1994

[Grimmas]

Who is the greatest wrestler of the year?

[Boss Rock]

Misawa. 1994 was probably the start of his peak.

[Tetsujin]

Aja Kong. Three near perfect all-time classics against Hotta, Toyota, and the Queendom tag (the Hokuto rivalry might be the best of this year to me), nobody peaked higher than her in this year excepto Hokuto the few shows she worked. Bret Hart had a really strong year too, even working with low-level guys at WWE most of the time.

[elliott]

Weird year for me where there's a ton of awesome wrestlers but I think the very best all happen to be part timers or actually die before the end of the year so it's hard to pick them. I'll go with:

Kiyoshi Tamura - was a part timer kind of but still worked on every show his promotion ran. So is he really a full timer? Either way he has the earth shattering Vader match, an awesome Gary Albright match, great matches with Sano & Kakihara, fun matches with Severn & Bad News Allen & a pair of terrific tag matches. He meets the eye test too. When you watch him, he looks like the best in the world. Complete package mat work, strikes, selling, just a remarkable worker about to go on an insane run from now until the end of the decade. 

Runner up - Tenryu. Wraps up WAR vs NJPW and goes right to Onita. Enough said. 

Runner Runner Up Would've been #1 if not for dying - Art Barr. Hard to call him the best wrestler in the world for 1994 when he died before the year ended but, yeah. Before that he was the best wrestler in the world. 

[Mr JMML]

Aja Kong had a great year in 1994.

[cad]

Mexico in 1994:
1. La Parka
2. Javier Cruz
3. Solar

Not exactly one of my favorite years, this. Parka sort of wins by default, even though I doubt anything from his 1994 would make a "Best of LA Park" playlist. He had the flair to make a mount exchange with Mascara Sagrada one of the year's highlights for me, and I've never seen better AAA brawling than him vs Lizmark in some 4 vs 4 match. Javier Cruz put out more energy more consistently than any other CMLL worker in 1994. Whether because of dedication or because he could feel himself slipping down the cards, he fought his hardest against the lifeless atmosphere of 1994 Arena Mexico and managed to produce a classic with an increasingly irrelevant Ciclon Ramirez. Cruz didn't have the charisma to make everything he did must see TV, but he did manage some fun stuff with Los Rebeldes de Jalisco, one of the most pointless teams ever to garner a name. And I went with Solar because the Panther match had some nice technical work, he did some good stuff with Angel Azteca at points, and he managed to keep his form even while giving up the character that he'd made his name with. If that sounds like a stretch, well, fair enough. For that third spot I was wracking my brain for guys who could possibly go there and crossing them off the list one by one until eventually it got to a point at which I was considering if Mascara Sagrada, the full size Mascara Sagrada, was maybe the third best wrestler in the country, and that's when I knew I was in too far.

I don't think any of the three listed names had a best in the world kind of year, and in fact it's probably more interesting what happened with the usual candidates. Santo had kind of a coasting year. Outside of the strong program with Javier Llanes, Dandy would sometimes start off like he really wanted to leave an impression (vs Felino, vs Hijo del Gladiador), before the matches would simmer down and end up not far off from average. Most of Casas's big opportunities this year came in a feud with Mocho Cota, and I don't think they ever really clicked as personalities. Pirata Morgan looked washed up. Fuerza Guerrera didn't have much going on. Atlantis didn't either and seemed to have shelved his technical side. Rey Jr. wasn't quite there yet. I'm not a fan of the AAA mini style or Art Barr, but this wouldn't be a bad year to list them, even with Barr's death.

This was my top ten:

Spoiler

1. Ciclon Ramirez vs Javier Cruz
2. Hijo del Santo and Octagon vs Eddy Guerrero and Love Machine
3. El Dandy vs Javier Llanes
4. Lizmark, Rey Misterio Sr. and Rey Misterio Jr. vs Parka, Jerry Estrada and Espanto Jr.
5. Atlantis, Dandy and Ringo Mendoza vs Mano Negra, Black Magic and Javier Llanes
6. Sangre Chicana, Mocho Cota and Bestia Salvaje vs Ringo Mendoza, Blue Demon Jr. and Mascara Magica
7. Dandy, Silver King and Ultimo Dragon vs Javier Llanes, Pierroth Jr. and Emilio Charles Jr.
8. Parka, Psicosis and Jerry Estrada vs Hijo del Santo, Mascara Sagrada and Heavy Metal
9. Hijo del Santo, Lizmark and Octagon vs Parka, Psicosis and Love Machine
10. Javier Cruz, Mogur and Cachorro Mendoza vs Felino, Arkangel and Halcon Negro (February 25)

I wouldn't say that When Worlds Collide holds up as a five star classic, but it's kind of like Savage vs Warrior in that it's an excellently crafted dramatic match, beyond something that simply succeeded in popping the fans. The wrestling in Dandy vs Llanes is much more interesting, but the dreary mood and muted crowd can't really compare to WWC. #2 and #9 on the list took place in the United States, but they were promoted (at least in part) by AAA, so I'm counting them.

[Mr JMML]

I loved AAA in 1994.

[Mr JMML]

February

Fuerza Guerrera/Psicosis vs El Hijo del Santo/ Angel Azteca 2/13
El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis 2/16

March

Mascarita Sagrada vs Espectrito 3/12
Konnan vs Jake Roberts 3/12
Heavy Metal/Rey Mysterio Jr./Winners vs Espectro Jr./Fuerza Guerrera/Jerry Estrada 3/12
Angel Azteca/Winners/Volador vs Solar I/Super Calo/Misterioso 3/19

April

Lizmark/Tiger Mask III/El Hijo Del Santo vs. Blue Panther/Eddy Guerrero/Love Machine 4/2

May

El Hijo del Santo & Jushin Liger & Octagon & Tiger Mask vs Blue Panther & Eddy Guerrero & La Parka & Psicosis 5/15
Konnan & Perro Aguayo & Cien Caras vs Jake Roberts & Miguel Perez Jr & Love Machine 5/15
Mascara Sagrada vs Black Cat 5/8
Mascara Sagrada vs Black Cat 5/15
Hijo Del Santo/Perro Aguayo/Mascara Sagrada/Lizmark vs Black Cat/La Parka/Psicosis/Satánico 5/27
Konnan vs Jake Roberts 5/27

June

El Hijo Del Santo/Mascara Sagrada/Heavy Metal vs La Parka/Psicosis/Jerry Estrada 6/3 

July

Octagon/Rey Misterio Jr./El Hijo Del Santo vs. Psicosis/Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera 7/15

August

Konnan & Cien Caras vs El Satanico & Perro Aguayo 8/19


October

Blue Panther vs El Mariachi 10/30

November

El Hijo del Santo/ Octagon vs Eddie Guerrero/Love Machine 11/6 
Rey Mysterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera 11/30

December

Jerry Estrada & Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 vs Perro Aguayo & La Parka & Octagon 12/5