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Matt has come a LONG way on the mic. Terri wants to assist the guys but they say no. 1800 Collect is presenting this show btw, wonder how their stock is doing now. The timing is really good on the first table tease where Matt barely shoves the table away on a back body drop. Jeff does a big dive to the outside to get the crowd popping. Jeff also hits Bubba with a hellacious chair shot. Bubba sends the table into Jeff and it doesn’t break. Bubba takes another awful chair shot right on the head this time from Matt. This match really has a visceral and violent feel mixed in within the stunts. Matt and Jeff do stereo dives and time it well to send Bubba through the table. D-Von takes a big chair shot too as a holy shit chant fires up. Matt misses a leg drop and Jeff misses a splash sending them both through tables although not through an offensive move by the Dudleys. Huge Dudley Bomb on Matt through the table and we are all tied up. Bubba’s glazed over sell job is very effective. The finish and setup may be the weak point of the match even though it looked visually stunning. It was the only portion of the match that felt really contrived to me with the way the Dudleys had to set everything up. Bubba ends up taking a back bump through two tables. Matt sets another one up and places DVon on it for the big Swantom and the Hardy victory. A pretty awesome garbage match overall. ***3/4

Angle starts out raging on the Knicks and New York in general. The guy has it on the mic. Tazz music fires up and the crowd erupts. It is amazing that this is honestly the only time Tazz really felt this big during his WWF tenure. Angle takes a huge back drop bump to the outside to start things off as an ECW chant fires off. Angle gets a suplex on Tazz in the entry way which allows him to go on offense for a bit. I remember loving this Royal Rumble set at the time and it holds up as being one of my personal favorite in company history. Angle hits a really good belly to belly suplex and Angle actually has gotten more offense in than I remembered. Angle takes too long to climb to the top and Tazz gives him a belly to belly from the top. Angle barely escapes with his foot on the rope of the pin attempt. Tazz does a nuts overhead German and then goes through a ton of his suplex variations leading to the Tazzmission and the end of the undefeated streak. A great sprint and about as good a debut as you could ever ask for. ***

This essentially couldn’t be as bad as the previous GAEA tag but wasn’t that good either. I don’t know what it is and maybe some context is lost but these matches just seem like these chaotic out of control matches with nothing really feeling urgent or that important. This did have a neat moment where Hokuto bridged up from a Boston Crab attempt to slap Lioness which showed incredible strength. The constant interference just makes me want to handwave the entire promotion. In a project like this where natural cherry picking will occur, it is integral for us as the viewer to at least have some belief of what was going on based on the snippets we see or the match that is being performed. This just feels like mindless action. Kaoru hits a nasty senton on Oz on a table that doesn’t break. She then breaks the table with a piledriver. More interference and kendo shots at the finish. Fuck me. These are too good of workers to be involved in this nonsense. Ozeki ends up winning and I couldn’t care less. *1/2

I don’t believe I have seen this one before actually but I am really looking forward to it based off of the 1/17 tag. Vader shoves a fan authoritatively on the way to the ring. A completely awesome start with Jun taking the fight right to Vader with vicious forearms and Vader is reeling. Even Wada is pleading with him to back off. Vader is able to weather the storm and Jun has a great facial with a look of disbelief as things reset. Jun is able to hit a HUGE German and then starts going after the leg before hitting another German. Vader is done with this shit and sends Jun to the outside by slamming him into the table. Jun has none of that and returns the favor. This may be the best Jun has ever looked up to this point in his career. He is looking completely competent going toe to toe with Vader. Vader hits a huge chokeslam onto the table and now Jun is really hurt for the first time in the match. Vader follows that up with a powerbomb on the floor. Vader hits his Vader bomb in the ring but is not done dishing out punishment by going for another one. Jun is able to kick out in a big moment. We get a nice visual of Misawa looking on from the aisle way. Vader hits a big back suplex that Jun has to break with an arm on the rope which is a great use of that being the kickout. Jun is still kicking out of this heavy arsenal but with much less authority and his selling of exhaustion and pain is spot on. Jun is able to get his knees up to buy some time and recover. Vader misses a charge in the corner and Jun hits a back suplex. He goes for the Exploder but Vader isn’t dead yet. Jun goes back to the leg that he teased in the early goings and is able to get the big man down with a Dragon Screw. Kobashi is doing commentary on this one so the gang is all here. Missile dropkick onto the leg and then Jun locks on a leg submission. Vader is able to counter and chop Jun down and goes for a Vader Bomb again. Jun pops up and hits a powerbomb from that position for a nearfall. Flying knee for a nearfall and the crowd is really starting to rally behind Jun. This time he gets the Exploder for a close nearfall. Running knee in the corner and another Exploder gets two again. What will put the monster away? Jun climbs to the top and Vader catches him coming off with a powerslam. Vader then hits a huge powerbomb that Jun just barely kicks out of. Another big chokeslam and Jun is able to kick out right into a cross armbreaker which may be the best use of fighting spirit style kickout and spot I have ever seen. Jun keeps trying for the arm work but one stiff shot in the ribs and the signature huge German by Vader stops that dead in its tracks. Crowd now really rallying behind Jun. 3rd Chokeslam with Vader putting all of his weight on the pin is enough to put Jun away. Jun was made in this match and looked amazing. This was a great war that went the perfect length and really should be talked about with all of the classic TC matches since Misawa unmasked. ****1/2

A weird start here where it looks like Doc is going to shoot in on Misawa. Every one clears out and away we go. I liked Doc taking a cheap shot at Ogawa on the apron. Scorpio and Misawa have a pretty basic wrestling sequence. Doc is really the spark here being a complete dick to Ogawa on the outside. It is nice to see Doc this motivated in 2000 as he does an impressive press slam to Ogawa lifting him up multiple times. It is really neat to see sleazy Ogawa at this point in time as sympathetic FIP. Scorpio’s flashy moves are also working in this environment against Misawa. Misawa ends up getting worked over a good bit here and we have a double heat sequence in this tag. Scorpio gets too flashy on a twisting legdrop and Ogawa is tagged back in. Scorpio is able to hit a huge moonsault that Misawa is forced to break up the pin with. All four guys are going after it now. Misawa and Ogawa start working together and make their comeback and it feels well earned. Scorpio kicks out of Ogawa’s back suplex but falls to the Tiger Driver and back suplex combo. I really dug this one and may be overrating it but it really displayed the short tag structure with a cohesive storyline element. Afterwards, Doc and Scorp fire away again. This is the best Doc has looked in years. ****

Well in the race of better second generations stars, It is easy to see just in this match who has that covered. David Flair is a real mess in the ring here being out of position and stumbling around. Pg-13 is really spirited as a team still and it is kind of a shame that the availability of indies wasn’t around in 2000 as I could see PG-13 going through multiple promotions for short runs with their top tags. We get a hubcap vs. crowbar battle and Wolfie D comes out on the losing end. Funny moment where JC Ice misses the finish and celebrates way after the fact. *

Scott Armstrong in rare action. Of all the Armstrong boys, I am least familiar with Scott besides his officiating tenure. Chavo is out with his briefcase. We get the announcement that either Nash or Sid is going to be the champion on Monday Night. Chavo is playing face here but I really don’t know if he was face or heel overall as I can’t keep track of turns in WCW 2000 and he certainly was being heelish last week on WCWSN. IN addition to the world title, now Tenay and Hudson are talking about Oklahoma not being the cruiserweight champion. Way to call the match guys. Chavo dropkicks Scott to the outside and follows after him allowing Scott to rush back in and gain advantage. We learn Scott has had some upset wins lately. Chavo is now strutting around and projecting cockiness. Scott tries to flare up an Armstrong chant but it was not meant to be. Scott charges in and gets hit with the tornado DDT by Chavo allowing him to pick up the win. Nothing much here and Chavo’s character work is confusing the shit out of me. *1/2

Back to WCWSN. Chuck Palumbo has raided Cheetah Kid’s gear bag. Rick Cornell is someone I am pretty unfamiliar with besides the Reno stint. Once again due to the sweetening it sounds like Center Stage is going crazy but yet all we see is empty seats. Nice dropkick by Palumbo. Rough dropkick by Cornell. Tenay and Hudson keep talking about Bobby no showing the taping here. I guess you have to fill the time somehow. Palumbo looks great hitting a springboard dropkick sending Cornell to the outside. It is kind of weird that Palumbo was already 28 years old here showing he started pretty late. I legit groan every time the Old Aged Outlaws are mentioned. This match goes through a break and we come back with Cornell in control. Tenay tells us he is from Las Vegas which makes his future ring name pretty ironic. Cornell’s offense on top is passable but fairly basic. The best thing he does is an arm wringer throw. Palumbo is good at selling and timing his hope spots. Cornell misses a move up top and Chuck hits a kick. Chuck then goes to the top beating his chest and hits a huge shoulderblock with big air. Good meat and potatoes match here with Chuck really looking great and a star of the future. **1/2

Bradley is worked up outside and a blowjob is proposed to calm him down. Cornette informs us his wrestling license is expired which feels like bad managerial work on his part. Randy Hales comes out and says he only cares about what the people want and the match begins. Ali hits a good plancha onto Bradley on the outside. Bradley continues to look really solid and Ali has good power moves. This gets a good amount of time for Memphis studio wrestling and has the usual tropes paid off for the babyface with Cornette’s interference being negated by Brandon Baxter and Ali picking up the big victory meaning Bradley has to leave the promotion. **3/4

Tracy Smothers is here and he is shooting! He doesn’t like bookers, promoters or human beings period. Smothers claimed he can whip any guy in WWF, WCW, and ECW. Tracy shows his side as being super glued and his ear which had 30 stitches removed. Ouch. They end up cutting Tracy off and we come back from break with Tracy in the middle of the ring. Nick Dinsmore is back and Tracy runs through his THUG routine. Dinsmore charges the ring and we have a match with Tracy in a collared shirt, jean, and snake skin boots. Really fun brawl that breaks down when Tracy hits a low blow and he goes nuts on everyone inside the ring with chairs and his boot. Looking forward to Tracy throughout the 2000’s. **1/2

This feels like the climax of late 90's early 2000 indies before Danielson and Low Ki really perfected the style to a degree. Tighter execution, state of the art moves, and a slither of story mixed in. Even the kind of grainy footage really felt like a staple of the indies prior to ROH. There were multiple moments of inconsistency and back and forth action and I really hated the integration of weapons and ref bump in this but overall this was more successful than the stuff we saw with the Ballard Brothers, Suicide Kid, etc. ***

Yes, watch Kawada vs. Shibata from November 2004.

I liked the Awesome vs. Spike section more than the PPV because it really got over the bully aspect of Awesome and didn’t rely on multiple table bumps to keep the match going. Welp, just as I say that Awesome goes flying through a table. Spike then legit just bounces a chair right off his head that surely lead to a concussion. Awesome gets his boot up on a running charge and takes over with a nasty clothesline and huge Awesome bomb. Awesome splash from the top leads to the referee botching the finish as Spike kicks out but he calls for the bell. Everyone is perplexed and this is a complete mess now. Judge Jeff sets up the table in the corner and sends Spike through with a running Awesome Bomb. That is enough for the finish. Awesome calls out RVD. RVD makes his way out and gets jumped by Sabu in the entranceway. Awesome does a senton on “both” on the outside that RVD completely bailed on making Mike hit the concrete in an awkward position. RVD does a big dive onto both and we end the scene confused at what just happened. **3/4

Odd pairing here. Match starts out fast and furious with no wasted motion. Sabu gains the early advantage and goes to his table retrieving routine. The match routine really relies on interference on the outside to gain CW the advantage. Sabu’s matches feel so helter skelter pace wise now and so dependent on the weapons that a lot of the success and failure results in if the spots are hit cleanly. CW gets a spinebuster through the table and Sabu is able to kick out of that. Triple jump moonsault is less cleanly but still enough for Sabu to gain the victory. A unique pairing but a fairly scattered sprint. **1/4

These are probably what I think are the two best ECW workers at this point so I was extremely excited to watch this. The opening action was really good. Basic stuff like Guido with a double leg takedown but he does it with such aggression and authority that it really resonates with the viewer. Even when they go outside this leads to a clever spot where Big Sal goes for a splash and ends up over the railing. One thing I appreciate about this match is Tajiri is a heel and hes not really changing his personality just because he is up against Guido but Guido is so much more of a sleazy character that he gets cheered by default. Guido keeps going for the fujiwara armbar and really cranks it immediately giving himself a chance throughout the match. In closing segment, Sal again gets on the apron and he gets dumped. Tajiri spits at him for good measure. A really great back spin kick from Tajiri leads to the brainbuster and the win. Really good match here. ***1/2

Mr. Black is essentially doing a Mr. Hughes gimmick here and using the Reservoir Dogs moniker as a kicker. TPT being from anywhere he pleases because his residence is a mobile trailer is one of the better hometown calls in wrestling history. TPT grabs a chair immediately which I really like since its no DQ. Bull’s punches, power moves and overall timing look better here than in the previous match he was in. Jebediah takes off his boot and whacks Bull as Cornette does his Bearnos Pizza ad read. Really impressive spot where Bull leaps from the mat to the top rope and does a clothesline. Work on Jebediah was good and the hot tag to TPT really works with him coming in as a big house of fire. TPT has the rollup when Bolin is able to hit TPT with the briefcase allowing Bolin Services contingent to get the win. One can assume they are due for a title shot now. Match was really good for the time it lasted. **3/4

I am really starting to really like these meat and potato AJPW tags involving No Fear. They are showing a shift in the style but just be a brutalizing force. This is making Misawa show some aggression that feels different than his mano y mano contests vs. Kobashi and the long term "weve been here before" rivalry vs. Kawada. Honda here is the outlier and the star as he really takes it to both members of No Fear and works the meat of the match. It does seem like No Fear needs some type of better double team finish as they put away Honda here with a series of leg drops and elbows. ***1/4

This match couldn’t reach the levels of the previous trio but it did have some good stuff mixed in it. Villano and Atlantis continue their march to the big match together with Atlantis trying to go after the rudo tandem from the onset and getting beat down. We see Villano grab a drink from the crowd but sadly the camera cuts away before we see what happens. There is some weird clipping in the second fall too where Emilio and Dr. Wagner are in the ring and then we go straight to Villano and Atlantis without any tags. Villano was able to obtain the victory and the build remains strong six weeks out. Charles and Shocker had a go at each other throughout this match and that was a fun looking feud. Shocker for his part stayed out of the way mostly. Fun stuff. ***

I don’t see how these guys can amp up the hatred each week but they continue to do it. The rudo team looks so boss in their flame capes and right away they rush the tecnicos. Tarzan Boy is a bloody mess again. They also perform a great spot where they tie TB armband to the ropes and then they just unload on him. They are rudo beatdowns and then there is this which looks like attempted murder. Such a massacre that the ref gives the fall to the tecnicos for excessive violence. Second falls starts out the same way but we get the comeback and the fight is on. It is always good to see Felino and he has an excellent blue suit here. I thought him and Antifaz really added a lot of style to the proceedings and the third fall culminates in some great sequences between them and Bucanero/UG. Antifaz hits a huge dive on the outside where he accidently wipes out Felino and then UG follows up with a big moonsault. This leaves TB and Satanico as the money pairing in the ring and Satanico is begging off like the asshole he is. He goes back and forth with them and fouls him to give the tecnicos the win. Afterwards, another rudo beatdown concludes and Satanico looks so delighted with himself. I love this feud. ****

This gets really visceral really quick with the chairs stuff. Will give credit to Joey Styles for putting over how this was a feud initially based on athleticism but now it is about hatred. Tajiri slides chairs across a table and then they go sailing into the crowd. Tajiri mockingly bows to the guy in an awesome moment. Crazy is a bloody mess. Tajiri hits the double stomp but the table doesn’t break. Second time is the charm and Tajiri’s charisma is just oozing off the page here. Tajiri mocks the selling of Crazy. THIS GUY. Crazy’s comeback is great and feels well earned after this shit he has endured. They quickly go through the crowd and Tajiri gives a beautiful moonsault through a table from the Bleacher Creature section. Crowd is rampant for Crazy now cheering him on. Tajiri isn’t dead yet with a handspring elbow but I liked Crazy hitting a flash clothesline too. Both guys are down as we reach the final moments of the match. Tajiri is able to get the tarantula as a bit of desperation and then hits a German for a nearfall. Tajiri just has such pop on every move tonight as evidence with the baseball slide and Asai moonsault combo. This is perhaps my favorite Styles call ever and I appreciate Gertner playing it straight on commentary as well. Tajiri sets a table up into the corner and Crazy comes zooming into screen with a huge missile dropkick. Now Crazy has a table that he brings into the proceedings. Tajiri has the ring wrench and looks like an assassin as he drives it into Crazy. He goes for the death kick but Crazy lifts him up for a powerbomb, a great finish results with Tajiri blocking that and misting Crazy but him still being able to deliver the powerbomb to the other table for the win. Easily one of the best ECW matches of all time. ****1/4

It takes RVD forever to do his entrance. The crowd is really hot at Victory and Corino and Victory calls a fan a fucking rat. He has to be calmed down by Fonzie of all people. We finally get started 8 minutes in and we have some classic shaky ass production from RF. Fonzie gives us some dreadful commentary on the fancam right next to him. Shouldn’t you be managing your guy chief? A Rhino sucks dick chant fires up from the crowd. Victory then hijacks the camera and wants to show us calling that guy a male fucking rat again. What is going on here? Rhino swallows chant follows that. RVD hits a nice looking bulldog on the apron from the ropes. RVD does some of his dive into the crowd spots that pop the fans. Corino and Fonzie get after each other and that could actually be a fun shtick match. Now Corino is going after the male rat. This guy is becoming the star of the show. Rhino times a gore really well after a moonsault attempt from RVD. I like Rhino on top and do think he is legit a top 4-5 talent in ECW at this point. RVD runs through his offense making a comeback and Fonzie even pastes Corino with a chair before the Five Star ends it. This had some good , a healthy amount of bad and a whole lot of ugly making it a pretty accurate encapsulation of ECW at the time. **1/4

These two meshed well together and actually had some good stiffness mixed in. I also liked the build to the table spot and Spike is someone that didn’t feel like he should be completely bullied by Sabu which does hurt my perception of Spike in some of his matches. The ending of this again got too back and forth for my tastes but as an overall upper mid card match, this was a pairing I hope to see more of in last days ECW. ***1/4

I was happy to see Lance take it to the Tanaka as on paper he looked like someone that might let Masato steamroll him and the match will be awkward overall. This also didn’t overstay it’s welcome making it a welcome addition to a house show if you are attending. There was too much your turn, my turn for it to reach very good levels, but I enjoyed myself. ***

There is something very sad about Kanyon having to portray this Godfather knockoff gimmick. Kimberly is awful on the mic but has other “assets” that she utilizes here to distract Kanyon for Page to attack. I feel like we missed part of the storyline as Page and Kim are solidly together here when on Nitro there was still uncertainty. The match is not bad, just marred by the weird storyline and what was going on both on screen and behind the scenes with DDP. DDP is able to get the victory on a good looking Diamond Cutter with more Kim influence. *1/2

We really got this to get a look at Matthews and York and they did a good bit for me here as a babyface, sympathetic tag team. They were worked over throughout the match and had to sell and execute good timing to make the match succeed. The match starts with them vs. Devine and Bowman who have this corporate worker gimmick where they were dress pants and turtlenecks. Once they are eliminated the match hits it stride in the final portion vs. Earl the Pearl who did a scathing heel promo pre match. This match also makes Earl the Pearl look like a pretty big star as he gets the big win here. Fun match. **1/2