December 2000

After getting a pinfall over the Intercontinental champion on Smackdown, Jeff has earned himself a title shot. Matt gives his brother a pep talk in the dressing room, telling him to think about all the things the Radicalz have done to them, to Lita, and how by beating Chris Benoit he will not only take his IC title, but will also take his pride. Commissioner Foley has ordered that no members of the Radicalz or the Hardy Boyz are to be at ringside for this match up. Benoit doesn’t wait for the bell and gets the jump on his opponent. After whipping Jeff into the ropes, he slides out under them to the floor. ‘The Crippler’ follows him out, however Jeff quickly ducks…

Saturn and Terri continue to have absolutely zero chemistry together. It turns out that Eddy Guerrero has a torn hamstring and a lower back injury, so much for my hope of a feud between him and Jericho then. Terri hooks Jericho’s ankle from the floor and Saturn nails him with a superkick. Some knees to the face followed by a release Dragon suplex. Jericho ducks the clothesline and comes back with a flying forearm. A real ugly Asai Moonsault/springboard moonsault bodyblock, Jericho pretty much landing on the top of his head. Saturn cuts off the attempted bulldog, however Y2J then counters the Death Valley Driver into ‘the Walls’ and Saturn taps. Just like in his pos…

The Chairman, Vince McMahon, walking with a cane, painfully makes his way down the runway and into the ring. He’s somewhat saddened, somewhat burdened, things having changed in his life since Thursday night. As Smackdown was going off the air he received the news that his wife had been taken to the hospital and would just like to take a few moments to clear something up as he fears his reaction to the news might’ve been misinterpreted. When he heard the news he laughed; he now recognises that wasn’t the appropriate response and wouldn’t want people to think he’s some sort of insensitive megalomaniac! While he will take some of the blame for Linda’s nervous breakdown, …

Fun match. It was only a couple of minutes long but the crowd was hot and it was fun watching Regal sell for Austin. The finish saw Austin accidentally DQ'ed which he didn't take kindly to. He gave the ref a stunner and let Regal know he wasn't finished with him. The look on Regal's face at the end was priceless. He got some beer on his face but reacted as though he'd tasted his own blood. Similar to the Austin/Benoit match it was a bout that promised more in the future but it was cool to see two guys who'd gone up and down the road together in WCW having a match together on RAW.

Chase Tatum is seconded by Nathan Jones for this, both men being members of Rick Bassman’s ‘Ultimate Power’ group. The ring announcer makes a right howler as he’s doing the introductions, calling Jones “the new Prototype” when he should have in fact said that about Tatum. I’m sure someone was in his ear as moments later he corrected himself, although not before the commentators had a laugh at his expense. I was thinking how jacked Chase looks and then Cena walks through the curtain and you immediately forget about him! Whoa, a T-Bone suplex out of Tatum. He gets a two count following a big powerslam and then levels the Prototype with a short clothesline as he’s not g…

This was strange with Smiley in trackies and trainers, knowing that he had a ‘make up’ match (whatever one of those is) but not knowing who his opponent will be. As I mentioned previously, if you’ve got a ‘surprise’ opponent in WCW or don’t know who you’ll be taking on, just assume it will be Goldberg! The usual quick squash that saw Smiley do a random backward roll after falling down before getting speared and jackhammered. Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell appear on Thundervision and announce that at Sin it will be ‘Totally Buff’ against Goldberg & ‘Sarge’. Looks like this is running to the next PPV at least, and of all people is featuring DeWayne Bruce prominently…

We get a recap of the Shannon Moore vs Shane Helms match from Nitro and Chavo’s ill-advised post-match attack where he came a cropper. Chavo grabs the mic and says how ‘Sugar’ Shane has been on quite the roll recently. He’s struggling over his words here and it’s not that clear what he’s even talking about. I think he’s implying that he’ll lie down for Jamie Noble because should he lose this match then Noble will be the Cruiserweight champion, he will be the number one contender and Helms will be left out in the cold. A bit of backwards thinking, but as I said this promo was tough to decipher. Noble’s wrestling is so smooth and a headscissors sends Chavo through the …

The ‘three time World Karate champion’ throws out a tentative kick, although that doesn’t phase the WCW champion who bullies him around and handles him with ease. After the Steinerline/elbow drop/push up sequence he’s over to Ms Jones to see whether she wants some of a real man. This continues to be all Steiner until he runs into a nasty barefoot. ‘The Cat’ with a bit of ground and pound before a side kick sends ‘Big Poppa Pump’ through the ropes to the floor. I must’ve said this before but for a supposed striker/Karate practitioner Cat’s kicks look so shit. On the outside he throws Steiner into the ring steps and that leads to a catfight between the women, the camer…

This was a match that promised much but delivered little. Not even my beloved pairing of Blue Panther and Villano III could prevent this from being middling. Their work was good but the match was a slow grind without a satisfying payoff.

This was a lively atomicos. Nothing spectacular happened but it was never boring. Mike Segura and Bombero made sure the bout was entertaining and there was a nice throughline with Black Dragon and Bombero that tied everything together. I said that nothing spectacular happened but the dive train was cool. Segura's tope was almost as good as Ramirez'. Nice to see the mid-to-lower card guys click like this.

Saving the best for last... This was the best lucha match of the month and one of the best matches of the year. Santo looked like royalty as he arrived in Naucalpan and worked a majestic first fall full of wrestling artistry. It went a full 13 minutes and was mostly worked on the mat, a dream come true for fans such as myself. I'm not sure Naucalpan had seen a title match of this quality in many a year. I often talk about how it's difficult to work a true epic at an arena this size but Santo showed that all things are possible with a little vision. As good a worker as Cerebro is, he struggled to keep up with Santo's grand plan for how he wanted this match to play out…

A lame Jericho promo where he says how even in this holiday season the Radicalz have found someone to cuddle up to; Perry Saturn with Terri the Tramp, Dean Malerkle (sic) and his when hell freezes over and when platypuses fly out my butt girlfriend Lita and even ‘Mr Robotto’ Chris Benoit, leading to Y2J putting up a graphic of Benoit and some robot. Yawn. The six men pair off and very quickly the ring empties to leave both Hardy brothers in there with Saturn. They set him for ‘Poetry in Motion’ when Terri grabs Jeff’s ankle from ringside. Jericho gets hold of her and throws her inside and as they launch her with a double wheelbarrow suplex, Saturn gets there in the ni…

It's December and Satanico is still trying to teach Tarzan Boy a lesson. I love it, This was a strong mano a mano bout due to Satanico's focus and bloody-minded determination. We're all familiar with Satanico the showman but he was locked in here and wanted a piece of Tarzan Boy. Few wrestlers can match Satanico's intensity when he's in this sort of mood. He can make a basic wrestling stance look like an invitation for pain. Tarzan Boy's job here was to take a beating while Ultimo Guerrero severed what was left of his frayed relationship with Satanico by interfering not once, not twice, but three times on Tarzan Boy's behalf. TB picked up a cheap win and Satanico wen…

Talk about it here.

Jerry Lawler is sat next to Dave Brown ready to provide some guest commentary for the upcoming tag team bout while Jason Sensation is lurking behind them. ‘The King’ points out that Steve Bradley doesn’t seem like he’s too anxious to put that title of his on the line, as whenever he sees him he’s either in a tag team match or he’s got Victoria with him and thinks its about time that he does. Double suplex on Shooter as Jason gives us his ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. I think every time Lance Cade wrestles or is being interviewed it’s noted how he was trained by Shawn Michaels. Of course that’s a nice segue into Sensation doing his HBK. For an impressionist he doesn’t ha…

Talk about it here.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Takao Omori Hash. Damaged goods after the godawful career killer feud with Ogawa, but still, not a lot of guys had *that* presence. Maybe Choshu. Nah, Hash was even greater than Choshu. This is as simplistic as it gets. Omori is blonde, which means he's an asshole. That's how Japan works. Omori is a dick but he's NOAH's dick and he'll try resist and take down Hash with simple lariatos. Hash kicks him hard. Stiff, to the point. How to get the most in less than ten minutes. Gotta love fucking "strong style", before it became a tagline for smart ass fans and indy announcers. Gotta love Japan. And Hash is puroresu in its purest form. Very good short ma…

This was a pretty fun match with a dominant Taue performance and kind of a shitty out-of-nowhere finish. He chokeslams Takayama early when Takayama tries the bullying tactics and Taue steps on the back of his head like the BIG DAWG. Then he DDTs him on the floor to try and set up an apron chokeslam, which sadly, doesn't happen. Takayama gets a little reprieve with an armbar and a PK but really, it's all about Taue's big boots and chokeslams and an impressive arm-trap suplex. But then Takyahama connects with a high kick to the head having no sold all of that big time Taue offense, and it's game over.

Talk about it here.

So for the final time in 2000 we get to see these four do their stuff, this time coming to us from ‘the Madhouse of Extreme’ in Queens Boulevard. Curiously, even though the Guilty as Charged PPV is only a fortnight away (1/7/01) no tag team title match has been announced yet for the show, Joey Styles saying how both of these teams would like a crack at the champions, Danny Doring and Roadkill. Mikey is wearing an FBI T-shirt for this which Mamaluke takes umbrage with. Styles has a tremendous line about Whipwreck being fine until he went to WCW, that’s when he cracked “and did he ever crack!”. A pretty physical lock up between the two as they both jockey for position.…

Spike looking for payback after Rhino made him “regurgitate” (Joey Styles’ words again) at the Massacre on 34th Street PPV. Rhino rushes at the bell but Spike catches him with an armdrag. Side headlock takeover. The champ fights to his feet and backs Spike into the corner where he opens up on him. Whip to the opposite one, Spike avoids the charge and schoolboys Rhino for a two count. After a second pin attempt off a Victory Roll is fruitless, he returns to that side headlock take over, grounding his larger opponent. Like the PPV, it’s another fast opening. Rhino gets the better of a shoulderblock, running through Spike, from where he looks to slow the pace and wear…

Tazz thinks that Matt Hardy is jealous of Dean Malenko because he sees him as a good looking guy and competition for Lita. The Light-Heavyweight champion blows kisses towards her which only pisses off Matt who slaps him across the face before dropping him with a clothesline and unloading with punches. After whipping him hard into the turnbuckle Matt collects Dean’s title belt from the outside which he brings back into the ring with him. As referee Tim White tries to snatch it away, the two end up playing tug of war and Malenko clubs Matt from behind. Tazz’s commentary is beyond atrocious and he’s clearly his own biggest fan, finding himself far more amusing than anyon…

If you’ve never seen Saitama Pro before then there is no ring, just a mat on the floor with a couple of rows of fans sat on each side. I suppose this is considered a handicap match as Brain & Disaster are two men, although a handicap match like no other as Brain is sat on Disaster’s shoulders. The two are also holding rods or batons of some description. Disaster shoves Tobita to the floor, but he loses his balance at the same time and Brain slips from his shoulders. Tobita gets in a few shots on Brain, despite his efforts to hide behind the back of Disaster, and then takes off around the building with Tobita in pursuit. He bodyslams Brain on the carpet before ret…

As the Hardy Boyz make their way through the arena, Matt tells Lita that he wants her to stay in the back tonight as ‘the Radicalz’ have put their hands on her before and he doesn’t want them doing it again. Lita says that she respects them looking out for her, but they need to respect the fact that she wants to be out there by their side, Matt’s request ultimately falling on deaf ears. Matt makes a beeline straight for Malenko, however Benoit gets to him before he can do so. After ‘the Crippler’ is whipped into the ropes, Malenko grabs his partner’s ankle from the floor and pulls him to the outside. There’s no safe haven for them tonight though as Jeff springs off hi…

A very rare gem of the NOAH juniors paying visit to the IWA Japan show. And I'm not gonna lie, Marufuji's flying elbow to Takeru was perfectly executed. Impressive match. ****1/4