February 2000

Good look at Flash here. Finish here was a big schmozz that did nothing for me with referee’s fighting, Robbie D coming out and him and TPT going after each other. Flash had a good dive to the outside but again the booking was so interference heavy here that nothing seemed to resonate. Robbie D does hit a dropkick from the electric chair position which was impressive. Rico comes in to make the save for TPT. A misfire for OVW IMO. *1/2

Is Bubba the future Love Sponge? He’s a big fella anyway, 425lbs and accompanied by his manager Sexy Eddy Van Snap along with a nameless valet. Tables match for Bubba’s Power House Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title. Bubba tries to attack Whiplash from behind, but he senses him coming and ducks out the way of a swinging right hand. Whip to the corner is reversed, however Whiplash avoids the ‘avalanche splash’ and lands a dreadful looking dropkick. He clocks the big man with the title belt right in front of the referee, although pulls the shot so clearly that the crowd chant “you f*cked up” at them both. A clothesline, but that one seems to hurt Whiplash more than his o…

The Ninja Assassins are two guys who’re decked out like Kato from the Orient Express, while the ‘Crazies’ are doing a combination escaped mental patient/Oddities gimmick. Very early the camera angle switches to the hard camera, which is at the back of the building, so you’re a long way from the action. Lots of quick tags by both teams, though quick tags for the sake of it as I don’t think they really know what they’re doing. One of the Assassins throws a dropkick but catches Charlie in the thigh with it! Some real bad looking clotheslines in here too from the Crazies. After a splash in the corner the Ninja collapses face first to the canvas, Jimmy then lies on top ‘t…

Silver King has become the unsung hero of the WCW C-shows. King is really good here redoing it up throwing Lash outside and biting him. I didn’t like Leroux making a comeback by going for a low blow. Silver King does a unique 360 elbow to the outside and uses the steps again. Double jump moonsault misses for King and here is Lash’s comeback proper. Some fairly weak big offense including an armdrag that he goes for the pin on. The frog splash for Lash misses but King misses a big dive moments later. This allows Leroux to hit his Whiplash 2000 which looks fucking awful to win. Bad effort from Lash here. *3/4

3 Count is awesome and I love the video production of their concert with Tenay losing his mind throughout. Really good action here with a rana to the outside and PG-13 taking over with a suplex to Moore on the floor. PG-13 are given a lot of offense here and they really feed into 3 Count making their comeback even though they arent’ faces in doing so as Evan Karagias uses his dance board to allow Helms to pin Dundee. Quick match but a ton of fun here. **1/2

Time for the Regal WCWSN showcase as he draws Fidel Sierra who they dug up from who knows where. Regal does his trademark offense but Sierra isn’t game to bring a whole lot to the table here though I guess his punches look good enough. Regal responds with elbow and knee strikes. I was surprised they gave Sierra the flying lariat as a hope spot here at the end but Regal is able to win with the chicken wing neckbreaker. *1/2

No idea what to expect from AAA in the 2000’s but would be lying if I said I was looking forward to it. Also can’t say I have watched much of either of these two. The KISS character seconding Cobarde was pretty sweet looking. Tiger Steele also is a huge figure even if he is shit in the ring. Cobarde mostly sticks and moves with speed to escape Tiger. I know that is a little odd to say from a wrestler in his 50’s but it is what happened. A weird pin occurs with Tirantes put on top of Steel and then he counts for some reason. Steele comes back with his Kevin Nash cosplay offense and he does a half hearted chokeslam to Tirantes. Steel has a submission of a back breaker but T…

I don’t know if this was taped before or after the RVD match with the injury but anyway this will be it of RVD until May. Styles informs us this is the first ever meeting of these two. T’m honestly really weary of RVD in the 2000’s on rewatch. Even though the stuff vs. Sabu and Jerry Lynn didn’t really hold up to me as classics, it did at least seem different from what we were seeing throughout the country in the 90’s and did in a weird way feel more big time than the indy stuff that we watched the time and time failed to resonate. In the 2000’s it feels like a RVD routine would be 5th from the top of most CZW or IWA-MS shows. These two actually have some good chemistry w…

Still loving the CIMA/Fuji team. Fuji and Mochizuki continue their rivalry by just wailing on each other here. KOBE was mainly fodder for CIMA to pick on but he did a good job being the feed man for CIMA’s offense. Crazy Max gets the win and then we get mayhem afterwards with C Max still looking like the most boss unit in wrestling along with Infernales right now. Toryumon keeps chugging along nicely. ***1/2

These guys have the audacity to air highlights of Clash 9 before making Funk and David come out there. Some utterly bizarre booking where they make David look courageous for not backing down here. While Funk cuts a promo on Ric Flair, David starts beating him right across the head with a chair. Funk is able to take over and beats David’s ass. He piledrives David on the concrete floor and then through a table. All of this has weirdly turned me and the crowd around as they chant We Want Flair. Funk gives Ric five seconds to come out and that doesn’t goad Ric out either. Funk is cussing like a sailor and being bleeped. Funk ends up quitting giving David the win. Arn is in th…

Hall is nearly as tall as Sid. Sid as big time babyface anchor of a promotion is odd but he continues to try hard and not get a better reaction from the fans that are there than I would have imagined. Some of the calls here reminded me how much I dislike Madden on commentary. Ref bump happens two minutes in and here comes Jeff Jarrett. They beat up Sid but then have an argument and we get another turn as Jarrett breaks the guitar over Hall and places sid on top of him. I give up. Jarrett tells Steiner and the Harris Brothers that you are either with him or that bitch. *

You get so conditioned to WWF filming that the aisle way coming from the right hand side of the screen really bothered me more than it should. E&C really haven’t created their personality that would make them really popular yet but I have liked them a lot as a team. NAO don’t have much to offer anymore and feel like the old guys that everyone is waiting to leave so the party can start. I like the Dudley’s on commentary and they have came a long way from the shaky debut. Hot tag made to Christian and he rolls through his offense to some good applause. Crowd really bit on the nearfall of Christian and Edge does his spear and then a hilariously awkward crotch chop. Bubba…

HHH, X-Pac, Chris Benoit, Saturn & Dean Malenko vs The Rock, Mankind & Too Cool - RAW 2/7/00 I have actually never seen this before and holy shit was this fucking hot as hell. The crowd was just electric. One of the hottest American crowds I have ever heard. Great, great babyface shine. Too Cool did not look that out of place in the main event. They easily could have been wrestling the Hardyz, Dudz and E&C. The Worm was great at the beginning. Scotty 2 Hotty reverse suplex on Deano Machino, wow! Rikishi looked fine. The Radicalz were servicable, but Saturn and Malenko came off as midcarders which they were and until the end Benoit did not seem that special…

Some good mat work to start gives way to Marvin opening it up. He then does a completely nutty dive where he does a springboard corkscrew dive to the floor. Incredible agility there. Fugaz tries a swantom dive and misses a bit hitting the floor with a nasty looking bump. Fugaz redeems himself with a sliding tornado DDT sending both into the Korakuen crowd. After a bit of back and forth, Marvin is able get the pin. Just a collection of spots but some were really impressive. ***

Good for Olimpico being fed up with getting the shit kicked of him and taking it right to him sweatshirt and all. Mask ripping and a weird cut where we go to the entranceway and now Panther is ripping up Olimpico’s mask. Olimpico is busted open and Panther tasting the blood is always a classic rudo spot. Panther wins the first caida on a submission and we come back to a bloody Olimpico being paraded around the fans. Clip to the inside where Olimpico makes his comeback. We come back to the final fall and the guys in the mix of it. Finish was really rewarding for me with Olimpico using the ropes to win. The clipping made this a little odd and I don’t know if I should rank i…

A long promo to start where we set up Hall vs. Jarrett tonight and the winner gets Sid tonight. Hall does his survey which the crowd pops for. The match proper is more spirited than I imagined with Hall and Jarrett both working hard even through all the cheapshots and interference. The crowd is still wanting to cheer Hall. Mark Johnson makes a quick count but Mickey Jay says the match will continue. Hall decks Jarrett with the belt and Johnson pulls Jay out of the ring. Here comes Sid down and him and Hall give double powerbombs as the show goes off the air. **1/4

There is something delightful watching this match where 3 out of the 4 competitors are in the same faction at this very moment in 2017. I struggled with this one more than the other Toryumon stuff because I think the personalities of these guys weren’t there as compared to the likes of CIMA, Fuji and Masaaki Mochizuki. The other issue I have here is this seems like a heel vs. heel matchup. I ge that Susumu and Kanda are playing a loner type gimmick but it failed to really convey that too effectively and this by the end just felt like decent to good juniors wrestling instead of the great action and storyline development I have become used to. They can’t all be hits. **3/4

This was neat to see as a matchup that I am not that familiar with. Match doesn’t have a lot of time or meat to it but it does continue to show that Rikishi is over like crazy and the Germans that Benoit gave him were appreciated and impressed the crowd. Schmozz finish and Too Cool dances to end the segment. **1/4

This has become a heck of a storyline. DVon hits a really sweet neckbreaker when Christian is crotched on the top turnbuckle. The Dudleys really dominate the match and work over Christian. It is effective, southern style wrestling. Edge gets the hot tag and starts running through his finish. Bubba hurts his leg and rolls to the outside. Missile dropkick into a roll up give E&C the win. I really thought Bubba was playing possum there. Sure enough Bubba grabs BB when the stretcher gets rolled out and they give her a powerbomb through a table to a big chorus of AHHHS from the crowd. E&C come back but DVon scurries them with chairs. I am digging all of this. **1/2

The Rock is just on another level of over right now. Match was fun as hell as the NAO may feel played as characters but I do think they saw the writing on the wall and amped the effort level in the ring a bit. Gunn seems to be pinballing around more and Road Dogg is doing things like his cocky shimmy punches with a bit more purpose. Match never loses steam and Cactus and Rock pick up the win. A really fun tv match here. ***

As evidenced by her standing with holding Big White and teaming with Toyota along with being involved in the LCO match, it is obvious that AJW had big plans to build around Kumiko as the up and comer and future star. The opening matwork centered around the leg was pretty pedestrian. Pace picks up a lot and they really throw a lot into the back half of this match. Some lands and some is less successful for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it but I just can’t get totally invested in Maekawa at this point even though Azumi was game for this match and didn’t drag things down at all. Even the flash pin with Azumi winning worked for me as it kind of played into the fact that …

LCO getting jumped before the bell was a nice taste of their own medicine as they wont be able to bully their way through this entire match. Unfortunately, Nanae has a bandage on her shoulder and as soon as the slightest opportunity presents itself, LCO attacks. Tomoko gets worked over a good bit too when she comes in. However, I think this match really presents showing her and Nanae as stronger than the girls we saw get decimated the month before. The match breaks down at the end with a big brawl around ringside with chairs being thrown with reckless abandon. I liked that sequence as it felt like a natural progression of LCO being frustrated and the match just breaking d…

Beginning is good with the young crew really going after the vets. They even give a cocky pose of all three of them posing. Ito and Toyota take over control and do a pose of their own! Awesome. Toyota is being a prick and raking the noise and mockingly clapping before stretching Wakizawa out. Ito continues the carnage and Kansai is excellent on the outside kicking away an attempt at a rope break. The vets really dominate the first portion of this match until we get a nice spark of offense from the underwings. We get some back and forth before heading into the final third of the match. Things break down predictably and we get good bursts of action and some dive sequences. …

To say I was hyped about this as a lead into the apuestas would be an understatement. We cut to Villano having Atlantis in a Boston Crab to which Atlantis sits straight up from. The armdrags are beautiful and Villano is able to finish things up with his submission. If something works why not go back to it right? Villano does with some added leverage of his leg wrapped around Atlantis’ head. Atlantis is able to work that into a Gory Special where I would have liked more struggle from. The repertoire of rollups Atlantis rolls through was a nice bit of him throwing the preverbal kitchen sink to try to even things up. Atlantida is hooked and that is a wrap on fall two. Time f…

It feels good to be in Arena Mexico. I am unsure if Zumbido trips or gets crotched on the top rope but he is pinned in about 25 seconds of action. Black Warrior isn’t far behind. We get some more wonderful CMLL clipping with the rudos in control and Black Warrior doing a huge tope into the stands. Zumbido follows and Pimpenela is able to win the second fall for the rudos as B. Warrior powerbombs and pins Felino. Black Warrior bites off Felino’s mask and holds it in his mouth in my favorite spot of the match. Into the third fall we go with Zumbido and Safari facing off. Felino comes in and we get the built up pairing with him and Black Warrior. Safari is able to hit a real…