Today In Pro Wrestling History: November 2nd

Today is a little quiet, but it was a day where WWE pulled ahead for good, Kurt Angle threw out a challenge and Zilla started to make a name for himself. Let’s see how the day plays out.

• WWF Raw (1998)

This inclusion has nothing to do with Kane setting a cage on fire or Vince McMahon “retiring”, this was one of those moments in time that is historic alone. The previous week, October 26, was the final night WCW ever beat WWF Raw in the ratings war because of having to give away the Goldberg and DDP match for free due to the overrun. So today’s episode of Raw marks the day that WWF pulled ahead and stayed ahead. WCW won a total of 113 weeks, but this was WWF’s first night towards the soon to be monopoly, over wrestling.

• DDT Day Dream Believer (2004)

This specific DDT event is highly memorable because it perfectly captures the era when the promotion was successfully transforming from a small indie group into a major player in Japanese wrestling. Held at the legendary Korakuen Hall, it showed that fans were deeply invested in DDT’s unique mix of high-stakes, athletic championship matches and creative, entertaining drama. A memorable title defense between two early stalwarts like MIKAMI successfully defending the KO-D Openweight Championship against Poison Sawada Julie. Seiya Morohashi and Tanomusaku Toba winning the Tag Titles, as well as, Dick Togo’s trio defeating Sanshiro Takagi’s trio in a Captain’s Fall match; were the bigger highlights to keep the trajectory heading upwards for DDT.

• WWE SmackDown: $1,000 Tough Enough Challenge (2004)

This goes down in infamy as a moron who tried to get himself over, and the type of losers that shouldn’t be in professional wrestling. Daniel Puder was a legit MMA fighter, and apparently too stupid to understand the point of a Challenge segment. Angle was forced to turn the Kimura Lock into a pinning predicament, and Puder lost the challenge via pinfall before Angle was forced to tap out because the kid is a moron. While the display vaulted Puder to fan favoritism and had him win the season of Tough Enough, he lost the respect of the locker room, and by proxy, his career in wrestling became a non-existent failure, and nothing more than a Trivia question.

• 4th Rope Heels Have Eyes III: Steel Praying (2024)

This was the launch and debut show of Westside Gunn’s promotion. While some might have confusion over an event with III in the name as a debut, it’s because Heels Have Eyes I & II were a 5 Track EP and a Full Length 12 song Mixtape respectively. The show had names like Real1 (aka Enzo Amore), Mike Santana (aka Cruz Montana), Joe Hendry and AJ Francis. But the biggest moment was Zilla Fatu taking on Moose to crown the first ever 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion. Zilla Fatu won the match, becoming the inaugural champion. And as of today, is still currently the champion, so he is the one and only titleholder up to this point.

• WWE Crown Jewel (2024)

This was the event that introduced the “Crown Jewel Championship” matches concept. The winner of these Champion vs Champion matches are presented with a ceremonial huge belt. But the physical belt remains in Riyadh and the winners get their own Super Bowl style ring equivalent heirloom to commemorate their victory. Liv Morgan (Women’s World Champ) defeated Nia Jax (WWE Women’s Champ), to become the inaugural Women’s Crown Jewel. And for the men, the match was between Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champ) and Gunther (World Heavyweight Champ). Cody Rhodes being in full golden boy mode at this time, was of course victorious and given the inaugural Men’s Crown Jewel victory!

Shifts in landscapes all over the place in this article. WWF starting their domination over WCW and wrestling in general, DDT finding a foothold with absurd comedy and interesting Openweight matches, “unscripted/shoot-style” segments being banned after an idiot went into business for himself and no matter how you feel about Saudi, the Crown Jewel rings and distinction have become a solid story thread for the time before the Rumble push.