October 2001

This was the Leyenda de Plata cibernetico that determined the semi-final match up. CMLL had a stacked roster in 2001. I'd consider almost everyone in this match a good worker yet they could have easily replaced them with 16 workers just as good. Not a classic cibernetico, but it has its moments. Atlantis and Wagner reprise their feud from earlier in the year, Santo has a deep run, as you'd expect from a tournament in his father's honour, and we get a double turn at the end when Black Tiger refuses to tag in when Black Warrior is in trouble. Definitely the best match from the tournament.

Ah, the glorious period of New Japan when wrestlers were forced to shave their heads and wear gloves. It is always interesting to see what conclusions workers came to when doing matches like these. Kensuke's Lariats and Strangle Holds aren't exactly shooty, but they don't feel *that* out of place in these hybrid matches either, and certainly give the match a unique flair. There's a lot of face punching, which is enjoyable on its own but these two find smart ways to incorporate them into transitions as well as make it look like a struggle-you'll see dodging, shoving, blocking and so on. Kensuke's great timing maximized the value of his flash attacks and hearing the echo of…

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So the SummerSlam match is a classic, the Unforgiven match was great but a step down...and then there's this. They started out brawling in the entrance way like they did the other two and they did the exposed floor bit from Unforgiven but with one bump instead of three. Angle teased using the Stunner but Austin countered. They didn't do a whole lot to play off of the Unforgiven finish here. This felt like a lame duck TV match that just happened to be a title change. I'm not a huge fan of the Regal turn here, both because it was predictable and it wasn't the finish. Austin hitting one Stunner after that for the finish when we know Angle can take far more ends this one on s…

Looks like the Villanos will be the first program for Los Guerreros del Infierno after the Anniversario. Works for me. Dunno how fans took it at the time. Perhaps they wanted GdL to feud with younger wrestlers. At least the focus is on Guerrero vs. Villano IV and not Villano III. I always enjoy it when Villano IV gets a little piece of the spotlight. EDIT: The correct date for this is 10/9. The 10/2 match featured Tarzan Boy and ended in a DQ finish when Mascara Magica attacked the Villanos. This is a return match.

This is all about the crowd heat as the crowd explodes when Kashin shows up to challenge for the IWGP Jr. Title unmasked. Match is fine-Naruse hits Kashin with a couple of solid shots where he visibly held back, Kashin catches him in a Flying Armbar for the flash finish and that's all she wrote. Might not sound like much on paper but it is a very enjoyable and unique experience to watch one of these weird matches only Inoki could book, and also to see someone like Kendo Kashin better reactions than most of today's heavyweights ever will.

This was the semi-final of the Leyenda de Plata tournament. I guess I should have watched the cibernetico first as I was confused by the booking. Black Warrior, who's supposed to be a rudo, had Atlantis in his corner while Black Tiger, who is still a tecnico, had Pierroth as his second. I'm not sure if he wanted Pierroth as his second, though. There was some sort of drama that ended with Pierroth being barred from ringside. Maybe it something to do with the Mexico vs. Japon element. The action was good, though fairly standard for both men. Black Warrior uncorked a pearler of a tope. That man is on the shortlist for best tope ever. It looks like he's getting a tecnico push…

AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels - NWA 53rd Anniversary Show 10/13/01 Christopher Daniels with short spiky blond hair. Wild! Never seen that before. AJ Styles has repeatedly said this is the match that put him on the map. I think Nitro had a little bit to do with that. He says that this got him the deal to go to Australia with Jarrett and then ultimately end up in TNA. Basic 90s workrate influenced spotfest complete with nearfall barrage at the end to applause. Just two guys doing all they can to get noticed and throwing out all their moves willy-nilly. It was pretty fun for what it was worth. AJ's springboard shooting star press to the floor was INSANE!!! HOL…

This is a match for people who love Hashimoto beat downs. Early on Corino tries to keep up with Hashimoto's kicks, but Hashimoto is too much. He beats him to a bloody pulp and then the referee stops it and awards the title to Hashimoto. Corino tries a post match comeback, gets beat up again until the locker room saves the day. It goes about 10 minutes, but is a LOT of fun. Corino showed some nice signs as a babyface and Hashimoto is awesome Hashimoto here. #wrestling365

Decent match. The matwork felt restrained and there were some awkward hesitations most likely due to Rutten adjusting to the worked "shoot-style" environment. Rutten keeps staggering Malenko with high kicks but can't really cinch anything in on the ground except for a kimura, whereas Malenko keeps sending Rutten to the ropes by focusing on the arm but obviously can't outstrike Rutten. In the end, Rutten's kicks win out, when he connects with a shot to Malenko's ribs, downing him for the TKO victory.

It’s like Caras is trying to confuse Murakami with his Lucha forward rolls and bouncing off the ropes. He throws a dropkick which is just weird in this environment. Lovely belly to back suplex followed by a gut wrench. He gets the mount and starts paint brushing Murakami before applying an armbar, Kaz going to the ropes. Caras kicks him to the floor and Kaz has a look on his face that says “I’m going to fuck you up”. On getting back into the ring that’s exactly what he does with punches, kicks and knee strikes, the cumulative effect of those dropping Dos. Murakami goes for the mask, eventually pulling it off Caras’ head on the outside. An official and a second are …

I thought this was going to be interesting, Rampage Jackson in a worked environment, however everything online indicates that this is a shoot and it’s counted in Rampage’s MMA won/loss record. Rampage is wearing the red, white and blue shorts, like he’s Apollo Creed in Rocky IV. Yup, this is being fought under Pride Rules, a ten-minute first round followed by, should they be needed, two five minute rounds. Rampage stuffs the initial takedown attempt. Each throws knees from the clinch, Rampage eventually able to get the takedown. He lands some blows from inside the guard but isn’t really doing much damage. Jackson powerbombs his way out of the armbar and gesture…

This was a treat even if it was short. I would have liked a more traditional title match, but for a 10 minute title bout the fans sure got their money's worth. The Arena Coliseo tecnico fans were behind Ultimo while Pierrothito had Los Boricuas in his corner, and apparently Pierroth cared as much about the minis title as he did the National trios titles. The match almost ended on a botched moonsault to the outside where Ultimo's head hit the ramp with a sickening thud, but he was able to continue the match. There was one spot after that where Pierroth had to walk through a sequence that he'd usually execute in a flash, but they managed to right the ship and finish the bou…

This was about as good as a sub-10 minute mano a mano can get, I suppose. Mano a manos are usually shorter than title matches or apuesta matches, but this was kind of taking the piss. The action was good, but of course it had to get screwy. Mascara Magica interfered in the end and pulled Villano IV's mask off. I was disappointed that he had the same male pattern balding as his father and brother (not my image of Villano IV), but surprisingly a ton of fans left after the finish. I don't remember seeing that before. Afterwards, Villano IV made an empty mascara contra mascara challenge, but I suppose dyed in the wool lucha fans should be used to that.

This was the final of the Leyenda de Plata tournament. Black Warrior challenged the holder of the trophy, as was the tradition at the time. I was looking forward to this, but it was underwhelming. It was a short, single fall contest with no drama whatsoever. A bit odd, really. Even Casas' acting was off. He tried to appear dejected but laid it on a bit thick. Not the great moment I was expecting.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa Both these guys pretty much are vicious bastards. Takaiwa is your power junior worker from Z1, Kanemaru is NOAH's favourite dickhead champion. Lots of power spots from Takaiwa, some of them quite impressive. Heeling up back and forth, with some good stuff from Kanemaru. Takaiwa shows in the not sharpest guy around by wasting a great DVD outside, as he followed it with a figure-four instead of a dramatic pinfall attempt. Ends up with a bombfest, as most Takaiwa's matches do, with some übermacho one count kick outs, which I have no issue with, but maybe Takaiwa's latest pop up at the end is a bit problematic (although his two cou…

Van Hammer, in Big Japan, teaming with Zandig, in a Death Match, might be the most surreal thing of 2001. The big question is will he take any bumps into the barbed wire or allow himself to be hit with a light tube? Zandig gets busted open on the first shot of the match as he and Wifebeater simultaneously break a light tube over the other’s head. Beater falls into his corner so he is able to tag Kasai who goes about working Zandig over. Double flapjack. Double clothesline and both Beater and Zandig go down. Tag to Hammer, making his first foray into the match. Considering he’s a vet at this point he looks so stilted and awkward. Kasai ducks the clothesline and hit…

No sign of the tarantulas yet, but the ropes are entwined with bracken and there looks to be boards covered in barbed wire and bracken positioned upright in two corners of the ring. Oh there they are, we just get a glimpse of a glass/Perspex box containing them. Matsunaga pulls the box into the centre of the ring, goes to powerbomb Zandig into it but ends up getting backdropped into it himself. That breaks the box, leading to one of tarantulas escaping and crawling across the ring and they have to stop the match whilst the ref scoops him up and puts him back inside. Each tries to force the other’s head into the box as another tarantula makes it’s bid for freedom. Mat…

Surprisingly great match. Both big guys don't even wait for the bell to ring before they start trading blows. It plays out like a true heavyweight match would, with big bombs and big punches, and I found it surprising that this never really had any downtime at all. The story to this match that WCW referee Nick Patrick was in cahoots with Test, as he was a member of the Alliance, served for some interesting drama too. The crowd were totally into the nearfalls, with Kane kicking out of some of Test's moves being put over huge by Jim Ross. All in all, a relatively short (just a little over 10 minutes), fast paced and sweet match between two big guys. Good stuff.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs Chris Jericho - WWF No Mercy '01 I am still sad that Big Goldy has been retired. As a part of the botched WWF run, we end up with two WWF wrestlers wrestling for the WCW World Championship. JR makes sure to get in early that Jericho never wrestled for the heavyweight championship in WCW despite working there from 96-99. The video package made the build look good, Jericho has got the choker label on him, they are both technically faces, but an errant chairshot by Jericho has tempers flaring and of course some good trash talk. The novelty of the match is that they attempted to work a traditional championship match build in …

2001 AJ has nothing on 2018 AJ, but not many wrestlers do. He's still a great prospect with insane athleticism and stamina. The other guy is able to keep up with him and they craft an indyriffic back and forth match. One spot has an Asai Moonsault getting dodged, and the aggressor getting laid out with a superkick. So, so indy. AJ advances after catching Jardi Frantz with a gorgeous pop-up Styles Clash. ★★★¼

I decided to check out this tournament after reading about it in Daniel Bryan's book. This is the very first match and it's interesting to see all these future big names and indy staples in a pre-ROH world. Adam Pearce is wearing these track bottoms and looks very low rent, while Doug Williams looked old even back in 2001. They start off with some great matwork that looks like a frantic struggle and doesn't look choreographed. Adam Pearce heels it up big time, complaining that Williams is pulling on his non-existent hair to gain an advantage. The pace of this feels off as the match progresses, a lot of big moves are hit with little to no reason. Pearce complains to t…

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Seeing Christopher Daniels with hair is forever going to be a weird sight. Super Dragon looks exactly the same, just a lot slimmer. Yeah, there wasn't much to this. Daniel's taunting of the crowd helps this one go down easier. I've always thought of Super Dragon as all style and no substance, and this was no different. He hits a nasty somersault suicide dive, but that's about it. This is just a collection of marginally impressive moves with little rhyme or reason. At least it's short. ★★¼

With his bad bleach blond haircut and leather pants, Vincenzo Massaro looks like an ECW jobber. He is called The Innovator, although I'm not entirely sure what he's responsibly for innovating. You can tell who is winning this just by looking at the wrestlers. They start with some heavily shoot-style influenced grappling. Props to Low Ki for working an enziguri into the opening exchanges and it not looking a touch out of place. This match is all Low Ki. Masaro is able to jump through the hoops that Low Ki sets up, but the meat of this match is the future Kaval looking like a total badass. He may look slightly cringy nowadays, but it's easy to say why indy crowds were …