Favorite Years of Favorite Promotions?

[Brock Samson]

So I haven't seen this topic done here for awhile.  What promotions/eras are members' favorites?  What do you follow & find yourself going back to?

 

I've gone through phases and watched a little of everything over the years.  In the early 2000's, I lived in California and followed a lot of the small SoCal indys.  I used to follow puro quite in-depth and really marked for Toryumon and FMA.  As the years go on, though, what I find myself going back to is the 80's (I don't even consider that old-school, really).  My favorite promotions now are the dying days of the territories.  Early 80's Memphis is a favorite of mine.  I'm still a big fan of Mid-South, and Florida had an insane amount of talent at the time.  Heh, even today, I'm as likely to watch AWA tapes as I am RAW.  Yes, I am that guy.  The words "Greg Gagne, Babyface Ace" do not fill me with dread.

 

I like 80's WWF, but don't love it even though an awful lot of my favorite wrestlers ended up in the WWF.  WWF, for me, had a way of taking wrestlers and gimmicks I liked and either amping them up (if they were heel) or smoothing out the edges of the character so they were more TV and lunchbox friendly.  It worked a lot of times, admittedly (Ted DiBiase), but I tend to prefer the worker's earlier careers.  It didn't help that 80's NWA/Memphis/etc tended to have better matches.  WWF wasn't exactly a workrate promotion in the 80's (I hope I don't need to spoiler that for anyone.  Your top babyfaces were Hogan and Warrior and the top heels were largely monsters that got signed in order to be fed to Hogan).

 

Anyway, my absolute favorite promotions were/are:

-- late 80's JCP (Jim Crockett Promotions).  God, still my favorite stuff.  The IV Horsemen will always be Flair, Arn, Tully, Ole to me.  Never a big fan of Horseman Luger.  Do enjoy the Windham heel work.  Everything after Barry doesn't feel like "The Horsemen" to me (which isn't to say I thought it was bad.  Benoit/Malenko were a very watchable tag team).  Aside from that, you had a great mix of wrestlers I could watch all day.  Magnum, Nikita, Dusty, the Road Warriors, Varsity Club, etc. 

 

-- WCCW (Before the decline, obviously).  A lot of my favorite guys got their start here.  I was a huge Chris Adams fan back in the day.  WCCW One Man Gang was my definition of a monster until I started seeing Vader regularly in WCW years later.  I'm still a big fan of the Freebirds and never liked those three as much afterwards (I probably was a bigger Jimmy Garvin fan later, before he started teaming with Hayes exclusively and never really had a singles push. 

 

Heck, at the time, Al Perez and Gorgeous Gary Young were two of my favorite wrestlers.  I even loved Global years later because it was essentially WCCW 2.0

 

-- WCW.  Getting into the 90's here, but the early years of WCW had mostly the same talent getting the same push and WCW was the better workrate promotion (I think) from 91-93 or 94. I was never a huge Bret/Shawn/WWF New Generation fan, so I was devoted to WCW.  And they still have some of my favorite feuds.  Vader-Sting, Sting being pushed as the babyface ace, the Dangerous Alliance, Rude in general, Steamboat & Flair, etc  I was even a Dustin Rhodes fan.  Kinda lost some interest when Hogan came in and the promotion was never the same for me after that, but the first couple years are very good (despite some terrible booking).'

 

So that's my favorite eras.  I'm basically an 80's old school fan.  I've liked ECW, WWE Attitude, the NWO, ROH, etc. for what they were, but it's the territories that hold up for me.  Since the Hogan era began in WCW, probably the only thing that comes close to the Memphis/Mid-South/FL era for me was JIm Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, which wasn't entirely successful, but at least tried to recapture the territory feel and make new stars in that mold.

 

Anyway. what'cha you got?  I'm curious to what other people's favorite promotions are (were).

 

 

 

[Web Conn]

From the first Impact on Spike in October of 2005 to August 2007 when Angle beat Joe for all the marbles I was really into TNA the X Division was on fire the Tag division was crazy it was just alot of fun yes there was stupid shit and Jarrett dominated the Main Event scene but man there was alot of fun wrestling and angles.

[twiztor]

the nWo got me into watching WCW and seeking out older NWA as i was purely a WWF guy until that time. So mid '96-mid/late '97 will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

also, this is definitely in the minority, but i loved the Alliance period in 2001.

[Brian Fowler]

1994 WCW, especially up until July.  Nothing is likely to ever top this for me.

 

1997 WWF.

[MADCAP]

1984-1985 Memphis.  I'm actually watching this right now.  Talk about action packed hours!  Great storylines, awsome clips from MSC, Randy Fucking Savage being a feral animal and the goddamn PYT's.  Wish I lived somewhere where we could've gotten this show.  Just awesome.

[Pete]

1993 AJW. They were so incredible that the other joshi groups (JWP, LLPW, some of the FMW girls) all got great through osmosis.

[E.J.]

WWE between 2002-2003 was putting on some quality show with Smackdown and Velocity.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

1997 WWF is my favourite year for wrestling by a country mile. My favourite match (Canadian Stampede 10-man), favourite feud (Bret/Austin going into US/Canada), favourite faction (Hart Foundation), and the best work of my favourite wrestler (8-Ball).

[Spontaneous]

WWE between 2002-2003 was putting on some quality show with Smackdown and Velocity.

Before I read up on indys and had figured out the internet~! I watched Velocity all the time. I really liked Paul London and Spanky, that was the only place I could see them. The Heyman years on Smackdown were fantastic. I still remember Edge-Eddie No DQ and he Edge/Mysterio vs Angle/Benoit 2/3 falls match. Lesnar belly to belly suplexing Shannon Moore from the ring straight to the floor, just killing guys left and right. Good times. I probably forgot all the crap though. Mordecai...

 

2005 was when I really started to get into ROH. Probably about where they really caught fire there for a few years.

[Chris Migs]

1997 WWF is just absolutely amazing. Possibly because it's the true beginning of the current era. 2000 WWF is also just a ridiculous upswing in the in-ring product when they add the Radicalz and incorporate Jericho and Angle into the upper tier.

 

1995 and 1996 ECW are just absolutely brilliant, almost start to finish. 

[supremebve]

1997 WWF is my favourite year for wrestling by a country mile. My favourite match (Canadian Stampede 10-man), favourite feud (Bret/Austin going into US/Canada), favourite faction (Hart Foundation), and the best work of my favourite wrestler (8-Ball).

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong...

 

1997 WWF was great, Steve Austin was just on fire, Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation successfully became the biggest heels in the States and the biggest faces internationally, and they created a little something called Hell in a Cell.  How the hell did WCW beat them in the ratings so consistently, when they were clearly the inferior product.  Austin, Hart, Michaels, Taker and Foley were at their best, while The Rock, and HHH were quickly gaining ground.  This is by far my favorite year in wrestling as it was happening. 

[Newb82]

If I were to buy a whole year run of a promotion, my first pick would be 1996 WCW.

There was some good stuff there before the awesome early days of the nWo.

I remember the Nitro after Bash at the Beach '96 and hearing HOGAN was the third man.

Twelve-year-old me was stunned.

[odessasteps]

1984 Mid South - www.russianflagburial.com

1986 Crockett - Horsemen, MX vs RNR, magnum v Nikita

[The Man Known as Dan]

04-05 RoH was almost perfect to me.

[ChuckScumm]

1986 Memphis

1997-1998 FMW

1984 Mid-South

1997 WWF

[mco543]

WWF "New Generation" era

WWF 1997 from the new Hart Foundation forming until Survivor Series

Actually most promotions in 1997, for whatever reason, I really love that specific year, WWF, ECW, WCW, New Japan, etc.

ROH from 2004-2006

I grew to love 1994 ECW

 

I really need to see more Memphis to make a definitive choice on that, but I really love what I've seen from 1990.

[ricksilver]

1982-3 Mid-South.1983 World Class. 1991-2 WWF. 1992-4 WCW. 

[Petey]

1997 and 2000 WWF. I remember 2000 first hand more than 1997 (I'm 26), but I rewatched most of '97 via Classics on Demand and it was just tremendous. I also primarily watched Nitro from its inception until the Mike Tyson angle so that's probably why I don't remember '97 WWF as well as 2000 WWF or '97 WCW.

 

96-97 WCW holds a special place in my heart. Granted, the second half of '97 was awful and upon rewatching made me wonder why I was such a huge fan as a kid, but from when the nWo formed through Luger winning the title, I loved me some WCW.

 

95-97 ECW. I didn't experience this first hand and it's all from just watching the stuff as an adult but the history major inside me loves it because even though it doesn't hold up great, I know how crazy the stuff was at the time and I appreciate that.

 

2005-2006 ROH. I went to so many shows. It was awesome. It was my ECW. I miss that era of indy wrestling.

[Buy Me a Burrito]

1983-1984 WCCW.

 

1993-1994 WCW

 

1997 WWE

 

Also the first year that Mid-South turned into the UWF is pretty special.

[eikerir]

2004-2006 ROH was just perfect imo.

[The Z]

For me it's definitey ROH from 2002- 2004.

That's the most I've ever been a fan of a wrestling promotion.

[J.H.]

Michinoku Pro 95/96 - The Kaientai DX era is the perfect way to book a stable of surly punks. Every group that came after was a poor copy (CrazyMAX coems to mind). I can watch Kaientai against any line-up Michinoku army guys and be amazed. You had that great angel with Dick Togo and Super Delfin, the bloody Men's Teioh/Tiger Mask match and all the crazy rumors of Sasuke and his silver bust!

 

James

[Nice Guy Eddie]

2004-2007 ROH

 

ROH got so much of my money. DVD's, tickets, shirts. I really miss what ROH used to be.

[Jiji]

1993 AJW. They were so incredible that the other joshi groups (JWP, LLPW, some of the FMW girls) all got great through osmosis.

Hokuto's run in particular sits well among the best stretches of work by anybody in a single year.

 

Second half of 1985, all of 1986 and 1992 for All Japan may not get the attention '93-'95 get but are great in their own right. '85-'86 had Choshu's Ishingun help evolve the style of All Japan from the more old-school, plodding wrestling (nothing wrong with that but All Japan was really struggling prior to Choshu's invasion) to a higher tempo with greater chaos. Jumbo pre and post-Choshu were pretty darn different and Riki influenced him for the better. Wajima drags down 1986 though. Fuck him. '92 has the tail-end of that wonderful Jumbo vs. Misawa feud and the beginnings of Misawa vs. Kawada. Triple Crown champ Stan Hansen also beats the fuck out of a bunch of Japanese dudes so well, like only he can. Love, love, love his match against Kawada from that year to bits.

 

Add the love for classic Gabe ROH, WCW '96 up to the shitty booking of Sting-Hogan '97, and '83 WCCW (though I need to see more). Bill Watts' 1992 run in WCW was also awesome.

[flairsjobber]

I was lucky enough to have grown up watching Mid-South. It's really hard to pick a favorite time period. I loved the JYD vs Freebirds feud in 1980, then the Rat Pack and Stagger Lee angle in 82. 84 and 85 were great to me. Without a doubt Watts ran the best territory.