1983 in professional wrestling

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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
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]
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 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

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

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	James 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

January 8 – Chris Masters
January 21 – Maryse Ouellet^[5]
January 30 – Rockstar Spud^[6]
February 10 – Taiji Ishimori
February 21 – Wes Brisco
March 18 – Ethan Carter III
March 28 – Evan Bourne
March 30 – Zach Gowen
May 23 – Alex Shelley
July 15 – Heath Slater^[7]
July 26 – Roderick Strong^[8]
August 23 – J.C. Bailey (died in 2010)
August 24 – Tino Sabbatelli
September 6 – Sam Roberts
September 6 – Braun Strowman^[9]
September 16 – Jennifer Blake
October 1 – Robbie E
October 16 – Kenny Omega
October 19 – Robert Evans^[10]
October 22 – Taya Valkyrie
November 2 – Darren Young
November 11 – Kristal Marshall
November 21 – Nikki Bella^[11]
November 21 – Brie Bella^[11]
November 28 – Summer Rae
November 29 - Rosemary
December 15 – Rene Dupree
December 16 - Kris Travis (died in 2016)
December 22 – Luke Gallows^[12]

Debuts

Uncertain debut date

March 5 - Cueball Carmichael
June 6 - Road Warrior Hawk
June 24 - Mick Foley

Retirements

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

Deaths

May 10 - Frank Tunney - promoter of Maple Leaf Wrestling., 70
May 25 - Johnny Rougeau, 53
October 12 - Ernie Roth, known by his ring name The Grand Wizard.,^[13] 57

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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v t e Years in professional wrestling
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List of notable promotions

Calendar of notable shows

Notable events

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Births

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References