Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 11th

We still have a Mania date, and it will be in here, but it’s only one! We have two fairly historic birthdays so I don’t have to dig quite as much as some previous days. Let’s see what I found!

• Harley Race Birthday (1943)

We should all be aware of his impact and star level during the territory days. Thanks to the King of the Ring Tournament, the WWF had an angle to acknowledge Harley’s mystique, even if they wouldn’t mention AWA or NWA accomplishments. He had great rivalries with Dusty, Ric Flair, Wahoo McDaniel and both Funks (Terry & Dory Jr). He was known as “The Greatest Wrestler on God’s Green Earth” for a reason.

• Dustin Rhodes Birthday (1969)

Now this is a name that shouldn’t be foreign to anyone nowadays. Be it his “Natural” run in WCW, Goldust, Black Reign, The Artist formerly known as Goldust and we don’t mention Se7en. He’s reinvented himself almost as many times as Chris Jericho and will easily go down as one of the best pro wrestlers ever. He was different, made his own way and showed even in his 50s when people thought he was a washed gimmick guy, he could out work people and still put on amazing matches. He is someone, you will never forget the name of…

• AJW Dream Slam 2: WWWA Tag Team Titles 2 out of 3 Falls: Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (c) (1993)

You remember how I said a match that gets Match of the Year is easy to validate? Well here’s another one! This was during an interpromotional war between AJW and JWP. I accept that if people know anyone in this match, it will be Manami Toyota, since she is highly regarded as the best or at least one of the best Joshi wrestlers ever. Ozaki heeled it up in this match, which incensed the AJW crowd and eventually lead to the invading heels victory. This brought their records against one another to 1-1. But aside from being a fantastic match, it was also a pivotal moment in the war between companies. Look this up, you won’t be disappointed.

• WCW Spring Stampede: WCW World Heavyweight Championship Four Way Match: Ric Flair (c) vs Sting vs Hollywood Hogan vs DDP (1999)

While 1999 was effectively the death spiral year for WCW, Spring Stampede was still a great event. Randy Savage being the special guest referee felt poetic since this was two years after Savage asked to give DDP the rub. The weird part comes from the DDP heel turn. He won his first WCW World title, and was still very over…but as like most things in WCW at this time, the booking was kinda dumb. Historic because it was DDP’s first title reign and fairly sure this was the last large scale event worth anything in the company.

• Pro Wrestling NOAH: Navigation For The Victory: Jun Akiyama vs Mitsuharu Misawa (2001)

This match happened during the Inaugural GHC Heavyweight Championship tournament. Winner of this went to the finals to face Yoshihiro Takayama. The initial bout went to a controversial Double Count Out, while Jun was trying to crawl into the ring but Misawa wouldn’t let him go. Correctly, the match gets restarted since there needs to be a winner. Akiyama looks to have more gas grabbing a Guillotine Choke, but Misawa barely inches to the ropes for a break. A desperate Elbow to the stomach stops Akiyama’s charge, Sunset Flip from Misawa, counter from Jun but a counter from Misawa ending in the Double Legged cradle gives Misawa the surprise victory. While the crowd was behind Misawa, Jun was the up and coming protege. This set the stage for the early booking ideology of NOAH.

• WrestleMania 37: Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs Rhea Ripley (2021)

WrestleMania 37 did a lot for the current landscape of the Women’s Division. Bianca was crowned yesterday and Rhea gets her first main roster title reign as well. Solid match, great moment and its nice to see how both matches intent of making new Aces for the next generation, came together nicely. Bianca and Rhea are still two of the most relevant women in the division. Ain’t it nice to see a crowning moment not end up falling flat or bittersweet?

We got a lot of inaugural history or at least leading towards that with the NOAH match. Also I enjoy being able to fit in potential overlooked or lost gems like the AJW match.

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!