1993

[Grimmas]

Who is the greatest wrestler of the year?

[Boss Rock]

Kenta Kobashi. Hokuto comes very close, but Kobashi's peaks against Hansen (twice), Williams, Kawada, and the RWTL final are pretty insurmountable. The absolute peak of his dynamic offense.

[Tetsujin]

It's pretty god damn close between Kobashi, Hokuto and Hansen. I wanna include Aja Kong, Tenryu and Kandori on the conversation as well, but those other three had all-time great years.

[DylanZero]

I might be alone with this but when I went through the yearbook matches by the end I would give '93 to Kansai over Kobashi & Hokuto as my 2 and 3. My reasons for this and standout matches performances were as follows.

 

Kansai had 6 of my top 50 matches of the year, 4 of which were in the top 10, although Hokuto only had 2 in the top 10 and my number 1 match I think you could argue Kansai's performance in the matches elevating her just over.

 

Thunderqueen: My #2 match of the year and she was the glue of the match from my perspective and felt larger than life even paired against Kong as she always did. Although obviously the spotlight transitioned towards the end to Takako & Ozaki Kansai's role was pivotal.

 

w/Ozaki vs. Toyota/Yamada from 4/11 - continuation of one of the best 3 match series in history and again her role was pivotal checking the AJW team and being an awesome force.

 

w/Ozaki vs. Takako/Hotta: Who didn't love seeing her beat up Hotta? For real though, another big performance and got the most out of her opponents.

 

vs. Kong: Brilliant match where she actually looked even better than Aja in my book, a triumph for any wrestler.

-

 

Non top 10 matches:

w/Ozaki vs. Yamada/Toyota 12/6: Not as good as the first 2 but still awesome.

 

vs. Yamada 10/9: I loved this match and her in particular in it. Yamada I respect but has less memorable singles matches than a few of her contemporaries and I thought this was one of her better singles showings especially against someone other than Toyota. Kansai rocked the house and made this match great.

 

In general there was just something about peak Kansai that really spoke to me. She was awesome in 1993. It's close and I have no problem with Hokuto or Kobashi getting the nod but I felt it necessary to represent Dynamite Kansai here.

[Makai Club #1]

As good as Kobashi, Kawada, etc were, I think Tenryu was the best wrestler of the year. Working both WAR and NJPW, had great singles matches against Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto and Hiroshi Hase. The WAR v NJPW matches are all wonderful interpromotional matches (the 16/2 two out of three falls match, the tag with Ishikawa against Hashimoto and Choshu on the 2/4 and more). The match where he teams with Choshu against Inoki and Fujinami is a real gem as well. 

[mmcoor]

Hokuto

[elliott]

Hokuto easily

Runner Up - Art Barr 

[Mr JMML]

No one was in the same league as Akira Hokuto in 1993

[EnviousStupid]

He's not the best in 93, but Hiroshi Hase had a fantastic run.

[cad]

MEXICO #93       (12 mos)        Q-GOOD
1. Negro Casas
2. La Parka
3. Lizmark
HM: Satanico

Just AAA/CMLL stuff this year for the most part. Negro Casas continued his inspired run from 1992 for the first few months before cooling off a bit towards the summer. By that point La Parka was probably more consistently entertaining, although Casas came back with a great match at the anniversary to ensure that he'd keep the top spot for the year as a whole. I don't know what to say about Lizmark. He was laying down the big title defenses this year, and no one seems to give a damn. I don't know if the matches don't hold up, or if the accomplishment just hasn't impressed anyone, or what. Try naming a better tecnico for 1993. Satanico really turned it on after jumping to AAA, but this was after five months of not a whole lot.

Casas was still at his peak, but as the year wore on he didn't seem to have to same fire week in and out that he did in 1992. With big matches hard to come by for Mexican candidates, you have to be impressive in almost every appearance to match up with the candidates from elsewhere. It probably doesn't help that all CMLL footage from the final two months of the year seems to be lost (with one exception).

These were my ten favorite matches:

Spoiler

1. Negro Casas vs La Fiera
2. Lizmark vs Jerry Estrada
3. Negro Casas vs Ultimo Dragon
4. Gran Apache and Mestizo vs Escudero Rojo and Reyes Veloz (August 31)
5. Negro Casas, Felino and Bestia Salvaje vs Ciclon Ramirez, Ultimo Dragon and Oro
6. Villano III vs Rambo
7. Solar, Volador and Katana vs Winners, Misterioso and Angel Azteca
8. Piratita Morgan and Felinito vs Cicloncito Ramirez and Ultimo Dragoncito
9. Lizmark vs Satanico
10. Fuerza Guerrera, Jerry Estrada and Psicosis vs Villano III, Mascara Sagrada and Mexicano

Maybe there are some matches that have a strong argument for unseating number ten on the list, but come on. That's the legendary match where Fuerza Guerrera gets heel heat for tying his shoe. I can't be taking that one off.

[ohtani's jacket]

I was a big fan of Lizmark in AAA.