WON92

1992 has come and gone, and this is by far the best wrestling-centric Yearbook of the three that I’ve watched so far, and I’m sure will be the best overall at least until we get to 1997. Just about every promotion saw an improvement from an in-ring standpoint even as American business started tanking--the only company that retrogressed quality-wise was the WWF. It didn’t get actively bad, but things did get very, very bland after so many hot 1991 angles, feuds, and arrivals. This is a company in desperate need of the shot in the arm that Monday Night Raw will give it. It and lots of promotions--even All-Japan coming off a strong year--are facing uncertainty headed into 1993 and for most of them things are going to get worse before they get better. Here are the 1992 Awards, Observer-style, with the real-life winner in parantheses. Once again, full calendar year, not the Observer’s November-to-November standard.

CATEGORY A
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR (Ric Flair)
1. Bull Nakano
2. Mitsuharu Misawa
3. Manami Toyota
Nakano seems to be a fitting choice, as she passes the anchor position in AJW on to Aja Kong at the end of the year. Bull vs. Aja was a MOTY-level contest in many years, but wasn’t even Match of the Night. But their match at Wrestlemarinepad was almost as good, as was their partnership. I’ve been saying snarky things about Toyota for most of these sets and a few of them came in watching this one, but she and Yamada in the end were the other standouts for the company, especially during the JWP feud while many other promotions seemed to be disintegrating. Meanwhile Misawa was established, intentionally or not, as the new native ace.

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER (Jushin Liger)
1. Jushin Liger
2. Negro Casas
3. Bull Nakano
Very top-heavy year this year. Casas could have taken this with more footage from later in the year, but Liger was more of a constant and he just barely topped Casas in the first part of the year with that Samurai match.

BEST BABYFACE (Sting)
1. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
2. Mitsuharu Misawa
3. Ricky Morton
I had to think about this for awhile as I tend to think of this as a North American award, and this year Hogan was gone and business went into the tank for both companies. Misawa did the most for business, and had quite a few performances that wouldn’t be out of place as a sympathetic babyface--namely the big 5/22 six-man and the earlier stuff with Hansen. But Kikuchi was on another level, working awesome underneath stuff against the Can-Ams and Fuchi. Sting damn near got into this ballot with his Starrcade match against Vader, which was a terrific fired-up babyface performance in addition to a great overall athletic contest. But I still have to go with Morton, who bounced back in a big way with his brief Gilbert feud to the Rock ‘n Roll Express returning like they had never left.

BEST HEEL (Rick Rude)
1. Jake Roberts
2. Rick Rude
3. Eddie Gilbert
Roberts continued to amaze on the stick, and even threw in two genuinely good singles matches, vs. Dustin and vs. Savage. Rude is one of the best natural heels ever, but Jake was given better angles to work with. Gilbert was outstanding once again during the GWF/USWA feud.

FEUD OF THE YEAR (Moondogs vs. Lawler/Jarrett)
1. The Moondogs vs. Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett
2. Genichiro Tenryu vs. NJPW
3. Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada
Why not? It did go on too long, but it kept afloat a dying promotion and was one of the most consistent programs in the world considering how long it went. I would put Tenryu/NJPW at #1, but it came off as sort of mid-card-ish as Tenryu hasn’t worked against the big guns yet. Toyota/Yamada told one of pro wrestling’s more unique stories, with tag partners fighting and reaching hair vs. hair levels, but not actually splitting up.

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR (Doc/Gordy)
1. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
2. Los Cowboys
3. Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada
Probably the peak for the Can-Ams, and Los Cowboys were terrific every time out. Obviously they couldn’t reach the highs of Dream Rush every time out, but Yamada & Toyota still weren’t always consistent--those annoying things that Toyota’s known for did rear their ugly heads some--so they have to settle in at #3.

MOST IMPROVED (El Samurai)
1. Razor Ramon
2. El Samurai
3. Kensuke Sasaki
It’s incredible how a guy who’d spent 5 years as a big dumb goof in the AWA and WCW suddenly turned into a legitimate main event player. And you can’t just attribute that to the WWF Machine--why didn’t Nailz or Papa Shango reach that level? Because Hall pulled his weight, both on the mic and even in the ring. Sasaki’s placement is sort of "Most Improved in My Own Mind" award, as I always envisioned him as a piece of shit worker, but he’s a fiery, explosive guy with good-looking offense and who moves around great for the way he’s built.

MOST UNIMPROVED (Randy Savage)
1. Keiji Mutoh
2. Sgt. Slaughter
3. Ric Flair
Mutoh looked good against the Steiners but rarely anyone else, after having such a great 1991. And after seeing what Liger and Sasaki were doing in the U.S., even at year’s end in front of a couple thousand people on a house show, he doesn’t get any kind of a pass for looking like complete shit across the pond either. This was the end of the line for Sarge, who nonetheless deserves a lot of credit for his 1991 comeback even in the face of failing business and distasteful material--but he had nothing left in the tank as a full-timer. I feel terrible for putting Flair here, but I feel like I have to. I’m almost the opposite of Loss on Flair in the WWF, as I’ve liked him in most of his non-wrestling settings in ‘92, especially since he was allowed to be more Flair-like, but his in-ring stuff once he dropped the title at WM8 has left me cold. The Tenryu match being a big exception. The '92 Rumble may have been his last hurrah as an elite worker. He was by no means bad, but I have to go by the previous standards, and Flair had a lot to live up to.

MOST OBNOXIOUS (Bill Watts)
1. The Ultimate Maniacs
2. Jameson
3. Jason Hervey
The borderline-homoerotic Maniacs push was only tolerable--and just barely, at that--because of how brief it was. Jameson was embarrassing even if the guy seemed to be a professional actor. Hervey only made a couple of appearances but still made me want to stick his head in a blender and flip the switch.

BEST ON INTERVIEWS (Ric Flair)
1. Jim Cornette
2. Jake Roberts
3. Eric Embry
Flair was very, very good--his usual self, pretty much. But Cornette had an outstanding comeback after being mostly lost for 1991, and Embry was more versatile, as we got the classic '89 Texas babyface Embry for a bit before his career reached an end.

MOST CHARISMATIC (Sting)
1. Atsushi Onita
2. Genichiro Tenryu
3. Konnan
Possible Wrestling with the Past 1991 influence here, as they talked about Onita's charisma carrying matches in 1991. I think it's fair to say it carried over into '92, though. Tenryu was great as either the cocky dick in New Japan or the hometown babyface working against Ric Flair. I don't like Konnan at all but it'd be ignorant to put blinders on how he could control a crowd.

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER (Jushin Liger)
1. Volk Han
2. Hiroshi Hase
3. Atlantis
Again, the definition here has always been a little shaky, but these were your best guys on the mat and executing moves.

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD/BEST BRAWLER (Cactus Jack)
1. Cactus Jack
2. Moondog Spike
3. Stan Hansen
Cactus was on fire before his injury. Yes, Spike was a bit better than Spot, because he was good for at least one crazy bump in every match I saw.

BEST FLYING WRESTLER (Jushin Liger)
1. Jushin Liger
2. Manami Toyota
3. Super Astro
Sort of more of the same from the first two, though 1992 Liger was probably at his best to this point, and Toyota definitely was. Astro's flying astounds you possibly more than the flying from the Brazos.

MOST OVERRATED WRESTLER (Erik Watts)
1. The Ultimate Warrior
2. Erik Watts
3. Nailz
I don't want to rant more on the Warrior without acknowledging that his WM8 return was a jawdropper. Still, as mentioned, he was the absolute antithesis of the direction the WWF needed to go in the post-Hogan era, and I'm thankful that he basically saved the WWF from themselves by walking out (unless the rumors of a planned Warrior/Nailz feud were true, which would be an indication that even Vince saw the company headed in another direction on top). Watts was too much, too soon, when he should have been groomed in whatever the 1992 equivalent of the Power Plant was for a little while longer. I get that even the isolationist WWF couldn’t give a "prisoner just released" gimmick to someone who was recognizable as having wrestled on TV recently. But even with that limitation there had to be somebody, somewhere more capable of pulling off the Nailz gimmick than Kevin Kelly.

MOST UNDERRATED WRESTLER (Terry Taylor)
1. The Lightning Kid
2. Tracey Smothers
3. Buddy Landell
Kid seems to have dropped off the earth after that UWF appearance--even wrestlingdata has no information on his 1992 whereabouts. As we approach the end of the year, Smothers is on his way to save SMW’s singles babyface situation, but he had something to offer to either of the Big Two. Landell showed tons of promise early on in SMW and was probably responsible for his own lack of advancement in the business.

BEST PROMOTION (New Japan)
1. New Japan
2. All-Japan
3. WCW
Still the winner for depth and variety. WCW’s business and morale were in the shitter and seemed to be getting worse news every week, but the on-camera product was generally outstanding.

BEST TV SHOW (All-Japan)
1. All-Japan
2. Smoky Mountain Wrestling
3. USWA TV
New Japan was probably as good as anything, but almost all of the Yearbook stuff seemed to be from commercial tapes and New Japan Classics, and I’ve watched the whole ‘92 season for All-Japan. SMW had better television matches than the USWA and a number of hot angles in its own right, even if the USWA had more stuff happening on its show.

MATCH OF THE YEAR (Kroffat/Furnas vs. Kobashi/Kikuchi)
1. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai (AJW 11/26/92)
2. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJPW 4/30/92)
3. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masa Fuchi (AJPW 5/22/92)
3. Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (AJPW 5/25/92)
4. Aja Kong vs. Bull Nakano (AJW 11/26/92)
5. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCW Beach Blast)
6. Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (AJPW 2/22/92)
7. WarGames (WCW WrestleWar)
8. Akira Hokuto vs. Kyoko Inoue (AJW 11/26/92)
9. Gran Hamada/Los Cowboys vs. Negro Casas/Dr. Wagner, Jr./Rambo (UWA 2/29/92)
10. Negro Casas vs. El Dandy (CMLL 7/3/92)
The depth here is insane compared to ‘90 and ‘91--people were talking up Casas/Dandy as an all-time classic in its thread, and even without being able to wholly disagree with them I can’t put it any higher than it is here. Liger/Samurai became one of my favorite matches ever when I watched it, and is probably better than anything from the Liger/Sano feud, and it didn’t even last on top for 7 months. Just a shit ton of stuff elsewhere from CMLL and WCW and everyone from Japan that I just didn’t have room for, nor did I have the time to sort out a top 50-100. Maybe I should, but the lucha set and the ‘93 Yearbook beckon.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Jim Cornette)
1. Jim Cornette
2. Richard Lee
3. Paul E. Dangerously
After 1991 I pronounced the Era of the Manager basically dead, but there was a huge resurgence this year. Dangerously was the #1 guy as far as exposure, but…I don’t think his own performances were quite as strong as it was in ‘91 when the Alliance really started to kick into gear, and the Alliance came off as more of a vehicle for great matches than an out-of-control group taking over and creating chaos. Plus he became persona non grata, more or less, after WarGames. Cornette was more of a constant throughout the year and Paul E. wasn’t good enough to touch him as an interview. Lee ahead of Dangerously is probably an upset pick, but doing that much good work is easier when you’re managing Rude, Arn, Austin, Eaton, and Larry Z than it is when you’re managing Spot and Spike and literally have to do all the mic work for them. And he was no slouch when it came to getting physically involved, either. Lee did more with less than any manager in wrestling in ‘92, Cornette included. Ron Wright had a better year than anyone in 1991 and couldn’t even crack the ballot, which is both a shame and a testament to the overall depth here.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (Rey Misterio, Jr.)
1. Volk Han
2. Jun Akiyama
3. Yoshihiro Takayama
I suppose Misterio and Psicosis (who finished 2nd) would have done more with more exposure, but neither guy showed much in their one Yearbook appearance. And it’s not like there’s a great deal of shame in not being able to beat out Volk.

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER (Jim Ross)
1. Jim Ross
2. Bob Caudle
3. Dave Brown
After such an annoying 1991, Ross improved by leaps and bounds. It helped that he got a better product to call with so many more great matches. Plus I truly think Ventura’s presence forced him to step up, as Jesse was there to call him on some of his canned talking-point bullshit. Smoky Mountain Caudle may honestly be better than prime Mid-Atlantic Caudle, though there’s something to be said for replacing David Crockett as your color man with Dutch Mantell.

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER (Gorilla Monsoon)
1. Vince McMahon
2. Gorilla Monsoon
3. Cory Macklin
Vince didn’t have as many hot angles to get over, which reduced him to being a match-caller, and as that he wasn’t good at all. Flair’s performance in the ‘92 Rumble basically forced Monsoon, kicking and screaming, into giving him some credit, but that all dissipated once the show was over and he was back to slagging on him non-stop, and I don’t think I have to explain why that pissed me off or how dumb it was from a business standpoint. Thank God for Heenan, whose reactions to Gorilla (especially during Martel/Tatanka at WM8, the match after the title loss) eased the pain. There wasn’t enough Global for me to pick out a truly Worst announcer. As a result, Macklin is basically a default pick--as unpolished as he was and inferior as he was to Lance & Dave, I can’t truthfully say that he ever had me running for the mute button either.

CATEGORY B
BEST MAJOR WRESTLING CARD (AJW Wrestlemarinepad ‘92). AJW Dream Rush--three top-ten MOTYs and the greatest match I have ever seen of any style. How is anything else going to top that, ever? I guess I’ll find out when I get to the Dream Slam cards.

WORST MAJOR WRESTLING CARD (Halloween Havoc). Havoc it is.

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER (2 Cold Scorpio’s 450 splash). I agree, though Manami Toyota’s moonsault to the floor is very close. Also, Super Astro’s somersault headbutt to the floor should be up there if it wasn’t so insanely, stupefyingly dangeorus.

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC (Erik Watts push). The Ultimate Warrior selling a main event feud by puking. And this comes from a guy who got and continues to get a kick out of Papa Shango’s antics.

BEST COLOR COMMENTATOR (Bobby Heenan). I don’t care if he hated working with Ross or taking orders from Bill Watts--Jesse Ventura fit into that style seamlessly, which is a credit to him after having to call canned squashes with Vince McMahon for 5 years and working with Monsoon. Dutch Mantell really deserved a spot here on his own merit, but on principle I have to go with Jesse.

FAVORITE WRESTLER (Ric Flair). Two things I’m most looking forward to in ‘93: the WWF invasion of the USWA, and more Genichiro Tenryu vs. New Japan. This was his best year since 1989.

LEAST FAVORITE WRESTLER (Erik Watts). The Warrior was intolerable. Maybe not as actively annoying as he was in 1990, but he was so past his sell-by date in ‘92 and was absolutely the wrong direction to go with--something I think Vince ultimately recognized.

WORST (NON-ROOKIE) WRESTLER (Andre the Giant). I suppose I can’t ignore Andre anymore. I get that he didn’t want to leave the only life he ever really knew, but it’s stupefying that he was in the ring barely a month before his death. Mr. Pogo or Fishman was the worst guy I actually saw a match of when watching the Yearbook.

WORST TAG TEAM (The Bushwhackers). I will go with the USWA’s Star Riders, yet another LOD ripoff team who had one of the worst television squashes ever. Then, during a tag team battle royal that Monday night, they got eliminated, ransacked the other participants’ wallets and bags, and hightailed it out of the arena and presumably out of the wrestling business.

WORST WEEKLY TV SHOW (Global on ESPN). Or this. A lot of these "Worst" awards are hard because this was such a loaded Yearbook with a lot of the crap filtered out. So I have to go by my own memories and the actual Observer standings themselves.

WORST MANAGER (Mr. Fuji). Fuji was pretty out of the way, as the big Yokozuna push hadn’t begun yet. So I will go with Ronnie Lotz. You’re sinking pretty low when you’re ripping off Tony Rumble, and he gets extra demerits for being about 1/10 as cool and clever as he obviously thought he was.

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR (Rude vs. Chono, Havoc). From a results vs. expectations standpoint that’s a hard one to top. Bushwhackers/Beverly Brothers at the Royal Rumble, with Jameson involved, was worse technically, though carried by an utterly brilliant performance from Heenan--he really was on fire that entire show. Among Yearbook stuff, Pogo vs. Matsunaga was the complete shits.

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR (Warrior vs. Shango). Agreed with this. Kamala vs. Undertaker, which is a feud that would have JerryVonKramer throwing things at his screen, gets an honorable mention. In the real-life awards, the Steiners/MVC feud finished at #5--what the fuck were Observer readers smoking in 1992??!

WORST ON INTERVIEWS (Ultimate Warrior). Nailz had that horrid cartoonish voice, and his delivery sunk an angle that they were actually trying to sell fairly realistically. Not on the Yearbook but the ill-fated Nailz/Undertaker feud suffered from that as well--they could have done the Luther Reigns "you can’t scare me with anything I haven’t seen in prison" thing, but Nailz just offered lame unfocused comments still harping on being in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, which had jack-all to do with the current feud.

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR (Global). Hard to argue with this. USWA-Texas was rarely any less low-rent but managed to be about 50 times more fun.

BEST BOOKER (Riki Choshu/New Japan). Choshu’s been in the running for this every year of the decade so far. This year he added some cool undercard stuff between Koshinaka’s group and the karate guys before they eventually joined forces, then brought in his old foe Tenryu.

BEST PROMOTER (Giant Baba). Still think New Japan has to rank ahead, for their Dome shows, their use of other promotions, and the variety in the cards, even if I think the main AJPW guys and its main event style were better.

BEST GIMMICK (The Undertaker). Babyface Undertaker and Bearer lost a bit from their big 1991. Therefore I will go with Ron Wright. Hopefully the prestige and money from this post will go towards that hip and knee replacement.

WORST GIMMICK (Papa Shango). Global could probably retire this category. I genuinely and unironically liked Shango, and Nailz was decent in theory and even in execution at first. I think I have to acknowledge Sebastian/Phantom X somewhere, so here it is.

MOST EMBARRASSING WRESTLER (Papa Shango). Bears repeating how little there is to choose from just from the Yearbook itself, when 1990 and ‘91 offered no shortage of candidates. Shango was reviled at the time, but I refuse to give it to him. Nailz was horrible, and yet I’d rather watch 500 Nailz promos than anything involving the Black Scorpion again. Van Hammer had that falls-count-anywhere match with Cactus. Erik Watts was bad but I find insultingly stupid gimmicks more embarrassing than a legitimate athlete who just happened to be overpushed because of his dad. So my pick goes to the Rude Dog of Global, which was like Al Green’s Dog gimmick from the dying days of WCW only not as dignified. Rude Dog stood out to me as an embarrassment just from reading about him in Apter mags, and Youtubing some footage of him does not improve his standing.