Zenjo

Whilst overlong, I did quite like this vignette. The chicas just couldn't get enough of mulleted hunks in the 90's.

The instant Norton loses the match he gets relegated right back to the rank and file by the looks of things.

1993 was the second Yearbook that I started watching and is now the sixth one that I've finished. I got a bit distracted along the way. It was one of the all time great years in wrestling history with top end classics and incredible depth. It pains me restricting it to only 100 matches, there's so much quality out there. 1992 is the only other year I've finished so far that is comparable. Loads of supplemental goodness from 8 different promotions, handily colour coded of course. AJ had its final year of hour long TV and sure made the most of it. AAA began its golden era. NJ, UWFI and numerous other promotions provided rich entertainment. WCW even made it to the #2 spot. And Joshi haters may wish to shield their eyes (and ears). '93 was the greatest year in the history of women's wrestling, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind. It wasn't solely due to the interpromotional aspect, although that was a major factor. Matches that in surrounding years would've fallen just outside the list had that little bit extra, this year only, that put them over the top. Why? Because '93 was peak time.

Zenjo's Top 100 Matches of 1993 100) Suzuka Minami vs Etsuko Mita (AJW 4/24/93) 99) Mascarita Sagrada & Octagoncito vs Jerrito Estrada & Espectrito (AAA 8/28/93) 98) Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 4/24/93) 97) Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/25/93) 96) Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue vs Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki (AJW 4/2/93) 95) Masayuki Naruse vs Todil Todorov (RINGS 12/8/93) 94) Masanobu Fuchi vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 2/28/93) 93) Mr Perfect vs Doink the Clown (WWF 5/17/93) 92) Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 7/2/93) 91) Lola Gonzalez, Pantera Surena & Wendy vs La Briosa, La Monster & Neftaly (AAA 10/30/93) 90) Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu (NJ 1/4/93) 89) Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs Bull Nakano & Suzuka Minami (AJW 10/10/93) 88) El Hijo Del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 8/13/93) 87) Suzuka Minami & Kaoru Ito vs Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu (JWP 7/31/93) 86) Hiroshi Hase vs Genichiro Tenryu (NJ 9/23/93) 85) Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 10/23/93) 84) El Hijo Del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 5/14/93) 83) Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs Eagle Sawai & Yasha Kurenai (AJW 12/10/93) 82) Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu (NJ 4/6/93) 81) Sakie Hasegawa & Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto (AJW 11/12/93) 80) Toshiyo Yamada vs Harley Saito (AJW 7/4/93) 79) Gene Lydick vs Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFI 8/13/93) 78) Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler (WWF 8/30/93) 77) Shinobu Kandori & Yasha Kurenai vs Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 10/9/93) 76) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 7/29/93) 75) Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 1/24/93) 74) Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (WCW 3/2/93) 73) Angel Blanco Jr, Jerry Estrada & La Parka vs El Hijo del Santo, Octagon & Eddy Guerrero (AAA 2/26/93) 72) MS-1 vs Cien Caras (Hair vs Hair) (AAA 8/13/93) 71) Yoji Anjoh vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 8/13/93) 70) Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Tayayuki Iizuka vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Ricky Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara (NJ 2/16/93) 69) Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect (WWF 6/13/93) 68) Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota vs Akira Hokuto & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 5/8/93) 67) Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJ 4/12/93) 66) Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyota vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (FMW 5/5/93) 65) Akira Hokuto vs Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 11/18/93) 64) El Hijo del Santo & Octogon vs La Parka & El Satanico (AAA 12/1/93) 63) Ric Flair vs Sting (WCW 8/2/93) 62) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/27/93) 61) Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 10/10/93) 60) Devil Masami & Debbie Malenko vs Dynamite Kansai & Plum Mariko (JWP 2/11/93) 59) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/12/93) 58) Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 5/3/93) 57) Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada (BTL) (AJW 12/10/93) 56) Kyoko Inoue vs Hikari Fukuoka (AJW 6/11/93) 55) Ultimo Dragon vs El Samurai (WAR 3/7/93) 54) Akira Hokuto vs Harley Saito (AJW 8/5/93) 53) Satanico vs Pirata Morgan (Hair vs Hair) (AAA 11/26/93) 52) Bat Yoshinaga & Yumiko Hotta vs Toshiyo Yamada & Etsuko Mita (AJW 3/20/93) 51) Yumiko Hotta vs Manami Toyota (AJW 5/4/93) 50) Naoki Sano vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 5/6/93) 49) Angelito Azteca, Mascarita Sagrada & Octogoncito vs Espectrito, Jerrito Estrada & Picudito (AAA 2/12/93) 48) Hiroshi Hase vs Kengo Kimura (NJ 8/5/93) 47) Terry Gordy vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 5/29/93) 46) Megumi Kudo vs Aja Kong (AJW 12/6/93) 45) Eagle Sawai & Yasha Kurenai vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 10/10/93) 44) Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 10/23/93) 43) Takako Inoue vs Harley Saito (AJW 5/8/93) 42) Manami Toyota vs Mayumi Ozaki (AJW 10/9/93) 41) Shinobu Kandori vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 8/25/93) 40) El Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr (Hair vs Hair) (CMLL 11/21/93) 39) Akira Hokuto vs Rumi Kazama (Hair vs Hair) (LLPW 11/9/93) 38) Vader vs Sting (Strap Match) (WCW 2/21/93) 37) Harley Saito vs Etsuko Mita (AJW 5/3/93) 36) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Steve Williams (AJ 9/3/93) 35) Plum Mariko & Hikari Fukuoka vs Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 4/2/93) 34) Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine vs El Hijo del Santo & Octagon (AAA 11/6/93) 33) Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/16/93) 32) Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito vs Etsuko Mita & Suzuka Minami (LLPW 2/13/93) 31) Bull Nakano, Suzuka Minami, Mima Shimoda, Etsuko Mita & Bat Yoshinaga vs Eagle Sawai, Miki Handa, Harley Saito, Yukari Osawa & Leo Kitamura (Elimination) (AJW 8/25/93) 30) Keiji Mutoh vs Hiroshi Hase (NJ 9/24/93) 29) Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori & Eagle Sawai (AJW 4/11/93) 28) La Fiera vs Negro Casas (CMLL 10/1/93) 27) Lizmark vs Jerry Estrada (AAA 6/18/93) 26) Nobuhiko Takada vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 2/14/93) 25) Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai (AJW 8/25/93) 24) Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 8/8/93) 23) Nobuhiko Takada vs Vader (UWFI 12/5/93) 22) Ultimo Dragon vs Negro Casas (CMLL 3/19/93) 21) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW 12/6/93) 20) Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 8/31/93) 19) Mima Shimoda, Etsuko Mita & Akira Hokuto vs Eagle Sawai, Miki Handa & Harley Saito (AJW 1/24/93) 18) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJ 6/1/93) 17) Devil Masami & Plum Mariko vs Chigusa Nagayo & Cuty Suzuki (JWP 11/18/93) 16) Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase vs Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 11/4/93) 15) Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota (AJW 8/21/93) 14) Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 12/6/93) 13) Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada (BTL Final) (AJW 12/10/93) 12) Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami (JWP 4/18/93) 11) Dynamite Kansai vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW 4/2/93) 10) Masahiro Chono vs Hiroshi Hase (NJ 8/6/93) 9) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJ 12/3/93) 8) Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta (JWP 1/15/93) 7) Mascara Ano 2000 vs Perro Aguayo (Mask vs Hair) (AAA 4/30/93) 6) Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 2/28/93) 5) Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 4/11/93) 4) Sakie Hasegawa, Takako Inoue, Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong vs Hikari Fukuoka, Cuty Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (Thunderqueen Battle) (JWP 7/31/93) 3) Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 7/29/93) 2) Ric Flair vs Vader (WCW 12/27/93) 1) Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 4/2/93)

If I'm having a bad day I try and ensure I watch only bad or average matches. That way you don't have to worry about whether you're being fair or not. And if something good happens and cheers me up then it's a bonus.

Part One was super charged workrate fun from the masters of the style. No weak links here as they all showed good form. Impressive quality wrestling and going about 15m was just right. A complete match in itself with a beginning, middle and end. There were near falls and excitement, but it didn't outstay its welcome and exhaust everyone. Very good, yet in itself there was nothing to separate it from many other tags from the era. Part Two was excellent and stood out from the crowd. Under 15m this time, though it sure didn't feel like it. To their credit it was a very different encounter to the first. I loved the two FIP segments. Toyota was reeling so took an initial beating. I always like this type of psychology in 2/3 fall matches. Hokuto's poor old leg then took another pounding. The favourites were now looking like the underdogs. Plenty of drama in the closing stages and excitement from the crowd. Wrestlers getting tired isn't necessarily a bad thing, and wasn't here. Strong performances from all concerned and wonderful booking. It was only appropriate that Hokuto should end her extraordinary year in glory. One last fabulous performance from the wrestler of the year. And this card was a suitable way to round off the greatest year in company history. What a pleasure it has been to relive the glory days of 1993 once more.

And there was me thinking that Kong vs Kudo was an unusual match. This was so strange that the only real point of reference was to go back to part 1, which they frequently did. I love Loss' description of it as being more like a fight scene from a movie than pro wrestling. Beforehand they showed footage of an uncomfortable press conference where you could cut the tension with a knife. That was the time for talking and psyching your opponent out. Here they walked straight across the ring and began punching each other, leaving Akira with a bloody mouth. Almost all the moves utilised thereafter had the intention of conveying hatred and adding to the rivalry. It was an outlandish cocktail of high end offence, punches, body part attacks and insults. It was poles apart from regular Joshi as every move had significance. Kandori could've gone for the knees if she'd been seeking just a win. She utilised her submissions less than usual, wanting a decisive KO. She was meant to be the ultimate badass and Hokuto had been tougher than her. Revenge was very much the order of the day. After the win she found there was no joy in victory, only vengeance. As a viewing spectacle this was quite an experience. As a match it was way out there at times. It needed the epic conclusion to bring things together and make some sense of it all. LCO marking out at ringside was ridiculously awesome. I do have to point out a 10 count spot where Akira starting to crawl at 9 apparently constituted getting up. Overall it was an amazing conclusion to a great card at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

A triumphant conclusion to the legendary trilogy. The first meeting between these teams was a MOTDC (decade not day). The second was a MOTYC. The third is a MOTMC. So it's still fantastic if you judge it on its own merits and appreciate it for what it was. They made an effort to differentiate all three, this one only being one fall. WWWA TT matches were always 2/3 falls so I'm not sure what the explanation was. In the context of the card it fitted in well anyway. The structure and pacing were very good and the length was about right. High quality wrestling with impressive execution. Some of the move sequences were wonderfully thought out. We'd already seen how strong the chemistry was between these two units. They provided both fire and flair, and brought out the best in each other. Toyota and Dyno were the dominant personalities this time out. Yamada's performance was down on the previous matches, but still pretty good. At one stage it was threatening MOTYC standard before a few niggles in the closing minutes plateaued the level. Just missed out on my top 20. Scenes of great joy afterwards as the titles were coming home.

Two graduates from the AJW class of '86 had made it to the WWWA Title match through very different routes, neither of them easy. Aja had risen through the ranks, overcoming discrimination and adversity early in her life. Kudo had been dumped by the promotion that trained her. She'd become a teacher before returning to wrestling and making her name in a hardcore men's promotion. To be facing each other once more must have been an emotional occasion for them. This was an intriguing contest throughout, with a different and fresh feel to it. Probably more interesting than exciting. Well constructed for the most part. In the early stages Kong was predictably on top. Kudo's fighting spirit and quick counters were only going to take her so far. But once she went to work on the arm the whole complexion of the match started to change. The result suddenly felt like it was in the balance. I didn't mind the ref bump, it beats a count out finish any day. It's so weird seeing it in the 90's. In 80's AJW the ref was frequently involved. Aja refused to tap and delivered lots of urakans before shouting at Kudo on the mic. Bizarre and not good. They got partially back on track with a close finish. Fine performances from both. Low end top 50 for the year.

I use the star rating system, except every 1/4* is split into low, medium and high. Given that nobody else does I just keep my ratings to myself. They're only useful for ranking lists of matches, not as an accurate descriptor. I couldn't order 100's of matches without a numerical system. Seeing other peoples star ratings generally makes my eyes either roll or glaze over. Unless the individual has hundreds of ratings listed you can't figure out how they use the system. And even then there's probably a subliminal thought entering my mind that involves Scott Keith. Which is a great reason to do away with it.

I'll start at the end. Han's finisher resulted from such a beautiful application of leverage it was perfection itself. The technique on display throughout was outstanding, and executed at Sci-Fi speed. You never knew where the next move was coming from or what it might be. At under 13m it was super tight and had me from the outset. The quality was certainly top notch, though I wouldn't tag it as a classic. Too short as I was left wanting more. A few more seconds of peril on certain holds would've been ideal. When you really believe it's over are the peak moments in shoot style. The drama escalates over time.

Considering the participants and the date this was bound to be a good 'un. Nothing out of this world, just a fun encounter. Calling it a low top 10 AJW tag for the year for the year isn't a bad call. There weren't any weak links in terms of the performances. One thing I noticed was how Hokuto absorbed comparatively little punishment. She really made each offensive move count as well, to cover for the fact that Toyota was having to do most of the work for their team. The shock pin she got over Kong was only done in a semi meaningful context. I agree with OJ's point that the 1&4 vs 2&3 psychology should've been put over more. Aja would sometimes appear as the unstoppable force, and other times would take a back seat and fit in with the other top girls. I've mixed feelings on this as on the one hand it hurts her status as an ace. Yet she was such a talented athlete that she could go in the fast paced workrate matches. Being able to play the monster heel as well made her highly versatile. Just restricting herself to one role would've cut down her output overall I feel. She wasn't tall or even that wide, but Aja had depth.

This concluded a 3 match AJW vs JWP singles series on the show. Kyoko had upset Devil and Toyota had downed Oz. So it was up to Dyno to regain some pride for her promotion. That she was able to do after this tough encounter. This wasn't just a kicking contest, the strikes were a component of the match rather than the focus. It was mat based and quite restrained for the most part. They slowly built it up and had a hard fought battle. Kansai always seemed the likely victor. Certainly good stuff, though I wouldn't go much above that. The electric exchanges that they had during the tags had set a high bar, and the magic wasn't there like before.

Numerous free agents out there this summer would do well to sign a one year deal with Cleveland at below their market value. They get a shot at a title and lots of TV exposure to jack up their value. Then next year they can sign a juicy new contract elsewhere that exceeds anything they could get this offseason. Sadly Brooklyn won't have the cap space to snap up Varejao. Maybe some team embarking on a multi-season tank will step in instead? Regardless of squad strength Cleveland will always have a shot as long as Lebron keeps playing to this level. That's probably quite a short window. As for comparing wrestlers to NBA players I can't get my brain around that. I do have to brag about going 14-0 with my pre-playoff predictions thus far. And GS can't really lose the finals to a one man team. Can they?

It would be interesting to hear the views of PWO's vast female community on this one.

Puro with English language commentary is the stuff of nightmares for me. Muted would be preferable. I should never have complained.

From what I've read and heard from Bret over the years, he generally sounded ignorant when giving opinions on wrestling outside of his direct sphere of experience. Not that this ever held him back from sharing his views.

His fake persona is the biggest reason. He reached the top in 2011 and was upset at not seeing the kind of sponsorship deals that Fed and Rafa were getting. So he began trying to cultivate an image as a great guy and ambassador for tennis so he'd be seen in the same light as those two. It's been a partial success. From my viewpoint Rafa actually is a genuine person and Fed is a master at manipulating the media to portray him as some kind of Demi-God. Those two also have more artistically pleasing playing styles than Djokovic.

This was AJW's first visit to the hallowed grounds of Budokan Hall since the 70's. It was a super stacked interpromotional card, with Kyoko/Kandori and a 10 woman elimination match being the other highlights. The first singles encounter between Aja and Dyno was a perfect way to conclude an outstanding show. There was lots of pride at stake as both were leaders of their respective promotions. The respect that they held for each other was a major theme. This produced plenty of intensity without boiling into anger. With two relative Heavyweights going at it they worked more of a traditional men's style world title bout. Starting off with a feeling out process and gradually working up to a crescendo. Each wore down their opponent with various holds and hard strikes. After laying the groundwork it then moved on towards an absolutely incredible stretch. It looked like Kansai really had it after the Splash Mountain, yet the champion barely survived. Aja responded with some brutal offence but the challenger would not die. In the end Kong absolutely flattened her with a picture perfect version of her finisher to get the job done. Both competitors came out looking so strong. On the subject of Kansai's prime, her best years were 93-96. Certainly not 97 or 98. Kong was in her prime as well. Generally 94 is seen as her peak year.

Hokuto's victory ensured a satisfying finale to one of the finest tournaments in the history of wrestling. Both women were unsurprisingly tired after prior exertions. It's not fair to judge Hotta too much off this bout as she looked notably less athletic than normal. The action during the build was quite slow and uninspiring, running at least 5m too long. The storyline was strong however as it looked like Hokuto's brittle body would cost her the title once more. The closing 5m jumped up several levels as they both unloaded everything to provide a dramatic conclusion. All's well that ends well I guess. Won't quite make my top 100, yet the stretch and the storyline made this good overall.

They had both JGP Semis and the Final on one night. As often happens in sports the SF featured the match of the tournament. The red hot crowd helped provide energy and excitement. Early on Manami was stretched in all directions like only she could be. But it was Hokuto with the weak body part. It was viciously attacked and expertly sold. Akira selling the knees never gets old for me. I guess that if you're only watching selected Joshi bouts then a disproportionate amount of it would feature her. When you've viewed pretty much all the AJW footage from the era then Hokuto matches generally stand out as something different from the rest of the card. This may have been Toyota's best ever aerial performance. No end of spectacular moves and she nailed all of them. This made her look the favourite. Some brilliant 2.9ers down the stretch without going overboard. The structure and duration were spot on. The only drawback was that it was the first of two matches so the NLB got saved for later. There was no time for Akira to revel in her victory afterwards. Excellent performances from both.

Takahashi retired in October 91 and they never had any more televised singles bouts. There's plenty more Kyoko to come on the Yearbooks. Kyoko was the reigning AJW Champion at the time. The AJW title was actually a 3rd tier title, which admittedly doesn't make much sense. The WWWA title was the world title and the All Pacific title was the secondary belt. There was also the IWA Women's title which was another second tier title, slightly below the All Pacific. And the AJW Junior title which was 4th tier. It's simpler in the tag ranks where there's the WWWA Tag Titles followed by the AJW Tag Titles. Other belts may show up from time to time in case that wasn't enough for you.

Calling this folder 'The Reality Era' is so hilariously asinine it cracks me up every time I see it.

Why would you want to convince random 35 year olds on elevators to start watching WWE again? If you're on commission for recruiting new fans then you're better off targeting kids. But then again you're less likely to be arrested for the first one.

Did you ever buy the mask? Then again I'm just trying to imagine the type of woman who would send sexual offers to someone online on the off chance that they were Mil Mascaras. Your life probably would've been in jeopardy.