February 2001

We get a recap from Nitro where Steiner took Nash out with a lead pipe, Tony Schiavone still running with the idea, which has been a show long theme, that they don’t know whether he will be here to wrestle or not. A tuxedo wearing Ric Flair is out, taking a seat at the broadcast table, Schiavone thinking it’s a travesty what he has become. The World champion interrupts Michael Buffer on his introductions as he doesn’t need him to tell him how great he is. Considering how much they pay Buffer, the WCW brass won’t be pleased they’re not getting their money out of him tonight. Steiner says he put Sting in hospital, took out Booker T, gave Goldberg the worse defeat of his…

I don't know why Yang and Karagias were paired up but they almost ruined this match. Their parings in the first half was one botch after another. Luckily they were the first two out and the rest of the match was much better. I don't know whether watching a match like this, you saw a high ceiling for most of these guys sans Helms but as far as providing an effective and entertaining match, you at least thought the four final competitors were capable and they delivered here. Helms going after Moore was the highlight. *** (6)

Haku gets the better of the shoulder tackle and then reverses the hip toss landing one of his own. A bad slow motion arm drag from Holly, but a karate chop to the head stuns him and puts a stop his early targeting of Haku’s arm. Haku blocks the roll up by grabbing hold of the ropes, however Holly lifts up his legs so he’s draped over them and kicks him low. The huracanrana is countered with a sit out powerbomb as Haku looks to get back into this. Big running lariat in the corner followed by a barrage of punches to the ribs and head. Holly reverses the Irish whip and hits a belly to back suplex. Thrust kick by Haku and a nice shoulderbreaker for a two. He misses the…

The dreaded Chavo & Animal team! Hopefully Konnan is able to match up against him better and we don’t have a repeat of when they faced Rey & Kidman. We get a recap of Konnan coming to Kidman’s aid last night after Animal had taken him out of the Six Way Elimination match. Chavo makes his entrance at which point we cut backstage to see Animal and Konnan already going at it. To be honest, keeping those two back there and having Kidman and Chavo wrestle a singles match wouldn’t be the worst idea. As Chavo watches the goings on on Nitrovision he’s jumped from behind by Kidman, doing like everyone else these days and coming through the crowd. This has barely got s…

Nothing shows a company is running out of ideas more like repeating the exact same skit they did a month ago. Just like when Goldberg was forced to leave WCW and a mock funeral was held for him, one is being held for Kevin Nash, ‘the Magnificent Seven’ all dressed in black as a casket is brought to the ring. Ric Flair starts off talking in sombre tones saying how Nash’s career has come to an end... because ‘the Magnificent Seven’ struck again and now there’s no-one left to stand against them. Scott Steiner takes over from him, saying that their motto in the new WCW is winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing, and if they have to break a few bones or break a few ru…

The Cat has announced that there will be a Cruiserweight tag team division with a tournament to decide the winners starting next week, the finals taking place at the Greed PPV. Well Lance Storm’s Commissionership didn’t last long. At least with Cat back in charge it should mean we see him wrestle less, which can’t be a bad thing! Noble is seconded by Evan Karagias, so presumably they’re going to be one of the teams in the tournament. Considering how they don’t seem to be on the same page the majority of the time I’m not sure that’s the smartest decision. A bad looking top rope headscissors by Shannon after Noble had been slow on the climb. Scott Hudson thinks t…

Jim Ross says that Lita and Dean Malenko are set to go one on one, to which ‘the King’s’ response is how he’s always wanted to go one on one with Lita. We know you dirty old goat, you can’t contain yourself whenever you see her. A lengthy video package reminds us what led up to this match, an obsessed Malenko even forcing himself on an unconscious Lita in one of the clips. She may have requested this match but things don’t start out well for her. Malenko grabs a chair from the outside, but as referee Jack Doan tries to pry it away, Lita schoolboys him, although she doesn’t even get a one count with it. He’s having his way with her here, deliberately putting Lita’s le…

They reshow the kiss between Matt and Lita from earlier, Lawler calling him a “lucky dog”. The Hardyz catch the Island boys napping, Matt coming off the top with a crossbody and Jeff running across the barricade at them. Poetry in Motion on Rikishi. Haku no sells having his head rammed into the corner and when they go for a Poetry in Motion on him, he just catches Jeff and tosses him to the outside. Matt tries to go it alone but gets floored by a Haku thrust kick before Rikishi drops a big leg across him. There’s no-one home when Rikishi backs dat ass up and as he staggers Jeff clotheslines him across the top rope. Matt with the hot tag. Haku’s not bothering to wai…

To make sure there is no outside interference Mr McMahon has appointed Chris Jericho as the special guest referee in this match as two of his rivals for the IC title go head to head. Y2J has a few words with his old pal “Mitchell Cole” which was just away of plugging this “He Hate Me” chap from the XFL, Jericho wearing a shirt with his name on to officiate this. Both wrestlers have words with Y2J on their arrival, presumably telling him not to screw them over. Pac with the first pin attempt of the match and Jericho’s count is lightning fast. It’s a different matter altogether when Eddy makes a cover, Y2J checking all the angles, making sure both shoulders are down…

This match was fun for reasons you wouldn't expect like reuniting old rivals El Signo and Brazo de Oro and sparking the flames of the forgotten Olimpico vs. Panther feud. Again, the tecnicos came on strong but that's been a theme of the first month of the year. At least we got to see Signo and Brazo stretch their legs, which was cool.

Mike Tenay is still raving about the Shooting Styles Press from last week and how it’s been the talk of the town ever since. A glorious European uppercut by Alex to Air. Combination inverted atomic drop/spinning heel kick. A.J.’s in but doesn’t fair much better, also on the receiving end of the Wright uppercut. Disqo with a Russian legsweep. He starts dancing and Styles is able to crawl between his legs to make the tag. Paris does stagger Disqo but then goes knee first into the top turnbuckle as he avoids his charge. The Boogie Knights target that leg briefly before moving onto the lower back. Wright gets crotched upstairs, however as Paris sets for a superplex, D…

‘Totally Buff’ defeated Kronik last night and in doing so they earned themselves a tag team title shot at Greed. Luger tells the fans that they’ve been waiting for a big star to come out all night and now they’ve got it! He says that O’Haire & Palumbo messed up when they snubbed their offer to join the new WCW, now they’re going to take their World titles at Greed and send them packing, just like they did Bill Goldberg. I reckon ‘Totally Buff’ are going to be milking that one until the end of the company, just like Scott Steiner milks the Sid broken leg (even though the latter was nothing to do with him). Sean O’Haire has been banned from ringside for the match, R…

The Kwee Wee is tired of coming out here and trying to get Ric Flair’s attention. He’s going to make him regret not having him on his team so is offering an open challenge to anyone on the roster. Surprisingly the challenge is answered by Kaz Hayashi, not the person I would’ve expected to be high on the list of something like this. A spinning heel kick sends the Kwee Wee to the outside. Sweet twisting dive and he unloads with punches from the mount before rolling him back inside. Kaz runs into a big boot and Kwee Wee with a running Thesz press. This unique suplex variation where he suplexes Kaz into the turnbuckles. Snap suplex. The two jockey for position and as …

This was a mano a mano Super Libre bout. The first fall was a bit sloppy and the second fall was a standard comeback but the third fall was epic. It not only whet the appetite for an apuesta match, it was so good that it wouldn't have been out of place in a mask match. It's rare that you see a mano a mano bout where they go to these lengths but Cerebro's mask was so torn and so drenched in blood that he looked like Super Muneco. Santo, meanwhile. had this weird rip on the lower half of his mask that exposed his chin and a five o'clock shadow. It was kind of offputting but his performance in the tercera was world class. Depending on how the footage plays out, Santo may squ…

Nice bit of fluff that continued the beef between Rambo and Scorpio. I enjoyed the exchanges between Blue Panther and Niebla, which is saying something because Niebla is usually Blue Demon Jr-esque in his worthiness.

These four participants are scheduled to face off at No Way Out in a Fatal Four Way, that match and this tag made by Mr McMahon who took exception to some comments made by the Intercontinental champion. I know! You’re thinking Jericho running his mouth and antagonizing someone? Unlike their opponents the Radicalz walk out together so they should have some cohesion. Jericho with a drop toe hold sending Benoit crashing into the bottom turnbuckle. He goes over to tag X-Pac but he’s not interested, telling Jericho to carry on what he’s been doing. Y2J grabs him by the hair and flips him into the ring, the two engaging in a shoving match that ‘the Crippler’ takes advanta…

On the back of Monday’s tag we have a singles match between Rikishi and Jeff. The Matt and Lita liplock gets replayed again. Rikishi is easily overpowering Jeff in the opening moments. Hardy ducks under a clothesline and tries a sunset slip, sliding out the way just in time as Rikishi was about to bring all his weight down onto his chest. Shotgun dropkick followed by a somersault legdrop. He comes off the top but Rikishi catches him in a bear hug. Belly to belly. Lawler is back talking about his favourite subject, Lita’s underwear. Rikishi has the Whisper in the Wind scouted, stepping out the way, Jeff having run up the turnbuckles after being whipped into them. …

William Regal is exercising a clause in the contract for a rematch after losing the European title last month. Nice gut wrench powerbomb by Test. Regal avoids the charge and Test goes shoulder first into the ring post. The match has been only been going sixty seconds when Al Snow, who is campaigning to be Commissioner, walks out. The cameras are focussing more on Snow dishing out buttons to the fans than the action in the ring. Test starts battling back and hits a side slam for a two. He accidentally straddles himself across the top rope, Regal then tying him up in them. As referee Teddy Long tries to untangle him, Regal goes to the other side of the ring and puts …

I have no idea why Ultimo Guerrero and Satanico were on the same side here. Contract obligations? In any event, their allegiance didn't last long and again the tecnicos took advantage of what's turning into a pretty bad year for rudos.

This is the main event. These guys teamed earlier in the evening but are once again matched up, because ICW's booking at this point is full Russo. Joel Gertner is on commentary, which is not normally optimal, but by indy standards he's fucking Gordon Solie. They start fast with some loud chops. I don't like Ki hitting Tidal Crush this early in a match - requires his opponent to stand their for a while having not taken much damage. Xavier blows a complicated dive. Ki takes Xavier off the top rope with a big kick which sends Xavier into the barricade. These guys are working very fast tonight. They're usually a little better, even this early on in their careers, at paci…

Seijin Akki looks like he could have been the inspiration for a variety of different Chikara characters with that mask and outfit. He’s reportedly from Osaka, Japan but I’m not so sure. A shake of the hands and then they chop each other like its some bizarre ritual. Quack goes full on Johnny Saint with his escape from the go behind and then again to free himself from the wristlock. Rear chinlock by Akki and he’s at it again with the Saint escape. Cross face chicken wing by Quack and the crowd aren’t too enamoured with what they’re seeing, shouting boring at them. Some terrible looking kicks and forearms, before Akki ducks a palm strike and takes Quack to the mat sla…

Pre-match press conference, the majority of which is conducted in Japanese. Johnny Kashmere’s only line is how Big Japan are going to see the best of him now that he’s in a tag team and that Yamakawa and Kanemura won’t know what’s hit them. Zandig the fashion plate is sat next to Johnny and wearing shades, leather jacket and a white roll neck sweater. As the fans throw streamers into the ring, Kasai and Kashmere use that distraction to get the jump on their opponents. Deep powerslam on Kanemura who rolls to the outside for some sanctuary. Yamakawa’s not paying attention and misses catching the Kashmere tip up so they immediately repeat the spot, getting it right…

Reckless defeated Mike Sullivan in making it to the semi-finals where he meets American Dragon, a matchup we saw several times in Memphis Championship Wrestling last year. There’s a slow feeling out process, Dragon in control until Reckless is able to get a single leg and transition to an STF. Following a snapmare Dragon kicks Reckless in the back and that sets the tone for the intensity levels to move up a few notches. Reckless with a facebreaker from the top after having blocked the attempted monkey flip and sat Dragon upstairs. Dragon floats over on the Northern Lights and lands a cool bridging fallaway slam for a two count. Big Mafia kick and Reckless is up to hi…

Talk about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBGJd5nYBAg

Talk about it here.