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Yeah, even pro-NWO crowds (which the Mid-South Coliseum certainly is *not*) were throwing trash--not because of heat but because it's just the cool thing to do. Luger racking Bischoff was a nice little moment as was Giant laying waste to the B-teamers. Not an outstanding segment but any show that ends with WCW standing tall seems fairly notable, especially when it's done without the aid of Sting.

All that endless teasing and non-delivery of the big Raven/Richards split in ECW actually has a payoff--this role is a retrogression for Stevie, but not as big of a one as it could have been...if that makes any sense. Richards tells Mike to go ask the Mexican wrestlers what their favorite movies are and takes over the interview. He isn't any more successful than Tenay.

Still a terrific and out-of-nowhere angle, with all kinds of little touches like showing the montage of La Parka chairshots during his entrance, so we don't suspect anything funny from a lack of accurate La Parka strutting, and Hall leaving ringside as his long-running program with Zbyszko is heating up. DDP is back to being NWO-bulletproof, at least for a little while.

Hennig at least has some history in this building, though I'm guessing a majority of this crowd wouldn't be aware of it. Okerlund flat-out says that Hennig will be DDP's partner, and despite Hennig's denials that's not really an effective way of building a surprise. Ric and an escort come out and try to entice Hennig into joining the Horsemen by taking a page out of the Rick Pitino recruiting handbook.

This is a really good top-star-vs.-midcarder type match, with Helmsley sort of being along for the ride but contributing a terrific Harley Race bump over the turnbuckles and good enough timing in general. Mankind distracts Helmsley long enough for Austin to catch him with a Stunner for the pin. Afterward, Austin grudgingly gives some credit to Mankind for toughness and is willing to team with him for a handshake, but Mankind wants a hug instead. Austin obliges and quickly drops him with a Stunner. Then a tease for what's to come next week.

We make sure to zoom in as closely as possible on Bearer's disgusting face. Kane is disfigured, burned, and can't go out in the sunlight, but is driven by the hope that one day he can confront the Undertaker face-to-face.

Credit to Taka for actually managing to hit Sasuke anyway on that reverse springboard thing. Christopher and Lawler walk a fine line between getting themselves over and shitting on this too much with stale stereotype-based humor, and we also get some hype for Scott Putski, a sign that the WWF simply wasn't going to be able (or be willing) to make this light heavy division work. Shorter and tigher than the match the previous night, but somewhat hollower.

In a word, no. In a few more words, the only way they could possibly get away with one is if they worked it like Lawler vs. Mantell and other '80s barbed wire matches, where the wire served more as a lumberjack keeping guys in the ring rather than an excuse for a gorefest.

I can't see Bret's line being about Vince wanting to dial back the heat if they were going to end the segment with Austin interrupting O Canada--something that might have caused an international incident 5 years later. And then replaying it after the break. Another ballsy segment after a slew of them to end the PPV the night before. Vince somberly apologizes for Austin's actions, after being in his corner at Canadian Stampede.

This could be on the year-end MOTY list, definitely. Like the very best WWF spectacles such as Warrior-Savage, it's a match that pretty much transcends and defies any attempt at serious analysis. It's not perfect--Hawk and Animal bring this down quite a bit, though they have a few moments of usefulness. Shamrock's lack of experience shows a few times. But for heat and intensity and passion, few other bouts can touch it. It also surprised me quite a few times: never would I have bet that Jim fucking Neidhart would work a decent sequence with Shamrock at this stage, but he did. Never would I have bet that Shamrock would be the #3 guy in the match, but he was--he flashed some cool offense and took a nutty bump over the table. Plus everyone knew when to work 1-on-1 and when to descend into clusterfuckery, and the house-cleaning sequences are all timed well. The mirror storyline of Owen and Austin getting their legs injured gives this a running psychological thread, and nicely sets up a side feud between the two. And the ending with Austin grabbing at Stu and Harts leaping over the guardrail--holy shit, that could have led to something truly chaotic. They follow that with another holy-shit moment with Austin crashing the celebration and being led out in cuffs all while flipping the bird behind his back in an indelible image of the era. All in all just a tremendous blend of decent work, one of the hottest North American crowds in memory, and a dash of total fucking chaos and you have the WWF's #2 match of 1997 to date.

Yeah, you definitely understand why the WWF was higher on Taka coming out of this. The heat was noticeable but I liked this a good deal--actually, I think both guys need to be credited for having this good of a match, complete with lots of rope-running and springboarding, in the unfamiliar WWF ring that has eaten up many a high-flyer in the past. I was dreading the announcing going into this but all 3 do a passable job, even Lawler who I was dreading the most as he refrains from any jokes about rice or Japanese accents. I'll take this Lawler announcing a cruiserweight match over Larry Z.

A very 1995 segment for 1997...can you imagine someone now saying "that Raw segment is so 2013"?

I actually thought Goto totally outworked Tenryu here. The scientific opening was actually a lot of fun considering it was so incongruous with the two participants, and while Goto's decision to all garbage and take the boot off was arbitrary, it led to some really fun work. The ref gets temporarily taken out and does a gory blade job as Goto clobbers him with a bottle, so then Animal Hamaguchi (??!!) leaps in to temporarily take control...only for him to defer to the original ref, who has half his t-shirt torn off and is wearing a gigantic bandage over his head. Then we sort of peter to a conclusion as Tenryu slowly and methodically takes Goto apart with all his signature offense before pinning him rather anticlimactically. Like Chad said I don't know if this was "good" or not, but the Japanese indy promotions are definitely not short on providing, "Well, I'm glad I saw it" spectacles in '97.

I loved this--I've been waiting for a real breakout Felino match after really digging him in limited doses, and it seems we finally have one. Santo ties him into knots on the mat and unleashes some cool other offense, but Felino manages to pick his spots and take the first fall. Lots of urgency and near-falls in the second caida, which surprises me a bit, but makes a bit more sense in retrospect as Felino is gifted a shock 2-0 win, thanks to some screwiness involving Bestia Salvaje, Negro Casas, and towels. A delightfully Pena-esque screwy finish but Felino is still put over strong, as he hit a second-rope power bomb (which had ended numerous matches and is put over like death both by Santo and the announcers) and then another bomb, meaning Santo was pretty much doomed anyway.

It feels like ages ago that we even last saw Hennig, considering what a sea change had taken place on WWF TV since the previous fall. Really, a number of different things were working against Hennig from the start, and I maintain they should have held off until Bash at the Beach if he was going to be the mystery partner. It wouldn't have saved him, but it may have helped.

I get that Rey needed to be written out for a bit, but there was no reason for him not to come back and eventually get one over on Nash. Tons of damage done to the cruiserweight division with this, as Rey is given absolutely zero shot by anyone, mainly the announcers, and the match lives up to the advance hype, so to speak. Konnan applies a half-assed anklelock which Rey sells like his knee has been amputated. Total misfire here--WCW's worst since the Piper tryouts. Mike Tenay ineffectively attempts to get some words out of Raven.

Just a reminder that yes, Bischoff and Hogan are still around.

Sid did appear in that ill-fated tag match on WCWSN--the attack by the Kongs turned out to be their way of writing him out. The finish was simply the old Crockett "We're out of time!" trick to cover for Sid's run-in. Schiavone said they'd show what happened on Main Event but I don't know how or if they got around that.

Count me as someone who'd seen virtually no lucha prior to starting the Yearbooks. That was compounded by the 1990 set opening with a bunch of really angle-intensive lucha matches involving multiple turns and other goofiness. It's not my favorite style, but it is something I've grown to really like and appreciate.

I do think Mid-South Duggan is a guy who's a much better arena worker than TV worker.

Oh, I'd say the Kerry Von Erich match is a major point in his favor.

Mostly the "how dare this invader portray himself as a true American" angle. Distinguishing between ground troops and modern Marines is way too fine a point for professional wrestling purposes.

Humanizing Undertaker somewhat was the right move to make at this time, and they manage to do so without sinking to the "too into his character" stuff from '99. Later, Undertaker would attack Vader and Bearer would drop the bombshell that Kane personally told him what to say, because Kane was still alive.

"YOU'RE A MURDERER, UNDERTAKER. YOU'RE A GOD-DAMN MURDERER." Bearer spills the beans, almost bursting a blood vessel in the process. This ended up working, but at the time it felt like Black Scorpion Redux.

When does that ever happen in real life though? Look at pretty much every political scandal. The standard MO is deny, deny deny, obfuscate and only when you're dead to rights is there a half-admission of guilt. Maybe when Undertaker went back with Bearer, there was some language in the manager's contract that meant Bearer was guaranteed the first face-time to discuss the incident if it should come to that...or something.