Loss

Right, they never said either way, but why would anyone assume it was non-title? Hogan was the world champ and it was the main event of a PPV. I guess had it been known it wasn't for the title in the buildup, it would have given away the finish.

Sting vs Steve Austin - WCW Saturday Night 01/01/94 This is a tremendous match where they work holds most of the time. Most of this is basic, but it's really well-executed and builds nicely. They work a headlock for the 10 minutes or so of this 15 minute match and do lots of counters based off of it. Austin gives Sting an awesome looking superplex. The finish is dumb, with Pillman interfering and attacking Austin, but this was during a time period where it was obvious WCW had no plans for Pillman, so I don't think they really cared that they made him a dumb babyface. Brian Pillman vs Steve Austin - WCW Saturday Night 01/15/94 Not as good as the Sting match, but good in its own right. Austin fakes a knee injury in an attempt to lure Pillman in, but ends up putting a bullseye on it. Pillman is all, "Well, I wasn't planning on it, but since you brought it to my attention, sure I'll destroy your knee" and does some nice work on it. Austin ends up taking control and destroys Pillman's shoulder. Those who enjoy matches that focus on a body part will really like this, as they do some nice stuff, but it's too short to get to the next level. Austin was a great wrestler by this point in time, but he was also working above his push. What I mean by this is that his style really demanded 30-minute matches to allow the build he was doing to reach its full potential. He should have been pushed harder than he was, which I guess is kind of a no-brainer. He was too good in the ring to be an upper midcarder by this time.

I have less to say about Takada than Hogan, but I still think he's a worthy candidate for Wrestler of the Year, if only because he headlined the two biggest shows of the year -- against Muto in January and against Hashimoto in April. I'm not sure how he isn't the biggest box office draw. He also had some terrific matches against Hashimoto, Tenryu (twice), Koshinaka, Takayama and others. But I think what hurts Takada is how infrequently he pops up. I say that acknowledging that his year is impressive by most standards, but there were quite a few wrestlers in All Japan, New Japan and WCW that were more active. I also don't want to get too into the discussion of Takada as a worker. That's more a topic to discuss in the "Most Outstanding Wrestler" (where I don't think Takada really has a case like he does here), but across the board, in every match I've seen him in on this set, Takada is working with a superior opponent who makes the match as good as it is. So for those reasons, Takada is NOT my pick for Wrestler of the Year. Next, I'll talk about Shawn Michaels.

Booking can be both logical and unpredictable. They aren't mutually exclusive. Terry Funk beating up Ric Flair at the conclusion of Wrestle War '89 wasn't necessarily something that everyone saw coming a mile away (at least not when his only role was that of judge), but the motivations still made sense, and it was still logical and set up a future challenger for Flair. Hogan turning at Bash at the Beach wasn't predictable, but it was logical. There is a balancing act where you can keep fans guessing while still making sense. Modern wrestling treats these as competing interests often times, though.

How do you know that to be true? I do mean that critically but also just out of sheer curiosity. I don't. But the reasons I assumed it are: (1) There were no "boring" chants. (2) If you look at people in the audience, they weren't uninterested. They were watching the match. (3) They did "ooh" and "ah" at specific times. It was weird, because the show was in Tupelo, but it almost felt more like a Japanese crowd reaction.

I'm just curious: which promotions are featured on this? I would imagine he worked in some places that are slightly off the radar where he had a little more ring time and offense.

Dustin Rhodes in a golden bodysuit portraying a glamourous manipulative sex-freak with a tiny female with huge boobs smoking a cigar at his side. I would add to this that he was also a movie buff who quoted films in the context of his feuds and even dressed like an Academy award.

#100 - Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (WWF Monday Night RAW 08/12/96) -- One of the more fun TV matches of the year. These two worked well enough together that I think their feud should have been extended a little longer. Plus, Owen Hart wasn't the kind of heel that was going to turn a crowd on Shawn. It would have worked out. #99 - Steve Austin vs Marc Mero (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96) -- That this is #99 for the year shows how great of a year it was. Austin is a guy who doesn't have a huge range of offense, but he does have a huge range of "stuff". He was a different kind of heel than your typical Flair clones that dominated the U.S. scene most of the time, which is probably why he got over. He was different. What made Austin great was that he was refreshing, and this match is a nice display of that. He's doing such basic mat stuff that no one has bothered to do in years, and because it's been dormant so long, it's completely fresh. Austin rocked. #98 - Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa vs W*ING Kanemura & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga & Hidoh (FMW 01/10/96) -- This is one of my three favorite FMW matches of the year, and this was my first real exposure to FMW aside from maybe 1-2 matches I had watched randomly over the years. The reason I liked this as much as I did is that it surprised me in how true it was to the American idea of faces and heels. Without Memphis wrestling, there would be no FMW style, and this match is the best display of that. I also thought it was a nice contrast to some of the more modern spotfests, which have the athletically impressive stuff but sometimes lose any semblance of working a match. This didn't. #97 - El Dandy & El Hijo del Santo & Silver King vs Negro Casas & Apolo Dantes & El Satanico (CMLL 02/10/96) -- I was blown away by this early on, but ended up seeing quite a bit of lucha that I liked better. Still, the match layout of this was memorable. Silver King had a lot of time in working with all three guys on the other side and looking really good, and they did a nice job teasing specific altercations early in the match and delivering them later. #96 - Jushin Liger vs Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96) -- Noteworthy for Liger getting special pleasure out of mocking Togo. Liger's Fargo strut is awesome. This is what I think is one of the two best matches on a Skydiving J show that always seemed lackluster to me. #95 - PG-13 vs Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong (USWA TV 02/17/96) -- Tremendous old style Southern tag, with the best part being the teased finishes that are almost always the finish in these types of matches that weren't here. Nice to see an old-fashioned US 80s style match tucked away in the corners of the year, with a few twists at the end to make it stand out. #94 - Rey Misterio Jr & Konnan vs Juventud Guerrera & Jerry Estrada (AAA 08/17/96) -- Uneven at times, but the best parts are really good. I was a little down on this in discussing it, but it was a strong match. I thought it showed an interesting glimpse of how the luchadores could have revitalized the tag scene in WCW, even paired with wrestlers you'd never expect to see them with, as Rey and Juventud both can do way more things when they have someone else in the ring who does very little except help them set up spots. #93 - Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Uncensored 03/24/96) -- These guys beat the hell out of each other in an excellent slugfest where the fans are actually in kind of a silent awe because they don't quite know what to make of the brutality. #92 - Masa Chono vs Keiji Muto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/06/96) -- I love this for opening my eyes to Masa Chono as a grumpy asshole who sneaks in low blows and is otherwise just not a pleasant person. There were better matches in the G-1, but this was one of the most fun ones just because of Chono really going as all out in a heel role as he possibly could. #91 - Shawn Michaels vs Diesel (WWF Good Friends Better Enemies 04/28/96) -- Memorable Shawn title defense, and a reminder of what his reign could have been if some of his most logical opponents had stuck around. But beyond that, this isn't a total carry job. Diesel is more than capable here, and this is one of the few times where I'd say he wrestles in a way where he actually does seem like quite the threat. More than the fire extinguisher, the table spot or the prosthetic leg thing, I always thought Diesel countering the superkick into a lariat was the best moment of the match. Worth seeing.

Honorable mentions! #105 - Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 10/25/96) #104 - Jerry Lawler vs Jeff Jarrett (USWA TV 04/20/96) #103 - Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96) #102 - Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & NWO Sting vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Sting (WCW Fall Brawl 09/15/96) #101 - Steven Regal vs Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/16/96)

Use this thread to talk about 1996 matches, interviews and angles that didn't make the yearbook that are worth watching for whatever reason. Include an explanation of what makes the addition stand out. This will be considered if/when a supplemental set is made to fill in a few holes throughout the year.

In 1996, the voters decided Kenta Kobashi was the Wrestler of the Year. This is head-scratching to me, even though Kobashi did have a very good year. Kobashi won the Triple Crown in July by beating Akira Taue in an excellent match. He also had excellent defenses against Kawada and Hansen. Earlier in the year, he lost in a great match against Misawa as well. But during this time, it seems the focus was less on the Triple Crown and more on tag teams. Maybe it's just hardcore revisionist history based on the workrate and not what the biggest focus of the promotion was, but in some ways, Kobashi seems like sort of an MIA guy for 1996. The hottest feud seemed to be Misawa/Akiyama vs Kawada/Taue, which produced quite a few fantastic matches and was far more compelling than any of Kobashi's defenses, even if I did love both of the title defenses had that made this set. In terms of memorable performances, Doc and Ace might even rank ahead of Kobashi for the year. I don't want to blame him completely for that. Kobashi was partnered with The Patriot in the tag league, who was less established in AJPW than the other guys. So it's not so much pointing to flaws in what Kobashi did that year as it is not understanding what made him stand out enough to get the award. Many wrestlers had tremendous years in 1996. Kobashi was one of those wrestlers. But I think in a year this crowded, it takes quite a bit to stand out from everyone else. Within his promotion, Kobashi seemed less important than the other four, and on a global scale, Kobashi was just another "great wrestler" who popped up in some really good matches from time to time. That describes so many wrestlers that I think Wrestler of the Year needs to be something more significant. What I want to do is look at the four guys that I think have a strong case for Wrestler of the Year, and walk through their pros and cons before making my final pick. First I want to talk about Hulk Hogan. HULK HOGAN If this award was about redemption, Hogan would take it in a cakewalk. It gets said often, and I've said it often recently when going through the posts, but Hogan deserves tremendous credit for the turnaround he had in 1996. He started off on a terrible note. He was in feuds with the Horsemen and Dungeon of Doom, and was usually partnered with Randy Savage. The Flair/Savage issue was hotter than anything Hogan did for the first half of the year. If he wasn't being booed out of a building, he was getting at best a lukewarm response. He had trouble clicking. As petty as they were, the Billionaire Ted skits did hit a raw nerve and touched on something real at the time: Hogan was growing irrelevant. He seemed old and washed up, and his gimmick felt like it was in a time warp. His descent during the first half of 1996 coincided with a fairly strong start on the WWF side. Bret was champ, Shawn was on the rise and Diesel was in a role that was clicking. All of them felt fresh and like their best days were ahead. Hogan felt like a guy clinging to his past. For some wrestlers, this wouldn't be the most terrible thing in the world. But WCW was still building around Hogan as their key player. And he was an anchor that was sinking the ship in some ways. In April, when he took some time off, it felt long overdue. Flair and Savage's feud was drawing well on house shows while Hogan's act was wearing thin. Supposedly, Hogan and Bischoff were on the outs and WCW was starting to accept life after Hogan. His loss didn't seem to make much difference. While the WWF was winning the ratings war most weeks at this point, WCW was still competitive. When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash jumped ship from the WWF, it was significant. They kickstarted an angle that was hot and they seemed on track to do good business. But Hogan's turn and leadership of the NWO made the angle red hot and started the hottest business period in WCW history. Hogan completely reinvented himself. He wore all black and sunglasses. He grew a beard. He started calling himself Hollywood Hogan. He also started doing the best interviews of his career, beginning with one of the all-time great money promos at Bash at the Beach, when he told fans they could stick it and joined forces with Hall and Nash. At first, he was still Hogan, just angrier, doing "Whatcha gonna do?" screaming promos, only directed at babyfaces instead of heels. But the Hall and Nash influence was good in that it relaxed him a bit, and within a month of turning, he had his act down pat and would be consistently awesome as an interview through the rest of the year. Hogan is not without his negatives. Obviously, one of those is that he didn't really have any good matches. He was nowhere near as bad in the ring as the perception was at the time, but he also wasn't a guy who was having solid title defenses. Part of that may have been that WCW had no Pat Patterson to lay out his matches. Hogan was still physically capable at this point, and even when facing guys like Savage, Piper and Giant, could have had decent matches had some attention been paid to the layout. Also, by the time he was in a groove, over half the year was over. If it was a half-year award, I'd have a hard time not saying Hogan should take it, but when looking at the year as a whole, I feel like the weak first half does have to be taken into consideration. For this reason, Hulk Hogan, despite being resurgent, is NOT my Wrestler of the Year. Next, I'll walk through the year of another guy that I think has a case: Nobuhiko Takada.

I agree with this. Goldust could have been a fun challenger and a program with Michaels would have been good, but I think the gimmick was too over the top to carry the company.

Piper comes out to say that the Starrcade match was his last one, but that he's glad he can go out as the icon. He quickly gets interrupted by the NWO. Hogan comes out upset and says it's not going down that way, and that Piper is a liar. Hogan is awesome here. Hogan says the only reason he showed any mercy was because Piper's son asked him to take it easy. The NWO come down and lay out Piper as the ring is absolutely covered in trash. Then they call for a Giant chokeslam. Giant teases it, but ends up letting him go. Piper is carted out on a stretcher and is for some reason speaking in tongues. Hogan slaps Giant in the face and Giant screams at everyone to get out of the ring. Hogan starts crying (!!!) and says he's so sorry and that Giant can have his title shot. Then he unleases the NWO on him. Giant makes easy work of them at first until Hall and Nash come in and they leave Giant laying. Then they rip his NWO shirt off. The final shot is of Piper getting carted out in an ambulance and with that, 1996 is over. Hot angle to lead to Souled Out, although Giant leaving after only being in the group a few months felt a little rushed, not to mention that the turn was not teased at all prior to Starrcade and came very quickly, almost like it was a last-minute decision. Maybe this is when it became apparent WCW had no long-term plan and was just booking week to week, although it was still a couple of years before it fully caught up to them. Also, anyone else notice that this was almost identical to Luger being kicked out of the Four Horsemen?

Hall and Nash plug their new t-shirt. Not one of the better spots, that one would be Nash saying "All proceeds go to the Ric Flair Retirement Fund."

Gene Okerlund asks DDP what he's going to do about the NWO turning on him the night before. DDP simply says he's going to fix the problem and move on. He says he's been accused of being stubborn and now he sees what has been in front of him the whole time. Nice promo to lead to a big moment on the following Nitro that would cement his face turn.

Hogan does an interview gloating about how he beat Piper the night before and sent him packing, which draws the ire of the fans. This is another great promo from the best promo guy of the year.

The NWO arrives in a limo in good spirits. They browbeat Giant, saying that he dropped the ball, but they still love him. Giant gets testy and mentions that he was told he would get a title shot if he won World War 3, and he did. Hogan says that title match is a "bye" and it is just an excuse to keep the title in the NWO that much longer. Giant says he wants a chance to be the top dog. This turns into an argument and DiBiase makes the cameraman get out.

Oh, and the match retroactively being declared non-title is the biggest screwing over of the fans of the year.

This is not a bad match. People who call it good are overselling it, but it's definitely not bad. The finish also involves The Giant screwing up (a botched spot due to a fan running in to attack Hogan and messing up the timing), setting the table for the following night on Nitro. This show was the first time the NWO showed vulnerability, and the timing was definitely right.

It doesn't look it on paper, but this is much better than you'd think. It's well worked and booked, stiff and heated. Luger's neckbreaker after almost getting The Giant off his feet gets a ginormous pop. All the run-ins were also really well done from Nick Patrick, Sting and Syxx. This was also the first NWO loss, which was played up huge on commentary, with the announcers pointing out that they only sent Nick Patrick and Syxx out to help him, but the NWO a-listers were nowhere to be found. Not a classic or anything, but worth watching.

Just the last minute or so. The NWO comes down and lays out Page, leaving an opening for Eddy to take the U.S. title. In one of my favorite moments from this era, Eddy throws the belt down and gets the better of Hall, Nash and Syxx for a minute or so before the numbers finally catch up to him. The crowd popped huge, and when Nash laid Eddy out, he had a drink thrown at him. People did not want to see that at all. They point strongly to an Eddy/Syxx feud and then air an ad for Souled Out.

I'm not sure this match could possibly live up to the expectations set for it. It was a good match, but it was also disappointing in some ways, because it's Rey vs Liger instead of REY VS LIGER. Dusty's reaction to Tenay calling the dragon screw leg whip is funny. "I'm gonna have to remember that one for later tonight. 'What was that, honey?' 'Oh, that was a dragon screw leg whip."

Malenko does the leg hook early on way too many times. The crowd wants to be involved in this match, and pops anytime they do something else, but Malenko keeps going back to that same hold. When he gets past all that, this does get really good. I love how devastated the crowd seems every time Malenko gets a nearfall. The Rey match the previous month was so much better, as Ultimo has so much exciting stuff and got to do very little of it. Rey has underdog qualities, and you can build a match around selling and it works. With Ultimo, a match laid out like that with Malenko in control the whole time doesn't have the same excitement. Very good match, but not a great one. I would recommend watching Rey/Malenko at the GAB, Ultimo/Rey at WW3 and this match back to back to see a good comp of all three guys.

Good, but not as thrilling as Kanehara vs Sakuraba. At least not at first. Takayama turns the volume up big time as the match progresses and has some great moments, including one where he lunges at Takada to take him down and the crowd explodes. Like many Takada matches on this set, good because he has a game opponent.

Great matwork, with Kanehara impressing me way more than Sakuraba, and a great finish, with the ankle lock scaring the hell out of me.