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Squash as expected. Jindrak tries his springboard crossbody and Goldberg catches him although he backpeddles and has to use the ropes to keep himself up. Speak and Jackhammer are next and Goldberg has some parting shots for his opponents at Sin. ½*

Hero is certainly someone to track in 2000. He was on the outside looking in on my top 100 workers of 2000 and I fully expect that is the last year he is active that he will fall outside of the top 100 or maybe even the top 75. Him teaming with Morton here was good to see as they really established themselves as an old school bruising tag team. Pondo isn’t exactly good as a FIP but he was well enough to convey the story beyond his limitations and overall this was a good match. Tony is someone that if he would have been in IWA as much as some others, he probably would have had a lot of under the radar gems as he has a solid base. At minimum I wish he would have been around as much as someone like Adam Gooch in late 2002/early 2003. Morton/Hero getting the win in cheap fashion was expected and an IWA standby. The aftermath is really where this shines though. Morton is ready for more and here comes Sabu out to answer the call. I will say I thought the reaction to Sabu was pretty weak given his notoriety. Things ramp up with Tracy smothers coming out and they brawl and just cause chaos. IWA does 2/3 of these big wrap around the building, riotish type events a year from 2001-2003 and this one worked beautifully for me. Especially when Ian gets involved and at one point, Tracy charges towards him and they both go down. This was 15 minutes of compelling stuff that would have felt right at home in a Memphis studio. ***

This feels like a 2020 match teleported into 2001. I can make some Miyahara and Ito comparisons but the same fallacies that hold true for modern day AJPW in most cases held true here. They did a lot of stuff. There was a story told of the Mita’s strengths vs the double stomps and powerbomb of Ito but in the end, Ito is able to absorb all damage, lock on a tight armbar and that is it. Why was this not done 15 minutes earlier in this 27 minute affair? Mita did her best to look like a challenger but she was not a challenger so a 27 minute defense doesn’t necessarily elevate her, it weakens Ito to some extent and feels bloated overall. A ton of cool stuff in this match and the execution was well done to make the match “good” but the emotional stakes really missed the mark for me so the only plus is on technical proficiency not in captivating storytelling or investment. ***1/4 (6.3)

Date of this should be 1/2/01

CZW vs BJW explodes!!!! Zandig lets us know where he stand with a nice FUCK BJW shirt. Rebel still has the massive mullet. We start with CZW having a 3 on 2 advantage against Yamakawa and WX. Match is a pretty typical schmozz but the CZW crew really takes over in the back quarter and shockingly Kasai pins Yamakawa in 7 minutes after a big splash. *1/2 Lights go out and Kintaro emerges to a big pop and he cuts a promo and the six man is on. A staple gun is suspended from the ceiling and once CZW gains the advantage, Zandig retrieves that. He then staples a CZW flier onto Kanemura. Some of the ladder spots were fun but overall this felt pretty garden variety house style death match brawl to me. Pretty quick comeback for the BJW guys and Yamakawa gets his revenge pinning Kasai this time. Overall, not a promising looking feud based on what we saw here. Not knowing the context of the promos hurts the investment that Zandig does have in the US with the crowds. Rebel is worthless and the BJW contingent doesn’t look to interested even with Kanemura coming out all fired up. **

Pretty big match and this shows the depth of the star power of the roster as this show has Rock vs Kane, Rikishi vs Taker and Austin in action and they are presenting next week as the show to see. Rock starts off hot and him and Kane actually have a really good opening stanza of fighting with each other until the action spills outside. Kane sends Rock into the guardrail and starts taking over. Kane’s uppercut punch lands flushly here and Rock retreats deeper into the crowd. Rock gets slammed onto the concrete. Back inside, Kane hits the flying clothesline and he is looking spry tonight. A lot is made of the year Austin has in 2001 but I am keeping tabs on Rock too. He presented himself in 2000 as someone that could carry the company on the face side and improved greatly as an in ring worker. I am intrigued to see if that continues throughout 2001 and into 2002 when he stops becoming a full time performer. Its amazing looking at Rock’s cagematch and seeing he has less than 150 matches period from this point onward. The comebacks of Rock are timed so well and Angle comes out to provide interference. Angle eats a Rock Bottom on the floor but due to his distraction, Rock runs into a Kane chokeslam and gets pinned which was a bit of a surprise for me. Good match here. *** (6.1)

E&C try to cheer Kurt up saying no matter who wins the tournament, they are good. They are less confident when they are alerted of the table match they are in laters. Cole interviews the Dudleys. Bubba is spray painting on the table and D-Von says it is time to testify. Jericho says welcome to Stephanie is naked and then says ¾ of the locker room has seen her undressed anyway. Macho was backstage? Angle has a few moments on the stick before Jericho calls Steph a bitch and the fight is on. Good all action tv match with the pairings working out well and the whole match feeling chaotic. Some good teases of the table with the 3D and flap jack in particular being used as tease spots. Eventually Edges gets the 3D through the table as a receipt for Bubba going through one on SmackDown. **1/4

Mini four way tournament for #1 contender between Kane/Rock/Rikishi and Taker. Rikishi comes out to the entranceway but just stands there. Taker gets on his bike and chases after him. They tease some bumps from the entranceway but eventually walk fight back into the ring. Taker dominates sending Rikishi into the table until Taker rolls Rikishi into the ring first and he recovers enough to drop a legdrop on Taker. After about 90 seconds of Taker offense, Taker is back at it with a clothesline. This provides just a quick hope spot as Rikishi is able to hit a belly to belly seconds later. Rikishi warms up the ass and misses a charge in the corner. Inside out bump on another Taker lariat. Taker goes for the last ride but the ribs are too injured. Rikishi gives a legdrop to those ribs but puts his head down and a quick DDT from Taker wins. Weak finish as I thought they were actually going to make Rikishi look good here. Taker’s bulldozing approach in 2000 was a complete turn off and he starts off 2001 in nearly the same way. *1/2

Austin barges in and asks Stephanie about his title shot. Steph puts him up for a job he might enjoy. That is being a beer vendor. Austin is taking Kevin’s job. Steph smugly walks out and then Kevin has something to say so Austin beats him up. Austin has his vendor tray over him when Steph walks up and is still smug. Austin accidently sprays mustard on her and she stomps off into her locker room. Back from break, Austin is tasting and drinking all of the beers. JR says he is a very conscience vendor. Steph is venting to Vince on the phone and how her silk blouse is ruined. Trish comes in and she asks Vince about the holidays. Vince says they were fantastic. We learn that Test will face Benoit for the IC title. Steph goes on a big rant against Trish and kicks her out of the office. Austin stomps to the ring and asks for Steph to come out. He shows that he has sold all the beer and hotdogs. Steph comes out in her new blouse and asks who the hell he is talking to and Austin says a bitch. The crowd then starts up the slut chant which Austin lets Steph know about. We see that APA bought all of Austin’s beer. Regal vs Austin gets set up and we learn that it will be triple threat match now on SmackDown. Austin puts the vendor tray over steph and when he tries to pull it off, it gets caught on the shirt and tears it off. Steph runs away embarrassed. Regal leaves Stephs dressing room with a big smile on his face. It is time for the main event. We learn from Regal that Steph is the guest referee. Another pretty fun brawl based match. Austin dominates for the most part sending Regal into the table. It looks like Austin has the match in hand but Steph gets something in her eye and can’t count to three. That leads to a really good brawl segment in the corner with both Regal and Austin dropping some stiff shots. Regal lands a low blow and then wipes out Hebner who came out to referee too. Spinebuster from Austin and he goes for the count but Steph is still out. Austin grabs Steph by the hair but gets rolled up by Regal. A quick count later gives Regal the win. Steph announces Regal as the winner as Austin looks on in complete disgust. She announces the winner again as Steven Regal and the loser as Steve Austin. Austin gives Regal a stunner to take out his frustration. Overall, a pretty fun Raw for a holiday version. **3/4

Test and Trish are backstage and Test says that Trish should go back to her little sugar daddy. T&A have split which is something I don’t remember at all from the end of 2000 and Trish is backing Test. She gives him a reassuring pep talk and the match is up next. Match isn’t anything but a storyline device for T&A. The back and forth between Benoit and Test is actually pretty promising and I think they could have a good match if given 8-10 minutes on tv. Albert comes out after 3 minutes of action and Test dives on him from the top rope. When Test ascends to the top rope again, Trish shoves Test off and then scurries away. Test and Albert have a pull apart as the segment ends. **

Louisville this week has lawler and Hart vs Jarrett and Lucas in a tuxedo style match but with just regular clothes. Lawler and Morton is the expiration of time match and a ton of fun. Lawler cranks the leg and is proud of himself while the studio shouts go Ricky go, Ricky gets just enough offense to make Lawler sweat and use a distraction from Jimmy to gain the pin. ***

Atlas promo was the highlight here saying he trains every day except Sunday when he heads to church. Match was of clubbing variety and not very exciting at all. Atlas had the power advantage and Lewin kept retreating not looking much like a maniac. Chair gets into the ring and Lewin blades to open the action up some. Atlas throws him over for the DQ which was cheap. *1/2

Having fatigue on ajpw as the matches are all the same. Good but hohum May work followed by either a bullshit finish or the junior member getting pinned. The latter was the case here as Dutch takes the fall. **1/2

Nice bloody brawl. It kind of gets overshadowed by the majestic visceral nature of Magnum vs Tully but the shots are stiff, the blood flows and the character work is well done. Abdullah acts like a game level boss that Manny must overtake. Length felt perfect too. ***3/4

Rewatched this tonight and Shoe is spot on. Through ten minutes and Flairs arm work I thought we were viewing a lost classic, Rude gets on offense and things slow wayyyyy down. I still think this is a terrific Flair performance and overall this is better than its rep but it is an interesting what could have been if Flair would have matched up with a more game physical opponent. ***1/2

Not much action before Brody invades at ringside and he goes after Baba.

Dull match with everyone on autopilot. There were some brief highlights of Robinson and Tenryu slapping each other but otherwise, I was bored.

Really weird match that I’m not sure I liked or not. First portion was on the mat ang Joe was smothering showing how restrictive Cage is but beyond aesthetics, the work was dull and the crowd is mute almost the entire match. Once Hara starts getting rammed into the cage, the action picked up. Joe in particular takes some nasty shots full on during Haras comeback. Both guys juice and this is worked last man standing style of a ten count needing to be done for the win. A unique take on a cage match if nothing else and I could see some others really liking it. **1/2

Watched Garvin vs Flair from 3/30/86 today and it was simply amazing. I think that and flair vs Steamboat will be the pairing represented most in my final list.

I believe the date is 4/25/81 on this. Quick match with Flair winning via figure four

An interesting news piece with clips from the match set to punk rock and Monsoon and Hulk given kayfabed interviews but in a way that feels behind the scenes. Hulk says there is no substitute for victory and he’ll take as many shortcuts as possible. The piece turns utterly bizarre when the slow things down with eerie music saying Gorilla threw an air punch when it’s clearly a chop that did make contact. We then get the Samoans that couldn’t be interviewed because they don’t speak English. Piece finishes with wrestling being compared to recreational vehicles. This lacked focus lacked but was fun to see.

We learn that Sponsors are offering $1000 for anyone to take a hair vs hair match with Rose. Hope is they win and buddy is so embarrassed, he leaves the promotion. That is awesome. Borne and Parsons don’t have their later year personas here and are essentially used as an upstart babyface role that is used to showcase Rose and Colt. This was my first time really watching Colt and he was effective as a scummy bruiser partner for Rose. The quality of tv wrestling in Portland is amazing. The actual wrestling is at a higher level than what we’ve seen and you have great personalities with Rose and everything surrounding him. First ten minutes is Borne in an armbar and all geek tactics surrounding that to maintain the advantage. Hot tag to parsons was great and crowd was heated. Buddy ducks a dive and parsons hits the post. Heels continue to take any advantage and sneak in to win the advantage. Match ends up going to a draw which helps elevate parsons and Borne immediately. Really solid tag match. ***1/4

Match is a squash but Larry’s promo afterward is one of the best in wrestling history. Nuanced and weighted, Larry comes off as both endearing and whiny in the same promo and sets up the program with Bruno masterfully.

Rewatched this today and liked it much more. The cutoffs and storytelling was spot on. Booty Man is still stupid but the can’t bring this down too much.

There is no set list. The above and the Facebook page will provide suggestions and recommendations but we wanted to remove the nomination project since in previous projects, people voted for non nominated matches anyway.