So I've gone through the rules of the any% categories and the rules state that time ends on the same frame the axe disappears in 8-4. However, I found out in practice that Bowser is able to kill you even after the axe disappears. This will send you back to the beginning of 8-4.() If that was a real run, time would have stopped. However the game technically hasn't been completed. If the time was stopped on the first frame of credits, there wouldn't be any ambiguity in game completion. So if you die after grabbing the axe, should the time end? Or shall we change the rule on when to end the timer?

That's pretty interesting. Thanks for noticing this - since a death by this glitch takes you to the beginning of the level rather than ending the game, I'll change the rules for X1 version, so a run ends on the frame the screen with Princess Peach scrolls in completely. I'll also check out if this occurs in 8801 version, too.

It certainly does happen in the PC-88 version. It's actually more a common glitch that I initially thought (got it three times in a row during my tests). As such, I completely agree with the Gustlik that the rules should change to reflect this. Also - Damn what a brutal run killer. If this happened to me during a really good single-segment run, I think I'd snap my controller in half.