1948 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
Gallery
List of notable promotions
Only one promotion held notable shows in 1948.
Supercards and tournaments
Notable events
- July 18 – professional wrestling promotors Pinkie George, Orville Brown, Al Haft, Harry Light, Sam Muchnick, Don Owen, and Tony Stecher form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a governing body who would be the primary influence on professional wrestling in North America until the mid-1980s.
- September – Alejandro Muñoz Moreno debuts the Blue Demon wrestling persona in Mexico City. He would go on to become one of the most famous professional wrestlers in lucha libre as well as act in 26 lucha films.
- Stu Hart and Al Oeming created Klondike Wrestling (later known as Stampede Wrestling).
Title changes
EMLL
NWA
Awards and honors
- Luchador of the Year
- Tarzán López (Mexico)
Arts and entertainment
- Angelo Poffo's world record for most consecutive sit-ups (6,033) is featured on the March 3 edition of Ripley's Believe It or Not! comic strip.
Debuts
- March 31 – Blue Demon
- November 24 – Tiny Mills
- Date uncertain
- Bronco Lubich
- The Fabulous Moolah
- George Scott
- Johnny Barend
- Lord Athol Layton
- Nelson Royal
- Ray Gunkel
Births
- January 8 – Bobby Jaggers, American professional wrestler (d. 2012)
- January 11 – Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2018)
- January 30 – Black Bart (d. 2025)
- February 7 – Kim Duk, Japanese professional wrestler
- February 19 – Big John Studd, American professional wrestler (d. 1995)
- March 3 - Ron Fuller
- March 14 - King Cobra
- May 15 – Coloso Colosetti, Argentinian professional wrestler (d. 2024)
- June 2 – Cynthia Peretti, American professional wrestler (d. 2009)
- June 23 – Earl Oliver, American wrestling columnist and historian
- June 29 – Leo Burke, Canadian professional wrestler (died in 2024)
- July 11 - Ernie Holmes, American professional wrestler and footballer (died in 2008)
- July 18 – Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican professional wrestler and wrestling promoter
- July 27 – Greg Gagne, American professional wrestler
- July 28 – Bobby Bold Eagle, American wrestler
- August 6 – Dino Bravo, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1993)
- August 8 - Dee Booher, American professional wrestler (d. 2022)
- August 27 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
- September 3 - Butcher Brannigan, American professional wrestler (d. 2009)
- September 8 – Great Kabuki, Japanese professional wrestler
- September 12:
- Rocky Hata (d. 1991)
- Roberto Soto
- September 21 – Mitsuo Momota, Japanese professional wrestler
- September 26 – Kazuo Sakurada, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2020)
- September 29 – Jaque Mate, Mexican luchador
- October 4 – Linda McMahon, wrestling executive
- October 15 – Savannah Jack (died in 2012)
- November 4 - Buzz Tyler (died in 2021)
- November 12 - Goro Tsurumi (died in 2022)
- November 28 – Smith Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2017)
- December 21 – Ron Bass, American professional wrestler (d. 2017)
- December 28 - Izzy Slapawitz, American professional wrestler (d. 2019)
Deaths
- August 16 - Babe Ruth, 53
References
General
- Stern, Karl, ed. (2005). "The Time Line of Wrestling Part II" (PDF). DragonKing Wrestling. No. 83. Haleyville, Alabama: DragonKing Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2017.
Specific
