1987_in_professional_wrestling

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1987 in professional wrestling

Professional wrestling-related events during the year of 1987

1987 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

Quick Facts List of years in professional wrestling ...

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[1] [1]
Anderson, Kyle (2010-03-29). "WrestleMania III Breaks Attendance Record: Wake-Up Video". MTV. Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-09-08.

[AnHistory-2] [2]
Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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"2nd Annual Crockett Cup". Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments. Retrieved August 23, 2009.

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"SuperClash II". Pro Wrestling History. May 2, 1987. Retrieved April 4, 2015.

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"4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions". Pro Wrestling History. May 3, 1987. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

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"WWF King of the Ring '87 at Providence Civic Center wrestling results – Internet Wrestling Database". www.profightdb.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.

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"54th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 18, 1987. Retrieved November 1, 2012.

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"4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza". Pro Wrestling History. October 17, 1987. Retrieved April 10, 2015.

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"Historical Cards: 4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza (October 17, 1987. Dallas, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.

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"Survivor Series 1987 results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved 2008-05-27.

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Hoops, Brian (2007-12-18). "SPECIALIST – 20 Years Ago: Detailed look back at Starrcade '87 with Flair vs. Garvin". PWTorch. Retrieved 2008-05-24.

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"WWF Slammy Awards (1987)". TWNP News. Retrieved 2008-02-22.

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Promotion Name	Abbreviation
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW
American Wrestling Association	AWA
Championship Wrestling from Florida	CWF
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL
Jim Crockett Promotions	JCP
World Class Championship Wrestling	WCCW
World Wrestling Council	WWC
World Wrestling Federation	WWF

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
February 21	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Detroit, Michigan	Randy Savage (c) defeated George Steele by count-out in a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the managerial services of Miss Elizabeth
March 29	WWF	WrestleMania III	Pontiac, Michigan	Hulk Hogan (c) defeated André the Giant in a singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship^[1]
April 12	EMLL	31. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Cien Caras defeated Siglo XX in a Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match^[2]
April 10–11	JCP	2nd Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament	Baltimore, Maryland	April 11: The Super Powers (Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes) defeated Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger in a tournament final^[3]
April 16	AWA	Rage in a Cage II	Las Vegas, Nevada	Wahoo McDaniel defeated Curt Hennig in a Steel Cage Match
April 28	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Notre Dame, Indiana	Hulk Hogan and Ken Patera vs. Andre the Giant and Hercules
May 2	AWA	SuperClash II	Daly City, California	Curt Hennig defeated Nick Bockwinkel (c) in a singles match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship^[4]
May 3	WCCW	4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions	Irving, Texas	Kevin Von Erich (c) wrestled Nord the Barbarian to a double count out in a singles match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship^[5]
May 9	CWF	First Annual Eddie Graham Memorial Show	St. Petersburg, Florida	Dusty Rhodes (c) defeated Ric Flair by disqualification in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship^[6]
June 12	NJPW	G1 Climax	Tokyo, Japan	Chigusa Nagayo defeated Dump Matsumoto in the finals
June 28	AJW	Japan Grand Prix	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki defeated Masa Saito in the finals
July 4	JCP	The Great American Bash	Atlanta	The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard and J. J. Dillon) in a WarGames match^[7]
July 18			Charlotte, North Carolina	Dusty Rhodes (with Barry Windham) defeated Tully Blanchard in a "lights-out" Barbed Wire Ladder match for $100,000.^[7]
July 31			Miami	The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine in a WarGames match^[7]
September 1	CWF	Battle of the Belts III	Daytona Beach, Florida	Ric Flair (c) fought Lex Luger to a draw in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
September 4	WWF	King of the Ring	Providence, Rhode Island	Randy Savage defeated King Kong Bundy in a King of the Ring tournament final match^[8]
September 18	EMLL	EMLL 54th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Mogur defeated As Charro in a Lucha de Apuestas mask vs. mask match^[9]
September 20	WWC	WWC 14th Aniversario	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Invader #1 defeated Chicky Starr in a "Retirement vs. hair" match
September 23	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Hershey, Pennsylvania	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Sika for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
October 10	AJW	Tag League the Best	Tokyo, Japan	Chigusa Nagayo & Yumiko Hotta defeated Hisako Uno & Yukari Omori in the finals
October 17	WCCW	4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza	Dallas, Texas	Kevin Von Erich defeated Al Perez (c) in a singles match for the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship^[10]^[11]
November 11	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Seattle, Washington	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
November 26	WWF	Survivor Series	Richfield Township, Ohio	André the Giant, Butch Reed, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang and Rick Rude defeated Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera and Paul Orndorff in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match^[12]
November 26	JCP	Starrcade	Chicago, Illinois	Ric Flair defeated Ron Garvin (c) in a steel cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship^[13]
December 7	NJPW	Japan Cup Tag League	Tokyo, Japan	Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch defeated Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami in the finals
December 7	WWF	Saturday Night's Main Event	Landover, Maryland	Hulk Hogan (c) vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
December 26	AJW	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling at Korauken Hall	Tokyo, Japan	Devil Masami has her retirement match against Chigusa Nagayo^[14]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won
Japan Grand Prix 1987	Chigusa Nagayo	June 28
Rookie of the Year Decision Tournament	Toshiyo Yamada
Tag League the Best 1987	Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka	October 11

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Bunkhouse Stampede	Dusty Rhodes^[15]^[16]
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament	The Super Powers (Nikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes)	April 11

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Frank Tunney Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament	The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell)	March 15
King of the Ring	Randy Savage	September 4

1987_in_professional_wrestling

1987 in professional wrestling

List of notable promotions

Calendar of notable shows

Tournaments and accomplishments

AJW

JCP

WWF

Slammy Awards

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Title changes

WWF

Births

Debuts

Debut date

Uncertain debut date

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References

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Poll	Winner
Best Performance by an Animal	George "The Animal" Steele^[17]^[18]^[19]
Woman of the Year	Miss Elizabeth^[17]^[18]^[19]
Best Ring Apparel	Harley Race^[17]^[18]^[19]
Hulk Hogan Real American Award	Superstar Billy Graham^[17]^[18]^[19]
Jesse "The Body" Award	"Ravishing" Rick Rude^[17]^[18]^[19]
Greatest Hit	Jim Duggan^[17]^[18]^[19]
Manager of the Year	None ^[17]^[18]^[19]
Best Personal Hygiene	Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, and Slick^[17]^[18]^[19]
Best Vocal Performance	Jim Duggan^[17]^[18]^[19]
Song of the Year	No winner (envelope eaten by Sika)^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]
Best Group	One Man Gang^[20]
Humanitarian of the Year	Ted DiBiase^[17]^[18]^[19]
Best Head	Gene Okerlund and Bam Bam Bigelow^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award	The Islanders (Haku & Tama), André the Giant, Hercules, King Kong Bundy, and Harley Race^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Hulk Hogan
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)
PWI Match of the Year	Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (WrestleMania III)
PWI Feud of the Year	The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger) vs. The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff) and The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Dusty Rhodes
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Ric Flair
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	Curt Hennig
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Nikita Koloff
PWI Rookie of the Year	Owen Hart
PWI Lifetime Achievement	Paul Boesch
PWI Editor's Award	Jimmy Hart

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Riki Choshu
Most Outstanding	Ric Flair
Feud of the Year	Austin Idol and Tommy Rich vs. Jerry Lawler
Tag Team of the Year	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)
Most Improved	Rick Steiner
Best on Interviews	Jim Cornette

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Hulk Hogan
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Incoming champion – Randy Savage
March 29	Ricky Steamboat	WrestleMania III
June 2	The Honky Tonk Man	Superstars of Wrestling	Aired on tape delay on June 13

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Antonio Inoki
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF Women's Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)
No title changes

Date	Winner	Event/Show
WWF Women's Championship
Incoming champion – The Fabulous Moolah
July 24	Sensational Sherri	Live event

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
WWF Tag Team Championship
Incoming champions – The British Bulldogs (British Bulldog and Dynamite Kid)
January 26	The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart)	Superstars	aired on tape delay on February 7
August 10	The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond Rougeau)	House show
October 27	Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)	Superstars	Aired on tape delay on November 7