1991 in professional wrestling explained

1991 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1991.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation	Notes
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW
Catch Wrestling Association	CWA
	EMLL/CMLL	During the fall, EMLL was renamed to CMLL.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling	FMW
New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW
Universal Wrestling Association	UWA
Universal Wrestling Federation	UWF
World Championship Wrestling	WCW
World Wrestling Council	WWC
	WWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
January 11	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan	Kawasaki, Japan	Bull Nakano and Kyoko Inoue defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in a tag team hair vs hair match
January 19	WWF	Royal Rumble	Miami, Florida	Hulk Hogan won by last eliminating Earthquake in the 30-man Royal Rumble match
January 27	UWA	UWA 16th Anniversary Show	Naucalpan, Mexico	Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras and El Canek defeated The Hawaiian Beasts (Fatu, Kokina and Nikozuna) in a Best two out of three falls Six-man tag team match
February 24	WCW	WrestleWar	Phoenix, Arizona	The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Barry Windham and Sid Vicious) and Larry Zbyszko (with Arn Anderson) defeated Sting, Brian Pillman and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) in a WarGames match^[1]
March 21	WCW NJPW	WCW/New Japan Supershow I	Tokyo, Japan	Tatsumi Fujinami (IWGP Champion) defeated Ric Flair (NWA Champion) in a Title for Title for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
March 24	WWF	WrestleMania VII	Los Angeles, California	Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) (with General Adnan) in a Singles match for the WWF Championship
March 30	WWF / SWS	WrestleFest	Tokyo, Japan	The Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal) beat Hulk Hogan & Genichiro Tenryu via countout
April 15	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Omaha, Nebraska	20-Man Battle Royal
April 24		UK Rampage	London, England	Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Sgt. Slaughter (with General Adnan) in a Singles match for the WWF Championship
May 19	WCW	SuperBrawl I	St. Petersburg, Florida	Ric Flair (c-WCW) defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (c-NWA) in a Singles match for the NWA and WCW World Heavyweight Championships^[2] ^[3]
June 9	UWF	Beach Brawl	Palmetto, Florida	Steve Williams defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in a Tournament final for the inaugural UWF SportsChannel Television Championship
July 6	WWC	WWC 18th Aniversario	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Dino Bravo defeated Carlos Colón (c) via reverse decision in a Singles match for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship with El Vikingo as the special referee.
July 14	WCW	The Great American Bash	Baltimore, Maryland	Rick Steiner defeated Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously in a Steel Cage match
	NJPW	G1 Climax	Tokyo, Japan	Keiji Mutoh defeated Masahiro Chono in the finals
August 18	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Korakuen Hall	Tokyo, Japan	Kyoko Inoue defeats Bison Kimura in the finals of the Japan Grand Prix 1991
August 26	WWF	SummerSlam	New York City, New York	Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior defeated Col. Mustafa, General Adnan and Sgt. Slaughter in a 3 vs 2 Handicap match with Sid Justice as special guest referee
September 7	WWF	King of the Ring	Providence, Rhode Island	Bret Hart defeated Irwin R. Schyster in a King of the Ring tournament final match
	AJW	Exciting Zone Omiya Night	Omiya, Japan	Bull Nakano defeats Kyoko Inoue in a WWWA World Title match
September 8	EMLL	EMLL 58th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Konnan defeated Perro Aguayo, Cien Caras was also on the match in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, triangular hair vs. hair match^[4]
September 23	FMW	FMW 2nd Anniversary Show	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan	Atsushi Onita defeated Tarzan Goto by knockout in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Steel Cage Deathmatch
October 3	WWF	Battle Royal at the Albert Hall	London, England	The British Bulldog won by last eliminating Typhoon in a 20-man battle royal
October 27	WCW	Halloween Havoc	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Lex Luger (c) (with Harley Race) defeated Ron Simmons (with Dusty Rhodes) in a Two-out-of-three-falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
November 21	AJW	Wrestle Marinepiad '91	Kawasaki, Japan	Bull Nakano and Monster Ripper defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in a cage match. Nakano and Ripper then advance into a singles cage match which Nakano wins.
November 27	WWF	Survivor Series	Detroit, Michigan	The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer defeated Hulk Hogan (c) in a Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
December 3		This Tuesday in Texas	San Antonio, Texas	Hulk Hogan defeated The Undertaker (c) (with Paul Bearer) in a Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship^[5]
December 9	AJW	All Japan Women's event at Korakuen Hall	Tokyo, Japan	Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue defeat Aja Kong and Bison Kimura in the finals of Tag League the Best 1991
December 12	WWF / SWS	SuperWrestle	Tokyo, Japan	Hulk Hogan defeated Genichiro Tenryu
December 13	CMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	Máscara Año 2000 defeated Aníbal (2-1) in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match^[6]
December 21	CWA	Euro Catch Festival	Bremen, Germany	Rambo (c) defeated Ken Patera in Round 8 in a Singles match for the CWA World Heavyweight Championship
December 29	WCW	Starrcade	Norfolk, Virginia	Sting last eliminated Lex Luger to win the Battlebowl battle royal^[7]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Japan Grand Prix 1991	Kyoko Inoue	August 18
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Akemi Torisu
Tag League The Best 1991	Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada	December 9

AJPW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Champion Carnival 1991	Jumbo Tsuruta	April 18
World's Strongest Determination League 1991	Terry Gordy and Steve Williams	December 6

WCW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
WCW United States Championship Tournament	Sting	August 25
WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament	The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)	September 5
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament	Brian Pillman	October 27

WWF

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Royal Rumble	Hulk Hogan	January 19
King of the Ring	Bret Hart	September 7

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 Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)
PWI Match of the Year	The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) vs. Sting and Lex Luger (SuperBrawl I)
PWI Feud of the Year	The Ultimate Warrior vs. The Undertaker
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Sting
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Sgt. Slaughter
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Dustin Rhodes
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	The Patriot
PWI Rookie of the Year	Johnny B. Badd
PWI Lifetime Achievement	The Fabulous Moolah
PWI Editor's Award	Bobby Heenan

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

See main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Jumbo Tsuruta
Most Outstanding	Jushin Thunder Liger
Feud of the Year	Mitsuharu Misawa and company vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and company
Tag Team of the Year	Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada
Most Improved	Dustin Rhodes
Best on Interviews	Ric Flair

Title changes

WWF

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 19	Sgt. Slaughter	Royal Rumble
March 24	Hulk Hogan	WrestleMania VII
November 27	The Undertaker	Survivor Series
December 3	Hulk Hogan	This Tuesday in Texas
December 4	Vacant	Superstars of Wrestling	Hogan was stripped of the title by WWF President Jack Tunney due to the controversy surrounding both of the previous title changes. It aired on tape delay on December 7, 1991.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
August 26	Bret Hart	SummerSlam

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 7	Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada	N/A	Later abandoned in 1991.

Incoming champions – The Hart Foundation
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
March 24	The Nasty Boys	WrestleMania VII
August 26	The Legion of Doom	SummerSlam

unsanctioned championship
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
August 26	Virgil	SummerSlam
November 11	Ted DiBiase	Survivor Series Showdown	This program aired on tape delay on November 24, 1991.

WCW

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 11	Ric Flair	House show	Defeated Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. WCW began recognizing Flair as WCW World Heavyweight Champion while still using the NWA belt (i.e. the Big Gold Belt) WWE recognizes this reign as an NWA world title reign (and not a WCW one)
July 1	Vacant		Ric Flair left for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was stripped of the title. When Flair left, he took the Big Gold Belt, which represented the NWA and WCW world titles, with him.
July 14	Lex Luger	The Great American Bash

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
July 14	Vacant	The Great American Bash	Vacated when Lex Luger won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
August 25	Sting	House show	Defeated Steve Austin in a tournament final
November 19	Rick Rude	Clash of the Champions XVII

Incoming champions – The Steiner Brothers
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
April 6	Vacant	World Wide Wrestling
May 19	The Fabulous Freebirds	SuperBrawl	Defeated The Young Pistols for the vacant title
August 12	The Patriots	World Championship Wrestling
November 5	The Young Pistols	Main Event

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
January 7	Arn Anderson	World Wide Wrestling
May 19	Bobby Eaton	SuperBrawl
June 3	Steve Austin	World Wide Wrestling

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
October 27	Brian Pillman	Halloween Havoc	Defeated Richard Morton in the finals of a tournament to decide the inaugural champion.
December 25	Jushin Thunder Liger	House show

Incoming champions – Doom
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
February 24	The Fabulous Freebirds	WrestleWar
February 18	The Steiner Brothers	Pro
July 20	Vacant	WCW
September 5	The Enforcers
November 19	Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes	Clash of the Champions XVII

(Title created)
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
February 17	Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich	House show
June 3	The Fabulous Freebirds	WCW Main Event	Aired on June 30
August 5	Big Josh, Dustin Rhodes and Tom Zenk	WCW Worldwide	Aired on August 24
October 8	The York Foundation	WCW Main Event	Aired on November 10
December 1	Deactivated	N/A

Births

• January 9 – Ruby Riott,^[8] American wrestler
  • January 17 – Alexander Hammerstone January 28 – Bronson Matthews, American wrestler
• February 4 – Santana
• February 5 – Brennan Williams, American wrestler
• February 7 – Hikuleo
• February 12 – Boby Zavala, Mexican luchador
• February 13 – Sumika Yanagawa
• February 15 – Rich Swann
• February 19 – David Starr
• April 4 – Laurel Van Ness, Canadian female wrestler
• May 6 – Doudrop, Scottish wrestler
  • May 13 – Scarlett Bordeaux May 31 – Cody Hall, American wrestler
• June 12 – Tomoyuki Oka, Japanese wrestler
  • June 19 – Dilsher Shanky June 25 – Kennadi Brink
  • June 25 – Jessika Carr July 7 – Josh Woods, American wrestler
• July 18 – Mandy Rose
• July 21 – Adam Page, American wrestler
• August 9 – Alexa Bliss
• August 13 – Momo Tani
  • • • September 27 – Ortiz December 8 – Sarah Bäckman December 18 – Flip Gordon December 21 – Otis Dozovic,^[9] American wrestler

Debuts

• Uncertain debut date

• Michael Modest

• Simon Diamond

• Bart Gunn

• Tony DeVito
• January 11 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan
• January 25 - Ishinriki Kōji
• May 5 - Hayabusa
  • July 7 - Road Dogg July 16 - Satoshi Kojima
• August 1 - Mitsuya Nagai
• August 4 - Mizuki Endo (LLPW)
• August 7 - Hideki Hosaka and Katsunari Toi
• September 16 - Hikaru Kawabata
• September 20 - Masayoshi Motegi and Hiroshi Shimada
• October 4 - Rie Tamada (All Japan Women's), Kumiko Maekawa (All Japan Women's) and Chikako Shiratori (All Japan Women's)
• November 20 - Disco Inferno
• November 25 - Command Bolshoi
• December 10 - Hirofumi Miura

Retirements

• Rocky Johnson (1964–1991)
• Angelo Poffo (1949–1991)
• Smith Hart (1973–1991)
• Trudy Adams (1987–1991)
• Tojo Yamamoto (1953–1991)
• Ron Bass (1971–1991)
• S. D. Jones (1971–1991)
• Bugsy McGraw (1967–1991)
• Bobby Jaggers (1972–1991)
• Cody Michaels (1986–1991)
• Dennis Stamp (1971–1991)
• Donna Christianello (1963–1991)
• Harley Race (1960–1991)
• Itzuki Yamazaki (1981–1991)
• Lady Blossom (1979–1991)
• Joyce Grable (1971–1991)
• Mark Rocco (1972–1991)
• Mike George (1969–1991)
• Buzz Sawyer (1978–1991)

Deaths

• January 21 – Nick Gulas, American wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
• April 23 - Frankie Williams (wrestler), American wrestler (b. 1940)
• June 30 – Duke Keomuka, Japanese wrestler (b. 1921)
• July 6 - Mr. Moto, American wrestler (b. 1915)
• August 15- Tank Morgan, American wrestler (b. 1933)
• August 25 – Vivian Vachon, Canadian wrestler (b. 1951)
• August 27 – Martín Karadagian, Argentina wrestler (b. 1922)
• September 12 – Chris Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1969)
• September 30 - King Levinsky, American wrestle and boxer (b. 1910)
• October 27 - Rocky Hata, Japanese wrestler (b. 1948)
• October 31 – Gene Anderson, American wrestler (b. 1939)
• November 10 – Dick the Bruiser, American wrestler (b. 1929)
• November 9 - Abe Yourist, Russian wrestler (b. 1909)
• November 12 – Ripper Collins, American wrestler (b. 1933)
• December 25 – Wilbur Snyder, American wrestler (b. 1929)

See also

• List of WCW pay-per-view events
• List of WWF pay-per-view events
• List of FMW supercards and pay-per-view events

Notes and References

1. Web site: WrestlWar 1991 . February 24, 1991 . May 30, 2015 . Pro Wrestling History.
2. News: Historical Cards: SuperBrawl I (May 19, 1991. St. Petersburg, Florida). PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts . Kappa Publications. 2007 Edition. 156.
3. Web site: SuperBrawl "Return of the Rising Sun". May 19, 1991. March 23, 2015. Pro Wrestling History.
4. Web site: 58th Anniversary Show. September 8, 1991. February 19, 2010. Pro Wrestling History.
5. Web site: WWF This Tuesday in Texas results/info. Pro Wrestling History. 2009-10-18.
6. December 20, 1991 . Juicio Final con Aníbal . Box y Lucha Magazine .
   1. 1970
   . 3–4 . Spanish .
7. Web site: Going Old School: Starrcade '91 . Matt . Adamson . 2008-02-18 . 411mania . 2008-06-01 .
8. Web site: Internet Wrestling Database. 2012-07-11.
9. Web site: Nikola Bogojevic. https://web.archive.org/web/20161023051414/http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2005/August/15/Nikola-Bogojevic. dead. October 23, 2016. 2016-09-03. teamusa.org.