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This was some amazing stuff, especially for a minor TV show and despite the commercial breaks. The Fantastics made their JCP debut with a incredible shining sequence, as the Midnights sold their actions big time, immediately putting them over as a major team in the division. Bookers should take notes? The MNX gradually got more and more frustrated, until they finally got the upper hand on Rogers, who was not Ricky Morton in terms of struggling babyface, but he did amazing. The end was electric as well, with a roaring crowd and the Fantastics stealing the rocket launcher for the upset. ****1/4

Not on the level of the legendary All Japan six-men of the 90s, but pretty close. Most of this was about Jumbo being a d*ck to Kawada and Fuyuki, which got an angry Hara to hit hard on Jumbo's seconds too. Kawada was outstanding with his selling, but also showed plenty of fire against Kabuki and Ishikawa, as he had more of a chance there. This was lacking a dramatic heat sequence, but the pace was very enjoyable for almost 20 minutes. Cool and tight finish. ***3/4

Great match and they did better than the previous month, also thanks to a very hot crowd. This time, Hase was the one to attack Takada during the introductions and get the early upper hand, which made for a better pacing and some crisp action early on. This had a very good climax, as Takada gradually managed to hit more and more kicks, getting Hase in trouble. This had one of the most credible ref bumps ever, which added to match drama until Hase barely got to retain in a somewhat clean way. ****

Fun unification match, that had an actual finish instead of a predictable no-contest. It felt like Hansen vs Terry Funk at times, as Hansen dominated his opponent with oppressing strikes and Tenryu had to fight from underneath, playing a great underdog and being brave/stupid enough to go toe to toe with Hansen instead of attempting body work or other strategies. Good selling by Tenryu, whose back was hurt by the gaijin's attacks, and Hansen was bound to teach his opponent a lesson after the heated tag matches. Good flashy finish, as Tenryu kind of stole one in a perfectly acceptable way. ***1/4

This is fascinating in hindsight, knowing who Misawa would become, but also a very good match in its own way. Good progression and underdog psychology, as TM2 was trying his luck with long headlocks and a stalling approach, before Jumbo got tired of it and dropped the opponent on his head. Mask got to look competitive on the mat later on, working on Jumbo's leg and getting the Ace to sell for him quite generously, which was also why Jumbo didn't put him away easily and Mask got a couple of impressive nearfalls before eventually losing. Textbook match on how someone can look good while losing. ***1/2

This was a match that had plenty of heat, even though it was clearly a skirmish bout and they were all holding back. Cool control segment by the gaijins on Hara, but of course the highlights were the strikes between Tenryu and Hansen, even if they were obviously rare and didn't spoil their upcoming title match. This match is relatively famous for the 'nobody potatoes me' angle from Hansen, as the match got out of control to justify the non-finish. ***

Clipped. Of course, this didn't have a lick of the buzz this feud generated in 1983-1984, but the crowd was still hot and the chemistry was there. This looked like a nostalgia act from a dying promotion (which it was), with some awesome Freebirds selling to make the von Erichs look good. Good out-of-control brawling, inside and outside the ring; the finish wasn't very good, but it gave us a pretty big moment in terms of Michael Hayes taking a new role in this rivalry. ***1/4

Very cool match between two promising young stars, that clearly had plenty of greatness in them. Yamada worked on Hase's arm very aggressively, which drove Hase to still sell it throughout his late comeback. Hase didn't really back down from limbwork either, so Yamada tried his luck with risky moves to put and end to his opponent's physicality. This led to Yamada's demise via a flashy pinfall, as he took too many chances and Hase seized the right chance. This was a perfect example of young stars showing their skills. ***1/4

Fun Kawada vs Misawa bout, even though this was nothing special compared to their classics from the 90s. The two young boys did their part, with some nice interactions and then mostly selling for the heavyweights. Yatsu and Misawa worked Kawada's leg quite consistently, while Tenryu showed his striking dominance. The non-finish was good, as Tenryu snapped by powerbombing Misawa on a table, then using a chair on Yatsu too to make Kawada follow suit, which was a great indicator of Kawada's future character. ***

Muto did well here, supporting Invader in a match that had some competent limb work and some exciting action as well. This tried some fast-paced stuff at first, almost too quick at times as there were a couple of botches, but it was overall a competent approach that generated decent heat. Unlike Puerto Rico's greatest hits, this was missing some blood and guts, which would have made this epic. Invader had an energetic comeback, the finishing run was good and so was the finish, also thanks to the consistent selling. ***1/4

Slightly clipped by the usual commercial breaks, but this was a great TV match and such a fun bout. Windham is quite easily the biggest 'what if' in American wrestling history, he was so good here at firing up the crowd and then selling his leg accordingly, desperately trying to come back from Blanchard's offences. My only problem with this, apart from the creative but annoying finish, was the stalling that the ads should have bene deleted altogether. This would have been a tremendous 20 minutes bout, but they went for 30 and this kind of diluted this unfortunately. ***3/4

Such an amazing little match, as they had less than 10 minutes and it was the kind of stuff you would want from a weekly TV event where time is limited: solid grappling, cool stuff and a meaningful finish. Funaki was very aggressive and the future Jushin Liger was selling his stuff very effectively, especially the kicks. The crowd gradually got into this, getting louder while the action was getting better and better. This also had a quite historic finish, as Yamada debuted the shooting star press to win. ***1/4

Still not to the level of the matches Jumbo and Tenryu put on when they were a team, but a very enjoyable bout. Their duels were obviously the best part of the match and carried a lot of heat, but both Yatsu and Hara delivered as well, playing their supportive roles really well. The Olympians works on Hara's arm and this caused Tenryu's wrath, this bout had a nice crescendo and the final nearfalls were quite good. Can't really complain about the non-finish either, as Tenryu was booked really strong and almost on Jumbo's level here. ***1/2

I actually miss WCW 2000. It was a bad wrestling company with a bad product and horrible creative, but at least I had no reason to *hate* it. WCW 2000 never sided with a certain president, never had someone like McMahon in power, never did business with a certain country, never killed the indies for the sake of it, never got so greedy with fans, never asked people for money to unlock moves in a wrestling videogame, never rewrote history this way... April is usually that time of the year, I check the 'Mania card and I might decide to watch a match or two for good time's sakes (after they killed the Rumble many years ago). Maybe the go home show if I have enough spare time. This year it's all free on Netflix and I don't want anything to do with it. Cody and Orton was so easy to build and they messed it up. Let's have Cody win and side with the Authority in 2026, that would certainly be good. I lost all interest in Punk when he became everything he hated and preached against, a greedy part-timer. I keep hearing Oba Femi is supposed to be good, but I don't want to watch Lesnar, as allegations keeps on piling and he's still on the card. There arecelebrities on the show and I have no idea who they are, WWE claims to be a global company and yet if you're not American and/or a influencers simp you have no idea who these stars are. Cena is back to 'host the show' because they are not selling tickets, while he retired like a minute ago and there's no reason for him to be there. Stephanie is headlining the hall of fame, need I say more. The main eventers are at least 40 years old and a few of them are pushing 50. It's sad.

Yeah, Stephanie headlining over AJ Styles is so funny. She was the best at emasculating main eventers with no payoff... uh oh, she did that with Cody too, didn't she? Hopefully she can go back to that funded podcast where she can pretend she is relevant or knows something about wrestling. It is a comedy joke, as the wrestling people she interviews are constantly kissing her butt, while she does the same with guests outside the wrestling bubble, almost like she wants to be cool enough to hang out. Let's not forget she was head of creative from late 2000 to 2013/2014 and man it was a horrible run.

Fun 10 minutes young lions match. This was solid, crisp and they did not exaggerate with the use of moves, nearfalls or strikes at any point, so this basic undercard match looked so refreshing and well put together. The selling was pretty consistent as well, especially from Yamada, until the last couple a minutes, that were exciting to watch despite the lack of selling. This was a cool bout in retrospect, as both guys would later develop great careers. ***

In retrospect, not a dream match like Rockers vs the real MNX or the Rock & Rolls, but this was still a good attraction and a solid bout for the dying AWA. Condrey was good at bullying the young challengers, Michaels did look good here as a babyface in peril and he was clearly inspired by Ricky Morton at this stage of his career. Fun finish spot, but the camera work was quite bad and it didn't come across as too good. ***

This was such a blast and made me want to watch more of Andre. The round system helped big time, allowing them to pace the bout accordingly and without having to rush this. The closeups of their faces were also awesome, capturing Wanz's struggle to hang in there and Andre's selling, definitely the best feature of the match. The footage was clipped here and there, but there was plenty of good stuff and the crowd erupted when Wanz finally managed to strike Andre and make him fall down in the corner. Not the best finish, but a hot one thanks to the crowd. ***1/2

Basically Puerto Rico's version of the War Games format, but all 10 wrestlers were in the ring from the start and the only way to win was to handcuff all of the opponents to the cage. This is hard to rate, of course, as there was a lot going on at the same time and sometimes the camera failed to show it all. Colon and Invader took most of the pops for the babyfaces, isolating opponents and humiliating Starr at all times, but this was quite messy. Easy to watch because it was fun, but hard to follow because it was too chaotic. Some of the heels phoned this in, but it is hard to blame them as it was a caged battle royal after all, some of the handcuffing didn't look too great in execution or believability. ***?

A good match, but once again they were clearly pacing themselves for a long one, despite the downtime being limited and improved by a good quality of strikes. Gordy was a breath of fresh air for All Japan and found a great chemistry with Hansen, isolating Tenryu in a very good segment and clearly being above Hara in the pecking order. This surprised me and most people, as the time limit draw was replaced by a double count-out finish, that had the same outcome, but it was built differently. ***1/2

I believe the correct date is 12/4/87. This felt like a huge match, bigger than a random tournament bout. The Tenryu/Tsuruta strikes were great as usual and their parts made this worth it, but the rest of the match didn't feel as special, as both Yatsu and Hara were clearly used as filles to make this get to the 30 minutes draw. However, these had some impressive stuff later on, when Hara managed to survive the final assault of his opponents, as Tenryu couldn't help him much. This was a bunch of great sequences in a good match. ***1/4

Bless them for trying hard and attempting to do an epic here, but Garvin was not super hot and it wasn't easy, despite their good performance and Garvin trying to win the crowd over. He sold his leg well anyway, and so did Flair once he started bleeding due bumping on the cage. There wasn't much wrong with the match itself, but it felt out of place as it didn't feel like a big clash, despite main eventing the PPV. They did well with a couple of nearfalls, the finish wasn't too great though. ***1/4

While getting the whole roster on the big card is a nice thing to do, this was too crowded and I didn't enjoy the early eliminations, as they felt rushed and they had the sole goal to get some people out of there in a quick fashion. This got better once Strike Force and the Harts got involved, but they both got knocked out too early. Unexpected finish with the Islanders and the Stallions, out of all people, it was somewhat solid but not what you would want from a division this deep. **3/4

Not a great match, but a big deal as Brody returned to All Japan and squared off against his former partner Hansen, so this had a lot of buzz and a good crowd. Their stuff was nice enough, they teased it and then brawled, while also Snuka proved to be a commodity player. Gordy wasn't great and looked a bit lost, but did enough to feed the opponents and help Hansen catch a breath here and there. Of course, this had a non-finish as the tournament was still in the early stages. ***

This was a great TV match, as Savage was extra generous with Bret and made his stuff look really good at all times. Bret was solid, clearly evolving into a great single competitor, but something was missing at the beginning as his tempo wasn't perfect. This picked up great once Savage started selling the leg, as Bret focused on it with a crispy work that made him look like a real threat. They used their time very effectively, putting Bret over but also praising Savage's resilience and his textbook underdog comeback. ***1/2