1972 in professional wrestling

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

Contents

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1972.

Promotion NameAbbreviation
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

DatePromotion(s)EventLocationMain 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

Awards and honors

1972 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Pedro Morales Pedro Morales as the WWWF (WWE) Champion.jpg
1972 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Pedro Morales

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

CategoryWinner
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

incoming champion – El Solitario [7]
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)
March 17David MorganEMLL show [7]
April 21 Ray Mendoza EMLL show [7]
June 13 Alfonso Dantés EMLL show [7]
Incoming champion – Aníbal
No title changes
Incoming champion – Alberto Munoz
No title changes
Incoming champion – Raul Reyes
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)
April 7 Angel Blanco EMLL show
Incoming champion – Ciclon Veloz, Jr.
No title changes
Incoming champion – Estrella Blanca
No title changes
Incoming champion – Raul Mata [8]
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)
June 18Enrique VeraEMLL show
Incoming champion – Huracan Ramirez
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)
October 20 Karloff Lagarde EMLL show
Incoming champion – Uncertain
No title changes

NWA

Incoming champion – Dory Funk, Jr.
No title changes

Tournaments

IWE

AccomplishmentWinnerDate wonNotes
IWA World Series Strong Kobayashi May 6

Births

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Johnson 2, 2013.jpg
Dwayne Johnson

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths

Related Research Articles

Hiroaki Hamada, better known by his ring name Gran Hamada, is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro Wrestling and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre. He has also had stints with the World Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling in the United States. His daughters Xóchitl Hamada and Ayako Hamada are professional wrestlers.

Sangre Chicana is the ring name of retired Mexican professional wrestler Andrés Durán Reyes. Reyes made his professional wrestling debut in 1973, wearing a red mask with a gold stripe, under the name Lemus. A year later he changed his name to Sangre Chicana but kept the mask with the golden stripe. He rose to prominence in a feud with El Cobarde and Fishman that led to a Lucha de Apuesta, mask vs. mask match where Reyes lost his mask.

Tomás Díaz Mendoza is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Villano IV. Within the stable Los Villanos, he has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), AAA, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). While popular and successful in Mexico, he frequently performed as a jobber in WCW. The other sons of Ray Mendoza who have used the name "Villano" include Villano I, Villano II, Villano III, and Villano V.

Carmelo Reyes González is a Mexican retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Cien Caras. He is best known for his appearances with the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Wrestling Association</span> Mexican professional wrestling promotion

The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) but outside of Mexico it is generally referred to as the UWA as it was the name of the fictional international sanctioning body that in storyline terms oversaw all championships promoted by the UWA. The company was founded by wrestler and trainer Ray Mendoza, promoter Francisco Flores and investor Benjamín Mora, Jr. as when they broke away from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre to form their own promotion. The company had working agreements with wrestling promotions both in the United States and Japan as they worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (JWP).

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Juan Baños was a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler better known by the ring name Lizmark. The name was taken from the German battleship Bismarck. He was a multiple-time champion, having held singles and tag team championships in both Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (EMLL/CMLL) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In 2001, Lizmark was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. His nickname was El Geniecillo Azul, which is Spanish for "The Little Blue Genius". He has two sons who are also professional wrestlers, Lizmark, Jr. and El Hijo de Lizmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Texano</span> Mexican professional wrestler (1958–2006)

Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui, better known by his ring name El Texano, was a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, he wrestled under masked and unmasked monikers for various promotions including Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), World Wrestling Council (WWC), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). His son Juan Aguilar Leos wrestles under the name El Texano, Jr. in tribute to his father and another son wrestles as the masked Super Nova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karloff Lagarde</span> Mexican professional wrestler (1928–2007)

Carlos Delucio Lagarde is best known as Karloff Lagarde, a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler, who was immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s. Through his career had faced most of Mexico's top stars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including lucha libre legends such as El Santo, El Solitario, Mil Máscaras, Black Shadow, Huracán Ramírez, Gory Guerrero, Ray Mendoza and Perro Aguayo. He was known as the "king of the Welterweight" due to him holding the Mexican National Welterweight Championship four times and the NWA World Welterweight Championship three times in his career. Lagarde teamed up with René Guajardo to form a tag team known as Los Rebeldes, considered to be one of the top five tag teams in Lucha libre history.

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Jesús Alvarado Nieves was a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler, who worked under the ring name Brazo de Oro. He was a part of the Alvarado wrestling family, the son of Shadito Cruz and brother of Brazo de Plata, El Brazo, Brazo Cibernético, Super Brazo and Brazo de Platino. His son Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza currently works as La Máscara for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. His nephews, Máximo Sexy and Psycho Clown are featured wrestlers for CMLL and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide respectively.

Genaro Jacobo Contreras, better known by his ring name Ringo Mendoza, a Mexican professional wrestling trainer and retired luchador for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Mendoza wrestled his last match in 2011, transitioning to being a full-time trainer instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicki Williams</span>

Vicki Williams is a retired female professional wrestler. She held the NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship three times with Joyce Grable.

1948 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1940 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1943 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1956 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1942 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1965 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

1968 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

References

  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)
  2. "39th Anniversary Show #1". Pro Wrestling History. September 29, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  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.
  7. 1 2 3 4 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.
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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  12. Intelius search
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  14. "OWOW profile".
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.