January 2000

So Nash is still in the N W O? I give up guys. I had forgotten that Jarrett and Benoit were scheduled to wrestle in triple threat theater which may be the worst gimmick name of all time. So I guess based on Jarrett’s promo, Bret is out of the N W O. Tony says he thinks each of the matches in triple threat theater will be ****. Benoit’s music is awful here btw. Big brawl starts with all four men. I never understood why Jarrett and Benoit was sold as a brawling style match when both are presented as the two best wrestlers in the company and could have legit very good matches without a stipulation. Hudson says Souled Out will be the PPV event of the year. Match breaks down a…

In a nice show of unity, HHH and Pac come out to the DX theme as HHH asked X-Pac to just trust him. Steph doing the crotch chop to the pyro is pretty awful. Enjoyed WWF so far but they aren’t immune to shakiness either as Big Show is right in the middle of another heel turn here less than a year into his tenure. Show takes over on HHH and refuses to tag Rock in. Rock cleans house and the crowd is electric. There is a lot of feuds set for HHH with Rock, Show and Foley right now which makes it logical that would be the main event at Mania at this point. X-Pac gets a chair up when Rock goes for the People’s Elbow on HHH. DX is working together well tonight. Big Show takes a …

We are firmly embedded in the Atlantis and Villano feud as they pair off at the big brawl and Villano starts going after the mask ripping it. Atlantis mask is a mess as he is having to use his hands to cover up. Due to the mask ripping, the tecnicos win the first fall. Segunda starts with more of the same and Atlantis is wrestling this match maskless which is a pretty impressive feat that he is able to guard his identity. Villano doesn’t give a shit about anything and keeps slinging him into the chairs. Tecnicos make a big comeback with Atlantis getting a back up mask for him to use. They really start attacking Villano and Atlantis is all fired up. The tecnicos end up ge…

Pretty pumped for lucha in the 2000’s as it feels like a wasteland in regards to recommendations. This starts off with the rudos bullying the tecnicos and Satanico much like Devil Masami in the joshi match earlier still looks spry and devious. Antifaz nearly gets his mask taken off. Buccanero does a big dive into Tarzan Boy to send him to the outside. Finally the rudos win the first fall with a triple submission on Antifaz and a tower slam and senton combo to Olimpico. Satanico in the second fall drags Tarzan Boy by the hair to the floor and then Guerrero slams him on the ramp. This is pure domination. The tecnicos gets their first offense in and take the second fall with…

This match was setting up to be hot with good chain wrestling to start and the crowd going nuts when Lynn dove onto Big Sal on the outside. Unfortunately, Lynn lands badly and fucks up his ankle. Guido applies an ankle submission on the inside and Lynn taps. Disappointing that Lynn is injured given the start to the match. *1/4

Awesome pushing around Rhyno is much more impressive than him demolishing Spike at the PPV. They have a pretty spirited brawl and bomb throwing match with both looking good. I was really impressed with Awesome executing a doctor bomb for a nearfall. He instructs Judge Jeff to bring in a table and he props it up in the corner. Big mistake as Rhyno hits the gore to send Awesome through. Rhyno hits an excellent splash. Awesome is able to make a comeback hitting a release German and a head shot chair shot. Awesome comes off the top rope with a chair shot but only gets two. Another table gets brought in and Awesome is able to powerbomb Rhyno through this time to pick up the wi…

Another brawl and some more shoddy camera work catching up. Raven hits Corino with a RF tape so that could explain why they skipped constantly. Raven and Corino are in the bathroom and now Raven is personally escorting Corino around the arena. We finally get a glimpse of Raven and Victory and Victory is busted open and sent through a table. Dreamer comes inside the ring, gives Corino the DDT and picks up the victory. Really a nothing match as all we got was lazy Raven brawling. *

Brawl in the crowd breaks out so the opening action is ignored. The crowd brawling here seems more frantic due to the fancam as we see the absolute mayhem of RF or whoever chasing up to the action. Tajiri throws condiment packets and a mini food fight breaks out as they had back to the ringside area. Something breaks out in the crowd again so most of the patrons miss a pretty poor missile dropkick from Prodigy. Tajiri and Crazy team up briefly to take out Prodigy then Tajiri turns on Crazy and hits the tree of woe dropkick. A brainbuster to Prodigy eliminates him as shit happens again in the crowd. What is going on here? Crazy talks to the camera. Crazy and Tajiri run thr…

Another strong outing from two of ECW's best workers during their decline. Really smooth action for the 7 minutes or so it lasted, although the match was probably closer to 10 minutes when the commercial break was factored in. I thought they used Big Sal well, as they usually do, here. Guido is just the ultimate wrestling mechanic, and Crazy looks great. Not an awful lot to say about this one, but it's one of the best WCW B-show matches that didn't happen all year. ***

Fun looking atmosphere with this in Center Stage. The action starts and doesn’t really let up. Tajiri does a good job remaining in control and using his charisma to put over his control on top. All of his signature spots like standing on the crotch of Lynn in the tree of woe get a good reaction and Tajiri mimicking the pain is hilarious. Everything Tajiri does looks great and he picks up some nice nearfalls. Finish worked for me too as Tajiri goes for the low blow, Lynn returns the favor and then hits the cradle piledriver for the win. This was the Tajiri show but they packed a lot into 7 minutes and this told a really good story. ***1/4

There was a time when people would call matches "indy-ish" and didn't mean it as a compliment, and this match is kind of a reminder of why. The layout of a good match is there, as they do have the tag formula in place to support them, but the focus is so much on unnatural and contrived double team moves that they overdo themselves and do kind of a ridiculous match. The Ballards are worse offenders than LeGrande and Thompson, especially as heels (I think they are heels), but this just doesn't quite click. It's not a bad effort for green guys, but it still feels like a match with green guys.

Quack and a bunch of other guys I don't know here. Harvey Whippleman is out before hand and demands a pushup contest. The gear of the referee is the most indy shit I have ever seen. It took me looking them up on wikipedia to tell Noxious and Anthony apart. After the pushup contest, we get a sit up competition. This is some classic stall techniques but I will say the crowd is still with them a good bit heat wise and really heckling the heels. Noxious and Anthony start out attacking when Quack and Graham leave themselves vulnerable. The heel tandem is perfectly functional here and getting heat, cutting the ring off and constructing the basics of a match. Johnny Graham was p…

Garden variety Memphis but a match I enjoyed for the five minutes it took place. Rico looked good and the next babyface in line to be the centerpiece of PPW until he got the big call up. He hits some impressive power moves and looks crisp. The interference from Cornette was predictable but they added in some wrinkles like the kickout from the powerbomb and the referee being laid out by Rico after he was blinded to add some variety. In the end, Bradley is able to capture the prestigious belt. **1/4

Early Necro! Necro’s look here is odd as he has a biker bandana, shortish hair and facepaint. He kept that when I first saw him debut in IWA-MS in 2001. Bio Hazard jumps Necro at the bell and gives him a good once over. Nice height on the elbow drop for someone his size and he displays an okish dropkick. Necro sends Hazard to the outside and now we are in his domain. Senton from the apron and he is a garbage babyface with a headbutt and sends him into the railing. Necro grabs a chair and Hazard wisely realizes his best strategy is in the ring. Match plays that off with Hazard being able to take over inside with a suplex. The chair is inside the ring and with Necro neutral…

Probably the singular biggest peak guy now that we will track a ton through the 2000's is AJ Styles (apologies to CIMA, Tanahashi, Cena). Here we see the inkling of what made him a great worker. He was energetic, had good charisma and sold all of the midsection work well. The stomach work was intriguing and different from the form. Some of AJ's spots were still spotty and he needed editing but he seemed more polished here than what we saw of Punk and Cabana earlier. **1/2

This is mostly an opportunity to hear these guys on the mic. TPT and Dinsmore steal the show and Bull has a pretty rigid delivery that was surprising considering how soon he got the call up. He is also still sporting the long hair coming out of one spot of skull. The match starts proper and the action is basic until the Bad Blondes come out to interrupt things bringing out Mr. Black and Russ McCollough who they were pushing huge at the time but he never amounted to anything. *1/4

Evan tells all the skanks in the crowd to not throw their panties up there. 3 Count is a pretty awesome act. PG-13 comes out next and I am hyped. This only goes about 3 minutes but is a ton of fun with Chavo showing some rudo tendencies were he is at his best. Enjoyed this one a good deal. **

Jindrak is doing a basketball gimmick. Weird to think that this was still airing on TBS now that we have really reached the doldrums of WCW as this is essentially an NXT match for them. Skipper looks good in this taking Jindrak's offense. Jindrak was fine here and had the size but is missing that gimmick or charisma change to really make him jump off the page. I was shocked to see Elix pick up the win. *3/4

If the Elix vs. Jindrak match was NXT esque, this was 205 live in a nutshell. A six minute match with nothing much of note and some flash mixed in. Horowitz is a good enough base but the Silver King nutty bumps were restrained for him. The crowd was sparse and sad and the sweetening that was added was 1991 WWF syndication levels of bad. *1/2

Well, this was something I took a chance on and I'm glad I did. As Southern-fried as it gets, and a total throwback to 1980s rasslin'. This was a crowd that loved their hero (Mantell) and hated their villains (The Bronx Bombers, of which Vinny was one half), and this match is a masters class in pro wrestling psychology. It's easy to get wrapped up in the nostalgic feel and the hot crowd, but the action is pretty good too. Slow building, but violent. There's a pretty nasty looking kneelift from Vinny (who worked like a vet and I'm assuming has worked under other names) down the stretch, and he's also got a really nice piledriver. I feel confident saying this would have mad…

A match with four legitimate all-time greats is a total shitshow. Not just disappointing, but a total shitshow. Is that a first? Most of that can be placed on the complete lack of rules or structure around this, with referees wearing wrestling gear and seconds interfering liberally and no tags in and out. I'm not opposed to all outside interference on the merits, but I do think there's a way to structure it and this was just a total mess with no rhyme or reason. I hope this is the worst thing we see from GAEA and an outlier instead of what we can expect from now on.

I'm already in love with Toryumon. I really respect what they're aiming for so much. Yes, there are moments where their inexperience shows, but they have made a real commitment to building their fundamentals, keeping a strong face-heel structure and cultivating strong personalities. They haven't downplayed their great high-flying moves at all, but they've found ways to incorporate them in a way that's most effective instead of just rolling them out mindlessly. Michinoku Pro did this too, but Toryumon has borrowed far more from the American approach to pro wrestling than Michinoku Pro did, and this style is very much distinct from Pro. In fact, I'd say that if this match i…

WHOA. I think this might be the best carryjob I've ever seen. This match was awesome. Benoit plays ragdoll for Sid, bumping like a madman while also delivering some great offense to chop him down to size and work over his knee. Benoit was on offense for 90% of this after being tossed around early on, but each time Sid teased a comeback, the place popped huge for him and Benoit did big exaggerated bumps for his kickouts and chokeslams and other brief comebacks. Sid tapped quick for Benoit's crossface -- a little too quick -- which brought this down some for me, especially after working over Sid's knee the whole time, which has nothing to do with the crossface. Obviously th…

Set aside the sheer weirdness of this match even existing, and it's a really fun tag that felt like it was just getting warmed up when it ended. Erik Watts seemed to have improved quite a bit between 1992 and 2000, and Tommy Rogers was still Tommy Rogers. Those two carried most of the match, so the result was something really fun, filled with more canned heat than you can shake a stick at. This is quite possibly the most in-a-vacuum match we'll watch during this entire project. In the world of WXO, I think it's still 1990 from a production and wrestling style standpoint, but it's the type of diversion that makes this project fun. Way better than anyone could have reasonab…

Really interesting structure for the New Year Giant Series this year as they loaded up two cards in 1/7 and this 1/17 show relatively big but all of the huge stuff in planning was saved for the Excite Series in February. Big contrast to what they have done the past few years. We have also seen TC matches reduced in length with the Vader run but now it floats over to tags. This was a 14 minute match that had a brisk pace and never really could wear out its welcome due to the length. It was also the semi-main of a card that is fairly perplexing with No Fear in a throwaway six man. I was glad to see Taue have a spirited performance here after giving close to nothing in the 1…