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08/15/92 Hokuto & Yamada vs Bull & Aja fits in where? You'd think a "helluva match" would at least get ***. :)

 

John

Hell of a match more from a booking standpoint than because of the work. I don't really remember anything about it now, and I didn't when making the list either, so it didn't make too much of an impression on me, except in that they did a good job advancing storylines.

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You need to jot down in your notes an initial star rating so that you have at least something to go back on. :) Flik seemed to have dug it a ton, and MJH seemed to as well. This:

 

Hell of a match with quite a bit going on. Really well booked in that it furthered two big feuds. Hokuto and Yamada's infighting ends up being their demise. The duel guillotine legdrops to finish were nice. Aja and Bull tease their continued rivalry after the match too, which is great fun.

Sounds like at least a *** match, and that there was more than just booking but you kept it short. :)

 

John

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You need to jot down in your notes an initial star rating so that you have at least something to go back on. :) Flik seemed to have dug it a ton, and MJH seemed to as well. This:

 

Hell of a match with quite a bit going on. Really well booked in that it furthered two big feuds. Hokuto and Yamada's infighting ends up being their demise. The duel guillotine legdrops to finish were nice. Aja and Bull tease their continued rivalry after the match too, which is great fun.

Sounds like at least a *** match, and that there was more than just booking but you kept it short. :)

 

John

 

If we're talking about things we "need" to do, you "need" to get a yearbook! I had nothing else to say so I said nothing else. I'm not sure why you're trying to tell me that I really don't think I think what I think. Had something else stood out to me, I would have commented on it.

 

I feel like I'm in court.

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September:

 

#1 - Bull Nakano, Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Toshiyo Yamada, Yumiko Hotta & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 09/15/92) ****1/2

#2 - Ric Flair vs Genichiro Tenryu (SWS 09/15/92) ****1/4

#3 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJPW 09/09/92) ***3/4

#4 - Bart Vale vs Kazuo Takahashi (PWFG 09/02/92) ***3/4

#5 - El Dandy vs Bestia Salvaje (CMLL 09/03/92) ***1/2

#6 - Cactus Jack vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Main Event 09/06/92) ***1/2

#7 - El Dandy vs Satanico (CMLL 09/17/92) ***1/2

#8 - Vader, Super Invader, Rick Rude & Jake Roberts vs Sting, Nikita Koloff, Rick & Scott Steiner (WCW Clash of the Champions XX 09/02/92) ***1/4

#9 - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 09/17/92) ***1/4

#10 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Gary Albright (UWFI 09/21/92) ***1/4

#11 - Dustin Rhodes vs Jake Roberts (WCW Saturday Night 09/26/92) ***

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October:

 

#1 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 10/21/92) ****1/2

#2 - Blue Panther vs Super Astro (AAA 10/09/92) ****1/2

#3 - Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (WCW Saturday Night 10/03/92) ****1/4

#4 - Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 10/07/92) ****1/4

#5 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFI 10/23/92) ****

#6 - Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki vs Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 10/07/92) ****

#7 - Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Williams & Steve Austin (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/25/92) ***3/4

#8 - Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 10/21/92) ***3/4

#9 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 10/17/92) ***3/4

#10 - Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WWF Smack Em Whack Em 10/12/92) ***1/2

#11 - Silver King, El Texano & Gran Hamada vs El Signo, Black Power & Negro Navarro (UWA 10/17/92) ***1/2

#12 - Sting, Rick & Scott Steiner vs Rick Rude, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton (WCW Worldwide 10/03/92) ***1/2

#13 - Akira Maeda vs Volk Han (RINGS 10/29/92) ***1/4

#14 - Rock & Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies (SMW TV 10/24/92) ***1/4

#15 - Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (WCW Main Event 10/25/92) ***

 

Wrestling in the U.S. seems pretty grim by this point. Even though there are still good matches, it's pretty obvious we're entering a dark period.

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November:

 

#1 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW Dream Rush 11/26/92) *****

#2 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Giant Baba (AJPW 11/27/92) ****1/2

#3 - Akira Hokuto vs Kyoko Inoue (AJW Dream Rush 11/26/92) ****1/2

#4 - Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (AJW Dream Rush 11/26/92) ****1/4

#5 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa (AJW 11/02/92) ****

#6 - Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto (AJW 11/02/92) ****

#7 - Genichiro Tenryu, Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka, Kengo Kimura & Masayo Aoyagi (NJPW 11/23/92) ***3/4

#8 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 11/30/92) ***3/4

#9 - Vader vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night 11/21/92) ***1/2

#10 - Rick Rude vs Barry Windham (WCW Saturday Night 11/07/92) ***1/2

#11 - Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Survivor Series 11/25/92) ***

#12 - Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty (WWF Providence, RI 11/27/92) ***

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December:

 

#1 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 12/13/92) ****3/4

#2 - Vader vs Sting (WCW Starrcade 12/28/92) ****1/2

#3 - Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue (JWP 12/01/92) ****1/4

#4 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW 12/14/92) ****1/4

#5 - Jushin Liger & Kensuke Sasaki vs Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (WCW Philadelphia 12/29/92) ****

#6 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Naoki Sano (UWFI 12/20/92) ***3/4

#7 - Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara (NJPW 12/11/92) ***3/4

#8 - Barry Windham & Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (WCW Starrcade 12/28/92) ***3/4

#9 - Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WWF Worcester, MA 12/27/92) ***3/4

#10 - Mitsuya Nagai vs Sergei Sousserov (RINGS 12/19/92) ***3/4

#11 - Yoshihiro Takayama vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (UWFI 12/20/92) ***3/4

#12 - Masa Chono vs Hiroshi Hase (NJPW 12/11/92) ***1/2

#13 - El Hijo del Santo, Eddy Guerrero & Lizmark vs Fuerza Guerrera, Marabunta & Jerry Estrada (AAA 12/27/92) ***1/2

#14 - Great Muta vs Hiroshi Hase (NJPW 12/14/92) ***1/2

#15 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama (AJPW 12/04/92) ***1/4

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I've started working on my top 100 for the year. There are two matches where I seemed to get some push back over how much I liked them that I want to make sure I'm not crazy and watch them again:

 

El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson (WWA 05/16/92)

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude & Steve Austin (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92)

 

After I do that, I'll start counting down.

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Revised May:

 

#1 - Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) ****3/4

#2 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 05/22/92) ****3/4

#3 - Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat (AJPW 05/25/92) ****1/2

#4 - El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr (UWA 05/14/92) ****1/4

#5 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW 05/30/92) ****1/4

#6 - Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (NJPW 05/01/92) ****

#7 - Rick & Scott Steiner vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) ****

#8 - Brian Pillman vs Tom Zenk (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) ***3/4

#9 - Steve Austin vs Barry Windham (WCW Saturday Night 05/09/92) ***3/4

#10 - Riki Choshu vs Keiji Muto (NJPW 05/17/92) ***1/2

#11 - Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes (WCW Worldwide 05/30/92) ***1/2

#12 - El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson (WWA 05/16/92) ***1/2

#13 - El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Mil Mascaras vs Negro Casas, Tarzan Goto & Giant Warrior (FMW 05/15/92) ***1/4

#14 - Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night 05/23/92) ***1/4

#15 - Bill Wilcox vs Freight Train Fulton (UCW 05/01/92) ***1/4

#16 - Arn Anderson vs Big Josh (WCW Saturday Night 05/02/92) ***1/4

#17 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Gary Albright (UWFI 05/08/92) ***

#18 - Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 05/24/92) ***

Revised July:

 

#1 - El Dandy vs Negro Casas (CMLL 07/03/92) *****

#2 - Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 07/05/92) ****1/2

#3 - Vader vs Sting (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) ****1/2

#4 - Volk Han vs Andrei Kopylov (RINGS 07/16/92) ****1/2

#5 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazuo Takahashi (PWFG 07/27/92) ****

#6 - Kiyoshi Tamura & Kazuo Yamazaki vs Gary Albright & Mark Silver (UWFI 07/12/92) ***3/4

#7 - Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude & Steve Austin (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) ***3/4

#8 - Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) ***3/4

#9 - Lizmark vs Satanico (CMLL 07/17/92) ***1/2

#10 - Masa Chono vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW 07/31/92) ***1/2

#11 - Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 07/31/92) ***1/2

#12 - El Hijo del Santo, Perro Aguayo & Misterioso vs Fishman, Espanto Jr & Cien Caras (AAA 07/04/92) ***1/4

#13 - Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Portland 07/21/92) ***1/4

#14 - Rick Rude vs Nikita Koloff (WCW Worldwide 07/25/92) ***1/4

#15 - Negro Casas, Emilio Charles Jr. & Bestia Salvaje vs Atlantis, Lizmark & Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 07/31/92) ***1/4

#16 - Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (JWP 07/09/92) ***

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Revised May:

 

#12 - El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson (WWA 05/16/92) ****1/2

#13 - El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Mil Mascaras vs Negro Casas, Tarzan Goto & Giant Warrior (FMW 05/15/92) ***1/4

Star rating on the first needs to be correctd. :)

 

John

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  • 4 years later...

A brief return home led to me picking up the next yearbook. Here we go!

 

1992:

 

January:

1)Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 1/21/92) **** ½

2)Moondogs vs. Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller + Jerry Lawler (Concession Stand Brawl) (USWA 1/17/92) **** ¼

3)Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 1/26/92) **** ¼

4)Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJ 1/24/92) ****

5)Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 1/10/92) ****

6)Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler vs. Moondogs (Arena Brawl) (USWA 1/25/92) ****

7)Royal Rumble (Rumble 1/19/92) ****

8)Dos Caras, Silver King & El Texano vs. Lightning Kid, Jerry Lynn & Dr Wagner Jr. (Hamada's UWF 1/19/92) *** ¾

9)Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 1/4/92) *** ¾

10) Naoki Sano vs. Jerry Flynn (PWFG 1/15/92) *** ¾

11) Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Sting & The Great Muta (NJ 1/4/92) *** ¾

12) Fuerza Guerrera vs. Octagon (CMLL 1/31/92) *** ¾

13) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen (AJ 1/28/92) *** ¾

14) Tracy Smothers & Terry Taylor vs. Brian Pillman & Marcus Bagwell (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½

15) Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½

16) Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton & Rick Rude vs. Sting, Ricky Steamboat & Marcus Bagwell (Pro 1/18/92) *** ½

17) Vader & Mr. Hughes vs. The Steiners (Clash 1/21/92) *** ½

18) Pegasus Kid vs. Villano III (UWA 1/26/92) *** ½

19) Pegasus Kid & Negro Casas vs. El Hijo del Santo & Villano III (UWA 1/19/92) *** ¼

20) Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Ron Simmons (WCWSN 1/11/92) *** ¼

21) Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 1/4/92) *** ¼

22) Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCWSN 1/25/92) ***

23) Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer (Falls Count Anywhere) (Clash 1/21/92) ** ¾

24) Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker (MSG 1/31/92) ** ¾

25) Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie (Rumble 1/19/92) ** ½

26) Bob Backlund vs. Jerry Lawler (WWA 1/10/92) **

 

January was a terrific month – we’ve had 4 stellar AJ matches, hands-down the craziest brawl I’ve ever seen, a great Rumble, some very enjoyable WCW and an almost impossible amount more. It will be interesting to see how people who have watched the Yearbooks chronologically may see things differently than those who watched them on their release dates (I was originally going to begin with 1991). I think I enjoyed the All Japan matches more for seeing their very gradual build since 1990, and it’s so refreshing to see WCW put out so many solid matches after a barren spell. All around, I think January has picked up where 1991 left off strongly, and just built upon it.

This seemed a very match heavy month. I don’t know if that’s a running theme of 1992, January is generally a packed month (1991 was similar) or if a long Rumble took up space. I always thought I was a match person above angles or the complete picture, but watching the yearbooks (especially what was coming from USWA and Texas) have really shown me how wrong I was. However, like ’91, when the matches are so good, I’m happy to just roll with it.

Match of the Month: Jumbo/Kawada – This was an awesome war where Jumbo looked at his most vulnerable so far, yet still came through to win. I actually think I might (maybe) prefer this to the Misawa/Jumbo matches of 90/91.

 

Angle of the Month: Moondogs/Jarrett/Lawler etc – the best matches USWA had produced, and the most captivating brawling I’ve ever seen. Between this and Cactus/Hammer, they look way ahead of their time, and are early prototype of the ECW and Attitude style I would grow up with. But better, of course.

 

MVP of January: Difficult, there were a lot. Ultimately saying Jumbo Tsuruta.

 

TL;DR: 1992 is off to a flier. The best may be yet to come.

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February

1) Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid (NJ 2/10/92) **** ½

2) Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJ 2/22/92) **** ½

3) El Texano, Silver King & Gran Hamada vs. Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rambo (UWA 2/29/92) **** ½

4) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) **** ¼

5) Jushin Liger vs. Norio Honaga (NJ 2/8/92) **** ¼

6) El Texano, Silver King & Gran Hamada vs. Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mike Lozansky (UWA 2/16/92) ****

7) Bestia Salvaje vs. Huracan Sevilla (Hair vs. Hair) (CMLL 2/14/92) ****

8) Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham & Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCWSN 2/22/92) ****

9) Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) ****

10) Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Scott Norton & Brad Armstrong (NJ 2/10/92) *** ¾

11) Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Masakazu Maeda (UWFI 2/29/92) *** ¾

12) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 2/27/92) *** ¾

13) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (SuperBrawl 2/29/92) *** ¾

14) El Canek vs. Dos Caras (UWA 2/2/92) *** ¾

15) Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Yusuke Fuke (PWFG 2/24/92) *** ½

16) Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 2/4/92) *** ¼

17) Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett & Junkyard Dog vs. Moondogs (Arena Clips) (USWA 2/29/92) *** ¼

18) Rick Rude vs. Brian Pillman (Pro 2/15/92) *** ¼

19) Vader, Cactus Jack & Mr. Hughes vs. Sting & The Steiner Brothers (Main Event 2/9/92) *** ¼

20) Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat (Power Hour 2/7/92) ** ¾

21) Jerry Lynn vs. Barry Horowitz (GWF 2/14/92) ** ¾

22) Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts (SNME 2/8/92) ** ½

23) Big Bad John vs. Eddie Gilbert ($25,000 Bounty Match) (2/21/92) ** ½

24) Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice vs. Ric Flair & The Undertaker (SNME 2/8/92) ** ¼

25) Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper (Cage Match) (Worcester 2/24/92) ** ¼

 

February continued to deliver in a huge way. I’m not sure it was definitively the best month of the yearbooks so far (I was quite partial to November 1990, August 1991 and November 1991) but it certainly is up there. I mean, just look at that lengthy list with so many snowflakes, it was definitely spectacular. I think the ‘median’ match on the yearbook has improved significantly.

 

Match of the Month: Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid (NJ 2/10/92) **** ½ - I really like the idea of Liger as junior version of the traditional face champion who takes on a variety of tough guys and oddballs. This had a lot of the great stuff from the Honaga match but with added flips and shit.

 

Not an easy decision – the Kawada/Kikuchi tag was probably my favourite thing on the yearbook so far – only left off the top spot because I feel the 5/22 match will be even better. The Los Cowboys six man I rated **** ½ was also brilliant – I thought it merged so many styles brilliantly, from traditional lucha dives and chain wrestling, big Puro power spots, to Southern US tag double-teaming and comedy spots. Probably the most ‘different’ match I’ve ever called a legit MOTYC. As I said, hot month.

 

Angle of the Month – There’s more promos and segments this month and that’s very welcome. That said, I think the DA vs. WCW is the best angle for this month, and from what I’ve seen so far they seem to do most of this development in the ring, but no complaints from me. I also liked Jake Robert’s promo with Undertaker at the end of month – everything he touched turned to gold in the early 90s.

 

MVP: Jushin Liger – see above comments. The Pillman match was real good as well. I still don’t see him as a GOAT contender, but I liked everything he did this month.

 

Think I may have overcooked it watching two whole months in 10 days, and this may be why I didn’t love February as I could have. Writing my comments has made it sound a fantastic month of wrestling, which it undoubtedly was. I think I may return in September to watch a few more months of 1992.

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  • 2 months later...

March:

1) Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura (2/3/ Falls) (AJW 3/20/92) **** ¼

2) Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJ 3/4/92) ****

3) Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, & Sangre Chicana vs. Konnan el Barbaro, Perro Aguayo, & El Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (CMLL 3/1/92) ****

4) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (AJ 3/31/92) *** ¾

5) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 3/20/92) *** ¾

6) Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 3/9/92) *** ½

7) Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJ 3/4/92) *** ½

8) Arn Anderson vs. Ricky Steamboat (Pro 3/28/92) *** ½

9) Ric Flair & Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper (MSG 3/23/92) *** ¼

10) Masa Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 3/1/92) *** ¼

11) Ricky Morton vs. Brian Pillman (WCWSN 3/14/92) ***

12) Tim Horner vs. Rip Rogers (SMW 3/14/92) ** ¾

13) Roddy Piper vs. Shawn Michaels (Prime Time 3/29/92) ** ½

 

Took a week off before I start my PhD next week, however I wasn’t really in a mood to watch wrestling. I tried plenty to watch a whole range of stuff, but just wasn’t feeling it, so returned to watch a bit of the Yearbooks.

 

March was not as good as January or February, but that has been true of the previous two Yearbooks as well. This was definitely more of an angle-centred month, which was probably needed, and I’ve enjoyed the build to Wrestlemania more than 90/91, which SMW has been pretty entertaining and the Dangerous Alliance storyline carries along. To that end, I think all of the major promotions across the world were running hot, and producing notable matches and angles. Whilst I’m not always the biggest Lucha fan, I do agree with Loss that the best wrestling was coming out of Mexico. I still think that the ‘average’ (pfft) match is much stronger than previous yearbooks.

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  • 6 months later...

April 1992:

 

1) Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJ 4/30/92) **** ¾

2) Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 4/19/92) **** ¼

3) Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJ 4/16/92) **** ¼

4) Atlantis vs. La Fiera (CMLL 4/3/92) **** ¼

5) Aja Kong vs. Bull Nakano (AJW 4/25/92) **** ¼

6) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AJ 4/2/92) ****

7) Octagoncito, Misteriocito & Mascarita Sagrada vs. Espectrito, Piratita Morgan & Pequene Pierroth (CMLL 4/17/92) ****

8) Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW 4/25/92) *** ¾

9) Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (Mania 4/5/92) *** ¾

10) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy (AJ 4/26/92) *** ¾

11) Wild Pegasus vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (NJ 4/16/92) *** ¾

12) Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Rusher Kimura, Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 4/18/92) *** ½

13) Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu (SWS 4/18/92) *** ½

14) Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage (Mania 4/5/92) *** ½

15) Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJ Carnival Final 4/17/92) *** ½

16) Blue Panther vs. Love Machine (Mask vs. Mask) (CMLL 4/3/92) *** ½

17) Eddy Guerrero vs. Negro Casas (NJ 4/16/92) *** ¼

18) Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels (Munich 4/14/92) *** ¼

19) Jushin Liger vs. Eddy Guerrero (NJ 4/19/92) *** ¼

20) Rick Rude, Steve Austin & Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (Pro 4/4/92) *** ¼

21) Ric Flair vs. Davey Boy Smith (London 4/13/92) ** ¾

22) Paul Orndorff vs. Hector Guerrero (SMW 4/11/92) ** ¾

 

April was certainly another strong month. Helped by a good Champs Carnival and BOSJ, this was similar to many months of 1991 with it’s run of consistently good matches.

 

I’ve never really ‘got’ Liger as a GOAT contender, so for me to say he has been my wrestler of the year is really saying something. Him as the Junior version of the fighting champion, who will take on all comers who provide him with all kinds of challenges, yet eventually overcomes, has been fantastic. I’ve seen the El Samurai match before and thought it was really good, but it really benefited from watching the prior match and Liger in 1992 in general. It was a match where two people looked like they were trying to murder each other, not so much with brawling and weapons, but with wrestling moves, which seems an incredibly tough thing to pull off. Certainly my MOTY as this point.

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  • 4 weeks later...

May:

1. War Games (Wrestle War 5/17/92) **** ¾

2. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat (AJ 5/25/92) **** ¾

3. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJ 5/22/92) **** ½

4. Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (Wrestle War 5/17/92) **** ¼

5. Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase (NJ 5/1/92) **** ¼

6. Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 5/24/92) ****

7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJ 5/30/92) ****

8. El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson (Los Angeles 5/16/92) ****

9. Brian Pillman vs. Tom Zenk (Wrestle War 5/17/92) *** ¾

10. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. (5/14/92) *** ¾

11. Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin (WCWSN 5/9/92) *** ¾

12. Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes (WWW 5/30/92)

13. Arn Anderson vs. Big Josh (WCWSN 5/2/92) *** ¾

14. Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff & Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCWSN 5/23/92) *** ½

15. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Gary Albright (UWFI 5/8/92) *** ½

16. Nikita Koloff vs. Mr. Hughes (WCWSN 5/9/92) *** ½

17. Riki Choshu vs. Keiji Muto (NJ 5/17/92) *** ½

18. El Hijo del Santo, Mil Mascaras & El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, Tarzan Goto & Giant Warrior (FMW/UWA/WWA 5/15/92) *** ½

19. Bill Wilcox vs. Freight Train Fulton (UCW 5/1/92) *** ½

20. Great Muta vs. Brad Armstrong (WCWSN 5/30/92)

21. Ric Flair vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Superstars 5/9/92) ** ¾

22. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (UWFI 5/8/92) ** ½

 

I watched this and made ratings absolutely weeks ago, but have forgotten the comments I was going to make. I am a moron. It was an excellent month, War Games especially. I think I would still have Liger/Samurai as my MOTY, however.

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  • 3 months later...

June 1992:

1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJ 6/5/92) **** ¾

2. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (Ironman Challenge) (Beach Blast 6/20/92) **** ½

3. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 6/5/92) **** ¼

4. Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 6/21/92) ****

5. Sting vs. Cactus Jack (Falls Count Anywhere) (Beach Blast 6/20/92) ****

6. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJ 6/26/92)

7. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Akira Hokuto & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 6/27/92) ****

8. Aja Kong vs. Bison Kimura (AJW 6/21/92) ****

9. Chris Benoit & Biff Wellington vs. Brian Pillman & Jushin Liger (Clash 6/16/92) *** ¾

10. Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue (AJW 6/21/92) *** ½

11. Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin (WWW 6/13/92) *** ½

12. Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Rick & Scott Steiner (NJ 6/26/92) *** ½

13. El Hijo del Santo, Octagon & Perro Aguayo vs. La Parka, Blue Panther & Fishman (AAA 6/12/92) *** ½

14. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask III vs. Wild Pegasus & El Samurai (NJ 6/2/92) *** ½

15. Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJ 6/26/92) *** ½

16. Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham (WCWSN 6/6/92) *** ½

17. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Bart Vale (PWFG 6/25/92) *** ¼

18. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Rampage 6/2/92) ***

 

June was another great month. AJPW, even by their own high standards, are really on a hot streak. From 5/22-6/5 they had four absolute classics, three of which have an argument for five stars, and two I have seen discussed as some people’s MOTD. I haven’t seen the 6/5 tag receive as much attention or love as the other matches but it was probably my favourite AJ match so far this year.

 

WCW is having the highest quality identity crisis in history. In June we saw a spotfest worthy of any 2017 show (Pillman/Liger vs. Benoit/Wellington), a tag fit for early 80’s Mid-South (MVC/Steiners) and a proto-ECW brawl (Sting/Cactus). Alongside that we had the awesome iron-man match and more traditional fare with Austin, Windham and Anderson.

 

Nice to see Joshi have a return to form this month. Not only did we get four good-great matches, they all contained interesting or exciting booking developments. I like where they’re heading and I look forward to more.

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  • 9 months later...

Back into the game after some really deep dives into 80's Mid-South, WCCW, & 80's WWF. I actually ranked all the matches from the 80's Mid-South set over in that thread. I'm pumped to be jumping into 1992. I've always sort of thought of it as a WCW year just because of War Games, Sting/Vader, Rick Rude's year etc... However, I'm glad to jump into all that again chronologically and put that into perspective with everything else. Of course, like most, I love the Flair run in the WWF. I just completed Jan., and I'll say off the jump the Royal Rumble remains my favorite match of the month. It's a five star affair in my book, and remains the greatest rumble in history. Standing the test of time all these years, how could it be anything less? Lucha got off to a slow start for me here. I'm still loving the Macho/Jake stuff. I don't know if it's just because he is my favorite, it probably is, but Savage is so good - he really does come across as THE GUY in the company to me. I've seen arguments that he never felt like the guy, but I guess I just don't agree. I think after watching all of the WCCW footage I had a new appreciation for the KVE and Flair moment in the rumble as well. Super cool moment between the two when you think about the history. I thought about the same thing with Piper and Martel after watching the 80's Portland set... I had a new appreciation watching those two in there during the rumble as well. I'm pretty sure they were even eliminated together. If I had to pick an MVP for me in this month, I'd probably have to go with Jumbo. I absolutely love watching him in tags.

 

Here are my favorite matches for the month of Jan.:

1. The Royal Rumble Match - 01/19/1992

2. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada - 01/21/1992

3. Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada vs. Jumbo, Masa Fuchi, and Taue - 01/24/1992

4. Jumbo & Taue vs. Kobashi & Kikuchi - 01/26/1992

5. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen - 01/28/1992 - it's a hard call - this might actually be my #4 - I feel like I enjoyed it more than most...

6. Sting & Muta vs. The Steiners - 01/04/1992

7. Vader and Mr. Hughes vs. The Steiners - 01/21/1992

8. Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes - 01/04/1992

 

Honorable mention out to Rude, Austin, & Eaton vs. Sting, Steamboat and Bagwell - 01/18/1992 - I loved how they worked the hot tag for Sting. I thought Eaton was really killing it here...oh yeah!-and, who doesn't love the classic Barbershop Angle? You can get an Homage Tee for that now. Awesome moment.

Right out of the gate in Feb., I'm already getting more interested in Memphis TV again. It's been a bit since it really sucked me in, but I feel like I'm getting there.  I'm enjoying the return of Koko Ware to the area.  SuperBrawl II remains one of my favorite WCW PPVs (particularly the Turner edit because it really trims the fat).  Liger, Negro Casas, and Savage & Rude are the performers that stood out to me the most in this month (I think Liger the most - in ring, but Savage promos and character).  It was blast from the past seeing that Right Guard Hogan commercial again, ha.  I had totally forgotten about it, but I remember seeing it so often as a kid.  Here are my favorite matches from Feb. 1992:

1.  Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat - 02/29/1992

2.  Jushin Liger vs. Pegasus Kid - 02/10/1992

3.  Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman - 02/29/1992

4.  Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Steamboat, and Barry Windham vs. Rude, Arn, Larry Z, and Eaton - 02/22/1992

5.  Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts - 02/08/1992

I know I biased to some degree, but as we roll into March Ric Flair cuts one hell of a promo as kick his feud into gear with Randy Savage.  With these YB's and everything I've watched from Savage's WWF run, he is consistently in the most interesting and entertaining angles in the company.  Just quickly, I'm thinking from Tito to Steamboat to Mega Powers to the Macho King and back to Liz at 7/Retirement angle, then the feud with Roberts, and now this... what an incredible run.  SMW really took off in March for me.  I loved the Rick Rude attacking Sting at the press conference angle.  It turned the heat up with the DA feud. I also really enjoyed seeing what I assume is Shawn's first big match since turning heel vs. Piper for the IC Belt. 

My favorite match of the month of March was easily Ric Flair & Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper from MSG 03/23/1992.  I also really liked Kawada vs. Taue from 03/31/1992.

Rolling into April we quickly get all-time classics out of WrestleMania VIII.  I know it's brought up often... the question of why didn't they do Flair vs. Hogan at WM8, but I can really see the other side of it.  I really don't think there is any chance we could have gotten a better match out of Hogan than Flair vs. Savage, and I've really seen Savage as the guy.  It makes sense to me to have your best performer take on the world champ and the storyline is in line with what WWF loves to do.  Looking at it from their standpoint, the Liz/Flair stuff (knowing the emotion Savage and Liz could pull out of the fans) and Hogan vs. the most intimidating looking heel they had ever had was probably more appealing to them, and I venture to say the casual fans too.  Looking back on it, I'm glad we got what we got.  I think Savage was able to pull off a much more emotional title win than Hogan would have (Liz too). 

It was really hard to choose between my favorites in April.  We really got some great in-ring action in April.  It picked up a lot from March.  I loved the debut of the Heavenly Bodies, and so far I've been digging SMW more than Memphis at this point of the year.  I don't think there is anyone pulling me into their performance more than Savage.  He's on another level.  Liger would be my runner-up for MVP at this point.  My favorite matches for the month of April 1992:

1.  Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair - 04/05/1992

2.  Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart - 04/05/1992

3.  Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels - 04/14/1992

4.  Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai - 04/30/1992

5.  The Heavenly Bodies debut match 

There were plenty of other great matches in April, but those are my favorites.  I know Liger and El Samurai is probably looking a little low at #4, but I don't want that to take away from how much I loved it.  It's still one of my favorite matches of the year.  It's such a FIGHT.  It's a better match that Savage vs. HBK, but I sort of looked at Savage's performance as being better than either match.  His performance is just something I really connected with outside of it just being a great match.  IMO it's kind of like Training Day, Denzel's performance is probably better than the screenplay itself, ha.

Eddie Gilbert is a breath of fresh air to the Memphis territory in May.  I loved his promo about their open door policy and he's coming in as the Global Champion to challenge and unify the two titles.   I really feel like Austin is starting to come into his own.  May is a month with lots of great action, and here are my favorite matches:

1.  War Games 1992 - I still believe this to be the best War Games match.

2.  Kobashi and Kikuchi vs. Furnas & Kroffat - 05/25/1992

3.  Misawa, Kobashi, & Kawada vs. Jumbo, Fuchi, and Taue - 05/22/1992

4.  The Steiners vs. Fujinami & Iizuka - 05/17/1992

5.  Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Keiji Muto & Hiro Hase - 05/01/1992

6.  Steve Austin vs. Barry Windham - 05/09/1992

7.  El Hijo del Santo, Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Negro Casas, Horace Boulder & Tim Patterson - 05/16/1992

Honorable mention shout outs to Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs. Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Z from Saturday night on 05/23/1994.  I thought that was a really fun match... & 05/30/1992 Misawa/Kikuchi vs. Jumbo/Taue.  Coming into June, I feel like the MVPs are Savage & Liger with Rude and Negro Casas up there.  I also think Kikuchi just doesn't get talked about enough as the Ricky Morton of Japan.  There are lot's of great performers around this time, and I'll always think Kobashi and Jumbo are at the top whenever and wherever they are.

June Kicks off with a refreshing addition to the WWF roster with Razor Ramon.  His introduction is much better than that of Crush, ha.  It's also cool to get a look at La Parka.  I may be wrong, but I think this is the first we've seen him in the YBs (I cold be forgetting something though).  Eddie Gilbert is knocking his promos out of the park.  And, I'm loving the Buddy Landell promos (particularly the one at the EOM with Dirty White boy where they are likely "chemically enhanced"). I can't decide which is worse... Rocco or Crush? There were lots of great tag matches this month.  Look, I know I know technically the Iron Man Match at Beach Blast is better than Sting vs. Cactus Jack... but, I'm a mark for Sting and I just had more fun watching that bout this go around...It felt like a comic book battle of super hero vs. villain... it was big and explosive... so that's why I'll have it ranked higher in my favorites of the month:

1.  Sting vs. Cactus Jack - 06/20/1992

2.  Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat - 06/20/1992

3.  Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham - 06/06/1992

4.  Misawa & Kobashi vs. Jumbo & Taue - 06/05/1992

5.  Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada - 06/05/1992

6.  The Steiners vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy - 06/16/1992

7.  Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai - 06/26/1992

8.  Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington - 06/16/1992

July - loving the Vader/Sting angle.  I think this our first look at Rey, Jr. in the YBs.  Here are my favorite matches from July:

1.  Sting vs. Vader - 07/12/1992

2.  El Dandy vs. Negro Casas - 07/03/1992

3.  Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Fuchi & Ogawa - 07/05/1992

4.  Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin & Rick Rude - 07/12/1992

August - I loved the Ron Simmons title victory.  The crowd reaction is so unforgettable.  I also really enjoyed Jumbo's comeback after some health issues.  He does look a little different, but he still has a ton of fire and remains one of my favorite performers.  Misawa getting his first TC win was really awesome.  I think it's kind of an underrated bout between he and Hansen.   Memphis is turning up with that Jimmy Hart WWF vs. Memphis promo.  He and Lawler were great in that segment.  I'm also really enjoying the Dundee/Rich feud.  Really good promos between the two.  The Rich hype video cracked me up when Rich whispered over the music "you're gonna die Dundee, you're gonna die!" haha.  That was also a really cool recap of the Warrior/Savage feud with them both stating their case as to why they think the other has sided with Flair/Perfect.  Good stuff!  Even though it was angle-heavy, I really enjoyed the match from Summerslam and the storyline there.  I do think that recap was a very important key to that enjoyment for me too.  Here are my favorite matches from August:

1.  Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage - 08/29/1992

2.  Rick Rude vs. Masa Chono - 08/12/1992

3.  Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith - 08/29/1992

4.  Atlantis vs. Emilio Charles Jr. - 08/11/1992

It gets hard to rank from there, but I loved Hansen & Misawa from 8/22/1992 so that's probably next - I thought Angel Azteca, Solar, & Super Astro vs. La Parka & Rambo was really fun.  The Steiners vs. Muto and Sasaki from 8/12/92 is also one of my favorites.  I loved both Jumbo tags, the 6-man and the one with Taue against Williams & Gordy.  Another standout from August was Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas, It was just great chemistry between those two.  So, really a lot to choose from and hard to rank once I get through my initial top 4.  Again, with Savage, his performances are elite... another level.  He's still the MVP of the year at this point for me.

One cool thing about September, is you get the debut of Jun Akiyama.  He has a stellar debut against Kenta Kobashi.  I highly recommend it to any fan of his.  I want to give a shout out to Dustin Rhodes for this month as well, as I really enjoyed his work on WCW Saturday Night/Main Event.  My favorite match in September was: 

1.  Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu - 09/15/1992

My favorite matches of the month in October were:

1.  Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - 10/21/1992 - it was great coming back to this match in context of the YB.  I watched it when I went through the Top 500 Matches of the 90's list that Loss put together, and it didn't register with me as much clumped in with all of those excellent matches back to back to back.  I thought it was great the first time, but I have higher appreciation for it now.

2.  Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue vs. Doc & Gordy - 10/07/1992

3.  Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes vs. Doc & Gordy - 10/03/1992

I didn't think the way the Heavenly Bodies and RnR angle kicked off with Cornette's Mother pictured as a dog was very good at all, but I've really enjoyed the angle since.  Particularly the episode where the Rock & Rolls were supposed to get the title shot, but Gibson was late arriving to the building (because his Mom had surgery)... Ricky takes them on by himself and Gibson shows up to bail him out at the end.  Really fun stuff there.  All Japan takes the month of October.  From what I understand this does it for Jumbo.  Easily one of the greatest of all-time, and is without question is one of my personal favorite tag-team wrestlers in history.  I LOVE his team with Yatsu.

Could November of 1992 be the month where Shawn Michaels really gets things rolling as possibly the best in-ring in the WWF?  It's possible.  It's subjective, but to this point it has been Randy Savage (IMO) for years.  Following through the YB, it seems Savage is starting to slow down (not in the ring, but just the amount of work), so when watching HBK's singles performance and IC Title win against Bulldog... it was the first time I began to wonder...  Of, course he has been great for the company but something about that match really stood out to me.  He seems to always have great chemistry with Davey too. 

There is also an AWESOME Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert brawl in a gym on the YB for this month.  It took place in high-school gym, and I thought it was brutal!  Terry Funk was throwing some killer punches.  Gilbert is bleeding on the gym floor and the bleachers... I was thinking - you couldn't have a match like this in a gymnasium full of kids today.  Anyways, they really brought it for that local crowd.  Hands down my favorite match of the month - Texas Death Match - WWA:  11/14/1992).

Also, the Prime Time episode in November where Mr. Perfect ends up becoming the tag partner for Savage at Survivor Series was just excellent stuff!  Bobby and Hennig were so incredible in those segments slowly building the face turn for Hennig.  Great expressions.  Just really awesome.  It's one of my favorite things on the YB for the entire year.  My favorite matches in November 1992:

1.  Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert - 11/14/1992

2.  Shawn Michaels vs. The British Bulldog - 11/14/1992

3.  Dustin Rhodes vs. Vader - 11/21/1992

4.  Misawa & Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Giant Baba - 11/27/1992

When I first started the YB, I noted I thought of it as more of a WCW year.  Mostly because of the high end matches, but while going through the YB I've really come around on 1992 for the WWF.  It did have a few slower months, but all in all I think it is my favorite promotion of the year.  I'll see how that plays out when I wrap on December though, because as I scroll through it looks like I may have more WCW matches ranked higher...

December starts off roaring, and is really one of the best months of the year.  I have to say, this is easily my favorite month for UWF.  I had been kind of bored with that style for most of the year (a few that liked), but these two in December were just REALLY good ( one listed below).  Randy Savage is still the best performer in the WWF, which is weird to say knowing that they slot him into commentary in the near future.  I noted this in the MDA's, but I really wish they would have turned him heel to feud with Bret for WrestleMania (an idea that Loss presented here and I'm sure others have thought of).  I know Bruce Prichard claims that Savage wanted less of an in-ring role, but Bischoff says that's not true and Savage left WWF because he wanted to keep wrestling.  So, who knows...  Either way, whether it was Savage or Vince, I wish we had gotten the Hart and Michaels feuds with Savage.  December of 1992 also is pretty special to me because Sting vs. Vader from Starrcade is possibly my personal favorite match.  I note why in the match discussion, but it's a match I've just always loved.  I think it is probably Sting's best performance.  Also, I do love that Muta wins the Battlebowl.  When discussing the Muta Scale match from this year, I loved Marty's points about Muta's character in the ring basically being just a stone cold killer out for blood.  If someone reading this hasn't looked at that thread, I highly recommend it.

I want to give props to the folks that watched these YBs before me.  The threads for these matches are really incredible and full knowledge and background on every match and incident.  It makes it such an enjoyable and educational process while following along with everything.  Thanks to everyone in the MDAs.

 

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

I'm bumping this since I just finished up the 1992 YB.  December was pretty loaded, and I've discussed that above.  Here are my favorite matches from December:

1.  Sting vs. Vader - 12/28/1992

2.  Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase - 12/14/1992

3.  Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shiro Koshinaka - 12/14/1992

4.  Nobuhiko Takada vs. Naoki Sano - 12/20/1992

5.  Jushin Liger & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas - 12/29/1992

6.  Barry Windham & Brian Pilliman vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas - 12/28/1992

7.  Vader & Rick Rude vs. Sting & Ron Simmons - 12/05/1992

8.  Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara - 12/11/1992

My performer of the year goes to Randy Savage.  I think Liger and Sting had incredible years too.  I know this is a Rick Rude year.  I loved his high end performances, but didn't enjoy some of the stuff that dragged.  In those high end matches, he was probably the best heel of the year (in-ring).  I think the best promotion overall was probably WWF with WCW as runner-up.  I was bummed that I didn't find as much Lucha in 1992 that I enjoyed as much in 1990 and 1991.  I hope that turns back up in 1993. 

Here are my Top 10 favorite matches from 1992:

1.  Sting vs. Vader - 12/28/1992

2.  Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair - 4/5/1992

3.  War Games 1992

4.  Royal Rumble Match 1992

5.  Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper - 4/5/1992

6.  Sting vs. Cactus Jack - 6/20/1992

7.  Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - 6/20/1992

8.  Kenta Kobashi and Kikuchi vs. Furnas and Kroffat - 5/25/1992

9.  Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - 2/29/1992

10.  Sting vs. Vader - GAB 1992

I really wanted to find a spot for Misawa vs. Kawada on 10/21/1992, but I just love these matches on my top 10.   Looking forward to 1993.  Oh yeah, and I can't forget Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham from 06/06/1992.  It's probably deserves to be on my top 10.  I'm just too invested in some of the other characters and moments to slide anything out for it though.

 

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