Author: Pete Moon (Assistant Editor)

On this day in 2006, this was the beginning of the end for RVD in WWE. The main event of Monday Night Raw on July 3rd, 2006, was an eventful one. Recently-crowned champion Rob Van Dam would defend his championship in a triple threat match. His opponents that night were John Cena, the man he dethroned, and Edge, who helped him do it. Fans of the red brand rejoiced as it was the first time in 5 years they had seen the championship defended on the show. But not everybody was pleased when Edge walked away the victor. RVD’s championship…

Welcome back to this AEW Talent profile on the prolific and talented Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana. Colt Cabana’s journey from Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul through his work in Ring of Honor and up to signing a contract with WWE was a key starting point for Cabana.. Colt Cabana – Ohio Valley Wrestling Colt Cabana had his first match for Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE’s then-developmental territory) on May 30th, 2007. Cabana lost to Michael W. Kruel in the first round of a tournament to determine an opponent for a future appearance by The Miz. Shortly thereafter, Cabana would enter…

Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana is easily the most prolific independent wrestler of the modern era. With his comedic style, underdog appeal, and fierce independent streak, he has earned the respect of wrestling fans worldwide. But how did this all happen? We present Colt Cabana, part 1 in our latest AEW Talent Preview. Scott Colton was born on May 6th, 1980, in Deerfield, Illinois. He became a pro wrestling fan at the age of four when he saw Andre the Giant on an episode of WWF Championship Wrestling. The colorful characters and high-impact action of the 1980s wrestling had the young…

Before Diesel debuts in the WWF his early time in WCW was quite memorable. In early 1993, Kevin Nash wanted to leave wrestling for good. From 1990-1991 he was half of the disastrous “Master Blasters” tag team in WCW. Sporting all black and a bright orange mohawk, “Steel” teamed with “Iron” and then “Blade” before going solo as simply “The Master Blaster.” Later in 1991, WCW repackaged him with silver hair and green tights as “Oz” based on the classic children’s book. Flanked by Kevin Sullivan in a wizard costume, WCW pushed him for a month before Ron Simmons defeated…

It is Saturday, July 14th, 1984, a day that will go down in the annals of Pro Wrestling as ‘Black Saturday.’ You are a pro wrestling fan living in the US Mid-Atlantic. For the past 12 years, you’ve tuned into Superstation WTBS at 6:00 on Saturday for the weekly 2-hour broadcast of Georgia Championship Wrestling. This particular Saturday, you turn to WTBS to watch NWA World Championship Wrestling, and almost immediately, you can tell something is wrong. Black Saturday: The Prelude To The Monday Night Wars Instead of being welcomed by nationally renowned pro wrestling commentator Gordon Solie, you are…

May 5th, 2002, was an important day for the WWE with a plane ride from hell. They had just concluded their 2002 British tour with the taping of Insurrextion. It was also the first Raw-branded PPV, and the first event to be held under the new WWE banner. But none of those are the reason we remember that date, which now lives in infamy. What followed was a flight described by Jim Ross in his now-defunct Ross Report column as “about seven hours in length and low-lighted by a handful of people who consumed too much alcohol and consequently acted…

As Paul Heyman said in a 2022 interview with Fox Sports, Professional Wrestling in the 1990s needed disruption, and Heyman was willing to be the disruptor. When last we left the tale of Heyman’s career in professional wrestling, he had done just that. After becoming sole creative director of Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993, he began shifting the promotion’s image to line up with the grittier, edgier styles that had come into the mainstream with the rise of Alternative Rock and Gangsta Rap just a few years earlier. As we will continue to chart Paul Heyman’s legacy of hustle, as…

In a 2022 interview with Ryan Satin, Paul Heyman said of his life that he’s never held a real job. Whether it was selling sports memorabilia from his family home, taking pictures of local wrestlers in the New York area, producing events at Studio 54, or booking for the 3rd biggest pro wrestling promotion in North America, Heyman never thought of his work as a “real” job. “I worked around people who had real jobs,” Heyman told Ryan Satin. According to Heyman, the people who did lighting for Studio 54 or the camera operators at WWE events were the people…

On April 3rd, 1908, Gotch Vs Hackenshmidt was the most important match of the turn of the century. Professional wrestling was very different at the turn of the century. The sport caught on in America after the Civil War, where the soldiers took to grappling as a form of entertainment. The soldiers who were best at wrestling would go on to perform for audiences at circuses and carnivals. From there, it grew into a spectator sport. However, it wasn’t a very profitable spectator sport. It lacked the excitement of boxing or the freshness of baseball or football. Wrestling matches were…

Most pro wrestling historians will tell you that Ron Simmons defeated Vader on August 2nd, 1992, to become the first black World Heavyweight Champion. Dissenters, what few there are, will point to Bobo Brazil’s victory over Buddy Rogers on August 18th, 1962. But it’s Reginald ‘Regis’ Siki who deserves his accolades. Brazil reigned unrecognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion for 73 days. But there is one champion the history books leave out, whether by design or by accident. Nat Fleischer mentions him in passing in his exhaustive 1936 history “From Milo to Londos” and Marcus Griffin fails to mention him…