The G9Z Wrestling Honor Roll: Class Of 1991

Welcome to another edition of the HONOR ROLL.  Every year during my "Year End Awards" I give out roughly 15 awards. Of those awards, "the big four" are the Wrestler, Woman, Tag Team & Match of the year. The winners of these awards were generally the most awesome performers of the year and with hundreds of prominent wrestlers worldwide, it's a true honor to be able to snag one of the four. This section of the blog will be dedicated to the winners for every year dating all the way back to 1990 (roughly the time I first began watching wrestling)! Every week I will add another year's winners until the database is up to date. This is just a fun series that will give you an idea of what the best of the best was in any year you may have missed. Any current and/or future winners will also be added to the honor roll and join the most prestigious group in all of blogging!

This week, we're announcing the class of 1991!

Wrestler Of The Year: Bret Hart

Bret Hart became one of the WWE's brightest stars after he captured his first Intercontinental Championship from Mr. Perfect in an all-time classic.  He also won the company's King Of The Ring tournament and his breakout as a singles star is one of the most revered and well-documented in pro wrestling history.  For years, he was the promotion's hidden gem and in 1991, the fans and management alike, witnessed Bret capitalize on his potential and became a true star.

Runner Up: Jumbo Tsuruta

Woman Of The Year: Aja Kong

Joshi legend Kong has been the inspiration for current women's standouts like Sara Del Rey & Awesome Kong (whom she also trained) and is one of the most celebrated and accomplished female wrestlers of all time.  Much of that is due to her work in the early to mid nineties in famous matches like her hair vs hair match in January of 91 that resulted in both her and her Jungle Jack teammate Nobuko Kimura having their heads shaved.  It is a true pleasure to honor her as our 1991 woman of the year.

Runner Up: Bull Nakano

Tag Team Of The Year: The Legion Of Doom

In the summer of 1991, the iconic pairing of Hawk and Animal defeated The Nasty Boys to capture their first WWE Tag Team Championship and in the process, became the first team to win world tag titles in every major promotion at the time.  They would reign as tag champs for the remainder of the year and cement their legacy as one of the greatest tag teams the sport has ever seen.

Runner Up: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada

Match Of The Year:: WWE Summerslam: Bret Hart vs. Mr Perfect

This was a match that saw two of the best wrestlers in the world both giving everything they could for what was at the time, the WWE's second biggest prize.  This was a main event caliber match that remains one of the primary examples of why the IC title is viewed as one of the most prestigious in the biz today.  Hart won his first Intercontinental Championship on this night after locking Mr. Perfect into the Sharpshooter.  Perfect did everything he could to retain the title, but on this night it was Hart who walked away with the victory after a picture perfect match.

Runner Up:: WCW/New Japan Supershow: Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. The Steiner Brothers