This Day in Wrestling History (January 22)

28 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.

20 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. 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.

19 years ago today, WCW held Clash of the Champions XXXII from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show is noted for the return of Miss Elizabeth, who was last seen in the WWF in 1992. Woman, who was regularly appearing for ECW, also debuted for the company.

• 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) vs. The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock) went 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 & 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 & The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage.

15 years ago today, WWF presented Royal Rumble 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.

• Tazz defeated Kurt Angle by submission.
• The Hardy Boyz (Jeff & Matt Hardy) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley) 2-1 in an elimination tables match.
• Mae Young won the Miss Royal Rumble 2000 swimsuit competition. Other participants were Ivory, Terri Runnels, Jacqueline, B.B., Luna Vachon , and The Kat.
• Chris Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly in a triple threat match to become the undisputed WWF Intercontinental Champion.
• The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg) defeated The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Faarooq) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
• Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a street fight to retain the WWF Championship.
• The Rock last eliminated The Big Show to win the Royal Rumble match.

2000 Royal Rumble Results

Notes:

• Rikishi wasn't the first man to eliminate seven men in a row in the Royal Rumble. That honor goes to Diesel, who did it in 1994. It also took six men to eliminate Rikishi. Only Mabel's elimination in 1994 took more men (seven).
• 2000 was the last time a woman entered the Royal Rumble match until Beth Phoenix did it in 2012.
• For the second straight year, no man (or woman) lasted 30 minutes in the match.

5 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's suffered a few setbacks, Roberts has since straightened his life and survived cancer. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.

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