2018 in professional wrestling

2018 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions
These promotions held notable events in 2018.

WWE

 * – Raw
 * – SmackDown
 * – NXT
 * – NXT UK

Raw and SmackDown
Raw and SmackDown each had a world championship, a secondary championship, a women's championship, and a male tag team championship. Raw also had a championship for their cruiserweight wrestlers, which became exclusive to the 205 Live brand.

Debuts

 * January 4 – Hikari Noa and Miu Watanabe
 * January 28 – Bryan Ishizaka
 * February 3
 * Akira Hyodo
 * Yuki Ishikawa
 * February 27 – Man Like DeReiss
 * February 24 – Edith Surreal
 * March 30 – The DKC
 * April 8
 * Ronda Rousey
 * Momo Tani
 * April 10 – Yuya Uemura
 * April 22 – Rina Shingaki
 * April 29 – Solo Sikoa
 * May 3 – Yuki Aino
 * May 13 – Rina Amikura
 * May 27 – Mei Suruga
 * June 2 – Aliss Ink
 * June 11 – Kota Minoura
 * June 16 – Luke Jacobs
 * July 3 – Janai Kai
 * July 18 – Omos
 * July 18 – Ancham
 * July 29 – Titus Alexander
 * August 5
 * Mina Shirakawa
 * Yoshiki Inamura
 * August 8 – Kohaku
 * August 12 – Utami Hayashishita
 * August 18 – Levaniel
 * September 2 – Ryuki Honda
 * October 28
 * Jessamyn Duke
 * Marina Shafir
 * Yuki Arai
 * November 6 – Dragon Dia
 * November 15
 * Misa Matsui
 * Riko Kawahata
 * Yuko Sakurai
 * November 17 – Hokuto Omori
 * November 18 – Mei Hoshizuki
 * November 19 – Momoka Hanazono
 * December 18 – Malik Blade (NXT)
 * November 23 – Slice Boogie
 * December 24 – Maria
 * December 25 – Naoki Kamata
 * December 31
 * Banny Oikawa
 * Suzu Suzuki

Retirements

 * Aoi Kizuki (2005–2018)
 * Azusa Takigawa (2015–2018)
 * Bob Backlund (1973–1985, 1988–2001, 2007–2011, 2018)
 * Mark Henry (March 11, 1996 – April 27, 2018)
 * Great Khali (October 7, 2000 – April 27, 2018)
 * Mika Iida (November 21, 2010 – May 4, 2018)
 * Great Kabuki (1964–September 30, 2018)
 * Daigoro Kashiwa (2001–2018)
 * Gene Snitsky (1997–2018)
 * Chicky Starr (1975–2018)
 * Mark Jindrak (1999–2018)
 * Keiko Aono (1996–2018)
 * Maho Kurone (2016–2018)
 * Hiro Tonai (2006–2018)

Deaths

 * January 2 – Mountain Fiji, 60
 * April 4 – Johnny Valiant, 71
 * April 18
 * Bruno Sammartino, 82
 * Paul Jones, 75
 * April 21 – Neff Maivia, 93
 * May 1 – Universo 2000, 55
 * May 8 – Big Bully Busick, 63
 * June 1 – Rockin' Rebel, 52
 * June 13 – Arkangel de la Muerte, 52
 * June 18 – Big Van Vader, 63
 * June 29 – Matt Cappotelli, 38
 * July 8 – Piratita Morgan, 49
 * July 14 – Masa Saito, 76
 * July 19 – Rayo de Jalisco Sr., 85
 * July 29
 * Brickhouse Brown, 57
 * Nikolai Volkoff, 70
 * Brian Christopher, 46
 * August 3 - Picudo, 51
 * August 9 – Brian Danovich, 38
 * August 10 – Steve Travis, 67
 * August 13
 * Jim Neidhart, 63
 * Ian Dean, 48
 * August 21 – Villano III, 66
 * August 22 – Chris Champion, 57
 * August 27 – Aya Koyama, 45
 * August 30 – Ray, 36
 * September 4 – Lee Wang-pyo, 64
 * September 5 – Mike Hogewood, 63
 * September 9 – Frank Andersson, 62
 * September 14 – Ethel Johnson, 83
 * October 8:
 * Wajima Hiroshi, 70
 * Leroy Howard, 50
 * October 13 – Don Leo Jonathan, 87
 * October 18 – Dick Slater, 67
 * November 6 – José Lothario, 83
 * November 18 - Tomás Marín, 84
 * November 25 – Larry Matysik, 71
 * December 5 – Dynamite Kid, 60
 * December 6 – Larry Hennig, 82
 * December 13 – Bill Fralic, 56
 * December 19 – Raúl Mata, 71
 * December 29 – Dieusel Berto, 60