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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: BOXING BOB ORTON, PAUL BEARER DEBUTS, THE LAST MAIN EVENT AND MORE

By Buck Woodward on 2008-01-28 09:00:49

January 28th

On this day in history in ....

1949 - Wild Red Berry defeats Dizzy Davis to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas, ending Davis' second title reign.

1984 - The Super Medicos defeat Hercules Ayala & King Tonga (Haku/Meng) to win the WWC World Tag Team Title in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico for the second time.

1986 - At a WWF television taping at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, Roddy Piper announced that his bodyguard, Cowboy Bob Orton, had been forced to remove his arm cast, which he had been wearing for well over a year.  Piper then introduced Orton as "Boxing Bob Orton" and announced an open challenge for him to have a boxing match with any wrestler. Jose Luis Rivera accepted the challenge, and was knocked out by Orton.  Later in the taping, in another edition of Piper's Pit, Hulk Hogan appeared and signed Mr. T to the open contract to face Orton in a boxing match. 

1988 - The World Class Texas Tag Team Title was held up following a controversial match between champions John Tatum & Jack Victory and challengers The Fantastics. The belts were held up, and the dispute was settled several weeks later, believe it or not, when the teams drew from a deck of cards. Victory and Tatum drew the high card, so they got the belts back.

1991 - The fifth, and final, edition of "The Main Event", WWF's prime time specials on NBC, was taped at the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia (it aired on February 1st). The show would earn a 6.7 broadcast rating (by comparison, the first Main Event, featuring Hogan vs. Andre, was aired live and did a 15.2 broadcast rating). Here are the results of the show:
- Hulk Hogan & Tugboat defeated Dino Bravo & Earthquake when Hogan pinned Bravo with a legdrop.
- Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeated WWF World Heavyweight Champion Sgt. Slaughter via disqualification when Slaughter used a chair. Hogan tried to make the save, but was also beaten down with the chair by Slaughter and manager General Adnan.
- The Legion Of Doom defeated The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka & Kato) when Hawk pinned Kato after the Doomsday Device.
- WWF President Jack Tunney announced that Hulk Hogan was the number one contender for the WWF World Title, and would be facing Sgt. Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII. Hogan then gave an interview about how he was going to win the title and dedicate it to the U.S. Troops involved in Operation Desert Storm.

On the same show where The Main Event was taped, WWF held their syndicated television taping, which included the debut of Paul Bearer (Percy Pringle) as the manager of the Undertaker.  It also featured the final edition of The Brother Love Show, as the Ultimate Warrior destroyed the set and beat up Brother Love after Love claimed Randy Savage would defeated The Warrior at Wrestlemania. 

1995 - Jerry "The King" Lawler defeats Tony Anthony in Knoxville, Tennessee to win the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Title, ending Anthony's third reign with the belt.

2002 - During an edition of Raw from the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, Vince McMahon revealed that if Ric Flair did not sell his half of the WWF to him, he would be forced to "inject the poison" into his "creation" and bring in the NWO.

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