1997 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of

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 ...

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 1997.

Calendar of notable shows

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Notable events

* January 4 -

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night ''WWF Shotgun Saturday Night'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast. ''Shotgun Saturday Night'' ...

debuts live from

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

* January 25 - New World Order has their nWo Souled Out Pay Per View live from Ceder Rapids, Iowa * April 13 - ECW debuts live on Pay Per View for the first time with

ECW Barely Legal Barely Legal was the inaugural professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It took place on April 13, 1997, from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rob Van Dam versus Lance Storm was inc ...

from the

ECW Arena 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

headlined with Sabu vs

Tazz Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz) is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator and manage ...

* August 21 - The final WCW Clash of the Champions XXXV prime time special on TBS was held in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

headlined with Scott Hall and

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 Wrestl ...

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for ...

and

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career Page has wre ...

. * November 9 - The

Montreal Screwjob The Montreal Screwjob (also called the Montreal Incident; French: ''Le Coup Tordu de Montréal'' lit. Montreal's Twisted Coup) was an infamous unscripted professional wrestling incident that occurred on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series ...

* After a long history of Memphis Wrestling the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestlin ...

closes its doors in November. * December 30 -

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

defeated Blackjack Bradshaw on a WWF Raw is War taping in

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 United States Census. Uniondale is home to Hofstra University's nort ...

to win the NWA North American Heavyweight title .

Tournaments and accomplishments

AAA

AJW

AJPW

WCW

WWF

Slammy Awards

Awards and honors

''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''

''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Title changes

ECW

FMW

NJPW

WCW

WWF

Debuts

*Uncertain debut date :*

Matt Bloom Matthew Jason Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Bloom ...

Droz (wrestler) Darren Adrian Drozdov (born April 7, 1969), professionally known as Droz, is an American essayist, former National Football League (NFL) football player and former professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1 ...

Evan Karagias Evan Karagias (born November 27, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and actor. Acting career Evan moved to New York City to pursue an acting and modeling career. He also became the spokesmodel for the 1996 Calvin Klein and US Olympic Comm ...

:* Michael Cole :*

Justin Gabriel Phillip Paul Lloyd (born 3 March 1981) is a South African-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black. A second-generation ...

:* Rene Dupree :* Billy Boy :* Lodi :* Chilly Willy :*Rie Tanabe (SPWF) * January 26 - Tony Kozina * February 7 –

Ernest Miller Ernest Clifford Miller (born January 14, 1964) is an American actor and former professional wrestler who worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) better known by his ring name, Ernest "The Cat" Miller. ...

* March 10 –

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best reboundin ...

* March 15 –

Ron Killings Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now ...

* April 12 - Naoya Ogawa * May 7 –

Danny Doring Daniel Morrison (born February 19, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Danny Doring. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1997 t ...

* May 17 –

Seiya Morohashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1997-present) Morohashi made his professional wrestling debut in Inte ...

* May 26 –

Kazuki Kazuki (written: , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese wrestler *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, J ...

* June 23 –

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known mononymously as Goldberg, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and former professional football player. He is best known for his tenures in WCW and WWE. One of the most ...

* July 6 –

Shoichi Ichimiya is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist working for various Japanese professional wrestling promotions such as DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) and Apache Pro-Wrestling Army. Professional wrestling career Incependent circuit ...

* July 13 - Chiharu * August 2 **

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and ''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments ...

Molly Holly Nora Kristina Benshoof (''née'' Greenwald; born on September 7, 1977) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler signed to WWE as a producer, she is best known for her appearances with the said company from 2000 to 2005 under the ring n ...

* October 26 –

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

* November 21 - Nana Nakahara (All Japan Women's) and Noriko Toyoda (All Japan Women's) * December 7 – Butterbean * December 12 - Rikiya Fudo

Births

* January 21 – Persia Pirotta * February 9 – Dan Moloney * February 28 –

Ace Austin Austin James Highley (born February 28, 1997), better known by the ring name Ace Austin, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is a former three-time X Division Champion. He also makes appearan ...

* March 7 –

Tyler Bate Tyler Bate (born 7 March 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand. In 2017, he became the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion (later renamed NXT United Kingdom Championship) ...

* April 5 –

Dominik Mysterio Dominik Gutiérrez (born April 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Dominik Mysterio, and is a member of The Judgment Day. He is a one-time former ...

* June 1 – Black Warrior Jr. (d. 2022) * June 5 –

Gigi Dolin Priscilla Lee Kelly (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. She performs under the ring name Gigi Dolin in the NXT brand, and is one-half of the tag team Toxic Attraction with Jacy Jayne, and she is a former record-tying two-ti ...

* June 9 – Myron Reed * August 2 –

Austin Theory Austin White (born August 2, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory and is the current WWE United States Champion in his ...

* August 14 – Minorita * September 3 –

Hana Kimura was a Japanese joshi puroresu professional wrestler. She worked for native companies in her country such as World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2016 to 2020, and Wrestle-1, in addition to having made appearances for foreign companies such as Ring of H ...

(d. 2020) * September 6 – Tsukushi Haruka * September 16 – Yuuri * October 24 –

Bron Breakker Bronson Parmar Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring nam ...

Retirements

Águila Solitaria Águila Solitaria (born August 31, 1954) is a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. Águila Solitaria's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their priv ...

(1978–1997) *

Bull Nakano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional golfer better known as . She began competing in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as a teenager under the ring name Bull Nakano. As a wrestler she was a villain, who often teamed w ...

(1983–1997) * Denny Brown (1980–1997) *

Jeff Gaylord Jeff Gaylord (born October 15, 1958) is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional and independent promotions including Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation, World Class Championship Wrestling and the ...

(1985–1997) *

Jimmy Del Ray David Everett Ferrier (November 30, 1962 – December 6, 2014) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray. Del Ray was best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as one ...

(1985–1997) * Ferrin Barr Jr. (1980–1997) *

Ron Starr Bobby Eugene Nutt (April 3, 1951 – June 8, 2017), better known by his ring name Ron Starr, was an American professional wrestler. Starr was a mainstay for numerous wrestling territories throughout the 1970s and 80s, capturing almost three doze ...

(1972-1997) *

Megumi Kudo is a Japanese entertainment personality and former professional wrestler. She wrestled under her maiden name for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, where she became the top star of the Women's Division. Kudo is primarily known for competing in bru ...

(August 8, 1986 – April 29, 1997) * Sivi Afi (1974–1997) *

Mike Sharpe Michael Sharpe (October 28, 1951 – January 17, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler better known as "Iron" Mike Sharpe. A second-generation wrestler whose father and uncle ( Mike and Ben Sharpe) also competed in the profession, Sharpe w ...

(1973–1997) *

Tony Halme Tony Christian Halme (January 6, 1963 – January 8, 2010) was a Finnish politician, athlete, author, actor, and singer. He was a member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2007, representing the True Finns party as an independent politician ...

(1989- December 21, 1997)

Deaths

* January 24 - Dr. Jerry Graham, 68 * February 4 -

Ray Apollon Ray "Golden" Apollon, born Cyril Joseph, (1924–February 4, 1997) was a professional wrestler from the island of Trinidad. Apollon studied at St. Mary's College in Trinidad and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree from Howard Universit ...

, 72 * February 5 –

Bulldog Bob Brown Robert Harold Brown (October 16, 1938 – February 5, 1997) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Bulldog" Bob Brown. Early life Brown was born in Shoal Lake, Manitoba, but grew up in the St. James-Assiniboia are ...

, 58 * February 28 - Larry Tillman, 88 * March 24 - Dr. Bill Miller, 69 * April 17 -

Mitsu Arakawa Mack Mitsukazu Arakawa (May 23, 1927 – April 17, 1997) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club/American Wrestling Association. E ...

, 69 * June 19 – Stan Stasiak, 60 * June 30 –

Larry O'Dea Larry Davies (1944 – 30 June 1997) was an Australian professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians" with Ron Miller. Larry made his professional wrestling debut in the 1960s for ...

, 53 * July 24 -

Brian Glover Brian Glover (2 April 1934 – 24 July 1997) was an English actor and writer. He worked as a teacher and professional wrestler before commencing an acting career which included films, many roles on British television and work on the stage. His ...

, 63 * August 16 –

Plum Mariko , better known by her ring name , was a Japanese female professional wrestler who wrestled for Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling from 1986 to 1992 and then, JWP Joshi Puroresu from 1992 until her death in 1997. Mariko was the first professional wrestler ...

, 29 * August 18 –

Robert Swenson Robert Alexander "Jeep" Swenson Jr. (January 5, 1957 – August 18, 1997) was an American professional wrestler, stuntman and actor. Career Wrestling Swenson wrestled for World Class Championship Wrestling in 1987 and 1988 as Jeep Swenson f ...

, 40 * August 30 - Dale Lewis (wrestler), 64 * September 10 –

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champio ...

, 68 * September 15 – Bulldog Brower, 63 * October 5 –

Brian Pillman Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Ch ...

, 35 * November 12 –

Luke Brown Carl Dennis Campbell Sr. (July 28, 1935 – November 12, 1997) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name ''Luke "Big Boy" Brown''. He is most noted for being one-half of a tag team in the 1950s and 1960s known as the Ken ...

, 62 * December 2 -

Shirley Crabtree Shirley Crabtree (14 November 1930 – 2 December 1997), better known as Big Daddy, was an English professional wrestler with a record-breaking 64-inch chest. He worked for Joint Promotions and the original British Wrestling Federation. Initia ...

, 67

References

{{Years in professional wrestling