August 2000

Rock starts out Raw and the crowd is molten. He wants a piece of Benoit tonight at all costs. This brings out Shane and Benoit and we get the title match set up for later with the added stipulation that it is no DQ. The match itself is a great sprint with Benoit being intense as hell, Rock hanging with him from a cardio standpoint and Shane inserting himself enough to get over the stipulation but not enough to derail the flow of the match overall. They only got about 8 minutes but they maximize their time and the crowd is going crazy. The finish was also really clever as Benoit locks on the crossface and like Storm on Nitro, it really feels like a title change could happe…

These two apparently went 60 minutes (this was a Iron Man match) but we only get around about 30. Windsor is a interesting case; a early darling of Dory Funk's wrestling school, pushed pretty hard, he didn't really do a lot with such a reputation though. I guess it was significant enough that Nishimura went the distance with the guy despite usually jobbing out trainees in less than a quarter of that time lol. We know going in that Nishimura is at 1 point after a German suplex, Windsor is at 0, so at least I could keep track. There was also apparently a follow-up no DQ Iron Man, but this to my knowledge wasn't televised. The match is....expected quality. Windsor isn't…

The calendar doesn’t stop but our one constant in 2000 is TB getting his ass beat by the Infernales. The Infernales also have some boss gear here with more yellow mixed in with the red and black. This trios was meant to put them over as a unit as they go over in two straight falls and in general look strong doing it. The triple team first fall finish was slick and Satanico is craft as ever hooking the middle rope on the pinfall to gain the second fall. **3/4

When you take away the blood and the brawling, and the Jake the Snake like psychology. Pierroth is pretty limited. But he's excellent on the mic and this match was a chance for him to gather a little heat and build some momentum toward his feud vs. feud with Mascara Ano 2000 that promised a lot at this stage but wouldn't come to a head for a few years yet.

Liger is still over like crazy. We jump to the clip of him fighting out of a leg lock and go right into our finishing run. Liger gets in a few hope spots with the torture rack and a good nearfall off of a shotei into brainbuster combo, but it does feel like this was always Ilzuka’s match to lose and the tap out comes pretty quickly once he rolls through and has Liger in a choke. NR

This didn’t look like anything great from the clips we saw. A bunch of clotheslines and a no sell off of powerbombs. The crowd was really quiet when we jump into the action of Hirata in control. They do come alive towards the home stretch with Takaiwa hittig a DVD but lessen again when Hirata hits one more lariat. Hirata wins with a weird Northern Lights suplex variation and while it is cool the juniors are in the tournament, they are taking a lot of L’s. NR

To no ones surprise, it looks like this was predominantly a mat based match which intrigues me and makes me wish it was available in full. Nagata opens things up at the finish but is really wild and hits a seated Thesz Press, spinning back kick and jumping front kick that completely whiffs. He needed to reign it in a bit there. Nagata picks up the win with back suplex. The mat work looked good, the finishing sequence did not. NR

Another strong outing for the Otani/Kanemoto tag folder for 2000. This has Makabe involved which has been rare in tag matches and him and Kashin did pretty well together in their sequences. I don’t know how Makabe can have so much better strikes here so early in his career than now in current day. I guess we he bulked up and became a powerhouse heavyweight, that meant less proficiency. The Kanemoto vs Otani sequences like usual are heated and this should have gotten the crowd hot for the start of the show. ***1/4 (6.7)

This was a much stronger showing for Nagata than the previous night. He led Ilzuka through an exciting final segment and threw his barrage of kicks and submissions with more accuracy. In fact, of all the match clips we have seen so far, this was probably up there along with Fujinami vs Liger as the two matches I ould most like to see in full. Overall this show looks pretty weak and Nagata getting the win felt well deserved. NR

Storm stumbles over his promo more here than in previous weeks. Awesome is out with his main squeeze Heidi. The match is literally only two minutes long before Heidi turns on Awesome and reveals that she is Canadian. Even Stevie Ray is appalled on commentary. Awesome’ s gimmick is brutal and having Heidi become more prominent doesn’t help things. ½*

This has a cool novelty to see Sting and Muta lock it up one more time but as a tag match, it isn’t great. I am not the biggest fan by any means but Cat trying to match him in kicking sequences was awful. Vampiro and Sting continue to have absolutely no chemistry with each other. Muta getting the mist on the Stinger Splash attempt was nice. Cat actually scores the pin before we have the big moment of Demon coming out and putting the Scorpion onto Sting after blowing red mist into Cat. Yawn. ¾*

The usual fun popcorn match from the minis. We have seen this a lot in 2000 and while each one is fun, we are starting to get into a law of diminishing returns as the matches come into my mind while watching and leaving at almost the exact moment. My son has started saying “oh boy, here we go again” lately and that was what I thought when the match began. Rocky/Sagrada/Octogan were the highlights and the newcomers that we weren’t as familiar with didn’t make that impressive of a showing. Finish was blah with more referee bullshit and them just making an arbitrary call. **3/4

Dr. Cerebro is a bad ass. He tears apart Ciclon in this match and Ciclon is busted open within 30 seconds. Overall, this was again very entertaining for underneath IWRG guys for the most part that I am not familiar with. Each fall took the appropriate amount of time, wrestling and brawling were mixed in properly and the finish was the BS finish that helps build a feud overall instead of derailing it. IWRG continues to be a great showcase. ***1/4 (6.7)

I guess Octagancito and Mascarita are pulling double duty today based on the dates we have. The rudo team is very plump especially Piratita but I liked that as a change of place and creating a clear narrative of the rudos being the brawling bases and the tecnicos being more graceful and high flying. The match builds to a Mascarita vs Espectrio showdown playing off their long standing rivalry. I was happy to see Piratita pick up the win and would like to see more of him in the future splashing minis. *** (6)

Not much more to this match than some very good lucha. I enjoyed the way the first fall took its time and all three pairings had something to offer. Villano IV looked great on the mat with his transitions, Perro was more fiery here than most of what we have seen in CMLL and Villano III and Sagrada was a neat pairing that rolled around well too. The second fall builds off of that and has more rudo domination which is different from the standard template of rudo wins first fall, tecnicos second that we have had for most of the lucha in 2000. Perro and Villano III going after it felt like a big deal and was a nice 1 vs 1 sequence. The final fall was probably my least favorit…

The setup to this tag was weird as Chyna looks pretty catty picking a fight with Trish backstage over how many wrinkles she has. I liked the tag match a good bit as the issue with Benoit and Jericho feels personal which A. helps improve on their feud earlier in the year and B. doesn’t make it seem like Benoit or Jericho have been demoted from their Fully Loaded feuds. Eddy also looked good and active here hitting a rana out of a unique position. Finish worked with Jericho/Eddy thinking they had the match won but Benoit is able to hit the top rope headbutt for the win. After the match Jericho is pissed but he gets locked in a crossface. **3/4

This was mainly used a backdrop to again build to the TLC match upcoming. As a standalone tag match, it was fine and showcased some of the highlights/overness of the teams at this point in time. The build for TLC has been really good with all the weapons being integrated but never all at once like what will happen on the PPV. **

Foley starts things off and is ready to make his ruling for SummerSlam but Angle interrupts. He says he wont be the New Jersey of champions. Bruno gets a name drop. Foley comes out and officially makes the main event of SummerSlam a triple threat. He gets a big pop using the Rock’s catchphrase and sets up a tag team main event tonight with Kurt/HHH vs Taker/Rock. Backstage, we get a variety of Just Joe segments with him telling Angle he should be worried about HHH and that HHH should be worried about Shane. The match itself is fun as WWF has hit a nice groove in giving their tv matches enough time to make them good while building to the next PPV that is on the docket. Und…

This was a handicap match similar to the bouts that Andre used to have in Mexico. I'm not sure which was more surreal -- Silva hugging Porky and making him look like some kind of stuffed toy or guys like Rayo and Caras looking like minis next to the Giant. If you've even see Kamala in Mexico, or any other big man, you'll know that Mexican rudos are good at stooging in these situations. Bit of harmless fun.

What a sick tease as this match looks just excellent on paper. Villano III gets in there with both Wagner and Panther and I want him to wrestle in 30 minute single matches in perpetuity with both of them. Black Warrior is maybe the least person in the whole six man but makes sure to die for our pleasure on a wild tope in the third fall. All in all, this only goes 12 minutes as an entire clip but was entertainment. Wagner gives one of the best fouls of the year to secure the win and then Villano IIIcomes right back and fakes a foul in the 3rd fall while delivering one of his own to pick up the overall win. That has been the result of the finish for the last three lucha ma…

Credible just sucks. Kash comes out hot and doing exactly what a lower level big underdog should do in a title match. Credible then takes over on offense and the match just dies. He just can’t string along anything cohesive or interesting as a heel on top and retrieves back to dire tropes and the kendo stick shots. Francine does a littler interfereing and it looks like she is going to be pedigreed when Rhino makes the run in. Shockingly, we see some of Francine’s ass and this is just as tired looking as the WCW stuff. On commentary, they mention Corino splintering from the Network so that is something at least new. RVD chases off Rhino and the show ends on a dud with Kash…

Fun six minute match. EZ Money is spotty but does some good counters to some signature Tajiri moves like the Tarantula with the Money in the Bank. He also shows some personality and feels like a good addition to again improve the impressive youngster roster going on in ECW at this point. Match ends with all sorts of run ins but the visual of Whipwreck coming in with the flaming board and hitting Guido with it was well done and helped established Whipwreck/Tajiri as a competent tag team heading into the tournament. **1/4

This was a very very enjoyable sprint tag from IWC Socal. I don't know what became of them but Matlock and Willis are an exciting team and look really polished as a unit, finishing the match with a sort of proto-Shatter Machine. Both guys kept up their end of the bargain while Kazarian flawlessly busted out some great springboard spots and really looked like a big-leaguer in the making. Sakoda was probably the least impressive in this but he didn't stick out terribly. This match feels like a step up from IWC Socal's previous offerings and also a much better look at Kazarian. ***1/4

The match that was made last week after Ricky Reyes interfered in Rocky Romero’s singles bout with B-Boy. Peterson and Romero start us off and after a double dropkick that sees both men hit nothing but air, Primetime offers his hand, only for Rocky to make out like he’s going to accept but then run it through his hair instead. The two men tag out and B and Reyes work some nice exchanges, including Reyes busting out a ‘Cattle Mutilation’ and a single leg crab from B-Boy where he bends his opponent’s leg around his head. As B expects a ‘test of strength’ he’s wide open and a cheap kick to the sternum is the beginning of the Gringos working him over for a bit. B-Boy reve…

Come on, give Liger a win. This was yet another match from clips where he has the crowd behind him and rocking and he is working over Nagata big time. They give Liger a big confidence move kicking out of the first big bomb that Nagata throws at him but he falls short and gets pinned on a back suplex. NR