# 1972 in professional wrestling

1972 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| (c) – denotes defending champion(s) |||||

## Notable events

* January 12 – Antonio Inoki created New Japan Pro-Wrestling
* July 1 – The Fabulous Moolah and Vicky Williams became the first female wrestlers to wrestle at Madison Square Garden, which had previously banned women from wrestling in the hallowed venue.
* October 21 Giant Baba created All Japan Pro Wrestling
* Sports Review Wrestling hit the newsstands with its first issue.

## Awards and honors
### Pro Wrestling Illustrated

| 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 |||||
| Date | Winner | Event/Show | Note(s) |
| March 17 | David Morgan | EMLL show | |
| April 21 | Ray Mendoza | EMLL show | |
| June 13 | Alfonso Dantés | EMLL show | |
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 |||||
| 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 ||||

## Tournaments
### IWE

| Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
| IWA World Series | Strong Kobayashi | May 6 | |

## Births

* January 8 - Jon Andersen
* January 10 – Brian Christopher(died in 2018)
* January 19 – Ron Killings
* January 20 - Tony DeVito
* January 24 - Fabián el Gitano (died in 2011)
* February 1 - Sean Casey
* February 8 – Big Show
* February 19 – Francine
* February 23 - Tomoko Watanabe
* February 28 - Angel Medina
* March 1 - Último Guerrero
* March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal
* March 7 - Major Gunns
* March 12 – Nunzio
* March 21 – Chris Candido (died in 2005)
* March 23 - Octagoncito (AAA)
* March 27 – Charlie Haas
* April 1 - Darren McCarty
* April 11:
** Balls Mahoney (died in 2016)
** Kevin Quinn
** Fyre
* April 14 - Julio Dinero
* April 21 - Dr. Cerebro
* April 28 - Violent J
* April 29 - Masahito Kakihara
* May 2 – Dwayne Johnson
* May 4 - Ray González
* May 17 - Masakazu Fukuda (died in 2000)
* May 25 – Shigeo Okumura
* June 2 - Gary Williams
* June 5 - Mike Bucci
* June 12 - Jack Doan
* June 28:
** Jon Heidenreich
** Daniel Gracie
* June 29 – Canyon Ceman
* June 30 - Wolf (died in 2011)
* July 5 - Tatsuhito Takaiwa
* July 13 – X-Pac
* July 21 - Shinjiro Otani
* August 1 – D-Von Dudley
* August 5 - Ikuto Hidaka
* August 19 - Sign Guy Dudley
* August 25 - David Young
* August 27:
** The Great Khali
** Jazz
* September 1 - Doug Williams
* September 3 - Bob Evans
* September 5 - Shane Sewell
* September 15 -
** Lady Victoria
** Chad Austin
* September 17 – Phantasio
* September 26 - Gabe Sapolsky
* October 4 - Otto Schwanz
* October 12 - Karen Jarrett
* October 16 - Lizmark Jr.
* October 23 - Jasmin St. Claire
* November 7 - Chip Fairway (died in 2011)
* November 14 – Albert
* November 29 - Minoru Tanaka
* November 30 - Ruffy Silverstein (Canadian wrestler)
* December 6 – El Oriental
* December 7 – Tammy Lynn Sytch
* December 20 - Takeshi Rikio
* December 31 - Ryan Sakoda (d. 2021)

## Debuts

* February 1, 1972 – El Texano
* March 13, 1972 – Rick Martel
* March 16, 1972 – Gran Hamada
* March 20, 1972 – Mr. Pogo
* May 22, 1972 – Moondog King
* August 2, 1972 – Kengo Kimura
* August 23, 1972 - Bob Orton Jr.
* September – Jaque Mate
* September 1, 1972 – Larry Zbyszko
* September 19, 1972 - Don Arakawa
* September 26, 1972 -Masanobu Kurisu
* November 12, 1972 – Yoshiaki Fujiwara
* December 1, 1972 – Bruce Hart
* December 3, 1972 – Kuniaki Kobayashi
* December 10, 1972 – Ric Flair
* December 28, 1972 – Jim Brunzell
* Debut date uncertain
** Al Madril
** Austin Idol
** Ax
** Big John Studd
** Bobby Jaggers
** Buck Zumhofe
** El Canek
** Clem Turner
** Dutch Mantell
** Colonel DeBeers
** George Wells
** The Iron Sheik
** Ken Patera
** Mike Graham
** Pez Whatley
** Pierre Lefebvre
** Scott Casey
** Sgt. Slaughter
** Smith Hart
** Steve Keirn
** Máquina Salvaje (Mexico)

## Retirements

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

## Deaths

* January 2 - Jatindra Charan Guho, 79
* February 21 – Luther Lindsay 47
* August 1 – Ray Gunkel 48
* September 15 - Billy Sandow, 88
* October 7 - Whitey Caldwell 37