This Day In Wrestling History – January 15th

1971 – Bill Dromo defeats Kintaro Ohki, to win the PWF All Asia Heavyweight Championship.

1978 – El Canek defeats Dr. Wagner, to win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship.

1983 – Ringo Mendoza defeats El Faraon, to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

1989 – The second annual Royal Rumble event is held in Houston in front of 19,000 fans.  This is the first Royal Rumble to be aired on pay-per-view, with a buyrate of 600,000; the 1988 event aired on USA Network.

Dark Matches:
– Jim Powers defeats Barry Horowitz.
– Sam Houston defeats Sam Lombardi.
PPV:
– In a Two-Out-of-Three Falls Match, ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation (Jim Neidhart & Bret Hart) defeat Dino Bravo and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond).
– Rockin’ Robin defeats Judy Martin, to retain the WWF Women’s Championship.
– King Haku (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Harley Race, to win the King of the Ring Crown & Cape.
– Big John Studd, entry #27, wins the 30-man Royal Rumble Match

1995 – In Dallas, John Hawk defeats Kevin Von Erich, to win the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. John Hawk is better known today as John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield.

1996 – In the Monday Night Wars, WCW Monday Nitro (3.5 TV rating) beats WWF Monday Night RAW (2.4 rating). This stops a two-week ratings losing streak for Nitro.

1996 – Miss Texas defeats Lady Satan, to win the USWA Women’s Championship for the 13th time.

1997 – Yoshinari Ogawa defeats Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, to win the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

1998 – On episode #2 of WCW Thunder, Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeats Juventud Guerrera, to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the 3rd time.  Guerrera had just won the title one week earlier, over Ultimo Dragon.

2000 – Kazuo Yamazaki wrestles in his Retirement Match, losing to one of his trainees, Yuji Nagata. The match originally occurred January 4th and was televised via tape delay.  In his career, Yamazaki was a 3-time IWGP Tag Team Champion.

2001 – In the Monday Night Wars, WWF RAW IS WAR (5.2 TV rating) earns double the rating of WCW Monday Nitro (2.6 rating).  RAW, held in Milwaukee in front of 13,936 fans, draws close to triple the attendance, that Nitro draws in Fort Wayne, Indiana (4,836 fans).

2003 – The Brooklyn Brawler defeats Johnny Swinger, to win the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship. However, Brawler would be stripped of the title on the same night, after Swinger’s lawyers argued that the Brawler was not registered as a wrestler, with Border City Wrestling.

2006 – TNA Final Resolution is held at the Impact! Zone in front of 900 fans.  The event marked Sting’s TNA debut, and his first national television appearance in five years.

Pre-Show Matches:
– In a six-man tag team match, Team Canada (A-1, Eric Young, & Petey Williams) defeat Jay Lethal, Kenny King, & Lance Hoyt.
– The Latin American Exchange (Konnan & Hernandez) defeat The Naturals (Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens).
PPV:
– In a six-man tag team match, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, & Roderick Strong defeat Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley, & Sonjay Dutt.
– The James Gang (Kip James & B.G. James) defeat The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young & Elix Skipper).
– AJ Styles defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi.
– Sean Waltman defeats Raven in a No Disqualification Match. Per match stipulation, Raven is fired for losing.
– Bobby Roode (with Coach D’Amore) defeats Ron Killings.
– Abyss (with James Mitchell) defeats Rhino.
– America’s Most Wanted (Chris Sabin & James Storm) defeat Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray), to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
– Samoa Joe defeats Christopher Daniels, to retain the X Division Championship.
– Christian Cage & Sting defeat Monty Brown & Jeff Jarrett.

2008 – BxB Hulk & Shingo Takagi defeat Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino, to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

2012 – At a house show in Oakland, Primo & Epico defeat Air Boom (Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne), to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.

2013 – CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion Rush vacates the title, in order to get a match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

2017 – WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka passes away at the age of 73.

2018 – In the finals of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament, Tyler Bate defeats Pete Dunne, to become the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  former WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly (32 years old, pictured at top); former SHIMMER Champion & 2-time SHIMMER Tag Team Champion, Nicole Matthews (32 years old); 2-time NWA World Welterweight Champion & 2-time NWA World Middleweight Champion, Mano Negra (60 years old); former WWF Tag Team Champion Bull Buchanan (51 years old); former WWF European & Hardcore Champion, and former SmackDown Live Commissioner, Shane McMahon (49 years old).

Today would’ve been the 89th birthday for NWA & WCW Hall of Famer, Eddie Graham, and the 79th birthday for Memphis Wrestling Hall of Famer, Tommy Gilbert.