1992 - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

[hb2k]

So, for our podcast this week the subject for discussion is looking at the wrestling landscape in 1992, and the good, bad and ugly elements that comprised it, a fun way to do a year in review.

The idea being that out of everything that happened on a worldwide basis in this year, what ONE thing epitomises each for you personally (if you had to choose a match, promo, angle, feud, theme or company that summed each up), and why?

For example, if we were talking 93, we could say:

The Good - Kobashi Vs. Hansen matches

The Bad - Hogan plunger raping Bret at Mania IX

The Ugly - Big Sky, Charlie Norris, Shockmaster, Equaliser and others stinking up WCW.

Apply for 1992, and please go into as much depth on why things were the best or the worst as you'd like. As always I'll read the feedback and credit the fine folks who do.

[Bad News Gertner]

The Good

Sting vs Vader at the GAB 92 was awesome. Better than Bulldog vs Bret.

The Bad

Wrestlemania 8 felt like a mess. A combination of wrestlers long overstaying their welcome, and the much anticipated Hogan vs Flair match never happening.

The Ugly

Erik Watts. That says it all. Say what you will about Greg Gagne and Dustin Rhodes, but Greg had a great tag team with Jim Brunzell in the AWA, and Dustin Rhodes's career speaks for itself and you could at least tell there was something there when he debuted. Erik Watts looked like shit, couldn't wrestle and had zero personality. His STF that he applied at the Clash to submit Bobby Eaton made John Cena's STF look like William Regal.

[Corndad]

Good - Flair winning Royal Rumble, Summerslam '92 in England

Bad- Warrior's return and the way he left

Ugly - WCW Halloween Havoc. Yikes.

[Bad News Gertner]

Omg Halloween Havoc was bad. Not as bad as Starcade though.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Good-"With a Tear in my eye. This is the greatest night in my life." ; HBK gets his first singles title after beating the Bulldog on SNME.

Bad: Papa Shango makes Ultimate Warrior throw up. Just like most of Warriors matches makes people want to throw up, Erik Watts the "rookie of the year" of WCW. Did the STF worse than Cena, Bill Watts booking in general.

Ugly-Mr. Perfect turns face and betrays Bobby Heenan and Ric Flair.

[Emperor Smeat]

Good - Flair wins the Rumble for the WWF title

Bad - Mania 8's main event being Sid vs Hogan instead of Macho vs Flair or Hogan vs Flair.

Ugly - Bill Watts taking over as WCW's head booker. Had 1 really great moment (Ron Simmons winning the belt) but everything else was either forgettable or really bad overall.

[Tom Guycott]

Bad - Mania 8's main event being Sid vs Hogan instead of Macho vs Flair or Hogan vs Flair.



Thought about this recently... not this specifically but Sid and this era in general. One of those "ripple in the pond" things that led to the boom period/attitude era (such as the phone call that convinced Paul Heyman to not quit wrestling to take that morning radio job). I think it was Kevin Nash who said something about Sid being in line to be the "next Hogan", and he told Vince he felt he worked better as a monster heel (seems like a true statement to me, but still), so didn't really want to go that way. How much different would things have been if he kept his mouth shut and taken the mantle of really being "the man", and not just saying he was to sound crazy?

And yeah, from a money standpoint, Hogan/Flair seemed like a dropped boat. Only thing that could have been bigger is if Sting was in WWF back then and lined up to face Hogan.

[Seth82]

The Good - All Japan is on the rise to becoming the best promotion of the 90's imho.

This match right here is in my top five for greatest tag matches ever.

Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Can Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas)
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ECW is born out of the ashes of Joel Goodhart's TWA in 1992.

[hb2k]

I love that match. Without being able to click the link to check at the moment, is that the full version or the clipped for TV version? Not sure I ever saw the unedited version...

[Seth82]

I love that match. Without being able to click the link to check at the moment, is that the full version or the clipped for TV version? Not sure I ever saw the unedited version...

I think it's the entire match.

the entire thing was a masterpiece. the reaction from the crowd throughout is amazing.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Don’t really have anything for the bad or the ugly since I’m not really up on my wrestling history as much as I should be but:

The Good
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XWsLYc4cko8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Flair’s 15th and 16th world title victories. He had already had an awesome career before, but those two wins solidified him as one of the all-time greatest, if not THE greatest professional wrestler EVER.

[Seth82]

I love that match. Without being able to click the link to check at the moment, is that the full version or the clipped for TV version? Not sure I ever saw the unedited version...

here's the entire match.

this one has their entrances included and etc.

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[Vastardikai]

The Good:
Steiners vs. Dr. Death and Terry Gordy feud
Bret Hart's first WWF Title Reign

The Bad:
Erik Watts
Ultimate Warrior vs Papa Shango feud

The Ugly:
Rocco
The Top Rope Rule

[RiX1024]

The Good - Flair winning the Royal Rumble and WWE Title
Bret/Bulldog at Summerslam 92

The Bad - The Ultimate Warrior's WWE return and departure

The Ugly - Bill Watts' booking in WCW
Nailz
Erik Watts

[hb2k]

Well, the podcast is now up and ready to be listened to - I want to thank everybody for the feedback, this show was a lot of fun to do, and we get to an awful lot of comments and talk about what you think, discussing the Royal Rumble, The Dangerous Alliance, WWF Scandals, The Kip Frey and Bill Watts Eras, Bret Hart and Ron Simmons, The Barber Shop, Summerslam in Wembley, Bad Gimmicks, Sting Vs. Vader and so much more! Check it out at this link and let you know what you think.

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/xdp2sv/SCGRadio15-TheGoodBadandUglyof1992.mp3