Loss

I know someone gave Road Dogg the greenlight to keep doing that. I won't even blame Road Dogg since if he was told to stop as a heel, he would have done it. But it does suck. Lawler's explanations for his heel commentary on Mondays and Thursdays is always awesome because it's such bullshit and people buy it. This match doesn't last too long, but Lawler at least knocks enough sense into Road Dogg for a couple of minutes to actually be a babyface if he's going to act like one anyway, deciding to come to Lawler's rescue when the KAW guys run in.

Not much of a wrestling match and the match doesn't even go all that long, so I won't rate it, but this was a ***** angle for sure. Total chaos. Not much I would add to Chad's description of it, but I'm excited to see Perro Aguayo in the thick of things. I'm hoping for a new wrinkle in Satanico-Tarzan Boy when the time is right, but otherwise, everything in the promotion is peaking nicely just in time for the 3/17 PPV.

I liked this ok, but I was pretty disappointed overall. The match didn't reach the violent level that the build promised, and Satanico didn't face the deserved level of retribution. I don't think Tarzan Boy has sucked throughout this feud, but his performance in this match I think did, and as a result, this match really came across more ordinary than it should have when the violence of the build up really demanded a classic. Satanico was Satanico, but this really felt like just another good weekly match instead of the climax of a great feud. ***

The pre-match promo comes every bit off as scripted and fake as any modern WWE promo written by a team of writers, with everyone taking their turn to say their perfectly witty lines. Dreamer starts the match fighting on his own, but Raven quickly comes out. These WWE Network soundalike overdubs of ECW songs never cease to amuse me. I'm pretty over a lot of the ECW mainstays at this point, so it's hard for me to enjoy this old hat stuff. I did like watching Raven wrestle in street clothes instead of, uh, street clothes, though ... just for something different. Watching this match, especially when seeing what the indies are doing at the same time, ECW comes across as a company that has run out of ideas. Guys like Low Ki, Da Hit Squad, Homicide, Billy Reil, Corporal Robinson, Derrick King, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, American Dragon, Spanky and others are floating around on small shows, and ECW is still leaning on Tommy Dreamer. I realize not everyone of those guys was available to them and some were literally in their first few months in wrestling, but it still makes ECW seem pretty badly out of touch.

The dog ate my homework when it comes the original post I had for this match, but I'll just say I liked it quite a bit, even though it has a lot of stuff I normally don't care for. Light tubes are normally such stupid weapons in my mind and they aren't sold that much, but here they didn't bother me that much. I also liked how they were able to execute a turn at the beginning and still work a logical match around it with Homicide mostly working with Jay Lover and Glenn Strange mostly working with Louie Ramos. It's tempting to say this match resembles ECW, but it really doesn't. I haven't seen an ECW brawl this year from Mike Awesome, Sabu or anyone else that contains this much hateful wrestling and inspired brawling. I appreciated how they didn't substitute crowdhugging for actual intensity either, as was becoming commonplace in these types of matches by this time. This was more a throwback-type match, just with crazier weapons and a few bigger bumps. Give this credit for making me either not be bothered or even actively like stuff in wrestling that I normally don't like at all because of how it was executed. ***1/2

I've actively looked for it amidst comments on it and still can't catch it.

Montoya goes right for the gut with the heel promo before the match. Homicide's promo is hard to make out completely, but Montoya "shoots" by mentioning Homicide going to jail last year and how we all know what happens in jail. From the bits and pieces I can make out of Homicide's response, it sounds like when in jail, he is a top. This is one of those times that all the pre-match bullshit is actually a lot of fun, as they maneuver their way into a "shoot match", which they consider submissions and knockouts, but has to be explained. Funny. Montoya insists he's an entertainer, not a shootfighter. Tremendous. Montoya goes pure Memphis and talks about his bad knee and neck. He tries to bail, but Ki grounds him and pounds him and we have ourselves a match. This was awesome at building heat up in a big way, because these people really hated Montoya by the time the match started. Ki's offense just looks spectacular and this is the perfect stipulation and booking to get him over strong. I love how he's just mercilessly schooling Montoya on the mat. Montoya will occasionally have moments of hope, but they are fleeting. This ends up a much better version of Benoit-Raven at Souled Out '98 in that regard. The run-in with the chair I could have done without, but it's not a bad finish either, considering how much this style was a push for an American indy at this time, and it does put a lot of heat on this feud. Montoya eeks this one out with the numbers game on his side and Ki still looks like a badass, only now he's pissed off and has a purpose. That post-match ... wow. This was something else. JAPW has quickly won me over. ****1/4

This was pretty awesome, and I didn't expect to like this nearly as much as I did. Hit Squad can go and looked really great here, as did the Haas Brothers, especially Charlie. Big Unit did fine in the role they were in. I thought they did a good job early on of laying groundwork for a Hit Squad vs Haas Brothers finale, and they really made me want it when the two teams had this crazy intense brawl on the outside in the early part of the match, and the end didn't disappoint at all. Seems like Hit Squad could have easily filled whatever void the Dudleys left behind in ECW. I was expecting a plunder-based brawl for whatever reason, but they kept this almost entirely in the ring and there was really only one time they went out of the ring, and they didn't really rely on weapons at all. This was a wrestling match, and a really strong one. ****

Seems like there's some comedy in the pre-match and throughout the match that I don't quite get. Gordi, are you able to explain maybe? I agree that there is some good action here around the comedy and I sort of liked this, if only because someone finally stopped that goofy lariat with the forever running start that Kuroda and Muto do. But so much of it went over my head that I don't think I can fairly say too much about it.

Big Show is trying to cut a heel promo about how The Rock robbed him at the Royal Rumble, but seems kind of charming to me, and Rock admitted he was right about the Rumble 16 years later where he was vindicated. Kurt Angle is out to shake his hand and makes me laugh in doing so and shames the people for booing them both. A series of interruptions commences to set up the tag match for later tonight. EVERYONE is so over -- Rock, Jericho, Angle. Show is the least over guy and he's really over too. I agree this match wasn't much, but it was heated and fast-paced (honestly way too fast-paced), and it was good to see Jericho and Angle team with the top guys to give them credibility. Not sure Chyna needed to be a part of the finish, but I guess there was no one in this they wanted doing a job. You watch this and realize Jericho really did improve quite a bit as a worker in the coming years. The post-match angle with Foley being dragged in the DX Express is typically over the top Attitude crap but they've already hyped the match and are just filling time until Sunday.

All the best, guys. Congrats on a great run.

This short-lived DX remix between the original and the Run-DMC version I don't remember at all. I assumed the issue on Raw was that the Dome echo was just making it sound different. Really fun sprint, with Rikishi getting the hot tag, only to be cut off quickly as the heels work over his taped up ankle. I enjoyed Scotty 2 Hotty coming to his friend's rescue when he sees HHH and X-Pac going for Rikishi's ankle on the steps outside the ring and taking it right to HHH. This was all under 10 minutes, but they got a lot of good stuff into this, and managed to get both HHH and Rikishi more over in how they did it. Excellent. ***

Considering how little the WCW crowds react to anything at this point other than appearances from their childhood favorites, I'm really surprised Vampiro gets the reaction he does. Very strange and surprising that Flair has better chemistry at this stage with Vampiro than he does Terry Funk. Whaaaa? It helps a lot that Flair is able to do his traditional broomstick match here and because the crowd is into it, it all comes together very well. Of course Luger interferes when it looks like Vampiro might stand a fighting chance and they attack Vampiro in the post-match. I would like to point out that there is an art to ringing the bell to represent chaos after a match and this timekeeper does it horribly.

This was good but kind of a radio edit of a wrestling match if there ever was one. We'll get Negro Casas vs Black Warrior later this month, and bring it on! I'd call this more an effective hype piece and a fun way to pass a few minutes than a good match, but that's not a dig. It's just where the match falls.

I thought this was pretty fantastic. I appreciated how much wrestling they worked into this. To me, the best death matches have a lot of wrestling because they recognize how effective doing a lot of it is in building tension. They didn't go as heavy on the weapon shots here, and when they did, it was more about the brutality and less about the stuntman nature of the moves. I loved how much heat Kobayashi built on Honma through out this, and how Honma just kept selling and selling and taking a beating. The blood helped build drama. I also sort of got a kick out of how this is a ladder match, but they make no false pretenses about its purpose. There is nothing to climb and grab to win. It's seriously just there to maim and hurt. Refreshing honesty if nothing else. There weren't really any wasted spots in this. When I think back on it, I am pretty sure I remember them all, and that's a hallmark of a gimmick match that built its big moments up exceptionally well. Underneath the blood and guts, the weapons, the barbed wire and the ladder, this was just a fundamentally sound wrestling match with a hell of a lot of selling and a great controlled performance by Kobayashi, even outdoing Kanemura in the previous match. Honma earned that win and got over big in overcoming so much to get there. ****1/4

I cut my death match teeth on Kanemura as an up-and-comer so it's a fun shift to see him as more of a jaded veteran who is just so unphased by violence because he's experienced so much of it. There were crazy spots, but I also thought the character work was pretty decent. I still don't get Yamakawa the way I do everyone else around him though. He has yet to really impress me in a big way and always comes across as the lesser guy in his biggest matches, even though his charisma is there. Kanemura puts on a strong heel performance here, not so much in terms of being hateable, although he's good in that sense, but in carrying the match and feeding Yamakawa's comeback. I also love the simplicity of some of the quick transitions, like Kanemura going for the chair near the end and Yamakawa blindsiding him, and not just the kickouts, but the timing of the kickouts generating so much heat because they were so well-timed. So yes, crazy spots, but this had substance beneath the flash thanks to a strong leading performance. So yes, I liked the match but didn't like it as much as soup. Everyone is right about everything. Everyone gets cookies. ***1/2

They probably think they are doing AJ a favor by showing that the McMahon family doesn't waste their time in matches against people in whom they aren't seriously invested.

Okay cage match. Tons of heat and better than the PPV match for sure. It's really, really basic. I mean super, super basic. But it's solid. The Flair interference is done well and this effectively transitions to a Hogan-Flair feud, which while hot the week before is the last thing WCW needs at this point. Luger looked like a convincing heel though and gave one of his best performances in a long time, while Hogan was Hogan and was over with the shrinking WCW audience. Not bad, almost good.

I remember this opening promo well for Rock mocking HHH's "I am the Game-uh" inflection. HHH had long since dropped that, but it was still funny. Oh the days when HHH would sell the frustration when someone got in some good lines on him. He's also really good at reacting to Cactus as always, like he's trying not to show fear but is still showing fear, but isn't too over the top with it either. So far, I am on board with 2000 as a great year for the guy. The match was pretty fucking great. Hot six-man in front of a 28,000-strong crowd at the Georgia Dome. This was similar to the 10-man tag in how it was worked, but not quite as electric. It's interesting that HHH got the pin on the go-home show. I have no problem with that since Foley was on the verge of retirement anyway, but remember that next time someone talks about a challenger having to beat a champion to set up a pay-per-view match. There's no hard and fast rule that says that's true. Strong post-match angle with Foley running DX and Stephanie out of town. ****

I liked this match a lot for Billy Gunn bushwhacking Christian and them building heat throughout when the Dome crowd was pretty silent early on. Jeff Hardy gave a great performance here, and his bumping and selling as FIP really built the heat and got the match going in a big way. I liked the chaos of the finish, with Christian accidentally doing a springboard plancha on Matt and Bubba Ray not accidentally hitting Gunn with the chair, since the teams that are teaming in this match are facing each other at the Sunday PPV. Hebner fucks up the finish because he's a lousy referee who messes up a lot of stuff. It was a good match until then.

It's a match and it's here and that's about it. The action is decent but it comes across more as a throwaway LLPW undercard match than the finals of the biggest tournament of the year, and the falls come awfully easy. Not much substance to this, kind of wrestled as a formality. You see some talent here and know all four of them can work but they aren't particularly motivated in this environment for whatever reason.

Wow. This was awful. Russo wasn't even around anymore, and they still chose to book a tribute to him. Awful awful awful. A match full of booking booking booking. What a disaster disaster disaster of a pay-per-view. Soup recapped what happened and I have nothing to add. Scott Hall was done in WCW after this. Good for him, even if his life did sadly go to shit. It says it all that the crowd clearly has no idea what's going on in WCW when Sid's music starts and they don't pop until they see him because they don't even seem to know what the main event is. Come see WCW on Ice at an arena near you.

Watching Hogan's pre-match promo and hearing the guys talked about and featured makes me laugh in how completely out of touch it is with where wrestling was at this point. WCW really was the ultimate nostalgia fed at this point. This does feel like a WWA or Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view or something. Hogan doesn't even pretend to favor his "broken" arm. I guess this action isn't any better or worse than it would have been three years earlier when this feud was red hot, but WCW is so ice cold by this point that it just permeates everything. The heat does pick up in a big way when Luger starts teasing the rack and Hogan Hulks up. And I'm sorry, but an 8-minute pay-per-view main event is kind of a ripoff, especially one as non-descript as this, even if it does have a post-match angle that features the return of Sting.