Today In Pro Wrestling History: June 8th

So we’re in a WWE and Japan circle today. We kick off with a WWF title defended on a Japanese show, and end with a show involving plenty of names who were well established in Japan before the WWE. Time to learn you some history!

• AJW Omiya Show: WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship: Jumping Bomb Angels (c) vs The Glamour Girls (1988)

After the Angels (Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki) stole the show at the 1988 Royal Rumble, defeating the Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai & Judy Martin) in a two out of three falls match, it’s only logical we get the rematch. But this time instead of on a WWF show, it was an AJW in Japan. Marking what would be the final title change in this original Women’s Tag Belt lineage, The Glamour Girls recovered their titles from the Angels via Countout. The extra note of history is apparently Fabulous Moolah made the call without consulting WWF management. Unfortunately for the Jumping Bomb Angels, Moolah’s selfish actions ruined their opportunities to come back to the states and also ruined plans for WrestleMania V.

• AJPW Budokan Hall Show: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta  (1990)

I know in a previous article I said if it’s an AJPW match in the 90s, it’s definitely a Four Pillar and it’s most likely Misawa…but this is the first one. Only a few weeks prior did Misawa take off the mask and drop the Tiger Mask II persona. This was his proving grounds match. Jumbo was Giant Baba‘s Ace, the torch bearer of AJPW nearly from the beginning. So in a masterpiece of a match, Misawa got the upset win over Jumbo. While not for a title, the impact of this was equivalent to the Rainmaker Shock, that many people are aware of. This proved Misawa could stand on his own, in the main event and become the new Ace of the 90s in AJPW.

• WWF King of the Ring (1997)

There’s two very notable things, and honestly, the lesser of the two is probably the actual King of the Ring Finals. While Mankind vs Trips is a rivalry that is remembered fondly from the Attitude Era, it’s more for the grit and how Mankind was generally a great sympathetic babyface. The match had solid story telling, but Chyna’s involvement made the outcome fairly obvious. The marquee memory though, is Shawn Michael and Stone Cold having their infamous “screw the refs” reactions during this match. A technical and psychological brawl between two of the best in 90s. After an initial ref bump where Stone Cold would’ve won in the ref wasn’t knocked out, Austin made sure he stayed out and hit the referee with a Stunner. In a similar twist of fate, the second referee runs out, but checks on the first referee instead of counting the fall where Michaels would win, so referee number two eats the Sweet Chin Music. Earl Hebner comes out third and throws out the match disqualifying them both, but they continue to brawl to the back well after the bell. This was Attitude Era incarnate.

• AJPW Super Power Series: Triple Crown Championship: Genichirou Tenryu (c) vs Keiji Mutoh (2001)

This was a blessing for both Mutoh and AJPW. Off the heels of the NOAH Exodus, AJPW was struggling with star power. Mutoh, being one of the original NJPW Three Musketeers, had established himself well in the 90s in the rival promotion, but Inoki was going through his Inoki-ism phase. The talent exchange between NJPW and AJPW not only helped a depleted roster, but allowed Mutoh to find a new creative spark, including his innovation of the Shining Wizard. This match marked Mutoh’s first Triple Crown title reign, and became the catalyst for AJPW to offer him the president spot in 2002 and generally hitch their survival to Mutoh.

• NJPW Best of the Super Juniors: Finals: Ricochet vs KUSHIDA (2014)

2014 was Ricochet’s break out year, in general. But there’s tons of memorable aspects to this specific moment. Ricochet became the youngest at the time. He was also only the second American to win the BoSJ after Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit). So aside from KUSHIDA beating him earlier in the tournament, this was great redemption for Ricochet from a storytelling perspective. He was being billed from Dragon Gate at the time, so being an outsider and an American, it was a very big deal that he won the tournament.

• NXT Takeover: The End (2016)

There was a lot that went on at this show. From Andrade’s NXT debut match, to Shinsuke Nakamura versus Austin Aries and Asuka‘s continued dominance over the women’s division. We also got an NXT first, where The Revival regained the tag titles from American Alpha, to become the first team in NXT history to hold the belts twice. As for the main event, we had the year long saga of Finn Balor versus Samoa Joe, in a Steel Cage, which marked another first as it was the first NXT event with a Steel Cage match. For one other first, it was the first time Finn’s alter ego, The Demon, was defeated.

While, this was a very Japan heavy list, most of the names should be somewhat known to even the most casual fans. While nothing was super modern, a lot of the names are still relevant today.

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