1900 – In a contest from the turn of the century, Lupusher defeated heavyweight wrestler Dirk Vandenberg in a lightweight vs. heavyweight battle.
1965 – The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) held an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the main event, WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino teamed with Johnny Valentine to defeat The Miller Brothers (Bill and Dan Miller) in a tag team match.
1981 – All Japan Pro Wrestling held the final of the Real World Tag League at the Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo. The team of Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka won the tournament by defeating Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk. The match is historically significant for the shocking debut of Stan Hansen, who jumped ship from rival New Japan Pro Wrestling to interfere in the match, delivering a lariat to Terry Funk and igniting a legendary feud.
1988 – The AWA held SuperClash III at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. In the main event, AWA World Champion Jerry Lawler defeated WCCW World Champion Kerry Von Erich via referee stoppage due to excessive bleeding. This victory unified the two titles, with Lawler becoming the Unified AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
1989 – NWA/WCW Starrcade took place at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The event featured two round-robin tournaments: the “Iron Man” tournament for singles competitors and the “Iron Team” tournament for tag teams. Sting won the Iron Man tournament by defeating Ric Flair in the final match of the night, while The Road Warriors won the Iron Team tournament.
1998 – WWF Rock Bottom: In Your House aired from Vancouver, British Columbia. In the main event, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match to qualify for the Royal Rumble.
- Also on the card, The Rock retained the WWF Championship against Mankind after a controversial finish where Mr. McMahon reversed the decision.
2009 – The first-ever WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view took place in San Antonio, Texas.
- In a massive upset, Sheamus defeated John Cena in a Tables Match to win his first WWE Championship.
- In the main event, D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) defeated Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) in a TLC match to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship.
2015 – WWE TLC was held at the TD Garden in Boston. Sheamus retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns in a TLC match. However, the night is best remembered for the post-match segment where a furious Reigns destroyed Triple H with a chair and powerbombed him onto the announce table, a moment that significantly shifted crowd support in Reigns’ favor.
- Earlier in the night, Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the Intercontinental Championship.
2021 – On Monday Night Raw, Bobby Lashley completed a gauntlet by defeating Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Big E in separate matches on the same night. This feat earned him a spot in the WWE Championship match at the Day 1 pay-per-view.
Notable Wrestling Birthdays:
- Jun Akiyama (1969) – The Japanese legend, former AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, and innovator of the “Exploder Suplex.”
- Boris Zhukov (1958) – Best known as one half of The Bolsheviks in the WWF during the late 80s.
- Tony Nese (1985) – The “Premier Athlete” and former WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
