I've been thinking about colloquial decades some recently. In other words, when did the decades as we think of them begin and end as opposed to when they began and ended according to the calendar. This is what I've come up with.

I should preface by saying that this is a moving target, is really subjective, and in some ways changes by the country or promotion. In a way, that's the whole point, but it makes it interesting.

I would argue that "the 80s" for American wrestling began at one of three points: Flair/Kerry at Christmas Star Wars, Starrcade '83, or Hogan winning the WWF title at MSG.

For instance, something like a Backlund defense in 1982 at MSG feels more tied to the spirit of 1970s WWWF than the 80s as we think of them. The question then becomes when did "the 80s" end? I think there are two choices here.

I would argue that it was either at KOTR '93, when Bret had a career-defining night while Hogan had his last WWE match for 8 years or when Bill Watts left WCW, with Bischoff fully taking on that role within the year.

KOTR '93 isn't the only one that works there. You could just as easily say Survivor Series '92 or even go back to Wrestlemania VI. But 90-92 WWF feels more like holdover from the late 80s.

Watts leaving WCW signaled a major shift in wrestling presentation in more ways than I can do justice here. He was the last old school promoter or booker other than Vince to have real autonomy (to the extent that he did) in a national company.

I'd argue that "the 90s" as we think of them ended in the week between WWE buying WCW and Wrestlemania X-7. Both represented the end of something.

The 00s were kind of aimless much of the time and it's harder to pinpoint a meaningful beginning. I'd argue that the end was probably the Punk promo and MITB because it signaled a shift that was coming.

Japan feels like a much cleaner break each time. I don't really know what the turning point was -- could be Stan Hansen jumping to All Japan in late '81. That dovetails Choshu-Fujinami and Tiger Mask getting hot in NJPW a few months later.

In 1990, you have a clear switch in both major companies -- the 3 Musketeers in NJ and Misawa-Kawada-Kobashi in AJ. For Joshi, the 80s probably wrapped up when Aja beat Bull in late '92 and the interpromotional era kicked off.

In 2000, you have the folding of AJ/formation of NOAH acting as a pretty clear end of "the 90s". Misawa dying was probably the end of "the 00s".

Actually, the more I think about, the beginning of "the 90s" in Japan might have been the UWF's U-Cosmos show in November of '89. That changed the way AJ and NJ did business.

The beginning of "the 00s" probably makes more sense not thinking about WWE at all. Maybe the beginning was King of the Indies 2001.