JANUARY 8
1993
A very good six-man tag highlighted an All Japan show in Takamatsu, with Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi facing Akira Taue, Masa Fuchi and Jun Akiyama in a ***1/2 match. While this particular match would have been possible even after Kawada switched sides in the coming months, these high-quality six-man tags, which shaped All Japan for the previous three years and helped launch Misawa into superstardom, were nearing their end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqxst-THDcM
1994
A music video aired on SMW television for Dirty White Boy, set to the tune of “Beerdrinkers and Hellraisers” by ZZ Top, a song that fit Tony Anthony like a glove.
An interview aired on WCW Worldwide from the Starrcade press-conference, where Gene Okerlund spoke with Ric Flair to get his thoughts on winning the WCW World Title for an eleventh time. Flair was very somber and despite having time to clean up, he was still visibly shellshocked from the brutality of the Vader match.
1995
Cactus Jack and Terry Funk faced off in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Death Match for IWA Japan, which was every bit as brutal as it sounds. The match was a ***1/2 affair, much better than the more vaunted King of the Death Matches final later in the year. Cactus also delivered a great promo after the match.
Arn Anderson bested Johnny B. Badd to win the WCW TV title on WCW Main Event for a fourth time.
1996
Shawn Michaels announced in a press conference on WWF Monday Night RAW that he would not be retiring despite his doctor’s recommendations. He also announced his participation in the upcoming Royal Rumble match. The severity of Michaels’ injuries in the real life attack outside of a Syracuse night club was exaggerated greatly on WWF television in an effort to get Michaels over strong as a babyface. Also on the show, Steve Austin debuted as “The Ringmaster” on the Brother Love show, and really, really overused the word “man” in his first interview. The show ended with another “Billionaire Ted” skit, this time poking fun at WCW’s lack of a steroid policy, which began a trend where each skit would become progressively darker and more mean-spirited than the last. The show drew a 3.0 rating, slightly above WCW’s rating for the evening. You can watch this show on the WWE Network.
WCW Monday Nitro from Charleston, SC, headlined with a Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage match. The match was technically solid, but they were still in Horsemen Country, which meant a babyface Hogan would not be well-received, which hurt the match. Also on the show, Sting and Lex Luger agreed to become a full-time tag team, which set off a tremendous running gag for the next few months where Luger would be a babyface when Sting was looking and and a heel when he was not, parodying both Luger’s frequent turns and Sting’s overly trusting nature. The best and most well-received match of the night was a ***1/4 Chris Benoit vs Alex Wright match where Wright turned up his aggression level considerably. The show drew a 2.8 rating. You can watch this show on the WWE Network.
1998
WCW’s Thunder debuted with a special, live three-hour episode on TBS, emanating from Daytona Beach, FL. The finish of the Hulk Hogan vs Sting match from the December 29 episode of Monday Nitro was aired for the first time, as WCW ran an angle that the NWO placed an injunction on WCW airing the videotape as a way to create intrigue in the first episode of Thunder and pop a big rating. JJ Dillon, representing the omnipresent WCW Executive Committee, announced that because of the controversial finish, the World Heavyweight Championship would held up, which prompted Sting to speak for the first time since 1996, telling Dillon “you have no guts” and calling Hogan a “dead man”. Also on the show, Ric Flair and Bret Hart had another confrontation while Juventud Guerrera defeated Ultimo Dragon to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title and a Diamond Dallas Page vs Kevin Nash headlined the show. The show drew an impressive 4.0 rating, but this was simply too much first-run television for WCW to produce and stay on top for very long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI6HIQ1uES4
1999
GAEA held a show in Osaka which was highlighted by a great ****1/4 match between Chikayo Nagashima and Meiko Satomura. Nagashima showed herself to be a fantastic mat wrestler, a style that was becoming more common in the Joshi world as the decade came to a close.
In The “To Watch” Queue:
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Great Kabuki & Masaji Aoyagi (WAR 01/08/93)
Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WWF House Show – Philadelphia, PA – 01/08/93)
Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 01/08/95)
