Now, today is more of a meme celebration for Star Wars fans, but since we’ve got to focus on pro wrestling for this article…let’s see what we get. Which companies embrace the fourth?

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku: WCW International World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs Rick Rude (1994)

This was Rick Rude’s final match, the match where Sting hits the Dive that send Rude into the wooden platform and hit his back back awkwardly causing the spine issue. While Rick Rude did still finish the match, and was victorious, the decision was overturned to not need to vacate the title. Regardless of fault and intent, the history is still there about Rick Rude’s last match being the bittersweet history.

• WWF Insurrextion (2002)

A few interesting pieces of history are tied to this show. It was the first “Raw Branded” PPV after the brand split as well as the last WWF PPV because the pandas came in with the steel chair and forced the name change on May 6th. This was also the event tied to the Plane Ride From Hell. Weird and dark history still counts!

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (2018)

We get the generational clash and passing of the torch. This was the V12 defense, where Okada broke the former defense record of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, against the man who held the V11 record. Okada’s last big defense during his 720 day reign. Short and sweet, easy history moment.

• Pro Wrestling NOAH Majestic (2023)

We saw a few big shifts at this show, Go Shiozaki on his “I Am NOAH” run, and STINGER also kicked out HAYATA and Eita to rebrand the group. Real defeated Takashi Sugiura and Shuhei Tanaguchi, allowing Timothy Thatcher and Saxon Huxley their first title reign together. Jake Lee also managed to defeat Naomichi Marufuji, to retain the GHC Heavyweight title. A few shakeups and newer acquisition, making important waves in NOAH.

• WWE Backlash France (2024)

A few interesting notes here. The crowd in Lyon set the record for largest live arena gate in WWE history. Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair won the Women’s Tag Titles off the Kabuki Warriors. Tanga Loa made his goofball debut, and we saw Cody Rhodes make his first title defense as Undisputed WWE Champion against AJ Styles, after finally finishing the story at WrestleMania XL.

• Pro Wrestling NOAH Wrestle Magic (2024)

Multiple things happened at this event, we got a UWF Rules revival match between Ulka Sasaki and Kazushi Sakuraba. We saw TenCozy reunite to take on the GLG faction as well as the debut of Marigold, notably Guilia and Kouki Amarei, helping to spark the excitement for the GHC Women’s Championship later in the year. But the biggest thing, was the return of Kaito Kiyomiya as the “Ace”. After struggling for the past few years against the likes of Keiji Mutoh, Go Shiozaki, Jake Lee, Kazuchika Okada and Kenoh, Kaito finally returned to the top of the pecking order after defeating El Hijo de Dr Wagner Jr for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. The ark steered out of the turbulent times of the pandemic, in which they flourished, and were finally setting course for their new generation to take flight.

This was definitely an odd event list. Heavier Japanese influence on the really good moments, a touch of WCW and WWF, and a thread of Okada with his V12 and being part of the re-ascension of Kaito Kiyomiya…this was an odd Star Wars day. But I guess a little bit of Lightside and Darkside of the ring, proves that all things are in balance.

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!

Yesterday was a little difficult to find things, and today is the opposite. We’ve got so many shows (a lot of NJPW shows happen on May 3rd), so I tried to cherry pick the best and see what we get. I think it’s a pretty decent list, if I say so myself.

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (1993)

A show with Sting, Jushin Thunder Liger, Brutus Beefcake and Tiger Mask…but that’s not the reason it’s on here. This event was The Great Muta vs Hulk Hogan match. A “Dream Match” at the time, and the fallout press conference makes this a historic event as well. Beyond the Dream Match, the press conference contained Hogan’s infamous line of calling the WWF Title a toy and IWGP Championship was the only one that mattered. A little inter-promotional magic and a newspaper headline, definitely checks the historic box to me.

• ECW Wrestlepalooza (1998)

We see ECW taking shots at WCW, much like WCW tried to encroach on WWF territory a few years before. The show took place in Georgia and was seen as the first real shot to make it a Big Three instead of a Big Two. The event had RVD and Sabu wrestle to a 30 minute draw, and this was when their chemistry was peak. It also had Shane Douglas defend the World title against Al Snow, even while claiming multiple fractures in his arm. Final note, this was Al Snow’s last ECW event before going to WWF to give everyone…head.

• WWE Monday Night Raw (2004)

This is mostly on the list for the classic World Title match between Shawn Michaels and Christ Benoit. But other pieces fell into place as well. Edge pinned Randy Orton in a six man match to set up his push up the card. This also contained the Boiler Room situation with Kane and Lita while Matt Hardy was trying to patch things up. A weird time in WWE, and remember, historic or memorable, doesn’t always mean for positive reasons.

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (2010)

A few pivotal moments on this show. Prince Devitt ascended to the top of the Junior Division after defeating Naomichi Marufuji for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. We got the debut of Tama Tonga, and as much as I love him, he’s not the biggest moment. In a slight upset, we got Togi Makabe defeating Shinsuke Nakamura for his first and only IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The “Great Bash Heel” was a great indicator of NJPW pivoting out of the darkness of Inoki-ism and turning into it’s most profitable form.

• NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (2014)

I nearly put the main event as the only important thing, but that would do a disservice to something else major. The something else being, Yujiro Takahashi turned on CHAOS to join Bullet Club. This was pivotal because he was the first Japanese member, and the Tokyo Pimp changed the perspective from a “foreign heel” stable, to something with real staying power. But let’s not ignore the main event, the debut match of AJ Styles, challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. AJ Styles not only won the championship in his debut match, he snapped Okada’s 391 day reign and established Bullet Club as the dominant faction in NJPW.

• TNA Under Siege (2024)

TNA events are always dangerous for if they’ll hold positive or negative information, but thankfully this one is pretty positive so far. This event saw the unofficial TNA debut of KC Navarro, since he was an unsigned replacement challenger for Laredo Kid’s Digital Media Championship. We also got to see the return of “Broken” Matt Hardy in the main event, as well as, Mustafa Ali continuing his undefeated streak and cementing his X Division reign as one of the very bright spots in TNA. However, that’s not all – The System established a near sweep. Alisha Edwards was half of the Knockouts Tag Champions, Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers were Tag Team Champions and Moose was World Champion. The System established themselves as the most dominant faction since the Main Event Mafia, and are still well positioned at the time of this article.

I never knew Wrestling Dontaku landed on May 3rd so many times, I think there were three or four other ones that I just didn’t want a wall of New Japan. But it is cool to see that there is a thread of factions establishing dominance on this date.

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!