Today In Pro Wrestling History: October 9th

A fairly decent day of events, just some things happened on different continents in decades with less exposure, so it’s a mixed bag of large scale memorability and localized history.

• WWF Raw is War: ” I Did It For The Rock” (2000)

One of the classic Attitude Era segments that have been meme’d into the ground, but that also helps to preserve the interest in the history. Steve Austin had to be written off TV in 1999 to get spinal surgery, once Austin returned, there was an investigation for who ran him over. And as we all know, Rikishi had his “say the line Bart” moment of ” I didn’t do it for me… I did it, for The Rock”.

• NJPW Pro-Wrestlers Be Strongest: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuyuki Fujita (c) vs Kensuke Sasaki (2004)

Well this was a dark time for NJPW, anyone that knows NJPW knows that the Inoki-ism era is complete garbage. Well thankfully for Kazuyuki Fujita he’s redeemed his career in his later years, but at this point he was Inoki’s Golden MMA boy, so the shoot-style mixture here…ruined this. The Match lasted 2 minutes, it ends with a stupid Sleeper Hold counter into a pinfall, but it looks like a fluke. Fujita booked the finish himself to not look week, Sasaki and was furious since he had an entire story building about gaining redemption after being on a freelancing gig. This was his final IWGP Heavyweight title run, and while he had a few solid defenses, this match reeks of obvious political garbage finish games.

• TNA iMPACT!: Kurt Angle Debut (2006)

I think we can all admit this was what truly sent TNA into the stratosphere of being considered a real secondary option at the time. While the episode aired on the 19th, it was taped on the 9th. Less than 2 months after leaving WWE, Kurt Angle confronted Samoa Joe in the Headbutt heard around the world. While many loves Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Frankie Kazarian and Amazing Red, if it wasn’t for Sting and then Kurt Angle, TNA would not have made it to year 10 much less the 24th year its in as of writing this.

• WWE No Mercy: Intercontinental Championship Tile vs Career: The Miz (c) vs Dolph Ziggler (2016)

By putting his entire career on the line against The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship, Dolph Ziggler tapped into his real-life reputation as a beloved underdog who was constantly overlooked. This made the audience genuinely believe that this could be his final night in a wrestling ring. The story in the ring was pure magic. The Miz played the ultimate arrogant villain perfectly, using every cheap trick in the book to try and end Ziggler’s dream. Going as far as to try and use Maryse, Mike Mondo and Kenny Dykstra, Miz still couldn’t overcome Ziggler’s resilience. So the victory was a well received moment during a questionable booking period.

• AJPW Raising An Army Memorial Series: AJPW World Tag Team Championship: Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi (c) vs The Saito Brothers (Rei & Jun Saito) (2023)

The significance writes itself here. The Saito Brothers were up and coming for AJPW and with the roster fluctuations over the years and only really having SUWAMA or Kento to lean on, they needed an injection. This event was held in Kakuda, Miyagi, Japan; which is significant because that’s the hometown of the twin Saito brothers. In a 27 minute match, things went the way we expected, with the hometown heroes grabbing their first AJPW World Heavyweight Tag Titles and helping to push them to relevance in the Heavyweight Division.

Gotta love meme magic with Rikishi, darkness of Inoki-ism coming back around to bite history, Kurt Angle legitimizing a company…almost single handedly. And then two more straight forward moments with a big underdog moment for Ziggler and homecoming with a happy ending. Solid enough events to be Trivia Questions.