Today In Pro Wrestling History
Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 14th
An interesting cornucopia of historic moments. Some personal, some wide reaching. Check it out!
Creative accounting continues! The spotlights get turned onto a few companies that have yet to be mentioned. But if I didn’t think they had some significance, they wouldn’t be here. Let’s see what the day has to offer!
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Japanese Wrestling Association Closes (1973)
The closure was a sad inevitability. With Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki leaving to create their own companies, the main draws of JWA were gone, as was the allure of being the first Puroresu company started by Rikidōzan. Established in 1953, it was three months short of a 20th anniversary.
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WCW First Ever NYC Event (1993)
While the event is considered a financial failure, it was held at Madison Square Garden’s Paramount Theater. Straight in the heart of WWF territory, and an obvious shot across the bow for what the rest of the 90s would become. The end of the Bill Watts era and the beginning of what would become the Attitude Era/Monday Night wars in a couple of years. Everything starts somewhere, and this was the first real shot WCW tried.
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CMLL Aniversario de Arena México 44: Lucha de Apuestas Hair vs Hair: Perro Aguayo vs Beastia Salvaje (2000)
A classic set up of an older babyface legend versus the violence incarnate heel. Even though the match itself wasn’t exactly fantastic, Beastia had an impressive Lucha de Apuestas record, and this would go on to be Aguayo’s last major Apuestas victory before he began his retirement tour the following year.
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Dragon Gate: Champion Gate (2011)
The story coming into this was Blood Warrior vs WORLD-1. The main event was for the Triangle Gate (Trios) Titles, with a stipulation that if WORLD-1 didn’t win, they would disband. Blood Warriors retained, WORLD-1 was forced to disband, leaving Kamikaze as the main faction to quell the heels. But this event also saw Masaaki Mochizuki rise to #1 Contender for the Dream Gate title. Where he would cement himself as the main event player for the next decade.
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STARDOM Rebirth: Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs Mary Apache (2018)
This was a fun student versus senior style of match. Io was finishing out her time in STARDOM before heading to WWE, and Mary & Faby Apache had a stint in STARDOM. Io spent time in Mexico using the name Viva Kasai and the Apache sisters helped her learn the Lucha ropes. So with only a few dates left for Io, she got to wrestle one of her teachers. Solid hard hitting combination of Joshi and Lucha, but this is more of the Io centric history and the fact that the STARDOM draft the next day caused some shake ups that would set the stage for the next few years without Io.
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ROH Masters of the Craft Tag Team Championship Iron Man Match: Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham (c) vs Lifeblood (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) (2019)
Lifeblood was a faction completely built around bringing wrestling back to technical purity, and we’re all familiar with Jonathan Gresham’s game, so this was his wheelhouse. Jay Lethal was fresh off losing the ROH World Title at G1 Supercard, so he’s still arguably the top of the food chain. This was a low scoring, defensive, technical competition. If you enjoy Iron Man pacing, especially with low scoring and a lot of technical joint attacks and mat work, check this one out, it’s great if you enjoy the style.
I like to think this covered a few companies and aspects we haven’t touched yet. A few repeat players with ROH turning up clutch a lot of the times when there is no WrestleMania moments. Time to see how deep into filing cabinets I need to dig for tomorrow!
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)
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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)
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)
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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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