This Day in Wrestling History (February 7)

65 years ago today, NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Leroy McGuirk was involved in a car accident in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bob Clay, a trainee of McGuirk, was driving to a restaurant with McGuirk the passenger. Trying to keep from hitting another vehicle, Clay slammed on the breaks, causing McGuirk to hit the windshield, shattering his glasses. One of the shards gets in McGuirk's good eye (McGuirk previously lost sight in one eye when he was young), causing him to lose sight. McGuirk's wrestling career effectively ends with that accident, and the title soon vacated. Another McGuirk trainee, Danny Hodge, would go on to great success, holding the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship eight times from 1960 to 1976.

52 years ago today in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers 2-1 in a best of three falls match to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Two weeks earlier, the two fought in Toronto, with Thesz winning a one fall match. The disputed results led directly to the creation of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), known today as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

28 years ago today in Fort Worth, Texas, Chris Adams and Terry Taylor defeat Rick Steiner & Sting to win the UWF World Tag Team Championship. The titles were vacated when Jim Duggan lost a loser-leaves-town match to the One Man Gang back on January 23. Duggan then left for the WWF and debuted just in time for Wrestlemania III.

26 years ago today in St. Paul, Minnesota, Larry Zbyszko last eliminated Tom Zenk in a battle royal to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. The title was vacated when AWA's relationship with Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association ended their working relationship. Jerry Lawler at the time was the AWA world champion and he was stripped of the title.

23 years ago today in Denver, Colorado, Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) defeated The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

15 years ago today on Nitro from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Brian Knobbs to win the WCW Hardcore Championship.

The same episode featured this infamous shoot promo from Scott Steiner where he says in no uncertain terms WCW sucks. The promo got him suspended two weeks with pay. WCW, everyone.

15 years ago today on RAW from Dallas, Texas, The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko), X-Pac, and Triple H defeated Cactus Jack, The Rock, and Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty, Grandmaster Sexay, and Rikishi). The match was named one of the greatest bouts in RAW history in 2012.

12 years ago today in Clarksville, Indiana, Chris Hero defeated CM Punk 2-1 in a best of three falls match to win the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship. The match had a 90-minute time limit, and it still wasn't enough to decide it. Hero and Punk had a double pin with less than a minute to go in the match, then Hero scored the deciding fall in sudden death. Total match time: 1 hour, 32 minutes, 15 seconds.

7 years ago today, WWE issues a press release stating that Smackdown would leave the CW Network at the end of the season after both sides decided to end their working relationship. The show had been on the network, first known as UPN, since 1999. The show would land on SyFy in October 2008, where it's been ever since.

6 years ago today, Chris Jericho got into a verbal altercation with a pair of fans in Victoria, British Columbia after a WWE house show. According to witness accounts, the altercation became physical after a few minutes. The official statement from WWE:

"After leaving a live event in Victoria, British Columbia on Saturday evening, Chris Jericho's car was attacked by a mob when he was stopped at a stop sign. Unable to proceed, Chris Jericho exited his car to ask the crowd to clear a path so he could continue through the intersection. A man and a woman physically and verbally assaulted Mr. Jericho. Arena and WWE security arrived to establish enough order to allow Mr. Jericho to re-enter his vehicle and depart. The local police arrived minutes later. Mr. Jericho was unharmed in the incident. The WWE is working with local authorities who are investigating the incident to identify the man and woman who fled the scene."

The video of the incident goes viral. Police do not file charges against anyone involved in the incident since they could not determine who provoked whom.

5 years ago today, former WCW world champion Ron Simmons wrestles his retirement match for Cedartown, Georgia-based Purks International Championship Wrestling.

3 years ago today, Chris Hero signs with WWE and reports to WWE Developmental in Orlando. He spends a year and a half there as Kassius Ohno before being released.