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Ernest Miller debuting this late seems like a surprise to me. We get some background on his karate background.

Ok, I knew Vader vs. Taker was at IYH but didn't know how they got here. Ahmed blowing out his knee in that pull apart is terrible timing on his point. Vader/Taker get into a mini fight and Vader gets pinned with a clotheslilne like this is a Survivor Series match. They continue to brawl and Taker tombstones him so I have no idea who thought Vader would win at the PPV. Bearer says next week the big reveal will take place.

Really great promo from Bret getting over the PPV and throwing a shoutout to his partner Anvil until we get the mini angle with Thomas Hearns. Anvil takes a punch and then we get the big pull apart. The show really breathes when Bret is on.

Ahmed is going to go out there and kick all the crowd's asses. His logic sounds a little shaky to me especially the part of the crew backing him up. Uh when? They were in a year long feud. DOA interrupts the proceedings and this is some pretty brutal stuff that could have been ok but is way too on the nose.

Up close and personal promo for Jerry. I like how well he fits in the ECW environment even though he denounces it. He goes against the fans, Paul E, and the Funker. I think they should have really angled Funk vs. Lawler for a match no matter what Vince had to say.

Dreamer is getting stitched up and talking about how his career highlight was ruined by RVD, Sabu, Spicolli, and Lawler. He vows some revenge against them.

Brian is in an exuberant mood. The explanation about Billy Joe's arrest was great thinking on the fly. Jerry's promo against the burning question feels like the steroid stint and him utilizing a real life situation in a storyline way. Him asking about the phone number and income taxes is not a bad defense. Christopher looks ready to spill the beans but Jerry holds him off.

Dutch gives the lay of the land. I liked the contrast between the announcer in a tux and Dutch looking like he just got pulled from a casino. All the announcers suck according to Dutch.

Billy being a pro all the way is yelling for Luther as he is escorted away. Luther does the best thing he has ever done consoling him. Michael St. John and Stacy seem gobsmacked. Crazy shit.

Zouev looked like a scary dude. Tamura's reversals in the first few minutes of this were amazing. This was just some slick fun matwork that didn't overstay its welcome. Not sure yet of the total hieracrchy of RIngs but this felt like a little bit of an upset. Really good stuff.

Spike and Mikey coming out to highway to hell is so indy rific. This match was super. Dundee is wearing horny devil boxers and Wolfie mugging for the crowd is amazing. Spike makes a good FIP and the heat was really good thanks to the antics of PG-13. MIkey's hot tag was ok but I thought he was the worst person in the match. They are able to pick up the underdog win though. Fun stuff.

Splendid show with Kelly setting the table with the introduction and then Pete and Parv sprinkling in the comments during the matches. Felt like a good overview of the strengths of the city/promotion (I agree its tough to really call what it is).

No matter how frustrating the current product can be, getting tickets to Wrestlemania always makes me mark out.

Dudley's win the world titles here which makes no sense given that crippled Saturn just beat them on the tv show.

Big time shine in first fall for tecnicos. They clean house and Santo again takes a pinfall loss with a powerbomb in a good reversal of fortunes. We still have Bestia Salvaje at ringside pissed off. Casas with long tights will take some getting used to. Wagner has been a consistent star throughout this series and he brings it again here in the second fall cutting a promo and throwing Casas into the chairs. I love the smug look on Bestia's face when Felino gets beat up. Santo finishes off Felino with his clutch, I smell a side feud. Ultimo in these matches hasnt really sptlighted himself but he has stayed out of the way so maybe that is a good thing. The brawling on the outside with Casas suplexing Santo on the floor was very heated. Bestia is killing me on the outside, may legitimately be one of my favorite performances of someone on the outside. He finally gets his receipt with Santo wiping him out to my delight These have been very good series overall and reminds me of the May 1990 series of matches.

I agree with Loss that it took a while to get cooking but once it did, it turned out to be a pretty good match. There was still spots where the action dragged and I was looking around the room for something else to hold my attention but I appreciate the way LCO work as a cohesive unit.

Hotta vs. Kong from January 1994 was the first one that popped in my mind.

It would be a top 10 all time PPV and I think it benefits from the fact that the main event is a MOTYC. I think that is now integral for a PPV to be considered in the best of all time tier.

Hogan being the main talker is smart in this duo. I enjoyed Rodman jumping early at first on the chokeslam spot. When he hits him with the belt, the crowd goes apeshit. Rodmans elbows looked pretty stiff as well much to the crowds delight. The scene is pretty wild with full drinks just being pelted into the ring. Again we only get the big NWO group together to close out the show and this is really all should have been in the faction along with maybe one more minor member like Buff or Norton. WCW clearly won this night.

If this would have led somewhere it would have been really cool because the bullying of Rey is pretty glorious from the Outsiders. However, the faint spots of Rey cleaning house of them only for Syxx to catch is not enough and then Nash absolutely demolishes him with the powerbomb. Savage being their buddy is pretty fun and I enjoyed Hall saying he left early and the disgust of Tony. Was the plan all along for Hennig to be the partner? The way Page said that everyone would know who his partner would be seemed to imply Sting and the crowd starting saying that but it could have just been a slip up in the delivery.

Madusa gets emotional giving her sendoff and Gene holds her hand as the crowd is indifferent.

I have always thought of this entrance as in many ways the peak of the NWO. Only the A team members are around and as much as Buffer is annoying, him saying lets get ready to rumble with Rodman and Hogan at the entrance always gives me chill giving the crowds reaction. We just watched probably the worst Raw since March and all of a sudden the kind of slightly spuddering WCW seems rejuvenated. I find it utterly bizarre that Nitro was at the United Center and the PPV was in Moline. It's possible they couldn't have booked the United Center because of the possibility of an NBA game but this Nitro feels like such a bigger deal. The promo calling out Luger and Giant is great fun even with Rodman saying Luthor.

Couldn't believe all the names Ross was throwing out. Kama pinning Taker feels like the step brother of the Arn pins Hogan story. Ahmed turns heel to not much reaction and the NOD celebrates on the ramp. I do like the NOD theme a ton but I have no idea where this could lead from Taker's standpoint.

Match was fairly disappointing given the back and forth between these two. I agree that Pillman just couldn't really bring the goods anymore. Afterwards, we get the big pull apart and the main event of Canadian stampede is agreed upon by Austin.

Pretty interesting development of everything with throwing Mankind and Shamrock into the fold. Austin is still able to keep up his intensity with some other stuff around the company in a little bit of disarray.