This Day in Wrestling History (Jan. 23): Hulkamania is Here!

33 years ago today in New York City, Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik to win the WWF Championship.

For all intents and purposes, Hogan’s win gave birth to the modern era in the WWF (later WWE), with charisma emphasized over raw in-ring talent. Though Bob Backlund, the last-long term champion, had been a popular champion, by the time Vince McMahon Jr. took over the WWF full-time in 1982, fans had grown tired of the clean-cut Backlund (so much so, Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers voted Backlund the most overrated wrestler of 1983). Backlund turned down a heel turn, and on December 26, 1983, Backlund lost the WWF Championship to the Iron Sheik. Sheik would then serve as the transition to the Hulk Hogan era.

With Hulk Hogan as champion and the new face of the World Wrestling Federation, the company’s—and the sport’s for that matter—popularity exploded with new and growing audiences. This was also helped by a cross-promotion period known as the “Rock ‘n Wrestling Connection”, where the WWF would incorporate popular rock and pop stars into their storylines.

The peak of Hulk Hogan’s four-year championship reign (the third-longest or second-longest if you count Antonio Inoki’s brief title reign in 1979—which WWE does not) came in March 1987 at Wrestlemania III where 93,173 fans packed the Pontiac Silverdome to watch Hogan bodyslam and defeat Andre the Giant.

30 years ago today, the One Man Gang defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a "Loser Leaves UWF" match.

The bout was a way to write off Duggan as he was heading to the WWF. With the loss, Duggan and Terry Taylor had to vacate the UWF World Tag Team Championship.

22 years ago today on RAW (WWE Network link) from Palmetto, Florida, The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart) defeated The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob "Spark Plug" Holly to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

The win came just one day after Kid and Holly won the tag titles in a tournament final, defeating the Million Dollar Corporation’s Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka. It wouldn’t be the first time the Gunns defeated a short-term champion; they did it two more times, defeating Owen Hart and Yokozuna on the same day they got back their tag titles in 1995, and again in May 1996 when they defeated the Godwinns just one week after they had won the titles.

On the same show, Vince McMahon announces that Bam Bam Bigelow was suspended without pay for 30 days after he shoved Lawrence Taylor during the Royal Rumble event.

21 years ago today, WCW held Clash of the Champions XXXII (WWE Network link) from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The show is noted for the WCW debut of Miss Elizabeth, who was last seen in the WWF in 1992 standing by the side of her husband “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Elizabeth left the company in mid-1992, and the couple divorced that summer. During her time away from the ring, Elizabeth covered speedboat racing for ESPN.

Also debuting for WCW: Debra McMichael, wife of then-Nitro commentator Steve McMichael and Hulk Hogan’s wife Linda. They along with Elizabeth were valets for Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Returning to the company also as a valet for Hogan and Savage was Nancy Sullivan, aka Woman.

Also returning to WCW were the Road Warriors. The duo left WCW in June 1990 after a dispute with management. They were last seen by American audiences in the summer of 1992 for the WWF. Michael Hegstrand, aka Hawk, abruptly left the company for New Japan Pro Wrestling, while Joseph Laurainitis, aka Animal, injured his back in October 1992 and was sidelined for over three years before reuniting with his tag partner in late 1995.

Yet another tidbit: Ric Flair nearly quit WCW prior to the show, threatening to walk unless the outcome of the main event was changed (the original outcome was Hogan pinning Flair with the legdrop).

One more tidbit: reportedly, 75% of the audience did not stick around for the post-show dark match.

• In a dark match, Lord Steven Regal defeated Chris Benoit.
• In a dark match, One Man Gang defeated Disco Inferno to retain the WCW United States Championship.
• The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) and The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock) fought to a double disqualification.
• Dean Malenko defeated Alex Wright.
• Brian Pillman defeated Eddie Guerrero. The bout is noted for Pillman grabbing Bobby Heenan by the jacket. Heenan was caught in surprise by this and told Pillman off. Brian would apologize post-show.
• Lex Luger and Sting defeated The Blue Bloods (Earl Robert Eaton & Lord Steven Regal) to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
• Konnan defeated Psicosis to retain the Mexican Heavyweight Championship. This was also their WCW debuts.
• Ric Flair and The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.
• In a post-show dark match, One Man Gang defeated Disco Inferno to retain the WCW United States Championship.

17 years ago today, WWF presented Royal Rumble (WWE Network link) from Madison Square Garden in New York City. 19,231 were in attendance, with 595,000 homes watching on PPV.

Of note, this is the first WWF PPV to air on terrestrial television in the United Kingdom.

Match ratings are from Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer as recorded in the Internet Wrestling Database. Ratings are out of a possible five stars.

• Tazz defeated Kurt Angle by submission. This match, Tazz's WWF debut, would be the first pinfall or submission loss for Angle. (2/5)
• The Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von) 2-1 in an elimination tables match. (3.25)
• Mae Young won the Miss Royal Rumble 2000 swimsuit competition. Other participants were Ivory, Terri Runnels, Jacqueline, B.B., Luna Vachon, and The Kat. (no rating)
• Chris Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly in a triple threat match to become the undisputed WWF Intercontinental Champion. (1.25)
• The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg) defeated The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Faarooq) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. (0)
• Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a street fight to retain the WWF Championship. (4.5)
• The Rock last eliminated The Big Show to win the Royal Rumble match. (2.75)

Notes:

• Rikishi joined Diesel in 1994 as the only men to score seven consecutive eliminations in a single Royal Rumble. The six-man effort to eliminate him is the second most needed to eliminate a single Rumble; the late Nelson Frazier Jr. holds the mark as two different characters (seven men needed to eliminated Mabel in 1994, and eight to eliminate Viscera in 2007).
• 2000 was the last time a woman entered the Royal Rumble match until Beth Phoenix did it in 2010.
• For the second straight year, no man (or woman) lasted 30 minutes in the match.
• The finish of the Royal Rumble match was botched; The Rock's feet had hit the floor shortly before Big Show, and would be worked into a storyline. The Rock and Big Show met at No Way Out a month later for the main event spot at Wrestlemania 2000; the Big Show would win the match. The Rock eventually would win his spot back.

14 years ago today in New York City, John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli were announced as the winners of Tough Enough III (WWE Network link).

Hennigan would go on to moderate success as Johnny Nitro and John Morrison, winning the tag team and Intercontinetal championships before being released in November 2012.

Cappotelli never made it to the main roster; he would be diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and retired from in-ring competition soon after.

7 years ago today, Jake "The Snake" Roberts announced via his MySpace account that he would retire from professional wrestling at the end of the year. His statement in part:

"There comes a moment and I regret that it has happened, but I simply am unable physically to perform at the level that I find acceptable. I cannot do what I did 30 years ago, and my God, am I glad that I can't. But my love for what I've done in the last 35 years deserves more than I am capable of doing. I cherish every moment that I've had, good or bad, bottom line is I never had a bad moment in the ring. Any moment was something to treasure, and I can only do so by stepping away. Although the cheers and support are still there from you, the fans, I would be a liar to say that it is not only painful physically, mentally, but worst of all, deep in my heart.."

Though he had suffered a few setbacks since, Roberts has since straightened his life and survived cancer. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014. Roberts is considered semi-retired.

4 years ago today, TNA announces via press release that Rockstar Spud won TNA Wrestling: British Boot Camp to earn a spot on the roster.

Today would have been the 77th birthday of Shohei Baba, best known to wrestling fans as the legendary Giant Baba.

Born in Sanjo, Niigata, Japan, Baba spent his early adulthood mostly in the minor league system for the Yomiuri Giants, signing with them at age 17. He only appeared in three games with the Giants and did not win once. While he was with the Giants, Japanese Wrestling Association owner and founder Mitsuhiro Momota, aka Rikidozan, began looking for a successor to his throne.

In April 1960, Baba trained in Rikidozan's dojo. Six months later, he and his training partner Kanji Inoki (renamed later Antonio Inoki) made their professional debuts-Baba won, Inoki lost. In the early 1960's, Baba took on Buddy Rogers for the NWA world title, but lost. He also lost to Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF championship in 1963. From 1967 to 1971, the training partners won the NWA International Tag Team Championship four times, a record he would surpass with another partner, Jumbo Tsuruta.

With the Japanese Wrestling Association in decline, the two training partners would form competing organizations. Inoki would form New Japan Pro Wrestling, while Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling. With the support of Nippon TV, All Japan became the official Japanese promotion of the NWA, and the NWA would enjoy unprecedented business in the country. Baba would go on to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times, but never for long on any occasion. While his popularity was comparable to Hulk Hogan's of the mid-to-late 1980s, Giant Baba would phase himself out to give a focus to the next generation of talent, including Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu.

Under the guidance of Baba, All Japan in the early and mid-1990s would be in their peak era of match quality. It would also be their financial peak as well, as they sold out Tokyo shows on a regular basis (in fact, they had a sellout run of over 250 shows in a row; their Budokan Hall events would sell out as soon as tickets went on sale). With many of their top stars leaving for Super World of Sports, a new crop of talent would emerge on his watch including Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, and Toshiaki Kawada. Two of Baba's more controversial decisions paid off in the long run: unmasking Tiger Mask II, and having Mitsuhara Misawa defeat Jumbo Tsuruta in Budokan Hall in June 1990. The win for Misawa made him an instant main eventer. All Japan under Baba finally ran a Tokyo Dome show in 1998, and though the company was a few years past its prime, they still managed a crowd of over 58,000 fans.

Baba began his final comeback in 1994 when he and longtime rival Stan Hansen teamed for the World's Strongest Tag Determination League (a round robin tag team tournament similar to the G1 Climax), reaching the finals before losing to Misawa and Kobashi. He wrestled for the final time in December 1998 as part of a six-man tag team match. The last match he watched was just nine days before his death when Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuhara Misawa for the All Japan Triple Crown Championship.

Baba's popularity has garnered him numerous awards from Tokyo Sports, including Match of the Year four consecutive years from 1979 to 1982, twice Wrestler of the Year, and three-time tag team of the year winner. He was also a five-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter award winner for best promoter (1990 to 1994) and is a member of the inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1996. He is also a member of the Puroresu Hall of Fame (1996) and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2008).