1 Year in Wrestling

August 30th, 1998: NEW YORK: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN: attendance 21,588

One of the most iconic PPVs of the Attitude Era...

• D'Lo Brown (c) defeats Val Venis via DQ to retain the title WWF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
  
• The Oddities (Kurrgan, Giant Silva & Golga) defeat Kaientai (Taka Michinoku, Funaki, Dick Togo & Men's Teioh)4-ON-3 HANDICAP MATCH
  
• X-Pac defeats Jeff JarrettHAIR VS. HAIR
  
• Edge & Sable defeat Marc Mero & Jacqueline
• Ken Shamrock defeats Owen HartLION'S DEN MATCH
  
• Triple H defeats The Rock (c) to win the titleWWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH
  
• Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) defeats The Undertaker to retain the titleWWF CHAMPIONSHIP
  

August 8, 1998: STURGIS, NORTH DAKOTA: 8500 attendance

• Meng defeats The Barbarian
• The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) defeat The Dancing Fools (Disco Inferno & Alex Wright)STREET FIGHT
  
• Saturn defeats Raven and KanyonRAVEN'S RULES TRIANGLE MATCH
  
• Rey Mysterio Jr. defeats Psychosis#1 CONTENDER (WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
  
• Stevie Ray (c) defeats Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the titleWCW WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
  
• Steve McMichael defeats Brian Adams
• Juventud Guerrera defeats Chris Jericho (c) to win the title
  (Special referee: Dean Malenko)WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
  
• Winner: Goldberg
  Participants: Goldberg, The Giant, Lex Luger, Sting, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Scott Norton, Konnan"NWO INVITATIONAL" 9-MAN BATTLE ROYAL
  
• Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno defeat nWo Hollywood (Hollywood Hogan & Eric Bischoff)

This event is one of the Mount Rushmore events of the Attitude Era, simply due to 1 match...

Mankind v Undertaker: Hell in a Cell.

The First Blood Match with Austin v Kane is actually quite a sleeper of a main event, which is completely understandable considering it had to follow the HiaC.

Ken Shamrock wins King of the Ring in a solid match against The Rock.

The Nation is becoming incredibly entertaining with Kama now The Godfather and Mark Henry starting to show some personality. 

Sable is back! 

Too Cool do their infamous "Head & Shoulders" gag v Al Snow and Head.

The New Age Outlaws take on the NEW Midnight Express.

X-Pac takes on Owen Hart. 

Goldberg....Da Man....hits 100-0 after destroying Konnan.

nWo Wolfpac v nWo Hollywood continues to "heat up" as the usual random double-crosses / jersey switching occurs. Here Curt Hennig and Rick Rude jump Konnan after the match to reveal they are still part of nWo Hollywood.

Speaking of Hollywood - Hogan & Hart team up in a pretty rotten match v Piper & Macho Man. Hart did not work well in WCW, did he? Hogan and Hart have little to no chemistry...Piper and Mach end up having a strange match after the tag match.

The main event saw Sting (red face paint and all) take on a cigarette-smoking Giant for full custody of the tag belts. The best part of the match was watching Giant smoke cigarettes. 

If the top of the card was lousy (and it was) then the bottom to middle was actually quite good!

Malenko v Jericho

Chavo v Eddy

Booker T kicks off the night in match 8 in his best of 7 series with Chris Benoit (how is that for Steiner math!)

Booker T then takes on Fit Finlay for the TV Title later in the evening.

Kanyon v Saturn

Steve Austin v Dude Love II as the headliner - and what a headliner it was!!

All the WWF bells & whistles were here in this match: Vince McMahon as the special guest ref, Undertaker as the outside enforcer, Pat Patterson as the special guest ring announcer and Gerald Brisco as the special guest timekeeper.

Brilliant stuff, here. The crowd is absolutely rabid for Austin!

Aside from that, we have: 

- DX vs the Nation in a 6-man tag (which had the crowd surprisingly quiet).

- Farooq interrupts The Rock during his promo making fun of the audience, giving him some incredible piledrivers that result in The Rock needing to wear a neck brace.

- LOD 2000 vs DOA (*crickets)

- Kane v Vader in a mask-vs-mask match that results in the infamous "Look at me! I'm so BIG!!" Vader promo after the match, as well as Paul Bearer putting on Vader's mask and declaring it's "Paul Bearer time!!" 

All in all this is a decent show, but the main event is what really carries the PPV.

You really get the sense that the wind is coming out of the WCW sails at this point.

The 83 weeks of WCW ratings dominance has come to an end...DX invaded a WCW broadcast on April 27th...Aside from the Rise of Goldberg - there isn't a lot positive to say about WCW these days.

There are some very strange booking decisions in this PPV: 

The ending of Macho v Bret Hart is way too over-complicated. Eric Bischoff presenting as a good guy vs an absent Vince McMahon. Babyface Sting teaming with a heel Giant vs nWo Wolfpack Nash & Hall where the hot tags and flow of the match point to Hall/Nash being the bad guys...all this makes for a flat viewing experience. 

There were some positives:

Guerrero v Ultimo Dragon (with a conflicted Chavo in Eddy's corner)

Jericho awaits the winner of a Cruiserweight Battle Royal - who happens to be a returning Dean Malenko, wearing Lucha gear.

The table being set for the Benoit v Booker T best of 7. 

As with our previous episode,  this one is a watch-along as well!

We will be watching the last 2 matches of this PPV:

DDP v Raven for the US Title (in a Ravens Rules match)

Macho Man v Sting for the WCW Title.

Curious booking having 2 back-to-back no holds barred matches...🤔

Macho Man apparently “fought through the agonizing pain of a torn ACL knee ligament to compete in the main event of Spring Stampede '98."

This is also what appears to be the genesis of nWo Wolfpack, as Kevin Nash comes down to help Macho win the title.

Also, of note, I watched the Goldberg match (v Saturn) as this is where Goldberg is really picking up some steam! He is closing in on a 75-0 winning streak at this stage of things.

The match.....is abysmal. I dare you to try and sit through it. 

THANKS FOR BEING PATIENT WITH THE LATE RELEASES THIS MONTH!

SEE YOU IN MAY.

- Matt

Sorry for the late podcasts this month!!

I have been focusing all my energy on my career pivot/entrepreneurial pursuits and was travelling last week to boot.

Nevertheless, today Chris and I are going to do a watch-along for the main event of 1998 WWF PPV Unforgiven.

This match is a CLASSIC!! Steve Austin in his first title defence as WWF Heavyweight Champion vs Dude Love, with Vince McMahon lurking on the outside of the ring.

Great stuff here.

This is one of the most pivotal events in modern wrestling history.

One of the biggest Main Events in the history of our sport: Steve Austin v Shawn Michaels with Mike Tyson as the Guest Enforcer at ringside. It doesn't get any bigger, it doesn't get any better. 

Aside from that 5-star Main Event we had Undertaker take on Kane for the first time in one hell of a match!! 

There was also the infamous Dumpster Match that saw Terry Funk & Cactus Jack take on the New Age Outlaws. Classic stuff.

Also:

The Rock v Ken Shamrock

LOD 2000 debut in a Tag Team Battle Royal

Owen Hart v HHH

I vividly remember this PPV. This was at the start of Wrestling becoming mainstream again. The commentating team of Lawler and Ross is so incredible - Ross is at his absolute best here.

I maintain: this is one of the most important WWF PPVs of ALL TIME. 

'Nuff Said.

RIP Scott Hall. One of the Greats, no doubt.

"Hey yo.."

Hall finally gets his World War III-promised Title Match against Sting.

Hogan v Macho inside a solid steel cage.

Match of the Night: DDP v Raven v The Man Who Shall Not Be Named! Killer match. 

Booker T started off the PPV, yet again, defending his TV Title against Eddy Guerrero. Very solid opener.

As Chris mentioned, the undercard of this one was solid and the matches (and crowd) got flatter as the evening progressed.

Bret Hart v Curt Hennig was the perfect (pun intended) case of this statement...after so many classic battles over the years, you'd expect these 2 to have a mat classic but it just.. fell ..flat. (Plus Bret Hart has some rotten entrance music at this point). 

Jericho beats Malenko with one of his 1004 holds...and then Mean Gene lives up to his name and verbally destroys Malenko after the match! Hilarious!

Giant looks for revenge for his broken neck at the hands of Kevin Nash.

The recently turned-heel Scott Stiener faces off against Lex Luger in a short and ugly contest.

Fairly solid outing here, overall.

On the flipside - WCW follows up their brutal January show (Souled Out) with a very solid outing here with SuperBrawl 8!

Booker T kicks off the evening with great back-to-back matches against Rick Martel, then Saturn.

Scott Steiner finally turns on his brother and joins the nWo in a riveting heel turn that has the crowd explode.

Macho Man takes on Lex Luger is a fairly decent outing, on the heels of some nWo tensions between Macho and Hogan.

Speaking of Hogan - he waits for Sting in the ring with his weightlifter belt taken off and proceeds to whip Sting and strangle him before the main event can even start! Classic heel Hogan.

Bret Hart isn't even on the card, curiously...

DDP and Beniot have the match of the night and DDP uses a tremendous variation of the Diamond Cutter to win and then leaves through the audience. Great stuff.

Jericho has a tainted victory against Juventud and gets Juvies mask as a trophy.

After such a strong PPV of Royal Rumble 98, this one kind of tanked..

Lacking the star-power and a mish-mash of matches..this PPV did very little to bring up the excitment heading into Wrestlemania 14.

The high points included: Vader v Kane - very well done match, Vader's best outing in a while and Kane looked like a monster. Steve Austin is OVER. Cactus Jack getting wrapped in barbwire and beaten with brooms in the main event..Hilarious! The NOD takes on a hodgepodge of babyfaces in the War of Attrition match.

This is the PPV where Shawn Michaels bowed out of the main event and was curiously replaced by Savio Vega. So it was HHH with the New Age Outlaws and Savio v Cactus, Chainsaw, Owen Hart and Steve Austin.

HAPPY ROYAL RUMBLE WEEKEND!

The nostalgia is HEAVY on this one!

Some great, classic angles here on this one :

Macho Man is absolutely the MVP of the night - his various performances are just amazing to watch as he ramps up the rivalry with The Ultimate Warrior that would lead them to Wrestlemania 7.

Sgt Slaughter has become an Iraq-sympathizer as USA/Iraq Desert Storm war tensions rise to an uncomfortable place...Sarge ends up winning the Heavyweight belt from the Warrior due to Macho interference. This sets up the Hogan/Slaughter title match at WM7, as Hogan then wins the Royal Rumble later in the evening.

Virgil turns on the Million Dollar Man after their match with Dusty & Dustin Rhodes! Classic stuff.

The rapid-fire interviews prior to the Rumble, the purple ring apron, Gorilla Monsoon on commentary...ahhh the memories.

And what a STACKED roster WWF had at this time!! 

So how did WCW follow up the blunder that was the December 97 PPV 'Starrcade' ??

Well, let's see here...

Nash almost paralyzed The Giant with a scary-looking Jackknife, Lex Luger took on Macho Man in a snoozefest main event, Booker T took on Rick Martel for some reason...no Heavyweight title match at all....not great stuff here.

The beginning of the card, however, saw a pair of great matches: Benoit took on Raven in a 'Ravens Rules Match' that was crazy!! and Chris Jericho had recently turned full-heel and was at the start of his 'Crybaby' phase as he took on Rey Mysterio. Also great stuff.

All in all - not a great show. You can feel the air coming out of the nWo angle. In 1996 and 1997 the nWo was so edgy and hip - whereas here you can already tell the peak has been hit and they are on the downslide.

Stone Cold!! Stone Cold!! Stone Cold!!

This is the Royal Rumble where the tide starts to shift back to WWF in the 'Monday Night Wars'.

Mike Tyson brings a lot of extra eyes to this PPV as he sits in a private box with Shane McMahon.

The Rumble starts with the infamous Cactus Jack / Chainsaw Charlie drawing 1 & 2 respectively. Classic stuff!

The New Age Outlaws continue to humiliate the Legion of Doom.

The event is headlined by Undertaker v HBK in a Casket Match that would see Michaels break his back on the casket...the match, itself, is outstanding.

This PPV is well-known (except to Chris) as the PPV with the botched ending that, in some folks opinion, showed the first crack in the WCW armour.

Nick Patrick was "supposed" to do a quick 3 count to feed into the story that followed : Bret Hart came down, claiming no ref funny business will ever happen on his watch, punches out Patrick and re-starts the match.

Rumour has it Hogan told Patrick NOT to do the rushed count in order to get what he wanted out of the match..whether that was making Sting look weak or whatever his reasons may have been. 

Sting had taken some heat for not being in ring-shape, as well - the hilarious quote of Bischoff suggesting he wasn't "tan enough". 

Aside from the confusing main event - the rest of the PPV was fairly middle of the road...

Of note :

Benoit took on Saturn, Eddy took on Dean Malenko - all 4 of the Radicalz fought amongst themselves on this night.

Nash was unable to make the event due to legit health issues, so his match against the Giant was pulled.

Goldberg had his first official PPV match v Mongo McMichael.

Curt Hennig took on DDP.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF OUR LISTENERS OUT THERE!! 

THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN FOR THIS PAST YEAR OF 1997 & 1990.

WE'LL BE COMING BACK AT YOU IN 2022 WITH '1 Year in Wrestling : 1998' ...as well as reviewing / rewatching the 'Big 4' for 1991.

See you next year!!!

- 1YiW

2 things come to mind when I think of this PPV :

D-Lo Brown getting a Stunner on the roof of a truck, and Owen Hart rushing the ring to attack HBK after the main event.

This PPV is the first PPV since Bret Hart left..a lot has changed. Vince is off-camera, for now, as the Mr.McMahon character is lurking just around the corner...JR and the King are the only 2 commentators for this event - which would set the tone for the Attitude Era, commentators-wise.

Brian Christopher and Taka M have an underrated match to kick things off, Marc Mero takes on Butterbean in a ToughMan Contest...

We get to see The Rock v Steve Austin in their first PPV match in a rivalry that would define the era.

As far as DX content :

Ken Shamrock proves he can hang with the main event crew as he takes on Shawn Michaels in the main event, while HHH takes on a 48 year old Sgt Slaughter in a Boot Camp Match..and the New Age Outlaws (pre-DX) take on the Legion of Doom. 

ECW is back with their final PPV offering for 1997!

I actually quite enjoyed this PPV. 

Sabu v The Sandman in a 'Tables & Ladders' Match...very entertaining, sometimes unintentionally hilarious..

Tommy Dreamer v Rob Van Dam in a WWF/ECW Flag Match

Taz begins his uprising into the title picture.

Chris Candido continues to impress!

...and a sloppy & entertaining 4-way-dance tag match for the straps!! FBI v The Gangstanators v The Dudleys v The Hardcore Chair-Swingin' Freaks!!

oh, and Shane Douglas v Bam Bam Bigelow headlines.

60 men. 3 rings. 1 winner. YOU DO THE MATH!!

Kevin Nash repels from the roof as the only 7' Sting in the history. Very amusing!

Looking at this card we didn't have high hopes but, honestly, WCW can almost do-no-wrong at this point! (That will change soon enough...)

LOTS of rematches from the previous months Halloween Havoc, and they all tell different stories than last months.

Flair v Hennig

Faces of Fear v Glacier & Ernest Miller

The Steiners v The Blue Bloods

Das Wunderkind v Mongo 

Eddy Guerrero v Rey Mysterio

60 Man Battle Royal (Scott Hall is the victor)

One of, if not THE, most infamous PPVs of all time...the Montreal Screwjob : Survivor Series 1997.

Live from the Molson Center in Montreal, Canada - 20,000+ strong witnessed a pivotal piece of wrestling history that would change the course of the business for years to come...

Bret Hart v Shawn Michaels and also Owen Hart v Steve Austin with many traditional "gang rulez" Survivor Series tag matches.

(Old) Age in the Cage!! Roddy Piper puts Hollywood Hogan to sleep!!...but doesn't win the belt. Annnnnd WCW sends the fans home angry, yet again.

Numerous bogus Stings throughout the event...very cool visual.

The match of the night is Rey v Eddy Guerrero - 5 stars, without question. So GOOD!

Macho Man takes on DDP in a tremendous Last Man Standing Match.

The infamous Disco Inferno v Jackie match...

Jericho v Gedo (with a scary bump by Jericho - almost landing on his head)

Scott Hall takes on Lex Luger w. Larry Zybsco as the special guest ref.

Another noteworthy moment : Goldberg makes his PPV debut with a sneaky run-in on the Alex Wright v Mongo McMicheal match.

Very solid PPV!! 

The First Ever 'Hell in a Cell' match with Shawn Michaels v The Undertaker!! ..and, one of the best debut of all time - Kane!! ("That's gotta be Kane!!")

Bret Hart/Bulldog v Vader/The Patriot in a Flag Match that allowed pin falls, strangely.

The spectre of the Brian Pillman hung over this PPV - his body found just hours before this event.

LOD v NOD with the Rise of The Rock very much in stride!

Owen Hart wins the vacated IC belt with the help of his nemesis, Steve Austin, against Farooq. (Austin trolls all the commentary teams during the match, including the French and Spanish desks).

The main event is an absolute 5 star classic! So good.

Sept 20, 1997 the WWF travels "across the pond" to Manchester for the One Night Only PPV.

A few weeks removed from the IYH : Ground Zero PPV we see Shawn Michaels defeat The British Bulldog for the European Championship, in controversial fashion. Degeneration X has all but formed and are about 5 weeks into using that moniker.

Shawn Michaels becomes the first "Grand Slam Champion" in WWF history - IE the first person to have held all of the titles at least once.

Bret Hart has what has been heralded by many (including Bret, himself) his last great match vs The Undertaker - in a 28min classic.

2 days after this PPV, Monday Night Raw takes place in Madison Square Garden - this is when Vince McMahon tells Bret Hart he cannot honour Bret's contract and suggests he leave to WCW.

You can hear the tension and the under-cutting Vince does to Bret during his pre-match interview..suggesting that he is getting booed by the UK audience - which was only partially correct.

There is also a dandy of a match between Vader and Owen Hart! Arguably match of the night.

The Godwinns take on the Legion of Doom.

Flash Funk, strangely, takes on The Patriot (who gets booed out of the building).

Dude Love takes on Hunter Hearst-Helmsley in a solid opening contest.

This Fall Brawl saw the infamous Curt Hennig nWo turn, as the 4 Horsemen took on Nash, Konnan, Buff Bagwell and Syxx.

This match comes on the heels of the controversial nWo imitation of the 4 Horsemen after Arn Anderson retired.

Also on the card :

Jericho v Guerrero

Das Wunderkind v Ultimo Dragon

Macho Man & Hall v DDP & Luger

Scott Norton v The Giant

The Faces of Fear v Wrath & Mortis 

The Steiner Bros v Harlem Heat

The first 3-hour In Your House features the double main events of : Shawn Michaels v Undertaker  & Bret Hart v The Patriot.

This was HBK and Undertaker's 1st meeting in what we all know amounted to one of the most storied rivalries of all time. It is full of tremendous HBK over-selling and has a hilarious schmozz ending.

Bret Hart is the current champ at this point and is curiously 2nd-to-last in his title defence versus The Patriot. 

As we lead into the infamous 'Gang Rulez' Survivor Series, the former members of the Nation battle the leader in a Triple Threat Match : Farooq v Savio Vega v Crush.

Goldust puts Marlena on the line in an 'Indecent Proposal' Match in what would be Brian Pillman's final PPV match.

There is also a fairly chaotic, entertaining 4-way tag match to crown the new Tag Team Champions (Steve Austin and Dude Love had to forfeit their belts, due to Austin being unable to compete) : The Godwinns, The Headbangers, Owen & Bulldog, Legion of Doom.

Ahhhh nostalgic early 90s WWF....so amazing.

This show is story-rich, and promo-heavy..most of the matches are all 8min or less.

The Main Event sees the Ultimate Warrior v Rick Rude inside a solid steel cage of 15ft!!

This PPV also marks the return of Hulk Hogan, a little sooner than expected, due to the ever-growing lack of faith in the Warrior as the Top Guy.

Hogan faces Earthquake.

The Hart Foundation take on the now-3-member Demolition in a 2/3 falls Summerslam Classic!...the Legion of Doom come down to ringside to factor in to the ending.

Also on the card :

Tito Santana v The Warlord

Texas Tornado v Mr.Perfect (supposed to be Brutus Beefcake, but he'd had that BRUTAL accident out of the ring)

The Rockers v Power & Glory (Shawn Michaels' bad knee angle)

Jake Roberts v Bad News Brown (200lbs of Harlem Sewer Rats v Damien the Snake)

Dusty Rhodes v Macho King (Rhodes was distraught as he just found out Sapphire had been 'purchased' by the Million Dollar Man)

Classic stuff here!!

This is my favourite WCW PPV of the past 2 years! Very solid card, great moments, great matches...nWo at its height...very entertaining.

Lex Luger won the WCW Title just days before this event - which added a nice wrinkle to things. The Fake Sting came out, once again - leading to more speculation as to what Sting is up to.

Giant v Macho Man

DDP v Curt Hennig

The Outsiders v The Steiners

Jericho v Alex Wright

Rey v Konnan

Flair v Syxx

Harlem Heat v Norton/Bagwell

Solid card, great atmosphere with the Sturgis Bike Rally as the backdrop, too!!

A tremendous Summerslam that saw all members of the Hart Foundation fight in Singles Matches that had stipulations to them :

Bret Hart v Undertaker (c) = is Hart doesn't win he can never wrestle on American soil, again ...HBK as special referee. FANTASTIC match and an even-better ending.

Owen Hart v Steve Austin = if Owen wins, Austin must kiss his ass. (This is the dreaded Owen-Driver match that almost left Austin paralyzed).

Brian Pillman v Goldust = if Pillman loses he must wear a dress on Raw the following night.

British Bulldog v Ken Shamrock = If Shamrock loses he must eat a can of dog food.

..also Mankind v HHH in an incredible opener - inside a 15ft high steel cage!! (The first hinting at Dude Love in the WWF).

Excellent PPV. I loved seeing how quickly the crowd left after Hart was declared Champion!

ECW is back with their 2nd-ever PPV : Hardcore Heaven.

The Main Event is a 3way Dance for the ECW Heavyweight Championship : Terry Funk (c) v Shane Douglas v Sabu

Also on the card : Taz v Candido, Lawler v Dreamer (Match of the Night!), Dudleys v PG-13 and RVD v Al Snow in a 'Monday Night Rules' match..whatever that means.

This event took place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in the War Memorial Auditorium..1800 fans. 

It is the 1 Year Anniversary / Birthday of the nWo !!

To celebrate : Hollywood Hogan is back!! ..After a few PPVs off to film yet another blockbuster movie - Hogan is back with his friend : Dennis Rodman!

They take on Giant and Luger in what was actually a very entertaining Main Event. ..Rodman was surprisingly good in the ring, and hella-entertaining.

All in all this was a solid PPV.

Benoit v Sullivan in a Career Match.

Steiners v The Great Muta & Chono 

Piper v Flair

Hall/Macho v DDP and a returning Curt Hennig

Jericho v Ultimo Dragon

This was a HUGE PPV for Chris and I - as it happened right in our backyard.

Chris actually attended the Monday Night Raw the following evening here in Edmonton - which saw The Hart Foundation all come out wearing Oilers jerseys, famous for Bret’s “Our beer tastes butter” promo.

As Chris mentions, there are only 4 matches on this PPV!

The main event is an absolute barn-burner classic..so fun to see all 10 guys in around their prime fighting on the side of Canada vs USA. (Harts v Austin, Goldust, LOD and Shamrock).

Mankind and HHH have another solid match, but its the brawl outside the Saddledome that is most memorable.

Annnnnd Vader gets the tar beaten out of him -AGAIN! (vs Undertaker). We are nearing his imfamous "I'm a big fat piece of $hit" promo.

Great stuff here! Ah, the nostalgia.

DDP v Macho Man II headlines! ..a great match that really brings DDP into the Main Event picture for good.

Hall/Nash take on Piper/Flair - Flair abandoned Piper early on setting up their brief rivalry.

Kevin Greene is back in a surprisingly good match v Mongo McMichael.

Another questionable Glacier match haha

Meng and Benoit chop the living hell out of each other in a return Death Match.

And UItimate Dragon starts off the PPV AGAIN!!

Hunter Hearst-Helmsley is finally crowned the King of the Ring! He defeated Mankind in a classic Finals match..this is shortly after Mankind's "Mrs Foleys Little Boy" series of tell-all interviews with Jim Ross.

Mankind starts his night with a very entertaining match against Jerry Lawler.

HHH starts his night with Ahmed Johnson, in a serviceable match that starts Ahmed's descent.

Steve Austin faces his tag partner  (and fellow tag champion) Shawn Michaels in a classic - right before Michaels walks out on the company and abandons a championship for the 2nd time of 1997.

Bret Hart challenges any 5 Americans to the next PPV in Calgary.

Farooq battles Undertaker in the Main Event for the Championship.

Great PPV!

Stone Cold Steve Austin main-events his 2nd straight PPV as an emerging "character babyface" antihero - facing The Undertaker for the coveted WWF Heavyweight Championship.

Bret Hart and his fully formed Hart Foundation all set up in the front row for the match to heckle and interfere with Austin's attempt to win championship gold.

Also on the card : Ahmed Johnson attempts to run the gauntlet of the Nation of Domination, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley (with his new bodyguard Chyna) take on Flash Funk, Mankind battles rookie Rocky Miavia in an interesting early match between what would become a classic 90s rivalry.

Ken Shamrock enters his "zone" and debuts tonight in a UFC style match against Vader.

This is a bit of a sleeper PPV to follow up Wrestlemania 13.

It contains the 'forgotten' Bret Hart v Steve Austin match that would complete their trilogy of matches.

It also saw Mankind challenge the newly championed Undertaker for his belt in what would seem to be their 8th PPV match of the past 13 months! There is a crazy table spot where Mankind goes through the table headfirst from off the ring apron..there is flash paper, a burnt up Taker, and a bad Jerry Lawler joke where Paul Bearer hits Taker with the urn and Jerry says "Well...he urned it.."

Also Rocky Miavia takes on Savio Vega and the NoD.

Bulldog/Owen ALMOST drop their titles to the Legion of Doom, but get bailed out by a technicality - following by their loving brother Bret.

A 41 year old Diamond Dallas Page finally takes his spot as a main eventer in this PPV as he takes on Macho Man!!

...strangely neither Scott Hall or Hollywood Hogan are on the card...

Beniot v Malenko in a surprisingly conservative match, Giant gives up a change at a title match to allow Luger to take his spot, Rey opens yet another PPV against Ultimate Dragon, and some teasing of discontent in the nWo as Nash ruffles some feathers!

Not bad, not great either...

The first ECW PPV and, as a result, the first ECW PPV of our 1 Year in Wrestling Podcast!

Lots of great angles in this one - Terry Funk as the unlikely champion - going through 2 matches to win the belt..Douglas with all the 'grab him by the halo' heat in what leads to an absolutely awful match v Pitbull#2...RVD was off the card initially - but ends up filling in for an injured Candido v Lance Storm..and, of course, Taz v Sabu!!

The Dudleys v The Eliminators is tremendous, as well, as the opener.

Wrestlemania 37 is in the books and what a spectacle it was! The first ever rain delay in WM history, but also 25k strong each night..great to see fans back!

The Ultimate Challenge!!

An absolute wrestling classic - WM6 from Skydome in Toronto, Canada - in front of 67,678 strong!

The Hogan/Warrior belt v belt Main Event, that was surprisingly good...Rick Rude v Snuka...Andre turns on Heenan...Piper paints himself half black in his prep for his match against Bad News Brown...Jake Roberts v DiBease in a classic...Brutus hands Mr.Perfect his first loss...

and if you look closely you can see a 12 year old Edge and a 12 year old Christian in the audience!

Awesome entrance music throughout, nostalgia for days on this one.

HAPPY WRESTLEMANIA SEASON!

This Wrestlemania has long since been referred to as a "one match show" but looking back - this was a great PPV!

The tremendous fire-extinguisher-laden Chicago Street Fight that resulted in yet another Ahmed Johnson wedgie...Goldust v Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a great story-telling match up...Owen Hart, coming off his 2 Slammy evening the night before - teaming with the Bulldog v Vader and Mankind...Undertaker finally gets recognized as the Man, defeating Sid in the Main Event that saw HBK join on commentary and Bret Hart interfere literally 3 times...

And, of course - arguably the greatest match in the history of Wrestlemania : Steve Austin v Bret Hart in a Submissions Match w Ken Shamrock as the referee. What a classic.

Rodzilla!! Dennis Rodman almost missed his NBA Championship Playoff game to be at Hollywood Hogan's side for the tag match at the end...also DDP is humiliated by Macho Man - which sets up their April PPV match that really kicks DDP into that headliner classification.

And the usual solid undercard including Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Eddy Guerrero...

Live from the Cow Palace !! 13.4k strong in a attendance!

The rematch of the century : Roddy Piper, fresh off his 7 days and 7 nights in Alcatraz v Hollywood Hogan.

Dean Malenko v Syxx

Jericho v Eddy Guerrero 

The Outsiders v Giant with Lex Luger coming in at the end to clean up

DDP continues to shine and evolve ever-so-closer to his jeans-wearing rib taped self (v Buff Bagwell)

Faces of Fear v Public Enemy v Harlem Heat in the sleeper match of the night (Chris' fave match, surprisingly)

Decent card! 

Good nWo stuff at the end where Macho Man turns heel on Piper and joins the Black & White!

WWF had to call an audible on the road to Wrestlemania 13 : HBK "lost his smile" and forfeited his title shortly after the Royal Rumble - which caused the main event of the PPV to crown a brand new WWF Champion.

Bret Hart v Vader v Undertaker v Steve Austin is a rather strange 4way where you could win by pin...submission...or throwing the man over the top rope!

This match created the infamous 'Vader Bloody Vader' visual, as well as saw Bret Hart win his 4th Championship (although it was very short lived).

Some other solid matches on this card as we ramp up into the home stretch of W13 from Chicago.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley faces Rocky Miavia in their first-of-many PPV bouts, Leif Cassidy takes on Marc Mero, Owen Hart/Bulldog tease a breakup against Furnace/LaFon, the first appearance of Chyna!...and the NoD take on some random-ass good guys in Bart Gunn, Flash Funk and Goldust.

We teleport ourselves back to a golden time in WWF : 1990 !

This Rumble match is one of the best, in our opinions - it has the iconic spot where The Warrior and Hogan clear the ring and face off, setting the table for the WM6 match in Skydome in Toronto.

Ted DiBiase is the token 'iron man' in this Rumble, drawing #1 (karma for buying #30 in 1989).

The undercard doesn't look like much, on paper, but actually delivered some fun moments as well...Garvin v Valentine, Brutus v The Genius, Big Bossman v Hacksaw...

and this is one of the only PPVs that Tony Schiavone does play-by-play!

Classic stuff here, very fun to re-watch.  

WCW takes a risk in Jan 97 with their nWo PPV - Souled Out.

Definitely a case of sizzle-over-steak this PPV features a lot of experimental presentation : from the intro of the PPV where the nWo approach the arena on the backs of garbage trucks, to the good-guys coming down the ringside without any music, to Eric Bischoff and Ted DiBiase just lounging about instead of located behind an announce desk..and, of course, the nWo narrator guy randomly coming over the PA to make fun of someone or simply say "New World Order".

As Chris points out - nWo shockingly manage to loose 2 of their Championships this night, despite the obvious deck-stacking.

The Outsiders v The Steiner Bros

Syxx v Eddy Guerrero in a ladder match for the US Title

DDP faces Scott Norton - which leads to another HUGE DDP moment after the match

Sting gets a pop with his upper deck appearance; various WCW good-guys show up in the audience throughout the event.

...aaaaaaannd Hulk Hogan faces off against Giant (again).

Often referenced as one of the worst PPVs of the era - this one has some sparks and some creativity , but the matches just don't deliver.

The first PPV of 1997 is a doozy!

WWF kicks the attitude up a few gears in the start of 97 -  lots of "rule-bending" matches here (ie lots of outside brawling, stairs usage, chairs and tables) which is even commented on by Jim Ross.

Goldust has turned good-guy and is feuding with Hunter-Hearst Helmsley...Ahmed Johnson finally gets his chance at "extracting revenge" with his match with Farooq, months after his kidneys burst like a balloon...and, in the main event, Sid defends the Heavyweight Championship against the hometown hero, Shawn Michaels.

Michaels had a strong fever and was ill all day leading into the match. This is the culmination of close to 16 months of HBK push, thru WM12 and the Boyhood Dream; we are now weeks away from him loosing his smile.

An up and coming Steve Austin really shines in the Rumble match itself, throwing numerous pieces of trash over the top rope and then cheatingly coming back into the ring at the end to toss over Bret Hart - who, by all intents and purposes, should have won.

Great PPV! Welcome to 1997!