Usenet Year-End Achievement Awards - Results 1/3

I think there are some surprises in the results. I hope you enjoy
them.

I'd also like to ask if there are any suggestions or comments on how
the awards were run this year or on the awards themselves. There have
been suggestions that there are too many awards (and to perhaps drop
the "Worst" categories). Does this idea get much support? Only one
person submitted a mini-ballot, so I'm not sure if it's a factor.
But I'd like to hear any ideas.

Herb...

Best Wrestler of The Year
-------------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the
year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical
ability, interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc.

Previous Winners:
1990: Curt Hennig
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair

This Year's Winner: Big Van Vader

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 76 (= 380 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 71 (= 213 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 69 (= 69 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

29 16 10 203 Big Van Vader
19 12 10 141 Bret Hart
1 14 10 57 Shawn Michaels
4 6 6 44 Ric Flair
7 1 2 40 Kenta Kobashi
1 5 2 22 Toshiaki Kawada
3 1 1 19 Doink
1 3 4 18 2 Cold Scorpio
2 1 2 15 Brian Pillman
1 1 4 12 Sting
1 1 2 10 Mitsuhara Misawa
1 1 1 9 The Undertaker
1 0 1 6 Jerry Lawler
1 0 1 6 Yokozuna
1 0 0 5 Art Barr
1 0 0 5 Razor Ramon
1 0 0 5 Barry Horowitz
1 0 0 5 JT Lightning
0 1 1 4 Paul Orndorff
0 1 1 4 Rick Rude
0 1 1 4 Dustin Rhodes
0 1 1 4 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
0 1 1 4 Steve Austin
0 1 0 3 Barry Windham
0 1 0 3 TC Reynolds
0 1 0 3 Jushin Liger
0 1 0 3 Great Muta
0 0 2 2 Chris Benoit
0 0 1 1 Lex Luger
0 0 1 1 Jeff Collette
0 0 1 1 Hawk
0 0 1 1 Sid Vicious
0 0 1 1 Sabu
0 0 1 1 Manami Toyota

I think there were very few standout contenders this year. In Japan, only
All Japan had obvious candidates: Mitsuhara Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada,
and Kenta Kobashi. All Japan Women has so many excellent wrestlers
that are probably better than the huge majority of quality male
wrestlers, but that somehow makes each of them seem less important
to their promotion. New Japan had terrible quality this year and
nobody there deserves this award. In North America, the obvious
candidates are: Big Van Vader, Sting, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, and Shawn
Michaels.

These are the eight guys I considered for this award. Of these,
I think that Misawa and Kawada had phenomenal years, seemingly
never being involved in a match less than *** and continually
being involved in the main storyline of the promotion. That's
what separates them from the other 6 guys listed and they get
my first and second place votes in that order. Third place
is a bit tougher. Of the rest, Big Van Vader and Bret Hart stand
out the most for having great matches all year and for being
an integral part of their promotion. Third place is a bit of a
coin toss between these two, but I went with Vader because he
had the greater positive impact on his promotion, always pulling
out a great performance when needed, redefining what "big men"
can do in the ring, and making things believable.

RICK SCAIA: Bret Hart and Vader _were_ North American wrestling this year.
They were at the tops of their games at the beginning of the year, and still
are as the year closes out. Picking one over the other is little more than
a coin flip.

Best Tag Team of The Year
-------------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year.
This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,
interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion,
etc.

Previous Winners:
1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams

This Year's Winner: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 75 (= 375 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 68 (= 204 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 64 (= 64 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

35 11 9 217 The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
11 8 9 88 The Steiners: Rick & Scott
8 10 5 75 The Heavenly Bodies: Tom Prichard & Jimmy Del Ray
6 4 2 44 The Quebecers: Jacques Rougeau & Pierre Oullette
1 10 5 40 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell
2 4 7 29 Money, Inc.: Ted DiBiase & I.R.S.
1 3 5 19 Rick Steamboat & Shane Douglas
2 2 0 16 Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
1 2 1 12 The Heavenly Bodies: Tom Prichard & Stan Lane
1 2 1 12 Barry Horowitz & 1-2-3 Kid
1 1 3 11 Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
1 1 2 10 Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
1 1 2 10 The Headshrinkers: Samu & Fatu
1 1 0 8 Mitsuhara Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada
0 1 4 7 The Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Paul Roma
0 2 1 7 Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki
0 2 0 6 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
1 0 0 5 Art Barr & Eddie Guerrero
0 1 2 5 Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins
1 0 0 5 The Dreaded Dead Ringers: Ug & Pug
1 0 0 5 Lightning Kid & Jerry Lynn
0 1 0 3 Time Machine: Jessie Sellica and Lord Zoltan
0 1 0 3 Bobby Eaton & Chris Benoit
0 0 2 2 Men On a Mission: Mabel & Mo
0 0 2 2 The Hell Raisers: Kensuke Sasaki & Hawk
0 0 1 1 The Combat Commandos
0 0 1 1 Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas

Which tag teams really stood out this year? In Japan, there were
a few to consider: All Japan Women's Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada,
All Japan's Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuhara Misawa, All Japan's Toshiaki
Kawada & Akira Taue. New Japan's tag scene was dominated by
monsters for the most part: Jurassic Powers, Hell Raisers, etc.,
none of which qualify for this award. Hiro Hase & Keiji Muto
were the only shining light. JWP's Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki
garnered some support in the voting, but Kansai is still pretty
green (as her singles matches show) and this team only stood out
because of the quality of their opposition (Toyota & Yamada).
In North America, The Hollywood Blonds and both incarnations
of the Heavenly Bodies stood out. The Steiners did nothing
special all year, having good matches against the Bodies and
nobody else. 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell really improved
as a team and deserve mention. The R'n'R Express were also
good in SMW as were Rick Steamboat & Shane Douglas in WCW.

So, there are a couple of handfuls of teams to consider.
First place is easy, mainly because the All Japan teams weren't
together for that much of the year, and goes to the Hollywood
Blonds: Steve Austin & Brian Pillman. They had it all: great
work and workrate, many great matches, great interviews, great
ring psychology and charisma and some very good double team
maneuvers to top it all off. I'm not gonna place either
All Japan team because Misawa & Kawada split partway into the
year and I don't enjoy watching Akira Taue at all. That makes
second place easier, with the original Heavenly Bodies of Stan
Lane & Tom Prichard taking it because of all their great matches
with the R'n'R Express and others. I think the Bodies have the
advantage of having Jim Cornette to distract the audience when
the match has it's slow spots. Third place goes to Manami
Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada, who orchestrated the best tag match
of the year and perhaps of all time at Dream Slam II.

ADAM BONIN: [for third place,] Men on a Mission. Well, I interviewed them
live for my radio station as a promo job and they were fun. That's all.

Best Heel Of The Year
---------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the person who best incurred the wrath of the mark in
all of us. This person can bring on the fans' wrath like no other
did in the past year.

Previous Winners:
1990: Ted DiBiase
1991: Cactus Jack
1992: Jake Roberts

This Year's Winner: Big Van Vader

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 75 (= 375 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 73 (= 219 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 68 (= 68 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

38 11 9 232 Big Van Vader
6 10 9 69 Rick Rude
7 9 6 68 Jerry Lawler
5 9 11 63 Shawn Michaels
3 9 11 53 Yokozuna
4 3 4 33 Doink
2 3 3 22 Ludvig Borga
2 2 1 17 Brian Christopher
1 3 1 15 Cactus Jack
1 2 0 11 Steve Austin
1 1 1 9 Paul Orndorff
1 1 0 8 Love Machine (Art Barr)
1 0 1 6 Brian Pillman
1 0 0 5 Swamp Thing
1 0 0 5 Bret Hart
1 0 0 5 Sid Vicious
0 1 2 5 Jake Roberts
0 1 1 4 Kevin Sullivan
0 1 1 4 Bam Bam Bigelow
0 1 0 3 Sabu
0 1 0 3 Shiro Koshinaka
0 1 0 3 The Undertaker
0 1 0 3 Stan Hansen
0 1 0 3 Lightning Kid
0 1 0 3 Hollywood Todd Taylor
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair
0 0 1 1 Ted DiBiase
0 0 1 1 La Parka
0 0 1 1 Bastion Booger
0 0 1 1 Razor Ramon
0 0 1 1 Biff Beverly
0 0 1 1 Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony
0 0 1 1 Maxx Payne

This award is pretty much a North America only award. The
choice for first place is clear: Big Van Vader. In recent
years, nobody has even come close to being such a great heel
and actually being believably scary. But after first place,
the choices dwindle, with nobody really standing out. The
best heel in the WWF was Shawn Michaels. Yokozuna, with Mr. Fuji,
was lousy. Rick Rude was great on the microphone in WCW, but
his injury late in 1992 has taken away from his ring skills.
Jerry Lawler also has no ring skills to speak of; he's always
been an actor playing a wrestler and while he's great on the
mic, he doesn't deliver in the ring at all. In WCW,
Steve Austin & Brian Pillman were a great heel tag team
and Austin also had some adventures as a singles heel that
were very good. I think they are interchangeable, but I'll go
with Steve Austin second and Shawn Michaels third.

Best Babyface of The Year
-------------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the person who best portrayed the "hero" in the drama
that is pro-wrestling.

Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Brian Pillman
1992: Sting

This Year's Winner: Bret Hart

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 74 (= 370 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 61 (= 183 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 56 (= 56 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

23 13 11 165 Bret Hart
18 14 7 139 Sting
9 7 3 69 Ric Flair
5 5 6 46 The Undertaker
3 4 6 33 Cactus Jack
5 0 0 25 Mitsuhara Misawa
2 3 4 23 1-2-3 Kid
2 0 2 12 Tracy Smothers
1 1 1 9 Lex Luger
1 1 1 9 Razor Ramon
1 1 1 9 Dustin Rhodes
1 1 1 9 Davey Boy Smith
0 2 2 8 Rick Steamboat
1 0 1 6 Atsushi Onita
0 2 0 6 Bob Armstrong
1 0 0 5 The American Patriot
1 0 0 5 Winners
0 1 1 4 Curt Hennig
0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan
0 1 0 3 Arn Anderson
0 1 0 3 Virgil
0 0 3 3 2 Cold Scorpio
0 1 0 3 Ron Cumberledge
0 1 0 3 Brian Pillman
0 1 0 3 Kenta Kobashi
0 0 2 2 Marcus Alexander Bagwell
0 0 1 1 Manami Toyota
0 0 1 1 Randy Savage
0 0 1 1 Konnan
0 0 1 1 Shane Douglas

Well, it certainly isn't Hulk Hogan this year. The WWF's experiment
of going with Hogan again failed miserably. This is usually another
North American award, yet for this past year Mitsuhara Misawa really
stands out as a great babyface that really knows how to work a good
match. He may be a little too stoic for some, but that's part of
his appeal to me: when he does get excited, it makes that moment
more special. Kenta Kobashi was also very good this year; he
deserves mention for having the greatest facial expressions in
the sport. The top WWF babyface was Bret Hart and the top WCW
babyface was Sting and nobody else stands out. That said, I went
with Misawa first, Hart second and Sting third, although the
ordering after Misawa could be either way.

Best Worker
-----------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate.

Previous Winners:
1990: Ric Flair / Randy Savage (tie)
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger

This Year's Winner: Bret Hart

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 73 (= 365 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 68 (= 204 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 68 (= 68 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

15 8 4 103 Bret Hart
9 14 3 90 Big Van Vader
13 5 6 86 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
6 7 7 58 Shawn Michaels
7 2 2 43 Kenta Kobashi
5 2 0 31 Arn Anderson
3 2 6 27 Steve Austin
2 3 7 26 2 Cold Scorpio
1 2 9 20 Ric Flair
1 4 1 18 Jushin Liger
1 2 5 16 Sting
2 1 2 15 Manami Toyota
1 2 4 15 Cactus Jack
0 4 1 13 Chris Benoit
1 1 2 10 Toshiaki Kawada
1 0 1 6 Owen Hart
1 0 0 5 Heavy Metal
1 0 0 5 Mayumi Ozaki
1 0 0 5 The Undertaker
1 0 0 5 TC Reynolds
1 0 0 5 Sabu
0 1 1 4 Brian Pillman
0 1 0 3 Yoshi Kwan
0 1 0 3 Rick Steamboat
0 1 0 3 Paul Orndorff
0 1 0 3 Hiroshi Hase
0 1 0 3 Dwayne Gill
0 1 0 3 Lord Zoltan
0 1 0 3 Mitsuhara Misawa
0 1 0 3 Masa Saito
0 0 2 2 Terry Funk
0 0 1 1 Curt Hennig
0 0 1 1 Bam Bam Bigelow
0 0 1 1 Eddie Guerrero
0 0 1 1 Kyoko Inoue
0 0 1 1 JT Lightning

There are a surprisingly large number of good workers that come to
mind. In Japan, a lot of the women stand out. Manami Toyota seems
to be the most popular amongst voters, but I think there are other
women workers that are crisper than her, most notably Kyoko Inoue,
Akira Hokuto, and perhaps some others. All Japan's best worker
is Kenta Kobashi. New Japan has Jushin Liger and Hiro Hase. Sabu
deserve mention for his work in North America and Japan. In North
America, Big Van Vader had many great matches. Bret Hart has won
this award in the past, and he is a pretty good worker by North
American standards, but I don't think he's the best in the world
and probably not even in North America. Mexico has a lot of guys
that can work too. Heavy Metal Canelo Casas is a lot of fun to
watch, as are Rey Misterio Jr., Winners, Psicosis, and others,
but I still have problem with the style. First place this year has
to go to Kenta Kobashi. Even though I saw relatively little of
Jushin Liger this year (some TV and some handhelds), I have to go
with him second for the typical great quality work I did see. For
third, I went with Kyoko Inoue who works a great mix of pro-style
with a little Lucha Libre thrown in.

Best Jobber
-----------

Award Description:
To be given to the Professional Loser that does an incredible
job of putting his name opponent over. Maybe the bumps that this person
takes are just that much more spectacular than other PLs. After seeing
a match with this person, you feel sorry about he/she took and realize
how good it made his/her name opponent look.

Previous Winners:
1990: Barry Horowitz
1991: Rip Rogers
1992: Barry Horowitz

This Year's Winner: Barry Horowitz

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 72 (= 360 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 70 (= 210 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 59 (= 59 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

47 9 4 266 Barry Horowitz
3 10 9 54 Reno Riggins
4 10 3 53 Rip Rogers
4 8 6 50 Iron Mike Sharpe
1 6 3 26 Shanghi Pierce
3 0 4 19 Louie Spicoli
1 3 3 17 Dwayne Gill
0 3 4 13 Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
1 2 2 13 Virgil
0 3 1 10 Chick Donovan
1 1 2 10 1-2-3 Kid
1 1 0 8 Bobby Eaton
0 2 1 7 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
1 0 2 7 Steve Lombardi
0 2 0 6 Chris Benoit
1 0 0 5 Mike Thor
1 0 0 5 Tatsuo Nakano
1 0 0 5 Pez Whatley
1 0 0 5 Bam Bam Bigelow
1 0 0 5 Hurricane Ken Walker
0 1 1 4 Tex Slazenger
0 1 1 4 Dan Dubiel
0 1 1 4 Shinjiro Otani
0 1 1 4 Barry Hardy
0 1 0 3 Bastion Booger
0 1 0 3 Mustafa Sayid (sp?)
0 1 0 3 Bret Hart
0 1 0 3 Frankie Lancaster
0 1 0 3 Kid Collins
0 1 0 3 Red Tyler
0 0 1 1 Von Kruss
0 0 1 1 Tito Santana
0 0 1 1 Sting
0 0 1 1 J.D. Wolfe
0 0 1 1 PJ Walker
0 0 1 1 Joey Maggs
0 0 1 1 Jimmy Lee
0 0 1 1 Scott Taylor
0 0 1 1 Cactus Jack
0 0 1 1 Rico Frederico
0 0 1 1 Scott Stud

I went with Barry Horowitz first, Rip Rogers second and New Japan's
Shinjiro Otani third. The first two are North American veterans
who won't ever become major stars and the third is a rookie who
will.

PAUL HERZOG: [Tsuyoshi Kikuchi's] not a true jobber, but boy, does he get
beat on!

RICK SCAIA: Of course Barry Horowitz and Reno Riggins are great jobbers...
but has anyone else noticed that Scott Taylor seems to be deserving of
far more than doing ignominious jobs on TV? He always makes a squash more
interesting than usual.

Best Flyer
----------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying
maneuvers throughout the year.

Previous Winners:
1990: N/A
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger

This Year's Winner: 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 74 (= 370 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 67 (= 201 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 65 (= 65 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

17 16 12 145 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
16 13 11 130 2 Cold Scorpio
18 11 3 126 Jushin Liger
2 5 5 30 Chris Benoit
2 3 3 22 El Ultimo Dragon (Yoshihiro Asai)
2 2 2 18 Shawn Michaels
1 2 6 17 Brian Pillman
0 3 8 17 Big Van Vader
2 1 2 15 Rey Misterio Jr.
1 2 2 13 Manami Toyota
2 1 0 13 Sabu
1 1 2 10 Owen Hart
1 1 1 9 Jimmy del Ray
1 1 0 8 Keiji Muto
1 1 0 8 Yoshi Kwan
0 0 5 5 Marty Janetty
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Tiger Mask
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringer Pug
1 0 0 5 Ciclon Ramirez
1 0 0 5 Headshrinkers
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Snuka
1 0 0 5 Heavy Metal
0 1 1 4 The Undertaker
0 1 0 3 JT Lightning
0 1 0 3 El Samurai
0 1 0 3 Kendo
0 0 1 1 Masao Orihara
0 0 1 1 Flyin' Paul Harley

There were many great flyers this year. In Japan, most of the women do topes
regularly, so practically all of them can be considered. Manami Toyota does
some wild moonsaults and other topes, but she is less graceful than others
and often reminds me of a wet noodle flying through the air. I really like
Esther Moreno (Ultima Tigrita), but didn't see enough of her to really
consider her. Same with Mayumi Ozaki and Boirshoi Kid. In New Japan,
Jushin Liger is a frontrunner. El Ultimo Dragon has never been the same
since he screwed up his ankle, yet he's still a very graceful flyer.
All Japan has nobody to consider at this level. I've got to mention
Rey Misterio Jr., Heavy Metal Canelo Casas, Kendo and Great Sasuke.
I think the Lucha style of match makes me weigh these guys lower because
the topes aren't really worked into a smoothly flowing match, but all of
these guys have done some wild stuff this year. In North America,
Lightning Kid was good (and less good as 1-2-3 Kid), 2 Cold Scorpio is
probably the most graceful flyer of the lot, Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit
are pretty good, and Sabu was outrageous. Lots of contenders, but I went
with Jushin Liger first because he works the high spots into a match better
than anyone, Sabu second because he's insane, and 2 Cold Scorpio third
because he's so damn graceful.

Best Technical Wrestler
-----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability.
The number of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness
with which the moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure
to watch.

Previous Winners:
1990: N/A
1991: Bret Hart
1992: Bret Hart

This Year's Winner: Bret Hart

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 69 (= 345 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 67 (= 201 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 63 (= 63 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

33 14 5 212 Bret Hart
6 11 5 68 Curt Hennig
4 5 8 43 Shawn Michaels
4 3 1 30 Kenta Kobashi
2 6 0 28 Keiji Muto (Great Muta)
4 2 1 27 Hiroshi Hase
1 4 8 25 Steve Regal
0 5 6 21 Ric Flair
1 2 5 16 Mitsuhara Misawa
2 1 2 15 Rick Steamboat
1 2 2 13 Ted DiBiase
2 0 2 12 Jushin Liger
0 4 0 12 Owen Hart
1 1 4 12 Arn Anderson
0 2 2 8 Barry Horowitz
1 1 0 8 Chris Benoit
1 0 1 6 Yoshi Kwan
0 1 2 5 Bob Backlund
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringer Ug
1 0 0 5 Steve Austin
1 0 0 5 Wayne Shamrock
1 0 0 5 Rick Steiner
1 0 0 5 Marcus Alexander Bagwell
1 0 0 5 Heavy Metal
0 1 1 4 Akira Hokuto
0 1 0 3 Manami Toyota
0 1 0 3 Hollywood Todd Taylor
0 0 2 2 I.R.S.
0 0 2 2 Doink
0 0 1 1 Jessie Sellica
0 0 1 1 Masa Chono
0 0 1 1 Brian Pillman
0 0 1 1 El Hijo del Santo

There are very few North American wrestlers that compare to the best
Japanese wrestlers technically. In New Japan, Hiro Hase and Jushin
Liger are the best. In All Japan, Kenta Kobashi is great and several
others are very good. Amongst the Japanese women, Akira Hokuto is
pretty amazing and a pleasure to watch during technical exchanges
and when she invents new moves on the spot. In North America,
Chris Benoit and Owen Hart are pretty good. Bret Hart had a lot
of support as a technical great throughout the year, yet I think
it's really a case of the "excellence of execution" being repeated
so many times that people start believing it unquestioningly
combined with a lack of exposure to far better technical wrestlers.
He's good but he's not a god and he certainly doesn't compare to the
others listed above. Steve Regal is kind of fun to watch for
technical wrestling and creative holds, but the exchanges are
usually far too slow for my tastes. I ended up going with Hiro Hase
first, Kenta Kobashi second, and Akira Hokuto third.

Best Brawler
------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year
most convincingly. This award would go to Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish
if he were still around.

Previous Winners:
1990: N/A
1991: Stan Hansen
1992: Cactus Jack

This Year's Winner: Big Van Vader

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 73 (= 365 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 73 (= 219 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 59 (= 59 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

33 25 3 243 Big Van Vader
25 27 7 213 Cactus Jack
5 4 13 50 Stan Hansen
1 4 7 24 Jerry Lawler
0 4 7 19 Steve Williams
1 1 3 11 Sting
0 1 4 7 Ludvig Borga
1 0 2 7 Scott Norton
0 1 4 7 Terry Funk
1 0 1 6 Davey Boy Smith
1 0 0 5 Johnny Walker
1 0 0 5 Bam Bam Bigelow
1 0 0 5 Sabu
1 0 0 5 Bastion Booger
1 0 0 5 Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony
1 0 0 5 Hawk
0 1 0 3 Toshiaki Kawada
0 1 0 3 Brian Lee
0 1 0 3 Razor Ramon
0 1 0 3 Arn Anderson
0 1 0 3 JT Lightning
0 1 0 3 Daniel Lopez
0 0 2 2 Bull Nakano
0 0 1 1 Aja Kong
0 0 1 1 Rugged Ryan Scott
0 0 1 1 Rick Rude
0 0 1 1 Mr. Hughes
0 0 1 1 Sid Vicious
0 0 1 1 Cien Caras

This was an easy category. Only three stand out in my mind. Actually,
four stand out, but Stan Hansen struck me as more of a mauler than a brawler
this past year. He got too brutal this year; just ask the Blackharts and
Barry Horowitz. I went with Big Van Vader first, Cactus Jack second, and
Aja Kong third.

OTTO HEUER: After the NWA/PWA card in Minneapolis this spring/summer I just
couldn't leave Terry Funk off the list.

Most Favourite Wrestler
-----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason.

Previous Winners:
1990: N/A
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair

This Year's Winner: Ric Flair

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 73 (= 365 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 71 (= 213 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 67 (= 67 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

11 6 5 78 Ric Flair
8 9 5 72 Big Van Vader
6 8 7 61 Bret Hart
7 3 4 48 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
5 4 3 40 Cactus Jack
3 7 2 38 Shawn Michaels
3 3 2 26 The Undertaker
1 3 5 19 Sting
3 0 2 17 Curt Hennig
2 2 1 17 Kenta Kobashi
2 1 3 16 Great Muta
3 0 0 15 Jerry Lawler
2 0 2 12 Rick Rude
1 2 1 12 Arn Anderson
2 0 1 11 Barry Horowitz
1 1 1 9 2 Cold Scorpio
1 1 0 8 Quebecer Jacques Rougeau
1 0 3 8 Jushin Liger
1 0 3 8 Razor Ramon
1 1 0 8 Manami Toyota
1 1 0 8 Ludvig Borga
1 1 0 8 Chris Benoit
1 1 0 8 Doink
0 2 0 6 Sabu
1 0 0 5 Brian Pillman
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringer Pug
1 0 0 5 La Parka
1 0 0 5 Wayne Shamrock
1 0 0 5 Aja Kong
1 0 0 5 Terry Funk
0 1 0 3 Yokozuna
0 1 0 3 Rey Misterio Jr.
0 1 0 3 Bam Bam Bigelow
0 1 0 3 Rick Steamboat
0 1 0 3 Toshiyo Yamada
0 1 0 3 Akira Hokuto
0 1 0 3 Steve Regal
0 1 0 3 Art Barr
0 1 0 3 The Quebecers
0 1 0 3 Damien Demento
0 1 0 3 Lex Luger
0 1 0 3 Jerry Estrada
0 1 0 3 Gary Albright
0 1 0 3 JT Lightning
0 1 0 3 Brian Christopher
0 0 2 2 Bastion Booger
0 0 2 2 Owen Hart
0 0 2 2 Toshiaki Kawada
0 0 1 1 Dustin Rhodes
0 0 1 1 Hawk
0 0 1 1 Van Hammer
0 0 1 1 Hollywood Todd Taylor
0 0 1 1 Sid Vicious
0 0 1 1 Roddy Piper
0 0 1 1 Marcus Alexander Bagwell
0 0 1 1 Stan Hansen
0 0 1 1 Quebecer Pierre Oullette
0 0 1 1 Jun Akiyama
0 0 1 1 Steve Williams

My favourites this past year were Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto and Jushin Liger
in that order. The list could easily be made longer and the ordering
is probably very unstable.

ERIC PATTON: I wish to God there were five choices for "Most Favourite
Wrestler" instead of just three, because if there were I would have
added Steamboat and Anderson. It was _very_ difficult for me to pick
the three that I did from the five that I love the most.

Most Improved Wrestler
----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself
in all facets of the sport in the past year.

Previous Winners:
1990: Lex Luger
1991: Ron Simmons
1992: Steve Austin

This Year's Winner: Marcus Alexander Bagwell

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 69 (= 345 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 61 (= 183 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 59 (= 59 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

15 8 5 104 Marcus Alexander Bagwell
8 8 4 68 Steve Austin
9 2 6 57 Razor Ramon
4 5 8 43 Dustin Rhodes
5 3 0 34 Shawn Michaels
4 3 3 32 Adam Bomb
2 6 4 32 Yokozuna
3 1 2 20 Johnny B. Badd
2 2 4 20 Paul Roma
2 1 2 15 Tracy Smothers
3 0 0 15 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
2 1 2 15 Brian Christopher
1 1 2 10 Sting
1 1 2 10 Steve Regal
0 3 0 9 Crush
1 1 1 9 Marty Janetty
1 1 0 8 Jun Akiyama
1 1 0 8 Masao Orihara
1 0 3 8 Brian Pillman
1 0 1 6 Bam Bam Bigelow
0 2 0 6 2 Cold Scorpio
0 2 0 6 Sid Vicious
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringer Pug
1 0 0 5 Maxx Payne
1 0 0 5 The Undertaker
0 1 1 4 Quebecer Pierre Oullette
0 1 0 3 Shane Douglas
0 1 0 3 Ramblin' Rich Myers
0 1 0 3 Davey Boy Smith
0 1 0 3 Heavy Metal
0 1 0 3 Tiger Mask (Koji Kanemoto)
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit
0 1 0 3 Lunatic Lecktor
0 1 0 3 Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony
0 0 1 1 Tatanka
0 0 1 1 Chad Austin
0 0 1 1 Debbie Malenko
0 0 1 1 Barry Horowitz
0 0 1 1 Big Van Vader
0 0 1 1 Lex Luger
0 0 1 1 Nasty Nick Crane
0 0 1 1 Doink
0 0 1 1 Erik Watts

The most amazing improvement in North America was in Marcus Alexander
Bagwell. He's become somebody I actually enjoy watching, especially
when he's teamed with 2 Cold Scorpio. I can't think of anybody else
in North America who improved as much. In Japan, Jun Akiyama has
only been around a year and is already better than many North American
guys with so much more experience. To think that he started around
the same time as Erik Watts is really eye-opening. I'm not sure if
he actually improved a lot or if he was this good from the start, but
I give him second behind Bagwell. Third place goes to Tracy Smothers.
Again, I'm not sure he improved all that much; I think it's more a
case of my finally noticing how good he is. I think he improved by
becoming a singles wrestler. He's convinced me that we'll be seeing
a lot more of him in the future.

Most Overrated Wrestler
-----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large
place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved
a wrestler's push is.

Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Ultimate Warrior

This Year's Winner: Hulk Hogan

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 74 (= 370 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 69 (= 207 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 68 (= 68 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

16 10 5 115 Hulk Hogan
7 10 8 73 Lex Luger
7 6 12 65 Sid Vicious
8 2 8 54 Yokozuna
4 6 5 43 The Undertaker
7 1 1 39 Ric Flair
3 5 5 35 Giant Gonzalez
4 2 1 27 Sting
3 3 1 25 Bret Hart
1 4 1 18 Rick Rude
2 1 3 16 Jim Duggan
2 2 0 16 Doink
1 1 2 10 Equalizer
1 1 1 9 Curt Hennig
0 2 2 8 Jerry Lawler
1 1 0 8 Razor Ramon
1 0 1 6 Masa Chono
1 0 1 6 Rick Steamboat
0 2 0 6 Owen Hart
1 0 1 6 Big Van Vader
0 2 0 6 Ultimate Warrior
1 0 0 5 Steve Austin
1 0 0 5 Davey Boy Smith
1 0 0 5 The Awesome Dude
1 0 0 5 Yoshi Kwan
0 1 2 5 Mr. Hughes
0 1 0 3 Shockmaster
0 1 0 3 Rugged Ryan Scott
0 1 0 3 Dustin Rhodes
0 1 0 3 Cactus Jack
0 1 0 3 Akira Hokuto
0 1 0 3 Konnan
0 1 0 3 Manami Toyota
0 0 1 1 Arn Anderson
0 0 1 1 1-2-3 Kid
0 0 1 1 Randy Savage
0 0 1 1 Charlie Norris
0 0 1 1 Erik Watts
0 0 1 1 Frank Stilleto
0 0 1 1 Terry Gordy
0 0 1 1 Shinya Hashimoto

This category is easy. The WWF bent over backwards, bringing Hulk
Hogan in as a tag title contender, then giving him the singles title
on the same show. They really banked on Hogan and it didn't work
out. Fans just aren't buying the Hulkster any more. Hogan takes
first. The WWF had a similar failure with Lex Luger. They built
him up like crazy with the Lex Express angle and the crowd didn't
even react to him when he got his big title shot. He easily gets
second place. WCW had a similar idea, thinking they could build
their promotion around Sid Vicious next year. From the moment he
came in to the company, Sid was pushed as a main eventer and, but
for events outside of the squared circle, the plans were set to
push him to the top. Sid takes third.

OTTO HEUER: I can't believe how hard it was to keep people like Doink
(Doink 2, Doink 3) Giant Gonzales, Hulk Hogan, Jim Duggan out of my
"top three" picks!

Best Wrestling Gimmick
----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the
past year.

Previous Winners:
1990: N/A
1991: The Undertaker
1992: The Undertaker

This Year's Winner: The Undertaker

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 68 (= 340 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 62 (= 186 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 55 (= 55 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

22 6 5 133 The Undertaker
13 10 4 99 Doink
10 10 5 85 The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
4 6 6 44 Big Van Vader
3 3 3 27 Yokozuna
1 4 3 20 Cactus Jack
2 2 4 20 Great Muta
2 3 0 19 Jushin Liger
1 3 2 16 Jerry "The King" Lawler
2 1 0 13 Adam Bomb
1 1 0 8 La Parka
1 0 2 7 "Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray
1 0 1 6 Boirshoi Kid
1 0 1 6 1-2-3 Kid
0 2 0 6 Shawn Michaels
1 0 1 6 Macho Midget
0 2 0 6 Heavy Metal
0 1 2 5 Lord Steven Regal
1 0 0 5 The Quebecers: Jacques Rougeau & Pierre Oullette
1 0 0 5 The Dreaded Dead Ringers: Ug & Pug
1 0 0 5 Rick Rude
0 0 4 4 Ludvig Borga
0 1 1 4 Friar Ferguson (Mad Monk)
0 1 1 4 Lex Luger
0 1 0 3 Super Dolphin
0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan
0 1 0 3 Biff Beverly
0 1 0 3 The Heavenly Bodies
0 1 0 3 Kevin Sullivan
0 1 0 3 Rick "The Dragon" Steamboat
0 0 1 1 Bret Hart
0 0 1 1 Papa Shango
0 0 1 1 Men On a Mission: Mabel & Mo
0 0 1 1 Yoshi Kwan
0 0 1 1 "Lord" Steven Regal
0 0 1 1 Ric Flair
0 0 1 1 Road Warriors
0 0 1 1 Swamp Thing
0 0 1 1 Chris Benoit
0 0 1 1 Razor Ramon

In the Observer, the category "Best Gimmick Wrestler" is usually
given to somebody who would be nowhere without his gimmick. In years
gone by, guys like Kamala and Big Van Vader (before he learned to
work) were considered for the award. With that thinking, this award
could go to guys like Doink and Undertaker, who wouldn't be anything
special without their gimmicks. Things got a little confusing
when Jushin Liger started winning the award - now the award was
given to somebody who was great to begin with, and a tiny notch better
because of the great gimmick. That's the way I think of this award.
For me, a gimmick that limits the amount of wrestling somebody can
do is not a good gimmick. A gimmick that affects the wrestling too
much isn't good either. So, those can't be considered for this award.
Even if I were to consider guys like Undertaker or Doink, I think the
best gimmick of the year had to be The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman
& Steve Austin. These guys were great at playing up the gimmick and
were a pleasure to watch. Second goes to my perennial favourite,
Jushin Liger. Third place goes to the pre-Doink clown gimmmick of
the Boirshoi Kid. Boirshoi is dressed more like a jester and does
include some comedy spots at the beginning (typically) of her
matches, but she also works her ass off when the match gets going
and is a ball to watch.

DON DEL GRANDE: Actually, the best "gimmick" is the _lack_ of a gimmick
by Bob Backlund, especially the lack of cheezy entrance music (I don't
think the 1-2-3 Kid has any either).

Best Wrestling Move
-------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen
this past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something
really spectacular.

Previous Winners:
1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor

This Year's Winner: Big Van Vader's moonsault

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 65 (= 325 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 67 (= 201 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 60 (= 60 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

22 7 5 136 Big Van Vader's moonsault
11 10 4 89 2 Cold Scorpio's Diss That Don't Miss
4 5 4 39 Scott Steiner's Pileplex
4 5 1 36 The Quebecer's Boston Crab with leg-drop
3 6 2 35 Curt Hennig's Perfectplex
2 4 6 28 Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
2 4 0 22 Jushin Liger's Frankensteiner off the top rope
1 2 2 13 Great Muta's moonsault
0 3 2 11 Men On a Mission's Mabel's spin kick
1 1 1 9 Razor Ramon's Razor's Edge
1 1 1 9 Jushin Liger's Shooting Star Press
1 1 1 9 Big Van Vader's superplex
1 1 1 9 Big Van Vader's power bomb
1 1 1 9 2 Cold Scorpio's twisting leg-drop off the top rope
0 2 2 8 Jushin Liger's somersault tope
1 0 2 7 Barry Horowitz' pat on the back
0 2 0 6 Sabu's moonsault
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi's moonsault
1 0 0 5 Masao Orihara's moonsault off the top rope to the
floor
1 0 0 5 Sabu's sunset flip over top rope unto power bomb
on the floor
1 0 0 5 Akira Hokuto's Northern Lights Bomb
1 0 0 5 Heavy Metal's tope
1 0 0 5 Jerry Lawler's fireball
1 0 0 5 Cactus Jack's somersault press off the apron onto
opponent on the floor
1 0 0 5 Bret Hart's Sharpshooter
1 0 0 5 Doink's butt-drop
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringer head ringer
0 1 1 4 Steve William's backdrop driver (on Kenta Kobashi)
0 1 0 3 Manami Toyota's Ocean Cyclone suplex
0 1 0 3 Mark Steamboat's Volcano suplex
0 1 0 3 Kyoko Inoue's Giant Swing
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit's Dragon Suplex
0 1 0 3 Doink's stump puller
0 1 0 3 Any Cactus Jack bump...
0 1 0 3 Arn Anderson's scissor moves (??)
0 1 0 3 Dynamite Kansai's & Mayumi Ozaki's reverse Japanese
Ocean Bomb
0 1 0 3 Harlem Heat's power bomb with elbow drop
0 1 0 3 Owen Hart's Northern Lights Suplex
0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero's Frankensteiner off the top rope
0 0 2 2 Sid Vicious' power bomb
0 0 2 2 Yokozuna's butt drop
0 0 2 2 Barry Horowitz' Northern Lights Suplex
0 0 1 1 1-2-3 Kid's moonsault
0 0 1 1 The Undertaker's rope walk
0 0 1 1 Tiger Mask's top-rope Frankensteiner with opponent
on partner's shoulders
0 0 1 1 The Steiner's off the top rope bulldog
0 0 1 1 Steve Regal's forearm uppercuts
0 0 1 1 The Nasty Boys' pit stop
0 0 1 1 Robert Fuller's figure four roll-up
0 0 1 1 Dead Ringer Pug's "quantum leap" moonsault
0 0 1 1 Gary Albright's Snap Belly-to-Back Suplex
0 0 1 1 German suplex
0 0 1 1 Anything by Sabu
0 0 1 1 Cactus Jack's shovel to the head
0 0 1 1 Chris Benoit's over the top rope tope into clothesline
0 0 1 1 Manami Toyota's moonsault
0 0 1 1 Missy Hyatt's walk to the ring
0 0 1 1 Rey Misterio Jr.'s somersault tope
0 0 1 1 Headshrinker Fatu's splash from top rope to floor
0 0 1 1 Hollywood Blonds' Polaroid
0 0 1 1 Ludvig Borga's throwing an opponent straight
up and punching him on the way down

There were a lot of insane wrestling moves this year. Steve Williams'
backdrop driver on Kenta Kobashi comes to mind as the craziest. Yes,
I reacted to the move when I saw it, but I don't think that a move
should have to be career-risking to win this award and I actually
think it's a negative when considering the move. Sabu's sunset flip
into a power bomb on the floor also fits into this crazy category.
And moonsaulting tables seems a little crazy, too. I thought long and
hard about what moves make me pop when I watch them - there are very
many. Some are crazier than others and some are seemingly very
simple. I particularly like Akira Hokuto's Northern Lights Bomb;
it looks brutal, but isn't, and it gets me screaming. For some
reason, I pop when Kyoko Inoue does her 20- or 30-something revolution
giant swing. I actually start counting the revolutions. Jushin
Liger's somersault tope, even after seeing it so many times over
the years, still makes me rewind the tape and shake my head in
amazement. He's so controlled when he flies. Those are my votes,
in order.

OTTO HEUER: How could I have forgotten Cactus Jacks flip when the nominations
were being taken?!

Best Match of The Year
----------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the
past year, it is eligible.

Previous Winners:
1990: 04/22/90: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart
vs. Marty Janetty & Shawn Michaels (SNME)
1991: 03/21/91: Steiners vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase
(Tokyo,aired on taped PPV)
1992: 01/18/92: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble)

This Year's Winner: 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Halloween Havoc)

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 67 (= 335 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 58 (= 174 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 55 (= 55 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

8 3 2 51 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (H. Havoc)
6 5 1 46 06/13/93: Bret Hart vs. Curt Hennig (King of the Ring)
6 1 1 34 11/25/92: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Survivor Series)
6 0 1 31 02/21/93: Sting vs. Big Van Vader (SuperBrawl III)
4 2 2 28 08/31/93: Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi (09/06/93 TV)
4 2 1 27 04/11/93: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki
(Dream Slam II)
5 0 0 25 01/09/93: Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart
(60 mins Iron Man, Boston house show)
3 3 1 25 04/17/93: Lightning Kid vs. Sabu (WWA/NWA GrandSlam I)
2 3 1 20 ??/??/??: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
(stepladder, Coliseum Video)
3 1 0 18 01/24/93: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble)
0 5 2 17 04/05/93: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
(04/17/93 WCW SN TV)
2 1 3 16 04/21/93: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
(04/24/93 WCW SN TV)
1 2 4 15 07/19/93: Marty Janetty vs. Shawn Michaels
(07/26/93 RAW TV)
2 1 0 13 01/18/93: Ric Flair vs Curt Hennig (01/25/93 RAW TV)
0 3 2 11 02/21/93: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit (S.Brawl III)
1 1 3 11 08/02/93: Ric Flair vs. Sting (08/21/93 WCW SN TV)
1 1 2 10 12/11/92: El Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara
vs. Koji Kanemoto & Jushin Liger
(12/19/92 TV)
0 3 0 9 12/28/92: Sting vs. Big Van Vader (Starrcade)
1 1 1 9 06/01/93: Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
(06/13/93 TV)
0 2 2 8 ??/??/??: Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair
(Hart wins belt, Coliseum Video)
1 1 0 8 12/14/92: Hiro Hase vs. Great Muta (01/02/93 TV)
1 1 0 8 01/04/93: Jushin Liger vs. El Ultimo Dragon
(01/23/93 TV & Japan Supershow 03/93)
1 1 0 8 04/17/93: Hawk vs. Terry Funk (WWA/NWA GrandSlam I)
1 1 0 8 06/21/93: Marty Janetty vs. Doink (RAW TV)
1 0 2 7 02/28/93: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen (03/14/93 TV)
0 2 1 7 06/13/93: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (King of Ring)
0 1 3 6 06/21/93: 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon (RAW TV)
0 2 0 6 08/30/93: The Steiners vs. The Heavenly Bodies (S.Slam)
1 0 0 5 ??/??/93: Heavy Metal vs. El Hijo del Santo
1 0 0 5 04/02/93: R'n'R Express & Arn Anderson
vs. Heavenly Bodies vs. Stud Stable
(Pikeville, NY)
1 0 0 5 06/??/93: Steve Regal vs. Rick Steamboat
(first Main Event TV match)
1 0 0 5 08/??/93: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (8/18/93 TV)
1 0 0 5 10/23/93: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (?? TV)
1 0 0 5 10/09/93: Dead Ringers vs. Pain and Agony
(Armageddon at the Agorra)
1 0 0 5 10/11/93: Big Van Vad*er & Steve Austin
vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson
(11/13/93 WCW SN TV)
0 1 1 4 04/02/93: Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (DreamSlam I)
0 1 1 4 10/??/93: 1-2-3 Kid vs. Marty Janetty (RAW TV)
0 1 0 3 11/14/92: Shawn Michaels vs. Davey Boy Smith (SNME)
0 1 0 3 01/13/93: Paul Orndorff & Barry Windham & Big Van Vader
vs. Dustin Rhodes & Sting (Clash XXI)
0 1 0 3 04/02/93: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs.
Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki (Dream Slam I)
0 1 0 3 05/??/93: Curt Hennig vs. Doink (King of Ring qualify)
0 0 3 3 05/17/93: Marty Janetty vs. Shawn Michaels
(05/17/93 RAW TV)
0 1 0 3 07/10/93: JT Lightning vs. The American Patriot
(Night of Champions)
0 1 0 3 07/31/93: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa
& Aja Kong vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki
& Hikari Fukuoka & Dynamite Kansai
(Thunder Queen Battle, 08/09/93 JWP TV)
0 1 0 3 08/30/93: Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler (Summer Slam)
0 0 1 1 ??/??/??: Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig (Coliseum Video)
0 0 1 1 ??/??/??: Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper
(post Survivor Series match)
0 0 1 1 ??/??/??: 1-2-3 Kid vs. Pat Tanaka (WWF Superstars TV)
0 0 1 1 ??/??/??: The Undertaker vs. Samu (RAW TV)
0 0 1 1 11/15/92: Lightning Kid vs. Ricky Blues (Dundalk, MD)
0 0 1 1 12/28/92: Great Muta vs. Masa Chono (Starrcade)
0 0 1 1 01/24/93: Doink vs. Jim Powers (Royal Rumble)
0 0 1 1 02/21/93: Cactus Jack vs. Paul Orndorff (SuperBrawl III)
0 0 1 1 03/01/93: Bret Hart vs. Fatu (RAW TV)
0 0 1 1 03/27/93: Mitsuhara Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
(04/04/93 TV)
0 0 1 1 04/04/93: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania)
0 0 1 1 04/04/93: The Steiners vs. The Headshrinkers
(WrestleMania IX)
0 0 1 1 04/11/93: Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta
vs. Cutie Suzuki & Plum Mariko & Boirshoi Kid
(Dream Slam II)
0 0 1 1 05/??/93: Bushwhackers vs. Lord Zoltan & Jessie Sellica
(NE corner of Ohio)
0 0 1 1 09/13/93: The Steiners vs. The Quebecers (WWF RAW TV)

As the nominations show, I saw many ****1/2 or better matches this year.
If we drop to **** or better, I think I easily saw several dozen women's
matches that were that good. I think that far and away the best match of
the year was the main event tag match from Dream Slam II where champs
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada lost the AJW Tag Titles to JWP challengers
Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki. Enough has been written about this match
on the net that I won't say any more. Despite all of the other great
matches at the two Dream Slams, I ended up picking the 07/31/93 Thunder
Queen Battle match between foursomes from AJW & JWP. This match started
with several short singles matches and then turned into an 8-woman tag
match. The match would run an hour with the team with the most decisions
winning. The match was very fast paced, had a little brawling and some
topes thrown in, and was incredibly stiff. The kicks from Aja Kong and
Dynamite Kansai were brutal and many of them went to the head area.
Partway into the match, Mayumi Ozaki took a bad shot and her eye was
swollen shut by the end of the match. Something went wrong with Kyoko
Inoue and she was gushing - after watching this match twice I'm still
not sure what happened to her. Ozaki took the beating of the year and
then got the victory pinfall at 59:55. This leaves third place, where
I'm actually open to the idea of considering the men from Japan or
North America. The best North American match I saw was the 60 mins
Iron Man match between Ric Flair and Bret Hart from Boston. Sabu vs.
Lightning Kid from Minnesota was also very good. I didn't see Vader
vs. Cactus Jack from Halloween Havoc (yet). Steve Williams vs.
Kenta Kobashi from 08/31/93 was an amazing performance for Williams
but I'm not sure if I'd put it ahead of other matches from this
year. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuhara Misawa vs. Kobashi,
and Kawada vs. Kobashi were all great too, but... No, I'm always
left thinking about the women again. The 6-woman tag from Dream Slam II
involving Boirshoi Kid was super, Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori
from Dream Slam I (which had people talking match of the year afterwards),
a couple other tag matches from Dream Slam I, and even some other matches
from the women all stand out as being better than anything else that
comes to mind. I ended up going with Hokuto vs. Kandori because
I really enjoy Hokuto, but I think that several of the women's matches
were interchangeable for third.

OTTO HEUER: It pains me to have to leave Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
(04/05/93) off the list.

RICK SCAIA: Michaels and Jannetty put on two fantastic TV matches this year...
the 7/21 [editor's note: 07/19] match gets a vote from me, because I was
there in person to see it in the Manhatten Center. Also, from my slim
influx of Japanese wrestling from the past year, the NJ/WAR tag match,
with Liger and Kanemoto facing Dragon and Ohirara, was the best... it's
saying something that I (often considered by some to be little more than
a glorified WWF mark :) ) liked this match enough to vote for it.

Best Feud of The Year
---------------------

Award Description:
To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling
match(es) of the year.

Previous Winners:
1990: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed
vs. Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Barry Windham
1991: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Steiners
1992: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage

This Year's Winner: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack

Participation Statistics:
Total 1st Place Voters = 72 (= 360 points)
Total 2nd Place Voters = 60 (= 180 points)
Total 3rd Place Voters = 63 (= 63 points)

Detailed Results:

1st 2nd 3rd Score

27 5 8 158 Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
18 13 6 135 Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler
4 8 4 48 Big Van Vader vs. Sting
5 1 4 32 Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart
1 7 4 30 Ric Flair vs. Curt Hennig
2 4 2 24 Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes
1 3 7 21 Yokozuna vs. U.S.A/Bret Hart
2 3 1 20 Mitsuhara Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
3 0 0 15 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon vs. Money, Inc.
0 2 5 11 Rock & Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies vs. Stud Stable
2 0 1 11 Big Van Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith
0 2 3 9 New Japan vs. WAR
1 1 1 9 Ludvig Borga vs. U.S.A/Lex Luger
0 1 5 8 Ric Flair vs. Rick Rude
0 2 2 8 The Hollywood Blonds vs. Rick Steamboat & Shane Douglas
1 0 1 6 Arn Anderson vs. Sid Vicious
0 2 0 6 Konnan vs. Cien Caras
1 0 0 5 Ric Flair vs. Big Van Vader
1 0 0 5 All Japan Women vs. JWP & others
1 0 0 5 Art Barr vs. Blue Panther
1 0 0 5 Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy
1 0 0 5 Dead Ringers vs. Pain & Agony
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper
0 1 0 3 Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
0 1 0 3 Big Van Vader vs. WCW faces
0 1 0 3 Big Van Vader & Sid Vicious vs. Davey Boy Smith & Sting
0 1 0 3 JT Lightning vs. The American Patriot
0 1 0 3 Luna Vachon vs. Sherri Martel
0 0 2 2 The Hollywood Blonds vs. The Horsemen
0 0 2 2 Randy Savage vs. Crush
0 0 1 1 Vince McMahon vs. Feds
0 0 1 1 Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham
0 0 1 1 Heavenly Bodies vs. R'n'R Express
0 0 1 1 Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Janetty
0 0 1 1 Bob Armstrong vs. Jim Cornette

There were a few feuds this year that gave us some good wrestling.
Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader stands out for brawl-lovers. Toshiaki
Kawada vs. Mitsuhara Misawa gave us some greatly heated tag matches
that had me popping like a mark to see Kawada and Misawa face off.
Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler was well scripted, but the wrestling was just
non-existant, so it gets dumped when one considers match quality. I'm
gonna cheat a little and pick All Japan Women vs. other women (JWP, LLPW,
and FMW women) as my first place feud. There's no arguing that the
matches were very good for the most part. Vader vs. Jack gets second.
Misawa vs. Kawada gets third.

RICK SCAIA: In only the last 3 weeks of the voting year, Randy Savage
and Crush have managed to take a well-conceived and meticulously plotted
feud and explode it into a full-fledged war. Great job!

And now some netter-suggested awards:

Best Theme Music : "We're (Not) Da Mounties"

Best Wrestling "Babe"
1. Medusa
2. Sensational Sherri
3. Boni Blackstone

Best View
1. Robin Green
2. Missy Hyatt
3. Fifi

Best New Tag Team
1. Hollywood Blonds
2. Thunder & Lightning
3. Sting & Davey Boy Smith

Best RSPW Thread of the Year
1. Mike Faulkner's Net News Tournament

Best RSPW feud: Herb Kunze vs. Dave Scherer ratings debate

RSPW Bandwidth Champion: Herb Kunze

Quote of the Year: "You ain't shit Rhodes!" -Rick Rude

Funniest Impressions
1. A Flair For the Old : The Hollywood Blonds
2. Bobby Heenan's 1-2-3 Kid impression

The Hooked on Phonics Award: Double J, Jeff Jarrett, for spelling his name
for us.

Just for the record, it was spelled F-L-A-R-E.

--Eric