See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1988 in professional wrestling .
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| +... |
1988 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
These promotions held notable events in 1988.
| Promotion Name | Abbreviation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All Japan Pro Wrestling | AJPW | |
| American Wrestling Association | AWA | |
| Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL | |
| Jim Crockett Promotions | JCP | In November, Turner Broadcasting System bought JCP and rebranded it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). |
| World Class Championship Wrestling | WCCW | |
| World Wrestling Council | WWC | |
| World Wrestling Federation | WWF | |
| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Grand Prix 1988 | Bull Nakano | June 26 | |
| Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament | Sachiko Nakamura | ||
| Tag League The Best 1988 | Hisako Uno and Mika Suzuki | October 10 |
| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bunkhouse Stampede | Dusty Rhodes [20] [7] [ page needed ] | January 24 | |
| Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament | Lex Luger and Sting | April 23 | |
| NWA United States Tag Team Championship Tournament | The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) | April 26 |
| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Rumble | Jim Duggan | January 24 | |
| WWF World Heavyweight Championship Tournament | Randy Savage | March 27 | |
| King of the Ring | Ted DiBiase | October 16 |
Incoming champion – Hulk Hogan | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 5 | Andre the Giant | The Main Event I | After the controversial finish, Andre "sold' his title to Ted Dibiase | |
| February 5 | Vacant | The Main Event I | As a result of that moment see above Jack Tunney declared the title vacant. | |
| March 27 | Randy Savage | WrestleMania IV | It was a 14-man tournament to decide the undisputed WWE Champion. | |
Incoming champion – The Honky Tonk Man | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 29 | The Ultimate Warrior | SummerSlam | The Ultimate Warrior was a last minute replacement for Brutus Beefcake who was originally the no. 1 contender for the title. | |
Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No title changes | ||||
Incoming champions – The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 24 | The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itzuki Yamazaki) | Royal Rumble | ||
| June 8 | The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) | Live event | ||
Incoming champion – Sensational Sherri | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 7 | Rockin' Robin | Prime Time Wrestling | ||
| Incoming champions – Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) | ||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 27 | Demolition (Ax and Smash) | WrestleMania IV | ||
Frank Donald Goodish was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, the Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the years Brody became synonymous with the hardcore wrestling brawling style that often saw one or more of the participants bleeding by the time the match was over. In his prime he worked as a "special attraction" wrestler in North America, making select appearances for various promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), Central States Wrestling (CSW), Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), and the American Wrestling Association (AWA) among other events. He worked regularly in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative and oversees the creative aspects of the NXT brand, the promotion's developmental territory. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known by the nicknames "The Heartbreak Kid", "The Showstopper", and "Mr. WrestleMania".
Jerry O'Neil Lawler, better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract.
Curtis Michael Hennig, better known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler. Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time by many peers, critics, and fans, he performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and NWA Total Nonstop Action. Hennig was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the father of wrestler Curtis Axel.
Solofa Fatu Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with the WWE and also competed under the variety of names in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Richard Erwin Rood, better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).
Don Muraco is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and was crowned the inaugural winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 1985. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014.
Anthony White better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA", the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego named Saba Simba. He returned as an on screen manager for WWE, appearing on its now-defunct ECW brand. He re-signed with WWE on a legends contract in mid-2012.
Kerry Gene Adkisson, better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with his father's promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he spent eleven years of his career, and his time in World Wrestling Federation (WWF), under the ring name the Texas Tornado. Adkisson held forty championships in various promotions during his career. Among other accolades, he was a one-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him an overall five-time world champion and one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion.
A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becomes a key feature of the match, as wrestlers will use the ladder as a weapon to strike the opponent(s), as a launching pad for acrobatic attacks, and frequently these matches include impressive falls from the top of the ladder. There have been a few matches in which the hung item must be used in a special manner in order to win the match, such as striking the opponent with the item.
George Gray is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he was the top heel for Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and UWF Heavyweight Champion for six months in 1986 and 1987.
John Eric Nord is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association and World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980s as Nord the Barbarian and Yukon John and with the World Wrestling Federation, All Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s as The Berzerker and under his birth name.
John Stanley Hansen II, best known as Stan "The Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler.
The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in June 1966 by WCWA's predecessor NWA Big Time Wrestling (BTW), billed as the local version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship before being renamed the NWA American Heavyweight Championship in May 1968. In 1982, Big Time Wrestling rebranded themselves as "World Class Championship Wrestling" (WCCW) and the championship was renamed the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship. In 1986 WCCW withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance, creating the World Class Wrestling Association, replacing the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship with the WCWA Heavyweight Championship, replacing the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as the top title recognized by the promotion. In 1989, the WCWA championship was unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to become the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship as WCWA merged with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) to become the United States Wrestling Association. In 1990 WCWA split from the USWA, but the promotion folded without determining a WCWA World Heavyweight Champion. As it is a professional wrestling championship, the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was not won by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
Samula Fred Anoaʻi is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Samu. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s.
The WCWA Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) promotion from September 13, 1987 until May 1989. The championship was for wrestlers under 230 pounds (100 kg) pounds, the maximum limit of the "Light Heavyweight" division at the time. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
The WCCW Parade of Champions was a series of professional wrestling supercards promoted by Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling first in 1961, in 1972 and then annually from 1984 through 1988. Von Erich used the "Parade of Champions" name in 1984 as a way to honor his recently deceased son, David and the subsequent Parade of Champions were all "Von Erich Memorial" Parades of Champions. At the inaugural Von Erich Memorial event, in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a pro wrestling event in the United States up to that point, Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it back to Flair 18 days later in Yokohama, Japan. Over the next few years, Von Erich altered the names as tragedy repeatedly struck his family. The Parade of Champions was the most recognized event that World Class Championship Wrestling, later known as World Class Wrestling Association, promoted. There was a Parade of Champions super card held by Southern Sports in 1961 and another held by Big Time Wrestling in 1972. All Parade of Champions supercards were held at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. A wrestling organization out of Texas called NWA Southwest ran an event in late August, 2010, called Parade of Champions, which it claimed was the "Longest Running Wrestling Event In Texas History Dating Back To 1972," but there was no actual connection between the WCCW show event other than the name.
SuperClash III was the third SuperClash professional wrestling event produced by American Wrestling Association (AWA). The event was held on December 13, 1988 from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. It was the only AWA show to be broadcast on pay-per-view (PPV). The Texas-based World Class Wrestling Association, women wrestling promotion Powerful Women of Wrestling (POWW), and Memphis-based Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) also provided wrestlers for the show.
The WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza was an annual professional wrestling supercard promoted by Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling / World Class Wrestling Association. It was held in October every year from 1984 through 1988. All Cotton Bowl Extravaganza events were held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas