Today In Pro Wrestling History: October 31st

We get some nearly 60 year old history when it comes to two big figureheads of Japanese wrestling, we get a surprising WWF victory and a crossover in 2004 that many didn’t see coming. So someone call Mister Peanutbutter, I think this is a crossover!

• JWA Diamond Series: NWA International Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Tarzan Tyler & Bill Watts (c) vs B-I Cannon (Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki) (1967)

After Rikidōzan’s shocking death in 1963, the JWA was in flux. Both Baba and Inoki had successful excursions in the United States and while Baba was always more of the golden boy, the fans understood both of them as the “sons of Rikidōzan “. So as a perfect way to stabilize the company, they put Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba together under the tag name of B-I Cannon. This match is notable since it is the first title that B-I Cannon won together. The falls were interesting where the first one was a DQ win for B-I, but then Tarzan pinned Baba, and Baba ended up winning the match. So much like how the JWA framed the two, Baba was at the forefront, with Inoki doing a lot of the leg work without being the payoff guy. They did hold these titles a total of 4 times for 1,444 days.

• WWF Raw is War: Women’s Championship Match: Lita (c) vs Trish Stratus vs Ivory vs Jacqueline (2000)

This championship match stands out because it completely shifted the direction of the women’s division during the famous Attitude Era. Lita was incredibly popular at the time, and seeing her lose the title due to outside interference by Edge and Christian shocked the crowd. The win also officially established Ivory as a major villain and aligned her with the conservative Right to Censor group, a storyline that fans still talk about today. It made the women’s title picture as pivotal as the men.

• AJPW Keiji Muto 20th Anniversary: Love & Bump: Keiji Mutoh & Mitsuharu Misawa vs Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (2004)

Now this was huge moment in AJPW history. Many may wonder if this is a typo, but it is not. Misawa’s Exodus in 2000 to create NOAH was because he disagreed with Giant Baba’s widow, Matoko Baba. At this point, Keiji Mutoh was the active president and instated a “clean slate policy”. Since Misawa and Mutoh were always tied together as competing Aces in the 90s when they were the AJPW and NJPW poster boys, this was a mutual respect agreement. While Misawa’s first return was earlier in the year, this was his second and Final return to AJPW. Generational crossover, including the AJPW PWF Commissioner at the time, was Stan Hansen. Misawa’s early 90s rival to push him to his Ace status. They shared a moment in the ring that made the crowd erupt and of course, Misawa and Mutoh won the match. For one last bit of historical framing, this was the main event of the show, the Triple Crown match between the then champion Toshiaki Kawada and Taiyo Kea was the semi-main. So Misawa again, showed up Kawada, and this was during Kawada’s 529 day title reign historical 10 defenses.

• WWE Crown Jewel (2019)

This ends up having a lot of trivia nuggets attached. This was the first ever women’s match in Saudi, between Natalya and Lacey Evans. Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury made their WWE debuts at this show and Mansoor got his big “hometown” win, that was a huge moment for the fans at the time. The aspect with the most legacy though, was The Fiend defeating Seth Rollins for his first ever Universal Championship reign. Many believe it was a course correction after that buffoonish Hell in a Cell finish. But regardless of the why, seeing Bray get his flowers to some degree was something most fans were big fans of.

• JCW Hallowicked (2025)

Hallowicked was a big turning point for JCW last year. Vince Russo was revealed as the investor, right before hand and the show itself would mark the final Independent Championship that Matt Cardona won, before his return to WWE, literally, the next day (after the air date). Matt Cardona defeated JCW Icon 2 Tuff Tony, and then had to vacate the title because of the return to WWE. And just because I love the Zombies, and the match is Zombies vs Clowns for Halloween. The Outbreak, defeated The Brothers of Funstruction for the Tag Titles.

Now almost a full crossover episode…sorry, article. B-I Cannon is like a crossover with how they were embittered rivals for 30 years. Cardona’s last stop as Indy God, Misawa and his post-Exodus crossover, and WWE crossing into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to…potentially, slowly influence some more progressive western perspective.