Loss

Now that I think about it, I'm disappointed that they didn't make Beef Bagwell.

#20 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/02/97) #19 - Great Sasuke, Oriental, Tiger Mask IV & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Mens Teoh, Dick Togo, Hanzo Nakajima & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 08/17/97) #18 - Yoshihisa Yammamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 04/04/97) #17 - Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 06/01/97) #16 - Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/26/97) #15 - Bret Hart vs Undertaker (WWF One Night Only 09/20/97) #14 - Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 11/09/97) #13 - Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker (WWF Bad Blood 10/05/97) #12 - Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Wrestlemania XIII 03/23/97) #11 - El Hijo del Santo vs Felino (CMLL 07/04/97) #10 - Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS 11/20/97) #9 - El Hijo del Santo, Black Warrior, Silver King, Dr. Wagner Jr., Satanico, Kevin Quinn & Scorpio Jr. vs Ultimo Dragon, Atlantis, Negro Casas, Shocker, Mascara Magica, La Fiera & Brazo de Oro (CMLL 04/18/97) #8 - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe (AJW 09/21/97) #7 - Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 01/22/97) #6 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (BattlARTS 04/15/97) #5 - Bracito de Oro, Cicloncito Ramirez & Mascarita Magica vs Damiancito El Guerrero, El Fierito & Pierrothito (CMLL 10/03/97) #4 - Yoshiko Tamura vs Toshie Uematsu (GAEA 07/19/97) #3 - El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (CMLL 09/19/97) #2 - Jushin Liger vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 02/09/97) #1 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 01/20/97)

#40 - Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW Tokyo Dome 01/04/97) #39 - Masato Tanaka vs The Gladiator (FMW 09/28/97) #38 - Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF One Night Only 09/20/97) #37 - Taka Michinoku, Mens Teoh, Masayoshi Motegi, Dick Togo & Shoichi Funaki vs Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa, Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji (Michinoku Pro 03/16/97) #36 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (BattlARTS 09/01/97) #35 - Megumi Kudo, Shinobu Kandori, Michiko Omukai & Kaori Nakayama vs Shark Tsuchiya, Eagle Sawai, Sayori Okino & Miss Mongol (LLPW 04/07/97) #34 - Dynamite Kansai vs Hikari Fukuoka (JWP 04/08/97) #33 - Terry Funk vs Sabu (ECW Born To Be Wired 08/09/97) #32 - Taka Michinoku vs Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro 10/10/97) #31 - Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (WWF Revenge of the Taker 04/20/97) #30 - Jerry Lawler vs Tommy Dreamer (ECW Hardcore Heaven 08/17/97) #29 - El Hijo del Santo vs Felino (CMLL 07/25/97) #28 - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 08/20/97) #27 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/21/97) #26 - Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 09/26/97) #25 - Atlantis vs Blue Panther (CMLL 12/05/97) #24 - Shinjiro Otani, Koji Kanemoto, Mens Teoh, Dick Togo & Hanzo Nakajima vs Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, El Samurai, Norio Honaga & Gran Hamada (NJPW 05/03/97) #23 - Megumi Kudo vs Shinobu Kandori (LLPW 01/05/97) #22 - Kazayuki Fujita vs Don Frye (NJPW 08/02/97) #21 - Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 11/02/97)

#60 - El Hijo del Santo, Shocker, El Texano, Mr. Niebla, La Fiera, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mascara Magica vs Negro Casas, Black Warrior, Felino, Mano Negra, El Dandy, Scorpio Jr. & Silver King (CMLL 03/18/97) #59 - Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (AJW 08/09/97) #58 - Ultimo Dragoncito & Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero & Pierrotito (CMLL 03/14/97) #57 - Owen Hart vs Davey Boy Smith (WWF Monday Night RAW 03/03/97) #56 - Daisuke Ikeda vs Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 11/05/97) #55 - Hayabusa, Ricky Fuji & Ricky Morton vs The Gladiator, Hisakatsu Oya & Mr. Gannosuke (FMW 05/13/97) #54 - Lioness Asuka vs Jaguar Yokota (Jd' 10/22/97) #53 - El Hijo del Santo, Emilio Charles Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Negro Casas, Felino & Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 06/20/97) #52 - Megumi Kudo vs Mayumi Ozaki (FMW 04/18/97) #51 - Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero (CMLL 01/07/97) #50 - Megumi Kudo vs Shinobu Kandori (FMW 03/14/97) #49 - Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart & Brian Pillman vs Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock & Legion of Doom (WWF Canadian Stampede 07/06/97) #48 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Bitsadze Tariel (RINGS 07/22/97) #47 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 12/05/97) #46 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 04/19/97) #45 - Kenta Kobashi vs Hiroshi Hase (AJPW 08/26/97) #44 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (WAR 11/24/97) #43 - El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis (Promo Azteca 10/03/97) #42 - Bret Hart vs Terry Funk (Wrestlefest 09/11/97) #41 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 11/28/97)

#80 - Ultimo Dragon vs Alex Wright (WCW Fall Brawl 09/14/97) #79 - Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 02/16/97) #78 - Hiroumi Yagi vs Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP 03/03/97) #77 - Steven Regal vs Ultimo Dragon (WCW Slamboree 05/18/97) #76 - Gedo & Jado vs Yoshihiro Taijiri & Yuichi Tanaguchi vs Kengo Kimura & Takashi Ishikawa vs Shoji Nakamaki & Takashi Okano vs Kendo Nagasaki & Satoru Shiga (BJPW 06/03/97) #75 - Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Benoit (WCW Monday Nitro 10/20/97) #74 - Eddy Guerrero vs Chris Jericho (WCW Fall Brawl 09/14/97) #73 - El Samurai vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 06/05/97) #72 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 03/30/97) #71 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (AJPW 10/11/97) #70 - Akira Hokuto vs Kaoru (GAEA 04/12/97) #69 - The Eliminators vs Tracy Smothers & Little Guido (ECW Trenton, NJ 05/03/97) #68 - Shawn Michaels vs Mankind (WWF Monday Night RAW 08/11/97) #67 - Ric Flair, Roddy Piper & Kevin Greene vs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx (WCW Slamboree 05/18/97) #66 - Steve Austin vs Owen Hart (WWF Summerslam 08/03/97) #65 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs El Hijo del Santo (Promo Azteca 02/23/97) #64 - Koji Kanemoto vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW 05/20/97) #63 - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97) #62 - Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin (WWF King of the Ring 06/08/97) #61 - Akira Taue vs Johnny Ace (AJPW 10/21/97)

#100 - Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin vs Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith (WWF Monday Night RAW 05/26/97) #99 - Bret Hart vs Sid (WWF Monday Nitro 02/17/97) #98 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki (NJPW 02/16/97) #97 - Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza & Lizmark Jr. vs Psicosis, La Parka & Villano IV (WCW Bash at the Beach 07/13/97) #96 - Vader vs Ken Shamrock (WWF Cold Day In Hell 05/11/97) #95 - Jun Akiyama vs Akira Taue (AJPW 01/20/97) #94 - Randy Savage vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/26/97) #93 - Wolfie D vs Flash Flanagan (Music City 12/25/97) #92 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoji Anjo (WAR 07/06/97) #91 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs La Parka & Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97) #90 - Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels (WWF Survivor Series 11/09/97) #89 - Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs Meng & Barbarian (WCW Monday Nitro 02/24/97) #88 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 04/19/97) #87 - Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/29/97) #86 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/08/97) #85 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 09/06/97) #84 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa (NJPW 05/03/97) #83 - Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 02/23/97) #82 - Atlantis vs Black Warrior (CMLL 03/04/97) #81 - El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (CMLL Japan 02/06/97)

December: #1 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/02/97) ****1/4 #2 - Atlantis vs Blue Panther (CMLL 12/05/97) ****1/4 #3 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW Real World Tag League 12/05/97) **** #4 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (Kingdom 12/08/97) ***1/2 #5 - Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/29/97) ***1/2 #6 - Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs La Parka & Psicosis (WCW Monday Nitro 12/15/97) ***1/2 #7 - Taka Michinoku vs Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 12/18/97) ***1/2 #8 - Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki & Masato Tanaka vs Atsushi Onita, Mr. Gannosuke & Yukihiro Kanemura (FMW 12/22/97) ***1/2 #9 - Wolfie D vs Flash Flanagan (Music City Wrestling 12/25/97) ***1/2 #10 - Akira Maeda vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 12/23/97) *** #11 - Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Koji Kanemoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW 12/08/97) #12 - Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay (WCW Main Event 12/20/97) #13 - Hulk Hogan vs Sting (WCW Monday Nitro 12/29/97) #14 - Eric Bischoff vs Larry Zbyszko (WCW Starrcade 12/28/97) #15 - Hulk Hogan vs Sting (WCW Starrcade 12/28/97) #16 - Shawn Michaels vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WWF Monday Night RAW 12/22/97)

WCW running a rematch of this the next day like it's nothing is weird. Hogan getting all the offense again is weird too. Heat is much stronger than the night before and the match is actually much better too (still not good, but much better). The match goes off the air before the finish and the year ends with a whimper. We'll cover that when the 1998 Yearbook comes out.

Last few minutes and the beginning of something that we'll see play out during 1998. Jericho botches a Lionsault horribly but the announcers aren't even paying attention to the match. Hennig beats Jericho and Jericho throws a temper tantrum after the match, beating up Dave Penzer and smashing his chair against the ringpost. He says he's had enough, taking the first step toward his heel turn that would make him a star.

Flair congratulates DDP on winning the U.S. title, but still says he has a score to settle with Curt Hennig. He puts over Sting and even Bret Hart for solidly siding with World Championship Wrestling. Flair points out that Bret didn't name drop him earlier and then pulls out a newspaper clipping from the Baltimore Sun where Dave Meltzer was quoted calling Ric Flair the greatest in the history of the sport without question. So, so awesome.

Bret says the NWO remind him of the scum he just left behind. Bret looks forward to cementing his legacy and having great matches in WCW. He wants to wrestle The Giant, Lex Luger, Sting and Chris Benoit. Hart vows that everyone in the NWO will pay the price and the crowd pops huge when he mentions Hulk Hogan. Oh what might have been.

Before the match starts, Jim Ross has news for everyone about Mike Tyson. He can confirm that today, negotiations started for Mike Tyson to be involved in Wrestlemania XIV. Amazing watching all of this week-to-week. This is a match that I think could have headlined the Rumble and been fantastic. This is a great TV match. Shawn does throw some crazy punches. I've never seen him hit like that. Not only that, but Shawn's offense in general is really good (check out that DDT!) and I love how they work the sleeper. Shawn looks as good in this match as I've ever seen him look. This felt like a good teaser for a great PPV main event that never happened. HHH attacks Owen with his crutch after the match to switch the focus of that feud.

Cornette rants about the state of wrestling as we go into 1998. This is the most spot-on rant he has done so far. Wrestling fans watching a wrestling program want to see wrestlers wrestle, he says. Indeed.

The New Age Outlaws gloat about their recent attacks on Dude Love before the Dude interrupts on the Titantron. Dude says he's going to let another friend handle them, one that has no mercy. Mankind is grateful for this, but has an even better idea - Cactus Jack. This is a cool video where he keeps morphing into his different personae. Cactus announces that he has help from his friend Chainsaw Charlie. Cactus finally comes out and the NAO attack him, but he catches both in a mandible claw. They have a decent match for a few minutes - is it Cactus vs Road Dogg? I can't figure this out - before the referee finally loses control and throws the match out. Cactus wants the NAO to come to the back and fight him. They follow his lead when suddenly a chainsaw sticks out of the piece of wood that has been on the stage all night. Out of it comes Chainsaw Charlie, which is Terry Funk with pantyhose on his head. The NAO run in fear and I think I would too. A new tag team is born.

Vince sits in the arena and thanks the fans for a great 1997 and says 1998 will be even better. I don't know about that.

The Rock says a lot of fans have asked how he feels about the elderly and social security. He's decided as long as his pockets are lined with green, he doesn't give a damn. I love this period when Rock started talking about real issues in his promos every week. Rock has improved tenfold on the mic just in the month of December. Anyway, Rock makes a Faarooq/Shamrock match for next week, which appears to be news to Faarooq.

HHH is in the ring on crutches. He says he was looking forward to the match with Owen tonight, but he dislocated his kneecap in a match last night. He also says Shawn isn't here since he's at home with a 102-degree fever. Undertaker's music starts and a casket comes out, then Shawn comes out of it dancing to the DX music. Funny stuff. Shawn introduces the two newest members of DX and we zoom in on Chyna's new boob job. Hunter makes jokes that are actually funny. They are really weird looking though … so far apart. Shawn then switches his focus to the casket match with the Undertaker at Royal Rumble. Slaughter is out and Shawn and Hunter amuse themselves once again. Slaughters orders a match with Owen and DX isn't happy with this news at all.

This time, Luna leads Goldust out dressed like a baby and holding a bottle. He wants to play dress up with Steve Austin. He'll be Austin's Barbie Girl and Austin can be his big Ken. This brings Austin out. He has something for Goldust - a port-a-potty with a Crapper 3:16 sign on it. Goldust tries sneaking up on on Austin but Austin beats him up and throws him in, then Goldust walks out and eats a stunner. Finally, Austin pushes the port-a-potty to the ground and that's the end of the segment. One of those other segments where I think the WWF overestimated their genius.

No need to apologize, but just to confirm for 1998 and 1999, should we keep our eyes open for hidden gem Liger tags?

I hate criticizing conditioning of athletes because it seems like something I have no right to say unless I feel like I'm in better shape. Still, looking at Sting, I get Hogan's point. He had gotten a little soft and should have showed up to have the match of his life (I know, it's Hogan, but I think you know what I mean) and didn't do that. Even if Hogan had put him over clean, Sting didn't have the drive to succeed as a long-term draw. He is sucking wind quickly and once they locked up, this just fell really flat. They couldn't deliver a match that lived up to the nearly two years of hype. The crowd wasn't nearly as hot as they should have been for something this big. And after completely being repackaged, why would Sting still hang on to stale moves like the Stinger splash? And why would they lay out a match to give Hogan this much offense? To me, this match really just proves that even if you develop a character people care about and are the benefit of great booking, in the end, the results will be limited if you can't deliver a satisfying match in the ring. Nick Patrick does the legendary fast count that isn't a fast count, but Bret stops the timekeeper from ringing the bell and sends Hogan back into the ring, restarts the match and the match continues. Sting finally does his big comeback and wins the title. Everything about this -- booking, in-ring action, crowd reaction -- is pretty horrible. The post-match celebration is a great moment but it wasn't really earned.

What is Bischoff doing getting this much offense? I thought he was a great cowardly heel but he's positioned as a somewhat credible threat to Zbyszko. Bischoff kicks Zbyszko with a steel plate on his foot and Bret sees it fly across the ring. So Bret punches Bischoff, then Hall comes in the ring and Bret beats him up too! Hall ends up in the sharpshooter while Larry chokes out Bischoff and we have our finish. Nitro remains! I'm guessing Larry won by DQ? Kind of flat as a feel good moment and I could feel Bret just judging this stuff the whole time it was happening. Me and Austin were getting beaten by this?

Last few minutes. Greg Valentine sitting in the audience next to Mortis, Ernest Miller, Alex Wright and James Vandenberg is too funny and random. I think this may be the only match on the show where the babyface went over convincingly. Page wins the U.S. title, which is a great way to cap off his year.

Yes, and we included those, but you also suggested including others that may not have been talked up as much. At least that was my understanding.

Kevin Nash has either had a heart attack or a heart attack scare or something, but he's not here to do the job for The Giant. Scott Hall is out to do a survey and it's a typically schizophrenic WCW crowd that chants along with the NWO stuff then boos anyway. He trolls The Giant, which eventually brings him out. He looks sober for the first time in a few months. Lucky for Nash, Giant is patient. Eventually he has to come back and Giant will be waiting. Hall can't help himself trolling and takes a beating for it. Giant teases a chokeslam but instead gives Hall a powerbomb. Hall is great selling all of this, but I'm sure the fans felt ripped off.

Really good match between these two. Cool to finally see them given time. They definitely use the props, but the bigger focus is on the hate. Flanagan caddy corners a table on the top rope and plans a powerbomb, but Wolfie reverses, making Flanagan take a HIGH back body drop in a great spot. This has little heat to start and they manage to get the crowd involved as this continues, so kudos to them. There's blood and violence and these two are sadly casualties of a changing wrestling landscape.