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Rock does a great promo and then Kurt comes out and just kills it saying that if there was ever a town than can relate to him about losing, it is Detroit. Good three way dance that plays off Raw. Tazz comes out and beats on Angle until the Rock can come out. When Rock does come out, Tazz and Angle work together for a few seconds stomping down Rock. Tazz is still being billed strongly here in the week following the Rumble. Some good triple threat action and here comes Big Show with a brand new haircut to beat up Rock. Angle reaps the reward as he fell on top of Tazz for the pinfall. Segment ends with a Big Show chokeslam on the floor. **1/4

Was so checked out of ECW in 2000 in real time that I didn't realize this was the match to sideline RVD. I'm selfishly excited to see the company improvise.

US indy Anthony Henry vs Fred Yehi (Style Battle 1/7) || 2 yes || 2 no || YES I see some of the flaws in this in the fact that I thought Henry lagged behind the story elements here and if he was there as a contrast in strategy to Yehi, that should have been fleshed out. The final ten minutes also felt a bit plodding. Beyond all of that though this was a heck of an accomplishment from both but especially Yehi in getting a cold and uninterested crowd into a 30 minute draw. **** CMLL Barbaro Cavernario vs Rey Cometa (1/6) || 2 yes || 1 no || NO Good match but nothing beyond that for me. I thought the lightning match and the apuestas between these two last year was better. This seemed like a greatest hits version. Ultimo Guerrero vs Valiente (1/6) || 1 yes || 1 no || YES Probably my barometer for yes or no votes in this thread. This was very good and ramped up between each fall culminating in Valiente's springboard in the third caida. ***1/2 NJPW Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW 1/4) || 6 yes || 0 no || YES Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (NJPW 1/4) || 3 yes || 2 no || YES Talked about these in WK thread. Both are great matches now. Would recommend JR and Barnett all of Omega vs. Okada.

Buster Time! Hey, it sounds like Buster Rhymes, get it. Dragon cuts a small promo here and it's not awful with him comparing the match to David and Goliath. Not two seconds into the match we get HBK's first WHOAAA on commentary. He is atrocious. Dragon keeps showing more with each appearance and some growth as he is aggressive here with throwing Buster Time to the outside and continues the onslaught out there. Time comes back and throws Dragon out on the outside. Shawn says this is his gift to the wrestling business since he doesn't wrestle anymore. Buster Time is actually impressing me a lot here and has a good arsenal of fun power moves and some cockiness to go along with it. Big Bad John comes out with the kendo stick and Time is out. Dragon hits the elbow drop for the pin and Venom looks on from the rampway. Really fun match here. ***

Shawn on commentary is hilarious here pulling his best David Crockett by just yelling Whoa over and over. I did think this was the best Dragon has looked as his dropkick was more crisp and he gets thrown around for the size of Crusher and Rudy Boy. I liked the tag structure of this with Spanky as the FIP since he has the most sympathy and charisma and it allows Dragon to come in with more stiffness on the hot tag. It is tough to forget that Dragon is 18 years old here and not one of the GOATs so him having a *** is pretty damn good. The back to back planchas were excellent and had the crowd popping. Finish is effective in making young babyfaces look strong while putting the heels over. ***

HBK has a special surprise for the Board of Education who are essentially doing a Mean Street Posse gimmick. Shawn brings out Dragon and Spanky teaming together and they rush out to a house of fire. Dragon botches a dropkick in the early goings here. It is interesting to me that I wouldn’t call Dragon bad by any means and as I have mentioned before, the stiff strikes are there but he doesn’t look as polished as AJ and Low Ki for sure or really even Kendrick to a degree. Elbow drop and fog splash dives gain Spanky and Dragon the titles. The referee informs Shawn that the belts can’t change hands. Sounds like a lot of authority this referee thrusted upon himself. Shawn makes it a tag team title match right now and the bell rings. Rueben Crews is able to catch Dragon with a belly to belly. It is interesting to see Shawn in this capacity. Shawn is presented as such a big star in WWF mythos and here he is in a small indy and now he has his own hunting show that is viewed by generally no one. Big schmozz happens for this at the finish with Big Bad John leading the charge. These guys are apostles of Venom. *3/4

Long promo starting out with Foley speaking on behalf of the Radicalz. Stephanie has good heat although this is the taped show. They essentially tell the Radicalz here they are B+ players. HHH sets the matches for tonight which does make this SmackDown seem like a big deal. Tori has just turned on Kane to go with X-Pac. Good action here. Tori pays dividends immediately as she low blows Malenko allowing X-Pac to hit the X-Factor and take the 1-0 advantage in the DX vs. Radicalz battle. I thought Malenko’s cloverleaf especially was clenched really snuggly here. **

The flying pendants in the entrances in a nice touch. This has the chaotic elements that make it feel like GAEA at points but something about the visceral nature of Onita and his overall demeanor make this stuff more tolerable to me. Around Korakeun we go. A wild brawl ensues with a ton of blood, chairs, the whole drill. I must confess that within this structure it is a situation of me caring about Onita and then everyone else. The finish does end in a brutal powerbomb onto a chair and barbed wire leaving Onita and his buddies coming up empty handed. ***

Take the two hottest feuds in wrestling and combine them in one trio is a recipe for goodness. I didn’t think this quite reached the level of some of the other stuff based mainly on the lack of double and triple teams but it was some great stuff. I like how Atlantis vs. Villano has a hate feeling to it but a more classical feel. Satanico vs. TB is straight Jerry Springer hatred. The snippets of Atlantis mixing it up with Satanico made me hope they tangle it up one last time. TB gets his revenge on Satanico for the first time in a while and Emilio piles on with his signature dive from the apron. Tarzan Boy goes for a dive and wipes out clutching his knee. Atlantida and that is a win for the tecnicos. TB is hurt on the outside but still getting stomped on. ***

Becoming a weekly tradition seeing Olimpico get the shit kicked out of him. Just when I think it can’t get worse, he is a bloody mess here and seems to have a new feud brewing with Panther. I’m game. Panther presents the bloody Olimpico around for the crowd to see. Panther is licking his hands with the blood of Olimpico. Rancor gets in on the action and also holds Mr. Niebla at bay. Tecnicos come back and Olimpico gets a big measure of revenge with a huge dive to the outside. Niebla gets a good chance to shine now and he looks impressive in there with Panther. He wins the first fall but after a hot bit of action, Panther locks on the arm breaker to obtain the second fall. Olimpico comes back in and rips Panther’s mask. Panther locks on the submission but Olimpico is in the ropes. He then tugs with all his might on the mask until he gets it DQ’ing his team for not listening to the referees commands. So now we have Infernales vs. TB and Co, Atlantis vs. Villano III, Guapos vs. Casas and Co, and Olimpico vs. Panther. What a hot company. ***1/4

A fun match to close out the night of NJPW action. Hashi and Ilzuka continue to be a good team together and the Nakanishi & Nagata tandem feels right on the brink of being main event players. I especially liked seeing Hash and Nagata mix it up as really that doesn’t seem like a played out pairing at all. I was wondering who was going to take the fall here and was a bit surprised Nakanishi ended up dropping it. I guess momentum had to be built for the pending match vs. Ogawa and Crew. ***

Liger is still wearing the boss black suit. Tanaka looked a hell of a lot better here than in the BattlARTS match IMO as he takes it to Liger and they have really strong chemistry. The other two competitors were mostly there as apron decoration but Samurai also has a good sequence with Tanaka at the finish where Tanaka picks up the win and then gets chippy with Liger again. ***1/4

Wagner and Koji are a boss team. Tons of angst in this one with intense staredowns and hatred throughout. I will really miss Otani rising up to heavyweight because he provides a punkish spark that I assume will be missed. In particular the Kanemoto and Otani segments here were just brutal. I enjoyed Takiawa catching Kanemoto in mid air and changing the trajectory to a powerslam. Tell me if you have heard this before but Otani gets overconfident in his abilities. This allowed Wagner to hit the tombstone finisher and pick up the win. I was a little down on the junior tag on the Dome show compared to Charles but I thought this was a complete blast and kicks February off with a bang. ****

Spanky is such a little shit and these pants are so obnoxious. Rudy Boy comes out to teach this punk a lesson but I liked how they showed Spanky wasn’t just all show here as he takes over fairly quickly and hits a great back elbow from the top rope to the floor. Really nice tope by Spanky too. Bone Crusher runs into the rail but that allows Rudy Boy to back body drop Spanky into the fans in a violent manner. Rudy works over Spanky well enough but this match is a catalyst of the charisma of Spanky jumping off the page. The execution is still sloppy in spots but the intent is there. Rudy even goes to the top here and takes forever to do so. Spanky catches up to him and delivers a German from there. Spanky fires back and hits another huge dive over the top. Bone Crusher decides to just come in the ring to the incompetence of the referee but he hits Rudy Boy. Implant DDT and Spanky goes for his frog splash finisher. Bone Crusher crotches him and a superkick from Rudy Boy wins him the tv title. This was a match where the pupil outshined the teacher. **1/2

Rock cuts his promo beforehand. Nothing you haven’t heard before but the crowd was way into it. Rock and Rikishi don’t mess around before mixing it up. Rikishi gets the first impact move with a Samoan Drop. Rock fires back with his spinebuster and takes control. The crowd does seem a little perplexed on who to cheer for here. Rock tries a DDT but that doesn’t work on Rikishi as he pops up and delivers a kick. I couldn’t tell if the Rock Bottom was supposed to be blocked or was a botch but it looked pretty awful either way and I am shocked it wasn’t edited out. Rock then hits the Rock Bottom next but Rikishi gets up fairly easy from it. The ref gets wiped out but Hebner is out of commission. Here comes Big Show for the DQ and he beats up the Rock. HHH joins the proceedings and does the same to HHH. Besides the weird botch, the action here was fine but the crowd did not want these two to face each other and responded by being quiet during the match. **1/4

E&C seem to be getting a better reaction coming out. Clips are shows of the Dudley Boyz putting Terri through a table on Raw. E&C are the faces for sure here with flashy offense and double team moves in the early going. Christian gets worked over a bit around his nuts with decent action but it does lead to him getting a payback spot with a low blow of his own. Tag is made and E&C run through some exciting offense including the big dive to the outside by Christian and the spear by Edge for the pin. Dudley’s get their revenge after the match with a 3D and a powerbomb of Christian from the apron through a table with Edge laid on it. Edge is bleeding from the mouth to add effect. The tag division in the WWF is really cranking out quality stuff around this time. ***

Yeah, wrestler of the decade. We are trying to tag everyone that we think MIGHT have a chance at being in a discussion for the award at the end of the decade.

Good first look at Puerto Rico where we don't get a bloodbath but good solid wrestling following an established pattern. Carly shows great fire early and the first half of the match is essentially Gonzalez trying to gather himself and find a way in. When Gonzalez does gain the advantage, the match was at its weakest with the long headlock and not much focus. Finish really picks things up from the ref bumped to the shovel shot being avoided by the power in the eyes leading to the win. A great finish with the crowd losing their shit and Carly being embraced emphatically at the end. ***1/4

Spanky gives a really quick promo beforehand. Dragon is still wearing his mask here. Spanky comes out to “Baby One More Time” I find it amusing that three seconds into Dragon’s career in the 2000’s, he botches a boot to the face. Dragon’s chops had the sting they would in later years and the boots have good speed too. Spanky has the flash of his moves there but not a whole lot of polish so far. Dragon does with a more striking base mixing in the chops and kicks which get over no matter what. A hangman guillotine is a unique submission move that Dragon uses here. The announcer calls it a Tarantula. Spanky’s plancha looked great as he hits the floor hard. Spanky’s moonsault has less successful execution but the crowd is into it even giving a “one more time” chant which is progressive in 2000. Spanky hits another cool move on the outside with a running back forearm springboarding off the stairs. Dragon’s forearm in the corner and clotheslines have great stiffness behind them. A dragon suplex looks like the match is won for Am Drag but Shooter Shultz, Bone Crusher, and Rudy Boy Gonzalez all come in for the interference. A really fun match to start off our look at these career of these two. I continue to be impressed with how polished Ki, Am Drag, and Styles look at this point in their career. **3/4

So far the CMLL trios have all been relatively short. That can be intimidating looking at match times and thinking it is just a lackluster effort. That has been a completely off assumption. The matches are compact but with no wasted energy and most importantly they have kept advancing the feuds.

Igor Vovchanchyn. Otsuka had just battled him in PRIDE. How many times can you run a permutation of the same match and get something good? Well, I'd assume many many times, as long as you stick to what works for you, but that wasn't the case here. Yone took up a portion of the match, and that guy is so hit and miss. He can be pretty enjoyable when he sticks to reckless kicks and lariats, but his other signature moves kind of stink and he also likes to do irritating no selling. There was also barely any matwork, so Greco didn't really get to do what he does best. There was some stiffness and clubbering, but the match had that weird semi-comedic feel undercard BattlARTS matches sometimes have. Geco even did a Fargo Strut at one point. You had the stiffness and clubbering and neck-crushing suplex moves aswell as a particularily twisty submission to keep you entertained throughout, but I was hoping for a few more "pure" bits. Thanks Jetlag, that explains him and Otsuka giving each other the staredown. I just looked up his record and him and Otsuka had the PRIDE match this same day???? That is nuts.

Some more good commentary by Ross mentioning they met a few weeks ago and Angle’s undefeated streak could still be in tact due to Tazz maybe utilizing an illegal choke. I really liked Angle cutting a promo mid match that he is a hometown guy. Rock informs Kurt it doesn’t matter where he was born to a big pop. Low blows were really popular in WWF at the time as Angle throws one out here. These two show again in a tv environment that they have good chemistry with each other and that Angle really doesn’t get dwarfed being in there with one of the biggest stars in history. Angle tries to retreat but Tazz comes down the ramp and throws him back in. Spinebuster and People’s Elbow officially ends Angle streak once and for all. No shame in the first pinfall being against The Rock. Tazz accidently hits Rock with a clothesline in an angle I had no memory of. **

Gotta love the old school cameras that were used in 2000. NAO run through their routine to big pops. Head Cheese is already being teased. Al Snow comes out and here are the Radicalz in a pretty awesome moment although it kind of feels like the crowd didn’t really see or realize what was happening as it isn’t like they erupt. Ross mentions that they are negotiating with ECW and the Japanese promotions. Billy Gunn and Snow actually have a good little sequence together with each other here and Road Dogg’s signature spots are still over. Ross does really good commentary here putting over how shocked he is at the Radicalz sitting in the front row. I liked how Road Dogg snuck in the low blow without the referee seeing him. The spot sending Road Dogg into the Radicalz is really awkward. Dogg takes a shot and they pounce now to a huge pop. Eddy hits that frog splash in his boots and Benoit hits the diving headbutt with the crowd now going nuts. Ross has already named them the Radicalz and they are put over huge going after DX right from the get go. *3/4

This starts big with Taue giving a big throw to Takayama and overall showing more fire than he does at any other point in January. The crowd is really hot as all four of these men stare off at each other. No Fear takes over and this is a great showcase of them being the biggest bullies in the yard brutalizing the previous biggest bullies in the yard. After Kawada gets beat down including the big knee from Omori on the top, Taue has had enough of this shit and comes in with a house of fire. It isn’t enough though as No Fear gives him a double clothesline to send him to the outside. This awakes Kawada and he shows some fire kicking complete ass for a few seconds. Takayama goes for the eyes to a chorus of boos. This allows No Fear to take over again and Omori gets the HUGE pinfall on Kawada following a big lariat. Awesome showcase for No Fear here and this was a hell of a show for All Japan overall. The promo with H D A is amazing and really shows them questioning their identity and having to go back to the proverbial drawing board. ****

Can’t catch a break as we added this to the end of our viewing off the strength of the Jun vs. Vader feud so I watched this right after the ARSION clipped stuff on 1/30. I forgive this more as a tack on match for an AJPW commercial tape. I will miss those when the split occurs as the commercial tapes from AJPW were my gateway into puro. This has the extra caveat that in addition to the Jun vs. Vader feud, we get a glimpse of what Vader vs. Kobashi will bring in February. I have always liked Johnny Smith well enough in latter day AJPW as a good loss post for a gaijin tag team and he did an effective job here getting in the flurries when he needed, having a big moment himself in kicking out the Exploder to many ahhhs from the crowd and finally taking the loss helping Akiyama gain momentum heading into the TC match. Really good primer for the stuff that followed. ***1/4