JKWebb

I agree this was odd based on the current Sting character. As Chad noted, probably the most out of place segment they have had in this build. I'm guessing they were asked in some way to promote the film and this is what they came up with...That would be a good podcast question for EB (if he hasn't covered it already)...

I think this was hilarious. Heels being heels and Nash was funny. Of course the NWO think that Bret Hart is going to come right in and join them after leaving the WWE and of course they sing for him and wave flags. This wasn't meant to actually convince anyone that Bret Hart was joining the NWO. It was just the NWO being cocky much like they had done with Sting and DDP in the past basically saying they had joined when they actually had not. The NWO was pretty funny here. I don't think the NWO is billed as a group of guys that would rehearse singing a tune ha, but I did enjoy seeing them let Curt Hennig solo a minute.

Jeff's promos are so dry. He's probably the least interesting character on the two shows at this time. WWF, of course, is using his jump back to WWF to control the narrative of how great they are. Between this and the Jim Cornette interviews the WWF comes across pretty lame trying to tell the fans how to think and what to enjoy...

I remember watching this live in high-school, & I was in tears laughing so hard. It holds up! Nash is so good here.

I love the phone call with Jackie. Just listening to him and Lance talking Golf and catching up, he had Lance and Lawler smiling ear-to-ear. Me too - really endearing segment.

Man, DDP is one brave fella. I imagine there aren’t man folks who who would have the trust is someone to hook them up like that then be raised into the rafters while never attempting to check anything or hold onto anything. That’s just crazy, and what an awesome visual it was!

What a crowd!

I couldn't agree more KB8. I love the finish of this too, he hits the headbutt and they both are out of it into the time limit draw. He's such a great heel on these shows, speaking to all the great stuff you mentioned above. There's another match with Jake Roberts on 6/23/1982, which isn't as good as this one to me, but Ricky Steamboat is commentary and points out all the little things Piper does as a heel in the match which I love. I love his Portland TV stuff too. 100% - it goes without saying, but yeah - Piper is perfect for these TV settings - one of the GOATs no doubt!

Late to the party since I'm watching this YB about 7 years after most, but really glad this made the set. Not the hugest fan of FMW, but loved seeing Ricky Morton here. Loved his performance, and I'd have to say this is my favorite FMW match to date.

What a great moment for DDP, and Sting is such a bad ass here. I love how he - no look - tosses the Bat up in the air behind him into the ring where DDP catches it... then, when the camera comes back Sting already has another bat in hand pointed directly at Hogan. Love this. Great camera shot of Sting too when he started his descent...

I am already rolling through 1997. It's the year I remember that truly made me a wrestling fan for life. I think I drifted away and only checked in from time to time after WM7 at some point, but by this point I was full force back into everything. Like most everyone around me at the time, it was Nitro that was driving that fandom. That really hasn't changed, as I have been enjoying WCW more than anything else on the YBs. That being said, my first MOTM is: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 01/20/97). I'm sure it will be my MOTY as well, as I do think it is the GOAT contender along with Clash 6 and maybe a few others (Hennig/Bock & 6-9-95 come to mind). Jan. Favorites: 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 01/20/97) 2. Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/97) 3. Eddy Guerrero vs Syxx (NWO Souled Out 01/25/97) 4. Ultimo Dragon vs Dean Malenko (WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIV 01/21/97) Jan. is great -- You get the DDP/NWO angle, The Randy Savage Return, the Randy Anderson firing -- lots of great moments.  I haven't completed Feb. yet. I'm currently at the ECW Invasion of RAW and LOD just debuted. Feb . Favorites: 1. I was higher on this than the Otani match: Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 02/16/97) 2. Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Meng & Barbarian (WCW Monday Nitro 02/24/97) I'm up to April, and I haven't really been tracking my viewing or anything, but the best match in March is obviously Austin vs. Hart from 13. Between Austin/Hart, Sting, the NWO, DDP/Savage & tons of great wrestling - as anticipated, the year that made me a fan for life will probably end up being my favorite Yearbook. The Sting segments are my favorite thing in wrestling, and they truly are my fondest memories as a fan of wrestling period. Austin is my favorite promo, but Bret Hart is really at his best here too. I love the direction Hart has taken by this point. I think my favorite feud at the moment as we get into April is DDP and Savage. As anticipated -- really enjoying the cruiserweight action in WCW - the Dean/Eddie match is probably a little underrated. Pumped to continue on through this year and on through 1999. Austin & Hart are the best thing going in April. Just incredible stuff. My favorite matches in April: 1. El Hijo del Santo, Felino, Black Warrior, Silver King, Dr. Wagner Jr., Satanico, Kevin Quinn & Scorpio Jr. vs Ultimo Dragon, Atlantis, Negro Casas, El Dandy, Shocker, Mascara Magica, La Fiera & Brazo de Oro (CMLL 04/18/97) 2. Randy Savage vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Spring Stampede 04/06/97) 3. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Revenge of the Taker 04/20/97 4. Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa (NJPW Battle Formation 04/12/97) I think Hashimoto is my favorite discovery from the yearbooks. I just never really dove into Hash until I started going through the years. Each year he rises on the charts as one of my favorites to watch. May Favorites: 1. Ric Flair, Roddy Piper & Kevin Greene vs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx (WCW Slamboree 05/18/97) - This is a ton of fun 2. Hidden Gem for me, because I don't think I had seen this before surprisingly: Vader vs Ken Shamrock (WWF Cold Day In Hell 05/12/97) 3. The Eliminators vs Tracy Smothers & Little Guido (ECW Trenton, NJ 05/03/97) - LOVE 4. Hayabusa, Ricky Fuji & Ricky Morton vs Mike Awesome, Hisakatsu Oya & Mr. Gannosuke (FMW 05/13/97); so cool seeing Morton here 5. Steven Regal vs Ultimo Dragon (WCW Slamboree 05/18/97) 6. Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa (NJPW 05/03/97 June: It has been a while since I have watched some of this, and there may be some of it that I have never seen. In 1997, I was definitely WCW first. However, I typically did try to catch the West Coast RAW feed after Nitro ended. Plus the many years of tape/DVD collecting, 24/7, and now the Network.... That being said, I don't think I realized how much I love Bret Hart in 1997. I would say my peak Bret Hart fandom was probably around the time Wrestling with Shadows came out, and I was big into going back and watching his matches etc..., but he is just at his best by this point. Heel Bret Hart 4-life. I don't know if it is the matches, or if it is just me, but I'm not connecting with NJPW and All Japan by this point in the YB in the ways I have in the previous YBs. Not sure what is up with that, but I do find I want to just get to the Nitro/Raw segments. I prefer emotional investment in wrestling over anything else, which is why Randy Savage is my favorite (because I think he was the best at pulling you in to any match or moment). By this point in 1997, I'm mostly getting that from WWF and WCW. We'll see how it shakes out as the year goes on... June MOTM: Randy Savage vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Great American Bash 06/15/97) July: MOTM: Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart & Brian Pillman vs Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock & Legion of Doom (WWF Canadian Stampede 07/06/97) Runner-Up -- Glacier & Ernest Miller vs Wrath & Mortis (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/13/97) - This match really came at me out of nowhere! What an awesome/fun tag match that I'd consider a Hidden Gem. Go back and revisit this one if you haven't seen it years, or go see it for the first time. Bash at the Beach 1997 is a super fun show. Canadian Stampede only had 2 matches on the YB, but I remember the last time I watched it thinking it was really good top-to-bottom. The BATB and Stampede PPV combo from the big 2 make a really good one-two punch for the big two in July. Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Lex Luger & The Giant (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/13/97) - Such a fun match. Rodman really does well executing as a heel. Luger and Hogan are fantastic in this. One of the better celebrity type matches out there. August 1997: I would say August is where Shawn Michaels really turns up his game from a character standpoint. His first solo interaction with Slaughter just shows how obnoxious he could really be in an entreating way. You get to see where DX and their attitude starts to come from. This YB has been pretty interesting, because I'd say for the two major promotions, they are really on fire, but in comparison to 1996 I haven't been enjoying the other promotions as much. We'll see how that goes as the year goes on. This era of Sting is such a great memory for me as a fan. JJ offer him Hogan! JJ is so funny acting like "Why doesn't he want to face Syxx?" ha - good stuff. It was such a fun time and storyline that grabbed fans like no other. Sting is WOTY contender without even ever wrestling. Also, really cool that right at the time Shawn Michaels/DX stuff is starting to kick off, you are getting The Rock in the NOD. Really looking forward to getting into this era again like this, as it has been a while since I watched the TV outside of highlights. MOTM: Hulk Hogan vs Lex Luger (WCW Monday Nitro 08/04/97) Also, ECW is firing back up as far as my interest level too. My second favorite match of the month would be the Dreamer/Lawler match. September 1997: I love the 9/22/1997 Episode of Nitro. It's really cool to see Goldberg's debut, and I remember watching it live. I love how there was literally no hype and he just walked on as this bad ass and started destroying folks. Great look - ended the match saying "there's number 1" (or something like that). Is it crazy I enjoyed that match more than a match considered an all-timer at One Night Only? ha, probably - but, that's how I feel. But, I did love the Bulldog/HBK match, but most memorably for the heat HBK gets at the end and the moments that close the show. But, back to Nitro - the first survey - Hall was great during this time, this would become one of the most nostalgic routines of Nitro. After he completes the survey he hands the mic over to Syxx to complete the 4-Life crowd interaction - much like the eventual DX would lift from them as far as some of the structure to how their routine would work too. DX was great too, and it seems they did get a lot of their ideas from Scott Hall, Nash & Syxx. I know I've heard them say they loved seeing each other on top on both channels having a ton of fun. NWO parodying the Horsemen is one of the funniest things in wrestling history. Wrestling tried to duplicate it many times, but this was best of those IMO. September is pretty huge with the Austin stunner on Vince too. What a moment. Favorite September Matches: 1. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (CMLL 09/19/97) 2. Bill Alfonso vs Beulah McGillicutty (ECW As Good As It Gets 09/20/97)/Tommy Dreamer/RVD/Sabu - all the craziness 3. Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Jericho (WCW Fall Brawl 09/14/97) 4. One Night Only: HBK/Bulldog 5. One Night Only: Taker/Hart 6. Cactus Jack vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF Monday Night RAW 09/22/97) - great moment Honorable Mention to Goldberg's Debut which I thought was perfect. September was loaded. Oh, and New Jack was diving off balconies too. October of 1997 is insane. In any other year, you would have two matches of the year with Undertaker/HBK HIAC and Rey vs. Eddie G... The Halloween Havoc DDP/Savage match is my favorite of their three (which is one of my favorite feuds ever).. Sting/Hogan is building... DX debuts their name... You get ANOTHER Misawa/Kobashi classic... DDP & Hogan have a Nitro Classic... I don't think I have ever watched a month in a YB faster - true binge watching. Shawn Michaels is has truly hit one of his best personas by this point, what a heel. This will be a heard year to pick a wrestler of the year. WCW will be the brand of the year, and I really don't think it's even close... but, oddly enough I think I'll be choosing between 3 WWF guys for WOTY. Austin, Hart & HBK. Sting is clearly the hottest thing in wrestling in 1997, but he hasn't wrestled any matches. Hogan has been off the charts as a heel, but the three WWF guys have all upped their game and had some all-timer matches within the year. Easy to see why 1997 is my favorite year in wrestling compounded with my nostalgia for this timeframe. October Favorite Matches: 1. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (HIAC) - For my money, this is the Shawn Michaels career performance. I go back and forth between this match and Sting vs. Vader @ Starrcade 1992 as my personal favorite matches of all time. It might be this one just because of the nostalgia I hold to the era, but usually it's whichever I have watched most recently at the time. It's hard for me to say Misawa and Kobashi is the MOTY with the love I have for this match, but that's kinda how it was for me in 90 with Luger/Flair vs. El Dandy/Satanico. Anyways - 2. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero - Halloween Havoc - one of my favorite matches of all time as well, and a really great memory for me watching it live with tons of friends from High-School back in the day. It's probably my most memorable WCW PPV event from the time, as so many of friends were so into it and it ended up being a better show than Starrcade. This is also my son's favorite match of all-time and I get to watch him reenact weekly. 3. DDP vs. Randy Savage - This is my favorite of the Savage/DDP feud. Spring Stampede has the best finish, GAB might be best all round because I like the match better than SS and the finish isn't as lame as the Halloween Havoc match, but DDP selling the ribs and the near falls towards the finish of the Havoc match simply make it the most enjoyable and exhilarating of the three. 4. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/21/97) 5. Hulk Hogan vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Monday Nitro 10/27/97) - It's matches like this that make you wonder if Hogan is the WOTY in 1997. This is one of the best matches in Nitro history and is in the conversation for best Hollywood Hogan match. These guys GO. Also, DDP is a WOTY contender too -- thinking of this match and his feud with Savage - 1997 is the best. I only saw the second half of the match, but that Steiners vs. Syxx/Hall match where Steiners win the tag titles was rocking! I want to go back and watch it in full when I have time. Oh, and Jeff Jarrett returning to WWF... not good... lame... awful. November 1997 Bret Hart may end up my WOTY. He had the greatest match in WWF history at WM, it's my favorite era of Bret Hart as far as promos/personality go, Canadian Stampede, his match with Shawn at Survivor Series, Wrestling with Shadows, then showing up to "save the day" in WCWs hottest angle ever. Hogan has been the ultimate heel, while Sting has been the ultimate hero without even wrestling a match until December. Austin is on fire, but he has also had some breaks from wrestling and earlier in the year was still going into his character some (would probably be my second choice). I think DDP is also in the conversation because of his feud with Savage, match with Hogan, and overall year. But, I think ultimately I think it could be Bret. I mentioned matches and moments, but consistently in the ring he is one of the best in the world all year. HBK had some breaks in wrestling too, but his second half of the year has been really great as well. Watching the footage from Wrestling with Shadows makes we want go back and watch the entire documentary. I loved it when it was originally released. Misawa is always a candidate... Favorite Matches of Nov: 1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 11/27/97) - MOTCY - Akiyama is sooo good in this match. 2. Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Survivor Series 11/09/97) 3. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki 4. Rey Misterio Jr. vs El Dandy (WCW Saturday Night 11/29/97) Watching the original footage from 1997 is key. Especially for Hollywood Hogan and ECW. Hendrix, Metallica, Ice Cube -- It's all such a huge part of the crowd reaction and feeling. If you watch Hogan's intro on the Network, they typically play the generic NWO song and the crowd noise is muffled -- same in ECW - it's always generic. I can't imagine watching One Night Stand on the Network when Sandman makes his entrance -- Honestly, I feel the same way about World Class and some of the other promotions - I just want the original music and crowd reaction. Something going through all the footage outside the Network that has really been validated for me....Plus, some of the things on Raw I believe have been edited out of the Network versions... December Favorites: 1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/05/97) - Akiyama has been so awesome to watch in 1997, one of my favorites -- really all of these guys. Misawa is always a wrestler of the year contender, and as I look back throughout the year - He's the best in the world. I thought I was going to go with Bret or Austin, and I do think one of them would be my US WOTY, but looking at the full year Misawa is the man. WCW feels like the hottest promotion to me, and I think Hogan was the perfect heel for the time, DDP was the breakout star, Luger was fun, and Sting was the perfect face and best storyline, but they didn't have one person that was doing it all at the level of Misawa. Austin would be most charismatic of the year, and I have a feeling he could be my choice for 1998. 2. Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/08/97) 3. Atlantis vs Blue Panther (CMLL 12/05/97) 4. Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs La Parka & Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97) 5. Steve Austin vs. The Rock @ DX -- The crowd was on fire for Austin. Was great to see these two in their first PPV meeting. 6. Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Main Event 12/20/97) 7. Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/08/97) 8. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart - Raw 12/28 -- Shawn Michaels vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/22/97) - Ha, I don't how to rank this. It's more of segment than match, but it's still really funny to me. This era of DX was really great. Rock and Austin are both on fire by this point too. - This had more energy and was solid way to end Nitro had they just let Sting win and move on -- Hulk Hogan vs Sting (WCW Starrcade 12/28/97) WCW had Starrcade 1997, their biggest PPV ever with over 700k PPV buys. The main event is all that really mattered, and I remember watching it live. That night, we were all just happy Sting won. I remember celebrating with my friends at the time. Nick Patrick says Hogan told him to do a "nice slow count," and Sting told him to do a "fast count." He said there were both top guys so he didn't know what to do and decided to go with a "WWF Count" at the time, which he states is just little bit faster than the "WCW Count" ha. Anyway, it didn't look like a fast count but Bret restarted and Sting got the belt. Bret gets to where he should be by the end of 97. He started off in an odd way referring the EB match, but he corrects the "fast" count and cuts a promo on the following Nitro stating he's there to face Hogan and looks forward to wrestling pros like Sting etc... 1997 was a great year to be a wrestling fan. The year holds up as my all-time favorite with great matches, moments, and tons of nostalgia.

I just want to copy/paste Bigelow34. This is one of my favorite Nitro moments, and I remember being on the edge of my seat for this in 1997. It holds up too! What a scene - the crowd was on fire for this.

I love this Austin promo. He’s the best thing going in the WWF at this point and I agree — probably the best out of ring stuff they’ve had on the show to this point.

No doubt, that crossfaded shot of Sting and Giant at the end of Nitro was incredible. What a moment. Sting is ready to own 1997 and WCW is on fire at this point. I agree about the NWO, yes there were some jobbers in there, but the idea was for them to gain more members from the start. I don't feel like it was diluted at this point, as pointed out, it was folks Sting/Luger/Giant etc could throw around. The Nick Patrick moment was great here. Hogan having all these cronies makes sense. He's on another level heel at this point.

That's a wrap on 1996. It's definitely my favorite YB so far. Obviously, WCW (which reignited my fandom in 1996) is the biggest part of this for me. But, I do think overall it was the most consistent year across the board from WCW, All Japan, WWF, CMLL, New Japan, ECW & I loved so much of what Tenryu and Takada did throughout the year as well. YB Rankings: 1. 1996 2. 1991 3. 1990 4. 1992 5. 1995 6. 1994 7. 1993 Promotion of the Year 1996: WCW 1995: ECW 1994: WCW 1993: All Japan 1992. WWF 1991: WWF 1990: All Japan I think so many wrestlers had great years in 1996. Hash, Takada, Hogan's great heel run and game changing moments, Shawn Michaels and his athleticism, AJPW and so on... But, I think the wrestler of the year for me was evolutionary, revolutionary, consistent, and he did it everywhere... WOTY 1996: Rey Mysterio Jr. 1995: Mitsuharu Misawa 1994: Vader 1993: Kenta Kobashi 1992: Randy Savage 1991: Randy Savage 1990: Mitsuharu MIsawa Match of the Year 1996: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96) 1995: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 06/09/95) 1994: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 06/03/94) 1993: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - 7-29-1993 1992: Sting vs. Vader from Starrcade 1992 1991: Warrior vs. Savage WM7 1990: El Dandy vs. El Satanico - 12/14/1990 For the first time, I think I'm going with Austin/Hart from Survivor Series as my US MOTY in 1996. My other top two matches of the year (outside of the overall MOTY: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/06/96) ------ were Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 05/24/96) and El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas vs El Dandy (CMLL 12/06/96). Other MOTYCs: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - 09/05/1996— Shawn/Diesel and Shawn/Mankind - Sting, Lex Luger & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael (WCW Monday Nitro 07/29/96) - Rey/Psicosis from BATB and Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 4/29/96). A few matches I want to call out as personal favorites and because of the moment would probably round out a top 10 or so for me: BATB 1996 Main Event and even higher on Fall Brawl 1996 Main. Looking forward to 1997 and watching more of Austin's rise...

Hogan rules the end of 96. The heat he gets is off the charts. This segment is incredible from Piper to Hogan and the Giant turn. I like the idea of Giant realizing he’s not getting what he wants out of the nWo so he’s pissed, plus Hogan was fantastic here. I love him waiting until he is safe outside the ring before he tells the boys to “get him.” Nice touch to get even more heat rather than the more obvious choice of a low blow.

I agree - odd this moment isn’t talked about more. Love this match and pop Luger gets at the end when he pulls out the victory. Love this PPV.

This a masterful Hollywood Hogan heel Performance. Also, Piper coming out was a huge moment. I love his delivery of the line that Hogan didn’t make the fans, they made him. This was really entertaining from top to bottom.

Yep, I really love this storyline. They built this really well, and as noted the NWO does feel really fresh. Hogan is super heel here beating up his old friends again and making Liz watch as he does that and trashes Savage. Great angle here. I can remember that it was between Sting and Fall Brawl and Savage vs. Hogan and on through Piper (down the line) that I started hearing the buzz at school about WCW and the interest amongst folks that didn't normally talk about wrestling was picking up (in my school anyway).

Savage & Liz are the best. I love how Savage goes from hyped to distraught - his reaction is great. They get you emotionally invested in this storyline like it's 1991 again.

These segments are fun. I know this is 5 years later ha, but he said "Bill Marriott,." instead of Bill Murray. I assume they were at the Marriott hotel since he was holding a picture of him from some type of brochure in the room...

This was great. It was one of the moments that really sucked me, and all of my friends, into the nWo/Sting/WCW angle back in the day. Sting laying out the nWo and telling Luger/WCW to stick it (after they didn’t trust him) is one of my favorite moments in wrestling. Everyone wanted to see what Sting would do next. This VHS was rented many times.

The crowd is nuclear for this. Awesome moment & angle — I don’t have anything to add, but just had a ton of fun watching this tonight.

Thanks to Chad for tor bringing this one to my attention... I absolutely loved it. Piper delivers a masterful performance here. As noted, the struggle of what would be considered more basic moves is just incredible. I wish I could see this type of struggle and logic applied to matches more frequently in current wrestling. Everything counts. They are trying to win every second, someone can win at any time, there isn't a set up - it's a fight... and that is what makes it so entertaining.

This hits like hidden gem territory for me. The crowd is hot, Sting & Luger are both fired up, Flair is entertaining as can be, the action is hard hitting, and the ending was fun as hell. I'm the high vote on this one. Love the bump Flair takes off the Sting punch onto the apron on the outside.