September 2000

As per usual with these deep NOAH show look ins, you are going to get a stinker with such long match times. This possibly could have been something as 3 out of the 4 guys besides Inoue at least have moments of being good workers. However, it just really slogs along and is an uninspired tag match with the lone glimmer being Morishima not looking awful and bringing some energy. The finish with Inoue winning right as Morishima kicks out and Takeshi disputing with the referee was interesting to see in a Japanese heavyweight promotion. Blah stuff overall. *3/4

AJ is getting bumped around like crazy at the start and it is a ton of fun. Boogaloo Crew is a good bruising team that is a better version of Bad Crew that we have seen. The action opens up a bit with big dives featured from JC Dazz and Onyx. Dazz takes another huge dive over a few rows of fans as we go to a break. The barn is rocking and this was a great shine sequence. Styles and Onyx are finally able to take over and they do an effective job although it appears that AJ gets legit shaken up and as a result a few of the spots look a little off. Schmozz finish was predictable but a little disappointing but the brawl to end the program is frantic. NWA Wildside has slowly c…

A good inter-promotional match with a lot of hate. I liked how this started out hot, settled down and then tempers flared up again with piledrivers on the table and slinging bodies through chairs. Nakanishi was the highlight here and her and Inoue have a wonderful sequence at the end full of hate and vigor. The heel invaders use their size and wiliness to pick up a big win and keep the feud continuing. This reminded me of a WAR trio during the New Japan feud of 1993. ***1/2 (7.1)

Ito had a gameplan going in of grinding Toyota. That worked well and good for a while but we know how that goes. Like a train that can only sit at the station for so long, eventually Toyota revs up and starts uncorking all of her big stuff including the dropkick to the outside and the moonsault. Using her strength to muster up Ito into the straightjacket German was impressive. Ito realizes she needs to use her stature to her advantage and she starts clobbering Toyota with big blows and powerbombs. Manami misses a charge and Ito goes for a big risk with a double stomp onto the outside. She misses and then gets suplexed onto the floor for her troubles. Huge dive from the ba…

Pretty big day for joshi all around. This is a good example of a classic joshi match that is a good choice to show someone that wants a showcase for the style. It doesn't display the best the style has to offer but also doesn't display the worst even though tendencies like too many back drops and the screaming are there were the viewing can gauge if they want to explore further or not. I liked Nanae's approach in the early going as she systematically took Miho down a notch. Miho sold like she was in agonizing pain and projected an underdog character in the first portion of the match. Things open up in the back half and we get our share of rope running, outside action and …

The few times we ever saw Command Bolshoi against someone better at grappling at her....and it's a random tournament, 7 minutes long and the only time these two will meet in a singles contest. And it's cut to 4 minutes because ARSION's editors were dicks who couldn't be arsed. That said, this had signs of being solid at the start. Yoshida doesn't take Bolshoi seriously at first given the getup and everything else but after a couple of flash submissions she starts to realise she's in way deeper than she taught. Crowd are dead until Yoshida does her classic "pretend to play dead for a submission" bit for a side triangle choke before she gets a rope break to barely escape. T…

We cut to the action with Lioness already having brought a table inside the ring. The action gets a lot better with the table out of the way. They have a good battle back and forth and much like the previous match, they retained their heat from two days before. The difference is that Lioness isn’t as dynamic as Devil and the Crush Gals won so there is less to prove. The match goes to the ten minute time limit and we only got about 4:45 so I will not rate but it looked like it didn’t reach the very good level like the previous match. NR.

Two days after their battle, these two ladies are back and this is a straight sprint from the gate with a 10 minute time limit. Devil is much more vicious in the early going as a showing that she does take Meiko as a threat. Meiko baseball slides to the floor and invite Devil. This was mind games as she rolls back in frustrating Devil who just glares menacingly onward. Devil’s character work here is spot on as the viewer can totally gauge her level of disgust and budding frustration. Meiko uncorks a beautiful kick right as Devil turns around on the apron. That almost gains her the KO victory but wily Devil still has an ace up her sleeve playing possum. Meiko is able to sh…

I was anticipating this and it was a great match. I thought it had an outside shot of being a MOTYC and it wasn’t that but that is more my preconceptions and the reality that Dandy is still really damn good but not at 1990-1996 levels anymore. In reality, this was a better version of Atlantis vs Silver Fox with Antifaz being worse than Atlantis (but not by much) and Dandy still being a good bit better than Fox. The match featured a lot of interference from Zumbido which didn’t bother me as much just in how different it was from other apuestas. If that became a norm, it would get progressively more frustrating. Both workers really bleed buckets and all three falls culminat…

That rudo faction is just amazing and ruthless. You take some of the best members from other units and combine them here in Monterrey for a super prick faction. Perro was the main focal point of there attack with Porky getting his chance to shine as well. I think the only thing holding this back from being great would have been a bit more hate and Safari and Lizmark being more than just warm bodies. Overall, a ton of good spots and work by Satanico and after disappearing for a while, he is back at the Fall of the year to make another claim at being a top 10 worker of 2000. Coming off the heels of Steiner vs Goldberg, no way was this near as athletically impressive as that…

Much like the minis, I feel like I say the same things about these matches all the time but this was another enjoyable entry if a little bit condensed. I still am failing to see what is so awful about Kashin besides the fact he isn't as good as Liger and probably Kanemoto. I find him comparable with Takaiwa which may be a bit of a hot take. Again, nothing I have seen in Kashin makes me think they should have built the division around him but there has been much worse choices to lead a brand (cough Jinder Mahal cough) in wrestling history. One thing that would be nice in this series would be a singles match with some time given to it. ***1/4 (6.7)

With how horrid a lot of clipping for NJPW has been, it was rewarding to get this match in full. A lot of hate was on display as the opening work is uncooperative and then we get a crowd brawling segment before things settle down inside the ring. Ilzuka plays a strong lieutenant to Nagata and Tenzan also looks on as a concerned son for his father when Chono is getting worked over. Even though he looked a little goofy doing it, Nagata really riles the crowd up while Ilzuka has Chono in the crossface by taunting Tenzan and daring him to break the attempt up. Chono was really worked over a lot more in this match than I would have imagined. Nagata does a crossface of his on a…

If you ever wondered if The Wall and Lash Leroux had a really good match, here is exhibit A. These six guys went out there motivated and turned in a really strong performance. 3 Count are more polished than earlier in the year and have some nice moments on top that show confidence beyond heavily athletic moves. Wall uses his size to bounce around the members. Chavo steps into the role as the leader of the MIA unit and Leroux is a good FIP. This match featured a good standard six man match in the Southern formula with a hot 3 minute back end with moves and nearfalls galore. Lash took a beating but recovered in an appropriate amount of time to gain the win with the Whiplash…

On one hand this felt rushed and in some ways like a Nitro main event. On the other hand, keeping a 2000 Nash match under 10 minutes is probably a smart move. Nash dominates early and is methodical but effective. He takes off a turnbuckle pad and ends up going into it and blades. Nash didn't blade much so the visual was cool. Why use that instead of the cage provided for him, Ill never know. Nash keeps looking for the jack knife and Booker is able to reverse out of it, hit the Book End and win the title as Tony and Co. quickly sign off the air. Overall, a good show for Russo but the work and effort from the wrestlers were there for a great one. **1/2

WCW has been full of bullshit matches with tons of run ins that infuriate the viewer. This was a horseshit match that actually somehow worked for the most part. It featured Jarrett in full heel mode in a Titans jersey and running down the Bills. The plunder portion of the match was fine and had some good weapon shots. The finish with the Bills circling the ring, Gary Coleman's low blows and then getting popped with the guitar and Awesome eventually winning was satisfying. The most Memphis match in 2000 WCW. *** (5.8)

I don’t understand the Major Gunns against her will angle at all. Anyway, this match is a backdrop for the Duggan turn that was coming. Storm does try but General Rection is just nothing more than a patsy character and the crowd is not extremely responsive to him. When Duggan does turn as Rection was going for the moonsault, the crowd seems genuinely shocked which is a more natural reaction than WCW has been able to garner from the viewers throughout much of 2000. I would have liked to have seen Storm in a feud with a more capable opponent such as Kidman around this time. *3/4

Paul Orndorff is revealed as the surprise partner of the Animals and Tony and crew do a good job putting over that he trained them. The action in the early portion is a little blah mostly due to Disco and Konnan doing the lion’s share of the Animals work. I will give Konnan credit for being the first elimination on his side in a shocking selfless act on his part. Disco follows soon afterwards and the match picks up. O’Haire and Jindrak looked like monsters hiptossing Juvy back into the ring in the same spot we saw a couple of weeks ago. Orndorff gets the hot tag and it is fun seeing him in the legend role taking it to his former proteges. He hits a piledriver but hurts hi…

Scott Steiner vs Goldberg - WCW Fall Brawl 2000 I couldn't believe the angle they ran before this where it was implied Goldberg put Midajah (Steiner's favorite freak) through a table and then I guess he smashed Steiner's face in with a lead pipe. Why the hell is the babyface attacking defenseless women? Fuck Russo! Steiner then puts Goldberg's girlfriend in the Steiner Recliner, but since that's shown on TV that means exposes it as a weak ass chinlock, Awful Russoian, misogynistic booking aside, I am pretty pumped for this match and so is the Buffalo crowd. The Bills football team hates Steiner and is super pro-Goldberg. Steiner is wearing a face mask and Goldberg ha…

Rock promo to start and he isn’t wasting time by calling out Taker. Taker comes out and basically does a veteran punks out young boy promo. That brings out Benoit and Kane and everyone wants a piece at the title. Nothing new but Foley sets up two singles matches. Back from break, Kane and Benoit brawl down to the ring and JR informs us this is the last Raw broadcast on USA. Kane is working hard around this time and hits things like an enzuiguri and exerts his power. It is nice to see and of course Benoit can push the intensity. The match ends when Benoit uses the bell in a vicious attack but Kane sits right up. **1/4

We get a clip from Hugh that alerts us that Chyna is in Playboy and he thinks everyone will enjoy the spread. Eddy seems to be coming down with a sickness and can't wrestle his match tonight. We cut to the ring and out comes Eddy blanket and all. Rikishi isn't buying it and gets sprayed in the eyes when he attacks. I don't know if this was intentional but this was a pretty smart move on WWF's part in making Rikishi himself look sort of heelish here using Chyna as someone to attack to try to goad Eddy. NR.

Stephanie comes out for her promo that she does every once in a while and she is still a fresh enough character that it isn’t stale yet. The heat from Chicago is great and she calls out Foley to cancel the Unforgiven match between Angle and HHH. Angle comes out instead and has provided a video package showing HHH being violent to Steph. Angle tells Steph that HHH is the biggest piece of trash human he has ever seen. HHH comes out and then gives a long reasoning on how Kurt has annoyed him. The punchline ends with HHH hypothesizing that Angle is a woman. Foley comes out and says the match is a go for the PPV and he sets up a six person tag for tonight with T&A/Trish …

Foley says hes been out a while so he will be brief. He calls out George W Bush and Al Gore for not answering the SmackDown challenge. Benoit is out for commentary for the main event. It is weird that Rock and Taker were around for so long and never had that signature match. Even Rock doing his reunion tour in 2011-2013 could have probably squeezed in a match with Taker. A nice spirited brawl with both going after each other and Taker having some motivation with the flying DDT. Ref bump and Taker hits a chokeslam but Rock kicks out. Taker then is able to hit the Last Ride to get the pin on Rock really giving himself a lot of momentum heading into Unforgiven. A strong…

I don’t get the Jung Dragons Leia Meow deal and Borash is approaching Madden levels of unbearable on commentary. Beyond that, this was a pretty fun tv match with the Jung Dragons bumping and flying around for the NBT when Sanders was on commentary. The NBT do the Juvy throw back into the ring and add the wrinkle of Sanders powerslamming Jaime from midair. Leia takes matters into her own hands and attacks her partners before hitting a senton on Sanders to score the pin. **

This is the type of match that should have been featured on WCW tv for years and all too often, they got about half this amount of time. Nothing mindblowing but a really strong back and forth match where both guys know their role and still act like partners while also going for the win. Juvy blocks a powerbomb and gets a rollup for the win. Konnan is again good on commentary appreciating the action. *** (6.2)

The final push for Unforgiven with all six main guys involved. It was a little jarring to see HHH tagging with Rock/Taker but they did a good enough job showing that all three of those men don’t like each other. I think they did go a little bit too far here in presenting Angle as the heel as HHH gets some funny crowd popping spots over him during the match and then Angle uses the sledgehammer against HHH in the post match attack. He then gives Stephanie a long kiss and insults HHH on the mic. They really presented them two as a blood feud but there is less intrigue IMO on which side Stephanie will choose on Sunday. A minor mis step but the angle had been so spot on up to …