1972 in professional wrestling

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1972 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1972.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Big Time Wrestling	BTW
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL
National Wrestling Alliance	NWA
National Wrestling Federation	NWF
World Wide Wrestling Federation	WWWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
April 21	EMLL	16. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Ray Mendoza defeated David Morgan (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship^[1]
June 24	BTW	Parade of Champions	Irving, Texas	Dory Funk Jr. (c) wrestled Fritz Von Erich to a time-limit draw in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
August 12	NWA/NWF	Superbowl of Wrestling	Cleveland, Ohio	Johnny Powers (c) defeated Johnny Valentine in a singles match for the NWF North American Championship
September 29	EMLL	EMLL 39th Anniversary Show (1)	Mexico City, Mexico	El Solitario and Ray Mendoza defeated Rene Guajardo and Alfonso Dantés in the finals of a tag team tournament^[2]^[3]
September 30	WWWF	Showdown at Shea	Flushing, New York	Pedro Morales (c) fought Bruno Sammartino to a curfew draw in a singles match for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship^[4]
October 20	EMLL	EMLL 39th Anniversary Show (2)	Mexico City, Mexico	Alfonso Dantés (c) defeated El Solitario in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship^[3]
December 8	EMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	El Solitario defeated Ángel Blanco in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. mask match^[5]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

January 12 – Antonio Inoki created New Japan Pro-Wrestling
July 1 – The Fabulous Moolah and Vicky Williams became the first female wrestlers to wrestle at Madison Square Garden, which had previously banned women from wrestling in the hallowed venue.^[6]
October 21 Giant Baba created All Japan Pro Wrestling
Sports Review Wrestling hit the newsstands with its first issue.

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Pedro Morales
PWI Tag Team of the Year	Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher
PWI Match of the Year	Bruno Sammartino wins Battle Royal in Los Angeles
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Jack Brisco / Fred Curry
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	The Sheik
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Lord Alfred Hayes
PWI Rookie of the Year	Mike Graham
PWI Woman of the Year	Marie LaVerne
PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year	Little Bruiser
PWI Manager of the Year	Bobby Heenan

Championship changes

EMLL

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – El Solitario^[7]
March 17	David Morgan	EMLL show	^[7]
April 21	Ray Mendoza	EMLL show	^[7]
June 13	Alfonso Dantés	EMLL show	^[7]

NWA World Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Aníbal
No title changes

NWA World Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Alberto Munoz
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Raul Reyes
April 7	Angel Blanco	EMLL show

Mexican National Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Ciclon Veloz, Jr.
No title changes

Mexican National Lightweight Championship
Incoming champion – Estrella Blanca
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Raul Mata^[8]
June 18	Enrique Vera	EMLL show

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Huracan Ramirez
October 20	Karloff Lagarde	EMLL show

Mexican National Women's Championship
Incoming champion – Uncertain
No title changes

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Dory Funk, Jr.
No title changes

Tournaments

IWE

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
IWA World Series	Strong Kobayashi	May 6

Births

January 8 - Jon Andersen
January 10 – Brian Christopher(died in 2018) [1]
January 19 – Ron Killings
January 20 - Tony DeVito
January 24 - Fabián el Gitano (died in 2011)
February 1 - Sean Casey
February 8 – Big Show
February 19 – Francine
February 23 - Tomoko Watanabe
February 28 - Angel Medina
March 1 - Último Guerrero
March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal
March 7 - Major Gunns
March 12 – Nunzio
March 21 – Chris Candido (died in 2005)
March 23 - Octagoncito (AAA)
March 27 – Charlie Haas
April 1 - Darren McCarty
April 11:
- Balls Mahoney (died in 2016) [2]
- Kevin Quinn
- Fyre
April 14 - Julio Dinero
April 21 - Dr. Cerebro
April 28 - Violent J
April 29 - Masahito Kakihara
May 2 – Dwayne Johnson^[9]
May 4 - Ray González
May 17 - Masakazu Fukuda (died in 2000)
May 25 – Shigeo Okumura
June 2 - Gary Williams
June 5 - Mike Bucci
June 12 - Jack Doan
June 28:
- Jon Heidenreich
- Daniel Gracie
June 29 – Canyon Ceman
June 30 - Wolf (died in 2011)
July 5 - Tatsuhito Takaiwa
July 13 – X-Pac^[10]
July 21 - Shinjiro Otani
August 1 – D-Von Dudley^[11]^[12]
August 5 - Ikuto Hidaka
August 19 - Sign Guy Dudley
August 25 - David Young
August 27:
- The Great Khali
- Jazz
September 1 - Doug Williams
September 3 - Bob Evans
September 5 - Shane Sewell
September 15 -
- Lady Victoria
- Chad Austin
September 17 – Phantasio
September 26 - Gabe Sapolsky
October 4 - Otto Schwanz
October 12 - Karen Jarrett
October 16 - Lizmark Jr.
October 23 - Jasmin St. Claire
November 7 - Chip Fairway (died in 2011)
November 14 – Albert^[13]
November 29 - Minoru Tanaka
November 30 - Ruffy Silverstein (Canadian wrestler)
December 6 – El Oriental
December 7 – Tammy Lynn Sytch^[14]
December 20 - Takeshi Rikio
December 31 - Ryan Sakoda (d. 2021)

Debuts

February 1, 1972 – El Texano^[15]
March 13, 1972 – Rick Martel^[16]
March 16, 1972 – Gran Hamada^[16]
March 20, 1972 – Mr. Pogo^[16]
May 22, 1972 – Moondog King^[16]
August 2, 1972 – Kengo Kimura^[16]
August 23, 1972 - Bob Orton Jr.^[16]
September – Jaque Mate^[16]
September 1, 1972 – Larry Zbyszko^[16]
September 19, 1972 - Don Arakawa
September 26, 1972 -Masanobu Kurisu
November 12, 1972 – Yoshiaki Fujiwara^[15]
December 1, 1972 – Bruce Hart^[16]
December 3, 1972 – Kuniaki Kobayashi^[16]
December 10, 1972 – Ric Flair^[16]
December 28, 1972 – Jim Brunzell^[16]
Debut date uncertain
- Al Madril^[16]
- Austin Idol^[16]
- Ax^[16]
- Big John Studd^[16]
- Bobby Jaggers^[16]
- Buck Zumhofe
- El Canek^[16]
- Clem Turner^[16]
- Dutch Mantell^[16]
- Colonel DeBeers^[16]
- George Wells^[16]
- The Iron Sheik^[16]
- Ken Patera^[16]
- Mike Graham^[16]
- Pez Whatley^[16]
- Pierre Lefebvre^[16]
- Scott Casey^[15]
- Sgt. Slaughter^[15]
- Smith Hart^[15]
- Steve Keirn^[15]
- Máquina Salvaje (Mexico)

Retirements

Johnny Barend (1949 – 1972)
Angelo Savoldi (1937 – 1972)

Deaths

January 2 - Jatindra Charan Guho, 79
February 21 – Luther Lindsay 47
August 1 – Ray Gunkel 48
September 15 - Billy Sandow, 88
October 7 - Whitey Caldwell 37

References

^ Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "39th Anniversary Show #1". Pro Wrestling History. September 29, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
^ Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling: The Results WWF 1963–1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5.
^ "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Solitario (1946–1986) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 57. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.
^ Ginzburg, Evan (2020-03-31). "The Fabulous Moolah at Madison Square Garden in the 1970s - ProWrestlingPost.com". prowrestlingpost.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ "Dwayne Johnson Biography: Film Actor, Athlete (1972–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
^ "Sean Waltman Bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
^ "Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
^ Intelius search
^ "OWOW profile". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ "OWOW profile".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

[AnHistory-1] Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[EMLL39-1-2] "39th Anniversary Show #1". Pro Wrestling History. September 29, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2012.

[76Anniversaries-3] "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.

[WWFresults1972-4] Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling: The Results WWF 1963–1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5.

[5] "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Solitario (1946–1986) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 57. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.

[6] Ginzburg, Evan (2020-03-31). "The Fabulous Moolah at Madison Square Garden in the 1970s - ProWrestlingPost.com". prowrestlingpost.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.

[NWALHeavy-7] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexLight-8] Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[9] "Dwayne Johnson Biography: Film Actor, Athlete (1972–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Retrieved December 12, 2017.

[10] "Sean Waltman Bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2008.

[11] "Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-05-19.

[12] Intelius search

[13] "OWOW profile". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.

[14] "OWOW profile".

[72DebutPart2-15] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

[72DebutPart1-16] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

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v t e Years in professional wrestling
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