1994

This is a list of various things that took place in 1994.

Significant events

Unknown dates

• The Silverton Casino Lodge first opened in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• A year after being indicted on charges of distributing steroids to his wrestlers, Vince McMahon, Jr.'s case goes to trial. The jury acquits McMahon of the charges and he would resume his role in the day-to day operations of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

July

• 3 - Bob Backlund turns heel after losing a match against WWF Champion Bret Hart. A storyline is developed where Backlund's character would be that of an embittered older wrestler frustrated with ungrateful and uneducated fans, undeserved pushes of his opponents and mostly that he had never truly lost his match 10-1/2 years earlier to the Iron Sheik for the WWF Championship (i.e., his longtime manager and mentor Arnold Skaaland had mistakenly thrown in the towel)

August

• 5 - Smoky Mountain Wrestling holds its Night of Legends supercard at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee, drawing 5,000 fans to the event. In the main event, Bob Armstrong, Tracy Smothers and Road Warrior Hawk defeat Terry & Dory Funk Jr. and Bruiser Bedlam (with Jim Cornette) in a "Coward waves the flag" six-man tag team match when Cornette waved his team's flag to surrender on their behalf
• 27 - NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling hosts a tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Viking Hall in Philadelphia. The event, and ECW itself, gain notoriety when, after winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and making a brief acceptance speech, Shane Douglas throws the title belt down on the mat and refuses to accept it, vehemently declaring the National Wrestling Alliance a "dead organization" (referring to the sale of then-NWA flagship Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner and rename to World Championship Wrestling in 1988), declaring his ECW Heavyweight Championship to be a World title and announcing the launch of a new era in pro wrestling. With this event, ECW withdrew from the NWA and renames itself as Extreme Championship Wrestling, which becomes notorious for bringing hardcore wrestling to the mainstream in North America
• 29 - NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, the syndicated TV program of ECW, is renamed simply as ECW with the promotion's rename to Extreme Championship Wrestling

September

• Ricky Steamboat announces his retirement as an active wrestler following his release from World Championship Wrestling after he suffered a career-ending back injury during the match where he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship from Steve Austin in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on August 24. Aside from a stint with the WWF between 1985 and 1988, a brief run in the North American Wrestling Association (later South Atlantic Pro Wrestling) in 1990 and a brief WWF tenure early in 1991, Steamboat had been with WCW and its predecessor Jim Crockett Promotions since 1977

November

• 24 - Gorilla Monsoon makes his final appearance as a commentator at a pay-per-view, handling the duties with Vince McMahon at the Survivor Series; it was their first pairing together since 1990, and the two had also co-commentated at the WWF's televised arena shows at Madison Square Garden in late 1982 and early 1983. Monsoon would continue working behind the mike until early 1996, but was transitioning into more of a backstage role as Jim Ross was taking over the duties Monsoon had.
• 26 - Diesel defeats WWF Champion Bob Backlund in eight seconds to win the title during a non-televised match at New York City's Madison Square Garden. In addition to the match becoming the shortest match where a major WWF title changed hands (except for future Money In the Bank cash-ins), this match was the last non-televised match where the WWF Champion was defeated for the title, although several video sharing services had clips from the match uploaded

Births

January

• 7 - Amy-Lee Kramer (Norwich, England)
• 25 - Willow Nightingale (Franklin Square, New York)
• 25 - Zoey Stark (Utah, USA)
• 29 - Pauline Laout (Paris, France)

February

• 21 - Ricky Starks (New Orleans, Louisiana)
• 27 - Everett Connors (St. Louis, Missouri)

March

• 10 - Jo-Jo Offerman (North Hollywood, California)

April

• 29 - Zachary Wentz (Dayton, Ohio)

June

• 9 - Aja Perera (Aracaju, Brazil)

July

• 11 - Paris Lincoln (Santa Rosa, California)

September

• 22 - Kakeru Sekiguchi (Edogawa, Tokyo)

October

• 5 - Jake Atlas (California)
• 11 - Cody Swift (Dormana, Victoria, Australia)
• 14 - Jezabeth (London, England)
• 22 - Lady Maravilla (Mexico)
• 24 - Yuki Aino (Okayama, Japan)

November

• 11 - Lio Rush (Lanham, Maryland)
• 17 - Lady C (Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan)
• 18 - Yuya Uemura (Imabari, Ehime, Japan)
• 23 - Jasmin Areebi (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

December

• 20 - Big Fudge (Newcastle, New South Wales)
• 20 - Rachele Richey

Deaths

• Carlos Ignacio Carrillo Contreras
• Art Barr
• Boris Malenko
• George Cannon
• Joey Marella
• Mitsu Arakawa
• Ray Candy
• Ronnie Etchison

Debuts

• December 26 - Henry O. Godwinn makes his Raw debut.

Events

January

• January 27 – WCW Clash Of The Champions (Televised event)

February

• February 5 – ECW The Night The Line Was Crossed

March

• March 26 – ECW Ultimate Jeopardy

April

• April 1 – SMW Bluegrass Brawl

May

• May 5 – FMW 5th Anniversary Show
• May 15 – ECW When Worlds Collide
• May 20 – SMW Volunteer Slam

June

• June 23 – WCW Clash Of The Champions (Televised event)
• June 24 – ECW Hostile City Showdown

July

• July 16 – ECW Heat Wave

August

• August 5 – SMW Night Of Legends
• August 6 – SMW Fire On The Mountain
• August 13 – ECW Hardcore Heaven
• August 24 – WCW Clash Of The Champions (Televised event)

November

• November 5 – ECW November To Remember
• November 6 – AAA When Worlds Collide
• November 8 – WWF Sunday Night Slam (Televised event)
• November 16 – WCW Clash Of The Champions (Televised event)

December

• December 17 – ECW Holiday Hell

Pay-Per-View events

January

• January 22 – WWF Royal Rumble

February

• February 20 – WCW SuperBrawl IV

March

• March 20 – WWF Wrestlemania X

April

• April 17 – WCW Spring Stampede

May

• May 22 – WCW Slamboree - "A Legends Reunion"

June

• June 19 – WWF King Of The Ring

July

• July 17 – WCW Bash At The Beach

August

• August 29 – WWF Summer Slam

September

• September 18 – WCW Fall Brawl

October

• October 23 – WCW Halloween Havoc

November

• November 23 – WWF Survivor Series

December

• December 27 – WCW Starrcade - "Triple Threat"

Title changes

January

• 10 - The 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty defeated The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw
• 17 - The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) defeated Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship at a House Show
• 22 - Bruiser Brian wins the Championship Wrestling USA Television Championship from Col. DeBeers in Portland, Oregon

February

• 13 - Tony Anthony wins the SMW Heavyweight Championship from Brian Lee in Knoxville, Tennessee
• 26 - Col. DeBeers regains the CWUSA TV title from Bruiser Brian in Portland

March

• 6 - Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) win the ECW Tag Team Championship from Kevin Sullivan and Tasmaniac in Philadelphia (aired on NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling on March 8); Tasmaniac wins the ECW Television Championship from J.T. Smith in Philadelphia (aired on NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling on March 15; Smith regains the title from Tasmaniac later that night, aired on March 22)
• 20 - Bret Hart wins the WWF Championship from Yokozuna at WrestleMania X in New York City
• 26 - Shane Douglas wins the ECW Heavyweight Championship from Terry Funk in an eight-man elimination match (also involving Mr. Hughes, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Road Warrior Hawk, Kevin Sullivan and Tasmaniac) at Ultimate Jeopardy in Devon, Pennsylvania

April

• 16 - Pitbull I wins the ECW TV title from J.T. Smith in Philadelphia
• 17 - The WCW World Heavyweight Championship, last held by Ric Flair, is held up following a double-pin in a match against Ricky Steamboat at Spring Stampede in Chicago (WWE, which claims this title's history for its now-defunct World Heavyweight Championship, does not recognize this title change); Sting wins the WCW International Heavyweight Championship from Rick Rude at Spring Stampede
• 21 - Ric Flair regains the vacant WCW World title by defeating Rick Steamboat in Atlanta (aired on tape-delay on WCW Saturday Night on May 14; WWE does not recognize this title change)

May

• 1 - Rick Rude regains the WCW International title from Sting in Fukuoka, Japan, but the decision is later reversed due to Rude's use of the title belt as a weapon during the match; the title is subsequently vacated when Sting refuses to accept it
• 2 - Jake Roberts wins the SMW title from Tony Anthony in Harriman, Tennnessee (aired on Smoky Mountain Wrestling on May 14)
• 13 - Mikey Whipwreck wins the ECW TV title from Pitbull I in Philadelphia (aired on NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling on May 17)
• 22 - Sting regains the vacant WCW International title by defeating Big Van Vader at Slamboree in Philadelphia; Cactus Jack (subbing for the injured Dave Sullivan) and Kevin Sullivan win the WCW World Tag Team Championship from the Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) at Slamboree

June

• 23 - The WCW International title, last held by Sting, is retired after WCW World Champion Ric Flair beats Sting to unify both belts at Clash of the Champions XXVII in Charleston, South Carolina; Lord Steven Regal wins the WCW World Television Championship from Larry Zbyszko at Clash of the Champions

July

• 5 - Tony Anthony is awarded the SMW title via official decision (SMW claims that Anthony regained the title from Jake Roberts on this date in a fictitious title change in Warrensville, North Carolina)
• 17 - Hulk Hogan wins the WCW World title from Ric Flair at Bash at the Beach in Orlando, Florida; Pretty Wonderful (Paul Roma and Paul Orndorff) win the WCW World Tag Team title from Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan at Bash at the Beach

August

• 13 - Jason wins the ECW TV title from Mikey Whipwreck at Hardcore Heaven in Philadelphia
• 24 - Rick Steamboat wins the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship from Steve Austin at Clash of the Champions XXVIII in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• 27 - Shane Douglas wins the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a tournament final over 2 Cold Scorpio in Philadelphia (aired on ECW on August 29), but vacates the title a few minutes later when he refuses to accept the title and proclaims his ECW Heavyweight Championship to be a World title (which ECW subsequently recognizes as such after it withdraws from the NWA following the tournament; WWE, which later revived the ECW title for its own version of the promotion in 2006, does not recognize any ECW champion prior to this date); Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck win the ECW Tag Team title from Public Enemy in Philadelphia (aired on ECW on September 13)

September

• 18 - Steve Austin regains the WCW United States title when Rick Steamboat forfeits the title due to injury at Fall Brawl in Roanoke, Virginia; Hacksaw Duggan defeats Austin moments later to win the United States title at Fall Brawl; Johnny B. Badd wins the WCW World TV title from Lord Steven Regal at Fall Brawl

November

• 4 - 2 Cold Scorpio wins the ECW World TV title from Jason in Hamburg, Pennsylvania (aired on ECW on November 22); Dean Malenko wins the ECW World TV title from 2 Cold Scorpio in Philadelphia (aired on ECW on November 29)
• 5 - Public Enemy regain the ECW World Tag Team title from Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck at November to Remember in Philadelphia
• 19 - Chris Candido wins the vacant NWA World title in a tournament final over Tracy Smothers at a joint Smoky Mountain Wrestling/NWA event in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
• 23 - Bob Backlund wins the WWF title from Bret Hart at the Survivor Series in San Antonio, Texas
• 26 - Diesel wins the WWF title from Bob Backlund in eight seconds in New York City

December

• 27 - Big Van Vader wins the WCW United States title from Hacksaw Duggan at Starrcade in Nashville, Tennessee