Laney

This was a pretty good match given the inexperience of these guys. Colt looked better in this as he kept things basic, stayed in control, and did a good job of working the crowd. Punk tried to be a little too ambitious with his moves and some of his offense looked sloppy as a result. I think this was slightly better than the Spanky vs American Dragon matched that I watched earlier. This one seemed to have more of a direction to it. I notice that Punk is wearing the same jersey that he pulls out for a street fight in ROH 4 years later. **1/2

This was an okay match. It's kind of funny watching this and realizing that Rob Conway will make it to the main roster almost a year before Dinsmore. Dinsmore is better than Conway here, but neither one looks like they are ready for the main roster. I think Conway is supposed to be the face here, but he keeps his sunglasses on for the first minute of the match like he's some kind of asshole. Overall, everything was decent, but both guys lack personality and the heel ref finish is eye rolling. **1/2

This match had some fun exciting moments, but it had some very dull ones as well. It was cool seeing Carly using his dad's trademark cartwheel and punches and then later the figure four. The crowd really ate that up. There were a few near falls for Carly where the crowd went crazy too. Unfortunately this match is boring in spots from Ray holding onto a headlock for way too long. The finish is strong and it makes up for some of that boring middle portion. ***

The match itself was pretty decent, but wasn't anything noteworthy. This is kind of uncomfortable to watch given Hart's condition and knowing how much better both these guys used to be. This is also a nice snapshot of how awful WCW booking was. Pointless ref bump, David Flair and Arn Anderson apparently both have a referee license, Arn getting locked in a room, NWO beatdown, just a mess. Nasty powerbomb onto Funk to end this. **

This match is a lot better than what I would have expected. They do a great job of making Rikishi appear to be a legitimate championship contender. HHH was doing a great job bumping for Rikishi and gave him a lot of offense. The finish here kept Rikishi strong and made it look like he could challenge for the title in the future. Fun TV match for this time period where both guys look great. ***1/4

This whole segment was a lot of fun. The mic work at the beginning is good and then we get a fun match afterwards. Angle has only been in the WWF for 3 months at this point and he already has his character down and is getting good reactions from the crowd. However, nowhere near the level of reactions that The Rock was getting. I didn't remember the Angle-Stephanie relationship going this far back so that was interesting to me. There's a horrible smarky sign in the crowd here, "Do You Smell What Dwayne Johnson is Cooking?" **1/4

I wasn't into this one at all. There was an edit at the beginning and I'm not sure exactly what got cut out. What we see is essentially a bunch of moves and kickouts. This isn't the kind of wrestling style I enjoy. It was all excessive and didn't seem to have any meaning. **

This was a very stiff match with a lot of jabs and punches. Tenryu looks awesome here and his skill hasn't aged one bit. It's hard to believe that he is 50 at this point. I've never been a fan of Kensuke, but he holds up his end on the match as well. Great top rope powerbomb in this one. This is an easy watch as it's not an overly long match. ****1/4

This was a nice solid match. These guys work a deliberate pace to begin with and build it up as the match goes on. Chono hits a nasty back drop on Mutoh and continues to work on his neck throughout. Muto concentrates on Chono's knee and we get a lot of the same submissions used throughout, but they strategically make sense and don't feel repetitive. Chono's knees really buckled in a sick way on a few of the basement dropkicks in this one. ****

This match is great. Hashimoto really brought the goods in this one. It's full of intense hatred and chaos, but it's the subtle things that Hashimoto does that really stands out to me. The staredowns and taking off the gloves just intensifies things even more. Love the finish too where Iizuka refuses to relinquish the choke. ****1/2

Well this was interesting. Worth watching, but you have to wonder why this was booked this way. Liger looks like an absolute beast here, so if that was the goal, it was accomplished very well. The idea of this being done to perform Liger for a heavyweight run is interesting. You would think they would find a way to do it without making the junior division look like a total joke.

Good match overall. A hard hitting match as you might expect with these two. It's funny to hear the crowd go absolutely nuts for Benoit's throat slash. These two seem to make for good opponents and put together something enjoyable once the match started to really get going in the second half. ***

I enjoyed this match and thought it was fun. Minoru Tanaka looked so smooth in this match. I loved his transitions into leg locks. Otani looked good as always and helped stick this match together. I was never a fan of Kashin and thought he was the weak link in this one as the match was much better when Tanaka was in there. Things kind of fell apart in the end here with Kashin and Takaiwa having a big miscommunication at the finish. ***1/4

I thought this match was very good, but it had a few pitfalls that stops it from being great. Dick Togo looked awesome here and did an excellent job of ferociously going after Delphin's leg throughout most of the match. The highlight here being a nice counter of a huracanrana into a boston crab. Unfortunately, Delphin completely ignores the legwork once he gets in control and starts hitting his moves. There was some outside interference in this, but I don't think it took away from the flow of the match and it helped establish Dick Togo as being a dickish heel. There was a bit of s stretch of nearfalls at the end, but I don't think it was overdone. In fact, I would say it was better than what we see today. It wasn't so much of a back and forth nearfall fest of both guys hitting tons of moves. Rather it was a one-sided affair with Delphin throwing everything had to put Togo away. I should note that I think it's always a nice touch when a country's national anthem is played before a championship match. ***3/4 I love Dick Togo and hope to see more of his matches pop up on the PWO2K project.

I really enjoyed this match. Toyota did a great job of dominating the match and it was worked very well up until the final stretch where they did a bit too much for my taste. Toyota does a pretty nice job of working the leg in this one. ****

I thought this was a pretty good match. Wakizawa utilized a smart strategy of going after Maekawa's legs to prevent her kicks. I think Wakazawa is the more impressive of the two. Maekawa whiffs it on a few of the kicks in the ending stretch, but they manage to get the crowd into it. Some very nicely worked nearfalls in this one. ***

This is the end of Big Show's awful title reign that was highlighted by a feud with the Big Boss Man. I was a fan of HHH at this time (I was 10) and remember being very excited when he defeated Big Show for the title. Not a bad match and they didn't go the predictable route with DX interfering. The crowd seemed pretty dead though, most likely due to lack of interest with Big Show. **1/2

I have to say that I didn't really enjoy this match too much on first glance, but it is one that I enjoy more after spending time to analyze it. This was sloppy in a few spots, but it really went with the flow of the match and the desperation of gaining a pin. I also very much enjoyed the structure of the 2/3 falls. None of the falls seemed like a waste, which can be a major detriment in these types of matches. The first fall was structured like it was a one fall match with both teams giving it all to gain the fall so that they could have the upper hand. The importance of winning the falls was kept throughout, with the third fall being fairly short, but this makes perfect sense given the exhausting effort put into the first two falls. Still the negatives are still there in this match. I was not a fan of two separate crowd brawling sections. Maekawa seemed one dimensional with the same repeated offense. I think they could have had a better match if they cut out the crowd brawling and tightened it up to a shorter match. Overall, the good outweighs the bad. ***1/2

This Joshi period is another blindspot for me. LCO was impressive here with a major beatdown on Noumi and Fujii. You have to give Noumi and Fujii credit too for their great work here with the hope spots. A little too much brawling in the crowd which seems to be looking like the norm for this time period. I enjoyed the finish too with LCO just decimating their opponents until the referee stops the match. ***1/2

Very well structured death match here with good build up to all the big weapon spots. Ryuji Tamakawa takes most of the punishment here, but just won't quit. Not much use of the spikes, but it's perfectly fine here. This was first and foremost a wrestling match that just happened to be in a death match environment. Just the way I like my death match wrestling. ***3/4

This is a highly disappointing match given the talent involved here. The first half of this match is boring, but then Kikuchi brings me back into it when he is getting beatdown. The next 5-7 minutes or so are great and a lot of fun, but then it becomes awkward when Johnny Smith and Ogawa faceoff. The match never recovers and is just awkward until the finish. Kikuchi and Kakihara were fun in this match. It was also fun when Misawa and Taue faced against each other. The rest of the match is forgettable. **1/2

Pretty solid 6-man here with most of the focus being put on the Jrs who both seem to be the target for their opposing teams. Kanemaru has some awful ring gear here and tries a just as awful 619. That aside, he has a pretty good showing. I remember being a fan of Kanemaru later in the decade. Standout moments in this for me is the crowd erupting when Kobashi enters the ring and Takayama being pretty brutal against Kanemaru. Solid match with a sensible structure, but seems to go on a bit longer than necessary. ***1/2

Cool to watch these guys early in their career. I have to agree that Spanky is the better performer at this point, although he has a couple awkward moments springing off the ropes. It seemed that these two tried to fit in as much moves as possible during the time they were given in order to try to impress. You can see the potential in both of these guys and it's amazing to consider how much they improved within a 2 year time span from this match. **1/4

This was loads of fun. Great rudo vs technico match with Bucanero being the ultimate rudo here. Sneak attack to start, outside help, biting, low blows, ropes for leverage, and jaw jacking with the crowd. I can only assume that is Bucanero's grandmother clapping for him in the first row after the first fall. Who else would cheer for this dastardly rudo? The in-ring action was great. I echo the love for the sneaky submission attempt from Bucanero when Tarzan Boy takes a moment to soak in the love from the crowd. Fantastic match, with my only complaint being that Bucanero's shoulder was off the mat for the entire pinfall at the end of this match. ****

This is a real blind spot for me. Good enough first fall that was dominated by the technicos, but the second fall ended almost as soon as it begins. The third fall was a lot of fun with Mr. Mexico almost killing himself on a dive being the moment that sticks out the most. Zumbido was the stand-out of this match. Unique execution of moves and smooth selling. I look forward to seeing more from him. Kind of awkward with the amount of rudos miscommunication in the third fall that didn't really go anywhere since they pick up the victory. I know it's not the lucha libre style, but this is match that seems to me would have worked better if it was one fall. I rate this **3/4, just missing the *** mark.