A truly stacked year for matches, with over half being on my top 100 greatest matches ever list!
Honourable Mentions
- Royal Rumble Match, WWF, January 19
- Big Van Vader & Crusher Bigelow vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto, NJPW, May 1
- Big Van Vader vs Sting, WCW, July 12
- Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto & Toshiyo Yamada, AJW, August 15
- Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano vs Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo, FMW, September 19
Now, onto the list!
#10
Atsushi Onita, El Hijo del Santo, & Tarzan Goto vs Horace Boulder, Negro Casas, & Tim Patterson
“2/3 Falls”
FMW in Los Angeles
May 16
California State Gymnasium
From The Best Matches I Watched in February 2024 post:
A famous and insane match. It’s 2/3 Falls with two referees like a lucha match, but this is no lucha match. Well, it kind of is, as Santo and Casas put on a lucha clinic. However, the others do wild and crazy brawling all around them and the arena. It really needs to be seen to be believed.
#9
Sting vs Big Van Vader
“King of Cable Tournament Final”
WCW Starrcade “BattleBowl/The Lethal Lottery”
December 28
Omni Coliseum
From The Best Matches I Watched in February 2024 post:
This one takes the blueprint from GAB and ups it! They added a Vader beatdown segment to start the match before Sting unloads! The way Vader gets back on offense, with Sting missing a Stinger splash into the guardrail, is great! Vader’s control segment is even better here, and Sting fights back so well. Although the rope and dope moment was not paid off, the finish of Sting caching Vader off the top into a slam ruled.
#8
Masahiro Chono vs Rick Rude
“NWA World Heavyweight Title G1 Climax Final Match”
NJPW G1 Climax
August 12
Ryogoku Kokugikan
From The Best Matches I Watched in February 2024 post:
To me, Rick Rude feels like the most American style wrestler ever. Chono is one of the most NJPW style wrestlers ever. They’ve had a match in WCW that was dogshit, but I knew this was good because I saw it like two decades ago. Watching it now, I was blown away. Rude adjusts to NJPW so well, but doesn’t give up his essence, he just adds more fighting spirit spots and more stiffness. He even still does some of his overselling silliness and his prematch promo! The knack on this match is the middle gets a little routine, before they start hitting their huge moves to bring this home. The crowd was so into Chono which made all the nearfalls hit even harder. Really a tremendous match and an amazing Rude performance.
#7
Bull Nakano (c) vs Aja Kong
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Wrestlemarinepiad
April 25
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
The first of two Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong title matches on this list. Maybe this is a better match, but the other match had the special ending. This is the match that proved Kong could beat Nakano, even though the bloody beaten Nakano was able to pull the win. The staredown was one of the best in wrestling history. This is textbook wrestling!
#6
Kyoko Inoue (c) vs Akira Hokuto
“All Pacific Championship”
AJW Dream Rush In Kawasaki
November 26
Kawasaki City Gymnasium
A match this great was actually overshadowed by two better matches on the show! This two tried to prove they were the best starting with a technical title match and it building and building and having one of the best finishing sequenes in wrestling history.
#5
Akira Hokuto vs Bull Nakano
“Steel Cage”
AJW on July 30
Prefectural Gymnasium
This is a short and violent bloody cage match with two insane spots off the top of the cage. The only thing holding this match back is the crowd not caring for some reason.
#4
Sting’s Squadron (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, & Sting) vs The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude, & Steve Austin)
“War Games”
WCW WrestleWar
May 17
Jacksonville Coliseum
This or the 1987 version are the greatest War Games ever. It’s such a simple and great way to do a wrestling match. This had it all. If you’ve only seen modern War Games, this is a must-watch.
#3
Bull Nakano (c) vs Aja Kong
WWWA World Championship
AJW Dream Rush In Kawasaki
November 26
Kawasaki City Gymnasium
What a beautiful end to the classic Bull Nakano title reign. Kong has Bison in her corner, who retired earlier in the show, and they add one more classic to their classic feud! I definitely cried after this match!
#2
Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas (c) vs Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
“All Asia Tag Team Championship”
AJPW Super Power Series
May 25
Prefectural Sports Center
My #1 and #2 could flip flop and they both are contenders for the greatest tag team match of all-time. You’ve all seen them and if you haven’t, don’t waste any more time.
1992 Match of the Year
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (c) vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki
“WWWA Tag Team Championship 2/3 Falls”
AJW Dream Rush In Kawasaki
November 26
Kawasaki City Gymnasium
There you have it! What a stacked year!
Coming Soon
The top 25 wrestlers of 1992 list should be ready shortly. Plus, at the end of every month, I’ll write up the top 25 matches I watched during that time. I am hoping to work on some smaller posts as well, covering various shows and the 2020 Joshi Yearbook. I’ll also be live at AEW Dynamite in March in Toronto.
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