AJPW 1999: The Peak of the King's Road
Mar 13, 2021 22:37:19 GMT 1
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Post by Avery on Mar 13, 2021 22:37:19 GMT 1
1998 Year End Awards
WOTY: (Won by
) Akira Taue
In a shock twist, WON gave Akira Taue WOTY, stating his excellent tag work and quite a few good matches as their reasoning for the award.
So congrats to Akira Taue for being the 1998 WOTY!
COTY: (Won by) AJPW
To the shock of few, AJPW wins WONs COTY award, seeing as how he award them multiple 5* stars in 1998 and gave them WOTY, this seems obvious.
Team of the Year: (Won by) Holy Demon Army
No surprise here either as the Holy Demon Army had multiple excellent bouts and one of it's members won WOTY.
MOTY: (Won By) Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW 25th Anniversary in Tokyo Dome)
The Easy MOTY winner for 1998 is these 2 having a 45 minute classic in the Tokyo Dome.
Show of the Year: (Won by) AJPW World's Strongest Tag Team Determination League Finale
With 2 highly rated matches, and excellent 40+ minute tournament finale, Stan Hansen announcing retirement, and a great promo from Suzuki, how could this not win SOTY?
And excellent show that happened at the tail end of the year to clinch AJPW this award.
Young Wrestler of the Year: (Won by) Takeshi Morishima
Since joining the Triangle of Power, Morishima has had a great rookie year and has put on some great matches while teaming. We hope to see him improve and maybe eventually win more of these awards
Veteran Wrestler of the Year: (Won by
) Tatsumi Fujinami
At 45, it's hard for some people to get around, for Fujinami? Well he's having 5 star matches for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and holding it strong. Well deserved after his match with Sasuke.
Female Wrestler of the Year: (Won by
) Manami Toyoto
Great matches with Kong, Devil, Takako, and anyone you threw at Toyoto is why she won this award, carrying most of AJW on her back, she was amazing all year and deserves this award.
Manager of the year: (Won by) Mil Mascaras
Truly a master at being a manger, Mascaras helped his clients and dominated this award.
Announcer of the Year: (Won By
) Jim Ross
Good Ol Jr, the great voice of WWF did his job amazingly all year as he called some of the best matches and moments.
Commentator of the Year: (Won by) Jumbo Tsuruta
At his age, Jumbo has all but retired and become one of the best commentators in the world. Same thing with JR, he improved the matches he commentated.
Ref of the Year: (Won by) Kyohei Wada
When you Ref the WOTY, TTOTY, and SOTY, it only comes natural that you'd win Ref of the year, one of the best to slap the mat in the business is Wada.
PWI 500
Memorable Names for AJPW in the Top 100
1. Akira Taue
2. Toshiaki Kawada
5. Jun Akiyama
6. Kenta Kobashi
7. Owen Hart
8. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
9. Mitsuharu Misawa
13. Minoru Suzuki
16. Kazushi Sakuraba
22. Nobuhiko Takeda
23. Yoshinari Ogawa
26. Yoshihiro Takayama
29. Takeshi Morishima
31. Hayabusa (also signed to FMW)
34. Johnny Ace
35. Vader
36. Takao Omori
37. Yoshihiro Tajiri
44. Gedo
55. Jado
87. Jensei Shinzaki
All in all, you could easily say AJPW won 1998 as a whole, establishing it's new band of top guys, continuing to push it's old core and doing a lot of things right, including win multiple awards and have 1 and 2 in the PWI 500.
WWF are still #1 in the world and won MOTY. They did great as well.
WCW won zero awards but had some people in the top 500 as expected. Overall though they are still floating and need to establish something more before AJPW or NJPW take them over as #2 in the world.
ECW did fine, some people in the top 100 in nice but a lot of the same as WCW besides it's core is a bit younger and they have a few things going.
NJPW did great with their older guys and continue to push their younger guys as they build up their future and past. They are honestly great right now and their fans are really happy.
FMW had AJPW basically come in and give them some help by putting Hayabusa on a massive stage as their junior champion.
I could be here all day talking about other promotions, but 1998 was a great year for wrestling with some excellent matches, moments, champions, promos, and everything else.
But as we end 1998, we hope to continue to Walk the King's Road as Jun Akiyama is being threatened by Suzuki for his Triple Crown.
WOTY: (Won by
) Akira TaueIn a shock twist, WON gave Akira Taue WOTY, stating his excellent tag work and quite a few good matches as their reasoning for the award.
So congrats to Akira Taue for being the 1998 WOTY!
COTY: (Won by
) AJPW To the shock of few, AJPW wins WONs COTY award, seeing as how he award them multiple 5* stars in 1998 and gave them WOTY, this seems obvious.
Team of the Year: (Won by
) Holy Demon ArmyNo surprise here either as the Holy Demon Army had multiple excellent bouts and one of it's members won WOTY.
MOTY: (Won By
) Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW 25th Anniversary in Tokyo Dome)The Easy MOTY winner for 1998 is these 2 having a 45 minute classic in the Tokyo Dome.
Show of the Year: (Won by
) AJPW World's Strongest Tag Team Determination League FinaleWith 2 highly rated matches, and excellent 40+ minute tournament finale, Stan Hansen announcing retirement, and a great promo from Suzuki, how could this not win SOTY?
And excellent show that happened at the tail end of the year to clinch AJPW this award.
Young Wrestler of the Year: (Won by
) Takeshi MorishimaSince joining the Triangle of Power, Morishima has had a great rookie year and has put on some great matches while teaming. We hope to see him improve and maybe eventually win more of these awards
Veteran Wrestler of the Year: (Won by
) Tatsumi FujinamiAt 45, it's hard for some people to get around, for Fujinami? Well he's having 5 star matches for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and holding it strong. Well deserved after his match with Sasuke.
Female Wrestler of the Year: (Won by
) Manami ToyotoGreat matches with Kong, Devil, Takako, and anyone you threw at Toyoto is why she won this award, carrying most of AJW on her back, she was amazing all year and deserves this award.
Manager of the year: (Won by
) Mil MascarasTruly a master at being a manger, Mascaras helped his clients and dominated this award.
Announcer of the Year: (Won By
) Jim RossGood Ol Jr, the great voice of WWF did his job amazingly all year as he called some of the best matches and moments.
Commentator of the Year: (Won by
) Jumbo TsurutaAt his age, Jumbo has all but retired and become one of the best commentators in the world. Same thing with JR, he improved the matches he commentated.
Ref of the Year: (Won by
) Kyohei WadaWhen you Ref the WOTY, TTOTY, and SOTY, it only comes natural that you'd win Ref of the year, one of the best to slap the mat in the business is Wada.
PWI 500
Memorable Names for AJPW in the Top 100
1. Akira Taue
2. Toshiaki Kawada
5. Jun Akiyama
6. Kenta Kobashi
7. Owen Hart
8. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
9. Mitsuharu Misawa
13. Minoru Suzuki
16. Kazushi Sakuraba
22. Nobuhiko Takeda
23. Yoshinari Ogawa
26. Yoshihiro Takayama
29. Takeshi Morishima
31. Hayabusa (also signed to FMW)
34. Johnny Ace
35. Vader
36. Takao Omori
37. Yoshihiro Tajiri
44. Gedo
55. Jado
87. Jensei Shinzaki
All in all, you could easily say AJPW won 1998 as a whole, establishing it's new band of top guys, continuing to push it's old core and doing a lot of things right, including win multiple awards and have 1 and 2 in the PWI 500.
WWF are still #1 in the world and won MOTY. They did great as well.
WCW won zero awards but had some people in the top 500 as expected. Overall though they are still floating and need to establish something more before AJPW or NJPW take them over as #2 in the world.
ECW did fine, some people in the top 100 in nice but a lot of the same as WCW besides it's core is a bit younger and they have a few things going.
NJPW did great with their older guys and continue to push their younger guys as they build up their future and past. They are honestly great right now and their fans are really happy.
FMW had AJPW basically come in and give them some help by putting Hayabusa on a massive stage as their junior champion.
I could be here all day talking about other promotions, but 1998 was a great year for wrestling with some excellent matches, moments, champions, promos, and everything else.
But as we end 1998, we hope to continue to Walk the King's Road as Jun Akiyama is being threatened by Suzuki for his Triple Crown.
