2015 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
List of notable promotions These promotions held notable events in 2015. Promotion NameAbbreviationNotesCMLLGlobal Force WrestlingGFWLucha Libre AAA WorldwideAAAThe "AAA" abbreviation has been used since the mid-1990s and had previously stood for the promotion's original name Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.New Japan Pro-WrestlingNJPWPro Wrestling GuerrillaPWGRevolution Pro WrestlingRevProRing of HonorROHTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTNAWorld Wrestling CouncilWWCWWE—WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment, which is still the legal name, but the company ceased using the full name in April 2011, with the WWE abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism.
Calendar of notable shows January
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 3 WWC Euphoria Bayamon, Puerto Rico Carlito (c) defeated The Mighty Ursus in an Inferno match for the WWC Universal Championship 4 NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 Tokyo Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Kazuchika Okada in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 25 WWE Royal Rumble Philadelphia Roman Reigns won the 30-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Rusev to earn a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
February
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 11 WWE: TakeOver: Rival Winter Park Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn (c) by referee stoppage to win the NXT Championship 11 NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka Osaka A.J. Styles defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 13 TNA One Night Only: Hardcore Justice Orlando, Florida Bobby Roode defeated Lashley in a Last Man standing match 13 TNA One Night Only: Global Impact – USA vs. The World Orlando, Florida Team International's The Great Muta defeated Team USA's Mr. Anderson 14 NJPW The New Beginning in Sendai Sendai Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Yuji Nagata in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship 14 TNA One Night Only: Joker's Wild Orlando, Florida 16-person intergender Joker's Wild gauntlet battle royal 15 TNA One Night Only: X-Travaganza Orlando, Florida Ultimate X match 15 TNA One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown Orlando, Florida Knockouts Gauntlet match to crown the "Queen of the Knockouts" 15 TNA One Night Only: World Cup Orlando, Florida Six-on-Six Elimination Tag Team match 16 TNA One Night Only: Gut Check Orlando, Florida Five-way elimination match 16 TNA One Night Only: The TNA Classic Orlando, Florida Gunner defeated Bram 22 WWE Fastlane Memphis Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan in a Singles match to retain his spot as the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
March
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 1 ROH ROH 13th Anniversary Show Las Vegas Jay Briscoe (c) defeated Tommaso Ciampa, Michael Elgin and Hanson in a Four corner survival match to retain the ROH World Championship 15 NJPW New Japan Cup Final Hiroshima Kota Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto in the tournament final to win the 2015 New Japan Cup 18 AAA Rey de Reyes Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico Four-way elimination Rey de Reyes tournament final match 27 ROH Supercard of Honor IX Redwood City Jay Briscoe (c) defeated Samoa Joe in a Singles match to retain the ROH World Championship 29 WWE WrestleMania 31 Santa Clara Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar's (c) singles match to make it a triple threat match and pinned Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
April Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 5 NJPW Invasion Attack Tokyo A.J. Styles (c) defeated Kota Ibushi in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 26 CMLL 59. Aniversario de Arena México Mexico City, Mexico Marco Corleone defeated La Sombra, Pólvora, Barbaro Cavernario, Dragon Lee, Kamaitachi, La Máscara, Ripper, Morphosis and Titán 26 WWE Extreme Rules Rosemont Seth Rollins (c) defeated Randy Orton in a Steel Cage match to retain WWE World Heavyweight Championship with the RKO banned and Kane as the gatekeeper(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
May
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 3 NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Fukuoka Hirooki Goto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship 12ROH NJPWWar of the WorldsPhiladelphia Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura) defeated The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) in a Tag Team match 13 The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) defeated Bullet Club (A.J. Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in a Six-man tag team match 15ROHNJPWGlobal WarsToronto ROH All Stars (Hanson, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Ray Rowe and Roderick Strong) defeated Bullet Club (A.J. Styles, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in a Ten-man tag team match 16 Bullet Club (A.J. Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Chaos (Beretta, Kazuchika Okada and Rocky Romero) in a Six-man tag team match 17 WWE Payback Baltimore Seth Rollins (c) defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton in a Fatal 4-Way match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. 20 WWE: TakeOver: Unstoppable Winter Park Kevin Owens (c) vs Sami Zayn in a Singles match for the NXT Championship ended in a no contest 31 WWE Elimination Chamber Corpus Christi Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins (c) by disqualification in a Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
June
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 7 NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Tokyo Kushida defeated Kyle O'Reilly in final match in Best Of The Super Junior 2015. 14 AAA Verano de Escándalo Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Johnny Mundo, El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. in a Six-man tag team match 14 WWE Money in the Bank Columbus Seth Rollins (c) defeated Dean Ambrose in a Ladder match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship 19 ROH Best in the World New York City Jay Lethal (c - TV) defeated Jay Briscoe (c - World) in a Winner Take All singles match to win both the ROH World Championship and ROH World Television Championship 28 TNA Slammiversary Orlando Jeff Jarrett defeated Matt Hardy, Eric Young, Drew Galloway, and Bobby Roode in a King of the Mountain match to win the vacant TNA King of the Mountain Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
July
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 4 WWE The Beast in the East Sumida John Cena and Dolph Ziggler defeated Kane and King Barrett in a Tag Team match 5 NJPW Dominion Osaka Kazuchika Okada defeated A.J. Styles (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 17 CMLL Sin Salida Mexico City, Mexico Último Guerrero defeated Rey Escorpión in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match 19 WWE Battleground St. Louis Brock Lesnar defeated Seth Rollins (c) by disqualification in a Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship 24 GFW One Night Only: GFW Amped Anthology – Part 1 Las Vegas, Nevada GFW Global Championship Tournament match 24 ROH Death Before Dishonor Baltimore Jay Lethal (c) vs. Roderick Strong ended in a 60-minute time limit draw in a Singles match for the ROH World Championship 25 GFW One Night Only: GFW Amped Anthology – Part 2 Las Vegas, Nevada GFW Global Championship Tournament match(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
August
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 9 AAA Triplemanía XXIII Mexico City Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Myzteziz 16 NJPW G1 Climax Final Tokyo Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the final of the 2015 G1 Climax 21 GFW One Night Only: GFW Amped Anthology – Part 3 Las Vegas, Nevada GFW Global Championship #1 Contenders Triple Threat match 21 GFW One Night Only: GFW Amped Anthology – Part 4 Las Vegas, Nevada GFW Global Championship Finals match 22 ROH Field of Honor Brooklyn Jay Lethal and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) in a Tag Team match 22 WWE: TakeOver: Brooklyn Brooklyn Finn Bálor (c) defeated Kevin Owens in a Ladder match to retain the NXT Championship 23 WWE SummerSlam Brooklyn The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar by submission in a Singles match28–30PWGBattle of Los AngelesReseda, CaliforniaZack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Hero and Mike Bailey in an elimination three-way match to win the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles tournament(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
September
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 18 CMLL CMLL 82nd Anniversary Show Mexico City, Mexico Atlantis defeated La Sombra in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match 18 ROH All Star Extravaganza San Antonio Jay Lethal (c) defeated Kyle O'Reilly in a Singles match to retain the ROH World Championship 20 WWE Night of Champions Houston Seth Rollins (c) defeated Sting in a Singles match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship 23 NJPW Destruction in Okayama Okayama Togi Makabe (c) defeated Kota Ibushi in a Singles match to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship 26 WWC 42nd WWC Aniversario Bayamón, Puerto Rico Tommy Diablo vs. Peter the Bad Romance (c) for the WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship 27 NJPW Destruction in Kobe Kobe Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Hirooki Goto (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
October
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main event 2NJPW / RevProUprisingBethnal Green, London, United KingdomAJ Styles (c) defeated Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay in a Three-way match for the British Heavyweight Championship3NJPW / RevProGlobal Wars UKReading, United KingdomAJ Styles (c) defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger in a Singles match for the British Heavyweight Championship 3 WWE Live from Madison Square Garden New York City John Cena (c) defeated Seth Rollins in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWE United States Championship 4 AAA Heroes Inmortales San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico El Patrón Alberto (c) defeated Johnny Mundo in a Singles match for the AAA Mega Championship 4 TNA Bound for Glory Concord Matt Hardy defeated Ethan Carter III (c) and Drew Galloway in a Three-Way match to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Jeff Hardy as special guest referee 7 WWE: TakeOver: Respect Winter Park Bayley (c) defeated Sasha Banks 3–2 in a 30-minute Iron Man match to retain the NXT Women's Championship 12 NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling Tokyo Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated A.J. Styles in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 23 GFW GFW Amped Anthology – Part 3 Las Vegas, Nevada GFW Global Championship Finals match 23ROHGlory By Honor Kalamazoo The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) defeated Dalton Castle and War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) in a Six-man tag team match 24 Dayton ROH Champions (Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong and The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett)) defeated ROH All-Stars (Moose, The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) and Dalton Castle) in an Eight-man elimination tag team match 25 WWE Hell in a Cell Los Angeles Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
November