Today In Pro Wrestling History: August 15th

Now we’re starting to get to SummerSlam dates, and we have one show that actually matters. While there’s a lot of Japanese events on this article, I think we can all safely assume that the SummerSlams will come in greater volume as the month finishes. So let’s see how today played out!

• NJPW G1 Climax Finals: Keiji Mutoh vs Shinya Hashimoto (1995)

Mutoh’s first and only G1 Climax victory, was also historic for multiple reasons. Even though this was his second Finals appearance (he made four in total, but only two as of 1995), and again he faced a fellow Three Musketeer. As for why it’s historic, this was the first time under the G1 banner that the reigning champion won the tournament (only done one other time since, Kensuke Sasaki in 2000). The early dominant years of Chono in the G1 and the other two Musketeers making the Finals officially helped to establish the Three Musketeer generation as legitimate main event pillars. The new era of New Japan was steadily moving out of Inoki’s shadow and competing with AJPW at the height of its popularity.

• WWE SummerSlam: World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Benoit (c) vs Randy Orton (2004)

Aside from this being the event that coined the concept of Canada being “Bizarro Land” since they cheered heels and booed babyfaces, we all know the historic aspect that WWE loves to mention. Unfortunately for Randy Orton, his history is attached to Chris Benoit, so no one brings up the combatants, just the history. Randy Orton’s victory made him the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. The match was very good as well, so from a fan critique perspective, it made history and was an enjoyable match as far as critical acclaim goes.

• JCW BloodyMania IV: JCW Tag Team Elimination Match: The Haters (Pauly & Vito Thomaselli) (c), The Briscoes, Kings of Wrestling & The Ring Rydas (2010)

This is on the list because of who is involved in the match. While The Ring Rydas and Thomaselli Brothers are more JCW specific teams, mostly all of us know The Briscoes and Kings of Wrestling. Surprisingly, The Briscoes were eliminated first, then the Ring Rydas fell. It was nearly a 15 minute match, during the Gathering of the Juggalos. So the crowd was hype, the match was actually pretty solid and Castagnoli and Chris Hero hit K.R.S. O.N.E. on Vito, and won the JCW Tag Team Titles.

• AJPW Atsushi Aoki Memorial Show ~ AA Forever (2020)

This was the formal celebration of life for Atsushi Aoki, a beloved pillar of All Japan who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in June of that year. Aoki passed away as Junior Champion, so they made the decision to not vacate the title immediately. Instead he would posthumously continue the reign until the date of their 6 month mandatory title defense policy. The physical belt was given to Aoki’s family as a sign of honor and how much he meant to the company during these troubling years. On the show, Zeus & Izanagi defeated Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto for the All Asia Tag Belts…a title that Aoki held on three separate occasions.

• NOAH Kawasaki, Go!: GHC National Championship & Zero-1 Heavyweight Championship: Takashi Suguira (c) vs Masato Tanaka (c) (2021)

There was a lot of history here, Suguira and Tanaka had their own tag team known as Dangan Yankees which they teamed often in Zero1 and NOAH from 2014 forward. During a trios match when they were in opposing factions, Tanaka got the pinfall on Sugiura and called his shot for the National Championship, even voluntarily offering the Zero-1 title  for equal risk. While the National Championship was expected to be an Openweight title, during it’s early existence it was more similar to the NEVER Openweight title in New Japan where it was just tough guys and older guys.  So this fit the expectation of the title at the time. Tanaka as we all know is a legend in ECW and Japan, Sugiura is a legend in his own right even if it’s mostly centered on Japan with no real world wide accolades. Even though Sugiura was 51 at the time and Tanaka was 48, this was a 38 minute brawl. Stiff shots, unprotected chair shots and submissions. Sugiura survived everything Tanaka threw at him from Sliding D to Spiral Bomb. Sugiura managed to lock in his Front Neck Choke submission. Tanaka passed out and the referee stopped the match. Sugiura held the National title for about another 2 months, but he held the Zero-1 title for nearly a year.

Mutoh and Randy Orton made major history today, The Kings of Wrestling helped to lend some credibility to JCW when it was trying to move away from the “Championshit” era. Atsushi Aoki’s memorial is also a sweet event that many may not be aware, but his contribution to AJPW and NOAH were important, even if it was during lower points in the company, it doesn’t imply that he wasn’t putting in great work that will be forever remembered by proteges and contemporaries.