Vinnie B

This was also pretty great. There was probably a lot of story I missed out on, but the actual action was stellar. Mistico crashing and burning on a dive was the highlight. I would not have expected it, but Mistico clearly looks like the best in the world so far in 2005. ****

I watched this match weeks ago and so can't remember much about it, other than it was really, really good. The main difference I've noticed between 2005 and 2017 is that whilst both years emphasise a fast-paced, all-action, nearfall heavy style (generally speaking, of course), 2005 is more about variety and diversity, and not so reliant on finishers and 'hard-hitting' strikes . Working #2 MOTY behind Mistico/Averno. **** 1/4

I always mean to watch more DG as it seems to hit a lot of favourite parts of wrestling. I was not into the first few minutes at all. I liked how Saito worked over the leg, and that got me back in. I appreciate how they went back to the leg a few times, but Mochizuki just no sold it all the way through. I thought they built this a lot slower than I was expecting, which was good. They do go all out balls to the wall with no selling and nearfalls at the end, which was fun. Mochizuki looked like he absolutely kicked Saito's head off at the end. Another good match without really ascending into great territory. *** 1/2

Taped in Japan so an unusual crowd for a WWE match. Really great stuff that doesn't need to go overboard to make a fun and compelling match. Angle dominated the first half with Rey getting hope spots in by outsmarting Kurt. Then makes a comeback so he can fly around, before one big dive too many sees him submitting to an ankle lock. Just a very watchable match with suplexs from Angle and flying from Mysterio. As a means of making me think back more positively about WWE TV in 2005, it was a big achievement. ****

- Interesting to see what PWG were doing in 2005. Based on this match, I prefer them then to their 2016/7 offerings. - Also only the second Super Dragon match I've seen. The first was a belter (w/Steen vs. Bucks) and lots of people say good things - Reminds me that really stiff chops were the in vogue trend of the year. That was Kobashi and NOAH's influence, I believe. Also better than 2017's 'everything has to be on the apron' trend. - Interesting to see the crowd really pop for both guys dives, it was still very much a novelty for guys this big to fly to the outside. - Few dangerous head drops, great strike exchanges. I didn't mind the countout finish. - All round very good match. 2 for 2 for Super Dragon. ****

Brief thoughts: -Wow was the Puerto Rico crowd hot for the this in the best way - they popped for nearly every spot, big or small. -Benoit and Jericho's chops were insanely stiff throughout this match. -You can say what you want about HHH, but he certainly was willing to take a bunch of brutal bumps in this match. -The chamber seems to be, quality wise, the best gimmick match of the 21st Century (although I personally prefer many ladder matches). It's a fairly difficult match to get wrong, and these guys don't. Hard-hitting, big spots and an interesting story in Batista and HHH's teased split to carry us through. It's a really good match, but I don't think it's in the upper echelon of chambers matches for me. ****

I was expecting this to be replete with overly convoluted and choreographed sequences. Whilst there were a few, by 2017 standards they were very basic, and they spent a good portion of the time wrestling a standard match, which is definitely to this matches' advantage. A few cool spots, with AJ's massive flipping back bump being the best. Terrible finish, as Williams and Sabin have a tug of war with the belt at the top of the structure, only for AJ to springboard in a steal it away, but drops it mid-air and therefore just knocking it on the ground. All around, a a good match showing the range of what these guys can do. Also I forgot how much I loved AJ's theme when I was 12. Like said theme, I would probably have enjoyed this match more in 2005 but it holds up pretty well. *** 3/4

This felt like fairly typical TNA fare for the time, from what I recall. Bland brawl to start, although Young gets a nasty bump to the head that swells up to the size of an egg on his forehead. Match improves a lot when they get into the ring. Beautiful elbow drop from Young, same for Harris' spinebuster. You can't say these guys aren't trying their hardest to both get themselves over and get TNA noticed. Usual interference and weapon shots at the finish. Interesting that fans boo and chant bullshit after numerous finisher-based nearfalls. Definitely a fun match, with lots of really good to outweigh its shortcomings. *** 1/2

Not a lot else to add, I would call it a 'smart' or 'enjoyable' match rather than great or epic, which is clearly what they were aiming for. And all credit to them, because I did enjoy it. Real simple story or Suzuki's ambar vs. Kobashi's chops for the most part. *** 3/4

Pretty sure I've never seen Takaiwa before. These guys don't mess around at all. Four main segments each controlled by one wrestler then a brief finish. Takaiwa looked really good. His transition into control was cool - essentially just saying 'absolutely not' to any Kanemaru high-flying stuff, dropping him with a superplex and falcon arrow. His 6 powerbombs in a row looked awesome as well. Lots of high impact offence. I probably would have enjoyed this more in 2005, but I still liked it a fair bit. ****

Finally got round to watching this, and was interested after I quite liked last year's match: As a collection of moves, and perhaps an exhibition in what the human body can achieve in a wrestling ring, this was still very impressive. However, they had a remarkably similar match last year, and such a style without advancement can only remain a novelty for so long, and will eventually start to produce diminishing returns. There were only a few moments where I was genuinely invested in the match, and spent most of it staring blankly as they threw lots of admittedly cool moves at each other. Wrestling, to me, is moves (be that a headlock or a reverse rana) + drama. They have pushed one part of this possibly to its human limits. Yet they leave a lot to be desired and could really do a lot more in terms of bringing their audience into the action. ****.

Trying to do my own (admittedly very shallow) dive into 2005. This was the latest match I watched, and noticed there wasn't a review. I'm not a fan of doing reviews, bit thought I'd give it a shot: Like the handful of Mistico matches I watched about a decade ago, his work would seem a lot more accessible to US and Puro fans than a lot of the Lucha I've seen. This is a straight Lucha title match, which, from my experiences viewing the yearbooks, is generally speaking my favourite kind of Lucha. It does not require a great deal of attention from the viewer or knowledge of context, whereas you may need a stronger love of Lucha and its nuances to appreciate the hatred of a mask or hair match. It's a straight up rudo vs. technico wrestling and hitting moves match, and it's absolutely thrilling. The small number of botches or awkward spots were far outweighed by the sheer amount of awesome offence that was hit perfectly. They have a very lengthy back and forth finishing sequence with a raft of nearfalls. Not that I think that's a bad thing, the drama was exceptional and they were throwing everything at one another, one beautiful move into the next, and perfectly conveyed the exhaustion. Those slow counts are a superb way of building tension and drama. My only complaint would be Mistico's completing a stunning dive to the outside, rolling into the ring, only for Averno to follow him straight away and applying a hold, which seems a bit senseless. But lets not end this on a low note, this shot itself to the upper echelons of my favourite ever Lucha matches, and made me interested to check out more 2005 Mistico (feel free to throw recommendations my way!). I'd be interested to see if, or maybe how many other, matches throughout the year, can beat it. Will this even remain my Lucha MOTY? Rating: **** 1/2

May: 1. War Games (Wrestle War 5/17/92) **** ¾ 2. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat (AJ 5/25/92) **** ¾ 3. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJ 5/22/92) **** ½ 4. Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (Wrestle War 5/17/92) **** ¼ 5. Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (NJ 5/1/92) **** ¼ 6. Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 5/24/92) **** 7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJ 5/30/92) **** 8. El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson (Los Angeles 5/16/92) **** 9. Brian Pillman vs. Tom Zenk (Wrestle War 5/17/92) *** ¾ 10. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. (5/14/92) *** ¾ 11. Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin (WCWSN 5/9/92) *** ¾ 12. Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes (WWW 5/30/92) 13. Arn Anderson vs. Big Josh (WCWSN 5/2/92) *** ¾ 14. Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff & Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCWSN 5/23/92) *** ½ 15. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Gary Albright (UWFI 5/8/92) *** ½ 16. Nikita Koloff vs. Mr. Hughes (WCWSN 5/9/92) *** ½ 17. Riki Choshu vs. Keiji Muto (NJ 5/17/92) *** ½ 18. El Hijo del Santo, Mil Mascaras & El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, Tarzan Goto & Giant Warrior (FMW/UWA/WWA 5/15/92) *** ½ 19. Bill Wilcox vs. Freight Train Fulton (UCW 5/1/92) *** ½ 20. Great Muta vs. Brad Armstrong (WCWSN 5/30/92) 21. Ric Flair vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Superstars 5/9/92) ** ¾ 22. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (UWFI 5/8/92) ** ½ I watched this and made ratings absolutely weeks ago, but have forgotten the comments I was going to make. I am a moron. It was an excellent month, War Games especially. I think I would still have Liger/Samurai as my MOTY, however.

April 1992: 1) Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJ 4/30/92) **** ¾ 2) Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 4/19/92) **** ¼ 3) Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJ 4/16/92) **** ¼ 4) Atlantis vs. La Fiera (CMLL 4/3/92) **** ¼ 5) Aja Kong vs. Bull Nakano (AJW 4/25/92) **** ¼ 6) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AJ 4/2/92) **** 7) Octagoncito, Misteriocito & Mascarita Sagrada vs. Espectrito, Piratita Morgan & Pequene Pierroth (CMLL 4/17/92) **** 8) Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW 4/25/92) *** ¾ 9) Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (Mania 4/5/92) *** ¾ 10) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy (AJ 4/26/92) *** ¾ 11) Wild Pegasus vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (NJ 4/16/92) *** ¾ 12) Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Rusher Kimura, Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 4/18/92) *** ½ 13) Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu (SWS 4/18/92) *** ½ 14) Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage (Mania 4/5/92) *** ½ 15) Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJ Carnival Final 4/17/92) *** ½ 16) Blue Panther vs. Love Machine (Mask vs. Mask) (CMLL 4/3/92) *** ½ 17) Eddy Guerrero vs. Negro Casas (NJ 4/16/92) *** ¼ 18) Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels (Munich 4/14/92) *** ¼ 19) Jushin Liger vs. Eddy Guerrero (NJ 4/19/92) *** ¼ 20) Rick Rude, Steve Austin & Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (Pro 4/4/92) *** ¼ 21) Ric Flair vs. Davey Boy Smith (London 4/13/92) ** ¾ 22) Paul Orndorff vs. Hector Guerrero (SMW 4/11/92) ** ¾ April was certainly another strong month. Helped by a good Champs Carnival and BOSJ, this was similar to many months of 1991 with it’s run of consistently good matches. I’ve never really ‘got’ Liger as a GOAT contender, so for me to say he has been my wrestler of the year is really saying something. Him as the Junior version of the fighting champion, who will take on all comers who provide him with all kinds of challenges, yet eventually overcomes, has been fantastic. I’ve seen the El Samurai match before and thought it was really good, but it really benefited from watching the prior match and Liger in 1992 in general. It was a match where two people looked like they were trying to murder each other, not so much with brawling and weapons, but with wrestling moves, which seems an incredibly tough thing to pull off. Certainly my MOTY as this point.

Absolutely great work, Loss. As someone who's working their way (very slowly) through the Yearbooks, it's been great to go through and see what I remembered, what I'd forgotten, and what I have to look forward. A fitting conclusion to an incredible project and lots of hard work from you (and others!) that has made you, personally, an index or encyclopedia for 90s wrestling.

March: 1) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (2/3/ Falls) (AJW 3/20/92) **** ¼ 2) Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJ 3/4/92) **** 3) Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, & Sangre Chicana vs. Konnan el Barbaro, Perro Aguayo, & El Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (CMLL 3/1/92) **** 4) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (AJ 3/31/92) *** ¾ 5) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 3/20/92) *** ¾ 6) Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 3/9/92) *** ½ 7) Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJ 3/4/92) *** ½ 8) Arn Anderson vs. Ricky Steamboat (Pro 3/28/92) *** ½ 9) Ric Flair & Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper (MSG 3/23/92) *** ¼ 10) Masa Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 3/1/92) *** ¼ 11) Ricky Morton vs. Brian Pillman (WCWSN 3/14/92) *** 12) Tim Horner vs. Rip Rogers (SMW 3/14/92) ** ¾ 13) Roddy Piper vs. Shawn Michaels (Prime Time 3/29/92) ** ½ Took a week off before I start my PhD next week, however I wasn’t really in a mood to watch wrestling. I tried plenty to watch a whole range of stuff, but just wasn’t feeling it, so returned to watch a bit of the Yearbooks. March was not as good as January or February, but that has been true of the previous two Yearbooks as well. This was definitely more of an angle-centred month, which was probably needed, and I’ve enjoyed the build to Wrestlemania more than 90/91, which SMW has been pretty entertaining and the Dangerous Alliance storyline carries along. To that end, I think all of the major promotions across the world were running hot, and producing notable matches and angles. Whilst I’m not always the biggest Lucha fan, I do agree with Loss that the best wrestling was coming out of Mexico. I still think that the ‘average’ (pfft) match is much stronger than previous yearbooks.

February 1) Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid (NJ 2/10/92) **** ½ 2) Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 2/22/92) **** ½ 3) El Texano, Silver King & Gran Hamada vs. Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rambo (UWA 2/29/92) **** ½ 4) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) **** ¼ 5) Jushin Liger vs. Norio Honaga (NJ 2/8/92) **** ¼ 6) El Texano, Silver King & Gran Hamada vs. Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mike Lozansky (UWA 2/16/92) **** 7) Bestia Salvaje vs. Huracan Sevilla (Hair vs. Hair) (CMLL 2/14/92) **** 8) Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham & Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCWSN 2/22/92) **** 9) Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) **** 10) Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Scott Norton & Brad Armstrong (NJ 2/10/92) *** ¾ 11) Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda (UWFI 2/29/92) *** ¾ 12) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 2/27/92) *** ¾ 13) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) *** ¾ 14) El Canek vs. Dos Caras (UWA 2/2/92) *** ¾ 15) Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Yusuke Fuke (PWFG 2/24/92) *** ½ 16) Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 2/4/92) *** ¼ 17) Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett & Junkyard Dog vs. Moondogs (Arena Clips) (USWA 2/29/92) *** ¼ 18) Rick Rude vs. Brian Pillman (Pro 2/15/92) *** ¼ 19) Vader, Cactus Jack & Mr. Hughes vs. Sting & The Steiner Brothers (Main Event 2/9/92) *** ¼ 20) Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat (Power Hour 2/7/92) ** ¾ 21) Jerry Lynn vs. Barry Horowitz (GWF 2/14/92) ** ¾ 22) Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts (SNME 2/8/92) ** ½ 23) Big Bad John vs. Eddie Gilbert ($25,000 Bounty Match) (2/21/92) ** ½ 24) Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice vs. Ric Flair & The Undertaker (SNME 2/8/92) ** ¼ 25) Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper (Cage Match) (Worcester 2/24/92) ** ¼ February continued to deliver in a huge way. I’m not sure it was definitively the best month of the yearbooks so far (I was quite partial to November 1990, August 1991 and November 1991) but it certainly is up there. I mean, just look at that lengthy list with so many snowflakes, it was definitely spectacular. I think the ‘median’ match on the yearbook has improved significantly. Match of the Month: Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid (NJ 2/10/92) **** ½ - I really like the idea of Liger as junior version of the traditional face champion who takes on a variety of tough guys and oddballs. This had a lot of the great stuff from the Honaga match but with added flips and shit. Not an easy decision – the Kawada/Kikuchi tag was probably my favourite thing on the yearbook so far – only left off the top spot because I feel the 5/22 match will be even better. The Los Cowboys six man I rated **** ½ was also brilliant – I thought it merged so many styles brilliantly, from traditional lucha dives and chain wrestling, big Puro power spots, to Southern US tag double-teaming and comedy spots. Probably the most ‘different’ match I’ve ever called a legit MOTYC. As I said, hot month. Angle of the Month – There’s more promos and segments this month and that’s very welcome. That said, I think the DA vs. WCW is the best angle for this month, and from what I’ve seen so far they seem to do most of this development in the ring, but no complaints from me. I also liked Jake Robert’s promo with Undertaker at the end of month – everything he touched turned to gold in the early 90s. MVP: Jushin Liger – see above comments. The Pillman match was real good as well. I still don’t see him as a GOAT contender, but I liked everything he did this month. Think I may have overcooked it watching two whole months in 10 days, and this may be why I didn’t love February as I could have. Writing my comments has made it sound a fantastic month of wrestling, which it undoubtedly was. I think I may return in September to watch a few more months of 1992.

A brief return home led to me picking up the next yearbook. Here we go! 1992: January: 1)Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 1/21/92) **** ½ 2)Moondogs vs. Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller + Jerry Lawler (Concession Stand Brawl) (USWA 1/17/92) **** ¼ 3)Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 1/26/92) **** ¼ 4)Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJ 1/24/92) **** 5)Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 1/10/92) **** 6)Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler vs. Moondogs (Arena Brawl) (USWA 1/25/92) **** 7)Royal Rumble (Rumble 1/19/92) **** 8)Dos Caras, Silver King & El Texano vs. Lightning Kid, Jerry Lynn & Dr Wagner Jr. (Hamada's UWF 1/19/92) *** ¾ 9)Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 1/4/92) *** ¾ 10) Naoki Sano vs. Jerry Flynn (PWFG 1/15/92) *** ¾ 11) Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Sting & The Great Muta (NJ 1/4/92) *** ¾ 12) Fuerza Guerrera vs. Octagon (CMLL 1/31/92) *** ¾ 13) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen (AJ 1/28/92) *** ¾ 14) Tracy Smothers & Terry Taylor vs. Brian Pillman & Marcus Bagwell (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½ 15) Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½ 16) Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton & Rick Rude vs. Sting, Ricky Steamboat & Marcus Bagwell (Pro 1/18/92) *** ½ 17) Vader & Mr. Hughes vs. The Steiners (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½ 18) Pegasus Kid vs. Villano III (UWA 1/26/92) *** ½ 19) Pegasus Kid & Negro Casas vs. El Hijo del Santo & Villano III (UWA 1/19/92) *** ¼ 20) Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Ron Simmons (WCWSN 1/11/92) *** ¼ 21) Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 1/4/92) *** ¼ 22) Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 1/25/92) *** 23) Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer (Falls Count Anywhere) (Clash 1/21/92) ** ¾ 24) Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker (MSG 1/31/92) ** ¾ 25) Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie (Rumble 1/19/92) ** ½ 26) Bob Backlund vs. Jerry Lawler (WWA 1/10/92) ** January was a terrific month – we’ve had 4 stellar AJ matches, hands-down the craziest brawl I’ve ever seen, a great Rumble, some very enjoyable WCW and an almost impossible amount more. It will be interesting to see how people who have watched the Yearbooks chronologically may see things differently than those who watched them on their release dates (I was originally going to begin with 1991). I think I enjoyed the All Japan matches more for seeing their very gradual build since 1990, and it’s so refreshing to see WCW put out so many solid matches after a barren spell. All around, I think January has picked up where 1991 left off strongly, and just built upon it. This seemed a very match heavy month. I don’t know if that’s a running theme of 1992, January is generally a packed month (1991 was similar) or if a long Rumble took up space. I always thought I was a match person above angles or the complete picture, but watching the yearbooks (especially what was coming from USWA and Texas) have really shown me how wrong I was. However, like ’91, when the matches are so good, I’m happy to just roll with it. Match of the Month: Jumbo/Kawada – This was an awesome war where Jumbo looked at his most vulnerable so far, yet still came through to win. I actually think I might (maybe) prefer this to the Misawa/Jumbo matches of 90/91. Angle of the Month: Moondogs/Jarrett/Lawler etc – the best matches USWA had produced, and the most captivating brawling I’ve ever seen. Between this and Cactus/Hammer, they look way ahead of their time, and are early prototype of the ECW and Attitude style I would grow up with. But better, of course. MVP of January: Difficult, there were a lot. Ultimately saying Jumbo Tsuruta. TL;DR: 1992 is off to a flier. The best may be yet to come.

I'm about to start a PhD on Grassroots activism in the US in the 1980s, quite often in attempts to combat this kind of big business, so I'd be interested in getting involved in this debate.

December: 1) Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger (Meadowlands 12/27/91) **** ¼ 2) El Hijo del Santo & Black Shadow Jr vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Octagon (12/15/91) **** ¼ 3) Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (AJW 12/9/91) **** ¼ 4) Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (AJW 12/9/91) **** 5) Ricky Steamboat vs. Bobby Eaton (WCWSN 12/14/91) *** ¾ 6) Trio Fantasia vs. Los Thundercats (12/8/91) *** ¾ 7) El Satanico vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair) (CMLL 12/6/91) *** ¾ 8) Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Scott Norton (NJPW 12/16/91) *** ¾ 9) Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn (Piledriver vs. Sleeper, 2/3 Falls) (GWF 12/27/91) *** ¾ 10) Hiroshi Hase vs. Tiger Jeet Singh (Island Death Match) (JIP) (NJPW 12/8/91) *** ½ 11) Hulk Hogan vs. Genichiro Tenryu (SWS 12/12/91) *** ½ 12) Akira Maeda vs. Volk Han (RINGS 12/7/91) *** ½ 13) Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCWSN 12/21/91) *** ½ 14) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 12/6/91) *** ½ 15) Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 12/4/91) *** ½ 16) Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Corpus Christi 12/2/91) *** ¼ 17) Bret Hart vs. Ted DiBiase (MSG 12/29/91) *** ¼ 18) Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Eaton vs. Ricky Steamboat, Brian Pillman & Dustin Rhodes (Pro 12/21/91) *** 19) Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (MSG 12/29/91) *** 20) Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Garvin (No DQ, 2/3 falls) (GWF 12/27/91) ** ¾ And so ends another yearbook. The endurance test that was Wrestlemania (and that weekend in general) frazzled me a bit for wrestling, and so December was a struggle. The good thing about this month was that there was something for everyone, however that also means that sometimes, we get quite a bit that does not appeal, so whilst I enjoyed the Joshi and WCW, some of the Lucha and men’s puroresu disappointed me. Still, to reiterate, there was great variety. Importantly, the main US promotions have set themselves up well for strong angles in 1992, and the rest of the world also look to be preparing for a stellar next year. That Liger/Pillman match pretty much shot to being one of the most enjoyable matches I’ve ever seen, and caps off a great 1991 for both wrestlers. Part of the reason for me watching the yearbooks and making these lists is to help me discover what I like in wrestling, not as a child, not as a smarky teenager, but as a fully-grown person (let’s avoid the scary word of ‘adult’!) I think it’s shown me that I don’t really know what I think constitutes a 5-star match, as that would connote ‘perfection’, and I can’t, in my years of watching professional wrestling, point to my perfect match. I’ve loved plenty of matches from different time periods and promotions, but not anything I could call ‘perfect’. Maybe I will find it with later yearbooks, or maybe wrestling matches for me will remain a Persian carpet, always a missed stitch. Of course, if anyone is still reading this, you may believe I’m over-thinking this entirely, and I agree I’m trying to quantify the unquantifiable in how much I enjoy a wrestling match. However, since I started watching the 1991 yearbook I’ve undergone some serious personal changes and struggled with my mental health, and this yearbook has been a wonderful anchor to return to, so I think to think deeply about these things. Anyway, I edited Wargames, and I think at this stage, my top 5 for the year would look like this: 1) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/29/91) **** ¾ 2) War Games (Wrestle War 2/24/91) **** ¾ 3) Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 4/20/91) **** ¾ 4) Masa Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 8/9/91) **** 1/2 5) Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Manami Toyota & Esther Moreno (AJW 4/29/91) **** ½ After that, it would begin to get a bit messy, and obviously any list could change depending on how I am feeling. Overall, and this might be me acclimatising to the yearbook format, but I actually liked 1991 more than 1990. It may not have hit the high notes as regularly, but it certainly had quite a few, and was consistently enjoyable. Whilst it might look like I have taken absolutely ages to finish this (nearly two years!), it feels like I have breezed through this, and I think the majority of it was watched in a total of about 12 weeks at my family home, and I am very much looking forward to 1992. Last thing to say is a thank you to Goodhelmet and everyone else involved for putting it together, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this!

November: 1) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/29/91) **** ¾ 2) Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko vs. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes (Clash 11/19/91) **** ¼ 3) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey (AJPW 11/16/91) **** ¼ 4) Sting vs. Cactus Jack (Submit or Surrender) (Power Hour 11/23/91) **** ¼ 5) Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera (CMLL 11/1/91) **** ¼ 6) Dynamite Kansai vs. Harley Saito (JWP 11/2/91) **** 7) Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart (New Haven 11/11/91) **** 8) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW 11/21/91) **** 9) Los Brazos vs. MS-1, Pirata Morgan & Satanico (CMLL 11/22/91) *** ¾ 10) Yoji Anjoh & Jim Boss vs. Yuko Miyato & Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 11/7/91) *** ¾ 11) Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (MSG 11/30/91) *** ½ 12) Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Rick Steiner & Scott Norton (NJPW 11/5/91) *** ½ 13) Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota (AJW 11/15/91) *** ½ 14) MS-1, El Satanico & Pirata Morgan vs. Konnan, El Dandy & Rayo de Jalisco Jr (CMLL 11/29/91) *** ¼ 15) Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 11/5/91) *** ¼ 16) Eric Embry vs. Tom Pritchard (USWA 11/9/91) *** ¼ 17) Los Brazos vs. Pirata Morgan, Emilio Charles Jr & MS-1 (WWA 1991) *** ¼ 18) Jerry Flynn vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. (PWFG 11/3/91) *** 19) Dustin Rhodes, Tom Zenk & Big Josh vs. Terry Taylor, Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (Main Event 11/10/91) *** 20) Dustin Rhodes, Tom Zenk & Big Josh vs. Terry Taylor, Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (Main Event 11/3/91) *** 21) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Bob Backlund (UWFI 11/7/91) *** 22) Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara (SWS 11/10/91) *** 23) Dustin Rhodes, Big Josh & Tom Zenk vs. Ricky Morton, Terry Taylor & Tommy Rich (No DQ Cage Match) (Pro 11/16/91) *** November may have been, in a ratio of quality to length of time (it was a relatively short month), my favourite month of any yearbook so far. WCW is really picking up again with the beginning of the Dangerous Alliance, the WWF has some strong angles with Roberts/Savage/Flair/Undertaker. AJPW had a really great RWTL, which, to my surprise, had my favourite AJ match of 1991. Everything seems to be setting in place for the rest of the 1990s, and it’s very enjoyable.

October: 1) Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 10/15/91) **** ½ 2) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 10/24/91) **** ¼ 3) Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes (Havoc 10/27/91) *** ¾ 4) Lex Luger vs. Ron Simmons (2/3 Falls) (Havoc 10/27/91) *** ½ 5) The Scorpion vs. Cutie Suzuki (JWP 10/10/91) *** ½ 6) Akira Taue, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW 10/10/91) *** ½ 7) Ric Flair vs. Tito Santana (Albert Hall 10/3/91) *** ½ 8) Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper *** ¼ 9) Dave Finlay vs. Steve Wright (CWA 10/21/91) *** ¼ 10) Chamber of Horrors (Havoc 10/27/91) *** 11) Asai Yoshinari vs. Bestia Salvaje (SWS 10/29/91) *** 12) Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu (SWS 10/29/91) ** ¾ 13) Eddie Gilbert vs. Kevin Sullivan (TWA 10/26/91) ** ¾ 14) Undertaker vs. Tito Santana (Barcelona 10/5/91) ** ½ Planning to get through the rest of 1991 in the next few weeks. In brief: Halloween Havoc was better than expected, AJPW delivers including a stellar 6-man tag that I LOVED. USWA has been underwhelming, and I think I’m much higher on Flair’s debut in WWF than others are. Not the absolute best month, but some strong stuff and easy enough to get through.

September: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 9/4/91) **** 1/2 Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW 9/7/91) **** 1/4 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 9/4/91) **** 1/4 Robin Hood & Los Ninja Turtles vs. Shu El Guerrero, Jose Luis Feliciano, El Texano, Black Terry & Ricky Boy (Hamada's UWF 9/12/91) *** 3/4 Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 9/7/91) *** 3/4 Mr. Pogo & TNT vs. Iceman & Akitoshi Saito (Cage Match) (W*ING 9/12/91) *** 1/2 Barry Windham vs. Mr. Hughes (WCWSN 9/21/91) *** 1/2 Brian Pillman vs. Badstreet (Clash 9/5/91) *** 1/2 Dave Finlay vs. Dave Taylor (CWA 9/15/91) *** 1/4 Ricky Morton vs. Brian Pillman (WCWSN 9/28/91) *** Dick Slater & Dick Murdoch vs. Enforcers (Main Event 9/8/91) *** Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 9/10/91) *** Atsushi Onita vs. Tarzan Goto (Barbed Wire Cage Bomb Match) (FMW 9/23/91) *** Steve Austin vs. Big Josh (Main Event 9/29/91) ** 3/4 Headhunter A & Tom Pritchard vs. Headhunter B & Danny Davis (W*ING 9/9/91) ** 3/4 Terry Funk vs. Kevin Sullivan (TWA 9/21/91) ** 3/4 Konnan vs. Perro Aguayo vs. Cien Caras (Hair Match) (CMLL 9/6/91) ** 3/4 Ricky Steamboat vs. Ted DiBiase (KOR 9/7/91) ** 1/2 I'll be honest, I watched September a few weeks ago and just forgot to put my ratings in and up here. Probably a reason for me not to be so damn lazy and comment as I go in the threads. Anyway: Bull Nakano is having a career year, AJPW cracked out a strong return to form (it never really stopped being good, but just better), Memphis still brings the good TV, I'm loving Flair in WWF, but perhaps September began to drag a little. I'd like to move on to 1992 already, but I'm a committed man!

August: Masa Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 8/9/91) **** 1/2 Masa Chono vs. Keiji Muto (NJPW 8/11/91) **** 1/2 Devil Masami vs. Itsuki Yamazaki (JWP 8/30/91) **** 1/4 Vader vs. Keiji Muto (NJPW 8/10/91) **** 1/4 Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (SSLAM 8/26/91) **** Atlantis vs. Blue Panther (CMLL 8/9/91) **** The Scorpion vs. Cutie Suzuki (JWP 8/30/91) *** 3/4 Cactus Jack vs. Eddie Gilbert (Falls Count Anywhere/Stretcher Match/Cage Match) (TWA 8/3/91) *** 3/4 Apolo Dantes, Black Magic & El Dandy vs. Blue Panther, Javier Cruz & Pierroth Jr (CMLL 8/16/91) *** 3/4 Dave Finlay vs. Chris Benoit (Vienna 8/18/91) *** 3/4 Jushin Liger vs. Akira Nogami (NJPW 8/9/91) *** 3/4 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 8/18/91) *** 3/4 Fuerza Guerrera vs. Negro Casas (WWA 1991) *** 3/4 Dynamite Kansai & Madusa Miceli vs. Harley Saito & Rumi Kazama (JWP 8/30/91) *** 3/4 Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada & Octagon vs. Pirata Morgan, Pierroth & Kendo Nagasaki (CMLL 8/23/91) *** 1/2 Masa Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 8/11/91) *** 1/2 Chavo, Mando & Eddie Guerrero vs. El Satanico, MS-1 & Masakre (CMLL 8/23/91) *** 1/2 Diamond Studd, Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. Yellow Dog, Bobby Eaton & Dustin Rhodes (Power Hour 8/3/91) *** 1/2 Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW 8/29/91) *** 1/2 Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu, Haku & Shinichi Nakano (SWS 8/5/91) *** 1/4 Richard Morton vs. Bobby Eaton (Main Event 8/4/91) *** 1/4 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Lato Kirawarik (PWFG 8/23/91) *** 1/4 Legion of Doom vs. Nasty Boys (SSLAM 8/26/91) *** 1/4 Vader vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 8/7/91) *** Terry Funk vs. Bob Backlund (WWA 8/17/91) *** Riki Choshu vs. Masa Chono (NJPW 8/7/91) *** Keiji Muto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 8/9/91) *** Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 8/17/91) *** Wayne Shamrock vs. Masakatsu Funaki (PWFG 8/23/91) *** Ted Dibiase vs. Virgil (SSLAM 8/26/91) *** Headhunters vs. Dos Caras & El Fantasma (W*ING 8/17/91) ** 3/4 Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Road Warriors (SWS 8/9/91) ** 3/4 Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie (Jailhouse Match) (SSLAM 8/26/91) ** 1/2 Stan Lane & Jim Cornette vs. Jerry Lawler & Mark Curtis (WWA 8/17/91) ** 1/2 August was a lengthy month, but one stacked with great matches. I'm not sure if it was better than April, but certainly disc 17 was filled with a quality of wrestling unmatched by any of the 50 discs I have watched so far. Continuing their strong year, the G1 delivered big time. Not every match, but some truly fantastic matches. I always thought of Chono as a mediocre wrestler pushed for his popularity, but he came out looking fantastic here. Was I the only one who liked the Chono/Hash 30 min draw better than the final? I thought it told a better story and had a better finish. But it was only by a small margin, on another day I could feel differently, and they were both terrific matches. Summerslam was surely the most crowd-pleasing wrestling event ever. The Bret/Perfect match still felt great. Maybe not in a global, overall context, but in the WWF world? Superb. I may be hurt by not being around in 1991 to get the angles. The Liz/Savage wedding was deliriously cheesy, and the angles with Jake, Warrior and the post-wedding snake felt ludicrous. The JWP show was also a surprisingly nice way to round off the month, with all 3 matches being great in different ways. Even the main event I thought was a tribute to everything 12 year-old me would have loved in wrestling, so I got a kick out of it. Once more, its good to see so many different promotions putting out great matches. Variety is a strong attraction for me in wrestling. I'm always surprised (although perhaps shouldn't be) by how despite long absences, when I start watching the Yearbook again I become completely immersed and blast through a few hours a day.

July: Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 7/4/91) **** 1/4 Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow, Wild Samoan, Great Kokina & TNT (NJPW 7/24/91) **** Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 7/19/91) **** Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn (Tournament Finals) (GWF 7/13/91) *** 3/4 Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow (NJPW 7/29/91) *** 3/4 Naoki Sano vs. Minoru Suzuki (PWFG 7/26/91) *** 3/4 Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 7/26/91) *** 3/4 Ricky Morton vs. Robert Gibson (GAB 7/14/91) *** 1/2 Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 7/6/91) *** 1/2 Eddy, Mando & Chavo Guerrero vs. Los Brazos (CMLL 7/26/91) *** 1/4 Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid (Mask vs. Mask) (NJPW 7/4/91) *** 1/4 Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham (Cage Match) (GAB 7/14/91) *** Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 7/24/91) *** Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller vs. Bar Room Brawlers (Street Fight) (USWA HH 7/29/91) *** War Games (Meadowlands 7/3/91) *** Steve Austin vs. Bobby Eaton (Power Hour 7/6/91) *** Steve Austin vs. Yellow Dog (Pro 7/27/91) *** Ultimate Warrior vs. Undertaker (Finish Only) (Bodybag Match) (MSG 7/1/91) *** Jerry Lawler vs. Eric Embry (USWA HH 7/22/91) ** 3/4 Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Billy Scott (UWFI 7/30/91) ** 3/4 Ron Garvin vs. Invader I (WWC 7/6/91) ** 3/4 So that is July, and roughly half the set completed. No question that the NJ heavyweights dominated the month for me. When I left the IWC kind of bubble (which, admittedly, was about 2007), it was really only the NJ Juniors who got the attention, and everything else they put out was sort of an afterthought except for a few people who loved Hashimoto etc. But in both '90 and '91 they have produced some seriously good matches and the feuds between Hash/Mutoh/Chono and Vader are really picking up. I wouldn't say that their peak matches that of the AJ Heavyweights, but they certainly have produced very consistent matches with high workrate. Boy that 10 man tag was hella fun. Meanwhile Memphis continues to put out chaotic brawls, intertwined feuds involving half the roster (a personal favourite part of any promotion to me) and has become probably my favourite part of the Yearbooks. A complete 180 from the first few months of 1990 (which was clearly not a great time for the promotion) when I wanted to skip much of it. Other than that, nothing tremendously outstanding, but like most of 1991, everything is consistently good or at least entertaining, and thoroughly watchable.