1954 in professional wrestling

1954 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 1954.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
September 26	EMLL	EMLL 21st Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Gory Guerrero wrestled Cavernario Galindo to a "no contest" as neither man was able to continue wrestling in a "super libre", No Disqualification match [1]

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Sugi Sito [2]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 1	El Santo	EMLL show	[2]

NWA World Welterweight Championship

incoming champion – Blue Demon [3]

No title changes [3]

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion - Firpo Segura [4]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
August 12	Joaquin Murrieta	EMLL show	[4]

Mexican National Middleweight Championship

incoming champion – Uncertain [5]

No title changes [5]

Mexican National Lightweight Championship
incoming champion – Black Shadow [6]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Uncertain	Vacant	N/A	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons [6]

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship

incoming champion – Vacant [7]

No title changes [7]

Mexican National Welterweight Championship

incoming champion – Vacant [8]

No title changes [8]

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming Champion – Lou Thesz [9]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
No title changes [9]

Debuts

• Debut date uncertain:
  • Al Tomko ^[10]
  • Billy Red Lyons ^[10]
  • The Destroyer ^[10]
  • Dory Dixon ^[10]
  • El Gladiador ^[10]
  • Joe Higuchi ^[10]
  • Johnny Weaver ^[10]
  • Killer Karl Kox ^[10]
  • Nick Bockwinkel ^[10]
  • René Guajardo ^[10]
  • Sandy Scott ^[10]
• February 4 – Kurt von Brauner ^[10]
• April – Felipe Ham Lee ^[10]
• July 29 – Penny Banner ^[10]
• October 8 – Ray Mendoza ^[10]
• October – Toyonobori ^[10]

Births

• Date of birth uncertain:
  • Haiti Kid
• January 1 – Danie Voges (died in 2021)
• January 3 – Dean Hart ^[11] (died in 1990)
• January 6 – Bullwhip Johnson (died in 2003)
• January 14 – Jim Duggan ^[11]
• January 14 – Masanobu Fuchi
• January 18 – Ted DiBiase ^[12]
• January 22 – Tully Blanchard ^[12]
• February 7 – Rip Rogers
• March 25 – Tim White (died in 2022)
• April 10 – Paul Bearer ^[11] (died in 2013)
• April 17 – Roddy Piper ^[11] (died in 2015)
• April 23 – Tony Atlas ^[12]
• May 13 – Masakre (died in 2012)
• June 1 – Big Bully Busick ^[11] (died in 2018)
• June 5 – Mocho Cota ^[11] (died in 2016)
• June 11 – Lee Wang-pyo (died in 2018)
• July 11 – Butch Reed ^[11] (died in 2021)
• July 27 – Manny Fernandez
• August 1 – Trevor Berbick (died in 2006)
• August 5 – Matthew Saad Muhammad (died in 2014)
• August 31 – Águila Solitaria ^[11]
• September 4 – El Signo ^[11] (died in 2024)
• September 13 – Mike Hogewood (died in 2018)
• September 17 – Bill Irwin ^[11]
• September 25 – Al Burke
• October 1 – Héctor Guerrero ^[11]
• October 17 – Black Cat ^[11] (died in 2006)
• November 8 – Mike Masters (died in 2022)
• November 20 – Kyohei Wada
• December 8 – Gama Singh ^[11]
• December 28 – Lanny Poffo ^[11] (died in 2023)

Deaths

• April 6 - Tiger Jack Fox (47)
• September 3 – Karl Pojello ^[13] (61)
• September 4 – Maurice Tillet ^[13] (50)
• October 10 – Tony Stecher ^[13] (65)
• November 22 – Jess McMahon ^[13] (72)
• November 26 – Bobby Becker (36)

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: EMLL NWA World Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 390. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
4. 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.
5. 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.
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 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.
8. 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.
9. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). ""United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: NWA World Heavyweight Title"". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 15. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
10. "Wrestlers debuted in 1954: 1 - 50 of 50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
11. "Wrestlers born in 1954: 1 - 50 of 58". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
12. "Wrestlers born in 1954: 51 - 58 of 58". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
13. "Wrestlers deceased in 1954: 1 - 18 of 18". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.