January 2000

I was so thankful to see Angle's Memphis run throughout 1999. It gave great context to how he was primed to be a contender from the start when called to the big leagues. Still it is amazing to watch him in this match as the SmackDown audience is a far contrast to the Power Pro Studio of 1999. Rock is mega over, like top 5 all time in wrestling history on tape at this point. Signs and fan fare are everywhere. The fact that Angle strolls down the ring and holds his own as someone that had only been wrestling less than a year is extremely impressive. He has his character down and he is actually made to look competent at points with this big star. The match was short but spir…

I love Ian but hate Pondo so I didn’t know what to expect here. We hear from the announcer that Zandig is out and Ian was the replacement so I guess that explains why this match is strangely main eventing a CZW show. Ian is pretty huge here and comes out in his IWA shirt. The lights go out and come back on with Pondo hitting Ian with his stop sign. Things get gory really quick as Pondo slices Ian’s forehead open with scissors and side Russian leg sweeps him onto a barbed wire bat. I cant make out what Pondo uses next to rake against Ian but he is a bloody mess. Next comes the obligatory crowd brawling portion of these matches and Ian is able to take over with a powerbomb …

This was a match I never knew existed until we started researching 2000 dates. It is odd in that it takes place in CZW and it does involve Ric Blade who is a pretty big cult early 2000’s indy guy. Also, this is some of the earliest Low Ki we will have. Ki has his signature entrance music already and there really isn’t a large difference in his appearance from here to the Super 8 2001 tournament. Fast start with both running through some moves and Ki catching himself from slipping to hit a somersault dive to the outside. I guess this show predates Eric Garguilo and John House taking over the CZW commentary but this is also filmed fan cam style. Blade is able to take over w…

I suspect we might see these two some more as the decade progresses. I wanted to listen to Started from the Bottom by Drake on repeat when watching this match. This is the opening match for a MAW show that was promoted by Mae Young making an appearance. Cabana is announced as Colton Cabana and the announcer just calls him Scotty Colton throughout the match. Cabana is the heel here and one thing that will be interesting to track is that he does look more polished in this match. As the heel, he was leading. He didn't do anything extraordinary but his fist drop punches looked good and he had some interaction with the fan and gave off the douchey vibe that worked with the cro…

This was quick but a street fight with much more intensity than the hardcore Funk vs. Bret match. Trash is someone that I have a good soft spot for as his brawling style really works for me in a no-nonsense arena like here. Cornette is at ringside but doesn't add a lot to the proceedings. An odd finish where Flash comes out and helps Trash pick up the win and then starts to beat on him. This was good in showing that PPW was still churning out decent tv segments in 2000. **

NWA Wildside! Ron Killings ... awkwardly rapping while fans sit on their hands for 17 years and counting it would appear. He's actually serviceable in the ring, with some sharp offense and good bumping and feeding for Estrada, so I won't be too harsh. I can see why the WWF took a chance on him in 2000, because he is a charismatic guy with some cool moves. Not much to the match, but it's fine.

These guys are all a bit green, but this still had its moments. I think White Trash just about died on that German suplex near the end of this. Good Lord. There was a little too much going on to know what to follow, but the announcers did as good a job as could be expected of calling it and it was an interesting look at some guys I had absolutely no idea existed. Not sure if any of them were repackaged as people we know well or not. Rukkus is a big muscle guy who does moves from the top rope, which tells me had WCW stayed in business, he would have ended up there eventually. Fun time capsule if nothing else.

I am still unsure of where I stand with these two. We saw a good bit of them in 1999. They both have the look and are good at building a match, but yet missing that one personality spark to make them set off. I think that is easy to say in retrospect knowing where their career landed, but it felt the same way watching this match. We get a perfectly fine 8 minute match that tells a story, has ups and downs, and would be pleasing on the WWF main shows. The end stretch had a nice booking touch where Cornette mentions on commentary that Conway still loads his glove from time to time. A minute later, Dinsmore hits a chain so that was handed to him from Kenny Bolin for a really…

This was cool to see as a novelty, but it's a total disjointed mess. Everyone is kind of off in their own universe and the Toryumon guys are still too green to be wrestling next to Santo and Panther (and the awesome Bombero Infernal) without looking outclassed. There is really nothing pulling all of this together as a coherent match. The Toryumon guys don't come across as out of their league when wrestling each other at all, but they are exposed sharing a ring with world class veterans.

Probably the best of the TWA matches we have watched so far. Danielson looks green, mainly because he hasn't gained confidence yet, but even green Danielson is hardly a bad wrestler. It's just clear he's inexperienced. He and Spanky do a pair of great planchas in the highlight of this match while being carried to a solid traditional tag by unflashy but rock solid old school heels Rudy Boy Gonzales and Bonecrusher. ***1/4

This was a good but ho hum match for the first 15 minutes of so. Omori isn't that engaging in me in the matwork portion and even Kobashi seemed to be kind of middling through a bit. That changed once Kobashi locked in a sleeper, choke as the final stretch was excellent here. Omori really showed good fire and Kobashi showed the appropriate restraint in having to exert himself to put Omori away but also leaving some stuff in the reserve which makes perfect sense considering what occurs with the Carnival this year. A ****1/2 finishing stretch combined with a *** opening forces me to split the difference overall. ***1/2

This is quite the odd match. The opening is worked in a real classical New Japan sort of way from the 1980's and 1990's. Misawa takes it to the mat at first to prove he can do that, Hase does the same with a strike exchange but those are the only two bits of contested action in the first fifteen minutes. The rest of the time results around Hase working the arm of Misawa. I have to say that I never tired of watching this due to Hase mixing things up. Misawa isn't someone that I think of as a great facial seller but he did well here. I can see this extended sequence testing the patience limits of many but it felt so unique that I remained invested. MIsawa doesn't look as mu…

These two are strongholds with NOAH in a lot of ways but I can’t recall that many singles encounters with them over the years. Takayama starts off dismantling Akiyama but Akiyama isn’t going to stand for that. He grabs Takayama’s leg and starts working it over in a huge way on the guardrail. I loved the way Akiyama goes into the ring and runs through a sharpshooter, figure four, and STF in quick succession to really crank on the leg. Takayama isn’t someone that is going down with a fight though as the “Hound” character in All Japan. He starts retailiating and really clobbers Jun including cranking his arm over the top rope in effectively painful fashion. Exceptional resou…

Spike arranges furniture on each side of the ring during his entrance. Awesome rushes in and immediately press slams Spike into one of the tables on the outside. Spike comes back in and gets thrown through two other tables on the outside. Joey doing his “Stop the match” JR impression is pretty awful. Awesome dives over the guardrail and into the row of fans with a crossbody onto Spike. Spike gets a rana to Mike and hits the Acid Drop on the guard rail. We then get a slammed chair shot onto Awesome’s back along with a head chair shot. Spike goes for a tope but gets caught into the ropes and luckily Awesome sort of catches him or he would have splated on the concrete. Aweso…

Here is a feud where I have never really enjoyed the output of any of the matches. The execution of this match was better than in any of their previous efforts. They do some insane moves and hit almost all of them cleanly which was shocking. The crowd reacts by being pretty rabid throughout the whole ordeal. Much like the FMW and Blade vs. Low Ki match, these matches of ultimate one upmanship will never be my favorite style of wrestling but I think these two at least had a match here that was worthy of the pre hype their matches would concoct up in the minds of diehard ECW fans. ***

Tajiri is one to track in 2000. I know some guys like Dylan see him as the WOTY for this year so I will be tracking to see where I agree or disagree with that assessment. Heyman still is wearing this leather jacket and tells Corino off to end the pre match ramble and get the tag match started proper. We get a sort of parejas incredibles vibe from the pairings here. Crazy and Lynn have the respect opening wrestling battle. Never my favorite thing in wrestling but it looked crisp and well done here. The Guido vs. Tajiri exchange is great with the crowd going nuts. Lynn and Guido take over and show some slight cohesion with each other. Dive train sequence and some crowd braw…

Yu Yu and Hyuga start off and as with most of the joshi for this decade, these are two ladies I am not that familiar with especially Hyuga. It is really amazing how much time we have spent in Korakuen to start off the decade. The Masami/Yu team gains the early advantage. It is still a pleasure to see Masami be a bruising bully as she really grinds her elbow into Hyuga. Hyuga is able to tag out and Commando is able to tag in and go to work on Yu Yu. The focus seems to be on the neck. Masami gets frustrated and leg drops Commando but she doesn’t relinquish the attack. I have really liked the momentum shifts in this match so far. The control segments are drawn out enough to …

I have no idea why Yu Yu and Hyuga are pulling double duty. Honestly, besides Kansai and the ladies in the previous match, I am at a loss for who the rest of the ladies are so the play by play here will be spotty. Early on we get the Chikara sleeper spot where 7 of the competitors put each other in a sleeper which I guess was novel at the time. We get a cut in the match from there. Hyuga hits a cool crossbody onto a group on the outside as we get another clip. Kansai is bullied up here a bit and she has to fend off the entire opposing team. It is also at this point where he get a wide shot and see how empty Korakuen is. Everyone on Yu Yu’s team comes off the top rope to h…

I really hate this gym that M-Pro insisted on running. It feels like we are interrupting training camp for a football team or something to have a wrestling match. This match gets off to a hot start and then Fujita takes control by cranking out the arm. Some really good stuff here of him simply but viciously taking apart the arm. Fujita also does a great job of never staying with anything long enough to make the match drag but the work also feels focused. That fine line is what makes for a good control sequence and a bad one. CIMA fires off going after the leg and he does a good job of still selling the residual effects of the arm work done by Fujita. CIMA does an admirabl…

This is the first match where the work is unquestionably good but I don’t have much to say about the match overall. I did like seeing Hamada being aggressive and showing some fire in there. TMIV and Mochi as the youngsters was funny in 2016 eyes. Overall, this flowed at a very good pace and was enjoyable but didn’t leave a lasting impression and never kicked into the next gear for me. ***

I could see this being ****+ unclipped, but even the 9 minutes we get are pretty great. Kobashi tends to work with Vader like he's a typical big man while Akiyama better understands what makes him unique and takes advantage of his ability to play pinball and cut a harder pace. I liked how they did more to get Johnny Smith over here. Fans weren't really buying a lot of what he did as credible, but they were giving him offensive flurries that would at least get fans in the micro, and I thought his kickout from Akiyama's first exploder at the end was well done in that regard. Everyone looked really good here, and I'd love to see this in full sometime. ***3/4

We cut with Asuka grinding out a leg submission. Kansai gets an intense claw hold on and takes it all the way to the floor with it clinched in. Things break out into a hardcore style match when a table is injected along with chairs that Asuka uses to demolish Kansai with. Asuka blows some red mist into Kansai’s face allowing herself to regain control. Asuka hits a nice tope and this match has taken a nice out of control feel with Asuka hurling chairs at Kansai on the outside. A huge double stomp sends Kansai through a table on the outside. I really liked the way Kansai fights back and the first Splash Mountain is a really dramatic nearfall. Asuka is able to put Kansai awa…

I find it odd that I have always heard the Funk match talked about as Bret’s last one but here we are. Having that in the back of my mind, I expected another fingerpoke but nope they go right after each other. Why N W O imploded over the course of one night, I have no idea but that shows the desperation and pathetic state WCW was in at the moment. Hennan talking about how he cant wait for Sold Out just reeks of total indifference. I will say I think Bret looks better here than in the Funk match moving around and selling leg damage. The crowd has no idea who to cheer for and therefore makes no crowd noise. Also, they are flat out calling Funk’s group the Old Age Outlaws. T…

After the general sludge of 1999 WWF tv output, it has been refreshing seeing some of these matches get time this early in the year. Foley is now embedded to face HHH at Rumble and DX keeps teasing the tension with HHH. In a pleasant This is 2000 moment, Mr. Ass has a choker necklace on. Nice opening sequence with Rock cleaning house and being paired off with Mr. Ass. The Acolytes and X-Pac have good chemistry as they work together. HHH had been inauspicious so far in the match and they set up him and Foley interacting to get a big pop from the crowd. Foley beats HHH down in the corner as the crowd erupts. HHH goes for a tag but DX betrays him as they refuse to tag in. DX…

An old school tecnico team here. First fall follows suit with the rudos dominating. Shocker was a big deal around this time with his Guapo gimmick becoming a thing. Scorpio and Bestia are good seconds to have as they display the viciousness needed to succeed. Old guys mount a comeback and the crowd fires up some more. Emilio is the main foil for Shocker and it is a trip to see this scuzzy guy get cheered. Lizmark and Bestia have a good exchange on the outside with some nice chops from Lizmark. Second fall begins and the rudos are getting ridiculed pretty loudly by the crowd. Tinieblas has some size on him and displays some decent agility in the fall here with a leapfrog. …