Today in Wrestling History Jan 27th

1904 - Frank Gotch defeats Tom Jenkins in Bellingham, Washington to win the American Heavyweight Title, ending Jenkins' second reign.

1973 - The Sheik defeats Bobo Brazil for the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title in Detroit, Michigan, to begin his fourth reign and end Brazil's sixth.

1987 - The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeat Buddy Rose and Doug Somers in St. Paul, Minnesota to win the AWA World Tag Team Title.

1993 - The legendary Ande the Giant passes away from congestive heart failure, due to a tumor on his pituitary gland causing it to produce excess growth hormone, a condition known as acromegaly. Andre died in his sleep in a Paris, France hotel room, where he was in town for his father's funeral. He was born Andre Roussimoff in Coulmmiers, France on May 19, 1946, and was trained by former World Heavyweight Champion Eduoard Carpentier in the late 1960s.
Andre made his WWWF debut on October 24, 1972 in White Plains, New York, teaming with WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales against WWWF Tag Team Champions Prof. Tanaka and Mr. Fuji. He also won the WWF World Title in 1988 in a controversial match which ended with Andre giving the title to Ted DiBiase, which was later disallowed. Andre's last match in the WWF came on April 13, 1990 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, before 53,742 fans. The event was called the Wrestling Summit, and featured wrestlers from the WWF as well as All Japan and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Andre teamed with Giant Baba to defeat WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash) in a non-title match, when Andre pinned Smash with an elbowdrop. Posthumously, Andre the Giant was the first wrestler inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 1993.

1994 - WCW holds Clash of the Champions XXVI at the Centroplex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The live show got a 3.5 rating on TBS. The results:
- Marcus Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma), when Bagwell pinned Roma.
- Ron Simmons pinned Ice Train.
- Brian Pillman pinned Robert Parker in a "loser wears a chicken suit" match.
- Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) in a non-title match, when Cactus pinned Knobbs.
- WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal fought Dustin Rhodes to a 15-minute time-limit draw to retain the title.
- Sting and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Rick Rude and Vader in an elimination match. Flair and Vader were both counted out, and Sting pinned Rude to win.