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2016 in professional wrestling

2016 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 2016.

Calendar of notable shows

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Cancelled events

Accomplishments and tournaments

AAA

JWP

Ring of Honor

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

WWE

Title changes

AAA

TNA

NJPW

ROH

The Crash Lucha Libre

WWE

– Raw
– SmackDown
– NXT

Raw and SmackDown

Following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension in July, in which titles became exclusive to a brand and others were established as counterparts to the opposing brand's championships, Raw and SmackDown each had a world championship, a secondary championship, a women's championship, and a male tag team championship. A championship was also established for Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers.

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

NXT Year-End Awards

Debuts

Retirements

  • Tyson Tomko (2002–2016)
  • Cliff Compton (1998–2016)
  • Mark Mercedes (1992–2016)
  • Mr. Pogo (March 20, 1972 – 2016)
  • Daniel Bryan (December 1999 – February 8, 2016) (first retirement and became General Manager of SmackDown; on March 20, 2018, Bryan was formally cleared to return to full-time in-ring action and had his first match back at WrestleMania 34)
  • The Grappler (1977 – March 5, 2016)
  • Jim Neidhart (1978 – March 5, 2016)
  • Bobby Eaton (May 1976 – March 19, 2016)
  • Maki Narumiya (March 19, 2011 – March 25, 2016)
  • Sting (November 28, 1985 – April 2, 2016) (first retirement; later debuted in All Elite Wrestling in December 2020 with a match at Revolution in 2021)
  • Johnny Kidd (1978 – April 5, 2016, returned to wrestle in 2019)
  • Brie Bella (September 15, 2007 – April 6, 2016) (semi, return in 2018)
  • Cameron (July 7, 2011 – May 6, 2016) (full inactive, returned to wrestle AEW in July 2020)
  • Necro Butcher (January 2, 1998 – June 11, 2016, returned to wrestling in 2018)
  • Scott Hall (October 2, 1984 – June 17, 2016)
  • Karsten Beck (2006 – July 2, 2016)
  • Booker T (1989 – July 30, 2016)
  • Scotty 2 Hotty (1989 – September 2016) (became a trainer for NXT and returned to wrestling in January 2022)
  • Sara Lee (August 25, 2015 – September 30, 2016)
  • Darryl Sharma (January 2002 – November 2016 )
  • D-Von Dudley (1991 – December 17, 2016)
  • Kouhiro Kanemura (December 20, 1990 – December 27, 2016)
  • Rabbit Miu (August 7, 2011 – December 28, 2016)

Deaths

See also

References