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This is a list of various things that took place in 1983.

Significant events[]

May

  • 31 - During a television taping of WWWF Championship Wrestling, Jimmy Snuka dives over the top rope onto The Magnificent Muraco during a pre-match confrontation. Snuka's move -- bouncing off the ropes and diving clean over the top rope onto a prone wrestler outside the ring -- is considered to be one of the first such spots in wrestling. The segment airs on the June 18 episode of Championship Wrestling.

June

August

  • Southwest Championship Wrestling's program on USA Network is cancelled by the cable channel; the WWF takes over SWCW's former TV time slot with its new program, WWF All American Wrestling

September

  • 4 - The premiere episode of the WWF's All-American Wrestling debuts on the USA Network. Hosted by Vince McMahon, the first three episodes were profiles of the WWF's top three stars of the WWF at the time: WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund, Jimmy Snuka and André the Giant, using a format that would foreshadow Coliseum Video's VHS releases 1-1/2 years later. By late September 1983, the show evolved into showing classic and recent matches from across the country, not all of which were from the WWF. The show -- which later settled into a recap-type program -- was the WWF's first regular program on the USA Network (arena shows from Madison Square Garden and other New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania-area arenas had aired the past three years) continued to air until 1994.
  • 10 - Wrestling at the Chase, the St. Louis Wrestling Club's program on KPLR-TV in St. Louis, ends production

October

  • 5 - During a television taping at the Hamburg (Pennsylvania) Fieldhouse Magnificent Muraco -- during his match against jobber Victor Mercado -- famously eats a meatball sandwich and drinks a glass of soda in between wrestling. Following the match, Muraco's manager, Captain Lou Albano slips on the floor on part of the sandwich, drawing laughter from the crowd and commentators Vince McMahon, Jr. and Pat Patterson (and Muraco doing all he can to stifle his own laughter); Albano was not hurt, and the incident airs on the October 15 broadcast of WWF All-Star Wrestling and also included on Coliseum Video's "Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams." Also during the same show, The Grand Wizard makes his last live appearances in his lifetime. Squash matches with him appearing in the corner for Sgt. Slaughter and The Masked Superstar will air on All-Star Wrestling the weekend of October 22, 10 days after The Grand Wizard's death, as his passing will not be announced for another week. The Grand Wizard showed no clear signs of illness.
  • 17 - In what has become one of wrestling's most iconic matches, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka leaps off the top of a 15-foot high steel cage onto a prone Magnificent Muraco following their match at New York City's Madison Square Garden; the leap happens shortly after Muraco had been knocked outside the cage and inadvertently won their match, thus successfully defending his WWF Intercontinental Championship. The match is aired live on the USA Network, and in attendance at the show were future wrestling stars The Sandman, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Bubba Ray Dudley; all of them cited this match as a major reason they decided to pursue professional wrestling.
  • 23 - Tommy Rich defeats Buzz Sawyer in a bloody steel cage match in Atlanta, Georgia to climax their 18-month feud; this event was dubbed The Last Battle of Atlanta and was a precursor to Hell in the Cell, as the steel cage for this match had a top
  • 29 - The sudden death of The Grand Wizard is acknowledged on the WWF's syndicated television programs, a rare break of kayfabe in wrestling at the time. A storyline was arranged in the following weeks, speculating who would take over as on-screen manager of wrestlers he was paired with on television.

November

December

  • 2 - A Stampede Wrestling six-man main event in Calgary pitting Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Sonny Two Rivers against Archie Gouldie, his kayfabe son Jeff and Bad News Allen ends with Allen turning against the Gouldies and brutalizing Jeff while Archie was incapacitated by Allen's manager K.Y. Wakamatsu and stablemate Kerry Brown, setting off a fan riot at the Victoria Pavilion and leading to Stampede Wrestling host Ed Whalen quitting the show in disgust at the end of the broadcast, concluding by stating that he no longer wanted to be part of it due to the increasing amount of violence occurring during Stampede cards (which had been occurring since Allen's arrival in the promotion). As a result of the incident, Stampede was banned from promoting in the city for six months by the Calgary Boxing and Wrestling Commission (they subsequently moved their Calgary-area events to the Sarcee Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on the Tsuu T’ina Nation reserve, which fell outside of the Commission's jurisdiction), while Gouldie turned face and began a bloody feud with Allen that climaxed with Gouldie winning his 14th (and what would be final) Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship from Allen in Calgary on December 23
  • 9 - Calgary sportscaster Eric Bishop (not to be confused with Eric Bischoff) takes over as the on-air host for Stampede Wrestling following Ed Whalen's departure from the show. Bishop was later replaced as host by former wrestler-turned-announcer Sam Menacker (who had been the announcer for Dick the Bruiser's World Wrestling Association in Indianapolis), and then by Vancouver sportscaster David Pratt, before Whalen returned in 1985 when Stampede was revived
  • 27 - Hulk Hogan returns to the WWF at a TV taping in St. Louis

Births[]

Unknown Dates

January

February

March

May

July

August

October

November

December

Deaths[]

March

May

October

Debuts[]

Unknown date

March

June

Events[]

April

June

  • 17 - WCCW Wrestling Star Wars

July

  • 4 - WCCW Independence Day Star Wars

August

  • 31 - AJPW Terry Funk Retirement

September

  • 5 - WCCW Labor Day Star Wars
  • 17 - WWC 10th Anniversary Show

October

  • 23 - The Last Battle Of Atlanta

November

December

  • 25 - WCCW Christmas Star Wars

Title changes[]

Unknown date

January

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

  • 3 - Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood regain the NWA World Tag Team title from Jack and Jerry Brisco in Greenville, South Carolina
  • 7 - Billy Jack Haynes wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Dynamite Kid in Salem, Oregon
  • 21 - Jack and Jerry Brisco regain the NWA World Tag Team title from Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in Greenville, South Carolina

November

December

  • 14 - Billy Jack Haynes wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Rip Oliver in Seattle
  • 23 - Archie Gouldie wins the Stampede North American title from Bad News Allen in a steel cage match in Calgary
  • 25 - The NWA World Tag Team title, last held by Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, is vacated when Steamboat announces his retirement; Rip Oliver wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Billy Jack Haynes in Seattle
  • 26 - The Iron Sheik wins the WWF Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund in New York City

See also[]

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1930s
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