December 2000

I do wish I’d kept track of the number of people using ‘Last Resort’ as their entrance theme as I reckon it has probably surpassed the number using ‘Bawitdaba’ by now. A rematch from the KOTDM where Mark Wolf, with a bit of assistance, got the upset win over the ‘King of Hardcore’. Ian practically walks Wolf through this one, clearly talking in his ear telling him what to do next on multiple occasions through the match. That wasn’t the only blatant thing he did here either. Although he had his back to the fans, not so the camera, which caught him at least twice gigging himself in the forehead. Good starts as Ian is stiff with his offence, slapping Wolf across the fac…

A match to determine the new IWA-MS Light Heavyweight champion; I’m guessing there are no height restrictions for this title then? The crowd are already chanting at Morton to “shut the fuck” and all he’s done is grab the microphone. He’s giving Hy-Zaya one opportunity to go back to the dressing room and give this one up before he comes in there and “beats the black” off his ass. Don’t worry, it gets worse. The audio is a bit distorted/unclear but there’s proper race baiting stuff going on, referring to Zaya and his second (a black guy I don’t recognise) as “your type”, he mentions assassinating people and finally gives Zaya one final chance to give it up before “I bea…

First time seeing Shane, although the name is pretty familiar. It sounds like Corino may be a surprise replacement for someone (based on the music - Val Venis?). Shane wins a match by forfeit, but Corino attacks him and they have a short match (although the bell keeps ringing, so it might not be a match at all). Corino hits the superkick and Old School Expulsion and does a promo in Spanish. He also steals Shane's belt. Not much to this at all.

Talk about it here.

I can’t remember if we’ve seen this Joey Abs music video before or not. We’ve definitely seen one set to ‘Bawitdaba’ so it very well may be a repeat. The Southern Heavyweight champion is shown getting a massage from Victoria in the dressing room, so it comes as a bit of a surprise to Kevin Kelly and David Jett when she doesn’t accompany him out for the match. Abs doesn’t bother waiting for the bell, sprinting to the ring and quickly clearing it of both. Bradley and Vick have a chat on the floor and it looks as though they’re going to work together, forming an alliance of sorts. Scotty climbs up onto the apron, in a way sacrificing himself, as when Abs goes over to…

David Jett jokes that the ‘Kliq 2000’ will be outdated in a few weeks and they’ll have to change their name to ‘Kliq 2001’. The Fabulous Rocker is seconding Tracey, no doubt he’ll be playing a part in this at some point. There’s a nice spot early where Smothers holds onto the ropes after being whipped into them, looks out to the crowd pointing at his head as if he’s outsmarted Shooter, who, seeing his opponent not paying attention, then darts up the pole attempting to retrieve the chair, Tracey getting to him just in time before he can do so. Some of Smothers efforts to climb the pole leave a lot to be desired, going painfully slow as he ‘waits’ for Shooter to pull him…

Talk about it here.

Corey Maclin has a quick word with Lance Cade and Joey Abs before this one gets started. He’s looking forward to seeing Abs in action because he’s heard he comes here with a great wrestling reputation. Joey says that the last time he was here Slash left him laying in that ring, right now though he’s going to get himself some revenge. Slash may be a big deal around here, but he’s going to find out who the new real deal is! Lance promises to pay Tracey Smothers back for what he did to him last week, while continuing to follow in the steps of his trainer Shawn Michaels who went from the Channel 5 studios in Memphis to the top of the wrestling business. Smothers and…

Suicidal Tendencies are introduced as being John Phoenix & Adam Jacobs, Air Paris is with them so I wonder if they’ll be operating under Freebird rules again? Paris is wearing a Sabu T-shirt, as he’s got an upcoming World title match against him (on 12/14), although providing the dates are correct, it’s weird to know that this is airing after that match has already taken place. A cool spot early when Phoenix holds onto the ropes to block the Onyx O’Connor roll, so Knight just clotheslines him across the top rope from the apron. Phoenix lands on his feet off a backflip and hits a swinging neckbreaker. High crossbody by Jacobs on Knight. The commentators have eithe…

I can’t remember noticing whether Brock somersaulted into the ring a fortnight back but he never here, leaving that to Shelton while he enters between the ropes. No Jim Cornette on commentary this week which has to be a blessing, Kenny Bolin replacing him alongside Dean Hill. Flying back elbow followed by a pair of dropkicks and Shelton isn’t able to take Mr Black off his feet. Nice crucifix take down on the big man, although it only gets him a one. They do the Benjamin backflip spot, but for the first time he doesn’t make it, slipping on landing. He quickly ascends the turnbuckle and levels Black with a flip dive off the top forcing Henry to break up the pin attempt…

The Tag Team tournament continues and I have a feeling this is either going to be a pleasant surprise or real bad, there tends to be no middle ground with WOW. The ‘Weapon’s Master’ Danger does Triple H’s shtick of drinking a bottle of water as she makes her entrance and then spits it out. Lee Marshall is at it again with the hyperbole, saying how that in their years following professional wrestling he and David McCain have seen some pretty formidable tag teams, but Riot and Danger are just plain scary. Beckie does the same reverse crossbody spot that she did against Thug, although this time doesn’t look anywhere near as impressive as she fails to run up all the turnbu…

I always enjoy checking out the old clips on the intro to these WWC matches, of course this was joined in progress but you didn’t need me to tell you that. Only the last few minutes are shown and this is less appealing than Hennig’s match with Carly Colon as at least Carly can get the crowd behind him and into what they’re seeing, they were deathly silent for all of this. Gonzalez works over the leg, pretty basically, but when he looks for the Figure Four Curt kicks him off and he goes flying through the ropes to the outside. Bar shaking that leg out in what feels like an after thought, Curt doesn’t even bother to sell it. There is no atmosphere whatsoever to any of t…

Another late Metal find for my 2000 viewing and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity of some more Derrick King (I’ve already watched his match against Perry Saturn from a fortnight later). Jonathan Coachman mentions that the big Ohio Valley show from last Wednesday was cancelled due to the weather and will let us know when they have a new date as they’re in the process of rescheduling. That’s got to be one of the earliest, if not they earliest mentions of OVW on WWF TV. Tazz whips King into the corner, DK puts a foot up as he rushes in, however Tazz snatches the leg, grabs him around the upper body and suplexes him over head. A stiff clothesline followe…

This was really good. Hokuto and Ozaki brought the attitude you'd expect from a pair of bitchy veteran heels and Nagashima and Sato wouldn't back down an inch, especially Sato who looked like she was ready to take on an entire army. It's a tag title match so it's high stakes the entire way. Most of the action centers around Nagashima vs. Ozaki, one of my favorite pairings in Joshi. We've seen mentor/student relationships a thousand times in Japanese wrestling -- it's a popular archetype with deep connections to Japanese society -- but rarely have we seen a mentor and student so desperate to beat one another. Nagashima has that extra bit of fire when she wrestles Ozaki and…

Pretty intense while it lasted. Garbage-y but hard fought. I'm not a huge fan of KAORU but she elicits a lot of hate from her opponent which is a good thing. The finish led to the return of Lady Zero later in the show.

I guess this is one of the last times we'll see Los Infernales together as a trio. Their work wasn't as polished as usual but they've been one of the better acts of the year so it was nice to see them have one last hurrah. Satanico looked good in his brief exchange with Silver Star, who is not a local that gets a lot of rub from the CMLL workers. That's one of the things that sets Satanico apart as a worker. He's the type of guy who you want to see take on *everybody* not just the best matchup on the opposite side of the ring. And he's starting to hit his straps again after being cooled off for most of the summer. Can't wait for the new season and the fall out between the…

Another good match. What's gotten into Monterrey? It was the week before Christmas and the workers felt in a giving mood I suppose. Zumbido and Tarzan Boy were excellent again and Dandy continued his strong run of form. What was Dandy wearing? It looked like he borrowed someone else's outfit for the night or dug something up from the back of his closet from 1985. Parka and Porky being on the same side threatened to be an overdose of comedy but the rudos made it work. The match made me so happy I even enjoyed the sandwich spot and Porky's awesome bomb to finish it. Feliz Navidad. If Tarzan Boy didn't turn full rudo by turning on Parka at the end then I don't know what…

Give him his due, Luger looks younger here than he did a month ago. There are two schools of thought it seems when you face Goldberg, either attack him as he enters the ring looking to get a jump on him, or take to the outside and let him cool down. Luger opts for the latter but Goldberg is in no mood to stand and wait, following him out. From the moment he forearms Lex in the lower back this is all Goldberg. Cool looking Judo throw and Luger even goes up for the powerslam. Lex rolls to the floor and starts making his way back to the dressing room having had enough. Goldberg isn’t prepared to let him get off easy and sets off in pursuit, screaming something about “…

Ric Flair is out after the Perfect Event and tells Commissioner Sanders that he didn’t think he would be allowed to run around about here? He warns him that he may have a manager’s license, but if he takes one foot in the ring Kevin Nash & DDP will automatically become the new World tag team champions. Sanders doesn’t care what Ric Flair has to say, claiming that he runs the company not him, so it will be interesting to see if he takes heed of ‘the Naitch’s’ advice. Palumbo starts out the aggressor, teeing off on Nash and even giving him a crotch chop. ‘Big Sexy’ reverses the Irish whip and then repeatedly whips him back and forth from corner to corner, a big clot…

Divine, the WPW TV champion, has got a bit of a different look going on from when we saw him teaming with Christopher Carmichael in MCW. He’s a bit reluctant to put that dog collar around his neck, stalling it out and then turning towards the dressing room acting as if he wants no part of this. As the referee starts to count him out he has a change of heart but is still in no great hurry to put that dog collar on. The atmosphere is so flat, not helped by the wresters who stick to playing tug of war with the chain and then taking it in turns to choke the other with it. The Barbarian gets a two count after a DDT, Divine getting a shoulder up. Dino heads off to the back…

You can’t fault WCW’s efforts at plugging Goldberg’s book as they’re at it again here, this time incorporating it into the Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell interview. Bagwell explains that WCW has ran him into the ground for nine years and he’s finally had enough. What better way to start things off than aligning himself with Lex Luger in a team they’re calling ‘Totally Buff’. Luger says that Goldberg might’ve thought it was over but it’s only just begun and they’ve plenty of surprises in store for him, starting tonight. As the bell rings to get this underway Bagwell immediately takes to the floor. Goldberg follows suit and chases after him, however lying in wait hidin…

It’s one down and one to go for ‘old stone face’ as after tonight he will go on to Sin and his first World title; for as good as Jeff Jarrett is, he’s not from Calgary, Alberta, Canada! Mark Madden has got big expectations for this thinking that it will be one for the ages. Nice spot as Jarrett backs Lance into the corner off the lock up and as Slick Johnson gets between the two wrestlers to separate them, they both go for the cheap shot at the same time. Storm throws ‘the Chosen One’ through the ropes to the floor but then crashes and burns as Jarrett just side steps the pescado. Jarrett locks the figure four on in the centre of the ring, however it’s too early in th…

Lance Storm is our first contender in this ‘Championship Contender’s match’ and he still wants to be serious for a minute. He says how he has held every singles title in the company bar one, to which Scott Hudson quips “bar women’s”, and tonight he earns his shot at the World Heavyweight title. Apparently neither Storm nor the commentators know who he’ll be facing, so when the Filthy Animals music plays and Tygress is out first Hudson thinks that she is his opponent! I know this is WCW and we’ve had women in men’s tournaments before, but come on Scott! Of course it’s not her, its Rey Mysterio and he’s got his ribs all taped up selling what went down last night at Star…

After the inconclusive finish to last night’s Ladder match, Commissioner Ric Flair has put the two men who grabbed the contract at the same time in the ring to face each other, the winner going on to meet Chavo Guerrero for the Cruiserweight title at Sin. Mark Madden has taken to calling Shannon ‘HB2K’ which is incredibly lame. Give the commentary team their due on one thing, they’re actually putting over the ladder match pretty big. An abundance of two counts early, Madden pointing out that they are so familiar with each other that they have counters for counters. Shane is the first to lose his cool, grabbing his partner by the hair and throwing him over the top rope…

The returning Terry Funk is the new WCW Hardcore champion after defeating Crowbar last night at Starrcade. After Meng makes his way down to the ring, accompanied by Paisley and Kwee Wee, ‘the Funker’ appears on the video screen and challenges Meng “and his banana nose” to come and meet the hardcore legend inside a cage if he’s got the guts. Meng takes off backstage to find him, the camera in pursuit. Eventually he does and the match primarily consists of them hitting each other over the head with a garbage can. Funk pulls out some handcuffs at one point but Meng ends up getting hold of them and cuffs ‘the Funker’s’ hands together. The chain on them is so long though …