1971 in professional wrestling

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1971 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 1971.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre	EMLL

Calendar of notable shows

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
April	EMLL	15. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Uncertain
August 27	NWA Hollywood Wrestling	Memorial Coliseum Spectacular	Los Angeles, California	Freddie Blassie defeated John Tolos in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match
September 24	EMLL	EMLL 38th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Rene Torres defeated Ciclon Veloz Jr. in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuesta hair vs. hair match^[1]^[2]

Championship changes

EMLL

Date	Winner	Event/Show	Note(s)
NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
incoming champion – El Solitario^[3]
No title changes^[3]

IWE

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
IWA World Series	Monster Roussimoff	June 24

Births

Date of birth uncertain:
- Bob Starr
- Billy Wiles
January 1 - Rodney
January 7 - CW Anderson
January 28:
- Yuji Yasuraoka
- Sean Evans (died in 2007)
February 10
- Louie Spicolli (d. 1998)
- Victoria
February 14
- Tommy Dreamer^[4]^[5]
- Nelson Frazier, Jr. (d. 2014)
February 22 – Super Caló
February 25 - Sean O'Haire (died in 2014)
February 28 - David Khakhaleishvili (died in 2021)
March 1
- Scotty Riggs
- Yar (d. 2021)
March 2
- Manami Toyota
- Satoru Asako
March 6 – Val Venis
March 9 - Tiger Ali Singh
March 10 - Debbie Malenko
March 11 - Johnny Knoxville
March 18 - Mike Bell (d. 2008)
March 23 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan
April 4
- John Zandig
- Tony Jones (d. 2024)
April 16 - Krusher Kong
April 21 – Axl Rotten (d. 2016)
May 7 - L.A. Smooth
May 12 – Doug Basham
May 18 - Cynthia Lynch
May 19 – Psicosis
May 22 – Halloween
May 28 – Mosh
June 5 - Glen Osbourne
June 12 – Mark Henry^[6]
June 15 – Chuck Palumbo
June 18
- Melissa Coates (died in 2021)
- Chasity
July 1 – Abismo Negro (d. 2009)
July 5:
- Cousin Sal
- Jamie Dundee
July 7 - Allan Funk
July 14
- Bubba Ray Dudley^[7]
- Joey Styles
July 15 - Pequeño Olímpico^[8]
July 17 - Alexander Otsuka
July 19 - Michael Modest
August 5 - Hideki Hosaka (d. 2021)
August 10 - Kevin Randleman (d.2016)
August 25 – Crash Holly (d. 2003)
September 1 - Sim Snuka
September 8 - David Arquette
September 12 – Shocker
September 16 - Richard Slinger
September 22 - Luther Reigns
September 23 - Osamu Nishimura
October 8 - Al Katrazz
October 9 – Stevie Richards
October 14 - Frank Wycheck (died in 2023)
October 15 - Joey Abs
October 19 – Sweet Saraya
October 20 – Snoop Dogg
October 22 – Adam Flash
October 24 - Dale Torborg
November 1 - Kamikaze
November 23 - Tetsuhiro Kuroda
November 24 - Sumie Sakai
December 1 - Trinity
December 24 - Oro (d. 1993)

Debuts

Uncertain debut date

May 9 - Tatsumi Fujinami
June 21 - Kendo Nagasaki
August 20 - Tinieblas
September 16 - El Signo
October 1 - Mano Negra

Retirements

Whipper Billy Watson (1940 – 1971)

Deaths

May 12 - Tor Johnson, 67
June 16 - Alberto Torres (wrestler), 37
July 12 – Yvon Robert, 56
July 24 – Hercules Cortez, 39
October 29 - Harry Light, 73

References

^ "38th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 24, 1971. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
^ "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ "SLAM! Sports bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
^ "Tommy Dreamer Biography". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
^ "Mark Henry official Internet Presence (bio)". Mark Henry. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
^ "Bubba Ray profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
^ "Wrestlers born in 1966: 51 - 100 of 141". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[EMLL38-1] "38th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 24, 1971. Retrieved September 27, 2012.

[76Anniversaries-2] "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.

[NWALHeavy-3] 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.

[4] "SLAM! Sports bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2007-07-12.

[5] "Tommy Dreamer Biography". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2008-06-04.

[6] "Mark Henry official Internet Presence (bio)". Mark Henry. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.

[7] "Bubba Ray profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2017-12-27.

[WD1966BirthsPage2-8] "Wrestlers born in 1966: 51 - 100 of 141". Wrestling Data. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

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