Childs

I leaned toward thinking it was a shoot. Both guys moved differently than they did in most of their worked matches, against each other and everybody else. I didn't see the feeds, and the finish felt very organic. Good stuff either way. RINGS is kicking ass this year.

I'm not even sure I knew this match happened, but it was excellent. Both guys did a great job of conveying their characters through the work. It's interesting how Austin's selling was actually more important than his brawling in establishing him as this indomitable SOB. And Bret really worked more viciously as he embraced his heel persona. At first, I wondered if the match would feel tacked on after they gave such a definitive performance at Mania. But they continued to evolve in their roles and kept the antipathy vital. I think I agree with Loss about this being the best WWF feud ever -- so many interesting dynamics that were backed up so perfectly by the matches.

Didn't have much use for this other than as an anthropological glimpse at a US indy from '97. Manny still looked pretty good, but Thompson didn't bring much to the table.

Definitely worth tracking down the full version, Loss. This was probably the best match of the Carny. It's obviously not their best match, but it was a hell of a bombfest with a steady, effective build.

Yeah, Kawada's work going after Kobashi's injured arm was really good, but it never meant as much as the limb work in the Misawa-Kobashi from 1/20. Still a very stiff, well-worked match, and I liked the finish, with Kawada stalking in search of a knockout. I'll say the same thing here as I did about Misawa-Kawada. Viewed in a narrow context, this capped off an interesting, excellent night of wrestling. Viewed in full context, it didn't really click.

Misawa started this off wrestling like he was the boss, flipping the opening dynamic of the January match. I really liked the vicious look on his face as he applied the facelock early. But Kobashi's performance never felt as distinct; I didn't come away with a sense of what he was trying to do. So the match as a whole felt more like them doing a bunch of Kobashi and Misawa stuff than like a well-thought-out battle. They were great enough that it still ended up as a hell of a match. Just not memorable. Kawada-Misawa is such a strange dual experience. On the one hand, it was an interesting way to play out the end of a tournament, and it unfolded logically in that narrow context. On the other hand, it was a terribly underwhelming way to hit what should've been a key note in the decade's greatest in-ring rivalry.

Ogawa clearly had no idea how to move around in a wrestling sense. But at least he came off as imposing, and his takedown move to set up the finish looked pretty badass. As Loss and jdw said, great performance by Hash to hold it together.

Yeah, this was an overly spotty mess compared to the best MPro stuff. But it was fun to see them do it in a different setting, and a lot of the spots still looked amazing.

This made for an interesting contrast to the March cibernetico, because they built it more like a traditional match, with lots of early matwork and a clear sense of rivalry between the teams. Casas-Santo provided the thread that ran through most of the match, and their interactions all stood out. I kind of wished they were part of the finish, though I understood why that wasn't the case. All kinds of cool match-ups and moments here, with Shocker's tope and Silver King's performance standing out. I wasn't in love with Felino running the gauntlet at the end, because it seemed to come out of nowhere and unfolded a little too easily. But it was certainly memorable. Hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this.

This was probably the first great match between these great rivals, though I agree with OJ that they topped it in '98 and '99. I loved all the little bits of nastiness, from Ikeda biting Ishikawa's toes to Ishikawa repeatedly punching Ikeda in his taped ribs. They came up with so many great counters. But at root, these guys worked off one of the most traditional dynamics in combat sports -- great striker (Ikeda) vs. more rounded fighter (Ishikawa). And that just never gets old if done well. This was another 30-minute draw where fatigue and desperation elevated the last few minutes. Not sure I liked this quite as much as Loss, but it would probably be in my top 10 for the year to date.

I'm glad people will get to see a great RINGS match not involving either Han or Tamura. They didn't wear out their welcome which is always saying something for a 30-minute match in this style. In fact, the last few minutes were maybe the best in the match, with both guys clearly tired but throwing bombs and trying desperately to win. Not on the level of Han-Tamura athletically but great stuff.

Yeah, "shitty main that could've been worse" sounds about right.

I just couldn't get into this. It didn't feel wild at all compared to a lot of what we've seen on the yearbooks or even compared to Bret-Austin from the same card. And I didn't care about anyone in the match. The Road Warriors might have made the biggest swing from "act I loved as a kid" to "act I dread watching now."

Pretty sure this exists in full.

One thing that struck me: Austin, though about to explode, was still clearly below Bret at this point. He never really had a chance to win the match. It was more a performance of defiance than of command. Other than that, not much left to say about this. It was conceived and executed as well as it possibly could have been.

Not in general, because New Japan really used those matches to push and develop factional feuds. But there were a few that were more like this; I'm thinking of the 1988 juniors 10-man that made the DVDVR set. This match did touch on some of the lucha issues of the moment. But in general, it felt like more of a fun showcase (I say that with the caveat that I don't have deep knowledge of CMLL booking).

I have enjoyed Elizabeth being complicit in the nastiness of this feud.

I equate ciberneticos with playground basketball. They're all about pace and guys running in to show off their coolest shit. So you're not going to end up with the equivalent of a playoff classic, but it's likely to be good fun. That was the case here. Standouts included Niebla, Dandy and Silver King. But Santo was probably the star of the match, looking fantastic against both Felino and Casas. The heat between Casas and Santo really added something to the finishing stretch. I also enjoyed Fiera, an old favorite from the '80s sets, getting the win. As usual, he took a sick bump.

I guess I knew this happened, but I'm surprised Bret was willing to go this far with the language, given all his pronouncements about the decency of wrestling TV. How did they work this out with USA? It worked as a shock to the senses.

And here we have Shawn officially ruining anything that might've been good about the smile promo.

I didn't remember Sting getting physical with the NWO this early in the year. It's amazing they ended up being so patient with Hogan-Sting. I'll be interested to see how that plays as we go along. I guess Luger being set up as the temporary hero of WCW was the other takeaway. Overall, another intriguing chapter in the NWO storyline.

I enjoyed the story of escalating dickishness by both parties. As I said elsewhere, WCW Eddy became a hell of a lot more interesting once he went dark. Their timing was off on several spots, which was surprising for guys who had worked each other so much. But the fact they developed an actual storyline overrode the flaws.

These matches are always fun to watch with their blend of comedy, crazy spots and generally intense finishes. But there was a "been there, done that" feeling after all the great M-Pro from '96. I hate to say that given the energy of the match and the durability of the formulas. Still a nice element to mix into the flow of a yearbook.

This was an excellent addendum to the Damiancito-Cicloncito singles match. Those guys were great again, both against each other and against their respective partners. And Ultimo Dragoncito added some crazy highspots, including one of the most death-defying moonsaults to the floor I've ever seen. The minis have ruled the lucha year to date.

I was actually surprised this was in full and the Yamazaki/Hash match from the same show was JIP. That one was on the Hash box set. Anyhow, the full version of this was better than the JIP, because Kanemoto's character came across more powerfully.