1974 in professional wrestling

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1974 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

Only one promotion held notable shows in 1974.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
March 26	BTW	Parade of Champions	Dallas, Texas	Jack Brisco (c) defeated Clay Spence in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
March 27		Parade of Champions	San Antonio, Texas	Jack Brisco (c) wrestled Dory Funk Jr. to a draw in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
April 24	EMLL	18. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Aníbal and Steve Wright defeated Rene Guajardo and Tigre Colombiano in a Lucha de Apuestas mask and hair vs. mask and hair match[1]
May 8	NJPW	World League	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki defeated Seiji Sakaguchi
May 26	AJPW	International Junior Heavyweight Title League	Tokyo, Japan	Chavo Guerrero defeated Ultra Seven
December 8	AJPW	Karl Gotch Cup	Tokyo, Japan	Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Masashi Ozawa
September 20	EMLL	EMLL 41st Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	La Ola Blanco (Dr. Wagner and Ángel Blanco) defeated Super Star and Enrique Vera in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuesta mask and mask vs. mask and hair match[2]
December 13	EMLL	Juicio Final	Mexico City, Mexico	Dr. Wagner and Ringo Mendoza defeated Ángel Blanco and Coloso Colosetti in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, hair vs. hair match[3]

Notable events

• May 8 - The Valiant Brothers defeat Tony Garea and Dean Ho to become the WWWF World Tag Team Champions.
• October 24 - Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens defeat The Crusher and Billy Robinson to become the AWA World Tag Team Champions.

Awards and honors

1974 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Bruno Sammartino

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Bruno Sammartino
PWI Tag Team of the Year	Jimmy and Johnny Valiant
PWI Match of the Year	Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr.
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Billy Robinson
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	The Great Mephisto
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Dick Murdoch
PWI Rookie of the Year	Larry Zbyszko
PWI Woman of the Year	Rachel Dubois
PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year	Darlin` Dagmar
PWI Manager of the Year	Lou Albano

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Ray Mendoza[4]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
February	Vacant	N/A	[4]
September 22	Dr. Wagner	EMLL 41st Anniversary Show	[4]

NWA World Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Rene Guajardo
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Unknown	Vacant	EMLL show
September 20	Aníbal	EMLL show

NWA World Welterweight Championship

Incoming champion – Mano Negra

No title changes

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Enrique Vera

No title changes

Mexican National Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Adorable Rubí
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
June 28	Aníbal	EMLL show
November 29	Ringo Mendoza	EMLL show

Mexican National Lightweight Championship

Incoming champion – Tauro

No title changes

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Dr. Wagner[5]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
September 22	Vacant	N/A	[5]
November 15	Alfonso Dantes	EMLL show	[5]

Mexican National Welterweight Championship

Incoming champion – Fishman

No title changes

Mexican National Women's Championship

Incoming champion – Uncertain

No title changes

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Jack Brisco
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
December 2	Giant Baba	House show
December 9	Jack Brisco	House show

Births

• Date of birth uncertain:
  • Hiroko Suzuki
• January 4 – Dark Cuervo
• January 5 - Yutaka Yoshie (died in 2024)
• February 19 – Danny Doring
• March 1 – Brandi Alexander
• March 4 – Crowbar
• March 11 - Jonny Fairplay
• March 14 - Santino Marella
• March 27 – Russ Haas (d. 2001)
• April 6 – Flash Flanagan
• April 9 – Jenna Jameson
• April 14 - Toshie Uematsu
• April 21 – Orlando Jordan
• April 24 – Octagoncito
• April 27 - Johnny Devine
• May 11 – Billy Kidman^[6][7]
• May 21 - Josef Samael
• June 6 – 2 Tuff Tony
• June 22 - Amber O'Neal
• June 26 – Matt Striker
• June 27:
  • Ace Darling
  • Rob Dyrdek
• July 6:
  • Harashima
  • Black Buffalo
• July 12 – Gregory Helms
• July 13 – Konan Big^[8]
• July 16 – Chris Chetti
• July 19 – Rey Bucanero
• July 19 – Jeremy Borash
• July 23 – Sonny Siaki
• July 25 :
  • Kenzo Suzuki
  • Mikael Judas
• August 5 – Rob Black
• August 8 – Scott D'Amore
• September 5 – Derick Neikirk
• September 8 - Rick Michaels
• September 9 – Jun Kasai
• September 18 – Reckless Youth
• September 20 - Robbie McAllister
• September 23 – Matt Hardy^[9]
• September 24:
  • Carl Leduc
  • Dru Onyx
• September 30 – Eli Cottonwood
• October 8 – H. C. Loc
• October 14 – Shaggy 2 Dope
• October 17 – Cincinnati Red (died in 2015)
• October 31 - Jungle Grrrl
• November 16:
  • John Cone
  • Starman (died in 2022)
• November 28 – Rob Conway
• November 30 – Juventud Guerrera
• December 6 - Kentaro Shiga
• December 11 – Rey Mysterio
• December 12 – Chad Collyer
• December 31 – Tzuki

Debuts

• Uncertain debut date

• Adrian Adonis
• Jake Roberts
• Jesse Ventura
• Jerry Blackwell
• Tommy Rich
• Dave Finlay
• Lanny Poffo
• Mach Fumiake (All Japan Women)
• Shinobu Aso (All Japan Women)

• April 8 - Antonio Peña
• April 22 - Masanobu Fuchi
• July 10 - Tony Atlas
• August 6 - Vivian St. John
• August 8 - Riki Choshu

Retirements

• Fred Atkins (? – 1974)
• Dave Ruhl (1946 – 1974)
• Bearcat Wright (1959 – 1974)

Deaths

• January 25 - Joe Savoldi, 65
• March 13 - Gene Dubuque, 46
• March 29 - Joe Stecher, 80
• April 2 - Lee Wykoff, 76
• May 31 - Sky Hi Lee, 53
• June 24 – Mangla Rai, 60
• July 26 – Freddie Sweetan, 36
• August 21 – Buford Pusser, 37
• September 3 – Mighty Jumbo (wrestler), 51
• September 13 - Jack Pfefer, 79
• September 18 - Ray Richards, 68
• October 29 - Axel Cadier, 68

References

1. Enciclopedia staff (November 2008). "Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre". Aníbal (in Spanish). Portales, Mexico. p. 7. 17.
2. "41st Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 20, 1974. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
3. Centinela, Teddy (December 14, 2014). "En un día como hoy... El segundo FMLL... Aníbal, gran campeón". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved October 21, 2019.
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.
6. "Billy Kidman Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
7. "Billy Kidman Profile". Bodyslamming.com. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
8. "Wrestlers born in 1964: 51 - 100 of 126". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
9. "Matt Hardy Bio". Pro Wrestling Direct. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-01.