Enjoy this episode (Season 4 Episode 40) of This Week In Wrestling History covering the week of 10/1 thru 10/7. Running Time: 5 Hours 39 Minutes!

Hundreds of hours of wrestling memories; all featuring the ORIGINAL moments as they aired including ORIGINAL theme music! Enjoy this deep dive into pro wrestling’s awesome history. You won’t find history documented like this anywhere but here!

SYNOPSIS: SEASON 4 EPISODE 40 (10/1 – 10/7)
RUNNING TIME: 5 HOURS 39 MINUTES

• Ken Patera retires from powerlifting to become a pro wrestler.
• A plane carrying Ric Flair, Johnny Valentine, Tim Woods, and others crashes in Wilmington, NC.
• AUDIO: Ric Flair’s detailed account of the plane crash
• The first incarnation of The Midnight Express defeats the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express to win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship.
• The Dynamic Duo (Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams) lose a Hair vs. Hair match against Kevin and Kerry Von Erich.
• AUDIO: Highlights of Uncle Elmer’s wedding from Saturday Night’s Main Event: Joyce is pelted in the head with trash, and Jesse “The Body” Ventura loves it!
• Rockin’ Robin becomes the last WWF Women’s Champion before the title is deactivated (for the first time) in 1990.
• Chris Jericho and Lance Storm make their pro wrestling debuts—against each other!
• Looking back at WWF “The Battle Royal” from London, England
• AUDIO: Terry Funk vs. Jimmy Snuka for the ECW TV Title main event at the first NWA/ECW event booked by Paul Heyman
• Vince McMahon sends “Macho Man” Randy Savage to the USWA to face Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship.
• AUDIO: “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Vince McMahon USWA promos
• AUDIO: Memorable Cactus Jack ECW promo on Tommy Dreamer and his dreams of going to WCW
• AUDIO: Steve Austin cuts his first anti-WCW promo on ECW TV
• Steve Austin makes his first ECW house show appearance.
• Looking back at ECW Ultimate Jeopardy 1996
• AUDIO: HBK and The Undertaker battle in the first-ever Hell in a Cell match, plus the memorable debut of Kane
• AUDIO: A controversial interview between Vince McMahon and Melanie Pillman, just one day after the death of Brian Pillman
• AUDIO: Jim Cornette’s first of several memorable “shoots” on RAW
• AUDIO: Faarooq cuts a great promo on Steve Austin
• Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara leave WWF for WCW just days after the Austin/Zamboni and The Rock “This Is Your Life” segments.
• AUDIO: After having his leg injured by Kane and The Undertaker, Vince McMahon has three memorable hospital visits (featuring Mick Foley, the debut of Mr. Socko, and “Dr.” Austin)
• AUDIO: Owen Hart walks out of RAW and the WWF
• WCW strips Lenny Lane of the Cruiserweight Championship for being ‘too gay’.
• Bret Hart and Chris Benoit have a memorable Nitro match paying tribute to the late Owen Hart.
• Darren Drozdov is paralyzed in a match against D’Lo Brown.
• AUDIO: ECW on TNN airs a controversial interview with Tammy “Sunny” Sytch
• AUDIO: Booker T defeats Jeff Jarrett to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (previously vacated by Vince Russo)
• AUDIO: Infamous WrestleCrap moment involving Booker T and a photo of Scott Hall
• Juventud Guerrera is arrested in Australia during a WCW tour.
• Looking back at ROH “Glory By Honor” 2002 and the attempts to run XPW out of Philadelphia
• AUDIO: Big Show and Eddie Guerrero tamper with each other’s burritos
• AUDIO: Carlito makes his WWE TV debut and wins the United States Championship
• AUDIO: Steve Austin stuns Linda (and the entire McMahon family) at WWE RAW: Homecoming
• John Cena surrenders the WWE Championship after suffering a serious injury.
• Kurt Angle is arrested on DUI charges.
• Hulk Hogan signs a deal with NBC to host the American Gladiators reboot.
• AUDIO: Tony Atlas speaks on his confrontation with CM Punk in OVW
• The Sandman pleads guilty following an incident during Capt. Lou Albano’s birthday party.
• Looking back at the WWE Hell in a Cell PPVs from 2010 and 2018
• SmackDown debuts on MyNetworkTV.
• CM Punk main-events the first-ever episode of WWE Main Event.
• AUDIO: Batista makes his MMA debut
• Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore holds its first-ever event.
• Cody Rhodes and Goldust are reinstated by WWE after defeating The Shield.
• Prince Puma (Ricochet) becomes the first-ever Lucha Underground Champion.
• AUDIO: Matt Hardy vacates the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
• AUDIO: Memorable Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Iron Woman match from NXT TakeOver: Respect
• The Broken Hardys win the TNA Tag Team Championship from Abyss and Crazzy Steve in “The Great War.”
• WWE signs Shayna Baszler.
• ESPN signs Charly Caruso while she is still employed with WWE.
• Looking back at WWE Super Show-Down 2018
• AUDIO: Shawn Michaels shockingly reveals his in-ring return after an eight-year retirement for a match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia
• The Wednesday Night Wars begin: Looking back at the debut of AEW Dynamite and the NXT episode that went head-to-head with AEW, including the TV ratings
• AUDIO: Highlights from the first-ever episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT
• Looking back at the debut episode of AEW Dark
• AUDIO: WWE on FOX debuts with Brock Lesnar ending Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship reign in ten seconds (includes the post-match incident involving Cain Velasquez)
• AUDIO: Rare Kofi Kingston post-SmackDown interview after losing the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar
• AUDIO: Did the Hell in a Cell match between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt end in a no-contest?
• Lio Rush launches an OnlyFans page.
• Looking back at the Impact Wrestling: Victory Road 2020 PPV
• Looking back at NXT TakeOver 31
• Mustafa Ali is revealed as the leader of Retribution.
• Looking back at the 2021 WWE Draft featuring RAW on USA vs. SmackDown on FOX
• AUDIO: Austin Theory celebrates his first night on WWE RAW by beating up—and then taking a selfie with—an incapacitated Jeff Hardy!
• Tension between Andrade El Idolo and Sammy Guevara reaches a critical mass, leading to a backstage physical altercation.
• WWE releases Nigel McGuinness and Jimmy Smith, leading to a reshuffling of the RAW, SmackDown, and NXT commentary teams.
• AUDIO: Highlights (or should we say lowlights) of Tony Khan’s one and only appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show
• Looking back at the Impact Wrestling: Bound for Glory 2022 PPV
• Looking back at the AEW WrestleDream 2023 PPV
• Adam Copeland (Edge) signs with AEW.
• AUDIO: “Go Fu*k Yourself”: Adam Copeland makes his memorable AEW Dynamite debut and reunites with Christian Cage (well, sorta kinda)
• AUDIO: Scammers target the pro wrestling world using The Rock and some pretty convincing AI
• AUDIO: After losing the NXT North American Title to Trick Williams, Dominik Mysterio gets a rematch against the newly crowned champion
• Looking back at WWE Fastlane 2023
• Looking back at NXT’s debut on The CW Network
• AUDIO: Highlights from the first NXT episode on The CW Network
• AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery officially agree to a new multi-year media rights deal beginning in 2025.
• Looking back at WWE Bad Blood 2024
• AUDIO: CM Punk and Drew McIntyre battle in one of the greatest Hell in a Cell matches in history (from WWE Bad Blood 2024)
• The “Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks” haunted house makes its debut at Universal Studios as part of Halloween Horror Nights 2025.
• AUDIO: Hangman Adam Page: “Fu** ICE”
• AUDIO: Triple H appears at the TEDSports Indianapolis 2025 Convention exposing everything about WWE creative: An interview the non-wrestling world loved, but the wrestling community hated
• Looking back at NXT/TNA Showdown and the story behind the last-minute name change from NXT/TNA Invasion
• And so much more!

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