2002 in professional wrestling

2002 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions
These promotions held notable events in 2002.

WWF/E

 * – Raw
 * – SmackDown

Following the introduction of the brand extension in March, titles became exclusive to a brand. Only the promotion's original world championship and women's championship were non-exclusive until later in the year.

Debuts

 * Bobby Fish
 * Candice LeRae
 * Chase Stevens
 * Chris Masters
 * Chuck Taylor
 * Dave Mastiff
 * Eddie Edwards
 * Ethan Carter III
 * Ivelisse Vélez
 * Johnny Jeter
 * Mike Kanellis
 * Mike Mondo
 * Petey Williams
 * Tommy End
 * Travis Tomko


 * January 23 – Shachihoko Boy
 * March 1 - Sami Zayn
 * March 2 –
 * Alex Shelley
 * Kazuhiko Ogasawara
 * Silas Young
 * February 2 - Billy Ken Kid
 * February 9 - El Ligero
 * March 16 – Zach Gowen
 * April 20 – DJ Nira
 * May (Unknown what specific date) - Sheamus
 * May 10 - Karl Anderson
 * May 11 – Taiji Ishimori
 * May 18 – Toru Yano
 * June 2 – Mikey Batts
 * June 5 – James Ellsworth
 * June 18 - Malakai Black
 * July 14 – Sami Zayn (Then known as El Generico)
 * July 27 – Special K
 * August 10 – Montel Vontavious Porter
 * August 29 – Shinsuke Nakamura
 * October 2 – Matt Morgan
 * October 12 – Eddie Kingston, Yoshi Tatsu
 * October 20 - Awesome Kong
 * October 21 – Yoshihiro Sakai
 * November 9 – Sylvan Grenier
 * November 10 - Asosan
 * November 11 – Becky Lynch
 * December 27 – Fred Sampson

Retirements

 * Black Bart (wrestler) (1975-2002)
 * Bushwhacker Luke (1962-2002) (first retirement, returned to wrestling in 2007)
 * Rip Morgan (1983-2002)
 * Stevie Ray (1989-2002) (first retirement, return to wrestling in 2015 and retired in 2017)
 * Butch Reed (1978-2002) (first retirement, returned to wrestling in 2005 and retired in 2013)

Births

 * April 25 – Miyu Amasaki
 * July 8 – Kid Lykos II
 * July 24 – Tomoka Inaba
 * October 1 – AZM

Deaths

 * January 7 – Mighty Igor, 70
 * January 9 - Les Kellett, 86
 * February 3 – Nelson Royal, 66
 * February 9 - Jeff Raitz, 38
 * February 19 – Swede Hansen, 68
 * March 1 – Dino Casanova, 35
 * March 7 – Troy Graham, 52
 * March 17 - Big Red, 51
 * April 3 – Bobby Managoff, 84
 * April 11 – Stanley Weston, 82
 * April 18 – Wahoo McDaniel, 63
 * April 28 – Lou Thesz, 86
 * May 5 – Randy Anderson, 42
 * May 14 – George Gordienko, 74
 * May 16 – Shoichi Arai, 36
 * May 16 – Big Dick Dudley, 34
 * May 18 – Davey Boy Smith, 39
 * August 1 – Don Owen, 90
 * August 22- Abe Zvonkin, 92
 * September 21 – Rocco Rock, 49
 * October 31 - Moose Cholak, 72
 * November 19 - Kangaroo Kennedy, 76
 * November 20 - Billy Goelz, 84
 * November 22 - Thunder Sugiyama, 62
 * November 23 – Billy Travis, 41
 * November 29 - George "Two Ton" Harris, 74/75
 * November 30 - Mr. Wrestling, 68