My Top 100 Matches of 1994

[Loss]

#100 - Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/15/94)

#99 - Heavenly Bodies vs Chris Jericho & Lance Storm (SMW Night of the Legends 08/05/94)

#98 - Vader vs The Boss (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94)

#97 - El Samurai vs Great Sasuke (NJPW Super J Cup 04/16/94)

#96 - Jushin Liger vs Super Delphin (NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 05/30/94)

#95 - Steven Regal vs Larry Zbyszko (WCW Slamboree 05/22/94)

#94 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 01/07/94)

#93 - Sabu vs Terry Funk (ECW TV 04/19/94)

#92 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 05/06/94)

#91 - Eddie Gilbert vs Tracy Smothers (NWA World Title Tournament 11/19/94)

#90 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/11/94)

#89 - Dustin Rhodes vs Bunkhouse Buck (WCW Slamboree 05/22/94)

#88 - Ric Flair & Steven Regal vs Sting & Ricky Steamboat (WCW Munich 03/12/94)

#87 - Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (WWF San Jose 01/14/94)

#86 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 01/24/94)

#85 - Cactus Jack vs Chris Candido (SMW Christmas Chaos 12/26/94)

#84 - Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (WWF Monday Night RAW 08/01/94)

#83 - Vader & John Tenta vs Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFI 10/08/94)

#82 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 10/07/94)

#81 - Dave Finlay vs Doink the Clown (Germany 12/17/94)

[Loss]

#80 - Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Clash of the Champions XXVIII 08/24/94)

#79 - Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 03/12/94)

#78 - Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW Championship Carnival 03/24/94)

#77 - Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue vs Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett (AJW 12/10/94)

#76 - Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund (WWF Superstars 07/30/94)

#75 - Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/17/94)

#74 - Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Tokimitsu Ishikawa vs Great Sasuke, Shiryu, Sato & Taka Michinoku (NJPW 06/15/94)

#73 - Vader vs Sting (WCW Fall Brawl 09/18/94)

#72 - El Hijo del Santo, Heavy Metal & Mascara Sagrada vs Jerry Estrada, La Parka & Psicosis (AAA 06/03/94)

#71 - Nasty Boys, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs Arn Anderson, Terry Funk, Bunkhouse Buck & Col. Parker (WCW Fall Brawl 09/18/94)

#70 - Vader vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Clash of the Champions XXIX 11/16/94)

#69 - Rick & Scott Steiner vs Bret & Owen Hart (WWF Wrestlefest 01/11/94)

#68 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Atsushi Onita (FMW 05/05/94)

#67 - Mascara Sagrada vs Black Cat (AAA Triplemania 05/15/94)

#66 - Jake Roberts vs Dirty White Boy (SMW TV 05/14/94)

#65 - Sabu vs Al Snow (California 09/11/94)

#64 - Terry Funk vs Sabu (WWN 02/28/94)

#63 - Jerry Lawler vs Dream Machine (USWA Mid South Coliseum 04/25/94)

#62 - Ciclon Ramirez vs Javier Cruz (CMLL 06/07/94)

#61 - Dustin Rhodes vs Bunkhouse Buck (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94)

[Loss]

#60 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Stan Hansen, Giant Baba & Takao Omori (AJPW 04/16/94)

#59 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Spring Stampede 04/17/94)

#58 - Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto (WAR 03/02/94)

#57 - Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 09/03/94)

#56 - Mitsuya Nagai vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 12/17/94)

#55 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 10/14/94)

#54 - Cactus Jack & Tracy Smothers vs Chris Candido & Boo Bradley (SMW Christmas Chaos 12/25/94)

#53 - Pantera vs Felino (AAA 12/27/94)

#52 - El Hijo del Santo, Octagon & Rey Misterio Jr vs Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera & Psicosis (AAA 07/15/94)

#51 - Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/10/94)

#50 - Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 07/11/94)

#49 - Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 12/13/94)

#48 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/25/94)

#47 - Kazushi Sakuraba & Masahito Kakihara vs Gene Lydick & Steve Nelson (UWFI 06/10/94)

#46 - Manami Toyota vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 06/03/94)

#45 - Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (WWF Wrestlemania X 03/20/94)

#44 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 12/10/94)

#43 - Cactus Jack vs Sabu (NWC 10/30/94)

#42 - Great Sasuke, Sato & Shiryu vs Super Delphin, Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro 02/04/94)

#41 - Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Championship Carnival 03/29/94)

[Loss]

#40 - Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Action Zone 10/30/94)

#39 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Kyoko & Takako Inoue (AJW 10/09/94)

#38 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/17/94)

#37 - Arn Anderson vs Steven Regal (WCW SuperBrawl IV 02/20/94)

#36 - Angel Azteca, Volador & Winners vs Misterioso, Solar I & Super Calo (AAA 03/19/94)

#35 - El Hijo del Santo, Jushin Liger, Octagon & Tiger Mask vs Blue Panther, Eddy Guerrero, La Parka & Psicosis (AAA Triplemania 05/15/94)

#34 - Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs Nasty Boys (WCW Slamboree 05/22/94)

#33 - Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW 01/24/94)

#32 - Rick & Scott Steiner vs Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/94)

#31 - Steven Regal vs Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night 05/28/94)

#30 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJPW 07/22/94)

#29 - Bull Nakano vs Shinobu Kandori (LLPW 07/14/94)

#28 - Rock & Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies (SMW Bluegrass Brawl 04/01/94)

#27 - Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong (AJW Big Egg Universe 11/20/94)

#26 - Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke (NJPW Super J Cup 04/16/94)

#25 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Gary Albright (UWFI 06/10/94)

#24 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/06/94)

#23 - Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 01/24/94)

#22 - Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki, Plum Mariko & Cutie Suzuki (JWP 01/09/94)

#21 - Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke (NJPW Super J Cup 04/16/94)

[Loss]

#20 - Great Sasuke vs Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro 04/29/94)

#19 - Chris Candido vs Tracy Smothers (SMW Bluegrass Brawl 04/01/94)

#18 - Yumiko Hotta vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 06/03/94)

#17 - Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Saturday Night 05/14/94)

#16 - Blue Panther vs El Mariachi (AAA 10/30/94)

#15 - Jushin Liger vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/24/94)

#14 - El Dandy vs Javier Llanes (CMLL 02/22/94)

#13 - Great Sasuke & Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 10/16/94)

#12 - Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 12/24/94)

#11 - Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/16/94)

#10 - Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke (NJPW 07/08/94)

#9 - Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 11/30/94)

#8 - Steve Williams vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW 07/28/94)

#7 - Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (WWF Wrestlemania X 03/20/94)

#6 - Vader vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI 08/18/94)

#5 - Eddy Guerrero & Art Barr vs El Hijo del Santo & Octagon (AAA When Worlds Collide 11/06/94)

#4 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 05/21/94)

#3 - Espectrito vs Mascarita Sagrada (AAA 03/12/94)

#2 - Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori (AJW Queendom 03/27/94)

#1 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 06/03/94)

[Loss]

I've meant to do comments for this and other years, but I haven't been able to motivate myself to dive in. That said, I don't want to just post the list and not reflect on it at all. If there are questions, comments, observations, etc., I'm more than willing to discuss them ad-hoc. I just don't have it in me at the moment to do a little mini-review for each match.

[soup23]

What made your decision to place 6/3/94 over the Queendom tag?

[Loss]

It sounds so simple, but as great as the Queendom tag was, Misawa/Kawada was everything it has been hyped to be for so many years. Seeing the 1992-1993 matches as a lead in just added to it.

[Zenjo]

Zenjo's Top 100 Matches of 1994

100) Rey Misterio Sr vs Jerry Estrada (AAA 7/8/94)
99) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJ 3/24/94)
98) Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Sergei Sousserov (RINGS 5/17/94)
97) Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai (AJW 11/20/94)
96) Mascarita Sagrada & Octagoncito vs Espectrito & Jerrito Estrada (AAA 11/6/94)
95) Devil Masami & Dynamite Kansai vs Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 11/6/94)
94) Masahito Kakihara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFI 11/30/94)
93) Vader vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 6/10/94)
92) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi (AJ 1/7/94)
91) Pantera vs Felino (CMLL 12/27/94)

90) Jun Akiyama vs Steve Williams (AJ 4/10/94)
89) Vader vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW 11/16/94)
88) Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund (WWF 7/3/94)
87) Shinya Hashimoto vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 8/7/94)
86) Devil Masami vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP 8/8/94)
85) Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams (AJ 4/14/94)
84) Aja Kong & Toshiyo Yamada vs Yumiko Hotta & Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 4/3/94)
83) Steven Regal vs Arn Anderson (WCW 2/20/94)
82) Brian Knobbs, Jerry Saggs, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Terry Funk & Colonel Parker (War Games) (WCW 9/18/94)
81) Toshiyo Yamada vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 8/28/94)

80) Nobuhiko Takada vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 10/14/94)
79) Jushin Thunder Liger & Power Warrior vs Rick & Scott Steiner (NJ 2/17/94)
78) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJ 11/25/94)
77) Yumiko Hotta & Toshiyo Yamada vs Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (AJW 4/9/94)
76) Jimmy Del Ray & Tom Prichard vs Chris Jericho & Lance Storm (SMW 8/5/94)
75) Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/29/94)
74) Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 1/24/94)
73) Dynamite Kansai vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 3/27/94)
72) Rick & Scott Steiner vs Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase (NJ 7/8/94)
71) Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/24/94)

70) Mariko Yoshida vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 10/1/94)
69) Mitsuya Nagai vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 12/16/94)
68) Yasha Kurenai & Michiko Nagashima vs Rumi Kazama & Harley Saito (LLPW 6/9/94)
67) Combat Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW 11/20/94)
66) Jushin Thunder Liger vs Super Delphin (NJ 5/30/94)
65) Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke (NJ 4/16/94)
64) Rey Misterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera (AAA 4/1/94)
63) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 2/27/94)
62) Megumi Kudo & Nurse Nakamura vs Rumi Kazama & Utako Hozumi (LLPW 2/7/94)
61) Andrei Kopylov vs Volk Han (RINGS 10/22/94)

60) Konnan vs Jake Roberts (Cage Match) (AAA 3/12/94)
59) Mocho Cota & Silver King vs El Dandy & Negro Casas (CMLL 3/18/94)
58) El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis (AAA 2/16/94)
57) Rick & Scott Steiner vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Mutoh (NJ 1/4/94)
56) Toshiyo Yamada vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 3/3/94)
55) Shinobu Kandori, Eagle Sawai & Carol Midori vs Combat Toyoda, Eriko Tsuchiya & Tsuppari Mack (LLPW 2/7/94)
54) Salman Hashimikov & Victor Zangiev vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoji Anjoh (UWFI 6/10/94)
53) Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 9/3/94)
52) Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 12/24/94)
51) Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 3/30/94)

50) Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJ 4/14/94)
49) Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/15/94)
48) Ric Flair vs Steven Regal (Marquis of Queensbury Cup) (WCW 5/12/94)
47) Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 4/16/94)
46) Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs Sakie Hasegawa & Kaoru Ito (AJW 6/10/94)
45) Mariko Yoshida vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 9/15/94)
44) Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs Brian Knobbs & Jerry Saggs (WCW 5/22/94)
43) Noriyo Tateno vs Harley Saito (LLPW 8/14/94)
42) Yumiko Hotta vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 6/3/94)
41) Stan Hansen vs Akira Taue (AJ 4/11/94)

40) Jushin Thunder Liger vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 2/24/94)
39) Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund (WWF 11/23/94)
38) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Kyoko & Takako Inoue (AJW 10/9/94)
37) Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs Brian Knobbs & Jerry Saggs (WCW 4/17/94)
36) Grom Zaza vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 10/22/94)
35) Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue (AJW 10/8/94)
34) Bret & Owen Hart vs Rick & Scott Steiner (WWF 1/11/94)
33) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (AJ 7/22/94)
32) Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (WWF 3/20/94)
31) Akira Maeda vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 12/16/94)

30) Hiroshi Hase vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 8/5/94)
29) Toshiyo Yamada & Chigusa Nagayo vs Sakie Hasegawa & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 8/24/94)
28) Steven Regal vs Larry Zbyszko (WCW 5/2/94)
27) Steve Williams vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJ 7/28/94)
26) Bull Nakano & Aja Kong vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 6/10/94)
25) Kaoru & Chigusa Nagayo vs Cuty Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 9/18/94)
24) Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 2/17/94)
23) Chigusa Nagayo vs Plum Mariko (JWP 2/11/94)
22) Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW 8/24/94)
21) Manami Toyota vs Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 6/3/94)

20) Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 5/22/94)
19) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 1/24/94)
18) Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW 4/17/94)
17) Great Sasuke & Black Tiger II vs Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Otani (NJ 10/18/94)
16) Ciclon Ramirez vs Javier Cruz (Hair vs Hair) (CMLL 6/7/94)
15 ) Blue Panther vs El Mariachi (AAA 10/30/94)
14) Great Sasuke & Black Tiger II vs Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Otani (NJ 10/9/94)
13) Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 12/13/94)
12) Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW 4/21/94)
11) El Hijo Del Santo & Octagon vs Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine (AAA 11/6/94)

10) Espectrito vs Mascarita Sagrada (AAA 3/12/94)
9) Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong (AJW 11/20/94)
8) Vader vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI 8/18/94)
7) Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/10/94)
6) Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW 1/24/94)
5) Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori (AJW 3/27/94)
4) El Dandy vs Javier Llanes (CMLL 2/22/94)
3) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJ 5/21/94)
2) Akira Hokuto & Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai & Yumiko Hotta (AJW 8/24/94)
1) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 6/3/94)

[Zenjo]

I finished watching this year a few months back, but have only just got around to adding my reviews to the match threads and ordering a top 100 list. That's 8 of the 10 years done now and 1997 is well underway. It would seem logical to do 1995 after 1994, but I find jumping around keeps things fresher. And I'm scared of Broadways.

 

1994 was an excellent year for wrestling. Whilst it was a clear step down from the glorious highs of 1992 and 1993, it was a decline rather than a crash. As other people have commented the second half of the year wasn't as strong as the first. In the context of wrestling history it still ranks highly. It's a very similar year to 1996 in terms of overall quality, I'd be hard pressed to choose one over the other. It will be interesting to see how 95 joins them up. Whilst it would be fun to have an unexpected #1, Misawa vs Kawada is the best match by quite a margin. I'd say only 1998 had a bigger gap between #1 and everything else. Plenty of famous matches in the rest of the list. It was still great times for AJW, AJ & NJ who have over half the entries between them. Rings and UWFI were battling for shoot style supremacy. WCW was really fun before Hogan arrived. And CMLL wasn't as far behind AAA as was generally believed. From a Sports Entertainment standpoint the transformation of Bob Backlund was the highlight of the year, and provided a couple of strong matches as well.