2012 in professional wrestling

2012 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 2012.

Calendar of notable shows

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Accomplishments and tournaments

AAA

JWP

Ring of Honor

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

WWE

Title changes

AAA

NJPW

ROH

TNA

WWE

NXT

Awards and honors

AAA Hall of Fame

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

TNA Hall of Fame

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

WWE

WWE Hall of Fame

Slammy Awards

Debuts

• unknown date – Moose
• January 7 – Dale Patricks
• January 14 – Ayumu Gunji
• January 22 – Natsumi Sumikawa
• March 31 – Gene Munny
• April 1 – Will Ospreay and Tetsuya Endo
• April 8 – Ayumu Honda
• April 12 – Ilja Dragunov
• April 13 – Hideyoshi Kamitani
• May 12 – Reyna Isis
• July 11 – Drew Parker
• July 12 – Charlotte Flair and Emersyn Jayne
• July 14 – Anthony Greene
• July 28 – Yoshihisa Uto
• August 8 – Mojo Rawley
• August 12 – Rydeen Hagane
• August 18 – Konosuke Takeshita
• September 1 – Aaron Henare
• September 22 – Jacob Fatu
• October 14 – Tank Nagai
• October 18 – Baron Corbin
• October 25 – Enzo Amore
• October 28 – Kyuri
• November 15 – Sho Tanaka
• November 19 – Yohei Komatsu
• November 23 – Sagat
• December 2 – Chris Ridgeway
• December 4 –
• December 12 – El Hijo del Vikingo
• December 22 – David Finlay (wrestler)
• December 29 – SAKI and MIZUKI
• December 31 – Erin (Ice Ribbon), Rutsuko Yamaguchi (Ice Ribbon), Hiroko Terada (Ice Ribbon), Ayano Takeda (Ice Ribbon) and 235 (Ice Ribbon)

Retirements

• Hulk Hogan (1977–January 27, 2012)
• Mick Foley (1986-January 29, 2012)
• Christina Crawford (July 8, 2010 – 2012)
• Chuck Palumbo (1998-2012)
• Doug Somers (1971 – February 23, 2012)
• Ron Simmons (1986-March 17, 2012)
• Sage Beckett (2007 - June 24, 2012) (return to wrestling in 2014 and retired in 2018)
• Sylvester Terkay (2000 - March 31, 2012)
• Dominic DeNucci (1958-April 14, 2012)
• Kenny Jay (1958-June 16, 2012)
• Tiger Jeet Singh (1965-July 1, 2012)
• Road Warrior Animal (1982-July 17, 2012)
• Tyler Reks (February 2007 – August 22, 2012)
• Jerry Lawler (1970-September 10, 2012, had a heart attack and returned to wrestling in 2013)
• Sara Del Rey (2001 – September 2012) (moved to a trainer)
• Vladimir Kozlov (April 7, 2006 – October 16, 2012)
• Richie Steamboat (July 25, 2008 – October 25, 2012)
• Beth Phoenix (May 2001 – October 29, 2012) (Commentator in NXT, occasional wrestler)
• Ric Flair (December 10, 1972 – December 3, 2012) (full retirement, return for one in 2022 for Ric Flair's Last Match)
• Kelly Kelly (June 13, 2006 – December 4, 2012) (brief return in 2018 - Royal Rumble and WWE Evolution, 2020 event)
• Dave Finlay (1974 – December 22, 2012)

Deaths

• January 12-
• MS-1 (wrestler), 55
• Savannah Jack, 63
• February 26 - Don Joyce (American football), 82
• February 29 - Woody Farmer, 76
• March 2 – Doug Furnas, 52
• March 12 - Dick Woehrle, 81
• March 13 - Joe McCarthy, 82
• March 22 - Joe Blanchard, 83
• April 3 – Chief Jay Strongbow, 83
• April 14 - Dom Travis, 31
• May 26 – Hans Schmidt, 87
• June 23 - Adorable Rubí, 68
• July 12 - Dara Singh, 83
• July 16 - Bob Babbitt, 74
• July 20 - Goldie Rogers, 61
• August 12 - Red Bastien, 81
• August 17 - Joey Kovar, 29
• September 29 - Eric Pomeroy, 79
• September 30 – Bobby Jaggers, 64
• October 10 - Alex Karras, 77
• October 18 – Brain Damage, 34
• c. October 19 – Mike Graham, 61
• November 1 – Brad Armstrong, 50
• November 12 - Seigfried Stanke, 74
• November 15 - Awesome Kong, 54
• November 29 – Buddy Roberts, 65
• December 9 - Mike Boyette, 69
• December 22 - Rip Hawk, 82
• December 28 -
• Bill Dromo, 75
• Emilio Charles Jr., 56

See also

• List of NJPW pay-per-view events
• List of ROH pay-per-view events
• List of TNA pay-per-view events
• List of WWE pay-per-view events

References