Today In Pro Wrestling History: October 3rd

Interesting mixture of companies and reasons for being on the list. Some are just fun, one is a debut and two show the end of something. Let’s get to it!

• WWE Monday Night Raw (2005)

This was the first ever 3 hour long Raw, to commemorate the return to the USA Network. “Homecoming” saw eras collide like when Piper’s Pit with Mick Foley and Roddy got crashed by Randy and Bob Orton. Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle had a 30 Minute Ironman Match that ended in a 2-2 Draw. Triple H officially put the nail in the Evolution coffin when him and Chris Masters beat down Ric Flair. And of course, Stone Cold handing out Stunners to the McMahon Family made sure there was a little something for everyone.

• WWE Hell in a Cell (2010)

The major memories here would probably be John Cena losing to Wade Barrett and being forced to join The Nexus. The whole Nexus and John Cena saga is often looked back on as a huge fumble. Super Cena and his politicking to make sure he won certain matches really ruined the momentum of a group that looked awesome on debut. Then we have a pretty sizable betrayal for long term fans, when Kane was defending his World Heavyweight Title against The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell, but Paul Bearer turned on Taker and handed Kane the urn. So Kane retained, in a swerve that many did not expect.

• OTT Fuck PG (2014)

This was Over The Top’s debut event, a direct response to WWE’s sanitized PG era approach that really started to lose fans. Being the fact that it was the first event of a promotion that has helped to launch Irish pro wrestling, this is a significant moment. While they’re style wasn’t fully refined on the first show, taking place in a Punk Rock venue, the Tivoli Theatre, it gave a much more adult vibe that pushed the anti-PG concept. We saw early matches from Pete Dunne and Session Moth Martina (known as Kazza G at the time), as well as most of the roster was trained by Fergal Devitt ( aka Finn Balor).

• STARDOM Yokohama Cinderella (2020)

This was pivotal for a few different reasons. Bushiroad recently invested in Stardom, they were coming off of their second forced hiatus when there was a late summer COVID outbreak in Osaka. So things got pushed back to this event, taking place at the newly opened Yokohama Budokan. As many of us are aware, a few months prior to this event we lost Hana Kimura, who was the leader of Tokyo Cyber Squad. While the remaining members tried to carry on her legacy, the writing was on the wall, especially with the multiple hiatuses. Oedo Tai faced Konami and Jungle Kyona from Tokyo Cyber Squad in a match where the losing faction must disband. This was sad for multiple reasons, the end of Tokyo Cyber Squad obviously made fans think about losing Hana, but Kyona revealed during the hiatus time that she was dealing with a trifecta of injuries, she ruptured her Left ACL, right LCL and a complete AC Joint Dislocation in her right shoulder. All of this together brings a somber air to the event, but it was still an important event for pushing Stardom through the darkness.

• Camp Leapfrog Creepfrog (2021)

There’s an irony to the lifespan of Camp Leapfrog. Leapfrog was created by Kris Levin aka “Kid Ref” once CHIKARA closed up shop during allegations from the #SPEAKINGOUT movement. The promotion utilized an immersive and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ individuals along with the Summer Camp styling of the universe. Anything from a Pumpkin Patch Death Match, “Frogsport” a parody of Bloodsport and of course their subversions of normal gender roles or restrictions being completely disregarded for a very fluid and open presentation of match ups, kept Camp Leapfrog very relevant during the pandemic. However, Kris Levin’s ex-girlfriend accused him of very serious allegations, which forced the “Life Raft” of CHIKARA to sink in exactly the same fashion. Camp Leapfrog died after this event, and their parent promotion High Tension Wrestling, eventually took everything over and started running events under the HTW banner, severing any and all ties with Kris and the Leapfrog brand.

While there wasn’t a lot of legendary matches or classic moments, there was a lot of moments that build core memory. Long term Undertaker and Paul Bearer betrayal, a Raw variety show for everyone, the birth of the Irish wrestling promotion with the largest footprint, and two endings to things for different reasons and with distinctly different emotions attached. It should be mentioned, it took Kyona two years to recover from the trifecta, and then she was out again in 2023 with a few more issues, but seems to be recovered enough to start returning to wrestling, most recently taking part in the 2026 Hana Kimura Memorial show.