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
… 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

List of notable promotions

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

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

• January 12 – Antonio Inoki created New Japan Pro-Wrestling
• October 21 Giant Baba created All Japan Pro Wrestling

Awards and honors

1972 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Pedro Morales

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards

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

EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – El Solitario[6]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
March 17	David Morgan	EMLL show	[6]
April 21	Ray Mendoza	EMLL show	[6]
June 13	Alfonso Dantés	EMLL show	[6]

NWA World Middleweight Championship

Incoming champion – Aníbal

No title changes

NWA World Welterweight Championship

Incoming champion – Alberto Munoz

No title changes

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Raul Reyes
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
April 7	Angel Blanco	EMLL show

Mexican National Middleweight Championship

Incoming champion – Ciclon Veloz, Jr.

No title changes

Mexican National Lightweight Championship

Incoming champion – Estrella Blanca

No title changes

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Raul Mata[7]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
June 18	Enrique Vera	EMLL show

Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Huracan Ramirez
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
October 20	Karloff Lagarde	EMLL show

Mexican National Women's Championship

Incoming champion – Uncertain

No title changes

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Dory Funk, Jr.

No title changes

Births

Dwayne Johnson

• January 10 – Brian Christopher(died in 2018)
• January 19 – Ron Killings
• February 8 – Big Show
• February 19 – Francine
• March 12 – James Maritato
• March 21 – Chris Candido
• March 27 – Charlie Haas
• April 11 – Balls Mahoney(died in 2016)
• May 2 – Dwayne Johnson[8]
• June 29 – Canyon Ceman
• July 13 – Sean Waltman[9]
• August 1 – D-Von Dudley[10][11]
• November 14 – Matt Bloom[12]
• August 27 – The Great Khali
• December 6 – El Oriental
• December 7 – Tammy Lynn Sytch[13]

Debuts

• February–El Texano[14]
• March 13, 1972–Rick Martel[15]
• March 16, 1972–Gran Hamada[15]
• March 20, 1972–Mr. Pogo[15]
• May 22, 1972–Moondog King[15]
• August 2, 1972–Kengo Kimura[15]
• September 1, 1972–Larry Zbyszko[15]
• September–Jaque Mate[15]
• November 12, 1972–Yoshiaki Fujiwara[14]
• December 1, 1972–Bruce Hart[15]
• December 3, 1972–Kuniaki Kobayashi[15]
• December 10, 1972–Ric Flair[15]
• December 15, 1972–Tiger Conway Jr.[14]
• December 28, 1972–Jim Brunzell[15]
• Debut date uncertain
  • Afa Anoaʻi[15]
  • Al Madril[15]
  • Austin Idol[15]
  • Ax[15]
  • Big John Studd[15]
  • Bobby Jaggers[15]
  • Bob Orton Jr.[15]
  • El Canek[15]
  • Clem Turner[15]
  • Dutch Mantell[15]
  • Colonel DeBeers[15]
  • George Wells[15]
  • The Iron Sheik[15]
  • Ken Patera[15]
  • Mike Graham[15]
  • Pez Whatley[15]
  • Pierre Lefebvre[15]
  • Ron Bass[15]
  • Scott Casey[14]
  • Sgt. Slaughter[14]
  • Sika Anoaʻi[14]
  • Smith Hart[14]
  • Steve Keirn[14]

Retirements

• Johnny Barend (1949 – 1972)
• Angelo Savoldi (1937 – 1972)

Deaths

• February 21 – Luther Lindsay
• August 1 – Ray Gunkel

References

1. Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.
2. "39th Anniversary Show #1". Pro Wrestling History. September 29, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
3. "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. 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
7. Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
8. "Dwayne Johnson Biography: Film Actor, Athlete (1972–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
9. "Sean Waltman Bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
10. "Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
11. Intelius search
12. "OWOW profile". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
13. "OWOW profile".
14. "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
15. "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.