1978 in professional wrestling

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1978 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1978.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW
Championship Wrestling from Florida	CWF
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL
National Wrestling Alliance	NWA
World Wide Wrestling Federation	WWWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
January 25	UWA	3rd Anniversary Show	Naucalpan	Mil Máscaras (c) defeated Temojin el Mongol during a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship
January 25	NWA WWWF CWF	Superbowl of Wrestling	Miami, Florida	"Superstar" Billy Graham (c - WWWF World Championship) vs. Harley Race (c - NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship) ended in a 60-minute time limit draw during a three fall match
February 23	NWA WWWF CWF	NWA/WWWF World Title Unification	Jacksonville, Florida	Bob Backlund (c - WWWF World Championship) vs. Harley Race (c - NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship) ended in a 60-minute time limit draw
April 7	AJPW	Champion Carnival		Giant Baba defeated Abdullah the Butcher by count-out
April 21	EMLL	22. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza defeated Alfonso Dantés and Sangre Chicana in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match^[1]
May 30	NJPW	MSG League	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki defeated André the Giant by count-out
September 22	EMLL	EMLL 45th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Sangre Chicana and Rubí Rubalcava defeated El Cobarde and Dragón Rojo in a Lucha de Apuestas hair and mask vs. hair and hair match^[2]
October 29	NWA WWWF CWF	NWA/WWWF World Title Unification	Orlando, Florida	Bob Backlund (c - WWWF World Championship) vs. Harley Race (c - NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship) ended in a draw
December 8	EMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	Kung Fu defeated El Idolo in a Lucha de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match^[3]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

February 20 - Bob Backlund pinned Superstar Billy Graham at New York's Madison Square Garden to become the new World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion.
March 14 - on WWF Championship Wrestling, Dominic DeNucci and Dino Bravo beat Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka to become the new World Wide Federation Tag Team Champions.
June 26 - At New York's Madison Square Garden, The Yukon Lumberjacks beat Dominic DeNucci and Dino Bravo to become the new World Wide Federation Tag Team Champions.
November 21 - Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko beat the Yukon Lumberjacks to become the new World Wide Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions.

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Hiroko Komine

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Dusty Rhodes
PWI Tag Team of the Year	Ricky Steamboat and Paul Jones
PWI Match of the Year	Superstar Billy Graham vs. Bob Backlund
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	Dino Bravo
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Blackjack Mulligan
PWI Rookie of the Year	Tommy Rich
PWI Manager of the Year	Arnold Skaaland

Championship changes

EMLL

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Alfonso Dantés^[4]
June 2	El Faraón	EMLL show	^[4]
December 8	Pak Choo	EMLL show	^[4]

Date	Winner	Event/Show
NWA World Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – El Faraón
February 17	Ringo Mendoza	EMLL show
April 9	Perro Aguayo	EMLL show
June 23	Ringo Mendoza	EMLL show
August 13	Tony Salazar	EMLL show

NWA World Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Mano Negra
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Raul Mata
July 1	El Nazi	EMLL show
October 27	TNT	EMLL show

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Vacant
No title changes^[5]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Lightweight Championship
Incoming champion – Mario Valenzuela^[6]
August 30	Talisman	EMLL show	^[6]

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Dr. Wagner
January 15	El Canek	EMLL show
June 20	Dos Caras	EMLL show

Date	Winner	Event/Show
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Kung Fu
February 7	Americo Rocca	EMLL show
June 20	Lizmark	EMLL show

Mexican National Women's Championship
Incoming champion – Uncertain
No title changes

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Harley Race
No title changes

Births

January 10 – Tamina^[7]
January 20 - Joy Giovanni
January 25 - B. J. Whitmer
January 28 – Sheamus^[8]
February 2 - Abraham Washington
February 17 - Shiori Asahi
March 1 - D. J. Hyde
March 6 - Chad Wicks
March 14 - Kaori Nakayama
March 30 – Crazy Boy
April 7 - Mana the Polynesian Warrior
April 13 – SeXXXy Eddy
April 16 – Austin Aries
April 22 – Ezekiel Jackson
May 15 - Keith Walker
May 16 - Justice Pain (died in 2020)
May 18 - Toru Yano
May 22 - Daniel Rodimer
May 24 – Elijah Burke
June 2 – Joe Líder
June 6 – ODB
June 8 – Maria Menounos^[9]
June 19 - Tyson Dux
June 20 - Quinton Jackson
June 24 – Adam Pearce
July 17:
- Akira Raijin
- Mike Knox
July 21 - Beer City Bruiser
August 15 - Ruckus
August 21 - Ricky Reyes
August 27 - Kafu
August 28 – Linda Miles
September 8 - Rebel
September 24 – Christopher Nowinski
September 30 – Candice Michelle
October 9 - Brian Hebner
October 15 – Takeshi Morishima
October 18 - Jaime Koeppe
October 26 – CM Punk
November 1 - Tyler Reks
November 6 - Johnny Kashmere
November 12 - Lena Yada
November 21:
- Mini Abismo Negro
- Choun Shiryu
November 28 - Brent Albright
December 13 - Antonio Thomas
December 20 - Armando Estrada
December 23 – Nanae Takahashi

Debuts

Debut Date

June 2 - Chino Sato (All Japan Women's)*
June 23 - Ashura Hara
August 21 - Devil Masami
August 26 - Hiro Saito
August 31 - Terry Daniels
December 2 - Jumbo Hori (All Japan Women's)
December 6 - Matt Borne

Date Unknown

Retirements

Arnold Skaaland (1946–1978)

Deaths

March 27 - John Pesek, 84
June 30 – Michel Martel, 33
August 13 – Lonnie Mayne, 33
November 15 - Willie Gilzenberg, 77
November 16 – Eric the Red, 44
December 12 - Mike Thomas Farhat, 27

References

^ Flores, Manuel (May 25, 2009). "Los Hermano Mendoza - Ringo y Cachorro están de regreso". Super Luchas (in Spanish). pp. 22–23. issue 316.
^ "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Sangre Chicana (1951) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 53. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.
^ "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Kung Fu (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. October 2007. pp. 10 and 12. Tomo III.
^ ^a ^b ^c Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ "Tamina Snuka". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
^ Kamchen, Richard. "Sheamus". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
^ "Maria Menounos: Biography". TVGuide.com. Retrieved April 10, 2013.

[MendozaBros-1] Flores, Manuel (May 25, 2009). "Los Hermano Mendoza - Ringo y Cachorro están de regreso". Super Luchas (in Spanish). pp. 22–23. issue 316.

[FigurasChicana-2] "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Sangre Chicana (1951) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 53. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.

[EncyKungFu-3] "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Kung Fu (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. October 2007. pp. 10 and 12. Tomo III.

[NWALHeavy-4] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[5] Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexLight-6] Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[7] "Tamina Snuka". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-12-26.

[8] Kamchen, Richard. "Sheamus". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.

[tvg-9] "Maria Menounos: Biography". TVGuide.com. Retrieved April 10, 2013.

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