1985 in professional wrestling

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 72.74.203.204 (talk) at 11:37, 29 June 2017 (→‎Wrestling Observer Newsletter). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Years in professional wrestling: 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Centuries: 19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years: 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988

1985 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

Champions

As of January 1, 1985.

American Wrestling Association

National Wrestling Alliance

National
Regional

World Wrestling Federation

Other champions

Canada
United States
Other

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards
Category Winner Runner-up Second runner-up Third runner-up
PWI Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair (3) Hulk Hogan Rick Martel Sgt. Slaughter
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Road Warriors (3)
(Hawk and Animal) 		Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams Ivan and Nikita Koloff The British Bulldogs
(Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid)
PWI Match of the Year Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (WrestleMania) N/A N/A N/A
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Hulk Hogan Magnum T.A. Kerry Von Erich Tito Santana
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Roddy Piper (2) Chris Adams Ted DiBiase Big John Studd
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Steve Williams Brian Adias Nikita Koloff Randy Savage
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Mike Von Erich Paul Orndorff Jim Duggan Kevin Von Erich
PWI Rookie of the Year Nord the Barbarian Kendall Windham Dan Spivey Sam Houston
PWI Manager of the Year Jim Cornette Lou Albano Paul Ellering Bobby Heenan
PWI Editor's Award Dan Shocket N/A N/A N/A

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Category Winner Promotion
Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair Jim Crockett Promotions
Feud of the Year Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan Mid-South Wrestling
Tag Team of the Year The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) Stampede Wrestling
World Wrestling Federation
Most Improved Steve Williams Mid-South Wrestling
Best on Interviews Jim Cornette Mid-South Wrestling
Most Charismatic Hulk Hogan World Wrestling Federation
Best Technical Wrestler Tatsumi Fujinami New Japan Pro Wrestling
Best Brawler Stan Hansen All Japan Pro Wrestling
National Wrestling Alliance
Best Flying Wrestler Tiger Mask II All Japan Pro Wrestling
Most Overrated Hulk Hogan World Wrestling Federation
Most Underrated Bobby Eaton Jim Crockett Promotions
Promotion of the Year All Japan Pro Wrestling
Best Weekly Television Show Mid-South Wrestling Mid-South Wrestling
Match of the Year Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi in Tokyo, Japan on June 21 All Japan Pro Wrestling
Rookie of the Year Jack Victory National Wrestling Alliance
Best Television Announcer Lance Russell Continental Wrestling Association
Worst Television Announcer Gorilla Monsoon World Wrestling Federation
Best Wrestling Maneuver Tope con Giro - Tiger Mask II All Japan Pro Wrestling
Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic Usage of Mike Von Erich's near death World Class Championship Wrestling
Worst Television Show Championship Wrestling from Florida Florida Championship Wrestling
Worst Match of the Year Freddie Blassie vs. Lou Albano in a steel cage match in Uniondale, New York on September 20 World Wrestling Federation
Worst Feud of the Year Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov American Wrestling Association
Most Unimproved Sgt. Slaughter American Wrestling Association
Most Obnoxious Vince McMahon World Wrestling Federation
Best Babyface Hulk Hogan World Wrestling Federation
Best Heel Roddy Piper World Wrestling Federation
Manager of the Year Jim Cornette Jim Crockett Promotions
Readers' Favorite Wrestler Ric Flair Jim Crockett Promotions
Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler Hulk Hogan World Wrestling Federation
Worst Wrestler Uncle Elmer World Wrestling Federation
Worst Tag Team Uncle Elmer and Cousin Junior WWF
Worst Manager Mr. Fuji World Wrestling Federation
Worst on Interviews Thunderbolt Patterson National Wrestling Alliance

Supercards and tournaments

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
United States WWF The War to Settle the Score Feb 18 Madison Square Garden New York City, New York, U.S. 22,000
United States AWA / NWA Star Wars Feb 24 The Meadowlands East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. 18,600
Japan NJPW Young Lion Cup Mar 1-Apr 18 Ryogoku Kokugikan Tokyo, Japan 11,066
United States WWF WrestleMania Mar 31 Madison Square Garden New York City, New York, U.S. 19,121
United States WCCW Parade of Champions May 5 Texas Stadium Irving, Texas, U.S. 26,153
Japan NJPW IWGP League May 10-Jun 15 Matsumoto General Gymnasium Matsumoto, Japan N/A
United States PNW Wrestling Extravaganza May 21 Portland Memorial Coliseum Portland, Oregon, U.S. 13,000+
United States NWA The Great American Bash Jul 6 American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. 27,000
United States WWF King of the Ring Jul 8 Sullivan Stadium Foxboro, Massachusetts, U.S. 23,000
United States AWA / NWA Star Wars Aug 16 The Meadowlands East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. 7,000
Canada Lutte
United States WWF 		Lutte vs. WWF Aug 26 Montreal Forum Montreal, Quebec, Canada 21,000
United States FCW Battle of the Belts Sep 2 The Sundome Tampa, Florida, U.S. 7,600
Mexico EMLL EMLL 52nd Anniversary Show Sep 20 Arena México Mexico City, Mexico 0
Puerto Rico CSP CSP 12th Anniversary Show Sep 21 Hiram Bithorn Stadium San Juan, Puerto Rico 22,000
United States AWA SuperClash Sep 28 Comiskey Park Chicago, Illinois, U.S. 20,347
United States WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza Oct 26 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas, U.S. 26,000
United States WWF The Wrestling Classic Nov 7 Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois, U.S. 14,000
Japan NJPW IWGP Tag Title League Nov 15-Dec 12 Miyagi Sports Center Sendai, Japan 5,420
Japan AJPW AJPW Real World Tag League Nov 23-Dec 12 Nippon Budokan Tokyo, Japan 10,600
United States NWA Starcade Nov 28 Greensboro Coliseum
The Omni 		Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. 		30,000 (combined)
United States AWA / NWA Star Wars Dec 29 The Meadowlands East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. 12,000

Events

January–April

May–August

September–December

Date unknown

  • While touring South Africa, Art Crews and Timothy Flowers nearly incite a riot in front of an estimated 20,000 crowd in Johannesburg after defeating two local wrestlers when both Crews and Flowers tore apart the South African flag carried by their opponents. Having to be escorted by police officers, Crews was stabbed in the lower back by an unknown fan while making their way to the dressing room. The wound was not serious however and Crews continued to wrestling on the tour.[5]
  • Bill Tabb makes his professional wrestling debut.
  • Brick Bronsky makes his pro debut and subsequently travels to Canada where he wrestles as "Mr. Canada" for the next 2 and-a-half years. Longtime partner Doug Flex later claimed that Bronsky is "as popular as Hulk Hogan is in the United States".
  • Ed "The Bull" Gantner debuts in Championship Wrestling from Florida as part of the House of Humperdink. He is subsequently paired with Kareem Muhammed as The Shock Troops who begin feuding with The Fabulous Ones the following summer.
  • Jeff Gaylord, while playing football with the San Antonio Gunslingers, begins wrestling professionally.
  • Steve Pettipas wins the AGPW International Heavyweight Championship by defeating Super Destroyer.

Arts and entertainment

Births

  • January 27 - Yuji Hino, Japanese professional wrestler
  • February 20 - Damian O'Connor, British professional wrestler
  • March 5 - Martin Casaus, American professional wrestler
  • April 10 - Yuki Ono, Japanese professional wrestler
  • May 24 The Great Naga, British professional wrestler
  • November 7 - Kid Krazy, Scottish professional wrestler
  • November 25 - Yuki Sato, Japanese professional wrestler

Deaths

  • January 21 - Eddie Graham, American wrestler and Championship Wrestling from Florida promoter (b. 1930)
  • January 22 - Hoagie Young, American wrestler (b. 1956)
  • March 6 - Wild Bull Curry, American wrestler (b. 1913)
  • March 27 - Pat Flanagan, Canadian wrestler (b. 1917)
  • April - "Texas" Jack Bence, American wrestler (b. 1922)
  • May 24 - Tom Casey, American wrestler (b. 1914)
  • June 3 - Tarzan Govender, South African wrestler
  • June 10 - Isao Yoshihara, Japanese wrestler and International Wrestling Enterprise promoter (b. 1930)
  • June 28 - Larry "Babe" Kasaboski, Canadian wrestler (b. 1915)
  • July - Benny Trudel, Canadian wrestler (b. 1915)
  • September 3 - Jay Youngblood, American wrestler (b. 1955)
  • September 16 - Lou Plummer, American wrestler (b. 1907)
  • September 18 - Ed Don George, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1905)
  • October 25 - Peter Kaiser, German wrestler
  • November 1 - Rick McGraw, American WWF wrestler (b. 1955)
  • November 18 - "Leaping" Larry Hatfield, American wrestler (b. 1945)
  • December 24 - Adrien Desbois, Canadian wrestling referee (Lutte Internationale)
  • December 24 - Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre, Canadian wrestler (b. 1955)
  • December 24 - Tarzan Tyler, Canadian wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
  • Unknown - Irish Mike McGee, American wrestler (b. 1904)

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Wrestling History: 1980-1985". PWI-Online.com. Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 2013.
  2. ^ Cawthon, Graham. "1985". TheHistoryOfWWE.com.
  3. ^ Schramm, Chris (June 13, 2009). "Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa dies in the ring". Canadian Online Explorer. SLAM! Sports.
  4. ^ Bourne, Dick (November 18, 2015). "The Earliest Origins of the Four Horsemen". The Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
  5. ^ Crews, Art (2004). "Stories #4: Art Crews". KayfabeMemories.com.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1985_in_professional_wrestling&oldid=788089238"