HERB KUNZE: Chris Benoit first and Rey Misterio Jr. second. Third could go to numerous people, but I have to credit Shawn Michaels for being a fantastic worker with excellent psychology and stunts. He's more well-rounded than most of the nominees.
JAMES FABIANO: Shawn and Eddy can keep up with - and in many instances even
carry - an opponent and have a good match. Benoit just kicks ass, plain and
simple.
MIKE LOREFICE: Rey, Juventud, and Benoit were all held back by WCW's bad
booking. Rey and Juventud were awesome in Mexico and ECW. Juventud is only
slighty worse than Rey. The most impressive thing about Rey and Juventud is
the fluidness of their work. They do some of the hardest spots ever with
pinpoint accuracy. Juventud's selling is very underrated. I guess people
don't realize that a good move is only as good as the opponent you're doing
it to. If they can't take the bump and sell it correctly even a super move
can become a dud. Benoit could work a 4 star match with a broomstick in New
Japan, but in WCW it just doesn't happen. I still think he is slightly
better than Juventud, but we are taking into account what you did not what
you are capable of. Anyone who votes for Sabu in this category deserves a
1 0 0 5 03/01/96 Johnny Gunn v. Corporal Punishment
1 0 0 5 01/21/96 Bret Hart v. Undertaker
1 0 0 5 RAW Austin v. Michaels
0 1 1 5 Sabu & Rob Van Dam v. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas
0 1 1 5 12/13/95 Wild Pegasus v. Lion Heart
0 1 1 5 10/27/95 Dean Malenko v. Rey Mysterio Jr.
0 1 1 5 07/01/96 Shawn Michaels v. Marty Jannetty
0 1 1 5 03/31/96 Diesel v. Undertaker
0 0 2 4 07/07/96 Outsiders v. Lex Luger & Sting & Randy Savage
0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels v. Goldust, Toronto (Ladder Match)
0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Undertaker v. Mankind
0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Steve Austin v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
0 1 0 3 09/16/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera
0 1 0 3 08/10/96 Rey Mysterio v. Ultimo Dragon
0 1 0 3 08/03/96 Sabu v. Rob Van Dam
0 1 0 3 06/17/96 Taka Michinoku v. Super Delfin
0 1 0 3 06/12/96 Jushin Liger v. Black Tiger
0 1 0 3 02/18/96 Bret Hart v. Diesel
0 1 0 3 01/04/96 Antonio Inoki v. Big Van Vader
0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit v. Craig Pittman
0 0 1 2 11/23/95 Taka Michinoku v. Tiger Mask #4, Iwate
0 0 1 2 10/10/96 Shiryu & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki v. Tiger Mask 4 & Masato Yakushiji & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada, Tokyo
0 0 1 2 09/28/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
0 0 1 2 09/22/96 Smoking Gunns v. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith
0 0 1 2 09/15/96 Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & NWO Sting v. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Sting
0 0 1 2 08/05/96 Ultimo Dragon v. Great Sasuke
0 0 1 2 06/23/96 Undertaker v. Mankind
REJECTED (not in timeframe)
1 2 0 11/17/96 Bret Hart v. Steve Austin
2 0 0 08/ /95 Shawn Michaels v. Razor Ramon, Ladder Match
0 0 1 08/ /95 Barry Horowitz v. Skip
0 0 1 06/23/96 Undertaker v. Mankind
MIKE LOREFICE: I rated more matches 4 3/4 stars this year than ever before.
Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera had it all. It was just a special
match where both men came out fired up and did one awesome spot after
another. I don't think I ever saw a match that combined level of difficulty
and lightning fast pacing like that one. Liger vs. Otani was another
masterpiece. Aside from the obviously brilliant work, Otani really shined
in that one as his charism was awesome. Toyota vs. Kyoko slips to three
this year. The 60:00 draw was so good how could they top it? I guess March
was a good month because all 3 of my matches came from it.
HERB KUNZE: First goes to Rey Misterio Jr. vs, Psicosis from Bash at the
Beach, easily the best North American match this year. Second and third go
to the tag title matches of Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama, first to them
winning the titles on 05/24/96 and then to them losing the titles on
06/07/96.
RICK SCAIA: We probably had more "good or better" matches on TV from the Big
Two this year than ever before. With Michaels making sure every WWF show
ended on a high note, and with WCW delivering quality cruiserweight action
on their undercards, there was good wrestling everywhere you looked! Except
on the top half of WCW pay-per-views. Har! The best example of Michaels
topping a show off in amazing fashion was at the "Mind Games" PPV. With the
right opponent, Michaels is magic, and he showed it here, working an
incredible brawl against Mankind. The way the match built to the finish was
fantastic, and makes this my favorite match of the year. A close second was
Bret Hart's hard-fought and bloody win over Davey Boy Smith at the December
"In Your House." I couldn't find a single fault with that match... finally,
we cannot forget that ECW delivered some excellent big matches this year,
too. Perhaps my favorite of all gets my #3 vote here: the four corners
match for the ECW TV Title (Douglas vs. Pitbull #2 vs. Scorpio vs. Jericho)
was superb. A terrific blend of wrestling, brawling, and angles made this
one a definite video keeper, and worthy of a vote here.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Although many will vote for Shawn Michaels
v. Mankind because it's fresh in their minds, the Hart v. Smith match from
12/95 was so much better. And although it didn't make my top 3, I'd like to
say that one of the Steiners/Road Warriors matches on Nitro was the ONLY
(*the **only***) tag team matchup I seriously enjoyed this year.
1994: 04/16/94: Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup)
1995: 11/20/94: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW V*TOP Tourney)
**1996**: 03/17/96: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani
15 first place votes
13 second place votes
13 third place votes
3 2 1 23 03/17/96 Jushin Liger v. Shinjiro Otani
1 2 2 15 08/04/96 Ultimo Dragon v. Shinjiro Otani
2 1 0 13 03/31/96 Manami Toyota v. Kyoko Inoue
2 0 1 12 12/13/95 Jushin Liger v. Ultimo Dragon
1 1 0 8 12/13/95 Wild Pegasus v. Lion Heart
1 1 0 8 06/12/96 Jushin Liger v. Black Tiger
1 1 0 8 05/23/96 Mistuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
1 0 1 7 01/04/96 Antonio Inoki v. Big Van Vader
0 2 0 6 06/07/96 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace
1 0 0 5 12/13/95 Rey Misterio Jr v. Psicosis
1 0 0 5 11/23/95 Taka Michinoku v. Tiger Mask #4 Iwate
1 0 0 5 01/04/96 Nobuhiko Takada v. Shinya Hashimoto
0 0 2 4 10/10/96 Shiryu & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki v. Tiger Mask 4 & Masato Yakushiji & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada, Tokyo
0 0 2 4 09/28/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida
0 1 0 3 06/22/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. The Inoues
0 1 0 3 06/17/96 Taka Michinoku v. Super Delfin
0 1 0 3 04/05/96 Taka Michinoky & Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto v. Jushin Liger & El Samurai & El Gran Hamada
0 0 1 2 Great Sasuke v. Ultimo Dragon
0 0 1 2 Great Sasuke v Jinsei Shinzaki
0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero v. Shinjiro Otani
0 0 1 2 01/04/96 Jushin Liger v. Koji Kanemoto
(Gee, I'm REALLY glad I included the split in this category. Yes, that's
sarcasm. - CRZ)
MIKE LOREFICE: Liger vs. Otani and Toyota vs. Kyoko remain. Those two
matches are basically equally good and I could watch them again next week
and change my mind as to which is better. I just saw the Michinoku 10 man,
so I may be overrating or underrating it. It definately blew me away.
Otani vs. Ultimo and Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue were extremely hard
to leave off. The later was definately the best match of the year as far as
psychology is concerned. TAKA vs. Tiger Mask 4 had superb flying, but was
short. Among others Kobashi, Misawa, & Akiyama vs. Kawada, Albright, & Taue
and TAKA, Otani, & Kanemoto vs. Liger, Samurai, & Hamada were also hard to
To be given to the worst 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: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI)
1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl)
1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble)
1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX)
1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin, Fall Brawl
1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored)
**1996**: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson &
Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta
& Ultimate Solution (Doomsday Triple Cage of Doom Match)
82 first place votes
73 second place votes
68 third place votes
23 6 2 137 03/24/96 Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage v. Arn Anderson & Ric Flair & Lex Luger & Meng & Barbarian & Kevin Sullivan & Z Gangsta & Ultimate Solution (Doomsday Triple Cage of Doom Match)
9 5 4 68 07/07/96 Big Bubba v. John Tenta (Carson City Silver Dollar Match)