Today In Pro Wrestling History
Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 13th
Well Samoa Joe seems to be a common thread today. Let’s see what history he made!
See, we get burned a little from a good portion of older WrestleManias being in March. While we don’t have a Mania, there is WWF content still on this list! Along with a few other goodies…
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Antonino Rocca Birthday (1921)
One of those classic names from the “before times” that people love to reference when trying to prove they’re more old school than others. A main stay in the territory days, an innovator of high flying moves and the inspiration for Antonio Inoki’s ring name. When one legend inspires another, that’s a pretty nice trickle down effect. I’m not 80, so I won’t try to talk about matches, but he’s in nearly every Hall of Fame relevant…so do the math, he’s important.
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AJPW/NJPW/WWF US/Japan Wrestling Summit (1990)
This was a beautiful exhibition of the 90s legends and the origination of that Vince McMahon and Jushin Liger picture. Bret Hart wrestled Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa) to a time limit draw, Hulk Hogan beat Stan Hansen while Andre and Baba defeated Demolition. Jumbo Tsuruta, Haku, Kenta Kobashi, Mr. Perfect, Ted Dibiase and most of the major players were on this card. Fun to see the old days when WWF would still play nice with others.
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ECW Barely Legal (1997)
This is here because it’s the very first ECW PPV. Terry Funk went through The Sandman and the bWo to get a shot a Raven for the title, and ended up victorious! RVD and Lance Storm faced off, Taz submitted Sabu, The Eliminators also took the tag titles off the Dudleys. But you never forget your first, especially if you’re barely legal.
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TNA Lockdown: World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle (c) vs Samoa Joe (2008)
This was Samoa Joe’s first and only TNA World Title. He had to put up his career, the presentation was MMA focused from what I remember. Frank Trigg was brought in for commentary and this was played up a big fight feel. Six Sides of Steel was a good house for a worked shoot fight, and the match lived up to the year and a half build. Kurt Angle was in his prime and Joe was one of the bigger deals in TNA and super indies for the last 5 or so years. Memorable, historic and badass.
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DEFY Vibes: Title vs Title: Austin Aries vs Shane Strickland (2018)
This was the last belt Aries won during his belt collector run. It was marred in a bit of controversy as was most of Austin Aries in 2018. Two restarts played into the crafty heel persona he had, which also stoked the flames for the eventual rematch. But even though Aries’ whole career came to a stop after his Bound For Glory tantrum later in the year, this was still a solid gimmick, good match and he started the belt collector gimmick before Kenny and Mercedes.
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AEW Dynamite: ROH Television Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs Samoa Joe (2022)
While not a ton of story here, the main draw was Samoa Joe, fresh off his WWE release and bringing some of the old ROH energy back to the new version being revitalized by AEW. Suzuki needs no introduction, so this was yet another “Dream Match” with no real story, as AEW is well known for. Suzuki is always a fun time, this was hard hitting but short, and the history here is the full circle moment of Joe returning to ROH after nearly 15 years.
A very mixed bag of promotions today. A crossover super show, ECW, TNA, AEW/ROH, and even DEFY. Digging is fun, but ya know, sometimes I like the easy WrestleMania heavy days. When do we get another one of them?
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!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
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SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Today In Pro Wrestling History
Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 28th
One really major historical event, one fairly modern re-establishment and some fun stuff sprinkled in between. Get your history!
A weird group of things, but definitely fairly obvious why they’re on here. We do hit a weird choke point with this article having nothing significant in the last 6 years. Companies really need to start feeling froggy during April, mental gymnastics are exhausting. I should call a congressman or something…
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WWF In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies (1996)
We’re starting off with the most cut and dry thing I’ve ever put on one of these article, “The Curtain Call”. We all know what that is, and with the KLIQ embracing in the cage at the end, Diesel and Razor heading to WCW, we got the inception of the Monday Night Wars, Attitude Era, peak Millennial and Gen X core memory. The title of the show was even more fitting if you think about the domino effect.
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CMLL 50th Anniversary De Arena Mexico (2006)
The name nearly speaks for itself, but wait, there’s more. Aside from being the 50th anniversary of the largest arena for Pro Wrestling in Mexico, we saw significance in stories. The rivalry of Perros del Mal and Los Guerreros de la Atlantida hit a pivotal chapter when Ray Bucanero & Tarzan Boy defeated Damian 666 & Mr Aguila in a Lucha de Apuestas Hair vs Hair match. We also saw Mistico & Negro Casas defend their tag titles against Averno & Mephisto, during the huge wave of popularity that Mistico was garnering. The popularity eventually lead him to becoming Sin Cara in WWE and well…remember, not all history is positive, but it’s positively historic.
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Pro Wrestling NOAH Spring Navigation: GHC Heavyweight Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Takuma Sano (2007)
This was a tenuous period for NOAH since KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, Go Shiozaki and Taiji Ishimori were still up and coming ready to ascend while Kenta Kobashi was on hiatus after his cancer diagnosis. Misawa was the rock and the founder, so this match was a clash of styles but also a clash of legends. Takuma Sano, used to be known as Naoki Sano, Jushin Thunder Liger’s first and greatest rival. Sano was proficient in more of a Shoot Style from his early NJPW, his UWF-I and Pride experience. Where Misawa was the classic AJPW King’s Road mixed with Junior elements from his Tiger Mask days. A great match, that continued to lay the groundwork for Kobashi’s return and the younger talent taking the reins.
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WWE King of the Ring (2015)
King of the Ring is a special event for many wrestling fans, so while this one probably had some of the least fanfare and talked about the least, it’s proper to give it flowers. Wade Barrett won the crown and donned the cliche “King” arrogant persona for about a year prior to his retirement. Wade is probably one of the bigger “What Ifs” in WWE history. He can talk, had a look, just too injury prone and well…Corre. But let’s focus on the fact he did etch his name into the legacy of the King of the Ring, at the very least.
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Impact Wrestling Rebellion (2019)
So this had a lot of memorable content, which is why I couldn’t just pick a match. We saw Gail Kim come out of retirement in a “passing of the torch” to Tessa Blanchard. The Lucha Bros and LAX had a Full Metal Mayhem, which is still heralded as one of the best tag team matches in TNA history and also proved to be the Lucha Bros last match before jumping to AEW. Brian Cage finally got the World title off of Johnny Impact before he was attacked by a debuting Michael Elgin, fresh off a hot NJPW run. Let’s also not overlook this was the inaugural Rebellion, which has become a tent pole PPV for TNA. Impact did a good job sustaining through COVID and it was partially because of their roster, their Twitch presence and the good faith the D’Amore and Callis combo accrued during this year.
Curtain Call, TNA coming out of the darkness, CMLL celebrating a milestone and Wade Barrett existing for more than Bad News and color commentary is all solid history. We just really need more fun stuff in April, someone tell all of wrestling to get cooler in April.
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!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
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SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Today In Pro Wrestling History
Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 27th
An article filled with history all since 2008! This may be unprecedented so far, check it out!
Today is definitely a combination of companies I didn’t have on my BINGO card for this series of articles. Also, because I’m lazy and don’t feel like combing through my previous articles, my magical rubber ducky tells me this is the first time NWA has been on the list in their Billy Corgan era. So I believe the duck, now let’s see the list!
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NJPW Circuit 2008 New Japan Brave: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Keiji Mutoh (2008)
This was a turning point in New Japan, Shinsuke was the Super Rookie who just unified the new 4th Belt and the third belt after defeating Kurt Angle. Mutoh was the sitting president of AJPW, and this began the AJPW and NJPW rivalry angle that played through a few Wrestle Kingdoms and allowed for Tanahashi to eventually win back the title and begin the Tanahashi era that many of us know and love for 18 years.
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TNA Sacrifice (2014)
This was the last monthly Sacrifice for 6 years when TNA went into their quarterly PPV era and then into the dark period once they were bouncing around Destination America and Pop TV. The Wolves won their second tag team title in a 2 on 3 Handicap match against the BroMans. We also saw another defense from Eric Young who was in the midst of his own parallel underdog Daniel Bryan-esque storyline.
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WWE Greatest Royal Rumble (2018)
Even if people don’t care for this history, there was still a lot of moments. Daniel Bryan’s endurance record, Braun Strowman’s elimination record (at the time) and of course the largest royal rumble ever. The whole Saudi arrangement is a sticking point for many, but the fact that it counts as history can’t be avoided.
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NWA The Crockett Cup (2019)
Billy Corgan’s NWA revived the Crockett Cup, and this was when they still had a lot of good faith from the wrestling fans. Villain Inc won this tournament, and remember it was before Marty’s scandal, so everything was looking up. We even got a showing from the Rock ‘n Roll Express and the Briscoes. While the ring work wasn’t overly significant, and many were annoyed with the Briscoes getting screwed, it’s still historic to revive a beloved tournament after 31 years.
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STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom (2024)
This was the first flagship event after the departure of Rossy Ogawa. The Taro Okada era began officially with a bang. Maika vs Momo Watanabe was the first ever 3 Stages of Hell match. Aja Kong made her Stardom debut. Sareee and Mayu Iwatani had a great match for the IWGP Women’s Title about a year after Sareee was released from NXT purgatory. And the most notable (for Joshi fans) was the “thawing” of the Ice Ribbon, when Tsukasa Fujimoto appeared to challenge Mayu. Ice Ribbon and Stardom have never collaborated before, so this was a big moment. Turning points and thawing tensions are always good for history.
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TNA Rebellion (2025)
Many overlapping things helped to make this event noteworthy. The NXT involvement was pretty high on this show, where we saw Joe Hendry defend the TNA World Championship against Ethan Page and Frankie Kazarian, capped off with Trick Williams showing up at the end to lay out Hendry and stake his claim. Mustafa Ali and Mike Santana had a great match that went across the entire arena. The Nemeth Brothers defeated The Hardyz for the tag team titles, and lastly, Indi Hartwell debuted for TNA. Things have been on the rise for TNA since this event, so it deserves a little historical credit.
TNA with a bittersweet historic show and a good one helping them turn a corner. New Japan and Stardom both get pivotal shows that helped usher in a new era, WWE also ushering in a new era…too a mixed reception (I’m being generous), and NWA revived a wrasslin classic. Again, not exactly a list of companies I thought would ever occupy an article together, but I’m not too mad.
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!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - 4 Corners Podcast (sports)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Nefarious Means
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
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