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 1993!
Wrestler Of The Year: Vader
Many modern era WWE fans don't really understand just how much of an absolute destroyer Vader was in the early 90s. He was the most dominant force the WCW had ever seen capturing his third WCW World Heavyweight Championship in the Spring of '93 and he would keep a firm grasp on that title for the next 285 days. Not to mention he defeated the likes of Sting, Davey Boy Smith and Dustin Rhodes along the way. Though perhaps his most infamous matches of the year were his brutal wars with Mick Foley that have gone down as some of the most famous matches in WCW history.
Runner Up: Bret Hart
Woman Of The Year: Akira Hokuto
Hokuto's adaptable, yet often brutal style is a stark contrast to pretty much every other woman before or after her. Not many women can carry a match to new levels of excitement the way she can. She is the female Shawn Michaels in many respects. Her 1993 feud with Shinobu Kandori resulted in what is perhaps the greatest and most important women's match of all time (but more on that later) and is perhaps the best example of Hokuto's work. She was also the winner of the '93 Grand Prix and was set to win the WWWA world title before being sidelined with an injury.
Runner Up: Aja Kong
Tag Team Of The Year: The Hollywood Blonds
Arguably the greatest team to never reach their full potential, the legendary Steve Austin and Brian Pillman were thrown together with little faith. Not many knew just how great a team these two would make, becoming one of the most innovative and entertaining duos of all time in just a matter of months. You would have thought these two had been teaming for a decade they way they effortlessly integrated their styles. In March 1993, after just three months as a tandem, they even managed to defeat Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas for the WCW tag titles and would last as champs an impressive 169 days before losing the belts & splitting in October.
Runner Up: The Steiner Brothers
Match Of The Year:: AJW Dreamslam I: Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori
This dream match created a spectacle that rivals even the best Wrestlemania matches. Few matches in the history of the sport are as significant and still manged to deliver the way these two legends did. Not only is this the match of the year, but you'd be hard pressed to find another big time match that's even remotely close to being as good as this one. Nearly 40 minutes of some of the best wrestling money can buy and a level of brutality that transcends gender barriers culminating in some of the most cringe worthy spots I have ever seen. The durability of both women was put to the test and they both seemed willing to give their own lives for the win here. An unbelievable work of performance art.
Runner Up:: WWE King Of The Ring: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
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