tbrett

I cant remember a Misawa Kobashi match I dont like, but considering all of their other 5 star classics this feels like a good match, nothing great. ***3/4

This was one of my favorite matches in 2000, after reading the comments I was expecting to be disappointed but I wasn't. I still love this match, it is a spotfest but they didn't stop from bell to bell. One thing that bothers me about the current MITB matches is that it is usually 2 guys in the ring and the other 4 playing around, in this match everyone was going most of the time. If people were not in the ring they were brawling outside. Toward the end they were laying around but they had taken a beatdown by then. This set the standard for ladder matches for the next decade. ****1/2

After the arena match in February I don't think they can top that. This left me wanting more but was entertaining. ***

After watching a bunch of these matches they are all blending together without much changing between them. Of course you could say that about any style but for some reason I find myself loosing g interest in the matches about 7 minutes in. I think I am taking a break from these matches unless they are considered an all time classic. ***

Didn't get into this one as much as I was expecting too based on the comments. I thought it was a fun match and had its moments but I never felt I was watching anything special. Might give this one another try when I catch up more.

This was very good. I find myself enjoying these Vader matches more than I expected to in 2000. I watched some AJPW 2000 Vader matches about 10 years ago and just felt like he had lost so much, but between this and the Triple Crown matches he definately had some left in the tank. He might just need the right opponent who can hide his weaknesses or a tag match where he can take some breaks. Kobashi was awesome in this, his selling and timing were fantastic. Good match. ***3/4

I like this match but not as much as I used to. The three-way spots were interesting and I felt like it flowed together naturally for the most part but the crowd was not into this at all. The story behind Angle losing both belts without getting pinned was great but overall it never felt like they were in the home stretch. I feel like many undercard Wrestlemania matches in this era suffered from a lack of crowd interest and short on time. There are a lot of matches from Wrestlemania 15 to 19 which look good on paper but the execution just didn't seem to be there. ***

This came out of nowhere for me. When I first started watching I was disappointed that it was JIP but I can see why it was included on the set. This was an awesome match and looks like it could be even better if it was shown in full. The build was great and you could feel the heat between the two. The legwork was great and they were working pretty stiff making everything look really good. The selling was fantastic, I can clearly see Kojima becoming a star in this match. Usually I don't rate JIP matches but I can safely say that this is at least **** if not higher.

Really good 6-man. Some of my favorites participating Ohtani, Takaiwa, and Wagner. Every time I watch Wagner in NJPW he grows on me. It was a good pace with some nice exchanges from everyone in the match, agree on the two count on the la magistral that spot was awesome.

I liked the match, good not great. If these two hadn't had so many other classics under their belt this I might rank higher. It just felt like a really good TV match between the two compared to their all-time classics they have put together before. ***1/2

Great match, a lot of good work by everyone. Akiyama bumping like a mad man and putting Vader over Kobashi at the end was a surprise, but I guess that sets up their match on 2/27/2000. Vader looked better here than any of the other 2000 matches I have watched so far, probably because he got many breaks and Doc looked great here as well. I went in thinking this was going to be a good match but they definitely brought it to another level for this one. ****

I thought this was a good performance by both competitors but they didn't draw me in here. I liked it but didn't think it was anything special. ***

I love this match, I don't think it was better than the Rumble match but definitely an all-time classic in my book. The story with Cactus desperately trying to get out of the Cell but the door has been padlocked by Stephanie and HHH is awesome, considering Foley's threats to jump off the cage onto HHH. Only to get out of the cage later when the steps go through the side. Cactus Jack pulling out all of the stops to destroy HHH and win the title but HHH just has too much in him and finishes Cactus off by putting him threw the Cell. I remember watching this live at my buddies house years ago and I couldn't believe that Cactus was done and HHH was clearly the best Heel in the world after this. Just great stuff. ****1/2

I liked the segment but the match didn't do much for me. I thought Montoya did a great job with the opening promo and the beatdown at the end was awesome. The match itself was fine some of the kicks looked stiff but I was never drawn into it.