# 1985 in professional wrestling

1985 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1985.
| Promotion Name | Abbreviation |
| All Japan Pro Wrestling | AJPW |
| All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling | AJW |
| American Wrestling Association | AWA |
| Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL |
| Florida Championship Wrestling | FCW |
| Lutte Internationale | Lutte |
| National Wrestling Alliance | NWA |
| New Japan Pro-Wrestling | NJPW |
| Pacific Northwest Wrestling | PNW |
| World Class Championship Wrestling | WCCW |
| World Wrestling Council | WWC |
| World Wrestling Federation | WWF |

## Calendar of notable shows

| Date | Promotion(s) | Event | Location | Main Event |
| February 18 | WWF | The War to Settle the Score | New York City, New York | Hulk Hogan (c) (with Cyndi Lauper, David Wolff, and Lou Albano) defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| February 24 | AWA / NWA | Star Wars | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Sgt. Slaughter won a "tag team battle royal." Slaughter's partner, Jerry Blackwell, was injured and could not compete, forcing Slaughter to wrestle alone. Also in the match were: The Road Warriors, Ivan and Nikita Koloff, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, Kamala and Billy Robinson, Mark and Chris Youngblood, Jerry Lawler and Baron Von Raschke, Bob Backlund and Jimmy Valiant, Mr. Saito and Masked Superstar, Nick Bockwinkel and Dory Funk Jr., Jimmy Garvin and Larry Zbyszko, and Steve Keirn and Jerry Oski |
| March 1 – April 18 | NJPW | Young Lion Cup | Tokyo, Japan | Shunji Kosugi defeated Keiichi Yamada in the tournament final |
| March 31 | WWF | WrestleMania | New York City, New York | Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper in a Tag team match with Muhammad Ali and Pat Patterson as special guest referees |
| April 5 | EMLL | 29. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | Pirata Morgan defeats El Egipcio by disqualification in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match |
| April 21 | AWA | StarCage 1985 | St. Paul, Minnesota | Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar, King Tonga, & Adnan Al-Kassie in a Handicap Steel Cage match |
| May 5 | WCCW | 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions | Irving, Texas | Kerry Von Erich defeated One Man Gang in a Hair vs. One Man Gang facing Fritz Von Erich match |
| May 10 | WWF | Saturday Night's Main Event | Uniondale, New York | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Bob Orton by disqualification in a singles match to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| May 21 | PNW | Wrestling Extravaganza | Portland, Oregon | Roddy Piper defeated Buddy Rose in a singles match |
| May 10 – June 15 | NJPW | IWGP League | Matsumoto, Japan | André the Giant defeated Tatsumi Fujinami in a tournament final |
| June 25 | AJW | Japan Grand Prix Finals | Tokyo, Japan | Lioness Asuka defeated Dump Matsumoto in the finals |
| July 6 | NWA | The Great American Bash | Charlotte, North Carolina | Dusty Rhodes defeated Tully Blanchard (c) in a Steel cage match for the NWA World Television Championship |
| July 8 | WWF | King of the Ring | Foxboro, Massachusetts | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Nikolai Volkoff in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| July 27 | Mid-South | Wrestlefest | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Bill Watts, Jim Duggan & Dick Murdoch defeated Kareem Muhammad, Kamala & Skandar Akbar |
| August 3 | PPP | A Hot Summer Night | Honolulu, Hawaii | Ric Flair (c) fought Siva Afi to a double disqualification in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| August 16 | AWA / NWA | Star Wars | East Rutherford, New Jersey | The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) by disqualification in a six-man tag team match |
| August 26 | Lutte WWF | Lutte vs. WWF | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Dino Bravo and King Tonga defeated Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik in a tag team match |
| September 2 | FCW | Battle of the Belts | Tampa, Florida | Ric Flair (c) defeated Wahoo McDaniel in 2 out of 3 three falls match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| September 20 | EMLL | EMLL 52nd Anniversary Show | Mexico City, Mexico | Event was cancelled due to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake |
| September 21 | CSP | CSP 12th Anniversary Show | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Jimmy Valiant defeated Kamala in a singles match by disqualification |
| September 28 | AWA | SuperClash | Chicago, Illinois | Rick Martel (c) fought Stan Hansen to a double countout in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| October 3 | WWF | Saturday Night's Main Event | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Nikolai Volkoff in a singles match to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| October 6 | WCCW | Cotton Bowl Extravaganza | Dallas, Texas | Kerry and Kevin Von Erich defeated The Dynamic Duo (Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez) in a Hair vs. Hair match |
| October 6 | AJW | Tag League The Best Finals | Tokyo, Japan | The Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka) defeated Gokuaku Domei (Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto) in the finals |
| October 19 | WWC | Battle of the Gladiators | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Carlos Colón defeated Abdullah the Butcher in a singles match to win the WWC Universal Championship |
| October 31 | WWF | Saturday Night's Main Event | Hershey, Pennsylvania | Hulk Hogan and André the Giant defeated King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd in a tag team match by disqualification |
| November 7 | WWF | The Wrestling Classic | Rosemont, Illinois | Junkyard Dog defeated Randy Savage by count-out in a tournament finals match |
| November 15 – December 12 | NJPW | IWGP Tag Title League | Sendai, Japan | Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura defeated Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi in a tournament final |
| November 23 – December 12 | AJPW | AJPW Real World Tag League | Tokyo, Japan | Ted DiBiase and Stan Hansen won the tournament |
| November 28 | NWA | Starcade | Greensboro, North Carolina Atlanta, Georgia | Dusty Rhodes defeated Ric Flair (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| December 6 | EMLL | Juicio Final | Mexico City, Mexico | El Solar II vs. Belcebu in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match |
| December 19 | WWF | Saturday Night's Main Event | Tampa, Florida | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Terry Funk in a singles match to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
| December 29 | AWA / NWA | Night of Champions II | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Stan Hansen defeated Rick Martel (c) by submission in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| (c) – denotes defending champion(s) |||||

## Tournaments and accomplishments
### AJW

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won |
| Japan Grand Prix 1985 | Lioness Asuka | June 25 |
| Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament | Akemi Sakamoto | |
| Tag League the Best 1985 | Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto | October 10 |

### JCP

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
| Bunkhouse Stampede | Dusty Rhodes | December 28 | |

### WWF

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
| King of the Ring | Don Muraco | July 8 | |
| The Wrestling Classic | Junkyard Dog | November 7 | |

## Awards and honors

* All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
** AJW Rookie of the Year: Akira Hokuto

### Pro Wrestling Illustrated

| Category | Winner |
| PWI Wrestler of the Year | Ric Flair |
| PWI Tag Team of the Year | The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) |
| PWI Match of the Year | Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (WrestleMania) |
| PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year | Hulk Hogan |
| PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year | Roddy Piper |
| PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year | Steve Williams |
| PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year | Mike Von Erich |
| PWI Rookie of the Year | Nord the Barbarian |
| PWI Manager of the Year | Jim Cornette |
| PWI Editor's Award | Dan Shocket |

### Wrestling Observer Newsletter

| Category | Winner |
| Wrestler of the Year | Ric Flair |
| Feud of the Year | Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan |
| Tag Team of the Year | The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) |
| Most Improved | Steve Williams |
| Best on Interviews | Jim Cornette |

## Title changes
### WWF

WWF World Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Hulk Hogan |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| No title changes ||||
WWF Intercontinental Championship :
| Incoming champion – Greg Valentine |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| July 6 | Tito Santana | House show | It was a steel cage match |
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| No title changes ||||
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – The Cobra |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| May 20 | Hiro Saito | House show | |
| July 28 | The Cobra | House show | |
| October 31 | Abandoned | N/A | |
WWF International Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming champion – Tatsumi Fujinami |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| July 19 | Vacant | N/A | |
| October 31 | Vacant | N/A | |
WWF International Tag Team Championship :
| (Title reactivated) |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| May 24 | Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura | House show | |
| October 31 | Deactivated | N/A | |
WWF Canadian Championship :
| (Title created) |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| August 18 | Dino Bravo | House show | |
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship :
| Incoming champions – Velvet McIntyre and Desiree Petersen |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| August 1 | The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) | Live event | |
WWF Women's Championship :
| Incoming champion – Wendi Richter |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| February 18 | Leilani Kai | The War to Settle the Score | |
| March 31 | Wendi Richter | WrestleMania I | |
| November 25 | The Masked Spider Lady (Fabulous Moolah) | Live event | |
WWF Tag Team Championship :
| Incoming champions – The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch) |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| January 21 | The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) | House show | |
| March 31 | The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff | WrestleMania I | |
| June 17 | The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) | Championship Wrestling | It aired on tape delay on July 13. |
| August 24 | The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine) | House show | |

## Spinoff media

* Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling premiered on CBS.
* Mutharamkunnu P.O., directed by Sibi Malayil and starring Mukesh and Lizy, is released. The film is noted for the special appearance of Indian actor-wrestler Dara Singh as himself.
* British wrestler "Mr. TV" Jackie Pallo's autobiography "You Grunt, I'll Groan" is published.
* Welsh wrestler-promoter Orig Williams's autobiography "Cario'r Ddraig: Stori El Bandito" is published.
* The Wrestling Album is released by the World Wrestling Federation. It is the first album released by the WWF and featuring mostly theme music of wrestlers on the roster at the time.

## Births

* January 13 – Luke Robinson
* January 17 – Sage Beckett
* January 18 – Mark Briscoe
* January 27 – Yuji Hino
* February 3 – Angela Fong
* February 20 – Killian Dain
* February 26 – Pentagón Jr.
* March 5 – Martin Casaus
* March 13 – Matt Jackson
* March 20 - Matt Taven
* March 24 – Lana
* April 10 – Yūki Ōno
* April 20 – Curt Hawkins
* April 29 – Jay Lethal
* May 8 – Tommaso Ciampa
* May 14 – Zack Ryder
* May 16 – Mike Kanellis
* May 19 – Aleister Black
* May 24 – The Great Naga
* May 25 – Roman Reigns
* June 6 – Drew McIntyre
* June 30 – Cody Rhodes
* July 2 – Jessie Belle Smothers
* July 16 – Q. T. Marshall
* July 22 – Akira Tozawa
* August 2 – Davey Boy Smith Jr.
* August 6 – Tony Nese
* August 7 – Jamin Olivencia
* August 12 – Fallah Bahh
* August 14 – Jaysin Strife (died in 2022)
* August 20 – Mikey Nicholls
* August 22 – Jimmy Uso
* August 22 – Jey Uso
* August 26 – Ayumu Gunji
* September 7 – Tristan Archer
* September 19 – Renee Young
* September 24 – Shane Haste
* September 24 – Sanga
* September 29 – Candice LeRae
* October 12 – Amy Zidian
* October 18 - Atsushi Kotoge
* November 25 – Yuki Sato
* December 7 – Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley
* December 14 – Katsuya Kitamura (died in 2022)
* December 16 – Psycho Clown
* December 21 – Oney Lorcan
* December 28 – Taryn Terrell

## Debuts

* Uncertain debut date
   * Big Van Vader
   * Brittany Brown
   * Jimmy Del Ray
   * Lou Fabiano
   * Paul Diamond
   * Savio Vega
   * Virgil
   * Histeria
* January 22 - Nick Kiniski
* March 3 - Masakatsu Funaki
* April 29 - Miguel Pérez Jr.
* May 16 - Drill Nakamae (All Japan Women's)
* May 27 - Mitsuko Nishiwaki (All Japan Women's)
* June 5 - Yumiko Hotta and Kyoko Aso (All Japan Women's)
* June 6 - Grizzly Iwamoto (All Japan Women's)
* June 12 - Akira Hokuto and Suzuka Minami (All Japan Women's)
* June 14 - Fumie Kanzaki (All Japan Women's) and Sayuri Nakajima (All Japan Women's)
* July 8 - Yoji Anjo
* July 23 - Yasuko Ishiguro (All Japan Women's)
* July 25 - Rie Okabyashi (All Japan Women's) and Akemi Sakamoto (All Japan Women's)
* July 30 - Miss Elizabeth
* August 28 - Kahoru Kage (All Japan Women's)
* August 30 - Scorpio Jr.
* October 31 - Lex Luger
* November 22 Chris Benoit
* November 28
** Sting
** The Ultimate Warrior
** Hollywood
** Lisa Moretti

## Retirements

* Jack Brisco (1965-1985)
* Gerald Brisco (1967-1985) (Returned to wrestling in 1998 and retired 2000)
* Cora Combs (1945–1985)
* George Scott (1948–1985)
* Gil Hayes (1966–1985)
* Chief Jay Strongbow (1955–1985)
* Larry Hennig (1956–1985)
* Wally Karbo (1935–1985)
* Buzz Tyler (1977–1985)
* Pat Patterson (1959-1985) (Returned to wrestling in 1998 and retired 2000)

## Deaths

* January 12 - Paul Luty, British wrestler (b. 1932)
* January 21 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and Championship Wrestling from Florida promoter (b. 1930)
* March 6:
** Wild Bull Curry, American wrestler (b. 1913)
** Bholu Pahalwan, Indian wrestler (b. 1930)
* April 19 - Chabela Romero (b. 1946)
* September 3 – Jay Youngblood, American wrestler (b. 1955)
* September 18 – Ed Don George, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1905)
* November 1 – Rick McGraw, American WWF wrestler (b. 1955)
* December 24:
** Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre, Canadian wrestler (b. 1955)
** Tarzan Tyler, Canadian wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
** Adrien Debois, Canadian wrestling referee (b. 1950)