1988 In Professional Wrestling
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1988 In Professional Wrestling
1988 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling. List of notable promotions These promotions held notable shows in 1988. Calendar of notable shows Notable events * January 24 - WWE Royal Rumble was aired on USA Network against the NWA Bunkhouse Stampede that aired live on Pay Per View. * March 27 - Clash of the Champions I was aired on free TV via TBS against the WWE pay-per view event WrestleMania IV. * July 16 - Bruiser Brody was stabbed by Jose Huertas Gonzalez before a WWC live event in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Brody died hours later in a local hospital. * November 1 - Turner Broadcasting Systems purchased Jim Crockett Promotions the biggest National Wrestling Alliance territory. * November - Jerry Jarrett buys 50 percent of WCWA from Ken Mantell * December 13 - AWA World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler defeated WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich in Chicago, Illinois at AWA Superclash III to unify ...
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Professional Wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or—as in televised wrestling shows—in backstage areas of the venue, in similar form to reality television. Professional wrestling as a form of theater evolved out of the widespread practice of match fixing among wrestlers in the early 20th century. Rather than sanction the wrestlers for their deceit as was done with boxers, the public instead came to see professional wrestling as a performance art rather than a sport. Professional wrestlers responded to the public's attitude by dispensing with verisimilitude in favor of entertainment, adding melodrama and outlandish stuntwork to their performances. Although the mock combat they performed ceased to resemble any authentic wrestling form, the wrestlers nevertheless continued to pre ...
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Road Warrior Animal
Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (September 12, 1960 – September 22, 2020), better known by his ring name Road Warrior Animal (or simply Animal), was an American professional wrestler. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one half of the tag team The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW, competing for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at 2001's Sin. Animal was inducted with Hawk and their manager Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. Early life Laurinaitis was born in Philadelphia on September 12, 1960 to Lithuanian parents. He grew up in Minnesota, having to work for a living from a very early age. He attended Irondale High School. Because of his size and love of power lifting, Laurinaitis was an imposing figure and thus a very effective bouncer. He worked as a bouncer at Grandma B's in the Twin Cities where he caught the eye of Eddie Sharkey, a well-known wrestling trainer. Sharkey thought that La ...
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Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career. He is best recalled by mainstream audiences for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled as "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. He has been named as one of the best technical wrestlers, and greatest villains, in pro wrestling history. Among other accolades in the WWF/E, DiBiase was the first WWF North American Heavyweight Champion, a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion (with Irwin R. Schyster), a one-time WWE 24/7 Champion, and winner of the 1988 King of the Ring tournament. He held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship once, although recognition of this reign was withdrawn by the company. DiBiase ...
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Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Savage was described by ESPN's Bill Simmons as "one of the greatest pro wrestlers who ever lived"—a statement echoed by multiple industry performers. He was recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively flamboyant ring attire, intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, use of the finale from " Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1" by Elgar as his entrance music, and signature catchphrase, "Oooh yeah!" For most of his tenures in the WWF and WCW, Savage was managed by his real-life wife, Miss Elizabeth Hulette. Savage had six world championship reigns during his 32-year career, including two as WWF World Heavyweight Champion and four as WCW World Heavyweight Champion. As WWF Champion, he held similar drawing power as Hul ...
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Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.QuickFacts Atlantic City city, New Jersey
. Accessed November 9, 2022.
It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and
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WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on March 27, 1988, at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The announced attendance of the event was 19,199, drawing a 6.5 buyrate on PPV. The main event featured the finals of a one-night, 14-man single-elimination tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, in which Macho Man Randy Savage defeated "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to win the vacant title. The main matches on the undercard were a twenty-man battle royal won by Bad News Brown, Demolition ( Ax and Smash) versus Strike Force ( Tito Santana and Rick Martel) for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. Production Background WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's ...
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One Man Gang
George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, (The) One Man Gang. For two years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he was the top heel for Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and UWF Heavyweight Champion for six months in 1986 and 1987. Early life Gray was born in Chicago, but moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina when he was 5. Professional wrestling career Early career (1977–1982) Grey trained with longtime local independent wrestler and promoter Chief Jay Eagle (Jerry Bragg) and Darren "Rattlesnake" Westbrooks. He started his career at the age of 17 on the Carolina independent circuit wrestling both under his real name and as "Crusher Gray." He then moved on to wrestle in the Kentucky/Tennessee area, including for International Championship Wrestling (ICW), under the ring name Crusher Broomfield. Gray went in as part of a package along w ...
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Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which sees him use a 2x4 length of wood as a weapon, the battle cry "Hooo!" and the U-S-A! cheer. In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE), Duggan was the winner of the first ever Royal Rumble match in 1988 and in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he was a one time United States Heavyweight Champion and a one time (and the final) World Television Champion. In wrestling, he is a one time world champion having won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship. Duggan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. Early life and career Duggan grew up in Glens Falls, New York, where he became a star athlete in high school. Duggan is of English and Scottish ancestry. He was raised Presbyterian. His father was the Chief of poli ...
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Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, Ontario, Burlington and Grimsby, Ontario, Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of Toronto in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Conceived by George Hamilton (city founder), George Hamilton when he purchased the James Durand, Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, the town of Hamilton became the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe. On January 1, 2001, the current boundaries of Hamilton were created through the amalgamation (politics), amalgamation of the original city with other municipalities of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton–Wentworth. Residents of the city are known as Hamiltonians. Traditionall ...
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Royal Rumble (1988)
The 1988 Royal Rumble was the inaugural Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 24, 1988, at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event aired as a television special on the USA Network and was centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. It would be the only Royal Rumble event to broadcast as a television special, as beginning with the 1989 event, it began airing on pay-per-view (PPV). After the launch of the WWE Network in 2014, this inaugural Royal Rumble was included with the rest of the Royal Rumble events in the PPV section. Four matches were contested at the event. The main event was a two out of three falls match in which The Islanders ( Haku and Tama) defeated The Young Stallions ( Paul Roma and Jim Powers). The undercard was highlighted by the fi ...
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter is often considered the first " dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication which covers the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading a ...
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Battle Royal (professional Wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal (sometimes battle royale; plural battles royal or battle royals) is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner. Typical battles royal begin with a number of participants in the ring, who are then eliminated by going over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor. Variations Battlebowl In a two-ring variation on a battle royal, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament. The two-version was held in World Championship Wrestling's 1991 Starrcade event. Subsequent Battlebowl matches occurred under normal battle roy ...
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