1976 in professional wrestling

1976 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of years in professional wrestling
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List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable shows in 1976.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL
World Wide Wrestling Federation	WWWF

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
April 23	EMLL	20. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Fishman defeated El Faraón in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match[1][2]
June 5	BTW	Superbowl of Wrestling	Irving, Texas	Terry Funk (c) wrestled Fritz Von Erich to a double count-out in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
June 25	WWWF	Showdown at Shea	Flushing, New York	Bruno Sammartino (c) defeated Stan Hansen by countout in a singles match for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship[3]
September 24	EMLL	EMLL 43rd Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	El Faraón defeated Perro Aguayo in a best two-out-of-three falls match Lucha de Apuesta mask vs. hair match[4]
December 19		Juicio Final		Mano Negra defeated Demonio Blanco in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. mask match[5]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Awards and honors

1976 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Terry Funk

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Terry Funk
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Executioners (#1 and #2)
PWI Match of the Year	Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Wahoo McDaniel
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Stan Hansen
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Bruno Sammartino
PWI Rookie of the Year	Bob Backlund
PWI Woman of the Year	Sue Green
PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year	Lord Littlebrook
PWI Manager of the Year	Bobby Heenan

Notable incidents

• Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – Dr. Wagner[6]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
February 27	Adorable Rubí	EMLL show	[6]
July 16	Carlos Plata	EMLL show	[6]
October 24	Alfonso Dantés	EMLL show	[6]

NWA World Middleweight Championship
Incoming champion – Perro Aguayo
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
October 22	El Faraon	EMLL show

NWA World Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Blue Demon
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
January 19	Mano Negra	EMLL show
April 9	Fishman	EMLL show

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – El Halcon

No title changes

Mexican National Middleweight Championship

Incoming champion – Ringo Mendoza

No title changes

Mexican National Lightweight Championship
Incoming champion – Tauro[7]
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
October 30	Flama Azul	EMLL show	[7]

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Alfonso Dantes
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
April 11	Dr. Wagner	EMLL show

Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Incoming champion – Fishman
Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
April 9	Vacant	EMLL show
July 30	Blue Demon	EMLL show

Mexican National Women's Championship

Incoming champion – Uncertain

No title changes

NWA

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Terry Funk

No title changes

Births

Stephanie McMahon

• January 23 – Nigel McGuinness
• February 24 – Monster Clown
• March 6 – Ken Anderson
• April 16 – Phil Baroni
• July 16 – Bobby Lashley
• August 31 – GQ Money
• September 10 – Matt Morgan
• September 24 – Stephanie McMahon[8]
• November 13 – Hiroshi Tanahashi
• November 23 – Kristina Laum
• November 25 – Adam Firestorm (d. 2009)
• November 26 – Maven
• December 23 – Jamie Noble
• December 27 - Tim Arson (died in 2015)

Debuts

• Uncertain debut date

• Bret Hart
• Bobby Eaton
• Kevin Von Erich
• Barry Orton

Retirements

• Mitsu Arakawa (1953 – 1976)
• Bob Geigel (1950 – 1976)
• George Gordienko (1946 – 1976)
• Stan Kowalski (1948 – 1976)
• Betty Niccoli (1963 – 1976)
• Antonino Rocca (1942 – 1976)
• Hans Schmidt (1949 – 1976)
• Kinji Shibuya (1952 – 1976)

References

1. "Luchas 2000". Fisman y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 28–31. Especial 30.
2. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". El Faraón (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. August 2007. p. 23. Tomo II.
3. Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling: The Results WWF 1963–1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5.
4. "Luchas 2000". Perro Aguayo y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 12–15. Especial 30.
5. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Mano Negra (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. October 2007. p. 20. Tomo III.
6. 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
7. Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
8. "Stephanie McMahon Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2008.