Just John 0 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 I thought this would make an interesting topic of conversation. Go ahead and list your choices. You can limit it to America, or include Mexico/Japan stuff as well. Personally, I would go with 1997 which had at least 5 legit MOTYC's, four of which that would probably place highly on a MOTD list. You had: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (WM 13) Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (Bad Blood) Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero (Halloween Havoc) Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 1/20 and 10/21 (I prefer 10/21 myself, though I'm probably in the minority) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 1992- (US Scene) The year opens with that ace Royal Rumble match with Flair going over for the title, establishing him as a force in the federation- there was also a great Rockers/Orient Express match on that PPV IIRC? WCW started with the Superbrawl II PPV- Kip Frye was in charge at this point with his incentives based on match performance meaning that nearly every match on the card was above average. We had Liger/Pillman in one oft he best openers of all time, the Vegas/Morton v. Hammer/Zenk miracle match, great old school southern tag matches with Austin/Zbysko v. Rhodes/Windham and the Steiners v. the Enforcers, and a great Rude/Steamboat US title match... Wrestlemania 8 had two incredible matches in Savage/Flair and Piper/Bret, and also marked the end of Hogan's full time WWF run, meaning the workrate in the main event for the rest of the year would go up as others were given the chance to shine... Wrestlewar 1992 had great Smothers/Badd, and Pillman/Zenk matches. The Steiners v. Fujinami/Izuka match was the best showcase I've seen of the Steiner's brutal offence- and the Dangerous Alliance v. Sting's Squadron Wargames match is the best of it's kind IMO Following Wrestlemania, WWF went on a European tour which saw an underrated pair of Savage/HBK title defences with Michaels really coming into his own as a singles worker. We also had the departure of Sid immediately following the tour, further clearing the WWF main event of big useless lumoxes. WCW now had Bill Watts in charge- my favourite booking reign in a company, Great American Bash 1992 was basically part of an extended tag team tournament and we got good Rude/Austin v. Windham/Rhodes, Liger/Pillman v. Koloff/Steamboat, MVC v. Rhodes/Windham, and to top it off, a phenomonal Vader/Sting match which marked the rise of Vader in WCW WWF Summerslam 92 had a great Martel/Michaels match with the no punches stip, a largely forgotten (compared to WM7) Savage/Warrior match, and the incredible Bret/Bulldog IC match made all the more special by the intangible quality of Bulldog in fron of his huge 'home' crowd. WCW Beachblast 92 is one of the best ppv's that they ever ran. Pillman/Flamingo was another great opener, Rude and Steamboat bettered their earlier efforts with a great iron man match, Sting/Cactus was a good slice of something different, and the MVC v. Steiners was a realistic Watts-style main event. WWF was able to elevate Bret Hart to main event staus by late 1992, as he captured the belt from Flair in a decent match at a Canadian house show. Note, that in less than half a year following Hogan's departure, WWF had already managed to elevate two younger talents to main event status, something that hadn't really been achieved, arguably since the rise of the Warrior 3 years earlier... Events prior to WWF Survivor Series 92 saw the departure of the Ultimate Warrior, which can only mean good things workrate wise. On that PPV we had a great tag with Flair/Ramon v. Perfect/Savage, and a classic title match between Michaels and Bret. WCW Halloween Havoc 1992, whilst having a crap upper card, still had a superlative 30 minute draw between Williams/Austin and Windham/Rhodes, and a **** Pillman/Steamboat match to redeem itself on the undercard WCW Starrcae 1992, whilst better than Havoc, still didn't measure up to the other WCW ppv's of the year. It is IMO, the best of the lethal lottery concept Starrcade's- it has another good Vader/Sting match, a good Muta/Windham v. Scorpio/Pillman match, and a better than expected Vader/Rhodes v. Sasaki/Barbarian match As well as the above mentioned PPV matches, these matches also contributed to the greatness of 1992 WWF Ric Flair v. Shawn Michaels (Invasion Colliseum HV Release) Ric Flair v. Kerry Von Erich (World Tour 92 Colliseum US HV Release) Bret Hart v. Rick Martel (UK Rampage 1993 Colliseum UK HV Release) Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart, (Invasion of the Bodyslammers Colliseum HV Release) Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Title, (UK Fan Favourites Colliseum HV Release) Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match, (Smack 'em Whack 'em Colliseum Release) Ric Flair and Shawn Micahels vs. Bret Hart and Randy Savage, (Grudges, Gripes and Grunts Colliseum HV Release) WCW Brian Pillman & Justin Thunder Liger v. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington, (COTC XIX) Steiners v. MVC, (COTC XIX) Steve Austin v. Ricky Steamboat, (COTC XX) Sting v. Rick Rude, (COTC XXI) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes v. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas, (COTC XXI) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
World's Worst Man 0 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 I'll say 1993, for Japan at least. AJW and AJPW in '93 were probably two of the best years a wrestling promotion's ever had. AJW was producing shows that occasionally had 2 or more MOTYCs on them. And this is coming from someone who doesn't throw around "MOTYCs" and snowflakes like crazy. AJPW was producing excellent matches almost weekly. Maybe not as much super high-end stuff as 94-95, but beyond that, there was a ton of good stuff in 1993. New Japan didn't have a super great year, but it was solid, as was usually the case with them. Typical high-end work from Liger, Samurai, Benoit, etc. As for 1997, that was probably the last great years New Japan and All Japan had. Things started really declining in 1998 (and in All Japan's case, one could see signs of decline even in 1997). It was probably the last year that the WWF/WWE was generally any good for match quality too, and the last year I believe they produced a solid MOTYC (Hart vs. Austin). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 jm, Shawn Michaels had turned heel by Rumble 92, that match was on Rumble 91, I believe, but don't quote me on that. He had turned heel just prior to the Rumble. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jm29195 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 jm, Shawn Michaels had turned heel by Rumble 92, that match was on Rumble 91, I believe, but don't quote me on that. He had turned heel just prior to the Rumble. Yep you're quite right- the Orient Express was at Royal Rumble 92, but they faced the New Hart Foundation instead- my mistake! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Buzz 0 Report post Posted May 13, 2006 I agree with 92 in america being the best workrate year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shooting Star 0 Report post Posted May 18, 2006 I was gonna make this thread myself....this was even the same title I was gonna use...but oh well. 2002 had so many good matches it makes me forget the crappy angles which weren't that bad compared to the shit we get now. Edge vs Eddie Unforgiven Rey vs Angle Summerslam HHH vs HBK Summerslam Taker vs Angle vs Rock Vengeance Edge vs Angle Backlash Edge vs Angle Judgement Day Benoit vs Angle Unforgiven Benoit and Angle vs Rey Mysterio and Edge No Mercy Elimination Chamber Survivor Series Just to name a few Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Cucaracha 0 Report post Posted May 18, 2006 jm, Shawn Michaels had turned heel by Rumble 92, that match was on Rumble 91, I believe, but don't quote me on that. He had turned heel just prior to the Rumble. Yep you're quite right- the Orient Express was at Royal Rumble 92, but they faced the New Hart Foundation instead- my mistake! That was a pretty decent match too. I agree with '92 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
