Today In Pro Wrestling History: August 1st

August is gonna be starting out as one of those months that make me happy that SummerSlam exists during a good portion of these days. Are there a few big things? Sure. Are there a few things I threw in because I think they’re fun? Very yes. So let’s rock the dragon and start August!

• WWECW: CM Punk Debut (2006)

The title of the moment kind of says all that’s necessary. Given where CM Punk is currently in wrestling and how his name haunted WWE for a decade, Punk making his debut against Justin Credible at the Hammerstein Ballroom is pretty memorable. The crowd was hot since Punk was a big player in ROH, and even if New York and Philadelphia hate each other, a 90 minute Amtrack trip or a couple hours by car is all that separates destination. So the crowds are very similar. Plus the ECW aspect connected the Philly, New Jersey and New York crowds together through the 90s be it the 2300 Arena, Trenton CYO or Hammerstein…so there’s a lot of overlap, and CM Punk’s in ring debut really was a solid indication of where the fans would rocket him to in the history books.

• CMLL Juicio Final (2014)

We had some pretty big moments involving people who are still very relevant in pro wrestling. Firstly, Volador Jr regained the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship from La Sombra (Andrade el Idolo), which helped to keep their rivalry building. But the Lucha de Apuestas Hair vs Hair match was pretty important as well. The match was built up from Negro Casas’ faction La Peste Negra going after any Rush alliance. The angle even saw veteran and fan favorite Shocker, turn on Rush. So Rush, La Mascara and La Sombra created Los Indeseables but later changed it to Los Ingobernables. Rush, Shocker and Negro Casas were supposed to have a triple threat Lucha de Apuestas match, but in a clever heel tactic, Negro Casas backed out last second and said he’d face the winner. So Rush had to go through Shocker to get to Negro Casas. The match was 2 out 3 falls and the crowd was electric. La Sombra tried to help Rush, but accidentally cost him a fall. But due to interference and general chaos, Rush took advantage of the final fall and hit a Low Blow and stole the final fall to forced Negro Casas to shave his head. This set the blueprint for the tweener Los Ingobernables that Tetsuya Naito eventually brought to Japan and expanded the popularity.

• Talk N’ Shop: Talk N’ Shop A-Mania (2020)

This was…exactly what the early pandemic needed. Good ole classic fun. Chico el Luchador, winning the Social Distancing Battle Royal by eliminating Alex Kozlov’s Bearded Mother. Contract on a Tree match just kind of meanders to a listless end before the 80s Russians beat the Jungle Kittens only to be attacked by the WCW Flock, Reese forgets the character he’s in and thinks he’s the Yeti, Brian Myers tosses Swoggler Ryder into Rory Fox for a win and then we get to the Boneryard Match. Sex Ferguson vs Chadd 2 Badd. References everywhere, cameos like Heath Slater, Dave Penzer, Air Paris, a joke about “Uncle Allen” not protecting them as a P1 Gloved hand sticks out from under the dirt. AEW references where they say they had a contract but texts from Triple H were just too cool to turn down. This entire show was a fever dream wrapped in an acid trip…and I miss it. This type of irreverent fun and stupidity really helped get people through the Pandemic.

• Dragon Gate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2021)

The first year that Dragon Gate did a two day Kobe World event, but aside from it being in vogue, was also Masato Yoshino’s official retirement. He teamed with his longtime partner from Speed Muscle Naruki Doi, to faced R.E.D. (Eita & BxB Hulk). Yoshino is one of the most decorated Dragon Gate wrestlers, holding every title at least once (yes including the comedy Owari Gate title). He had 27 title reigns between the different Gate titles. Aside from Yoshino’s retirement, there was also a historic moment with Sun Skywalker having to defend his Open the Dream Gate title again. After a grueling defense against Kzy the first night, Shun tried to just throw bombs fairly early, but YAMATO is the undisputed Ace of Dragon Gate, after beating Shun, he began his 5th title reign, which put him in first place in total Dream Gate reigns.

• HOG High Intensity (2025)

This was mostly an independent Supercard style of show, with a main event so egregiously awful, that it goes down as memorable for the wrong reasons. The undercard saw a modern wrestling dream match with Ricochet defeating Amazing Red, and then Red pulling double duty to turn right around and win the Matt Travis Memorial Battle Rumble. There was also a match for the Women’s title between Indi Hartwell and Priscilla Kelly that was fairly well received. But the main event, for the Crown Jewel Championship, saw Zilla Fatu defending against Bully Ray in a tables match. The match was just shy of 11 minutes but still managed to suck and end the show poorly. The general action wasn’t good, then we get a ref bump where the ref plays dead. Zilla puts Bully through a table, but no referee means no one can declare him the winner. So Ricochet runs in, clocks Zilla with the title belt and switches Bully and Zilla’s places. So as both Bully and the referee come back to consciousness, they see that it looks like Zilla was put through the table and Bully Ray is the new Crowned Jewel champion. 0 out 99 nobles liked that.

While it wasn’t the deepest roster of events, at least everything that happened today was memorable. Some good, some bad, a debut and a retirement. So a little bit of everything! I do still miss Talk N’ Shop ridiculousness though. If only MLW would pick a lane instead of trying to be Temu 2010 TNA.