July 2000

Wow, what a great match to start the new era of All Japan. Everything looks a little different including the venue but Kawada and Fuchi really went out to prove they could still have a compelling match in this promotion and not sell out to the glitz and glammor that was promised from NOAH in the opening press conference. It is such a great contrast and one where I feel both promotions have pros/cons in the way they went about things. Maybe Kawada and Co were a bit too stubborn and they even had to sort of backtrack on things with the influx of Mutoh but for this night, Fuchi and Kawda rolled around on the mat for 20 minutes. One powerbomb was enough to put Fuchi away for …

I don’t know when Francine joined up with Credible but here she is. Scotty Anton is putting the moves on her. The way they build to the face team coming out with Corino on the mic is really well done first with Dreamer, then Raven and finally of course Sandman doing his whole spiel to a huge reaction. However, after that the heels retreat and we get a LONG bit of stalling. We are legit 19 minutes into the video and no one has locked up yet. Once the match starts, it is good Southern affair with everyone doing some clown spots and a decent FIP on Sandman. Some of the work is loose and the camera work is unbelievably bad at points considering this didn’t devolve into a braw…

Kickboxer had a good night as he again looked good here by his standards showing some intensity and landing some stiff strikes. The match has a chaotic back and forth with the lumberjack straps and carried a trope finish of Hy-Zaya bleeding first but the referee being distracted and now Kickboxer is bleeding to and loses the match. A good match but overall this was one of the more distasteful wrestling matches I have ever seen. Hy-Zaya and Richard X are backed by Uncle Honkey and the racial overtones are disgusting. When I first started watching IWA in 2002-2003, it certainly wasn’t the classiest promotion in the world but the biggest offenses revolved around Tracy Smothe…

We are in the middle of what looks like someone’s hunting land for this IWA show. This wasn’t bad. They played up the shoot aspect of the match and it didn’t drag out which can be a huge problem with other Kickboxer matches. Some of the punches and kicks had good pop to them. Kickboxer locks on a leg submission and that is it. Afterwards, we get a big melee and Ian sets up some matches for the future. **1/4

We have arrived at the debut of Chris Hero in IWA-MS. He is coming out to “My Hero” by Foo Fighters here. Much like Dragon, Spanky and Styles, I think it was easy to see the spark of what would become very early on with his work just within this match. His takeovers look good, he has a fundamentally sound base and he moves around the ring with prescence and speed. Palmer is a workman grinder for IWA that they really pushed around this time as their workrate guy that could wrestle and have some character but Hero was better than him in this match IMO. The highlight comes with a powerbomb on the outside through two chairs and the IWA faithful are already taking a keenness t…

Dragon and Spanky are duking it out in the first round of the light heavyweight tournament. This is their abridged match but again they did a good job of making a new market be excited to see them by providing a mix of speed and stiffness with the innovated moves. Spanky shows off his character work too having some heelish tactics to win the match. *3/4

I liked this better than their previous match even with the Bobcat and kat distraction. Krush was better on top and felt like more of a threat for Lawler. Even the eventual pinfall felt like a fluke with Lance unsure on commentary if that was the finish. I don’t know what time this aired in Memphis but Bobcat’s g string felt pretty risky for early morning Saturday programming. **

This was probably better than the Eddie Golden ladder match. Styles comes in with a viciousness on his stop sign shots and has to show a different side to him than we are accoustmed to of the pretty boy showing he is a bad ass. White Trash felt like your generic garbage wrestler de jour of the day but he did pretty well here and wouldn’t have looked out of place facing off against 2 Tough Tony in IWA at the time. I really liked the finish with the running DVD through the table on the outside. Fun match that didn’t overstay its welcome and felt like a fight even with the weapon shots. *** (5.9)

Shank is one of my favorite gimmicks in wrestling history. He was a guy working a babyface convict gimmick where he would threaten to rape and murder his opponents. He set up this match by laying in wait outside of Timbers family's house and discussing how his grandmothers body would never be found. The Cell Block match is a cage set up in the unpaved parking lot outside the Wildside arena, no ring, just a cage on dirt. This is a match I have wanted to see since it happened, so I was amped that I unearthed a copy. The match has amazing opening, Timber is in the cage screaming for Shank to get in there, and Shank appears from out of a hole with sod placed over it and jumps…

I was really looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint. After a very brief feeling out process, things open up and they don’t stop. The heel unit is relentless just bruising up the faces around the ring and trying to gain any advantage possible. Togo and especially Buffalo in this match were amazing. Murahama plays FIP for a while and the crowd is so invested in the guy. You can hear the shrieks from the females any time he either gets a near fall or is in danger. The match ebbed and flowed in a natural way and felt chaotic but contained like those tremendous 1996 M-Pro matches. Buffalo gives Delphin a brutal clothesline over the top rope and has Murahama on the ro…

This match was a mess. Yamakawa didn’t know how to work with the CZW guys and both Pain and Wifebeater had sloppy nights even by their standards. We only get about half of this match so it is scathed from a rating but this was rough to watch. NR

As much as the previous match sucked, this one felt really good off the clips we see. Maybe that is another tip in the hat of HOnma as he seems to be someone that can be plugged in with anyone and provide something engaging. This had salt in the wounds and lemons which always makes me squeamish. In addition, Honma rubs wasabi over Zandig’s bloody forehead which I haven’t seen before but was sick to watch. Zandig did some big moves and executed them just well enough to keep up his end of the bargain. I would have liked to have seen this in full overall but it was exciting with what we got here. NR

This was a fun match too. The Network stuff is toned down compared to the TNN show. Corino is always a strong on top heel worker and Kash is sympathetic to take a beating. Victory is a good second on the outside too getting in cheap shots when he can. Kash literally is losing his pants in the finish run and pops Victory before getting the win with a rollup for a big pop. Again, Corino does a lot of jobs in ECW and they don’t seem to present and or think of him as a big of a star as he could be but the upset was a nice moment to watch. *** (5.9)

I understand the sentiment from other commentators that this is sort of dumb wrestling and the Otani/Kanemoto tags are points are tough to distinguish from one another. However, like Strong BJ in 2017, when they are in a tag match, I am also completely engaged and the stiffness and hatefulness that is conveyed allows me to pay attention. Here, everyone was going after each other and Kashin handles himself well. Liger being mixed in with these guys and not being super junior squashing everyone is a much better and enjoyable role and he has kind of quietly been having a great year even though he has some standout moments for sure. The finish here was great as an upset again…

For a company bleeding money, we still get the full pyro display to open things up. Speaking of cost cutting measures, DJ Ran is still around? Tank has started up the gimmick of being with 3 Count which is cute but like with Big Show earlier in the year, it has a pretty short shelf life and really shows how far he has fallen on the totem pole. Shane Helms gets injured in the opening moments so Tank decides to take his place in the match. Madden has the rare good line that Abbott with 3 Count is like Son of Sam joining N Sync. Tank stops the dive train and knocks of Jimmy Yang. Yang does a ridiculous over the top sell job. *1/4

Juvy and Rey dressed in Kidman/Storm's gear was funny and Rey shows more here as a heel than at any other point that I can remember. The action here was fun and really the Animals should have been a highlight of the undercard on Nitro being given a ton of time together. I am sort of sad at how Kidman just transitioned back into a straight face off the Hogan feud. The best spot of the match was a diving X-Factor from Rey with Juvy holding Kidman. Konnan and Disco interfere and Rey gets a top rope bulldog on Kidman on a chair for the win. **

This was a fun setup of DX thinking they have a handicap match until Foley comes out an announces APA as the partners of Jericho. I thought it was smart that as APA made their entrance, DX got in the shots they could right away. A fun 4 minute affair with the crowd still really behind Jericho and a good way to advance HHH vs Jericho without them actually touching. Bradshaw hits a huge clothesline from hell and Jericho gets the win with the lionsault. Backstage, the guacamole goes flying as HHH is pissed off. *1/2

Another 5 minute Eddy vs Benoit tv match that is good like we saw numerous times on Nitro. This ends in a DQ with Chyna getting involved and she ends up taking a spill and suffering an inury. I don’t really remember the ramifications of that and knowing what the main event of Fully Loaded is, I think Benoit should just have flatly went over. **1/2

We see clips of the first concharto giving to Kane. I have hated this feud and this wasn’t much better. BOD beat up E&C and it looks like they are going to win the tag titles in a measley 3 minutes until Angle runs in and hits Taker’s leg with his scepter. This sets up the next big match at Fully Loaded and at least E&C can keep their belts. ¾*

The big tv feud of 2000. Rikishi and HHH have another good match together and the emphasis on the IC title is nice to see. HHH does well in avoiding Rikishi’s big spots but making them look dangerous including the butt splash. We get a huge Stephanie swallows chant from the fans during the middle of this one. Both guys get counted out and Jericho runs down to send HHH in for the stinkface. Another chapter for their feud. HHH is fuming backstage so Foley sets up Jericho vs X-Pac and Road Dogg tonight. They have already announced Jericho vs HHH for the PPV since Jericho cost HHH the #1 contender ship last week. **1/4

I was wondering what I'd think of Val, I remember him having some matches against D'Lo Brown I loved but man he looked super good in this, throwing good looking suplexes, slams and whatnot, it was a joy to watch him throw Jeff around. Jeff's Tope Con Giro was beautiful-there's something magical about a sloppy worker like him hitting something just right. It looks like he's taking someone down full force unlike when someone who has perfect control (like Devitt) does it. Ideally you'd have both like Santo but I'll take Sabu and Jeff Hardy over Devitt easily. It's not just the slams-the back elbow, the elbow drop, the clotheslines-Val lays them all in and hits an awesome Blu…

Foley and Rock’s promo was awesome. When Foley does the “It doesn’t matter” catchphrase, the crowd popped huge and so did I. It looks like Shane is getting a little push and he cuts a good promo before being thrusted into the main event against Rock tonight. Before the match starts, Shane makes a plea for Rock to join him and he has a compelling argument but gets punched for his trouble. Benoit comes in with a steel chair and beats him up with Shane’s encouragement. It looks like we have a #1 contender and the crowd is pretty pumped for this overall. ¼*

10 minutes of all action. Tons of fun stuff involving Virus and Valentin. However, the highlight was Ricky Marvin who continues to be a nut with all of his highspots looking state of the art in current day much less 17 years before. The rudos end up winning this match in rudimentary fashion by doing a unique pinning combo involving all three members. *** (6.0)

An IWC SoCal show that’s taking place outdoors for a change, as opposed to being held in Billy Anderson’s gym like usual. Actually this looks like its part of some local fair/fete to celebrate Independence Day. Lots of loud “USA” chants aimed at those nasty Cubans! Romero catches ‘Tempting’ Devon with a headscissors take down, putting an end to PHAT’s early shine. Los Gringos work the double team before Reyes picks up a two count after a butterfly suplex. Slingshot senton. Willis ducks the double clothesline, connects with a double handspring elbow and tags out to Matlock. Romero lands a satellite headscissors followed by a huracanrana, but when he goes for it a se…

A lot of talent in the ring but the match never came together for me.I think they were trying for a blowaway type spotfest with all action but things felt really clunky and disjointed. Garza in particular had a pretty dreadful night where he was more concerned with dancing than putting together some chemistry with the rudo side. I thought CIMA looked fun vs Liger and that is odd that coming out of this, that was the match I was most interested in. A disappointing way to end the night. **1/2