Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 19th

I may be delirious after staying up so late to cover JCW Strangle-mania, but this was an interesting article for me. I found one company I never thought I’d put on here, and a few repeat offenders. Let’s get to the history!

• WCW Spring Stampede (1998)

The event was more historic than any matches in particular, even though the Raven’s Rules match between Raven and DDP for the US Title was quite good. This is on the list because this event really signaled the split in the nWo. Hulk trying to screw Macho Man in the main event, while Nash decides to attack Sting instead. This event was also still establish Goldberg with his win over Saturn. So for a fleeting moment this was pivotal and got the wheels in motion.

• WCW Nitro: Cruiserweight Championship: Psicosis vs Rey Misterio Jr (c) vs Juventud Guerrera vs Blitzkrieg (1999)

Hi-key, I just wanted an excuse to put Blitzkrieg on this list. While Psicosis ends up winning the match, Blitzkrieg showed up and showed out. Innovative high spots, Juvi and Psicosis played up their heel dynamic occasionally working together, but this was just another feather in the cap of Blitzkrieg. Really good match, decent psychology and Blitzkrieg is one of the bigger “What Ifs” in pro wrestling history.

• TNA Lockdown: World Championship: Sting (c) vs Mick Foley (2009)

Regardless of perceived match quality…this was still a history making moment. Between Mick having a camera guy feed him Barbie through one of the camera holes in the Lockdown cage, to Mick getting his only run with the TNA World Championship. At the time Mick still had a lot of good faith from his WWE time, and most fans weren’t upset with Mick’s run because he was still a fan favorite. Personally I also feel the match gets unnecessary hate. It wasn’t good, but it’s not as bad as many make it out to be.

• TNA iMPACT!: World Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs RVD (2010)

This happened during the TNA vs WWE short lived Monday Night War. RVD won the #1 contender slot earlier in the night after beating Jeff Hardy, and Hogan decided to expedite the title shot from Sacrifice to later that night. To Hogan’s credit, the night did pop one of the better ratings Monday iMPACT! had during the run, even if the optics of a TNA homegrown talent losing to a former WWE was a hard pill for many TNA diehards to tolerate. So historic, but exactly why depends on your perspective.

• DDT Saitama Slam!: Extreme Championship Iron Man Match: Akito (c) vs Daisuke Sasaki (2015)

Yeah, I’m shocked I put DDT on here too. But for a company and championship that has had goofy stipulations (one title change happened because someone spoke English during a match and it was an “only the referee knows the stipulation” match), as well as other completely inane things. This was…surprisingly normal. A 60 minute Iron Man match, that was wrestled fairly well. Initially went to a Draw, but Akito demanded Sudden Death. Akito did end up winning in Sudden Death, but a 60+ minute Iron Man match for a grab ass title…that’s definitely surprising and memorable for me.

• WWE WrestleMania 41: CM Punk vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns (2025)

So the short answer on history is the fact that it was CM Punk’s first official WrestleMania main event in his career. One of his biggest gripes, addressed and solved. The build up was great with the Heyman dynamics, the fallout of the Bloodline, and the undercurrent of The Shield and CM Punk being in lockstep in the history of WWE. Really good match, led to a lot of interesting story afterwards, but again, CM Punk get his boyhood wish granted, that’s the main reason it’s here.

Again, I was never anticipating DDT to make one of these lists unless I was drunk and feeling froggy about putting silly clown stuff in an article to pop myself. But when they actually do something that focuses on wrestling, it should be rewarded.

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!