Matches of the Month

Finished January a couple days ago. I didn't watch anything for about 2 months before starting disc 2, though, so I'd probably need to re-watch some stuff just to jog my memory.

1. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta (JWP 1/15/93)

2. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (Clash 1/13/93)

3. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu (NJ 1/4/93)

4. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJ 1/30/93)

5. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (WWW 1/30/93)

6. Eddy Guerrero & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Jerry Estrada & Espanto Jr. (AAA 1/22/93)

7. Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart (Iron Man Match) (Boston 1/9/93)

8. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. Barry Windham & Brian Pillman (WWW 1/2/93)

9. Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Funk (I Quit Match) (Battle of the Belts 1/23/93)

10. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 1/24/93)

11. Rock & Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies (SMW 1/30/93)

12. Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCWSN 1/9/93)

13. Cactus Jack vs. Paul Orndorff (Street Fight) (Main Event 1/10/93)

14. Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (WCWSN 1/23/93)

15. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue, Masa Fuchi & Jun Akiyama (AJ 1/8/93)

16. Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hell Raisers (NJ 1/4/93)

17. Ricky Steamboat vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 1/23/93)

18. Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect (Loser Leaves the WWF) (RAW 1/25/93)

19. Great Muta vs. Masa Chono (NJ 1/4/93)

20. Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy vs. Killer Kyle vs. Jimmy Golden (SMW 1/16/93)

21. Jushin Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon (NJ 1/4/93)

Looking at that, I suspect there's some stuff I'd switch around if I watched them again. I don't really remember anything about the 1/8 All Japan six man. Big fan of the top four matches. Rally looking forward to seeing the Tenryu/Choshu rematch, and the Misawa-Kawada/Williams-Gordy match at the end of the month definitely got me geared for the AJ stuff still to come, a lot of which I haven't seen in years but recall being terrific. And that Steamboat-Douglas/Austin-Pillman tag from the Clash of the Champions was fucking boss; totally caught me by surprise.

KB8 · June 30, 2011

Well February was pretty spectacular.

1. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 2/28/93)

2. Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Tayayuki Iizuka vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Ricky Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara (2/3 falls) (NJ 2/16/93)

3. Vader vs. Sting (Strap Match) (SB 2/21/93)

4. Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Keiji Muto, Akira Nogami & Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 2/5/93)

5. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 2/14/93)

6. Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (SB 2/21/93)

7. Rock & Roll Express, Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Heavenly Bodies & Hollywood Blonds (WWW 2/27/93)

8. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (AJ 2/28/93)

9. Rey Mysterio Jr., Winners & Super Calo vs. Heavy Metal, Picudo & Psicosis (AAA 2/14/93)

10. Brian Pillman vs. Ricky Steamboat (Lumberjack Match) (WCWSN 2/20/93)

11. Rock & Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies (SB 2/21/93)

12. Rey Mysterio Jr., Winners & Super Calo vs. Heavy Metal, Picudo & Psicosis (AAA 2/7/93)

13. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Aja Kong & Bat Yoshinaga (AJW 2/16/93)

14. Bobby Eaton vs. Ricky Morton (SMW 2/27/93)

15. Misterioso & Volador vs. Tony Arce & Vulcano (AAA 2/21/93)

16. Eddy Guerrero, El Hijo Del Santo & Konnan vs. Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 (AAA 2/7/93)

17. Rock & Roll Express vs. Stud Stable (SMW 2/20/93)

18. Steve Armstrong & Wendell Cooley vs. Randy Barber & Johnny Starr (USA Wrestling 2/13/93)

19. Vader vs. Rick Thames (WCWSN 2/13/93)

20. Eddy Guerrero, El Hijo Del Santo & Konnan vs. Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 (AAA 2/14/93)

Hansen/Kawada is my working MOTY and really just an amazing match. The WAR v NJ 10-man tag and Vader/Sting aren't that far behind it, though, and the WAR/NJ 6-man from the 5th is the fourth match from February in my working top 5. I had already watched a chunk of the WAR v NJ feud before this, and it's easily one of the best feuds ever for me. I could watch that shit all day. Benoit/Scorp kind of blew me away in that it was always a match I thought was good, but still came away from it this time with a much higher opinion of it. That 8-man tag from Worldwide was so much fun, too. Crowd was amazing, everybody got to do some stuff...if it was longer and they got to stretch out a bit more then it would've been excellent. Great month.

Loss · July 1, 2011

My favorites for October:

#1 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/23/93) ****1/2

#2 - Dynamite Kansai vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 10/09/93) ****1/2

#3 - Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 10/23/93) ****1/4

#4 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 10/02/93) ****1/4

#5 - Andrei Kopylev vs Nikolai Zouev (RINGS 10/23/93) ****

#6 - El Hijo del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 10/29/93) ****

#7 - Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara (WAR 10/01/93) ***3/4

#8 - Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido (WAR 10/11/93) ***3/4

#9 - Vader vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 10/16/93) ***3/4

#10 - 1-2-3 Kid vs Marty Jannetty (WWF Monday Night RAW 10/25/93) ***1/2

#11 - Steven Regal vs Davey Boy Smith (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/24/93) ***1/4

#12 - Vader vs Cactus Jack (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/24/93) ***1/4

#13 - Joe Malenko vs Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG 10/29/93) ***1/4

#14 - Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel (WWF Monday Night RAW 10/11/93) ***

#15 - Carl Greco vs Katsumi Usuda (PWFG 10/29/93) ***

Loss · July 1, 2011

My favorites for November:

#1 - Satanico vs Pirata Morgan (AAA 11/26/93) ****3/4

#2 - Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono (NJPW 11/04/93) ****1/2

#3 - Devil Masami & Plum Mariko vs Chigusa Nagayo & Cutie Suzuki (JWP 11/20/93) ****1/2

#4 - Shinobu Kandori & Utazo Hozumi vs Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue (LLPW 11/09/93) ****1/4

#5 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba (AJPW 11/30/93) ****1/4

#6 - Sakie Hasegawa & Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto (AJW 11/12/93) ****1/4

#7 - El Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs Eddy Guerrero & Art Barr (AAA 11/06/93) ****1/4

#8 - Rock & Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies (WWF Survivor Series 11/24/93) ****

#9 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams & Big Boss Man (AJPW 11/24/93) ****

#10 - Vader & Steve Austin vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (WCW Saturday Night 11/13/93) ***3/4

#11 - Steve Austin vs Brian Pillman (WCW Clash of the Champions XXV 11/10/93) ***1/2

#12 - Terry Funk vs Sabu (ACW 11/06/93) ***1/2

#13 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba (AJPW 11/24/93) ***1/2

#14 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (WAR 11/11/93) ***1/4

#15 - El Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr (CMLL 11/21/93) ***1/4

Loss · July 4, 2011

And December:

#1 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/03/93) *****

#2 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 12/10/93 - Match #1) ****3/4

#3 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 12/10/93 - Match #2) ****1/2

#4 - Ric Flair vs Vader (WCW Starrcade 12/27/93) ****1/2

#5 - Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 12/06/93) ****1/4

#6 - Megumi Kudo vs Aja Kong (AJW 12/06/93) ****1/4

#7 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Big Boss Man (AJPW 12/01/93) ****1/4

#8 - Vader vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI 12/06/93) ****

#9 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW 12/06/93) ***3/4

#10 - Gary Albright & Dan Severn vs Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich (UWFI 12/05/93) ***1/2

#11 - El Hijo del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 12/05/93) ***1/2

#12 - Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (Inside the WWF 12/15/93) ***1/2

#13 - Jerry Lawler vs Jeff Jarrett (USWA Mid South Coliseum 12/20/93) ***1/2

#14 - Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/06/93) ***1/4

#15 - Super Delphin vs Sato (Michinoku Pro 12/10/93) ***1/4

#16 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto (NJPW 12/13/93) ***1/4

#17 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami (WAR 12/15/93) ***

#18 - Gran Hamada vs Villano IV (FULL 12/17/93) ***

KB8 · July 27, 2011

March:

1. Shinya Hashimoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Ashura Hara & Kodo Fuyuki (WAR 3/7/93)

2. Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas (CMLL 3/19/93)

3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/27/93)

4. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido (WAR 3/3/93)

5. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 3/23/93)

6. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 3/3/93)

7. Koki Kikahara vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (WAR 3/7/93)

8. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (WWW 3/27/93)

9. Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Felinito & Nuevo Piratita Morgan (CMLL 3/5/93)

10. Misterioso, Rey Misterio Jr. & Volador vs. Heavy Metal, La Parka & Psicosis (AAA 3/12/93)

11. Ultimo Dragon vs. El Samurai (WAR 3/7/93)

12. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (WWW 3/6/93)

13. Jushin Liger vs. Dean Malenko (NJ 3/21/93)

14. Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy (SMW 3/6/93)

15. Great Sasuke & El Gran Hamada vs. El Signo & El Rudo (M-Pro 3/16/93)

16. Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit (AWF 3/4/93)

17. Ricky Steamboat, Shane Douglas & Dustin Rhodes vs. Hollywood Blonds & Barry Windham (Main Event 3/28/93)

18. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (Power Hour 3/6/93)

Thought this was another great month. I really love that Kitahara/Kobayashi match. Just a short, super intense shit kicking from Kitahara and basically everything I love about WAR. Tenryu and Kawada are my top 2 wrestlers of the year after 3 months with Tenryu leading slightly (although I watched a bunch of other Tenryu stuff from Jan-Mar '93 that didn't make the set a few months back, so his case is stronger based on that). I'm tempted to toss Casas into the mix as well based on that one match with Ultimo. God damn was he fucking great in that. The Hash/Ohara v Hara/Fuyuki match is incredible and my overall #3 at this point. I first saw it earlier in the year and loved it then, and I loved it even more this time around.

KB8 · August 9, 2011

April:

1. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa (WAR 4/2/93)

2. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/16/93)

3. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (2/3 Falls) (AJW 4/10/93)

4. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu (NJ 4/6/93)

5. Shiro Koshinaka, Kengo Kimura, Michiyoshi Ohara & Akitoshi Saito v Super Strong Machine, Ricky Fuyuki, Ashura Hara & Koki Kitahara (WAR 4/2/93)

6. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW 4/2/93)

7. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93)

8. Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 4/24/93)

9. Sabu vs. Lightning Kid (Grand Slam 4/17/93)

10. Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (Barcelona 4/24/93)

11. Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 4/24/93)

12. Vader vs. Cactus Jack (WCWSN 4/17/93)

13. Vader vs. Cactus Jack (WCWSN 4/24/93)

14. Tracy Smothers vs. Tony Anthony (Tennessee Chain match) (Bluegrass Brawl 4/2/93)

15. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (JIP) (AJ 4/14/93)

16. Ciclon Ramirez, Corazon De Leon & Oro vs. Felino, Javier Cruz & Negro Casas (CMLL 4/30/93)

17. Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami (JWP 4/18/93)

18. Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue vs. Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki (AJW 4/2/93)

19. Ultimo Dragoncito & Orito vs. Felinito & Ultratumbita (EMLL 4/30/93)

20. Barry Windham vs. Steven Regal (WWW 4/18/93)

21. Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon & Norio Honaga (NJ 4/6/93)

22. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93)

23. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Owen Hart (Superstars 4/17/93)

24. Terry Gordy vs. Steve Williams (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93)

25. Jerry Lawler vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (JIP) (USWA 4/19/93)

26. Heavenly Bodies & Bobby Eaton vs. Rock & Roll Express & Arn Anderson vs. Stud Stable & Dutch Mantell (Street Fight) (Bluegrass Brawl 4/2/93)

27. Eddy Guerrero, El Hijo Del Santo & Konnan vs. Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 (AAA 4/2/93)

28. Konnan vs. Cien Caras (Loser Must Retire) (AAA 4/30/93)

Tenryu is starting to run away with WOTY for me. Kawada is one of the main guys still in contention, but with some great Tenryu stuff still to come I'm not sure anybody's beating him out. That 4/2 tag is fucking terrific and, for me, Tenryu was the star of it. I suspect I like Hokuto/Kandori less than most. I guess I've just never really "got it", although I enjoyed it more this time than I ever have before. Hell of a month overall.

Loss · August 9, 2011

Definitely a great month. I'm enjoying reading your thoughts, by the way.

KB8 · August 18, 2011

May:

1. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa (WAR 5/24/93)

2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen (AJ 5/21/93)

3. Hollywood Blonds vs. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio (WWW 5/8/93)

4. Naoki Sano vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 5/6/93)

5. Terry Gordy vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 5/29/93)

6. Akira Hokuto vs. Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 5/3/93)

7. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 5/14/93)

8. Mr. Perfect vs. Doink (RAW 5/24/93)

9. Brian Christopher vs. Jeff Jarrett (Hair vs. Title) (USWA 5/1/93)

10. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Hiroshi Hase (NJ 5/3/93)

11. Terry Funk vs. Atsushi Onita (No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Time Bomb Death Match) (FMW 5/5/93)

12. Chris Benoit & Bobby Eaton vs. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio (Slamboree 5/23/93)

13. Tatsuo Nakano vs. Vader (UWFI 5/6/93)

14. Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith (WCW Slamboree 5/23/93)

15. Ciclon Ramirez vs. Felino (AAA 5/21/93)

16. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Heavy Metal (AAA 5/14/93)

17. Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyota vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (FMW 5/5/93)

18. Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty (RAW 5/17/93)

19. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams (AJ 5/20/93)

20. Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect (Providence 5/2/93)

21. Sting vs. Scott Norton (NJ 5/3/93)

22. Hulk Hogan vs. Great Muta (NJ 5/3/93)

Fuck, what an amazing month. I almost feel bad putting Jarrett v Christopher at #9, but there was so much good stuff that month. Hansen/Misawa and the NJ/WAR tag are pretty much interchangeable at the top, but I went with the WAR tag by a hair. The WAR/NJ feud is seriously becoming one of my favourite "things" in wrestling history and more or less every match it produces is interesting to me on some level. I'm big time hyped for the Tenryu/Hashimoto singles matches because any time they pair off in tags it rules. Tenryu punting Hash in the eye to break up a pin and Hash responding by walking over to him and blasting him with an enziguiri, then Tenryu's subsequent AWESOME KO sell, might honestly be my favourite moment/spot on the entire yearbook so far. I'll be shocked if the Worldwide tag from the 8th doesn't land in my top 5 US matches of the year at the end. Right now I've only got it behind Sting/Vader, and unless something comes out of the blue, I can't see it not finishing as my #1 US tag, at least. I don't really like AAA in general, but I'm gonna watch Santo/Metal again at some point. I recall a few nifty spots, but nothing else about it is jumping to mind. This was probably my favourite month overall so far, even though I can't see any one match landing in my top 10 at the end.

Matt Franklin · October 16, 2011

My top ten for January

1. Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart (Iron Man Match) (Boston 1/9/93) ****3/4

2. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJ 1/30/93) ****1/2

3. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (Clash 1/13/93) ****1/4

4. Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Funk (I Quit Match) (Battle of the Belts 1/23/93) ****1/4

5. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta (JWP 1/15/93) ****1/4

6. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 1/24/93) ****

7. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. Barry Windham & Brian Pillman (WWW 1/2/93) ***3/4

8. Barry Windham vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCWSN 1/9/93) ***3/4

9. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (WWW 1/30/93) ***1/2

10. Eddy Guerrero & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Jerry Estrada & Espanto Jr. (AAA 1/22/93) ***1/2

KB8 · December 13, 2011

After a long break, I blew through June in less than a week.

1. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto (WAR 6/17/93)

2. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJ 6/1/93)

3. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (KOR 6/13/93)

4. Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Tatsu Goto & Strong Machine (Elimination Match) (WAR vs. NJ 6/15/93)

5. Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (Clash 6/16/93)

6. Marty Jannetty vs. Doink the Clown (2/3 Falls) (RAW 6/21/93)

7. Hiroshi Hase vs. Samson Fuyuki (WAR 6/17/93)

8. Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Osamu Kido (NJ 6/14/93)

9. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 6/3/93)

10. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Joe Malenko (PWFG 6/1/93)

11. Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (KOR 6/13/93)

12. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (2/3 Falls) (Clash 6/16/93)

13. Jerry Flynn vs. Diuseul Berto (PWFG 6/1/93)

14. Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert (Chain Match) (ECW 6/19/93)

15. El Samurai vs. Wild Pegasus (NJ 6/14/93)

16. Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon (KOR 6/13/93)

17. Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid ($10,000 Challenge) (RAW 6/21/93)

18. The Great Muta vs. The Great Kabuki (NJ 6/15/93)

19. Lightning Kid vs. Eddie Guerrero (NJ 6/5/93)

20. Akira Hokuto & Kyoko Inoue vs. Bull Nakano & Aja Kong (AJW vs. JWP 6/3/93)

Another really strong month. The All Japan six-man being 9th seems low, but I honestly thought it was great...I just liked everything above it even more. Tenryu/Hashimoto was pretty much everything I wanted it to be and I'm now even more psyched for the rematch in New Japan. How many guys in wrestling history can pull of "epic heavyweight slugfest" as well as those two? Choshu, Kawada...Takayama? Just an amazing pay off to all of the abuse they've been hurling at each other in tags leading up to it. Bret/Perfect, Barry/Scorp and Marty/Doink were all really great and all feel like potential top 10 US matches of the year. I think Bret/Perfect is a definite step down from Vader/Sting, but right now it's probably my #2 match from the States. I watched Doink/Marty last year and liked it then, but I enjoyed it way more this time. The Horsemen/Blonds tag from the Clash is a match I love, but it's almost entirely for the atmosphere. I watched it months ago and thought it was a legit great match, but this time what they were actually doing in the ring didn't blow me away at all. I get a huge kick out of Flair in the first fall, but nothing else (in terms of "work") is terribly special. Need to re-watch a few things, like Benoit/Samurai and Funk/Gilbert. New Japan juniors stuff isn't my cup of tea anymore, but I wasn't paying a great deal of attention to Benoit/Samurai in the first place and it's been too long since I last saw it to go off memory. Muta/Kabuki wasn't a great match by any means, but I enjoyed it WAY more than I thought I would. Basically shtick the entire time, but my looooow expectations probably helped it big time.

KB8 · December 21, 2011

July:

1. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 7/29/93)

2. Ciclon Ramirez vs. Felino (CMLL 7/9/93)

3. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 7/2/93)

4. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Masa Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 7/14/93)

5. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama (AJ 7/9/93)

6. Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWFI 7/18/93)

7. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 7/29/93)

8. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi (AJ 7/19/93)

9. Great Sasuke vs. Super Delphin (M-Pro 7/24/93)

10. Sakie Hasegawa, Takako Inoue, Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Cuty Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (JWP Thunderqueen 7/31/93)

11. Bart Vale vs. Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG 7/21/93)

12. Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty (RAW 7/19/93)

13. Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Ted DiBiase & IRS (Superstars 7/17/93)

14. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs. Hollywood Blonds & Barry Windham (WCWSN 7/3/93)

15. Marty Jannetty vs. Mr. Hughes (Challenge 7/18/93)

16. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman vs. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma (Beach Blast 7/18/93)

17. Great Sasuke & Sato vs. Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa (M-Pro 7/26/93)

18. Yokozuna vs. Crush (RAW 7/12/93)

19. Jerry Lawler vs. Brian Christopher (USWA 7/10/93)

20. Road Warrior Hawk vs. Eddie Gilbert (NWA Grand Slam 7/10/93)

This might have been my favourite month so far. Really, there is just so much good stuff from July. I'm probably in the minority in liking Hansen/Kawada from 2/28 more than Hansen/Kobashi, but both are in my top 5 for the year and both are tremendous matches that flat out smoke most things in wrestling history. Felino/Ramirez was as great as I remembered it being. Does anybody have a better tope than Ciclon Ramirez? The 7/14 WAR v New Japan tag is probably my straight up favourite match on the whole set at this point. Tenryu was incredible in it; just a total prick to Chono and Fujinami at every turn. Heading into August, knowing what's still to come, I really can't see anybody knocking Tenryu off as my WOTY. Kawada and Hansen round out my top 3 at the moment, but Tenryu has just been phenomenal in everything and is also in 6 of the matches in my top 20 (including my #1). I spoke about the Thunderqueen match in its thread already. I "get it" as a match...it's just not a style I care for all that much.

JKWebb · January 14, 2019

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)

JKWebb · July 3, 2019

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

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