episode of "Thunder", taped the previous night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York, airs on TBS. The show got a 2.2 rating, and the results were:
- Norman Smiley defeated The Demon.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious defeated Mike Rotunda in a Submission match.
- Shannon Moore defeated Shane Helms in a WCW Cruiserweight Title Tournament quarterfinal match.
- The Wall defeated Kidman (with Torrie Wilson) and Vampiro in a three-way match.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious defeated Rick Steiner in a Hardcore match.
- Diamond Dallas Page (with Kimberly) defeated The Machine (Emory Hale).
- Tank Abbott defeated Villano IV.
- David Flair and Crowbar (with Daffney) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Johnny The Bull (with Disco Inferno)).
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious defeated The Harris Boys (Don and Ron) in a Handicap Caged Heat match.
2002 - Jersey All-Pro Wrestling held its Russ Haas Memorial Show at Charity Hall in Bayonne, New Jersey, held in honor of Russ Haas, brother of Charlie Haas, who died of a heart attack in his sleep on December 15. Haas was just 27 years old. The results:
- Ghost Shadow and Jay Lethal defeated Deranged and Rainchild in a Lucha Rules match.
- NWA Virginia Heavyweight Champion Jacey North defeated Chino Martinez to retain the title.
- Seijin Akki defeated Crazy Ivan.
- JT Jobber defeated Katarina Heiss.
- Slyk Wagner Brown (with April Hunter) defeated Matt Striker.
- The Big Unit (Dave Desire and Rick Silver) defeated Don Montoya and Mike Quackenbush.
- The Boogie Knights (Danny Drake and Mike Tobin) defeated Ric Blade and Elax.
- Kid Kruel (Mike Kruel) defeated Low Ki.
- Charlie Haas defeated Crowbar and Simon Diamond in a three-way dance. The was going to be a singles match between Diamond and Crowbar, when Haas came out and was added to the match.
- JAPW Tag Team Champions Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monsta Mack) defeated The Shane Twins (Mike and Todd) to retain the title.
- JAPW New Jersey State Champion Dixie defeated JAPW Heavyweight Champion Homicide and JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion The Insane Dragon in a three-way match to leave with all the titles.
2002 - Lobo defeats Fujita in Bayamón, Puerto Rico to win his second IWA World Junior Heavyweight Title.
2002 - Rocky Reynolds defeats Jason Rumble at a Pro Wrestling eXpress event in Titusville, Pennsylvania to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, beginning his second reign.
2002 - Hobo Joe defeats The Hurricane Kid in Beaumont, Texas to win the Extreme Texas Wrestling Television Title.
2003 - Kyoko Inoue defeats Yoshiko Tamura for the NWA Pacific Women's/NEO Title in Tokyo, Japan. This began Inoue's second reign and ended Tamura's third.
2005 - Bull Buchanan and Rico defeated Mitsuya Nagai and Masayuki Naruse on the first event of the "Excite Series" in Tokyo, Japan to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Title.
2007 - Brian Milonas defeated Thomas Penmanship at "Cold Fury 6: Into the Fire" in Lowell, Massachusetts to win the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Title.
2007 - Shane Hollister defeated Marek Brave in Fairfield, Iowa for the NWA Iowa Heavyweight Title.
2008 - The UFC held "UFC 81: Breaking Point" at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, with 10,583 fans in attendance. The show featured former three-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar making his anticipated Octagon debut. The results were:
Preliminary card:
- In a lightweight bout, Rob Emerson defeated Keita Nakamura by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27).
- In a middleweight bout, Marvin Eastman defeated Terry Martin by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
- In a light heavyweight bout, Tim Boetsch defeated David Heath by TKO (strikes) at 4:52 of round one.
- In a welterweight bout, Chris Lytle defeated Kyle Bradley by TKO (strikes) at 0:33 of round one.
Main card:
- In a lightweight bout, Tyson Griffin defeated Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- In a middleweight bout, Ricardo Almeida defeated Rob Yundt by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:08 of round one.
- In a middleweight bout, Nate Marquardt defeated Jeremy Horn by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:37 of round two.
- In a heavyweight bout, Frank Mir defeated Brock Lesnar by submission (kneebar) at 1:30 of round one.
- Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:28 of round three to become the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion.
2008 - Thunder and Lightning defeat Juventud Rebelde (Chris Joel and Noriega) for the WWC World Tag Team Title in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
2008 - Jimmy Jacobs defeats Josh Abercrombie in Kalkaska, Michigan to win the Mr. Chainsaw Productions Wrestling World Heavyweight Title.
2008 - Jackson Florida defeats champion Masaaki Mochizuki and Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa in Ukiha, Japan to become Dragon Gate's first two-time Open the Owarai Gate Champion.
2008 - Joey Owens defeats Botch, PT Hustla and Dustin Lee in a Gauntlet match at "Sacrifice" in Indianapolis, Indiana to win the vacant Insanity Pro Wrestling Mid-American Title.
2008 - SuperFunk (Freddy Funk and Volcano) defeat Models, Inc. (Memphis Raines and MR2) for the NWA/ECCW Tag Team Title in Vancouver, British Columbia.
2008 - Mantis defeats Dash Bennett to win the NWA East Brass Knuckles Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
2008 - Chris Black and Calvin Rose defeats Jesse and Dinky Dalton for the NWA Mississippi Tag Team Title in Magee, Mississippi.
2010 - During an edition of ECW on SyFy, Vince McMahon made the following announcement:
"I would like to proudly announce in three weeks' time that ECW will be going off the air. I would like to thank all the technicians, cameramen, directors, producers, everyone, and certainly all the Superstars who made ECW the success that it truly was. But, I'd also like to thank in advance all of you who will be responsible for the success in bringing a new, innovative, never before seen program broadcast at the very same time here on SyFy. This will be the next, next evolution of the WWE. This will be the next evolution of television history. Thank you very much."
The new show would be WWE NXT, which would last less than a year before being moved to WWE.com.
