Ranking Who Was Really The Man In Wrestling Every Year 1990-2020
28. 1993 - Konnan
With the American wrestling industry more or less f*cked face down ass up, that left Japan and Mexico to establish the Man in 1993. The Japanese scene was in a state of accelerating growth and rude health, but Mexico had exploded in a popularity boom driven by the molten AAA promotion formed a year prior.
What happened, succinctly, was thus: a mutiny co-led by Antonio Pena and Konnan broke away from traditional stronghold CMLL, and that mutiny was comprised of virtually every hot, exciting and popular emerging talent. The breakaway left CMLL with a depleted, ageing roster.
AAA was so hot that it spread like wildfire to the US a year later, the site of the seminal, jaw-dropping When Worlds Collide PPV. Konnan was AAA's top draw; super-charismatic with a level of zeitgeist-grabbing cool unrecognisable on the global scene - and lowkey profound in its influence - Konnan was a man of the people more than he was a critical darling.
He frequently drew six-figure houses with five-figure gates on the strength of his powerful charisma.