Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 28th

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…

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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!