2002

This is a list of various things that took place in 2002.

Significant events
February
 * February 17 – The New World Order is reformed by Vince McMahon at the WWF's No Way Out PPV, featuring nWo founders Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, brought in by McMahon to force Ric Flair to give up his co-ownership of the WWF
 * February 23 – Ring of Honor, founded by Rob Feinstein, holds its first event

May
 * May 5 – The World Wrestling Federation is renamed World Wrestling Entertainment after dropping an appeal against the World Wide Fund for Nature, which had been ruled in favour by a British court on August 10, 2001 over the usage of the WWF initials internationally.

June
 * June 19 – NWA: Total Nonstop Action, founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, holds its first pay-per-view event in Huntsville, Alabama

July
 * July 15 – Vince McMahon permanently disbands the nWo after regaining full control of WWE from Ric Flair

Deaths
January
 * January 7 Mighty Igor Vodic 70 (Heart failure)

February
 * February 2 – Nelson Royal 70 (Heart attack)
 * February 20 – Swede Hansen (Alzheimer's disease)

April
 * April 18 – Wahoo McDaniel 63 (Stroke)
 * April 28 – Lou Thesz 86 (Complications from heart surgery)

May
 * May 7 – Randy Anderson 42 (Natural causes)
 * May 14 – Erich Kulas 22 (Complications from gastric bypass surgery)
 * May 16 – "Big" Dick Dudley 34
 * May 16 – Shoichi Arai 36 (Suicide)
 * May 17 – Davey Boy Smith 39 (Heart attack)

September
 * September 21 – Rocco Rock 49 (Heart attack)

October
 * October 31 – Moose Cholak 72 (Natural causes)

November
 * November 22 – Billy Joe Travis (Heart attack)
 * November 29 – Jeff Peterson 21 (Cancer)
 * November 30 – "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods 68 (Heart attack)

Debuts

 * Johnny Jeter
 * Chris Masters
 * Mike Mizanin
 * Mike Mondo
 * Matt Morgan
 * Chase Stevens
 * Travis Tomko
 * March 2 – Alex Shelley
 * March 16 – Zach Gowen
 * June – Mikey Batts
 * November 9 – Sylvan Grenier
 * December 27 – Fred Sampson

Pay-Per-View events
January
 * January 20 – WWF Royal Rumble

February
 * February 17 – WWF No Way Out
 * February 24 – WWA The Revolution

March
 * March 17 – WWF WrestleMania X-8

April
 * April 13 – WWA Eruption
 * April 21 – WWF Backlash

May
 * May 4 – WWE Insurrextion
 * May 19 – WWE Judgment Day

June
 * June 23 – WWE King of the Ring

July
 * July 21 – WWE Vengeance

August
 * August 25 – WWE SummerSlam

September
 * September 22 – WWE Unforgiven

October
 * October 20 – WWE No Mercy
 * October 26 – WWE Rebellion

November
 * November 17 – WWE Survivor Series

December
 * December 6 – WWA Retribution
 * December 15 – WWE Armageddon

Title changes
March
 * March 9 – Dan Severn defeats Shinya Hashimoto in Tokyo to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ends in controversy due to a fast count delivered against Hashimoto
 * March 17 – Triple H defeats Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship

April
 * April 21 – Hulk Hogan defeats Triple H to win the Undisputed WWF Championship

May
 * May 19 – The Undertaker defeats Hulk Hogan to win the Undisputed WWE Championship

June
 * June 8 – The Shane Twins (Mike and Todd Shane) defeat the New Heavenly Bodies (Chris Nelson & Vito DeNucci) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in Lima, Peru
 * June 19 – Dan Severn is stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when he is unable to appear at NWA-TNA's inaugural PPV due to a schedule conflict; Ken Shamrock defeats Malice in the final of a Gauntlet for the Gold match at the same event to win the vacant NWA World title
 * June 28 – The NWA World Tag Team title is vacated at the request of NWA-TNA for use in their upcoming tag team tournament

July
 * July 3 – A.J. Styles & Jerry Lynn defeat The Rainbow Express (Lenny Lane & Bruce) in a tournament final in Nashville, Tennessee to win the vacant NWA World Tag Team title
 * July 21 – The Rock defeats The Undertaker and Kurt Angle to win the Undisputed WWE Championship
 * July 27 – Low Ki wins a four-way, 60-minute Iron Man match over Christopher Daniels, Spanky and Doug Williams to become the first Ring of Honor World Champion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

August
 * August 7 – Ron Killings defeats Ken Shamrock to win the NWA World Heavyweight title in Nashville
 * August 14 – A.J. Styles & Jerry Lynn are stripped of the NWA World Tag Team title following a double-pin against Jeff Jarrett & Ron Killings in Nashville
 * August 22 – Brock Lesnar defeats The Rock to win the Undisputed WWE Championship
 * August 23 – The Undisputed WWE Championship officially becomes exclusive to the SmackDown! brand and was renamed the WWE Championship
 * August 30 – Eric Bischoff introduces the World Heavyweight Championship to the RAW brand and awards it to Triple H

September
 * September 18 – America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) win a Gauntlet for the Gold match in Nashville to capture the vacant NWA World Tag Team title
 * September 21 – Xavier defeats Low Ki to win the ROH World title in Philadelphia; The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan) defeat American Dragon & Michael Modest in a tournament final to become the first ROH World Tag Team Champions in Philadelphia

November
 * November 13 – The Disciples of The New Church (Brian Lee & Slash) defeat America's Most Wanted to win the NWA World Tag Team title in Nashville
 * November 17 – The Big Show defeats Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship
 * November 17 – Shawn Michaels defeats Triple H, Chris Jericho, Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam to win the World Heavyweight Championship
 * November 20 – Jeff Jarrett defeats Ron Killings to win the NWA World Heavyweight title in Nashville

December
 * December 15 – Kurt Angle defeats The Big Show to win the WWE Championship
 * December 15 – Triple H defeats Shawn Michaels to win the World Heavyweight Championship