Loss

This match is HOT. I've talked about it before, and it seems like the people who have watched it have agreed with me that it's a fantastic match. Rewatching it still holds up really well. Dustin targets Arn Anderson and goes for the figure four, which Arn sells beautifully for several minutes, and responds by going after Dustin's arm, which Dustin also sells beautifully, making a one-armed comeback. There are some fantastic nearfalls toward the end of this, as they do some fairly standard outside interference spots that are normally finishes where Dustin kicks out. A big pier-six breaks out with all Dangerous Alliance members (except Rude) running in and Steamboat, Windham and Simmons brawling in and around the ring. Great match that's as good as just about any singles match WCW produced in 1992.

Great interview. Paul E. references Magnum TA and says Sting was this close to suffering the same fate at the hands of Rude. I like the serious Paul E. much more than the one who tries too hard to be cowardly. Rude was really good too.

About 3 minutes of highlights from Mid South Coliseum. Tremendous action and crazy heat. They are hitting each other really, really hard. Awesome stuff, probably better than almost all of the '93 Memphis.

Savage and Elizabeth are interviewed live by Gene Okerlund. Savage announces his entry in the Royal Rumble and vows revenge on Jake.

Good match, but not at the level of the Tenryu match a year later. Still, Choshu's style is really well-suited for dome shows. Fujinami I think could have done way more than he did. Not sure if that was a conscious decision to put Choshu over strong or what.

Those entrances performed by the live band were a great way to start the yearbook. All four of these guys come off as genuine superstars because of that. This isn't a great match, but it's a very good one. I do like it better than the Superbrawl tag with Luger. The spot of the match is Rick catching Muta in the handspring elbow and hitting a release German. The Steiners doubleteam spots from the top are also fun.

#100 - Rock & Roll Express, Bob, Scott & Steve Armstrong vs Heavenly Bodies, Bruise Brothers & Jim Cornette (SMW Rage in the Cage 08/14/93) Jim Cornette founded SMW on a simple premise -- the idea that wrestling could no longer be what it was, but it could still try. It sounds defeatist in theory, and perhaps it is, but it did give frustrated wrestling fans something both nostalgic and fresh for a few years. That this is a very good match with very good talent instead of a great match with superstars proves Cornette right when he claimed that wrestling wasn't what it used to be. But it also proves him right that it can still try. The heel manager getting what is coming to him is almost always a fun moment, and handcuffing Ricky Morton to a cage is a guarantee of heat and fan sympathy. While the days of selling out the Superdome and having a deep talent pool of national stars were long gone -- even for the larger promotions -- SMW still captured the spirit of a more fruitful era for American pro wrestling. And more than any SMW match in 1993, this match told us everything we needed to know about where wrestling was at the time, and what SMW's place in the landscape was as well. #99 - Jerry Lawler vs Mr. Perfect (USWA Mid South Coliseum 08/09/93) Unbeknownst to the vast majority of WWF fans, a whole alternate universe existed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1993. It was an interesting and magical land -- one where most wrestlers weren't big and muscular, where excited announcer Vince McMahon was smug and cunning, where Jerry Lawler really was the King, and where beloved stars like Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect were treated with disdain. Seeing the WWF stars flip roles so easily in the USWA proves that wrestling is not only a morality play, but it's a completely relative morality play. Lawler could explain his WWF antics with such logic and candor on USWA TV that his actions not only seemed excusable, they seemed exemplary. So this isn't the clash you'd see if cartoonish announcer Jerry Lawler faced respected superstar Mr. Perfect under the bright lights of the WWF banner. Instead, this is the gritty mixtape version of Lawler/Perfect. Hennig is more aggressive than he typically was in the WWF, even during heel runs, and this is the closest thing he has to a Ric Flair performance. #98 - Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII 01/13/93) Say what you will about the Bill Watts era in WCW, but this was case in point that sometimes, the old man still knew what he was talking about. The match had a shorter time limit than the typical one-hour time limit for championship matches, which meant Austin and Pillman needed to wrestle offensively and pick up the pace if they wanted to win the tag team titles. As a result, we get a really fast-paced TV match full of urgency with two teams Watts intended to marry in the coming months. On one level, WCW is presenting an energetic match on a highly-rated television special so that fans can get a glimpse of what seeing these guys live would be like. On another level, the elevated pacing fits the story of the match. If the goal was to draw fans to house shows to see this match, the DQ finish builds nicely to that. As a final nice touch, getting hit with a belt hurts! It's also more dangerous than a punch or a wrestling move. So when Douglas is smacked in the face with a championship belt, he bleeds and Jim Ross reacts appropriately to get it over. Wrestling matches with a consistent mythology inside the universe are always fun to watch. #97 - Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/93) Dome shows are a weird animal. Great matches can have the life sucked out of them by apathetic crowds. At the same time, the ordinary can become extraordinary. Choshu and Tenryu faced each other many times over the course of a decade, and along the way, they no doubt had better matches than this. But what makes this great is that it's hard to point to specifics. There's nothing in this match that's remarkable on its own, and it may even produce a disappointing match in a different environment. But Choshu and Tenryu have always been equal parts wrestler and showmen. Stiff lariats and hate-filled staredowns play well in front of a Tokyo Dome crowd, and the end result is a tremendous spectacle. #96 - Villano III vs Rambo (AAA 09/24/93) For all the talk of the excitement generated by the younger AAA stars of the time -- Rey Misterio Jr., Heavy Metal and Psicosis, to name a few -- the matches that look the best nearly two decades later are those from the veterans. Younger wrestlers can train hard and watch tapes from all over the world, but it's difficult to teach experience. In 1993, Villano III knows how to engage and manipulate a mass audience, and has had plenty of practice doing it. Here, he puts his mask on the line against Rambo's hair. There's no overreaching ambition to change the world; instead, just the simple desire to use tried-and-true tricks to involve an audience and make it clear who to cheer and who to boo. Sometimes, if that's executed well enough, it's all we need. To be continued ... Numbering was off in this post, which is why it's different from what's listed below. The list below is correct.

And December: #1 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/03/93) ***** #2 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 12/10/93 - Match #1) ****3/4 #3 - Manami Toyota & Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 12/10/93 - Match #2) ****1/2 #4 - Ric Flair vs Vader (WCW Starrcade 12/27/93) ****1/2 #5 - Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 12/06/93) ****1/4 #6 - Megumi Kudo vs Aja Kong (AJW 12/06/93) ****1/4 #7 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Steve Williams & Big Boss Man (AJPW 12/01/93) ****1/4 #8 - Vader vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI 12/06/93) **** #9 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW 12/06/93) ***3/4 #10 - Gary Albright & Dan Severn vs Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich (UWFI 12/05/93) ***1/2 #11 - El Hijo del Santo vs Heavy Metal (AAA 12/05/93) ***1/2 #12 - Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (Inside the WWF 12/15/93) ***1/2 #13 - Jerry Lawler vs Jeff Jarrett (USWA Mid South Coliseum 12/20/93) ***1/2 #14 - Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/06/93) ***1/4 #15 - Super Delphin vs Sato (Michinoku Pro 12/10/93) ***1/4 #16 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto (NJPW 12/13/93) ***1/4 #17 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami (WAR 12/15/93) *** #18 - Gran Hamada vs Villano IV (FULL 12/17/93) ***

1993 was a better year for wrestling than 1996, but I think 1996 was an easier year to get through in this format, because there were plenty of great, memorable angles AND good matches. 1993 was a workrate year and had some good angles, but most of them were taking place in the remaining territories. I expect 1992 to be easier to get through than either year because it's probably the most balanced year we've done so far. It doesn't have the hot angles 1996 had -- at least not as many -- but it has its share, and there are good matches happening regularly in most promotions, not just those in Japan.

Ok, why did people fall out of love with this match? How did it happen? This is maybe the most genuinely emotional PPV main event in history, and this type of fan response (not just popping, but genuinely caring about the wrestler to the point where they stick around and insist he come back out to acknowledge them after he has left) is something only a very small handful of people in wrestling history could pull off. Also, as a match, this is incredibly compelling. The Inoki match from the Tokyo Dome is something I enjoy, but no way is Ric any less game than Inoki was in that match. Considering the stiff shots he took to get the match over, I'm not sure where one can really make that criticism. Considering that Flair responded in kind by laying in his own shots, I'm not sure where the criticism of him not adapting could come from. Considering his selling performance drawing the crowd in, and his victory getting one of the loudest pops in history. There was talk recently of Stan Lane's kicks sucking. jdw correctly pointed out to keep it in proper perspective, because for whatever we can say about those kicks, people bought them. Likewise ... for whatever you may want to say about Flair not adapting to Vader (which is not really accurate, but we'll pretend it is), people were into him. Watching a match like this makes the case for Ric Flair as the greatest of all time as much as anything does that came years earlier, when he was still in his prime. I have been down on this match myself for a number of years, but watching it in context with the rest of 1993 footage, the only U.S. match I'd put above it is Vader/Sting at SuperBrawl, and that's closer than you'd think. In terms of the offense, this reminded me in some ways of a really great Tenryu match. Tenryu didn't have a ton of moves. Tenryu had a few things that he did really really well. That's Flair's performance here -- chop hard, punch hard, bump hard. This is also one of the last times Flair didn't really narrow his stuff to build to the figure four. We get him posting Vader, placing his leg on the bottom rope and dropping his weight on it before applying it, instead of just doing a belly-to-back suplex or clipping him, which is what we'd get later. Great way to end the yearbook on a high note, and anyone who doesn't like this match who hasn't watched it in the last year or two should watch it again.

We join the match toward the end of the first fall. Dustin gets DQd in the first fall for throwing Austin over the top rope, and Austin is a bloody mess. There are some lighting issues in the middle of all of this that quickly get corrected. Austin ends up pinning Dustin in a short fall and wins the U.S. title. I remember recently someone asking if a title had ever changed hands when there was a DQ in a fall, and there's your answer.

We get footage of Flair saying goodbye to his family, which is a little weird considering what we know happens with everyone there many years later. Flair and Gene get in a limo to ride to Independence Arena, clips of which are interspersed throughout the show. Gene is a little negative about Flair's chances, but Flair won't hear it. Really compelling stuff.

This is one of my favorite PPV opens ever. They show footage of Flair in childhood and clips of various matches before transitioning to Vader mauling people. WCW production could be pretty excellent when it wanted to be.

Undertaker wishes Yokozuna a Merry Christmas by building a special casket for their upcoming match. How very nice of him! Then, we get into a Bret Hart announcement to make sure that we don't drink and drive on New Year's Eve!

Glad this made the yearbook as it's really their first high-profile ECW match against each other. Many of the things that would eventually become cliche are fresh, like Sabu using the chair as a propeller to jump on Funk in the corner. Stuff like the camel clutch really feels arbitrary considering the style they are working, and the fans feel the same way, screaming for blood through most of this. The mutants are multiplying! Add in a few table spots and a Shane Douglas run-in, and ECW is almost ECW as we wrap up the year. I will also again complain about Funk using the spinning toehold in matches like this. Sherri attacking Paul E. is super fun. I love that she shows up pretty much everywhere throughout this yearbook. I guess this was the set up for The Night The Line Was Crossed?

Flair dons a Cosby sweater and sits next to a fireplace with Gene Okerlund and Tony Schiavone. This is an OUTSTANDING segment, with Flair talking calmly about what his career has meant to him, why he put it all on the line against Vader, and how he feels like the odds are in his favor going into Starrcade. Great piece of business. This was the first time they pushed Flair trying to recapture past glory as a storyline, and it was also the best.

Dick Murdoch goes house shopping with what I am assuming is his wife in Colorado, talking about how Mama Cornette is offering enough money to make this worth his while and that they'll be able to afford any house he wants, where all he has to do is take out The Bullet. This is great.

Between this and the Flair feature hyping Starrcade, I'm really missing these narrated video packages. We see a montage of some Smothers matches, combined with him hanging out near water outside the ring and a narrator talks about his athletic background prior to entering wrestling.

Bret and Owen are reunited! Vince and Stan Lane interview them from the Jumbotron, where they appear to be superimposed. They are against a blue backdrop announcing that they are challenging the Quebecers for the tag titles at the Royal Rumble. Owen continues hinting a heel turn, talking about how it doesn't matter if what he said was true and that he will be leading the way from here forward with Bret right behind him.

Really "power"-based matwork early on, meaning there are many Backlund-like strength spots that get over big. The rest of this is typically awesome RINGS exchanges, and I wish I knew the name for many of these holds.

"I'm ready to go racing! I'm ready to go racing!" I forgot that his "real" name was Therman Plugg.

Really, really, really fun match. Heel Jeff Jarrett does his best Heel Jerry Lawler performance in a 27 minute match. Lots of stalling early, grabbing the mic and making threats to audience members and such -- this is pretty important if anyone wants to go back and look at good Jeff Jarrett performances. Lawler is good here too when the action gets heated, but this is a Jarrett performance through and through. Nice piledrivers and slugfests. Those who love Memphis will love this. It's not a great match, but it's definitely worth seeing, and is as good or better than much of the really pimped Memphis matches.

Really good match. Fun to see Liger in something this long, and Finlay for that matter. I need someone to explain the rounds system to me, because I don't understand it and it keeps me from enjoying these matches as much as I probably would otherwise. This is also interesting because the face/heel psychology is much closer to U.S. wrestling than Japanese wrestling, with Liger as the babyface and Finlay as the heel. It's probably a style thing I don't get, but what kept it from being really great was that anytime the match got going, the round ended. Worth seeing to see Liger in a completely different setting than we're accustomed to. But because of all the restarts in action, this feels a little Brisco/Dory at times.

Think Terry Funk wrestling in a boxing match. Novel and good, and the music selections between rounds was mostly superb.

Gary Juster says Davey Boy Smith had a contractual obligation to face Rick Rude, but he's not in the building. If he doesn't show up in 30 seconds, the match is forfeited and Rick Rude is the winner. Rude wins by forfeit and gets cocky on the mic. This brings out The Boss, with the Big Boss Man name tag conveniently covered on his wrestling gear, but otherwise looking the exact same. At last, he can get revenge for Rude's comments about his mother! In a hilarious moment, Jesse blames Bill Clinton for this, as Clinton was pushing a crime bill at the time to put 50,000 more cops on the street. Also, we get to hear Tony Schiavone say "The Boss! Man, is he big!" Great action, and the hottest thing Rude was involved in all year. Okerlund interviewing him after a match with Rude is an interesting visual heading into 1994, when WCW would take their WWF signings to a new level.