1944 in professional wrestling

1944 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 1944.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
September 22	EMLL	EMLL 11th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Gorilla Ramos defeated Black Guzmán (c) in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship^[1]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Notable events

Paul Jones starts the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Championship changes

EMLL

NWA World Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – Tarzán López^[2]
No title changes^[2]

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion - Rye Duran^[3]
No title changes^[3]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Middleweight Championship
incoming champion – El Santo^[4]
April 1	Tarzán López	Live event
April 8	Vacated	Live event
May 31	El Santo	Live event	Defeated Tuffy Truesdale to win the vacant championship^[4]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Lightweight Championship
incoming champion – Joe Silva^[5]
April 28	Raul Romero	EMLL show	^[5]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Black Guzmán^[6]
September 20	Gorilla Ramos	EMLL 11th Anniversary Show	^[6]
October 18	Tarzán López	EMLL show	^[6]

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
incoming champion – El Santo^[7]
February 8	Jack O'Brien	EMLL show	^[7]

Debuts

Debut date uncertain:

Births

Date of birth unknown:
- Caswell Martin
- Larry O'Day^[9](died in 1997)
- Mike Webster
January 1 – Jimmy Hart^[9]
April 4:
- Tiger Jeet Singh^[10]
- El Sicodélico^[9]
April 20 – Bob Bruggers (died in 2024)
May 25 - Victor Rivera (wrestler)
May 29 – Ronnie P. Gossett^[9](died in 2007)
June 1 – Diamond Lil
June 30 – Terry Funk^[10](died in 2023)
July 12 – Ric Drasin (died in 2020)
August 3 – Roland Bock (died in 2025)
August 10 – Jim Crockett Jr.^[9](died in 2021)
August 14 – Bobby Duncum Sr.^[9](died in 2026)
August 24 – Rocky Johnson^[9](died in 2020)
August 31 – Jos LeDuc^[9](died in 1999)
September 12 – Lonnie Mayne^[9](died in 1978)
October 4 – Michel Martel^[9](died in 1978)
October 21:
- Jonathan Boyd(died in 1999)
- Butch Miller^[9](died in 2023)
October 31 - Roy Callender
November 1:
- Bobby Heenan^[9](died in 2017)
- Bugsy McGraw^[9]
November 2 – Michael Buffer

Deaths

January 29 – Jim Clintstock^[11] (39)
April 30 – Ernst Roeber^[12] (72)
September 9 – Gus Sonnenberg^[12] (46)

References

↑ 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.
1 2 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.
1 2 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.
1 2 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.
1 2 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.
1 2 3 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.
1 2 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.
1 2 3 "Wrestlers debuted in 1944: 1 - 9 of 9". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Wrestlers born in 1944: 1 - 50 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
1 2 "Wrestlers born in 1944: 51 - 55 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
↑ Yank. Headquarters Detachment, Special Service, War Department. 1943.
1 2 "Wrestlers deceased in 1944: 1 - 21 of 21". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[79Anniversaries-1] 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.

[NWALMiddle-2] 1 2 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.

[MexHeavy-3] 1 2 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-4] 1 2 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-5] 1 2 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.

[MexLHeavy-6] 1 2 3 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.

[MexWelter-7] 1 2 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.

[WD1944Debuts-8] 1 2 3 "Wrestlers debuted in 1944: 1 - 9 of 9". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1944Births-9] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Wrestlers born in 1944: 1 - 50 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[WD1944BirthsPage2-10] 1 2 "Wrestlers born in 1944: 51 - 55 of 55". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[11] Yank. Headquarters Detachment, Special Service, War Department. 1943.

[WD1944Deaths-12] 1 2 "Wrestlers deceased in 1944: 1 - 21 of 21". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

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 2026