1990 in professional wrestling
1990 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
List of notable promotions
These promotions held notable events in 1990.| Promotion Name | Abbreviation | Notes |
| All Japan Pro Wrestling | AJPW | |
| All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling | AJW | |
| American Wrestling Association | AWA | AWA became inactive during the fall and filed for bankruptcy the following year. |
| EMLL | ||
| Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling | FMW | |
| National Wrestling Alliance | NWA | |
| New Japan Pro-Wrestling | NJPW | |
| World Championship Wrestling | WCW | |
| World Wrestling Council | WWC | |
| WWF |
Notable events
- January 1 – The CWA merges with the United States Wrestling Association
- May 5 – Two World title matches was held at a AWA Twin Wars '90 live event where Larry Zbyszko defeated Nikita Koloff to retain the AWA World Heavyweight title and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Brian Pillman
- July 16- The Road Warriors and "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich made their WWF debuts at a WWF Wrestling Challenge TV taping.
- August 12 – The AWA hosts their Team Challenge Series final and two title changes were taped with Buck Zumhoff defeating Jonnie Stewart for the reactivated AWA Light Heavyweight title and The Trooper and D.J. Peterson defeating the Destruction Crew for the AWA World Tag Team titles at their final TV taping in Rochester, MN
- August 26 – The Herb Abrams version of the Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams) was launched at a Wrestling fans convention in New York, NY
- November 22 – The Undertaker and The Gobbledy Gooker debut at WWF Survivor Series
- November 23 – World Class Championship Wrestling held its final show.
- December 1 – WCW drops the NWA brand from their TV shows and championships.
Awards and honors
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
| Category | Winner |
| Wrestler of the Year | Ric Flair |
| Most Outstanding | Jushin Thunder Liger |
| Feud of the Year | Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta |
| Tag Team of the Year | The Steiner Brothers |
| Most Improved | Kenta Kobashi |
| Best on Interviews | Arn Anderson |
Debuts
Debut date
- January 17 - Yukihide Ueno and Ryo Miyake
- January 13 – Tatanka
- February 12 - Lee Gak Soo
- February 22 - Masao Orihara
- March 10 - Kim Hyun Hwan
- March 15 - Ultraman Robin
- March 27 - Hiroaki Hatanaka
- May 12 - Flying Kid Ichihara
- May 19 – El Gigante
- June 9 - J.T. Smith
- July 21 - Akemi Torisu
- July 22 - Shooter Niiyama
- August 13 - Takaku Fuke
- September 21 – Tomoko Watanabe
- October 2 – Chris Jericho
- October 10 - Numacchi
- November 1 – Mikiko Futagami and Sumiko Saito
- December 20 - Kintaro Kanemura
- December 22 - Bad Nurse Nakamura
Uncertain debut date
- Bill DeMott
- Sweet Saraya
- Debbie Malenko
- Ray González
- Marc Mero
- The Gambler
- Big Vito
- Buff Bagwell
- Vladimir Koloff
- Shiho Tsubaki
Retirements
- Otto Wanz
- Frenchy Martin
- Ann Casey
- Nick Kiniski
- Ole Anderson
- Ray Candy
- Raymond Rougeau
- Ron Hutchison
- Scott Casey
- Seiji Sakaguchi
- Soldat Ustinov
- Uncle Elmer
- Lou Thesz
- Les Thornton
Births
- January 7 - Jack Gallagher
- January 14 – Kacy Catanzaro, American female wrestler
- January 23 - Alex Silva, Canadian wrestler
- March 1 – Dominic Garrini, American wrestler
- March 6 – Demitrius Bronson, American wrestler
- March 7 – Chase Owens, American wrestler
- March 15 – Jordan Devlin
- March 24 – Lacey Evans, American female wrestler
- April 2 – Sawyer Fulton, American wrestler
- April 6 – Hektor Invictus, German wrestler
- April 30 – Tomahawk T.T., Japanese wrestler
- May 1 - Ace Romero
- May 2 - Mahabali Shera
- May 25 – Bo Dallas
- May 31 - Montez Ford
- June 27 – Kimber Lee
- July 6 –
- *Puma, Mexican luchador
- *Musashi
- July 8 – Axel Dieter Jr.
- July 15 - Karl Fredericks
- July 18
- *Golden Magic, Mexican luchador
- *Mandy Rose, American female wrestler
- July 21 – Fabian Aichner, Italian wrestler
- July 24 –
- *Angelo Dawkins, American wrestler
- *Tucker Knight
- August 8 - Zack Gibson, English wrestler
- August 15 – Diamante, American female wrestler
- August 17 - Danhausen
- September 15 – Titán, Mexican luchador
- September 18 – Herodes Jr., Mexican luchador
- September 26 – Eterno, Mexican luchador
- September 30
- * Isaiah Swerve Scott
- * Toru Sugiura
- October 2 - Barbi Hayden
- October 14 – Raquel Diaz, American retired professional wrestler
- October 17 – Mahabali Shera, Indian wrestler
- November 9 – Robin, Mexican luchador
- December 27 – Zelina Vega, American female wrestler
- December 30 – Fenix, Mexican luchador enmascarado
Deaths
- January 7 – Bronko Nagurski, American football player and wrestler
- February 4 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian wrestler
- February 15 - Mark Tendler
- February - Frank Sexton
- March 2 – Ivan Gomes
- April 18 – Gory Guerrero, American wrestler
- July 7 - Chief Little Eagle, American wrestler
- August 15 – Pat O'Connor, New Zealand wrestler
- August 31 – Bert Assirati, British wrestler
- September 30 - Al Lolotai, Western Samoan football player and wrestler
- November 21 – Dean Hart, Canadian music promoter and wrestling referee
- December 9 – Mike Mazurki, American actor and wrestler
- December 31 – Ed Gantner, American wrestler