Market2024 in professional wrestling
Company Profile

2024 in professional wrestling

2024 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of promotions
These promotions held events throughout 2024. ==Calendar of notable shows==
Calendar of notable shows
January February March April May June July August September October November December ==Notable events==
Notable events
• January 2 – WWE NXT in the United Kingdom returned to the WWE Network after airing on TNT Sports since January 2020. • January 5 – Impact Plus relaunched as TNA+ and distributed by Endeavor Streaming. • January 13 – Impact Wrestling reverted to its original Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) name, beginning with Hard To Kill (TNA had been renamed to Impact in 2017); at the event, Nic Nemeth, A. J. Francis, and Ash by Elegance made their TNA debuts, while DeAngelo Williams made his TNA return. • January 23 – Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was appointed to the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE. Additionally, WWE announced that in the United States, WWE Raw would move to Netflix in January 2025, leaving linear television for the first time since its inception in January 1993 and after airing on the USA Network since October 2005, while outside of the US, it and WWE's other programs would also move to the streaming platform, which officially closed down the WWE Network in most of the world; a select few countries still maintain the WWE Network due to pre-existing contracts, after which, they will transition to Netflix. • January 26 – Following a sexual allegations lawsuit, Vince McMahon resigned from TKO Group Holdings and WWE as a whole. • January 27 – • At WWE's Royal Rumble event, Naomi, Liv Morgan, and Andrade made their WWE returns, while Jade Cargill made her WWE in-ring debut. • On AEW Collision, Serena Deeb wrestled her first match in 15 months after a hiatus following several seizures. • February 4 – Bushiroad terminates the contract of World Wonder Ring Stardom founder and executive producer Rossy Ogawa following accusations of poaching talent from the promotion. • February 6 – NWA Powerrr premiered on The CW's streaming app after airing solely on YouTube since January 2023. Older episodes of Powerrr had previously been uploaded to The CW app in November 2023. • February 7 – Anthem Sports & Entertainment President Anthony Cicone was appointed President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), replacing Scott D'Amore, whose contract was terminated. • March 6 – Kazuchika Okada officially signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), making his first appearance as an AEW roster member on AEW Dynamite. • March 13 – Mercedes Moné officially signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), debuting at AEW Dynamite: Big Business. • March 16 – On AEW Collision, Kyle O'Reilly wrestled his first match in two years after undergoing neck surgery. • August 1 – Ganbare Pro-Wrestling became independent from CyberFight. • April 3 – WWE Speed premiered on X. • April 6 – • Giulia officially signed with WWE, first shown in the crowd at NXT Stand & Deliver. • During night one of WrestleMania XL, Sami Zayn defeated Gunther to become the WWE Intercontinental Champion, thus ending the latter's record-setting 666-day reign with the title; Zayn became the first man to pin Gunther in a one-on-one match since the latter debuted on the main roster on April 8, 2022. • April 7 – During night two of WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to become the Undisputed WWE Champion, thus ending the latter's 1,316-day reign as world champion; Rhodes became the first man to pin Reigns in a one-on-one match since December 2019 and also became the first Rhodes family member to hold a world championship in WWE. • April 10 – During AEW Dynamite, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) released on-air surveillance footage of the backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry that took place at the 2023 All In event. • April 12 – On WWE SmackDown, Tama Tonga officially debuted for WWE, aligning himself with The Bloodline stable. • April 15 – Rossy Ogawa officially announced his new promotion, Dream Star Fighting Marigold. • April 20 – Mike Santana, Sami Callihan, and "Broken" Matt Hardy made their TNA returns at Rebellion. • April 21 – At Dynasty, Jack Perry returned to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), marking his first AEW appearance since the 2023 All In event. • April 22 – New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) acquires Bushiroad Fight, parent company of World Wonder Ring Stardom, renaming it Stardom Co. Ltd. as a subsidiary of NJPW, effective June 28. • May 4 – At Backlash France, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga's half-brother, returned to WWE, aligning himself with The Bloodline stable. • May 6 – United Japan Pro-wrestling (UJPW), an alliance of Japanese wrestling promotions, held its first event, the 2024 All Together. • May 20 – Marigold held its first event, Fields Forever. • May 28 – TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace appears on WWE NXT to challenge NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez, beginning a crossover between Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and NXT. • June 14 – At Against All Odds, WWE NXT wrestler Tatum Paxley made her TNA in-ring debut, and Jeff Hardy made his return to TNA. • June 17 – At the end of WWE Raw, The Wyatt Sicks stable made their debut. • June 18 – Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestler Joe Hendry made his NXT in-ring debut. • June 21 – On WWE SmackDown, Jacob Fatu made his WWE debut, aligning himself with The Bloodline stable. • June 28 – New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) merger with World Wonder Ring Stardom was finalized, making Stardom a subsidiary of NJPW. • July 6 – During WWE's Money in the Bank, John Cena announced that 2025 would be his final year as an in-ring performer, retiring at the end of that year. • August 3 – At SummerSlam, Roman Reigns made his return to WWE for the first time since WrestleMania XL in April. • August 8 – Scott D'Amore announced the relaunch of Maple Leaf Wrestling as Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) with its inaugural two-night event, "Forged in Excellence", scheduled to take place on October 19 and 20. • September 13 – WWE SmackDown returned to USA Network after airing on Fox since October 2019. • September 14 – World of Sport Wrestling was revived and returned to taping after six years. • September 30 – NWA Powerrr episodes were removed from The CW's streaming app, ahead of WWE NXTs premiere on The CW channel. Peacock also began removing archived episodes of NXT due to its move to The CW. Archived episodes are not available on The CW app, but replays of new episodes are. • October 1 – • WWE NXT in the United States premiered on The CW after airing on the USA Network since September 2019. It was also broadcast live for the first time outside the state of Florida. • NWA Powerrr premiered on X. • October 7 – WWE Raw returned to two hours for the first time since WWE Raw 1000 in July 2012. This remained until the show moved to Netflix in January 2025, subsequently averaging 2.5 hours per episode. • October 19 – Final episode of AEW Battle of the Belts. • October 29 – WWE announced the WWE ID program, which develops and supports the training of independent professional wrestlers at specified schools or promotions and provide them a pathway to the promotion. • December 13 – At Final Resolution, Tessa Blanchard made her return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), four years after her contract was originally terminated with the company. • December 24 – WWE's annual Tribute to the Troops was quietly canceled without a 2024 event held. • December 27 – • Final episode of AEW Rampage, which aired as the annual New Year's Smash special. • Final episode of WWE NXT Level Up. • December 30 – Final episode of WWE Raw on linear television as the program moved to Netflix on January 6, 2025. • December 31 - Multiple Ice Ribbon wrestlers depart the promotion as full-time wrestlers including Yuki Mashiro, Saran, Mio Shirai, Mifu Ashida, and Nanae Furukawa. ==Accomplishments and tournaments==
Accomplishments and tournaments
2AW AAA AEW AJPW BJW CF DDT Noah TJPW GanPro CMLL The Crash CZW DG DPW GCW GWF Gleat HOG Ice Ribbon IWRG JTO M-Pro MLW Marigold NWA NJPW Osaka Pro Progress Prestige RevPro REVOLVER ROH Stardom TNA Tenryu Project West Coast Pro WOS WOW wXw XPW Zero1 Zero1 Japan WWE ==Title changes==
Title changes
2AW AAA AEW AJPW BJW CF : – DDT Pro-Wrestling : – Pro Wrestling Noah : – Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling : – Ganbare Pro-Wrestling DDT Noah TJPW GanPro CMLL The Crash CZW DEFY DG DPW Freedoms GCW Gleat GWF HOG Ice Ribbon IWRG JTO MLW M-Pro Marigold NWA NJPW Osaka Pro Prestige Progress PWG RevPro REVOLVER ROH Seadlinnng Senjo Stardom Tenryu Project Impact/TNA West Coast Pro WOS WOW WWE : – Raw : – SmackDown : – NXT : – Unbranded Raw and SmackDown Raw and SmackDown each exclusively have a men's world championship, a women's world championship, a secondary men's championship, and a men's tag team championship. NXT NXT exclusively has a primary championship, a secondary championship, a specialty championship, and a tag team championship for men, as well as a primary championship and a secondary championship for women. Unbranded These titles are non-exclusive, available to wrestlers from all three of WWE's brands. wXw XPW Zero1 Zero1 Japan Zero1 USA Super Fireworks Pro ==Awards and honors==
Awards and honors
AAA Hall of Fame Cauliflower Alley Club DPW DPW Awards ESPN ESPN Pro Wrestling Awards Fightful Fightful Awards George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame GCW Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame Deathmatch Hall of Fame Hardcore Hall of Fame International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Marigold Dream★Star GP Awards Marigold Year-End Awards Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame NJPW NJPW Concurso (Best Body) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Yearly Rankings Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated Pro Wrestling Awards St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame Stardom 5★Star GP Awards Stardom Year-End Awards TNA TNA Hall of Fame TNA Year End Awards Tokyo Sports Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards Women's Wrestling Hall of Fame WWHOF Awards Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards wXw wXw Hall of Fame WWE WWE Hall of Fame WWE Slammy Awards WWE Match of the Year NXT Year-End Awards == Debuts==
Debuts
January 6 – Ezekiel Balogun (NXT) and Drake Stewart (NXT) • February 4 – Mizuha (JTO) • February 10 – Isuzu (JTO) • February 17 – Josh Black (NXT) • February 25Kaisei Takechi (Dramatic Dream Team) • March 13 - Erii Kanae (ChocoPro) • March 17 – Tsubasa Suzuki (Dramatic Dream Team) • March 24 – Hinata Senya (ActWresGirl'Z) • March 29 – Vincent Winey (NXT) • March 30Tamyra Mensah-Stock (NXT) and Rian (Stardom) • April 20 – Anthony Luke (NXT) • May 10 – Jumbo Inoue (JTO) and Sexy BJ Ray (NXT) • May 18 – Derrian Gobourne (NXT) • May 30 – Hiyori Yawata (ChocoPro) • June 8 – Destinee Brown (NXT) and Ajiea Lee Hargrave (NXT) • June 11Komomo Minami (Marigold) • June 18 – Daiki Nagai (NJPW) and Masatora Yasuda (NJPW) • July 14 – Kirari Wakana (Ice Ribbon) • August 11 - Jenne (Pure-J) • August 14 – Alice Aono (ActWresGirl'Z) and Erisa Nagai (ActWresGirl'Z) • August 20 – Ren Sukegawa (HEAT UP) • August 29 – Big Haruka (JTO) • September 1 – Miyuna (Evolution) • September 5Homare Kato (Dragon Gate) • September 14Daiki Odashima (NOAH) • October 22 – Taishin Nagao (AJPW) • October 27Senka Akatsuki (Marvelous) • November 2 – Jamar Hampton (WWE) • November 16Matoi Hamabe (Stardom) • November 18 – Noa Hinata (LLPW-X) • December 10Elijah Holyfield (WWE) • December 19Dani Sekelsky (WWE), Jin Tala (WWE) and Chris Island (WWE) • December 24 (unofficial) – Trainee Akira and Trainee Yuria (Stardom) • December 26 – Nagisa Tachibana (Marigold) and Ryoko Sakimura (Marigold) ==Retirements==
Deaths
(Afa Anoa'i and Sika Anoa'i) • January 20Francisco Ciatso (born 1975) • January 22Mongolian Mauler (born 1961) • January 23Ice Train (born 1967) • February 1Asahi (born 2002) • February 10Chris Markoff (born 1938) • February 26Ole Anderson (born 1942) • February 28Virgil (born 1951) • February 29Butcher Vachon (born 1937) • March 10Yutaka Yoshie (born 1974) • March 29Silver Cat (born 1970) • April 6Akebono Tarō (born 1969) • April 7Silento Rodriguez (born 1933) • April 11Tony Jones (born 1971) • April 29Billy Reil (born 1979) • May 10Bob Bruggers (born 1944) • May 18Pequeño Nitro (born 1984) • May 20Bad Bones (born 1984) • June 5El Signo (born 1954) • June 15James Castle (born 1988) • June 16Scott Henson (born 1984) • June 25Sika Anoa‘i (born 1945) • June 26Louie Tillet (born 1934) • July 24Larry Pitchford (born 1936) • Leo Burke (born 1948) • July 27Pete Sanchez (born 1943) • Vladimir Petrov (born 1957) • August 9Kevin Sullivan (born 1949) • August 13Fritz Von Goering (born 1930) • August 16Afa Anoa‘i (born 1942) • August 19Mosco de la Merced (born 1964) • August 26Sid Eudy (born 1960) • August 29Villano V (born 1960) • August 31Sonny King (born 1945) • September 9Kuniaki Kobayashi (born 1956) • September 12Micah Taylor (born 1977) • September 30Pete Rose (born 1941) • October 15 - Joe Koff (born 1951) • November 7Scorpio Jr. (born 1966) • November 13Brian Maxine (born 1938) • November 16Coloso Colosetti (born 1948) • November 26Scott L. Schwartz (born 1959) • November 27Mighty Inoue (born 1949) • December 13Karloff Lagarde Jr. (born 1970) • December 20Rey Misterio (born 1958) • December 25Jax Dane (born 1981) • December 31Sweet Daddy Siki (born 1933) == See also ==
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