Today In Pro Wrestling History: June 18th

Honestly, a little odd of an article. Most of the events were between 2004-2006, so there was a really hot period when this day was popping off, and then it kind of trails off coming into present day. Still a fair bit of memorable and historical events! So let’s get to it!

• CMLL Infierno en el Ring: UWA Heavyweight Championship 2 out of 3 Falls: El Canek (c) vs Dr Wagner Jr (2004)

There’s an entertaining history here. Even though the UWA went out of business in 1995, Canek continued to the defend the belt, and the lineage continued for nearly 20 years after the company closed. Canek, held this belt 15 times, for over 7,000 days. It became synonymous with him throughout the Mexican independent scene. Canek was a babyface going into this match and Wagner was a heel. Wagner was aggressive, since El Canek defeated Dr Wagner Sr, for his first ever National title. So the son was here to avenge the father. During the second fall, Wagner broke El Canek’s jaw, legitimately. But he continued the match bleeding through his mask. Wagner won the third fall, avenging his father and also becoming the final UWA Heavyweight Champion all the way until 2011 when they finally left the title dormant. This match also was historic because it was a double turn. The fans refused to boo Wagner even though he was the heel, so Wagner got turned babyface and Canek went heel.

• ROH Death Before Dishonor III: ROH World Heavyweight Championship: Austin Aries (c) vs CM Punk (2005)

In an early example of using the dirtsheets to their advantage, ROH used the fact that there was a heavy rumor of CM Punk singing with WWE, so the fans in the arena expected a traditional Punk loss on the way out. In a grueling 30 minute war, the fans were still chanting for Punk, even though they expected a loss. Aries had a few big spots, but Punk pulls off the TKO, hits a Shining Wizard and looks to end the match. This was before the GTS, so he takes Aries up…and hits the Pepsi Plunge! CM Punk wins the ROH World Title, the crowd erupts. However, Punk immediately grabs the mic and blisters the crowd, turning heel, stating he’s gonna leave the company and take the belt with him. The original Summer of Punk began, which would lead to his eventual departure to the WWE, but using the dirtsheets to build tension was a masterclass here.

• FWA NOAH Limits: GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles: Doug Williams & 2 Cold Scorpio (c) vs Naomichi Marufuji & Minoru Suzuki  (2005)

This was a historic event for NOAH given it’s only in it’s fourth year of existence and trying to expand globally. We saw a few future UK Names like Spud, Johnny Storm and Jody Fleisch, but the tag title is the moment in this show. Williams and Scorp held the belts for nearly 5 months, and this was the first time the tag belts were defended on British soil. Which then leads to even more history when Suzuki neutralized Williams on the outside and Marufuji hits Scorp with the Shiranui, to win the titles and cement the first ever and currently ONLY time the title has changed hands in England.

• TNA Slammiversary (2006)

This was peak old school TNA. The X Division #1 Contender Elimination match is still something remembered fondly, with Low Ki defeating Shark Boy, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams and Alex Shelley. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels won the tag titles from America’s Most Wanted in their last chance match. Plus we get an iconic moment that also encapsulates some frustrations with old TNA, where Jeff Jarrett won the King of the Mountain match, to begin his fifth reign as NWA Champion. The reason this was problematic was because Larry Zbyszko distracted the outside ref, Earl Hebner purposefully knocked over the ladder while Christian and Sting were scaling, to help Jarrett retain. The crowd threw trash into the ring and hated every second of it. The other referees refused to give the title to Jarrett and instead handed it to the newly debuted Jim Cornette, where he promptly vacated the title on the next Impact. But this scene will live on in infamy during the overbooked Jeff Jarrett years.

• AAA Triplemania XIX (2011)

This was an epic Triplemania with three standout matches. The first match that should get highlighted is Jeff Jarrett taking on El Zorro for the Mega Championship. With the help of Karen Jarrett, the heel referee Tirantes and weapons like powder and chairs, Jarrett secured the win for his first reign as Mega Champion, a reign that would last 274 days. Secondly, the Lucha de Apuestas match between L.A. Park and El Mesias was a 7 month build that culminated in Mask vs Hair. A brutal match well over 30 minutes, had the crowd hot with all of the interference and shortcuts that L.A. Park used. Park wins however, so Mesias gets his head shaved. After back to back matches with heels cheating to pull off victories, the main event took some building up. Third and final, the battle for the Inaugural Latin American Champion between Dr Wagner Jr and Rob Van Dam. Even though the crowd was exhausted after being hot against Jarrett and L.A. Park…they still rallied behind the company hero Dr Wagner. Thankfully, for the crowd’s sanity, Wagner defeated RVD to become the inaugural champion and finally give the crowd a reason to cheer and go home happy.

• WWE Money In The Bank: First Women’s Money in the Bank (2017)

While we could talk about Baron Corbin winning the men’s match or Jinder Mahal defending against Randy Orton…we all know what truly lives rent free in people’s heads from this show. James “I Left My Chin In My Other Shirt” Ellsworth. This was the first ever Women’s Money In the Bank…technically…won by a man. The IWC outrage, the on screen outrage, but the smug attitude of Carmella made it all that much better. With Ellsworth scaling the ladder while everyone was down, and he drops the the briefcase to Carmella, it cemented him in this comedic heel role, as opposed to his initial “plucky underdog” debut.

This has been a day of a lot of bad main events to piss off crowds…yet burn the feeling into people’s brains. I also like how there’s a lot of Jarrett just winning things he has no reason winning and the crowd rejecting his existence. Millions in broken guitars, and never drew a dime. That’s not to ignore a few entries from Dr Wagner Jr, so at least there was some positive repetition.

How tight were the nostalgia goggles? Am I ignoring companies that you’re passionate about? Make your thoughts known and Always Use Your Head!