Loss

GREAT MATCH! I love JWP! Azumi Hyuga has been consistently good in 2000, but this is her first really strong match that we've seen. I really like how this starts in a way where the layout looks fairly predictable and it goes in an entirely different direction. Amano is successful early on keeping the match vertical and fast-paced, and going airborne, but Hyuga stops her in her tracks by taking her to the mat. Then, Amano completely flips the script and just schools her on the mat in every way possible, doing the first double cross armbreaker I've ever seen (the second arm wasn't extended, but was locked in position -- no idea what that's called). Hyuga did the thing at the end where she did a German from the top but locked herself in the ropes so she wouldn't have to take her own bump. I'm not sure the origin of that spot, but I'm pretty sure chronologically, this is the first time I have seen it. 14 minutes of awesome. ****

AAA suddenly gets great. No-nonsense, violent wrestling in a rainstorm with, blood, great heeling, strong matwork and a hot crowd a great match make. I loved all the work around La Tapatia near the end especially, and even the interference spots were well done in terms of building heat and interest in the feud. I'm looking forward to the hair match later in the month. ****

Flair is finally back to proper color coordination with purple trunks. Someone must have talked some sense into him. What's the point in Hogan getting laid out before a match if Hogan's not going to work from underneath to build drama? Ridiculous. When Jimmy Hart hits Flair with the strap, I start wishing he was the guy working the match. The action isn't bad and I always like Flair-Hogan matches that get violent, but this is probably the least of those, and Jimmy Hart interfering for Hogan is not very becoming of a babyface. I was disappointed in this, but there are still little things that these guys do better than anyone. Notice how Flair doesn't even attempt to drag Hogan to all four corners until just before the finish so he doesn't overdo the teases and people actually buy it when it starts, and notice how Hogan juices just before the finish because he knows it's a better visual if he wins a strap match with both guys bleeding instead of just Flair. There are parts of this that worked, but overall, it was flat because of the time and place.

Dustin wasn't at a career peak, and Terry Funk was more a Still Truckin' type than an awesome worker type at this phase, so I wouldn't expect an MOTYC or anything, but I'd expecting some good or at least decent or redeeming -- something. This was embarrassingly bad. Heatless, poorly booked and worked and if they were going for a so-bad-it's-good vibe with the chicken stuff, they didn't even get to that level of camp. I know Dustin was the one who had turned, but it's also worked in such an ambiguous way that you wouldn't know who was in what role. 2000 is not a strong year for Funk (or Dustin), just as it really isn't for any legend working in WCW, but it's been particularly bad for Terry Funk.

Perhaps we consider this the symbolic bathroom break match after Sasaki-Kojima? It's a pretty big comedown to hear Mark Madden rambling on about this like people cared about it after that one. I remember a controversy about this match at the time because fans who voted this the best match of the show on WCW.com were having their vote counted five times for Hogan vs Flair. Oh, WCW. Finlay tried, but it takes a certain alignment of the stars for Vampiro to be in something decent, and this didn't get there. Lame-o attempt to recreate Benoit-Sullivan too.

Tremendous match, with a lot of the elements that I think a world title match should have. Felt very old school in some ways, but with an extra half-second of urgency that made it more contemporary. The cadence of the match was really unique and I enjoyed that. Sasaki's selling was nearly perfect for a champion at that level, and I only say "nearly" because while selling his leg and doing his comeback, he executes a top rope huracanrana. The whole time, I'm watching him set up and thinking "Don't do it, don't do it, awww, man, you did it." I also liked Kojima grabbing Sasaki's arm desperately near the end, abandoning his strategy completely in a last-ditch effort to try something to stay in this thing, but Sasaki overcoming him and getting a hard fought win. One thing I'll say about Sasaki's selling is that you know a wrestler has done his job when you can watch and almost feel his pain, and that's how I felt watching this. Kojima's offense was spot on. Really, really good. ****

Well, he is mixed into key angles regularly, but he rarely wins and has no Wrestlemania match. Plus, we are always hearing about how they hate him. I don't think they bury him. Burying isn't Sami Zayn. Burying is Tyler Breeze.

I suspect Braun Strowman will now follow the pattern of Rusev and Umaga and begin his spiral down the card, even if he is still in a good spot. History shows that Vince mostly loses interest once his monster heels do their first job.

More info: http://botchamania.com/2012/08/21/low-ki-high-demands/

Actually looking into it, I think it was this match. He didn't work CZW again until 2012.

In front of fans? That didn't happen here. But this did: https://twitter.com/prowresonly/status/844005959630557184

So if you'd like to see a lot of wrestlers attempt to cripple themselves with nutty bumps, both intentionally and unintentionally, this is the match for you. TCK messes up a dive to the outside, which sets off a tragedy of errors that culminates in Low Ki falling off a ladder and hitting the apron in one of the scariest moments I've ever had as a wrestling fan, even watching 17 years later and knowing he is okay. Think I've seen the most insane moment of the match? Nope, think again. The next huge moment sees Ric Blade do a legdrop from the top of a basketball goal through a table. What the hell was wrong with these guys? This just about gave me a heart attack. I can't watch this one again.

These matches are so good. This one is every bit as good as the last one, but different enough to be good on its own merits. More of the same in terms of double team moves, a fast pace and lots of crowd pleasing spots. My favorite C-show series of the year. ***

Fun little match. Barbarian is exactly the type of guy WCW should have been pushing hard, repackaged and as a headliner. He was a veteran who could still be fresh, he could work, he could be paired with someone who could cut promos, and he was still young enough to not be seen as old hat. He could have been a workhorse. Finlay is always reliable too. Of course, the precision of the strikes and kicks is soooo good here, and that's always a given with Finlay matches, and Barbarian does the best big boot in wrestling.

This was a good match, probably the best from OVW, and I wouldn't have minded the finish if OVW ever booked any finishes that didn't involve run-ins or ref bumps at all, but they don't seem to do so, at least not that we've seen. I was even prepared to give Cornette credit for dialing it down but by the end, OVW is its usual nauseating self. Ugh. *** match and a fun viewing experience until the finish if you stop immediately when the bell rings.

This was fun for the few minutes it lasted, with Hamrick doing an incredible moonsault that misses. Seriously, it's kinda breathtaking. They were constructing a nice match with Morton going after Hamrick's knee before the Rick Michaels run-in seeking revenge on Morton. Morton is such a great heel. Hope we see these two lock up again sometime these decade. This closes with quite the expletive-laden promo from someone whose name I somehow missed and don't care enough to rewind (I know, shame on me) and Morton closes with a solid promo pretty much confirming him as leaving the territory.

This pretty much establishes that other than Tracy Smothers, Wolfie D is the best promo in wrestling. The crowd tries to sandbag him with a Jamie Dundee chant and he shuts it down because he ain't having it. Wolfie brings out Rob (Mo) to parody Ali, which isn't really good, but Wolfie D can make just about anything work. I love Wolfie's elaborate scheme to get Ali out of the arena earlier in the show! Finally, we get the match, which is a studio brawl that turns unexpectedly violent, with Wolfie even busting out a screwdriver. Spot is too old to do much in these matches, but when he's in with younger guys who know how to bump, he can get by on rep and this works. This sort of split into Havok-King and Wolfie-Spot, which I guess makes this a more equitable match, but I really wanted the Wolfie-King pairing. YMMV on whether it's better to spread the good talent or isolate them. Wolfie D seriously works his ass off here to get something out of Spot as best he can. This guy is having a pretty good year. Brandon Baxter was supposed to be in this match, but had faked being attacked in the locker room to get out of it, only to show up miraculously healed and give us one of the best quotes of 2000 so far from Dave Brown: "He was fakin' the whole thing! He was laying there with ketchup on!" It's not enough to give the heels a win though, as King and Spot win the titles. I sort of like that -- teaming a young guy with a ton of potential with a local legend. That this was nearly a good match is a huge credit to Wolfie D, even if it didn't quite get there. Satisfying finish, though.

If they can suspend guys for wellness violations while they are about to put the title on their highest paid guy who works the least dates, and is exempt from drug tests even though he has failed them in real sports, they can justify any double standard they want. Especially for someone of Hogan's stature.

This is probably going to be a very short thread, but I just watched a match of his against Jerry Lawler from 2000 and genuinely wondered if he's ever had a good match. I'm sure he's had some that are fine, but good? I'm not saying he hasn't, just asking because I can't really recall a single notable thing in his career, yet he's been a fixture in major promotions for going on two decades.

The dance-off before the match is something else. Someone has to GIF Lawler doing the whitest dance move in modern history -- the cabbage patch. That moment reminded me too much of one of my aunts after she's had too much Sunkist. Kind of a nothing match (Hey, Lawler supporters -- point us to the big list of good TV matches and has R-Truth ever had a good match? I'm not saying he hasn't, I'm just genuinely asking), but I saw the cabbage patch at least.

Well, they worked hard, but wow did we get some Indy Tendencies in this one that I hated. I realize they had less than five minutes to work with, but Youth was just working *so fast* and giving nothing anytime to sink in. I also wasn't crazy about the chair being used in plain sight of the referee, although it was good to see that Leon from Roseanne found work as a ringside second for Todd Morton.

Togo, Buffalo and QUALLT are heel's heels, which makes this a solid match. They go with the tried and true Southern tag formula, which almost always works, although this match would probably come off a little better in a slightly bigger venue. Togo has been working with Delphin and Yakushiji for years and it shows by how smooth all of their exchanges are, although they still manage to make everything look hard-fought. Osaka Pro is largely a promise unfulfilled at this point, even with some very good matches. I think the missing piece is atmosphere, as the work has been consistently good. ***

I don't think anything I say can do this match justice. It's a credit to Atlantis, Villano III, the buildup and booking, the in-ring style and the conventions of lucha libre and CMLL that this was such a pure and complete masterpiece, quite possibly the single greatest match of all time. The contrast between this and something like a Wrestlemania main event is amazing. WWE has to prostitute their finishers to raise a match's profile to epic levels, while CMLL does quick submission finishes and fairly standard caida pinfalls all year. They manage to have the greatest matches in the world all the same, yet they can really go for drama here in a big way by finally doing a tease with each submission attempt in the highest stakes match possible without any of the holds losing their meaning or impact. It makes Atlantis' backbreaker, which he does use regularly, even more important because it gets the job done. I have talked about move hierarchy and restraint and all of that without even getting into the heartstopping nature of the way the match was worked with the constant fall attempts and submission attempts. Both guys were laser focused on getting the job done, and who could blame them? I knew the outcome and I still bit on a lot of the nearfall attempts, and at times, I imagined how much I'd be on the edge of my seat if I watched the build I did in real time and was watching that match go down live. What an amazing experience that must have been. I can't say enough good about this, so I'll stop here, but my first instinct is to call this a match in a class by itself. *****

A lot of this match didn't feel as special as it should have considering it was a PPV and not TV, but Perro Aguayo's presence created a super hot crowd, especially when he went out into the crowd with Mascara Ano Dos Mil. Interesting how Tarzan Boy plays into the boos, which suggests it won't be long until he turns. This had its moments, but I thought it was a disappointing match overall.

The great thing would be if they went through the trouble of buying a replica belt strictly for the purpose of blowing loads on it. This actually got a real out loud laugh from me. So LOL, but for real. I keep going back to it and laughing. Well done.