El-P

They totally lost the plot here. Hogan's ego is finally running out of control, after months of great, focused promos. Not only is he basically stealing Hennig's heat, but it's indeed a very petty way to take shots at Flair when there's no plan for a Hogan vs Flair feud in the future.

Agreed, it's a schokingly good promo from Piper, although he does say NWA instead of nWo. Kayfabe-wise, Piper has done a much better job that JJ Dillon in term of decision making. Luger vs Hall with Larry Z. as the ref is the logical continuation of the ongoing storyline, but shows that Luger has gone from being the Man for WCW during the summer to be a transition character for an upper midcard feud. He would still feud with Savage on top in the beginning of 98, which shows of screwed up the booking had become. Piper does also a good job hyping a cage match I have no desire to watch.

Surprisingly, she didn't follow Jeff Jarrett. *wink wink nudge nudge* Sadly, the nice reign of Alex Wright comes to an end, and Disco is not yet the worker he would be the following year. Plus they gave him the belt so he can feud with Jackie, who makes a shoot remark about knowing why Disco didn't show up for the last six months (apparently the wanted to job him to Jackie earlier that year and Disco refused and left). This was a terrible idea that did nothing but hurt the status of the TV belt, which had been immaculate for years. I dunno if that was a Terry Taylor idea or if Sullivan was getting burned out at this point.

They never dropped the strap after the latest Steiner debacle during the summer, at this point the tag team title was essentially dead. Good little segment to build up Hall vs Larry.

No entrance. No hype. They sure knew what they had in their hands. The crowds already pop for the jackhammer, but no spear yet. Hugh Morrus does his usual "fat guy doing a moonsault" deal, but doesn't make Goldy look all that impressive all things considered.

Yeah, what's the point ? This is non productive, builds to nothing and thus seems rather petty.

We had this discussion before, somewhere else on this board. Lex >> Hunter (I know, I'm lazy).

The Nitro Girls was Kimberly's project so she has to be featured. This probably also explains why they couldn't dance very well. But damn, Spice was hot. And their look was so 90's. Picture the Nitro Parties today with all the social networks bullshit. I wonder why WWE never tried that trick.

Is there one ?

You *almost* giving me the urge to revisit this era which I loved when it happened, before the bullshit really kicked in a few months later. Damn. Good memories.

Mongo got the belt off Jarrett which was a dumb move, Jarrett + Debra were the perfect act for this title. Terrible match, neither look any good. Hennig's bumping looks awkward and he's obviously past his physical prime. Hennig pinnig Mongo clean, with no sign of Benoit or any other WCW guy, was just another sign the nWo was just washing over WCW at this point. The booking of the nWo is very clearly going haywire now.

Went way too long and went nowhere. The Piper issue is just dead, and it really hurts the momentum of the ongoing Sting vs Hogan storyline. The Flair burying goes too far here. Savage vs DDP is cool with me as I love those two working together, but it felt like a rehash more than a hot feud now. You can feel the stalling on top. The nWo really was going out of hand at this point, on the same show the Outsiders pinned Wrath & Mortis clean despite having nothing to win there.

Well, I really enjoyed this angle too. In her shoot interview, Terri said the plan was for her and Dustin to renew their weddings vows after the 30 period. Then during the ceremony, Terri would turn on Dustin and Pillman would attack and bloody him. Terri said she loved the idea of her standing in a bloody wedding dress over Dustin's body while she was getting back with Pillman. They would have played on the fact Terri used to date Pillman before she married Dustin. Sounds like an angle I would have loved. Sadly...

Yep. As a worker I would sure want to work with the likes of Lance Storm and not Chris Jericho, for instance. Most of the Samoans have a reputation for being light as a feather, which is partly why they are so respected and appreciated by their fellow co-workers. Not exactly working "light", but I remember hearing that Kohji Kanemoto was super respected by his peers because he was extremely safe. I can see that being the most important factor. No matter how great we, unsuspecting watchers, think he is, working Stan Hansen must have been a nightmare.

Okay, for all the deserved criticism Tony got over the years for the last years of WCW, can we say that it's September 97 and Tony has regularly been *great* in selling key angles up until then ? Maybe it's time to give Schiavone the credit he deserves in the success of WCW's product during those hot years. To me he didn't fall off the cliff until mid 98, when the entire company was falling off the cliff anyway. (and yeah, that Flair face shot was morbid to say the least)

Bagwell kinda sucked the life out of the match early on on offense, but he redeemed himself by taking a hundred chops. Konnan was kind of an albatros save for one DDT. Benoit was a dynamo here, easily the standout with Syxx, who took a sick bump into the roof. Bad followup aside, I don't see nothing wrong with the angle the way it is executed, it's actually a pretty great double swerve (for one) that the crowd really didn't see coming. And Hennig seems much more at home playing dastardly heel, so he shows his real personnality for the first time here. Yeah, they did kill this incarnation of the Horsemen there and Flair never got the right revenge (the whole Hennig feud is a blur to me), but it's a damn effective angle. The one issue is, where the fuck were the WCW guys, DDP, Luger, Giant, hell, even Piper ?

Really enjoyed this match, which set up a lot of cool stuff (the last chapter of Savage vs DDP, Zbyszko vs Hall). Luger getting stomped between the two ring was classic. As far as the finish goes, Larry Z. didn't "pretend" to be a referee, the nWo had lost de facto if you follow the rules since they beat up two referees already, which would warrant a DQ anyway. The pinfall was the cherry on the cake and humiliating for Hall. Really enjoyed this finish. Really enjoyed Liz's outfit too (really, leather minishorts and high heels…). This PPV was ridiculously stacked with good stuff (with a decent although irrelevant Steiner vs Harlem Heat match and the excellent Faces of Fear vs Mortis & Wrath power-spot-fest).

Benoit really delivered a dog of a promo here. Flair is going crazy in a good way.

To say the least. He's hilarious.

Agree it could seem legit but anyone that had watched way too much wrestling should now better. Plus the execution, running back and forth in front of Gene, was goofy.

Alex Wright, under any incarnation, was one of the most underrated worker during the Monday Night Wars era. Really good match, but not nearly as good as the Eddie/Jericho one. As a matter of fact, I would put Jarrett vs Malenko above this one too. They did lost the crowd at some point, but damn Alex Wright was impressive in spots. Dragon was having one of these nights, but again he can save the day by working cool sequences (he really botched up La Magistral though). The eurotrash techno dancing act never gets old with me.

Terrific match, a WCW MOTYC to me. The way they worked a slower pace and got nice reactions from working holds during the body of the match was a real nice touch. Eddie was cut, I wonder if he juiced up to come back from his pec injury. He was also total poetry in motion here. The best Jericho match up until then probably. A match that elevated both guys.

Mr. Fuji's devious reputation probably came from real-life ribbing. I mean, he was a cruel bastard.

Better booked that current WWE. (he oversold the ice though, but the first bump was nice)

Bagwell is funnier here than he was during the parody. Konnan is totally overacting the gangsta attitude. Syxx and Nash are too cool for school, or something. Bagwell & Konnan are thrown to the wolves.