January 2001

The background is that these two were the former OVW Southern tag team champions, but Payne abandoned Flash, dissolving the team. Last Man Standing rules here mean that there is no time limit, no disqualification, no referee, and to win you must knock your opponent out for a ten count. The winner then gets to choose a partner of their choice and they will be the new Southern tag team champions. Jim Cornette warns us that viewer discretion is advised, there will be no stopping this for blood and Robert Brisco is only there to make the ten count. Awesome, unexpected opening as Flash dives headfirst through the ropes at Payne as he makes his way out. Russian legsweep fo…

OVW Heavyweight title match, ‘Slick’ Robbie D taking on the champion, the man who will be facing Chris Benoit later in the month at the rescheduled Christmas Chaos show. It doesn’t take long before we see D’s insane leaping ability, as on the leapfrog spot, rather than making the leap like everyone else does, he keeps his knees together and jumps up over Dinsmore. That’s ridiculous! Dinsmore holds onto the ropes to avoid the dropkick and then slaps on a Boston crab, D the one using the ropes to his advantage this time as he grabs them to break the hold. As it looks like the champion’s trying for a ‘Crippler crossface’, D low blows him. The ‘Slick’ one seems more inte…

Jim Cornette welcomes us to the first episode of OVW television of the year. This match was originally scheduled for the Christmas Chaos show back in December, however the two couldn’t wait until the rescheduled date to settle their differences and, despite his best efforts, Kenny Bolin couldn’t stop them either. ‘The Starmaker’ holds Jim Cornette responsible for his boys being at each others throats and gives everyone his word that there isn’t going to be a winner and isn’t going to be a loser, Robert Brisco won’t count to three in this match even if he has to cut off his hand to make sure he doesn’t do so. Cornette responds from the broadcast desk and he had a hunch …

A WWC stadium show and we join this in progress, Gang already bleeding as he and Colon go at it on the baseball field. Abby is practically immobile here and remains in the ring; probably fearful that he would struggle to get back in it should he leave. Gang snatches a spike away from Colon and jabs him with it. Carlos is looking as old as dirt while Abby’s sagging man boobs are something else. They return to the ring so he doesn’t feel left out and it’s not long before he joins the other two in being busted open. The ‘brawling’ here is pitiful. Rico Suave runs out and powders ‘the Butcher’ as Carlos goes back to spiking Gang with that foreign object. He drops him w…

Hennig’s gear is awful with a T-shirt under his singlet but they are still battling it out in front of a big crowd in the baseball stadium. Horace Hogan comes out for a closer look. Real basic mat work throughout the match. I can appreciate a slow moving match but it felt like we were still in the table setting when everything ended. Gonzalez works the leg a bit and Hennig keeps coming back. A figure four is locked in and then we get a big brawl for the DQ. Nice to see Hennig in 2001 but this didn’t look like we were missing much at all. NR

This was a nice title fight. Ueda is a guy who usually leaves me cold but I respected his performance here. Junji's not really a shoot guy but Ueda allowed this to be a contest irrespective of their skill levels. Junji took the fight to Ueda and the champ was on the defensive from the get-go. The action was stiff and competitive and they never once fell back on any of the cliches of hierarchy or roles. It was pure competition the whole way through and they topped it off with a wonderful back-and-forth submission battle in the finest tradition of the flashier shoot style guys. That's not always my cup of tea but it suited this match to a tee. A top performance from Ueda an…

This was another Ishikawa vs. Murakami tag. If you like that match-up then it should get the juices flowing, but personally, I thought it was a bunch of posturing without any serious wrestling. Great dynamic but it added nothing to their feud. The finish was kind of awful too.

ECW tag team title match. Danny Doring threatens to kick Elektra’s ass which goes down well with the fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Magistral cradle by Dinero for an early two count. Modified T-Bone/Ferris Wheel suplex. E.Z. lands on his feet after being flipped backwards, however as he starts swivelling his hips, doesn’t realise Roadkill is in the ring behind him. Roadkill plants him to the mat and then drops an elbow from the middle. ‘Lancaster Lariat of Lust’. Dinero is in, but he gets caught and powerslammed hard, right into perfect position for the ‘Panty Drop’ elbow. The champions whip Money into his partner, and as Doring slingshots Roadkill towards the…

The match starts with three men in the ring and it’s not long before one is the spare part, stood there waiting while the other two do their thing. Kash fluffs either a springboard or a slingshot which is very unlike him as he’s usually near faultless on stuff like that. The three-way tropes continue as we then have the third man breaking up the pin. They know how to play these fans like a fiddle though, it’s not been good but they wait for the Pavlovian round of applause which comes. Each man tags their respective partner and things should pick up with Tajiri, Guido and Crazy. Guido isn’t paying attention and Tajiri drills him with a kick while still on the apron. …

If there is one thing guaranteed to dampen my renewed enthusiasm it’s a Rob Van Dam match. I don’t think his stock was ever really that high with me, but it plummeted last year and there was no-one I looked forward to less than him. Things unfortunately haven’t changed, as after a stand-off he bows to one side of the crowd BEFORE LEAVING THE RING AND HI FIVING FANS. Back inside and yet more playing to them. Two and a half minutes after the stand-off the action recommences. Van Dam gets a busted mouth in their somewhere, maybe from an errant elbow. A great press slam, standing moonsault, middle rope moonsault combination that gets him a two count. But of course, why …

Steve Corino vs Sandman vs Justin Credible (Ladder) (ECW Guilty as Charged 1/7/01) We hear some from Rhino who’s punching doors in the back, screaming that he “lives for violence” and claims that he’s only just begun. Three Way Dance for the ECW World title with the belt suspended from the ceiling. Even though the Sandman stole the belt, Steve Corino is still officially the champion. Smart comments from Cyrus, who wonders why people don’t cut deals and get rid of one guy first and then worry about each other later. Everyone takes plenty of punishment but this is a car crash. At one point Credible reverses an Irish whip and you see Sandman hurl himself over th…

FMW was easily one of the more disappointing promotions in 2000 after having hot 1998 and 1999 years. This felt like a return to form. A match that has many twists and turns and still feels different within the Japanese landscape while also staying true to what makes a match work. Gedo is the underdog and gets worked over for the majority of the match. He botches a lionsault but otherwise gives a spirited performance. Tanaka really looked excellent here. When he receives top 100 votes for GWE, that felt like a bit of a stretch for me but he showed a lot of awareness, encouragement and execution with his moves here. Gedo winning and pinning Fuyuki felt like a big deal. The…

I watched these in the wrong order so I was coming off the high of the main tag match but thought this was a fun garbage brawl. A lot of walking and punching but some cool stuff that displays the bowels of Korakuen and included a piledriver in the stairway. Then we get to the finish. Again, I watched out of sequence so after seeing how well I thought the turn in the next match was executed I was furious when Hosaka just goes a low blows on Sasaki here. I get maybe FMW is trying to reset things but two big turns in two matches feels very Russo-ish. So good garbage brawl but shoddy booking. *** (6)

This was a typical Monterrey bout. There was plenty of good action in the beginning but it turned into a clusterfuck at the end. That was largely due to the Tarzan Boy "is he or isn't he a rudo?" shit, which is easily the worst angle in wrestling at this point. It also had dubbed over commentary that sounded like it was recorded in somebody's living room and no crowd noise, which was jarring at times. I do appreciate Tarzan Boy's abilities as a worker even if I hate the angle that he's involved with, and he had a number of good exchanges with Dandy, who is continuing to work his way back into wrestling shape. There were some cool Dandy/Niebla exchanges in this, which isn'…

Liger and Samurai visit Osaka Pro and work a long form tag match. At first, you can be forgiven for wishing that Delfin had partnered with someone other than a gimmick worker like Monster Zeta Mandora, but once the bout gets going, you start to realize that this match isn't really about individual talent. The match is a chance for the New Japan workers to play the outsider heels and beating on Mandora is a good way to accomplish that. Delfin is masterful just like he was in 2000 and still on top of his game. The more I watch this stuff, the more it seems like Deflin riding off into the sunset was one of the great losses of 2000s wrestling.

I think this was only the second time these two faced each other one-on-one (though they had already been in countless tag matches together over the previous two years). This is, I believe, in the Rinkai Sports Center (with the fans at ringside sitting on mats). The entrances have me misting up with nostalgia. How many times have I been one of the fans hanging snacks around Kuishin's neck? How many times have I been blessed by Ebessan? (Literally dozens of times). For me, their (many, many, many) comedy spots are like "Who's on First" or "The Seven Words You Can't Say on TV." Just straight-up classic comedy that you practically know by heart, to the point where it's m…

The runaway surprise promotion of the year in 2000 is back with another beautiful hybrid match. From the looks of things, Osaka Pro was still going strong which is good to see. This Gamna fellow had a falling out with Delfin at the end of 2000 and decided to turn his back on the good guys. He debuted a new look here complete with a bitchy new valet. I'm not sure if Togo had left the scene at this point but Gamna had formed a tag team with Daioh QUALLT and that Dudley manager was nowhere to be seen. As usual, Black Buffalo was the MVP of the match. He really is a tremendously underrated glue guy. Rookie of the Year, Takehiro Murahama, was a bit player here but his interact…

7 minutes of 18 shown. Fun action as is the norm. SUWA and Fuji have the size advantage especially on Dragon Kid so there interactions and utilizations as being the base really stand out as entertaining. I know Tokyo has a bad reputation but I still don’t think he really sticks out to me as being significantly worse in watching these old matches. A ceremony occurs after the match for Sumo Fuji. Perhaps someone with a better understanding can inform me what was going on there. NR

Even though this is a tag team match Goldberg’s streak is still on the line and considering DeWayne Bruce’s won/loss record I would be pretty darn concerned if I were him! We get a recap from Thunder where ‘Totally Buff’ broke Sarge’s arm and Goldberg wasn’t able to help his trainer because Kronik had already taken care of him. Disco Inferno is providing additional commentary and wonders why Sarge isn’t back at the Power Plant and why Goldberg is risking his career by having him as his partner? My thoughts exactly. The teams pair off with Clark and Sarge going at it in the ring while Adams and Goldberg fight it out on the floor. Wrist clutch suplex by Clark who then …

Serious Lance was hoping to start 2001 in a good mood, but after the act of vandalism perpetrated by the Filthy Animals last week on Thunder that’s out the window. He challenges them to a ‘Canadian Penalty Box’ match at the PPV, which means that if someone breaks the rules at any point during the match they get locked in the box and the other team gets a one man advantage. A fast paced opening here that sees Storm gain the early advantage after blocking a suplex and countering with a face first variety where he dumps Kidman over the top rope. As Skipper distracts the referee, Lance then wedges a chair in the corner between the turnbuckles. Kidman escapes the abdominal…

Shane Helms accompanies his partner out and is going to provide some guest commentary for this non-title match. Chavo does some lame mic work before saying that being the fighting champion that he is, he doesn’t like non-title matches so is putting the belt on the line tonight. He goes onto address Shane, informing him that should he lose, he’ll get his rematch at Sin, which ultimately puts him (Helms) out in the cold. The inference being that should Shane want his title shot at the PPV he better make sure Chavo wins here. Shannon forearms Chavo from the apron and he goes flying out right in front of the broadcast booth where Shane slaps him across the face. Reverse …

Steiner lets us know this match is not going to happen tonight. Jarrett calls Flair Jurassic slap ass and says when he makes the rules, him and Steiner break them. Flair’s music comes up and he demands the match take place. Scott gets stripped of the title and Jeff loses his spot at Sin. Madaja is moved out of the way and Scott attacks from behind. Steiner has good offense and is posing and has his presence. Jarrett works this match as defacto face and hits a great dropkick at one point. Steiner chokes Jarrett out in the corner and jaws with the crowd. Jarrett comes back and takes the fight to Scott on the outside. Steiner recovers and slams Jarrett onto the announcers t…

Mike Sanders is on his way down to the ring carrying an envelope. He milks the boos before going onto welcome everyone to the first ever ‘Minnesota Massacre’. In the envelope are the names of the “randomly” selected participants and he hands it over to Dave Penzer to read them out. The first three names are Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire, leading Scott Hudson to question what are the odds that “randomly” selected we’d have three Natural Born Thrillers in a row? The commentary team speculate this is just away for ‘the Thrillers’ to get some payback on Big Vito and Kwee Wee, and when Penzer announces the fourth name as Diamond Dallas Page, Sanders’s shocke…

Man, this was good shit. It's a little suplex heavy (as in there's a shit ton of suplexes in this match) and there's two run ins but on the whole this works a lot better than their match from nine months later in terms of a WWF Title match on TV that delivers the goods. Austin is determined, frenzied even, as he gets his first one-on-one shot at the title since returning. Angle weathers the storm until Regal runs down and fails to accomplish anything because Austin lays him out. There's some bumps over the rail because it's 2001 and we're still doing that. The finishing stretch is great as Angle unloads a ton of suplexes on Austin before Austin makes his comeback and fina…

A quick recap of what went down on Smackdown, including Lita slapping Dean Malenko across the face after he forced himself on her, which led to him DDT’ing her in response and costing her the match against Terri. Jericho and the Hardyz meet the Radicalz on the floor as this one gets underway on the outside. Matt throws Dean inside, focusing all his attention on him as Jerry Lawler speculates that he might have a crush on Lita and is in fact jealous of Malenko. Saturn comes to his partner’s rescue but is quickly on the receiving end of some Hardy double teaming. As the ref looks to get Matt out and onto the apron, Benoit is in, blindsiding Jeff from behind. The Radica…