Stiva Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 I've been thinking recently about some landmark years, not in pro wrestling as a whole, but in certain promotions and what goes into making them great. I'm not talking about profitable years (though I'd wager a lot of the best years were successful ones) but years where companies were either putting on great matches or booking things extremely well. Everyone points to 1997 or 2000 as years where the WWF/E had their shit together but having rewatched a lot of 2007 recently, and maybe it's because it's when I started watching again, but it's really fun. John Cena is on fire from the first day of the year and continues until he's injured and even when the injuries mount up in the summer months, Smackdown always pulls out some good TV matches. WCW has its 1996 and 1992 but I think 1990 has a lot going for it and of course, 2000 is a masterclass in booking professional wrestling... I like ECW's 95 a hell of a lot but I understand YMMV on that, especially if you're watching it for the first time now. If you want to extend things to WWECW, 2009 is very consistent with its core of Finlay, Christian, Swagger, Bourne (until he's drafted), Regal, Goldust and Dreamer (who has some real fun matches in his title run). What's the consensus for AJPW? Early 90s are awesome but anything from the 2000s that can stack up? I really have a puro and lucha blackspot for most of the 2000s so I would love to know what people think. Any stand-out indy years in recent memory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 NWA 1989 All Japan 1989 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 From the '80s sets I've worked on, New Japan was strong in 1983 and first half of 1984 with Choshu's assault on the establishment. And again in 1986 and 1987 with the UWF guys and Choshu coming back in. All Japan was incredible in 1989 with the culmination of Jumbo vs. Tenryu and a lot of fun supporting stuff. From the yearbooks, EMLL had a great 1990, led by Dandy, Satanico, Azteca, etc. All Japan had a great 1993-1994 (really through 6/95), highlighted by Misawa-Kawada heating up and Hansen having his last transcendent run. New Japan did a great job of building its next generation in 1991. From the 2000s, I'd agree on 2007 WWE -- great year for Cena. Thinking back on ROH, I guess 2006 was probably the peak with the CZW feud and Danielson's title reign. IWA-MS was consistently fun to watch in 2002-2003. I don't know about overall years for puro, but I really liked the New Japan vs. All Japan stuff with Kawada in 2000 and the Liger vs. Kikuchi stuff from NOAH in 2002-2003. I guess NOAH was a pretty strong promotion overall during Kobashi's last big run in 2004-2005. IWRG had that great year a couple years back -- what was it, 2011? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrickHithouse Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 1989 NWA - Aside from Flair-Steamboat, there wasn't much to write home about in the first four months. Then from May/June through the end of the year - damn. 1992 WCW 1986-1988 WWF - specifically June '86 through March '88 1984 Mid South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 From a TV point of view, from the sampling we did, 88 seemed like a monster year for NWA. Would you agree Brick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrickHithouse Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 In-ring, I thought 1988 was great. The booking was kind of bizarre and uneven. I'd put '88 a notch below '89 because of that but it was a hell of a year in the ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 ECW 1996 had a great roster, produced great matches and feuds, had lively crowds. It peaked in 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 1989 was a great NWA year but what about 1985? Some incredible angles and matches that time World Class is definitely 1983. That was the year that World Class was the hottest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 From a TV point of view, from the sampling we did, 88 seemed like a monster year for NWA. Would you agree Brick? The only issue was that post-Clash, TV dried up quite a bit. For the rest of the year, there aren't even very many marquee matches. The reason was that Dusty thought business was down because they gave away too much at the Clash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 AWA 1984. More change in one year in the AWA than had probably ever happened before. Title changes, the Blackwell face turn, Heenan and Jesse leaving for good, the Road Warriors come in, and so much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Speaking of 1984, WWF 1984 was an incredible year. You had new champ Hogan facing a variety of heels on top, Slaughter's face turn and feud with Sheik, Tito winning the IC belt and feuding with various heels arriving like Orndorff and Schultz then Valentine coming in and getting it, the arrival of Piper and the Pit and his fued with Snuka, the Cyndi Lauper angle, Tonga Kid becoming the hottest thing going for awhile, JYD coming in, Atlas and Johnson being red hot then Adonis and Murdoch coming in, and Windham and Rotundo getting there at the end of the year, and more. Edit: I for got Heenan coming in, and Studd and Patera cutting Andre's hair. I was looking at the History of WWF site and was surprised to see just how long Backlund stuck around after the title loss. I don't recall him being on TV much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Crockett expansion years- 1986 was great. So many great feuds going on. Magnum vs Nikita, Dusty vs the Horsemen, Warriors vs MX, RnR vs Horsemen, Warriors vs Russians, etc,,,. No other year comes even close to me. 1987 is good, just not great. 88 really falls off for me. Too many faces and not enough top heels beside the Horsemen for a good part of the year. Turner years - 89 for obvious reasons kicked all sorts of ass. 90 is also pretty decent. I really enjoy the tag scene for these two years. A lot of fresh teams make it fun to watch. 92 is great as well due to the Dangerous Alliance. WCCW - 83 might be my favorite year of any promotion. Ton of great stuff. 84 and 85 aren't bad they just don't compare to 83. WWF - 84 is awesome. A fresh World Champion and four great feuds ( Piper vs Snuka, Studd/ Patera vs Andre, Tito vs Valentine and Sarge vs Sheik)Along with new guys coming in constantly makes it fun. 87 is good due to the new look the company has since changing in late 86. Also like 84 it has a ton of new talent. AWA - 84 for reasons stated by Khawk. Mid-South - 84 and 85. Hot shot booking makes these years great as there is so much going on from week to week it's almost too much. ECW - 94 through 96. You really can't go wrong with any of these years. 95 would be my favorite. After 96 the promotion kind of changes direction for me and I don't enjoy quite as much. The novelty of everything they had done wears off by this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack2k Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Crockett 86 was GOLD...so many good feuds with great talkers and heat...the heels seemed like real dickheads and not trying to be dickheads... Horsemen's best year as a stable - no changes, and all killers, even Ole. The Russians were incredible, through Oct.. If Magnum's accident doesnt happen, could be best year for any promotion all-time in US Continental 1988 was really good and their best year to me Mid-South 1984 - So much going on that year and the whole promotion changed and went from good to great... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Memphis in 1982 was incredible. Lawler may have had the best year of his life with great matches against Dutch, Flair and Bock. Lawler and Kaufman had their feud. Reading the 1982 Year in Memphis book only helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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