Loss

It's obviously an angle more than it is a match, but it remains one of my favorites. Nick Patrick is absolutely tremendous and Randy Anderson is getting a name chant! Referee Jimmy Jet secretly hands brass knucks to Randy Anderson and he KOs Patrick for the win. Bischoff is not having this and comes out immediately. He fires Jimmy Jet for helping Randy Anderson, and tells Randy Anderson no way is he reinstated after pulling that. I love this segment so much I can't even tell you. Then we get a commercial for the Hollywood Rules t-shirt. Oh, 1990s, you and your airbrushing.

Last few minutes. Regal is beating the hell out of this kid. WCW decides to copy the Maivia/Helmsley match for reasons I don't understand, as Rey distracts Regal long enough for Prince Iaukea to win the match and the TV title. Teddy Long, Eddy Guerrero and Public Enemy (???) celebrate with Prince Iaukea after the match.

Best Sid match ever? I'd say so. Bret puts on a tremendous performance, debuting the ringpost figure four and making Sid look like a pretty decent in-ring performer. The difference between the Shawn/Sid match at Survivor Series and this is that Shawn was working overtime in that one, while Bret doesn't work spots that make Sid look clumsy or unable to execute basic wrestling moves. Bret has Sid in the sharpshooter and the match is in his control when Steve Austin smacks Bret with a chair, giving Sid the match and the title. Bret gets screwed AGAIN!

Paul Heyman calls Jerry Lawler live on RAW and promises to show up on RAW next week with the roster of ECW. Heyman gets in a crack about the neighborhood watch needing to be informed that Lawler is in town.

Steve Austin attacks Bret on his way to the ring to defend the title against Sid. Twice, they've tried to start the match tonight and have been unable to do so. Gorilla promises that the match will happen tonight.

Goldust cuts a quite and sort of creepy promo threatening Helmsley for recently putting his hand on Goldust. Marlena confirms for everyone that Goldust is all man. Helmsley is out to get in Goldust's face, even throwing water at him and attacking him. Marlena stands helpless in the corner but finally slaps him. But "That Huge Woman" who would later be named Chyna attacks Marlena from behind and shakes her like a ragdoll. I was thinking this was Chyna's debut, but I guess that happened the night before. Still, get comfortable, as Joanie Lauer will be a yearbook fixture for a while.

I don't think this was a great match, even though I always thought that before. Still, I thought it was effective and everyone involved worked as hard as could be expected. Some of the shine wearing off of this for me is admittedly because of the lame 3-way and 4-way matches that followed this one for years to come. Vader's eye is nasty looking, which I'm guessing is the old Tokyo Dome injury from the Hansen match re-aggravated. Some of the problem is also that I think Jim Ross tried too hard to get this over as a classic, to a point where it comes across as unnecessarily desperate. Also, the over-the-top elimination makes this a glorified final stretch of a Royal Rumble and leaves this too open to screwjob finishes. There were moments of this that I liked, and I do appreciate the effort and acknowledge that it worked at the time as something really unique and physical. But for whatever it's worth, it doesn't really work now. Now the booking of this is really terrific, with Austin being eliminated first and coming back to attack Bret anyway, and Undertaker sort of getting screwed this time around by outside interference and Bret not really having a problem with that since he benefitted from it.

Hashimoto really works hard to get Yamazaki's chances over here. This looks like it's going to be Hashimoto working dominant with Yamazaki selling a knee injury early on, but then it turns into Hashimoto eating quite a bit of offense from Yamazaki that's focused on weakening Hash's arm. Very good match that could have even better with more time to flesh out the story, but I understand why they worked it compact, and sometimes, that's appreciated.

It does in October, in a match that isn't on this level and isn't on the set. I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't recommended, because Otani getting his big win seems like something that should probably go on regardless of match quality after the March '96 and February '97 matches.

What I mean is in building up Kanemoto as Liger's successor. I agree that it was a rivalry that they were able to run with for years, but I think Otani and Kanemoto both had potential as hierarchy threats instead of just new Liger opponents. They should have been treated as a step above Samurai, Pegasus, Honaga, Sasuke, etc. Did fans see Otani and Kanemoto as on Liger's level at any point? It does seem like fans saw the two of them as a cut above other juniors, even if they were a step below Liger. I realize that I'm looking at this through the perspective of an American fan who enjoys great matches instead of a Japanese fan who lived through this at the time. I just see potential for a torch passing to Otani, with Kanemoto moving into the top rival spot against Otani, and Liger feuding with Takaiwa under that in an attempt to slowly build him up as an eventual top star in the division too. There is a lot of talent in this division at this point, and I like thinking about the possibilities. I like El Samurai, but he wasn't a star, and even Takaiwa had no business jobbing to him at this point.

These Liger matches seem to be about drawing a line in the booking sand. Liger bested Otani just a week before this match, and he, along with Takaiwa and Jericho are at ringside in support of Kanemoto. What this series does is show the achilles heel of each of the young guys trying to knock Liger off of the throne. For Otani, it was that he could earn a win, but wouldn't take it when the time came because he couldn't keep his emotions in check. For Kanemoto, it's that he's so brash and forgets that eventually, everything you do to Liger will be done to you tenfold. I thought this was a good match within the context of the feud. It did have some problems. After seeing Liger so firmly reinforced as The Man just a week before, I thought he gave way too much of this match to Kanemoto -- the early matwork, the highspots and probably one or two too many kickouts. I can't fault it too much because I think it was done in the interest of getting over the Liger & Co vs Otani & Co feud, with everyone being a worthy part of it. But I still think it was too much too soon. Kanemoto does have some great highflying offense and I think he's really good at projecting himself as a star, but I think this match was held back by being laid out too predictably. OJ has talked about Misawa being a selling champion who fights from underneath, and that's how Liger worked this match. He got the win decisively, but I wish he had taken more along the way for himself. Until the last minute or two, Kanemoto felt like his equal, and that's something that needed to play out a lot longer. Anyway, my problems with this match are more related to the booking than the ring work, which was excellent, just as you'd expect. It had a hot finishing stretch. It wasn't a great match, but I don't think it needed to be at this point. Liger vs Kanemoto was something that could have had legs for a couple of years if played right.

Commercial for a New Japan Pro Wrestling video game.

Talk about it here.

Another really good Terry Funk promo -- as crazy as it is to say, he may have been the best talker in the business, even this late. He keeps pushing his last run and that he wants one more shot to be ECW champ. Here he explains what motivates him to do that after everything else he has already accomplished in wrestling.

Before the match starts, Lawler brings out Sunny to join Lance Russell at the broadcast booth and call the action. She gets a big reaction from an excited studio crowd, but this is one of the first signs that she was slowly losing favor in the WWF. This being Memphis, Lance Russell has to make sense of her appearance and have her explain her past relationship with Faarooq. I wouldn't have minded this match getting a lot more time, but it's a pretty decent tag on fast forward, and they make the most of the five or so minutes they have. King Reginald, who Lawler insulted before the match, interferes and hits Lawler, giving PG-13 the win. Cool to see a pinfall finish.

Last few minutes. Austin didn't seem quite sure how to work with this guy, but I'm not sure very many people ever really figured this out. Bret runs in and attacks Austin, but Sid takes exception to this and they fight it out. (Booking note: Because Sid didn't get to challenge Shawn, a match has been made for RAW where he'll get the winner in the ring. The end of this segment with Bret and Sid brawling sort of gave the Final Four finish away.)

Well, this is a legendary segment. Shawn is scheduled to drop the WWF title to Bret at Wrestlemania XIII and decides to forfeit the title and have knee surgery instead. To show you how off track Shawn was at this point, he's being drowned out by a "We Want Sid" chant during what was designed to be a pretty emotional segment, a type of fan rebellion that wasn't all that common yet. One thing that is forgotten in the middle of all of this is that Shawn does a pretty strong interview and that had the crowd been with him, this would be remembered as a classic segment. I don't know that the fans knew the politics behind this, but I do think people saw through this as a self-serving, phony gesture, which is why Shawn didn't have the crowd.

A little glimpse into a major rivalry a few years down the line. Last few minutes. Helmsley, who I should add was a perfectly acceptable heel midcarder, slaps Rock around and toys with him, but Rocky keeps kicking out. Nice little story with Helmsley having Rocky beat but being cocky and losing the IC title. Big pop for the finish that they would not have gotten without setting up that finish so cleverly.

Roddy Piper gets the hero's welcome. Piper is still a bit shaken up by Bischoff treating Randy Anderson's kids the way he did, which is the type of overlap that I really enjoy in wrestling. Hogan is only present by satellite. This isn't Piper's best promo ever, but the emotion is strong, and by the standards of what we normally got from him at the time, it's excellent. Hogan does his usual awesome antagonizing and gets booed like hell. Hogan is GREAT at hitting all the right lines to get a massive reaction from this crowd exactly when he wants, even though he's only there by satellite. This is a money segment.

The Wolfpac and Bischoff are out with Nick Patrick. They decide to run off the announcers and Nash immediately points out that he looks like Vince Neil in his sunglasses. Motley Crue reference in 1997, I love dated Nash references. They are out because they have heard Randy Anderson has something to say to them. He is out with his wife and children and asks for his job back. Bischoff feigns that he's rethinking his position and somberly asks the Anderson to children to tell their dad that he's STILL FIRED. Hall and Nash laugh in their faces and this is some awesome heat building. This is the kind of angle that can only happen when a company is hot enough that everyone involved benefits from rubbing shoulders with the entire crew. Bischoff finally shows that he has a heart by making a Nick Patrick vs Randy Anderson match for the following week on Nitro. I can't say enough for how hate-worthy Bischoff is in this. He is phenomenal, and I LOVE this angle.

It's really cool to see DDP emerging as a star in these segments. He's getting a "DDP" chant by this time. This time around, he's in street clothes and throws a chair in the ring to sit down and talk. He points out that it's obvious he has a big bullseye on his forehead, and while he may regret this, he's tired of running. If something is going to happen, let it happen right now. Sting and Randy Savage immediately come through the crowd. They do their normal intimidation routine with the baseball bat. DDP somehow gets over by not leaving the ring or running away during all of this, which is way, way cool. The crowd is AWESOME for this, as I'm not sure fans today would understand the story. Another great DDP segment.

I can see that point of view, but have to question a few parts of it. If Hashimoto could so easily destroy Choshu, how did Choshu get a win over him five months earlier? And why do you prefer a match with what you think is a more unlikely result at this point in time? The '96 G1 is something I'm really looking forward to watching again, because so many people love that match, and it struck me as very good the first time around. But I can't remember a single highspot or sequence from that match, and I don't recall anything specific that would make the match especially memorable. That's not to say it's not memorable. Obviously, most people see it that way. But it didn't really make a lasting impression on me.

That was fantastic. Scott Hall sounds better than he has since ... pretty much ever. It was interesting to hear him talk about his early days. Part twos don't often materialize on podcasts, so I hope that Hall coming back to discuss the rest of his career comes through.

Not only that, but Jim Crockett did Southern style meets national TV successfully, which is something that hasn't been done since. Yes it fizzled out, but Jim Crockett Promotions 1985-1988 remains my absolute favorite era of wrestling to watch, warts and all.

Backlund singles matches are good. The boot camp match against Slaughter is one of the best matches of the 80s -- and not just in the WWF. I'm sure there are others, but those are the matches that jump out right away.