mobanmarketAs you well know, a lot happens in a year especially in sports and entertainment. When I do my year-end MMA review shows, I am always amazed looking at all the little things that happened in a given month that ended up being bigger things later on.
But, we had never really done a comprehensive month-by-month look at the year that was in pro wrestling, so here we are. I tasked website contributor Josh Molina to help me out and that’s exactly what he did.
There was so much that happened that I had to split this up into four separate posts, the first of which covered January-March and then April-June. We now move into July, August, and September which featured a company other than WWE making moves at MSG, a legend announcing his return to the ring, and Ronda Rousey winning the WWE Raw women’s title.
July
ROH and NJPW announced plans for a combined Madison Square Garden show on April 6, the night before Wrestlemania
WWE announced their first all-women’s PPV, Evolution
Jay Lethal won the ROH world title
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat had hip replacement surgery
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar challenged Daniel Cormier to a UFC heavyweight title match after Cormier won the belt
New Japan Pro Wrestling held a show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace. On the show, Josh Barnett shoot got involved in the Jay White vs. Juice Robinson match after a table bump injured Jim Ross
Phoenix Police Department released a report on the sexual assault allegations against Enzo Amore after they dropped the investigation
WWE held a rare mid-year Madison Square Garden house show
Raymondo Rodriguez, the original Piratita Morgan, one of the top mini-wrestler heels in the 1990s, passed away at age 49
Nathaniel Whitlock, a heel manager for Nate the Rat in the USWA, passed away
Tessa Blanchard signed a two-year deal with Impact
Ric Flair had surgery to remove his temporary colostomy bag
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said the earliest he would run for U.S. president is 2024
The Miz & Maryse show debuted on USA
WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff passed away
After a three-year suspension, Hulk Hogan returned to WWE
Under his real name Harry Smith, Davey Boy Smith Jr. captured a gold medal in the expert division of he shoot-style Billy Robinson Classic
Ayako Hamada, 37, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years probation for possession of methamphetamine
David Arquette, former WCW champion, had his first wrestling match since 2000
Tom Lawlor and Bryan Alvarez (The Chop & Roll Express) teamed up to battle The Rock & Roll Express
Brian Lawler (aka Brian Christopher) died of suicide while in jail
August
Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam while Ronda Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss easily to become the first woman to hold both the UFC and WWE championships
The ROH/NJPW MSG show sold 9000 pre-sale tickets on their first day and sold out in 19 minutes after the public onsale
In the main event of AAA’ s biggest show Triplemania, El Hijo del Fantasma lost his mask in a four-way match against L.A. Park, Pentagon Jr., and Psycho Clown
Former professional wrestler and MMA fighter Aya Koyama passed away due to cancer at 45
Ed Cohen, WWF arena booker in the 1980s, passed away at the age of 62
Michael Luisi was fired as president of WWE Studios
WWE finally released Neville after he walked out in October 2017
Villano III passed away due to a brain hemorrhage at 66
Former pro wrestling announcer and Roller Derby host Walt Harris passed away at 97
Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passed away at 63 due to a seizure
Daniel Bryan re-signed with WWE
Kane (aka Glen Jacobs) was elected mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee
Sami Zayn had surgery on his left rotator cuff
Hiroshi Tanahashi won the 2018 G1 Climax
Colt Cabana filed a lawsuit against CM Punk, claiming breach of contract
September
Shawn Michaels announced his return to wrestling in a tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel in October
All In and Starrcast weekend happend in Chicago to great fanfare and buzz
WWE announced the second season of Mixed Match Challenge
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair to win the Smackdown women’s championship
An New York State appeals court dismissed concussion lawsuits filed by 60 wrestlers against the WWE
Frank Andersson, one of the most decorated amateur wrestlers to turn professional, passed away at 62 from heart surgery complications
A Go Fund Me campaign raised $10,000 to pay Paul Orndorff’s property taxes. Orndorff, 68, is suffering from severe memory issues
WWE 205 Live became a taped show instead of live
CMLL, the longest-lasting pro wrestling company in history, held its 85th anniversary show
Former UFC fighter and indie wrestling talent Matt Riddle finally signed a deal with WWE and began at NXT
Renee Young replaced Jonathan Coachman on WWE Raw
Ric Flair and Wendy Barlow (Fifi in WCW) got married
WWE announced a show for Helsinki, Finland, in 2019
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada at Destruction in Kobe, setting up a brutal beatdown of Okada by Jay White. Gedo also turned on Okada during the angle
New Japan Pro Wrestling held a show in Long Beach, CA
Brie Bella accidentally kicked Liv Morgan in the face during a match doing a Daniel Bryan kick spot, giving her a concussion
October-December coming up later today.