Today In Pro Wrestling History: May 19th

Holy American television Batman. This is probably the most Millennial coded article I’ve ever done. So feed your Tamagotchi, tighten your roller blades and get ready for TGIF, because this is WCW and WWE all day!

• NWA Capital Combat: RoboCop (1990)

While Doom winning the World Tag Team titles and the Midnight Express winning the US Tag Titles have a measure of significance, we all remember this for the RoboCop spot. After kicking Sting out of the Four Horsemen, they decided to neutralize him by shoving him into a shark cage. So as a crossover for RoboCop 2, we see him walk down the ramp and rip the door off the cage to free Sting. It was a bizarre and cornball PR stunt, but it was definitely memorable.

• WCW SuperBrawl I (1991)

This event gives us two debuts, those being Johnny B Badd and Oz. It also was the end of Doom with Butch Reed and Ron Simmons wrestling in a steel cage. The Steiner Brothers vs Lex Luger and Sting actually won the PWI Match of Year nod, so that was nearly the focus of this entry, but that’s not all that happened. The main event saw a unification match between the WCW Champion Ric Flair and the NWA Champion Tatsumi Fujinami, which Ric Flair won. This would be his final WCW main event until Starrcade ’93, since he hops to WWF in a few months after this match.

• WCW Slamboree (1996)

I threw this event in here to remind everyone of the calm before the storm. The final WCW event before the nWo storyline began. While there was Lethal Lottery shenanigans, there was also Ric Flair and Randy Savage with the inability to put aside their differences and they brawled with each other, instead of their opponents, Public Enemy. Allowing Public Enemy to get a Count Out victory over the legends. This was also the PPV where DDP was declared Lord of the Ring after a Battle Royal, but that moniker went absolutely nowhere, especially after the Outsiders and nWo began in earnest.

• WWE Judgement Day: WWE Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) vs The Undertaker (2002)

A lot like other events, this had some memorable moments aside from the pointed out moment. But be it Steve Austin’s last PPV appearance as a full time wrestler, referee Tim White’s career ending injury or the Kurt Angle and Edge hair match…the main event was a bigger moment. Hogan was back in the Red & Yellow, on his last big title run. Taker was in the Big Evil era of his biker variant, and made history. Not only did Undertaker win the match, but he became the ONLY person to defeat Hulk Hogan twice for the Heavyweight title.

• WWE Extreme Rules: The Shield Adorned In Gold (2013)

The rest of this show is pretty terrible, so if it weren’t for being a pivotal moment in the history of The Shield, I would’ve been able to ignore this. Dean Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to kick off his nearly year long reign as US Champion. Roman and Seth weren’t caught lacking either, they defeated Team Hell No for the Tag Team Championships. This marked all of their first titles on the WWE main card, and made a statement with the entire faction walking in as champions.

• WWE Money in the Bank (2019)

Now I could’ve gone the same way I did with the Judgement Day entry and focused on one thing, but I’m personally torn between which one is a bigger moment. Brock Lesnar’s surprise return to “steal” the Money in the Bank briefcase moment, was frustrating for hardcore fans who wanted to see the likes of Mustafa Ali get an opportunity, but it lead to Boombox Brock and a generally enjoyable return of the Beast. The other moment is also the titular event, with Bayley. She won the women’s briefcase, and decided to cash in the same night on Charlotte right after she defeated Becky 2 Belts. Bayley’s cash in was huge because it was a while since anyone cashed in opportunities that quickly and Bayley’s cash in was successful, so she became the first ever Women’s Grand Slam winner.

A very odd list of events in my opinion because it’s really just WCW and WWE. I couldn’t even find TNA, ROH or NJPW to sneak in there. Maybe I’m losing my touch. I should go find an ornate fountain and stare into the water while I contemplate how I make life decisions.

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!