1989 to 1998

[NintendoLogic]

Branched off from the Rey thread.

 

To be fair, my perspective is somewhat skewed by the fact that 1989 to 1998 is almost certainly the greatest ten-year period in wrestling history from an in-ring standpoint. Still, I do find it somewhat remarkable that there isn't a single promotion in the world that consistently puts on matches that can reasonably expected to be really high-end. I can't think of the last time that was the case.

Do me a favor. Make a new post discussing that ten year period from 1989 to 1998 and support your opinion with some examples. I would love to branch on a new discussion about the era you are mentioning.

 

When the thought first occurred to me, it didn't strike me as all that controversial. But in the interest of discussion, here's a sample of the acclaimed matches that took place during that period.

 

1989: Flair/Steamboat series, Flair/Funk series, Jumbo/Tenryu series (yes, I know it started earlier), Liger/Sano

1990: Liger/Sano, Jumbo/Misawa (6/8/90 and 9/1/90), MX/Southern Boys, Flair/Luger (Wrestlewar)

1991: Atlantis/Blue Panther, Warrior/Savage, 4/20/91 six-man, Sting/Luger vs. Steiners, Wargames

1992: Dandy/Casas, Dream Rush tag, Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Furnas/Kroffat, Sting/Vader (GAB & Starrcade), Wargames, Liger/Samurai

1993: Hansen/Kawada, Hansen/Kobashi, Hokuto/Kandori, Dreamslam II tag, Tenryu/Hashimoto (6/17/93 and 8/8/93), Sting/Vader strap match

1994: 6/3/94, Bret/Owen (Wrestlemania & Summerslam), HBK/Ramon Ladder Match I, Pegasus/Sasuke

1995: 6/9/95, Misawa/Taue (4/15/95 and 9/10/95), HBK/Ramon Ladder Match II, Rey/Psicosis

1996: Hart/Austin, HBK/Mankind, Rey/Psicosis, RWTL finals, Han/Tamura

1997: Santo/Casas, Hart/Austin, HBK/Taker HIAC, Rey/Eddy, Misawa/Kobashi (1/20/97 and 10/21/97), Han/Tamura (1/22/97 and 9/26/97)

1998: Kobashi/Kawada, Austin/Dude Love, Goldberg/DDP

 

Note that the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list, just what I could come up with off the top of my head. Still, that's a total murderer's row. I'm sure that if you asked the people here to list their favorite matches, a clear majority would come from this period. You could certainly quibble about individual years, but as far as ten consecutive years go, it's pretty hard to beat.

 

I had originally thought of just listing the 90s as the best decade ever, but upon further consideration, 1999 is pretty bad. King's Road had completely gone off the rails by that point, and WWF and WCW were both mired in Russo-ism, which is the kiss of death for good wrestling.

 

Thoughts?

[smkelly]

I agree with that, yeah.

[El-P]

Add to this all of the amazing joshi puroresu and yep, it was a terrific decade. And a varied one. You had great stuff from tons of different style.

[Jingus]

This is the first time that I've realized that 6/9/95 didn't get the Match Of The Year award. What the hell? Yeah, Toyota/Inoue was great and everything, but... 6/9/95!!!

[Marty]

I absolutely agree with '89 to '97. But since '99 has (deservedly) been taken out, what about '98? Yes, that year was still eons better than '99, but does it deserve to be in the same league as the rest of these years, say, '88? Instead of '89 to '98, what about '88 to '97?

[El-P]

Yes 1997 in Japan had all the sign of the Apocalypse when El Hijo del Choshu Riki got the IWGP belt, Megumi Kudo retired, Zenjo nearly went out of business and totally crumbled. 1998 things were not the same anywhere. WCW was slowly beginning to go to hell, WWF would soon fall under the Russo regime after SummerSlam, ECW was past its prime already.

[Victator]

ECW was having one of its best years in 97. That entire summer was the best period of booking the company ever had.

[NintendoLogic]

I absolutely agree with '89 to '97. But since '99 has (deservedly) been taken out, what about '98? Yes, that year was still eons better than '99, but does it deserve to be in the same league as the rest of these years, say, '88? Instead of '89 to '98, what about '88 to '97?

I think you might be on to something. What were some notable matches from 1988? Hansen/Gordy vs. Tenryu/Kawada, Maeda/Takada, Flair/Sting, Flair/Luger, what else?

[Victator]

NWA had the Midnights/Fantastics series of matches. The Barry Windham heel turn which produced a lot of good stuff. The Varsity Club and The Roadies heel turn.

 

The NWA Main Event premiere had a great six man tag with Flair,Arn and Tully vs Sting, Luger and Windham.

 

 

The WWF had Hogan/Bigelow vs Andre/Dibiase tags in Boston and Philly. the Savage/Dibiase feud. The Bret/Bad News Brown feud. The Rockers debuting and doing really good work with the Rogueaus and Conquistidors. Demolition had matches with the Hart Foundation, Rockers and Bulldogs in MSG. Macho Man vs Andre in LA.

 

AWA had the Kerry vs Lawler feud.

 

This is all off the top of my head. With more thought I could find a ton of stuff.

[Childs]

Without the benefit of careful analysis, I'd say 1988 was a stronger year in Japan than 1998. Less variety maybe, but the big companies were clicking on their way to the pinnacles reached in 1989.

[JerryvonKramer]

Throw me in with the 1988 camp as well.

 

I mean Luger's NWA matches alone are better than anything that happened in WCW in 98 and I still think the Savage vs. DiBiase is sold short by most people here.

[MJH]

I'm amazed this is even up for discussion...

[JerryvonKramer]

Are you talking Austin/ McMahon?

[Dylan Waco]

98 has no business being on the list. Really a "not good" year overall. You could make the case - with very little effort - that nearly every year this decade has been better.

[jdw]

It is kind of funny looking back and seeing 1999 beat up 1998:

 

http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/Bestof90s/bestmatches.html

 

And 1998's numbers propped up by 5 US Indy matches.

 

Anyway, even at the time no one was pimping 1998 as being a good year.

 

John

[MJH]

I don't know... I'd say 11/1/88 - 11/1/98. That way you get Takada/Maeda, Takada/Backlund and the '88 RWTL "Final", and you get Kobashi/Kawada, Tamura/Kohsaka and Misawa/Kobashi from '98. Is '98 a "great year for wrestling"? Probably not, but those three matches (and Takada/Maeda and Hansen+Gordy/Tenryu+Kawada) fit nicely in that overall period. In fact, Takada/Maeda is quite possibly the best start.

[Frankensteiner]

I think '88 is the winner, easily. The real question is would you take '87 over '97?

[MJH]

I'm not disagreeing that '88 is the better overall year... but those '98 matches fit better for me in that bracket.

[NintendoLogic]

I think '88 is the winner, easily. The real question is would you take '87 over '97?

At first blush, I thought that even trying to compare any year from the 80s to 1997 was ridiculous. But then I remembered that 1987 had the Flair/Windham matches, Savage/Steamboat, Santo/Casas, and the semi-legendary 12-woman AJW match. I'd still give the nod to 1997, but it's closer than I initially thought.

[smkelly]

'87 over '97? No way.

[Loss]

'87 over '97? No way.

The case for 1987 is pretty much in Crockett, Memphis and New Japan. There's not enough footage from Mexico, although what's out there is outstanding. All Japan and the WWF were clearly worse. There's more notable Joshi in 1997, but there were also way more promotions running. I would hear a case, but I lean toward '97. But I don't think it's a slam dunk.

[jdw]

I don't know... I'd say 11/1/88 - 11/1/98. That way you get Takada/Maeda, Takada/Backlund and the '88 RWTL "Final", and you get Kobashi/Kawada, Tamura/Kohsaka and Misawa/Kobashi from '98. Is '98 a "great year for wrestling"? Probably not, but those three matches (and Takada/Maeda and Hansen+Gordy/Tenryu+Kawada) fit nicely in that overall period. In fact, Takada/Maeda is quite possibly the best start.

I think one has to get to Takada-Maeda first with the re-launch of UWF.

 

If you don't stick to calendar years, at some point you're going to be going, "We need to get in the 1988 Jumbo-Tenryu" and do it by specific days.

 

Early 1988 has Hase-Takada. The Jan-Feb junior league is a good representation of where juniors was at the time in the pre-Liger era (love it or hate it). Full year of Revolution vs Olympians. I'd sspect that people would want the MX vs Fantastics, which is earlier in 1988 rather than late in the year.

 

Just keep it simply.

 

John

[smkelly]

Agreed that it is not a slam dunk per se, but '97 to me still wins by a large margin.

 

1987 Matches:

 

Savage vs. Steamboat WM3. Eh. I know some people still love this match to death but every time I watch it nowadays my "love" for it dwindles.

 

Santo vs. Casas Mask vs. Hair. Very beloved by many.

 

Tenryu vs. Jumbo August. It's Tenryu and Jumbo. Was this really their first singles match against one another?

 

Lawler vs. Idol Cage + Hair versus Hair. RE approved!

 

Murdoch vs. Windham Mid-South July the 11th. One of the best matches either man had in their respective careers...which is saying a lot.

 

Choshu vs. Fujiwara 6/?. Eh. A lot of peeps love this match. I'm not as inclined.

 

War Games 7/4. I never watched this as a 'great' match but more of a 'great' spectacle.

 

Flair vs. Windham Jan and April. Top matches for Barry's singles career and they're even up there for Flair's too.

 

1997 Matches:

Misawa vs. Kobashi 1/20 All Japan. My favorite singles matches.

 

Bret vs. Austin WM13. The quintessential epic WWF main event styled match.

 

Rey vs. Eddy Mask versus Title. Now this was a great Rey match.

 

Misawa & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue Tag League Finale. Not as good as the previous years' final, but still, this match is a barn burning example of the greatness of All Japan -- even in 1997!

 

Misawa vs. Kobashi 10/21. Some people dislike the later in the decade matches between these two, but I don't.

 

Owen vs. Davey Boy Euro title finale. Now this was a great Raw match. It might actually be the best wrestled Raw match ever...dunno.

 

Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura Jan and Sep. I prefer the latter, but both are awesome shoot-style matches.

 

Funk vs. Sabu Barbed Wire. Insanity. Probably one of the more gruesome matches I have ever seen. The first time I saw it, it was from an old .wmv file that was grainy as hell -- and that graininess made it look almost like a snuff film version of pro wrasslin'.

 

Shawn vs. 'Taker Hell in a Cell. I'm not as high as others are (including Shawn on that night) on this match. It was a good match, but the next time Taker got in the cell he and Foley took this match and moved it up a few stories higher.

 

Ohtani vs. Liger Feb. I might put this ahead of his Jan 96 match with Samurai. I didn't take notes very well on this match, so I'll need to view it again to be sure.

 

Dean vs. Eddy 3/1?. I really like this match. I'd say it was their 3rd best match together, behind their first and last ECW matches.

 

Misawa vs. Kawada 6/6. I don't know the general consensus for this match 'round these parts, but I like it A LOT.

 

--

The above matches came from memory, so if dates are wrong, or stuff is left off, stay calm.

 

My #1 from '97 is obviously Misawa/Kobashi 1/20.

My #1 from '87 is probably Flair/Windham 1/20.

[jdw]

1987 Matches:

 

Savage vs. Steamboat WM3. Eh. I know some people still love this match to death but every time I watch it nowadays my "love" for it dwindles.

I'd add in the Montreal match between the two. Watching it then the Mania match, *both* are really quite good. Watching the "series":

 

A. 11/01/86 Boston: Pre-Injury

B. 11/22/86 Superstars: Injury Angle Match (taped 10/28/86)

C. 02/15/87 Toronto: Revenge Match

D. 02/23/87 MSG: Elimination Match

F. 03/29/87 WrestleMania: Title Change

 

And Mania really works well in that context. One could toss in the 05/15/87 defense by Steamer, though it's not really critical.

 

John

[smkelly]

Yeah, they are good, but even still, the old "missing blood" thing bothers me in the same way that there wasn't blood in the Owen/Bret cage match.

 

Ricky should have wanted to inflict great physical harm equivalent or exceeding that which he had received first. I mean, Randy "ended" or "almost ended" Steamboat's career - let alone the implication that crushing the windpipe could result in an agonizing death i.e. suffocation. Steamer was a cookie-cutter face before the feud and was the same, honest-to-goodness swell babyface post "the big showdown" at WM3.

 

Watching the Mania match in context, in my opinion, greatly diminishes the overall package. But as a standalone match on mute, it is a shining example of two excellent performers...that practiced the match endlessly backstage i.e "self-conscious epic".