JKWebb

I updated the list above with the first War Games and any from the google doc posted by ZubazKid that weren't already listed.

I just finished up 1994. My favorite match from December is Vader vs. Jim Duggan @ Starrcade (loved the Hogan/Vader angle at the end of the show). The runner-up would be the Volk Han/Nagai match. I have to mention the Buddy Landell match vs. DWB @ the end of the year. Just classic cheating from Buddy - I LOVED it. This leads into my wrestler of the year. IMO Vader was in the most compelling knock down drag out brawls and matches of 1994 from Japan to US.... WOTY: Vader MOTY: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 06/03/94) Runner-up: Vader vs. Takada - 08/18/1994 Honorable mentions: WMX Ladder Match, Kliq Action Zone Tag & Hart vs 123 Kid from Raw (oh, & I thought New Jack was dropping the best promos in 1994) Promotion of the Year: WCW Through 5 years 1991 is still my favorite. I do think 1994 easily topped 1993 for me. Possibly topped 1992 overall... Either way, great year! I had a ton of fun going through the YB and ready to roll on in to 1995 before too long. Some of my other favorites from 1994 that I don't think were included in the YB, or I just forgot to comment on are Slamboree 1994 and WCW Saturday Night 10/15/1994 -- Both Sting vs. Vader Matches -- and additional reasons why this was Vader's year. Great stuff. Really great year for Sting too of course.

Nice! Here are all of the matches suggested so far. I put them in order by date, and if anyone else adds suggestions I'll edit this post for now... Last edited: 2/5/2020 Greg Valentine vs Wahoo 9/7/77 Austin Idol vs. Scott McGee- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling - 9/26/81 Roddy Piper vs. Jay Youngblood - Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling 10/17/81 Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper - Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling 6/23/82 Jack Brisco vs. Roddy Piper - Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling 7/7/82 Slaughter & Kernodle vs. Streamboat & Youngblood - 03/12/1983 Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper- Mid-Atlantic- 7/9/83 Harley Race vs. Ric Flair - NWA World Heavyweight Title Match - 8/31/83 Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine - 11/24/1983 Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs Jack & Jerry Brisco - NWA World Tag Titles - Starrcade 1983 11/24/83 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - Night of Champions - 3/17/84 Ricky Steamboat vs. Tully Blanchard - TV Title Match- Starrcade 1984 Magnum T.A. vs. Wahoo McDaniel - U.S. Title Steel Cage Match- Worldwide 3/30/85 Rock n' Rolls vs. Russians - 7-9-1985 Gary Royal vs. Denny Brown- Light Heavyweight Title - Saturday Night- 9/23/85 Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard - 11/28/1985 Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin - Superstars on the Superstation 2/7/86 Ron Garvin vs. Tully Blanchard - Worldwide - 5/3/86 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton - 07/05/1986 Arn Anderson & Ole Anderson vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express- NWA World Championship Wrestling -7/19/86 Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes- NWA World Title Steel Cage Match- Great American Bash 1986 (Greensboro)- 7/26/86 Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs. Manny Fernandez & Rick Rude - World Championship Wrestling - 12/6/86 War Games: 7-4-1987 Nikita Koloff vs. Lex Luger- U.S. Title Steel Cage Match- 7/11/87 Barry Windham vs. Tully Blanchard- July 1987 Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin - World Championship Wrestling 9/25/87 Nikita Koloff vs. Dick Murdoch- NWA Pro 1/16/88 Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Barry Windham & Sting- SuperBouts- 1/17/88 Midnight Express vs. Fantastics - 3-26-1988 (Pro) NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Clash of the Champions I Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard - 03/27/1988 Sting, Windham & Luger vs. Flair, Tully & Arn: 4-3-1988 Sting & Dusty vs. Arn & Tully - 6/8/88 Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert vs. Fantastics - Clash of Champions IV- 12/7/88 Midnight Express vs. Ric Flair & Barry Windham - Clash of Champions IV- 12/7/88 Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger - Starrcade 1988 Barry Windham v Eddie Gilbert (NWA TV, 1/14/89) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 02/20/1989 Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair - Landover, MD House Show 3/18/89 Ric Flair & Barry Windham v Lex Luger & Eddie Gilbert (Main Event, 3/25/89) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 04/02/1989 (Clash 6) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 05/07/1989 Varsity Club vs. Steiner Brothers- Clash of the Champions- VII- 6/14/89 Ricky Steamboat vs. Terry Funk - Clash of the Champions- VII- 6/14/89 Steve William's vs. Terry Gordy - Clash of the Champions- VII- 6/14/89 Great Muta vs. Scott Steiner- 6/24/89 Worldwide Sting/Muta - GAB 89 Ricky Steamboat v Lex Luger (Great American Bash, 7/23/89) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - 07/23/1989 Sid Vicious vs. Lee Scott- Main Event- 8/27/89 Tommy Rich vs. Lex Luger- Clash of the Champions VIII- 9/12/89 Dick Slater & Great Muta vs. Ric Flair & Sting - Clash of the Champions VIII- 9/12/89 Dynamic Dudes vs. Freebirds- Halloween Havoc- 1989 Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman - Havoc 10-28-1989 Thunderdome Cage- Halloween Havoc 1989 Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman- U.S. Title Match- Clash of the Champions IX- 11/15/89 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - 11/15/1989 Sting vs. Lex Luger- U.S. Title Match- Saturday Night- 12/23/89 Sting vs. Great Muta - Starrcade 1989 Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton - Main Event 1-7-1990 Great Muta vs. Arn Anderson- Power Hour- 1/12/90 Flair, Arn & Sting vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dragon Master & Great Muta on Power Hour 1-26-1990 Brian Pillman vs. Ric Flair- Saturday Night- 2/17/90 Steiners vs. Andersons - WrestleWar 1990 Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express (WCW Wrestle War ‘90 02/25/90) Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger - 02/25/1990 Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton (WCW Worldwide 03/24/90) Midnight Express vs Southern Boys (WCW Great American Bash 07/07/90) Sting vs. Flair: 7-7-1990 Rick & Scott Steiner vs Nasty Boys (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/27/90) Lex Luger vs. Stan Hansen - Bullrope Match @ Starrcade 1990 Barry Windham & Arn Anderson vs Doom (WCW Starrcade 12/16/90, Street Fight) War Games - 02/24/1991 3-10-91 - Sting vs Larry Zbyszko Barry Windham vs Brian Pillman (WCW Pro 04/06/91) WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman - 4/13/91 Barry Windham vs Brian Pillman Taped Fist Superbrawl 5/19/91 The Steiners vs. Sting & Lex Luger - 05/19/1991 Fabulous Freebirds & Badstreet vs Young Pistols & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 06/15/91) Sting vs Cactus Jack (WCW Power Hour 11/23/91, Submit or Surrender) The Enforcers vs. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes - 11/19/1991 Arn Anderson vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92) Sting & Marcus Bagwell vs. Steve Austin & Bobby Eaton - Saturday Night 1/18/92 Rick Rude v Brian Pillman (Pro, 2/15/92) Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night 02/22/92) Jushin Liger vs Brian Pillman (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - 02/29/1992 Brian Pillman vs. Z-Man- Light Heavyweight Title Match - Wrestle War 1992 Arn Anderson v Big Josh (Saturday Night, 5/2/92) Nikita Koloff v Mr. Hughes (Saturday Night, 5/9/92) Rick & Scott Steiner vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (WCW Wrestle War ‘92 05/17/92) War Games - Sting's Squad vs. Dangerous Alliance - 05/17/1992 Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff v Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (Saturday Night, 5/23/92) Great Muta vs. Brad Armstrong- 5/30/92 Rick Rude v Dustin Rhodes (Worldwide, 5/30/92) Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham 06/06/1992 Miracle Violence Connection vs. Steiner Brothers - Clash of the Champions 19- 6/16/92 Sting vs. Cactus Jack - 6/20/1992 Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat - 06/20/1992 Steve Austin v Brian Pillman (Worldwide, 7/4/92) Rick Rude & Steve Austin v Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (Great American Bash, 7/12/92) Sting vs. Vader - 07/12/1992 Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton vs Larry Zbyszko & Brian Pillman 8/8/92 Steve Austin v Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions XX, 9/2/92) Jake Roberts v Dustin Rhodes (Saturday Night, 9/26/92) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (WCW Saturday Night 10/03/92) Rick Rude, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton v Sting & The Steiner Brothers (Worldwide, 10/3/92)  Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin/Steve Williams Halloween Havoc '92. Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat- Clash of the Champions XX Vader v Dustin Rhodes (Saturday Night, 11/21/92) Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas v Barry Windham & Brian Pillman (Starrcade, 12/28/92) Sting vs. Vader - 12/28/1992 Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Jushin Liger & Kensuke Sasaki (WCW Philadelphia 12/29/92) Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 01/09/93) Cactus Jack vs. Paul Orndorff- Street Fight- 1/10/93 Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII 01/13/93) Chris Benoit v Brad Armstrong (Clash of the Champions XXII, 1/13/93) Chris Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW SuperBrawl III 02/21/93) Sting vs. Vader - 02/21/1993 Barry Windham vs Steven Regal (WCW Worldwide 04/17/93) Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack - WCW Saturday Night - 4/17/93 Vader vs Ricky Steamboat 4/24/93 Hollywood Blondes vs Dos Hombres Steel Cage Slamboree 93 Steve Austin & Brian Pillman vs Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW Worldwide 05/08/93) Barry Windham vs 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII 06/16/93) Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Hollywood Blondes- Clash of the Champions- XXII- 6/16/93 Steven Regal v Ricky Steamboat (Saturday Night, 8/8/93) Ric Flair vs. Sting - WCW Saturday Night - 8/21/93 Steven Regal v Ricky Steamboat (Fall Brawl, 9/19/93) Vader vs Ricky Steamboat Lumberjack Match 10/16/93 Vader vs Cactus Jack-Halloween Havoc 1993-Texas Death Match Ric Flair & Arn Anderson v Vader & Steve Austin (Saturday Night, 11/13/93) Ric Flair vs. Vader - Starrcade 1993 Arn Anderson vs Steven Regal (WCW SuperBrawl IV 02/20/94) Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 03/12/94) Ric Flair v Steven Regal (Worldwide, 4/30-5/28/94) Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne- Street Fight- Spring Stampede 1994 Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck - Bunkhouse Match - Stampede 4-17-1994 Vader vs The Boss (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94) Vader v Cactus Jack (Worldwide, 4/30/94) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 05/14/1994 (TV) Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs Nasty Boys (WCW Slamboree 05/22/94, Street Fight) Steve Austin vs Johnny B Badd Slamboree 94 Dustin Rhodes vs Bunkhouse Buck Slamboree 94 Terry Funk v Tully Blanchard (Slamboree, 5/22/94) Larry Zbysko vs Steven Regal Slamboree 5/22/94 Steven Regal vs Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night 05/28/94) Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat- Bash at the Beach 1994 Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/17/94) Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat- Clash of the Champions XXVIII Sting vs. Vader Fall Brawl 9-18-1994 Nasty Boys, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Terry Funk & Col. Parker (WCW Fall Brawl 09/18/94, War Games) Ric Flair v Hulk Hogan (Halloween Havoc, 10/23/94) Dustin Rhodes vs. Vader from COTC XXIX - 11-16-1994 Vader vs Hacksaw Duggan Starrcade – 12/27/94 Vader v Hulk Hogan (Superbrawl, 2/19/95) Arn Anderson & Vader v Stars ‘n’ Stripes (Saturday Night, 4/25/95) Arn Anderson v Alex Wright (Slamboree, 5/21/95) Alex Wright vs Flyin Brian Great American Bash 1995 Randy Savage vs Ric Flair Great American Bash 1995 Jushin Liger vs Brian Pillman - WCW Nitro 9/4/95 Arn Anderson vs.Ric Flair - Fall Brawl 1995 - 9/17/95 Brian Pillman vs Johnny B. Badd (WCW Fall Brawl 09/17/95) Eddy Guerrero v Chris Benoit (Nitro, 10/16/95) Jushin Liger vs. Barry Houston- 11/18/95 Jushin Liger vs Chris Benoit - Starrcade 1995 12/27/95 Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Uncensored 03/24/96) Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay Parking Lot Brawl – 4/29/96 Rey Misterio Jr. vs Dean Malenko (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96) Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan - Great American Bash 1996 Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/07/96) Sting, Randy Savage & Lex Luger vs. Outsiders & ???- Bash at the Beach 1996 Sting/Savage/Luger vs. Flair/Benoit/Mongo - 7/29/1996 Rey Mysterio Jr vs Ultimo Dragon - Hog Wild 1996 8/10/96 Rey Mysterio Jr vs Super Calo - Fall Brawl 1996 9/15/96 Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio JR Hallwoeen Havoc 1996 Rey Misterio Jr. vs Ultimo Dragon (WCW World War 3 11/24/96) Rey Mysterio vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger- Starrcade 1996 Ultimo Dragon vs. Dean Malenko - Starrcade 1996 Eddie Guerrero vs. Syxx - Souled Out 1997 Chris Jericho & Eddy Guerrero vs Meng & Barbarian (WCW Monday Nitro 02/24/97) Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero NO DQ Uncensored 1997 - March 16 Randy Savage vs. DDP - 4-6-1997 - Spring Stampede Page vs Savage II Lights Out Great American Bash 1997 - June 15 Wrath & Mortis v Glacier & Ernest Miller (Bash at the Beach, 7/13/97) Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Lex Luger & Giant – 7/13/97 Lex Luger vs. Hollywood Hogan - 8/4/1997 Ric Flair, Roddy Piper & Kevin Greene vs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx (WCW Slamboree 05/18/97) Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho - Fall Brawl 1997 (Sept. 14) Eddy Guerrero v Rey Misterio Jr. (Nitro, 9/8/97) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. - 10/26/1997 Randy Savage vs. DDP - 10/26/1997 - Halloween Havoc Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs La Parka & Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97) Bret Hart vs Ric Flair-Souled Out 1998 Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho v Dean Malenko & Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Nitro, 2/9/98) Diamond Dallas Page v Chris Benoit (Superbrawl, 2/22/98) Chris Jericho vs Juventud Guerrera Mask vs Title Superbrawl VIII Chris Benoit vs. Raven vs. DDP - Uncensored 1998 Goldberg vs. Raven - 4/20/1998 (nitro) Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage - Slamboree 1998 (May 17) Fit Finlay v Chris Benoit (Slamboree, 5/17/98) Chris Benoit vs Booker T (WCW Great American Bash 06/14/98) Hulk Hogan vs Bill Goldberg from the GA Dome - 7-6-1998 Raven vs Saturn No DQ from Bash at the Beach 1998 Goldberg vs. Sting (WCW Monday Nitro 09/14/98) Eddy Guerrero & Juventud Guerrera v Rey Misterio Jr. & Billy Kidman (Nitro, 12/28/98) Chris Benoit v Mike Enos (Souled Out, 1/17/99) Rey Misterio Jr. v Bam Bam Bigelow (Nitro, 3/1/99) Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs. Raven & Perry Saturn - Spring Stampede 1999 Bam Bam Bigelow vs Hak Spring Stampede 1999 Juventud Guerrera v Blitzkrieg (Spring Stampede, 4/11/99) Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis vs Juventud Guerrera vs Blitzkrieg (WCW Monday Nitro 04/19/99) Sting vs. DDP - 04/26/1999 - (Nitro) Chris Benoit v Jeff Jarrett (Mayhem, 11/21/99) Terry Funk v Dustin Rhodes (Uncensored, 3/19/00) Ric Flair vs Terry Funk Death Match Superbrawl 2000 Terry Funk v Normal Smiley (Spring Stampede, 4/16/00)  3 Count vs Jung Dragons vs Noble/Karagias 3 way Ladder Match for a shot at the Cruiserweight Title at Sin Starrcade 2000 3 Count vs Jung Dragon New Blood Rising 2000 Shane Helms vs Shannon Moore vs Jaimie Noble vs Kaz Hayashi vs Evan Koragerous vs Shannon Moore Winner recieves a Cruiserweight Title Match. AJ Styles and Air Paris vs Jung Dragons 3/00 the Final Thunder Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner- Fall Brawl 2000 Kwee Wee vs. Jason Jett- Greed 2001 Chavo Guerrero Jr. v Rey Misterio Jr. (Superbrawl Revenge, 2/18/01) Booker T vs. Scott Steiner-WCW World Title Match- Monday Nitro- 3/26/01 Ric Flair vs. Sting - Monday Nitro- 3/26/01

Additions for discussion: Rock and Rolls vs Russians 7-9-85 Midnight Express vs Fantastics Pro 3-26-88 Sting, Windham & Luger vs. Flair, Tully & Arn: 4-3-1988 Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman - Havoc 89 Flair, Arn & Sting vs. Buzz Sawyer, Dragon Master & Great Muta on Power Hour 1-26-1990 Barry Windham & Arn Anderson vs. Doom Street Fight @ Starrcade 1990 Midnight Express vs. Rock & Roll Express - Wrestle War 1990 Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - GAB 1990 and Ric Flair vs. Sting from the same show... Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton - Main Event 1-7-1990 Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Nasty Boys - Halloween Havoc 1990 Lex Luger vs. Stan Hansen - Bullrope Match @ Starrcade 1990 Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger - SuperBrawl 1992 Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck - Bunkhouse Match - Stampede 1994 Regal vs. Finlay - 3-24-1996 Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. Bash at the Beach 1996 The Macho Man/DDP Feud - Halloween Havoc 1997 and Spring Stampede 1997 Ric Flair, Roddy Piper & Kevin Greene vs. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx - Slamboree 1997 Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho - Fall Brawl 1997 Sting/Savage/Luger vs. Flair/Benoit/Mongo - 7/29/1996 Hulk Hogan vs. Bill Goldberg from the GA Dome Goldberg vs. DDP - Halloween Havoc 1998 Another really fun, but short match: 3-10-91 - Sting vs Larry Zbyszko Sting/Muta GAB 89

I'm not a Facebook guy either, but I'll go ahead and post some here that should definitely be in the discussion if someone wants to add them to the Facebook Page - or, if we want to start posting some here. Some of these are going to be the most obvious ones, but I look forward to some recommendations I possibly haven't seen yet... might as well start at the top: Slaughter & Kernodle vs. Streamboat & Youngblood - 03/12/1983 Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer - 10/23/1983 (GCW/NWA) Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine - 11/24/1983 Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard - 11/28/1985 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton - 07/05/1986 NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Clash of the Champions I Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard - 03/27/1988 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 02/20/1989 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 04/02/1989 (Clash 6) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 05/07/1989 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - 07/23/1989 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - 11/15/1989 Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger - 02/25/1990 War Games - 02/24/1991 The Steiners vs. Sting & Lex Luger - 05/19/1991 The Enforcers vs. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes - 11/19/1991 Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - 02/29/1992 War Games - Sting's Squad vs. Dangerous Alliance - 05/17/1992 Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham 06/06/1992 Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat - 06/20/1992 Sting vs. Vader - 07/12/1992 Sting vs. Vader - 12/28/1992 Sting vs. Vader - 02/21/1993 Ric Flair vs. Vader - Starrcade 1993 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - 05/14/1994 (TV) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. - 10/26/1997 Sting vs. DDP - 04/26/1999 I'll add one that wouldn't make the tippy top of a list, but might be Randy Savage's last really good match and could be top 100 worthy... Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage - Slamboree 1998 A really great TV match that comes to mind: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman - 4/13/91 Add: Sting vs. Cactus Jack - 6/20/1992; Dustin Rhodes vs. Vader from COTC XXIX; Sting vs. Vader Fall Brawl 1994

It seems like this would have been a good time for Landell to finally ditch the nature boy gimmick and make a different path for himself in Memphis. He has the hair, the suits, and the robe. You can hear some folks in the Memphis audience shouting Ric Flair. I just don't get it. Maybe it just comes from not fully understanding what Buddy was going for, but I've watched many different eras of Buddy, and I guess he just thought this was his gimmick to stick with forever. I just think he had the opportunity here to get away from calling himself the nature boy and copying Flair's gimmick. He was good enough on his own merits that he didn't need that.

This match is so fun. It totally delivered, I know what is to come, but I thought they put on a heck of a show here. Sherri was incredible! She is a top 3 manager of all-time easy. I'm watching the YB now, so thinking of it as if I didn't know the Dungeon of Doom storyline that lies ahead, I think this was pretty fantastic. Hogan was really laying it in with those chops at the top of the cage. I really like Sting coming out to save Hogan in the end as well. Hogan had the spotlight up to this point, as he should have. So, it's nice to see Sting being brought back into the main event as Hogan "retires" Flair. Sure, it was over the top, but man was it fun.

Put me in the boat of loving this match and this Clash. The crowd was super hot, and I thought they worked this match stiffer than the match at the Bash. I thought this was a fun ride, and really entertaining. I can understand why they wouldn't want to take the belt immediately off Hogan after just winning it. The biggest name in wrestling history had just joined their company.

Yeah, I dug this a lot. I agree it was the best of the G1 to this point, but I also seem to have liked it a little more than most here... it felt like two fighters slugging it out, like seeing Yatsu here & props for the Back to the Future theme...

I'm making my way through 1994 now, and I just watched this last night. Of course, I have seen this before, and of course it holds up. It's hands down the promo of the year and one of the best of all time. It's really cool watching this now and thinking about the Dustin/Cody moment from Double or Nothing earlier this year. Obviously, they are connected, and both very emotional. Both moments will go down as one of the best in either promotions history, and they are landmarks for the Rhodes Family. Incredible.

Man, I loved this. The intensity is off the charts. Awesome fight that feels longer than it really is (in a good way). Two thumbs up.

This match is super fun. The crowd is really hot for Sting vs. Flair, as they always are, which is why NWA/WCW went back to it so many times. The crowd is eating up the early antics, and I love this type of simplicity in building up the early stages of a match between two huge personalities. Flair is really on point all night for this show, as he's looking to really build things up for the upcoming Hogan match. I loved his promo from the back (on screen) when Hogan was talking with Mean Gene. He reminded me of a crazy comic book villain. Flair is so awesome walking around the crowd, shouting at them... all Sting has to do is look at the audience and they flip out. Sting has lots of energy in his quick jolts of offense, but Flair masterly averts each one. I mean, this is the kind of stuff you buy a ticket for. This may seem like paint by numbers to some, but I say... come on! It's Sting vs. Flair! Sting sells really well during the beatdown. The superplex is awesome, and how about Sherri bump! She is one of the GOATs. The finish is a abrupt, but this a fun match. This combined with Hogan's debut and the Larry Z vs. Regal match make for pretty solid Clash. I dig your theory on Sherri DMJ, 5 years later ha.

Ok, hopping into 1994 now after finishing up 1993 back in July. I think I'd rank the years like this thus far: 1991, 1990, 1992, & fourth 1993. I think Austin continues into 1994 looking really strong, and you can see the charisma of what is to become already there. I think Jan. is full of good to really good matches, but there probably aren't any favorites or classics for me that really stand out. Not so much with promos, but in the ring, I really enjoyed 123 Kid this month. My favorite matches in Jan., and the ones that stood out the most to me, were: from MSG on 1/17/1994 (Kid/Marty vs. Quebecers), The Steiners Tokyo Dome match and their match vs. the Harts. I also really liked the Razor/HBK ladder match. It was pretty neat to see Sting and Austin early on in the month. I don't think I had seen them one-on-one before from what I can recall. Liger was a really big standout in Feb., and I do think during the early stretch of the year New Japan is probably my favorite promotion overall. Here are my favorite matches from Feb. 1994: 1. Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/17/94) 2. Sting, Dustin Rhodes & Brian Pillman vs Rick Rude, Steve Austin & Paul Orndorff (WCW SuperBrawl IV 02/20/94) 3. Jushin Liger vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/24/94) 4. Jushin Liger & Power Warrior vs Rick & Scott Steiner (NJPW 02/17/94) I still have the last week of Feb. to go at this point. I remember liking Vader/Steamboat and I see Funk/Sabu has some good reviews. However, I don't think I'll be into the Sabu match. At this juncture, I haven't thought that any of the ECW matches have been very good at all. I will say, I loved the Terry Funk post-match (Douglas/Sabu/Funk) interview segment though. That has probably been my favorite interview portion of the YB so far. It's amazing that even then, in 1994, there was a segment of the fan base already thinking that wrestling had gotten away form a more sports approach (in comparison to what we have now). Really cool interview/segment from ECW. Arn/Regal from SB was really great too. At this point, I'm in early May, and I haven't been able to really take notes on everything I've watched from March and April. I will say I guess that I still prefer the Razor/HBK ladder match to Bret vs. Owen. I know that is a topic of discussion from time-to-time, and I'm sure most of the PWO community would prefer Bret/Owen, but I have never really connected with that match on the same level as others. As crazy as it may sound to some, I would actually prefer Steamboat/Flair from Stampede over that match. I think it is great, but from March and April my top two were the ladder match and Flair/Steamboat. I just love how snug Steamboat is and how logical he is with his wrestling and bumping and selling, he's incredible. I liked the Dustin Rhodes and Bunkhouse match, and I also enjoyed the run Steve Williams is having in All Japan (and, the Kobashi/Hansen match). I would say that up to this point, I've been enjoying WCW the most overall. Flair has really been stellar all year and building to Hogan has been great. Spring Stampede is fantastic - Vader/Boss was awesome too. Thrillseekers have been fun. I just wrapped up on ECW and SM post-WCW Slamboree 94. The first half of 1994 is rolling on like a steam engine. ECW is becoming the ECW that I remember, still eastern and before my time, but it is starting to have that feel. Jake Roberts looks awful, but his angle in SM is at least compelling. WCW and All Japan are truly kicking on all cylinders. I honestly think the Steamboat/Flair match from Saturday Night might be a little underrated. I think it might be my MOTY at this point. There was just something truly special about it. Every moment and move counted for something special in meaningful throughout the match. Steamboat is truly the perfect opponent for Flair. He always takes him outside the formula and his selling is just GOAT. Still loving the Dustin/Bunkhouse stuff, and I have always loved the pacing of that hardcore tag between the Nasty's and Cactus/Sullivan. But, May cannot be talked about with talking that All Japan tag - Taue/Kawada vs. Misawa/Kobashi - yeesh - just incredible. My favorite two matches of the year so far, and both of MOTYCs to date (between the tag and flair/steamboat). WCW still kicking on as my favorite promotion - the Hogan build is great. Man - the Regal/Larry Z stuff has been great! I loved their match at the Clash in June and Regal's reaction after pulling off the cheating victory was simply priceless. KOTR 94 had some great moments with the legendary Owen Hart/Kid sprint and what I think is a decently underrated Kevin Nash vs. Bret Hart match. Jake and DWB continue to deliver the promo goods in SMW. I thought it was great that Jake had his head shaved in AAA for an angle, but in SMW said he did it on his own to intimidate the DWB. I don't think there is any doubt that I'll end up choosing the MIsawa/Kawada classic as the match of the year, but we shall see. Also, I loved when Hogan debuted in WCW -- how Flair showed up in the background on the screen like an evil villain straight from a comic book throwing threats at Hogan. His promo and facial expressions are incredible. I know it gets terrible, but so far so good on Hogan. I thought the Flair vs. Sting match was a ton of fun at the Clash in June as well. The crowd was super hot, and if you have two guys combining a title in WCW, you'd want it to be those two. It's better having one champion. Trying to explain the three world champions mess in WWE today to someone who doesn't follow the product closely... usually, it doesn't make much sense to them. I had forgotten how truly great the Bret Hart vs. 123 Kid match is on Raw. I always had it noted in my mind as a classic, but I think as I am about to hit August, it is in my top 3 matches of the year. 1994 might be the best year of Waltman's career. He is delivering on TV week in and week out. Ricky Streamboat continues to be the best US babyface in 1994 in my eyes. He truly brings out a higher level of intensity from Flair every time they meet, which was more times in 1994 than I realized. Really enjoying his feud with Austin as well. The Hulk Hogan vs. Flair match totally delivered. I do feel like I remember that WCW will soon start going downhill for a bit, but we shall see. So far, WCW has probably been my favorite brand of the year in 1994. No surprise, but I'm pretty certain that the Kawada/Misawa CLASSIC will likely be my MOTY. I think Mysterio is really coming into his own at this point as well. Liger and Sasuke and Dragon/Sasuke were a lot of fun. ECW has been interesting, but I haven't really enjoyed the matches. Sabu is currently my lowest wrestler of the year in the 1994 YB. I enjoyed him when I was younger, but I just can't get interested in his matches these days. The Bret Hart/Diesel KOTR match seem to be a little underrated IMO. Misawa vs. Williams on 7/28 is so so good. Misawa is the front runner WOTY to this point. I have a few matches left, but about to hit August. That's a wrap on July, and I haven't had much time to actually rank matches, but I'm going to go ahead and lay out my matches of the month through July. The promo of the year award is in lock with the Dustin/Dusty moment from WCW at the end of July. So cool how you can connect that promo to the moment from Double or Nothing earlier this year with Cody and Dustin. Both so emotional - Both will go down as one of the best promos in each promotions history and landmarks for the Rhodes Family. Matches of the Month: Jan. - Rick & Scott Steiner vs Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/94) Feb. - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/17/94) Mar. - Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (WWF Wrestlemania X 03/20/94) April - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94) May - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 05/14/94) & Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 05/21/94) June: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 06/03/94) July: Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 07/11/94) I didn't anticipate coming into 1994 that it would end up being a top 2 YB for me out of the first 5, but here I am. August really blew me away, and I do think that this year will rank right under 1991 as my favorite as I journey through the 90s to this point. August MOTM: Vader vs. Takada - 08/18/1994 I thought going into this year that Misawa vs. Kawada would be an EASY MOTY choice for me. It's not so easy, as Vader vs. Takada truly just knocked my socks off. I had seen it before, but as I've always noticed in going through a year chronologically. It really is different when you watch things in context and in the mindset of all that is going on that year. New Jack is incredible. This is the most I've enjoyed SMW to this point, and his material here is pretty legendary. I just wrapped up with what will probably be my September MOTM in Kobashi vs. Williams on 09/03/1994. So, I just saw the newly formed Extreme Championship Wrestling as well. I didn't realize that the "Thank you sir, may I have another" Tommy Dreamer angle and Shane Douglas tossing the NWA Championship angle both happened on the same night. I can't say much for the matches themselves yet, but highlights of ECW are definitely getting better and better. August was loaded with angles and entertaining promos. I really enjoyed the HBK/Razor match from RAW, Blayze vs. Nakano on Summerslam, and I'm still digging all the Dustin Rhodes stuff. I think I'm the outlier here on Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan on 08/24/1994, but seriously LOVED this match. The angle was perfect and the crowd was super hot. The match itself may have been worked a little stiffer, and possibly more entertaining than the BATB match! I also just want to throw in I loved seeing Yatsu on 08/05/1994 vs. Fujiwara. My September MOTM is actually going to be Vader vs. Sting from Fall Brawl. I'll slot Kobashi and Williams behind it due to the extended length of that match. I don't know if it gets more ferocious than some of the punches Sting are throwing out at each other in exhaustion towards the end of that Fall Brawl match. Honestly, I think if it weren't for the booking, I would probably roll with it as MOTY. Not surprising for me, as Vader/Sting is probably my favorite matchup, and 1992 Starrcade might be my favorite match, but the booking and finish will knock it out of contention in the end. I loved everything about Flair/Hogan up through the Clash, I thought it was super entertaining and the crowd was really hot. Great Clash. But, since the Clash, Hogan's promos have seemed really phoned in. Hogan putting his career on the line to get Flair back is kind of hokey, but I guess it adds the stakes that the match needs. The phone call at Fall Brawl was just terrible. I did really enjoy the Flair portion of the press conference. New Jack is still killing the promo game. The War Games watch was a ton of fun too! Yikes, as I round out September - the Dave Sullivan worked into Hogan/Flair angle.... I guess this is when Hogan/WCW ship starts to sink until the nWo… I had taken a break from wrestling during this time in Middle School, I came back with the nWo angle... I have seen the PPVs from this era, but this is probably the first time I have seen the actual TV... Building into Halloween Havoc, I thought the they turned the Flair/Hogan angle back around a little. I liked the segment at Hogan's home with his parents, his promo the night before the PPV, the stuff outside Joe Louis arena w/ Flair highlights, and Hogan looks pretty ripped for the steel cage match. I'm still loving the Gangstas/RnR feud in SMW. It has carried the promotion since Jake's departure. Ricky Morton is on his promo game as well. It was nice to see Kawada take back the Triple Crown - I have enjoyed Dr. Death's run though. Memphis has been okay with Buddy L., and it was nice to see them pull a big crowd for Undertaker/Sid.... now, onto Halloween Havoc! I LOVED the Halloween Havoc main event. Sherri was insane/insanely awesome! Hogan and Flair really had a pretty stiff match up until the point of all the craziness. Sure, it was an over booked finish, but man was it fun. It's not as much of a classic, but I relate it to the Over the Edge Dude Love/Austin match. If you don't think of it as knowing the Dungeon of Doom storyline that lies ahead, and just enjoy the ride, it's super entertaining. To this point I think Hogan in WCW has been a success, and it was nice to see Sting coming out to help him to place him back in the main event picture now that Hogan has "retired" Flair. From what I've seen over the years, I think WCW may be going downhill pretty soon with the DOD stuff, but looking at 1994 alone. I think WCW is surprisingly my favorite promotion. I really thought I'd be going with All Japan again. October MOTM: Kliq Action Zone Tag, best WWF Tag match until June 2016, however runner-up Blue Panther vs. El Mariachi (AAA 10/30/94) was a killer match!!! I had seen it before, it's CLASSIC. I'm on an island with this, but I just don't think Great Sasuke/Black Tiger vs. Wild Pegasus/Shinjiro Otani (NJ 10/16/94) is very good. EG was great in it though. I didn't think the transitions were good, and there were some pretty obvious botches... anyway, lot's of great stuff in October! November MOTM: Dustin Rhodes vs. Vader from COTC XXIX Vader may be the WOTY in 1994. They guy has the most compelling matches on any card he is on from Japan to America. I wish they had just put Hogan and Sting over at the Clash, and that would have been a fine ending to the Butcher and DOD angle... oh well... It's a bummer Vince didn't see what Randy had left in the tank, as I do think we really could have had something special with a Shawn Michaels/Savage Angle. Based on the footage, it seemed as though Vince was actually sad Savage left, and he seemed very genuine in his on air message. I think later on Randy was probably offended by the Nacho Man stuff, and between the two of them, and how close Prichard notes in his podcast they were, they just hurt each others feelings and never got the chance (I'm assuming) to patch it up. I think we would have seen them patch it up for the Hall of the Fame if Savage were still with us. He is the GOAT. I truly think he is the best to ever lace them up. I'm nearing the end of 1994, so that is 5 out of 10 YBs complete. To date I have: 1990: MOTY - Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger - WW90; WOTY: Misawa; POTY: All Japan 1991: MOTY - Savage vs. Warrior WM7; WOTY: Savage; POTY: WWF 1992: MOTY - Sting vs. Vader Starrcade 92; WOTY: Savage; POTY: WWF 1993: MOTY - Hansen vs. Kobashi 7/29/93 - WOTY: Kobashi; POTY: All Japan I would rank the years: 1991, 90, 92 then 93.... 94 is shaping up to make the top 3 of 5... I’m rolling on into December now. New Jack is the best promo in 94, and holy shit what an awesome moment that was Diesel beating Backlund @ msg - what a pop! Not sure how I had not seen that before. He’s the right guy for them at this time. Super over. Also, good lord, how long did Backlund hold Bret in that CFCW ha.... I didn't really dig the Diesel/Backlund promos coming out the Diesel win. Backlund looking like Pee Wee Herman, and if you flip to WCW Savage is making his debut. Hogan joining WCW was the big time, but I do think the production in WCW has looked better than WWF the entire year. Also, WCW has felt more big time than the WWF in 1994. There is just also something special about Randy Savage that just feels like a nail in the coffin of brand superiority over the WWF, he's a pros pro. I know WWF is pushing the new gen thing, but Savage and Hogan and company still look great. Couple WCW talent with Mean Gene, and it just has a bigger feel. The main thing I have missed in WCW towards the end of the year is Ricky Steamboat. I think 1994 was an amazing year for him, WOTYC kind of year. I’m close to wrapping up 1994. I have really enjoyed the RnR feeling like they need to team w/ JC to get on the gangstas level and win the SMW belts. It has been a really good angle. December of 1994 feels like a new year already across the board. The silly portion of the Hogan/WCW era has begun, Buddy Landell is the new main heel in SMW, JC is teaming up w/ RnR, ECW is extreme, Nash is champ... a lot has changed here at the end of the year. Dec may have been the weakest overall month of the YB for me...

That's a wrap on 1993. I really did enjoy the year, but I do think I'd rank it fourth behind 90, 91, & 92 (the YBs I have completed thus far). This is definitely the weakest year for the WWF for me to this point, and by the end I was really losing interest to it's outdated cartoon style (besides the Owen & Bret stuff). But really, I'm not so sure that is was that it was cartoonish vs. just bad characters (thinking of Sparky Plug). Anyways, easy pick for promotion of the year: All Japan! My favorite act of the year overall was the Hollywood Blonds, and probably Steve was one of my favorite performers overall of the year. I think the WOTY for me was between Kawada and Kobashi. Kobashi is one of my favorite wrestlers of all-time... and he is the WOTY for 1993. Here is my MOTY, and my other top matches: MOTY: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - 07/29/1993 2. Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada and Taue - 12/03/1993 3. Vader vs. Sting - 02/21/1993 4. The entire Ric Flair vs. Vader angle with promos/interviews and match included at Starrcade 1993 - I think of this is one full package, which plays into why it's in my top 5. 5. Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue - 06/01/1993

I’m with garretta on this one ... and, it’s kind of sad they put themselves through this

It's 1993. Lex Luger has a mullet. This song is straight rip from the Karate Kid era of the mid-80's. When I think of 1993, mullets are gone and you have Nirvana, Pearl Jam & Radiohead... (I'm thinking of fashion changes and music)... They didn't put the title on Lex, but they are putting all this effort into this... I just don't know what they were thinking with any of this at all. This was pretty out of touch with the times (at least from my perspective). I know mullets are common in wrestling, so it's not just that ha - It's just a dated combination of things I think. I wasn't watching at this point in 1993, and I probably would have thought then what I think now...well, I think it's pretty funny... Also, just to note, I've loved the Lex push up to the events of Summerslam...

I'm with Frankensteiner in loving this era of Perfect. I enjoy him as a face here quite a bit, and I really enjoyed this match up to the finish. It also felt to me like they were building to something pretty solid until the end. I liked Bobby on commentary too. "He just hit a man with glasses!" cracked me up.

Savage still had it in him, but the WWF didn't utilize him. He could have had a much bigger impact in 1993 for them. As a huge Savage fan, it's a bummer.

Going through the YB, and this is the first thing I've commented in MDAs in the past few months... I can't not comment on this... Seriously, this came out of nowhere and blew me away. INCREDIBLE. Lawler continues to remind me he is probably the greatest on the stick of all time. And, I agree... Lawler could have been used for so much more in the WWF at the time. Easily the promo of the year.

I agree, this is one of the best USWA segments of the 90's. Just to think... this is way better than anything going on in the WWF at this time. Savage should have been the guy there, and this feud could have crossed promotions. Both of these guys are so good. It would have been pretty neat for the King to have gotten his WM match at 9 vs. Savage. I bet they could have had one for the ages there. Great segment with the two BITW on the stick at this point (IMO).

Man, this match is fantastic! Definitely my favorite lucha match to this point in 1993, and will end up being one of my favorite matches of the year overall. Mysterio was on fire here.

Love your review Sleeze. Yes this match holds up, and yes this match rules. Ya know, Hennig was incredible in 1988-89 when he joined the WWF. I just wrapped on watching all the squashes and other matches on Prime Time and SNME and big events from that year, and he was incredible. To throw in another true classic post-AWA in WWF, I just wanted to recommend Mr. Perfect vs. Roddy Piper - 12/28/1990. To each his own, but I love Hennig in the WWF and love this match too.

These two guys really just tore into each other here, and I really enjoyed it. Match of the night for me. Good intensity and stiff as hell.

This match just made me want to see Dustin and Steamboat become a full on tag team. Douglas is alright, but Dustin and Steamboat are both so good at firing up! They are a blast to watch together. Oh yeah, and I loved the Windham/Pillman promo after.

Well, I took a break from YBs for a few months to tackle 1989 WWF. I just wrapped on that which catches me up to the first YB I started (1990). I watched all the major shows beginning with the Hogan era (1984), the house shows, SNMEs, and Prime Times up through 1989. I'm ready to dive in 1993. I may alternate between 1993 and 1996 in the near future, as I want to follow along with the 1996 viewing that the place to be guys are up to right now... we'll see. We start the year off with a promo from Bobby for the continuation of the Flair/Perfect feud and a hint at the arrival of Lex Luger. I'm already sucked in. Also, as I'm watching the first WCW match on the set right now... I really love the commentary team of Tony & Ventura. Really cool seeing HTM show up in Memphis, unfortunately it appears that may not be going anywhere. But, what a great fit. All Japan coming in strong for me the first month of the year. Looks to be a great year for them. Of course, I’ve always loved the Bobby H segments of him trying to sneak into Raw. Luger gets his WWF debut, and starts the run that will cause fans to underrate him as a wrestler for years to come. I still wish Savage had won the Rumble in 1993. I read dig the angle between Perfect and Angle coming out of the Rumble. Lawler is so great at making his angles in Memphis feel so important and logical. Here are my favorite matches from Jan 1993: 1. Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair - Raw/LLT - 1/25/93 2. Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart - 1/9/93 3. Misawa & Kawada vs. Gordy & Williams - 1/30/93 4. Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Akiyama & Ogawa - 1/24/93 5. Eddy Guerrero & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Jerry Estrada & Espanto Jr. - 1/22/93 6. Tenryu/Choshu - 1/4/93 I also really loved the match/angle where the Heavenly Bodies stole the SMW tag belts from the RNR Express. Super cool seeing this angle pop up in WCW in Feb.! Feb starts of with a bang in NJPW! I absolutely loved the 6man and the tension between Tenryu and Hash. Konan was definitely over in a big way, but IMO he was terrible at this point. He reminds me of the Renegade in WCW (his look, but Konan seems worse in the ring). That being said, Lucha is making a comeback for me from 1992 in 1993. I’m LOVING Rey Jr. He’s one of the highlights of the year for me thus far. AAA has just been pretty fun in general. WCW SBIII was such a great PPV and the contrast of WWF at the time with the Hogan comeback just felt so out of touch. Not because it’s Hogan, it’s the presentation and the story and it all just felt so rehashed and outdated compared to the rest of the wrestling around the world at this point. Chad even pointed out how outdated Vince’s tux was when Hogan returned. I was surprised that I chose WWF as my favorite in 1992, but I don’t anticipate that surprise in 1993. It seems like as of Feb. of 93 WWF is on a downswing for me. Feb. had so many great matches, but here are my favorites: 1. Hansen vs. Kawada - 2/28/93 2. Vader vs. Sting - 2/21/93 3. Choshu, Fujinami, Kido & Hase & Iizuka vs. Tenryu, Hara, Ishikawa, Fuyuki & Kitahara - 2/16/93 4. Mysterio Jr., Winners & Super Calo vs. Heavy Metal, Picudo, & Psichosis - 2/14/93 5. Tenryu, Hara & Ishikawa vs. Muto, Nogami & Hash - 2/5/93 6. RNR Express, Steamboat & Douglas vs. Heavenly Bodies & Hollywood Blonds - 2/27/93 March kicked off with one of my favorite segments so far this year, which is the Randy Savage return to Memphis. He has great chemistry with Lawler, and the two of them are probably my favorite two promos in the world at this point. I found the full cage match (from April - the one on the YB was JIP) itself on YouTube, and it was decently fun. Maybe as I progress through the year I'll get a reminder as to why Savage didn't wrestle at WM9, or if it was just a call from the promotion. Either way, still would love to have seen Savage vs. Hart or Savage vs. Lawler at WM9. Either would have been the best match on the card and topped what we got. I've got to say, that the Hollywood Blonds are maybe my favorite act of year thus far. I had seen their PPV matches in the past, but their weekly TV stuff is stellar and consistent. The Ultimo Dragon/Negro Casas match was great gem to find on this set since it was left off of the Top 500 matches of the 90s but yet still so highly regarded by Loss and some others. My Disc 7 was dead, but I dug up what I could find online based on the MDAs. Here are my favorite matches from March: 1. Misawa vs. Kawada - 3/27/93 2. The Hollywood Blonds in general - this won't be taken into account when thinking of my favorite matches of the year, I just thought they had a really great March overall. I don't think any match was a MOTYC, but overall they were my favorite performers for the month and SO consistently great. 3. Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy - 3/6/93 3. Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas - 3/19/93 4. Ultimo Dragon vs. El Samurai - 3/7/93 I was bummed to skip the WAR show from 04/02/1993, but once I obtain D7 I'll go back to it. Luckily I was able to dive into April with D8 and The SMW Bluegrass Brawl (from 4/2/93). I also went back and found the Mr. Perfect vs. Lawler match from Memphis and the clipped version of the Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett matches and both were pretty good. Seems like the Michaels/Jarrett match may have been really good if we had a full version. As I watched the promos building up to WrestleMania, I still couldn't help but wish we got Lawer/Savage at Mania instead of in Oxford, MS . Really enjoying the SMW TV and Cornette drama. It's really cool to see Jericho pop up in the YBs here in Mexico. Here are my favorite matches from April 1993: 1. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/16/93) 2. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93) 3. Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy - 4/2/93 - TN Chain 4. Barry Windham vs. Steven Regal (WWW 4/18/93) 5. Vader vs. Cactus Jack (WCWSN 4/24/93) At this point, I'm leaning towards Kawada as my WOTY through April. I will also say, I find Konnan to be possibly the worst of the year. As I go through May of 1993, I'm so high on the Hollywood Blonds. I had seen all of their PPV and Clash matches in the past, but going through all of the television matches through the year, they've slid into the discussion of my favorite all-time tag teams. At this point, they are my favorite act of 1993 and probably the only folks I'd consider as WOTY alongside Kawada. You know, for me Hansen is in the conversation... he's simply incredible in everything. Here are my favorite matches in May of 1993: 1. Hollywood Blonds vs. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio - 5/8/93 2. Misawa vs. Stan Hansen - 5/21/93 3. Kawada & Taue vs. Kobashi and Kikuchi - 5/14/93 4. Sting vs. Scott Norton - 5/3/93 I thought Bret was really fantastic at KOTR 1993. Here are my favorite matches from June: 1. Misawa & Kobashi vs. Taue & Kawada - 6/1/93 2. Hash/Tenryu from 6/17/93 3. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect - KOTR 1993 4. Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio - 6/16/93 - (I enjoyed this even more than when I last watched it back in 2016) - Love Barry here! He wrestles like the champ, he's dominant and confident and does a great job selling his unbelief that Scorpio is hanging with him. Great stuff. If it were a little bit longer, it would rank higher for me within the year. I wanted it to keep going. Would have been cool if this one was 2/3 falls. I love the uppercut from Barry near the finish. 5. Misawa, Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Taue, Kawada & Ogawa - 6/3/93 The WAR vs. NJPW Elimination match was really fun. Loved the dream team. I also really enjoyed the Blonds vs. Arn & Flair while it lasted. I had been thinking WCW was a contender for my favorite promotion of the year. But, man, June of 1993 may be the worst of WCW TV prior to the Russo era. The beach explosion video, the missing Cactus Jack, Flair for the Gold/Roma etc... just not good at all. My favorite moment in June was hands down the Jerry Lawler promo KOTR/Hart Family. Promo of the year. Just INCREDIBLE. Hey, and Gilbert/Funk was awesome too. I think I enjoyed July more than any other month on the set overall. And I know one reason, is one of my favorite matches of all-time, and here are my favorite matches from July. 1. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 7/29/93 2. Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue/Ogawa - 7/2/93 AJPW 3. I've always liked this match, but I feel like I was higher on it than normal this time around: Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty - 7/19/93 4. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Paul Roma vs. Holloywood Blonds and Barry Windham - 7/3/93 5. Kawada vs. Akiyama - 7/9/93 6. Tenryu & Hara vs. Chono and Fujinami - 7/14/93 7. Fuchi & Kawada vs. Akiyama & Misawa - 7/19/93 I really loved The Destroyer retirement ceremony. It's really one of the best I've seen. Good music and lots of emotion. Eddie Gilbert is cracking me up in these King of Philadelphia spots. Seems like he's had a few in most of these segments, and it's pretty funny. At this point, I don't think there is anyway another promotion will catch up to All Japan as my favorite promotion of the year. I also doubt anything will top Hansen and Kobashi for me this year. August 1993 Favorites: 1. 1993-08-30-WWF-Summerslam] Bret Hart vs Doink the Clown / Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler 2. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto - 08/08/1993 3. 1993-08-31-AJPW-Summer Action Series II] Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi 4. 1993-08-20-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs Kenta Kobashi & Satoru Asako 5. 1993-08-13-UWFi-Fight of Champions] Vader vs Kazuo Yamazaki 6. 1993-08-20-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi 7. Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase - 08/06/1993 8. Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami - 08/07/1993 9. Mr. Perfect vs. Jerry Lawler - 08/09/1993 10. 1993-08-30-WWF-Summerslam] Rick & Scott Steiner vs Heavenly Bodies We're in the Lex Express build here, and up to this point, Luger has been really great. It will be interesting to see where this starts to go down hill, but the promo in early August for the contract signing with Yoko is one of his best promos. It may not go downhill for me, because I'm a fan of Lex Luger (especially his late 80's early 90's WCW stuff, and 1997). Well I spoke too soon on that, because what a bust the finish of Yoko/Lex at SS 93 is. They tried too hard with his music and the celebration over the count out victory where he doesn't even win the title took the bloom off the rose for sure. I want to be clear, I think it was the booking, not Lex that messed this run up for him at this point. OH man, and that Luger video... like they are basically comparing him to JFK and MLK etc... oh man... so bad ha. You have to think, this is 1993 and here he is in a dated 80's style video with a bad mullet... doomed. That being said... Vince in Memphis is soooo great. Loving that, and also I really enjoyed Bret Hart in Memphis too. I loved when Jerry started his comeback (in their Memphis cage match) seeing Hart acting like a heel Flair facing Sting. Fun stuff. And of course, the Summerslam 93 between Hart and Lawler is probably my favorite match of the month. August was loaded. September 1993 Favorites: 1. 1993-09-20-NJPW-G1 Climax Special] Shinya Hashimoto vs Great Muta - mannn I loved this ... super hard-hitting ... fantastic 2. Ricky Steamboat vs Steven Regal - Fall Brawl 3. 1993-09-21-Pancrase] Wayne Shamrock vs Masakatsu Funaki 4. 1993-09-12-WWF-All American Wrestling] 1-2-3 Kid vs Marty Jannetty The Vince/Memphis stuff continues to be great. Looking forward to October at this point. I have not watched any Pancrase until now, and I'm pretty interested in watching more and what comes next with that. October Top 5: 1. Kawada/Kobashi - 10/23/93 2. [1993-10-01-WAR] Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara 3. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 10/16/93 Lumberjack Match 4. 1993-10-16-WWF-Superstars] 1-2-3 Kid vs Pat Tanaka 5. Cactus/Vader - Havoc 93 November Favorites: 1. 11-24-93: Boss Man/Steve Williams vs Kobashi/Misawa 2. 11-4-93: Chono/Hash vs Muto/Hase December Favorites: So, the discovery of Boss Man in AJ is one of my favorite things in this YB. 1. [1993-12-03-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 2. Ric Flair vs. Vader - Starrcade 1993 3. [1993-12-01-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Big Bossman 4. Gran Hamada vs Villano IV (FULL 12/17/93)