1989 in professional wrestling

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1989 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

These promotions held notable events in 1989.

Promotion Name Abbreviation Notes
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling AJW
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre EMLL
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling FMW Founded in July.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling NJPW
Universal Wrestling Association UWA
World Championship Wrestling WCW
World Wrestling Council WWC
World Wrestling Federation WWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date Promotion(s) Event Location Main Event
January 15 WWF Royal Rumble Houston, Texas Big John Studd won the Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Ted DiBiase[1]
January 29 UWA UWA 14th Anniversary Show Naucalpan, Mexico El Canek (c) defeated Konnan in a singles match for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship[2]
February 16 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Hershey, Pennsylvania Hulk Hogan defeated Bad News Brown in a singles match
February 20 WCW Chi-Town Rumble Chicago, Illinois Ricky Steamboat defeated Ric Flair (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[3]
April 2 WWF WrestleMania V Atlantic City, New Jersey Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage (c) in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship[4]
April 24 NJPW Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Shota Chochishvili defeated Antonio Inoki (c) by KO in a singles match for the NJPW Martial Arts Championship[5]
April 25 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Des Moines, Iowa Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Big Boss Man in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
April 28 EMLL 33. Aniversario de Arena México Mexico City, Mexico Ángel Azteca defeated Emilio Charles Jr. © in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Middleweight Championship[6]
May 6 AJW Wrestlemarinepiad '89 Yokohama, Japan Chigusa Nagayo retired in a series of matches where she fought and teamed with Lioness Asuka. Lioness Asuka also defeated Madusa in a WWWA World Title match.
May 7 WCW WrestleWar Nashville, Tennessee Ric Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[7][8]
July 18 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Worcester, Massachusetts Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Honky Tonk Man in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
July 23 WCW The Great American Bash Baltimore, Maryland Ric Flair (c) defeated Terry Funk in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship[9]
August 28 WWF SummerSlam East Rutherford, New Jersey Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage and Zeus in a Tag team match[10]
September 10 WWC WWC 16th Aniversario Bayamón, Puerto Rico Carlos Colón defeated Steve Strong (c) in a Barbed wire match for the WWC Universal Championship
September 21 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Cincinnati, Ohio Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Ted DiBiase in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
September 22 EMLL EMLL 56th Anniversary Show Mexico City, Mexico Atlantis (mask) and El Satánico (hair) defeated Los Infernales (Tierra Viento y Fuego (mask) and MS-1 (hair)) in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas mask and hair vs. mask and hair match[11]
October 6 FMW The Grudge in Nagoya Nagoya, Aichi, Japan  Masashi Aoyagi defeated Atsushi Onita by TKO in a Singles match
October 10 FMW The Grudge in Tokyo Tokyo, Japan  Atsushi Onita defeated Masashi Aoyagi by KO in a Singles match
October 10 WWF First WWF UK Event London, England Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Randy Savage in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship[12]
October 14 King of the Ring Providence, Rhode Island Dusty Rhodes defeated Big Boss Man in a singles match[13]
October 28 WCW Halloween Havoc Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ric Flair and Sting defeated The Great Muta and Terry Funk in a Thunderdome match with Bruno Sammartino as special guest referee[7]
October 31 WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Topeka, Kansas The Genius defeated Hulk Hogan (c) by countout in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
November 23 Survivor Series Rosemont, Illinois The Ultimate Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Heenan Family (Bobby Heenan, André the Giant, Haku and Arn Anderson) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match[14]
December 7 NJPW G1 Climax Tokyo, Japan Shinya Hashimoto defeated Riki Choshu in the finals
December 10 FMW Battle Creation Tokyo, Japan  Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto defeated Jerry Blayman and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga by KO in a Barbed Wire Death match
December 12 WWF No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie Nashville, Tennessee Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage and Zeus in a Steel Cage match[15]
December 13 WCW Starrcade Atlanta, Georgia Sting defeated Ric Flair in a tournament match[16]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

Tournaments and accomplishments

AJW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Japan Grand Prix 1989 Mitsuko Nishiwaki August 24
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament Kaoru Ito
Tag League The Best 1989 Madusa Miceli and Mitsuko Nishiwaki October 8

AJPW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Asunaro Cup 1989 Toshiaki Kawada July 25

NJPW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
World Cup League Riki Choshu December 7

WCW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) June 14
Iron Man tournament Sting December 13
Iron Team tournament The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) December 13

WWF

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Royal Rumble Big John Studd January 15
King of the Ring Tito Santana October 14

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Brain Busters
(Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard)
PWI Match of the Year Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (WrestleWar)
PWI Feud of the Year Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Hulk Hogan
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Randy Savage
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Scott Steiner
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Eric Embry
PWI Rookie of the Year The Destruction Crew
(Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom)
PWI Lifetime Achievement Gordon Solie
PWI Editor's Award Bobby Heenan

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Category Winner
Wrestler of the Year Ric Flair
Most Outstanding Ric Flair
Feud of the Year Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk
Tag Team of the Year The Rockers
(Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)
Most Improved Lex Luger
Best on Interviews Terry Funk

Title changes

WWF

Incoming champion – Randy Savage
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 2 Hulk Hogan WrestleMania V
Incoming champion – The Ultimate Warrior
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 2 Rick Rude WrestleMania V
August 28 The Ultimate Warrior SummerSlam
Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 24 Shota Chochishvili House show
May 25 Antonio Inoki House show
December 31 Deactivated N/A
Incoming champions – The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
February 14 Retired N/A
Incoming champion – Rockin' Robin
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
No title changes
Incoming champions – Demolition (Ax and Smash)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
July 18 The Brain Busters
(Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard)		 Saturday Night's Main Event XXII
October 2 Demolition
(Ax and Smash)		 Superstars of Wrestling Aired on Tape Delay on November 4.
December 13 The Colossal Connection
(Andre the Giant and Haku)		 Superstars of Wrestling Aired on Tape Delay on December 30.
(Title created)
Unsanctioned championship
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
February 15 Ted DiBiase Superstars of Wrestling DiBiase had the title created for himself and unveiled the belt during a segment called "The Brother Love Show". This episode aired on tape delay on March 4.

Births

Debuts

Debut date

Uncertain debut date

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References

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