Today In Pro Wrestling History: May 1st

As is internet tradition for all Millennials of a certain age, ” IT’S GONNA BE MAY”! And that means we get another entire month of history, memories and sometimes obscure classics that many may not be aware of! Let’s see if this month starts strong, or if wrestling history disrespects the great words of Justin Timberlake.

• AJPW25th Anniversary At The Egg (1998)

An event often regarded as the “Grand Finale” for AJPW’s Golden Age. The bittersweet of this, is that this was Giant Baba’s last Tokyo Dome appearance before his passing a year later. And since Misawa made the NOAH exodus another year after that, this was one hell of a final chapter. The card was filled with incredible action, Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi defeated Stan Hansen & Vader, Hayabusa, Steve Williams, Jinsei Shinzaki, Taiyo Kea and Hiroshi Hase were all in action as well. The main event was a fantastic moment for Toshiaki Kawada, as he got a singles victory over Mitsuharu Misawa which boded well to solidify him as an equal Pillar, especially with the Exodus incoming and Kawada being the only one who stayed to tow the company line.

• WWE Backlash (2005)

This is an interesting event. While nothing cataclysmic happened, this show laid the groundwork and the first established moments for public sentiment for a while. Hulk Hogan returned to team with Shawn Michaels after being gone for a few years. Batista took down Triple H, being one of the few to consistently beat Triple H, and being off the heels of Evolution disbanding, Batista solidified his dominance. Lastly, Edge’s Rated R Superstar gimmick really came to life here when he used a brick to beat Chris Benoit in a Last Man Standing Match. The Ultimate Opportunist was coming into his own at a perfect time.

• WWE Extreme Rules (2011)

Cena defeated Miz and Morrison for his 10th WWE Championship Reign, as well as, making an announcement after the match about Osama Bin Laden being finish off. This also saw a few firsts, being Christians first real World Title win (no one counts ECW, stop it), a few weeks after Edge’s sudden retirement, was a big feel good moment. We also got the debut of Kharma at this event. The former Awesome Kong made an impact attacking Michelle McCool after she lost the retirement match.

• AAW Take No Prisoners (2015)

One of the last stops on Samoa Joe’s Indie Tour, before joining WWE the following month. This saw a Triple Threat Elimination for the AAW Heavyweight Title between Joe, Josh Alexander and Eddie Kingston. The card also had Johnny Gargano, Chris Sabin, Juice Robinson, Ethan Page, Davey Richards, OI4k (The Crist Brothers) and Tommaso Ciampa. While not as groundbreaking as some events, the sheer name power of wrestlers who would shape the scope of the current wrestling environment is always fun to see.

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (2022)

While COVID was not favorable to NJPW, nor was the creation of AEW, this show still managed to make a few waves in a rather quite period for the brand. Jay White and the Good Brothers returned to NJPW (thanks to travel restrictions being loosened), and gave Bullet Club some new life. With the new life, came a new member, Juice Robinson, officially went to the dark side on this show. Hiroshi Tanahashi won the vacant US title, Taiji Ishimori took the Junior belt off of one of El Desperado, but that’s not the fun title change. Our favorite MFT, Tama Tonga won his first singles title after being in NJPW since 2010. Our “Good Bad Guy” finally got a bit of a push once G.O.D. split from the Bullet Club.

Who would’ve expected there would be a Juice Robinson thread in my choices for events. This May is starting off kinda lame if it’s a Juice kind of month. What’s next? Juventud Guerrera history? Please no…

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!