March 2001

Talk about it here.

TLC II has been set for Wrestlemania; the Dudley Boyz defending the WWF tag team titles against Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz in a three-way Tables, Ladders & Chairs match. Tazz puts over Spike, noting that he’s been around him previously and don’t be deceived by his looks as he’s one tough dude. Bubba reverses the Irish whip and propels Christian with a high back drop. Victory roll by Spike for a two count. He’s back on his shoulders, looking for a huracanrana, however Christian staggers towards his team mates where Edge, from the apron, clotheslines him across the top rope. Tag to Rhyno who takes Spike’s head off with a clothesline. He whips him into…

Another week, another match for Chris Jericho set up by the Commissioner, this time he’s getting a shot at the Hardcore champion. We get a recap from Raw where Y2J urinated in a pot of tea that he had prepared for the Commissioner, so Michael Cole finds it strange that he would be “rewarded” with the chance to potentially win another title. I’m sure Mr Regal has got something up his sleeve... Raven, who regained the Hardcore belt with a victory over the Big Show on Monday, is pushing a shopping cart full of weapons as he makes his way to the ring. We’re reminded that Jericho faces Regal at Wrestlemania, so there’s your answer. If he gets hurt or injured here in this H…

This was an interesting match if for no other reason than it was a chance to see Kea work now that he was a "made man" of sorts. And you know what? I like him. Japanese wrestling is in such a slump at this point that at least Kea is a story and a guy you can follow. Smith brought his usual bag of submissions and joint manipulation and Kea stuck to his guns throughout. Mutoh was in Kea's corner, which to me is an ominous sign, but for now, I'm enjoying the Mossman push.

Once again, this wasn't as heated as I would have liked. I keep waiting for a frenzied Satanico be unleashed but he hasn't brought the same intensity to this month's matches. There's been a bit too much showboating and not enough violence. The crowd doesn't seem that into it either, possibly because it's rudos vs rudos. The "injured" Bucanero makes a run-in at the end to make matters worse. I really thought I would be all over the build-up to their PPV match but it's been a series of misfires this month.

Jersey All Pro Heavyweight title match, Mack, half of Da Hit Squad, challenging Homicide. The commentators (one of whom is Rob Feinstein) talk about Homicide involving himself in Mafia’s match against Skinhead Ivan earlier in the night and how he’s wanting Mack to get some revenge. Great stuff from the off as Homicide is in for the lock up, only for Mack to drop to one knee and give him a Fireman’s carry takedown. I always like it when wrestlers differ from the norm or do something a bit out the box. Wow, Cide counters the tilt-a-whirl with an arm drag. Monkey flip by Mack! This is not what I was expecting. Mack runs into a big boot but Cide then eats a clothesline…

Jerry ‘the Bull’ Todisco is a name that I don’t recognise and doesn’t mean a thing to me. It seems strange that they’re wasting the Sandman, who won’t have come cheap, on a no-name like ‘the Bull’. Sandman looks like he’s spent the duration of the show drinking in the back. I know if I was in the front row I wouldn’t be cheering like these fans who seem made up that he’s spat beer on them. This is a long ass entrance and he’s definitely pissed. Fucking hell, Rob Feinstein is talking about masturbating. Da Hit Squad obviously want to go home so attack Sandman in the aisle and throw him into the ring. Along with Todisco the three of them triple team him. ‘The Bull’ …

The camera is either inside the cage or shooting through a small gap in the corner, either way we’re right on top of things. Mr Business has a mullet that puts the Rock & Rolls’ to shame. Robert is looking very old and very out of shape, it’s amazing seeing him here to think that practically twenty years later he’s still wrestling. The match itself is fought more like a fight, with all four men in the ring, so there is always something going on. Mr Business gets thrown into the cage and is not too subtle about drawing the blade across his forehead. The Main Attraction gets a bit of heat on Ricky until he hits a DDT. As he has a sleeper on Mr Business, the Attrac…

The Briscoe Brothers’ Jersey All Pro debut. Rob Feinstein is continuing where he left off last night, wondering which one is Jack and which one is Jerry. That wasn’t funny when John House (I think) said the same line in CZW and it’s still not funny all these months later. A slight name change for Insane Dragon who used to go as Blue Dragon. There’s a feeling out process as they exchange holds, first between Jay and Dixie and then between Mark and Dragon. As Dragon looks to the crowd wanting more applause, Mark takes advantage, nailing him from behind. Double dropkick. Jay holds on after the snap suplex, turning it into a brainbuster and holds on a second time, hitt…

Reckless addresses the fans but the audio’s not too clear as to what he says. I don’t think it was anything too complimentary as you hear Hat Guy shout “No wonder you didn’t win the Super 8 Tournament you prick!” Rob Feinstein is still trying to play the comedian on commentary. At one point early Doug Gentry cuts to him and Eric Gargiulo up in the Eagle’s Nest and you see him laughing at his own “jokes”. Title bout for the “coveted” Jersey All Pro Light Heavyweight title. So far this is more like a dance than a wrestling match. Reckless locks on an Octopus submission and rolls backwards as he stretches Blade out. Slingshot senton. Handspring kick by Blade. Reckle…

I believe this is our first look at Tyler Gates who is announced as being from Tampa, FL. I don’t think he is a WWF developmental guy, although does have the look they tend to go for. Also, it would be strange from a Florida native to show up in Memphis if he’s not under contract to them. Dragon seems surprised by Gates who, while not as smooth, appears to be able to hold his own in the wrestling department. Some added info from David Jett who says that Gates is out of the Steve Keirn wrestling school. He catches Dragon with a flying headscissors, which was a bit of a wake up call for him, and the sign to get more aggressive. Nice looking pin attempt off the Russian…

Jason Sensation and Spanky are playing thumb wars in the dressing room when they’re joined by Shooter Schultz. He says how he was upset that they didn’t win the tag title belts but has negotiated a rematch. Spanky and Jason are excited about the prospect, however Shooter clarifies that “he” has negotiated a rematch, and after how things panned out last week he’ll be finding his own partner tonight. As Shooter is lacing up his boots he’s approached by Just Joe, offering his services. Despite having held titles all around, he’s turned down, Shooter saying that he’s already got a partner. We hear from the Haas brothers who say that it doesn’t matter who Shooter …

Rodrageous sprints through the curtain in what is a ridiculously fast paced start. Butterfly suplex. Inverted atomic drop followed by a clothesline and Spanky is out to the floor to either regroup or try and work out what’s just hit him. He brushes off Spanky’s outside in headscissors and it is only down to the interference of Jason Sensation, who hides under the ring and grabs Rodney’s ankle after he’d chased after him, making him a sitting duck for the Spanky baseball slide, that gets Spanky a foothold in the match. Pescado. Leg lariat, Roddy kicking out of the cover at one. Drop toe hold followed by a legdrop across the back of the neck. Rodney starts firing bac…

Southern Heavyweight title match, Lance Cade getting his first shot at the championship. David Jett says this title is the stepping stone for greater things in the World Wrestling Federation, referencing William Regal and K-Kwik as former champions. It may have been a stepping stone for those guys, but not so poor Steve Bradley. Cade has earned this opportunity after racking up a number of impressive victories over recent weeks. Bradley is already resorting to short cuts like grabbing the hair to remain in control. Victoria is up on the apron and that provides the distraction the champion needed, however Lance rocks him with a flying forearm followed by a pair of dro…

The opening to this is like some U.S. indie match. Apache does have a lovely armdrag and after a second Hamada rolls to the outside. Faby teases the suicide dive but thinks better of it when Hamada steps backwards out of range. Hamada escapes a rear naked choke and then an attempted armbar, locking in a submission of her own. The reversals are pretty crisp here. A cool combination camel clutch/sleeper by Faby, Hamada managing to grab her foot which causes her to lose balance and release the hold. She kicks away at the left hamstring and it looks like that might be her focus. Apache crawls to the ropes in order to break the Boston crab but Hamada drags her back to t…

This is clipped and we see around seven minutes of highlights from a fifteen minute match. I’m getting an amateur wrestling vibe from Yuasa, especially with the tape over his ears, like Rugby players do to try and reduce the cauliflowering. Hamada has a stiff looking clothesline that he drops Yuasa with, Yuasa also kicking out of a Mask tombstone piledriver. Sasuke with an Asai moonsault to the floor on Hamada. A quality round the world headscissors by Nishida that sends Togo to the outside. Shotgun dropkick off the top by Yuasa. He catches a Mask kick and takes him down with a great looking Dragon screw, transitioning to a Figure Four. Hamada is forced to make the…

Judging by the onscreen graphic Jim Neidhart was on a UK tour and this match took place on one of the shows, the venue being some local leisure centre that you will find in most towns in the UK. There’s a big time World of Sport feel to the opening of this with the pace they’re working and how they’re working a hold, then all of a sudden Ryan will try a flying armbar out of nowhere or Moss will look for a cross armbar submission, so adding a modern take to things. Lots of crowd interaction and getting them involved too. Maybe they got them too involved as when they end up on the outside after things have heated up security have to intervene to stop one fan hitting Ryan…

Bad Attitude hasn’t even made their entrance and Total Destruction are sliding a couple of tables into the ring. Rusty Riddle chugs a beer through Sean Royal’s beer bong and then enters the cage. As Royal is about to neck one of his own he’s jumped by Bad Attitude who run him into the ring post, this all unbeknownst to Riddle who had his back turned to things. David Young pulls out some handcuffs, which he uses to cuff Royal to the side of the cage, and then joins his partner inside who has got his hands full with Riddle. One of the table legs is already broken so Riddle lays it flat on the mat rather than opening up, however he misses the top rope legdrop and lands o…

After describing Essa Rios’ credentials, Kevin Kelly calls Low Ki “a tremendous light heavyweight competitor in his own right,” as well as mentioning that they have seen him before on Metal. Maybe it’s because we’ve been following his career but you can tell Ki is something different just by the way he carries himself and moves in there. A basement dropkick takes Essa’s legs out from under him, Ki then drills him with two hard kicks to the chest followed by a third to the side of the head that draws a gasp from those watching. Kelly talks about all the young competitors wanting an opportunity to be in the WWF and Low Ki is proving that he belongs. Ki runs into a big b…

No audio at the start of this, the onscreen graphic saying the ring music has been removed due to copyright. Hamrick is accompanied by a rather busty valet. This looks a pretty decent set up for a local federation, there’s even a second ring next to the one they’re wrestling in for some reason. The referee gets between them to break the initial lock up, as he does so Hamrick claps his hands together and falls to the mat, acting as if York cheapshotted him. When he gets to his feet he’s wanting the official to raise his hand and award him the match by DQ. The same happens a second time, Hamrick saying “that’s twice” now. York with a couple of atomic drops so Hamrick …

So, the only AJW match we get from this month is this clipped six-man. Looks like they showed the second half of the match. It was difficult to get a feel for the rhythm but the match didn't have any huge consequences. The main chunk of the roster is divided into warring factions and pretty much all the eggs are in one basket. I can't say I'm looking forward to Hotta/Ito but it's on the horizon.

Quick recap of Raw where the Hardyz lost the tag team titles to Edge & Christian due to the interference of the debuting Rhyno. There is some awful “comedy” in the dubbed Taka promo, saying that he thinks Jeff is cute, before correcting himself and saying he meant Lita and that she makes him want to sing. What cool, current song does she make him want to sing? An adapted Beatles number from 1967! Indeed! Funaki nails Matt with a dropkick and then starts jumping around like he’s already won the match. Matt grabs him and throws him into the corner where he unloads with punches. Tag to Jeff, the brothers double teaming him in their own corner. Funaki catches Jeff…

Y2J’s punishment for interfering in Commissioner Regal’s “tune-up match” earlier in the night. When Show climbs up onto the apron he’s met by a springboard dropkick, Jericho wanting to get a quick start. He leaps off the apron at him, however is caught and run into the ring post. Show whips him hard into the corner but then misses the Vader bomb as Y2J rolls out the way. Jericho low blows his way out of the Final Cut and a running crossbody takes both men over the top rope to the outside. Show presses him back inside, however before he can get back in himself he’s jumped by Kane who slams him into the ring steps. Raven is out carrying a trash can lid and he makes a …

Kurt Angle is out at the start of this historic episode of Raw. He says that everyone is giddy over the big news and it’s pretty darn shocking to him too! That news is that Wrestlemania is less than a week away and he still doesn’t have a match! The only thing keeping him going is knowing he’s the best wrestler in the promotion, if not the world, and if the company is pre-occupied with other things rather than finding him an opponent, he’ll keep complaining and protesting until they finally do. He’s interrupted by Chris Benoit, to a decent reception from the fans. ‘The Crippler’ points out that he too doesn’t have an opponent yet and as he slowly steps into the ring …

Doink is seen in the crowd as they talk about the Gimmick Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. Interestingly we see a graphic for the match and in that graphic is a picture of Corporal Kirschner, who ended up not being part of it. Jim Ross has been informed that William Regal has a tune-up match next, although hasn’t been told who his opponent will be. Regal is out, and being their WWF Commissioner he has something very important to tell the fans concerning W...C...Fields, someone who said the only cure for insomnia is sleep and he will not sleep or rest until he is the new Intercontinental champion! Tonight, for his warm up match before Wrestlemania XVII, he is going to…