1987

This is a list of various things that took place in 1987.

Significant events
February
 * Riki Chōshū, Masa Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Super Strong Machine and Hiro Saito all return to New Japan Pro Wrestling, about three years after Chōshū led a mass defection of talent to All Japan Pro Wrestling following a dispute with New Japan. Yoshiaki Yatsu, Chōshū's tag team partner (who had defected with Chōshū to All Japan), chooses to remain in that promotion
 * WWF referee Danny Davis is fired from those duties by WWF president Jack Tunney on WWF Superstars of Wrestling due to the events that led to The Hart Foundation winning the WWF Tag Team title from the British Bulldogs on January 26 in Tampa, Florida
 * 28 - Jim Neidhart is indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of assaulting and interfering with a flight attendant. Neidhart is later acquitted of the charges

March
 * 1 - Bruno Sammartino is inducted into the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Pittsburgh

April
 * The Global Wrestling Alliance becomes the first wrestling promotion to be publicly traded
 * 9 - Jim Crockett Promotions purchases Bill Watts' UWF
 * 10-11 - The second annual NWA Crockett Cup Memorial Tag Team Tournament takes place in Baltimore, Maryland. The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff) win the event on Night Two, beating Four Horsemen members Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger in the final for one million dollars

May
 * 26 - Hacksaw Duggan and the Iron Sheik are arrested by New Jersey state police, with Duggan charged with marijuana possession and drinking while driving, while Sheik was charged with marijuana and cocaine possession. Duggan is given a conditional discharge, while Sheik gets one year probation and is released from his WWF contract

July
 * 4 - The inaugural WarGames match is held by Jim Crockett Promotions in Atlanta, Georgia during the Great American Bash tour. The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering defeat the Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson and J.J. Dillon) in the main event twin steel cage match when Dillon submitted after he landed awkwardly on his right arm when he was hit by the Warriors' Doomsday Device finisher
 * 18 - Dusty Rhodes defeats Tully Blanchard to win $100,000 in a barbed wire ladder match at a Great American Bash tour stop in Charlotte, North Carolina

November
 * 19 - Akira Maeda breaks Riki Chōshū's orbital bone when he delivers a shoot kick to Chōshū's face as the latter has Osamu Kido tied up in the Sharpshooter during a New Japan tag team match. Maeda was subsequently fired from New Japan for the incident
 * 26 - Jim Crockett Promotions' presents its inaugural pay-per-view event, Starrcade 1987, at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois. The pay-per-view debut of JCP's flagship annual Starrcade event is sabotaged, however, when Vince McMahon creates a new WWF PPV event, the Survivor Series, and deliberately schedules its inaugural edition against Starrcade. McMahon then coerces cable companies into dropping Starrcade in favor of the Survivor Series by refusing to allow them to air future WWF PPV events if they aired Starrcade instead of his event; as a result, only a few cable companies chose to air Starrcade as most choose to air the Survivor Series instead

December
 * 27 - Big Van Vader defeats Antonio Inoki in 2:27 in Vader's Japanese debut at Ryōgoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) in Tokyo. A riot ensues following the match, leading to New Japan being banned from Sumo Hall for over a year in the aftermath

Births
Unknown Dates
 * - Ryan Howe
 * - Johnny Yuma
 * - Jack Jester

January
 * 5 - Willie Mack
 * 7 - Melanie Cruise
 * 15 - Kelly Kelly
 * 28 - Melinda Padovano
 * 30 - Rebecca Quin

February
 * 19 - Solo Darling
 * 21 - Oliver Grey

March
 * 19 - April Jeanette
 * 30 - Trent Baretta

April
 * 28 - Drew Gulak

May
 * 3 - Angelus Layne
 * 11 - Lince Dorado
 * 29 - Josh Alexander

September
 * 4 - Scott Fusion
 * 11 - Mark Shurman
 * 13 - Holly Rocamora
 * 21 - Ivelisse Velez

October
 * 1 - Leah Von Dutch

November
 * 30 - Mary Jane Payne
 * 30 - Trinity McCray

December
 * 27 - Andy Leavine

Deaths
April
 * 12 - Mike Von Erich 23 (Suicide (Overdose))

August
 * 24 - Malcolm Kirk 51 (During a match with Big Daddy)

Debuts
Unknown date
 * Trudy Adams

Retirements
Unknown date
 * David Schults

Events
April
 * 11 - UWF Superblast At The Superdome

May
 * 2 - AWA SuperClash II
 * 3 - WCWA 4th Von Erich Memorial Parade Of Champions
 * 9 - NWA Eddie Graham Memorial

June
 * 29 - WCWA World Class Texas Tag Team Title Tournament

July
 * 4 - NWA The Great American Bash
 * 18 - NWA The Great American Bash

September
 * 4 - WWF King Of The Ring

October
 * 17 - WCWA 4th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza

November
 * 26 - WCWA Thanksgiving Star Wars

December
 * 25 - WCWA Christmas Star Wars

Pay-Per-View Events
March
 * 29 - WWF WrestleMania III

November
 * 26 - NWA Starrcade - "Chi-Town Heat“
 * 26 - WWF Survivor Series

Title changes
January
 * 19 - Owen Hart wins the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship from Makhan Singh in Medicine Hat, Alberta; Hercules Ayala wins the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship from David Schults in Montreal, Quebec
 * 26 - The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) win the WWF Tag Team Championship from the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) in Tampa, Florida due to biased refereeing by Danny Davis (this was taped to air on WWF Superstars of Wrestling)
 * 30 - Makhan Singh regains the Stampede North American title from Owen Hart via match stoppage in Calgary, Alberta when Owen is unable to continue due to injury

February
 * 22 - Abdullah the Butcher wins the Canadian International title from Hercules Ayala in Montreal (the title is later retired when Lutte Internationale closes)

March
 * 21 - Ricky Santana wins the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship from Rip Oliver in Portland, Oregon
 * 29 - Rick Steamboat wins the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Randy Savage at WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan

April
 * 10 - Owen Hart regains the Stampede North American title from Makhan Singh in Calgary
 * 18 - Rip Oliver regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Ricky Santana in Portland
 * 27 - Austin Idol wins the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship from Jerry Lawler in a hair vs. hair steel cage match in Memphis, Tennessee. Tommy Rich interfered in the match on Idol's behalf to cause Lawler to lose the match, the title and his hair, resulting in a fan riot at the Mid-South Coliseum

May
 * 2 - Curt Hennig wins the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Nick Bockwinkel at AWA SuperClash II in San Francisco, California
 * 25 - Soldat Ustinov and Boris Zhukov win the AWA World Tag Team Championship from the Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) in Lake Tahoe, Nevada

June
 * 2 - The Honky Tonk Man wins the WWF Intercontinental title from Rick Steamboat in Buffalo, New York (this was taped to air on WWF Superstars of Wrestling on the weekend of June 13)
 * 27 - Mike Miller wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Rip Oliver in Portland

July
 * 11 - Lex Luger wins the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship from Nikita Koloff at a Great American Bash tour stop in Greensboro, North Carolina; Steve Williams wins the UWF Heavyweight Championship from Big Bubba Rogers at a Great American Bash tour stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 * 24 - Sherri Martel wins the WWF Women's Championship from The Fabulous Moolah in Houston, Texas

August
 * 15 - The NWA Pacific Northwest title is held up following a match between champion Mike Miller and Rip Oliver
 * 22 - Mike Miller regains the vacant NWA Pacific Northwest title via forfeit over Rip Oliver in Portland

September
 * 25 - Ronnie Garvin wins the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair in Detroit, Michigan

October
 * 11 - Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee win the AWA World Tag Team title from Soldat Ustinov and Doug Somers (subbing for Boris Zhukov, who had left for the WWF) in Memphis
 * 27 - Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) win the WWF Tag Team title from the Hart Foundation at a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping in Syracuse, New York
 * 31 - The Grappler wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Mike Miller in Portland

November
 * 26 - Ric Flair regains the NWA World title from Ronnie Garvin in a steel cage match at Starrcade 1987 in Chicago, Illinois; Dusty Rhodes wins the NWA United States title from Lex Luger in a steel cage match at Starrcade; NWA World Television Champion Nikita Koloff defeats UWF Television Champion Terry Taylor to unify both titles at Starrcade