1983 in professional wrestling: Difference between revisions

	… 1973; 1974; 1975; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; ; 1980; 1981; 1982; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1986; ; 1987; 1988; 1989; 1990; 1991; 1992; 1993 …;
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science; +...

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 15:31, 13 June 2023

1983 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1983.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
American Wrestling Association	AWA
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL
Jim Crockett Promotions	JCP
World Wrestling Council	WWC

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
April 22	EMLL	27. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Super Halcón (c) defeated Pirata Morgan in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship^[1]
April 24	AWA	AWA Super Sunday	St. Paul, Minnesota	Nick Bockwinkel (c) defeated Hulk Hogan by reverse decision disqualification in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Title with Lord James Blears as special guest referee
June 2	NJPW	IWGP League	Tokyo, Japan	Hulk Hogan defeated Antonio Inoki
June 10	MLW	Night of the Champions	Toronto, Ontario	Ric Flair defeated NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race by disqualification
July 4	JCP	NWA/WWF World Title Unification	Atlanta, Georgia	NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair fought WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund to a double count-out
July 24	MLW	Return of the Champions	Toronto, Ontario	NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race defeated Ric Flair by disqualification with Johnny Weaver as special guest referee
September 17	WWC	WWC 10th Aniversario	San Juan, Puerto Rico	André the Giant defeated Abdullah the Butcher via countout
September 23	EMLL	EMLL 50th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Sangre Chicana defeated MS-1 in a Lucha de Apuestas Hair vs. Hair match^[2]
October 23	JCP	The Last Battle of Atlanta	Atlanta, Georgia	Tommy Rich defeated Buzz Sawyer in a Steel Cage Match with Paul Ellering suspended above the cage
November 24	JCP	Starrcade	Greensboro, North Carolina	Ric Flair defeated Harley Race (c) in a steel cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with Gene Kiniski as special guest referee^[3]
December 8	NJPW	MSG Tag League	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki and Hulk Hogan defeated Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch
December 9	EMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeated El Egipico in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match^[4]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

January 22: The Don Muraco-Pedro Morales rivalry reached its peak at Madison Square Garden in New York City when Muraco pinned Morales to become the new WWF Intercontinental champion.
March 8: The Wild Samoans defeated Jules Strongbow and Chief Jay Strongbow to win their 3rd WWF Tag Team Championship on WWF Championship Wrestling.
March 10–11: The WWF holds its first ever live events outside the Northeast in San Diego and Los Angeles, California
The WWF now fully owned by Vince McMahon seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance at the annual NWA Convention.
September 4: WWF All-American Wrestling debut on the USA Network
November 15: Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson made WWF history as they became the first African-Americans to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a no-disqualification match against The Wild Samoans on WWE Championship Wrestling.
December 26: Iron Sheik managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie defeated WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund ending Backlund's nearly 5 year run when his manager Arnold Skaaland threw in his towel in New York, NY

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Keiko Nakano

AJPW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Lou Thesz Cup 1983	Shiro Koshinaka	April 22

NJPW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
IWGP League	Hulk Hogan	June 4	defeated Antonio Inoki in the finals

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Harley Race
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
PWI Match of the Year	Ric Flair vs. Harley Race
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Jimmy Snuka
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Greg Valentine
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Brett Wayne Sawyer
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Hulk Hogan
PWI Rookie of the Year	Angelo Mosca Jr.
PWI Manager of the Year	J. J. Dillon
PWI Editor's Award	The Grand Wizard

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Ric Flair
Feud of the Year	The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs
Tag Team of the Year	Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood
Most Improved	Curt Hennig
Best on Interviews	Roddy Piper

Births

Date of birth uncertain:
- Quicksilver
January 8 – Chris Masters
January 18 - Adam Thornstowe
January 21 – Maryse Ouellet^[5]
January 30 – Rockstar Spud^[6]
February 10:
- Taiji Ishimori
- Kevin Matthews
February 21 – Wes Brisco
February 25 - Steven Lewington
March 1 - Davey Richards
March 17 - Timothy Thatcher
March 18 – Ethan Carter III
March 19 – Evan Bourne
March 26 - Mike Mondo
March 30 – Zach Gowen
April 2 - Scorpio Sky
April 5:
- Bushi
- Chie Ishii
April 27 - Lacey
May 1 - Human Tornado
May 7 - Tanga Loa
May 11 - Daizee Haze
May 15 - Tom Lawlor
May 18 - Matt Riviera
May 19 - Chris Van Vliet
May 21 – Leva Bates
May 23 – Alex Shelley
June 23 - Brandi Rhodes
July 11 - Marcus Louis
July 15 – Heath Slater^[7]
July 24 - Joey Kovar (died in 2012)
July 26 – Roderick Strong^[8]
August 3 - Ladybeard
August 8 - Rampage Brown
August 23 – J.C. Bailey (died in 2010)
August 24 – Tino Sabbatelli
September 6:
- Sam Roberts
- Braun Strowman^[9]
September 16 – Jennifer Blake
September 30 - Pacman Jones
October 1 – Robbie E
October 16 – Kenny Omega
October 19 – Robert Evans^[10]
October 22 – Taya Valkyrie
November 2 – Darren Young
November 8 - Lucky Cannon
November 11 – Kristal Marshall
November 21 – Nikki Bella^[11]
November 21 – Brie Bella^[11]
November 25 - Kirby Mack
November 28 – Summer Rae
November 28 - Gota Ihashi
November 29 - Rosemary
December 15 – Rene Dupree
December 16 :
- Kris Travis (died in 2016)
- Jigsaw
December 20 - Gia Allemand (died in 2013)
December 22 – Luke Gallows^[12]
December 29 - El Desperado (wrestler)
December 30 - Eddie Edwards

Debuts

Uncertain debut date

March 5 - Cueball Carmichael
June 6 - Road Warrior Hawk
June 12 - Bestia Salvaje
June 24 - Mick Foley and Kanako Nagatomo (All Japan Women's)
September 23 - Tommy Ran (All Japan Women's) and Mika Komatsu (All Japan Women's)

Retirements

Dean Ho (1962 - 1983)
Mikel Scicluna (1953 - 1983)

Deaths

February 7 - Miguel Ángel Delgado, 35
March 6 - Mayes McLain, 77
May 10 - Frank Tunney, 70
May 25 - Johnny Rougeau, 53
May 31 - Jack Dempsey, 87
October 12 - The Grand Wizard,^[13] 57
December 9 - Earl McCready, 78

References

^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ "50th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 23, 1983. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
^ "Flair defeats Race for wrestling title". Greensboro Daily News. 1983-11-25. p. D3. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved May 23, 2008. A sellout crowd of 15,447 was on hand for the night's competition.
^ "EMLL Super Viernes – Juicio Final 1983". Wrestling Data. December 9, 1983. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
^ Kamchen, Richard. "Maryse Ouellet". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
^ "Spud". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
^ "Heath Slater". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
^ "Roderick Strong". Retrieved May 30, 2007.
^ "Braun Strowman". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
^ ""The Essence of Excellence" Robert Evans". Anarchy Championship Wrestling. Blogger. July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "The Bella Twins". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
^ 『ワールドタッグ』出場チーム決定!! 内藤＆ソンブラ! コンウェイ＆ダンも参戦! アンダーソンは"新顔"ドク・ギャローズとタッグ結成!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. November 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
^ Slagle, Steve. "The Grand Wizard". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

[MexHeavyBook-1] Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[EMLL50-2] "50th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 23, 1983. Retrieved September 27, 2012.

[attendance-3] "Flair defeats Race for wrestling title". Greensboro Daily News. 1983-11-25. p. D3. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved May 23, 2008. A sellout crowd of 15,447 was on hand for the night's competition.

[WDJuicio83-4] "EMLL Super Viernes – Juicio Final 1983". Wrestling Data. December 9, 1983. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

[5] Kamchen, Richard. "Maryse Ouellet". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2009.

[6] "Spud". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2017-12-27.

[7] "Heath Slater". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved April 12, 2011.

[8] "Roderick Strong". Retrieved May 30, 2007.

[9] "Braun Strowman". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 24, 2015.

[10] ""The Essence of Excellence" Robert Evans". Anarchy Championship Wrestling. Blogger. July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2012.

[Bella-11] "The Bella Twins". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 31, 2009.

[WorldTagLeague2013-12] 『ワールドタッグ』出場チーム決定!! 内藤＆ソンブラ! コンウェイ＆ダンも参戦! アンダーソンは"新顔"ドク・ギャローズとタッグ結成!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. November 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.

[13] Slagle, Steve. "The Grand Wizard". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

@@ Line 262: / Line 262: @@
 *August 23 – [[J.C. Bailey]] (died in 2010)
 *August 24 – [[Tino Sabbatelli]]
-*September 6 – [[Sam Roberts (radio personality)|Sam Roberts]]
+*September 6:
+**[[Sam Roberts (radio personality)|Sam Roberts]]
-*September 6 – [[Braun Strowman]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/braun-stowman-9702.html|title=Braun Strowman|website=The Internet Wrestling Database |accessdate=August 24, 2015}}</ref>
+**[[Braun Strowman]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/braun-stowman-9702.html|title=Braun Strowman|website=The Internet Wrestling Database |accessdate=August 24, 2015}}</ref>
 *September 16 – [[Jennifer Blake (wrestler)|Jennifer Blake]]
 *September 30 - [[Adam Jones (American football)|Pacman Jones]]

v t e Years in professional wrestling
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Revision as of 15:31, 13 June 2023

List of notable promotions

Calendar of notable shows

Notable events

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

AJPW

NJPW

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Births

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References