soup23

Dr. Death looks game again on the outside slamming Kobashi down and getting a big throw from the top rope. Kobashi makes his big comeback and they give Doc a pretty big moment kicking out of the moonsault. Doc then fires off a flash Dragon Suplex that looks excellent. I really don’t know where this Doc has been since the Nigata Nightmare. The Backdrop Driver gets teased and Kobashi avoids that and hits a running lariat. That spells doom for Doc as Kobashi is able to hit another Burning Lariat and put him away. This match went nearly 25 minutes and I would really like to see it in full. Doc was a great gatekeeper. NR

Ikeda in AJ and later NOAH just doesn’t feel quite right and I can’t put my finger on it. That being said, the action here was good and built to a compelling finish which is nice to see with Ogawa in the mix. I think Ikeda as a tag wrestler was probably the way to best utilize him within these promotions. NR

Luger comes out and gloats about the damage he caused on Monday. He is joined by his close friend Ric Flair. Funk and Dustin Rhodes interrupts. Funk looks like your uncle that has too much to drink at the family reunion here and you wish he would stop talking. I can’t help but compare it to some of the moments of Piper in WCW and that is not a compliment. I mean Flair has some bullshit in WCW for sure between the mental institution and being dressed as a woman but it always seems like he does have these small glimmers where he looks like he did in the 80’s and his peak including here in this promo. The match itself isn’t half bad with everyone again worker a bit harder on Thunder than I would have imagined. I am moderately looking forward to SuperBrawl. **1/4

Sid gets a real strong reaction coming out and he looks cool as hell. Maybe I am turning into a SID mark in 2000 as he has been really trying still. Jarrett too does well here taking a bump over the table and eating a drink from the crowd. Madden continues to drive me up the fucking wall with his commentary. Some weak offense by Jeff on top mainly consisting of a sleeper. Sloppy Sid makes an appearance with a boot that misses by a mile. Shoddy finish with Mickey Jay getting hit and Jeff using the belt for a nearfall. Jarrett then gives Jay the Stroke. Sid reverses the Stroke into a crossface. Harris Brothers come in and the ground chants for Goldberg. This had some promise in the beginning but really fell apart becoming the overbooked shit at the end. *3/4

It really feels weird seeing Hogan in 2000 cutting promos with Jimmy Hart. You can almost see him searching around for an exit so he is no way held responsible for what is inevitable happening to the company right now. Hogan comes out for the match and the reaction is huge. I mean the people won’t stop chanting his name throughout the whole match. It really is incredible to watch and one of those moments where no matter how much bullshit the Hulkster has (and it is A LOT) I have to just sit back and smile as he was transcendent for pro wrestling. An all time gif worthy shot of Nick Patrick happens when Hogan chokes Flair in the ring. Flair plays dirty and goes low and for the leg of Hulk to take advantage. Madden is going nuts on commentary. They do a generic Hogan vs. Flair match but that is a pairing I seem to be more in favor of than most. Jimmy Hart runs down and gets decked by Flair, Luger and Liz come down to cause the DQ to a chorus of boos. Luger stomps on the already broken arm of Hart. Funk comes in with a chair but gets slammed with it. Hogan fights off Luger and Flair by himself with the crowd cheering him on. Hogan with the posedown but here comes Luger to lay him out with a baseball bat and he takes it to the arm too. Really here to see how big Hogan could still be for the right crowd. Again, there isn’t near as many people as they used to be, but the ones that are there in WCW are pretty invested in at least seeing these guys. ***

I love the Total Package entrance. Luger is insanely jacked here. Funk sneak attacks him and starts off on top with punches. Luger comes back with a nice press slam sending Funk through the table. Luger is certainly moving slow but the psychology is still there. Funk misses a moonsault to a big pop and Elizabeth gets in the ring. That causes a DQ which makes no sense given the weapons we have seen. Arn comes down and steals the chair and Doug Dillenger chases Lex and Liz out. **1/4

Kane is back with Uncle Paul and is in a handicap match. HHH makes his entrance and then X-Pac. Ross is giddy at the thought of Kane getting his hands of X-Pac. Tori has a neck brace selling the damage from SmackDown. HHH pulls a switheroo and Big Show is now HHH’s partner vs. Kane. Kane grabs HHH during his water spit, why doesn’t that happen more often? Show and HHH work well as a team. It is weird watching this in 2017 and knowing how many hours I have spent watching HHH, Show and Kane and that 2 out of the 3 of them will have a high profile match at WrestleMania THIS year. Still, they both were doing well here and Kane was the weak link honestly and not being the best at garnering sympathy. He also hits a butt ugly big boot that misses by a country mile. Once Kane makes a bit of a comeback, HHH and show utilize the no DQ stip and just start double teaming Kane. Rock’s music fires up to a huge pop and he runs right into a chokeslam. Funny moment from HHH laughing at that. X-Pac jumps in too and now it is a 3 on 1 beatdown. Cactus Jack runs down the ramp and runs through Tori. Cactus and HHH have a wonderful punch sequence on the outside. Rock is able to hit Show with a chair and Kane pins him with a chokeslam. Raw keeps on cranking out quality stuff. **1/2

It didn’t take long for Benoit’s music to get refined to its familiar sound. He has also been mixing it up with the big guns right away between HHH on SmackDown and now The Rock here. You don’t really want to be seen as a Benoit apologist or pedestal holder but he really does seem like he may have a case at being the wrestler of the year for 2000 so far. Here he is able to go toe to toe with Rock as the technical wizard which compliments the charisma of Rock nicely. He targets the arm and goes after it in a variety of ways including putting Rock on the outside and using the table and a chair. Eddy adds some flavor on the outside and did a good of making himself look relevant even with the sling as Saturn and Dean are nowhere to be found and in some ways were already downshifted even at this moment. Benoit has the crossface locked in and cries from the crowd come for Rock to reach the ropes. Rock makes his comeback to shrieks from the crowd. Rock really does have a nice variety of good looking offense People’s Elbow aside. Big Show who was supposed to be in Hawaii comes out and slams Rock down on the ground. This allows Benoit to hit a German suplex and get the pin which it took Hebner a LONGGGG time to count. Really strong tv effort for the time given and with interference or not, this was big for Benoit to pin Rock. ***

This is kind of the final straw for me and GAEA to a degree. Sato and Nagashima are presented as a top tag team so lets see if the bullshit can be cut out and we get a strong wrestling match. This does break down into a brawl five minutes in but at least it was established by the beginning sequences and it stays between the wrestlers involved in the actual match. Add to it some Korakuen dives and double stomps involving chairs and I was more forgiving than in the past. A huge German is given to Kato on the chair that the referee won’t count the pin on. A double stomp is then administered and that gets a close nearfall. Lioness comes in with a chair of her own but that gets swatted away. This finish stretch is full of violence, double team moves, break up of pin attempts, and bombs. I sometimes have trouble judging this things and it is more amplified in joshi. Some botches result including one that bumps Kato right on top of her head. Nagashima overall is the better member of the team today as she shows more spunk and aggression going after Kato and holding Asuka off. She gets some good cross armbreaker attempts off in the final moments to add drama to that. The Korakuen crowd is really into this. Kato misses a leg drop and Nagashima hits a fisherman buster for a 2.9 count that Asuka breaks up at the very last second. Sato accidently hits a missile on Nagashima which seems to spell doom but she overcomes it and hits another fisherman buster to gain the win. This was the perfect kind of wrestling chaos and told an easy to ready story. Even the botches added some danger ala the Hiromu Takahashi matches of current day. A great bounce back for Gaea. ****

In the same way I critiqued Tanaka in the previous match for making things feel too much like an exhibition with his demeanor, I will praise Ikeda here. Him refusing a hand shake is a simple gesture but one that ensures that the hatred is there. He backs up that bravado by giving Otsuka some thudy elbows as soon as he is tagged in. I liked Otsuka weathering the storm and regaining the advantage by going the wrestling route where he holds the advantage. They built up to the first interaction of Ishikawa and Ikeda well. Those two swinging away at each other is something I could watch all day. Nagai continues to impress me in knowing his role as the junior member of the proceedings and showing fire and restraint at the appropriate times. Ikeda comes flying off with his flipping leg kick on Ishikawa and gets the knock out win again. They are really putting that one over as a huge move in his arsenal. Really good tag match. ***3/4

Kotsubo’s hair is a true treasure here. These Tanaka BattlARTS matches are really bizarre. I want to stick with them and the work is technically good for the most part but they lack any energy or urgency. It feels more like a sparring session than an intense battle of grappling. Its so weird given how much fire and energy he has given in his NJPW appearances. I liken it to a MMA fighter that grinds out victories in UFC on the ground where wins and losses can lead to releases or promotions but in another organizations like PRIDE or somewhere where hot action is appreciated above all else, they want to show off their striking. Kotsubo shoulders some of the blame here too of course as he is someone that I am mostly unfamiliar with and left no lasting impression on me sans the bad haircut. Things open up a bit in the last minutes but by that time my investment was waning. Tanaka does display some strong suplexes and throws. The cross armbreaker is the finish for Tanaka which he had hinted at somewhat throughout the match. Disappointing. ***

Bless Gibson still having the RNR coat with NWA on the back of it. Gibson claims that him and Ricky WERE the greatest tag team. Robert is being a little heelish here which is exciting. Tommy Rogers comes out and calls him Ricky. Lol. I really love this back and forth and the tension that is building. Tommy says he will cancel his match and they can wrestle right now to prove who the better team is. Now Roger is calling the fans losers because they are chanting Rock N Roll. A referee comes out and we have a match. Robert has next to nothing left in the tank here in 2000 and here we are in 2017 and he still is doing indy shots. Tommy again should really have been doing IWA-MS shows working with the likes of Vic Capri and Ace Steel. After some back and forth, the referee kicks Gibsons’ arms and Tommy gets a sunset flip pin with a fast count. Tommy is clearly the heel now. Awesome Memphis bullshit. **

Cory wants to talk to one of the Young Guns. Here comes Derrick King who really should have been more of a man throughout the 2000’s. Really fun three way match here that did more for me than any of the OVW stuff so far TBH. King just looks so smooth and this match really made me realize that distribution limits still exist a bit in 2000 as someone like King now could be ripping it up on CWF Mid Atlantic or Nova Pro and at least be getting their name out there more. King ends up winning the Young Guns title after a little bit of miscommunication and a ref bump. **1/2

I sort of love the short promos before the TWA matches. It gives the young guys a chance to spit out a promo without being expected to do too much. Buster Time continues to be pretty awesome and authentic. The irony isn’t lost on me with an HBK ran promotion having a tv show called Total Impact. Dragon and Spanky try stereo dives but miss. We have gotten a couple of minor whoas by HBK but nothing major so far. Dragon still has some miscommunication spots that happens when he gets atomic dropped by Chaz. This was mainly used as advancement for Spanky and Am Drag as they pick up the win easier than I would have guessed. **

Some clips of Dinsmore vs. Conway where the action was good. Dinsmore also cuts a promo with Kenny Bolin being his lacky that was good. BJ Pain looks game for this match as he has some good offense when called upon and sells Dinsmore’s offense. Nick misses a diving headbutt. Damaja causes interference and BJ Pain picks up the upset with the frog splash. Good tv match. Dinsmore calls out Damaja and we get an impromptu match between them two. A little bit of back and forth here until the match breaks down. Dinsmore gets smashed with the case but Conway comes out and whacks Damaja and Dinsmore wins barely. Fun segment. **1/2

AJ is announced as rookie of the year. Bailey comes out and does his usual great promo against AJ. Al Getz joins us in the commentary booth. Fun to see Southside Trash who were a great heel team. Richie Rivera is fucking huge. He teams going with Southside Trash before going against them. Skinny Kenny has a funny gimmick of not being skinny at all. Kenny is even wearing a shirt that says I hate fat people. Rukkus ends up winning and then Bailey comes out to give another scorching promo confirming that he had bought off Rukkus and owns the belt. They even bleep him when he proclaims he is like God. **

ECW looks to be running a barn tonight. Nice showcase for Guido here with no Big Sal, just him and Kash doing some wrestling. I really like how Guido can get himself over with his wrestling while being decidedly a heel. A strong workman match that maximized the time it was given. ***

Jindrak and Skipper is a promising tag team. Power Company is about as generic, meathead tag team as you can work up on a CAW mode on a video game. Power Company takes over on Skipper and their offense mostly consists of double sledge shots. It is effective if rudimentary. Hudson on commentary keeps mentioning that he is surprised that Skipper and Jindrak are getting along given Mark’s athletic background. Hot tag is made and Jindrak and Skipper run through a good bit of their offense and win. Both guys look like real strong prospects here. **

Probably the oddest match on paper we may see throughout 2000. Mascaras gets the big welcome which I expected. After the other four guys pair off with some rudimentary stuff, Mascaras and Dantes come in. I was actually shocked at the effectiveness of what Mascaras was doing in his late 50’s. His spinning head scissors wasn’t the prettiest thing I have ever seen but were still impressive to me. Dos Caras is also spunky on the outside. Hidaka and Otsuka is the feature workrate pairing and they look good enough here but I think it was just the shear shock at Dos and Mil looking competent that they got overshadowed. Mascaras has another good sequence with Violenca that is followed up with Caras and Hidaka. Caras busts out a surfboard. They move into triple team spots including the row boat and rana and the middle routine which didn’t look good. Finish comes with Caras and Mil double headbutt Dantes and Mil finishes him off with a crossbody. A showcase legends mass for sure but one that had a lot of energy and fun to it. ***1/2

A tentative start that culminates in Kawada getting a kick in and then beating the shit out of Vader. Kawada’s variety of his attack is super to watch here mixing up kicks, knees, punches, slaps, etc. Vader regroups on the outside and Kawada follows him to lay in more punishment. A neat moment with a young KENTA in his red track suit looking on at all of this. Vader is able to hit a body splash and then suplexes Kawada onto the railing. Kawada sells a headbutt beautifully as he goes flying into the crowd stands off of it. Vader does his Vader offense for a few moments before Kawada is able to hit a front face kick to turn the tide again. Kawada struggling to get the stretch plum on really gets over how big Vader is overall. Vader comes back with a powerbomb and back body drop that is new for him where he follows Kawada to the mat for a pin attempt. One more flurry of Kawada kicks that Vader is able to escape from and he is able to pick up a big victory with a lariat. Kawada is having a rough go since returning from injury. Very good match. ***1/2

How Canadian of you.

Ship Canal, I would say Solar was the biggest star of the tecnico side here although him vs. Pantera is pretty close.

Im guessing not badly because he is around in the weeks after this getting his ass beat and bleeding buckets.

Kaoru goes right against the monster and hits a stunning barrage of offense in the first minute of this match. Unfortunately for her, she overcompensates and misses a senton through the table. Kong is like a monster that has been battered and has a demeanor of she can’t believe what this bitch just did to her. Kong takes the table pieces and smashes them around, throws the guardrail at Karou’s face and slings her across the chairs in the entranceway. This is a nice contrast to the previous match as the weapons mean more than the dives. Karou is busted open which allows Kong to do the best running across Korakuen spot I have ever seen full force into the wall. Back in the ring, we get the five minute call. I really liked Karou avoiding the spinning backfists, using her speed. She goes for a moonsault but eats boot. This match gives a great contrast in the strategies of both competitors. Aja launches Karou out of the ring and onto the floor. Aja gets cocky and goes for a dive eating a table. Karou realizes this is her chance and she unleashes on Aja with an attack equal to the one Aja gave her earlier. This culminates in her hitting the senton through the table. Back in the ring, Aja goes for the spinning back fist but she punches a table. Aja is now wincing in pain as Karou drives the table in further. This is amazing selling from Aja and really graphic to see the monster scream in such pain. Karou face blooded performing the Fujiwara armbar is a visual that wont soon escape me. Karou hits a moonsault with the table piece onto the arm in a great spot and then immediately locks on an armbar with Aja just barely being able to gain a rope break on. Aja fires off a wickedly fast spinning back fist to gain some time but it hurts the arm even more as she winces in the corner. She goes for the back fist but Karou still has the speed advantage and is able to catch it this time into an armbar attempt again with Aja reaching with all her might for the ropes. Aja again is searching for a move of desperation and finds it with a back drop driver. The monster yells as she rises up from the ashes. Her cockiness is again her downfall as she is caught on the ropes and given a Michinoku Driver for a really close nearfall. A beautiful sequence next where Kaoru charges in right to a spinning back fist. Aja knows this is her moment and is able to hit the back drop slam from the ropes but only for two. Aja is great working out her arm and hand and assessing the damage. Aja tries once more to climb the ropes for a double stomp and it again costs her. Kaoru drives the table into the arm once more for another close two count. However, Kaoru gets too cocky trying to drive the table into the arm and eats a big kick right to the face. This match has such great momentum swings. Aja takes off her gloves, takes the blood from her arm and puts it over her face before delivering the knockout blow spinning back fist to win the match. One of the greatest matches I have ever seen and really reached that visceral level of intensity that strikes you at the core. *****