Matches of the Month

[Loss]

I should have done this as an ongoing thing like I am doing for 1993, but I will post it retroactively:

 

January:

 

#1 - Shinjiro Otani vs El Samurai (NJPW 01/21/96) ****3/4

#2 - Vader vs Antonio Inoki (NJPW 01/04/96) ***1/2

#3 - Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa vs W*ING Kanemura & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga & Hidoh (FMW 01/10/96) ***1/2

#4 - Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta (AJPW 01/22/96) ***1/2

#5 - Psicosis vs Ultraman (AAA 01/18/96) ***1/2

#6 - Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 01/04/96) ***1/2

#7 - PG-13 vs Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong (USWA TV 01/20/96) ***

#8 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 01/31/96) ***

#9 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki (NJPW 01/04/96) ***

#10 - Aja Kong vs Combat Toyota (FMW 01/10/96) ***

#11 - Juventud Guerrera & Psicosis vs Volador & El Mexicano (AAA 01/12/96)

#12 - Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (WCW Monday Nitro 01/08/96)

#13 - Sabu vs Stevie Richards (ECW House Party 01/05/96)

#14 - Smoking Gunns vs Psycho Sid & 1-2-3 Kid vs Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs Razor Ramon & Savio Vega (WWF Monday Night RAW 01/01/96)

#15 - Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan (WCW Monday Nitro 01/29/96)

#16 - Sting & Lex Luger vs Harlem Heat (WCW Monday Nitro 01/22/96)

#17 - Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert vs PG-13 (USWA TV 01/06/96)

#18 - Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan (WCW Monday Nitro 01/01/96)

#19 - Public Enemy vs The Gangstas (ECW House Party 01/05/96)

#20 - Brian Pillman vs Eddy Guerrero (WCW Clash of the Champions XXXII 01/23/96)

#21 - Ric Flair vs Sting (WCW Monday Nitro 01/15/96)

#22 - Tracy Smothers vs JC Ice (USWA TV 01/27/96)

#23 - Vader vs Savio Vega (WWF Monday Night RAW 01/22/96)

#24 - Tracy Smothers vs JC Ice (USWA TV 01/27/96)

#25 - Ric Flair vs Randy Savage (WCW Monday Nitro 01/22/96)

[Loss]

February:

 

#1 - El Hijo del Santo & El Dandy & Dos Caras vs Blue Panther & Apolo Dantes & Emilio Charles Jr (CMLL 02/16/96) ****

#2 - Black Tiger & El Samurai & Gran Hamada vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto & Dean Malenko (NJPW 02/25/96) ****

#3 - Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Yoji Anjo (NJPW 02/25/96) ***1/2

#4 - Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (WWF In Your House VI 02/18/96) ***1/2

#5 - Jushin Liger & Black Tiger vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 02/15/96) ***1/2

#6 - PG-13 vs Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong (USWA TV 02/17/96) ***1/2

#7 - El Dandy & El Hijo del Santo & Silver King vs Negro Casas & Apolo Dantes & El Satanico (CMLL 02/10/96) ***1/2

#8 - 2 Cold Scorpio vs Sabu (ECW Cyberslam 02/17/96) ***1/4

#9 - Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito & Yumi Fukawa vs Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue & Chapparita Asari & Tomoko Watanabe (AJW 02/12/96) ***1/4

#10 - 1-2-3 Kid vs Hakushi (WWF Monday Night RAW 02/05/96) ***1/4

#11 - Ric Flair vs Randy Savage (WCW SuperBrawl VI 02/11/96) ***

#12 - Mitsuhiro Matsunaga & W*ING Kanemura & Hido vs Masato Tanaka & Ricky Fuji & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/23/96)

#13 - Jushin Liger vs Black Tiger (NJPW 02/03/96)

#14 - Ric Flair vs Randy Savage (WCW Monday Nitro 02/19/96)

#15 - Randy Savage vs Chris Benoit (WCW Monday Nitro 02/05/96)

#16 - Jerry Lawler & Brian Christopher vs Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich (USWA TV 02/10/96)

#17 - Masahito Kakihara & Hiromitsu Kanehara & Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs Yuji Nagata & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW 02/03/96)

#18 - Lex Luger vs Eddy Guerrero (WCW Saturday Night 02/03/96)

#19 - Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck vs The Eliminators (ECW Big Apple Blizzard Blast 02/03/96)

#20 - Sabu & Mens Teoh & Shiryu vs Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Hanzo Nakajima (All Star Promotions 02/05/96)

#21 - Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Davey Boy Smith & Yokozuna (WWF Monday Night RAW 02/05/96)

#22 - Hulk Hogan vs Arn Anderson (WCW Monday Nitro 02/05/96)

[Loss]

March:

 

#1 - El Hijo del Santo & Atlantis & El Dandy & Lizmark vs Blue Panther & Felino & Dr Wagner Jr & Negro Casas (CMLL 03/15/96) ****1/2

#2 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJPW 03/31/96) ****

#3 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 03/31/96) ****

#4 - Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs Taka Michinoku & Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro 03/16/96) ****

#5 - Manami Toyota vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 03/20/96) ***3/4

#6 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW 03/01/96) ***3/4

#7 - Psicosis vs Ultraman (AAA 03/16/96) ***3/4

#8 - Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Wrestlemania XII (03/31/96) ***3/4

#9 - Jushin Liger vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 03/17/96) ***1/2

#10 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 03/16/96) ***1/2

#11 - Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Uncensored 03/24/96) ***1/2

#12 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash 03/09/96) ***1/4

#13 - Cactus Jack vs Mikey Whipwreck (ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash 03/09/96) ***1/4

#14 - Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 03/31/96) ***

#15 - Wild Pegasus vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 03/20/96) ***

#16 - Ric Flair vs The Giant (WCW Monday Nitro 03/25/96)

#17 - Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 03/04/96)

#18 - Road Warriors vs Rick & Scott Steiner (WCW Monday Nitro 03/11/96)

#19 - Shawn Michaels vs Leif Cassidy (WWF Monday Night RAW 03/25/96)

#20 - Bret Hart & Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels & Diesel (WWF MSG 03/17/96)

#21 - Sting & Lex Luger vs American Males (WCW Monday Nitro 03/25/96)

#22 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis (AAA 03/01/96)

#23 - Ric Flair vs Sting (WCW Saturday Night 03/02/96)

#24 - Randy Savage vs Fit Finlay (WCW Monday Nitro 03/25/96)

[Loss]

April:

 

#1 - Steve Williams vs Akira Taue (AJPW 04/20/96) ****1/4

#2 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Johnny Ace & Gary Albright (AJPW 04/20/96) ****

#3 - Dynamite Kansai & Takako Inoue vs Mayumi Ozaki & Kyoko Inoue (JWP 04/20/96) ****

#4 - Shawn Michaels vs Diesel (WWF Good Friends Better Enemies 04/28/96) ***1/2

#5 - Jerry Lawler vs Jeff Jarrett (USWA TV 04/20/96) ***1/2

#6 - Sabu vs 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW 04/19/96) ***1/4

#7 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW Battle Formation 04/29/96) ***1/4

#8 - Jushin Liger & El Samurai & Gran Hamada vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto & Taka Michinoku (NJPW 04/05/96) ***1/4

#9 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW Battle Formation 04/29/96) ***1/4

#10 - Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs Aja Kong & Mima Shimoda (AJW 04/09/96)

#11 - El Hijo del Santo vs Felino (CMLL 04/05/96)

#12 - Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Saturday Night 04/27/96)

#13 - Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Monday Nitro 04/29/96)

#14 - Atlantis & Lizmark & El Hijo del Santo vs El Felino & Bestia Salvaje & El Satanico (CMLL 40th Anniversary Show 04/19/96)

#15 - Bubba Ray Dudley vs 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW 04/12/96)

#16 - Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 04/26/96)

[Loss]

May:

 

#1 - Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyota (FMW 05/05/96) ****3/4

#2 - Mayumi Ozaki vs Takako Inoue (JWP 05/18/96) ****1/4

#3 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 05/23/96) ****1/4

#4 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 05/24/96) ****

#5 - Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW Matter of Respect 05/11/96) ***3/4

#6 - Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Buzariashville Ramazi (RINGS 05/25/96) ***3/4

#7 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (AJPW 05/24/96) ***1/2

#8 - Ric Flair vs Eddy Guerrero (WCW Monday Nitro 05/20/96) ***

#9 - Steve Austin vs Savio Vega (WWF Beware of Dog 05/28/96) ***

#10 - Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF Beware of Dog 05/26/96) ***

#11 - Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Dick Murdoch (PWFG 05/23/96) ***

#12 - Shawn Michaels vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF Monday Night RAW 05/13/96)

#13 - Jushin Liger vs Dean Malenko (WCW Monday Nitro 05/06/96)

#14 - Sting vs Scott Steiner (WCW Monday Nitro 05/27/96)

[Loss]

June:

 

#1 - Wild Pegasus vs Black Tiger (NJPW 06/11/96) ****1/2

#2 - Rey Misterio Jr & Ultimo Dragon vs Heavy Metal & Psicosis (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96) ****1/4

#3 - Dynamite Kansai & Kanako Motoya vs Mayumi Ozaki & Reiko Amano (JWP 06/16/96) ****1/4

#4 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 06/07/96) ****1/4

#5 - Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWFI 06/26/96) ****

#6 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96) ****

#7 - Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW 06/12/96) ***1/2

#8 - Taka Michinoku vs Super Delphin (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96) ***1/2

#9 - Jushin Liger vs Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96) ***1/2

#10 - Steve Austin vs Marc Mero (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96) ***1/2

#11 - Jushin Liger vs Black Tiger (NJPW 06/12/96) ***1/2

#12 - Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96) ***1/4

#13 - Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96) ***1/4

#14 - Black Tiger vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 06/05/96) ***1/4

#15 - Rey Misterio Jr & Perro Aguayo vs La Parka & Ultimo Dragon vs Cibernetico & Pierroth Jr vs Heavy Metal & Psicosis (AAA 06/02/96) ***1/4

#16 - El Dandy & Silver King & Lizmark vs Negro Casas & El Felino & El Satanico (CMLL 06/28/96) ***1/4

#17 - Jushin Liger vs El Samurai (NJPW 06/11/96) ***1/4

#18 - Chris Jericho vs Pit Bull #2 (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96) ***1/4

#19 - El Dandy & Atlantis & Hector Garza vs Apolo Dantes & Dr Wagner Jr & El Felino (CMLL June 1996) ***

[Loss]

July:

 

#1 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 07/09/96) ****1/2

#2 - Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW 07/24/96) ****1/2

#3 - Genchiro Tenryu vs Yoji Anjo (WAR 07/21/96) ****

#4 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 07/15/96) ****

#5 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/07/96) ***3/4

#6 - Vader, Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sid (WWF International Incident 07/21/96) ***1/2

#7 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Monday Nitro 07/08/96) ***1/2

#8 - Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael (WCW Monday Nitro 07/29/96) ***1/4

#9 - Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty (WWF Monday Night RAW 07/01/96) ***1/4

#10 - Dean Malenko vs Disco Inferno (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/07/96) ***

[Loss]

August:

 

#1 - Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 08/24/96) ****1/2

#2 - Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW J*Crown 08/05/96) ****1/2

#3 - Aja Kong vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 08/30/96) ****1/2

#4 - Keiji Muto vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/05/96) ****

#5 - Chris Benoit vs Dean Malenko (WCW Hog Wild 08/10/96) ****

#6 - Ultimo Dragon vs Great Sasuke (NJPW J*Crown 08/05/96) ****

#7 - Masato Tanaka vs W*ING Kanemura (FMW 08/01/96) ***3/4

#8 - Jushin Liger, Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada vs Dick Togo & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 08/18/96) ***3/4

#9 - Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/02/96) ***3/4

#10 - Shiro Koshinaka vs Satoshi Kojima (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/06/96) ***1/2

#11 - Chris Jericho vs 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW Doctor Is In 08/03/96) ***1/2

#12 - Masa Chono vs Keiji Muto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/06/96) ***1/2

#13 - Rey Misterio Jr & Konnan vs Juventud Guerrera & Jerry Estrada (AAA 08/19/96) ***1/2

#14 - Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (WWF Monday Night RAW 08/12/96) ***1/2

#15 - Undertaker vs Mankind (WWF Summerslam 08/18/96) ***1/4

#16 - Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP 08/10/96) ***1/4

#17 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 08/17/96) ***1/4

#18 - Shawn Michaels vs Vader (WWF Summerslam 08/18/96) ***1/4

#19 - Dean Malenko vs Steven Regal (WCW Monday Nitro 08/19/96) ***

#20 - Rob Van Dam vs Doug Furnas (ECW Natural Born Killaz 08/24/96) ***

[Loss]

September:

 

#1 - Shawn Michaels vs Mankind (WWF Mind Games 09/22/96) ****1/2

#2 - Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 09/05/96) ****1/2

#3 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 09/05/96) ****1/4

#4 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Genichiro Tenryu (UWFI 09/11/96) ****1/4

#5 - Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito (AJW 09/28/96) ****1/4

#6 - Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 09/25/96) ****

#7 - Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs Terry Funk & Gladiator (FMW 09/24/96) ****

#8 - Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW 09/23/96) ****

#9 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW 09/23/96) ****

#10 - Steven Regal vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 09/21/96) ***3/4

#11 - Masahito Kakihara vs Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFI 09/30/96) ***3/4

#12 - Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & NWO Sting vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Sting (WCW Fall Brawl 09/15/96) ***1/4

#13 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama & Satoru Asako vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 09/28/96) ***1/4

[Loss]

October:

 

#1 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/18/96) ****1/2

#2 - Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Tiger Mask IV & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Shiryu & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 10/10/96) ****1/2

#3 - Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono (BattlARTS 10/30/96) ****1/4

#4 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta (WAR 10/11/96) ****

#5 - Ultimo Dragon vs Great Sasuke (WAR 10/11/96) ****

#6 - Billy Scott vs Kenichi Yammamoto (UWFI 10/23/96) ****

#7 - Devil Masami & Kyoko Inoue vs Dynamite Kansai & Aja Kong (JWP 10/13/96) ***3/4

#8 - Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 10/25/96) ***1/4

#9 - Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Hikari Fukuoka & Hiromi Yagi vs Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa & Candy Okutsu & Commando Bolshoi (JWP 10/13/96) ***1/4

#10 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis (WAR 10/11/96) ***1/4

#11 - Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani & Yuji Nagata (NJPW 10/25/96) ***1/4

#12 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/27/96) ***1/4

#13 - Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Shiryu vs Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji (Michinoku Pro 10/19/96) ***1/4

#14 - Steve Austin vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF Buried Alive 10/20/96) ***1/4

#15 - Undertaker vs Mankind (WWF Buried Alive 10/20/96) ***1/4

#16 - Keiji Muto & Rick Steiner vs Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima (NJPW 10/25/96) ***

#17 - Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong (AJW 10/06/96)

#18 - Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin (WWF Monday Night RAW 10/14/96)

#19 - Shane Douglas vs Mikey Whipwreck (ECW 10/18/96)

[Loss]

November:

 

#1 - El Dandy vs Black Warrior (CMLL 11/02/96) ****3/4

#2 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/29/96) ****3/4

#3 - El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr vs El Dandy & Negro Casas & Hector Garza (CMLL 11/29/96) ****3/4

#4 - El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr vs Negro Casas & El Dandy & Hector Garza (CMLL 11/22/96) ****1/2

#5 - Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Survivor Series 11/17/96) ****1/2

#6 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 11/22/96) ****1/2

#7 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Ultimo Dragon (WCW World War 3 11/24/96) ****1/4

#8 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 11/16/96) ****1/4

#9 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot (AJPW 11/22/96) ***3/4

#10 - Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Super Delphin vs Dick Togo, Mens Teoh & Shiryu (Michinoku Pro 11/12/96) ***3/4

#11 - Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs The Eliminators (ECW November To Remember 11/16/96) ***1/2

#12 - Steve Austin vs Mankind (WWF Monday Night RAW 11/18/96) ***1/4

[Loss]

December:

 

#1 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96) *****

#2 - Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 12/16/96) ****1/2

#3 - El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas vs El Dandy (CMLL 12/06/96) ****1/2

#4 - Great Sasuke & Masato Yakashiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Gran Hamada & Super Delphin vs Taka Michinoku & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki (Inoki Festival 12/01/96) ****1/2

#5 - Katsumi Usuda & Takeshi Ono vs Daisuke Ikeda & Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 12/25/96) ****1/4

#6 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Genichiro Tenryu (WAR 12/13/96) ****1/4

#7 - Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 12/09/96) ****

#8 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (UWFI 12/25/96) ****

#9 - Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki (BattlARTS 12/04/96) ***1/2

#10 - Steven Regal vs Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/16/96) ***1/4

#11 - Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong (AJW 12/08/96) ***

#12 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFI 12/27/96)

#13 - Flash Funk vs Leif Cassidy (WWF It's Time 12/15/96)

#14 - Ultimo Dragon vs Dean Malenko (WCW Starrcade 12/29/96)

#15 - Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 12/01/96)

#16 - Lex Luger vs The Giant (WCW Starrcade 12/29/96)

#17 - Jushin Liger vs Rey Misterio Jr (WCW Starrcade 12/29/96)

[KB8]

January:

 

 

1. Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai (NJ 1/21/96)

2. Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta (AJW 1/22/96)

3. Vader vs. Antonio Inoki (NJ 1/4/96)

4. PG-13 vs. Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong (USWA 1/20/96)

5. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (NJ 1/4/96)

6. Aja Kong vs. Combat Toyota (FMW 1/10/96)

7. Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa vs. W*ING Kanemura, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga & Hidoh (Barbed Wire Spider Net Double Hell Glass Death Match) (FMW 1/10/96)

8. Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (Nitro 1/8/96)

9. Ric Flair vs. Sting (Nitro 1/15/96)

10. Sabu vs. Stevie Richards (ECW 1/5/96)

11. Rey Mysterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera (Cage Match) (AAA 1/31/96)

12. Psicosis vs. Ultraman (AAA 1/18/96)

13. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (Nitro 1/29/96)

14. Jerry Lawler vs. Tommy Rich (USWA 1/13/96)

15. JC Ice vs. Tracy Smothers (USWA 1/27/96)

16. Sting & Lex Luger vs. Harlem Heat (Nitro 1/22/96)

17. Juventud Guerrera & Psicosis vs. Volador & El Mexicano (AAA 1/12/96)

18. Smoking Gunns vs. Psycho Sid & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna (RAW Bowl) (RAW 1/1/96)

19. Vader vs. Savio Vega (RAW 1/22/96)

20. Brian Pillman vs. Eddy Guerrero (Clash 1/23/96)

21. Public Enemy vs. The Gangstas (Public Enemy Farewell) (ECW 1/5/96)

22. Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert vs. PG-13 (USWA 1/6/96)

23. Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair (Nitro 1/22/96)

24. Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (Nitro 1/1/96)

25. Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Liger (NJ 1/4/96)

 

 

Some of the stuff down towards the bottom has pretty much vanished from my memory (Liger/Koji seems really low, but that's a match that I've never much liked and it stands out more for that reason as opposed to being "worse" than something like Savage/Flair), but I really liked everything in the top 13 for one reason or another. The Psicosis/Ultraman match is a train wreck, but Psicosis was doing so much crazy shit that I couldn't not enjoy it on some level. If I'm able to whip up a top 100 like Loss did at the end, I imagine Ohtani/Sammy will be somewhere around the top 20.

[KB8]

Finally finished February, although it's been ages since I watched some of the matches and remember next to nothing about stuff like Liger/Black Tiger, the shooty multi-man match from 2/3, Flair/Savage from Superbrawl, etc. If I rip off Loss and do a top 100 at the end I'll have to re-watch some stuff, anyway. From what I can remember:

 

 

1. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu (Cyberslam 2/17/96)

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (PPV 2/18/96)

3. Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs. Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama (NJ 2/25/96)

4. Manami Toyota, Mariko Yoshida, Kaoru Ito & Yumi Fukawa vs. Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, Chapparita Asari, Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa (Handicap Captains Fall Match) (AJW 2/12/96)

5. El Hijo del Santo, El Dandy & Dos Caras vs. Blue Panther, Apolo Dantes & Emilio Charles Jr. (CMLL 2/16/96)

6. El Dandy, El Hijo Del Santo & Silver King vs. Negro Casas, Apolo Dantes & El Satanico (CMLL 2/10/96)

7. PG-13 vs. Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong (USWA 2/17/96)

8. 1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi (RAW 2/5/96)

9. Jushin Liger & Black Tiger vs. Shinjiro Ohtani & Koji Kanemoto (NJ 2/15/96)

10. Lex Luger vs. Eddy Guerrero (WCWSN 2/3/96)

11. Black Tiger & El Samurai & Gran Hamada vs. Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto & Dean Malenko (NJ 2/25/96)

12. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage (Nitro 2/19/96)

13. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, W*ING Kanemura & Hido vs. Masato Tanaka, Ricky Fuji & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (War Games) (FMW 2/23/96)

14. Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson (Nitro 2/12/96)

 

 

A few matches really shocked me from this month. I didn't know what to expect out of Sabu/Scorp, but it was awesome and definitely my favourite Sabu match ever...probably my favourite Scorp match, too. That joshi tag is something I didn't have much desire to watch beforehand, but I totally dug it. Maybe it was just a "stars align" type thing where I was in the right mood to watch it, I don't know, but I really liked it regardless. Hashimoto was amazing in the 2/15 tag. Wasn't necessarily "big match" Hashimoto, but he looked like the baddest motherfucker walking and it's mesmerising watching him take no shit from anybody. shoe made a point in Dylan's Buddy Rose thread where he said Buddy had the "Jordan factor." You're just drawn to him and want to watch him because there's always the potential for him to do something amazing. I love that analogy, and I'm stealing it and applying it to Hashimoto, because that dude fucking HAD it.

[KB8]

Finished March, but I took a break at some point and don't really remember everything very well. Fuck it.

 

 

1. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (AJ 3/31/96)

2. El Hijo Del Santo, Atlantis, El Dandy y Lizmark vs. Blue Panther, Felino, Dr. Wagner y Negro Casas (CMLL 3/15/96)

3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 3/31/96)

4. Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs. Super Delphin & Taka Michinoku & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro 3/16/96)

5. Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay (Uncensored 3/24/96)

6. Roddy Piper vs. Goldust (Hollywood Backlot Brawl) (Mania 3/31/96)

7. Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid (RAW 3/4/96)

8. Rey Misterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera (2/3 falls) (ECW 3/9/96)

9. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Ironman Match) (Mania 3/31/96)

10. Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani (NJ 3/17/96)

11. Cactus Jack vs. Mikey Whipwreck (ECW 3/9/96)

12. Shawn Michaels vs. Leif Cassidy (RAW 3/25/96)

13. Rey Misterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera (AAA 3/16/96)

14. Psicosis vs. Ultraman (AAA 3/16/96)

15. Road Warriors vs. Rick & Scott Steiner (Nitro 3/11/96)

16. Manami Toyota vs. Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 3/20/96)

17. Bret Hart & Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels & Diesel (MSG 3/17/96)

18. Ric Flair vs. The Giant (Nitro 3/25/96)

19. Wild Pegasus vs. Shinjiro Otani (NJ 3/20/96)

20. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 3/1/96)

21. Finlay vs. Randy Savage (Nitro 3/25/96)

22. Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW 3/31/96)

23. Ric Flair vs. Sting (WCWSN 3/2/96)

24. Sting & Lex Luger vs. Marcus Bagwell & Scotty Riggs (Nitro 3/25/96)

25. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (AAA 3/1/96)

 

 

Top three matches there are my working top three for the year. I liked Kawada/Taue a bit more because, even though it went longer, they rolled out way less in terms of bombs down the stretch than Misawa/Kobashi and still got the same molten reactions for nearfalls. The build to the powerbomb was really terrific. The CMLL match from 3/15 was awesome. All star line-up that didn't disappoint. Dandy and Casas have looked exceptional in everything they've been in so far, to the point where I'd say they're arguably two of the three best in the world at this stage. The Backlot brawl from 'Mania was so much fun. Piper threw one of the fucking BEST punches ever. Couldn't really get into Toyota/Hasegawa and struggled even more to get into Toyota/Kyoko. The constant momentum shifts just take me out of it. I get that it's part and parcel with a lot of the style, but I've resigned myself to the fact that the style isn't really for me (and it never really has been).

[KB8]

And April (pretty fuggin' great month, btw):

 

 

1. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 4/29/96)

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (No Holds Barred) (PPV 4/28/96)

3. Steve Williams vs. Akira Taue (AJ 4/20/96)

4. Jushin Liger, El Samurai & Gran Hamada vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, Koji Kanemoto & Taka Michinoku (NJ 4/5/96)

5. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Johnny Ace & Gary Albright (AJ 4/20/96)

6. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 4/29/96)

7. Too Cold Scorpio v. Sabu (ECW 4/19/96)

8. Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (Parking Lot Brawl) (Nitro 4/29/96)

9. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 4/26/96)

10. Sabu vs. Mikey Whipwreck (ECW 4/13/96)

11. Great Muta vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (NJ 4/29/96)

12. Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam (ECW 4/20/96)

13. Bubba Dudley v. Too Cold Scorpio (ECW 4/12/96)

14. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Felino (CMLL 4/5/96)

15. Atlantis & Lizmark, El Hijo del Santo vs. El Felino, Bestia Salvaje & El Satanico (CMLL 4/19/96)

16. Jerry Lawler vs. Jeff Jarrett (USWA 4/20/96)

17. Aja Kong & Mima Shimoda vs. Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito (AJW 4/9/96)

18. Jushin Liger vs. Great Sasuke (NJ 4/29/96)

19. Dynamite Kansai & Takako Inoue vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Kyoko Inoue (JWP 4/20/96)

20. Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (WCWSN 4/27/96)

21. Sting & Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair & The Giant (Nitro 4/22/96)

22. Shane Douglas vs. Raven (ECW 4/20/96)

23. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (WAR 4/19/96)

24. Ric Flair vs. The Giant (Nitro 4/29/96)

 

 

The top 6 there are all in my working top 20 right now, with Takada/Hashimoto and Shawn/Diesel being my working #1 and #2 respectively. I don't know if I'd say Shawn/Diesel is "technically better" (or something) than Williams/Taue or even the All Japan six-man, but every time I watch it I like it a little more, when every time I expect to like it less. Hash/Takada is pretty much the perfect Dome main event. Just an incredible sub-15 minute match. I don't particularly like Takada in most situations, but he has an undeniable aura that adds a lot to an already big time situation. Takada rifling off kicks to Hash's chest and shoulder and Hashimoto responding by blasting him right in the liver was amazing. That spot where Takada is throwing big kicks to Hashimoto's head, shoving him back a bit to create some distance to throw the big home run kick only for Hash to duck and hit a sweep kick right to the knee...man, that is probably my favourite spot on the entire yearbook. Tenryu/Fujinami is a Hell of a way to introduce Tenryu into things for the year. Awesome sub-10 minute match. April is also the month that had me really turning the corner on ECW, and particularly Sabu. I'm not a huge Sabu fan, but he went from a guy that I only really cared to watch when he was working opposite Scorpio to a guy I actively looked forward to seeing no matter who he was against. He's in three matches from April and I liked all of them. Thought the Scorp match was a step below their Cyberslam match, but that one is just outside my working top 5 for the year, so it's a high bar. I even really liked the Van Dam match to an extent, and I don't have much desire to watch RVD at all these days. Scorp has also looked like one of the best guys in the US so far. Basically, the April '96 footage really sold me on Will's ECW set, which I went ahead and bought last night. It was something I always intended to pick up at some point, but it wasn't anything I was in any hurry to get to. Now I'm pretty excited about diving into way more ECW. That was definitely not the case a month or two ago. Just another reason why these yearbooks are so good.

[KB8]

So it's almost been a year, but I got through May!

 

 

1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 5/23/96)

2. Megumi Kido vs. Combat Toyota (FMW 5/5/96)

3. Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW 5/11/96)

4. Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega (Caribbean Strap Match) (WWF 5/28/96)

5. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Dick Murdoch (PWFG 5/23/96)

6. Shawn Michaels vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (RAW 5/13/96)

7. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 5/24/96)

8. Ric Flair & Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson & Eddy Guerrero (WCW 5/19/96)

9. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Buzariashvili Ramazi (RINGS 5/25/96)

10. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (AJ 5/24/96)

11. The Gangstas & Tommy Dreamer vs. The Eliminators & Brian Lee (ECW 5/11/96)

12. Ric Flair vs. Eddy Guerrero (Nitro 5/20/96)

13. Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam (ECW 5/11/96)

14. Sting & Lex Luger vs. Meng & Barbarian (Nitro 5/20/96)

15. Volk Han vs. Hans Nyman (RINGS 5/25/96)

16. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Takako Inoue (JWP 5/18/96)

17. Cactus Jack vs. W*ING Kanemura (FMW 5/5/96)

18. Sting vs. Scott Steiner (Nitro 5/27/96)

19. Brian Christopher & Flex Kavana vs. Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee (USWA 5/25/96)

20. Bill Dundee & Jerry Lawler vs. Cyberpunks (USWA 5/18/96)

21. Dean Malenko vs. Jushin Liger (Nitro 5/6/96)

22. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (Cage Match) (MSG 5/19/96)

23. Terry Funk & Mr. Pogo vs. Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka (FMW 5/5/96)

 

 

Honestly, I've forgotten about half of the stuff there at this point, but I can at least remember enough about the best/my favourite stuff for the purposes of a top 100 of the year if I do one (whenever I finish the whole thing...could be a while). The 5/23 All Japan tag is my #2 MOTY right now behind Hashimoto/Takada and is just a killer tag match. Shawn/HHH probably looks ludicrously high and some people will think I'm nuts for having it above Kawada/Kobashi, but I thought it was a super cool TV match and the best thing they've ever done together. That Flair/Savage v Eddy/Arn tag is just a blast. Only goes about 6 minutes bell to bell, but the whole thing is one of my favourite "overall packages" of the year. I've always enjoyed the hell out of it. Touched on Sabu/RVD in the RVD thread -- I was stunned at how much I got out of those matches going through this yearbook. They're trainwrecks, but they're awfully entertaining trainwrecks.

 

Hopefully I can knock June out in less than 11 months. Hopefully I can knock the whole thing out in less than 11 years.

[Zenjo]

Hopefully I can knock June out in less than 11 months. Hopefully I can knock the whole thing out in less than 11 years.

At this rate none of us will be alive when you've finished all the 90's yearbooks. But it's not going anywhere, and what's another year when watching 17 year old matches?

[KB8]

Hopefully I can knock June out in less than 11 months.

 

Nope. 16 months.

 

I've said this for every month I've ranked, but there's stuff that I remember nothing about because it's been so long since I've seen it (and it's even longer than usual for June). Still, I started this thing, so I'm gonna finish it...eventually (and my tardiness in doing so should not take away from how awesome these yearbooks are).

 

1. Wild Pegasus vs Black Tiger (NJPW 06/11/96)

2. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWFI 06/26/96)

3. Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW 06/12/96)

4. Jushin Liger vs Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96)

5. El Dandy & Silver King & Lizmark vs Negro Casas & El Felino & El Satanico (CMLL 06/28/96)

6. Chris Benoit v Kevin Sullivan (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96)

7. Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96)

8. Steve Austin vs Marc Mero (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96)

9. Rey Misterio Jr & Ultimo Dragon vs Heavy Metal & Psicosis (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96)

10. Black Tiger vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 06/05/96)

11. El Dandy & Atlantis & Hector Garza vs Apolo Dantes & Dr Wagner Jr & El Felino (CMLL June 1996)

12. Raven v Terry Gordy (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96)

13. Sabu v Rob Van Dam (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96)

14. Taka Michinoku vs Super Delphin (NJPW Skydiving J 06/17/96)

15. Jushin Liger vs Black Tiger (NJPW 06/12/96)

16. Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96)

17. Chris Jericho vs Pit Bull #2 (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96)

18. Dynamite Kansai & Kanako Motoya vs Mayumi Ozaki & Reiko Amano (JWP 06/16/96)

19. Sting & Lex Luger v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (WCW Nitro 06/10/96)

20. Sting v Steven Regal (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96)

21. Jushin Liger vs El Samurai (NJPW 06/11/96)

22. Rey Misterio Jr & Perro Aguayo vs La Parka & Ultimo Dragon vs Cibernetico & Pierroth Jr vs Heavy Metal & Psicosis (AAA 06/02/96)

23. Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96)

 

 

**Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 06/07/96)** -- I remember nothing about this at all. Not a thing. I'd need to re-watch it, so I'll just leave it off altogether.

 

 

One thing I've turned the corner on HUGE since starting this yearbook at some point in the last several years, is the RVD/Sabu match-up. I kind of liken them to those Beyond Wrestling matches where you get guys going out and running through spots for the entire match. There's no pretence of anything else, and taken at face value they can be really fun. Just total "popcorn" matches. RVD/Sabu matches are like that only with chairs and tables and probably a hilarious botch or three for good measure. Watching a bunch of RVD/Sabu matches in a row would probably wear thing, but look at how long it takes me to get through something like this...there's no way I'll watch a bunch of RVD/Sabu matches in a row (unless I take six months in between). The ropes break in the match from the 22nd and it's maybe the craziest of all their matches just because of that. It's hard enough doing that kind of lunatic shit with functioning ring ropes, never mind broken ones.

 

Rey/Malenko is a match-up I don't love, but I really liked the GAB match, probably more than I ever have before. Malenko is really good in control, and working the arm means Rey can still jump around and hit his highspots without it looking like he's blatantly no-selling (which is what would've been the case if Malenko worked the leg). Loss covered the booking of this in the actual thread for it, and yeah, it was really good in getting Rey over without giving away too much of what he can do. Still think Benoit/Sullivan is a shit ton of fun. Dusty's call is phenomenal, of course. Regal pretty much smothers Sting for the entirety of their match, and it's good stuff, but then Sting comes back and wins and that's that.

 

Pegasus/Tiger is my #2 MOTY halfway in. Just an outstanding match, probably the best in Benoit's career and not far off the best in Eddie's. Amazing performances from both guys, both on a micro and macro level. Little things like Eddie not being able to climb the ropes properly because he's been in a sleeper hold most of the match, the way he has to shake the cobwebs at points, Benoit taking advantage of the lapse in concentration, etc. All great stuff.

 

I started July this morning. We'll see if I finish it before 2015.

[KB8]

I never finished July before 2015, but I did finish August before 2016!

 

 

July:

 

1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 7/9/96)

2. Akira Taue v Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 7/24/96)

3. Shawn Michaels, Sid & Ahmed Johnson v Vader, Owen Hart & British Bulldog (WWF In Your House 9: International Incident, 7/21/96)

4. Genichiro Tenryu v Yoji Anjoh (WAR, 7/21/96)

5. Volk Han v Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 7/16/96)

6. Dean Malenko v Rey Misterio Jr. (WCW Nitro, 7/8/96)

7. Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage v Scott Hall & Kevin Nash (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/7/96)

8. Rey Misterio Jr. v Psicosis (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/7/96)

9. Ric Flair, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael v Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage (WCW Nitro, 7/26/96)

10. Shawn Michaels v Marty Jannetty (WWF RAW, 7/1/96)

11. Dean Malenko v Disco Inferno (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/7/96)

12. Juventud Guerrera v Rey Misterio Jr. (AAA, 7/15/96)

13. Chris Jericho v Shane Douglas v 2 Cold Scorpio v Pitbull #2 (ECW, 7/13/96)

14. Dynamite Kansai & Cutie Suzuki v Hikari Fukuoka & Kaoru (JWP, 7/7/96)

 

As usual there's some stuff there that I don't remember all that well because I watched it months ago. Like, there's a Benoit/Arn/Mongo v Sting/Luger/Savage six-man from the 7/22 Nitro that I don't remember a thing about. Month wasn't necessarily as strong from an in-ring standpoint as others, but the nWo storyline has kicked into gear and the 7/29 angle was just off the charts great. I've watched the BatB main event a coupe times in the last year or so, and both times I was surprised at how good it was as an actual match (actually prefer it to the Rey/Psicosis opener, which is a match I seem to like less every time I watch it). It's obviously remembered for the turn and Hogan's venomous post-match promo, but I really dug everything before that as well. Should also mention Sting's promo from the following Nitro, which feels like the best one of his entire career. "You told those fans to stick it. No, Hulk. YOU stick it."

 

I've turned a corner on the Rey/Malenko matches, I think. I mean, I'm not super excited about their Halloween Havoc match, which I remember being my least favourite of them all when I watched them for the SmarksChoice WCW poll, but I liked the GAB match more than I did before and I thought the Nitro match was really good as well. Rey/Juvi from AAA was alright, but I drifted at points and it mostly felt like Konnan booking ECW in AAA and if I wanted to watch a Rey/Juvi ECW match I'd just watch, you know, their ECW matches. Juvi's moonsault into the barricade was completely insane, though.

 

Han/Kohsaka and Tenryu/Anjoh both felt like great teasers of something bigger to come. The former in the sense that they go on to have a lengthier and better match a month later, and the latter in that it's building to the biggest stars of each company facing off (being Tenryu and Takada, obviously). Han is on another level when it comes to grabbing submissions out of nowhere and making standard spots in most regular pro-wrestling matches look lethal in a shoot style setting. There's one bit where he manages to hook in a shoot style figure-four, and it looked totally plausible in the setting. Anjoh acts like a shithead against Tenryu (so, basically acts like Anjoh) and I love Tenryu getting more and more annoyed. You know he'll unload eventually, and when he does it's as nasty and violent as you expect. The WAR/UFWi feud isn't on the same planet as the WAR/NJ feud, but I'm almost as excited about the eventual Tenryu/Takada match as I was for the eventual Tenryu/Hashimoto match. And I was reeeeeally stoked for that.

 

Multi-man tags are just about my favourite way to watch wrestling at this point, so guys will have to fuck up pretty bad for me not to enjoy one. And nobody fucked up pretty bad in the IHY 9 match so naturally I liked it a ton (more than most, I'd guess). Vader slapping on the weird sleeper hold in the middle made things drag a bit during Shawn's FIP spell, but other than that I thought it was pretty great. Crowd were super into everything as well, especially Sid who they went ballistic for when he came in and cleaned house. I didn't think the 7/9 All Japan tag was quite on the level of the very best AJ stuff of the year so far, but that's a high bar, and it was still great. Kawada was unreal in it, with the way he'd just hate everything to death and abuse Akiyama at every turn. He also does one bit of selling down the stretch that might've been the best bit of "fighting spirit" selling I've ever seen.

 

 

August:

 

1. Aja Kong v Kyoko Inoue (AJW, 8/30/96)

2. Shinya Hashimoto v Riki Choshu (New Japan, 8/2/96)

3. Daisuke Ikeda v Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts, 8/4/96)

4. Undertaker v Mankind (WWF Summerslam, 8/18/96)

5. Volk Han v Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 8/24/96)

6. Shinjiro Ohtani v Ultimo Dragon (New Japan, 8/4/96)

7. Keiji Mutoh v Kazuo Yamazaki (New Japan, 8/2/96)

8. Shawn Michaels v Vader (WWF Summerslam, 8/18/96)

9. Keiji Mutoh v Masa Chono (New Japan, 8/6/96)

10. Shinya Hashimoto v Hiroyoshi Tenzan (New Japan, 8/4/96)

11. Genichiro Tenryu v Naoki Sano (UWFi, 8/17/96)

12. Jushin Liger, Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa v Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki (M-Pro, 8/18/96)

13. W*ING Kanemura v Masato Tanaka (FMW, 8/1/96)

14. Rey Misterio Jr. & Konnan v Juventud Guerrera & Jerry Estrada (AAA, 8/17/96)

15. Rob Van Dam v Doug Furnas (ECW, 8/24/96)

16. Kazuo Yamazaki v Shiro Koshinaka (New Japan, 8/3/96)

17. Keiji Mutoh v Shiro Koshinaka (New Japan, 8/5/96)

18. Sandman & Pitbull #2 v Raven & Shane Douglas (ECW, 8/24/96)

19. Shawn Michaels v Owen Hart (WWF RAW, 8/12/96)

20. Shiro Koshinaka v Satoshi Kojima (New Japan, 8/6/96)

21. Masa Chono v Satoshi Kojima (New Japan, 8/2/96)

22. Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair (WCW Clash of the Champions, 8/15/96)

23. Chris Benoit v Dean Malenko (WCW Hog Wild, 8/10/96)

24. 2 Cold Scorpio v Chris Jericho (ECW, 8/3/96)

25. El Samurai v Great Sasuke (New Japan, 8/4/96)

26. Dynamite Kansai v Mayumi Ozaki (JWP, 8/10/96)

27. Dean Malenko v Steven Regal (WCW Nitro, 8/19/96)

28. Chris Jericho v Sabu (ECW, 8/2/96)

29. Great Sasuke v Ultimo Dragon (New Japan, 8/5/96)

30. Rob Van Dam v Sabu (ECW, 8/3/96)

 

Loaded month, which pretty much had a little bit of everything, and for once I watched all of this stuff recently enough that I can remember it all. The nWo stuff is picking up more and more steam, and Arn's promo the week following the big Nitro angle is absolutely phenomenal. The "you send one of us to the hospital, and we send one of yours to the morgue" line has always stuck with me, but the whole promo is outstanding. Hogan's really starting to loosen up now doing interviews, and that really fits better with the whole nWo attitude than his previous Hulk-Hogan-who's-now-heel promos (which were still good, primarily because they were largely about him hurling abuse at everyone that had the gall to boo him).

 

The G-1 tourney was so great in '96. You had bomb throwing sprints like Kosh/Kojima, slow burners like Mutoh/Chono (which I thought was shockingly good since I don't really like those dudes at all), matches built around finger bending and tonnes of heat stemming from that (anything involving Yamazaki), a slugfest spectacle in Hashimoto/Choshu, and a match built around a leg injury sustained earlier in the tournament (Hash/Tenzan). Whole thing was booked so well that you could buy anybody beating anybody, but that's not to mention smaller things like Yamazaki's hand, Chono being a dick to everyone, Hash's knee injury, Chono coming into the final gassed after the Mutoh match giving a fresh Choshu a minor advantage he wouldn't normally have, etc. Just great stuff all around.

 

Undertaker/Mankind is one of the surprises of the set for me so far. I couldn't remember anything about it other than the stuff with Paul Bearer, but thought everything leading up to it in the boiler room was a ton of fun. So many cool spots, like Mankind trying to squash Undertaker's head against a metal door with a running knee, Undertaker wildly swinging a pipe while Mankind uses a trash can as a makeshift shield, Undertaker chucking Mankind off the ladder, Mankind using a big tube to low blow Undertaker (there was an audible crowd gasp when they knew what was coming), and a bunch of other things I'm probably forgetting. Shawn/Vader was really good as well, even with the unnecessary overbooking, but you can't help but think they've got something better in them. Some of the power spots were awesome, though.

 

Folk will probably think I'm crazy for having the eight minute Ikeda/Ishikawa match as the third best of the month, but that shit was just everything I could ask for in a sub-ten minute match between those guys. Almost all of their 90s matches together have blended in my head at this point, but I'd never seen that one before and it totally blew me away. Han/Kohsaka was excellent and topped their already-very good match from July. Han again makes something standard look fucking deadly by grabbing Kohsaka's arm and just wrenching it over with an arm wringer. Looked like something that'd rip your shoulder clean out. Finish was a Han special. It looks like somebody has him, but even the tiniest opening is enough for him to exploit. For most guys it wouldn't even be considered an opening, but Han clearly isn't most guys.

 

I've found the joshi on the set to be a pretty mixed bag. Some stuff I look at and have low expectations for, like the multi-woman tag from February, yet come out of it being massively surprised...like the multi-woman tag from February. Other stuff I go into thinking it could work for me, and come out of it...not exactly disappointed, because my expectations are never all that high for joshi anyway, but sometimes it winds up doing absolutely nothing for me (or I wind up hating it). I pretty much can't stand Ozaki at this point. I find Kansai to be a piss poor Aja, which is probably unfair, but I can't focus long enough on anything she does to be able to see if I might want to change my opinion of her. I'm too much of an OCD freak to skip anything, but any time a JWP match comes on I kind of want to be doing something else. On the flipside of that: Aja/Kyoko. THAT was fucking awesome. I'm almost certain there was a thread here a few years ago that Loss started where his goal was to throw up some recommendations for people that don't normally like joshi, and this match was one he mentioned. It's also a match someone else I was talking to said I'd enjoy. And well, yeah, I enjoyed it a whole lot. It's about as close to heavyweight slugfest as I've seen in joshi in a long time...maybe ever, and it was far more in line with what I want to watch. On the whole I've found AJW easier to sit through than JWP. I'm not sure if that's a stylistic issue, though, or just that AJW has wrestlers I like more (most of the JWP seems to involve Ozaki).

 

Hogan/Flair from the Clash wasn't all that good or anything, but it was kinda interesting seeing them have a match with their traditional roles reversed. Hogan threatening to punch a woman in the crowd had Tony flabbergasted. It didn't really work on the whole, since Hogan still Hulks Up and Flair even begs off and the crowd still don't totally know how to react, but it was pretty fun. Last time I watched Benoit/Malenko from Hog Wild I thought it was horseshit, but this time I went in with super low expectations. I also muted the TV and listened to music instead, since the crowd obviously didn't care until the end, and even then they only cared enough to tell them to fuck off. I still didn't particularly like it (El-P says it was wrestled in a vacuum, and that seems like a pretty dead on description), but Benoit is a guy that brings enough intensity (I guess) to a match like this that it doesn't feel like a TOTAL exhibition. I mean, I got the sense they were both at least trying to win rather than just perform a bunch of cool looking wrestling moves. I haven't really enjoyed Jericho at all in '96. Half the time I think he's flat out bad. Guy is just crazy sloppy. I've liked the RVD/Sabu matches waaaaay more than I figured I would, but I'm glad they're teaming up soon and hopefully moving onto something else. Furnas/Van Dam was good. If the Furnas/Kroffat v RVD/Sabu match ever happened I imagine it would've been pretty decent. Maybe.

[KB8]

September had some really awesome, high end stuff:

 

1. Shawn Michaels v Mankind (WWF In Your House 9: Mind Games, 9/22/96)

2. Stan Hansen v Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 9/5/96)

3. Genichiro Tenryu v Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi, 9/11/96)

4. Kiyoshi Tamura v Volk Han (RINGS, 9/25/96)

5. Terry Funk & Mike Awesome v Masato Tanaka & Hayabusa (FMW, 9/24/96)

6. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (All Japan, 9/5/96)

7. Shinya Hashimoto v Steven Regal (New Japan, 9/21/96)

8. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa v Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama & Satoru Asako (All Japan, 9/28/96)

9. Masato Tanaka, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa v W*ING Kenamura, Hideki Hosaka & Hido (FMW, 9/1/96)

10. Shinya Hashimoto v Shiro Koshinaka (New Japan, 9/23/96)

11. Masahito Kakihara v Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFi, 9/30/96)

12. Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & nWo Sting v Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger & Sting (WCW Fall Brawl, 9/15/96)

13. Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan v Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka (New Japan, 9/23/96)

14. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida (AJW, 9/28/96)

15. Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario v Vader & Jim Cornette (WWF RAW, 9/30/96)

16. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael v Kevin Sullivan, Big Bubba, Meng & Barbarian (WCW Nitro, 9/2/96)

17. Steve Austin v Marc Mero (WWF RAW, 9/6/96)

18. Hayabusa v Hisakatsu Oya (FMW, 9/20/96)

19. Jushin Liger v Wild Pegasus (New Japan, 9/23/96)

 

 

Really strong month. The nWo stuff is getting better and better and I really loved the big 9/2 angle with the first real huge brawl.

 

Top four matches there are some of my favourite of the year so far. Shawn/Mankind is still probably my favourite match ever, actually. Hansen/Kobashi is one of the best match-ups ever and really a can't fail prospect. Tenryu/Takada was something I had massive hopes for and it lived up to them completely. Super excited for the rematch. Still think Tamura/Han is the "weakest" of their three matches, yet completely awesome in its own right. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the Funk in FMW tag, but I thought it kinda ruled. The crazy head first bump Hayabusa took on the apron was totally nuts and somehow didn't kill him.

[KB8]

October is in the books.

 

1. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono (Battlarts, 10/30/96)

2. Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 10/25/96)

3. Genichiro Tenryu v Great Muta (WAR, 10/11/96)

4. Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 10/18/96)

5. Dick Togo, Shiryu, Taka Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki & Mens Teioh v Super Delfin, Gran Hamada, Tiger Mask IV, Masato Yakushiji & Gran Naniwa (M-Pro, 10/10/96)

6. The Undertaker v Mankind (WWF In Your House 10: Buried Alive, 10/20/96)

7. Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono v Yuki Ishikawa & Naohiro Hoshikawa (Battlarts, 10/2/96)

8. Aja Kong v Maanami Toyota (AJW, 10/6/96)

9. Steve Austin v HHH (WWF In Your House 10: Buried Alive, 10/20/96)

10. Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani & Yuji Nagata (New Japan, 10/25/96)

11. Devil Masami & Kyoko Inoue v Dynamite Kansai & Aja Kong (JWP, 10/13/96)

12. Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Shiryu vs Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji (M-Pro, 10/19/96)

13. Billy Scott vs Kenichi Yammamoto (UWFi, 10/23/96)

14. Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Halloween Havoc, 10/27/96)

15. Keiji Muto & Rick Steiner vs Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima (New Japan, 10/25/96)

16. Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Hikari Fukuoka & Hiromi Yagi v Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa & Candy Okutsu & Commando Bolshoi (JWP, 10/13/96)

17. Ultimo Draagon v Great Sasuke (WAR, 10/11/96)

18. Shane Douglas v Mikey Whipwreck (ECW, 10/18/96)

19. Jushin Liger v Great Muta (New Japan, 10/20/96)

20. Rey Misterio Jr. v Psicosis (WAR, 10/11/96)

21. Shawn Michaels v Steve Austin (WWF RAW, 10/14/96)

 

 

The 10/30 Battlarts tag was so great. Thought it was a tremendous amalgamation of that kind of shoot style and a US/southern style tag match. Ikeda and Ono were an unbelievable pair of assholes and the moment where Otsuka finally drops Ono with that German suplex to leave Ishikawa to finish Ikeda was one of the best spots of the month. I have no problem calling it a strong MOTYC. Han/Naruse was a totally different kind of shoot style, but awesome in its own right. It's got a clear story to it as well, which makes it a match I'd maybe point to if someone was trying to get into RINGS. Muta/Tenryu was a killer spectacle. I love those kind of Tenryu matches and this one ruled. Kobashi/Kawada is something I would call very good at worst, but I really struggled to stay engaged for the whole hour. That's just where I'm at as a fan at this point, though. I certainly didn't dislike it, and it had some great stuff in it, but as a whole I have no interest in re-watching it any time soon

[KB8]

November had some unreal stuff.

 

1. El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr v El Dandy & Negro Casas & Hector Garza (CMLL, 11/29/96)

2. El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr v Negro Casas & El Dandy & Hector Garza (CMLL, 11/22/96)

3. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 11/29/96)

4. Bret Hart v Steve Austin (WWF Survivor Series, 11/17/96)

5. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (All Japan, 11/16/96)

6. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue v Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (All Japan, 11/22/96)

7. El Dandy v Black Warrior (CMLL, 11/2/96)

8. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot (All Japan, 11/22/96)

9. Steve Austin v Mankind (WWF RAW, 11/18/96)

10. Sabu & Rob Van Dam v The Eliminators (ECW November To Remember, 11/16/96)

11. Rey Misterio Jr. v Ultimo Dragon (WCW World War 3, 11/24/96)

12. Volk Han v Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 11/22/96)

13. Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Super Delphin v Dick Togo, Mens Teoh & Shiryu (M-Pro. 11/12/96)

14. Shawn Michaels v Psycho Sid (WWF Survivor Series, 11/17/96)

15. Taka Michinoku v Hayabusa (FMW, 11/16/96)

16. Nobuhiko Takada & Naoki Sano v Yoji Anjoh & Gerard Gourdeau (UWFi, 11/23/96)

 

 

Hell of a month. Top 4 there all feel like potential top 10 for the whole year. Both CMLL trios were incredible. For a lifetime tecnico, Santo really took to brawling like a psychotic rudo like he'd been doing it his whole career. The rematch was as wild and crazy as anything I've seen in ages and cemented Casas and Dandy's places as two of the five best wrestlers in the world for the year. The 11/29 Misawa/Jun v Kawada/Taue match adds another layer to their story and I'm hyped about re-watching the Tag League final for the first time in a decade. I'd still go with Shawn/Mankind over Bret/Austin as the US MOTY by a shade, but the Mind Games match is my favourite match ever so, you know, take that for what it is. I'm not as high on Dandy/Black Warrior as Loss, but it's an excellent match and the fact I only have it #7 for the month speaks to the strength of its competition.

[JKWebb]

Coming into 1996, and I'm super high on the quality of Nitro and all things WCW.  I noted this about December of 1995, but I really loved the 12-18-1995 match between The Giant & Randy Savage.  Savage was my MVP of WCW in 1995, because I love the matches he had with Flair as well.  I'm coming into to 1996 feeling the same way.  I'm about half into the month of Jan. right now, and he has had two of my favorite matches so far.  Also, to note -- Some of my favorite matches were not included in the YB.  I have been enjoying the Nitros, so just watching those in full as they pop up.  My favorite match in Jan. thus far is Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson on 01/01/1996.  It is a short match, but one I'd classify as a hidden gem.  The following week he teams with Hogan vs. Flair & Arn, which also a fun match.  Then following that, on 01/15/1996 he has another quick but hard hitting and very good match with Lex Luger.  He's really at the top of his game in this era.  One debate that is always fun in wrestling is favorite punchers -- Of course there are the top answers of Lawler & Murdoch & Dundee and others, but I think Sting is pretty underrated puncher.  If you watch the triangle match in Starrcade of 95, just watch the difference between his punches on the top rope vs. Flair compared to Luger's.  I'm not dogging Luger, because I think he is great during this run.  I'm just saying Sting is good striker - this may not even be a debate for those who love the Vader/Sting feud and like watching him chop down the nWo, I'm just saying he doesn't get brought up as much as I think he could in that category.  Sting is also firing on all cylinders at this point.  Also, right on par with the greatest punchers of all-time are Regal's palm strikes.  His match with Hash in 95 blows my mind -- it's so great -- And, he has another one of my favorite matches in Jan. here in 1996 vs. Eddie G. on 01/08/1996.  I'm looking forward to completing Jan. of 1996.  Loving it right now...

Oh man... the 96 Rumble -- Marty J. still with the worst gear.  He was such a good wrestler, but man his gear was SO dated, and actually wouldn't have been good in the 80's anyway... I just don't see how he took himself seriously in that outfit ha. 

I loved the debut of Finlay in Jan. of 1996.  It's a great example of why WCW is and was the best.  They bring in so many of the best talents from around the world.  It truly feels like a "world" promotion with "sports" feel rather than "sports entertainment" and it was just very different than WWF. 

My matches of the month in Jan.

1.  Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai (NJ 1/21/96)

2.  Vader vs. Antonio Inoki (NJ 1/4/96)

3.  Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson 1/1/1996

4.  Ric Flair vs. Sting (Nitro 1/15/96)

5.  Luger & Savage from 1/15/95 and Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (Nitro 1/8/96) were really fun too - I also liked the Stevie Richards/Sabu match from this month - I haven't made it to the Rey cage match yet.... Overall, Jan. of 1996 is leading me to believe that 1996 will top 1991 as my favorite YB.  We shall see...

For Jan., I'll add that the Savage/Flair and Hogan/Flair matches at the end of the month are both really good - also, the Road Warriors return is fun with their first tag back against the Faces of Fear.  I didn't love the Rey cage match as much as I thought I would.  I'm a few weeks into Feb. at this point, and Nitro is still my favorite part of 1996 so far.  ECW is still going strong too.

Rolling through Feb., and WCW and ECW continue to remain at the top as my favorite promotions.  WCW has really been on a roll since December of 1995.  The Brian Pillman stuff in ECW has been fantastic.  As far as in-ring wrestling, really enjoyed some New Japan in Feb. as well.  WWF was really desperate in their approach to talk trash on Ted Turner on these RAWs.  It really made them look bad.  The narrative from WWE was that WCW was trying to drive them out of business and talked trash on the air, but the WWF stuff is just terrible and in my opinion more egregious than what WCW was doing at the time.  Those Billionaire Ted skits are lame. 

Favorite Feb. Matches:

1.  Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs. Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama
2.  Macho Man vs. Ric Flair - 2/19/96

3.  Black Tiger & El Samurai & Gran Hamada vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto & Dean Malenko

4.  HBK vs. Owen from In Your House

3.  I think WCW had a really good run of some good matches here:   Eddie G. vs. Lex Luger,  Macho Man vs. Benoit & others 

I'm coming into March, and I think it is a pretty awesome month.  I just watched Rey Misterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera (2/3 falls) (ECW 3/9/96) and LOVED it.  I also thought the Sting/Flair match from Saturday Night was pretty good too. 

March of 1996 is LOADED:

1.  Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Ironman Match) (Mania 3/31/96) 

2.  Cactus Jack vs. Mikey Whipwreck (ECW 3/9/96) -- This is my favorite Cactus ECW match. I really have gotten into Mikey going through ECW. 

3.  Rey Misterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera (2/3 falls) (ECW 3/9/96)

4,  Undertaker vs. Diesel WM 12

5.  Roddy Piper vs. Goldust (Hollywood Backlot Brawl) (Mania 3/31/96)

6.  Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay (Uncensored 3/24/96)

7.  Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 3/31/96)

8.  Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (AJ 3/31/96)

9. Road Warriors vs. Rick & Scott Steiner (Nitro 3/11/96)

10.  Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs. Super Delphin & Taka Michinoku & Gran Naniwa

11. El Hijo del Santo & Atlantis & El Dandy & Lizmark vs Blue Panther & Felino & Dr Wagner Jr & Negro Casas (CMLL 03/15/96)

12.  Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid (RAW 3/4/96)

13.  Sting & Lex Luger vs. Marcus Bagwell & Scotty Riggs (Nitro 3/25/96)

The WWF Billionaire Ted skits continued to be trash.  It's hard to believe they continued with it.  First, that they think it is funny and they are on par with something like SNL.  Also, it was just lame and felt desperate.  Hogan has been pretty lame still on WCW but everyone else, especially Savage/Flair & Luger/Sting have been one great he really doesn’t matter.  With WCW and ECW on the roll that they are, the great matches coming out of New Japan, and All Japan being All Japan --- 1996 is going to end up top 1991 as my favorite year of the 90's thus far.  For me, Savage and Flair set atop the list of the WOTY candidates at this point.  Week in and week out they are at the top of WCW and haven't lost a step.  I think this might change as the year goes on, but we'll see.  There are so many great/fun matches at this point, it's hard to rank them...Enjoyed the short Finlay/Savage match too...

April Favorites:

New Japan is back to topping the list with a MOTYC for me.  Hash also is making his way into the WOTYC for me as well.  I loved this main event.

1.  Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 4/29/96)

2.  Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (No Holds Barred) (PPV 4/28/96)

3.  Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 4/29/96)

4.  Steve Williams vs. Akira Taue (AJ 4/20/96)

5.  Sabu vs. Mikey Whipwreck (ECW 4/13/96)

6.  Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (Parking Lot Brawl) (Nitro 4/29/96)

7.  Jerry Lawler vs. Jeff Jarrett (USWA 4/20/96)

May Favorites (as I go):

1.  Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 05/24/96) - I think I'm a little higher than some on this match, but to this point in the year it is my MOTY.  I loved it.

2.  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 05/23/96)

3.  The Gangstas & Tommy Dreamer vs. The Eliminators & Brian Lee (ECW 5/11/96)

4.  Ric Flair & Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson & Eddy Guerrero  (WCW 5/19/96)

5.  Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega (Caribbean Strap Match) (WWF 5/28/96)

6.  Ric Flair vs. Eddy Guerrero (Nitro 5/20/96)

7.  Sting & Lex Luger vs. Meng & Barbarian (Nitro 5/20/96)

I enjoyed Ahmed Johnson vs. Vader from 5-27-1996 too - I thought Ahmed was throwing some pretty big bombs - fun big man fight.

Lex Luger had a great 1996.  I know the nWo is coming... but, I feel the opposite about Hogan up to this point.  The Murdoch/Fujiwara match was fun too (from May).  It was really fun to see The Rock's first appearance in Memphis.  Also, Scott Hall made his historic appearance on Nitro.  The angle that brought me back into wrestling as a teenager is about to begin and I'm looking forward to going back through it. 

June:

1.  Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWFI 06/26/96)

2.  Rey Misterio Jr & Ultimo Dragon vs Heavy Metal & Psicosis (World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96) - Rey is so fired up in this.  The crowd is nuts.  It's a really fun match and one of my favorites of the year. 

3.  Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko - Great American Bash 1996 - At this point, I think Rey may be my front runner for WOTY seeing what he has been doing around the world and now his debut in WCW.  I also think Hash is having an amazing 1996. 

4.  Sting v Steven Regal (WCW Great American Bash 06/16/96)

5.  Sting & Lex Luger v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (WCW Nitro 06/10/96) - Hidden Gem! 

6.  Raven v Terry Gordy (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96)

7.  Black Tiger vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 06/05/96)

8.  Sabu v Rob Van Dam (ECW Hardcore Heaven 06/22/96)

9.  Steve Austin vs Marc Mero (WWF King of the Ring 06/23/96)

What a month - Austin 3:16 & GAB 1996! 

July:

Two great PPVs back-to-back for WCW - Two of my all-time favorites...

1.  Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael (WCW Monday Nitro 07/29/96)

2.  Rey Misterio Jr. v Psicosis (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/7/96)

3.  Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage v Scott Hall & Kevin Nash (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/7/96) 

4.  Akira Taue v Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 7/24/96)

5.  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 07/09/96)

6.  Genichiro Tenryu v Yoji Anjoh (WAR, 7/21/96)

August Favorites:

Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/02/96) & Genichiro Tenryu v Naoki Sano (UWFi, 8/17/96)

Mysterio is still my choice for WOTY through August.  He was great in his portion of the Tag with Konan.  Hash is right there for me too.  WCW is still hands down my favorite promotion and the best thing going in 1996.  Throughout this year, I watched the first 25 or so UFC PPVs.  I had seen the TK match vs. Volk Han a few years ago, but it was cool to come back to it with more knowledge of TK and his legend in UFC. 

September:   I do think 1996 will end up being my favorite YB so far.  The nWo storyline really hits, and All Japan and New Japan have been great.  Shawn Michaels is performing at an elite level.  I love every Tenryu match.  It's just a great year.  Savage has a had a super strong year too.  I think he has been so consistent for WCW throughout the year.

Favorites:

1.  Shawn Michaels v Mankind (WWF In Your House 9: Mind Games, 9/22/96)

2.  Stan Hansen v Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 9/5/96)

3.  Genichiro Tenryu v Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi, 9/11/96)

4.  Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & nWo Sting v Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger & Sting (WCW Fall Brawl, 9/15/96) - the match is really good, but this is all about the moment with Sting and the aftermath.  One of my favorite wrestling moment ever. 

5.  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (All Japan, 9/5/96)

I also want to add I really enjoyed the Austin/Jake Roberts match on Raw from September.  It was short but really good for what it was. 

October Favorites:

I loved the Savage/Hogan angle.  WCW will be the promotion of the year.  You just can't get any better than Savage in those types of moments and drawing emotion from the fans into the angle.  Also, I think Rey solidified his case as WOTY with his match vs. Dean Malenko at Halloween Havoc 1996.  I still have two months to go, but based on what he has done all over the world this year, I think I will land with him. 

1.  Genichiro Tenryu v Great Muta (WAR, 10/11/96)

2.  Rey Misterio Jr vs Dean Malenko (WCW Halloween Havoc, 10/27/96)

3.  Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/18/96)

4.  Hogan vs Savage - Halloween Havoc

I have always thought the Austin/Hart match from SS was a classic, but it really clicked with me going through the YB.  I think it’s my US MOTY for 1996.  

Nov Favorites:

1.  Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Survivor Series 11/17/96)

2. El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr vs Negro Casas & El Dandy & Hector Garza (CMLL 11/22/96)

3.  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 11/29/96)

4.  El Hijo del Santo & Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr vs El Dandy & Negro Casas & Hector Garza (CMLL 11/29/96)

5.  Rey Misterio Jr vs Ultimo Dragon (WCW World War 3 11/24/96)

6.  Shawn Michaels v Psycho Sid (WWF Survivor Series, 11/17/96)

7.   Steve Austin v Mankind (WWF RAW, 11/18/96)

December:

I love how strong CMLL came on towards the end of the year. Starrcade 1996 is one my favorite PPVs of this era.  What a great time to be a wrestling fan this was!  The Sting storyline is really kicking by this point too.  I would say that angle is probably the biggest reason I became the lifelong fan I still am today. I can’t remember if it was Nov. or Dec., but it was fun to see Lawler and Dundee throw down again, even if it was a short TV match.

1.  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96)

2.  El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas vs El Dandy (CMLL 12/06/96) 

3.  Nobuhiko Takada vs Genichiro Tenryu (WAR 12/13/96)

4.  Jushin Liger vs Rey Misterio Jr (WCW Starrcade 12/29/96)

5.  Lex Luger vs The Giant (WCW Starrcade 12/29/96)

6.  Hogan vs. Piper - Starrcade 1996 -- Hogan rules the end of 1996.  The heat he gets is off the charts.  He does so many little things so well... just the best heel in the biz by this point.  Piper is also great in the "one more match" veteran role. 

7.  Steven Regal vs Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/16/96)

[JKWebb]

That's a wrap on 1996.  It's definitely my favorite YB so far.  Obviously, WCW (which reignited my fandom in 1996) is the biggest part of this for me.  But, I do think overall it was the most consistent year across the board from WCW, All Japan, WWF, CMLL, New Japan, ECW & I loved so much of what Tenryu and Takada did throughout the year as well. 

YB Rankings:

1.  1996

2.  1991

3.  1990

4.  1992

5.  1995

6.  1994

7.  1993

Promotion of the Year 1996:  WCW

1995:  ECW

1994:  WCW

1993:  All Japan

1992.  WWF

1991:  WWF

1990:  All Japan

I think so many wrestlers had great years in 1996.  Hash, Takada, Hogan's great heel run and game changing moments, Shawn Michaels and his athleticism, AJPW and so on... But, I think the wrestler of the year for me was evolutionary, revolutionary, consistent, and he did it everywhere...

WOTY 1996:   Rey Mysterio Jr.

1995: Mitsuharu Misawa

1994:  Vader

1993: Kenta Kobashi

1992:  Randy Savage

1991:  Randy Savage

1990:  Mitsuharu MIsawa

Match of the Year 1996:  Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96)

1995:  Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 06/09/95)

1994:  Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 06/03/94)

1993:  Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - 7-29-1993

1992:  Sting vs. Vader from Starrcade 1992

1991:  Warrior vs. Savage WM7

1990:  El Dandy vs. El Satanico - 12/14/1990

For the first time, I think I'm going with Austin/Hart from Survivor Series as my US MOTY in 1996.  My other top two matches of the year (outside of the overall MOTY:   Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96) ------ were Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 05/24/96) and El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas vs El Dandy (CMLL 12/06/96).  Other MOTYCs:  Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - 09/05/1996— Shawn/Diesel and Shawn/Mankind - Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael (WCW Monday Nitro 07/29/96) - Rey/Psicosis from BATB and Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 4/29/96).  A few matches I want to call out as personal favorites and because of the moment would probably round out a top 10 or so for me:  BATB 1996 Main Event and even higher on Fall Brawl 1996 Main.  Looking forward to 1997 and watching more of Austin's rise...