1968 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
List of notable promotions Only one promotion held notable shows in 1968. Promotion NameAbbreviationEMLL
Calendar of notable shows Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main eventApril 26EMLL12. Aniversario de Arena MéxicoMexico City, MexicoHuracán Ramírez defeated El Enfermero, Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask matchSeptember 20EMLL 35th Anniversary ShowKarloff Lagarde (c) defeated Blue Demon in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Welterweight ChampionshipDecember 13Juicio FinalEl Solitario defeated Ray Mendoza in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. hair match(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
Notable Events June 8 - at San Francisco, California, Pepper Gomez and Pedro Morales defeat Great Sasaki and Kinji Shibuya to become the San Francisco's NWA World Tag Team Championship. August 17 - at Bloomington, Minnesota, Dr. X beat Verne Gagne to become the new AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Inside Wrestling magazine hit the newsstands with its first issue.
Tournaments
IWE AccomplishmentWinnerDate wonNotesIWA World SeriesBilly RobinsonDecember 19
Championship changes EMLL DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)May 19Ángel BlancoEMLL showDecember 25Ray MendozaEMLL show
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)December 13El SantoSuper Viernes
No title changes
No title changes
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)February 25Humberto GarzaEMLL showOctober 20Alberto MunozEMLL show
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)August 20Estrella BlancaEMLL show
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)March 22Mil MáscarasEMLL showApril 10VacatedN/AChampionship vacated for undocumented reasons
DateWinnerEvent/ShowNote(s)October 20VacatedN/AChampionship vacated after Muñoz won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship
No title changes
No title changes
NWA No title changes
Debuts Debut date uncertain: Blackjack Mulligan Dusty Rhodes El Halcón Jimmy Golden Kung Fu Lee Marshall Marty Jones Michel Martel Nikolai Volkoff El Sicodélico January 1 Ringo Mendoza February 24 Enrique Vera August 30 Kim Duk November 1 Jimmy Garvin December Chavo Guerrero Sr. December 6 J. J. Dillon
Retirements Billy Riley (1920s-1968)
Births January 5 Noboru Asahi January 8 Bull Nakano January 9 Silver King(died in 2019) January 12 Big Dick Dudley(died in 2002) January 15 Bull Buchanan January 31 Ray Odyssey February 13 Daisuke Ikeda February 19 August Smisl March 7 Súper Brazo March 19 Eddie Watts March 28 Jaime Cardriche (died in 2000) March 31 Naoya Ogawa April 16 Vickie Guerrero April 24: Yuji Nagata El Espantito(died in 2020) May 10 William Regal May 14 Mantaur(died in 2023) May 24 Rayo Tapatío I May 26 Simon Diamond June 17 Minoru Suzuki June 20 Mr. Gannosuke June 26 Koji Nakagawa June 30 The Bodyguard July 3 Sombrita July 8 Romeo Valentino July 17 Doctor X (died in 2011) July 18 Pequeño Violencia August 2 Maximum Capacity (died in 2014) August 5: Kendo Kashin Leroy Howard (died in 2018) August 11: Head Hunter A Head Hunter B August 20 Duke Droese August 24 Funaki August 26 Joe Thunder September 3 Black Pearl September 24 Eric Sbraccia September 28: Jado Apolo Dantés October 3 Chi Chi Cruz October 28 Mayumi Ozaki October 30 Dr. Luther October 31 Russ McCullough November 3 Dirty White Girl November 10 Mitsuya Nagai November 12: Disco Inferno Kazue Nagahori November 13 Mike Lozansky (died in 2003) November 29 Hayabusa(died in 2016) December 8 Michael Cole December 9: Kurt Angle Virus Jack Dupp December 10 - Mephisto December 26 Mideon
Deaths January 15 Firpo Segura 60 February 19 George Hackenschmidt 89 March 9: Bert Ruby 57 John Katan 66 May 30 Espanto I 37 June 10 Wladek Zbyszko 76 June 21 Ike Robin, 81 August 11 Oklahoma Kid (Elmer Gerald), 30 December 3 Dick Shikat, 71
References