Today In Pro Wrestling History: August 2nd

Well we have a real historic moment today! Granted the rest isn’t as big as the headline, but I think we might be doing okay this month. Last Month we had Dragon Gate’s Kobe World Festival to lean on for some slower days, and August has every SummerSlam…except one. So we shouldn’t have too many slow days!

• WCW Main Event: WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Big Van Vader (c) vs Ron Simmons (1992)

This was actually a huge moment in history not just pro wrestling, though the pro wrestling backdrop helped to elevate the signficance. Most of us are aware that Ron Simmons won this match to become the first officially recognized African American World Champion of a Nationally significant company. This was huge for wrestling, especially at the time to break through the perceived racial glass ceiling, and to give him the victory over a proven powerhouse like Vader, legitimately set the foundation for generations of fans and prospective wrestlers.

• ECW Heatwave (1998)

This was massive during the Attitude Era. ECW was in the middle of their talent exchange with FMW, so there were some dream match level matches. Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome in the match of the night, but that was only in the middle of the card. The main event was a street fight between Spike Dudley, Tommy Dreamer and Sandman facing off with the Dudleyz (Big Dick, Buh Buh and D-Von). While the main event was exactly what you’d expect from 90s ECW, the match that captured most people’s imagination at the time and definitely nowadays when people search it out, is Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Sabu & RVD. Truth be told, the match itself was a sloppy mess, but this is one of those matches where aura trumps workrate. Hayabusa’s reputation preceded himself and the ECW faithful knew the kind of stuff RVD & Sabu would do. So even if in a vacuum the match isn’t great, the beauty of pro wrestling is that the moves are just a conduit to telling the story. And sometimes the journey is more important than the actual context.

• JCW Gathering of the Juggalos (2019)

We saw a title change and a double retirement at this 20th anniversary event! The Double Retirement Match was between Violent J and Rude Boy. Long time friends, Rude Boy was a JCW staple and Violent J we all know as one half of ICP, so he’s an owner of JCW. This was a violent beatdown where J was mostly on the receiving end of getting his ass kicked, but in typical Juggalo fashion, decided to stop part-way through a comeback to like a joint. He of course got beat for it, but it was a spectacle and Rude Boy won the match. Both of them retired, though Violent J has done a few things over the last few years, Rude Boy at least treated it as an official retirement so far. The title change came when Teddy Hart defeated Shane Mercer for the JCW Heavyweight Title. It wasn’t a super long match, but it did end up snapping Mercer’s 378 day reign.

• WWE Smackdown: WWE Tag Team Championships: DIY (c) vs Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga (2024)

This was a pivotal moment in the Bloodline Saga and helped to keep Jacob’s momentum as being an early killer. When Tonga Loa got an eye injury, Solo elected Jacob to team with Tama for the tag gauntlet. Tama was on board, but Jacob’s savage werewolf persona left room for concern. After Tama and Jacob won the right to challenge, and that brings us to this match. Jacob hit the Best Moonsault Ever on Johnny Gargano and then an Impaler DDT, to pin the hometown boy and snatch the titles off of DIY right before SummerSlam. This marked both Tama, Loa and Jacob’s first title reigns in WWE (Loa was later added with the Freebird Rule).

• WWE SummerSlam: Ruse of the Century (2025)

While this year’s SummerSlam was historic on its own since it was the first two day SummerSlam, we all know the title picture is what people remember. Gunther was the World Heavyweight Champion at the time, and CM Punk had it out to prove he was still “The Best in the World”. Gunther chalked him up to a nostalgia act that couldn’t really go anymore, so there was a classic heel heat aspect to the match. In a 30 minute dogfight, Punk put on one of the best performances of his second chapter in wrestling, but he wasn’t allowed to celebrate for long. Seth Rollins had the Money in the Bank briefcase, but was nursing a knee, even going as far to do interviews on ESPN and the Rich Eisen show to sell the angle. But…it was all a ruse. Seth came out, proved his knee was fine and cashed in on a gassed out CM Punk. All of that work, and Punk only held the title for 5 minutes and 9 seconds.

We got a double retirement, a swerve for Seth Rollins to make another splashy Cash In and legit history that still resonates with fans today, thanks to Ron Simmons and WCW. Like I said leading up, at least SummerSlams should keep most of these days interesting, but it’s always nice to find legitimate history instead of just a first title reign or a largest selling gate.