soup23

We get the big debut of Bret as a ref for Bischoff vs. Larry Z and the overall narrative of whether he is or isnt NWO. He feels like a hot guy here coming out to a huge reaction and tells Bischoff he will have to do things himself in the match. I still dont know if I would have placed him in this role right off the bat.

Cant ask for much more from a 7 minute spot fest match on Nitro. They did a ton of stereo and cooperative spots that were extremely intricate and fluid. Rey and Juvi pick up the duke with the 450 in a great spotfest. With the roster WCW had at this point, there was really no excuse for them not to have a 8-15 minute showcase match each week.

NAO are pretty much established as DX junkies with this beatdown. It is rough to see DX come out on top again but they at least showed more hatred with this post match scene with the destruction of the table and shaving of Hawk's mohawk.

One of the more memorable Austin moments of all time as he chucks the IC belt into the river. I know Parv was talking about memorable moments with Dibiase a few days ago but just in the past three months we have Austin stunning Vince, The stunner to D-Lo on the truck, and now this.

Cant really imagine driving around with 100% whoop ass on your ride.

Thanks Slick for the comments, again glad you are here. Mick, I really agree with you. I almost think a non-title match of the first fall would have been acceptable.

Cant believer how over Owen was at this point. I don't know what they should have done booking wise for him and am undecided if him vs. Shawn at Rumble might have been the way to go but he should have been a main player for sure. He was great here as the rebel with a cause going toe to toe with Vince.

Rock was great in his promo here and he does plant the seed for his dissension from the Nation. He gives Austin an hour to return his property. We know how well Austin follows rules.

This feels like a 1995 commercial happening in 1997. 15 bucks for the CD is not a bad deal.

Al Snow and head is just something I could never get behind. I want deny it didn't get over and this video fits Snow well but it is not for me.

I had a Pulp Fiction vibe watching this. Blue Meanie in a tub is not something I needed to see.

DDP vs. Hall feels like the definitive NWO vs. WCW match. Hennig is wearing a Syxx shirt which is pretty random and Syxx hasnt been around in a minute now. NWO attacks DDP and we get a repeat of what happened last week. Dummy Sting falls through the ring and Hogan is able to get off his what a dummy line again. Hogan then is able to cut a good promo before trying to clown around on the dummy Sting. Turns out this is the Sting and Hogan is scared now. Great closing angle.

Flair had that great moment coming back and gaining revenge and then has just sputtered the past two months with a feud with Hennig solidly in the midcard. Hogan hasnt mentioned him in months. We get a tease of Flair vs. Bret here and I'm still not sure that was the right arena from Bret to enter WCW in. I will say that WCW is still strong and certainly better than WWF the past month, but the booking heading into this all important show has had some slight mis-steps that will only be amplified after that show takes place.

Nash challenges the Giant to a match at Starrcade. Giant is out to respond and says he is bringing a surprise, THE CHOKESLAMMMMM.

JR keeps shoe horning in the Latrell Sprewell/PJ Carlisimo situation into what is going on with Austin/Vince. "Vince, I think you should fire him" is a great line. Vince and Austin have another go at it. Austin is willing to be stripped of the IC belt because he is only interested in the world title. JR plants the seed for WM 14. This didn't make the IC title look that prestigious but Austin has other plans and walks out with the belt.

JR dont give a fuck on this show as he drops the "IM A BADDDD MAN" line during this interview. Sable is wearing a potato sack and getting abused by marc. This is overtaken when she reveals a bikini to the delight of the audience. This will be something to look out for in 1998

DX have a long winded promo where Owen gets called a nugget. We then get an inspired game of strip poker where Shawn does one of his biggest jobs of the year in. He is in his skeevies as the attack on The Headbangers occurs. The powerbomb through the card table couldn't have felt good. Owen finally comes out and gets in a few shots before bailing through the crowd. Owen feels really special here. Ross absolutely hates this DX stuff you can tell.

Sunny wins a tournament booked better than the brawl for all.

I had forgotten this interaction took place in late 1997. The chemistry is there between these two and it is dynamic. Cole/Kelly/JR has to be one of the oddest three man announce booths in WWF history.

I am probably the high vote on this as I enjoyed it a good deal for the 13 minutes it lasted. Liger especially seemed in a more goofy but dickish move thrusting and flicking over Taikawa on the apron. Samurai predictably takes a beating from mainly Kanemoto and they are able to put him away with a moonsault.

First minute was good a ferocious. In fact the whole match had a "go for broke" feel I can appreciate. I do see the criticisms of it being sloppy and it was shorter than the first match but still highly enjoyable overall. Kanehara is able to even it up.

Clips we see arent very inspiring and the DQ finish is literally one of the cheapest and uncreative ones I have seen in PPV history. The owen return was cool and Owen really lays it in but everything feels still like a mess here and this is the epitome of a throwaway PPV.

Not much of a match at all but the D-Lo stunner is iconic and they did what they could working around Austin's physical limitations. Rocky doing the Peoples elbow to no response is weird to see in retrospect. He was still learning the ropes here but this match and angle did show promise.

Well this was one of the weirdest things I have seen on WWF/E ppv. I dont think I have seen this show and I know not many others have or else I think this would be talked up more. I am curious to see if this made the network unedited.

- The Royal Rumble in '92: I don't know if i will rank the Rumble or not. I do know I like Rumbles quite a bit better than you do and I see that Rumble as the best. If I did do a ranking I would say ****3/4 or ***** and very strong top ten contender worldwide. - Bret vs Piper at WM8: A match I like a good deal but could see it falling in the very good but not exactly great range for me. I could see anything from a #60 ranking to not being ranked at all. - Flair vs Savage at WM8: One of my favorite all time angle type matches and the template for Flair in the WWF for me. Probably ****1/4 last time I watched and strong top 50 material for the year. - Bret vs Davey Boy at Summerslam '92: Been lower on this than most other reviews and think it is bullshit that Bret completely carried Davey Boy. Probably will make my top 100 but may not be in top half. - Bret vs Shawn at Survivor Series '92: I think this match is better knowing who the guys become and the ballsy nature of WWF giving these fresh guys 26 minutes on a main event PPV when those were at a premium. More commendable than a great match. - Bret vs Perfect at KOTR '93: KOTR 93 from any PPV before 1995 is the one Im the most sketchy on. I liked the SummerSlam 91 match a good deal so I have high hopes for this one. - Shawn vs Marty from RAW in the PWI MOTY and ****3/4 WON match: Like but don’t love feels appropriate for this. Probably leaning towards unlikely to make top 100 for that year. - Rock & Rolls vs Bodies at Survivor Series '93: Don’t remember much from this but love the teams so we will see. - Bret vs Diesel at Rumble '95: I didn’t like the KOTR match all that much. Hoping to see how they improved in the 6 months since then. - Bret vs Hakushi at IYH I: Fun match from my memory but not much else. Will be REAL surprised if this makes my top 100 - Shawn vs Jarrett at IYH II: I really love this one and think its one of Shawn’s more shining performances. Gets lost in the shuffle a lot when discussing great WWF matches. - Shawn vs Razor at Summerslam '95: I liked WM 10 more than you so I have high expectations of this one given your ranking. Even though I may not like it quite as much as you, probably a pretty solid contender for top 25. - Bret vs Lafitte at IYH III: Nice seeing Bret showing some viciousness as a face. Fringe Top 100 contender. - Bret vs Diesel at Survivor Series '95: A match I am very familiar with and like a good bit. Probably ***3/4 which puts it in the bottom half of the year. - Bret vs Davey Boy at IYH V: Don’t remember a lot besides the blade job. Will be interested to see if I prefer this or the SUmmerSlam match. I actually didn’t rank the Hart/Austin ambulance match. No idea why or my reasoning. I did think the actual match portion of Savage vs. Jake was good but of course the angle afterwards is great and pushes it upward. I ranked the overall package.