# 1976 in professional wrestling

1976 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1976.
| Promotion Name | Abbreviation |
| All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling | AJW |
| Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL |
| World Wide Wrestling Federation | WWWF |

## Calendar of notable shows

| Date | Promotion(s) | Event | Location | Main Event |
| April 23 | EMLL | 20. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | Fishman defeated El Faraón in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match |
| May 11 | NJPW | World League | Tokyo, Japan | Seiji Sakaguchi defeated Pedro Morales |
| June 5 | BTW | Superbowl of Wrestling | Irving, Texas | Terry Funk (c) wrestled Fritz Von Erich to a double count-out in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| June 25/26 | WWWF | Showdown at Shea | Queens, New York | Bruno Sammartino (c) defeated Stan Hansen by countout in a singles match for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Tokyo, Japan | Muhammad Ali fought Antonio Inoki to a draw in a "Wrestler vs Boxer" Match for the Real World Martial Arts Championship (match broadcast via CCTV to other locations) |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Atlanta, Georgia | Jack Brisco fought Dory Funk Jr. to a draw |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Chicago, Illinois | Nick Bockwinkel (c) fought Verne Gagne to a draw for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Detroit, Michigan | The Sheik fought Pampero Firpo to a no contest |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Houston, Texas | Terry Funk (c) defeated Rocky Johnson to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | Los Angeles, California | Gory Guerrero defeated Roddy Piper |
| June 25/26 | NJPW / various | The War of the Worlds | San Francisco, California | Pat Patterson defeated Mr. Fuji in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match |
| September 24 | EMLL | EMLL 43rd Anniversary Show | Mexico City, Mexico | El Faraón defeated Perro Aguayo in a best two-out-of-three falls match Lucha de Apuesta mask vs. hair match |
| December 19 | EMLL | Juicio Final | Mexico City, Mexico | Mano Negra defeated Demonio Blanco in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. mask match |
| (c) – denotes defending champion(s) |||||

## Awards and honors
### Pro Wrestling Illustrated

| Category | Winner |
| PWI Wrestler of the Year | Terry Funk |
| PWI Tag Team of the Year | The Executioners (#1 and #2) |
| PWI Match of the Year | Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen |
| PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year | Wahoo McDaniel |
| PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year | Stan Hansen |
| PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year | Bruno Sammartino |
| PWI Rookie of the Year | Bob Backlund |
| PWI Woman of the Year | Sue Green |
| PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year | Lord Littlebrook |
| PWI Manager of the Year | Bobby Heenan |

## Notable Events & incidents

* May 11- The Executioners bested Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi to become the new WWWF Tag Team Champions.
* Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki
* October 26 - The Executioners were stripped of their WWWF Tag Team Championship when a third executioner was used in their title defense. That third executioner turns out to be Nikolai Volkoff.
* December 7 - Billy White Foot and Chief Jay Strongbow defeated The Executioners and Nikolai Volkoff and Tor Kamata in a three-team tournament to become the new WWWF Tag Team Champions.

## Accomplishments and tournaments
### AJW

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
| Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament | Victoria Fujimi | | |
| World League | Jackie Sato | | |

## Championship changes
### EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship :
| incoming champion – Dr. Wagner |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| February 27 | Adorable Rubí | EMLL show | |
| July 16 | Carlos Plata | EMLL show | |
| October 24 | Alfonso Dantés | EMLL show | |
NWA World Middleweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Perro Aguayo |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| October 22 | El Faraon | EMLL show | |
NWA World Welterweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Blue Demon |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| January 19 | Mano Negra | EMLL show | |
| April 9 | Fishman | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship :
* Incoming champion – El Halcon ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Middleweight Championship :
* Incoming champion – Ringo Mendoza ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Lightweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Tauro |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| October 30 | Flama Azul | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Alfonso Dantes |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| April 11 | Dr. Wagner | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Welterweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Fishman |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| April 9 | Vacant | EMLL show | |
| July 30 | Blue Demon | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Women's Championship :
* Incoming champion – Uncertain ||||
* No title changes ||||

### NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship :
* Incoming champion – Terry Funk ||||
* No title changes ||||

## Births

* January 9:
** Pasión Kristal (d. 2021)
** Todd Grisham
* January 10 - Donovan Morgan
* January 23 – Nigel McGuinness
* January 24 - Chikayo Nagashima
* January 25 - Gorgeous George
* January 28 - Emiko Kado (d. 1999)
* February 2 - Dragon Kid
* February 15 - Yinling
* February 23 - Muhammad Yone
* February 24 – Monster Clown
* March 6 – Ken Anderson/Mr. Kennedy
* March 10 - Jax Dane (d. 2024)
* March 16 - Carlos Amano
* March 18 - Mike Quackenbush
* March 21 - El Hijo de Cien Caras (d. 2010)
* March 23 - Tyson Tomko
* March 28 - Rory McAllister
* April 8 - Ryuji Ito
* April 16 – Phil Baroni
* May 9 - Shawn Osborne (died in 2011)
* May 22 - Yumi Fukawa
* May 25 – Ricky Banderas
* June 11 - MsChif
* June 11 - Sonoko Kato
* June 13 - Sicodelico Jr.
* June 30 - Gilbert Yvel
* July 16 – Bobby Lashley
* July 22 - Abdullah Kobayashi
* August 10 - Amish Roadkill
* August 15 - The Bruiser (died in 2020)
* September 10 – Matt Morgan
* September 23 - Yoshinobu Kanemaru
* September 24:
** Stephanie McMahon
** April Hunter
* September 25 - Dr. Heresy
* October 4 - Emi Sakura
* October 14 - G. Q. Money
* October 18 - Maybach Taniguchi
* November 13 – Hiroshi Tanahashi
* November 17- Kikutaro
* November 21 - Cassidy O'Reilly
* November 22 - Lash LeRoux
* November 23 – Kristina Laum
* November 25 – Adam Firestorm (d. 2009)
* November 26 – Maven
* December 17 - Nosawa Rongai
* December 23 – Jamie Noble
* December 27 - Tim Arson (d. 2015)

## Debuts

* Uncertain debut date
   * Bret Hart
   * Kevin Von Erich
   * Barry Orton
   * Ricky Steamboat
   * Paul Orndorff
   * Ken Wayne
   * Brett Sawyer
* March 5 - Mach Hayato (UWF)
* March 13 - Scott Irwin
* May - Bobby Eaton and Nancy Kumi (All Japan Women's)
* May 24 - Super Parka
* May 30 - Victoria Fujimi (All Japan Women's)
* November 13 - Genichiro Tenryu

## Retirements

* Mitsu Arakawa (1953 – 1976)
* Bob Geigel (1950 – 1976)
* George Gordienko (1946 – 1976)
* Danny Hodge (1959-1976, wrestled one match in 1983)
* Stan Kowalski (1948 – 1976)
* Betty Niccoli (1963 – 1976)
* Antonino Rocca (1942 – 1976)
* Hans Schmidt (1949 – 1976)
* Kinji Shibuya (1952 – 1976)

## Deaths

* April 21 - Sir Dudley Clements, 28
* May 20 - Bobby Pearce (rower), 70
* June 11 - Toots Mondt, 82
* July 26:
** Sam Bass (wrestler), 41
** Frank Hester (wrestler), 39
** Pepe Lopez, 39
* September 26 - Sheik Ali, 49
* November 10 - Al Haft, 89