February 2001

There are a couple of fans in the audience dressed up like the ‘Right to Censor’ with Dave suggesting that they are in fact spies for them, which is pretty funny. Blade has got the giant teddy bear with him and he sits it on the desk in front of Dave and Corey for them to look after. Apparently he’s been out of action recently for a few weeks as a result of the Dupps’ ‘Brain Scrambler’ finisher. Blade reverses the whip to the corner, backdrop and a dropkick that comes up short but is sold anyway. He sits Spanky on the top turnbuckle, but Jason Sensation grabs a hold of his charge to prevent the superplex and Blade’s momentum when attempting the move sends him flying b…

A lengthy recap of what happened last week; where Bo Dupp went on a rampage in the studio after Blade Boudreaux showed up with a giant teddy bear that he found in the Dupps dressing room, where Victoria turned on The Kat, aligning herself with Brandon Baxter, and the two then attacked Kat’s sister Suzanne “in one of the most disgusting acts ever in Power Pro Wrestling”, and where the Spellbinder interfered in the Southern title match breaking a bottle over Peter Gas’ head. ‘Commissioner’ Bill Dundee wasn’t here last week but is this, and has requested some time to talk about what we’ve just witnessed. The Commissioner has got his clipboard with him and means business! …

Talk about it here.

As E.Z. Money is being introduced and doing his bicep pose he’s jumped by Youngblood who just unloads on him, bad mouthing Money as he does so. He heads upstairs but it’s too early for that and as he comes flying off is met by a dropkick whilst in mid-air. A big running clothesline sends Youngblood over the top rope to the outside and Money then nails him with a plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. High release belly to back suplex for a two. Arm bar with E.Z. digging his elbow into the shoulder of Youngblood for added pressure. Somersault clothesline from the apron into the ring. E.Z. whips Youngblood into the ropes, leap frog, however Youngblood slides un…

Rudy Rude being a renamed Bobby Roode. A similar opening to Saturn’s match against Chad Collyer as they work some chain wrestling. Fireman’s carry take down by Rude, he hammerlocks the arm and Saturn with a pair of back elbows to the jaw for the escape. Tip over the incoming Saturn, drop toe hold, flapjack and finally a spinning neckbreaker as Rude is really taking the fight to his opponent. A hot shot stops him in his tracks and that’s followed by a superkick as Saturn has a look on his face that he wasn’t quite expecting this out of Rude. Release overhead belly to belly, however he then misses the moonsault. Spinning kick to the chest. Float over by Saturn, but R…

Rob Black is giving a pep talk to his ‘Black Army’ in the dressing room, Kevin Kleinrock with them wearing a referee’s shirt, and he’s wanting someone taken out. Vic Grimes is introduced first and as Kleinrock walks out alongside him it’s clarified that Black has assigned him as the special referee for this match. Rather than just ushering the original ref out of there, Grimes boots him in the gut, gives him his cool over the shoulder backbreaker and then comes off the top with a frog splash onto him. Larry Rivera calls Sabu’s manager’s Abdullah Lacey Farouk which is pretty funny. This is a handicap match which begs the question who gets the XPW title belt if they…

For a professional TV show the camera work at the start is shocking. It looks like this is going to be a nightmare to try and follow, but fortunately it soon settles down. The match itself is clipped and we pretty much go straight to the first elimination, Ishii pinning Uwano with a Tiger suplex. Ultra 7 is in terrible physical shape although does manage a go behind take down on Gordy before a dreadful looking running crossbody on Ichimiya. Gordy backdrops Shinjuku over the top rope and the bell rings. I thought at first that meant Gordy had been disqualified, however he’s still in the ring in the next clip, so it turns out eliminations can occur as a result of being…

Lee Marshall and Bobby Heenan are our commentary team for the PPV. The ‘Heavy Metal Maniac’ Riot is introduced first in this hardcore, anything goes, pinfalls count anywhere match. ‘The Brain’ seems rather enamoured with her, although Marshall guarantees that she’s frightened more men than Loretta Bobbitt! Riot cuts a pretty basic promo saying how she’s unbeatable, unbreakable and unstoppable. ‘America’s Favourite Garage Pin Up’ is pushing a shopping cart and doesn’t even make it to the ring as Riot goes out to meet her. Wendi avoids the swinging right hand, dumps Riot into the cart and tips it over. She grabs a mop, but gets clobbered with a serving tray before she…

El Nino is tiny, dressed head to toe in black. He was scouted by Ric Flair and Chavo Guerrero Sr south of the border, a guy who is going to take Chavo Jr to the limit but is going to make him the champion he is. Tony Schiavone drops a Bugsy McGraw reference when Nino outstretches his arms and turns around on the spot. Chavo kicks him down into the corner and then scrapes his boot across his face. Belly to back with authority. He catches Nino on the springboard crossbody and drops him across his knee. Nino backdrops Chavo out onto the apron, a forearm smash sending him to the arena floor. Pescado, Nino then does a lap of the ring like he’s a child imitating a plane.…

As Tony Schiavone plugs the upcoming live events he has to shush because here is a very serious man about to speak! Lance says that Ric Flair has the full support of Team Canada and tells the Cat that come Superbrawl WCW will have its first Canadian Commissioner. Just as he requests quiet for the Canadian national anthem, the Cat and Ms Jones appear on the big screen. Like he told Scott Steiner, he informs Team Canada that they’re going to have to work tonight too, out walking the WCW World tag team champions, Chuck Palumbo & Sean O’Haire. If the Cat was meant to be ordering a match “on the fly” it was poorly done as I’m sure everyone and their mother assumed Team…

Scott Hudson has the nerve to say Steiner was tired out by the Cruiserweights earlier; was he asleep during that match? At least he’s in actual wrestling gear for this one. I suppose you can disrespect the Cruiserweights by wrestling in your street wear, not a big star like Page though. DDP showing a lot of fire early, a discus lariat putting the World champion down. Uranage followed by a ‘Cactus clothesline’. Steiner reverses the whip into the railing. He goes to slam Page’s head into the apron but he blocks it and returns favour. Back in the ring Midajah shakes the ropes as Page heads upstairs causing him to crotch himself, Steiner then picks him up and runs him …

Nitro begins with Ric Flair and his bodyguard, Road Warrior Animal, already in the ring whilst Kevin Nash is also out in the aisle. On being called a “jackass” Flair tells him that if you think I’m a jackass, come say it to my face. As Nash starts walking closer to the ring he sends out Animal to stop him. Nash reminds him that Flair invited him so he better walk away. He doesn’t, swings at ‘Big Sexy’ who blocks and throws him into the metal barricade. Flair is funny, yelling at the laid out Animal to get up and get in here as Nash steps into the ring. ‘Killer’ grabs Flair by the throat and tells him he’s tired of him (Flair) calling the shots, from now on he’s (Nas…

As a quick reminder, Steiner’s World title as well as Ric Flair’s leadership are both on the line. Nash introduces the new U.S. champion, Scott Steiner’s familia, big brother Rick as his mystery partner. The brothers do lay their stuff in on each other. Rick blocks the Rolling Thunder and counters with a belly to belly of his own. Scott is out to the floor where he reverses the whip sending Rick sailing over the guard rail and into the front row. He picks up a chair, but before he can use it he’s nailed by Nash. Midajah is up on the apron distracting Charles Robinson which allows Scotty to get in a low blow, stopping ‘Killer’s’ momentum. Steinerline followed by an …

After picking up a non-title win last week, Steiner gets a United States title match tonight. Douglas, who has his left arm in a cast, rags on “all the Tupelo Southern fried redneck hicks” when he’s interrupted by ‘the Dog Faced Gremlin’. Scott Hudson claims that the odds don’t favour Rick beating Douglas on two consecutive Nitros. I’ll happily take those odds Scott! No-one has any idea why Shane’s wearing the cast, with the commentators suspicious it’s to use a weapon or hide an illegal object in. The champion is immediately using that cast as a weapon, knocking Steiner out to the floor. Slow motion whip into the guard rail. Douglas pokes Steiner with a chair, lik…

I think it’s about a year since I’ve watched any Al Snow in the project. He’s still doing the head gimmick which feels really passé now. It sounds like Snow interrupted Mr McMahon in the back over something (Mick Foley is mentioned a fair bit and it’s noted how Snow is a good friend of his) and as a result he’s been given this match with ‘the Crippler’. JR doesn’t think Snow will last long unless he starts showing some offence. He must’ve been listening as that’s exactly what he starts to do. Benoit hurls him through the turnbuckles into the ringpost. Snow reverses the whip to the opposite corner, sending Benoit chest first into it, and then nails him with a sturdy …

JR announces that there are almost 25,000 fans here in the Georgia Dome. Oh what would they do get crowds like that again. Jeff Hardy is banged up after taking that Bubba bomb from the stage through the tables on Smackdown so Matt is getting an I-C title shot. Remember when you had to earn title shots? Jesus, Lawler is talking about Lita’s underwear. Prior to the match commencing Dean Malenko comes out to watch from the top of the entrance way, ‘The King’ referring to him as Lita’s boyfriend. Matt escapes the hammerlock, using his momentum to send Jericho through the ropes to the floor in the process. Y2J drags him out and after a couple of hard chops, suplexes him…

The Rock is not in a good mood after Triple H involved himself in his World championship match last Thursday. He notes that Steve Austin hates HHH as much as he does, but when Austin took the referee’s hand and counted 1-2-3, not only did he screw Triple H, but he also inadvertently screwed him too. The fans don’t know how to react to that. Rock admits if the situation was reversed he would have probably done the same, and ultimately holds HHH fully responsible, because Austin would never have been at ringside in the first place if he had never interjected himself into the match. As a result he’s going to return the favour and if Triple H wants to earn a title shot, w…

Just checking in on what Villano III was up to in the new year. This didn't have much bite to it but it did have Satanico vs Villano IV exchanges, which is a match-up made in heaven.

‘The Insiders’ have their game faces on, Nash out for some revenge after Rick Steiner turned on him Monday night. With ‘the Dog Faced Gremlin’ having joined the fold they’re calling Ric Flair’s group ‘the Magnificent Seven’. After some Steiner interference Page walks into a Jarrett DDT. They get the heat on him as it looks like DDP is going to be working the whole match until the finish. Page avoids the Jarrett charge but gets floored by a Steiner clothesline from the apron. Sleeper hold. DDP fires in some back elbows, shoots Jarrett off and catches him with a sleeper of his own. He’s obviously been watching Shannon Moore as he drops it into a sleeper slam. Jarre…

No Paisley with the Kwee Wee tonight and no mention of her on commentary, I wonder if she’s been handed her P45 then. The Kwee Wee has some words for Ric Flair telling him that he won’t be ignored any more and to take note of him as he’s all man. He asks a ‘fan’ (who looks very much like Alan Steel) in the front row if “he’s a man?” and then snatches him over the guard rail, dragging him into the ring. Kwee Wee puts the boots in, pounds away on him and then orders the referee to count the pin as he makes a cover. As he celebrates his ‘win’ out runs Johnny Dotson who he had a backstage altercation with earlier. Dotson nails him with a missile dropkick but that’s as go…

No mention of Rey being squashed by Road Warrior Animal as they run down some of his recent matches, hopefully that one has been erased from history. The Wall is being accompanied by Chavo Guerrero Jr. Still smarting from what happened on Monday he’s enlisted his former M.I.A. partner to help take Rey out. Wall looks like a giant Dustin Rhodes. Rey with an opening flurry until being caught on the springboard crossbody, the Wall then pressing him overhead with one arm. He mistakenly turns his back and Rey is on that back trying for a sleeper. It seems to be having some effect but the Wall gets to his feet and runs him into the corner. He stands on the second rung, w…

Norman Smiley has been doing some angle with Glacier, the gist being that Glacier is his hero. Heaven knows why? It’s not on the footage I watched, but earlier in the evening Glacier was taken out in the dressing room by Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak. That’s doesn’t sound right considering they’re facing each other at Superbrawl, it was more likely Sean O’Haire, but that is what Mike Tenay said. O’Haire in long tights for a change, which I don’t think suit him at all. Smiley gets the better on the wrestling front although is struggling to deal with his opponents size advantage. Wristlock, leg trip by Smiley, but O’Haire with a kip up back to his feet. After be…

Qualifying bout for a six-man four corners (huh?) Cruiserweight Elimination match at Superbrawl Revenge, the winner of which will earn themselves a Cruiserweight title shot. Shannon Moore has already qualified as a result of winning the four corners match on the 1/29 episode of Nitro. I’m almost certain there was no mention during that of it being a qualifying match which shows the lack of long term planning going on, at least when it comes to the undercard. No Leah Meow with Kaz, not that she’ll be missed. Kaz is so quick. The stand-off gets no response, which does show you the difference between the indies and here because in somewhere like CZW they would have got …

This was better than I expected. Panther in 2000-01 has reached that level where he immediately makes matches better by his presence. I kind of understand now that when people talk about how great Blue Panther was, or is, a large part of that springs from this time period where he was clearly the best worker in Mexico. But the other guys were good too. I thought Bombero Infernal was really good and Super Parka brought his working shoes and was the best version of Super Parka that he can be. I'm a fan of the later IWRG period where it felt like its own promotion with its own identity, and its own heroes and villains, instead of an outpost for CMLL. But I do like the fact t…

This was pretty good. The first fall was really good, and I started having thoughts that it might be a sleeper for my best matches of the year list. But then the fouling bullshit crept in and the next two falls weren't anywhere near as good. It's a shame really because Scorpio had been on a roll with these title matches and El Dandy had worked his way back to the top (the Negro Navarro was no accident, fwiw), but they didn't go all-in with the final two falls. Not a bad match in the context of a pretty interesting month for IWRG but talent-wise it should be on the list with other singles matches like Altantis vs Wagner, Santo vs Panther and Cerebro vs Felino.