WWF Wrestler of the Year: 1992

[Shocky]

Like the other thread, WWF Wrestler of the year. No polls, just you stating a wrestler, and defending that choice.

1992, unlike 1991, is not shooting fish in a barrel. This year, is probably one of the toughest years to choose a guy to be the WWF wrestler of the year. Why was this, simple, Hulk Hogan. The WWF slowly began to do the inevitable, begin life without the Hulkster as the man in the WWF.

Arguments can be made for several wrestlers to be the wrestler of the year due largely in part to the huge vacuum created at the top by Hogan leaving.

PWI recognized Ric Flair as not only their WWF wrestler of the year, but the overall wrestler of the year. Bret Hart finishes second in the WWF category while 4th over all.

To me, you can make the argument for three guys.

Ric Flair. He wins the title at the Rumble, entering at number 3 and lasting the entire way. Arguably, this is the greatest Rumble match in history, and for Flair to come out on top, and to be a guy that Vince didn't create, to win the title, speaks for itself. However, a very lackluster title reign with a quick title drop to Savage hurts. Sure, Flair was involved with a lot of angles this year, but two title reigns lasting a fairly short amount of time works against the Nature Boy.

Savage: Very good choice, and a tough one. It takes two to tango, and Flair and Savage both worked with each other very well to create a very under appreciated title match at WM 8. Savage held onto the belt for roughly 6 months before dropping the title back to the Nature Boy.

Bret Hart: Wins the IC title back at WM 8 from Roddy Piper in what is arguably Pipers best match, and arguably a top five IC title match ever. Bret Hart, the Intercontinental Champion mind you, goes on to headline Summerslam over Savage and his WWF title, and loses in a great match to the Bulldog. Hart goes onto end Flairs second title reign for his first WWF championship.

Out of these three, I think it's them, and everyone else. Michaels won the IC title, but that wasn't until very late in the year. I would make an argument that the Bulldog has a bigger year then Michaels. Michaels easily made a statement with the Barber Shop, but the ball didn't really get rolling until the back half of the year.

I'm stuck. If I'm leaning with anyone, it's Flair, but barely. I could make just as easy of an argument for Hart's fantastic year. I'd give the edge to Flair simply for the fact of being a Rumble winner, and two time champion, that's pretty damn impressive.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm giving this one to the Macho Man. While Hart was clearly the rising star, when he won the title in October, I was stunned. He came out of absolutely nowhere to win it, and while I thought he was deserving and a good champion, I never really thought he was the "it" guy at the time. It was like he had the match with Piper, then nothing for 6 months, then he was the world champion. Good year, but to me just forgettable for the whole summer. Flair had a great year as well, but he was brought in and built up as the champion immediately. Great year, and a very close 2nd to me. I however give it to Savage. Savage's time on the top initially was 88-89, where he was still 2nd fiddle to Hogan, which was expected. It is still argued to this day as to whether or not he would've done what he did without Hogan there with him, and while I think he would've bene fine without him, it was never proven. 1992 rolls around and Savage's previous title reign is pretty much forgotten. He enters into a great story with Ric Flair, with hogan nowhere to be seen. These two put on a great feud, yet again, with no Hogan. Savage wins the title, Hogan isn't even wrestling at that point, yet Savage still has a good Summer. The only setback is he hardly ever defended teh title, but he was still in the comeback of a lifetime. He shook off the notion that he needed Hogan, carried the company for awhile on his own, and did it 4 years after his initial title reign. This to me makes him wrestler of the year with Flair a close second.

 

[Apocalypse0530]

To me it has to be Ric Flair. He started the year with a very impressive showing in the Royal Rumble by going over an hour. Flair didn't just hide in the corner during the hour, he was doing moves, taking bumps and selling well. Then immediately after winning the title at the Rumble he entered an excellent feud with Macho Man by talking about how Macho Man was with Flair's leftovers and capped the feud with an excellent match at Mania VIII. By contrast, when Hart and Savage won the WWF Championship they didn't do anything with it. They just defended against random jobbers. It wasn't until SummerSlam until Savage feuded with Warrior over the title and the only reason why that angle was significant was due speculation on whether Savage or Warrior would join Flair. Savage's title run only was interesting when Flair was interjected back into to it. Then Flair closed out the year feuding against his former manager Mr. Perfect. A magnificent year for Flair.