On This Day in Pro Wrestling History – April 29 | First SmackDown, Cena vs. Brock, Lou Thesz & Record Crowds

April 29

On This Day in Pro Wrestling History

April 29 is one of those dates where wrestling history feels huge.

Not just “big show” huge.

We’re talking 190,000 fans in a stadium, the birth of SmackDown, a major Tokyo Dome title change, the first Brian Pillman Memorial event, and a wild WWE Backlash where Steve Austin and Triple H walked out with even more gold.

So yes, April 29 brought the heavy artillery.

Paul Roma Is Born

We start in 1960, when Paul Roma was born in Kensington, New York.

Roma had one of those careers that crossed several different lanes of wrestling history. WWF fans remember him as part of The Young Stallions, while WCW fans remember his time connected to the Four Horsemen.

That is an interesting résumé right there. Not many wrestlers can say they were part of both an upbeat WWF tag team act and one of wrestling’s most famous factions.

North Korea Hosts the Largest Wrestling Crowd Ever

The biggest number attached to April 29 is almost hard to process.

In 1995, New Japan Pro Wrestling held the second night of its World Peace Festival event in Pyongyang, North Korea.

The crowd?

190,000 fans.

That shattered the previous day’s record of 150,000 and remains one of the most jaw-dropping attendance figures in pro wrestling history.

The show was attended by Muhammad Ali, and images of Ali, Antonio Inoki, and Ric Flair were published in major Korean and Japanese newspapers. Later, selected matches from the two-day event aired in the United States as a WCW pay-per-view special.

The card included:

Wild Pegasus defeating 2 Cold Scorpio

The Steiner Brothers defeating Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki

Akira Hokuto defeating Bull Nakano

Road Warrior Hawk defeating Tadao Yasuda

Antonio Inoki defeating Ric Flair in their first and only meeting

That last one alone makes the event historically fascinating. Inoki vs. Flair is one of those matches that feels like it should exist in a wrestling museum behind thick glass.

New Japan Draws 65,000 to the Tokyo Dome

Just one year later, in 1996, New Japan was back in massive-event mode.

At Battle Formation in the Tokyo Dome, Shinya Hashimoto defeated Nobuhiko Takada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, beginning his third reign.

The show drew 65,000 fans and served as the payoff to the New Japan vs. UWF storyline, one of the biggest money-drawing angles in New Japan history.

That card was stacked:

Great Sasuke defeated Jushin Thunder Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title

Randy Savage defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Masahiro Chono defeated Lex Luger

The Great Muta defeated Jinsei Shinzaki

Genichiro Tenryu defeated Tatsumi Fujinami

Hashimoto submitted Takada in the main event

There are wrestling shows that feel like events.

This felt like a national wrestling earthquake.

The First Brian Pillman Memorial Event

In 1998, the first annual Brian Pillman Memorial event was held in Norwood, Ohio, promoted by Les Thatcher’s HWA.

The show raised $23,500 for Pillman’s family after his passing in October 1997.

Hosted by Steve Austin and Sunny, the event brought talent together from major promotions at a time when the wrestling world was usually divided by company lines.

The card included:

Nick Dinsmore defeating Trailer Park Trash

Al Snow defeating Chris Candido in an ECW-represented match

Chris Benoit defeating Chris Jericho in a WCW-represented match

The event would become an annual tradition through 2001.

This is the kind of wrestling history that matters beyond wins and losses. It was the wrestling community showing up for one of its own.

ECW Runs Florida

Also in 1999, ECW ran Palmetto, Florida with a card that had that late-90s ECW flavor:

Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Little Guido

Jerry Lynn defeated Justin Credible

The Dudley Boyz retained the ECW Tag Team Titles

Tommy Dreamer defeated Lance Storm

That is a very ECW lineup. Fast, chaotic, physical, and full of names that helped define the company’s final years.

SmackDown Is Born

Then we get to one of the biggest television moments on April 29.

In 1999, UPN aired a special titled WWF SmackDown!

It served as a pilot for a second weekly two-hour WWF series.

The show scored a 5.8 rating, and by August, SmackDown became a regular weekly series.

That changed everything.

A second major weekly WWF show meant more television, more storylines, more matches, and a much heavier workload for the creative team. It also became part of the reason Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara later left WWF for WCW that October.

The pilot itself was full of late-Attitude Era energy:

Vince and Stephanie McMahon opening the show

Shane McMahon and the Corporation

The Corporate Ministry looming over everything

Blue Blazer chaos

Big Show destroying Test

Kane and X-Pac against the New Age Outlaws

Austin and Rock teaming against Triple H and The Undertaker

And of course, the show ended with Austin standing tall, beer flowing, chaos everywhere.

That first SmackDown was not just another TV special. It was the start of a show that became one of WWE’s longest-running pillars.

WCW Thunder Runs Opposite SmackDown

On the same night as the SmackDown pilot, WCW aired Thunder from State College, Pennsylvania.

That gives April 29 a fun little television-war flavor.

WCW’s show featured:

Booker T defending the TV Title against Curt Hennig

Goldberg defeating Meng

Kevin Nash powerbombing Hak through a table

Diamond Dallas Page defending the WCW World Title against Bam Bam Bigelow in a hardcore match

It was a snapshot of WCW trying to keep its own machine moving while WWF was expanding its television footprint in a major way.

Sabu Wins XPW Gold

In 2000, Sabu defeated The Messiah in California to win the vacant XPW Heavyweight Title.

The belt had been vacated by Chris Candido after he left to work for WCW.

Sabu winning any hardcore-adjacent world title always feels fitting. Few wrestlers carried that danger-in-motion energy quite like him.

Backlash 2001 Brings Gold to Austin and Triple H

In 2001, WWE Backlash took place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago.

This show had a lot going on, but the main event was the biggest headline:

Steve Austin and Triple H defeated The Undertaker and Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Titles.

That meant Austin and Triple H, already positioned at the top of the company, walked out with even more gold.

The show also featured:

Jerry Lynn winning the WWF Light Heavyweight Title in his TV debut

Rhyno retaining the Hardcore Title against Raven

Chris Benoit defeating Kurt Angle in a 30-minute submission match

Shane McMahon defeating Big Show in a Last Man Standing match after a huge elbow drop

Matt Hardy retaining the European Title against Christian and Eddie Guerrero

That Benoit vs. Angle match was the technical centerpiece. Shane’s stunt was the spectacle. Austin and Triple H winning the tag titles was the storyline hook.

A very 2001 WWF pay-per-view, in other words.

Cena vs. Brock at Extreme Rules

April 29 is also remembered for John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules.

That match came during Brock Lesnar’s return period and felt completely different from the usual WWE main event style at the time. It was rougher, meaner, and more fight-like, with Lesnar bringing a level of physical intensity that made the whole thing feel uncomfortable in the best way.

Cena surviving that war became one of the major talking points of the night.

It was not clean. It was not pretty. It was a fight in wrestling clothing.

Why April 29 Matters

April 29 is a giant day on the wrestling calendar.

It gives us:

the largest documented wrestling crowd ever

Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair in their only singles meeting

Shinya Hashimoto winning the IWGP Title in front of 65,000 fans

the first Brian Pillman Memorial event

the birth of WWF SmackDown

ECW and WCW television snapshots

Sabu winning XPW gold

Backlash 2001

and Cena vs. Brock at Extreme Rules

That is not just history.

That is a whole wrestling warehouse with the doors blown open.

Support Wrestling History

At WFIA, we believe pro wrestling history deserves to be preserved and shared in full.

The giant stadium shows matter. The charity events matter. The television launches matter. The wild title changes and forgotten undercards matter too.

Together, they keep the story alive.

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