1993 in professional wrestling

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1993 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

Calendar of notable live events

Promotion(s)	Event	Date	Venue	Location	Attendance
NJPW	Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome	January 4	Tokyo Dome	Tokyo, Japan	63,500
WCW NJPW	WCW/New Japan Supershow III	January 4	Tokyo Dome	Tokyo, Japan	63,500
ECW	Battle of the Belts	January 23	Radisson Hotel	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N/A
WWF	Royal Rumble (1993)	January 24	ARCO Arena	Sacramento, California	16,000^[1]
UWA	UWA 18th Anniversary Show	January 31	El Toreo De Naucalpan	Naucalpan, Mexico	N/A
WCW	SuperBrawl III	February 21	Asheville Civic Center	Asheville, North Carolina	6,500
CMLL	37. Aniversario de Arena México	April 2	Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	N/A^[2]
WWF	WrestleMania IX	April 4	Caesars Palace	Paradise, Nevada	16,891
WWF	UK Rampage (1993)	April 11	Sheffield Arena	Sheffield, England	7,300
AAA	Triplemanía I	April 30	Plaza de Toros	Mexico City, D.F.	48,000 - 50,000^[3]^[4]
NJPW	Wrestling Dontaku (1993)	May 3	Fukuoka Dome	Fukuoka, Japan	55,000
FMW	FMW 4th Anniversary Show	May 5	Kawasaki Stadium	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan	41,000
WCW	Slamboree 1993: A Legends' Reunion	May 23	The Omni	Atlanta, Georgia	7,008^[5]
WWF	King of the Ring (1993)	June 13	Nutter Center	Dayton, Ohio	6,500
ECW	Super Summer Sizzler	June 19	ECW Arena	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	650
WCW	Beach Blast (1993)	July 18	Mississippi Coast Coliseum	Biloxi, Mississippi	8,600
WWC	WWC 20th Aniversario	August 8	N/A	N/A	N/A
FMW	Summer Spectacular (1993)	August 22	Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium	Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan	41,000
WWF	SummerSlam (1993)	August 30	The Palace of Auburn Hill	Auburn Hills, Michigan	23,954
ECW	UltraClash (1993)	September 18	ECW Arena	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,131
WCW	Fall Brawl (1993)	September 19	Astro Arena	Houston, Texas	6,000
CMLL	CMLL 60th Anniversary Show	October 1	Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	N/A^[6]
WCW	Halloween Havoc (1993)	October 24	Lakefront Arena	New Orleans, Louisiana	6,000
ECW	Terror at Tabor	November 12	Tabor Community Center	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N/A
ECW	November to Remember (1993)	November 13	ECW Arena	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,492
WCW	Battlebowl	November 20	Pensacola Civic Center	Pensacola, Florida	7,000
WWF	Survivor Series (1993)	November 24	Boston Garden	Boston, Massachusetts	15,509
FMW	Year End Spectacular (1993)	December 8	Harumi Dome	Tokyo, Japan	12,552
CWA	Euro Catch Festival (1993)	December 18	Stadthalle Bremen	Bremen, Germany	5,000
FMW	FMW/MPW	December 26	Korakuen Hall	Tokyo, Japan	N/A
ECW	Holiday Hell (1993)	December 26	ECW Arena	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	800
WCW	Starrcade (1993)	December 27	Independence Arena	Charlotte, North Carolina	8,200^[7]

Accomplishments and tournaments

ECW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
ECW Television Championship Tournament	Jimmy Snuka	March 12
ECW Tag Team Championship Tournament	Eddie Gilbert and The Dark Patriot	August 8

WCW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
WCW United States Championship Tournament	Dustin Rhodes	January 11
WCW World Television Championship Tournament	Paul Orndorff	March 2

WCW Hall of Fame

Inductee
Lou Thesz
Verne Gagne
Mr. Wrestling II
Eddie Graham

WWF

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
Royal Rumble	Yokozuna	January 24
King of the Ring	Bret Hart	June 13
WWF Women's Championship Tournament	Alundra Blayze	December 13

WWF Hall of Fame

Category	Inductee	Inducted by	Notes
Individual	André the Giant	None	Inaugural inductee Sole inductee

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Big Van Vader
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)
PWI Match of the Year	Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty (Raw, July 19)
PWI Feud of the Year	Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Lex Luger
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Jerry Lawler
PWI Comeback of the Year	Lex Luger
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Yokozuna
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Cactus Jack
PWI Rookie of the Year	Vampire Warrior
PWI Lifetime Achievement	André the Giant
PWI Editor's Award	Jim Cornette

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Big Van Vader
Most Outstanding	Kenta Kobashi
Feud of the Year	Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler
Tag Team of the Year	The Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman)
Most Improved	Tracy Smothers
Best on Interviews	Jim Cornette

Notable incidents

January 11 - WWE Raw premiered on the USA Network, its first episode was from the Manhattan Center in New York City
February 10 - Bill Watts resigned as Executive Vice President of Wrestling Operations for WCW.
February 12 – Eric Bischoff becomes Executive Producer of all World Championship Wrestling television and Ole Anderson was announced as new Vice President of Wrestling Operations for WCW.
February 21 – Ric Flair makes his WCW return and Davey Boy Smith makes his WCW debut at WCW SuperBrawl III in Ashville, North Carolina
February 22 – Hulk Hogan makes his WWF return live on Monday Night Raw.
February 25 - Jim Ross resigned from WCW.
April 4 – Jim Ross makes his WWF TV debut at WrestleMania IX
April 5 - ECW Hardcore TV debuts on SportsChannel Philadelphia.
July 7 – WCW Worldwide begins taping at Disney/MGM Studios from Orlando, Florida. This taping schedule ran from July 7 - 10 taping matches and footage for airing starting the weekend of August 28 - 29, 1993 which included Ric Flair and Rick Rude wearing the NWA World title, Ricky Steamboat and Lord Steven Regal wearing the WCW TV title and an interview with Paul Roma & Arn Anderson wearing the NWA & WCW world tag team titles and The Nasty Boys managed by Missy Hyatt carrying the NWA World Tag Team titles in the ring.
September 1 – WCW leaves the National Wrestling Alliance
September 3 - The NWA Convention was held in Las Vegas, NV, also that same day the ECW joined the NWA becoming NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling.
October 6 - Mean Gene Okerlund made his WCW debut at a WCW Saturday Night taping in Atlanta, GA (air date November 5)
November 24 – For the first time ever an non - WWF title changed hands at a WWF pay-per-view when The Heavenly Bodies defeating SMW Tag Team Champions The Rock 'n' Roll Express in a title match at the Survivor Series in Boston, Massachusetts.
December 4 – Bobby Heenan was given a on-air farewell on WWF Monday Night Raw when Gorilla Monsoon picked him up and threw him and his belongings out of the arena and onto the street.

Title changes

ECW

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – The Sandman
April 3	Don Muraco	Hardcore TV
August 8	Tito Santana	Hardcore TV
September 9	Shane Douglas	Hardcore TV
October 2	Sabu	NWA Bloodfest
December 26	Terry Funk	Holiday Hell

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ECW World Television Championship
Incoming champion – Glen Osbourne
February	Vacant	N/A
March 12	Jimmy Snuka	Hardcore TV #3
October 1	Terry Funk	NWA Bloodfest: Part 1
November 13	Sabu	November to Remember

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ECW World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champion – The Super Destroyers (A.J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl)
April 2	Tony Stetson and Larry Winters	Hardcore TV #6
April 3	The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody, and Chris Michaels)	Hardcore TV #8
May 15	The Super Destroyers (A.J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl)	Hardcore TV #14
May 15	The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody, and Chris Michaels)	Hardcore TV #15
July 15	Vacant	Hardcore TV #16
August 8	The Dark Patriot and Eddie Gilbert	Hardcore TV #22
October 1	Vacant	Bloodfest: Part 1
October 1	Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson	Bloodfest: Part 1
November 13	Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn	November to Remember
December 4	Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac	Hardcore TV #36

FMW

Date	Winner	Event/Show
FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Atsushi Onita
August 22	Atsushi Onita	Summer Spectacular

Date	Winner	Event/Show
FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – N/A
October 28	The Great Sasuke	House show

NJPW

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – [[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – [[\|]] ([[\|]] and [[]])
	[[\|]] ([[\|]] and [[\|]])	[[]]
	[[\|]] ([[\|]] and [[\|]])	[[]]
	[[\|]] ([[\|]] and [[\|]])	[[]]

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – [[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]
	[[]]	[[]]

WCW

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Big Van Vader
March 11	Sting	House show
March 17	Big Van Vader	House show
December 27	Ric Flair	Starrcade

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship / WCW International World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Masa Chono
January 4	The Great Muta	WCW/New Japan Supershow III
February 21	Barry Windham	SuperBrawl III
July 18	Ric Flair	Beach Blast	On September 1, 1993 WCW withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance. WCW continues to recognize Flair as the "WCW International World Champion".
September 19	Rick Rude	Fall Brawl

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Vacant
January 11	Dustin Rhodes	Saturday Night	Aired on tape delay on January 16.
May 1	Vacant	WorldWide
August 30	Dustin Rhodes	Saturday Night	Aired on tape delay on September 4.
December 27	Steve Austin	Starrcade

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW World Television Championship
Incoming champion – Vacant
March 2	Paul Orndorff	Power Hour	Aired on tape delay on March 27.
August 18	Ricky Steamboat	Clash of the Champions XXIV
September 19	Lord Steven Regal	Fall Brawl

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas
March 2	The Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman)	WorldWide	Aired on tape delay on March 27.
August 18	Arn Anderson and Paul Roma	Clash of the Champions XXIV	Also held the NWA World Tag Team Championship until September 1 when WCW withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance
September 19	The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags)	Fall Brawl
October 4	Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio	Saturday Night	Aired on tape delay on October 23.
October 24	The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags)	Halloween Havoc

WWF

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Bret Hart
April 4	Yokozuna	WrestleMania IX
April 4	Hulk Hogan	WrestleMania IX
June 13	Yokozuna	King of the Ring

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – Shawn Michaels
May 17	Marty Jannetty	Raw
June 6	Shawn Michaels	House show
September 27	Vacant	N/A
September 27	Razor Ramon	Raw

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Women's Championship
Incoming champion – N/A
December 13	Alundra Blayze	All American Wrestling

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster)
June 14	The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)	House show
June 16	Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster)	House show
June 19	The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)	House show
September 13	The Quebecers (Pierre and Jacques)	Raw

Births

February 17 – Magnus, Mexican luchador
May 20 – Akam, Canadian wrestler
May 20 - Vanessa Borne
June 14 – Esfinge, Mexican luchador
July 28 - Noam Dar, Israeli wrestler^[8]
August 4 – Henare, New Zealand wrestler
August 12 – El Soberano, Mexican luchador
September 9 – Sarah Logan,^[9] American female wrestler
September 24 – Sonya Deville, American female wrestler
November 6 – Bárbaro Cavernario, Mexican luchador
November 9 - Pete Dunne^[10]
Unknown – Gran Guerrero, Mexican luchador

Debuts

October

Doug Williams
2 - El Zorro

November

27 - Oziel Toscano

December

8 - Joe Lider

Retirements

Al Madril (1970–1993)
Anibal (November 1963 – 1993)
Shirley Crabtree (1952–1993)
Bill Watts (1962–1993)
Bobo Brazil (1951–1993)
Dick Beyer (December 29, 1954 – July 29, 1993)
Junkyard Dog (1977–1993)
Oliver Humperdink (1965–1993)
Omar Atlas (1958–1993)
Fred Peloquin (1971–1993)

Deaths

January 27 - André the Giant, French wrestler (b. 1946)
February 18 - Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1960)
March 10 - Dino Bravo, Canadian wrestler (b. 1948)
March 25 - Wally Karbo, American wrestling promoter (b. 1915)
May 25 - D.J. Peterson, American wrestler (b. 1959)
June 7 - Don Kent, American wrestler (b. 1933)
October 13 - Espectro, Mexican luchador (b. 1934)
October 26 - Oro, Mexican luchador (b. 1971)
November 13 - Rufus R. Jones, American wrestler (b. 1933)
December 13 - Larry Cameron, American wrestler (b. 1952)

References

^ "Royal Rumble Event Results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
^ 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)
^ "Asistencia Asesoría y Administración TripleManía". ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
^ "Triplemanía I: Konnan y Cien Caras, por todo" (in Spanish). Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
^ Cawthon, Graham (2014). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989-1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1499656343.
^ "60th Anniversary Show". ProWrestlingHistory. October 1, 1993. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
^ Adamson, Matt (2008-03-30). "Going Old School: Starrcade '93". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
^ "Noam Dar". Internet Wrestling Database.
^ "Crazy Mary Dobson: Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com.
^ "Turned 23 years old today! Biggest week of my career. Glasgow - London for @WhatCulturePW tonight and then @RevProUK #GlobalWars thurs & fri".

[pwh-1] "Royal Rumble Event Results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved November 3, 2008.

[AnHistory-2] 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)

[Trip1-3] "Asistencia Asesoría y Administración TripleManía". ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved February 9, 2010.

[AAATM1-4] "Triplemanía I: Konnan y Cien Caras, por todo" (in Spanish). Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Retrieved July 11, 2015.

[WCW8994Book-5] Cawthon, Graham (2014). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989-1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1499656343.

[60th-6] "60th Anniversary Show". ProWrestlingHistory. October 1, 1993. Retrieved February 19, 2010.

[411mania-7] Adamson, Matt (2008-03-30). "Going Old School: Starrcade '93". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-06-01.

[8] "Noam Dar". Internet Wrestling Database.

[9] "Crazy Mary Dobson: Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com.

[10] "Turned 23 years old today! Biggest week of my career. Glasgow - London for @WhatCulturePW tonight and then @RevProUK #GlobalWars thurs & fri".

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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

Calendar of notable live events

Accomplishments and tournaments

ECW

WCW

WCW Hall of Fame

WWF

WWF Hall of Fame

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Notable incidents

Title changes

ECW

FMW

NJPW

WCW

WWF

Births

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References