May 2001

This one rules, Toba trying to school the young Hashimoto while Ishii and Naito pop their heads in the door to make things difficult. Right from the opening exchanges between Toba and Ishii they're just smacking the everliving life out of each other, Toba throwing wicked punches while Ishii unveils his stunning counter-strategy of just not feeling pain when you get hit really hard in the face by a guy wearing boxing gloves and then hitting him really hard instead. You really want to see more of him and Naito but they're both awesome in their supporting roles - a large part of the drama comes in Hashimoto's close grappling style requiring him having to eat Toba's harsh str…

The evil promoter is trying to put road blocks up before Low Ki can get to Xavier. The section with Abunai has some solid sequences before Ki puts him away with the Ki Krusher. The section with Devine is very quick. This does a very good job of selling Ki as a monster, as does the opening part of the next match where he really dominates Xavier. Xavier has a great counter to the Tidal Crush. The idiot announcer compares Ki and Xavier to Steamboat and Flair which is, uh, a bit excessive. But they do have terrific chemistry and this is a fast paced match that's a lot of fun. Messy finish with a bunch of interference, although the pin ends up being clean-ish, and it sets up t…

I don't know how much play Morishima will get in the upcoming GWE debate, but if you are looking for his first great singles match, I would seek this one out. He has shown a lot of signs of life in 2001 and is stretching things out more with the 30 minute draw with RIkio and longer shingles match in the GHC tournament. Still, this was a match that would have been sub 10 minutes a year or two earlier and was stretched to 17 here. Morishima has his head shaved and I am unsure if that is some sort of punishment given the culture or just a new look. I had been waiting on Akiyama to deliver a performance that felt like a successor to his WOTY output from 2000 and this was the …

Raven wins with the Even Flow DDT in about three minutes. He did pull out a Cactus clothesline and a Russian legsweep into the barricade but not the most exciting or memorable of enhancement matches. Jones hit a nice swinging neckbreaker although that was really it for him. This is a pretty “Jakked” episode of Jakked as we also have Donovan Morgan, Robert Thompson and Christopher Daniels doing some enhancing, the latter going against Jerry Lynn.

Chikayo Nagashima is a favorite of mine, but she didn't stand a chance here. This was a KAORU brawl with a bunch of plunder. There were a few nice spots here and there, but KAORU doesn't match my image of a wrestler. She's a performer and not the type of competitor I can get into. I almost thought this was a pointless upload until Nagashima pulled off the surprise upset. Then I felt a bit stupid. Nice win.

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Nice recommendation from Loss! WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - RAW 5/28/01 I loved the beginning of this match. This is in Calgary so Benoit is over huge and Austin is actually disliked. Benoit has taped ribs and Austin is relentless on the ribs using that as a focus for transitions and for his control segments. Austin really comes off as a great mean SOB. This is a shining example of how great Benoit can be as a babyface especially fighting from underneath. Austin wins control by targeting the ribs, but Benoit is always chopping his way back into the match. You can really feel the struggle. The Thesz Press reversal into Cr…

This was supposed to be Relevos Increibles, but before the bout there was a cheesy vignette that would have warmed the heart of any B movie director, where Satanico used his demonic powers to transform Rencor Latino into a prototype version of Averno. And then when they were wrestling, Mascara Magica was way too into partnering with Ultimo Guerrero. But the bout itself was much better than the Ultimo/Satanico mano a mano. There was urgency and intensity, and the bout moved at the right clip. I was kind of surprised by how easily Satanico and prototype-Averno were disposed of in the end, but the match held my interest the entire way.

Liger and Samurai working dirty, rubbing wrist tape in eyeballs and breaking tag rules. Throw in a fiery babyfaced Murahama with his stiff kicks and submissions and hometown Osaka hero, Super Delphin, doing what Super Delphin always does, and you're in for a neat treat. The exchanges between Liger and Muraham are the definite highlight of the match, and boy, does anyone hit a better tilt-a-whirl backbreaker than Liger? He also powerbombs the shit out of Delphin later in the match. At one point, Liger has Murahama in a leglock and Murahama's trying to slap his way out of it and Liger pokes him in the eyes! Classic heel. Samurai and Delphin are the weaker links of the match…

This dick on commentary is calling Super Dragon a Power Ranger. He’s not letting Juvi get off lightly, saying how he could have a great career; he just needs to stay out of Australia. That’s probably so inside though that the vast majority of folk watching have no idea what he’s talking about. Juvi gets the better of a shoulder tackle and then takes Dragon down with a spinning heel kick. Quick legdrop for a two count. A Dragon koppu kick barely connects but Juvi still takes the planned spill through the ropes to the outside. The one commentator even calls it a “whiff”, while the other guy claims that Dragon’s shoe laces caught Juvi! A lightning fast tope con hilo i…

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - Smackdown! 5/31/01 They are in Edmonton and Benoit is the hometown hero and Vince McMahon is worried that 'Ol Stone Cold does not have the chops to defeat Benoit in these circumstances. Austin flips out. Benoit still has his ribs taped and is wicked over with the Edmonton crowd. Also, VinnyMac is the special enforcer since he did such a great job on Raw. Unlike RAW, Benoit is aggressive to start by kicking some ass, a great way to fire up the crowd. I love Austin wildly flaying trying to get away from the asskicking machine that is Benoit. Swinging neckbreaker by Austin and it is definitely …