2012 in professional wrestling

2012 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation	Notes
All Japan Pro Wrestling	AJPW
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre	CMLL
Juggalo Championship Wrestling	JCW
LN Promotions	LN
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide	AAA	The "AAA" abbreviation has been used since the mid-1990s and had previously stood for the promotion's original name Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla	PWG
Pro Wrestling Noah	NOAH
Ring of Honor	ROH
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling	TNA
World Wrestling Council	WWC
WWE	—	WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment, which is still the legal name, but the company ceased using the full name in April 2011, with the WWE abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism. NXT became WWE's developmental territory in June, replacing Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), which ceased operations.

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event	Notes
4	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom VI	Tokyo	Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
6/7/8	WWC	Euphoria	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Various
8	TNA	Genesis	Orlando, Florida	Jeff Hardy defeated Bobby Roode (c) by disqualification in a singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
29	WWE	Royal Rumble	St. Louis, Missouri	Sheamus won the 30-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Chris Jericho to earn a world championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII^[1]	Sheamus chose to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship. This was Chris Jericho's first match in WWE since 2010
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
11	LN	A Nightmare To Remember II	Villa Rica, Georgia	Kyle Matthews defeated Jimmy Rave
12	NJPW	The New Beginning	Osaka	Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
12	TNA	Against All Odds	Orlando, Florida	Bobby Roode (c) defeated Bully Ray, James Storm, and Jeff Hardy in a Four-Way match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Sting as the Special Guest Ringside Enforcer
19	AJPW NJPW NOAH	All Together: Mōikkai, Hitotsu ni Narō ze	Sendai	Hiroshi Tanahashi, Suwama and Takeshi Morishima defeated Go Shiozaki, Seiya Sanada and Tetsuya Naito in a Six-man Tag team match
19	WWE	Elimination Chamber	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	John Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance match^[2]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
4	ROH	10th Anniversary Show: Young Wolves Rising	New York City, New York	Adam Cole and Eddie Edwards defeated Team Ambition (Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly) in a Tag team match
12	AAA	Rey de Reyes	Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico	Rey de Reyes final four-way elimination match
18	TNA	Victory Road	Orlando, Florida	Bobby Roode defeated Sting in a No Holds Barred match
25	Progress	Progress Chapter One: In The Beginning	London, England	Nathan Cruz defeated El Ligero, Marty Scurll and Mike Mason to become the inaugural Progress World Champion
30–31	ROH	Showdown in the Sun	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Davey Richards (c) defeated Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong in a three-way elimination match for the ROH World Championship (Day 1) Davey Richards (c) defeated Michael Elgin in a Singles match for the ROH World Championship (Day 2)
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event	Notes
1	WWE	WrestleMania XXVIII	Miami Gardens, Florida	The Rock defeated John Cena in a singles match^[3]	This was The Rock's first WrestleMania match since WrestleMania XX in 2004
15	TNA	Lockdown	Nashville, Tennessee	Bobby Roode (c) defeated James Storm in a Steel cage match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
29	WWE	Extreme Rules	Rosemont, Illinois	John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match^[4]	This was Brock Lesnar's first match in WWE since 2004
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
3	NJPW	Wrestling Dontaku	Fukuoka	Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Hirooki Goto in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
12	ROH	Border Wars	Toronto, Ontario	Kevin Steen defeated Davey Richards (c) in a Singles match for the ROH World Championship
13	TNA	Sacrifice	Orlando, Florida	Bobby Roode (c) defeated Rob Van Dam in a Ladder match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
20	WWE	Over the Limit	Raleigh, North Carolina	John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena in a No Disqualification match Had Cena won, Laurinaitis would have been fired, and anyone who interfered would have been fired.^[5]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
10	TNA	Slammiversary	Arlington, Texas	Bobby Roode (c) defeated Sting in a Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
16	NJPW	Dominion	Osaka	Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada (c) in a Singles match to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
17	WWE	No Way Out	East Rutherford, New Jersey	John Cena defeated Big Show in a steel cage match. Since Cena won, John Laurinaitis was fired, Had Show won, Cena would have been fired.
24	Progress	Progress Chapter Two: The March Of Progress	London, England	Nathan Cruz (c) defeated Marty Scurll score (2-1) in a Best two out of three falls match to retain the PROGRESS World Championship
24	ROH	Best in the World	New York, New York	Kevin Steen (c) defeated Davey Richards in the Anything Goes match for the ROH World Championship
29	CMLL	Infierno en el Ring	Mexico City, Mexico	10-woman Infierno en el Ring, Lucha de Apuestas Hair vs. Hair Steel cage match
30	WWC	39th WWC Aniversario	Bayamon, Puerto Rico	The Invaders defeated Mr. X & Masked Man
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
3	WWE	SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash	Corpus Christi, Texas	Zack Ryder won by last eliminating Kane in a 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the guest General Manager for next week's SmackDown.
8	TNA	Destination X	Orlando, Florida	Austin Aries defeated Bobby Roode (c) in a Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
15	WWE	Money in the Bank	Phoenix, Arizona	John Cena defeated Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, and The Miz in a Money in the Bank ladder match for a WWE Championship match contract
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
5	AAA	Triplemanía XX	Mexico City, Mexico	Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Máscara Año 2000 Jr. (with Máscara Año 2000)
11	ROH	Boiling Point	Providence, Rhode Island	Kevin Steen (c) defeated Eddie Kingston in an Anything Goes match for the ROH World Championship
1-11	NJPW	G1 Climax final	Tokyo	Kazuchika Okada defeated Karl Anderson in a G1 Climax tournament
12	JCW	Bloodymania 6	Cave-In-Rock, Illinois	2 Tuff Tony (c) defeated Kongo Kong for the JCW World Heavyweight Championship
12	TNA	Hardcore Justice	Orlando, Florida	Austin Aries (c) defeated Bobby Roode in a Last Chance match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
19	WWE	SummerSlam	Los Angeles, California	Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H in a No Disqualification match
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
1-2	PWG	Battle of Los Angeles	Reseda, California	Adam Cole defeated Michael Elgin in a Battle of Los Angeles tournament
9	TNA	No Surrender	Orlando, Florida	Jeff Hardy defeated Bully Ray in the final of the 2012 Bound for Glory Series
14	CMLL	CMLL 79th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Rush defeated El Terrible in a two-out-of three-falls Lucha de Apuestas, Hair vs. Hair match
15	ROH	Death Before Dishonor	Chicago Ridge, Illinois	Kevin Steen (c) defeated Rhino in a No Disqualification match for the ROH World Championship
16	WWE	Night of Champions	Boston, Massachusetts	CM Punk (c) vs John Cena for the WWE Championship ended in a draw
23	NJPW	Destruction	Kobe	Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Naomichi Marufuji in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
30	Progress	Progress Chapter Three: Fifty Shades Of Pain	London, England	Dave Mastiff and Greg Burridge defeated El Ligero and Nathan Cruz
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event
7	AAA	Heroes Inmortales	San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí	Jack Evans and La Secta Bizarra Cibernetica (Cibernético, Dark Cuervo and Dark Ozz) defeated Los Perros del Mal (Halloween, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Psicosis and Teddy Hart)
8	NJPW	King of Pro-Wrestling	Tokyo	Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
13	ROH	Glory By Honor	Mississauga, Ontario	Kevin Steen (c) defeated Michael Elgin in a Singles match for the ROH World Championship
14	TNA	Bound for Glory	Phoenix, Arizona	Jeff Hardy defeated Austin Aries (c) in a Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
28	WWE	Hell in a Cell	Atlanta, Georgia	CM Punk (c) defeated Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWE Championship
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event	Notes
11	NJPW	Power Struggle	Osaka	Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Yujiro Takahashi in a Singles match to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
11	TNA	Turning Point	Orlando, Florida	Jeff Hardy (c) defeated Austin Aries in a Ladder match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
18	WWE	Survivor Series	Indianapolis, Indiana	CM Punk (c) defeated John Cena and Ryback in a Triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship	This event was notable for the onscreen debut of The Shield
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main event	Notes
9	WWE	Tribute to the Troops	Norfolk, Virginia	John Cena defeated Antonio Cesaro in a Singles match
9	TNA	Final Resolution	Orlando, Florida	Jeff Hardy (c) defeated Bobby Roode in a Singles match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
14	CMLL	Sin Piedad	Mexico City, Mexico	La Sombra defeated Tama Tonga in a Singles match for the 2012 La Copa Junior Tournament Final
16	WWE	TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs	Brooklyn, New York	Dolph Ziggler (contract holder) defeated John Cena in a Ladder match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank contract	This marked The Shield's in-ring debut
16	ROH	Final Battle 2012: Doomsday	New York, New York	Kevin Steen (c) defeated El Generico in the Ladder War IV for the ROH World Championship	This was El Generico's last match in ROH before signing with the WWE as the new ring name Sami Zayn on NXT
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
Rise and Prove Tournament	TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste)	February 17
March Mayhem Tournament	Tommaso Ciampa	March 13
ROH World Tag Team Championship Tournament	S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino)	September 15

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
Wild Card Tournament	Magnus and Samoa Joe	January 8
TNA X Division Championship Tournament	Zema Ion	July 8
Turkey Bowl	Eric Young	November 22

Date	Winner	Event/Show
AAA Mega Championship
Incoming champion – Jeff Jarrett
March 18	El Mesias	Rey de Reyes
December 2	El Texano Jr.	Guerra de Titanes

AAA Latin American Championship
Incoming champion – L.A. Park
No title changes

AAA World Mini-Estrella Championship
Incoming champion – Mini Psicosis
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
Incoming champion – Jack Evans
May 19	Juventud Guerrera	Noche de Campeones
December 2	Daga	Guerra de Titanes

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Royal Rumble	Sheamus	January 29	Winner received their choice of a championship match for either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII; Sheamus last eliminated Chris Jericho to win and chose to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he subsequently won from Daniel Bryan.
Money in the Bank ladder match	Dolph Ziggler	July 15	Defeated Damien Sandow, Tyson Kidd, Christian, Santino Marella, Tensai, Cody Rhodes, and Sin Cara to win a World Heavyweight Championship match contract. Ziggler cashed in the contract on the April 8, 2013 episode of Raw and won the title from Alberto Del Rio.
Money in the Bank ladder match	John Cena	July 15	Defeated Kane, Chris Jericho, Big Show, and The Miz to win a WWE Championship match contract. Cena cashed in the contract on the July 23 episode of Raw but won the match against champion CM Punk by disqualification thanks to interference from Big Show, thus Cena did not win the title.
Gold Rush Tournament	Seth Rollins	July 26 (aired August 29)	Defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament final to win the inaugural NXT Championship.
WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender's Tournament	Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow)	October 22	Defeated Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in the tournament final to win a WWE Tag Team Championship match at Hell in a Cell, but were unsuccessful in winning the title from Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane).

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
AAA Reina de Reinas Championship
Incoming champion – Sexy Star
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
AAA World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – La Legión Extranjera (Abyss and Chessman)
October 7	Joe Líder and Vampiro	Héroes Inmortales

Date	Winner	Event/Show
AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – La Sociedad (Alan Stone and Jennifer Blake)
October 7	Halloween and Mari Apache	Héroes Inmortales

Date	Winner	Event/Show
AAA World Trios Championship
Incoming champions – Los Perros del Mal (Damián 666, Halloween and X-Fly)
March 11	Los Psycho Circus (Monster Clown, Murder Clown and Psycho Clown)	Sin Límite
May 19	El Consejo (Máscara Año 2000 Jr., El Texano Jr. and Toscano)	Noche de Campeones

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Hiroshi Tanahashi
February 12	Kazuchika Okada	The New Beginning
June 16	Hiroshi Tanahashi	Dominion 6.16

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – Masato Tanaka
February 12	Hirooki Goto	The New Beginning
July 22	Shinsuke Nakamura	Kizuna Road

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson)
January 4	Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima)	Wrestle Kingdom VI
May 3	Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano)	Wrestling Dontaku
June 20	Vacated	–	Iizuka and Yano were stripped of the titles after a title match between them and Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) on June 16 ended in a no contest.
July 22	Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima)	Kizuna Road	Defeated Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) to win the vacant title.
October 8	K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer)	King of Pro-Wrestling

Date	Winner	Event/Show
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Prince Devitt
May 3	Low Ki	Wrestling Dontaku
July 29	Kota Ibushi	Last Rebellion
October 8	Low Ki	King of Pro-Wrestling
November 11	Prince Devitt	Power Struggle

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero)
January 4	Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi)	Wrestle Kingdom VI
February 12	No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero)	The New Beginning
May 2	Vacated	–	Title held up after Davey Richards was unable to attend Wrestling Dontaku 2012 due to travel issues.
June 16	Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask	Dominion 6.16	Liger and Tiger Mask defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) to win the vacant title.
July 22	Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero)	Kizuna Road
November 11	Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida)	Power Struggle

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

AAA

JWP

Ring of Honor

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

WWE

AAA

NJPW

ROH

TNA

WWE

NXT

AAA Hall of Fame

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

TNA Hall of Fame

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

WWE

WWE Hall of Fame

Slammy Awards

Related Articles

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NEVER Openweight Championship
(Title created)
November 19	Masato Tanaka	Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament Final	Tanaka defeated Karl Anderson in the finals of a sixteen-man tournament to become the inaugural champion.

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ROH World Championship
Incoming champion – Davey Richards
May 12	Kevin Steen	Border Wars

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ROH World Television Championship
Incoming champion – Jay Lethal
March 31	Roderick Strong	Showdown in the Sun
June 29	Adam Cole	Ring of Honor Wrestling

Date	Winner	Event/Show
ROH World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe)
May 12	Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin)	Border Wars
June 24	The All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King)	Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis
July 10	Vacated	N/A
September 15	S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino)	Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency
December 16	The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe)	Final Battle 2012: Doomsday

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Bobby Roode
July 8	Austin Aries	Destination X	Aries voluntarily vacated the TNA X Division Championship in exchange for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match at the event.
October 14	Jeff Hardy	Bound for Glory

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
TNA X Division Championship
Incoming champion – Austin Aries
July 8	Vacated	Destination X	Austin Aries voluntarily vacated the TNA X Division Championship in exchange for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match at the event.
July 8	Zema Ion	Destination X	Ultimate X match for the vacant title, also involving Kenny King, Mason Andrews, and Sonjay Dutt.
October 14	Rob Van Dam	Bound for Glory

Date	Winner	Event/Show
TNA World Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Crimson and Matt Morgan
February 12	Magnus and Samoa Joe	Against All Odds
May 13	The World Tag Team Champions of the World (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian)	Sacrifice
June 10	A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle	Slammiversary X
June 28	The World Tag Team Champions of the World (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian)	Impact Wrestling
October 14	Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez	Bound for Glory

Date	Winner	Event/Show
TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – Gail Kim and Madison Rayne
March 8	Eric Young and ODB	Impact Wrestling

Date	Winner	Event/Show
TNA Knockouts Championship
Incoming champion – Gail Kim
June 10	Miss Tessmacher	Slammiversary
August 12	Madison Rayne	Hardcore Justice
August 16	Miss Tessmacher	Impact Wrestling
October 14	Tara	Bound for Glory

Date	Winner	Event/Show
TNA Television Championship
Incoming champion – Robbie E
March 18	Devon	Victory Road
September 26	Vacated	N/A
September 27	Samoa Joe	Impact Wrestling
December 6	Devon	Impact Wrestling