Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 20th

Hold on, let me vent my house out for a minute, 4/20 rockin, history never stoppin, but this Febreeze better lock in.

Okay, that’s better. This day at least has a few big moments no can argue with…and maybe one or two that just tickled me. Read if your eyes can focus today.

• AWA WrestleRock (1986)

Now, this is historic for a few reasons. While the card wasn’t bad, the action didn’t suck, it was the AWA’s last stadium show. But the history comes from the WrestleRock Rumble. A Super Bowl Shuffle parody, and this is so tremendously cringe once you see it, you’ll never forget it. So enjoy the music video.

• AJPW Fan Appreciation Day (1991)

A few angles to go with this show honestly. The Can-Am Express won the All Asia Tag Titles off Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith. But the main event was star studded in retrospect. Kawada, Misawa and Kobashi took on Tsuruta-Gun (Akira Taue, Masanobu Fuchi and Jumbo Tsuruta). The only name some casual puro fans may not know is Fuchi, and he is the Ace of AJPW’s Junior division. Holding the Junior title for 1,309 days. Star studded, great ring work and legends vs rising stars. All in all, definitely a good way to appreciate fans.

• WCW Nitro: United States Championship: Raven (c) vs Goldberg (1998)

This is Goldberg’s first title reign. Raven put him over big, the match, while short because it was a Goldberg match, did what it needed to do to pop a big reaction. Goldberg has the rocket here, and we all know where this is headed. The good here is the history we focus on, not the World title situation.

• NJPW Sengoku Lord in Nagoya: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr (2019)

Ibushi just won the Intercontinental belt from Naito at the G1 Supercard. This was a prove it match for Ibushi. Sabre beat Ibushi in the New Japan Cup, so Ibushi wanted Sabre for his first defense. The clash of styles and Ibushi still set up for the big push and to become the new Ace. We know how it ended up, but this was still a pivotal step in Ibushi’s arc during 2019-2021.

• WrestleMania 41: Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs John Cena (2025)

The Never Seen 17, we all know why this is here. The heel turn is irrelevant, the history is the fact that Cena broke the Ric Flair recognized record. Cena went from not winning a match for years, to airing some grievances, and ending the retirement tour strong. However we feel about the way he got there, the history is still obvious. He broke the record, he is the new standard, so that’s an easy bit of history to end on.

See, you can tell when the events are actually fairly important, because I don’t need to type up the mental gymnastics. Goldberg, Kota Ibushi and John Cena on the same list, with the WrestleRock Rumble…definitely a 4/20 weird dream situation.

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!