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Lance Wright was annoying and the outside music they piped in kept distracting me from getting into this promo too much.

This was super. You see the onslaught Otsuka keeps taking and think he is right on the verge. Then gradually you see his end game strategy and see Ikeda realize that he has been duped and has nothing left in the tank and now he has to hang on against Otsuka's offense. Brillant played out and some vicious action throughout with Ikeda's kicks and his leg work on Otsuka. I agree that this was a great intro to Battlarts and feels like one of the best story driven matches of 1997.

Short clip of Hogan saying Sting is too scared to show up and then he does and goes face to face with Hogan as he signs the contract.

Really quick feature of these that runs down about 20 moves that the luchadores execute.

Finished the episode and really enjoyed. I still say someone else should have had Mooney as their #6 to screw with Parv. The Tunney bio and the talk of Ron Tronguard were highlights for me. I also chuckled at Parv having Mike Mcguirk as an alternate.

I thought this was effective. Jericho gets a nice fluke win that the announcers put over and then gets immediately beaten up until Larry has to make the save.

I don't want to feel like piling on but it is the honest truth that these vignettes even though they are short in length make my mind wander. Raven has been around for a while now and still doesn't feel like he has much of a purpose.

Bret really feels absent here. At least HBK did tap out like Bret did the week before showing some parity. Rude and DX beat up Shamrock and Vince has to try to relate it to Survivor Series in the hard sell.

Classic interview with Shawn oozing her ounce of heat he can from the audience. The shields and wipers from Slaughters spit is a classic moment. Shawn continues to be the most fascinating person to watch in 1997.

This was a really good summary including stuff coming to the surface at WrestleMania 12 and bubbling over the past year. We see most of the big events from their interaction with each other.

The segment was good and played correctly but I am still not sure how well this type of marriage relation stuff plays out on a wrestling show. I know Golddust gets really weird, really quick.

This was some great juniors action that told an amazing story. The athleticism was on display early on in this match but even things like Delphin punches showed that this match was going to take a different narrative. The work on Sasuke's leg was vicious and consistent. He sold it beautifully in his comebacks and it was played off perfectly in the finish. Perfect length too. I am really looking forward to the next M-Pro tag match.

Solid action but I agree that Krofatt/Lafon arent the best heel duo at controlling a match and that prevented some of the sympathy that could have pushed on Spike/Mikey. I do like seeing occasional ECW house show clips on these yearbooks.

FBI really gave themselves up tot he plunder shots of New Jack and Kronus. Tons of garbage shots and crowd pleasing spots and this looked like a squash. The Dudley's interrupt the proceedings and out comes Axl. We get the typical ECW schmozz resulting in the FBI eeking out a win.

Probably wont rank this either due to the clippage but what wed saw was really fun. I always like when Liger and Samurai team up as they compliment each other well. Kashin didn't annoy me as much here as he does later on.

Something you cant rate but I am glad it was included and it was emotional to watch.

Good lord Parv, quite the banner first 20 minutes for you: 1. Calling me a whore of podcasting 2. Saying this podcast is high brow because no one on it was from the US 3. "My next pick is a lot like Damien, although he is a human." Kim Chee???? 4. Asking AGAIN if Randy Culley was a Moondog.

Me and Parv generally agreed when watching them that when Bobby Fulton was on, he was really on and the best member of the team but he had a sharper decline once the fantastics started being "unhip" around 1989. I generally agree that they were better than the Midnights throughout most of 1988-1989. Midnights then have the incredible 1990 run though when rather justifiably or not, the Fantastics felt fairly played out in Crockett. They are a team that has a great period from 1984-1989 ish and then some fun stuff in the All Japan Days (even with the Fulton brothers).

Thanks Lust!, Great analogy.

On episode 10 of The Kevin Kelly Show, Kevin talks about the WWE’s TV deal, NXT, and movies staring wrestlers. Kevin also welcomes Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Sean Grande as his guest and Sean talks about Channel 9 Wrestling in NY, Bob Backlund, Bruno Sammartino, and crossing over from the world of wrestling to sports. Sean also gives us his Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling and talks about today’s NBA and calling games for a team having a bad season. Kevin and Justin then play a game of sleaze thread “true or false” and preview the WWE Payback PPV questions! If you love old school wrestling, road stories and wrestling’s urban legends, this is the episode for you! http://placetobenation.com/the-kevin-kelly-show-episode-10-featuring-sean-grande/

Kelly and Parv giggling like school girls is now being welcomed by outside gigs? Standards do change in wrestling podcasts.

I know for a fact I had mentioned it on WTBBP before as well. Parv's lucky to have his charm to make up for his memory. Also Pete informed me this show is now on the WWE Network.

I got a little carried away and I don't want to collude threads but a criticism I have of Meltzer is his "live" perception sometimes doesn't align with what the viewer is hearing/ record books reflect. When challenged on this stance, we get the generic "you weren't there" argument which is troublesome in many ways especially considering the size of an arena like the Egg Dome. Also to go along with the standards change narrative, the Steiners vs. Hase/Sasaki match is a fun one to watch and reflect on that it is 23 years old.

Hey Chief, link should be working now on PTBN's page.

Feels like an appropriate time for me to bump this thread: 1. Tomohiro Ishii - I don't know how long this guy can sustain what he is doing at the pace of his matches but I get more invested in him than any other wrestler at this point. He has the ability to be a big guy that looks vulnerable and throws/takes a vicious amount of punishment. He has worked with a variety of guys and every match has been interesting to watch. I am really intrigued to see what he gets out of Yujiro and hopefully Okada/Nakamura/Shibata down the line. 2. Barbaro Cavernario - Holy crap has this guy snuck up on me the past week or so to become a contender in my WOTY rankings. A great brawler with a chaotic style that is not afraid to take some brutal bumps. Him mixing it up with Cachorro & Hechicero has been a treat. 3. AJ Styles - If this was three months ago, I would have called you nuts for thinking I would have AJ at #3 on this list. Yet, here we are. AJ has been able to reign in some of his spottier aspects of his overall performances and mixed in electric offense and selling. I have thoroughly enjoyed his series with Okada and the Hero ROH match. 4. Ricochet - Still my favorite of the US indy workers that works in Dragon Gate. I liked the Yoshino match more than most and the Yamato match worse than most but thought those were both good to really good matches. His stuff in the six mans opposite Flamita has been great acrobatic spot work. I'm hopeful he has a deep BOSJ run. 5. Shawn Michaels - Still the most fascinating guy to watch in my 1997 viewing. No one is able to conjurer up more raw emotions inside many wrestling viewers than Shawn around this time. Montreal is almost upon us in my viewing.