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Best Year by a Wrestler


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Some other Japan ones that came to mind: Jumbo in '91

 

I love Jumbo in 1991 a lot, and loved his role. We also have an entire year of TV to look at as well. But this was awfully good from a singles match stand point. It's akin to Kobashi's 1993 in terms of where they were in their careers: Jumbo wasn't ready to win these... except the last, which was a big break through.

 

03/10/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Verne Gagne

03/28/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Rusher Kimura

05/01/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Giant Baba

06/11/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Funk

07/17/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Billy Robinson

08/28/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Jack Brisco

 

I liked each of those, and most of them are pretty terrific.

 

I even like his 10/22/76 match with Abby since for the most part the "wrestle" and "fight" rather than brawl & bloodbath, saving the juice and brawling outside for later in the 3rd fall when Abby kind of snaps over Jumbo pushing him.

 

Not in circulation is his first UN Title defense:

 

11/30/76 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Billy Robinson (30:50, 2:08, 5:27)

 

Which had a shot of being pretty good.

 

And of course loads of other TV matches.

 

His 1977 is pretty choice as well, and that again is just on available footage when loads of stuff isn't out there.

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That list for Jumbo in 76 looks awesome. I can't argue with any combination of Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi/Taue in the 90s. They were just on a different level.

 

I would put Flair's run in the 80s up against anyone's in North America, especially 85 and 89. The Steamboat/Funk matches are considered among his best of his career and they were both in 89. I think he had the widest range of opponents in 85 though. You have good matches with Martel,Butch Reed,Dibiase,Taylor,Kerry Voneric,Wahoo,Magnum,Garvin. He also had matches with Lawler in Memphis, Billy Jack Haynes in Portland, Sgt Slaughter in AWA and I could go on. Flair was all over the place that year. This isn't to take away from his other peak years through the decade but 85 was his best imo. Also, I don't know the date of the match but there is a Flair/Wahoo match from 85 where they just stiff the shit out of each other. It's not the 2/3 falls match. It is just a singles match. Always been one of my favorites.

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Enjoyed reading this thread! Most of the obvious ones that I'd have thought of have been mentioned but the one mentioned a few posts ago that I'd like to expand on is El Generico. I think his really great run started in 2007 (could argue late 2006 with BOLA and the Pac match at ASW) and really never slowed down until he finished up.

 

2011 was mentioned above as his possible best year. That had the incredible Sekimoto match in wXw (which as a live experience is up there with my most memorable), the Steen Wolf ladder match, the Dick Togo match, and a couple of other real good ones in PWG. What hurts that year for him though is how much of a nothing year he had in ROH due to them never putting him in meaningful matches (blame JC).

 

It might be a little more "rough around the edges" than his later years but I have a soft spot for 2007. He was a complete madman all year long and one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world. Having crazy matches every time in PWG, making a serious mark in ROH with Steen (the Briscoes feud is one of my all time favourite feuds) and being awesome in Dragon Gate (when he made TV).

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Jerry Lawler 's breakout year was great . If my memory serves me correct the year was 1974. Lawler had been a tag team wrestler for two years . Jerry 's main tag partner was Jim White , however he also worked with Don Duffy , Don Greene and Al Greene .

 

In 1974 the Southern Jr, Heavyweight title became the Southern Heavyweight title. The Southern single was capture by Lawler and his manager Sam Bass. Then Jerry embarked on his chase for the NWA World Title , which was held by Jack Brisco. Lawler had to beat the other top contenders to get at title match with Jack Briscoe . Lawler defeated The Sheik , Bobo Brazil , Mr. Wrestling II ,and Dick the Bruisier .

 

The last test was Jerry Brisco . Lawler defeated Jerry Brisco in a series of hard fought matches. Lawler finally got his shot at Jack before 11,200 at the Mid South . Lawler pinned Jack to win the NWA belt . However after the match Jerry Brisco pointed out to the ref that Lawler had used a chain to knock Jack out cold. So , of course , the decision was reversed . That one hell of a break out year .

 

In 1975 Lawler lost the Southern title to Ron Fuller . Fuller actually ran Lawler out of Memphis for a year . In reality Lawler got cross ways with Jerry Jarrett who sent him to Alabama as punishment.. The belt went from Ron Fuller to The Mongolian Stomper to Bob Armstrong. Lawler returned in 76 and defeated Armstrong.

 

At that time Lawler returned to the top of Memphis for good . Bill Dundee , Rocky Johnson , Jimmy Valiant , Dutch Mantell , Austin Idol and Joe Leduc to become his main rivals over the next 15 years. . Ron Fuller bought the Knoxville teritory and Armstrong , Stomper , Robert Fuller and Jommy Golden relocated that market.

 

I was 13 years old in 1974 so I am just recalling the events from my memory . If I am in error please correct . Thanks.

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I agree with the Daniel Bryan love for last year. 2013 was an exceptional year, the best ever maybe for WWE in the ring. Bryan and Antonio Cesaro would rate. I would also argue The Shield deserves a lot of praise for their year last year. A lot of the shows ran through them in trios matches, and they basically defined an entire match style within WWE. To do that in a company that's 50 years old is insane to comprehend.

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  • 3 years later...

Gonna show some more love for the Danielson mentions of 06 as well as his late career renaissance in '13.

 

I think AJ Styles in 2016 definitely deserves a look as well. He had multiple high quality main event level matches against a wide variety of people and significantly elevated those who worked with him to good to great matches. His matches vs. Reigns, Ambrose, and Cena are the high points. But even something like getting a very good match out of Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin on TV is quite an accomplishment.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Having watched just about all of the All-Japan archive in the past few months, and other Tsuruta matches where I have found them elsewhere, I can vouch for the quality of Jumbo's matches in the 70s, including '76.

 

It's not absurd to nominate that year; nor do I think many people would overlook Jumbo's '91. If you can nominate two years from a wrestler that are 15 years apart, I would advance the proposition that Tsuruta's standing in the recent GWE falls a bit short of what it should have been.

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Most of these have been mentioned already, and they're more favourite than best, but:

 

Genichiro Tenryu - 1993

Stan Hansen - 1993

Eddie Guerrero - 2004

Virus - 2013

El Dandy - 1990

Yoshiaki Fujiwara - 1990

Rick Rude - 1992

Kiyoshi Tamura - 1998

Mariko Yoshida - 1999

Steve Austin - 2001

Negro Casas - 1996

Toshiaki Kawada - 2000

Buddy Rose - 1979

Takeshi Ono - 2010

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