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Derrick has a bad wheel but guts it out. King sells the leg throughout the match and gets the studio crowd behind him. Spanky comes in and rams a chair into the leg of King to add insult to injury. Shooter then locks on a Boston Crab and wins the match. King created a lot of sympathy and Shooter and Spanky were annoying so overall this segment was a success. *1/2

Jun and Kobashi stary off hot and they are on a road of hatred heading into the 12/23 match. The two Takeshi’s then square off which is interesting to see givien the future for these hosses. It is engaging to see Akiyama being able to recruit his own stable and he is established as a major pillar of NOAH. KENTA looks tiny compared to Morishima and they take over on young KENTA to gain an advantage. Its cute seeing KENTA wearing the Kobashi orange and Shiga representing his boy with the white tights. Shiga and Kikuchi have a pretty awesome battle against each other as the lieutenants of their respective teams. The way the roster is defined here is so great as each team has a legend/lieutenant/junior/brute. That type of hierarchy really sings to me and is even more rewarding when you see stuff like Kobashi going after Shiga. KENTA becomes the whipping boy and takes some nasty punishment from Kanemaru on the outside. All 4 of Sterness do a giant swing pancake into the mat and then Morishima brutalizes KENTA some more. Kobashi gets the hot tag and we go to the final sequence. Some more beefy action with Rikio and Morishima in there at the final stages. Sterness takes turns wearing out Rikio and Morishima finishes him off with a big lariat. Fun ass six man. ***3/4 (7.5)

We get most of this match and it is a lot of dueling leg work. I think the growth of Tanaka has been striking to watch as he was the clear highlight here. AKIRA looked cool coming out and is fine on his attack but it is really the selling and desperation for the burst of offense that Tanaka utilizes that makes the match shine. Tanaka also had some great leg work that was moderately sold by AKIRA. Nice win for Tanaka and he is set up to be an IWGP Jr. contender for 2001. ***1/4 (6.7)

I always like the way Elks Lodge looks and wish more lower level indies ran NYC now. We get some atrocious commentary from Iron Sheik at ringside. Good lockup to start and the chain wrestling they do in the early going is tight and proficient. Xavier gains the advantage sending Ki into the turnbuckle and to the outside. Spinning tope to the outside from Xavier. Ki regains the advantage wasting Xavier on a series of kicks. Ki then does a moonsault to the outside and gets great height and body control. Awful commentary again as you can see them passing the one microphone back and forth and they plead with Sheik to say something of note. The striking and intensity here carries the match as there is a good many transitions given the time that has expired. Fun spot as Ki whiffs on a kick to a diving Xavier, he points to his head and Ki lands a big kick then. That turned what I thought was a botched spot into a planned one. Phoenix Splash attempt by Ki and he gets kicked in the stomach on the way down. Buckle Powerbomb by Xavier and then a pumphandle slam for a nearfall. Xavier gets crotched going up again and Ki locks in the Dragon Sleeper with them both on the ropes. Ki is showing a lot of his signature stuff here. They do the Guerrero/Malenko pin sequence and then Xavier catches Ki in a snap powerslam and hangman’s neckbreaker. Now Maniac is on commentary. This would have been better without commentary. Ki Krusher is hit by Ki and both men are down. Xavier breaks that pin up with a foot on the rope. Ki climbs to the top but is distracted by the UCW crew on the outside. Xavier hits the 450 perfectly and picks up the pin. For a 10 minute match, we saw a lot here and most was hit cleanly. This was a better envisioned version of the indie stuff Ric Blade was trying to do but just didn’t have the story or connective tissue of greater matches that would happen on the indie circuit in the next couple of years. Still helluva fun. *** (6.2)

Another good match and overall this was a pretty fun show. This had a lot more brawling aspects to it and Cham Pain has more heavy punches than you would think given his frame. I liked the way the weapons like the tables and the structure of the building with the concessions window were mixed in. CW Anderson comes out to help his buddy Corino and we get another non finish which is the downfall of the show as all three matches we saw had some pretty shoddy finishes. Like I said with Michaels/AJ, that was fine for that spot on the card but it is less acceptable for the main event. Someone I didn’t recognize makes the save for Cham Pain but again this was a good show but had a couple of matches that had some bullshit that prevented it from being great. ***1/4 (6.7)

Promo by Shane to start. Not much of note and it feels like he is trying too hard. Douglas as the bad ass heel just doesn’t work and he actually wants Goldberg to come out by cutting a promo on him beforehand. The promo lasts longer than the match. Shane is shocked that Goldberg answers the challenge I guess which makes him look like a goof. Douglas has a chain wrapped around his fist and punches Goldberg down before getting back suplexed. On the ramp, Luger is racking Sarge which distracts Goldberg trying to gain the countout. Douglas again stupidly attacks instead of letting Goldberg chase Luger. Spear/Jackhammer see ya. ½*

A heavy striking based match. They really took it to each other with stiff strikes and impressive power moves including Mack catching Ki going for the tidal kick with a powerslam and Ki getting Mack up for the Ki Krusher. The match ends up going to a 15 minute draw and we get respect promos to close out the show. This didn’t have the psychology of the peak Ki stuff from the year but it showed how in 2000,he was without a doubt the strongest prospect in the US. ***1/2 6.9

Corino doesn’t come out until Shane retreats back to the locker room thinking the match is off. Corino then comes out and attacks dominating the quick match. Corino gets on the mic speaking Spanish after the neckbreaker. He grabs a chair but gets apprehended by officials. Corino then grabs Shane’s belt before he leaves. I wouldn’t really call this a match and the violence that Corino inflicted didn’t seem worthy of Shane being laid out for over five minutes. NR.

I loved the clips before the match starts proper. As an overall match, I thought this ended the year for Bat Bat on a good note. While it was sad that RINGS disappeared in 2000, BattlARTS and the Osaka Pro shooty stuff helped maintain the mantle in the shoot style genre. Malenko and Yuki especially had some spirited sequences and counters here and that looks like a great program to kick of 2001. Malenko even does the spinarooni at one point. The story was presented well with Ishikawa and Hijikata dominating most of the action and then Malenko coming in with a slick combo to gain the submission victory and looking impressive in doing so. Hijikata gets up in their face after the ceremony but he gets swatted away and then we get parting interviews. ***3/4 (7.3)

Was intrigued to see what a women’s match in Bat Bat looks like. Tanny shows some heart and this had a couple of nice frisky exchanges but it was eseentially a squash for Tamura and she guzzled up the vast majority of the match. As a result, it was too long for me overall. I also thought Tanny didn’t really sell the leg work that was presented as well as she could have. **1/2

An awesome end to the year for ARSION. Aja was a complete prick throughout this match brutalizing Hamada with all sort of crabs and kicks to the back. Hamada hung in there and gave some spots of hope by flying to the outside and trying strike exchanges but the monster wasn’t going down. Utilizing a quasi rope a dope approach, Hamada finally finds some success in the final moments and we have both women running on fumes. Mustering up all her strength, Hamada is able to hit three large kicks and pick up the huge win. Great match. **** (8.1)

The first couple of minutes are clipped but this was another awesome Asari sprint full of high octane action, slick submissions and stiffness. AKINO should a lot of fire working from underneath and not tapping out. Overall, Asari ends 2000 as probably the best sub 10 minute worker in the world as far as matches we have seen. I look forward to her advancement throughout the decade. ***1/2 (6.8)

We get less than half of this and it reminded me a lot of the 1/03/00 AJW match with LCO being dominant and really filibustering the entire match. The clips we saw looked good but both Tamada and GAMI didn’t look like they had many openings throughout the match. They do get a flurry at the end and we get an odd finish where Shimoda winning is sort of played off as a surprise which didn’t fit the clips we saw IMO. NR

What a great match this was. The pace never let up and all of the storylines were easy to follow with the hate feeling legitmate. Front and center was Nagashima and Ozaki and they didn’t disappoint. I agree with what OJ says about this having a mentor vs student vibe but with a lot of edge as they pushed each other and were desperate to come out on top. Nagashima had numerous moments where it felt like that would be the case but ultimately she falls short like she should. A weird fucking angle ends the clip as Devil, Mayumi and Akira drink wine when the lights darken and zombie Chigusa and Lioness come down to ringside. ****1/4 (8.3)

This was a good brawl that didn’t overstay its welcome. The pace was kept up and the seconds were able to chip in without completing derailing the match. KAORU is an interesting worker for the year in that she had some stuff that didn’t hit but also a near MOTY in the match vs Aja. Overall, a match like this helps her case as this didn’t set out to be an epic match but yet was satisfying in its own way. ***1/4 (6.7)

I had a blast watching it. It wasn’t the more experimental style of Osaka Pro on display but reminded me of a indie band getting a chance to open for a bigger act or having a festival set. They knew what would garner a positive reaction and hopefully gain some new fans. The rainbow gear was boos and Murahama and Tanaka had some great interactions. Liger was fine in this but actually didn’t show as much fire as I would have hoped given how spunky he is in the NOAH series. Tanaka continues to get the big push picking up the win here. ***3/4 (7.5)

Nice to see some longer Coliseo action. Panther and Villano III in particular have a great mat sequence against each other Villano IV and Scorpio continue their feud and we get some Porky comedy. The final falls were nice to see Porky work with guys like Panther that it doesn’t feel like they have interacted much with. Porky is able to fake out a foul and win the match for his team. ***1/4 (6.7)

An awesome no fat beefy tag match. The table was set with Fuchi and Araya and then it climaxes with Tenryu and Kawada throwing down. Araya really took a beating throughout the match but showed some good fire and when he does fight back in the closing moments, it is a great sequence that has the crowd extremely fired up. Him going for a moonsault and other moves gave just enough of an opening that he could pull off the huge upset. Kawada also didn’t throw out his entire arsenal so I don’t think we had too many kickouts or false finishes throughout the match. I have been pretty let down watching the current G1 in real time due to the lack of stakes but this felt like a great tournament match that also progressed a story beyond the tournament. **** (8.2)

Interesting match where from the semi final earlier in the night, Fuchi is wounded. As a result, Kawada takes the first 50% of the match. I think the resurgence of Doc is on the downswing as he was fine here but did look dated. Rotunda looked worse and I kind of wish Barton and Doc would have teamed up. The t-shirts and triangle new varisty club shit doesn’t help. The ending run was well done and I was surprised to see Doc/Rotunda win. RWTL final matches have a knack for being some of the better AJPW matches of the year. This was a very good match in spite of itself but certainly not a classic like in years past. ***1/2 (6.9)

Easily one of the best matches of the year. The opening mat work was perfect table setting but from the attack on Iizuka onward with Fuchi stepping on his face and drawing mad boos, this was outstanding. Some of the selling in the finale with Fuchi limping around, Kawada limping around and Iizuka being exhausted was tremendous. Kawada and Nagata were presented as the main guy of their respective teams but Iizuka and Fuchi played very important roles. The 30 min draw feels satisfactory. This is a match I have watched a few times now over a 15 year period and it has gotten better every time. ****3/4 (9.7)

Another chapter in the TB leading to be a rudo saga. Him and Satanico really go after each other again in this match and are once again the focal point. Santo gets beat up a good bit in the corner and the tecnicos end up kicking TB off the team. Ultimo of course has sympathy for TB and consoles him. I am still enjoying this ride to impending turn and changing of the lineup of these factions. ***1/4 (6.3)

I was so happy to see this given time and it didn’t disappoint. Virus is probably going to be in the William Regal vein as far as top 100 workers of the year in that I have little doubt he isn’t up to elite levels but I’m not sure if the resume can justify that. The contrast between the two with Virus tricked out matwork and Marvin mixing in his highspots were gorgeous to watch and this felt like one of the 10 minute lightning matches you get in CMLL current day that wet the appetite for something more. All of the falls felt logical and actual moves of consequence that could have conceivably led to a fall and Marvin winning at the end got a good reaction. A really fun highlight later in the year from Arena Coliseo. **** (7.8)

Good lucha action and I thought the sequences between Dandy and Zumbido with TB and Rivera were the highlights. I do keep hoping we will see a full fledged rudo TB as that has to be happening soon. Pimpinela didn’t really do a ton here but she hit her spots and was active when called upon. Sagrada was never the smoothest worker but he took some awkward bumps and seemed to be a half step off. Silver Star is exactly what I think of when I hear the term replacement level luchador. Overall, Monterrey has kind of seemed like a place where the action is fine but the workers are holding back. This felt like a case of them going out there and giving close to max effort and in the case of Dandy, allowing him to showcase his talent where he isn’t getting the opportunity elsewhere right now. ***3/4 (7.3)

This certainly has to be almost the full fledged rudo turn for TB. He goes after La Parka and they have a ton of interaction against each other even as tag partners. Shocker like always is the straw that stirs the drink. Overall, this was a very very good trios match. Dandy had some swank new gear and each of the opening sequences brought about unique pairings and fresh matchups for the year. The way Porky’s comedy spots were spliced in felt organic and added to the variety feel of the match. One of the most fun lucha matches for the year and it felt like we got some good storyline development as well with the TB turn. ***3/4 (7.7)

Was sort of a victory lap style match for Infernales as they are ending their run in this iteration. All three of them will place on my year end awards and should do well. I thought Charles showed more here and was more lively than he has been throughout most of the year. He sort of reminds me of Dynamite Kansai in that he still feels capable of a great performance but his peak of the late 80’s and early 90’s is a thing of the past. Silver Star also dished it out and took a better beating here than in other lesser Monterrey matches. *** (5.9)