Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 27th

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!

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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!