1987 in professional wrestling explained

1987 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1987.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW
American Wrestling Association	AWA
Championship Wrestling from Florida	CWF
	EMLL
Jim Crockett Promotions	JCP
	WCCW
World Wrestling Council	WWC
	WWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
February 21	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Detroit, Michigan	Randy Savage (c) defeated George Steele by count-out in a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the managerial services of Miss Elizabeth
March 29	WWF	WrestleMania III	Pontiac, Michigan	Hulk Hogan (c) defeated André the Giant in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship^[1]
April 12	EMLL	31. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Cien Caras defeated Siglo XX in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match^[2]
April 10–11	JCP	2nd Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament	Baltimore, Maryland	April 11: The Super Powers (Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes) defeated Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger in a tournament final^[3]
April 16	AWA	Rage in a Cage II	Las Vegas, Nevada	Wahoo McDaniel defeated Curt Hennig in a Steel Cage Match
April 28	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Notre Dame, Indiana	Hulk Hogan and Ken Patera vs. Andre the Giant and Hercules
May 2	AWA	SuperClash II	Daly City, California	Curt Hennig defeated Nick Bockwinkel (c) in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship^[4]
May 3	WCCW	4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions	Irving, Texas	Kevin Von Erich (c) wrestled Nord the Barbarian to a double count out in a singles match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship^[5]
May 9	CWF	First Annual Eddie Graham Memorial Show	St. Petersburg, Florida	Dusty Rhodes (c) defeated Ric Flair by disqualification in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship^[6]
June 12	NJPW	G1 Climax	Tokyo, Japan	Chigusa Nagayo defeated Dump Matsumoto in the finals
June 28	AJW	Japan Grand Prix	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki defeated Masa Saito in the finals
July 4	JCP	The Great American Bash	Atlanta	The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard and J. J. Dillon) in a WarGames match^[7]
July 18			Charlotte, North Carolina	Dusty Rhodes (with Barry Windham) defeated Tully Blanchard in a "lights-out" Barbed Wire Ladder match for $100,000.
July 31			Miami	The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine in a WarGames match
September 1	CWF	Battle of the Belts III	Daytona Beach, Florida	Ric Flair (c) fought Lex Luger to a draw in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
September 4	WWF	King of the Ring	Providence, Rhode Island	Randy Savage defeated King Kong Bundy in a King of the Ring tournament final match^[8]
September 18	EMLL	EMLL 54th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Mogur defeated As Charro in a Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match^[9]
September 20	WWC	WWC 14th Aniversario	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Invader #1 defeated Chicky Starr in a "Retirement vs. hair" match
September 23	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Hershey, Pennsylvania	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Sika for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
October 10	AJW	Tag League the Best	Tokyo, Japan	Chigusa Nagayo & Yumiko Hotta defeated Hisako Uno & Yukari Omori in the finals
October 17	WCCW	4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza	Dallas, Texas	Kevin Von Erich defeated Al Perez (c) in a singles match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship^[10] ^[11]
November 11	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Seattle, Washington	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
November 26	WWF	Survivor Series	Richfield Township, Ohio	André the Giant, Butch Reed, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang and Rick Rude defeated Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera and Paul Orndorff in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match^[12]
	JCP	Starrcade	Chicago, Illinois	Ric Flair defeated Ron Garvin (c) in a steel cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship^[13]
December 7	NJPW	Japan Cup Tag League	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch defeated Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami in the finals
	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Landover, Maryland	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
December 26	AJW	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling at Korauken Hall	Tokyo, Japan
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Tournaments and accomplishments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Japan Grand Prix 1987	Chigusa Nagayo	June 28
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Toshiyo Yamada
Tag League the Best 1987	Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka	October 11

JCP

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Bunkhouse Stampede	Dusty Rhodes^[14] ^[15]
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament	The Super Powers (Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes)	April 11

WWF

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Frank Tunney Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament	The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell)	March 15
King of the Ring	Randy Savage	September 4

Slammy Awards

See main article: Slammy Award.

Poll	Winner
Best Performance by an Animal	George "The Animal" Steele^[16] ^[17] ^[18]
Woman of the Year	Miss Elizabeth
Best Ring Apparel	Harley Race
Hulk Hogan Real American Award	Superstar Billy Graham
Jesse "The Body" Award	"Ravishing" Rick Rude
Greatest Hit	Jim Duggan
Manager of the Year	None
Best Personal Hygiene	Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, and Slick
Best Vocal Performance	Jim Duggan
Song of the Year	No winner (envelope eaten by Sika)^[19]
Best Group	One Man Gang
Humanitarian of the Year	Ted DiBiase
Best Head	Gene Okerlund and Bam Bam Bigelow
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award	The Islanders (Haku & Tama), André the Giant, Hercules, King Kong Bundy, and Harley Race

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

See main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards.

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Hulk Hogan
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)
PWI Match of the Year	Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (WrestleMania III)
PWI Feud of the Year	The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger) vs. The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff) and The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Dusty Rhodes
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Ric Flair
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Curt Hennig
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Nikita Koloff
PWI Rookie of the Year	Owen Hart
PWI Lifetime Achievement	Paul Boesch
PWI Editor's Award	Jimmy Hart

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

See main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Riki Choshu
Most Outstanding	Ric Flair
Feud of the Year	Austin Idol and Tommy Rich vs. Jerry Lawler
Tag Team of the Year	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)
Most Improved	Rick Steiner
Best on Interviews	Jim Cornette

Title changes

WWF

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
March 29	Ricky Steamboat	WrestleMania III
June 2	The Honky Tonk Man	Superstars of Wrestling	Aired on tape delay on June 13

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
No title changes

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
July 24	Sensational Sherri	Live event

Incoming champions – The British Bulldogs
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
January 26	The Hart Foundation	Superstars	aired on tape delay on February 7
August 10	The Rougeau Brothers	House show
October 27	Strike Force	Superstars	Aired on tape delay on November 7

Births

• January 5 – Willie Mack
• January 7 – Alisha Edwards
• January 15:
  • Kelly Kelly^[20]
  • Nicole Matthews
  • January 25 – Laura James January 30 – Becky Lynch
• February 1 – Ronda Rousey
• March 1 – Kyle O'Reilly^[21]
  • • March 9 – Aubrey Edwards March 17 – Brody King March 19 – AJ Lee
• March 20 – Nao Kakuta
  • • March 30 – Trent Beretta April 22 – Yusuke Kodama April 23 – Donovan Dijak^[22]
• April 28 – Drew Gulak^{[23] [24]}
  • • April 29 – Brittney Savage May 2 – Pat McAfee May 7 – Angélico
• May 11 – Lince Dorado^[25]
• May 17 – Dash Wilder^[26]
• May 23 – Bray Wyatt^{[27] [28]} (died in 2023)
  • May 26 – Steve Maclin July 7 – Richie Steamboat
• July 9 – Mini Charly Manson
• July 14 – Charly Caruso
  • July 20 – Evil Uno July 24 – Zack Sabre Jr.
• July 28 – Lindsay Kay Hayward
  • August 11 – Chris Dickinson August 14 – Johnny Gargano^[29]
• August 22 – Apollo Crews^[30]
• September 1 – Sami Callihan
• September 3 – Allie
  • • • • September 4 – Wesley Blake September 5 – A. R. Fox September 15 – Rhett Titus September 21 – Ivelisse Vélez October 7 – Aiden English^[31]
• October 23 – Carmella^[32]
• October 26 – Portia Perez
• November 2 – Samir Singh
  • • • November 3 – Cameron November 5 – Allysin Kay November 8 – Kazuchika Okada November 22 – Elias
• November 30 – Naomi
• December 7 – A. C. H.
• December 27 – Andy Leavine

Debuts

Debut date

Uncertain debut date

Retirements

• Tony Garea (1971–1987)
• Armand Rougeau (1982–1987)
• Bob Boyer (wrestler) (1950s-1987)
• Bob Sweetan (1966–1987)
• Bruno Sammartino (1959–1987)
• David Schultz (1974–1987)
• Huracan Ramirez (1941–1987)
• Ivan Putski (1968–1987)
• Kelly Kiniski (1980–1987)
• Killer Khan (1971–1987)
• Ron Fuller (1973–1987)
• Klondike Bill (1958–1987)
• Moose Cholak (1952–1987)
• Nick Bockwinkel (1955–1987)
• Paul Boesch (1938–1987)
• Pedro Morales (1959–1987)
• Rene Goulet (1957–1987)
• Super Maxx (1981–1987)
• Superstar Billy Graham (1970–1987)
• Tony Marino (1954–1987)
• Tor Kamata (1959–1987)
• Al Costello (1938–1987)

Deaths

• Unknown - Milton Reid, 69 or 70 (born 1917)
• January unknown date - Atholl Oakeley, 86
• January 10 - Steve Casey, 78
• April 12:
  • Mike Von Erich, 23
  • Akram Pahalwan, 56 or 57 (born 1930)
• August 24 – Malcolm Kirk, 51
• August 30 - Frank Stojack, 75
• September 3 - Rusty Wescoatt, 76
• September 5 – Scott Irwin, 35
• October 22 - Lino Ventura, 68
• November 28 – Kazuharu Sonoda, 31
• December 4 - Betty Jo Hawkins, 57

See also

• List of WCW pay-per-view events
• List of WWF pay-per-view events

Notes and References

1. Web site: WrestleMania III Breaks Attendance Record: Wake-Up Video. Anderson. Kyle. 2010-03-29. MTV. 2010-09-08. 2010-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20100404010718/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/03/29/wrestlemania-attendance. dead.
2. News: Lucha 2000 Staff . Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre . Lucha 2000 . Especial 28 . April 2006 . Spanish.
3. Web site: 2nd Annual Crockett Cup . Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments . August 23, 2009.
4. Web site: SuperClash II. May 2, 1987. Pro Wrestling History. April 4, 2015.
5. Web site: 4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions . May 3, 1987 . April 10, 2015 . Pro Wrestling History.
6. Web site: Eddie Graham Memorial Show . ProWrestlingHistory.com.
7. Meltzer . Dave . Dave Meltzer . July 13, 1987 . . Top Story . 7.13.87.
8. Web site: WWF King of the Ring '87 at Providence Civic Center wrestling results – Internet Wrestling Database. www.profightdb.com. 2019-10-08.
9. Web site: 54th Anniversary Show. September 18, 1987. November 1, 2012. Pro Wrestling History.
10. Web site: 4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza . October 17, 1987 . April 10, 2015 . Pro Wrestling History.
11. News: Historical Cards: 4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza (October 17, 1987. Dallas, Texas) . PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts . Kappa Publications. 2007 Edition. 172.
12. Web site: Survivor Series 1987 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. 2008-05-27.
13. Web site: SPECIALIST – 20 Years Ago: Detailed look back at Starrcade '87 with Flair vs. Garvin. Brian. Hoops. 2007-12-18. PWTorch. 2008-05-24.
14. Web site: Bunkhouse Stampedes. Pro Wrestling History. June 17, 2015.
15. Book: The History of Professional Wrestling: Jim Crockett Promotions & the NWA World Title 1983–1988. Cawthon. Graham. Cornette. Jim. 2013-12-25. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 9781494803476. Sawyer. Grant. 1. English.
16. Web site: Slammy Awards History. Wrestling Information Archive. 2008-02-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20110908073222/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/wwf/slammy.htm. 2011-09-08. dead.
17. Web site: WWF Slammy Awards (1987). TWNP News. 2008-02-22.
18. Web site: WWF Slammy Awards (1987). Pro Wrestling History. 2008-02-22.
19. Web site: Bringing back Slammy Awards – a good, bad idea. https://archive.today/20130101004606/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/MatMatters/2008/12/07/7661906.html. dead. January 1, 2013. Bishop, Matt and Matt Mackinder. December 7, 2008. SLAM! Wrestling. 2008-12-09.
20. Web site: Kelly Kelly. https://archive.today/20120629175827/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/kellykelly.html. dead. June 29, 2012. Kamchen. Richard. July 4, 2009. Slam Sports. Canadian Online Explorer.
21. Web site: The Pain of Graduation Day. https://archive.today/20120721064456/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2006/06/17/1638253.html. dead. July 21, 2012. June 17, 2006. Johns. Fred. November 28, 2010. Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer.
22. Web site: Donovan Dijak. May 18, 2015. The Internet Wrestling Database.
23. Web site: Drew Gulak . www.wrestlingdata.com.
24. Web site: Drew Gulak . 3 October 2016 . Gerweck.net . 2016-12-22.
25. Web site: Lince Dorado . https://web.archive.org/web/20130125005748/http://tnagutcheck.com/contestants/gut-check-participants/2011-2/april-2011-baton-rouge-la/jose-cordero/ . 2013-01-25 . 2013-01-22 . . dead .
26. Web site: Dash Wilder Profile . August 23, 2015 . Online World of Wrestling . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150831035610/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/s/steven-walters/ . August 31, 2015 .
27. Web site: Windham Rotunda – 2007 Football. August 3, 2007. May 18, 2013. Troy Trojans.
28. Web site: Bray Wyatt profile. June 17, 2013. Online World of Wrestling. June 28, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130628121120/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/b/bray-wyatt/. dead.
29. Web site: Online World of Wrestling profile. Online World of Wrestling. 2010-07-26. 2012-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20120827075855/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/j/johnny-gargano.html. dead.
30. Web site: Apollo Crews reflects on his NXT debut: WWE.com Exclusive, August 22, 2015 (0:58) . August 22, 2015 . August 23, 2015 . . Apollo Crews comments on what it was like debuting in NXT, before more than 15,000 NXT fans, on his 28th birthday..
31. Web site: Aiden English. wrestling data. July 24, 2015.
32. Web site: Carmella. Online World of Wrestling. 2017-12-26. 2017-06-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20170628160846/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/c/carmella. dead.