Today In Pro Wrestling History: June 1st

June starts off with a nice mixture of companies, events and different types of history. Some of these changed the landscape of their respective promotion for a while, while others were just interesting and memorable. Let’s get to it!

• ECW Fight The Power: ECW Television Championship Gauntlet (1996)

In a somewhat unprecedented feat, Shane Douglas defended his championship five times in the same night. The TV Title gauntlet utilized a few guys who wrestled previously in the card, and some undercard guys, so it wasn’t completely stacked against Douglas. Douglas defeated El Puerto Ricano, Don E. Allen, Devon Storm and Mikey Whipwreck, before he got to his final challenger Pitbull #2. Pitbull lost to Raven earlier in the night, so after not capturing the Heavyweight title, he countered an Avalanche Belly to Belly into a Super Powerbomb to capture the Television title! Out of frustration Douglas hit his Belly to Belly on Pitbull’s manager Francine, which was a memorable moment within itself!

• AJPW Keiji Mutoh Exodus (2013)

After quietly purchasing 100% of Mutoh’s shares, Speed Partners declared they were going to oust the current AJPW president to implement their own. On May 31st, Mutoh submitted his resignation effective June 1st. Thirteen wrestlers went along with him as well to eventually create Wrestle-1. While not as many in numbers nor as cataclysmic as the NOAH exodus, Mutoh’s Exodus really crippled a less prominent AJPW at the time, and by 2014 Speed Partners ended their partnership handing trademarks over to Jun Akiyama.

• WWE Payback (2014)

We had a workhorse banger for the United States championship between Sheamus and Cesaro as well as, a still the still heavily debated Bray Wyatt versus John Cena rubber match. The Last Man Standing match that saw Cena win after burying Bray under equipment, we were in a heavy era of Cena not letting newer talent get over. From Nexus a few years prior and now Bray Wyatt, there are distinct reasons why he always got mixed reactions. The main event of the show, was not a World Title, which was the first show since Armageddon 2006 to not have a World title match. Instead, we saw Evolution versus the Shield in a No Holds Barred Elimination match. While Seth Rollins gives us the highlight reel moment of jumping off the titantron, the point that is sometimes overlooked is that The Shield won in a clean sweep. The Evolution reunion was over after this and The Shield ascended to a prestigious faction level.

• NXT TakeOver XXV: NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Adam Cole (2019)

While the whole show was great, since we’re still in the Black & Gold era of excellence, this match is a level above everything. Not just because Meltzer did his inane scale breaking rating, but because the story was build well, the pacing and spots were fantastic. Adam Cole having to go into ROH staples, hitting the Panama Sunrise from the apron to the floor directly into a Last Shot, showed a level of desperation and how both were being pushed. This kicked off Adam Cole’s 403 day reign and the Undisputed Era dominance.

• MLW Battle Riot VI (2024)

This show had a MLW World Heavyweight defense from Satoshi Kojima, who was in the midst of a career resurgence. He defeated Tom Lawlor, and had a fairly lengthy second reign as MLW champion. The fun bits come from the Battle Riot itself though. Paul Walter Hauser made his in-ring debut for MLW under the Arachnaman mask. He managed to take out Ernest Miller with a Crane Kick, homage to his working on Cobra Kai and even eliminated Tom Lawlor…which would turn into a feud between the two. YouTuber Chris Danger eliminated Violent J, Minoru Suzuki ran amuck eliminating former Riot winner Alex Kane, helping to thin the field for the eventual winner Matt Riddle. Fun cameos and returns  are the blueprint of Battle Royals.

Title gauntlets, resignations, refusals to put over newer talent, and peak Black and Gold excellence makes a fairly balanced article, if I do say so myself. I just always enjoy when the events are spread well and end fairly close to our current year.

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