1992

[Grimmas]

Who is the greatest wrestler of the year?

[DylanZero]

There's a case to be made for quite a few people. This might be my favorite year in terms of matches. I would go with Toyota, was the one who stood out the most in her matches, one of which was an all time classic and the other was a great match so memorable Stardom directly called back to it 29 years later largely due to her emotional performance. I get the feeling it would have been a runaway Jumbo win if things were different the second half of the year though. Of the AJPW guys I think I actually liked Kawada best this year but it's close. 

[EnviousStupid]

This is probably the first year since 1985 where I don't think anyone from AJPW is a real standout #1 contender for the year. WCW had managed to put out a great product nearly all year with the likes of Sting and Vader having strong cases of their own. Jushin Liger was generally outstanding both in New Japan and WCW whenever used. But for me, I think Bull Nakano stands out the most. This was her last year as ace of AJW, being part of great rivalries against the likes of Akira Hokuto and Aja Kong, the latter having dominated the whole company for the last few years and finally culminating with Bull dropping the WWWA world title to her. She had been one of the most badass figures in all of wrestling, and with her first pinfall loss since 1989, helped cement someone new as the undisputed ace.

[Microstatistics]

Yeah, this is a difficult year to gauge. Putting heavy emphasis on high-end performances, my Top 3 would be as follows.

1. Jushin Liger

2. Vader

3. Ricky Steamboat

Volk Han, Bret Hart, Kenta Kobashi, Scott Steiner (as a tag wrestler), Mayumi Ozaki had a strong year as well.

[elliott]

Bull Nakano ends her run as the best Ace in wrestling by passing the torch to Aja in a classic match. Great singles & tags throughout the year. 

Runner Up - Hokuto and Bull are really on another level from everyone else. 

[Mr JMML]

Bull Nakano was as awesome as ever in 1992. 

[cad]

Top three for Mexico:
1. Negro Casas
2. Espanto Jr.
3. La Fiera
HM: Atlantis, El Dandy, El Hijo del Santo, El Signo, Pirata Morgan, Emilio Charles Jr.

For footage this year, we lose Monterrey and gain another weekly TV show when AAA forms in May, briefly giving us three promotions' TV. Saved UWA TV becomes rare by the summer months and the show is gone by the end of the year. We also get a few months of Guadalajara TV in the summer-autumn months. Last year's number one, Fuerza, started off the year continuing the fun Misterioso feud but soon reignited his rivalry with Octagon, which felt like a rehash this time out. This about marks the end of his time as one of the best in the world. Around the same time, Negro Casas had one of his best matches with Santo and made it clear that he was Mexico's number one, but with Casas footage so scarce beforehand he may have already held that title and we just can't prove it. Espanto Jr. was the star of the UWA TV for me, and one of the great things about it is that he got to show how he wrestled against opponents who weren't El Hijo del Santo. He also had a great match with El Hijo del Santo. La Fiera, man. La Fiera did everything in 1992, title match, hair match, green foreigner match, match where he's the foreigner, bloody brawling, comedy, insane bumping, ref spots, and often several of these in one match. And he was in the zone in terms of pointless details, like when he'd start blinking his eyes after Ultimo Dragon shot his mist into the air, or bouncing on the apron when big Kendo Nagasaki took a bump. Lot of honorable mentions this year. I'll just mention that Dandy had some great performances but also quite a few big matches that ended up being fine when they could have been special, and that Signo was another one of the best workers on UWA TV, putting together a good LHW title reign and flying all over while the heavies around him moved in slomo.

Casas does something brilliant almost every time he's on TV this year, and his match with Dandy is one of the legendary title matches in lucha fan canon. I think you've gotta reckon with him if you're naming your best in the world. This is my favorite year for Mexico, actually, but the workers spread the wealth around, so I don't know if anyone else had a 1992 that screams WOTY.

My ten favorites from '92:

Spoiler

1. Negro Casas vs El Dandy
2. Perro Aguayo, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and Konnan vs Sangre Chicana, Cien Caras and Mascara Año 2000 (March 6)
3. Atlantis, Pierroth Jr. and Dandy vs Satanico, Emilio Charles Jr. and Fiera
4. El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr.
5. Atlantis vs Emilio Charles Jr.
6. Pirata Morgan vs Masakre
7. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (IIRC this is clipped, but what's shown is good enough to rank)
8. Fiera, Jerry Estrada and Bestia Salvaje vs Hijo del Solitario, Blue Demon Jr. and Huracan Sevilla (January 24)
9. Negro Casas, Fiera and Bestia Salvaje vs Dandy, Ringo Mendoza and Ultimo Dragon
10. Ciclon Ramirez, Jinete and Huracan Sevilla vs Fiera, Espectro de Ultratumba and Ciclon Mackey