This Day In Wrestling History – January 16th

1980 – Tony Bennetto defeats El Halcon, to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship.

1985 – Black Bart defeats Manny Fernandez, to win the NWA (Mid-Atlantic) Brass Knuckles Championship.

1992 – At a house show in Jacksonville, FL, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton defeat Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes, to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.

1993 – In Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Tracy Smothers wins a four-way elimination tournament final over Killer Kyle, Jimmy Golden, and The Dirty White Boy, to become the inaugural SMW Beat the Champ Television Champion.

1993 – On WCW Saturday Night, Dustin Rhodes defeats Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat, via count out, and is declared the winner of the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.  Steamboat was counted out after Barry Windham hit him with a DDT on the concrete floor outside the ring.  The title had been vacated by Rick Rude a month earlier due to injury.

2000 – WCW Souled Out is held in Cincinnati in front of 14,132 fans.  Bret Hart (severe concussion) and Jeff Jarrett (lingering headaches) had be replaced and had their titles vacated prior to the event.

– Billy Kidman defeats Dean Malenko, in a Catch-as-Catch-Can Match.  Malenko had rolled out of the ring to regroup, but match stipulations state that a wrestler could win if his opponent’s feet touched the floor.
– Vampiro defeats David Flair and Crowbar (with Daffney), in a Handicap Match.
– Big Vito & Johnny the Bull defeat The Harris Brothers (Ron & Don).
– Oklahoma (portrayed by Ed Ferrara) defeats Madusa (with Spice), to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
– In a Fatal 4-Way Match, Brian Knobbs defeats Meng, Fit Finlay, and Norman Smiley, to retain the WCW Hardcore Championship.
– Billy Kidman defeats Perry Saturn in a Bunkhouse Brawl.
– Booker T (with Midnight) defeats Stevie Ray by disqualification.
– Tank Abbott defeats Jerry Flynn.
– Buff Bagwell defeats Diamond Dallas Page, in a Last Man Standing Match.
– The Wall (with Shane Douglas) defeats Billy Kidman, in a Caged Heat Match.
– In a Hardcore Match, Kevin Nash defeats Terry Funk, to become the new WCW Commissioner.
– Chris Benoit defeats Sid Vicious via submission, to win the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship.  Arn Anderson served as special guest referee.  Benoit’s title win was an effort by WCW to keep him from leaving the company.  It was to no avail; Benoit would quit WCW the day after the Souled Out pay-per-view and drop the title.  Despite winning the title, Benoit still had disagreements with management, and was not in favor of Kevin Sullivan’s promotion to head booker, replacing the team of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara.

2005 – TNA Final Resolution is held at the Impact! Zone in Orlando in front of 875 fans.

– In a six-man tag team match, 3Live Kru (Ron Killings, Konnan, & B.G. James) defeat Christopher Shane, Kazarian, & Michael Shane.
– Elix Skipper defeats Sonjay Dutt.
– Dustin Rhodes defeats Kid Kash.
– Erik Watts defeats Raven.
– Jeff Hardy defeats Scott Hall, with Roddy Piper serving as special guest referee.
– Monty Brown defeats Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page, in a Triple Threat Elimination Match, to become the #1 contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
– America’s Most Wanted (James Storm & Chris Harris) defeat Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young), to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
– In an Ultimate X Match, AJ Styles defeats Petey Williams and Chris Sabin, to win the TNA X Division Championship.
– Jeff Jarrett defeats Monty Brown, to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

2005 – At a house show in Winnipeg, Manitoba, La Resistance (Sylvain Grenier & Robert Conway) defeat William Regal & Jonathan Coachman, to win the World Tag Team Championship.  ‘The Coach’ replaced Eugene (injury) as Regal’s partner.

2005 – Jamal & Taiyo Kea defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie, to win the vacant AJPW World Tag Team Championship.

2009 – The Super Sky Team (La Sombra & Volador Jr.) defeat Averno & Mephisto, to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship.

2010 – In Ohio Valley Wrestling, Moose (real name James Thomas) defeats Low Rider, to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.

2012 – On Monday Night RAW, Jack Swagger defeats Zack Ryder, to win the WWE United States Championship.

2014 – Impact Wrestling: Genesis is held in Huntsville, Alabama with 1,400 in attendance.  The event aired on Spike TV, rather than on pay-per-view like previous years.

– In a 12-person intergender tag team match, the team of Samoa Joe, James Storm, Gunner, Eric Young, Joseph Park, & ODB defeat the team of Jesse Godderz, Robbie E., Zema Ion, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, & Lei’D Tapa.
– Bully Ray defeats Mr. Anderson in a No Disqualification Match.
– Madison Rayne defeats Gail Kim (with Lei’D Tapa), to win the TNA Knockouts Championship.
– Ethan Carter III defeats Sting, with Rockstar Spud and Magnus serving as special guest referees.

2015 – On Impact Wrestling, Low Ki defeats Austin Aries, to win the TNA X Division Championship.

2018 – On SmackDown Live, Bobby Roode defeats Jinder Mahal, to win the vacant WWE United States Championship.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  former NXT & ROH wrestler wrestler Bull Dempsey (Bull James) (31 years old); the ‘Fake Razor Ramon,’ Rick Bognar (49 years old); CMLL wrestler Apocalipsis (44 years old); former AJW Junior Champion Candy Okutsu (Tiger Dream) (44 years old); and current Mexico indie wrestler Diana La Cazadora (41 years old).