Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 10th

Unlike yesterday, we at least have a WrestleMania event that happened on today! That may not matter to some but, April has become the WrestleMania month. It just feels weird when its not present. Let’s see what I found:

• AJPW Champion Carnival: The Destroyer vs Mark Lewin (1973)

While I can’t say it’s the first in any tournament, it obviously was for the Champion Carnival since this is the inaugural year. Destroyer and Lewin actually wrestled to a No Contest in this match. This caused issues since it was Knockout Bracket style. This match decided who was headed to the first ever finals. So the No Contest, resulted in a rematch on the 14th for a definitive finish. Lewin won the rematch and then lost to Baba in the Finals. But a Draw during a Knockout Stage felt like a fun little nugget to me.

• NJPW Strong Style Symphony: No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Deathmatch: Atsushi Onita vs Masahiro Chono (1999)

While this kind of match is a joke to most with how it failed in AEW, when done well, this was the pinnacle of cool. Onita walks out lighting a cigarette while getting pelted with trash and Chono rolls up in a black Hummer smoking a cigar. Puro purists hated Onita, Chono was part of a heel stable but took up to defend the company honor. The ring explodes, both men are out, so the match ends in a Double Knock Out. When they finally get back to their feet, Chono places Onita’s jacket back on him as a show of acceptance. This is peak professional wrestling.

• WCW Monday Nitro (2000)

The desperation panic button episode! Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff return, strip all the champions and declare the “New Blood” era! This episode also is Mike Awesome’s debut in WCW while he was still ECW Champion. Lots of historical buffoonery, but as we’ve established prior, bad history is still history.

• NJPW Invasion Attack: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (2016)

Stardust Genius reborn and revitalized. Two years removed from being banished to Mexico because the fans rejected him, he comes back LIJ swag, wins the New Japan Cup and vanquishes Okada with the help of BUSHI, EVIL and the masked but soon revealed Seiya Sanada, who debuted to help Naito finally win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This was the real first chapter of the most popular faction in Japan. And yes, while Bullet Club enticed the global community, L.I.J. ruled Japan. This event also was the debut of Will Ospreay in NJPW losing to Kushida, but Naito was the bigger moment.

• WrestleMania 37: SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs Bianca Belair (2021)

When I put her birthday as an event yesterday, did you think I was going to miss Bianca’s first main roster title win? Sasha wasn’t going to be in WWE much longer, so even though this wasn’t intended as a torch passing, it ended up being one hell of a helpful rub. Bianca solidified her status as a top female competitor shortly after this win, and hasn’t looked back. Tremendous match as well, so it’s not just on here because she’s cool, and it’s not just me that thinks that.

A nice mixture of cool, desperate and historic…this is what I like about doing these articles. It’s also kind of neat to see which events line up on the same days or feed well into each other.

Which significant events did I miss? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. And if you don’t do anything else today, remember, Always Use Your Head!