This is our leaderboard of four-star matches, as agreed upon by Meltzer and me, through SummerSlam '92 (fractions coming in to represent that person's share of one side of a match):

Ric Flair: 9.25
---
Ricky Steamboat: 4.2
---
Sting: 2.95
Curt Hennig: 2
Randy Savage: 2
Terry Funk: 2
---
Bobby Eaton: 1.9
Brian Pillman: 1.75
Stan Lane: 1.7
Lex Luger: 1.5
Jushin Liger: 1.5
Barry Windham: 1.45
Bret Hart: 1
Ricky Morton: 1
Robert Gibson: 1
Tito Santana: 1
Mick Foley: 1
---
Scott Steiner: 0.75
Rick Steiner: 0.75
Arn Anderson: 0.7
Shawn Michaels: 0.5
Chris Benoit: 0.5
Davey Boy Smith: 0.5
Dynamite Kid: 0.5
Greg Valentine: 0.5
Brutus Beefcake: 0.5
Ole Anderson: 0.5
Marty Jannetty: 0.5
Paul Diamond: 0.5
Pat Tanaka: 0.5
Bobby Fulton: 0.5
Tommy Rogers: 0.5
Tracy Smothers: 0.5
Steve Armstrong: 0.5
Beef Wellington: 0.5
---
Larry Zbyszko: 0.45
Sid Vicious: 0.25
Steve Austin: 0.2
Rick Rude: 0.2
Road Warrior Animal: 0.2
Road Warrior Hawk: 0.2
Nikita Koloff: 0.2
Dustin Rhodes: 0.2
Dr. Death Steve Williams: 0.2
Michael Hayes: 0.2
Terry Gordy: 0.2
Jimmy Garvin: 0.2
Samu: 0.2
Fatu: 0.2
---

Just something to keep tabs on a rough resume of each wrestler's best matches.

IIRC, Bret Hart said in an interview that Davy Boy got in the ring that night, said "I'm fooked", and remembered zero of what they had planned out to do. The reason for the slow pace is Bret having to call the match spot by spot.

Yeah, mentioned that in the writeup. Once you know that, the whole thing looks super obvious as you watch it. They did get some fine spots in, but it's difficult to not be taken out of the viewing experience a bit by the start-stop-start-stop thing.

Holy ****, must have seen this match 10 times and never noticed this before.

I can't get enough of this match, one of my absolute favourites. Foley considered this his best match up until the Mind Games match with HBK, not hard to see why. Apparently Sting was heartbroken when he found out this match wasn't Foley's favourite anymore.

Well HBK is the "Heartbreak Kid".

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Survivor Series '92: WWF Title - Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels

Date: November 25, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31303821

Background: Bret dropped the IC strap at SummerSlam to Davey Boy Smith, who promptly dropped it to Shawn Michaels on Saturday Night's Main Event. Meanwhile, Bret Hart won the WWF Title from Ric Flair at a random live event in Saskatoon. These were the two big rising stars representing the next generation in the company; it wasn't really a personal feud at all yet.

The Match: Michaels cuts a pretty weak pre-match promo where he says that he's the better man via transitive property. Okay. He also enters to the superior version of his theme, when Sherri was still the one singing it. Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan calling the action here, with Earl Hebner the referee.



Collar-and-elbow tie-up to start, the two jostle hard with each other for an exceptionally long time before Hebner is finally able to force a break. Reset, and Michaels drives home a knee to the gut as he feigned that he was going to lock up. Bret goes behind him, wrestles him to the mat, rope break. The two exchange shoves. Third lock-up leads to dueling arm-wringers, with Bret finally hanging onto one long enough to get Michaels down and apply a hammerlock on HBK's left arm. Michaels forces his way back up, breaks away to run the ropes, executes a drop toehold, but as he attempts to follow Bret to the ground, Hitman has another counter into a hammerlock. I sort of dig the early feel-out chain wrestling.

Michaels reverses into his own hammerlock, but Bret runs toward the ropes and drops down, sending Michaels spilling out. Bret brings him back inside by slingshotting him back into the ring as Shawn gets up to the apron, and we're back in the armbar. Michaels is able to shove his way free, sending Bret off the ropes, his scoop on the way back enables Bret to go behind, he attempts to cradle pin Shawn after running him into the ropes, Shawn holds on and Bret goes sprawling, Bret is right back after him, charging and connecting on a running cross-body, but Michaels kicks out with authority and pushes Bret all the way outside. Nice pace.

Bret re-enters with a sunset flip that gets two. After the kickout, we go Bret armbar --> HBK armdrag --> Bret holds on and turns it into his own armdrag. Not sure I've seen that. Michaels only really stops Hart for any length of time when he hits on an unexpected sucker punch. Even then, Bret is back on him soon with a hard clothesline and a pin attempt for two. Feels like Bret was a bit too dominant here so far, but after not televising his damn title win I guess that's okay.



Standing armbar by the Hitman. Shawn escapes, they run the ropes, HBK leapfrogs and then hangs Bret hard across the top rope with a stun gun on the way back. Vince calls that move "very lucky." **** you, Vince. The stun gun is legit. Michaels and Hart both back up slowly, Michaels attempts a turnbuckle smash that Bret turns into one of his own, but he then sends Shawn into the other corner and then posts his shoulder hard as he lunges in on a corner charge. Michaels immediately seizes on the new bad arm, connecting with an armbreaker on it. Sends Hart into the corner for the really hard chest-first bump, which Hart bumps so hard on that Bobby Heenan starts screaming that we have a new champion. Of course, we just have a two-count.

Reverse chinlock by HBK, who I guess forgot that he was working an arm. Bret tries to power his way out (also seemingly forgetting that his arm shouldn't be able to exert that much force), but Shawn quells the rebellion and puts him back on the mat and back in the rest hold. After considerable struggling, the Hitman forces his way out of the hold, and then quickly eats a hard dropkick to the face for his struggles. Two-count. Backbreaker for another two, and then back into the chinlock. Wrestlers must find it easier to call spots from this hold than others, because I can't see how its widespread use is justified otherwise.



Bret summons the WIM to launch a comeback, escapes the hold, bounces off the ropes and then hits a swinging neckbreaker on the way back. The comeback doesn't last, as Shawn wallops him in the throat and leaves him crawling on the mat. Front facelock applied. The world champion forces his way first to his feet, and then lunges at Shawn in the corner. He hits a bulldog and then seems to be entering into the five moves of doom, but his second rope elbow drop misses.

Michaels back on offense, whips the champ into the ropes and then hits a jumping back elbow on the way back. Front facelock again by Shawn. Heenan makes a funny impassioned plea to just give HBK the belt because he's ahead on points. Bret forces his way back to his feet, Shawn goes for a suplex, Bret blocks and counters into a small package for two.



Shawn whips Bret into the corner, charges, Bret jumps outward and over the lunging Shawn, then executes a nice back suplex. Both men back up simultaneously. They run the ropes, Bret is able to get Shawn down on a double leg, then he catapults Shawn into the corner. I'll go my whole life never understanding who thought that the catapult was a good idea for a wrestling move. It breaks kayfabe just by existing.

Bret whips Michaels into the corner, Michaels's momentum carries him up onto the turnbuckle, Bret kicks him in the stomach to bring him back into the ring, then whips him into the ropes for a high back bodydrop. Two-count. Russian legsweep by the Hitman. Backbreaker. Here are those moves of doom. This time the elbow from the second rope connects. Two. Bret sets the challenger up on the top rope and then connects with a superplex. He's slow to cover, so he only gets two. Also that move literally never ever ever wins wrestling matches, so the speed of cover was irrelevant.

Back to their feet, Bret goes for the sleeper hold, Shawn backs him toward the corner, Earl Hebner gets caught in a bad spot and sandwiched into the corner for the ref bump. Hebner actually stays on his feet, so I guess not a real ref bump. Michaels dumps Bret to the outside. Hebner starts counting to 10, Michaels breaks the count twice to go out and do damage before returning. Officially smarter than Lex Luger. HBK with a bodyslam on the floor outside before rolling the champ back into the ring.



Hard whip into the corner puts Bret down. Two again. Back bodydrop. Two again. A frustrated Michaels goes crying to the referee about the count, Bret capitalizes by rolling up from behind, but has to settle for a very close near-fall. Both quickly back up, and Michaels connects on a hard superkick that wasn't his finisher yet. He doesn't even bother going for the pin. He instead picks him up to go for his back suplex that I think WAS his (really lame) finisher, but Bret kicks out on two for that.

Michaels sends Hitman into the ropes, Hitman comes off with a stiff forearm that staggers the challenger against the ropes. Bret with the running cross-body attempt, and he ends up just diving into the ropes and connecting painfully. HBK looks to capitalize; he heads up to the second rope, and then jumps off with the "put me in the Sharpshooter" move, as Bret catches him by the legs and apply his hold. I have no ****ing idea what move Michaels was purportedly attempting.



In any case, the Sharpshooter is on, and that's all she wrote. Bret retains. And celebrates in the ring with Santa Claus (not the Balls Mahoney edition).

Result: Bret Hart via submission (26:40)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: They started off well in the early stages, laid the foundation for what could be a classic, but it just didn't pan out that way; something was missing. Too many repeats on the same rest spots and a lame ending quickly come to mind as criticisms. The back-and-forth attempts to one-up each other were nice, and so was the pace of the match...I do think it was a good match, but as the match wore on I went from thinking it was a four-star match to dropping a couple of quarter-star intervals before it ended. ***1/2

For what it's worth (not much), Bret was not a big fan of this match, according to his book.

Yeah, it's always tough to tell what to take seriously in Bret's book. It's a great book, but was also penned when he was in a more angry and bitter place, especially toward the likes of Shawn Michaels.

I still remember being surprised that he spoke so well of Lex Luger in it. Not that I know of any heat between them at all, but there was still an effect of "WTF, he hates everyone, but he likes Lex Luger?"

Luger not getting that over helped Bret win his 2nd title, so of course he loves him.

Seriously though, Luger seemed to have arrogant non-verbal communication but was extremely nice and humble when actually talking in his younger days, so all sorts of people that talked to him extensively (Flair, Arn Anderson, JJ Dillon and of course Sting) really like him.

As a big fan of boxing, a lot of times fans are surprised when "Great Fighter A" says "Average to Below Average Fighter" was their toughest fight ever. They do this - in my opinion - because they don't see those fighters as a threat. I think this is the way Bret Hart treats relationships with people in his book, like Luger.

Possibly, though he seemed to speak nothing but well of Steve Austin, and that's a guy who actually supplanted him at the top of the company.

No question that Bret was insufferably bitter, but his heat seems to have always been directed toward those who have known heat with others as well. It didn't seem like he was out there personally feuding with known good guys like Mick Foley.

There's absolutely zero doubt that some of Bret's public beefs with people were actually continued works. He never stopped being an old-school wrestler. I actually think a lot of his beefs with Flair are/were actually works in retrospect.

As dismissive as I often am of conspiracy stuff, hearing Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman seemingly be pretty damn convinced that the Montreal Screwjob was an elaborate work will always have me wondering if there's something to that.

I actually hate that the edit button is actually missing from my last post, because I actually used the word actually way too often, actually.

I've been there. That's one weakness I can't fully shake out of my writing. Not specific to "actually," but just finding myself using the same word on repeat as a crutch.

Starrcade '92: World Tag Team Titles - Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (c) vs. Barry Windham & Brian Pillman

Date: December 28, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31673703

Background: What the hell, these were real teams? I just assumed that this was a randomized Lethal Lottery match. Apparently Steamboat and Douglas had just won these belts, and Pillman and Windham had just started teaming up.

The Match: I don't even know if Pillman and Windham are faces or heels. They show a close-up of a kid giving the thumbs down and booing, so I guess heels. They come to the ring to really generic music, and then that music just stays on and Douglas and Steamboat come out to it. WTF? Maybe a dubbing thing by WWE, but I didn't figure they would have much of that with WCW since WCW mostly just took from public domain. Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura on the call, Randy Anderson is the man in the middle.



We get Douglas vs. Pillman to start. Before they even lock up, Jesse starts randomly politarding. "You know, Shane Douglas, you know who his idol is? Rush Limbaugh. Imagine that?" Ross: "Probably not a bad deal. I like Rush Limbaugh myself." "You would." Awkward. Douglas and Pillman with a couple of low-impact exchanges to start, ramped up a bit when Pillman isolates Douglas in one corner and wallops him with a knife-edge. Some back and forth between the two continues, with no strong advantage gained either way.

The action picks up as Douglas whips Pillman into the ropes and dropkicks him out of the ring on his way back, drawing Windham in to eat a dropkick as well. Steamboat enters, and the champs connect on a double dropkick followed by a double punch to the abdomen and a double back bodydrop. The champions own the ring as the heels regroup. Pillman rolls back in and promptly tags Windham. Windham calls for Steamboat to tag in and Douglas obliges him.

Windham and Steamboat throw punches and chops at each other. Steamboat sends Windham off the ropes, hard chop on the way back, then he follows with a suplex. Snapmare by the Dragon, tag to Douglas, Douglas enters by going up top and dropping an axhandle on Windham on the way down. Side headlock by the Franchise (I don't really know if he was using that nickname by this point, but whatever) gets reversed, as Windham powers him up into a back suplex.



Despite the suplex, Windham is slow to get up, Douglas is actually quicker, and he lays in some rights before bringing the Dragon back in. Steamboat in with a kick to the ribs, puts Windham down and then executes a rolling neck snap on him. Ricky continues the assault, knocking the man from Sweetwater through the middle rope and then following him outside to bodyslam him on the unprotected concrete floor. Windham tries to go for a walk up the ramp, but Douglas cuts him off and slams him on the hard ramp. The faces are working dirtier than the heels here, but the announcers do explain that Steamboat had been busted wide open on a cheap shot to the head by Windham recently during the build to this match, so there's our justification.

Steamboat retrieves Windham from the ramp and flings him forcefully back into the ring. Reverse neckbreaker. Tag back out to Douglas. Snapmare by Douglas, and a pinning attempt that Windham meets with a "LOL GTFO" kickout at barely a one-count. Undeterred, Douglas locks in the vaunted reverse chinlock. Okay, not so vaunted, as Windham powers his way to his feet, reaches back over his head to grab Douglas's, and drops down to jack his jaw. Tag to Flyin' Brian.

Brian straight in with another jawbreaker move on Douglas. Smashes him into the turnbuckle, then whips Douglas into the Pillman/Windham corner, where Windham is waiting with a back elbow to pick the charging Douglas off. Pillman charges Douglas, Douglas has the presence of mind to sort of backdrop him, though Pillman counters by landing on the apron. Shane lands a right, takes a step back, then hits him with a hard dropkick that sends Pillman falling HARD into the guardrail. Sweet bump. Douglas follows Pillman out and forces him straight back into the ring. He tries to follow up by heading up top, but Pillman is back up surprisingly quickly (too quickly, really) to dropkick Douglas off of there and send him sprawling down to the concrete floor.



Windham piles on by dropping to the floor and obliterating Douglas with a running clothesline outside. With that sequence of moves, Douglas officially falls into face-in-peril mode. He falls naturally into the underdog role, mustering punches where he can but then repeatedly being put down hard on the mat. He fights his way even harder out of the corner against Pillman and actually gets the better of a punching exchange, but Pillman has the presence of mind to stop him from tagging out with a drop toehold and a tag-out. Windham is in with an elbowdrop, then he throws Douglas hard enough through the middle ropes that one of Douglas's feet actually comes down on the guardrail on the outside, almost surely not intended as part of the spot.

Windham follows him out, and an enraged Steamboat has finally had enough and goes at Windham with a steel chair. He rares back the chair at full speed, then about halfway through his swing he slows down to slow motion on the chair shot. Badly done, Dragon. Still, he connects and sends Windham down. Presumably the referee wasn't watching, as there is no DQ. Jesse is downright apoplectic about Steamboat taking the low road, spitting all kinds of hot fire about the chair shot.



This sequence nearly enables a tag by Douglas, but Windham is able to get in, tag Pillman, and have Pillman race across the ring to back suplex Shane before he could make it to the corner. Repeated pinning attempts by Flyin' Brian after the suplex of course go for nothing, so he picks up the Franchise and rams him into Windham's waiting boot sitting along the top turnbuckle. Tag. Windham in with the slow, methodical offense, connecting on a back suplex and then getting a near-fall on the pin attempt. Back to Pillman for a suplex and a running splash for a two-count. Steamboat, not at all working like his usual white meat babyface self, keeps getting baited into the ring, and again Windham and Pillman are able to double-team Douglas and work him over in their corner.

Douglas blocks Windham's suplex attempt and connects on his own. Windham gets to his feet first and tries to prevent the tag, but Douglas is able to connect with a right hand for separation and then finally make the hot tag to Steamboat.



Steamboat takes it to both challengers for a bit, but Windham is able to unexpectedly stop the hot tag sequence cold by catching the Dragon and powerslamming him. A back suplex follows. Tag to Pillman, who baits Douglas to get the referee distracted, then tosses Steamboat out over the top. Windham takes the opportunity to drop to the floor and post Steamboat's shoulder.

Steamboat is still able to fend off Pillman's attack as he gets to the apron, and hits a springboard tomahawk chop on the way in for a two-count. Pillman back up, hits a headscissor takeover for two. Tag back to Windham. He hits the Dragon with a hard right, but the Dragon sort of no-sells and fights his way back. Windham temporarily slows him with a kick to the gut, but Steamboat is right back after it with a facebuster. Both tag back out.

Douglas in, fights both challengers off, Steamboat returns to get everyone in the ring and then hits a cross-body that carries both he and Windham over the top. Douglas whips Pillman into the corner and then eats Pillman's boot on the corner charge. Pillman tries to capitalize and runs off the ropes at a staggered Douglas, but Douglas catches him with a belly-to-belly that proves just enough for the three-count.



Result: Steamboat & Douglas via pinfall (20:02)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: There were things I liked about this match. The formulaic stuff like the heat segment managed to stay somewhat interesting, and then there was non-formulaic stuff like the eventual hot tag to Steamboat mostly being extinguished pretty quickly, and through no nefarious means. A lot of the exchanges had unpredictable endings to them. That much I have to give a fair bit of credit to. That said, this match didn't really grab me in THAT hard. There was a lot to like, but there's no question that I got kind of restless here and there too. The actual offense was fairly repetitious, with an excess of suplexes…not cool suplexes that justify repeated suplexes, but just garden-variety standing suplexes that probably only need to occur a couple of times in a match of this length. Anyway, that criticism not withstanding, this was pretty good overall. ***1/4

I think another thing that made it difficult for me to get into that much as much as I could with others is that I have a bias against matches between makeshift tag teams where they just throw pairs of singles at each other because they have no creative plans for them otherwise. It makes me think, "oh good, you've been working toward trying to win these tag titles for...4-6 weeks?"

Obviously HHH/Austin vs. Benoit/Jericho instantly comes to mind as a stiff rebuttal, since that match is unquestionably a five-star classic (pending eventual review ITT if I get that far). But that's more the exception than the rule.

In the dirtsheets of the day, it had been reported that Bret Hart very nearly jumped ship to WCW with the IC title in 1992. One even reported that he only stayed in WWF because he accidentally let his contract roll over if I remember right.

We are in the Bill Watts era of WCW here, so guys will do things just to win titles without any additional story to it, including form tag teams.

Yeah, I had seen that rumor before too. Not too sure I buy it, but I have no basis for much of any belief either way.

Starrcade '92: King of the Cable Tournament Final - Sting vs. Vader (w/ Harley Race)

Date: December 28, 1992

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31673703

Background: Vader defeated Sting for the WCW Title earlier in the year. Vader had since ambushed Sting and hit him with a splash off the second rope to try to put him out of action permanently. Sting had fired back by attacking Vader with a 2x4. But this match actually came about as the finals of this tournament; the personal back story just added heat to it.

The Match: Vader has lost the stupid elephant outer mask for this entrance, and is just wearing some sort of do rag. It also looks stupid. C'mon man, your normal mask underneath is enough. As with earlier in the night in the Steamboat/Douglas vs. Windham/Pillman match, Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura are still on the call.



The two men lock up, resulting unsurprisingly in Vader powering Sting to the mat. Sting back up, opens him with right hands, but Vader just no-sells and taunts him. Scoop slam by the big man. And another. Vader just does these moves slowly and then rests, content to prove that the match isn't going to be a big deal for him. Sting takes a new approach, getting up and charging at Vader, but Vader drops his forearms at his charging opponent and sends him to the mat.

Vader picks Sting up in a press slam and then drops him throat-first across the top rope. And again. Vader follows with a short clothesline attempt that Sting manages to duck, and Sting finally puts Vader on the mat as he gets a running start and connects on a rolling sentan. Dropkick puts the mastodon down again.



Great German suplex by the Stinger. One clothesline by Sting, then another that carries both men out over the top. Vader loses his mask outside, tries to collect himself, but Sting keeps the momentum going and executes a pescado over the top from the ring and hits both Vader and Harley Race.

Vader still regains his feet and re-enters, and is right back after him with rights and lefts. Sends Sting into the ropes, Sting dodges the corner charge, but suffers a similar fate when he follows by whipping Vader into the ropes and running into a high boot as he follows him in. The back-and-forth continues, as Vader's attempt to follow up also fails; he sends Sting into the ropes, Sting holds on and then levels the big man with two high kicks and a DDT.

Sting sets Vader on the top rope (!!), seemingly for a superplex, but he DDTs him off the top rope instead. Very cool spot. Two-count. Sting locks him into the Scorpion Deathlock, but it's too close to the ropes, and Vader is able to get a break as he rolls out to try to recover. Again Sting isn't going to allow him to rest; he stalks Vader outside, takes a running start and goes for a Stinger Splash, but Vader dodges and Sting ends up hitting the steel guardrail hard.



Vader re-enters and hopes for the countout win; Sting beats the count. Hard clothesline by the mastodon. Whips Sting into the corner and follows him in with an avalanche against the corner. That has to (kayfabe) hurt more than the Stinger Splash. Two-count. Vader stands his man up, clocking him with a couple of stiff right hands. Back suplex, and a running splash. Two-count, as Vader kind of ****s up the pin and unwittingly pulls Sting up as he hooked the leg too high. He curses himself and then gets back to work.

Reverse chinlock by Vader, which he then transitions into an octopus hold. Man, this was some excellent work by Vader; even his rest spots look cool. Back to a vertical base, Vader goes for a short clothesline that Sting blocks and turns into an OMG BACKSLIDE HE GOT HIM DOWN that gets a two-count. The constant commitment announcers had to selling the backslide as a false finish (without any historical precedent to support it) will always amuse me.



Vader back up faster, kick to the guts. Sends Sting into the ropes, drops his head, Sting attempts a sunset flip, Vader stays up and sits straight down, but Sting dodges and Vader takes the tailbone bump. Both back up, Vader in a stronger position and hitting him with more punches and kicks. Side headlock gets reversed into a back suplex by Sting, but Vader actually recovers first and attempts a pin for two. "That's gotta just be depressing as hell, when you do the move but the other guy is up first!" I love Jesse.

Vader back in with the rights and lefts as he hammers Sting against the corner. Props to Sting, who does a great job selling all of this offense. The big man sets Stinger up top for a super plex; he goes for it, but Sting gets separation with an eye gouge and then knocks Vader all the way off the second rope to the mat with several right hands.



Again though, Vader is back up first and is back to laying in the hard punches. A battered Sting yells at Vader to bring it on. Vader does, and it keeps working for a bit, but Sting finally no-sells a couple of them and then connects on a running clothesline and a series of rights that put Vader down.

Sting picks the man from the Rockies up on his shoulders and executes a fallaway slam. Drags Vader over toward the middle and connects with a splash off the top rope. Harley Race gets up on the apron and runs distraction, which allows Vader the recovery time needed to get back to his feet and clobber Sting from behind. Almost a chokeslam by Vader. He heads up to the second rope and partially catches Sting with a big splash, but doesn't get all of it. Vader climbs back up, this time all the way to the top, but Sting is up by the time that Vader reaches the top, and catches the big man in a powerslam on the way down. 1-2-3, Sting scores the upset and wins the tournament.



Result: Sting via pinfall (16:50)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: ****ing excellent match. All kinds of fun offense by Vader, great selling by Sting, just a perfectly-executed underdog story. Way, way better than their Beach Blast match. ****3/4

Man, that match really made it an unexpectedly difficult call for this post, because I thought that War Games had it in the bag. After some deliberation, that's still going to be my choice, but it's really not by much.

1992 Match of the Year: War Games - Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance

Sting had an excellent 1992, as I would call this match with Vader the runner-up and would have Flair vs. Savage from WM 8 rounding out the podium.

Match of the Year List
1986: Battle of the Belts 2 - Flair vs. Windham
1987: WrestleMania III - Savage vs. Steamboat
1988: Clash of the Champions I - Flair vs. Sting
1989: WrestleWar '89 - Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat
1990: WrestleWar '90 - Midnight Express vs. Rock 'n Roll Express
1991: SummerSlam '91 - Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
1992: WrestleWar '92 - Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance

Just getting it compiled in one post for future add-ons.

I'm looking forward to 1993, I snuck a peek at the list and there are a lot of forgotten gems on there aside from the three everybody probably remembers (Flair/Perfect, Bret/Perfect and Flair/Vader).

Gotta say, I watched that Flair/Vader match once and couldn't understand what the big deal was. But that was long enough ago that I can't really remember it or anything, so hopefully it surprises me this time.