This Day in Wrestling History (Jan. 29): Rey Mysterio Goes The Distance

20 years ago today on WCW Main Event from Canton, Ohio, Konnan defeated One Man Gang to win the WCW United States Championship.

14 years ago today during a Smackdown taping in Norfolk, Virginia, Diamond Dallas Page defeated Christian to win the WWF European Championship. It would be the only championship the former three-time WCW world champion would win in the WWF.

10 years ago today, WWE presented Royal Rumble (WWE Network link) from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. About 16,000 were in attendance, with 543,000 homes watching on PPV.

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

• In a preshow Sunday Night Heat match, Finlay defeated Brian Kendrick.
• Gregory Helms defeated Kid Kash, Funaki, Jamie Noble, Nunzio and Paul London in a Cruiserweight Invitational match to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. (2.5/5)
• Mickie James defeated Ashley. Trish Stratus was the special referee. (-0.5)
• The Boogeyman defeated John Bradshaw Layfield. (0)
• Rey Mysterio last eliminated Randy Orton to win the Royal Rumble match and a championship match of his choosing at Wrestlemania 22. (3.5)
  
• John Cena defeated Edge to win the WWE Championship. (2)
• Kurt Angle defeated Mark Henry to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. (0.75)

2006 Royal Rumble Results

Notes:

• Rey Mysterio's 62 minute, 12 second run is the longest for any competitor in Royal Rumble history, breaking Chris Benoit's 61 minute, 30 second run two years prior.
• Mysterio is the second, and to this day last, man to win the Royal Rumble from #2. The only other man to do so: Vince McMahon in 1999.
• This was also the first Royal Rumble match to have two men last one hour.
• Of note, Undertaker returned at the end of the World Heavyweight Championship match. It was his first appearance since his win over Randy Orton in the Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon.

9 years ago today on RAW, John Cena & Shawn Michaels defeated Rated RKO (Randy Orton & Edge) to win the World Tag Team Championship.

7 years ago today, Dr. Phil Astin pled guilty to distributing prescription drugs and conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs. Astin was the personal physician of Chris Benoit, who killed his wife and son before taking his own life in 2007. From the Associated Press:

NEWNAN, Ga. (AP) - The personal doctor to a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son in 2007 pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally distributing prescription drugs to patients, one of whom died.

Dr. Phil Astin, 54, pleaded guilty to a 175-count federal indictment charging him with illegally distributing prescription drugs and conspiring to distribute prescription drugs.

Astin also admitted that prescriptions he issued resulted in the overdose death of a female patient in 2007, though attorneys did not specifically name any patient or link the physician to World Wrestling Entertainment's Chris Benoit.

More than 50 of the counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The others carry a lesser sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, said Patrick Crosby, spokesman for U.S. Attorney David Nahmias.

Astin did not comment Thursday after the hearing. His sentencing is scheduled for May 12.

In June, Astin pleaded not guilty to the charges. Thursday's change was part of a 12-page plea bargain negotiated by defense attorney Natasha Perdew Silas, who acknowledged her own investigation's findings in the case matched those of federal prosecutors.

She told U.S. District Court Judge Jack T. Camp that Astin wasn't guilty of prescribing medicine in exchange for personal gain, but rather was a "country doctor" who treated many patients suffering from chronic pain.

"In chronic pain cases, Dr. Astin, more often than not, would simply accede to the patient's request that they needed strong or stronger medicine to handle their pain," Silas said in a written statement. "As the years went by, Dr. Astin became more and more willing to bend the rules."

The indictment against Astin involves hundreds of prescriptions written for 19 patients between May 2002 and July 2007.

A federal investigation found Astin wrote prescriptions without conducting physical exams and sometimes gave patients as many as four simultaneous prescriptions for "cocktails" of drugs like Percocet, Oxycontin, Vicodin and Adderall.

Investigators cited one case in which an unidentified female patient began receiving a combination of drugs that included Xanax from Astin in 2002. She died in June 2007, the same month authorities discovered the bodies of Benoit, his wife and son in their suburban Atlanta home.

Benoit strangled his wife and son, then hanged himself in their home in June 2007. A medical examiner couldn't say whether the steroids Astin prescribed for Benoit played a role in the deaths.

Silas would not confirm that Astin played any role in Benoit killing his family and then himself.

In court Thursday, Astin told the judge he suffered from depression and anxiety since his arrest in 2007. Silas described a man who inherited many patients from his father's medical practice after the elder Astin committed suicide in 2005 as a result of depression over his own chronic pain.

In a written statement, Silas described Astin as "sorry for the cases in which he did not provide appropriate care," but added they were a fraction of his overall practice.

"A larger portion of Dr. Astin's patients were treated commendably," she said.

On May 12, Astin was sentenced to ten years in a federal prison, three years supervised release, and 250 hours community service.

4 years ago today, WWE presented Royal Rumble (WWE Network link) from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. 18,921 were in attendance, with 443,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down slightly from 2011's edition that had 446,000 buys.

• In a dark match, Yoshi Tatsu defeated Heath Slater.
• Daniel Bryan defeated Mark Henry and Big Show in a triple threat steel cage match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. (2.25)
• Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and The Bella Twins (Brie & Nikki) defeated Kelly Kelly, Tamina, Alicia Fox, and Eve Torres. (0.5)
• John Cena and Kane fought to a double countout. (2)
• Brodus Clay defeated Drew McIntyre. (not rated)
• CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship. John Laurinaitis was the special referee. (3.25)
• Sheamus last eliminated Chris Jericho to win the Royal Rumble match and a championship match of his choosing at Wrestlemania XXVIII. (3.25)

2012 Royal Rumble Results

Notes:

• Kane did not compete in the Royal Rumble match, making it the first in fourteen years he was not in the event.
• Kharma is the last woman to enter the Royal Rumble match. Of note, this was her only official WWE match. She was released from the company some time after the event.