# 1961 in professional wrestling

1961 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## List of notable promotions

Only two promotions held notable shows in 1961.
| Promotion Name | Abbreviation |
| Southwest Sports | Southwest Sports |
| Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL |

## Calendar of notable shows

| Date | Promotion(s) | Event | Location | Main Event |
| January 31 | Southwest Sports | Parade of Champions | Irving, Texas | Pat O'Connor (c) wrestled Dory Dixon to a draw in a two out of three falls match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| April | EMLL | 5. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| September 22 | EMLL | EMLL 28th Anniversary Show | Mexico City, Mexico | Gory Guerrero (c) defeated Ray Mendoza in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship |
| (c) – denotes defending champion(s) |||||

## Championship changes
### EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship :
* incoming champion - Gory Guerrero ||||
* No title changes ||||
incoming champion – René Guajardo :
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| December 2 | Antonio Posa | EMLL show | |
NWA World Welterweight Championship :
* incoming champion – Karloff Lagarde ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship :
| incoming champion - Vacant | incoming champion - Vacant | incoming champion - Vacant | incoming champion - Vacant | No title changes | No title changes | No title changes | No title changes |
Mexican National Middleweight Championship :
| incoming champion – El Santo |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| March 24 | Karloff Lagarde | EMLL show | |
Mexican National Lightweight Championship :
* incoming champion – Juan Diaz ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship :
* incoming champion – Rubén Juárez ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Welterweight Championship :
* incoming champion – Karloff Lagarde ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Tag Team Championship :
* incoming champion – possibly Tarzán López and Henry Pilusso ||||
* No title changes ||||
Mexican National Women's Championship :
* incoming champion – Uncertain ||||
* No title changes ||||

### NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship :
| Incoming Champion – Pat O'Connor |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| July 14 | Buddy Rogers | NWA show | |

## Debuts

* Debut date uncertain:
** The Beast
** Ernie Ladd
** Gino Brito
** Ivan Koloff
** Jack Lanza
** Jonathan Boyd
** Luke Graham
** S. D. Jones
** Spiros Arion
** Tony Parisi
** Wahoo McDaniel
** Jean Antone
* April – Umanosuke Ueda
* July 4 – Les Thatcher
* July 16 – Dr. Wagner
* October 11 - Masio Koma (JWA)

## Births

* Date of birth uncertain:
** Penny Mitchell
** Eli the Eliminator
* January 24:
** Reggie Bennett
** Kōji Iibashi
* January 24 – Vince Russo
* February 1 – Sean Royal
* February 9 – Chris Walker
* February 17 – Chris Champion(died in 2018)
* February 21 – Rhonda Singh(died in 2001)
* March 9 – Rick Steiner
* March 17 – La Fiera(died in 2010)
* March 27 – Octagón
* April 11 – Nobuaki Kakuda
* April 15 – Volk Han
* April 18 – Brooklyn Brawler
* April 23 – Terry Gordy(died in 2001)
* April 25:
** Giant Gustav (died in 2019)
** Wendell Cooley
* April 28 – Billy Joe Travis(died in 2002)
* May 4 – Scott Armstrong
* May 5 – Hiroshi Hase
* May 8 – Akira Taue
* May 11 – Paul Diamond
* May 13 – Dennis Rodman
* May 14 – Tommy Rogers(died in 2015)
* May 16 – The Godfather
* May 25 – Hiro Saito
* June 9:
** Bull Pain
** Despina Montagas
* June 15 – Scott Norton
* June 21 – Count Grog
* July 9 – Damián 666
* July 13 – Chris Michaels
* July 25 – Jaguar Yokota
* July 28 – Ciclón Ramírez
* July 30 – El Brazo (died in 2013)
* August 13 – Tony Falk
* August 14 – Eddie Gilbert(died in 1995)
* August 17 – Buddy Landel(died in 2015)
* August 25 – Nick Kiniski
* September 1 – Bam Bam Bigelow(died in 2006)
* September 2 – Mongolian Mauler(died in 2024)
* September 6 – Wendi Richter
* September 8 – Rex King(died in 2017)
* September 16 – Phil LaFon
* September 17 Jim Cornette
* October 1:
** Súper Astro
** Rico Constantino
* October 3 – Maxx Payne
* October 4 – Bobby Fulton
* October 11 – Tony Chimel
* October 14 – Tom Burton (died in 2010)
* October 23:
** Ron Harris
** Don Harris
* November 8 – Isao Takagi
* November 19 – Rick Bassman
* November 26 – Ivory (wrestler)
* December 19 – Reggie White(died in 2004)
* December 21 – The Patriot (died in 2021)
* December 24 – Peter Smit (died in 2005)
* December 30 –Armand Rougeau

## Deaths

* January 9 – Oyama Kato, 42
* February 18 – Chick Garibaldi, 46
* October 7 – Al Mills 50/51
* November 8 – Blimp Levy, 56