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Rocky is still pretty raw here (no pun intended), but it's interesting to watch him work a completely different style. Bret clamps on the ringpost figure four and won't let go, drawing a disqualification. Austin is out to save, triggering a brawl with the newly formed Hart Foundation. A very promising episode of Raw, though there would be better wild brawls in the weeks to come.

Bailey/Sasha had cool moves and the favorite won, but in no way would I call it a spotfest, and it was easily the most well-liked match of last night's show.

Great promo by Austin, who takes Shawn Michaels' template after his Survivor Series loss but perfects it--coming off as an angry loner rather than a whiner like HBK. Bret's rebuttal is almost as good, quietly confident after dispatching Austin at WM. Austin threatens to bury Bret underground and pay him back tenfold for the bloody mess at WM. For two guys talking to each other this was a super-hot segment.

Mankind finally has something to do again after being lost in the wilderness since November.

I forgot that they gave us a full-blown match before the big angle--and a hell of a match it is too, with a totally different dynamic than the Japan-style tournament final. This is total babyface vs. heel, with Bulldog taking some really sick bumps and Owen leveling him with some great offense. Just as things are on the verge of breaking down totally, here comes Bret to break things up. All the awesome things about Bret's promo and Owen's reaction have already been talked about, but Vince's quiet, "I have to question the motives..." really adds to this as well. I love the implication that Bret is really doing this just for his own selfish reasons. Subtlety in the WWF--who'da thunk?

The full version really adds to this as I thought the clipped version telegraphed the draw, whereas the hot start of the full version leads you to think they'll pull the trigger on a Kawada win. Definitely the better of the 2 Carny matches--they have elements of the "evenly matched" psychology pulled off so well in the '92 CC match between Kawada and Taue, but Toshiaki gets a few long stretches of offense both early and late to put him over, and by the end Misawa really seems to be on the ropes with Kawada having answers for most of his moves. Not a standout match in the rivalry but definitely an excellent bout in its own right.

The crying spot jumped out at me, too. But that was a minor quibble in the midst of a pretty hot finishing stretch. Both guys get some heart-stopping near-falls on the other before Kobashi finally asserts himself.

Yeah, I'm a little foggy on why Sabu had to keep his word for so long not to wrestle Taz. But this was an effective and LONG build, to the point where I don't know if the match can possibly live up to the hype. Taz repeats himself a little here but cuts another quietly intense promo. In addition to the stop-start push, Taz in the WWF was sunk by the Radicalz falling into the company's lap a week after his debut.

Another fiery promo from Funk, hyping up that this is his last shot at a World title while also putting over Sandman and Stevie. I don't think the words "Barely Legal" have been uttered on television once--it's only being referred to as "the pay-per-view."

They wanted to do a mystery-man angle for whatever reason, but as soon as Rude opened his mouth everyone in the Arena recognized him. But they're sticking with the mask anyway. Rude makes an innuendo-laden invitation to Francine: "Will you go with Shane, or will you come with me?"

Basically a nothing match, though I remain surprised they didn't just put the TV belt on Savage for the hell of it. Iaukea has some physical gifts but has no presence or charisma, and it seems like there were plenty of better options for the underdog champion role. DDP saves the title but gets beaten down, still an island unto himself at this point. Iaukea gets the standard "NWO" spraypaint treatment while Page gets a big "0" from Savage.

Has the makings of a good vignette, and the budget is better than the Desperados stuff. But yeah. This would have worked better before WarGames.

Just as a heads up: you may actually want to do Beach Blast before you do the tag tournament Clash. The Clash was taped before Beach Blast but aired afterward--the only tape-delayed Clash in history, I believe.

Maybe my favorite promo ever, as Bret lays his entire October-to-present story on the line, and finds a way to indict the entire American wrestling audience on top of all the WWF wrestlers and officials conspiring against him. Shawn Michaels cuts one of the most delusional babyface promos all-time--"I have tried and tried to take the high road..." "I'm not OBSESSED with being number one..." "I don't get bent out of shape when they boo me..."--each statement more eye-rolling than the one before it. But even with the insider-y cheap shots, the venom coming from both guys feels real (because it is, of course). Bret declines to face off with Shawn then and there, but then cheap-shots him from behind and clamps on the ringpost figure four. A week after maybe the best segment in Raw history, they may have just topped it. A very incidental bit: notice how Jerry Lawler, the man who's hated Bret more than anyone over the past 4 years, starts gradually seeing things Bret's way as the segment goes on. At first he's shitting on him, then about halfway through the promo he admits, "He's telling the truth, McMahon." By the end of the segment, he's declaring that Bret accomplished what he set out to do and placing blame on Shawn Michaels. Vince, after the break: "Somehow he thinks this is what America deserves--that it's the era of the antihero of some kind. Bret Hart, ladies and gentlemen, is a confused man. And it's a tragedy." One of the deeper bits of commentary in Vince's career--this storyline really *was* a tragedy in the literary sense of the word.

The climax to the long-simmering tension between Owen and the Bulldog. This was originally going to lead to Bulldog vs. Austin at WrestleMania. Bulldog shoves the referee while arguing with Owen, and after the DQ the two come to blows. Owen demands another European title shot, and Bulldog says he'll get one and only one title shot.

These guys really do try hard to have a good match. They don't get there, but the action down the stretch isn't that bad, and they threw a few curveballs at us like Sid busting out a tombstone reversal spot. Bret interferes liberally as Shawn whines about how much Bret whines. Undertaker wins to start his first "real" WWF title reign, and yes, this whole program seemed like an afterthought in the face of the Submission Match and the Bret/Shawn drama. At least they had a plan and a direction for his reign. Shawn: "He can't stand that the spotlight's not on him!" Lawler, practically under his breath: "Boy, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black..."

Bret eviscerates that little faker Shawn, Undertaker, and then Sid. Sid finally drops Bret with a power bomb as Shawn cackles.

I don't know if it was a good idea to have this immediately follow the submission match, which featured more hatred and more intense brawling. There are some neat spots here--a few good weapons shots, and Ahmed doing a somersault over the guardrail onto Crush. Also, I had no recollection of Clarence Mason actually taking a bump here, and didn't know that that ever happened. I also can't believe more wasn't made out of the NOD using a noose on Ahmed. I think I liked this more than anyone here--no, it's not great, and it doesn't compare to the best Nasty Boys brawls much less the best ECW brawls. But it was energetic and I wasn't bored, the partisan Chicago crowd loved LOD, and Ahmed looked downright good at points. PG-13 take two tremendous bumps off a double Doomsday Device afterward.

I don't know what there is to add to this. It's trailing only Misawa/Kobashi as MOTY right now. A terrific storytelling match that felt like a sea change watching it live, and if anything has simply gotten better over time, knowing where it would lead.

Sabu speaks for the first time in ECW: "Taz, you fucking midget, get out here." Taz doesn't come out, but Bill Alfonso does. He makes the mistake of his life by slapping Sabu in the face, and ends up getting punched out and taking a SICK legdrop through a table. Wow.

Sign Guy is becoming increasingly useless with Gertner on board. The Dudleys now come off as legitimately threatening, even in this quickie promo.

Styles continues to mug for the camera as Not Rick Rude makes innuendos about Francine. Shane barges in and rebuts and demands Rude study videotapes. Wrestling promo or 1999-era DVDVR post? You decide. 45 minutes later Douglas wraps up and Francine asks an unintelligible question to Styles.

Okay, so we start with a battle royal. Once half the guys are eliminated, a team match is formed pitting the guys in the ring against the guys thrown out. The announcers play this up like they did the Royal Rumble, hyping that rudos and tecnicos would be both teaming up and facing each other. So begins the first Cibernetico on a Yearbook--and here I thought they were a 2000s thing. Casas and Santo open against each other, which is a pretty good way to ensure a hot start. And then both men tag out--leading to Silver King vs. Texano! I don't know if this was the first Cibernetico ever but this is a great way to get the stips over. We get a bewildering array of dives, bumps, and some fantastic counter-wrestling and even some sick suplexes along the way, with too many great moments to count and basically everything hitting. Everyone besides Scorpio Jr. (who isn't bad, but doesn't do anything particularly outstanding) looks good, but Casas and Niebla in particular look great, with Niebla being a new revelation for this project. Fiera, seemingly working as a babyface, has a fun closing stretch where he continues to take big bumps and stiff the fuck out of people. I could see this finishing in the MOTYC top 20, very easily. There was a bit of just about every style here.

Rick seems to have recovered nicely from his hospitalization last night--and yet, Tony only focuses on the busted eardrum he received in the car accident. Weird. The NWO starts beating down all four guys, but Luger and the Giant run in to help run them off, followed by a descent from the rafters by Sting. Hogan sells all of this brilliantly--"HE'S POINTING AT ME!" Hogan vs. Sting practically sells itself at this point, but throw in that Hogan is established as being ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of him and you've got one hot main event.

Hogan stands by with the real Hot Rod. Sting was left stung--no, BEWILDERED--at Uncensored. The Wolfpac come out and don't say much, before calling out two opponents. We cut off there--apparently it was Bunkhouse Buck & Mike Enos.