1991 in professional wrestling

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1991 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1991.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation	Notes
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW
Catch Wrestling Association	CWA
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre/Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre	EMLL/CMLL	During the fall, EMLL was renamed to CMLL.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling	FMW
New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW
Universal Wrestling Association	UWA
Universal Wrestling Federation	UWF
World Championship Wrestling	WCW
World Wrestling Council	WWC
World Wrestling Federation	WWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
January 11	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan	Kawasaki, Japan	Bull Nakano and Kyoko Inoue defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in a tag team hair vs hair match
January 19	WWF	Royal Rumble	Miami, Florida	Hulk Hogan won by last eliminating Earthquake in the 30-man Royal Rumble match
January 27	UWA	UWA 16th Anniversary Show	Naucalpan, Mexico	Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras and El Canek defeated The Hawaiian Beasts (Fatu, Kokina and Nikozuna) in a Best two out of three falls Six-man tag team match
February 24	WCW	WrestleWar	Phoenix, Arizona	The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Barry Windham and Sid Vicious) and Larry Zbyszko (with Arn Anderson) defeated Sting, Brian Pillman and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) in a WarGames match^[1]
March 21	WCW NJPW	WCW/New Japan Supershow I	Tokyo, Japan	Tatsumi Fujinami (IWGP Champion) defeated Ric Flair (NWA Champion) in a Title for Title for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
March 24	WWF	WrestleMania VII	Los Angeles, California	Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) (with General Adnan) in a Singles match for the WWF Championship
March 30	WWF / SWS	WrestleFest	Tokyo, Japan	The Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal) beat Hulk Hogan & Genichiro Tenryu via countout
April 15	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Omaha, Nebraska	20-Man Battle Royal
April 24	WWF	UK Rampage	London, England	Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Sgt. Slaughter (with General Adnan) in a Singles match for the WWF Championship
May 19	WCW	SuperBrawl I	St. Petersburg, Florida	Ric Flair (c-WCW) defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (c-NWA) in a Singles match for the NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Championships^[2]^[3]
June 9	UWF	Beach Brawl	Palmetto, Florida	Steve Williams defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in a Tournament final for the inaugural UWF SportsChannel Television Championship
July 6	WWC	WWC 18th Aniversario	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Dino Bravo defeated Carlos Colón (c) via reverse decision in a Singles match for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship with El Vikingo as the special referee.
July 14	WCW	The Great American Bash	Baltimore, Maryland	Rick Steiner defeated Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously in a Steel Cage match
Aug 11	NJPW	G1 Climax	Tokyo, Japan	Keiji Mutoh defeated Masahiro Chono in the finals
August 18	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Korakuen Hall	Tokyo, Japan	Kyoko Inoue defeats Bison Kimura in the finals of the Japan Grand Prix 1991
August 26	WWF	SummerSlam	New York City, New York	Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior defeated Col. Mustafa, General Adnan and Sgt. Slaughter in a 3 vs 2 Handicap match with Sid Justice as special guest referee
September 7	WWF	King of the Ring	Providence, Rhode Island	Bret Hart defeated Irwin R. Schyster in a King of the Ring tournament final match
September 7	AJW	Exciting Zone Omiya Night	Omiya, Japan	Bull Nakano defeats Kyoko Inoue in a WWWA World Title match
September 8	EMLL	EMLL 58th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Konnan defeated Perro Aguayo, Cien Caras was also on the match in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, triangular hair vs. hair match^[4]
September 23	FMW	FMW 2nd Anniversary Show	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan	Atsushi Onita defeated Tarzan Goto by knockout in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Steel Cage Deathmatch
October 3	WWF	Battle Royal at the Albert Hall	London, England	The British Bulldog won by last eliminating Typhoon in a 20-man battle royal
October 27	WCW	Halloween Havoc	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Lex Luger (c) (with Harley Race) defeated Ron Simmons (with Dusty Rhodes) in a Two-out-of-three-falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
November 21	AJW	Wrestle Marinepiad '91	Kawasaki, Japan	Bull Nakano and Monster Ripper defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in a cage match. Nakano and Ripper then advance into a singles cage match which Nakano wins.
November 27	WWF	Survivor Series	Detroit, Michigan	The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer defeated Hulk Hogan (c) in a Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
December 3	WWF	This Tuesday in Texas	San Antonio, Texas	Hulk Hogan defeated The Undertaker (c) (with Paul Bearer) in a Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship^[5]
December 9	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Korakuen Hall	Tokyo, Japan	Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in the finals of Tag League the Best 1991
December 12	WWF / SWS	SuperWrestle	Tokyo, Japan	Hulk Hogan defeated Genichiro Tenryu
December 13	CMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	Máscara Año 2000 defeated Aníbal (2-1) in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match^[6]
December 21	CWA	Euro Catch Festival	Bremen, Germany	Rambo (c) defeated Ken Patera in Round 8 in a Singles match for the CWA World Heavyweight Championship
December 29	WCW	Starrcade	Norfolk, Virginia	Sting last eliminated Lex Luger to win the Battlebowl battle royal^[7]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
Japan Grand Prix 1991	Kyoko Inoue	August 18
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Akemi Torisu
Tag League The Best 1991	Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada	December 9

AJPW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Champion Carnival 1991	Jumbo Tsuruta	April 18
World's Strongest Determination League 1991	Terry Gordy and Steve Williams	December 6

JWP

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Rookie of the Year Tournament	Yasha Kurenai	February 11

WCW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
WCW United States Championship Tournament	Sting	August 25
WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament	The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)	September 5
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament	Brian Pillman	October 27

WWF

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Royal Rumble	Hulk Hogan	January 19
King of the Ring	Bret Hart	September 7

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Hulk Hogan
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)
PWI Match of the Year	The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) vs. Sting and Lex Luger (SuperBrawl I)
PWI Feud of the Year	The Ultimate Warrior vs. The Undertaker
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Sting
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Sgt. Slaughter
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Dustin Rhodes
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	The Patriot
PWI Rookie of the Year	Johnny B. Badd
PWI Lifetime Achievement	The Fabulous Moolah
PWI Editor's Award	Bobby Heenan

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Jumbo Tsuruta
Most Outstanding	Jushin Thunder Liger
Feud of the Year	Mitsuharu Misawa and company vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and company
Tag Team of the Year	Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada
Most Improved	Dustin Rhodes
Best on Interviews	Ric Flair

Title changes

WWF

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – The Ultimate Warrior
January 19	Sgt. Slaughter	Royal Rumble
March 24	Hulk Hogan	WrestleMania VII
November 27	The Undertaker	Survivor Series
December 3	Hulk Hogan	This Tuesday in Texas
December 4	Vacant	Superstars of Wrestling	Hogan was stripped of the title by WWF President Jack Tunney due to the controversy surrounding both of the previous title changes. It aired on tape delay on December 7, 1991.

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – Mr. Perfect
August 26	Bret Hart	SummerSlam

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
(Title created)
January 7	Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada	N/A	Later abandoned in 1991.

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart)
March 24	The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags)	WrestleMania VII
August 26	The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk)	SummerSlam

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Million Dollar Championship
Incoming champion – Ted DiBiase
unsanctioned championship
August 26	Virgil	SummerSlam
November 11	Ted DiBiase	Survivor Series Showdown	This program aired on tape delay on November 24, 1991.

WCW

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
(Title created)
January 11	Ric Flair	House show	Defeated Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. WCW began recognizing Flair as WCW World Heavyweight Champion while still using the NWA belt (i.e. the Big Gold Belt) WWE recognizes this reign as an NWA world title reign (and not a WCW one)
July 1	Vacant		Ric Flair left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was stripped of the title. When Flair left, he took the Big Gold Belt, which represented the NWA and WCW world titles, with him.
July 14	Lex Luger	The Great American Bash

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Lex Luger
July 14	Vacant	The Great American Bash	Vacated when Lex Luger won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
August 25	Sting	House show	Defeated Steve Austin in a tournament final
November 19	Rick Rude	Clash of the Champions XVII

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW United States Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)
April 6	Vacant	World Wide Wrestling
May 19	The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes)	SuperBrawl	Defeated The Young Pistols for the vacant title
August 12	The Patriots (Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip)	World Championship Wrestling
November 5	The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers)	Main Event

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WCW World Television Championship
Incoming champion – "Z-Man" Tom Zenk
January 7	Arn Anderson	World Wide Wrestling
May 19	Bobby Eaton	SuperBrawl
June 3	Steve Austin	World Wide Wrestling

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
(Title created)
October 27	Brian Pillman	Halloween Havoc	Defeated Richard Morton in the finals of a tournament to decide the inaugural champion.
December 25	Jushin Thunder Liger	House show

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed)
February 24	The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes)	WrestleWar
February 18	The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)	Pro
July 20	Vacant	WCW
September 5	The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)	Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl
November 19	Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes	Clash of the Champions XVII

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
(Title created)
February 17	Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich	House show
June 3	The Fabulous Freebirds (Brad Armstrong, Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes)	WCW Main Event	Aired on June 30
August 5	Big Josh, Dustin Rhodes and Tom Zenk	WCW Worldwide	Aired on August 24
October 8	The York Foundation (Richard Morton, Thomas Rich and Terrance Taylor)	WCW Main Event	Aired on November 10
December 1	Deactivated	N/A

Births

January 9 – Ruby Riott,^[8] American wrestler
January 17 – Alexander Hammerstone
January 28 – Bronson Matthews, American wrestler
February 4 – Santana
February 5 – Brennan Williams, American wrestler
February 7 – Hikuleo
February 12 – Boby Zavala, Mexican luchador
February 13 – Sumika Yanagawa
February 15 – Rich Swann
February 19 – David Starr
April 4 – Laurel Van Ness, Canadian female wrestler
May 6 – Doudrop, Scottish wrestler
May 13 – Scarlett Bordeaux
May 31 – Cody Hall, American wrestler
June 12 – Tomoyuki Oka, Japanese wrestler
June 19 – Dilsher Shanky
June 25 – Kennadi Brink
June 25 – Jessika Carr
July 7 – Josh Woods, American wrestler
July 18 – Mandy Rose
July 21 – Adam Page, American wrestler
August 9 – Alexa Bliss
August 13 – Momo Tani
September 27 – Ortiz
December 8 – Sarah Bäckman
December 18 – Flip Gordon
December 21 – Otis Dozovic,^[9] American wrestler

Debuts

Uncertain debut date

January 11 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan
January 25 - Ishinriki Kōji
May 5 - Hayabusa
July 7 - Road Dogg
July 16 - Satoshi Kojima
August 1 - Mitsuya Nagai
August 4 - Mizuki Endo (LLPW)
August 7 - Hideki Hosaka and Katsunari Toi
September 16 - Hikaru Kawabata
September 20 - Masayoshi Motegi and Hiroshi Shimada
October 4 - Rie Tamada (All Japan Women's), Kumiko Maekawa (All Japan Women's) and Chikako Shiratori (All Japan Women's)
November 20 - Disco Inferno
November 25 - Command Bolshoi
December 10 - Hirofumi Miura

Retirements

Rocky Johnson (1964–1991)
Angelo Poffo (1949–1991)
Smith Hart (1973–1991)
Trudy Adams (1987–1991)
Tojo Yamamoto (1953–1991)
Ron Bass (1971–1991)
S. D. Jones (1971–1991)
Bugsy McGraw (1967–1991)
Bobby Jaggers (1972–1991)
Cody Michaels (1986–1991)
Dennis Stamp (1971–1991)
Donna Christianello (1963–1991)
Harley Race (1960–1991)
Itzuki Yamazaki (1981–1991)
Lady Blossom (1979–1991)
Joyce Grable (1971–1991)
Mark Rocco (1972–1991)
Mike George (1969–1991)
Buzz Sawyer (1978–1991)

Deaths

January 21 – Nick Gulas, American wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
April 23 - Frankie Williams (wrestler), American wrestler (b. 1940)
June 30 – Duke Keomuka, Japanese wrestler (b. 1921)
July 6 - Mr. Moto, American wrestler (b. 1915)
August 15- Tank Morgan, American wrestler (b. 1933)
August 25 – Vivian Vachon, Canadian wrestler (b. 1951)
August 27 – Martín Karadagian, Argentina wrestler (b. 1922)
September 12 – Chris Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1969)
September 30 - King Levinsky, American wrestle and boxer (b. 1910)
October 27 - Rocky Hata, Japanese wrestler (b. 1948)
October 31 – Gene Anderson, American wrestler (b. 1939)
November 10 – Dick the Bruiser, American wrestler (b. 1929)
November 9 - Abe Yourist, Russian wrestler (b. 1909)
November 12 – Ripper Collins, American wrestler (b. 1933)
December 25 – Wilbur Snyder, American wrestler (b. 1929)

References

^ "WrestlWar 1991". Pro Wrestling History. February 24, 1991. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
^ "Historical Cards: SuperBrawl I (May 19, 1991. St. Petersburg, Florida)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 156. 2007 Edition.
^ "SuperBrawl "Return of the Rising Sun"". Pro Wrestling History. May 19, 1991. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
^ "58th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 8, 1991. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
^ "WWF This Tuesday in Texas results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
^ "Juicio Final con Aníbal". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish) (#1970): 3–4. December 20, 1991.
^ Adamson, Matt (2008-02-18). "Going Old School: Starrcade '91". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
^ "Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 2012-07-11.
^ "Nikola Bogojevic". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-03.

[PWHWrestleWar91-1] "WrestlWar 1991". Pro Wrestling History. February 24, 1991. Retrieved May 30, 2015.

[AlmanacPPV-2] "Historical Cards: SuperBrawl I (May 19, 1991. St. Petersburg, Florida)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 156. 2007 Edition.

[PWHistory-3] "SuperBrawl "Return of the Rising Sun"". Pro Wrestling History. May 19, 1991. Retrieved March 23, 2015.

[58th-4] "58th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 8, 1991. Retrieved February 19, 2010.

[TTITinfo-5] "WWF This Tuesday in Texas results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-10-18.

[ByLJuicio1991-6] "Juicio Final con Aníbal". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish) (#1970): 3–4. December 20, 1991.

[411mania-7] Adamson, Matt (2008-02-18). "Going Old School: Starrcade '91". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-06-01.

[8] "Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved 2012-07-11.

[9] "Nikola Bogojevic". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-03.

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v t e Years in professional wrestling
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1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
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List of notable promotions

Calendar of notable shows

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

AJPW

JWP

WCW

WWF

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Title changes

WWF

WCW

Births

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References