Best year for any one wrestler?

[mrbrownstone]

Simple question, what year saw the most success for any one wrestler? Really not much more I can add to it that that. Oh wait, look at this from whatever angle you want; be it titles won, great matches had, promos, feuds or any combination thereof.

Anyway for me I would have to go with HBK circa 1996. He really was on fire that year in every aspect, he was having amazing feuds and matches with basically everyone and achieving great success in terms of titles. He started the year by winning the Royal Rumble, at IYH 6 he had a classic with Owen Hart, he won his first world title in a classic Iron Man match in the main event of Mania, he defended it successfully in an awesome match against Diesel and again in two more another amazing matches against Bulldog, he then main evented IYH 9 in a very good 6 man tag match, he main evented Summerslam in a classic against Vader, he went on to have one of the best matches ever against Mankind before he lost the title to Sid at Survivor Series in what may have been Sids best match ever. So to sum that up, he held the world title for 3/4 of the year beating the likes of Vader Bulldog, Bret Hart and Mankind, had 4 all time classic matches (Vader, Bret, Mankind and Owen), main evented every one of the Big 4 PPV's and his worst PPV match of the year was a match that was arguably his opponents best match ever. That sounds like an extremely successful year to me. I was close to choosing Austin in 1998 but the match quality of Shawn in 1996 swayed me his way.

Thoughts on this? What was the best year ever for a wrestler?

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I'll go with the guy that was your second choice, that is Steve Austin in 1998.

The seeds of his success had been planted in 1998 but the way in which Austin went from a midcarder to a main eventer in a matter of a few weeks is nothing short of phenomenal. He started out by winning the Royal Rumble in January, and then proceeded to flip off Tyson which is as big a moment as any in the WWE. He then won the WWF title from HBK at Mania 14 in a good match.

His feud with Mick Foley is severly underrated, in my opinion. Both guys tore the house down at Unforgiven and at Over the Edge. In between he also gave us a great moment when he came out dressed as a corporate champion only to hit Vince in the nuts and take a picture of him clinging onto them in pain. Then came the most famous storyline of that era with the conspiracy angle. I know that everybody likes to shit on Undertaker vs Austin matches but I guess it is really because people expected a lot out of these two legends. They were good for what they were in the sense that they were supposed to be intense brawls. His match with Kane was very good as well and is still, to date, one of Kane's best singles matches of all time.

What clinches it for me is the moments. Austin in 1998 made Raw a must see event. There was no saying what he would do and how he would retaliate to McMahon. No superstar has made me want to tune into Raw ever since. It's hard to imagine but Austin flipped off Tyson, slapped Vince in the nuts and took a picture of him, made him pee, got him arrested, got crucified onto a cross all in the space of one year. And I am pretty sure that I am missing out quite a lot of moments.

So if you combine the facts that he proved to be a huge draw, gave us decent and sometimes the odd great match and created moments that are an indelible part of WWF's history, I think that you will find that there hasn''t been a superstar that has had a better year than Austin did in 1998.

HBK only put on great matches in 1996. He failed as a draw with the crowd booing him towards the end of his title run and did not create many great moments with the exception of him winning the title at WrestleMania and his entrance at the same event.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I'll go with Kurt Angle 2000. Angle started the year as a green rookie who had a small undefeated streak broken by the incoming Tazz. He however recovered from the defeat and went on to capture practically every single male championship in his weight category (minus the Hardcore), becoming only the third man in history to become Eurocontenetal Champion, defeating the red-hot Chris Jericho to accomplish that. He would later defeat Jericho in the Quarter Finals of the King of the Ring, along with Crash in the Semi-Finals and Rikishi in the very Final. He soon moved up into the main event, where he feuded with Triple H and the Rock, before winning the WWF Championship in October where he defeated the Rock at No Mercy. A successful defence against the Undertaker at Survivor Series and a victory in the first and only Armageddon Hell in a Cell in December made for a practically perfect year. Angle came in as a near unknown and walked out as the king of the world. That's something that nobody's done better than Angle.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I have to agree with Funkay. In that one year Kurt Angle accomplished everything that most wrestlers strive their entire careers for, and most never get anywhere near it.

KOTR wins, World Title wins, Intercontinental, European, and then winning a HIAC match against the biggest names in the business. Other wrestlers (like Austin in 1998) may have had more IMPORTANT years in the history of wrestling, but I cannot think of anyone who accomplished so much in such a short space of time as Kurt Angle.

He is that damm talented and was a natural from his very first WWE match. Such a phenomenal athlete, and the WWE did well to realise just how good he was, and capitalise on it so quickly, making a bona-fide main eventer and a guaranteed showstealer out of Kurt.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Starcade '97 - Starcade '98. Bill Goldberg.

Big Bill's undefeated streak started on September 22nd but it only really started to gain momentum on December 28th when he took out Steve 'Mongo' McMichael (who had made his name as the muscle in the Four Horsemen) in his first PPV match. From here his popularity spread like wildfire as the streak grew. He won the US, then the World belt from 'Hollywood' himself and he then defended it for almost 6 months before losing it to Kevin Nash in a real 'Dusty'.

His standing never reached the same level again in either WCW or his year long WWF stint but for that magic year long period, if you used Ric Flair's mantra "To Be The Man, You Got To Beat The Man" then Bill Goldberg was undoubtedly The Man. Every legend will probably get named here but to a man any 12 month period will be disputable, not so Goldberg.

 

[Lukeaaron32]

Im a young fella' so I'd have to go for JBL in 2004... he stayed Champion for just under a year, had a fantastic year and beat many big names before losing to John Cena... Some fantastic matches along the way aswell.

 

[Kiefer-Zeus]

Triple H - 2003

It may be arguable that Triple H has had better years but to me this stands out, he enters the year as Champion has feuds with Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Goldberg and in between Shawn Michaels, Kane, etc he left the year as World Champion, was in every World Heavyweight Title match of 2003 and was the dominant leader of Evolution, to me that is what being at the top of The Game (Pun intended) is all about!

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Triple H - 2003

It may be arguable that Triple H has had better years but to me this stands out, he enters the year as Champion has feuds with Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Goldberg and in between Shawn Michaels, Kane, etc he left the year as World Champion, was in every World Heavyweight Title match of 2003 and was the dominant leader of Evolution, to me that is what being at the top of The Game (Pun intended) is all about!

You have just mentioned his feuds with Steiner and Nash, which straight away shows that this was not the best year for any wrestler in history. Those matches were appalling!

Yes HHH did have good matches with HBK, and did lead the most dominant faction in the company, but he had far better years in the ring, especially around the turn of the century when he was at his absolute best feuding with The Rock, Austin and Foley. 2003 was not a vintage year for The Game

 

[jamel21]

Crow Sting 1997

In my opinion was a big part of why wcw was beating wwe in the ratings. I mean he would come out and the crowd would go nuts and he wouldnt say ah word. And personally the only person who topped his croud reaction was stone cold in 1998

 

[TheJbody]

I'm gonna get a lot of hate for this but John Cena in 2005.

He started the year as U.S champ, was the last person eliminated in the Royal Rumble, beat Kurt Angle at No Way Out and won the WWE championship at WM 21.

After he won at Wrestle Mania he defended his title through out the year and kept it. He beat JBL in an I Quit match at Judgement Day, Y2J and Christian at Vengeance, Y2J again at Summerslam, Got Y2J fired in a match for the title, beat Kurt Angle at Unforgiven, Taboo Tuesday, and Survivor Series. He also beat HBK @ Taboo Tuesday.

No matter who's year it was Cena had a pretty good year.

 

[rowingisgood11]

I have to say Brock Lesnar's first year. He won the King of the Ring by beating RVD, beat the Rock for the WWE championship becoming the youngest champ.

On from there he went on to feud with the Undertaker and having that culminate with him beating the Undertaker in a hell in a cell match. This led to his match with the Big Show where we really saw Lesnar's strength by being able to F-5 him even with the loss which was Lesnar's first pin fall loss in the WWE.

He then went on to win the Royal Rumble by throwing out the Undertaker and beginning the feud of the year with Kurt Angle over the WWE championship. They had a fantastic match at Wrestlemania XIX where we saw Lesnar do a shooting star press.

 

[poppycock]

Chris Jericho - 2001

- Won The Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time
- With Benoit he beat Austin and Triple H to become Tag Team Champions
- Became WCW Champion by beating The Rock
- Became Tag Team Champion again with the Rock
- Beat Austin and The Rock in the same night to win World Heavyweight and WWE Championships making him the first Undisputed Champion

 

[Kiefer-Zeus]

You have just mentioned his feuds with Steiner and Nash, which straight away shows that this was not the best year for any wrestler in history. Those matches were appalling!

Yes HHH did have good matches with HBK, and did lead the most dominant faction in the company, but he had far better years in the ring, especially around the turn of the century when he was at his absolute best feuding with The Rock, Austin and Foley. 2003 was not a vintage year for The Game

Thing is mate i only started watching in 2002 and then i was only 11 years old at the age of 12 Triple H became my favourite wrestler and while now they weren't that good back then i thought it was amazing, so yes my opinion and since then i have checked out older stuff an like i said its arguable obviously like 1999/2000 and others but 2003 was always my favourite year for Triple H!

 

[Chopper]

Hulk Hogan from 1984-1990.

He main evented virtulally every PPV after Wrestlemania I, was the face of the WWF and lets not forget: held the WWE title for 4 years! He won it back and forth a few times but by 1990 most fans were tired of the Hogan regime, I believe he was out-popped by the Warrior at WM6, and lets not forget Sid Justice;s massive pop (edited out by Colesium Video) at the 92 rumble.

He was (and still is, despite working for the soon-to-be defunct TNA) the biggest name in all of wrestling.

Hogan had one last good run between 1996-1998 when he was the most popular heel as leader of the NWO. (like that makes sense: most popular heel lol)

honorable mentions: Kurt Angle in 2000: from a curtain jerker to Euro-IC champ, King of the Ring to WWE champ in 11 months, impressive!

Steve Austin: finally won the Monday Night Wars for WWE in 1998: career year when he finally got mega-over and won the title. Sparking one of the best, and at the time: most controversial feuds ever with the boss Vinnie Mac.

Bret Hart: 1992: Won the IC title at mania, held on to the belt til Summerslam when he lost the belt to Bulldog in a 5 star match and bounced back by owning Ric Flair for the WWE title, winning it in Canada (Regina, Saskacthewan to be exact).
sure: losing a title isnt a "good accomplishment" for a year, but anyone whos seen that match knows its easily the best in Summerslam history

 

[GrandSword]

Best year for Samoa Joe was 2005.

Joe had just come off a 21 month ROH world title reign which included 5 star matches against CM Punk. He then when on an undefaeted streak in TNA having unbeleivable series of matches with Styles and Daniels ina feud that is still talked about today starying with the 5 star Unbreakable triple threat.

He won the Super X Cup, the X Division Championship and was then chosen by Sting to be his partner against Jarrett and Steiner in a mani event ppv match. He then defeated former WCW World Champion's Steiner and Jarrett, and then went into a feud with TNA's biggest ever signing from the WWE, Kurt Angle and defeated him in their second match.

Also during the year he had another 5 star match against Japanese superstar Kenta Kobashi in arguably RoH's greatest ever match.

An amazing year for the big man that he has yet to duplicate.

 

[Chris1-16]

1999 was the year of The Rock

-Is already a 3x champion by the middle of the year, with his first title win not even a year apart yet
-Now an established main eventer
-Involved in highest rated Raw segment of all time
-The debut of Smackdown
-Rock N Sock Connection
-Made Al Snow and Billy Gunn look like major stars for a while
-Becomes a face, rivals, and in my opinion surpasses Stone Cold Steve Austin for the most popular star title in the federation

Austin had a good year in 1999 too, but I'd say 1998 was more of his year.

 

[relentless1]

kevin nash 1994- dominant showing at the rumble, intercontinental win, tag team win and finally world title win all in one calendar year

goldberg 1998- became us and world champ, plus was undefeated for the enitre year save a couple of days

stone cold 1998

rock 1999

kurt angle 2000

chris jericho 2001

brock lesnar 2002

hhh 2003

 

[JWGunslinger]

I'd have to go with 2009 for Randy Orton
He won The Royal Rumble, continued to use Legacy to help him win the WWE title and he did so 3 times that year. What more can you ask for?

 

[Wonder]

I was going to say Kurt Angle 2000 and Rocky 1999, but those were already mentioned.

So i'm going to say HBK 1996. Coming off an already good 1995 year, Michaels rolled into 1996, the best way you can: winning the Royal Rumble match. After that, he won one of the most memorable matches in Wrestlemania history, winning his first WWE Championhip, and then defended it against a monster heel, by the name of Vader in a great match, at SummerSlam.

Of course, he eventually lost it to (overrated) Sid, but he even then he pulled of a great year. HBK had already good years, but in my view, 1996 was the year that began his legend.

Another choice, would be Jericho 2008.

 

[legendkiller1979]

There are really only two answers to this question. Stonecold Steve Austin in 1998 and Hulk Hogan in 1985. These two calendar years were to two most successful years for the WWE ever and started two amazing eras. I have to go with Hulk Hogan in '85. Let's be honest, Hulk Hogan might as well be the first WWE champion and 1985 might as well be the beginning of the professional wrestling. There are very few conversations that have to do with anything that happened before the wrestlemania era. Wrestlemania was a success because Hulk Hogan was so popular and so famous that nearly everybody knew his name. We probably would not have wrestlemania without Hulk Hogan. It all started with Huik Hogan in 1985.

 

[Dude_Love87]

In my opinion, the biggest and most rewarding year for a star and the company was 1987 Hulk Hogan. That year you had WM3 which at the time set an attendance record, if I'm not mistaken, probably broken long ago. Hogan vs Andre and WWE made a huge push to make Andre hated, placing Heenan as his manager boosted this big time. To me this was Hulks glory DAY, Not so much a Hulk fan anymore, but it gives me chills thinking about the ending to that match. That alone was the biggest year for any star.

noteable:Ric Flair 1992, my favorite Flair era. Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair worked great together.

To be a little different, you can't say the Ultimate Warriors year in 1990 wasn't great. Although, he didn't appreciate what Hogan did for him at all, ending Hogans title reign, and giving it to him at WM6 was a huge year for any wrestler in that position. According to the documentary "self destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" he just didn't give a damn about the business side of wrestling, the history of the industry, he was not dependable, and didn't care if he hurt his opponent.(executing the moves poorly) I loved the Ultimate Warrior, that guy created magic in the early 90's with a character that can never be duplicated. 1991 was a great year for him!

 

[FlairFan2003]

In my opinion, the biggest and most rewarding year for a star and the company was 1987 Hulk Hogan. That year you had WM3 which at the time set an attendance record, if I'm not mistaken, probably broken long ago. Hogan vs Andre and WWE made a huge push to make Andre hated, placing Heenan as his manager boosted this big time. To me this was Hulks glory DAY, Not so much a Hulk fan anymore, but it gives me chills thinking about the ending to that match. That alone was the biggest year for any star.

noteable:Ric Flair 1992, my favorite Flair era. Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair worked great together.

Hogan's best year was 1987, I think 1985 was a close second. In 1987 WWE made WrestleMania a household event - 93,000 fans in the Silverdome, a North American Indoor Attendance Record, and Hogan vs Andre, the most popular figure in the sport vs the One Man 23 year undefeated streak freak of nature was THE main event, barr none. After that Hogan won a lengthy series of matches vs 7 Time World Champion Harley Race. Business was booming and he was untouchable.

Flair had some great individual moments in 92, the Royal Rumble and WM vs Savage among them, but his best year was probably 1985 or 1989. In 85 he was champ all 12 months and defended the title in the AWA, World Class, Japan, and Puerto Rico. That was the year the NWA started the Great American Bash event, selling out Charlotte Memorial Stadium to see Flair headline vs Russian Nightmare Nikita Kolloff, plus his year ending Starrcade match vs Dusty Rhodes helped make that event one of the first in wrestling history to draw near a million dollars in gate WITHOUT PPV, in an era when tickets did not cost $100 each.

In 89 Flair was phenomenal in his matches with Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk, maybe his best back to back fueds in same year ever, wrestling completely different styles of matches as well. He also was the first US wrestler to pin The Great Mutah and cleanly pinned Lex Luger in a series of matches. TV ratings and attendance were way up over the previous year also.

 

[DanTheMan3:16]

HBK in 2002, not 1996. Why because HBK was more matured and cared more so about having great matches, In 2002 he may have just returned and was apart of the nWo, but his first match in over 4 years with HHH at Summerslam was amazing and showed HBK still had it, In his 2nd match of the year he was in an elimination chamber with HHH,Jericho,Kane,Booker, and RVD. He won the WHC that night in the Garden. He had another great match with HHH in the three stages of hell matches, where he lost the title which broke my heart. Then 2003 came and was another great year for him.

 

[DanTheMan3:16]

Kane's most dominating year is clearly 1998, He defeated Austin and Won the WWF Title, sure he was champ for a day but when you win the title, the feeling is everlasting. He only lost to Taker and SCSA that year. it took 3 tombstones to finish him off at WM14a great match in itself. Kane made his mark that year for sure.