List of years in professional wrestling
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1981 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1981.

Promotion Name Abbreviation Notes
Big Time Wrestling BTW Renamed to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) the following year.
Joint Promotions —
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre EMLL
Universal Wrestling Association UWA

Calendar of notable shows

Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main Event
February 8 UWA UWA 6th Anniversary Show Naucalpan, Mexico El Solitario (c) wrestled Villano III to a timelimit draw In a match for the UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship[1]
April 3 EMLL 25. Aniversario de Arena México Mexico City, Mexico Tony Salazar defeated Alfonso Dantés (c) in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship[2]
June 4 NJPW MSG League Tokyo, Japan Antonio Inoki defeated Stan Hansen by count-out
BTW Wrestling Star Wars (June) Dallas, Texas Fritz Von Erich defeated Gary Hart in a steel cage match[3]
September 18 EMLL EMLL 48th Anniversary Show Mexico City, Mexico Espectro Jr. defeated El Vengador in a Lucha de Apuesta mask vs. mask vs. mask match; El Supremo was also in the match[4]
September 29 Dale Martin Promotions Mike Marino Memorial Shield Croydon, England Mal Sanders defeated Syd Cooper in the tournament final[5]
October 24 BTW Wrestling Star Wars (October) Dallas, Texas Al Madril (c) defeated Bill Irwin via disqualification in a singles match for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship[6]
October 4 Joint Dale Martin Extravaganza London, England Big Daddy defeated Giant Haystacks in a "Knockout Only, No Rounds" match
December 4 EMLL Juicio Final Mexico City, Mexico Ringo Mendoza defeated El Faraón in a Lucha de Apuestas, hair vs. hair match[7]
December 10 NJPW MSG Tag League Tokyo, Japan André the Giant and Rene Goulet defeated Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami
December 25 BTW Christmas Star Wars Dallas, Texas Big Daddy Bundy defeated Al Madril, Armand Hussein, Bill Irwin, Blue Demon, Carlos Zapata, David Von Erich, Frank Dusek, José Lothario, Kerry Von Erich, Killer Tim Brooks, El Negro Assassino, Richard Blood and Ten Gu in a Two-ring battle royal[8]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable Events

  • June 20 - At the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Don Muraco pinned Pedro Morales to become the new WWF Intercontinental Champion.
  • November 23 - At New York's Madison Square Garden in a Texas Death Match, Pedro Morales regained the WWF Intercontinental Championship by pinning Don Muraco.

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament Chigusa Nagayo

AJPW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Champion's Carnival Giant Baba April 23

JCP

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
NWA United States Championship Tournament Sgt. Slaughter October 4

NJPW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
G1 Climax Antonio Inoki June 4 defeated Stan Hansen in the finals

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Fabulous Freebirds
(Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy)
PWI Match of the Year André the Giant vs. Killer Khan
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Tommy Rich
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Ken Patera
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Kevin Sullivan
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Bob Backlund
PWI Rookie of the Year David Sammartino
PWI Editor's Award Bruno Sammartino
PWI Manager of the Year Lou Albano

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Category Winner
Wrestler of the Year Harley Race
Feud of the Year André the Giant vs. Killer Khan
Tag Team of the Year Jimmy Snuka and Terry Gordy
Most Improved Adrian Adonis
Best on Interviews Lou Albano / Roddy Piper

Tournaments

IWE

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Lou Thesz Cup No winner The league was scheduled to go three rounds but never finished due to the closure of IWE

Births

Daniel Bryan

Debuts

  • Uncertain debut date

Retirements

Deaths

References

  1. ↑ Centinela, Teddy (February 7, 2015). "En un día como hoy… 1981: Aniversario independiente, Solitario vs. Villano III por el Campeonato Mundial de Peso Semicompleto UWA". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  3. ↑ "Wrestling Star Wars". Pro Wrestling History. June 1981.
  4. ↑ "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  5. ↑ Lister, John. "1981". ITV Wrestling Listings. JohnListerWriting.com. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Wrestling Star Wars". Pro Wrestling History. October 25, 1981.
  7. ↑ "EMLL Super Viernes". Wrestling Data. December 4, 1981. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Christmas Star Wars". Pro Wrestling History. December 25, 1981.
  9. ↑ "OWOW profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  10. ↑ "Kenta". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  11. ↑ "Kenta". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  12. ↑ Milner, John M.; Clevett, Jason. "Bryan Danielson". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Johnny Curtis - Online World of Wrestling". Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Fergal Devitt profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  15. ↑ "NFL Player Profile". NFL. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  16. ↑ "Byron Kelly Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  17. ↑ 浦井. AtoZ (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 22, 2005. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Kana-kana.jp" プロフィール. Kana Net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Erick Rowan Profile". WrestlingData.
  20. ↑ "Wrestlers born in 1968: 1 - 50 of 125". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
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