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None of that subtle or intricate matwork shit here--this consists of bombs, bombs, and for the occasional change of pace, bombs. And what bombs they are--Santo hits some absolutely gorgeous dives and Felino unleashes some pretty killer offense that has Santo dead on numerous occasions, but Santo gets out of it with some heartstopping rope escapes. Bestia Salvaje trips Felino coming off the ropes and an incensed Negro Casas runs in and attacks Santo for the DQ. Not really the best finish ever but it worked in the sense that I want more, more, more of this feud. A low-level MOTYC right here.

Yeah, the Outsiders aren't the most dynamic tag workers but they know the ins and outs of how to build a solidly worked tag match. Benoit was pretty awesome for the house afire stuff and Hall and Nash both sold for him really well--this feels like it could have been a coming out party for him and a chance to elevate him farther, but we all know that didn't really happen. Syxx gets the Buzzkill on Flair's injured shoulder before Mongo makes the save, and then we're joined by Rick and an almost unrecognizable Scott Steiner, who I seriously thought was Scott Norton for a second.

There are worse Rey promos out there. The splintering of the NWO continues, as Konnan despite claiming to be a Wolfpack member is sort of in his own world.

Good little segment even though Luger had practically caught up to the B-teamers by the time they both reached the locker room.

Richards has taken the liberty of negotiating Raven's contract on his behalf, and put together a blockbuster deal that sees Raven getting a full-sized rental car and tape deck and *almost* as much money as Dancin' Stevie. Somehow Raven is less than impressed. Raven's poetry may not be as good as the Genius' but Poffo didn't have Okerlund and Dillon there to play off of it, either.

I'm not sure what the thing with the "newest Horseman" was supposed to be about, but it kind of makes Flair look dumb...again. Syxx comes out instead and gloats over Arn being gone and Flair's previous shoulder injury, and mentions that he only came back because he spent all of his money--holy shit. Flair backing off and then sucker-punching Syxx was a glorious moment, which worked precisely *because* it was so predictable, and because Syxx sold it so great. All in all a fun segment.

Quick and to the point: Hogan is responsible for all the fans here and all the wrestlers in the back, and Luger's just another name wanting what he's got.

Zambia actually did have its own wrestling scene in the 1950s and '60s, going back to its days as Northern Rhodesia.

Interesting contrast here--the big, bruising Tariel works quickly during the stand-up portions, while the smaller quicker and lighter Tamura has to slow things down. Usually in wrestling it's the opposite. Tariel is big and impressive throwing strikes but the mat portions are almost like Tamura wrestling against a log. It's kind of too bad Tamura had no interest in wrasslin' because he's charismatic and broad and theatrical and smart and would have been a tremendous pro-style worker. Another Shootstyle for People Who Hate Shootstyle special--Tamura is pretty much a lock on the Most Outstanding Wrestler list this year.

Not that good of a match in isolation, but anyone with a pulse got so worked up over the course of this episode of Raw that it's hard not to get drawn into the intensity and suspense of what was going to happen next. The crowd is still hot, but not electric like they were earlier or were in Calgary--I suspect they were burnt out over what had already happened, Raw running late, and it being extra-late in Nova Scotia. Austin is still working on another level from most of the people he's in the ring with, and Owen and the Dude have a few nice sequences together. Clever use of Brian Pillman, coming from under the ring having not been seen all night, to cost Undertaker a shot at the flag.

Not a good night for Vince.

Bearer's proof of Kane's existence is kind of flimsy, which JR calls Bearer out on. This causes Paul to freak out--"YOU DON'T WANT TO GO THERE, JIM ROSS."

One of the best Raw segments in a loaded year. This whole episode seemed like it threatened to descend into complete chaos. The Halifax MetroCentre isn't a tiny dive bar of an arena or anything, but the fans are packed right on top of the action, and here it feels like we're about 5 seconds away from people jumping the guardrails. Also, notice how Shawn went out of his way in his last 2 promos to show that it was Vince's decision on what his role would be at SummerSlam.

I like Albright as a worker more than most--there are singles matches with Nobuhiko Takada and Misawa where I thought he was the better worker of the two. And when he gets to where he's suplexing motherfuckers, he's fun. But I *knew* that match wasn't going to impress Parv. As your pal jdw put it in his AJPW '90s Ballot way back in the day--it's probably not *really* the 20th best or 19th best AJPW match of the '90s, but if you were putting a comp together, you'd want to include this match over a random usual-suspects tag that may technically be a bit better, just because AJPW gets very samey and Albright is different. That's assuming you see it as a **** match, of course.

Mega-boos for Shawn even before JR can get the introduction out. Glorious. Shawn responds with the first of many crotch chops to come. Vince chuckling along with all of Shawn's comments is pretty unbearable. Shawn plays this crowd like a fiddle, and this is way better than his attempt to recreate that magic in Montreal in 2005. His way of playing off the crowd chants and not letting himself constantly act above it all is also refreshing--when the crowd gets louder with the "WE WANT BRET" chants, Shawn gets angrier.

This Halifax crowd may be even more jacked than the Calgary crowd. Cornette has a hilarious rant about having to go Halifax in his '97 timeline, maybe they were starved for entertainment. Bret calls the U.S. one giant toilet bowl, because most American wrestlers are full of crap. Bret, Owen, and Bulldog all throw out challenges for the six-man flag match to their respective SummerSlam opponents. It is great how the venues and cities themselves are becoming characters and product influences in their own right. We've gone from Bret's hometown to Shawn's hometown back to Bret's country, back to the U.S. the next week, all of which is going to have a unique impact on what's going to happen on a particular show.

Bracchus is coming and he appears to be targeting the Hart Foundation. WWE developmental has certainly come a long way.

I'm not sure OJ isn't correct here--I definitely recall them doing practically the same finish before, with Anjo countering Tenryu's power bomb into a reverse jujigatame for a hot false finish before going down right after. Hell, no matter, I never mind seeing these two beat the shit out of each other, and with these two you kind of know what you're getting regardless of the year.

This was half as long as Hotta vs. Asuka and therefore twice as good. The appeal of joshi shootstyle remains utterly lost on me, however. This did get my attention with a nasty kick to the face by Yamada that served as the turning point in the match.

Patriot finally seemed to be putting it together leading up to and in the 1996 RWTL teaming with Kobashi: - vs. Williams/Ace (10/12) - vs. Albright/Sabu (11/21) - vs. Misawa/Akiyama (11/22) That last match is one that I like more than seemingly everyone else who reviewed it and is the best I've seen Patriot look in AJPW. I can't fathom voting for him but almost every time I watch him--from Global, to Stars & Stripes, to AJPW--I'm taken aback by how solid he is.

Yeah, no way I'm doing my full Pulp Fiction recap for this. Even the best parts go on too long, when these work better as a series of rapidfire bits. Naturally Cornette and Lawler still know how to cut the art of a succinct promo.

Douglas threw the match to Taz so he could get rid of the TV title. Shane can blither for as long as he wants if it means I get to look at Francine in a bikini.

PG-13 regain the tag titles at an unidentified house show (filmed like a TV program), when "P.G." Walker DDTs Flash Flanagan onto a chair. Flanagan does a stretcher job at PG-13's hands for what seems like the 17th time. JC Ice and Wolfie D stand by, cutting a good, serious promo.

Even watching all that '96 GAEA, I've never seen Tamura before. Uematsu was one of several girls to really impress me, and holy shit is she impressive here as well. Well, they both were, but Uematsu does one of the greatest body part sells you'll ever seen in wrestling, and easily the best I've ever seen in joshi which is a genre not really known for matches built around body part psych. Tamura relentlessly targets Toshie's knee and back and seems to have an answer for everything Uematsu tries as it all ends up back in some tricked out knee bar or anklelock. She's like a bigger, nastier, best possible Plum Mariko and Uematsu is a smaller, more sympathetic, and more technically sound Bayley. Both women also unleash some incredible offense that is too complicated to even describe but look like natural, organic wrestling moves. Uematsu makes a gallant comeback but Tamura, as she has the entire match, has one more answer and counters a Victory Star Drop into a reversal for the win, as your heart sinks along with Uematsu's. Unbelievably this is joshi wrestled like a classic 1970's title match--the emphasis on matwork and even the subdued, golf-clapping crowd contribute to that atmosphere. Terrific stuff that hints at how great joshi can be even when it's toned down. This will be on the MOTY list at the end, and the only thing holding it back from fighting for a top-3 spot is that it ends in 20:09 when I could have watched this go 45+.

I wasn't all that inspired by Lex's long entrance or promo, but a WCW guy closing Nitro out at least changes up the formula a bit. Sting disguising himself as a fake Sting is pretty darn clever.