1965 in professional wrestling

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1965 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 1965.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
January 13	EMLL	Carnaval de Campeones	Mexico City, Mexico	Raúl Reyes defeated Ray Mendoza (c) in a best two-out-of-three falls for the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship^[1]
April 3		9. Aniversario de Arena México		Rizado Ruiz (c) defeated Huracán Ramírez for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship^[2]^[3]
September 24		EMLL 32nd Anniversary Show		Karloff Lagarde defeated Huracán Ramírez (c) in a best two-out-of-three match for the NWA World Welterweight Championship^[4]
December 3		Juicio Final		Karloff Lagarde vs. Cavernario Galindo in a Lucha de Apuestas, hair Vs. hair match^[5]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

November – Fred Kohler Enterprises closed after 40 years of operations. World Wrestling Association, based in Indianapolis, bought the rights to promote wrestling in Chicago.

Accomplishments and tournaments

EMLL

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
NWA World Middleweight Championship #1 contendership tournament	Rene Guajardo	March 19	^[6]
NWA World Middleweight Championship #1 contendership tournament	Antonio Montoro	July 23	^[6]^[7]

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Gory Guerrero^[8]
No title changes^[8]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Rayo de Jalisco^[9]
April 9	René Guajardo	EMLL show	^[9]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – Karloff Lagarde^[10]
February	Huracán Ramírez	EMLL show	^[10]
September 24	Karloff Lagarde	EMLL 32nd Anniversary Show	^[10]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion - Pepe Mendieta^[11]
Uncertain	Vacated	N/A	Mendieta retired
December	Chico Casaola	EMLL show	^[11]

Mexican National Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – El Santo^[12]
No title changes^[12]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Lightweight Championship
incoming champion – Chanoc^[13]
January 13	Rudolfo Ruiz	Carnaval de Campeones	^[13]
August 7	Alberto Muñoz	EMLL show	^[13]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Ray Mendoza^[1]
January 13	Raúl Reyes	Carnaval de Campeones	^[1]
May 5	Alfonso Dantés	EMLL show	^[1]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – Rizado Ruiz^[3]
February	Huracán Ramírez	EMLL show	^[3]

Mexican National Tag Team Championship
incoming champion – Possibly Rayo de Jalisco and El Santo^[14]
No title changes^[14]

Mexican National Women's Championship
incoming champion – Chabela Romero^[15]
No title changes^[15]

NWA

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Incoming Champion – Lou Thesz^[16]
No title changes^[16]

Debuts

Retirements

Andreas Lambrakis (1936-1965)
John Pesek (1914-1965)

Births

January 4 – Derrick Dukes
January 11 – Mascarita Sagrada
January 24:
- Mike Awesome^[18](died in 2007)^[19]
- Steve Lawler (died in 2021)
January 26 – Rip Sawyer^[18]
February 2 – Naoki Sano^[20]
February 21 – The Terminator
February 24 – Bas Rutten^[21]
February 26 – James Mitchell
February 28 – Norman Smiley^[18]
March 1 – Booker T^[21]
March 3 – Danie Brits (died in 2020)
March 16 – Steve Armstrong^[20]
March 24 – The Undertaker^[20]
April 5 – Villano IV^[20]
April 13 – Bracito de Oro^[21]
April 18 – Biff Wellington (died in 2007)
April 26 – Tank Abbott^[20]
May – Dick Vrij
May 7 – Owen Hart^[18](died in 1999)^[19]
June 7 – Mick Foley^[18]
June 8 – Tatanka^[20]
June 9 – Val Puccio^[20](died in 2011)^[19]
June 10 – Ephesto^[21]
June 11 – Mascarita Sagrada^[18]
June 16 – Tatsuo Nakano^[20]
June 17 – Clarence Mason^[21]
July 3 – Shin'ya Hashimoto^[20](died in 2005)^[19]
July 7 – Chris Duffy (died in 2000)
July 22 – Shawn Michaels^[20]
August 7 – Johnny Smith^[18]
August 8 – Akitoshi Saito
August 12 – Dr. Wagner Jr.^[21]
August 16 – Masaaki Satake
August 21 – Muffy Mower
August 26 – Bobby Duncum Jr.^[21](died in 1999)^[19]
August 31 – K. C. Thunder
September 5 – Hoshitango Imachi
September 9 – J.W. Storm^[21]
September 11 – Paul Heyman^[18]
September 12 – Midnight^[18]
September 16 – Discovery (died in 2020)
September 27 – Ricky Fuji^[18]
September 28 – La Diabólica^[21]
October 11:
- Rikishi^[18]
- Tonga Kid
October 16 – The Renegade^[18](died in 1999)^[19]
October 17 – Rossy Moreno^[18]
October 21:
- Charlie Norris^[21]( died in 2023)
- Horace Hogan^[21]
October 25 – Too Cold Scorpio^[20]
October 27 – Harvey Wippleman^[21]
October 28 – Jun Izumida (died in 2017)
November 8 – Boni Blackstone
November 14 – L.A. Park^[18]
November 23 – Don Frye^[21]
November 28 – Rumi Kazama (died in 2021)
November 30 – Bart Sawyer^[21] (died in 2023)
November 23 – Ron Waterman^[18]
December 1 – Noriyo Tateno
December 6 – Olímpico^[18]
December 16 – Jason Neidhart
December 19 – Shoichi Arai (died in 2002)
December 27 – Bart Gunn^[18]

Deaths

January 16 – Yukon Eric^[22] 48
February 12 – Henry Kulky 53
May 15 – Frank Townsend (wrestler)^[22] 32

References

^ ^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.
^ Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ 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.
^ Lucha Libre Magazine, issue 112
^ ^a ^b "Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre >> Tournaments >> page 3". CageMatch. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^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 ^c 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 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: Mexican National Tag Team Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 396. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Women's Title[Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 394. 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 ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "Wrestlers debuted in 1965: 1 - 32 of 32". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q "Wrestlers born in 1965: 51 - 100 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Wrestler Obituaries | Online World of Wrestling".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Wrestlers born in 1965: 101 - 131 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "Wrestlers born in 1965: 1 - 50 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Wrestlers deceased in 1965: 1 - 33 of 33". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[MexLHeavy-1] 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.

[AnHistory-2] Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[MexWelter-3] 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.

[79Anniversaries-4] 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.

[JD1965-5] Lucha Libre Magazine, issue 112

[CMLL3395-6] "Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre >> Tournaments >> page 3". CageMatch. Retrieved September 22, 2018.

[NWAMiddle-7] Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[NWALHeavy-8] 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.

[NWALMiddle-9] 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-10] 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-11] 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-12] 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-13] 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.

[MexTag-14] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: Mexican National Tag Team Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 396. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[MexWomenBook-15] Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Mexico: National Women's Title[Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. p. 394. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

[NWAWorlds-16] 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.

[WD1965Debuts-17] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "Wrestlers debuted in 1965: 1 - 32 of 32". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1965BirthsPage2-18] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q "Wrestlers born in 1965: 51 - 100 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[auto-19] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Wrestler Obituaries | Online World of Wrestling".

[WD1965BirthsPage3-20] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Wrestlers born in 1965: 101 - 131 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1965Births-21] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "Wrestlers born in 1965: 1 - 50 of 131". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1965Deaths-22] "Wrestlers deceased in 1965: 1 - 33 of 33". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

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v t e Years in professional wrestling
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025