ohtani's jacket

Pretty weak gimmick but the girls did their best with it. It wasn't the hardest of hardcore matches but they did do a lot of cool spots with the chairs and Sakai took one neat tumble off the ladder. Suzuki was a beast with her STOs and suplexes and battered Sakai until she couldn't take anymore. Great selling from Sakai at the end. She really was a gusty wrestler. This ended up being better than I expected because of Suzuki's throws. A nice surprise since i had zero expectations.

Pretty intense while it lasted. Garbage-y but hard fought. I'm not a huge fan of KAORU but she elicits a lot of hate from her opponent which is a good thing. The finish led to the return of Lady Zero later in the show.

This was really good. Hokuto and Ozaki brought the attitude you'd expect from a pair of bitchy veteran heels and Nagashima and Sato wouldn't back down an inch, especially Sato who looked like she was ready to take on an entire army. It's a tag title match so it's high stakes the entire way. Most of the action centers around Nagashima vs. Ozaki, one of my favorite pairings in Joshi. We've seen mentor/student relationships a thousand times in Japanese wrestling -- it's a popular archetype with deep connections to Japanese society -- but rarely have we seen a mentor and student so desperate to beat one another. Nagashima has that extra bit of fire when she wrestles Ozaki and grows with each encounter. No matter how many times they square off, you always see a new counter or a new move, and Ozaki benefits from working with a smaller woman and being able to execute her offense properly. Hokuto was kayfabe injured early on in the match but came back to deliver a strong offensive performance. It was definitely one of her better performances in GAEA. Sato was rock solid in her role as big girl power worker. She was very much the Nanae to Nagashima's Momoe and added muscle to her smaller partner's flying. There's an interesting comparison to be made between those teams. Nagashima and Sato probably shade Momoe and Nanae as workers at this point but it's close. What's great to see is young girls making their mark across the board in 2000 Joshi. it feels like there are lots of promising young stars in spite of the rot. Ozaki and Hokuto had a bit too much guile on this particular night and the Showa faction celebrate afterward with a magnum of wine. Then Asuka and Chigusa show up and do some annoying GAEA cosplay. Hokuto and Ozaki don't give a fuck afterward because they've got the money and the tag belts and are heading into the new year as champs. It's good to be a Showa girl.

This was clipped, mercifully so since it started out like every other LCO match in history. The footage was mostly LCO working over GAMI. I'm not sure if GAMI ever tagged out but she got a nice submission on Shimoda that looked like it might win the bout before LCO finished things off. Nothing to write home about.

Not bad. Asari's reinvention from a young flier into a hybrid submission wrestler is arguably as interesting as Yoshida's and has a Plum Mariko/Command Bolshoi element to it. Akino is clearly a good worker but there's not a lot of upside to her aside from being the next Toshiyo Yamada. I'm not convinced it would have been any better in full than it was clipped. Can't really comment on the rhythm without having it in full tho.

Ayako has been one of the stars of 2000 but she gets picked apart by Aja for most of this bout. I had no recollection of how it turned out so I kept thinking "this is a weird way to book your young star." I was kind of resigned to this being another bout where Aja uses bully tactics to reassert her dominance over the women's scene, though in fairness to Aja her tactics were brutally effective. It would have been nice if Ayakao had fired a shot, but Aja was merciless. I started thinking about how Japanese this was -- the underdog gets the shit beaten out of them and everyone praises her fighting spirit -- then Ayako pulled off a near miracle. It wasn't quite the Miracle on Ice or a walk-off home run to win the World Series but in her fledgling career it must have felt like it. Kind of a difficult match to rate. Aside from one spectacular moment, Ayako wasn't at the races and the shock finish had minimal emotional build to it (aside from shouts of "ganbatte, Ayako-chan!") Perhaps if Ayako had worn her emotions on her sleeve a bit more then this would have been comparable to Satomura/Kong but it wasn't really close. Hell of a year for Ayako, though. She was on top of the world in her sphere of Joshi.

Tamura was one of the leading Joshi talents of the 00s but like Azumi Hyuga she hadn't really arrived yet in 2000. This wasn't a bad match. I liked the strike exchanges and the submission work but ultimately it's Tanny Mouse and that means it's a plucky squash but a squash all the same.

This was the final of the BattlARTS Tag Team Tournament. Prior to the final, we get a look at the tournament bouts in digest form which is an interesting glimpse at the BattlARTS guys working hard night in, night out instead of the regular once a month on television. The final is short but competitive. It doesn't reach any great heights but it ends the year on a positive note for BattlARTS and there's some typically good work from Ishikawa, Malenko, and Usuda. Hijikata is fine in his role. He had been carrying a shoulder injury for the entire tournament and spent most of the matches working from underneath. He wanted the yusho badly and didn't take it well when Malenko forced Ishikawa to submit. He even got in the bosses' face and disrespected him. Ishikawa seemed to realise that Hijikata was caught up in the heat of the moment but Malenko didn't like it at all and took it upon himself to sort Hijikata out. None of this goes anywhere long-term. BattlARTS run fewer shows in 2001 and Murakami returns to reignite his feud with Ishikawa but it was a decent way to cap off a solid year from the promotion.

I can't remember if I watched this pay-per-view or not. My relationship with the WWF was strained at the time and the shit with Austin and Rikishi made things worse. Triple H being the accomplice was about as satisfying as Vince being the Higher Power and led to a rehash of a feud that nobody wanted to see. Truthfully speaking, the match wasn't that bad. It was a generic WWF main event brawl but Triple H and Austin were solid main event brawlers and went through the motions pretty well. It was the least interesting match from Triple H's 2000 run but it wasn't due to a lack of effort. Hunter took some big bumps, sold his ass off and gigged his forehead. Austin had promised an ass whipping and that's pretty much what he gave him but something felt a little off. Perhaps it was because Austin took too much of the match, but it never really felt like a culmination of the hatred they were meant to feel for one another. The finish was stupid but I can understand why they wanted to create a payoff for the hit and run the year before. The worst part about it was that it came across like a mini-movie that was filmed while the rest of the show was going on. And it took the crowd completely out of the equation. But it wasn't as awful as you'd imagine and overall I thought the match was passable. Although "passable' is quite a dropoff during Hunter's stellar year.

I liked the first fall. Pimpi was in fine form. We've seen a lot of dance-offs in Monterrey but I think I liked Pimpi and Super Calo's the best. The rest of the bout was pointless and unimaginative. But I did enjoy that first fall and Pimpi's comedy so this wasn't a total waste of time.

This was a nice match. At first it looked as though Atlantis and Blue Panther would square off, which had me in 7th heaven since it's one of my favorite lucha pairings, but Dandy stepped in instead. That ended up being just fine as he was in one of those moods where he wants to show that he still has it. We saw the same thing when he squared off against Casas in an earlier Monterrey bout. He tends to save his best for his contemporaries in 2000 but I swear if we saw this Dandy all the time he'd still be among the best workers in Mexico. This was a nice opportunity for Atlantis to get out the working boots too and a match I'd point to as an example of his talent and his capacity to still work at a high level after his prime. And by high level, I don't mean working formulaic CMLL main events but rather working individual exchanges on the level of a Santo, Casas or Panther (to name three highly respected lucha workers among the wider fan community.) As good as Dandy and Atlantis were they couldn't touch Panther vs. Villano. What a masterclass. These two are the frontrunners for my lucha WOTY -- Villano for his rollercoaster from his unmasking through to his tecnico run and Panther for his work, which may be the best of his career. The pair of them were sensational. I remember seeing them square off on a handheld once and that was just as electric. I've found some of Villano's 80s and 90s work to be overrated at times but watching him tie-up with Panther it was clear that he was keen to measure Panther's reputation against his own and both men came across as bonafide legends. Zumbido vs. Niebla and M2K vs. Safari was a huge step down from those highs but tidy enough. The second fall had some hard-hitting, rapid-fire lucha exchanges with Dandy, Atlantis, Panther, and V3 again looking spectacular. We got Panther vs. Atlantis for a brief moment which I appreciated. The tercera caida wasn't the most exciting that you'll see and descended into some bullshit mask pulling but there was enough good stuff to round out a very good trios match. You never really know what's going to be good and what's going to be not good when you see lucha match listings (especially from Monterrey.) This was very much in the good category and ought to be cherry-picked by lucha fans casual and hardcore alike.

This was exactly what you'd hope for from these two workers at the tail end of the year and at this stage of Hyuga's development. They worked the match-up perfectly -- Hyuga was bigger, more athletic, more dynamic while Bolshoi relied on her wits and ring smarts. There was the usual array of hybrid lucha-shoot style spots from Bolshoi and she utilized the shotei to great effect throughout the bout. Watching this I felt she was neck and neck with Super Delfin as far as juniors go and watching her use the shotei reminded me of what a poor year Liger has had in comparison. The match was tightly worked -- not an epic but competitive and a great vehicle to push Hyuga further ahead. And it was a compelling watch from beginning to end with very little in the way of fat or excess. If you like your Joshi to be a bit smarter then this was one of the better examples from 2000.

This started off with a special ceremony to make Rayo de Jalisco Jr.'s 25th anniversary in wrestling. His family came to the ring and he was presented with a plaque. Perro and Villano said some kind words and Rayo wiped a tear from his eye. Then a mariachi band came to the ring to perform a song for him. He held up a bouquet of flowers when suddenly a mariachi attacked him from behind with a guitar. Gawd Almighty King, that's Mascara Anos Dos Mil! Mascara Anos Dos Mil attacked Rayo with a damned guitar! This was some class A WWF. The Capos didn't give a shit about the match and were disqualified in straight falls. Perro bled as usual and everyone had the shit stomped out of them, Afterward, Universo got on the mic and taunted Aguayo. Damn you to hell, Universo Dos Mil!

This was short and sweet. Porky did some decent shtick for a change. I really liked the sequence where he almost fell on the fans and he did some great crying shtick as well. The Capos are kind of polished and not that great at the same time but I buy into them as rudos and I'm sure they can ratchet up their act if need be. I wasn't paying attention to the match listings and kept wondering why Tarzan Boy wasn't doing his rudo shit. Then the penny dropped.

Hold the phone, there's more CMLL from November. Trouble in paradise! Satanico still hates Tarzan Boy but his partners have a problem with him roughing up a fellow rudo. This leads to some heated altercations with Satanico going chest-to-chest with the Infernales. There's pushing and shoving and Satanico even threatens to join the tecnico side before pulling rank and ordering the Infernales to back off. Meanwhile, Santo hates Tarzan Boy too and makes no bones about it. He does the "I'm watching you" gesture to Tarzan Boy and Tarzan Boy responds by trolling the shit out of Santo with the same gesture. In between the fun and games is some excellent work between Santo & Casas and the Infernales which has me excited about the future of this feud. In the past, I've been critical of the Japanese influence on lucha around this time. It's clear watching this that Casas and Ultimo Guerrero, in particular, have been influenced by their stints in Japan and are looking to push the envelope on the type of action you usually see in a CMLL ring. I've eased up on my criticism of it being inauthentic. If the work is good then let them push it in a different direction. Here it complemented the story well as Santo and Casas were clearly working harder than the lying, cheating Tarzan Boy and I get the feeling that the divide between the old traditional ways and the new style of the Infernales will play a major part in the upcoming feud with Satanico. Which brings us to the finish and Satanico deliberately fouling when it seemed like the Infernales had the situation well in hand. You don't stir up a hornet's nest when it comes to Satanico, that's for sure. You could already see him steaming and plotting so it'll be interesting to see where this goes next. This was a solid quarter hour. Much better TV than the usual fare and hopefully gets CMLL back on track after a rough few months.

A few bits and bobs... Black Guzman vs. Mike Sharpe was a match from the Los Angeles territory's Wrestling Stars of the 60s show. Guzman was the brother of El Santo and one of the pioneers of the fast-paced aerial style that most people associate lucha with. He was also a successful headliner in the Texas territory in the 40s and 50s. He was well past his prime in this footage but looked like a feisty customer. Sharpe was one half of the Sharpe Brothers tag team whom most people are familiar with from their work in Japan against Rikidozan. The match was a short affair built around the size difference between Sharpe and Guzman. You can pretty much imagine how the bout went. I usually like Jules Strongbow but he kept annoying me with the bullshit he span about Guzman being a former matador. He even made up some bullshit story about how a bull gorged Guzman's leg and forced him to retire. Creative liberties I guess but it added to a certain staleness about the TV product from the 60s. When you watch this stuff it really does feel like there was a downturn in wrestling after the popularity it enjoyed in the 50s. Sonny Myers vs. Rudy Kay is a short bout from Chicago. The only notable thing about it is how much Russ Davis loves Rudy Kay. It seems like Kay was one of his favorite performers for some reason or another. He always gets excited when he commentates a Kay bout. Bobo Brazil vs. Duke Keomuka was the first time I've been able to get a handle on Keomuka. He was your typical stereotypical Japanese heel. Bobo Brazil is Bobo Brazil. Pretty much writes itself. Buffalo continues to be an uninteresting territory and 60s wrestling continues to be a massive step down from the peak 50s stuff. I wonder what the best US territory was in the 60s.

This was incredibly mediocre. The type of match that's a slog to get through. The only thing that piqued my interest was how bad Gigolo was. The rest of the match was just brutally boring.

There's that man Negro Navarro. This was several years before he adopted his bald, ass-kicker persona. He worked more of a classical style but it still neat seeing him work his maestro tricks. I liked a lot of the work in this, actually, despite it being slow and featuring too much stalling. Mike Segura did an excellent job of propping up the tecnico side, which is something I always look for in trios matches. It's easy to put together a solid rudo side but a good tecnico makes a world of difference, Segura came across like a young actor itching for a starring role. And he sure lived up to his "Suicida" moniker with that dive. Not only that, but I continue to have an almost irrational appreciation for the unmasked Hijo del Gladiador so that made three guys to track in this, which is a pretty good return on a trios match.

This was a solid trios match until the bullshit with Tarzan Boy began. Talk about the most drawn-out rudo turn in the history of lucha. The fact that it spans across three promotions makes it even more irritating. It seemed like a good idea during the first few weeks but Lord knows why they didn't pull the trigger on it during week three. It's this lack of narrative consistency that makes it difficult to sell people on lucha. It reminds me of the confusing Santo turn which dragged on for years. On the positive side, Panther looked sensational in his mat exchange with Hijo del Lizmark. It was all Panther on attack but it made you forget how bad of a worker Lizmark can be. I haven't revisited the Santo/Panther matches yet but given how good Panther has looked throughout the year, and the number of memorable pairings he's had, I think 2000 has to be in the running for his career year (on tape). He may end up walking away with my Lucha WOTY award and performances like this are the reason why.

We've seen this matchup before in 2000 so we pretty much knew what to expect. This was shorter than their last title fight and lasted around 15 minutes. So instead of lying around on the mat wrenching submission holds, the picked up the pace and worked a more fluid style. That didn't always look the prettiest when they were transitioning between holds since Villano IV wasn't the most nimble guy on his feet, but they built to the finish well and the deciding fall was brisk and exciting. At times it felt like two heavyweights working more of a lightweight style but it worked out okay. It probably could have done with a bit more drama but at least the rhythm and pacing were strong. And, as always, it was a welcome spotlight for Villano IV. Possibly the least of Scorpio's title defenses this year but still good, which tells you a lot about his title reign. I'm sure his dad had a lot to do with him having the belt but he's defended it with aplomb and it's hard to think of a better championship run during this lucha season.

I thought this was all right considering that a cage match isn't the most authentic gimmick in Mexico. Yes, the brawling was meandering but no more so than any Battle Royal in history. I found it charming in a way that they didn't really know how to milk the drama out of the escape rules. Even the final pair were fumbling in the dark when it came to basic escape match tropes. But the crowd appreciated it as something different and it wasn't awful by any stretch of the imagination. I'm probably giving them a huge pass but it was more interesting than your run-of-the-mill, slowgoing IWRG trios match.

This thread being resurrected inspired me to watch the first episode. It was kind of rough around the edges in terms of production values and match layout but enjoyable nonetheless. My favorite moment was Freddie Blassie bringing his "mother" Laura to Cyndi Lauper's Mother's Day Surprise.