2002

This is a list of various things that took place in 2002.
==Significant events==
Unknown Dates
:*– River City Wrestling is founded in San Antonio, Texas.
February
:*February 17 – The New World Order is reformed by Vince McMahon at the WWF's No Way Out PPV, featuring nWo founders Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, brought in by McMahon to force Ric Flair to give up his co-ownership of the WWF
:*February 23 – Ring of Honor, founded by Rob Feinstein, holds its first event
May
:*May 5 – The World Wrestling Federation is renamed World Wrestling Entertainment after dropping an appeal against the World Wide Fund for Nature, which had been ruled in favour by a British court on August 10, 2001 over the usage of the WWF initials internationally.
June
:*June 19 – NWA: Total Nonstop Action, founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, holds its first pay-per-view event in Huntsville, Alabama
July
:*July 15 – Vince McMahon permanently disbands the nWo after regaining full control of WWE from Ric Flair
September
:*7th - Australian promotion PCW gains mainstream media attention after complaints were made about the death match held at their Carnage event in Rowville in Melbourne.
==Deaths==
January
:*January 7 – Mighty Igor Vodic 70 (Heart failure)
February
:*February 2 – Nelson Royal 70 (Heart attack)
:*February 20 – Swede Hanson (Alzheimer's disease)
April
:*April 18 – Wahoo McDaniel 63 (Stroke)
:*April 28 – Lou Thesz 86 (Complications from heart surgery)Bryan Alvarez: "Figure Four Weekly Newsletter #358", page 1. Cover date May 6, 2002
May
:*May 7 – Randy Anderson 42 (Natural causes)
:*May 14 – Erich Kulas 22 (Complications from gastric bypass surgery)
:*May 16 – "Big" Dick Dudley 34
:*May 16 – Shoichi Arai 36 (Suicide)
:*May 17 – Davey Boy Smith 39 (Heart attack)
September
:*September 21 – Rocco Rock 49 (Heart attack)
October
:*October 31 – Moose Cholak 72 (Natural causes)
November
:*November 22 – Billy Joe Travis (Heart attack)
:*November 29 – Jeff Peterson 21 (Cancer)
:*November 30 – "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods 68 (Heart attack)
==Debuts==
January
:*23 - Petey Williams
March
:*2 - Alex Shelley
:*16 - Zach Gowen
June
:*Mike Mondo
July
:*27 - Special K
August
:*29 - Shinsuke Nakamura
November
:*11 - Becky Lynch (Then known as Rebecca Knox)
December
:*27 - Fred Sampson 
==Events==
January
:*January 4 – NJPW Wrestling World
:*January 6 – WWA The Inception
February
:*February 1 – FWA Crunch
:*February 9 – FWA Revival - King of England Tournament
:*February 23 – ROH The Era of Honor Begins
:*February 23 – XPW Freefall
:*February 24 – WWA The Revolution
March
:*March 30 – ROH Round Robin Challenge
April
:*April 14 – WWA The Eruption
:*April 14 – NOAH Kodo Fuyuki Retirement Show
:*April 27 – ROH Night of Appreciation
:*April 27 – XPW Genocide
May
:*May 11 – CZW High Stakes
:*May 25 – CHIKARA The Renaissance Dawns
June
:*June 8 – CZW Best of The Best II
:*June 21 – FWA Carpe Diem
:*June 22 – ROH Road To The Title
:*June 29 – 3PW A War Renewed
:*June 29 – XPW Liberty Or Death
July
:*July 5 – FWA Vendetta
:*July 13 – CZW Deja Vu
:*July 20 – XPW Night of Champions
:*July 27 – ROH Crowning A Champion
:*July 28 – FWA No Surprises 4
August
:*August 10 – CZW No Excuses
:*August 24 – 3PW Babes, Belts & Blood
:*August 24 – ROH Honor Invades Boston
:*August 26 – FWA Hotwired
:*August 31 – CZW Zandig's Ultraviolent Tournament of Death
:*August 31 – XPW Hostile Takeover
September
:*September 6 – CZW Jersey Re-Invasion
:*September 14 – CZW Ultraviolent Freedom of Expression
:*September 21 – 3PW This One's For You
:*September 21 – ROH Unscripted
:*September 21 – CZW Sanctioned In Blood
October
:*October 5 – ROH Glory by Honor
:*October 5 – XPW Fallout
:*October 12 – CZW Beyond The Barrier
:*October 13 – FWA British Uprising
:*October 19 – 3PW A Night For The Flyboy Rocco Rock
:*October 25 – FWA London Calling
:*October 26 – CZW Havoc in Hellaware
November
:*November 9 – CZW Night of Infamy
:*November 9 – ROH All Star Extravaganza
:*November 15 – CHIKARA Young Lions Cup I (Night One)
:*November 16 – CHIKARA Young Lions Cup I (Night Two)
:*November 16 – ROH Scramble Madness
:*November 16 – XPW Exit Sandman
:*November 23 – 3PW Return of The Dream
December
:*December 7 – ROH Night of The Butcher
:*December 14 – CZW Cage of Death 4
:*December 15 – FWA Season Beatings
:*December 21 – XPW Merry F'N X-Mas
:*December 28 – 3PW Year End Mayhem
:*December 28 – ROH Final Battle
==Pay-Per-View events==
January
:*January 20 – WWF Royal Rumble
February
:*February 17 – WWF No Way Out
:*February 24 – WWA The Revolution
March
:*March 17 – WrestleMania X-8
April
:*April 13 – WWA The Eruption
:*April 21 – WWF Backlash
May
:*May 4 – WWE Insurrextion
:*May 19 – WWE Judgment Day
June
:*June 23 – WWE King of the Ring
July
:*July 21 – WWE Vengeance
August
:*August 10 – WWE Global Warning
:*August 25 – WWE SummerSlam
September
:*September 22 – WWE Unforgiven
October
:*October 20 – WWE No Mercy
:*October 26 – WWE Rebellion
November
:*November 17 – WWE Survivor Series
December
:*December 6 – WWA Retribution
:*December 15 – WWE Armageddon
==Title changes==
January
:*January 6 - Rey Misterio, Jr. defeated Eddie Colón to win the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship in Caguas, Puerto Rico
:*January 7 - Spike Dudley and Tazz defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) to win the World Tag Team Championship in New York City
:*January 29 - Diamond Dallas Page defeated Christian to win the WWF European Championship in Norfolk, Virginia
March
:*March 9 - Dan Severn defeats Shinya Hashimoto in Tokyo, Japan to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ends in controversy due to a fast count delivered against Hashimoto
:*March 17 - Triple H defeats Chris Jericho to win the WWF Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania X-8 in Toronto, Ontario; Rob Van Dam defeats William Regal to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania
April
:*April 2 - Billy Kidman defeats Tajiri to win the WWF Cruiserweight Championship in Rochester, New York
:*April 5 - Yuji Nagata defeats Tadao Yasuda to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, Japan
:*April 8 - Spike Dudley defeats William Regal to win the WWF European title in Phoenix, Arizona
:*April 21 - Hulk Hogan defeats Triple H to win the WWF Undisputed title at Backlash 2002 in Kansas City, Missouri; Eddie Guerrero defeats Rob Van Dam to win the WWF Intercontinental title at Backlash
May
:*May 11 - Nick Mondo defeats Adam Flash to win the CZW Iron Man Championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
:*May 19 - The Undertaker defeats Hulk Hogan to win the WWE Undisputed title at Judgement Day 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee; Rikishi and Rico defeat Billy and Chuck to win the World Tag Team title at Judgement Day
June
:*June 8 - The Shane Twins (Mike and Todd Shane) defeat the New Heavenly Bodies (Chris Nelson & Vito DeNucci) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in Lima, Peru; Justice Pain defeated Nick Mondo to win the CZW Iron Man Championship in Philadelphia
:*June 19 - Dan Severn is stripped of the NWA World title when he is unable to appear at NWA-TNA's inaugural PPV in Huntsville, Alabama due to a schedule conflict; Ken Shamrock defeats Malice in the final of a Gauntlet for the Gold match at the same event to win the vacant NWA World title; A.J. Styles defeats Psicosis, Jerry Lynn, and Low-Ki in a Fatal Four-way match to become the first TNA X-Division Champion in Huntsville
:*June 28 - The NWA World Tag Team title is vacated at the request of NWA-TNA for use in their upcoming tag team tournament
July
:*July 2 - Edge and Hulk Hogan defeat Billy and Chuck to win the World Tag Team Championship in Boston, Massachusetts
:*July 3 - A.J. Styles and Jerry Lynn defeat The Rainbow Express (Lenny Lane and Bruce) in a tournament final in Nashville to win the vacant NWA World Tag Team title
:*July 8 - Jeff Hardy defeats William Regal to win the WWE European title in Philadelphia
:*July 13 - Adam Flash defeats Justice Pain to win the CZW Iron Man Championship in Philadelphia
:*July 17 - KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) defeat Taiyō Kea and Keiji Mutoh to win the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship
:*July 21 - The Rock defeats The Undertaker and Kurt Angle to win the Undisputed WWE title at Vengeance 2002 in Detroit, Michigan; The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm) defeat Edge and Hulk Hogan to win the World Tag Team title at Vengeance
:*July 27 - Low-Ki defeats Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams in a Four-way, 60-minute Iron Man match to become the first ROH World Champion in Philadelphia
:*July 29 - Chris Benoit defeats Rob Van Dam to win the WWE Intercontinental title in Greensboro, North Carolina
August
:*August 7 - Ron Killings defeats Ken Shamrock to win the NWA World title in Nashville; Low-Ki defeats A.J. Styles to win the TNA X-Division title in Nashville
:*August 14 - A.J. Styles & Jerry Lynn are stripped of the NWA World Tag Team title following a double-pin against Jeff Jarrett & Ron Killings in Nashville
:*August 25 - Brock Lesnar defeats The Rock to win the Undisputed WWE title at SummerSlam 2002 in Uniondale, New York
September
:*September 2 - The Undisputed WWE title officially becomes exclusive to the SmackDown! brand and is renamed the WWE Championship; Eric Bischoff introduces the World Heavyweight Championship to the RAW brand and awards it to Triple H
:*September 18 - America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) win a Gauntlet for the Gold match in Nashville to capture the vacant NWA World Tag Team title
:*September 21 - Xavier defeats Low Ki to win the ROH World title in Philadelphia; The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan) defeat American Dragon & Michael Modest in a tournament final to become the first ROH World Tag Team Champions in Philadelphia
October
:*October 9 - Syxx-Pac defeats A.J. Styles to win the TNA X-Division title in Nashville
:*October 20 - Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit defeat Edge and Rey Mysterio in a tournament final to become the first WWE Tag Team Champions at No Mercy in North Little Rock, Arkansas; World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeats Kane for the WWE Intercontinental title in a title unification match at No Mercy
:*October 23 - A.J. Styles defeats Syxx-Pac to win the TNA X-Division title in Nashville
:*October 27 - The Great Muta defeated Genichiro Tenryu to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship in Tokyo
November
:*November 2 - Konnan defeated Carly Colón to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico
:*November 13 - The Disciples of The New Church (Brian Lee & Slash) defeat America's Most Wanted to win the NWA World Tag Team title in Nashville
:*November 17 - The Big Show defeats Brock Lesnar to win the WWE title at Survivor Series 2002 in New York City; Shawn Michaels defeats Triple H, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam to win the World Heavyweight title at Survivor Series
:*November 20 - Jeff Jarrett defeats Ron Killings to win the NWA World Heavyweight title in Nashville
December
:*December 11 - Sonny Siaki defeated Jerry Lynn to win the TNA X-Division title in Nashville
:*December 15 - Kurt Angle defeats The Big Show to win the WWE title at Armageddon 2002 in Sunrise, Florida; Triple H defeats Shawn Michaels to win the World Heavyweight title at Armageddon; Booker T and Goldust defeat Christian and Chris Jericho to win the World Tag Team title at Armageddon
==References==
Category:Wrestling Years