August 2000

A funny training vignette with Satanico running some drills. Man, when the Infernales comes into the ring, they just look like the biggest bad asses in the world. I have missed these kind of trios in the past couple of months in CMLL. There isn’t the perennial whipping boy like Tarzan Boy to play off of Satanico but this was just a hateful match from beginning to end. INfernales do nothing redeeming getting fouls when they can and ripping at masks until they finally succeed in the finale of getting Mr. Niebla’s mask off. Throughout the course of the match, they received receipts which felt entirely justified especially Satanico getting posted. Ultimo Guerrero also has to …

I kind of like Kash/RVD as a team. They are spotty as fuck but are able to keep the energy between the two of them and having Kash as a buffer allows RVD to not be as egregious with his selling. This was also a good Credible performance. Rhino continues to look like the biggest stars on the brink of being something big along with Corino within the promotion. Francine looked rough here and I don’t know what was going on with her whether she was sick or not. Kash tries to hit a super rana on Credible and he lands directly on his neck. The match has a schmozz finish but a fun one with Sandman and Corino getting involved leading to Kash/RVD winning helping their rapport headi…

The official orders Danger’s ‘Dick Clique’ to the back as he doesn’t want any interference in this three-way. ‘Big’ Dick persuades Sakoda to work together against the champion to eliminate him first, but that lasts all of fifteen seconds before Sakoda is breaking up a Danger cover. He then manages to convince Reyes into working with him and that does go better until the same inevitable pin breaking outcome. Both already double crossed by him Reyes and Sakoda team up, no surprises for guessing how that ends up though. Sakoda cinches in a camel clutch on the United States champion and rather than let him wear him down or possibly even get a submission, Danger applies a …

No clue who most of these guys are so maybe someone like OJ with more knowledge can fill in the gaps. Super Muneco has his name written on the back of his overalls which is helpful. Navarro still has hair too which complicates things. As a atomicos where I can’t have stakes because I don’t know anyone, this was entertaining. It mixed up chain wrestling, some comedy, dives in the finale and even some blood with Enrique Vera getting busted open. A great moment happens in the third fall with an old lady patron going after a rudo with her purse. The finish comes with Vera being awarded the match from a foul which is the finish of choice for 2000 lucha. Always entertaining to …

This had a lo to live up to after the prior match and suceeded. It starts as a revelos sucidas match and the two losers face off one on one. Parka turns on Sagrada midway through and he gets pinned not long afterwards. However, Parka is still isolated against the two rudos. Parka is able to avoid a kick from Guerrero that fouls Fishman and he pins him. I was relatively sure who was losing the mask here but not 100% and as a result, I got real caught up in the finale between Fishman and Sagrada. it was old man, maestro style lucha but was well done and they laid it out on the line with some big dives. The nearfalls and submissions in the finish were well timed and Sagrada …

This was some bad lucha. I don't really have any notes as I just spaced out while watching midway through. I am unfamiliar with anyone here and no one left even a semi-favorable impression. The overweight guy in the American gimmick was backyard wrestling bad and even him getting bloodied up couldn't save this. One of the worst matches of the year just from the fact that it was 25 minutes of subpar action. The loses didn't even cut off all of their hair. Bullshit. 1/2*

Dragon gives a horrendous promo. He calls Youth a chia pet. I appreciate them allowing Dragon to spread his wings a bit with more action. This gets 7 minutes which hit the sweet spot in showing more of his arsenal. He takes the fight to Youth throughout most of the match and Dragon retreats to the role of slimey heel backing down. Some of the suplexes and dives to the outside looked particularly well. Finish was good with Youth faking being hit with a chair and Dragon getting DQ’d. **3/4

These two go after each other hard for the five minutes. Regal has so many neat little moves he can utilize like how he smoothly gets a drop toe hold here. Regal locks on the Regal Stretch but Abs fights and reaches the ropes. The Posse comes out to attack Abs but he puts them down and then does his powerbomb variation finisher to Regal to become the new Southern Heavyweight Champion. *3/4

Another good episode of MCW. This was a solid tag with Smothers working as a face and bouncing around the MSP heels. The posse is getting some good experience and polish in MCW and looks like they could have been valuable if given another chance in WWE. Perhaps the Invasion stunted them coming back. Cade as well looks green but has the size and some charisma to be beneficial. I was happy to see Smothers get the pin as he is the unique babyface that can always make you smile as the viewer. **

Blade and All That start the match when interrupted by Derrick King. Derrick has a little attitude here saying the office is punishing him but he is taking it like a man. King makes the match a 3 way. Only a three minute match but decent enough 3 way action with no one standing around. The main story is King continuing to be frustrated as he takes a loss here to Blade. *1/4

Power Pro counteracts MCW by having a 14 man elimination match where the winner gets their dream match. Regulators have some swank Braves jerseys on. Dave and Corey do a good job throughout the action in stating what each person would pick as their dream match. Charlie Laird is a pretty good worker with Derrick King here. The regulators get a lot of rub here as Dion sprays something in Spellbinder’s eyes and eliminates him which surprises me. Slash is in now and still is doing his violent act but going against heels. Corey keeps calling him Wolfie. Slash is able to beat Dion and it is down to him and Bulldog Raines. Bulldog doesn’t look awful either with his power moves. …

A showcase for NWA Elite. Onyx has good power and looks great and Terry Knight is a good enough bruising heel to fit in with the promotion. The heels take 85% of this match and the finish leads a predictable note of hot tag > ref being distracted > Jeff G Bailey causing some interference > heels win. A simple formula but it plays out well enough and I will never slight a promotion like Wildside for giving these guys 12 minutes to work with. **1/4

This was used as a vehicle to display Steve as a face in front of the ECW arena audience. Match was fine for the amount of time it had and even had some fun moments involving run ins and Cyrus getting beat down by a face Jack Victory. Corino wins pretty easily with the superkick and is probably looking for that one main rival now that he is a face to go up against. **

Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Psicosis - ECW Hardcore TV 8/26/00 Psicosis was one of my childhood favorites because his badass mask and his insane bumping. So I always love hearing about a pimped Psicosis match and this one did not fail to deliver. Incredible opening stretch. Just beautiful chain wrestling and excellent lucha libre tumbling passes. The ECW crowd was red hot for this. They loved every second. Chanting E-C-DUB and Psicosis got a lucha libre chant. It was a bit too pretty and they did the standoff a lot, but hey this was actually cool submissions and armdrags so I was marking out at home sixteen years later. Great transition with some really intricate nearfalls le…

Shame about Angle but a worthy SSlam main event. HHH and Rock improvise really well and have another really well done match together waiting for Angle to get into place. Even though knowing things better now and Angle had no business being out there again, it was a courageous effort for him returning and he played his role well where it felt like he was really going to score the pin. The midsection working over of Rock really neutralized him and helped get over the sledgehammer. Rock shows resiliency and strength while also putting over his opponents. The big moment is HHH accidentally punching Steph which should continue the love triangle going. Overall, a strong main ev…

I was pleased to see the brawling happening right away carrying over the hate of the build up. In fact, this match is the antithesis to the notion that all 2/3 falls matches should go long. This told a cohesive story in 13 minutes and felt complete without feeling rushed. Benoit was ferocious in working over the arm and scores the first submission. Jericho is really reeling and has to dig deep to find some opening before gaining it in the second fall with the Walls. The third fall may have gotten a little too bomb heavy and too much back and forth but the work was really well done with Benoit coming forward and Jericho never using his neutralized left arm. The finish was …

A really good video package to chronicle this feud and it had a lot of juice behind it. King comes from the commentary booth and attacks Tazz. Tazz responds and we have a pretty good meatn and potatoes type match with a ton of punches and trash talk. Tazz no sells the piledriver which shocked me. Tazz says he going to choke King out and then come for JR. Tazzmission is locked in and JR goes toward the ring. He grabs the candy jar and slams it against Tazz. King pins him to a huge pop. Pretty fun match while it lasted. **

WWF World Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian vs Hardyz vs Dudleyz - WWF Summerslam 2000 TLC I remember like this a helluva a lot more than both the Wrestlemania triple threats they had. At first, I couldn't figure out why. Sure it was fun, senseless, mindless violence. The real value is how well the finish is executed. Each wrestler is eliminated in a hellacious fashion. Jeff Hardy's swandive is sick. Then Bubba's crashing through four tables on the outside from a 20 ft ladder in the ring is insane. Then Matt Hardy is sent out the same way only you forget there are tables there so you are freaking the fuck out! Edge's spear on Lita looks super safe until you hear…

This match is usually held up as a good match but I thought it was pretty much a waste until the big Shane spot. The opening is Shane running around until Blackmon stalks him down and we get some trash can shots and other generic WWF hardcore action. The strap is used by Blackmon and we get some embarrassing comments on the worthwhileness of child rearing. Shane is a heel because he went to a psychologist to talk out his problems. Then, T&A runs in to help Shane and this becomes a glorified handicap match. Shane was really building up a neat faction with E&C, Angle, Benoit, Big Show but not we have T&A as his helpers. JR on commentary does regain his composure…

A really solid tag match that only went 12 minutes but carried a neat structure of Onryo being beat up on from the Kanemura and GOEMON team. Onryo does still have a neat gimmick that feels fresh and played up. The weapons interspersed with this like the Gedo/Jado tag didn’t feel hamfisted in and flowed naturally. The match also never got too ridiculous that it drifted into excess. Tanaka and Kanemura had some strong interactions with each other and the teaming of Tanaka and Onryo was well done. ***1/4 (6.6)

I’m really waiting on that Gedo/Jado tag to knock my socks off but this was really good. Sasaki gets busted up while Hosaka gets his leg worked over. Gedo/Jado use weapons such as a kendo stick and also a lot of quick double team moves. The finish was surprising to me but got a good reaction with Sasaki picking up the win after a huge lariat. I know Mammoth was someone that was pegged to be a huge star and just for one reason or another never panned out. ***1/2 (6.9)

After Jinsei Shinzaki makes an appearance, he gets beat up by Kanemura, GOEMON and Gannosuke. Hayabusa makes the save and the match is on. Gannosuke dominates a large chunk on the match. He beats up Hayabusa inside the ring in a methodical but devious way and then throws him outside for the sharks that are Kanemura and GOEMON to get some shots in. Gannosuke is such a great heel and it plays to a natural story of creating sympathy for Hayabusa. Busa is able to get in a stiff kick and rana sending Gannosuke to the outside but he misses the dive and Gannosuke remains on the attack outside the ring. An asai moonsault from Busa helps take out GOEMON and he punches Kanemura. Bu…

A long gloating Russo promo to start things off. Nothing really of note except to make the main event tonight of Nash vs Booker which is supposed to main event the next PPV. Nitro was running unopposed tonight with Raw starting at 11 so they could have made a splash. Instead we get this. The match itself wasn’t bad if it wasn’t so apparent as to what was going to happen. Jarrett is the referee and acts like he is going to call it down the middle. Russo is on commentary and outraged. Madden is even worse than usual. Of course that is a SWERVE and Jarrett smashes a guitar over Booker’s head in the ending moments. They clean up the debris for some reason. Nash then hits the …

One of the more classic rivalries that put both of these guys on the map has resulted into this. They never even get into the ring and have some awful brawling on the entranceway that just leads to the big angle. Vampiro and ICP rip through the Nitro screen silhouette so who knows how much that cost. The effects are awful as smoke is supposed to blind Sting but they go off too late. They drag Sting up and beat him up. Pure shit. We go to the desert where Goldberg is going to bury Russo. Bret Hart shows up and reminds him of Survivor Series and Montreal. It is a swerve as Bret hits Goldberg with the shovel and Nitro goes off the air with Tony proclaiming the band is back t…

Trish is still with T&A so I don’t know exactly why they were so giddy to help Shane last night. Jericho meets Benoit on the stage and we get a pier six to start out. The match itself is good and the Acolytes continue to improve as a team especially Bradshaw who throws a hellacious boot to set up the Jericho pinfall. T&A is on the downswing and Benoit/Jericho look to be a feud that will continue. *1/2