1985 in professional wrestling

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

List of years in professional wrestling
+...

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1985.

Promotion Name Abbreviation
All Japan Pro Wrestling AJPW
All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling AJW
American Wrestling Association AWA
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre EMLL
Florida Championship Wrestling FCW
Lutte Internationale Lutte
National Wrestling Alliance NWA
New Japan Pro-Wrestling NJPW
Pacific Northwest Wrestling PNW
World Class Championship Wrestling WCCW
World Wrestling Council WWC
World Wrestling Federation WWF

Calendar of notable shows
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main Event
February 18 WWF The War to Settle the Score New York City, New York Hulk Hogan (c) (with Cyndi Lauper, David Wolff, and Lou Albano) defeated Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) by disqualification in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship[1]
February 24 AWA / NWA Star Wars East Rutherford, New Jersey Sgt. Slaughter won a "tag team battle royal." Slaughter's partner, Jerry Blackwell, was injured and could not compete, forcing Slaughter to wrestle alone. Also in the match were: The Road Warriors, Ivan and Nikita Koloff, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, Kamala and Billy Robinson, Mark and Chris Youngblood, Jerry Lawler and Baron Von Raschke, Bob Backlund and Jimmy Valiant, Mr. Saito and Masked Superstar, Nick Bockwinkel and Dory Funk Jr., Jimmy Garvin and Larry Zbyszko, and Steve Keirn and Jerry Oski
March 1 – April 18 NJPW Young Lion Cup Tokyo, Japan Shunji Kosugi defeated Keiichi Yamada in the tournament final[2]
March 31 WWF WrestleMania New York City, New York Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (with Jimmy Snuka) defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) in a Tag team match with Muhammad Ali and Pat Patterson as special guest referees[3]
April 5 EMLL 29. Aniversario de Arena México Mexico City, Mexico Pirata Morgan defeats El Egipcio by disqualification in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match[4]
April 21 AWA StarCage 1985 St. Paul, Minnesota Sgt. Slaughter & Jerry Blackwell beat Masked Superstar, King Tonga, & Adnan Al-Kassie in a Handicap Steel Cage match
May 5 WCCW 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions Irving, Texas Kerry Von Erich (with Fritz Von Erich) defeated One Man Gang (with Gary Hart) in a Hair vs. One Man Gang facing Fritz Von Erich match[5]
May 10 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Uniondale, New York Hulk Hogan (c) (with Mr. T) defeated Bob Orton (with Roddy Piper) by disqualification to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
May 10 – June 15 NJPW IWGP League Matsumoto, Japan André the Giant defeated Tatsumi Fujinami in a tournament final[6]
May 21 PNW Wrestling Extravaganza Portland, Oregon Roddy Piper defeated Buddy Rose in a singles match
June 25 AJW Japan Grand Prix Finals Tokyo, Japan Lioness Asuka defeated Dump Matsumoto in the finals
July 6 NWA The Great American Bash Charlotte, North Carolina Dusty Rhodes defeated Tully Blanchard (c) (with Baby Doll) in a Steel cage match for the NWA World Television Championship[7][8]
July 8 WWF King of the Ring Foxboro, Massachusetts Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Nikolai Volkoff in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship[9]
August 3 PPP A Hot Summer Night Honolulu, Hawaii Ric Flair fought Siva Afi to a double disqualification for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
August 16 AWA / NWA Star Wars East Rutherford, New Jersey The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) by disqualification in a six-man tag team match
August 26 Lutte
WWF		 Lutte vs. WWF Montreal, Quebec, Canada Dino Bravo and King Tonga defeated Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik in a tag team match
September 2 FCW Battle of the Belts Tampa, Florida Ric Flair (c) defeated Wahoo McDaniel in 2 out of 3 three falls match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
September 20 EMLL EMLL 52nd Anniversary Show Mexico City, Mexico Event was cancelled due to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake[10]
September 21 CSP CSP 12th Anniversary Show San Juan, Puerto Rico Jimmy Valiant defeated Kamala in a singles match by disqualification
September 28 AWA SuperClash Chicago, Illinois Rick Martel (c) fought Stan Hansen to a double countout in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship[11]
October 3 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event East Rutherford, New Jersey Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Nikolai Volkoff (with Freddie Blassie) to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
October 6 WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza Dallas, Texas Kerry and Kevin Von Erich defeated The Dynamic Duo (Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez) in a Hair vs. Hair match[12]
October 6 AJW Tag League The Best Finals Tokyo, Japan The Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka) defeated Gokuaku Domei (Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto) in the finals
October 31 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Hershey, Pennsylvania Hulk Hogan and André the Giant (with Lou Albano) defeated King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification
November 7 WWF The Wrestling Classic Rosemont, Illinois Junkyard Dog defeated Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) by count-out in a tournament finals match[13]
November 15 – December 12 NJPW IWGP Tag Title League Sendai, Japan Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura defeated Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi in a tournament final
November 23 – December 12 AJPW AJPW Real World Tag League Tokyo, Japan Ted DiBiase and Stan Hansen won the tournament
November 28 NWA Starcade Greensboro, North Carolina
Atlanta, Georgia		 Dusty Rhodes defeated Ric Flair (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[14]
December 6 EMLL Juicio Final Mexico City, Mexico El Solar II vs. Belcebu in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match[15][16]
December 19 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Tampa, Florida Hulk Hogan (c) (with Junkyard Dog) defeated Terry Funk (with Jimmy Hart) to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
December 29 AWA / NWA Star Wars East Rutherford, New Jersey Stan Hansen defeated Rick Martel (c) by submission in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Tournaments and accomplishments

AJW
Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Japan Grand Prix 1985 Lioness Asuka June 25
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament Akemi Sakamoto
Tag League the Best 1985 Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto October 10

JCP
Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Bunkhouse Stampede Dusty Rhodes[17][7] December 28

WWF
Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
King of the Ring Don Muraco July 8
The Wrestling Classic Junkyard Dog November 7

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards
Category Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Road Warriors
(Hawk and Animal)
PWI Match of the Year Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (WrestleMania)
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Hulk Hogan
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Roddy Piper
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Steve Williams
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Mike Von Erich
PWI Rookie of the Year Nord the Barbarian
PWI Manager of the Year Jim Cornette
PWI Editor's Award Dan Shocket

Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Category Winner
Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair
Feud of the Year Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan
Tag Team of the Year The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith)
Most Improved Steve Williams
Best on Interviews Jim Cornette

Title changes

WWF
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Hulk Hogan
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
No title changes
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – Greg Valentine
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
July 6 Tito Santana House show It was a steel cage match
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
No title changes
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – The Cobra
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
May 20 Hiro Saito House show
July 28 The Cobra House show
October 31 Abandoned N/A
WWF International Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Tatsumi Fujinami
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
July 19 Vacant N/A
October 31 Vacant N/A
WWF International Tag Team Championship
(Title reactivated)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
May 24 Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura House show
October 31 Deactivated N/A
WWF Canadian Championship
(Title created)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
August 18 Dino Bravo House show
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Velvet McIntyre and Desiree Petersen
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
August 1 The Glamour Girls
(Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)		 Live event
WWF Women's Championship
Incoming champion – Wendi Richter
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
February 18 Leilani Kai The War to Settle the Score
March 31 Wendi Richter WrestleMania I
November 25 The Masked Spider Lady (Fabulous Moolah) Live event
WWF Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 21 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham)		 House show
March 31 The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff WrestleMania I
June 17 The U.S. Express
(Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham)		 Championship Wrestling It aired on tape delay on July 13.
August 24 The Dream Team
(Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine)		 House show

Spinoff media

Births

Debuts
  • Uncertain debut date

Retirements

Deaths

References
  1. Hoops, Brian (February 18, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (February 18): WWF War to settle the score". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  2. "NJPW "Super Powers Clash", 4/24/89 (WPW)". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  3. Shields, Brian. Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s, p.150.
  4. Flores, Manuel (February 16, 2009). "Pirata Morgan: 30 Años de Lucha Libre". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Mexico City, D.F. pp. 26–28. 302.
  5. "2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions". Pro Wrestling History. May 5, 1985. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. "IWGP League1985". ProWrestlingHistory.com. May 10 – June 11, 1985. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  7. Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 3:Jim Crockett and the NWA World Title 1983-1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 149480347X.
  8. "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Great American Bash 1985". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 129.
  9. WWF King Of The Ring 1985
  10. "52nd Anniversary Show". ProWrestlingHistory. September 19, 1986. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  11. "SuperClash I". Pro Wrestling History. September 28, 1985. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  12. "2nd Cotton Bowl Extravaganza". Pro Wrestling History. October 6, 1985. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  13. "The Wrestling Classic results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  14. Adamson, Matt (January 28, 2008). "Going Old School: Starrcade '85". 411mania. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  15. "EMLL Super Viernes – Juicio Final 1985". Wrestling Data. December 6, 1985. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  16. "1985 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Impresora y Encuaderanadora Glem S.A. de C.V. January 7, 1986. pp. 2–28. ISSN 2007-0896. 17080.
  17. "Bunkhouse Stampedes". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  18. "Brian Myers". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  19. "Tommaso Ciampa – Online World of Wrestling ("Birthday: May 8, 1985")". www.onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  20. Wolcott, David (September 10, 2010). "Carver native signs with Ring of Honor wrestling; Mike Bennett gets his big break". Wicked Local Kingston. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  21. "Kader". wXw – more than Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016.
  22. "Joe Anoai". Georgia Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  23. "戸澤陽". Dragon Gate (in Japanese). Gaora. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  24. "Mikey Nicholls". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  25. "Anthony Nese". Gerweck.net. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
  26. "Mikey Nicholls". Cagematch. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  27. "The Uso Brothers – Online World of Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  28. "Shane Haste". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  29. "Oney Lorcan | WWE.com". wwe.com. 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
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