Working through a lot of 2001 WWF recently.

 

Austin-HHH 3 Stages of Hell is an obvious one, but wanted to note that it totally holds up on re-watch.

 

The Shane-Angle match from King of the Ring was mentioned, but not Austin-Benoit-Jericho, which was also really good. The whole Jericho/Benoit team run from May-June is great, including the TLC match and their title defenses.

 

Austin-Angle from Summerslam is off the charts fantastic.

 

I'm not sure how much of the RVD stuff needs to be on there, but the way the pops for him build rapidly is something to behold. The style forced him to work a better pace than in ECW with less stalling and it really helps the matches. Possibly both of his PPV matches with Jeff Hardy should be on there (Invasion and Summerslam). They're definitely interesting time capsules for a style that was really prevalent on the indies at the time.

Cringe at how well it holds up? Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with the Whipwreck boy's work, but going by some 2002 ROH stuff I've seen recently they were rancid. Red wasn't so bad because he at least wasn't botching every other move. But it was still the same pointless flippityflop shit.

Cringe at how well it holds up? Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with the Whipwreck boy's work, but going by some 2002 ROH stuff I've seen recently they were rancid. Red wasn't so bad because he at least wasn't botching every other move. But it was still the same pointless flippityflop shit.

Cringe at how well it holds up because probably not well at all. I would assume that's a pretty bad offender in terms of the flippy offense with no-selling. But this was a famous, must-see match in 2001. Different times.

Kane vs. HHH Judgment Day 2001

 

I almost can't believe I am typing that out but this match was really good and featured a focused attack from both men. It also isn't overly long, has a great pop for the finish, and utilizes the stipulation.

Just a couple of quick recommendations for CMLL. I watched a lot of Lucha in 2001 and early 2002 but haven't watched any of it since then. So I'm sure there's someone that can give a much bigger and better list. But I wanted to mention a couple of things to be on the lookout for.

 

The feud between Satanico and Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and Tarzan Boy over the name Los Infernales should be heavily represented. I loved the Infierno en el Ring match from the September PPV. Great story telling and performance by Satanico. I remember voting that match either one or two in the WON MOTY voting and the Los Infernales feud as feud of the year.

 

The other match I remember voting either #1 or 2 in the WON awards was a 6 man tag from Tijuana shot by B.B on 10/18 with Rey Jr/Vampiro/Damien vs Rey Sr/Halloween/La Parka. This might not hold up at all and the very presence of Vampiro in this makes me a little wary. However I remember La Parka being the standout of the match putting on a hell of a performance. Incredibly heated crowd with La Parka setting fire to either a flag or a mask I can't remember which. Its definitely worth watching to see Rey Jr between WCW and WWE.

If you want WrestleCrap, then you need the Francine/Justin Credible/Missy Hyatt/Steve Corino skit from the last ECW PPV. Fucking hilarious, especially Corino namedropping John Tatum, and when Victory asks Missy if she remembers him, she asks if she fucked him.