May 2000

This has been a good feud in the trios and now they are paired up in a title match. Opening matwork is fantastic. Probably only behind the first Santo vs Panther match as my favorite of the year so far. Really gritty and tightly applied moves with a ton of friction and momentum being introduced. Things pick up at the end of the first fall wil rope running and higher impact moves. Shocker retreats to the outside and needs cooled off from the towel of Shocker. The selling from Scorpio on the neckbreaker is fantastic. Villano puts the fall away with another neckbreaker around 8.5 minutes in. Villano keeps up with the neck work at the start of the second fall with legdrops an…

We only get 8 minutes of 21. Sad Face. The action we do see is exciting and Yu Yu continues to be the best discovery of 2000 IMO and someone I really want to do a deep dive on because I am so high on her. Carlos holds her own as well and they transition based on these clips from mat work to strikes and bombs effectively while selling fatigue effectively. JWP still is pumping out entertaining long form matches featuring Yu Yu in 2000. NR

A rematch of the classic from April. This starts off more testy than the prior match with both guys going after the eyes and mask early on. The matwork that flows from that is very uncooperative looking and great. Check out a pinfall around 5-6 minutes in where neither guy is rolling in a natural way to assert themselves. First fall opens up at the end and Santo has the clutch hold on when the referee physically drags him off. The fall is then awarded to Panther and Santo flips his shit. Crowd flips out in second fall at hint of Panther’s second getting involved. Santo has a bunch of offense he is mounting but he misses a senton on the outside and hits the wood floor. Pan…

So Scorpio and Shocker are pulling double duty which is amazing. What a day for lucha around the country. This is a big brawl that has Scorpio juicing. He had a hell of a day as these two matches can’t be further apart. This probably has Casas looking the most pissed off and personal as anything else we have seen in 2000 so far. Shocker says he got fouled because it Is Shocker. Overall Scorpio is able to score the pin for the rudos which is really satisfying given what we have seen from him throughout the day. ***3/4

These clips are a little weird as I think it was two matches. Either way, Delphin and Togo have great chemistry throughout this and are extremely entertaining. Togo especially in the first portion was a mad man just flying around all over the place. Togo is busted open and gains the pin in a sublime moment. The second clip is a ladder match and has some spots utilitzing the ladder. Yakushiji is flying around all over the place and Hoshikawa gets misted. I would like to see all of this in full as again Osaka Pro is turning into one of my favorite promotions to watch. NR.

A WWF handheld which is going to be a rarity as we chronicle the 2000’s. This has a neat dynamic with them being in Edmonton so Benoit is a face and even comes out in an Oilers jersey. The promos beforehand set this up even more. This match is more condensed than their PPV offerings but well done and has some new spots like Benoit clotheslining Jericho as he goes for the springboard dropkick on the apron. It is nice to see Jericho as a heel as a bizzaro version of the feud overall. Jericho thinks he has the match won with the Walls of Jericho but Benoit reached the ropes. The tombstone reversal spot leads to Benoit taking the match with the diving headbutt. Jericho pitche…

We learn that Goldberg returned tonight. Match lasts about two minutes until TOrrie distracts the ref allowing Vampiro to come in with the blow torch. Kidman is able to get the pinfall. Sting at least looked slightly motivated by doing the running clothesline from the ramp. Hogan comes out to make the save in his Red and Yellow attire. What happened to FUNB? They burn the red and yellow of Hogan in a trash can. Big f'n deal. Kronik clears the ring to not much of a pop at all. 1/2*

Nash/Steiner/Flair promo to start with Nash giving the world title to Flair. Jarrett interrupts and we get the match set for tonight with David Flair kidnapping Reid and Beth Flair. Sigh. I did enjoy how slow Nash was getting down the ramp to beat up security as 55 year old Flair and roided out of his mind Steiner beat him in the foot race. The match starts proper and I am happy to see Ric has found his trunks. Reid/Beth get brought out to ringside and Flair goes after them. Flair is busted open on the outside and despite all of the shit going on, he is still able to create some sympathy throughout the match getting the crowd into it. Russo hits Flair with the bat on the …

I think it was smart to give Holly the shot here as they knew Benoit would be cheered so having Holly heel it up before hand just amps up that narrative. Good match while it lasts as Holly’s stiffness plays well against Benoit. Finish has Jericho coming down and whacking Holly with a chair again. Way too much of that happening lately between these guys. *3/4

Jericho is over as a face tonight and cutting promos on Steph. T&A gets a nice pop probably due to Trish. Val again looks good mixing it up here with the more workrate heavy members of the roster. I also thought Albert looked good here bumping and hitting his big time offense. Trish trips Jeff Hardy and gets into it with Matt allowing Albert to hit his A Bomb for the heels to secure the win. *1/4

Huge heat for Angle in Canada. Angle cuts a great promo saying Ben Johnson doesn’t count as an Olympic hero. He also rags on the Grizzlies. I love this guy. Lawler adds in that our salvation army could beat the Canadian army. It is an Angle 2000 match so you know what that means, quick but entertaining while it lasts. Again, this serves more as a preview for a longer feud between these two that we will see later in the decade. Angle hits a baseball slide on Chyna that she takes exception too. Chyna low blows Angle with the ref bumped and Eddy hits a scary rana that he almost wiped out on to win. *1/2

Decided to give this a look since it is a title change. I was surprised by how over Too Cool still was as the crowd popped huge for them coming out. The action here is nothing and only a couple of minutes long which is disappointing but the finish here is fun and plays off E&C being the ultimate opportunists over the past month or so. Joe C (Kid Rock stage sidekick) comes in the ring and interferes allowing Too Cool to win the belts to another big pop. It felt like they changed the titles just to have the moment with Joe C but this was a good thank you to Too Cool who really have gotten over a pretty dreadful gimmick along with Rikishi. 3/4*

Promo to start off with Rock/Taker/HHH as the principles. Steph is called a $2 walking slut by Rock. He does get off a pretty funny line of Shane > HHH > Vince > Monkey ass. Vince is pretty slimey realizing that both Rock and Taker have common goals so he makes the match between those two. I guess Vince and Road Dogg got taken out backstage and we get pre interviews of Rock and Taker to hype the match later on. Taker is certainly different and cool saying he “digs” the Rock’s stuff. No one fesses up to attacking the Helmsley McMahon regime so Vince makes this a lumberjack match. Instead of fighting each other, Rock and Taker go after everyone at ringside. Th…

Oh but this match is a goodie. You have Tomohiro Ishii pre-Choshuism and CAPTURE boy since the beginning, aswell as the unseen should-have-been-a-star DAISAKU (Shimoda) and his twin brother YUSAKU (Shimoda and half a dozen other names) rocking the gloves and ready to throw down. I'll never understand what motivates these indy guys to get punched in the face in a basement in front of 70 people but I'll always enjoy watching. This goes about 6 minutes and it's basically all 4 guys kicking the crap out of eachother. Really liked the lumpy boys who like to kick hard sections between Ishii and YUSAKU and the attempted fraticide between YUSAKU and DAISAKU was pretty brutal aswe…

AAA is still the worst promotion we have seen in Mexico so far but at least it is watchable now due to the action. Abismo Negro is getting a big push and is the centerpiece here vs. Garza. La Parka and Elctroshock have some sequences that turn from hilariously bad with the electric gimmick to entertaining with Parka dancing around. Finish ends with the tecnicos celebrating their victory. ***

Hey, here is the overbooked AAA that I know and don’t love. This faction war stuff is one step removed from the 1997 Gang Warz IMO and the stuff with Charly Manson having the blowtorch and entering the cage did nothing for me. I feel bad for Sangre because I do think him mixed in with Pierroth, Ano and Perro in CMLL could be fun. *3/4

KENTA is skinny as can be here. A perfectly good match between two rookies that were given over 10 minutes. Kenta shows some fire but I thought Hashi had to carry the heavy lifting and he seemed to be more advanced at this stage. That is exemplified in the finish where he wins. Glad we get a quick glimpse of Kenta in AJ right before the big split. **3/4

What a mess this is. Ernest Miller is treated as an authority figure and we get some piss poor action complied with a million run ins. Jarrett is shown walking to the ring backstage with purpose and then comes out five minutes later. Nash ends up getting the pin cementing himself as the #1 contender. Yippee. *1/2

Big promo to start things off with Russo and Flair shooting on each other. It is part sad and part endearing watching Ric try to make chicken salad out of chicken shit as Russo just isn’t the performer as Vince or Bischoff. Russo gets off some jokes about Space Mountain. I do think Ric is doing better here than Funk in February/March just because he treats it serious in tone which is what the main event angle calls for. Match starts with David and Ric going after each other and honestly they may have given away too much heading into their PPV match but the angle has transitioned into more about Russo vs Ric anyway. Flair says he will stay outside for three minutes and…

These two continue to have decent chemistry and Sting seems motivated. Sting even does a table spot I have never seen where the table is set up long ways on the ropes and he back body drops Kidman through it. Sting follows up by doing the ramp splash on both Kidman and Horace. Kidman and Horace continue to have their issues revolving around Torrie and Mike Awesome has to be the voice of reason as the segment ends. **

Loser of the match is to get their hair shaved in the middle of the ring, while in the introductions we find out that someone called Bill Prescott (who I think might be cornering Two Eagles) has put his hair on the line too. Sawyer jumps Two Eagles while he’s taking off is top and uses his own shirt to choke him with. Billy does a little war dance and Bart just steps out the ring. Double axe handle off the apron to the floor by Two Eagles. Back inside and a tomahawk chop followed by another war dance. Big splash off the top, but instead of going for the pin, he picks his opponent up to dish out some more punishment. Sawyer reverses the Irish whip and Two Eagles cras…

Alvarez reverses an arm wringer and Wayne just walks over to the ropes for the break. Plenty of Irish whips to the turnbuckles and knife edge chops by both men. Alvarez counters the sleeper with a belly to back suplex, he slaps on one of his own, but a back kick low blow by Wayne puts a stop to that. Wayne looks as though he’s heading upstairs for something, however just decides against it. Perhaps he should’ve continued what he had planned, as after yet another whip to the corner, he runs into an Alvarez big boot. Bulldog for two. Alvarez climbs to the top, but Wayne is up and takes a leg out from under him. For some reason the official is trying to stop Wayne goi…

In a battle of unoriginal nicknames, we have Chuck ‘Bam Bam’ Gordy taking on ‘Crusher’ Mark Large (who appears to be a firm favourite of the Portland faithful). The cameras cut to a rather vocal section of the crowd, one of whom is Chael Sonnen! Large escapes a hammerlock with a drop toe hold, and clasps on an ankle lock forcing Gordy to clamber to the ropes for the break. He slaps on a rear chinlock, digging his knee into ‘Bam Bam’s’ back for added pressure. Gordy with an arm wringer, from where he transitions to a cross armbar, but ‘the Crusher’ is able to reverse that into a leglock submission and ‘Bam Bam’ again goes to the ropes. He offers him his hand, which La…