This Day In Wrestling History – January 25th

Happy birthday to Michelle McCool!

1989 – Mighty Inoue defeats Joe Malenko, to win the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship.

1991 – In a tournament final, Bill Dundee defeats Gary Young, to win the vacant USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.

1993 – In a tournament final, The Harris Brothers (Ron & Don) defeat Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett, to win the vacant USWA World Tag Team Championship.

1995 – WCW Clash of the Champions XXX is held in Las Vegas in front of 3,200 fans.

– Arn Anderson defeats Johnny B. Badd, to retain the WCW World Television Championship.
– Alex Wright defeats Bobby Eaton.
– Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeat Stars & Stripes (Marcus Bagwell & The Patriot), to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
– Sting defeats Avalanche, with The Guardian Angel (better known as Big Boss Man), as the special guest referee.
– Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage defeat Kevin Sullivan & The Butcher.

1997 – WCW/nWo Souled Out is held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on a Saturday, with 5,120 in attendance.

– Masahiro Chono defeats Chris Jericho.
– Big Bubba Rogers defeats Hugh Morrus in a Mexican Death Match.
– Jeff Jarrett defeats Mr. Wallstreet.
– Buff Bagwell defeats Scotty Riggs.
– Scott Norton defeats Diamond Dallas Page, via countout.
– The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) defeat The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall), to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
– In a Ladder Match, Eddie Guerrero defeats Syxx, to retain the WCW United States Championship.
– World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan fights The Giant to a no-contest;  Hogan retains his championship.

1998 – The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue) defeat Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi, to win the AJPW World Tag Team Championship.

1999 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (5.5 TV rating) beats WCW Monday Nitro (5.0 rating).  On RAW, Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeat The Corporation (Big Boss Man & Ken Shamrock), to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

2004 – The 17th annual WWE Royal Rumble is held in Philadelphia in front of 17,289 fans.

Sunday Night Heat:
– Victoria (with Steven Richards) defeats Molly Holly.
Royal Rumble PPV:
– In a Tables Match, Evolution (Batista & Ric Flair) defeat The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von), to retain the World Tag Team Championship.
– Rey Mysterio defeats Jamie Noble (with Nidia), to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
– Eddie Guerrero defeats Chavo Guerrero, Jr. (with Chavo Sr.).
– Brock Lesnar defeats Hardcore Holly, to retain the WWE Championship.
– In a Last Man Standing Match, World Heavyweight Champion Triple H battles Shawn Michaels to a draw;  Triple H retains his title.
– Chris Benoit wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match, to earn a World Championship match at WrestleMania XX.  Benoit joins Shawn Michaels (1995) as the only two competitors to win the Royal Rumble from the #1 spot.  By lasting one hour, one minute, & 35 seconds, Benoit also breaks Bob Backlund’s 1993 record for longevity in a Royal Rumble Match, by five seconds.

2009 – Mickey Rourke is interviewed about the support of the professional wrestling industry, when it comes to the film ‘The Wrestler.’  Rourke said the wrestling industry had been very supportive, specifically naming Ric Flair & Roddy Piper.  Rourke then said, “It looks like I’m going to Houston for WrestleMania.  Y2J better look out, I’m going to kick his a-s-s.”  Rourke had come to terms with WWE to make an appearance but it was meant to be kept under wraps.   Critical reaction to Rourke led to the angle being scrapped, and some felt it also cost him an Academy Award for Best Actor in ‘The Wrestler,’ in 2009.  Rourke did appear at WrestleMania XXV in a reduced role, punching out Chris Jericho.

2009 – The 22nd annual WWE Royal Rumble is held in Detroit in front of 16,685 fans.

Dark Match:
– Jimmy Wang Yang defeats Paul Burchill.
Royal Rumble PPV:
– Jack Swagger defeats Matt Hardy, to retain the ECW Championship.
– Melina defeats Beth Phoenix (with Santino Marella), to win the WWE Women’s Championship.
– John Cena defeats JBL (with Shawn Michaels), to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– In a No Disqualification Match, Edge (with Chavo Guerrero) defeats Jeff Hardy, to win the WWE Championship.  Edge gets an assist from Jeff’s brother Matt, who turns heel after hitting Jeff in the head with a steel chair.
– Randy Orton wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match, to earn a World Championship Match at WrestleMania XXV.

2010 – Monday Night RAW is guest-hosted by ‘Psych’ star, Dulé Hill.

2014 – Maybach Taniguchi & Takeshi Morishima defeat Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste, to win the GHC Tag Team Championship.

2015 – The 28th annual WWE Royal Rumble is held in Philadelphia in front of 17,164 fans;  it’s the first Royal Rumble to air on the WWE Network.

Pre-Show:
– Tyson Kidd & Cesaro defeat The New Day (Big E. & Kofi Kingston).
Royal Rumble PPV:
– The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) defeat The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn).
– The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) defeat Damien Mizdow & The Miz, to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
– The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie) defeat Paige & Natalya.
– In a Triple Threat Match, Brock Lesnar defeats Seth Rollins and John Cena, to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
– Roman Reigns wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match, to the chagrin of many of those live in attendance, or watching on WWE Network.  Reaction was so negative, that #CancelWWENetwork became the top trend on social media.  Cancelling subscriptions proved to be difficult, as WWE Network’s website crashed.  Subscribers attempting to call WWE by phone to cancel their WWE Network subscription were told to call another day;  there were too many people attempting to manually cancel their subscription.

2018 – Vince McMahon announces that the XFL will return in January 2020.  The new XFL will not have the gimmicks, antics, etc., that was part the 2001 version of the league.  McMahon is expecting his new XFL to have eight teams playing a ten-game schedule, with a two-hour time length goal for games.   Any player with a criminal record would not be permitted to participate in the league.  There will be no crossover between the new XFL and WWE;  the old XFL used WWF’s RAW & SmackDown commentators for games and incorporated some ‘Attitude Era’ antics into the games.  McMahon also said his new league will not give its players the forum to take a personal stance (political or social), while on the playing field.  This means players will not be permitted to kneel or sit during the National Anthem.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  8-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, Jay Briscoe (34 years old);  4-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, B.J. Whitmer (40 years old);  5-time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, Laura James (31 years old);  indie wrestler Tommy Taylor (32 years old);  former WWE developmental talent, Ace Steel (45 years old);  former indie wrestler Carl Malenko/Greco (48 years old);  WWF/E’s longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion, at 454 days, The Honky Tonk Man (65 years old);  WWE Cruiserweight/NXT wrestler, Mark Andrews (26 years old), and 2-time WWE Divas Champion & 2-time Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool (38 years old).

Legendary wrestler Rudy Dusek was born on this date in 1901.