This day in Pro-Wrestling history: 19th November

Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe rivalry put TNA on the map

Today’s edition of ‘This day in Pro-wrestling history’ focuses on two monumental matches in TNA history that took place on 19th November ten years ago. While one made TNA look like a million bucks, the other made the management seem absolutely clueless about the pro-wrestling industry.

Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe would be involved and so would Sting. So which was the stinker and which was the classic?

This edition also features the return of one superstar to the WWE with the career longevity of a Bowhead Whale. This Canadian Superstar had left the company in 2005 and would return to the company two years later on an episode of Raw. So who was it?

Sit back and drink this list in, man!


#1 Samoa Joe’s streak gets an Ankle Lock – 19th November 2006

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TNA was finally getting some traction in 2006 with many former WWE stars like Christian, Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle joining the roster, with homegrown talent like AJ Styles and America’s Most Wanted getting popular.

Another superstar belonging to the second category was Samoa Joe, who had debuted in 2004 and was on a Goldberg-like unbeaten streak stretching eighteen months.

TNA booked an Angle vs Joe match for the 2006 Genesis PPV and the build up was a rare gem, with the match being touted as the biggest ones in TNA’s history.

The bout was a classic which did not involve any of the usual TNA shenanigans of multiple interferences and in the end, Angle ended Joe’s unbeaten streak by making him submit to the Ankle Lock.

The decision drew much flak, mainly because it was Vince Russo’s controversial introduction into the fold that booked Joe to eat his first loss.

Joe would make Angle submit at their next PPV meeting and the decider would be a 30 minute Iron man match which Angle would win three falls to two.

#2 The Sting – Abyss title fiasco – 19th November 2006

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As has been the case over the years, TNA messed up a favourable situation yet again.

The aforementioned Genesis PPV should have been a huge success due to its Joe vs Angle main event, but the fans left the arena with a bad taste in their mouths because of the muddle that the NWA World Heavyweight Championship fell into.

Sting was defending the title against Abyss prior to the main event and he would get disqualified for clotheslining the referee. There was a rule in TNA that a title could change by disqualification, but the company had never used it in a World title match since its inception.

TNA chose to enforce it at Genesis and Abyss won his first World title. Both competitors looked like fools and TNA management was widely criticised for the move.

#3 The code is broken – 19th November 2007

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WWE started airing cryptic vignettes resembling the Matrix digital rain from September 24th, 2007.

The vignettes would run for a full two months and the code was finally broken during a segment involving WWE Champion Randy Orton. It was revealed that the vignettes were used to represent the return of Chris Jericho to the company after a two-year hiatus.

Jericho would make his appearance and proceeded to challenge Orton for his title. He would later state in his autobiography that the crowd seemed apathetic to his return with the same old gimmick and less than a year later, Y2J would shed his loudmouth, energetic persona and adopt a suit-wearing, condescending, serious heel gimmick.

The change would work wonders for his career, landing him three World titles and the Slammy awards for Superstar of the year. He also won the Tag team of the year award for two consecutive years.


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