September 2000

Another match like the previous one that was good but disappointing. They had done such a good job showing how targeted Rock was that I would have liked to have seen at least some cohesion from the other three to get Rock out of the way. Instead, we get paired off action which while fine, it seemed disjointed. I did like Benoit and Taker going after it and really think they could have had a 20 minute submission match around this point. Adding to the problems was the finish where we get Benoit announced as the champion again in a retread for Fully Loaded. They announce that Taker got a foot on the rope on commentary but the crowd is a little miffed as it wasn’t announced f…

Talk about it here.

Besides the debut show main event, this was Misawa’s most showcase performance in NOAH so far as he has some nice exchanges with old rival Taue and really mixes it up with Morishima. Morishima for his part does really well first facing off against Misawa and then really working over Ogawa. Ogawa was in trouble for most of the match and I liked the momentum shifts on the outside with guard rail tosses. Morishima ends up being defeated which is no surprise but overall this felt like an elevation for him and was a very good tag match. ***1/2 (7.2)

Borash is out of commentary and holy shit is it annoying. Russo in NY Giants gear pulls a bat out and beats Booker down initially. I don’t know why Booker didn’t see that coming. MIA and Awesome are blocking the door. Some more fake bat shots. Russo is dominating which is absurd. Russo cuts off a patch of the roof of the cage and Sting has to repel down to prevent Russo from escaping. Lets think about this that the ENTIRE face roster is having to intervene to give Booker a chance against Vince Russo. Luger emerges and hands Russo the fakest lead pipe you have ever seen. That gives Vinny Roo the advantage again. The EMT’s come to check on Booker and one removes his cap to …

Finish of a Jarrett match vs General Rection as he teams up with the Canadians. Sting makes the save with his baseball bat and clears the ring helping MIA. Lance calls out Sting and the match starts. This actually seems like a pretty interesting pairing on paper of two guys that never interacted much with each other given their longevity. Lance looks good on top of Sting with a springboard dropkick and a powerbomb. We also get some good reversals between the Scorpion and the Maple Leaf. Tony and Hudson have great calls giving Lance credit and Madden just squeals like a four year old. Sting breaks the hold and then gets in the fluke Scorpion for the pin. Hate seeing Lance…

A good ladder match but this palled in comparison to most of the stipulation matches we have seen in the past year with these two teams. The reasoning of that was a combination of the peak happening in the middle portion with Edge’s spear off the ladder. In addition, this featured a lot of slow climbing that killed the flow. It was used to built up drama but felt like the guys trying to remember the next sequence. I didn’t think this was a particularly good performance for Edge and Christian. *** (6.2)

Stone Cold opens things up with a state of the Austin address. He talks about the things that have changed and says he is there to raise hell and see who ran him over. Foley comes out as well. Foley says he is happy that Austin is back and wanting to kick ass but he is going to conduct the investigation. Benoit comes out too and demands a match with Rock tonight. Benoit doesn’t look overshadowed in the ring with these two which is impressive. Foley has a Monica Lewinsky joke which seems dated even in 2000. Foley announces Rock vs Benoit tonight. Angle’s music then fires up and he comes out. Angle whines and says he got screwed. Foley denies his motion. Angle then tells Au…

The shine sequence by York and Matthews at the beginning was fabulous which really surprised me. They were diving all over the place and got great impact on their dives lucha style which made them look hurtful as well as graceful. Carmichael and Divine look like Harris Brothers knock offs but they do a good job being bases and then taking over when it is their turn on top. Their working of York is basic with kicks, punches, low blows, etc but they make enough tags that it doesn’t drive everything to a complete halt. Matthews getting the hot tag was productive and they displayed the double team moves that again the heel faction was willing to take. Rana/elbow drop combo bu…

Crazy Max explodes! Fuji and SUWA have a pretty respectful opening but Taru goes right after CIMA and the fight is on. M2K is creeping around so keep that in mind. Fuji is worked over and a funny moment happens where they stretch him out for the nut kick from Taru but he realizes it and refuses. Sure enough after a few more minutes, M2K interferes and the fight is on with CIMA going into the crowd and them using the boards. The match gets thrown out for a DQ. This was a weird match that didn’t have much heat or energy at all. I get these guys are faction members but they could have been some juice inserted. Most disappointing Toryumon match of the year. **

This is the 2nd match of the best of 5 series and this is more like the bite sized cruiser matches that plagued Nitros at points instead of the longer stuff we got the week before between these two. Tony tells Tygress is a 10+ which is gross sounding and from the Madden playbook. Konnan gives a cool lucha libre lesson that involves Flair defending his title. Juvy hurts his leg on a monkey flip from Rey. Juvy calls for a timeout and the match is stopped which is disappointing after only 2 minutes. ½*

Long Foley promo to start saying he is taking over the investigation for Stone Cold. Then we get Benoit and Angle out for promos. Again, good job by these two in holding their own and creating variety in this starting promo motif of WWF at the time. Both are feuding with each other but have to team up against the unlikely duo of Rock and HHH. Rock cuts a promo backstage stating that he doesn’t need HHH to be his friend just to be there for the tag. The match itself is really good and given 10 minutes. I loved the interaction and roles all four had throughout the match. HHH has been selling his ribs well and is a good face that has built up some sympathy. Rock clapping alo…

Nice to see Aja in the lucha ring and Lady Apache had some fun sequences including the one leading to the finish. Overall though, this again felt rush and more of a showcase than a sustainable match that is trying to tell a story. For AAA’s 2nd or 3rd biggest show of the year, the offerings we got didn’t make it look too promising. *1/4

The ring gets a big reveal and pop as this is the first six sided ring I can think of in wrestling history. The action is short and mainly a backdrop for the main event. We get some good dives but Octagoncito gets fouled allowing the tecnicos to win. Afterwards, Abismo Negro comes down to get clarification. I wish we would have seen something with more gravity for the minis. Instead, this was even less consequential as usual. *

Some three way spots to start out but I was really impressed with how the match progressed on the outside and we get an inspired brawl with triple juice. Both Joey and Joel are openly mocking TNN on commentary so you know the partnership is not log for this world. Referee gets bumped back inside which is disappointing but the cane shots were brutal which was a welcome change after the Nitro plunder shots. The Danny Daniels heel ref shtick was less impressive. Lynn goes to cradle him when Francine jumps on his back. Another cane shot from Credible and the That’s Incredible but HC Loc breaks up the Danny Daniels count. Lynn’s elimination was good with a superkick by Corino …

Jericho cuts a promo for the crowd beforehand and the crowd is jacked for him. Helping out on the NEVER EVERRRR part. This was worked like a Raw match between the two which isn’t a slight. Good work and energy, just only seven minutes of action. Unfortunately, the ref bumps are really starting to grate on me and we get another shoddy ref here as he has a cramp in his leg as soon as Jericho has Benoit tapping in the Walls of Jericho. A miraculous recovery occurs when Benoit locks on the crossface as the referee calls for the bell immediately. Enough with the evil ref trope of 2000. **1/4

A good brawl that felt like a big match within the promotion at the time. Banderas on top can be plodding but he has good punches and kept me interested enough. However, things really stepped up when Apolo makes a comeback and hits Banderas with a chair on a dive. Banderas is busted open and the match from there has a frantic feeling of desperation. Apolo fires off some big powerbombs and picks up the win. A meat and potatoes Puerto Rico style match but a fun look in what was going on in the country in the year 2000. *** (6.2)

Smothers cuts a scathing promo running down everything and then asks for Cade to come out. Cade runs to the ring and the match is on. Another announcer in Kelly that is taking some time to breath so therefore it sounds much better than OVW. Only about two minutes of action before Tracy gets pissed and pastes Cade with a chair shot on the head. The TWA crew runs Tracy off. Angle advancement here. ¾*

The faces charge early and gain the advantage. Dundee still has great punches.When the match settles down, Dundee grabs Slick Rick’s cap and puts it on backwards which was amusing. Slash is working over Brown inside the ring. Big brawl erupts when the tag is made as the show is winding down. Referee ends up throwing the match out as they put in the hard sell to Lawler returning next week. It feels like both Memphis shows were biding time until that happened this week. *

It was fun to see Kash in a different environment but I think it is time to pull the plug on Golden as a worker. He seems like someone that could put it together but I was higher than most on the AJ Styles match and only had those as good. He was worst here not being able to react to Kash’s speed in any way. The back and forth of the match as a result felt sloppy and the match ended in a lame DQ that featured a decent pull apart but also didn’t have a lot of juice overall. *1/4

Relly cool video on Shank to metal music showing clips of him beating up people including a match on the ground outside surrounded by a cage. Shank as the tattooed freak teaming with Shank is a nice contrast. Shank and Lazz have a good shine sequence. A rough moment where Knight takes over on offense in two awkward moves in a row including a weird big knee. Getz and Prazak on commentary discuss which station ECW will end up on throwing out CSPAN2 as a landing spot. Lazz is a good FIP timing little bits of hope spots before he goes back down again. Onyx hits a swantom and powerslam throughout this match and the announcers keep talking about his improvement. A great line wh…

I like King mugging for the camera and as a heel more than his generic Mr. Personality persona in MPPW. This is the semifinal of the tag tournament. Like I just mentioned, King is ahead of Onyx and Lee is probably ahead of Terry Knight but this match doesn’t get enough time and Cornette can’t take one fucking breath on commentary so overall it feels more frantic and annoying instead of exciting. Dinsmore doing the executioner slam was a good move to turn the momentum their way. They take a break with Damaja being worked over. Back from break, and Cornette starts yelling a mile a minute the microsecond the show comes back on air. I think we hear Leviathan’s name for the fi…

When I hear Thunder and Lightning, I think about two contrasting guys that are speed and power not two same sized individuals that are dressed in all black and have masks on. The Windham brothers on top is pretty good and decent as they make frequent tags. Barry looks like he has gotten himself into more manageable shape as Turnbuckle was starting up. Big brawl ends the match with a bevy of run ins from guys I am unfamiliar with throwing the match out. *

I guess this is a 4 way although Billy 2 Eagles and Mark Lawrence? Come out later on in the match. A plunder match of you hit me, I hit you. I checked out pretty quickly on this one and it was a slog to the finish. The announcer is the anti-Cornette in that he is too subdued and added no context as to why these guys were fighting and what the storyline was going in. All three pin Sawyer who bladed and then the match clips to another segment so I guess that is it. 1/2*

This was much better than the hardcore match. Kozina is someone we will see from time to time and he never did much for me. Wayne felt like a really solid old school heel worker here in the same vein as someone like Todd Morton. I am intrigued in seeing more of him as he mixed up that old school vibe with some new school moves making this a perfectly enjoyable juniors tv match. **3/4

Joey Jackson's hair has to be seen to be believed. Such sleezy vibes ala Gary Young and John Tatum. Torch will become Adam Firestorm eventually. This was another good and basic tv match for Portland. Chuck Bam Bam Gordy provides some interference and he does legit look just like Terry that I thought it was him for a second. I am intrigued to watch more from these two too. **1/2