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We have seen some declines in All japan in 1997 but this match represented something different and can only be described in one word for me, fun. I loved the work Hayabusa did with Kawada looking good in spurts and taking a whipping when needed. Taue was putting up with any of Jinsei's bullshit. Really good stuff.

ECW really feels to have lost a good bit of steam from the heights mid year going into one of their biggest PPV's of the year. None of the matches really interest me and their interlocking weaving with also bringing in other stuff and shoot events has left me indifferent instead of thinking a big issue will be decided on the PPV.

Went with Vader fairly easy here. Andre has had some hidden gems come out in the past few years and his later work has been re-evaluated for being smarter than on original watch as a kid, but watching some of the stuff along with Titans of Wrestling crew shows that he still has a good bit of stinkers on his resume. Vader in turn has also had some alarmingly great matches come out like the Leon White match in AWA vs. Hansen and even his later stuff in WWF vs. Owen Hart at One Night Only.

Sandman looks like a complete dolt here and totally took me out of the moment. Not enjoying the hype to this tag and the impending stairway to hell match.

This was fantastic and showed such aggression and relentless for the limb work. Every motion felt consequential in this match and the ending played off of that result. Kohsaka is one of my favorite shoot style guys and he showed a lot of fire in this one and even took the defeat well which shocked me.

We get our 4th NWO attack on the night and this time it is interrupted by a litany of WCW cruisers and lower level guys to build up the WW3 PPV. Fun episode of Nitro with the NWO looking really strong.

A fan coming out was awesome and again the NWO is looking really strong heading into the build for Starrcade.

Taylor is just starting his promo when the NWO attack them. Good rationale from Tenay on the NWO using the upcoming WW3 and "every man for himself" mentality to their advantage.

Big time celebratory NWO promo that we havent seen in a while. Hall takes a go at Larry Z and says he couldnt even beat bischoff. Nash calls out Giant to have some sort of hype for the WW3 PPV on Sunday and then we get the big Hogan and Rude entrance. Rude's promo feels from the heart and you can see Bischoff's delight in the background.

Cornette and JR crack jokes about Goldust's attire. Vader looks perplexed at what is going on and gets cracked with some foreign object. Odd we didn't see the Rude segment from this show given the significance of it.

Still enthralling watching this 17 years later. Mr. McMahon was born and I was glued to my seat for the entire 17 minutes of this interview. Some is bullshit spewing stuff but I firmly believe Vince believes a majority of what he spouts here. It is captivating to watch.

Austin gets a nice little video on the heels of the attitude one earlier. Everything feels fresher after last week's Raw mis-step.

I thought WWF was done with Jakks at this point. The Headbangers get punked out by some LOD action figures.

Really good stuff bringing in the attitude tagline to the shift that had been happening throughout the company in 1997.

Sunny's music firing up when she won was a nice touch. Surprised we didn't get a gimmick based off of one of these fighters.

Cant say I was to in to most of this. It dragged on and featured too many stop/start comebacks for what everyone would know would be the Sandman's return.

Rude is dressed in his gym clothes. He introduces Bigelow who get promptly attacked at the entrance way and busted open. Rude has been everywhere this year in a non wrestling role.

I thought Misawa kicked out of one hold too many during his stretch run in peril but the build to escape the draw was really enthralling. Kobashi and Akiyama have really good exchanges against each other and it made me anticipate Akiyama's rise to the top of the card in 1998. I don't think this match reached the great level either but it was a very good affair.

Sting gets called out and obliges. Sting throws the bat out and Macho slides in and we have a full on NWO attack. Really the first time Sting has gotten beat down all year. Good stuff to build towards Starrcade after the mishap earlier hyping the movie.

I hated this. One of the biggest gaffes in WCW this year actually. They had done everything with Sting pretty note perfect so far (JJ incompetence aside). Him starring in a chick flick looks ridiculous and really breaks down the kayfabe barriers.

Pretty dramatic time for the wrestling game genre on the console system. This set up Revenge which I played endlessly.

I will never forget being in a hotel room in Savannah Georgia and seeing the Canadian flags and being perplexed at what was going on. Nash is at his tool best being wheeled out ina wheelchair and then running into the ring. He calls out the Giant and gives a shout out to their appearance on Win Ben Steins Money which I have on a VHS tape somewhere. We then get the big announcement that Bret is NWO and I agree that already they are billing him as one of many instead of a huge stand alone name.

Wow, dreadful main event here with no heat and no buzz. Really most tonight felt off in the WWF for the first time and I'm not saying that in lieu of Bret leaving. Austin vs. Rock was fine as 2nd from the top but everything else was lackluster including this match and the sudden sign off.

I would assume this was filmed before Montreal as we get a lot about Bret even setting the seeds for a potential feud. We even get a Savage reference and Jarrett puts them over. I think Jeff looks like a star with this interview and he gives pretty poignant opinions on most of the individuals.

Pretty simple beginning back and forth setting up the feud between these two. Rock looks to be gaining more confidence by the week and ready to hang with big guns like Austin.