It’s almost like April knows who’s writing these articles. We end the month with a fair amount of Japanese historic moments, but fear not, there are things for WWE fans and Lucha fans. Let’s see if this final day of April gets six stars in the Tokyo Dome!

• NJPW Explosion Tour: Top of Super Juniors Finals: Jushin Thunder Liger vs El Samurai (1992)

We get the crowning achievement in the early years of Liger. This tournament became the Best of the Super Juniors two years after this, so the tournament outcome is very relevant. This was Liger’s first BOSJ tournament win and considered a crown jewel because of how well he carried El Samurai to an amazing match. Samurai wasn’t bad, but Liger helped him elevate, therefore, elevating the entire Division and the prestige of the tournament. Nearly every wrestling knows Liger, and this is one of the early harbingers to him becoming the gold standard for Junior/Cruiser-weight wrestling for the next 30 years.

• AAA Triplemania I (1993)

Not only is it historic because it’s the first one, but this was the type of card you look at and understand the significance from looking at the players. Rey Misterio Jr and La Parka were on the undercard, Jake “the Snake” Roberts made his AAA debut, Konnan lost a controversial double retirement match because of interference and the biggest match was the Lucha de Apuestas match. Perro Aguayo and Mascara Ano 2000 has a fantastic emotional brawl that lead to Aguayo winning and unmasking a long time rival. It also can’t be ignored, that apparently the event was in such demand that they had to turn people away at the door and set up screens in the parking lot for people to watch from outside. Hard to argue the historical aspect.

• WWF Backlash (2000)

Another Backlash and another big deal. We get The Rock correcting the screw job from Mania 16 where he beat Triple H for the WWF Championship. Stone Cold returned to clear out the Corporate Heels and the undercard saw a great match between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. So it finally paid off an angle to the fans liking after getting stretched past Mania, a big return and some generally good wrestling. Memorable, I think this applies.

• WWE Payback: Raw Women’s Title: Bayley (c) vs Alexa Bliss (2017)

No matter how some people may feel about the match quality or the event in general, we aim for history here. With Alexa Bliss’ victory over Bayley, she became the first woman to hold both Raw and SmackDown titles. Remember, this is a list of history, and being the first to accomplish something is a pretty easy slam dunk.

• AJPW Broadcast: All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Desire To Deliver To The World (2020)

This was one of the very first events during the onset of the pandemic. All Japan started doing things that AEW, NJPW, NOAH and WWE eventually copied, with having wrestlers and crew participate as the crowd when they weren’t in the matches. We saw the debut of Enfantes Terribles, including their leader and former Ace of Wrestle-1, Shotaro Ashino. AJPW did a good job at pushing newer talent, while keeping the veterans relevant to help elevate the roster and keep some interest in a time when everyone had to rely on streaming. Should also be noted that this was one of the last shows to featured Jun Akiyama before he moved to DDT.

• Pro Wrestling NOAH Majestic (2022)

The first event with the Majestic name, but that’s not the history here. This signified the turn in pandemic and the wrestling landscape. International talent like Rene Dupree and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr returned, since the 20th anniversary was cancelled due to the pandemic, this served as a poignant moment in Ryogoku Sumo Hall. Capped off with the main event for the vacant GHC Heavyweight title, Go Shiozaki defeated Kaito Kiyomiya for his record 5th reign. After finally shedding the “Fallen Ace” moniker with his previous reign that last over 400 days and was fantastic pandemic action, he finally got to enjoy sitting alone at the top.

This has been an interesting month. First half felt like it had a solid bit of WrestleMania moments, then we deep dove into Japan for some late days, Backlash turned out to be a major player, and we had appearances from Mexico, classic Joshi and some birthdays to round out the days. Should be interesting to see May brings the same kind of mixed bag, or if it’s a unique monster.

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!

As April winds down, we get a pretty historically significant day. Two moments that will go down in pro wrestling history for as long as its a fandom and some fun events sandwiched between. Time to get to the good stuff!

• AJW Tokyo Show (1991)

I like to find the classic All Japan Women’s Joshi matches that many have probably overlooked. This was during Bull Nakano’s 1,057 day title reign as the WWWA Women’s Champion. Her match with Monster Ripper (aka Bertha Faye) is a classic that cemented Bull as the Ace of the bridge generation from Beauty Pair, Lioness Asuka, Jaguar Yokota and Dump Matsumoto. We also saw Akira Hokuto win the All Pacific Championship in a tremendous match that positioned her right behind Bull in the grand scheme of Joshi. Manami Toyota and Aja Kong were also on the undercard given the fact they were still fairly new into their careers and only starting to show signs of taking the flag for the next generation. A wonderfully pivotal show.

• WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea (1995)

This is the second day, and the wrestling show with the highest recorded attendance in all of pro wrestling history at 190,000. This had great political influence for Antonio Inoki when it came to strengthening Japanese and North Korean tensions, as well as showing filial piety since Inoki paid his respects to Rikidozan’s birthplace during the tour. Ric Flair versus Antonio Inoki is the match that had the most attention, but everything about this was unprecedented. Shinya Hashimoto, the Steiner Brothers and even Muhammad Ali showed up for the spectacle. History is undeniable when it comes to this event.

• WWF Backlash (2001)

Well, where to begin with this show. This was the first show where WWF officially had no domestic competition, we got Shane McMahon’s giant leap into the Big Show for their Last Man Standing Match, and a grueling Ultimate Submission Iron Man Match between Benoit and Kurt Angle. That’s also not to bury the main event which was a winner takes all match between the Two-Man Power Trip and Brothers of Destruction. Power Trip won becoming only the second duo since Diesel and Shawn Michaels to hold the Intercontinental, WWF and Tag Team titles simultaneously. A lot of history packed into a normal monthly PPV.

• WWE Backlash (2007)

Another Backlash with surprising amounts of relevance. Undertaker and Batista had their infamous “pyrotechnics” spot which caused the match to effectively end in a draw to extend the feud. The Fatal 4 Way where Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music for Cena to fall limp onto Randy Orton and retain, was a clever and unique finish at the time. But here comes the real reason this show is here, this was Vince McMahon’s ECW World Championship win. The 3 on 1 Handicap match against Bobby Lashley gave Vince his only…I guess, semi-legit run as a champion. Sure he won the WWF Title in 1999, but he vacated it a few days later. This reign lasted about a month and he defended it. While people don’t look fondly upon WWECW, remember, this is memorable and historic things…not solely “good” things.

• WWE Extreme Rules (2012)

Primarily on here for being the return of Brock Lesnar after 8 years, the show in general is often cited as one of the best WWE PPVs historically. A lot of really good action, including a Chicago Street fight between Chris Jericho and CM Punk, about half way through his fan lauded 434 day reign. While not an earthquake of historical events, still memorable to many fans.

• Sendai Girls Meiko Satomura The Final (2025)

This had to make the list because thanks to her NXT UK run, more western fans were exposed to the brilliance of the original “Final Boss”. Meiko getting to retire in the company she founded 20 years prior, is a big deal. The retirement match was a tag match, Meiko teamed with her 20 year old student Manami against Chihiro Hashimoto (current powerhouse Ace of Sendai Girls) and Aja Kong (long time rival). There was a clash of past, present and future, so the symbolism ran deep with this match. After the match, Aja and Meiko joined forces for a 5 minute exhibition Gauntlet, where the legends fought the new generation to an auspicious draw. Good symbolism and great history involved in this event.

Bookending the article with Joshi as well as Aja Kong toward the beginning of her career and nearing the end, is a cute thread. I am also very surprised at how many B Level WWE events have had some major things happen this month. Wrestling certainly is an interesting little sub culture when it comes down to things of significance.

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!