This Day In Wrestling History – January 27th

1981 – Roddy Piper defeats Ric Flair, to become the Undisputed NWA United States Heavyweight Champion.

1987 – The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) defeat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers, to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship.

1993 – Andre the Giant dies of congestive heart failure at the age of 46.  Andre would be the inaugural inductee in WWF/E’s Hall of Fame, which would be created March 22, 1993.

1994 – WCW Clash of the Champions XXVI is held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with 3,200 in attendance.  This was the WCW debut for Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan.’ 

– Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio defeat Pretty Wonderful (Paul Roma & Paul Orndorff).
– Ron Simmons defeats Ice Train.
– World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal battles Dustin Rhodes to a draw;  Regal retains his title.
– Maxx Payne & Cactus Jack defeat The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags).
– Brian Pillman defeats Col. Robert Parker.
– Sting & Ric Flair defeat Vader & Rick Rude.

1996 – At a house show in Philadelphia, Raven defeats The Sandman, to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

1997 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.6 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.2 rating).  Eric Bischoff strips The Steiner Brothers of the WCW World Tag Team Championship and returns them to The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash).  The Steiners had defeated The Outsiders two nights earlier, with Randy Anderson counting the fall rather than Nick Patrick;  Patrick was the assigned referee but had been knocked out during the match.

2003 – Tough Enough III winners Matt Cappotelli and John Hennigan (aka John Morrison) make their WWE debuts on this evening’s RAW.  They face each other in a singles match that ends in a no-contest, after outside interference from Christopher Nowinski and Tommy Dreamer.

2004 – Former AWA Tag Team & United States Champion Hard Boiled Haggerty passes away at age 78.

2008 – The 21st Annual WWE Royal Rumble is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with 20,798 in attendance.  Mike Adamle makes his WWE debut as an interviewer.

Dark Match:
– Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore defeat Deuce ‘n’ Domino.
Royal Rumble PPV:
– In a ‘Career Threatening Match,’ Ric Flair defeats MVP, via submission.  Flair would’ve had to retire from wrestling had he lost.
– JBL defeats Chris Jericho via disqualification.
– Edge defeats Rey Mysterio, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– Randy Orton defeats Jeff Hardy, to retain the WWE Championship.
– In his return to WWE, John Cena wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match.  Cena the #30 entry, had been out of action since suffering a torn pectoral muscle on October 1, 2007.

2008 – Minoru & Prince Devitt defeat Dick Togo & Taka Michinoku, to win the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship.

2010 – Chris Jericho and Gregory ‘The Hurricane’ Helms are arrested in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky after leaving a bar.  This occurs after a SmackDown TV taping in Cincinnati.  Helms had punched Jericho and other passengers, inside of a cab.  Jericho and Helms would be bailed out of jail by CM Punk and Christian.  As a result of the fight, Jericho would be sporting a black eye during the Royal Rumble pay-per-view a few days later.  Helms was released by WWE on February 26th.

2010 – At a live event in Cardiff, Wales, Rob Terry defeats Eric Young, to win the TNA Global Championship.

2013 – The 26th Annual Royal Rumble is held at US Airways Arena in Phoenix, in front of 15,103 fans.  The 2019 Royal Rumble will be held at Phoenix’s Chase Field.

Pre-Show:
– Antonio Cesaro defeats The Miz, to retain the United States Championship.
Royal Rumble PPV:
– In an Last Man Standing Match, Alberto Del Rio defeats Big Show, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
– Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) defeat Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow), to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.
– John Cena wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match.  It’s Cena’s second time winning the Rumble.
– The Rock defeats CM Punk, to win the WWE Championship.  This ends Punk’s title reign at 434 days.

2013 – Kenta defeats Takeshi Morishima, to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship.  Also, Taiji Ishimori defeats Shuji Kondo, to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.

2014 – It is announced on this evening’s Monday Night RAW, that Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, during WrestleMania Weekend.  After competing in the Royal Rumble the night before, CM Punk did not appear on RAW, after telling Triple H and Vince McMahon he was ‘going home.’  Punk had decided to retire from professional wrestling.

2015 – A night after Monday Night RAW from Harford, CT is cancelled due to a nor’easter, WWE cancels its SmackDown taping to be held in Boston.  WWE decides to air SmackDown as a live show on Thursday January 29th in Hartford, while allowing fans in Boston to exchange their tickets for a future house show, or a full refund.

2015 – Former ECW Tag Team Champion Larry Winters dies at the age of 58, after suffering a heart attack.

2016 – On this evening’s Lucha Underground, King Cuerno defeats Fenix, to win the Gift of the Gods Championship.  The match had actually been taped two months earlier.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  Japanese wrestler Yuji Hino (33 years old);  3-time AJPW World Tag Team Champion, Zeus, 36 years old;  and retired wrestler Haystacks Calhoun, Jr. (52 years old).

Today would’ve been the 67th birthday for 3-time SCW Southwest Tag Team Champion, Ken Timbs, and the 87th birthday for tag team great, Red Bastien.