Today In Pro Wrestling History: May 17th

This article is a bit heavier on the older wrestling moments. Only one event is in the 2000s, with everything being 1998 or earlier. So let’s see what I found so important to give Gen X and Millennial fans some nice nostalgia.

• WWWF MSG Show: World Heavyweight Championship: Buddy Rogers (c) vs Bruno Sammartino (1963)

Bruno squashed Buddy Rogers in less than a minute to win his first WWWF title. This isn’t significant because of squashing the original “Nature Boy”, it’s significance lies in the fact that this began the historic 2,803 day reign. Since we have dumb things like “national Matcha day”, it’s not ridiculous for me to want May 17th to be Bruno Sammartino Day.

• NJPW Super Warrior in Osaka Castle Hall (1992)

This event did a great job at establishing the “Three Musketeers” and also giving us some fun crossover matches. Shinya Hashimoto defeated Oz (Kevin Nash), Tiger Mask III pinning Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) and Big Van Vader defeating Tony Halme (WWE Ludvig Borga). Not to mention two classic title defenses. Jushin Liger defeated El Samurai to retain the Junior Heavyweight title, and Riki Choshu held out to beat Keiji Mutoh. Both matches solidified the newer generation in a way. Liger was King of the Juniors and Mutoh was on his ascent, and would comeback with an Underworld vengeance later in the year.

• WCW WrestleWar: WarGames: Sting’s Squadron vs Dangerous Alliance (1992)

The WarGames match that set the bar and is considered by many as the best of all time. Sting Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham and Ricky Steamboat made up the babyface team. Paul E. Dangerously’s team was, Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko ended up costing the heels when he swung at Sting with the turnbuckle connector, missed and hit Bobby Eaton. While WCW wasn’t at it’s zenith in 1992, this match still resonates with fans of WarGames.

• WWF Monday Night Raw: Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs Marty Jannetty (1993)

Jannetty returning earlier in the year to shock Shawn and cement the shock with a massive upset, was one of the largest highlights in Jannetty’s WWE career. His one and only singles title run only lasted around 20 days, but it was a memorable moment from how high Shawn ascended after kicking Jannetty through a window and breaking up the Rockers. A small bonus note is, this was also the show where Lightning Kid got the upset win over Razor Ramon.

• WCW Slamboree: Ciclope Unmasking (1998)

One of the most meme’d storylines comes to a head here at Slamboree. This was the angle where Jericho was goading Dean Malenko after taking the title off him, the list of 1,004 holds. During a Battle Royal at Slamboree, the winner gets an immediate shot at the Cruiserweight Championship. It came down to Ciclope and Juventud Guerrera. Juvi shook Ciclope’s hand and eliminated himself. Everyone was confused until Ciclope unmasked and the crowd erupted into one of the largest pops in WCW history. Malenko fooled everyone, got the title match and defeated Jericho. Granted, he was stripped shortly after since he competed under the false gimmick. But the reveal and the storyline is definitely a core memory for WCW fans.

• WWE Payback: World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs Dean Ambrose vs Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton (2015)

A few smaller notes like Lana having to scream ” I Quit” for Rusev during the Cena match and New Day doing a little shenanigans to retain the tag titles. But when we get a mini Shield Reunion at this point in WWE, that takes the spotlight. Even though it was a 4-way, there was the moment when the three came to a quick agreement to put things aside to send Randy Orton through the broadcast table with their Shield Powerbomb. Also, while it wasn’t the first time Seth used the Pedigree, it was the first time he won the match with it. This was a hit or miss time for WWE, but this was definitely a memory most look back on fondly.

While I don’t really see a cute thread for the events today, it was a whole lot of WCW and WCW adjacent events. It’s not very often when half of the events have WCW influence, much less all of them because positive historic moments. Weird day.

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!