1972 in professional wrestling

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

List of years in professional wrestling
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List of notable promotions

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These promotions held notable shows in 1972.

Promotion Name Abbreviation
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

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Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main 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

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Awards and honors

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1972 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Pedro Morales

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

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Category Winner
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

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EMLL

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incoming champion – El Solitario[7]
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 17 David Morgan EMLL 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
Date Winner Event/Show Note(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]
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
June 18 Enrique Vera EMLL show
Incoming champion – Huracan Ramirez
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
October 20 Karloff Lagarde EMLL show
Incoming champion – Uncertain
No title changes
Incoming champion – Dory Funk, Jr.
No title changes

Tournaments

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Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
IWA World Series Strong Kobayashi May 6

Births

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Dwayne Johnson

Debuts

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Retirements

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Deaths

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References

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  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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d 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.
  11. ^ "Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  12. ^ Intelius search
  13. ^ "OWOW profile". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  14. ^ "OWOW profile".
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.