Loss

Interesting match to watch, because Undertaker matches prior to 1996 don't really lend themselves well to a yearbook concept because they are usually terrible. This isn't terrible. It's a reminder of how horrifying the Undertaker's gimmick was before he turned babyface, and he shows some athleticism in certain spots that makes you wonder what kind of matches he could have been having had he been allowed to go all out.

I used to think this was a really great match. I still thought it was really good, but it did lose a little something for me, even if I still love it. It remains a great showcase for Fuerza, who has so much schtick and is one of my favorite rudos. He's also one of the best at looking like a bumbling idiot, despite not really being one at all. In one great spot, he tries to run into the audience to get away from an Octagon dive and can't get through and ends up getting hit anyway. He takes the bump through the middle ropes to the outside with Octagon's assistance, which is one of my favorite lucha bumps. He also awesomely stands on the top rope in the final fall and decides to balance himself on one foot while doing a bird pose. He ends up losing his balance and crashing. Octagon tries to apply the same submission that won him the first fall, Fuerza quickly counters and thinks he has the hold locked in, only to be out of position. Octagon does a spectacular dive to Fuerza, who has his back turned, pushing his head into a ringside chair. I also have to mention Cien Caras being awesome at ringside. Konnan even sucks as a second. Near the end of the match, Konnan and Caras are brawling inside the ring while Fuerza and Octagon are outside, and Konnan hits him with some terrible looking stuff, which Caras sells anyway. Not sure what the decision on the final fall was, as it seems to be in dispute since Fuerza never got beaten and the ref declared Octagon the winner anyway, but it was all very entertaining.

Hansen wins the Triple Crown! Very good match, and I love Jumbo's multiple cutoffs to the lariat toward the end of it. For most of the match, Hansen is working on Jumbo's knee and Jumbo is trying to come back. Jumbo's selling is what puts this over the top.

I'm not opposed to it, but could you talk about the value of seeing it both ways?

Every time I watch the match, I can't help but think that for a spotfest, there sure is a lot of stuff on the mat. I really prefer the Rey/Malenko matches from around the same time.

Not that everyone in lucha is all that flashy, but I still don't think Benoit is a good fit in the style. He just doesn't seem natural at all -- sort of like he's just trying to do the right things in the right order, but he's not really connected to what he's doing. I'm sure he worked hard. This is a good match, but it seems like it should have been much better.

1995 is going to be the next yearbook. I'm going to send the final Joshi list to you and FLIK to comb over to make sure everything that should be there is, and anything that can be cut is cut. Maybe that'll help as we move forward.

I am going by whatever star ratings I can find. I really wish you would participate in the recommendation threads instead of pointing it out after the fact each time when it's too late.

I remember watching this a few years ago and thinking it was a good match, but nothing more. It definitely stuck with me more this time. I'm not sure if it's because I saw some more surrounding footage or not, but some of the things that bugged me in the past, like Jumbo being fine with being punched and knocked off the apron, didn't this time, I guess because that's not really a normal reaction in these matches and it's more apparent when I see other stuff. Also, I have a greater appreciation for Kobashi and Kikuchi's position on the card vis-a-vis Jumbo and Taue. This was intended to be a match where the main event team was facing the midcard/upper midcard team and they made a surprisingly good showing. Probably not a MOTYC, but not too far below that, and there were quite a few great moments. I always like Jumbo and Kikuchi as a pairing because it's the most exaggerated representation of the Misawa/Jumbo feud.

Not sure yet. When all the 90s yearbooks are done, I plan on doing something of the top 500 matches of the decade.

Wow, no, that was definitely not intentional. It should be #36. I will edit the list to reflect that.

Another good match between these two, but shorter and not as good as the match on 1/4. One of the better fake out spots you'll ever see with Arn feigning a knee injury and Paul E. even coming in the ring with money to try to convince Dustin to leave the match. Larry Z. runs in for the DQ, is quickly run off by Barry Windham and then Steve Austin ends up caught in the crossfire and Windham destroys his knee. Later in the show (not shown on the yearbook), Austin had a match, maybe with Windham, where he sold the injury big time the whole match. Arn clears the ring after Windham comes in, perhaps to go offer a fan a CAT BATH.

Good action, with Embry winning a strap battle royal by last eliminating Tony Anthony. DWB is using a cat-o-nine tails as a weapon, and the announcers don't even try to hide it! Valet CJ (Is that what her name is??) threw powder in DWB's eyes, so he got her back by whipping her after the match. Embry comes to her rescue and they have DWB tied up taking a whipping until Tom Pritchard makes the save. Embry then comes out for a promo. CJ looks like Bonnie Tyler.

Wow. Another incredibly wild brawl, more like something you'd expect to see in FMW than Memphis. Tables being used as weapons, stiff chairshots and punches, chains, fireballs, blood ... you name it. This was the best and most complete (this appeared to be aired in full, and if it was clipped, only slightly) of all the Mid South Coliseum matches so far.

Tatanka is coming! Maybe it's my Native American heritage talking, but I thought this was really cool.

Now that it was pointed out that Flair is always wearing his wrestling gear in the WWF -- match happening or not -- I can't help but notice it. Flair recaps his performance in the Rumble and he and Perfect gloat over Flair winning the title.

Not often you see a Misawa selling performance like this with Kawada and Kobashi being supportive from the apron, but that's a big chunk of this, with Jumbo's team doing a number on Misawa's knee. Fuchi is so great in tag and six-man settings, because his M.O. always seems to be to find someone who isn't the star of the other team and create some intra-match feud with them. On 1/10, he did this with Kobashi. Here, he did it with Kawada. So then when Kawada and Fuchi finally do end up in the ring at the same time, their interactions get way more heat than they would otherwise. Bit of a surprising result to see Taue pinning Kobashi with a powerbomb, but I guess their card placement was way more similar at this stage. Another great 90s All Japan match, probably just behind Jumbo/Kawada as the best AJ match so far.

No offense, but no way. I don't think a battle royal is really a place where you're going to see great performances. You're going to see a bunch of guys hanging upside down over the top rope for an hour trying not to get eliminated. If you have a roster of guys that are over, the Rumble is going to be fun to watch. It's all about the entrance pop, who gets eliminated and who wins. The person who goes longest was always sort of the "unofficial" Rumble winner that year as well. If you have a roster where only 2-3 guys are genuinely over, the Rumble isn't going to be as enjoyable. One reason I see this match get praised is because they did a great job of keeping the dead weight cleared out of the ring, but I'm not sure how much that really means. I don't know what's exemplary about it. Where this one stands out is the under-the-surface story of the NWA champ taking on the entire WWF roster and winning, going an hour to do so. Flair gave the closest I've ever seen to a great Rumble performance, but it's more impressive as a cardiovascular performance than as a wrestling performance. He never showed any signs of fatigue, was still taking bumps and running the ropes at the same speed toward the end, probably took 10+ press slams, etc. So to me, that's really the only standard you can measure performance on, when you don't have normal match tools like pinfall, submission, blood and weapons, etc. at your disposal. The hanging-by-a-thread and getting back in is the equivalent of a nearfall in a real match, I guess. But since you asked, here are the participants that stand out for whatever reason: * Davey Boy Smith - It gets sort of forgotten, but Flair/Davey Boy was the story of almost the first half of the match. This was around the beginning of the time they started positioning him strongly, I think because they wanted him to be a draw on foreign tours. There's a Flair match later in this set with him getting a big win as well. * Roddy Piper - Notable because I can't recall a Piper singles match ever going as long as his 30 minute-plus time in this match. So it's a good chance to see what he can do when given time. * Shawn Michaels - Shawn was probably in somewhere around 20 minutes. I wish a bigger deal had been made of his elimination. I felt for him trading blows with Flair because he was put in a default babyface position just after turning heel. But they seemed to be having fun working spots with each other. * Pat Patterson - The Rumble was extremely well-booked. This is the strongest Flair was ever put over during this run, and they spread out the star entrances enough that there was a headliner in the ring the entire time. * Bobby Heenan - As I said before, Heenan worked his ass off at the announce booth putting over Flair. Heenan is always funny, but at times, I've felt like the humor distracts from the wrestling side of the show. That's not the case here. He has an investment in who wins the match, which gives him plenty of material to work with, and Gorilla for whatever else I've said about him is a good foil here.

Use this thread to talk about 1993 matches, interviews and angles that didn't make the yearbook that are worth watching for whatever reason. Include an explanation of what makes the addition stand out. This will be considered if/when a supplemental set is made to fill in a few holes throughout the year.

Ok, as much as I'd like to write something like this for all of these matches, I simply do not have time to do that and watch the '92 yearbook. So I'm just going to post the rest of my list and will elaborate should anyone have questions. #100 - Jerry Lawler vs Mr. Perfect (USWA Mid South Coliseum 08/09/93) #99 - Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds (WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII 01/23/93) #98 - Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/93) #97 - Villano III vs Rambo (AAA 09/26/93) #96 - Mr. Perfect vs Doink the Clown (WWF Monday Night RAW 05/24/93) #95 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroshi Hase (NJPW 09/23/93) #94 - Great Sasuke & Sato vs Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro 07/26/93) #93 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Steve Williams (AJPW 09/03/93) #92 - Rick & Scott Steiner vs The Quebecers (WWF Monday Night RAW 09/13/93) #91 - Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WWF King of the Ring 06/13/93) #90 - Akira Hokuto vs Harley Saito (AJW 08/13/93) #89 - Marty Jannetty vs Doink the Clown (WWF Monday Night RAW 06/21/93) #88 - Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect (WWF King of the Ring 06/13/93) #87 - Ciclon Ramirez, Corazon de Leon & Oro vs Felino, Javier Cruz & Negro Casas (CMLL 04/30/93) #86 - Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs Hollywood Blonds & Barry Windham (WCW Saturday Night 07/03/93) #85 - Hollywood Blonds vs Arn Anderson & Paul Roma (WCW Beach Blast 07/18/93) #84 - Barry Windham vs 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII 06/16/93) #83 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 04/14/93) #82 - El Hijo del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 10/29/93) #81 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu (NJPW 04/06/93) #80 - Andrei Kopylov vs Nikolai Zouev (RINGS 10/23/93) #79 - Ultimo Dragoncito & Orito vs Felinito & Ultratumbita (CMLL 04/30/93) #78 - Hiroshi Hase vs Samson Fuyuki (WAR 06/17/93) #77 - Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Tatsu Goto & Super Strong Machine (NJPW 06/15/93) #76 - Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa (WAR 05/24/93) #75 - Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 04/24/93) #74 - MS-1 vs Cien Caras (AAA 08/22/93) #73 - Terry Funk vs Atsushi Onita (FMW 05/05/93) #72 - Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (WWF MSG 08/13/93) #71 - Ricky Steamboat vs Brian Pillman (WCW Saturday Night 02/20/93) #70 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (AJPW 02/28/93) #69 - Chris Benoit vs 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW SuperBrawl III 02/21/93) #68 - Kenta Kobashi vs Terry Gordy (AJPW 05/29/93) #67 - Vader vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI 12/06/93) #66 - Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/03/93) #65 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Steve Williams & Big Boss Man (AJPW 11/24/93) #64 - Rock & Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies (WWF Survivor Series 11/24/93) #63 - Barry Windham vs Steven Regal (WCW Worldwide 04/18/93) #62 - Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue vs Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki (AJW Dreamslam I 04/02/93) #61 - Yoshihiro Takayama vs Gene Lydick (UWFI 08/13/93) #60 - Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds (WCW Worldwide 03/27/93) #59 - Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs Kenta Kobashi & Satoru Asako (AJPW 08/20/93) #58 - Nobuhiko Takada vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 02/13/93) #57 - Rey Misterio Jr, Winners & Super Calo vs Heavy Metal, Picudo & Psicosis (AAA 02/14/93) #56 - Shinya Hashimoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs Ashura Hara & Kodo Fuyuki (WAR 03/07/93) #55 - Hollywood Blonds vs Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio (WCW Worldwide 05/08/93) #54 - Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 04/16/93) #53 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen (AJPW 05/21/93) #52 - Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyota vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (FMW 05/05/93) #51 - Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido (WAR 03/03/93) #50 - El Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine (AAA 11/06/93) #49 - Wild Pegasus vs El Samurai (NJPW Top of the Super Juniors 06/14/93) #48 - Sakie Hasegawa & Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto (AJW 11/12/93) #47 - Sabu vs Lightning Kid (NWA Grand Slam 04/17/93) #46 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba (AJPW 11/30/93) #45 - Manami Toyota vs Akira Hokuto (AJW 08/21/93) #44 - Shinobu Kandori & Utazo Hozumi vs Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue (LLPW 11/09/93) #43 - Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WWF Boston, MA 01/09/93) #42 - Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 01/24/93) #41 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 10/02/93) #40 - Volk Han vs Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 10/23/93) #39 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Big Boss Man (AJPW 12/01/93) #38 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (WAR 06/17/93) #37 - Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami (JWP 04/18/93) #36 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 07/02/93) #35 - El Hijo del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 05/14/93) #34 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 07/09/93) #33 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 06/03/93) #32 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/08/93) #31 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (AJPW 01/30/93) #30 - Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo (AJW 12/06/93) #29 - Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 12/06/93) #28 - Ric Flair vs Vader (WCW Starrcade 12/27/93) #27 - Dynamite Kansai vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 10/09/93) #26 - Ultimo Dragon vs El Samurai (WAR 03/07/93) #25 - Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 05/03/93) #24 - Vader vs Sting (WCW SuperBrawl III 02/21/93) #23 - Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs Keiji Muto, Akira Nogami & Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 02/05/93) #22 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi (AJPW 07/19/93) #21 - Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 08/31/93) #20 - Devil Masami & Plum Mariko vs Chigusa Nagayo & Cutie Suzuki (JWP 11/20/93) #19 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/23/93) #18 - Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono (NJPW 11/04/93) #17 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 06/01/93) #16 - Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/28/93) #15 - Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Tayayuki Iizuka vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Ricky Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara (NJPW 02/16/93) #14 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Championship Carnival 03/27/93) #13 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/12/93) #12 - Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta (JWP 01/15/93) #11 - Naoki Sano vs Yoji Anjo (UWFI 08/13/93) #10 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 12/10/93 - Match 2 of 2) #9 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada (AJW 12/10/93 - Match 1 of 2) #8 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW Dreamslam II 04/11/93) #7 - Ultimo Dragon vs Negro Casas (CMLL 03/19/93) #6 - Sakie Hasegawa, Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue & Aja Kong vs Mayumi Ozaki, Dynamite Kansai, Hikari Fukuoka & Cutie Suzuki (JWP Thunderqueen 07/31/93) #5 - Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai (AJW 08/25/93) #4 - Satanico vs Pirata Morgan (AAA 11/26/93) #3 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/03/93) #2 - Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW Dreamslam I 04/02/93) #1 - Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 07/29/93)

I've always gotten the impression that Missy was put through hell in WCW for kicks. I guess that's not really surprising, but it's still unfortunate.

Probably quite a few. I know after the second time I was wanting Eaton to get his. I've seen this criticism of DA-era WCW before, and I think it's valid. While the sheer number of good TV matches was higher than ever, there was little continuity between them and they were all ultimately disposable. Even stuff like an angle in late '91 where Sting locked Rude in the scorpion for several minutes and other babyfaces blocked anyone from helping Rude should have had Rude selling the injury or at least it should have been referenced again. The good thing about this time period was that they made some marriages that resulted in good matches and things felt fresh. The bad thing is that there was very little progression from show to show.

Another really good match from this show. This was actually better than I remembered too. It's only an 11-minute match, but they make the most of the time and keep things moving. The post-match angle is the best part, with Steamboat taking two Rude Awakenings and a belt whipping to set up their match at SuperBrawl.

This is hysterical. Hayes and Garvin's lip synching is completely off with the song and this is cheesy as hell. "Hell of a future, hell of a past, we do it our way, we're gonna kick your ..." They actually found fans to catch on camera singing along! This really needs to be seen by anyone who has never seen it.