Best Of 1993: By Matthew Evans (02/11/02)
1993 was another great year of wrestling IMO. Not as great as 1992, but still very exciting and memorable. To jog your memory, 1993 was the year Hulk Hogan left the WWF (many thought he would never return, until WCW went under, that is), Doink The Clown attacked Crush, Monday Night Raw debued and the first televised King Of The Ring tournament took place. So without further delay, here are my picks for best (and worst) aspects of 1993:
Wrestler Of The Year: Bret Hart
Another fine year for the "Hitman". He defended the WWF title successfully against Razor Ramon at Royal Rumble and put Yokozuna over in their match at Wrestlemania 9. Bret had lost his WWF belt, but the match that was upon him would more than make up for the loss. After Hulk Hogan de-throned Yoko' in a matter of seconds, many fans thought that the next PPV encounter would be between Bret and Hogan. Unfortunately, the match never took place due to Hogan's un-willingless to lose to Bret (although some sources have said that Mcmahon was "stirring the pot" between the two of them). Instead, Bret had to settle for being the winner of the first PPV edition (the previous ones took place at house shows) of the King Of The Ring tournament, which wasn't bad at all. He then feuded with Jerry "The King" Lawler, and later in the year (at Survivor Series), the on-screen fall-out with his brother Owen began.
Babyface Of The Year: Bret Hart
Again, Hogan didn't stick around long enough for this award. Bret remained very popular with the fans and backed himself up well with his ring-work.
Heel Of The Year: Yokozuna
Managed by Mr Fuji (a devious heel manager and former wrestler), Yokozuna was naturally hated by the fans on his arrival in 1992. In 1993, he squashed all-american babyface Hacksaw Jim Duggan, beat Bret Hart for the WWF title (with the old "salt in the eyes" trick) and "ended Hulkamania" (in the WWF's eyes anyway, as Hogan moved on to WCW in 1994). Yokozuna and Mr Fuji also hated the USA and unsuprisingly, this riled up the fans, especially at Survivor Series where the All Americans (Lex Luger, The Steiners and The Undertaker) took on The Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Crush and Jaque of The Quebeccers).
Gimmick Of The Year: The Undertaker
Another memorable year for The Undertaker IMO. True, he was involved in a feud with the awkward Giant Gonzalez, but thanks to The Taker', their feud was bearable. And who could forget that haunting entrance at Wrestlemania 9, and his recovery after being "smothered" with a cloth containing a dangerous chemical substance?
Match Of The Year: Bret "Hitman" Hart VS Mr Perfect
(King Of The Ring, June 1993)
After mising out on a big match with Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart had to be content with being the first King Of The Ring (on tv, at least). And credit to "The Hitman", he delivered the goods in all three of his matches. But the best one has to be his semi-final clash with Mr Perfect. Better than their Summerslam 91' encounter (because it was longer and more exciting), Perfect and Hart delivered a classic wrestling encounter that delivered everything it promised and more.
Feud Of The Year: Doink The Clown VS Crush
Odd choice, some of you may think. But I enjoyed this feud very much. Who could forget Doink (who began appearing on WWF tv in late 92') offering Crush a flower, then while Crush has his back turned whilst giving the gift to a member of the audience, Doink jumps Crush from behind with a fake arm in a cast? Then in a clever follow-up, a second Doink comes from under the ring at Wrestlemania 9 and aids his double to victory in a match with Crush.
Angle Of The Year: "Say Cheese!"
(The Camera Incident, King Of The Ring, June 1993)
During the Hulk Hogan/Yokozuna WWF title match, a mysterious bearded man with glasses leapt onto the apron to get a "shot of the action". However, in a great little twist, his camera exploded in Hogan's face, costing him the match and the title. Hogan did a great job of selling the angle, as did the commentators. This was Hogan's last WWF match (until 2002, of course) and the camera-man was Harvey Wippleman. This angle was so good that it makes you wonder why the WWE haven't used it since.
Tag-Team Of The Year: The Hollywood Blondes
Not knowing what to do with either of them, WCW threw together talented mid-carders "Stunning" Steve Austin and Flyin' Brian Pillman. Luckily for us, Austin and Pillman turned a negative into a positive and developed into an entertaining combo who were great wrestlers and great talkers. Targeting Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, the duo did their own take on Flair's WCW show "Flair For The Gold", re-naming it "Flair For The Old". But the Blonds were getting over and gaining heat with the fans, so WCW had to put their foot down and put a stop to it, although it may have been for the best in the long run.
Card Of The Year: Wrestlemania 9
I still think that this is the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. Set outside at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, the event had a great feel to it and there wasn't one bad match on the show. The best matches were the first two featuring IC champ Shawn Michaels against Tatanka and the superb tag-team match between The Steiner Brothers and The Headshrinkers. The show also featured some classic one-liners from Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Worst Wrestler Of The Year: Giant Gonzalez
This lanky, awkward clot was brought in to challenge The Undertaker, but it didn't work. Thankfully, his matches with The Undertaker were bearable (thanks to you-know-who) but rest assured that no-one was shedding a tear when The Undertaker "laid him to rest" at Summerslam in the Giant's last WWF appearance (he did go to Japan for a little while).
Commentator Of The Year: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
I forgot about this award in previous columns, so just for the record, Heenan gets this award for 1991 and 1992 aswell. In 1993, Heenan was still at his best, especially at WM 9:
"Y'know Sherri doesn't care who wins this match as long as it's not Shawn".
Promotion Of The Year: WWF
(World Wrestling Federation)
Another great year of WWF action. True, WCW aquired The British Bulldog and The Nasty Boys and knocked up some great tv and an exciting UK Tour, but the WWF remained leader of the pack, with great supercards like Wrestlemania 9, King Of The Ring and Survivor Series.