Zenjo

It had a decent opening before the ad break. About 7m was then clipped out. When they got back it felt like a draw all the way. Akiyama and then Misawa took beatdowns. All Japan by the numbers you could say, but the wrestling was good and it was a pleasant way to pass the time. Plus there was a shock twist as Misawa pinned Ace at 29:50. I liked how they'd do that just occasionally without ever overdoing the idea. Keep the audience on their toes. There were some minor issues with Johnny's moveset. Aside from that strong showings all around.

Here we have it; the most controversial match of the 90's. It gets forgotten that it was a pretty useful match as well. Shawn was awesome at inciting the Montreal fans who wanted to jump over the barrier and punch him. That type of behaviour had barely been seen in years. What a degenerate scumbag Michaels was. High energy and high intensity crowd brawling between two men who hated one another. It was as stiff as you'll ever find either man working. Once they finally got in the ring and started wrestling it lost some of the earlier momentum. They were moving towards the finish and then surprise, surprise. That they'd never fight again adds to its legacy.

Right from the start it felt like a higher tier match than the group phase. The build was really impressive. Sasuke had his injured knee worked over in Southern Tag style. Teioh and Funaki may be the lesser wrestlers from Kaientai, but they were good workers who performed their roles capably. They'd given themselves such a strong base, yet the latter stages were disappointing. Sasuke's selling was as you'd come to expect. The bigger issue was that it felt unwieldy and unfocused in contrast to earlier. I found myself wanting it to end as the rating was going down rather than up. It was still a fine effort overall. The fans rushing up to ringside afterwards was cute.

Sasuke came in with a bad knee which was a focal point. There were several times he was being worked over and Delfin just came into the ring and replaced him without making a tag. And the referee didn't care a bit. Seriously WTF? There were minor issues with selling and execution as well. Yet this was a good match in general with flaws. It went the right length and I appreciated the submission result fitting in with the earlier work.

Pretty much everyone seems to love this match. I've always found the level of praise quite mystifying. I've watched it several times over the years and always found it to be really good rather than great. Having said that it is the best WCW bout of '97, so I do like it quite a lot. The mask vs title stipulation is insulting to Mexican wrestling. Guerrero was on offence the majority of the contest. Rey fought back in short, sharp bursts. Some nice moves with impressive execution. Really crisp, they nailed everything. Structurally sound as well. The US-Lucha fusion style doesn't always connect that well with me, but the appeal here is universal. There aren't any flaws I can pick out, I just don't think it has the scope to be a classic.

This incredible late 90's rivalry produced Triple Crown Classics in three successive years. This instalment didn't have the scope or ambition of the other 3 in comparison. It was still a really good match. Misawa was in better shape than he had been at other points during '97. The wrestling quality was strong. There weren't that many highspots or forays to the floor during the build. They kept the combat in the heart of the ring and utilised a wide variety of moves. The selling was good. Probably the biggest problem was that of crowd conditioning. They knew none of these main events would end early. Until a flurry of head bumps signalled the start of the stretch there was little audience involvement. They went full out in the closing stages. Momentum only shifted occasionally so both men took punishment in turn. Whilst the quality was certainly there it was more a match to appreciate than one to get excited by. There wasn't enough storyline. Misawa got the duke with the Tiger Driver '91.

I know it's got a great wrestler in it but this didn't look all that hot on paper. Johnny Ace was miles better in a tag environment where his weaknesses could be covered. This was his singles best bout. Taue soon took control and was in the ascendancy early doors. Ace showed strong toukon as he made his comeback. It had the potential to be sloppy, yet the execution was good today. There were odd moments when they weren't on the same page, nothing major. Well paced and structured. Akira survived a tough examination before coming through.

I liked the restrained beginning as both teams worked their way up to speed. The middle stages featured a Kobashi FIP segment with his pre-injured leg. Ace coming in like a house o' fire after the hot tag had me marking out. Johnny is the fucking man. My enthusiasm was not shared by a really tough crowd. They held it back from being anything more than a good match. It was an occasion when less would've been more down the stretch. Most of what Taue vs Ace did was sloppy. The American scored the minor upset victory.

The first ever Hell in a Cell, and still the best. The Undertaker swiftly took command and dominated the opening 10m. I'm not usually a fan of Shawn's pinballing, yet it was effective here in putting over the environment. Taker made full use of the steel as he mercilessly punished his foe. HBK took his beating before starting to find openings and work his way back into the contest. The cameramen inside the cell were providing great shots, but were getting too close to the action. So it made sense when Michael's beat one of them up. That provided a reason to open the door and allow access to the roof. Things went to another level. Shawn got busted open and then took an unpleasant trip. Undertaker was about to finish the deal before the unforgettable appearance of his brother Kane. One of the best debuts ever. A highly memorable bout that justified its 30m duration. Awesome visual of HBK at the end, laying face down in a pool of his own blood. A WWF classic and top 10 worldwide for '97.

Promo Azteca - Good in theory, run by Konnan. This was probably the promotions best offering. Santo and Psicosis carried over their rivalry from AAA. At times it felt a bit house-showy, although it had higher workrate than AAA TV tapings. Psicho's new wave brand of rudoism was certainly American influenced. Uninspiring matwork in the early going. It was better once they picked up the pace with some nice dives. Good stuff for the most part, lower end top 100 for the year. The finish was cheap and nasty.

There was some slick matwork in the opening fall. Fast paced and featuring beautiful application of leverage. It's only in Lucha that you can add in a (good) comedy sequence without making the overall match less serious. Surprisingly the segunda didn't feature a rudo beatdown. It was high tempo and technical all the way. Plenty of high flying aerial action. Doc-tor Morales got the falls mixed up, which reminded me of NBA Jam. Another difference from the norm here was having it go 1-1 in the final fall. Dual pinfalls are so entrenched it's exciting when they do something different. Damiancito turned it up to lightening speed at the end, looking tremendous. Some outstanding aspects to this. A high end trios. It wasn't a high end match for '97 though. There was a sprinkling of sloppiness. But the big downside was that it didn't feel like a feature bout. That's a massive thing for me, a requirement for reaching a certain level. It doesn't have to be a main event, but it has to feel important.

Sometimes a match that looks great on paper fails to deliver in the ring. Not this one. At all. Arguably the two greatest practitioners of the shoot style going at it and the fans were loving every moment. It was only in Rings that the audience were conditioned to believe that a main event could end at any moment. Excellent matwork as they tied each other up in knots. Such innovation and creativity on display. It flows so quickly and never feels rehearsed. Some good strikes as well. My only complaint is that like in January I was left wanting more. A big win for Tamura. He looked to be in phenomenal shape. An athlete at the peak of his powers.

The latest Legends With JBL is a fun watch. It had the atmosphere of two guys catching up over a beer. I'm not sure it contains anything ground breaking, but Hansen is someone I could listen to for hours. He comes across as someone very content with his life and career, with no bitterness and few regrets. They mainly cover his early years in wrestling and the 80's. JBL seems to think Stan and Brody were the greatest tag team of all time, which is a rare opinion. There isn't much there about the 90's.

Not a standout or feature match. Aside from one badly blown spot it did feature decent action however. Not much in the way of heat. The finishing move was bit scary. The superplex started off at the wrong angle and Wagner's head only just got tucked in in the nick of time.

A fantastic promo beforehand from the three Faces of Foley. Having a hardcore feature match at MSG was a boyhood dream come true for Mick. As he was laying in the wreckage afterwards you could tell how much he'd enjoyed it. The 10m shown was just about right. Long enough to feel complete without any downtime. Plenty of energy and of course weaponry. Including the obligatory trash can. The falls count anywhere stip is a neat twist that adds to the more familiar hardcore rules. Fun, fun, fun. Agreed this was HHH's career highlight thus far.

Here we have the emergence of the WorkerTaker. He'd certainly picked up his game from the no-selling Zombie years. To this point his best straight up singles bout. The layout was very much in the Hitman mould. A lengthy encounter with consistent workrate and pacing. Bret had his ribs attacked. Serves him right for clattering into the turnbuckles so damn hard. Then there was a long period of leg work as Hart softened up his prey for the kill. The finish was a bit of a cop-out, but not too bad. A most satisfying World Title match.

A reasonably satisfying bout, although these two could certainly have produced better. I felt like they were holding back a bit because of card placement. There was a natural size and strength vs speed and technique dynamic. The structure was sound. Vader had the majority of the offence as expected with Owen searching for openings. It was cut short a little at the end.

Sugar had forgotten her ring attire so Ozaki let her borrow a spare outfit. The exchanges between Oz and Yamada were the highlight as they built a rivalry. Except Yamada was also feuding with her tag partner. GAEA storylines could get complicated. Decent match without being standout. Some sloppy work from Kaoru was a problem. It was therefore apt that she fell to Satoh in an upset finish.

These late '97 Goldust & Luna segments have to rank amongst the weirdest shit I've ever seen on a wrestling show. The most likely explanation is that everybody involved in this was on psychedelic drugs. I was trying to explain to a young relative the other day how crazy the attitude era was and decided to show him this as evidence. Probably a mistake.

I did used to lose the standard 5* system. But once I started ranking large quantities of matches I found it to be to be a bit too limiting. When I'm doing say a top 100 list for a particular year then lots of the matches would end up with the same rating. It's okay if you can actually remember all the matches, but it can be a long time since I started watching. So I give a 5* formula rating but each 1/4* is split into low, medium and high. That way when it comes to sorting a list out it's a lot easier when you have already split the ***1/4L from the ***1/4M and the ***1/4H. If a match is below ** I don't bother to split it. Some people use a percentage system, but I feel that's too many possible ratings. My system works out about halfway between the 5* system and a % system in terms of complexity.

From Funk's hometown on one of his multitude of retirement tours. So there was a very partisan atmosphere. They began with a period of matwork and I wondered if a Hart technical clinic was on the way. Instead Bret started heeling it up and then went to work on the leg. Much of the match had an 80's feel to it with the loose pacing. Terrence launched a comeback and it organically turned into more of a brawl. The no DQ rule was certainly utilised as chairs and outside interference came into play. Does anyone not hate Bruce Hart? He can fuck off and die. Bret also sustained no small amount of leg damage. In the end the touring champ scrapes the win in a photo finish. The 80's can keep some things. Overall there was plenty to enjoy, and it was an ideal way for Funk to not bow out. It got me thinking how 70's/80's Funk vs 90's Bret would've been quite the treat.

Both men brought plenty of purpose to the early stages. They could've done a shorter bout, but in the end stuck to what had become the traditional longer duration. The workrate was certainly high. It would've benefitted from more variations in tempo. On paper Akiyama didn't have much of a chance of victory. Yet on the day Misawa was clearly not in peak condition, looking like he was banged up and under the weather. When Jun gained the momentum 15m in he was clearly the younger and fitter man, and that gave him an opportunity. Ultimately he wasn't good enough to take it. This lived up to my expectations going in.

People in the crowd were also doing the Alex Wright dance moves during the entrance, making me feel like a slightly less monumental nerd. Once the bell rang things got off to a lively and positive start. The German's gimmick made him a natural heel and there was plenty of good action on show too. Unfortunately the middle stages really dragged. Wright kept applying rear chinlocks as he had no idea how to construct a long control segment. It brutally exposed his inexperience. Ultimo wasn't someone who could carry an opponent either. They got back on track once the pace picked up again. Decent finish.

Jericho was in serious need of a heel turn at this point in time. His facial expressions here were the worst I've seen in some time. This contest started off slowly and took a while to get going. It would've benefitted from being JIP. Some weak arm work from Y2J before Eddy took over. It improved the longer it went and was really cooking in the closing stages. They got where they wanted to go in the end and delivered a good 'un.