This is a list of various things that took place in 1963.

Contents 1 Significant events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Debuts 5 Events 6 Title changes 7 See also

Significant events

• The World Wide Wrestling Federation is formed after NWA promoters Vince McMahon, Sr., Toots Mondt and Willie Gilzenberg withdraw their Northeastern promotion, Capitol Wrestling, from the Alliance in protest over Lou Thesz's NWA World Heavyweight Championship win over Buddy Rogers on January 24 in Toronto, Ontario, noting that the title change occurred in a one-fall match (title matches of the time were generally best-of-three falls)

February

• February 7 – NWA World Champion Lou Thesz retains his title in a return best-of-three falls match over Buddy Rogers in Toronto

March

• March 15 – Boxer Archie Moore beats Mike Dibiase by KO in the third round of a boxer vs. wrestler bout in Phoenix, Arizona

April

• April 15 – Lou Thesz pins boxer "Jersey" Joe Walcott in the fourth round of a wrestler vs. boxer bout in Memphis, Tennessee

May

• May 19 – The Destroyer beats Rikidozan in Osaka, Japan, which instantly elevates Destroyer to legend status among puroresu fans in Japan for his win over Japan's top star of the time; this would also be Rikidozan's last loss as a singles wrestler

December

• December 4 – NWA International Champion Rikidozan retains his title over The Destroyer in Osaka, in what would turn out to be Rikidozan's final match
• December 8 – Rikidozan is stabbed with a urine-soaked knife by gangster Katsuji Murata in an apparent Yakuza hit while partying at a nightclub in Tokyo. Health complications from the stabbing would lead to Rikidozan's death one week later

Births

June

• June 16 – Jim Fullington (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

July

• July 28 – Tomoko Kitamura (Saitama, Japan)

September

• September 28 – Steve Blackman (Annville, Pennsylvania)

Deaths

December

• December 15 – Rikidozan 39 (Peritonitis caused by stab wounds)
• December 26 – Gorgeous George 48 (Heart attack)

Debuts

• "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods

Events

Title changes

January

• January 1 – Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff win the AWA World Tag Team Championship from Doug Gilbert and Dick Steinborn in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• January 24 – Lou Thesz wins the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Buddy Rogers in Toronto, Ontario
• January 26 – Herb Freeman wins the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship from Mad Dog Vachon in Portland, Oregon

February

• February 11 – Gene Kiniski and Mr. X win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship from Sandor Kovacs and Dan Miller in Vancouver, British Columbia
• February 15 – The Crusher wins the Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship from Verne Gagne in Omaha, Nebraska
• February 16 – Mad Dog Vachon regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Herb Freeman in Portland

March

• March 7 – Buddy Austin and The Great Scott win the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship from Buddy Rogers and John Barend in Washington, DC
• March 11 – Mitsu Arakawa and Kenji Shibuya win the NWA Canadian Tag Team title from Gene Kiniski and Mr. X in Vancouver

April

• Buddy Rogers is recognized as the first WWWF Heavyweight Champion (WWE claims that Rogers won the title in a tournament final over Antonino Rocca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but the tournament is fictitious, created at the time as a cover for awarding Rogers the title)

May

• May 10 – Herb Freeman regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Mad Dog Vachon in Portland
• May 17 – Bruno Sammartino wins the WWWF title from Buddy Rogers in New York City; Mad Dog Vachon regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Herb Freeman in Portland

June

• John Paul Henning is awarded the Toronto version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Henning was claimed to have won the title from Johnny Valentine in a fictitious match in Washington, DC)

July

• July 5 – Billy White Wolf wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Mad Dog Vachon in Portland
• July 9 – The Crusher wins the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Verne Gagne in Minneapolis
• July 11 – Johnny Valentine wins the NWA Toronto United States title from John Paul Henning in Toronto, Ontario
• July 20 – Verne Gagne regains the AWA World title and wins the Omaha World title from The Crusher in Minneapolis
• July 22 – Gene Kiniski wins the Vancouver version of the NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship from Whipper Billy Watson in Vancouver (sometime after Kiniski's win, the title is then abandoned); Ron Etchison and Dan Miller win the NWA Canadian Tag Team title from Mitsu Arakawa and Kenji Shibuya in Vancouver
• July 27 – Fritz Von Erich wins the AWA and Omaha World titles from Verne Gagne in Omaha

August

• August 8 – Verne Gagne regains the AWA World title from Fritz Von Erich in Amarillo, Texas
• August 20 – The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser win the AWA World Tag Team title from Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff in Minneapolis
• August 24 – Tony Borne wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Billy White Wolf in Portland

September

• September 5 – King Curtis Iaukea wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Tony Borne in Portland
• September 7 – The AWA and Omaha World titles are unified (as the AWA World title) when AWA World Champion Verne Gagne wins the Omaha World title from Fritz Von Erich in a title unification match in Omaha
• September 19 – Tony Borne regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from King Curtis Iaukea in Portland

October

• October 1 – Kenji Shibuya and Sweet Daddy Siki win the NWA Canadian Tag Team title from Ron Etchison and Dan Miller in Vancouver
• October 17 – The Beast wins the NWA Toronto United States title from Johnny Valentine in Toronto
• October 30 – Nick Bockwinkel wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Tony Borne in Salem, Oregon

November

• November 11 – Dan Miller and Whipper Billy Watson win the NWA Canadian Tag Team title from Kenji Shibuya and Sweet Daddy Siki in Vancouver; the title is vacated later in the year
• November 21 – Mad Dog Vachon wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Nick Bockwinkel in Portland
• November 28 – The Crusher wins the AWA World title from Verne Gagne in St. Paul, Minnesota

December

• December 14 – Verne Gagne regains the AWA World title from The Crusher in Minneapolis

See also

Years
1900s
1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 • 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909
1910s
1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919
1920s
1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929
1930s
1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939
1940s
1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949
1950s
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959
1960s
1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969
1970s
1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979
1980s
1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989
1990s
1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999
2000s
2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009
2010s
2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013

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