1944 in professional wrestling

1944 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

Only one promotion held notable shows in 1944.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
September 22	EMLL	EMLL 11th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Gorilla Ramos defeated Black Guzmán (c) in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship [1]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

• Paul Jones starts the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Middleweight Championship

incoming champion – Tarzán López [2]

No title changes [2]

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship

incoming champion - Firpo Segura [3]

No title changes [3]

Mexican National Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Tarzán López [4]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 1	Bobby Bonales	EMLL show	[4]

Mexican National Lightweight Championship
incoming champion – Joe Silva [5]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
April 28	Raul Romero	EMLL show	[5]

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
September 20	Gorilla Ramos	EMLL 11th Anniversary Show	[6]
October 18	Tarzán López	EMLL show	[6]

Mexican National Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – El Santo [7]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
February 18	Jack O'Brien	EMLL show	[7]

Debuts

• Debut date uncertain:
  • June Byers ^[8]
  • Killer Kowalski ^[8]
  • Roy Heffernan ^[8]

Births

• Date of birth unknown:
  • Larry O'Day ^[9] (died in 1997)
  • Mike Webster
• January 1 – Jimmy Hart ^[9]
• April 4:
  • Tiger Jeet Singh ^[10]
  • El Sicodélico ^[9]
• April 20 – Bob Bruggers (died in 2024)
• May 25 - Victor Rivera (wrestler)
• May 29 – Ronnie P. Gossett ^[9] (died in 2007)
• June 1 – Diamond Lil
• June 30 – Terry Funk ^[10] (died in 2023)
• July 12 – Ric Drasin (died in 2020)
• August 3 – Roland Bock
• August 10 – Jim Crockett Jr. ^[9] (died in 2021)
• August 14 – Bobby Duncum Sr. ^[9]
• August 24 – Rocky Johnson ^[9] (died in 2020)
• August 31 – Jos LeDuc ^[9] (died in 1999)
• September 12 – Lonnie Mayne ^[9] (died in 1978)
• October 4 – Michel Martel ^[9] (died in 1978)
• October 21:
  • Jonathan Boyd(died in 1999)
  • Butch Miller ^[9] (died in 2023)
• October 31 - Roy Callender
• November 1 – Bobby Heenan ^[9] (died in 2017)
• November 2 – Michael Buffer

Deaths

• April 30 – Ernst Roeber ^[11] (72)
• September 9 – Gus Sonnenberg ^[11] (46)

References

1. Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 7, 2010). "CMLL: 79 historias, 79 Aniversario, las 79 luchas estelares" [CMLL: 79 stories, 79 anniversaries, the 70 main events]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved February 2, 2020.
2. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middleweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
3. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
4. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Middleweight Championship". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
5. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
6. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
7. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
8. "Wrestlers debuted in 1944: 1 - 9 of 9". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
9. "Wrestlers born in 1944: 1 - 50 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
10. "Wrestlers born in 1944: 51 - 55 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
11. "Wrestlers deceased in 1944: 1 - 21 of 21". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.