Today In Pro Wrestling History: July 14th

So this was a WWE heavy day, even a good number of Raws and SmackDowns happened today…but I had to pick interesting things. So I sprinkled in some different stuff, but I think most of these events are deserving of some spotlight!

• WWF King of the Ring (1986)

King of the Ring events are always worthy of a memorable position since most pro wrestling fans enjoy going over tournament accolades, regardless of where their main fandom lies. This was the second ever King of the Ring, and it was the literal crowning achievement for a legend of the business. After defeating George Steele and Billy Jack Haynes, Harley Race faced Pedro Morales in the finals. Thanks to a timely Superplex, we saw the birth of King Harley Race. This was Harley’s biggest accolade in his WWF stint, but we all know he made his name during the original territory days. So this was more like giving a legend his flowers and acknowledging his pedigree.

• WWF Raw is War: Dude Love (1997)

So we got the third face of Foley today. With Shawn Michaels having to vacate the tag titles, and a number one contender tournament victory positioning Owen Hart and British Bulldog as a major hurdle…the other half of the previous champions, Steve Austin. Austin wanted nothing to do with a partner, demanded he go out alone, but even the Texas Rattlesnake was only human. The cohesive tag team work and the obvious numbers game had Austin on the ropes. But we get a tron package, a whole new music and ensemble of a tie-dyed Shirt, bandana, hippie sunglasses and the birth of Dude Love! Dude came in, hit a Sweet Shin Music, Austin hit a Stunner and the unconventional team won the tag titles.

• DREAMWAVE Summer Spectacular (2012)

I like throwing on some fun independent shows no and then, just for who was on the card and any possible bigger interactions. Two of the bigger names in the undercard are Colt Cabana and Marshe Rockett. There was a title change, where the Ace Martino won the DREAMWAVE Alternative title over Vic Capri, Dan the Man and Waylon Beck. But you know I wouldn’t have this on here without a selling point, that being the main event. The World title saw Nick Brubaker defending his title against Prince Mustafa Ali! This match actually was the catalyst for a trilogy over the summer of 2012. Brubaker retained in this match because there was so much outside interference, the referee disqualified Brubaker. Due to the fact it wasn’t a clean victory, the feud persisted for a few more months. It should be noted this also happened during Brubaker’s 393 day as the World champ, so there was a distinct level of investment in this angle.

• WWE Extreme Rules (2019)

A lot happened during this show, which you can’t often say with WWE, but this was packed with moments. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Title, AJ Styles beat Ricochet for the US title and New Day beat Heavy Machinery and Rowan & Daniel Bryan for the SmackDown Tag titles. Aleister Black and Cesaro had a banger of a match that kept the workrate homies invested. The Undertaker teamed with Roman Reigns to defeat Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre. But the biggest moment was at the end, which may sound a little crazy given how there’s already been so much. The Brock Party finally ended, because after the intergender match involving Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins…Brock cashed in! Not on Becky…though that would be funny. Seth was the Universal Champion at the time, and Brock put an end to that in less than 20 seconds. No matter how the general critic response to Brock has been over the last decade or so, we loved Boombox Brock…no one try and rewrite history, this was peak.

• DDT Super Hardcore Girls Box Office – Super Hardcore Girls vs. Prominence (2022)

Now now, I’m aware the show title sounds like it should be on Pornhub, but, chotto matte…hold on. In similar spirit to a show I notated early with Meiko Satomura vs Konosuke Takeshita, this is DDT giving Joshi Deathmatch wrestling a platform. Prominence is more of a freelance mercenary group of Joshi killers, and Super Hardcore Girls is a comedic DDT partially cross dressed faction. But unlike something like Santina Marella, the crossdressing isn’t intended to insult, but its more of a light hearted embracing of the bridging preconceived gender gaps since it’s a hardcore match anyway. Also, while the undercard was a little more back and forth, the main and semi main went the way of Prominence. Risa Sera & Akane Fujita (trained by Hikaru Shida) defeated Elizabeth Toi & Sylvania Catherine. The main event saw Suzu Suzuki (now in Stardom) defeat the leader of Super Hardcore Girls, Carousel Shun. So while the DDT side of the card brought some silly moments, the action was solid and Prominence showed out, the VOD should still be available on Wrestle Universe.

You’re never gonna catch me denying the usage of mental gymnastics on occasion, but I’m also not shy about saying, I never want an article filled with just one company. As I’ve said before, wrestling has been around for nearly 200 years and there’s dozens of countries with promotions and their own history. Over magnifying one or two is a disservice to the concept of history for an entire fandom.