1949 in professional wrestling

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1949 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions[edit]

Only one promotion held notable shows in 1949.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows[edit]

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
September 30	EMLL	EMLL 16th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Tarzán López and Bobby Bonales defeated El Santo and Gory Guerrero in a best two-out-three falls tag team match^[1]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Championship changes[edit]

EMLL[edit]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Mike Kelly^[2]
May 28	Tarzán López	EMLL show	^[2]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – Jack O'Brien^[3]
April 29	Gory Guerrero	EMLL show	^[3]

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion - Daniel Aldana^[4]
No title changes^[4]

Mexican National Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Uncertain^[5]
No title changes^[5]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Lightweight Championship
incoming champion – Emilio Charles^[6]
Uncertain	Vacated	N/A	Championship vacated for undocumented reasons^[6]
August 5	Joe Marin	EMLL show	^[6]
October 18	Black Shadow	EMLL show	^[6]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Tarzán López^[7]
July 1	Cavernario Galindo	EMLL show	^[7]

Mexican National Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – Vacant or El Santo^[8]
No title changes^[8]

NWA[edit]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming Champion – Orville Brown^[9]
November 27	Lou Thesz	N/A	Thez was awarded the championship when Brown's career ended due to a car accident.The NWA voted to recognize Brown as the Worlds Champion. Defeated Sonny Myers to solidify the claim.^[9]

Debuts[edit]

Debut date uncertain:
November – The Crusher^[10]

Births[edit]

Date of birth uncertain:
- Johnny Rivera
- John Garea
January 2 – Samoan Joe (died in 2015)
January 2 – Tommy Lane (died in 2022)
January 7:
- Chavo Guerrero Sr.^[11] (died in 2016)
- Scott LeDoux (died in 2011)
January 15 – Tony Salazar^[11]
January 16 – Sir Oliver Humperdink^[11] (died in 2011)
January 17 – Andy Kaufman^[11] (died in 1984)
February 11 – T. John Tibbedeux^[11] (died in 2013)
February 19 – Black Man^[11] (died in 2022)
February 25 – Ric Flair^[11]
March 9 – Charlie Fulton (died in 2016)
April 7:
- Steve DiSalvo^[11]
- John Anson
April 12 – Mighty Inoue^[11]
April 26 – Jerry Blackwell^[11] (died in 1995)
April 27 – Yoshiaki Fujiwara^[11]
April 28 – Siva Afi^[11]
May 14 – Robert Fuller
May 17:
- Earl Hebner^[11]
- Dave Hebner (died in 2022)
May 18 – Sailor White^[11] (died in 2005)
June 17 – Evgeny Artyukhin Sr. (died in 2008)
June 29 – Stephen Cepello
August 13 – Jim Brunzell^[11]
August 14 – Bob Backlund^[11]
August 29 – Stan Hansen^[11]
September 5 – El Hijo del Gladiador^[11]
September 10:
- Don Muraco^[11]
- Gerry Morrow^[11]
September 19 – Ringo Mendoza^[11]
September 25 – Villano II^[11] (died in 1989)
October 4:
- Mike Adamle^[11]
- Joe Pedicino (died in 2020)
October 12 – César Curiel^[11]
October 18 – Cien Caras^[11]
October 26:
- Austin Idol^[11]
- Kevin Sullivan^[11]
- El Satánico^[11]
- Troy Graham (died in 2002)
October 29 – Paul Orndorff^[11] (died in 2021)
November 11 – Mike Jackson
November 28 – Lee Marshall^[11] (died in 2014)
November 29:
- Dutch Mantell^[11]
- Jerry Lawler^[11]
November 30 – Mike George

Deaths[edit]

August 8 – Ivan Poddubny , 77
September 11 – Ray Steele^[12] (49)

References[edit]

^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 7, 2010). "CMLL: 79 historias, 79 Aniversario, las 79 luchas estelares" [CMLL: 79 stories, 79 anniversaries, the 70 main events]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved February 2, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middleweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Middleweight Championship". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). ""United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: NWA World Heavyweight Title"". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 15. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Wrestlers debuted in 1949: 1 - 20 of 20". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af "Wrestlers born in 1949: 1 - 50 of 65". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ "Wrestlers deceased in 1949: 1 - 16 of 16". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[79Anniversaries-1] Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 7, 2010). "CMLL: 79 historias, 79 Aniversario, las 79 luchas estelares" [CMLL: 79 stories, 79 anniversaries, the 70 main events]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved February 2, 2020.

[NWALMiddle-2] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middleweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[NWALWelter-3] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexHeavy-4] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexMiddle-5] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Middleweight Championship". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexLight-6] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexLHeavy-7] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexWelter-8] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Welterweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[NWAWorlds-9] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). ""United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: NWA World Heavyweight Title"". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 15. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[WD1949Debuts-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Wrestlers debuted in 1949: 1 - 20 of 20". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1949Births-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af "Wrestlers born in 1949: 1 - 50 of 65". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1949Deaths-12] "Wrestlers deceased in 1949: 1 - 16 of 16". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

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v t e Years in professional wrestling
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