2016 in professional wrestling

2016 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions
These promotions held notable events in 2016.

WWE

 * – Raw
 * – SmackDown
 * – NXT

Raw and SmackDown
Following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension in July, in which titles became exclusive to a brand and others were established as counterparts to the opposing brand's championships, Raw and SmackDown each had a world championship, a secondary championship, a women's championship, and a male tag team championship. A championship was also established for Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers.

Debuts

 * January 4 - Marika Kobashi and Yuu
 * January 23 - Erika Watanabe
 * January 30 - Rezar
 * February 13 – Mio Momono
 * March 5 - Daiki Shimomura and Nobuhiro Shimatani
 * March 12 – Tequila Saya
 * March 17 – Calvin Tankman
 * March 20 – Alejandro
 * March 30 - Hana Kimura and Seigo Tachibana
 * April 5 – Takuya Nomura
 * April 22 – H.Y.O
 * May 2 - Dragon Libre
 * May 3 – Rin Kadokura
 * June 16 – Maho Kurone
 * June 25
 * Matsuya Uno
 * Rhio
 * July 8 – Tiger Ruas (NXT/Independents)
 * July 24 – Ibis Sara and RiNO
 * August 6 – Kid Lykos II
 * August 8 – Spike Trivet
 * October 17 – Yuki Ueno
 * October 29 – Yuki Yoshioka
 * November 20 – Ruaka
 * December 3 – Logan James
 * December 4 - Naomi Yoshimura and Yuni
 * December 11 – Junta Miyawaki

Retirements

 * Tyson Tomko (2002 – 2016)
 * Cliff Compton (1998 - 2016)
 * Mark Mercedes (1992-2016)
 * Mr. Pogo (March 20, 1972 – 2016)
 * Daniel Bryan (December 1999 – February 8, 2016) (first retirement and became General Manager of SmackDown; on March 20, 2018, Bryan was formally cleared to return to full-time in-ring action and had his first match back at WrestleMania 34)
 * The Grappler (1977-March 5, 2016)
 * Jim Neidhart (1978-March 5, 2016)
 * Bobby Eaton (May 1976-March 19, 2016)
 * Maki Narumiya (March 19, 2011 – March 25, 2016 )
 * Sting (November 28, 1985 – April 2, 2016) (first retirement; later debuted in All Elite Wrestling in December 2020 with a match at Revolution in 2021)
 * Johnny Kidd (1978 – April 5, 2016, returned to wrestle in 2019)
 * Brie Bella (September 15, 2007 – April 6, 2016) (semi, return in 2018)
 * Cameron (July 7, 2011 – May 6, 2016) (full inactive, returned to wrestle AEW in July 2020)
 * Necro Butcher (January 2, 1998 – June 11, 2016, returned to wrestling in 2018)
 * Scott Hall (October 2, 1984 – June 17, 2016)
 * Karsten Beck (2006 – July 2, 2016)
 * Booker T (1989 – July 30, 2016)
 * Scotty 2 Hotty (1989-September 2016) (became a trainer for NXT and returned to wrestling in January 2022)
 * Sara Lee (August 25, 2015 – September 30, 2016)
 * Darryl Sharma (January 2002 – November 2016 )
 * D-Von Dudley (1991 – December 17, 2016)
 * Kouhiro Kanemura (December 20, 1990 – December 27, 2016)
 * Rabbit Miu (August 7, 2011 – December 28, 2016)

Deaths

 * January 9 – Bob Leonard, 74
 * January 10 – The Wolfman, 80
 * January 17 – Mike Sharpe, 64
 * January 23 –
 * Archie Gouldie, 79
 * Espectrito, 49
 * January 27 – Taras Bulba, 59
 * February 4 – Axl Rotten, 44
 * February 10 – Tony Nardo (Moondog Spot), 51
 * February 11 – Kevin Randleman, 44
 * February 23 – Angel Gabriele, 59
 * February 24 – Eddie Einhorn, 80
 * February 25 – Mark Young, 48
 * March 3 – Hayabusa, 47
 * March 3 – Lord James Blears, 92
 * March 10 – Mike Flowers (Moondog Puppy Love)
 * March 11 - Charlie Fulton, 67
 * March 23 – Joe Garagiola, 90
 * March 24 – Randal Brown, 64
 * March 31 – Kris Travis, 32
 * April 1 – George Cavalaris, 84
 * April 7 – Blackjack Mulligan, 73
 * April 12 – Balls Mahoney, 44
 * April 14 – Christin Able, 32
 * April 20 – Chyna, 46
 * May 6 – Billy Wicks, 84
 * May 24:
 * Frankie Laine, 73
 * Buck Kartalian, 93
 * June 15 – Gypsy Joe, 82
 * June 30 – Thunder, 34
 * July 3 – Muhammad Ali, 74
 * August 4 – Jean Antone, 73
 * August 28 – Mr. Fuji, 82
 * September 9 – Lord Littlebrook, 87
 * September 10 – Moose Morowski, 81
 * September 16 – Don Bass, 70
 * October 9 – El Mongol, 86
 * October 21 – Frenchy Martin, 69
 * November 18 – Ed Francis, 90
 * November 28
 * Haruka Eigen, 70
 * John Cozman, 52
 * December 9 – Mario Milano, 81
 * December 15 – Harley Saito, 48
 * December 22 – Mocho Cota, 62