Thoughts on the following wrestling eras

[Loss]

Thought this could be fun.

 

1988 NWA

1994 AJPW

1992 WWF

1996 ECW

 

Comment wherever you can, whether it be on just one or all four.

 

[Guest CanadianChick]

Damn me and my limited knowledge.

 

I love WWF '92. I realize that it was a horrible year, money wise, but damn if it didn't give me some great matches. The '92 Rumble, where there were so many names that The Million Dollar Man was eliminated first and in quick fashion, is my favorite Rumble match and is up there with my favorite Flair performances. Two very memorible matches in Savage/Flair and Bret/Piper at Wrestlemania really sets apart Wrestlemania 8 for me, despite the rest of the card being forgettable at best. Bret/Bulldog from Summerslam '92 in my second favorite Bulldog performance ever...

 

It maybe wasn't a successful year for the WWF, but it's one of those years that I could easily watch that high points and great matches without being bored and without thinking that it doesn't age well. It was a great year for wrestling fans, and a bad year for Vince.

[JHawk]

1988 NWA

 

The first year I had cable and thus had a chance to actually follow something that wasn't the WWF. My God, what an era. The fantastic Clash of the Champions shows. The great promos from Jim Cornette. Possibly my favorite angle of all-time: Dusty Rhodes getting the spike to the eye. Rick Steiner's babyface turn. This is where I really became familiar with how great a long match could be, and we were getting them for free.

 

 

1992 WWF

 

SummerSlam 92 still goes down as one of my favorite PPVs of all-time. The matches that deserved time got it, the stuff that needed to be kept short didn't get much time, and the crowd was hot for the entire show. I'm not real fond of much of the year after that with the exception of Bret Hart's emergence into the main event, but the first nine months has to go as among the best nine-month stretches in-ring wise in company history.

[Marty]

1988 NWA: This year, for obvious reasons, kind of represents a transition year of Jim Crockett Promotions to WCW, but it was still a fun year. My personal favourite Horsemen group was this year (Flair, Windham, Blanchard, Anderson) and while it was great, it was the third different incarnation of the group (after the original and Flair, Luger, Blanchard, Anderson). Different new stars began to emerge, like Sting, and the inaugural Clash being here in a way was foreshadowing for monthly PPVs that would come many years afterwards, due to the Clash being a mega event in its own right. This was my first year of seeing any NWA through the Pro Wrestling Plus TV show, so it was fairly new to me at the time, even if I'd read about it in magazines. I don't know if I liked it better than the WWF at the time as a fan, but considering I grew up in WWF territory in Eastern Ontario, it was a great alternative, something that we as fans need today.

 

1992 WWF: This has been mentioned many times by other posters, but this was an unfortunate year for the company, because the in-ring product was fun, but the finances, needless to say, were not. I grew up a Bret Hart fan, and still being a mark at the time, was thrilled to see him win the Championship, something at the time I actually compared to the Blue Jays winning the World Series about a month later. Every card this year seemed to have at least one memorable match, and even though the change was not yet imminent, signs of change were evident with Hulk Hogan being gone for much of the year. It's too bad it was such a lousy year fiscally for the company, because it stands as one of my favourite time periods for the WWF.

 

1996 ECW: I think I remember Rick Scaia writing an article many years ago about this being a turning point year for ECW, and it might very well have been, as they almost got PPV that year. I do know that this is probably one of my least favourite years of the company, with Benoit, Malenko, and Guerrero already being gone, and lucha libre on its last legs in the company early in the year. After that, aside from Jericho's stint in the company, and the odd other wrestler like 2 Cold Scorpio in there, it really felt like a castoff promotion, where Shane Douglas ruled supreme, which is why I don't look back at this year with much fondness. The early couple of months were fun, as ECW was still busting out some fun stuff involving Rey Jr., including the match with Juvi on 3/9 (if I recall correctly). But really, the really good ones were cleaned out by August, and it was a sign of other ones like Raven the year after leaving for greener pastures. It feels like a miracle that they lasted as long as they did, but it was a case of the popularity of the garbage style too, something the Big Two would adopt a couple of years later too.

[The Thread Killer]

1994 AJPW

 

A lot of people claim that 1993 was the best of all of the glory years that All Japan had during the 90's. That might be, but All Japan still had some all time classics during this year. Let's review, shall we? Yes we shall.

 

I am going to list the matches that I have seen from that year, that Dave Meltzer listed as Four Stars or higher:

 

01/29/94: Giant Baba/M. Misawa/T. Kobashi vs. T. Kawada/A. Taue/M. Fuchi

 

To start off the year we had Baba making a rare appearance in a non-comedy match, helping Misawa and Kobashi in their feud with Kawada and Taue. This match is a lot of fun in my opinion, and shows that even in 1994, when he booked himself in the right kind of match, Baba could still be in a 5 Star Match.

 

03/27/94 Taue vs. Kobashi

 

This was a match in the 1994 Champion Carnival tourney. The two matches that Taue had with Kobashi for the Triple Crown in 96 (when Kobashi beat Taue for the TC) & 98 (when Kobashi beat Taue in his second defense) were probably better matches that this, but this is still a very good match.

 

04/16/94 Williams vs. Kawada

 

For my money, this is one of the best matches of all time, and probably the best match Dr. Death ever had during his entire career. This is the finals of the 1994 Champion Carnival. A must see.

 

05/21/94 Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue

 

See above. This is for the World Tag Titles, it's another must see, and in my opinion the greatest Tag Team Match of all time. That's right. I said it. I like this one more than 6/95 and 12/06/96. Don't get me wrong, I love both of those matches, but this one kind of set the tone for the ones that followed. They slowly build for the first 20 minutes or so, and then have you on the edge of your set for the last 20 minutes. I've never had 40 minutes of action fly by so fast.

 

06/03/94 Misawa vs. Kawada

 

What else can be said about this match that hasn't already been said? For many, many people this match is the absolute pinnacle of the 90's in AJPW, the greatest match in the Misawa/Kawada feud, and for countless people, this is the greatest match of all time. As soon as Loss wrote "1994 in AJPW" I instantly thought about this match.

 

This is Kawada getting his second (or third maybe, I forget) shot at Misawa for the Triple Crown. They had met before for the Title(s) and they had also met during the Carnival, but the friendship was well over by this point and the rivalry was in full swing. The crowd was super hot, and there was a real sense of history in the making during this match. Mike Campbell (aka: "Black Tiger") wrote an excellent review of this match at 411, which can be found HERE.

 

Now, I'll go on record and say what I have said before...this is not my favorite match of all time. This is not my favorite match of 1994, (that would go to the match listed above) and this is not even my favorite match in the Misawa/Kawada feud. That distinction would go to their Triple Crown match on 06/06/97.

 

I have taken a lot of shit from fellow Puro fans for this opinion. Chris Coey once went off on me like you wouldn't believe (well...actually if you know him you would believe) for saying that. Other people tell me that if I only saw Jumbo vs. Tenryu on 6/5/89, that I would "get" this match. I have seen that match, and yes...it helped me appreciate this one. I've been told that the 06/06/97 match is too reliant on the "head dropping" style and not as "smart" of a wrestling match. Duh. Head dropping, intensity and hard hitting "holy shit" action was a large part of what the Misawa/Kawada feud was all about, in my opinion. This is a smarter wrestling match...but for my money, I can pop 06/06/97 into my VCR, show it to somebody who has never seen Misawa or Kawada before, and they STILL get blown away by it. This starts the whole "stand alone" matches vs. "back story" matches debate, and I am not getting into that one. The fact is that this match is my second or maybe third favorite of the Misawa/Kawada singles matches.

 

It doesn't matter, because no matter how you look at it, this match is STILL easily a 5 Star Match, and one of the greatest matches of all time. I agree with that totally, it's just not my "all time" favorite. This is still a must see, and is one of the matches that made 1994 a banner year in AJPW. To say that this match is great would be an understatement. Just because I don't think it's the greatest match ever doesn't mean that I don't think that it's one of the greatest matches of all time. It would make my all time Top 10 List, no doubt about it.

 

07/28/94 Misawa vs. Williams

 

Dr. Death was probably having the best year of his career in 1994. He had the outstanding match against Kawada, and then there was this...where he manages to do a little something...like BEAT MISAWA FOR THE TRIPLE CROWN! I really like this match. For whatever reason, Misawa and Williams never clicked together for me like Kawada and Williams or Kobashi and Williams, but this is still a helluva match.

 

09/03/94 Williams vs. Kobashi

 

Here's good old Dr. Death again...having another classic. This time, he defends the Triple Crown against Kobashi, and manages to hold him off. I would say that this is a very good match...in fact I think this is the best match that Williams and Kobashi had against each other. In my opinion, Kobashi busted ass in this match to make Williams look like he was a legit champ.

 

10/22/94 Williams vs. Kawada

 

Here we have Dr. Death going for revenge against the dude who beat him in the Carny finals. This time he is defending the Triple Crown, after doing what Kawada couldn't do on 06/03/94...beating Misawa. I got the feeling Kawada was none too pleased about that fact, and he retaliated by beating Dr. Death for the TC and becoming the champ for the first time. This is a very good match, but it's not as good as the Carny finals, and it tends to drag on a bit. Still, it's Kawada vs. Dr. Death, Kawada wins the TC, and it's still a very good match.

 

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So, there are eight matches alone which I have seen that make 1994 a banner year in AJPW. However, according to Dave Meltzer (whose star ratings I have included below since I haven't seen this fights listed...so I can't say what I thought) there were quite a few more matches that year that were very good to great.

 

They are:

 

01/16/94 Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Fuchi: (****)

 

I need to get this match. I didn't order this match originally because I didn't appreciate Fuchi, but after seeing the total Jumbo & Co. vs. Misawa & Co. feud I really grew to respect him. I am going to get this. Anybody seen it?

 

01/30/94 Misawa & Kobashi & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue & Omori: (****1/4)

 

With the participants involved, I can see this being good...but I will be honest and admit the reason I've never gone out of my way to see it is because or Omori. I don't like him. I'd say he's over-rated except I don't know anybody who rates him. His style doesn't do anything for me, he's awkward, and he carries himself (especially when he was in NOAH) like one of those guys who thinks he's tough because he's tall...but then the first time he gets in a real fight he ends up getting his ass kicked. Pass for me.

 

02/13/94 Omori vs. Akiyama: (****)

 

See above. I don't go out of my way to see Omori matches, plus I could take or leave Akiyama, to be honest. Even now, he still strikes me as a guy who is either awesome when he's on his game, or uninspiring when he's off it. Back in 94 he was trying a lot harder than he tends to now...but still. If he's in a Tag or 6 Man Match that I think will be outstanding I'll get it, but I had no desire to see this and still don't.

 

02/20/94 Kobashi & Asako vs. Kawada & Omori: (****1/2)

 

And once again...Omori = pass for me. Now if he and Kawada had been on seperate teams, I would have gotten it to see Kawada kick his ass. That's why I got their TC match on 7/18/04, and enjoyed seeing Kawada win by a mighty KAWADA KICK TO THE FACE!

 

03/06/94 Misawa & Kobashi vs. Baba & Hansen: ****1/4

 

You know what? I actually want to see this. I forget where, but I remember reading somewhere that Baba and Hansen were a lot of fun as a team in the Tag League in 94. Maybe I'll order this one, and the first match I listed here with Fuchi on a comp.

 

04/23/94 Misawa & Kobashi & Akiyama vs. Hansen & Baba & Omori: (****1/4)

 

I'm as generous as the next guy when looking for the bright spots, but young Akiyama, Baba and Omori all in the same match? I think not. Meltzer gave it 4 1/2 snowflakes, but I have also heard that he madly over-rates every match that Kobashi is in...which was evidenced by his rating for this past year's Kobashi/Joe match.

 

06/25/94 Kobashi & Akiyama vs. Taue & Honda: (****)

 

Yikes. Honda alert. I don't mind Honda in small does, but the thought of him and Taue as a team makes me think they just might have been the least gracefull and mobile team of all time...with the exception of maybe Baba and Andre. Maybe.

 

10/15/94 Misawa & Kobashi & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue & Ogawa: (****1/2)

 

Hmmm. Don't know why I don't have this one. I don't hate Ogawa as much as most, and these exact same teams had a HELLUVA match on 7/2/93. I need to add this to my list of potential orders.

 

11/05/94 Misawa & Hansen vs. Kobashi & Taue: (****1/4)

 

Weird. I'm sure there is a story behind why these teams got booked this way. I thought I had this match but checking my list...I don't. Added to my shopping list.

 

12/10/94 Misawa & Kobashi vs. Williams & Ace: ****3/4

 

May I roast in hell for a million years before I spend one penny on any match that has Johnny Ace in it. There, I said it.

 

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So there you have it. 18 matches that either according to this Dave (me) or that Dave (Meltzer) were worth seeing rated at Four Stars or higher. So was 94 a great year in AJPW? Damn skippy.

 

Discuss.

 

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EDIT: My old bud Marty pointed out that some of the match dates I have listed here might be off by a day or two in some cases. Thanks for the heads up Marty. My list is out of whack because in some cases I have the dates the matches took place, but in others I have the "air date" so I could order them from the TV tapes. My bad if I got any dates wrong, and thanks again to Marty for heads up!

[sek69]

The first thing that came to mind is that 1992 WWF probably is what finalized Vince's big man/sports entertainment mindset. One of their best years workwise was one of the worst finanically, and we know which one is more important to Vince. It was probably killing him when he had to push the smaller guys after the whole trial mess.

[Loss]

I also think there was some major displacement going on there. Surely, no one with a brain would think good wrestling caused a decline. The problems were with WWF's public image and the loss of some key players, not necessarily the fault of Ric Flair or Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels or Randy Savage or anyone else headlining that year.

[Strummer]

I think I posted this before, but here a post from Meltzer at Wrestling Classics basically summarizing why 92 was doomed to fail financially.

 

 

 

Flair headlined from September 91 through April 92 and business was generally very strong. Much better than pre-September 91 when it was in the toilet. The Hogan-Flair dynamic was strong, not as strong as it should have been but I don't have the time to go through why but it was so obvious from day one why it would be. Short form, he was promoted as a pretender and not on the level of Hogan, and the dream match aspect was totally downplayed. Hogan in his promos even went so far as to say that some people think this match is a big deal, but it's not. That's how you promote a house show main event? Still, the early matches did very well, but it petered out because it was overdone, and because nobody did jobs in any of the matches. What killed it was Flair become just another WWF wrestler, and the Survivor Sreies, with Flair being on a WWF team instead of being an outsider sealed the fate. Hogan vs. NWA champion Flair would have drawn and did draw in September. They almost sold out the Oakland Coliseum Arena, which Hogan sold out very few times, in fact I can't off the top of my head remember once although he may have with Kamala r someone when he was really hot. But it's the biggest crowd I remember in the building until a Thunder taping in the boom period. It had no legs because Vince never believed in it and egos didn't want to do it right. I remember talking to Pat Patterson about two weeks before the first scheduled match in Oakland, and Patterson himself told me it wouldn't draw well because "our fans don't know Flair." That was their attitude, but in fact, it drew great.

 

By early 92, Hogan-Flair had been programmed all wrong and it had run 4 straight months and it's time was over. Still, Hogan & Piper vs. Sid & Flair drew very well, but I think the Hogan-Sid dynamic and the idea of Hogan & Piper as a team were the reason, and Flair was a strong name partner for Sid. Thinking back, I think it was the Hogan & Piper team idea since I don't think they had done that much at house shows by that point, and Sid was kind of over.

 

Flair lost the title to Savage at Mania which was a booking mistake of major proportions. Flair & Savage did great interviews building that match. You have to remember WWF in early 1992 was rocked with the steroid scandal and the ringboys scandal and Vince was being brutalized everywhere in the media. We all knew there were going to be problems, particularly when the guys started shrinking because they started doing real steroid tests and punshing guys in early 1992. Fans were taught for 8 years that to be a good wrestler you had to be huge and ripped, and suddenly nobody was going to look like that.

 

Additionally, there was no money in heel Flair chasing Savage, only the other way around. I don't know how much it would have helped for Flair to defend vs. Savage that summer, because business and ratings were going to die anyway. Everything had been built around Hogan and he was gone, in a scandal no less and the company had a major black eye and a bunch of smaller guys on top.

 

For the most part, from April 1992 until the rise of Austin and the dropping of steroid testing, nobody drew. Nash drew the worst of all the nobody draws, but Flair, Warrior, Hart, Michaels, Sid, whomever, none drew. I don't think anyone of them had much of an opportunity to draw. When Hart beat Nash, there was a noticeable turnaround and the company was profitable for a short period of time. Even when Hogan came back in 1993, he saw the lay and of the land, and when he wasn't drawing either, he quit to do a TV show.

[Loss]

It's easy to forget now, just because we've seen them against each other so many times, just how *much* of a dream match Flair against Hogan was. I don't know that anything else, including Austin/Hogan or Rock/Hogan, had casual fans talking about the potential of the match as much.

[Coffey]

That's one of the biggest problems with wrestling today. There aren't any "dream matches" left. What are we going to get? A broken down Hogan against a broken down Austin? There's not a "second federation," so to speak, that can produce names that people really care about that'll get people talking. There's not a whole lot of "what if AJ Styles wrestled John Cena?" talk.

[Loss]

I think Austin v Goldberg was the last one.

[Coffey]

There's some people that would still argue for shit like HBK/Rock or Austin/Hogan, etc...but I think there aren't any left. Hell, if you looked hard enough, I'm sure there's some people itching to see shit like Kane/Abyss or Abyss/Mankind.

[sek69]

Even when Hogan came back in 1993, he saw the lay and of the land, and when he wasn't drawing either, he quit to do a TV show.

 

I was always under the impression that when he came back in 1993, he wanted to be booked like it was still the mid 80s (not doing jobs for anyone) and Vince just got tired of dealing with it. The way he went out, getting practically squashed by Yokozuna and jobbing to a leg drop of all moves, suggested that Vince was trying to make a point.

[goodhelmet]

For 1994 All Japan, part of the reason that there are generally less great matches (at least available) than 1993 (which had great matches every single week, not merely every month) was that the TV decreased from a 1 hour show to a 30 minute show. Therefore, workers who were working hard and geting TV exposure before were often not seen for weeks or only in clipped form.

[Loss]

Yeah, some people have said that's when the AJ undercards really went to hell, because they were never on TV anyway, and it was harder than ever to get anyone new over, not only because the standard for work on top was unbelievably high, but because no one got any TV time.

[goodhelmet]

1988 NWA

This is a wierd year. I only have about a dozen episodes on disc but almost all of them had a high ccaliber matchup. Still, if it wasn't for Barry Windham and his Horsemen turn, I don't know how I would rate this year. One problem is that many of the matchups that were taking place were old hat. By the end of the year, the Brainbusters had split for New York and Dusty had run the RNR out because they were out drawing him on the B-shows. Then you had the Midnight Rider nonsense. However, then you could pop in any given week and see a classic liek Tully-Windham which went 30 minutes or The Arn/Tully vs. Luger/Windham match that cemented Barry's turn.

 

1994 AJPW

Well, it had one of the best matches ever in it so it must have been pretty good Thread Killer already gave a good rundown of matches and I already mentioned the TV going to half an hour so I don't have much more to add. All Japan was still bringing the goods.

 

1992 WWF

Lets see, wasn't watching the TV. I think the Royal Rumble is given undeserved praise becasue Flair won even though the match is so-so. I enjoyed the Summerslam main event. I think the WM matches that are given praise are over-rated but still good. Never cared for the Survior Series matches. RAW was still a year away. Hmmm, I guess I would have to see more to give a true rating but what I have seen so far means nothing to me.

 

1996 ECW

Blah! The first part of the year had Rey, Juvi and Psichosis. The rest of the year has nothing I really care to see again... maybe if I get the TV in a super cheap bulk buy or something.

[World's Worst Man]

I think 1994 had more super high-end stuff than 1993, but 1993 had a larger depth of really good and better matches. Which would lend credence to the 1 hour -> 30 minute TV theory.

[anarchistxx]

The Rock v Shawn Michaels is considered a dream match by many, but will rpobably never happen.

[silverwidow]

1994 AJPW

 

As mentioned, the weekly TV show suffered when it got cut in half because thirty minutes is not nearly enough time to spotlight an entire company. The majority of the focus was on the main event scene, which at least fit with the idea of occasionally releasing those one match commercial tapes.

 

Anyway, for me, '94 was sandwiched between the two greatest years in All Japan history. Sure, it had its share of classics (Carny Final, 5/94 tag titles, 6/3/94) but it wasn't bursting at the seams with great matches like '93 & '95. The 3-volume Carnival "league" tape set was pretty disappointing with maybe only one excellent match (Kobashi vs. Hansen; itself several steps down from their '93 encounters) and one pleasant surprise (Williams vs. Akiyama). Nothing else really stands out; Misawa was working with an injured neck and even his match against Kawada underwhelmed.

 

Jumping ahead, something that should be mentioned as a "hidden gem" of sorts would be Kawada/Taue vs. Hansen/Baba from 12/10/94. I would say it's in the same ballpark as Misawa & Kobashi's great match against the legends the previous November. Loads of grumpiness as you would expect from both sides. Really fun.

[sek69]

 

I think the Royal Rumble is given undeserved praise becasue Flair won even though the match is so-so.

 

 

I'm surprised you would say that, I've always thought it was one of the few Rumbles that wasn't the usual "boring as shit till the final sequence" routine. I just happened to watch it again last night and the sequence between Flair and Piper is just awesome, and Jake just makes it even more awesomer by sliding in the ring and then sitting back in the corner so they can continue beating the shit out of each other.

 

It definately had its slow points where there was too much jobberage clogging up the ring (and Warlord being sold as a credible threat to win even with #30 was a LOL-worthy moment), but you really can't avoid that when you book 30 guys in a hour+ match.

[goodhelmet]

You shouldn't be surprised. It was one of the first matches I watched after getting on the net and hearing the praise that I really felt let down. It had its moments but it wasn't one of the greatest matches of all-time. I am also at a disadvantage whe nwatching that match because I have no emotional investment in Ric Flair and at the time, I wasn't even watching wrestling. Looking back, it was a great moment seeing Flair win but the match has been outshined by too many matches for me to take it seriously.

[sek69]

I don't think you can really rate a Royal Rumble match the same way you'd rate a regular wrestling match.

 

As battle royales go, Rumble 92 is one of the best. As a wrestling match, it's not going to compare with a singles or tag match.

[goodhelmet]

If that is the case then people should stop calling it a 5-star or a 4-star match.

[sek69]

Wow, people were giving it star ratings? I've only heard people call it one of if not the best Rumble match, which I'd agree with.

 

I don't understand how you could assign stars to a battle royale, no matter what your snowflake critera may be.

[Loss]

1988 NWA

Amazing how a promotion with a rapidly deleting talent roster, front office chaos, with horrible morale and near bankruptcy can still produce what's mostly a good product. Midnight Express/Fantastics feud may have been the best tag feud of the 80s, and then you have Barry Windham's run with the Horsemen, Luger challenging Flair (which was the only thing that drew that year - aside from the brief Horsemen/MX program), Sting emerging as a star, the really great Arn and Tully tag team reaching its zenith and the Cornette/Paul E. feud of late '88. The Windham turn is my very favorite angle of all time.

 

1994 AJPW

I've seen all the big matches, but I'd like to see a lot of the TV to tie it all together. Tons of great standalone matches, though, and the booking was really good the majority of the time, although Kawada should have won on 6/3.

 

1992 WWF

The year the bubble popped and the product had to change. As I said before, unfair to blame the top stars in the company, because no one could have possibly drawn with all the bad publicity and Hulk Hogan leaving in a scandal. It was time to make changes anyway, and this was a very important year in the annals of WWE history. Lots of identity crises and still some silliness in the booking, but much better overall than the previous three years for the promotion.

 

1996 ECW

Still unique, but the wheels were already in motion for the eventual downfall by this time, with WCW stealing their ideas to import the best wrestlers in the world for the undercard and the WWF pretending to be their friend, but really just setting them up to steal their booking ideas and create the Attitude era.