July 2000

I don't know how to rank this match but I loved it. It worked as the death of Onita if it would have been his curtain call. The opening video package is incredible and then Onita makes his entrance smoking and looks like the baddest motherfucker alive. This match had very few moves and in fact Tatanka/OMG that I watched right before might have had more but this match just oozed atmosphere. The crowd is deflated at Onita getting beat but that was the vibe they were going for and it does hold a lot of gravity when he passes out from the Scorpion. Afterwards we get the triumphant press conference of Choshu. This match is example A of two masters of the less is more approach …

The trial series for Murahama continues. When Buffalo/Togo are teaming up, you are at optimal capacity for the Osaka Pro rudos. Tsubasa helped add a lot of flash and aerial moves here as he was flying around and hitting everything cleanly. Murahama continues to dazzle both in being worked over and then fighting from underneath with ferocious kicks making him look like the ultimate pint sized ass kicker. ***1/2 (6.9)

I lost some context on this which hurt things overall but this was a minis match with stakes which is something that has been lacking from their technically fine series so far. Stretchers are brought out for multiple competitors on each end and the match is worked with a break neck speed. Marvin continues to be my favorite of the minis we have seen and their is some juice involved. The finale involving Tirantes and the dueling referees was one that didn't work for me but there is a big pop when TIrantes is fouled. I guess the losing second gets their head shaved as a result of this one. A lot going on including a big brawl at the end but I was unable to keep track of it a…

MIA sucks as a faction. Lance has renamed the Hardcore title. The Canadian stuff has garnered him some heat but it does feel like a gimmick that is a couple of years too late after the US vs Canada stuff of 1997. Action is fine for a three minute match. Hugh Morrus and Leroux are brutal on commentary. Loco seems to have hurt his leg and Lance targets that looking for the Maple Leaf. He locks it in and Lance has the Hat Trick of WCW titles. They are building him up for sure. Right as I type that, here comes Nash to squash and dismiss Storm. Fuck Nash. ¾*

Viagra on a Poll. Here we go. I mean what can you say about this. Madden thinks it is open mic night and he makes as many dick jokes as he can. Tony is actually saying in a match that someone is going for the bottle of Viagra. Douglas legit gets cut by the bottle of Viagra. What shit. ¼*

I remember attending this show with my friend Cam and there was a lot of rumors in the crowd that WM17 was going to be in the Dome since it would be a year after the Super Bowl and WWF had established itself in the market again. That of course was all for naught but boy was I excited. Good tag match here as Benoit/Angle continue to gel really well as a team and the Dudley’s are game to mix it up with more athletically gifted opponents. Angle and Bubba do hilariously botch a back body drop at one point. Shane flies off the top rope with an elbow and Angle is able to get a nearfall off of that. Angle uses the referee as a shield to prevent damage but Benoit eats a 3D. D Von…

Great heat for the E&C bit as this came off the 1999 World Series sweep. JR gives a nod to Gordon Solie who passed away during this match. I have liked the way they have built to the TLC with interspersing the three teams against each other. This was up there with the regular best of five match before the ladder match leading to No Mercy 99. The nearfall off of the Swantombomb was especially well done with Edge pulling him out at the right exact moment. Chairs get involved causing a DQ and increasing the violence of the feud. **

The set up for all of this Steph/HHH drama is really well done. It feels different from pretty much any angle WWF has attempted and hits the chords that a soap opera does. It doesn’t feel overly contrived or hokey. The set up here was well done with the mix tag and HHH accidently calling Steph “trish” when showing her the hammerlock counter. This sets up Trish as HHH’s partner once again and it does seem like Trish wants a piece of the game. The match takes a backdrop o the impending drama but is high octane and has some fun interactions between Rock and HHH. Rock is again really aggressive hitting Trish with a spinebuster and knocking HHH out with the chair at the end of…