1988 in professional wrestling

1988 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 1988.

Promotion Name Abbreviation Notes
All Japan Pro Wrestling AJPW
American Wrestling Association AWA
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre EMLL
Jim Crockett Promotions JCP In November, Turner Broadcasting System bought JCP and rebranded it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
World Class Championship Wrestling WCCW
World Wrestling Council WWC
World Wrestling Federation WWF

Calendar of notable shows
Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main Event
January 24 JCP Bunkhouse Stampede Uniondale, New York Dusty Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson, The Barbarian, Ivan Koloff, Lex Luger, Road Warrior Animal, Tully Blanchard and The Warlord in a steel cage Bunkhouse Stampede[1]
WWF Royal Rumble Hamilton, Ontario Jim Duggan won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating One Man Gang[2]
March 27 WWF WrestleMania IV Atlantic City, New Jersey Randy Savage defeated Ted DiBiase in a tournament final for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship[3]
JCP Clash of the Champions I Greensboro, North Carolina Ric Flair (c) wrestled Sting to a time-limit draw in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[4]
April 22
April 23		 JCP 3rd Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament Greenville, South Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina		 Sting and Lex Luger defeated Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard in a tournament final[5]
May 8 WCCW 5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions Irving, Texas Kerry Von Erich defeated Iceman Parsons © in a singles match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship[6]
July 10 JCP The Great American Bash Baltimore, Maryland Ric Flair (c) defeated Lex Luger in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[5]
July 30 JCP
AWA
WCCW		 Second Annual Eddie Graham Memorial Show Tampa, Florida Kerry Von Erich (C - WCCW) defeated Jerry Lawler (C - AWA) in a singles match; AWA World Heavyweight Championship vs. WCCW World Heavyweight Championship[7]
August 29 AJPW Bruiser Brody Memorial Show Tokyo, Japan Genichiro Tenryu and Ashura Hara defeated Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu in a tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship[8]
WWF SummerSlam New York City, New York The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) defeated The Mega Bucks (André the Giant and Ted DiBiase) in a tag team match with Jesse Ventura as the special guest referee[9]
September 10 WWC WWC 15th Aniversario Bayamón, Puerto Rico Huracan Castillo and Miguel Pérez Jr. defeated Bobby Jaggers and Dan Kroffat in a "Hair vs. hair" tag team match
September 30 EMLL EMLL 55th Anniversary Show Mexico City, Mexico Máscara Año 2000 defeated Mogur in a Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match[10]
October 15 WCCW 5th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza Dallas, Texas Kerry Von Erich (c - WCWA) defeated Jerry Lawler (c - AWA) in a Texas Death match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship[11][12]
October 16 WWF King of the Ring Providence, Rhode Island Ted DiBiase defeated Randy Savage by count-out in a King of the Ring tournament final match[13]
November 24 Survivor Series Richfield Township, Ohio Hercules, Hillbilly Jim, Koko B. Ware, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage defeated Akeem, Big Boss Man, Haku, The Red Rooster and Ted DiBiase in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match[14]
December 13 AWA SuperClash III Chicago, Illinois Jerry Lawler (AWA) defeated Kerry Von Erich (WCWA) due to referee stoppage in a Title Unification match; AWA World Heavyweight Championship vs. WCWA World Heavyweight Championship[15][16]
December 26 WCW Starrcade Norfolk, Virginia Ric Flair (c) defeated Lex Luger in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[17]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

Tournaments and accomplishments

JCP
Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Bunkhouse Stampede Dusty Rhodes[18][5] January 24
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament Lex Luger and Sting April 23
NWA United States Tag Team Championship Tournament The Fantastics(Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) April 26

WWF
Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Royal Rumble Jim Duggan January 24
WWF World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Randy Savage March 27
King of the Ring Ted DiBiase October 16

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards
Category Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year Randy Savage
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Road Warriors
(Hawk and Animal)
PWI Match of the Year Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant (The Main Event I)
PWI Feud of the Year Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Randy Savage
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year André the Giant
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Sting
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Jerry Lawler
PWI Rookie of the Year Madusa Miceli
PWI Lifetime Achievement Bruiser Brody, Adrian Adonis
PWI Editor's Award James J. Dillon

Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Category Winner
Wrestler of the Year Akira Maeda
Most Outstanding Tatsumi Fujinami
Feud of the Year The Fantastics vs. The Midnight Express
Tag Team of the Year The Midnight Express
(Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)
Most Improved Sting
Best on Interviews Jim Cornette

Title changes

WWF
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Hulk Hogan
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
February 5 Andre the Giant The Main Event I After the controversial finish, Andre "sold' his title to Ted Dibiase
February 5 Vacant The Main Event I As a result of that moment see above Jack Tunney declared the title vacant.
March 27 Randy Savage WrestleMania IV It was a 14-man tournament to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – The Honky Tonk Man
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
August 29 The Ultimate Warrior SummerSlam The Ultimate Warrior was a last minute replacement for Brutus Beefcake who was originally the no. 1 contender for the title.
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
No title changes
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 24 The Jumping Bomb Angels
(Noriyo Tateno and Itzuki Yamazaki)		 Royal Rumble
June 8 The Glamour Girls
(Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)		 Live event
WWF Women's Championship
Incoming champion – Sensational Sherri
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
October 7 Rockin' Robin Prime Time Wrestling
WWF Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 27 Demolition
(Ax and Smash)		 WrestleMania IV

Births

Debuts
  • Uncertain debut date
  • February 20 - Raven
  • September 13 - Dustin Runnels

Retirements

Deaths

See also
  • List of WCW pay-per-view events
  • List of WWF pay-per-view events

References
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  2. "Royal Rumble 1988". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  3. "WrestleMania IV results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
  4. "Clash of Champions Results (I)".
  5. Cawthon, Graham; Cornette, Jim (2013-12-25). Sawyer, Grant (ed.). The History of Professional Wrestling: Jim Crockett Promotions & the NWA World Title 1983-1988 (1 ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781494803476.
  6. "Historical Cards: Parade of Champions 5 (May 8, 1988. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanac and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 173. 2007 Edition.
  7. "Eddie Graham Memorial Show". Florida Championship Wrestling/Professional Wrestling Federation Cards. ProWrestlingHistory.com.
  8. "Budokan Hall 8/88". All Japan Budokan Hall Shows. ProWrestlingHistory.com.
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  11. "5th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza". Pro Wrestling History. October 15, 1988. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  12. "Historical Cards: 5th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza (October 15, 1988. Dallas, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
  13. "King of the Ring 88 - Providence, RI - Civic Center - October 16, 1988 (6,700)". The History of WWE. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
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  17. Adamson, Matt (2008-02-06). "Going Old School: Starrcade '88". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
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  19. "Evie". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
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