# 1968 in professional wrestling

1968 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## List of notable promotions

Only one promotion held notable shows in 1968.
| Promotion Name | Abbreviation |
| Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL |

## Calendar of notable shows

| Date | Promotion(s) | Event | Location | Main Event |
| April 26 | EMLL | 12. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | Huracán Ramírez defeated El Enfermero, Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match |
| September 20 | EMLL | EMLL 35th Anniversary Show | Mexico City, Mexico | Karloff Lagarde (c) defeated Blue Demon in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Welterweight Championship |
| December 13 | EMLL | Juicio Final | Mexico City, Mexico | El Solitario defeated Ray Mendoza in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. hair match |
| (c) – denotes defending champion(s) |||||

## Notable Events

* June 8 - at San Francisco, California, Pepper Gomez and Pedro Morales defeat Great Sasaki and Kinji Shibuya to become the San Francisco's NWA World Tag Team Championship.
* August 17 - at Bloomington, Minnesota, Dr. X beat Verne Gagne to become the new AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
* Inside Wrestling magazine hit the newsstands with its first issue.

## Tournaments
### IWE

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
| IWA World Series | Billy Robinson | December 19 | |

## Championship changes
### EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship :
| incoming champion – Ray Mendoza |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| May 19 | Ángel Blanco | EMLL show | |
| December 25 | Ray Mendoza | EMLL show | |
NWA World Middleweight Championship :
* incoming champion – René Guajardo ||||
* No title changes ||||
NWA World Welterweight Championship :
* incoming champion – Karloff Lagarde ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship :
* incoming champion - Henry Pilusso ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Middleweight Championship :
| incoming champion – René Guajardo |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| March 9 | Alberto Muñoz | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Lightweight Championship :
| incoming champion – Raul Guerrero |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| August 20 | Estrella Blanca | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship :
| incoming champion – El Nazi |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| March 22 | Mil Máscaras | EMLL show | |
| April 10 | Vacated | N/A | Championship vacated for undocumented reasons |
Mexican National Welterweight Championship :
| incoming champion – Alberto Muñoz |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| October 20 | Vacated | N/A | Championship vacated after Muñoz won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship |
Mexican National Tag Team Championship :
* incoming champion – Possibly La Ola Blanca (Ángel Blanco and Dr. Wagner) ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Women's Championship :
* incoming champion – Uncertain ||||
* No title changes ||||

### NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship :
* Incoming Champion – Gene Kiniski ||||
* No title changes ||||

## Debuts

* Debut date uncertain:
** Blackjack Mulligan
** Dusty Rhodes
** El Halcón
** Jimmy Golden
** Kung Fu
** Lee Marshall
** Marty Jones
** Michel Martel
** Nikolai Volkoff
** El Sicodélico
* January 1 – Ringo Mendoza
* February 24 – Enrique Vera
* August 30 – Kim Duk
* November 1 – Jimmy Garvin
* December – Chavo Guerrero Sr.
* December 6 – J. J. Dillon

## Retirements

* Billy Riley (1920s-1968)

## Births

* January 5 – Noboru Asahi
* January 8 – Bull Nakano
* January 9 – Silver King(died in 2019)
* January 12 – Big Dick Dudley(died in 2002)
* January 15 – Bull Buchanan
* January 31 – Ray Odyssey
* February 13 – Daisuke Ikeda
* February 19 – August Smisl
* March 7 – Súper Brazo
* April 16 – Vickie Guerrero
* March 19 – Eddie Watts
* March 28 – Jaime Cardriche (died in 2000)
* March 31 – Naoya Ogawa
* April 24:
** Yuji Nagata
** El Espantito(died in 2020)
* May 10 – William Regal
* May 14 – Mantaur(died in 2023)
* May 24 – Rayo Tapatío I
* May 26 – Simon Diamond
* June 17 – Minoru Suzuki
* June 20 – Mr. Gannosuke
* June 26 – Koji Nakagawa
* June 30 – The Bodyguard
* July 3 – Sombrita
* July 8 – Romeo Valentino
* July 17 – Doctor X (died in 2011)
* July 18 – Pequeño Violencia
* August 2 – Maximum Capacity (died in 2014)
* August 5:
** Kendo Kashin
** Leroy Howard (died in 2018)
* August 11:
** Head Hunter A
** Head Hunter B
* August 20 – Duke Droese
* August 24 – Funaki
* September 3 – Black Pearl
* September 24 – Eric Sbraccia
* September 28:
** Jado
** Apolo Dantés
* October 3 – Chi Chi Cruz
* October 28 – Mayumi Ozaki
* October 30 – Dr. Luther
* November 3 – Dirty White Girl
* November 10 – Mitsuya Nagai
* November 12:
** Disco Inferno
** Kazue Nagahori
* November 13 – Mike Lozansky (died in 2003)
* November 29 – Hayabusa(died in 2016)
* December 8 – Michael Cole
* December 9:
** Kurt Angle
** Virus
** Jack Dupp
* December 10:
** Mephisto
* December 26 – Mideon

## Deaths

* January 15 – Firpo Segura 60
* February 19 – George Hackenschmidt 89
* March 9:
** Bert Ruby 57
** John Katan 66
* May 30 – Espanto I 37
* June 10 – Wladek Zbyszko 76
* June 21 – Ike Robin, 81
* August 11 – Oklahoma Kid (Elmer Gerald), 30
* December 3 – Dick Shikat, 71