Moonsault Marvin

Dragon Kid and Tiger Mask were both a bit sloppy in the early stages of the match. Crazy Max's double teams were the best part of the match for me. The problem with these Toryumon matches is they are starting to blend together, even when the opponents differ. Average match.

Perro lacked his normal energy in this one, so other than a few moments in the 3rd fall, the match plodded along. The constant cutaways to the crowd also killed the flow of the match. Average match.

The match was good at first, but Pierroth and Rayo de Jalisco brought it down with the slow motion running. Since we have seen the teasing of the heels turning on Villano for several matches, the match began to drag, but it turned around with the electrocution. Pierroth was delightfully vile in his attack, and poor Villano looked dead. Great angle.

Misawa came out with such a varied offense, bringing some moves outside his regular repertoire. I liked Kobashi outsmarting him on the flip to the apron, turning it into a stun gun on the railing. Kobashi did a great job of grinding on the facelock. Kobashi brutalized Misawa with those half nelson suplexes, and Misawa hitting his head on the turnbuckle during the powerbomb hurt to watch. Great build to the end. Excellent match. ****

I thought Mossman looked really good when doing kicks, but was somewhat uninspiring on the mat, not really doing anything when he had Kawada in the Indian deathlock position. I really liked the overhead suplex Taue did by hooking the arms from the front. Not the most memorable tag for Kawada and Taue, but it had some fun double teams by both sides. Good match.

Another FMW match that seemed like it went on and on. They beat on Fuyuki forever, and after Hayabusa returned, Tanaka kicked out of everything. Maybe if I understood why H became Hayabusa again and why he still lost anyway, the match would have been more meaningful. Below Average.

The commentators were more fired up than anybody in the ring or the crowd. This match was way too long and didn't seem to get going until about twenty minutes in. Winger getting powerbombed off the ropes was the highlight of the match. Below average.

Blue Panther put on a great performance in this one. He was masterful at transferring from one hold to the next on the mat. I really liked the finish as I didn't know where the storyline was going with Santo not breaking the hold when Panther grabbed the ropes, and the finish played off of that with Panther finally getting the ropes to play to his advantage. The only thing pulling the match down for me was Santo's lack of intensity in places, like softly hitting the turnbuckle. I've also seen dives from him that have a lot more ferocity. Definitely a match worth watching though for their superior lucha matwork. ****

Liger and CIMA showed such great intensity as they tried to wear each other down. They both fought off each other's big moves without it going overboard, so it not being overly long didn't bother me. CIMA wanting to get up without Liger's help as Liger tried to show good sportsmanship made for a good post-match. I had forgotten 90210 was still on the air in 2000. It seems like it was over earlier than that. ****

Liger sold his arm to the very end. Liger is looking more vulnerable in the early goings in this string of matches than his matches earlier in the year, but he reverts to being dominant in the second half of the match. Hamada's attempt at a no-sell comeback fell flat for me. Good match.

I felt like CIMA oversold the first boston crab, which didn't leave him anywhere to go when he was in it for a long time the second time around. I did find myself getting into the match as it went on, and I liked the dizzy selling of CIMA in the latter stages of the match. I also liked the struggle to pull off his move where he slams Sano off the ropes. Very good match.

This was one fast paced multi-man match. Ricky Marvin's high flying is amazing and so effortless. I also really liked the exchange between El Samurai and Tanaka with his submission attempts. Suwa did a good job heeling and kept after that poor referee even after the end of the match. Everybody came out of this one looking good. Very Good Match.

I'm not a huge fan of Teioh, but I thought he had a nice performance in this match. As he continually got the best of Liger, he had the crowd beginning to believe the upset was possible. Liger toughened up though at the end and withstood Teioh's elbow, and he proceeded to finish him off. Good match.

I liked the first half of the match with Sano dominating on the mat, but it faltered when they reached the fast middle section. They were going faster than they could handle, leading to Sasuke's messy jump over the ropes that Sano had to sell as hurting him even though it didn't get near him. The knockout was interesting finish that doesn't get used often. Somewhat of a disappointment, but still a fun match.

Zombie dude hiding under the ring reminded me of the antics of Great Muta. Both of them falling for the sleeper trick was fine for a comedy match, but the Tiger Driver kickout was total overkill.

Pearce making the kids jump back at the beginning was funny. I also liked the bumps into the bleachers. At times this was good, but spots like the referee pushing Pearce down didn't really fit the match they had been building and seemed shoehorned in. I did like that they ended it when he ran into the chair and didn't stretch it out with a bunch of kickouts. Average match.

These guys should have stuck to the basics, as neither had the technique to pull off the moves they were trying. It was good to see Punk developing the character touches that would eventually make him one of the best wrestlers in the world. Amusing finish with the fake chair hit. Below average match.

Spanky continued to look the more polished of the team in this match, and I liked his dropkicks. The ending was weird with Spanky enthusiastically pulling off Dragon's mask and pinching his cheek, as he gave Dragon plenty of justification for being angry. Neither seemed like a babyface with that ending. Solid match.

This show always has good backstage brawling. I like how crowded the backstage area is with the lockers and the stacks of paper boxes. Ali couldn't withstand the onslaught of interference, and Wolfie D took the title. Fun match.

For a feud, Morton was doing too much comedy in this one. This was a decent tv match, but nothing more, as the match didn't seem to build as it progressed. At least we got to see a fireball toward the end. Average match.

Regal has a nice promo to start. This looks like it would be a squash, but Youth gets a fast paced comeback before Regal pulls out the win. A fun tv match that gets Regal over as a heel, and Youth showed he could wrestle a more traditional match.

This was a nice change of pace for All Japan. Instead of chops and bombs, this started off worked old school NWA style with Smith throwing in a few British type reversals. The second half veered into more familiar All Japan territory, but Kobashi pulled out a surprise submission for the win. Both guys showed versatility as Kobashi kept up with Smith in the first half and the Smith with Kobashi in the second half. Smith has shown some solid skills in these matches from 2000. He lacks the charisma to be great, but he is fine as a utility player that can step up when needed. ****

Akiyama came out really aggressive and continues to be impressive. The spike piledriver to the floor being meaningless bothers me, but that's just the way Japanese wrestling is when it comes to piledrivers. Ogawa did the eyepoke and his other cheap tactics, but the crowd didn't show much response. Mossman was clunky in some of the exchanges with Ogawa, but overall, it was a good match.

This had some nice exchanges between Casas and Panther and Casas and Wagner. That submission by Panther was awesome. The botch by Tarzan Boy seemed to veer the match off the tracks. I wasn't sure if he was hurt or just embarrassed. Wagner came up with the big moves to finish off Casas. This was the most we have gotten to see Casas in 2000, but I would like to see him in some longer, stronger performances. Good match.

Perro gets jumped in the aisle, and he brawls all over the place with Bestia for most of the match. He may be old, but I love watching Perro. He has that presence in a match that few possess. Alushe was funny jumping on the guys in the circle stretch the legs spot. The good guys took a beating in this one. Fun match.