Today In Pro Wrestling History: April 5th

These have definitely become entertaining for me to see exactly what moments, events or whatever line up with the date. Let’s see what we got for April 5th!

• WrestleMania VIII: WWF Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Randy Savage (1992)

This is definitely a match that blurred reality on purpose. Randy and Elizabeth were going through their divorce, so involving “Space Mountain” to escalate the tension, was simple and effective. Savage’s victory was what the fans wanted, ended up being his last WWF World title and really should’ve been the main event. While it’s always messy business to bring real life issues into a worked storyline, you have to admit, they usually become some of the most memorable.

• NJPW Resolution: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Kurt Angle (2009)

Tanahashi just started his “Ace of the Universe” era after defeating Keiji Mutoh and Shinsuke Nakamura. But this was still the era where TNA and NJPW had a good relationship and Kurt wanted to be able to call himself a real IWGP champion since we’re aware of the “Third Belt” situation that keeps him out of the history books thanks to the creation of the IGF. A nice clash of styles match and both were at the top of their games. Tana winning helped to really catapult his momentum and Angle, yet again, put on a Match of the Year contender.

• WrestleMania 25: Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels (2009)

While it’s not a clean sweep of opinion, I personally think this is the better match of their two. Shawn descending in the White Taker attire was a perfect juxtaposition and also gave some vibes to his Zipline entrance. The match was gorgeous, no one knew who was going to win. At that time, if anyone COULD be bigger than the streak, most viewers thought it could be Shawn. A match only marred by a cameraman not catching Undertaker well, but everything between Shawn and Taker was what makes Mania magical. Still one of my top WrestleMania matches ever.

• NJPW Invasion Attack: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs Kota Ibushi (2015)

This match started a few things. Ibushi getting the new Naito treatment where he gets close but fails many times and it started to cook the Kenny and Young Bucks take over. Kenny showing he couldn’t shake old loyalties to Ibushi, but still doing enough to cause Ibushi to get caught by a Styles Clash set the stage for the Bullet Club that many current fans first locked into. So you could say, this match was the catalyst for the next 4 years of the main event scene. Especially since Okada attacked Styles afterwards, so all the players were in place.

• NXT TakeOver: New York – 2 Out of 3 Falls Match for NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole (2019)

Gotta love when the match wins the PWI Match of the Year, so that does the heavy lifting on validation. But this was an objectively great match. Gargano’s first and only NXT Championship reign. While it wasn’t the cathartic encounter we wanted after Ciampa got legit injured, both of these guys were hot and beloved in NXT. Also Gargano having to fend off Undisputed Era gave a very nice resilient underdog punctuation to the match.

• WrestleMania 36: Firefly Funhouse Match: John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (2020)

This was a spectacle more than a wrestling match, but it was also the height of COVID, so cinematic was something everyone was trying. This was a John Cena fever dream, joining the NWO, squashing the Nexus, Bray acting like more of a crazy narrator than an opponent sometimes. If you don’t go in expecting a wrestling match and just allow the segment to take you on a ride, this was great, and very easily historic since this even caused some of the Hardy Universe angles to get even more weird.

• Supercard of Honor: ROH World Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs Mark Briscoe (2024)

This was the perfect storm for a feel good wrestling angle. After Jay Briscoe passed away in 2023, Mark took some time off, but Tony Khan did the right thing by keeping Mark on the roster and giving him time to decide what to do. This match was 11 years to the day from when Jay won his first World title against Kevin Steen and Mark winning with the Jay Driller was poetic and beautiful. The locker room emptying for Mark and even Eddie being happy for Mark shows the importance and impact that Jay had on everyone and the respect everyone had for Mark continuing on after the tragedy.

This was one of the more interesting days for my money. Always fun to see different definitions for historic and memorable.

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!