A weird weird day, when it comes to Pro Wrestling events. I tried to give my mental gymnastics a small break, because if I was looking for anything recent I would’ve had to comb through the indies and really stretch the concept of historic and memorable. Time to see what I landed on!

• Dwayne Johnson Birthday (1972)

The most electrifying wrestler and the largest star to come out of pro wrestling, I can’t just overlook this. A 10 time champion, the head of the board in TKO, more wrestling accolades than you can shake a stick at and of course a lucrative acting career. Opinions on his more recent ventures are irrelevant because he’s still the most recognizable figure in the wrestling sphere and making more money than most of us, even in a flop. The Brahma Bull surpassed Hulk Hogan in cultural relevance, so that alone is historic.

• AWA SuperClash II (1987)

A disappointing gate at the Cow Palace, of only 2,800, coupled with a main event that fans hated, signaled why AWA was losing the war in the 80s. The real shame here, is that this is Curt Hennig’s only World Title win after he beats Nick Bockwinkel with some help from Larry Zbyszko. The World title was also in the middle of the card behind a 6 man, an awful Jerry Blackwell match and the show was main evented with a tag match involving former NFL player Russ Francis, and it was miserable. AWA was out of touch and running out of talent, and this show was a harbinger for the end a few years later.

• AJPW Giant Baba Memorial Show (1999)

For as beautiful as the event was to see wrestlers pay deference to Baba’s memory, this also shows why the NOAH exodus was so impactful. The show saw a 19 year old Naomichi Marufuji in the opener, Hayabusa, Gedo, The Road Warriors, all of the Four Pillars, Hakushi and Stan Hansen, Baba’s passing caused a major rift in the company. While Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Vader in the main event for the Triple Crown, only a year later, would Misawa walk away with 92% of the roster.

• WCW Thunder (2000)

While it’s odd to put a Thunder taping in here, there’s a good reason. WCW was in desperation mode, so the main event was a 41 person Battle Royale for #1 contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Ric Flair won, which somewhat lead to his “16th” recognized title win. But this is on here more because it was Macho Man Randy Savage’s last appearance in WCW. He was a surprise in the Battle Royale, siding with the Millionaire’s Club. This was also his second to last match in his career.

• NJPW Ultimate Crush (2003)

This is PEAK Inoki-ism. We saw a huge card filled with a mixture of MMA style shoot fights and pro wrestling. The Shoot Style that Inoki was pushing really exposed a lot of NJPW’s top talent at this time, so this was the dark period that many people say Hiroshi Tanahashi pulled NJPW out of. The major points here are, we saw the GHC Heavyweight Championship defended outside of NOAH, with Kenta Kobashi defeating Masahiro Chono. We saw Lyoto Machida debut with a victory followed by the infamous “Toukon Binta” slaps of courage and fighting spirit what Inoki gave to Lyoto afterwards. The main event saw a winner takes all match with the NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama defeating IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata. This period of time is what mars Nagata’s legacy in the grand scheme of IWGP legends.

• AJW Tokyo Show: WWWA World Championship: Amazing Kong (c) vs Ayako Hamada  (2004)

This has bittersweet significance. AJW was in the throes of bankruptcy, the premiere Joshi brand, was running out of steam, and as many of us can remember, the 00s were a weird time for wrestling and many global economies hit different recession points. This is on here because Amazing Kong (Awesome Kong or Kharma for some people), made her name in Japan before ever coming to TNA. This match saw Hamada win the most prestigious belt in Joshi, and she would be one of the last to hold title when AJW went out of business in 2005.

Kind of a sad Saturday, ain’t it? Beginning of the end for AWA, Baba’s passing, WCW on life support, Inoki-ism killing NJPW and the death knell of AJW. Yikes. Hopefully the history I find gets out of it’s Emo phase and decides to shop other places aside from Hot Topic and Spencer’s.

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!

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!