March 2000

Not really a match but Crazy gets attacked but reverses everything and beats up Erik Watts and gang culminating in him giving a senton to Lou E Dangerously through a table. Joey shoe horns in a Living Dangerously reference for the upcoming PPV. We return with Crazy busted open and getting beat down. That doesn’t last long as Crazy hits a DDT on Anderson through another table. Table #3 is retrieved. Anderson gives him an Ocean Cyclone suplex through that one. The crowd is hot as shit and eating it up with ECW chants but this is one where the stuff feels hollow to me. Beautiful Billy gets superkicked through another table and a chairshot right to the hand and moonsault win …

This was at least more lively than the previous meeting here. Flair runs down North Carolina which helps. Hennig looks pretty spry here for this 2000 aged self. It was during this match that I thought about 17 years before and really young Curt Hennig and compare that to how old and dated he looks here even looking better and that is the age difference of Low Ki or Chris Hero now. Figure four reversals and Madden has a rare good point about the figure four being able to be broken by the original person that applies it. A weird finish with Total Package interference back firing allowing Hennig to hit the Hennig plex and win. Afterwards, the tandem beats down Hennig until A…

Angle continues to get good heat and the back and forth between him and Jericho is well done. Speaking of Jericho, no Chyna with him so we will see if that is done already. The match itself was good but short and used more as a storyline vehicle for the debuting Bob Backlund to come out and apply the chicken wing to Jericho. I mark for Backlund always so him being the mentor to Angle seems like a good fit to me. **

Dean Malenko is a really fun heel. Yelling at the ref and being relentless on Edge’s leg. Edge does some good selling too and for a 5 minute match, I enjoyed this greatly. I still don’t care at all about Terri and while King and JR had some good one liners at each other on commentary with Terri out there, the in ring action certainly took a back seat. Terri fakes an injury that has a concerned Edge checking on her allowing Saturn to gain the win on Christian. **1/2

This is probably the softest pop we have heard from Rikishi all year. The crowd overall seems down for this episode as even Rock doesn’t get the thunderous pop he has been getting. A decent match but solidly behind their SmackDown effort IMO. I don’t know if Rikishi was legit hurt but the combination of this constantly taped leg along with the mixing of more comedy spots has propelled him to not look quite as major league as he did a month ago going toe to toe with HHH. HHH targets the leg of course and is fine on top. The finish is a big schmozz and this is used to set up more of the WrestleMania angle we are leading to. **1/2

This cage looks really flimsy as Benoit gives Rock a dropkick and it almost pops open. I really enjoyed Benoit in this again working as an enforcer worker for HHH and Big Show. I didn’t think this was a downgrade at all because he is in there with Rock in a main event role. Benoit did a really good job of cutting off Rock at every angle leading to the climax of Rock hitting the Rock Bottom that felt well earned. The finish is spectacular as Rock hits a powerbomb on Benoit! And then has a big fist battle with HHH. Rock sends HHH into Big Show and is able to gain the win. After the match the heels team up on Rock and get him in the cage. HHH goes for a big chair shot and hi…

Tarzan Boy is flaunting the belt right in the face of the Infernales. They take to that about as expected by beating the shit out him. A crazy twisting dive by Bucanero and then a brutal submission makes short work of TB in the primera caida. I thought the tecnicos showed good fire in winning the second fall with Lizmark hitting a senton splash. Olimpico gets a unique roll up and TB does some mask ripping and peppers shot at Satanico. A humorous moment where we cut to a baby taking a bottle. Back from break, Satanico is obsessed with the hair of TB as he continuously pulls it and keeps scratching his head. Infernales try the same submission again but this time Olimpico an…

I don't know quite what I witnessed here. It was entertaining to a degree but seemed to drift between shooty wrestling and overall thematic. Even more than Saitama Pro, I felt like I was missing some context. Mist is even used in this one. **1/4

Pearl and Myers are really going all in with the early 2000’s motif. Good solid indy action. I do feel like Matthews and York really should have been signed earlier as they feel ready to mix it up with the young WWF tag teams. The heel duo here doesn’t do much for me but are cronies throughout the match so at least they have their role work down. Match ends in bullshit which was disappointing but perhaps they will have a blowoff soon. **

I guess MCW was able to get Dawn Marie as well as she comes out here to cat calls. Judge Jeff Jones also decides to cut a promo explaining that Nova’s opponent isn’t here tonight. Corino comes out as a replacement. Oh Marie is the referee. This starts out with both of them sexually assaulting her. 2000 everybody. Corino seems to be in straight clown mode. Everything is a comedy spot with a bunch of nonsense and not enough action surrounding it to keep me interested. I suppose this was the main event which holy shit what an awful finish with Dawn fast counting. Who the heel and face of all this was is anyones guess. I hated this. *

No sound here and the match is joined in progress. The action quickly breaks down with Savio Vega and Ricky Santana going at it in the ring and everyone else fighting on the outside. Sean Hill is about to nail Savio in the back with a chair when he’s distracted by some scantily clad dominatrix looking woman flashing her backside at him. Savio blows mist in his face, DDT onto a chair and the Boricuas get the win. After the match Miguel turns on Savio, hitting him across the head with one of the title belts. He’s berating him about something and Jesus is over to confront him. It looks like he’s in complete disagreement with what Miguel just did, only to then clock Sav…

I keep waiting for the AAA stuff to heat up but even if the action is better, it is still surrounded by bullshit that I am not interested in at all. It really is a WWF vs. WCW situation to me at the same time except CMLL has been much better at pulling off the amount of hate and disdain among all the factions. The AAA stuff still seems to be drawing but I for the life of me can’t care. This was another match that tricked me by having 2 minutes of decent action before resorting to bullshit with run ins, Pena getting bullied around, and chairs getting swung. Some day AAA will do something to interest me. *1/4

If the apuestas delivers for me like it has in the past, Villano vs. Atlantis really is one of the all time feuds in wrestling. This was a tremendous final taste before the big battle with the masks getting ripped, hate all around, the Villano Brothers rushing the ring showing their presence will be felt and overall anticipation that next week, this is going to be a war. Add into that Perro stepping into a CMLL ring for the first time in many years and Shocker and Bestia being great heel pricks and this was awesomely enjoyable and had me wanting to jump ahead to the 3/17 show right then and there. ***1/2

The dads get a chance to shine in CMLL with a singles match. Ano showed a good bit of fire here and this was a different type of brawl we have seen so far with a backstage brawl and Pierroth doing a brutal blade job. This was a dismantling and seemed to be setting things up for later on but I enjoyed the action we got. **3/4

The crowd was certainly into this but it has a kind of desperate feeling of something they know is in decline. As a six minute, all action tag match, this wasn't bad but also didn't leave much lasting memory with me. I just don't buy the Impact Players as the top stars ECW so desperately tries to portray them as. **1/2

Liger's destruction of the juniors continues. I have enjoyed these for what they were besides the Kanemoto dome one. Here, Samurai is positioned as a lower level opponent but a long time foil for Liger and that is utilized throughout the match with Samurai taking a lot of chances and viciousness being on display in Liger dispatching Samurai. After the match, we get a clip of Chono looking on and he seems to have some words for Liger. **3/4

Six grumpy men beating the shit out of each other and flying around. This just kept getting better and better and climaxes in an amazing finish with Otani kicking the shit out of Casas and picking up the win. I was happy to see both Wagner and Kashin fit in here. In the case of Kashin, I didn’t think he was the weak line at all here and was really impressed at his sequences overall. Kanemoto has some weird low blows that he does directly in front of the referee which is odd. We have seen a lot of these guys so far paired up and this was another great entry with Casas bringing some freshness. ****

I love matches like this and when you are thinking about someone like Akiyama as a WOTY contender, this works as a resume builder. We have seen him so far this year being a courageous underdog vs. Vader, telling Misawa it is his time and now being a bully to a spunky Shiga that took the most of his Korakuen signature opportunity by going after Akiyama from the start of the match. Akiyama even throws in those dismissive short kicks that are so prickish. Kobashi is looking on like a master watching his apprentice do wonders. Shiga gets some flashes with a submission and gets slapped straight down for his troubles. A Gotch style tombstone and Exploder put Jun in a position t…

Life comes at you fast. A good but typical six man from these guys that will be raised when you think about the fact that this is the second to last time ever that Kobashi and Kawada stepped into the ring against one another. Even Misawa and Kawada only have a handful of these on tape. That is what made me cherish every interaction here a little more. Beyond that, Fuchi was really game and as someone that was forced to step into a more prominent role with the wake of the exodus that is looming, it was really nice to see him already bringing his working boots pre split. Goodbye 1990's All Japan. ***1/2

I do have a soft spot for this crop of AJPW mid carders and it is good seeing Ikeda mix it up with them even though he honestly should be doing more. The finish was cool here with Honda hitting some huge suplexes dumping both members right on their head and Inoue picking up the win with a torture rack. It says this match went 23 minutes of which we only got 9 but from the clips, it didn’t go above the serviceable threshold. **1/4

I liked this. I really enjoyed the dynamic of both teams with one powerhouse member and one high flyer. It added a lot of diversity to the match and a many off shoot mini matches that looked interesting. Even the big guys looked good with moving around and hanging with the others. Massaro eats a 3D to a big pop and then stereo dives that looked really impressive. I would like to see more from these four guys. ***1/4

Mackenzie the Fun Girl is accompanying Morgan here. I may sound like a broken record with the APW stuff but there is just something about most of the competitors in that while I can see they are very good workers, a disconnect happens and I am not into the match much at all. The heat here felt all over the place a bit as to who was the heel and who was the face and there wasn’t much focus overall. Modest ends up picking up the victory with a DVD. **3/4

Drew Lazerio is someone I have never seen before. Drew is apparently on the cover of GQ. Well good for him. This is a bit sloppy but these guys weren’t really pulling back much at all on these strikes and that is something that can be appreciated and really excuse some of the strikes not hitting perfectly. Low Ki does one of the best springboard moonsaults I have ever seen in this match getting insane air time. Monsta Mack wringing out his arm after each strike is a nice touch to get over the violence. Ki retrieves a table and the crowd is really electric for it. Monsta Mack powerslams Ki from the apron through the table on the floor in a great looking spot. Back inside, …

This is being billed as Quack’s retirement match which in retrospect is more insulting than Foley at No Way Out. Montoya in this snarky heel role really reminds me of Kevin Steen once he comes on the scene. Overall I thought this match had some good ideas but was way too long in execution. At one moment, a patron throws a drink at Montoya and he is pissed off as the announcer runs down the fan. I didn’t like the banana peel finish that allows Quack to get the win. A weird angle follows as the promoter informs Quack that Santo is coming in next month and he wants the belt. Quack doesn’t really answer him one way or another. **3/4

I was really pleasantly surprised with this. Sasuke comes in with a lot of fire from the get go and that really forces TM to bring more intensity than I generally expect from him. The back and forth tonal shifts of this match fit in and the big dives looked dangerous and brutal to take. After some big dives the finale of the match is a big slugfest and Tiger Mask looking for the Tiger suplex before Sasuke is able to lock in a great choke forcing TM to tap out. This is probably the best TM singles match I can recall seeing at this point and time. ***3/4