Can’t Knock The Hustle: Happy Birthday To Me From The Pro Wrestling World

When this column goes live for the world to see, it will be somewhere in the vicinity of 12 hours away from my birthday. Exciting times.

Initially, I was going to write about something else this week. As I mentioned last week, I was going to write about Gable Steveson’s legal issues from a few years back, and that discussion turned into writing about The Velveteen Dream, Joey Ryan, Michael Elgin, Marty Scurll, and others who have been accused of some of the same things (and some even worse things) that Steveson has been accused of. After spending a few days writing and researching all of their stories, it just brought me down. Even if someone was able to “beat” their accusations and come out unscathed, it was still damn near depressing to keep reading the stories, knowing that this type of shit exists out there.

I needed a break from all the negativity, so I decided to switch to something lighter and easier this week. With my birthday coming up, I wanted to take a look at some of the best presents that pro wrestling has ever given me. I’ll be looking at some of my favorite “presents” that wrestling has delivered from July 1st through July 18th, which is my birthday. The word “favorite” is key there, so I won’t be listing any tragedies such as wrestlers passing away, even if those tragedies happened in the first 18 days of July. Pretty much the only “catch” is that something is ineligible if it was taped in the first 18 days of the month, but didn’t air to the general public until July 19th or beyond.

Simple enough, right?

I’m going to go in daily order for the month. I will be listing a ton of things, but in the interest of keeping this from becoming insanely long, not everything listed will get a write-up.

Again… simple enough, right? Here we go.

 

July 1st

• The Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match on WWE Monday Night Raw (2002): Ahh, yes, back before Jeff Hardy was an actual main event player, but Lord knows the crowds wanted him there. People can say a lot of things about The Undertaker, but he will forever receive credit for how much he gave to Jeff here, making him look like a million bucks and helping him out in the post-match, as well. I will always consider this as the company giving Jeff a “test run” to see how the fans would receive him in a top-tier role. You see that a lot with midcard and upper-midcard names that have a seemingly random match or feud with a main event name. Jeff did great here. Taker did great here. Jim Ross, on commentary, did great here.
• The Usos vs Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa at WWE Money In The Bank (2023)

July 2nd

• Bret Hart’s Date Of Birth (1957)
• Booker T vs Buff Bagwell on WWF Monday Night Raw (2001): Look, I already know what you’re thinking, so let me clear things up. This match isn’t being listed because of how great it was. It was terrible, in front of a crowd that only dumped on it more as it went on. Instead, it’s being listed because of how cool it was, at the time, to see WCW have full presentation on Raw, with the ideas that WCW could return as its own “brand” again under the WWF umbrella. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and this match is a large part of why, but it was still fun to see it happen.
• The Usos vs The Street Profits at WWE Money In The Bank (2022): This might be one of the best “normal” tag matches in company history. No stipulations, no plunder… just two of the best teams in the business fighting for the biggest prize in all of tag wrestling.

July 3rd

• Surprisingly enough, nothing has been able to make the cut for this day in history.

July 4th

• The Very First War Games (1987): The “good old days” of pro wrestling violence. The War Games matches back then were very formulaic, but fans ate them up. Wrestler A and Wrestler B would fight, and both would be bloody by the time Wrestler B’s partner would enter the match to give the advantage, and the partner would be bleeding by the time Wrestler A’s partner would enter the match to even the odds, and so on and so forth. The next thing you know, everyone in the match is a bloody mess. If a Manager got too close to the action, he would end up bleeding, too. Lots of history here, though, with it being the very first War Games match, making way for dozens more through the years.
• Lex Luger & Yokozuna On The USS Intrepid (1993)
• Shawn Michaels Turns Heel On Hulk Hogan (2005): Of course, it wasn’t a TRUE heel turn, as it was merely (in kayfabe) Shawn’s way of getting a match with Hulk at SummerSlam. He was a “heel” for a whole seven weeks before turning face again after the match at SummerSlam, but the initial “turn” itself was great. Nobody saw it coming, especially on a holiday episode of Raw, which are usually shows full of nothing going on because the company knows they will have less viewers than usual that week.

July 5th

• AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion 7.5 (2015)

July 6th

• The Hart Foundation vs “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & The Legion Of Doom at WWF In Your House: Canadian Stampede (1997): Even now, 26 years later, everything involving this version of the Hart Foundation remains some of my favorite WWF-related content there is. I loved the dynamic of the group, and especially Bret, being dastardly heels in the United States, but beloved babyface pretty much everywhere else in the world. Then, of course, putting them in a feud with Austin, who was the hottest act in the business, had magic being created on a weekly basis. This match was so much fun, with an insanely hot crowd that has the heels working face and the faces working heel from bell-to-bell.
• “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan vs Goldberg on WCW Monday Nitro (1998): It remains one of the most viewed matches in the history of pro wrestling television, and that crowd… man, that crowd… they were losing their minds for every second of it. You can make the argument that WCW should’ve saved this match for pay-per-view, or at least spent weeks promoting it and hyping it up, but at the time, it did everything the company could’ve hoped it would do. If you watched this live, you still remember everything about that night, from where you were to who you were with, what you were eating, and everything in between. That’s memorable television.
• John Cena vs Cesaro on WWE Monday Night Raw (2015)

July 7th

• The Midnight Express vs The Southern Boys at NWA Great American Bash (1990)
• Ric Flair vs Sting at NWA Great American Bash (1990): Sting was already becoming one of the top young stars in the business (although people forget that he was 29 at the time, not some kid fresh out of high school) in 1988 when he went to a 45-minute draw with Ric Flair at the first Clash Of The Champions show. He spent the rest of ’88, the entirety of 1989, and the first half of 1990 either feuding with Flair and the Four Horsemen or actually being a member of the group for a bit. When the Horsemen turned heel by attacking Sting and kicking him out of the group, fans were chomping at the bit to see Sting finally reach the top of the NWA mountain. Unfortunately, they would need to wait a few extra months, as Sting blew out his knee later in the same show as his dismissal from the Horsemen. Kudos to Flair, who was being pressured by management to drop the NWA World Title to Lex Luger, but he held out, basically saying that there was money to be made with Sting at the top, and that the plan to go with Sting as the new champion prior to his knee injury should be what they went with. Obviously, Ric’s idea won out. Ironically enough, Sting’s first World Title victory came three months after The Ultimate Warrior’s first World Title victory at WrestleMania 6, meaning that the former Freedom Fighters/Blade Runners tag partners were at the top of the sport at the same time.
• Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psicosis at WCW Bash At The Beach (1996)
• Hulk Hogan Shocks The Wrestling World (1996): Go ahead and think back to Hogan turning heel and forming the nWo with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. There were jaws being picked up off of floors across the globe. This wasn’t just a face turning heel. No, this was THE face turning heel, and nobody but Bobby “The Brain” Heenan saw it coming. Thinking about this one just makes me wonder what could’ve been if Vince McMahon and/or John Cena decided on a Cena heel turn anywhere from 12 to 20 years after Bash At The Beach 1996. The promos that Cena could’ve been able to cut after that turn would’ve been immaculate.

July 8th

• Jushin Thunder Liger vs The Great Sasuke at NJPW Summer Struggle – Day 8 (1994): Take two of the best, and most influential, light heavyweight wrestlers of all time, mix it with a dash of revenge, and sprinkle on a little bit of company pride (Liger was New Japan’s top light heavy, while Sasuke was Michinoku Pro’s top light heavy)… and you come up with this classic. What I love most about this match is that it isn’t just your stereotypical light heavyweight match that features nothing but high spots and the “flip, flop, fly” style that people are used to. There were plenty of aerial spots, but there was also a good share of technical wrestling, as well as the Japanese “strong style” throughout. This is one of my favorite puroresu matches of all-time.
• The Steiners vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto at NJPW Summer Struggle – Day 8 (1994)
• FTR vs “Switchblade” Jay White & Juice Robinson on AEW Collision (2023)

July 9th

• Kevin Nash’s Date Of Birth (1959)
• Vince Russo’s Shoot On Hulk Hogan (2000): A lot of the later years of WCW don’t hold up well at all. Almost everything involving Vince Russo in WCW doesn’t hold up well at all. This still provides me with plenty of entertainment, though, albeit a different type of entertainment than it did when it happened. When it happened, I enjoyed seeing someone absolutely tear Hulk Hogan to shreds, as well as the promo leading to Booker T (one of my favorites at the time) getting a shot at the WCW World Title in the main event. Now, my entertainment comes from how ridiculous the whole thing was, and the gap between how tough Vince Russo thinks he sounds and how tough Vince Russo actually sounds.
• Team ECW Forms, Then Turns To Create The Alliance (2001): Mike Awesome and Lance Storm were taking on the team of Chris Jericho and Kane here, and it seemed like a normal continuation of the Invasion storyline, with Jericho and Kane representing the WWF, while Storm and Awesome were part of the group of invaders looking to bring the WWF to its knees. During the match, Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam would hit the ring, making their WWF “debuts” and immediately attacking Jericho and Kane. Makes sense, seeing the ECW connection that Dreamer, RVD, Storm, and Awesome had. Out came the troops to make the save for the WWF! Here are the Dudleyz, Raven, Rhyno, Justin Credible, and Tazz… who immediately align themselves with their ECW brethren! Paul Heyman, who was the color commentator for Raw, leaves the ringside table and joins his guys in the ring to cut a “shoot” promo on every non-ECW thing he can think of. ECW is back! Later in the show, Vince and Shane McMahon put their differences aside in an attempt to get rid of the pesky ECW problem, so we get a huge main event… the ten members of “Team ECW” will face five members of Vince’s WWF and five members of Shane’s WCW in a 20-man tag. The match itself never happens, though. For one, the WWF guys and the WCW guys couldn’t get along, but more importantly, it was all a ruse, as the ECW guys team up with Shane and his WCW crew, forming The Alliance. For fans who grew up watching the Monday Night War, as well as the journey of ECW, this was an incredibly cool story to watch unfold. Of course, the entire storyline ended up being the drizzling shits because Vince McMahon might be mentally handicapped and has no fucking idea what he’s doing, but hey, you can say that about a million decisions he’s made. We’ll always have this, though, I guess.

July 10th

• Another day where nothing made the cut

July 11th

• Bret Hart vs The 1-2-3 Kid on WWF Monday Night Raw (1994)
• Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir at UFC 100 (2009): Yeah, it’s an entry from the world of MMA. Big whoop. Wanna fight (in the Octagon) about it? While this was far from the first UFC pay-per-view I watched live, Brock’s involvement with the company saw me have a renewed interest in the sport, as a whole. Like his pro wrestling matches, Brock’s appearances in the UFC had as much “big fight” feel as anyone has ever had in MMA. If he was on the card, you had to watch, and that’s what people did. Brock fought on three of the top eight most purchased pay-per-views in UFC history. Whether folks loved him or hated him, they were watching.

July 12th

• Brock Lesnar’s Date Of Birth (1977): The world of wrestling… hell, the world of combat sports, in general… have never seen anything like Brock Lesnar, and it never will again. If you were as strong as Brock Lesnar, you’d be a freak of nature. To be as quick and as fast as Brock Lesnar would make you a freak of nature. If you were as athletic as Brock Lesnar, you’d be a freak of nature. To have Brock Lesnar’s physique, you’d need to be a freak of nature. If you had Brock’s physique, strength, speed, quickness, and athleticism, you would be using a create-a-character in a video game on the easiest difficulty, but Brock is doing that in real life.
• Sami Zayn’s Date Of Birth (1984)
• Sting vs Vader at WCW Great American Bash (1992)

July 13th

• Ultimo Dragon vs Chris Jericho at WCW Bash At The Beach (1997)
• Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Sasha Banks Help Push The Women’s Evolution (2015): In one fell swoop, three of NXT’s biggest and brightest stars made their debuts on Raw in an attempt to further the changing landscape of women’s wrestling in WWE. Becky, Charlotte, and Sasha would go on to win World Titles a combined 26 times on the main roster, to go with five Women’s Tag Team Title reigns, two Women’s Royal Rumble victories, and three WrestleMania main event appearances. I’d say this move was a successful one.
• Tomohiro Ishii vs Jeff Cobb at NJPW G1 Climax – Day 2 (2019)

July 14th

• Kazushi Sakuraba’s Date Of Birth (1969): I had already seen a decent amount of UFC by this point, but Sakuraba’s run with Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships helped to introduce me to an entirely different vision of MMA. Like AXS TV shows New Japan Pro Wrestling matches and shows on television here in the United States, Hawaii had a channel that would air random fights from Pride late at night, and I would find myself tuning in if I was home. Sakuraba, Kevin Randleman, Gary Goodridge, Egan Inoue, Naoya Ogawa, Wanderlei Silva, Heath Herring, Rampage Jackson, Bob Sapp, and approximately 52 different members of the Gracie family all captured my attention, but Sakuraba really stood out. If you’ve ever seen him fight, you know that you really didn’t know what to expect. He had such an unorthodox style that, at times, it didn’t seem like he knew what to expect. He would later go on to entertain me all over again in New Japan as a pro wrestler, but I was already a fan for life by that point.
• Bubba Dudley’s Date Of Birth (1971)

July 15th

• Eric Bischoff’s WWE Debut (2002)
• Team RoH vs Team CZW In The Cage Of Death at RoH Death Before Dishonor 4 (2006): This was when I was a huge fan of Ring Of Honor, buying their DVDs at an unhealthy financial clip. However, this feud was my introduction to CZW, so I was intrigued. I had seen that style of wrestling before, including Mick Foley and Terry Funk’s work in Japan, but I wanted to see how the RoH wrestling style would blend with it. This match was so much fun. Physical and violent, but not too violent to where it would turn a lot of people off. It told the perfect story with Bryan Danielson’s ulterior motives to be involved on Team RoH, CZW’s mystery partner, and the “will he or won’t he” questions about Homicide helping a company who has betrayed him in the past. The match is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already done so. As an added bonus, the DVD of Death Before Dishonor 4 does a great job of playing clips of everything that led to the match, so you won’t need to do much work to follow along.
• CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan at WWE Money In The Bank (2012)
• Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito at NJPW G1 Climax – Day 2 (2018)
• FTR vs “Switchblade” Jay White & Juice Robinson on AEW Collision (2023): Well, shit. I knew the rematch would be good after their first match (listed earlier) went so well, but I had no idea it would end up being as good as it was. Matches that go an hour on television when they weren’t announced to go an hour on television are always a treat. This was certainly no exception. Earlier, I talked about The Usos vs The Street Profits from Money In The Bank 2022 possibly being one of the best “normal” tag matches in WWE history. This wouldn’t meet the “normal” criteria because it had the Two-Out-Of-Three Falls stuff attached to it, but it was about as good a tag match as you’re ever going to see. Anywhere. For any company. In any era. I think I’m going to have to line up a handful of tag matches and watch them in order to start ranking them, but I already know this is in the mix for the best tag bout I’ve seen in a long, long, long time.

July 16th

• Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay at NJPW G1 Climax – Day 5 (2019)
• Kazuchika Okada vs Jeff Cobb at NJPW G1 Climax – Day 1 (2022): It’s fair to say that Okada doesn’t lose a lot of singles matches in New Japan, especially outside of IWGP Heavyweight Title matches. In 2021, Okada lost a total of four singles matches, with three names besting him. One of those three names? Jeff Cobb. His otherworldly strength is rare anywhere in wrestling, but in Japan, it becomes especially rare, and it helps him to stand out. Even though Okada had beaten Cobb before that match, and beaten Cobb since that match, the story is always strong whenever someone has defeated him because, again, it doesn’t happen very often. Cobb seemed to work harder, as he seemed to be in Okada’s head a bit, but Okada seemed to work harder, as he knew what Cobb was truly capable of.

July 17th

• The Great Sasuke’s Date Of Birth (1969)
• Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair at WCW Bash At The Beach (1994): This is yet another reminder that not everything you’re seeing listed here is a 27-star classic that Dave Meltzer is going to rave about for hours on end. Not that this was a bad match or anything. Meltzer gave it 3.25 stars, and that’s probably right about what I would give it, although I’d probably have it at 3, perhaps 2.75 stars. It’s listed here because of the spectacle, though. Seeing Hulk Hogan wrestling on a WCW pay-per-view was surreal. Having the match take place against Ric Flair, who damn sure should’ve wrestled Hogan two years earlier at WrestleMania 8, made it even more surreal. Throw in celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal, and Mr. T at ringside and/or involved in the match, and you have a WrestleMania-like event that was pretty cool to witness.
• Kaito Kiyomiya’s Date Of Birth (1996)
• John Cena vs CM Punk at WWE Money In The Bank (2011): You can make an argument that this is the “biggest” match of the 2010’s when it comes to how much buzz it generated, the atmosphere it created, and how good the match itself ended up being. In the history of wrestling, there might only be one or two more hostile “road game” crowds than what Cena experienced in Chicago/Rosemont that night, as the notoriously vocal pro-Punk fans were out in full force.

July 18th

• Carlos Colon Sr.’s Date Of Birth (1948): Sure, I’m one of many who feel that he absolutely, positively helped to cover up the murder of Bruiser Brody, and perhaps even helped to plan the murder outright, but he’s the only WWE Hall Of Famer who I share a birthday with, so here he is.
• Al Snow’s Date Of Birth (1963)
• Joey Mercury’s Date Of Birth (1979)
• Mandy Rose’s Date Of Birth (1990): Do I get a discount on her FanTime page now or something?
• Kazuchika Okada vs Naomichi Marufuji at NJPW G1 Climax – Day 1 (2016)
• Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WWE Money In The Bank (2021)
• John Cena Returns To Challenge Roman Reigns (2021): What. A. Pop. The announced attendance in the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas that night was 14,541. However, when Cena’s music hit after Reigns defeated Edge in the main event, you would’ve thought it was a WrestleMania in front of 100,000 fans. One of the most insane pops I’ve ever heard, sold to perfection on commentary by Michael Cole, whose screaming call of “OH, MY GOD! OH, MY GOD! CENA’S HERE!” is the best he’s ever been.

 

I can’t promise if/when the Gable Steveson column will come out. It needs to be done right, based on the subject matter alone, so it’s a lengthy process. I’ll be back, one way or another, next Monday with yet another column, but I’ll be a year older at that point.

My back hurts. I’m cold. Get off of my lawn.

 

 

Weekly Power Rankings

FTR vs “Switchblade” Jay White & Juice Robinson: Seriously, if you haven’t seen this match and have an hour of time to kill, please go out of your way and watch this match.

Ilja Dragunov vs Bron Breakker: Both men have a bunch of “main roster call up” rumors floating over their heads, but they were still able to have a fantastic match. If you’ve been paying any attention whatsoever, that wouldn’t be a surprise to you. I do think that it is beyond time for Bron to be on Raw or Smackdown now, though. Him sticking around in NXT to lose three consecutive matches isn’t working. It has been over two months since he won a televised match. Get him out of there.

Gunther: One of the most dominant Intercontinental Title reigns of all-time has the statistics to back that claim up. Gunther just reached the 400-day mark as champion, and it looks like he could easily go another 400 days with the title if he wanted to.

Jey Uso: If you look at the crowd reactions Jey is getting… if you look at the mic work and character work that Jey is doing… if you look at the in-ring work Jey is doing… if you look at the story that Roman Reigns has had over the last three years… would it REALLY be that crazy to see Jey defeat Roman again at SummerSlam? I’m not saying. I’m just saying.

Nick Wayne vs Swerve Strickland: There has been a lot of hype surrounding Nick Wayne since AEW offered him a contract when he was only 16 years old. His official AEW debut was a successful one, even though it came in a losing effort. He was impressive in the ring, and he looked like someone who is much older than 18. His future is really bright.

Mystery Partners For Blood & Guts: Everyone knew Kota Ibushi would be announced as the mystery partner for The Elite, and this was one of those situations where the lack of surprise did nothing to hurt a moment. Pac was a slightly less popular pick to be the partner of the Blackpool Combat Club, but his issues with Kenny Omega meant that this made a ton of sense.

LA Knight: I said that he should go after the United States Title, and then, on the very next episode of Smackdown, he announces that he’s going after the United States Title. Good decision. That’s the perfect spot for him.

Ricky Starks vs CM Punk: I’m not sure many people are asking for a Ricky Starks heel turn, but that’s where we’re going. Either way, this was a major, major win for the man, picking up a victory over one of the biggest stars in the company.

Willow Nightingale vs Athena: Man, Willow is on quite the roll right now. You can say that some/most/all of it wouldn’t have happened if Mercedes Moné didn’t get injured in their match back in May, but the fact is that she was given the ball and is running with it.

Becky Lynch vs Zoey Stark: This is such a good role for Zoey. She has always been able to “go” in the ring, but her mic skills have never quite matched up. Putting her with Trish Stratus, who can handle the majority of the talking for the duo, allows Zoey to shine at what she’s good at, while hiding her glaring weaknesses.

Komander vs Chris Jericho: While the match was good, I can’t help but think about how fun a match between the 2023 version of Komander and the 1995-1996 version of Chris Jericho would be.

Sheamus & Ridge Holland vs Pretty Deadly: I don’t necessarily want to see the group split up, but Sheamus should probably be doing bigger and better things than teaming up with Ridge Holland and/or Butch in random tag matches on Smackdown. Butch is, of course, a world class in-ring talent, but in the world of kayfabe, he’s just another guy.

Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The Judgment Day: A fun house show match that ended up being featured on live television. That isn’t a knock on the quality in any way. It’s just pointing out that it wasn’t going to be anything earth-shattering, but still something entertaining that passes some time.

MJF & Adam Cole vs Brian Cage & Big Bill: So much for the monsters taking over and dominating the AEW tag division. It might’ve been fun to have them pick up a win here, but I guess we have to continue the 28th version of “MJF teases being a face, only to reveal that he is, in fact, MJF” that we have going on now.

Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs Finn Balor & Damian Priest: A good in-ring week for Balor and Priest, making it on the list twice. Carmelo Hayes, on the other hand, really needs something he can sink his teeth into. An upcoming match with Ilja Dragunov is going to be a blast, but even if he successfully defends his title, Melo needs to build more momentum. He hasn’t quite been the same since winning the title, through no fault of his own.

 

 

This Week’s Playlist: “Get Up Kid” by Thirty Seconds To Mars… “Stop Playin” by G Perico… “Superhero” by Kim Dracula… “Post Traumatic Blues” by Corey Taylor… “Earn It” by The Ghost Inside… “Keres” by Thy Art Is Murder… “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check” by Hyro The Hero… “Destroyer Of Worlds” by Werewolves… “The Curse” by I Revolt… “Livin’ The Life” by The Lox… “Rock n Roll” by Fam-Lay & Lil Flip… “Make It Hot” by Nicole, Missy Elliott & Mocha… “It’s Funky Enough” by The D.O.C… “Lemon” by N.E.R.D. & Rihanna… “If You Know You Know” by Pusha T… “Nosetalgia” by Pusha T & Kendrick Lamar… “Trouble On My Mind” by Pusha T & Tyler, The Creator… “Can I Rap” by Roach Gigz… “Khaki Suit” by Damian Marley, Eek-A-Mouse & Bounty Killer… “Chunky” by Bruno Mars