Now we’re all aware every day of the year is some inane day for something, but even the magical dart board of dumb things to celebrate only found National Cheese Soufflé Day, for May 18th. That alone should tell you what kind of day we’re dealing with. I think I made chicken salad out of…well…you all should know the saying. Let’s get to it!

• WCW Slamboree (1997)

This was prime WCW, and that’s definitely memorable. Konnan turned of Hugh Morris, Steven Regal defeated Ultimo Dragon to regain the TV title, but the NFL Stars and Ric Flair were the draws here. Steve McMichael faced off with Reggie White, a match that went 15 minutes and saw Mongo needing to use a briefcase just to defeat the Minister of Defense. The main event saw Ric Flair returning to action in Charlotte, after quite some time away for rotator cuff surgery. Flair won with the Figure Four, getting a rare straight forward win over the nWo. For a fun fact, it was after this match that Roddy Piper and Kevin Nash had their altercation in locker room.

• NOAH Navigation With Breeze: GHC Heavyweight Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Akira Taue (2001)

Taue is often the overlooked Pillar whenever conversation is brought up about the Four Pillars of Heaven. But this match helped to prove that Taue’s place was safe. This was the first ever defense of the newly minted GHC Heavyweight Championship, and of course it would be the crafty half of the Holy Demon Army (his tag team with Toshiaki Kawada). This match helped to showcase a faster King’s Road style, without losing the psychology or tension. A beautiful usage of the foundational members to get across the new promotion, before starting to push and crown the next generation.

• WWE Judgement Day: Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho (2008)

While most of us remember Jericho throwing Michaels through the Jeritron 5000 as the jump off of the feud, this match was the real first domino to fall. Michaels was still milking the gimmick that he was injured, so after a fairly solid technical contest, Michaels ends up countering the Walls and winning with a Cradle. Jericho had a point to prove though, so he never dropped the allegations. This feud was easily the best feud of 2008, and gave us numerous highlights and memories that will probably find their way onto later lists. But everything has to start somewhere.

• ROH Relentless (2013)

S.C.U.M. was still rampant on the cards, but this show did a great job at being the prelude to their fall. Kevin Steen, a former founding member, was kicked out after the group expanded to include people like Matt Hardy and Rhyno. So Steen and one of his better friends Jimmy Jacobs had a NoDQ drag out grudge match. It was overbooked and a bit of a cluster…but this wasn’t ballet. Jay Briscoe defended the World title against BJ Whitmer and Adam Cole beat Adam Page setting him up for a continued push to the top. Match of the night was probably Matt Taven & reDragon vs Jay Lethal & C&C Wrestle Factory. Lots of solid action that laid the tracks for the rest of the year.

• NXT: North American Championship: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Bronson Reed (2021)

Ahh, that weird Johnny Gargano “The Way” era, when they tried to give him a personality. This was a steel cage match done correctly, and it was a delight to see in modern wrestling. The finish is why this is memorable. Bronson had Johnny dead to rights, walked to the door…and slammed it shut. He decided to hit the Tsunami to win the belt instead of the escaping the cage crap too many people do. The Thunderdome popped, commentary popped, I popped, a brutal beast of a babyface is something that was very needed. This was a great highlight reel moment for our Tribal Thief.

• STARDOM Flashing Champions (2024)

Lost in the shuffle of everything else that happened, the special tag match had a lot of significance. Arisa Nakajima was on her retirement tour, so her involvement in the event helped to make it feel more special, which was notable since this event was 2 days before the inaugural Marigold event. Speaking of big things, Willow Nightingale defended the TBS title against Tam Nakano, the first time that belt was defended on a Stardom show in Japan. We also saw Saya Kamitani defend the High Speed title, a harbinger of the Dark Phoenix’s ascent in the next year.

While nothing was Earth shattering, it was a lot of set up shows with small threads and their own memorable aspects. Everything starts somewhere, be it the downfall of S.C.U.M., the Jericho and Michaels feud or Saya Kamitani building up her resume for why she was the first woman to ever win the Tokyo Sports MVP Award in 2025.

Did I miss anything? How far did I stretch the events today? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. And if you don’t do anything else today, remember, Always Use Your Head!

This article is a bit heavier on the older wrestling moments. Only one event is in the 2000s, with everything being 1998 or earlier. So let’s see what I found so important to give Gen X and Millennial fans some nice nostalgia.

• WWWF MSG Show: World Heavyweight Championship: Buddy Rogers (c) vs Bruno Sammartino (1963)

Bruno squashed Buddy Rogers in less than a minute to win his first WWWF title. This isn’t significant because of squashing the original “Nature Boy”, it’s significance lies in the fact that this began the historic 2,803 day reign. Since we have dumb things like “national Matcha day”, it’s not ridiculous for me to want May 17th to be Bruno Sammartino Day.

• NJPW Super Warrior in Osaka Castle Hall (1992)

This event did a great job at establishing the “Three Musketeers” and also giving us some fun crossover matches. Shinya Hashimoto defeated Oz (Kevin Nash), Tiger Mask III pinning Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) and Big Van Vader defeating Tony Halme (WWE Ludvig Borga). Not to mention two classic title defenses. Jushin Liger defeated El Samurai to retain the Junior Heavyweight title, and Riki Choshu held out to beat Keiji Mutoh. Both matches solidified the newer generation in a way. Liger was King of the Juniors and Mutoh was on his ascent, and would comeback with an Underworld vengeance later in the year.

• WCW WrestleWar: WarGames: Sting’s Squadron vs Dangerous Alliance (1992)

The WarGames match that set the bar and is considered by many as the best of all time. Sting Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham and Ricky Steamboat made up the babyface team. Paul E. Dangerously’s team was, Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko ended up costing the heels when he swung at Sting with the turnbuckle connector, missed and hit Bobby Eaton. While WCW wasn’t at it’s zenith in 1992, this match still resonates with fans of WarGames.

• WWF Monday Night Raw: Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs Marty Jannetty (1993)

Jannetty returning earlier in the year to shock Shawn and cement the shock with a massive upset, was one of the largest highlights in Jannetty’s WWE career. His one and only singles title run only lasted around 20 days, but it was a memorable moment from how high Shawn ascended after kicking Jannetty through a window and breaking up the Rockers. A small bonus note is, this was also the show where Lightning Kid got the upset win over Razor Ramon.

• WCW Slamboree: Ciclope Unmasking (1998)

One of the most meme’d storylines comes to a head here at Slamboree. This was the angle where Jericho was goading Dean Malenko after taking the title off him, the list of 1,004 holds. During a Battle Royal at Slamboree, the winner gets an immediate shot at the Cruiserweight Championship. It came down to Ciclope and Juventud Guerrera. Juvi shook Ciclope’s hand and eliminated himself. Everyone was confused until Ciclope unmasked and the crowd erupted into one of the largest pops in WCW history. Malenko fooled everyone, got the title match and defeated Jericho. Granted, he was stripped shortly after since he competed under the false gimmick. But the reveal and the storyline is definitely a core memory for WCW fans.

• WWE Payback: World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs Dean Ambrose vs Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton (2015)

A few smaller notes like Lana having to scream ” I Quit” for Rusev during the Cena match and New Day doing a little shenanigans to retain the tag titles. But when we get a mini Shield Reunion at this point in WWE, that takes the spotlight. Even though it was a 4-way, there was the moment when the three came to a quick agreement to put things aside to send Randy Orton through the broadcast table with their Shield Powerbomb. Also, while it wasn’t the first time Seth used the Pedigree, it was the first time he won the match with it. This was a hit or miss time for WWE, but this was definitely a memory most look back on fondly.

While I don’t really see a cute thread for the events today, it was a whole lot of WCW and WCW adjacent events. It’s not very often when half of the events have WCW influence, much less all of them because positive historic moments. Weird day.

Did I miss anything? How far did I stretch the events today? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. And if you don’t do anything else today, remember, Always Use Your Head!