Matches of the month

[soup23]

No shame in that POP vs. ROckers match. Honestly one of my favorite matches ever at this point. Stay optimistic of shoot style and lucha. I think lucha especially turns the corner in May of this year. Shoot style may be a little longer as 1990 has UWF as the common focus but I would say if by 1991 with PWFG, RINGS and UWFi, if none of that suits you, then shoot style is not going to be a style you will dig.

[JKWebb]

I decided to go about this a little bit differently. Instead of ranking all the matches from each month, I'm just going to list some of my favorite matches, moments and takeaways as I progress through the Yearbook. I just made it to November, so I'm going to start the list now. I'll complete it after Nov. and Dec., and I'll list my definitive match of the year at that point.

Jan. - Liger vs. Sano 01/31 - This is a ***** match for me. It blew me away. I actually watched it twice back-to-back which is not something I typically do. The first time I watched it, I thought it was great. I thought about it for a little bit, watched it again, and loved it even more. The beating Liger takes is just insane, with his mask barely hanging on, you can feel the emotion in his comeback. He flips his lid at the end, and it's glorious. I give the rating to the entire segment. I love the execution of the shooting star press in the match, as it looks really painful. That move is not always pulled off in a way that it looks like it is that impactful. In this match, it looked vicious. I had watched some Lucha in the past, but not a deep dive like the Yearbook has provided. I didn't really feel it initially, but I'll get to that in a bit. My runner-up match was Rockers vs. Powers of Pain, but I also want to give two thumbs up to the DDT that Arn Anderson lays on Great Muta 01/12.

Feb. - Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (02/25) - I've always loved this match, and prior to viewing this Yearbook I always considered it my MOTY. This is one of my favorite all-time Flair performances. I actually got chill bumps when the injured Sting came to ringside on crutches, slaps luger and gets in his face, gets him hyped like Mick would have done for Rocky. The entire entertainment value of that match and segment is off the charts. The Midnights and the Rock and Rolls are the clear runner-up here for me, but I want to give a shoutout to Larry Zbyszko vs. Masa Saito 02/10. I loved seeing Saito getting fired up throwing out some really cool offense on Larry. I still prefer wrestling to shoot style wrestling, but Takada vs. Fujiwara opened my eyes here. I realize the appeal, much like a real fight, is caught in those adrenaline rush moments when someone fires back after being held down and you know it can end at anytime.

March - Jerry Estrada vs. El Satanico (03/23) - I feel like I jumped into Lucha with the 6-man tags, but really should have started with singles bouts. Once I started watching more singles matches, the style began to click with me more. I then found myself enjoying the trios matches more and more as I dug deeper into singles and became acclimated to the style. This match, while not the greatest of all-time, or anything near that, it served as an eye-opener for me. Although it is not 1990, I viewed Atlantis vs. Villano III 03/17/2000 shortly after gathering my thoughts on singles lucha, and it was randomly based off of the ****3/4 and ***** thread here on the board. That is the match that really opened the door to my true enjoyment of lucha. I absolutely love that match and I've been pretty obsessed with watching more and more after viewing that. That can be attributed to my interest building while watching this set.

April - I may be the outlier here, but my match of the month is Randy Savage vs. Tenryu 04/13. This a dream match for me. I love seeing Savage and Sherri work their style in this environment, and I love seeing Tenyru chop Savage like a madman. I thought the Hogan/Hansen match was really fun as well, and the Pioneer match reminded me of the movie Bloodsport...

May - I loved the Lawler/Snowman angle, man was it great. My match of the month would be Misawa/Kobashi/Taue vs. Tsuruta/Kabuki/Fuchi (05/26). I really loved the exchanges between Kobashi and Jumbo during this match. I also really loved the Luger/Flair match from 05/05. Those two have great chemistry, and I don't care what anyone says, the ponytail is cool! The crowd was super hot and added to it.

June - El Dandy vs. Angel Azteca - (06/01) - A great match, and so much has already been said about it. Amazing work on the mat. At this point, I'm really looking forward to 12/14 Dandy/Satanico to compare the two (as to which is my favorite). My runner-up would be Misawa/Jumbo 06/08.

July - Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - Another old favorite that stands the test of time. (07/07) - I love Eddie Gilbert, and he does not disappoint with his promo work this month. Jeannie Clark kind of got on my nerves.

August - Misawa/Kawada/Kikuchi vs. Tsuruta/Taue/Fuchi - Kikuchi would not stay down, and he was fantastic here. The lariats were brutal, and the Misawa/Jumbo hate was on point. I loved the chemistry between Kawada and Jumbo as well. Taue looked vicious. I loved the brawling surrounding the match towards the end. Kobashi vs. Jumbo takes the runner-up with a nostalgia shoutout to the payoff of Hogan vs. Earthquake.

September - Misawa vs. Tsuruta (09/01) - My match of the year to this point, and my second ***** match of the year. Flair and Luger return with another really fun match at the clash, but I'd give the runner-up to Misawa/Kawada vs. Jumbo/Taue 09/30 - Great match at a fast pace. Taue really stood out. Eddie Gilbert continues to be a favorite. I love the run over Jerry Lawler segment, and I can say that Memphis is my favorite show of the year for promos and storylines. I saw the Memphis 80's set prior to this, so I'm sure that helps. Whenever Memphis TV is on, I'm glued to the set. Shoutout to Rayo de Jalisco vs. Cien Caras (09/21).

October - Speaking of Memphis, the Jarrett/Gilbert Angle was fantastic! It felt so organic. It might be my favorite TV segment of the year, and Eddie Gilbert is king. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi vs. Tsurta/Taue/Fuchi (10/19) take the runner-up slot. I think it is my favorite 6-man thus far. Thinking back on it, all I can picture are those brutal kicks to Kobashi with his nose busted open. October was a great month. I loved the Lynn/Kid match, but I think my runner-up would be the Steiners vs. Nastys from Halloween Havoc. I really enjoyed the USWA World title tournament as well. Good performances all around.

Edit: accidentally listed 2 runner-ups but my MOTM was actually 10/26/1990, Dandy/Satanico. I actually think it is my favorite lucha match on the set so far.

On to November and December....

 

Well, a short-lived run for Dandy/Satanico, as my favorite lucha match on the set became Pirata Morgan vs. El Faraon (11/16/1990), and this was easily my match of the month coming at ****3/4 for me. I'll roll with the Lightning Kid vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. match as the runner-up. I really liked Lawler/Gilbert and Lawler/Funk, and Dibiase/Warrior was fun too! November was a fun month, topped by that bloody brawl with off the charts selling from Pirata Morgan and El Faraon.

 

I'm already into to December... but I'll wait and save my final thoughts once I complete 1990. I've got some other areas I want to dive into after this (Portland and All Japan 80's), but I'm looking forward to a deep dive into 1991 after that. This set has definitely been an inspiration for deeper dives into Lucha as well.

[JKWebb]

Bumping this - Added thoughts on November, and now finishing up w/ December 1990.

 

December was a really fun month to finish out 1990. I thought the Casas/Liger match, was short but sweet. It was super fun. The Warrior/Phil Collins video is hilarious and good ending for the year. Memphis was full of great promos. Perfect vs. Piper was fantastic. I really enjoyed Bockwinkel and Masa Saito. It was just a fun month all around. To top it off, my match of the month, and my match of the year also took place in December.

 

MOTM/MOTY - El Dandy vs. El Satanico - 12/14/1990 - This match was brutal and creative. I posted more thoughts in the match thread, but it was a really emotional match. The head-butt exchange in the corner stands out. They looked like they had given everything they could give. Currently, this is in the top three best lucha matches I've ever seen.

 

I don't want to make a list of the "best matches" of the year, instead I just wanted to say the following are my top 5 favorite matches from 1990:

 

1. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger - WresteWar 1990 - ****3/4

2. El Dandy vs. El Satanico - 12/14/1990 - *****

3. Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - 09/01/1990 - *****

4. Liger vs. Sano - 01/31/1990 - *****

5. Mr. Perfect vs. Roddy Piper - 12/28/1990 - ****1/2

 

Honorable Mentions: Macho Man vs. Tenryu - 04/10/1990 - **** and Midnight Express vs. The Southern Boys - GAB 1990 - ****1/2

 

My favorite promos of the year are Jerry Lawler and Eddie Gilbert. The Lawler/Snowman and Jarrett/Gilbert and Lawler/Gilbert moments are in a league of their own. I think my biggest takeaway from my deep dive into 1990 is how much of a fan I became of lucha, and I started digging deeper because of it.

[WingedEagle]

Always enjoy these summaries as sometimes its tough to follow someone's progression through the Yearbooks. Still never gets old seeing folks' fresh takes on things.