This Day in Wrestling History (Jan. 26): Snowed In

1 year ago today, WWE RAW is cancelled for just the second time in company history, the first time ever due to inclement weather. A travel ban was imposed in Connecticut, where RAW was to be held, just hours before the show. The result: WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut hosted the "snowed in" RAW (WWE Network link) featuring interviews and replays of the triple threat WWE Championship match and the Royal Rumble match from the previous night in its entirety.

Not only was RAW cancelled, so was the Smackdown taping the next night in Boston. Those that had tickets for the Harford RAW could watch the live Smackdown that would take place later in the week or request a refund. Those that had tickets for the Boston show could exchange them for tickets for a house show later in the year or request a refund.

The only other time RAW was cancelled was in 2007 the night following the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide.

It's a happy 30^th birthday for Shantelle Larissa Malawski, but wrestling fans may know her best as Taylor Wilde.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, she debuted as Shantelle Taylor at age 17 in June 2003. After being featured in a wrestling documentary in 2004, she spent 2005 traveling to Mexico and South Africa. Late in the year, she was invited into a tryout with WWE.

Shantelle would sign in May 2006 and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory at the time. She wrestled in dark matches and on house shows for Smackdown and ECW. After nearly a year with Deep South Wrestling, she was transferred to WWE's new developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling. She would not last long, as less than two months after the move, she was released. Shantelle was done with wrestling and was actually pursuing a college degree when she was contacted by TNA.

Malawski joined TNA in May 2008 and debuted as a plant as a part of Awesome Kong's $25,000 challenge. She made her in-ring debut on the June 19 episode, and though she did not win, she came closer than anyone competing before her. She would get another shot three weeks later, and this time, the now named Taylor Wilde beat Kong for the money and the TNA Knockouts Championship. She would hold the championship until just after Bound for Glory in October when she was defeated by Awesome Kong.

Taylor feuded primarily with the Kongtourage and the Beautiful People before aligning with Sarita in the new Knockouts tag team division late in 2009. Taylor Wilde and Sarita would become the first TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions at No Surrender, making her the first woman to hold both Knockouts championships in TNA. They'd hold until the new year when they were defeated by Awesome Kong and Hamada. After losing the championships, the team would go into a rut and not win for six months. The alliance split in July when Sarita turned on Taylor, proclaiming she was sick of losing. In July 2010, Taylor Wilde and Hamada would win the Knockouts tag titles together from the Beautiful People. They would hold the championship until the two were released a few days apart in December.

After one last match in February 2011, Malawski retired from the wrestling business for good to study psychology. As of 2013, Malawski is a firefighter in the Toronto area.

It's a happy 82^nd birthday for Robert George Uecker, or simply Bob Uecker for short.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Uecker played five seasons with four different teams, the first of which being his hometown Milwaukee Brewers. Considered one of the best defensive catchers of his time (a career .981 fielding percentage), Uecker holds a not-so-good distinction; in 1967, he led the league with 10 passed balls despite playing only 50 games (a full Major League Baseball season is 162 games), and still is in the top ten for most passed balls in a single season. Despite batting .200 with just 14 homeruns and 74 runs batted in during his six years career, he is a world champion with the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals, and hit a home run off future Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax

After retiring from baseball, Uecker returned to Milwaukee and in 1971 became the play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers, a position he holds to this day. He would also call baseball games for ABC in the 1970s and NBC in the 1990s. Uecker became a national figure as a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, appearing about 100 times on the show. His self-deprecating sense of humor made him quite the popular figure.  It was Carson that gave him the nickname "Mr. Baseball".

In addition to appearing in numerous commercials, most notably for Miller Lite beer, he was the ring announcer for the Wrestlemania III main event between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, and appeared as a backstage interviewer for Wrestlemania IV. Uecker's introduction of Andre the Giant was heard as a part of WWE's signature opening from 2005 to 2014. He hosted Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports (known in its later days as The Lighter Side of Sports) in the 1980sand Bob Uecker's War of the Stars in 1987.

Uecker in addition to being a frequent late night talk show guest and beer pitchman is most famous for his role as sportswriter George Owens on the 1980s sitcom Mr. Belvedere and as the voice of the Cleveland Indians, Harry Doyle in the Major League series. Bob is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2010, a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001, and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2003, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions in broadcasting to the sport, essentially making him a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Today would have been the 87^th birthday of Francis Jonard Labiak. Later changed to Jonard Pierrer Sjoblom, he is best known as legendary broadcaster Gordon Solie.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Solie's calm demeanor (compared to other announcers of the era-and since for that matter) made him stand out in the field. He is remembered by most younger fans as the voice of WCW Pro in the mid-1990s, though he'd been voicing matches for years prior to that, announcing most notably for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, and Continental Championship Wrestling.

His on-mic demeanor was comparable to that of famed sportscaster Jim McKay. When he wore glasses in his later years, many say he bore resemblance to game show host Bill Cullen. Solie conveyed a seriousness to in-ring action, but would throw in his occasional "Solieism", such as calling suplexes su-plays (a term picked up by Terry Taylor and Mauro Ranallo), call out of control fights a "Pier 6 brawl", and refer to someone's bloody face as "a crimson mask".

His final days with WCW in 1995 were tumultuous. Macho Man Randy Savage pushed for his father Angelo Poffo to be inducted into to the WCW Hall of Fame, though Solie opposed it, feeling wrestlers shouldn't push themselves nor family members for the honor. He also spoke out against the induction of Big John Studd because of ABC's report on Studd's alleged steroid use. Both Solie and Poffo were inducted in 1995, but Gordon had left the promotion by the time of his induction. In 1996, he was honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club and was a member of the inaugural class of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

Solie was to commentate the Heroes of Wrestling PPV in 1999, but could not make the show due to his failing health. On July 27, 2000, Gordon died of an aneurysm. He was 71. Solie is well-honored: he posthumously was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2005, and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. A biography on his life, The Solie Chronicles, was released in 2009. Solie's trademark "So long from the Sunshine State" was a part of Florida Championship Wrestling weekly TV show as a tribute to the announcer.