Welcome to This Week in History, where we take a look back at some of the most memorable events that happened on this date in pop culture, television, movie news and sports. Let’s see what happened on September 18 in history!

Pop Culture

On September 18, 2023, the world was shocked by the news that CM Punk had been fired by AEW after only two months of his return to wrestling. The controversial star had reportedly clashed with Tony Khan over creative differences and refused to work with the Young Bucks. Punk’s last match was a loss to Kenny Omega at AEW Collision, where he was attacked by MJF after the bell. AEW announced Punk’s release on their official website, saying that they wished him the best in his future endeavors. Punk has not commented on his departure yet, but rumors are swirling that he might be heading back to WWE or UFC.

On September 18, 2019, Nicolas Cage became a viral sensation after a video compilation of him losing his shit in various movies was uploaded to YouTube. The video, titled “Nicolas Cage Losing His S—“, featured clips of Cage screaming, crying, laughing, fighting and freaking out in films like Face/Off, The Wicker Man, Vampire’s Kiss and more. The video quickly amassed over 100 million views and spawned countless memes and parodies. Cage himself reacted to the video in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that he had no control over it and that he was just doing his job as an actor.

Television and Movie News

On September 18, 2022, the third installment of the Deadpool franchise hit theaters, featuring Ryan Reynolds as the foul-mouthed mercenary and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The film, directed by Tim Miller, was a huge success at the box office and with critics, earning over $800 million worldwide and receiving rave reviews for its humor, action and fan service. One of the highlights of the film was Jackman’s appearance as Wolverine in his comic-accurate yellow and blue suit, which was revealed to be a gift from Deadpool’s nerdy friends at Al’s Diner. Jackman had previously announced that Logan would be his last film as Wolverine, but agreed to do a cameo in Deadpool 3 as a favor to Reynolds.

‘Rasslin

On September 18, 2016, WWE presented Clash of Champions, a pay-per-view event that featured matches for all the Raw brand championships. The main event was a triple threat match for the WWE Universal Championship between Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. The match was a chaotic affair that saw interference from Chris Jericho, Rusev and Mick Foley. In the end, Owens retained his title after pinning Rollins with a pop-up powerbomb.

On September 18, 2005, Kurt Angle defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship at Unforgiven, a pay-per-view event held in Oklahoma City. Angle had earned the title shot by winning a battle royal on Raw. The match was a back-and-forth contest that saw both men kick out of each other’s finishers. Angle finally prevailed after applying his signature ankle lock submission hold on Cena, who tapped out after several minutes of agony.