Today In Pro Wrestling History: October 1st

October kicks off with a lot of sweet dreams. Two matches that are securely lodged in fans memories as classic dream matches and a pivotal step in the blood feud that helped to propel both women to new heights in Stardom.

• CMLL 60th Anniversary Show (1993)

Still regarded as one of the most iconic lucha libre events in history, we had two Lucha de Apuestas matches. The ultimate fan favorite Atlantis put his mask on the line against the veteran villain Mano Negra. Mano Negra had turned into a hated heel earlier that year, fueling a bitter, personal rivalry that climaxed in a tense, traditional three-fall match. Atlantis captured one of the biggest victories of his career by trapping Mano Negra on his injured back and forcing him to unmask. Earlier on the card, Negro Casas and La Fiera stole the show with a wildly violent, bloody hair versus hair match. La Fiera was wrestling as a technical favorite but brought his old, brutal rule-breaking style to match the cunning Casas, resulting in hard-hitting kicks, ringside brawling, and biting. Casas survived the onslaught with his incredible ring intelligence, forcing a bloodied La Fiera to submit and get his head shaved in front of a roaring Arena Mexico crowd.

• ECW Anarchy Rulz: ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Justin Credible (c) vs Jerry Lynn  (2000)

This is one of the last gasps of the original ECW. They lost their TNN deal a few days after this event and the video game of the same name, was a commercial flop and even had licensing issues forcing many copies to get pulled (which hey, if you own a Dreamcast copy of the Anarchy Rulz, you might be sitting on a goldmine). The PPV is often considered the last “great” ECW PPV before they collapsed, and it culminated with a nice main event. In front of his Minnesota hometown crowd, the New F’n Show, Jerry Lynn finally captured the World title when he beat Credible with his Cradle Piledriver. Sufficed to say, the pop was loud and the moment felt very deserved for one of the larger workhorses of ECW.

• ROH Joe vs Kobashi: Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi (2005)

As we know from previous events, when the whole show is named after a wrestler or the match…that’s big time. This was Kobashi’s US debut match, both Joe and Kobashi had ironic symmetry with the fact they both were rebuilding after iconic long title reigns (Joe was ROH Champion for 645 days and Kobashi was only a few months removed from his legendary 735 day reign as GHC Champion). Amusingly, Kobashi assumed the fans in New York wouldn’t know who he was, so he was preparing to wrestle the match as the classic evil foreign heel. But once his music hit and he walked out, he was showered in streamers and roars from the crowd. That changed the tone of the match of course, but also reinforced the impact of puroresu since NOAH was looking to expand, hence the partnership with ROH. This is a classic match, highly rated by everyone, go find it.

• STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix: Finals: Giulia vs Tam Nakano (2022)

The feud between these two women really helped to elevate them both. A year prior, Tam started her more serious ascent when she faced Giulia in a Hair vs Hair match for the Wonder of Stardom title. Tam won, which was emotional because it was her first singles title during her 5 year career, and showed how far she came as a wrestler. Giulia however, it was her first real embarrassment and triggered a change. While both women were very popular at this time when Giulia said “You love, love, love Giulia…” it was less ironic. The tournament helped to generate momentum for Giulia since she incurred two early losses, and the match right before Tam was a time limit draw with her Suzu Suzuki, who still harbored resentment and feelings of betrayal for Giulia’s abrupt exit from Ice Ribbon. Giulia fought through a lot of past demons and specters, of her own doing, to defeat Tam in the finals. This match also fueled the continued feud between Tam and Giulia, nothing was settled yet.

• AEW WrestleDream: Bryan Danielson vs Zack Sabre Jr (2023)

An IWC instant classic because it settled a generation-defining debate over who is the greatest technical wrestler of the modern era. For over a decade, fans argued whether Danielson’s relentless American style or Sabre’s intricate British submission mastery was superior, and this bout delivered an absolute masterclass in technical storytelling without relying on typical high-flying stunts or weapons. It also stood out as the crown jewel of Bryan Danielson’s final run as a full-time competitor, taking place in front of a passionate, red-hot crowd in his home state of Washington. This lived up to the expectation, and also led to a rematch a few months later. While Danielson won this bout, they weren’t quite done yet.

Lots of singular focus on the matches making the history, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Jerry Lynn finally getting the main title, dream matches between Samoa Joe/Kenta Kobashi and Bryan Danielson/ZSJ, feud enders like the CMLL Lucha de Apuestas, and matches that stoked the flame like Giulia vs Tam. Pretty good start to spooky month.