Kevin Ridge

I don’t think this is NWO country but when camera cuts to the fans they make sure to show NWO fans who were cheering.

Huge shoulder block by Benoit on Guerrero. Mongo wants Jarrett. This was fun and Mongo showed he could be fine as part of a tag team. Great crowd.

Konnan wears a birthday hat on top of his regular hat which works in this segment.

Michaels having to team with Triple H. Shawn keeps trying to grab Taker’s foot from the outside. He’s not too eager to face Undertaker head to head. Speaking of heads check out that chairshot. WWE has done a great job removing that stuff that when you look back it’s rather uncomfortable to see guys taking unprotected chair shots to the cranium.

Lawler looks fine off his loss last night to Dreamer. Austin goes right into a tirade complete with throwing fruit at Ross. Lots of bleeps from Austin. Steve may not be currently wrestling but will still be very visibly on TV.

Bret was just so on fire but him feuding with Patriot and Vader is such a step back as WWF champion.

I am laughing that Johnson and Faarooq battled for a year before Ahmed joins the Nation. Ahmed gets injured a week later and now Faarooq boots him out of the Nation. Rocky sucks chants from crowd before Rock even talks. Good first effort but memory tells me he’s much stronger on the mic by the end of the year.

Nice throw back to 1990! McMahon talks about Rude’s benefactor. DiBiase? Raw must have been sponsored by State Farm with the insurance quips.

Shane had lost the TV title but wins the ECW World title. Gertner makes a pitch to Douglas to join up with the Dudleys. Smothers trying to play peace maker and D-Von punches him in the face. Funk still fighting. Here’s New Jack! I loved Terry just sitting against the ropes and then randomly hitting Axl in the head with a frying pan.

Eager to revisit this one as was unimpressed on early viewings. I do no think I could give up my beer to a wrestler for him to use as a weapon. Lawler bloody already. Dreamer beating the crap out of him all over the crowd. Perfect start by Dreamer go lay it in like that after the issues building up to this match. Lawler defaces Dreamer's ECW shirt which just fires up Tommy. Straps down! I find the lights out appearances to be flat. Crowd audio is not helping. Cool to see Jake but he hits a DDT and then just walks off. Sunny is there for cat fight that barely lasts three seconds. To go from the Jake surprise to Sunny was a downer. Good match up until the interference.

My first ECW PPV that I got to order live. Jenna was so hot in her prime. Great intro by Gertner for referee. I disliked the lighting for this show as felt so different than their lively Arena shows. Would have preferred seeing PG-13 work as heels in ECW but there was a lack of face tag teams. I do like seeing the arm wringer spot pop.

Shaky camera was annoying. Since Lawler is an outsider they should have tried to give it the more polished WWF presentation type interview.

No more BWO. I miss Taka being out there. Nice four way submission on each limb. A bit different than other matches as Loss pointed it is more serious feeling between the teams and it works. Little of the comedy spots. Heavy use of submissions. Part of me wouldn’t want these guys to be wrestling like this all the time but changing things up can keep it refreshing.

You're right. I shouldn't be lumping Yamazaki in with MMA. I had meant the shoot guys like UWFI, Rings, etc. I view them as an alternative. But I'm just against how much the shoot stuff became part of NJPW going forward. And I'm not a fan of Hash being caught up in it against the likes of Ogawa.

I watch this Haseman guy and think of how badass Glacier could have been with someone like this. Though Hasemen did seem to get apprehensive as the match went on. He takes a vicious palm strike to the face for the KO.

JJ was the master of the coin toss. But not the contract negotiation. I refuse to believe Syxx agreed to sign a contract to face Sting. Dillon is slow to pick up on who Sting wants to face. The crowd knows who Sting wants. Will JJ make it happen?

Yep, weird crowd. Heavy on cheering the Steiners but chanting along to the NWO sayings. Einsteiners?

Well, Michaels wasn't full heel here as he gets dropped throat first on the railing. Some kid comes over to check on him and they have themselves a nice hug. His tights and boots are heelish. Big pop from the mandible claw. Sturdy WWF announce table. Triple H and Chyna out to watch. Hmmm. And Rick Rude too! Shawn wins but needs a lot out outside help.

Foley's promos are great but I'm more excited about Brakus' debut.

The Nation are down to three members with Ahmed's injury. Maivia shows up after his own injury and helps Faarooq beat Chainz! And up we go.

That is a great line by Bret. I do love that WWF played this stuff up showing how much loved Bret was by fans outside the United States.

I didn't recognize Colette. Dude with a fun promo. Nice contrast to the Mankind stuff. Dude's Walrus promo finish had me cracking up.

Any cheers for Michaels are only from the female fan base. I like the idea of Shawn Michaels sitting at home on a Saturday watching Superstars. Slaughter's chin becomes an immediate target. I hated Shawn before but damn he's really wanting me to see someone kick his ass right now. Michaels has himself an "insurance policy".

I lean more towards the crowd not buying him as they seemed quiet for most of match. The head dropping might be getting overboard in 97 but damn do I love the brainbuster from Hash. He and Chono have a post match face off.