JANUARY 26
1990
WCW Power Hour aired taped from Johnson City, TN, on January 15. The main event was the most heated WCW match until probably 1996, as Ric Flair teamed with Arn Anderson and Sting against Buzz Sawyer, the Dragon Master and the Great Muta in a strong ***1/2 match that acted as a preview of the scheduled main event for Clash of the Champions X on February 6. Fans in Johnson City absolutely loved Sting and the Horsemen, which put in perspective how much of a mistake it was to turn Flair at this point in time.
The USWA held a show at the Sportatorium, highlighted by Jeff Jarrett facing Billy Joe Travis in a ***3/4 Guitar on a Pole match. Travis – one of the lost great workers of his time – took some amazing bumps, including a high back body drop and piledriver on the arena’s hard wood floor, and a DDT on a ringside table.
EMLL held its weekly Friday night card at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, highlighted by Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala and El Verdugo taking on Angel Azteca, Apolo Dantes and Cesar Dantes in a **** match.
1991
Mitsuharu Misawa faced Akira Taue at an All Japan Pro Wrestling show held at Korakuen Hall, which was most notable for Misawa debuting the rarely-used Tiger Driver ’91.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5eo2EIv4zU
Clips aired on USWA television of a match where Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee took on the Fabulous Ones on January 21 at Mid South Coliseum. The Fabs won by DQ when Bill Dundee cleaned house with Jim Cornette’s tennis racket. In the post-match angle, Cornette and the Fabs hung Dundee from the ring, and Jeff Jarrett attempted a save to no avail.
World Championship Wrestling aired one of the greatest (and strangely forgotten) vignettes in wrestling history when Barry Windham and Arn Anderson walked through a junkyard and declared that the Four Horsemen would return to their violent roots in the 1990s. The vignette was shot in black and white and was incredibly cutting edge by 1991 production standards. It was especially jarring to see something this sophisticated from WCW, who despite often having the better in-ring product had vastly inferior production values to the WWF. The show drew a 2.4 rating.
1992
All Japan Pro Wrestling held a show at Korakuen Hall where Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue teamed to face Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in a **** match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIpjC3Kqrvs
The UWA held a card in Naucalpan, Mexico, where Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) faced Villano III in a ***1/2 match. Despite Benoit’s reputation as someone who excelled at every style, he never really looked fully comfortable working the lucha libre style. While this was a good match, Villano III was the one who pulled it all together.
1998
All Japan Pro wrestling held a card in Osaka which was headlined by Mitsuharu Misawa successfully defending the AJPW Triple Crown against Jun Akiyama in a ***3/4 match. Misawa teamed with Akiyama for most of 1996 and 1997, but Akiyama was beginning to branch out on his own and would soon form a tag team with Kenta Kobashi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqxSu9tJso
NWO dissension continued to build on WCW Monday Nitro, which aired live from Ft. Wayne, IN, when a feud between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage was heavily teased. Meanwhile, Kevin Nash declared that he wanted to be known as “Big Sexy The Giant Killer” after sidelining The Giant with the powerbomb at Souled Out. Because of that injury, JJ Dillon banned the powerbomb and warned that if Kevin Nash performed the move, he would risk “criminal prosecution”. Also on the show, new WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho continued developing his heel persona, insincerely apologizing for injuring Rey Misterio Jr. and even dedicating his run as champion to him. The show drew a 4.7 rating.
Monday Night RAW aired a show taped on January 20 in Davis, CA. WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels capitalized on the Steve Austin-Mike Tyson confrontation the week before when he attempted to weasel his way out of defending the title against Austin at Wrestlemania and offered to referee a match between Austin and Tyson instead. In a taped promo, boxing promoter Don King hyped Tyson’s Wrestlemania involvement and claimed that he was confident he and Vince McMahon could determine the best way to use him on the show. Also on the show, Goldust dressed as “Hunterdust” to defend the WWF European Title against Owen Hart. Goldust lost the match and DX thought they had outsmarted everyone once again, but Sgt. Slaughter made the decision stand. The show drew a 3.5 rating.
In The “To Watch” Queue:
Devil Masami vs Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 01/26/92)
Mayumi Ozaki & Harley Saito vs Dynamite Kansai & Eagle Sawai (JWP 01/26/92)
Steve Austin & Bobby Eaton vs Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk (WCW Main Event 01/26/92)
Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 01/26/93)
Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW 01/26/93)
Rey Misterio Jr., Gran Hamada & Latin Lover vs Pentagon, Psicosis & Vegas (AAA 01/26/96)
Shawn Michaels vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF 01/26/96)
Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW 01/26/97)
Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Kenta Kobashi & Takao Omori (AJPW 01/26/97)
