Today In Pro Wrestling History: May 15th

An article bookended by Joshi moments. I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised by myself, but I just take what the history gives me. While nothing is overtly WWE, there are a few names and moments that will still resonate with people who don’t venture too far from the beach.

• AJW Fresh Power Series: AJW Junior Championship: Chigusa Nagayo vs Itsuki Yamazaki (1982)

This match was pivotal for both women, who carry a ton of history for women’s wrestling in general, not just Joshi. Many may not know Itsuki by name, but she eventually became on half of the Jumping Bomb Angels. In this context, Junior titles mean under 20 years old (some do it by wrestling experience, but consider it a rookie style title). The tournament style to get to this match helped to showcase both women, Chigusa ended up defeating Itsuki here, but this helped to set up foundation of the rivalry between the Jumping Bomb Angels and Crush Gals.

• WCW Monday Nitro (2000)

This show was filled with a few interesting notes, that’s why I didn’t just focus on one match. Daffney became Cruiserweight Champion (making her only the second woman to hold the title, after Madusa) after he and Crowbar won a mixed tag against Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch. Sting faced Vampiro in the House of Pain match, and the spectacles didn’t stop there, because the ambulance match with Nash and Mike Awesome happened here too. The most important wrinkle though, Ric Flair defeated Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Title. It was his final real match way of obtaining the title. For clarity, it was only his 15th, the 16 happens because Russo stripped Flair of the title the next week, but after Kevin Nash won the belt, he handed it over to Flair because he disagreed with Flair getting stripped of the title previously. So 16 was kind of a joke, thusly, this is his last real World Championship victory.

• Triplemania XIII (2005)

Plenty of grudges and a little cross promotion were present here. Psicosis and Psicosis II had a steel cage match over rights to the name (it wasn’t just La Parka that Antonio Peña recasted under the mask). Dragon Gate had some cross promotion, and this was a year after Ultimo left the promotion so it became Dragon Gate and this was a little bit of shot to establish the new name. The match with the most fan investment was Konnan versus Vampiro. Their decades long rivalry that spilled into WCW for a bit had a new chapter here. While Konnan won via TKO here, the rivalry was relevant for nearly the next 20 years.

• TNA Hard Justice (2005)

This was the inaugural Hard/Hardcore Justice event. Aside from the somber start for Chris Candido after he passed away two weeks prior, this was a very classic TNA event. Sean Waltman and Raven had a Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match, The Naturals surprising retained the tag titles over America’s Most Wanted and Abyss won the #1 Contender Gauntlet for the Gold. Main event was a solid match that ended in a way to send the people home happy, as AJ Styles defeated Jeff Jarrett to start his third reign as NWA World Champion.

• TNA Sacrifice: Kurt Angel & Chyna vs Jeff & Karen Jarrett (2011)

Some moments speak for themselves, and this one definitely fits that bill. This was Chyna’s final match and also, a legitimate surprise at the time. Chyna’s last time as an active wrestler was 2002 in NJPW. So when she showed up as Kurt Angle’s backup, Karen’s face went white as a sheet and the Impact Zone popped hard. It was definitely a great moment for TNA, and there was hopes she’d be back for at least a short run. Bittersweet given what we know, but Chyna’s impact on wrestling can never be erased or ignored.

• Stardom Gold (2016)

“Threedom” (Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo & Mayu Iwatani)  era was full established here. Kairi finally won the Wonder of Stardom title, which is Stardom’s second highest belt, but this was after a substantial losing streak. So the Pirate Princess had to navigate rough waters to finally take out Santana Garrett for the title. As for the other two in “Threedom”, they were fighting each other for the World of Stardom red belt. Io managed to beat Mayu and rebuff the challenge; taking her rightful place as the Ace of Stardom. We also had the rumblings of greater heel things in the mix. Kyoko Kimura’s Kimura Monster-Gun, recently added Kagetsu, and their undercard victory was a harbinger for things to come.

Quite a few interlocking pieces scattered in these events. Chris Candido, Jeff Jarrett, WCW, Joshi influences on the WWF/E universe and matches with pop culture reference names. I’m not really mad at any of these being on the list.

Did I miss anything? How far did I stretch the events today? 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!