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Around 15 people take a mark pic in the ring with Parka. Wagner is not impressed. The outfits here are boss. Knowing their brawls throughout the years, this starting as a title match with some chain wrestling felt like the opening scene of a long book. The work here isn’t as crisp as the maestros like Panther, Solar, etc but just seeing Parka work in this environment was engaging. The Wagner bomb to end the first fall was nasty. The second fall was really lengthy and had some good teases were it seemed somewhat reasonable it would only be a two fall match. The third fall has a board being used on Parka’s leg and foot and that is a focal point for the remainder. Wagner hits a brutal kick right to Parka’s face when they get back into the ring. Parka goes for broke and hits a tope to turn the tide. Really good nearfalls and then a cheap finish that isn’t actually the finish where Wagner gets a foul but presents it like it was an accident. Referee gets bumped and here comes Damian with the bullshit. Zumbido also tries his hand and gets taken out. That does provide an aopening for Wagner to attack and hit the Michinoku Driver to gain the advantage. Instead of covering, he places a towel over Parka and walks away. Once he wonders back, Parka gets the flash roll up and win to a huge pop. Really close to verging on great for me. ***3/4 (7.5)

Only 7 of 21 minutes which is a shame as I was really anticipating some tricked out mat work. We cut to the finale of the match and the action is fun but lacking context given we missed all the table setting beforehand. I did like the chicken wing that Sasuke finishes off the match with. I think this was the first time we saw the beautiful stained glass arena in Japan as well. NR

Cool to see Villanos team with someone different and face off against the IWRG stalwarts but the actual action of this trios wasn’t extrodinary. I was expecting more from a Bombero vs III pair off but they didn’t interact too much and the action followed a decent but basic style. The finish continued that theme as we have seen a multitude of lucha finishes in 2000 as fake outs from fouls and that happened here as the rudos get the win by tricking the referee. **1/2

Fun lucha stuff mainly carried by Warrior, Felino and Cerebro. Gigolo was disappointing and his rope running was comically bad in the second fall. He redeems himself in the third by doing some mask ripping against Warrior. The Felino vs Cerebro sections overall were the match highlight. Nothing I will remember but a fun popcorn style match. *** (6)

More carryover from the week before although a briefer match. The most memorable thing was Villano III going apeshit on some fan before the second fall. I have no idea what happened but he was PISSED. Villano III gets fouled in the second fall but it is missed and the rudos even it up. Third fall didn’t ramp up the action as much as I would have hoped until all six guys are in there and III gives a measure of revenge by doing a foul and then faking he got hit. Niebla sells it to the ref and tecnicos are awarded the pin as it looks like the other referee is having a heart attack. **3/4

It is tough to describe the excitement you feel knowing that a WWF PPV is coming within a two hour radius of where you live. Fans in the Atlanta metro area did get the 7/6/98 Goldberg title win Nitro and some good Raws but we also were privy to such amazing segments such as Roddy Piper’s tryouts and the fingerpoke of doom. No PPV had been in Atlanta since Slamboree 1993. Armageddon 2000 taking place in Birmingham, Alabama was around two hours from where I lived, but it was so close that I had to beg my dad for us to go see it. Using the ruse of an early Christmas present we made the trek out to witness this event. The PPV is pretty hazy for me overall. I remember it less than most of the Raws/Nitros I saw in the Georgia Dome and a lot less than the first WWF PPV in Atlanta, Royal Rumble 2002. Today I am going to discuss the main event from this show. I will mostly use this feature to stray away from the main event matches and examine some of the lesser known matches that comprise these PPVs but I wanted to discuss this match for a bevy of reasons. This match took place when the Hell in a Cell concept was still at a primitive level. This match also featured six of the biggest competitors at the time competing in the same stipulation match. We see that as common within a WWE year now both with the Elimination Chamber and Money in the Bank. I wanted to go back and refresh my memory as to whether the novice factor of this occurrence clouds the quality of the match of it is one of the more under looked gems in WWF/WWE history. I am happy to report that the latter is the case. This is a 30 minute war so a blow by blow account is not possible without it taking away from some of the intensity of the match and it sounding just like a punch/kick affair. The structure of this match overall is what really brings it over the top along with some great violence and developments for the future. I separate the match into three sections: beginning portion in the cell until Vince rips the door off, everything outside of the Cell around the cars, and the finishing stretch that begins when Triple H climbs the cell. The beginning segment is good but feels like a continuation of Survivor Series. We get all three big matches paired off with each other and they each take turns ramming each other around the cage and being spotlighted inside the ring. Both the camera work and the commentary in this match are excellent in making the match seem frantic but not out of control enough that they couldn’t tell the narrative of the match. Triple H gets busted open and raked across and we see a wrinkle in the pairings a little with Undertaker facing Triple H while Rikishi and Angle are going at it. Mr. McMahon then makes his way down the aisle on the back of a flatbed with Patterson and Brisco in tow. He is going to tear the cage down to ensure that this violence won’t continue. He is able to get the door out of the way but is interrupted in his proceedings by commissioner Mick Foley. Foley is able to knock out Patterson and Brisco and he has Vince carted off by Birmingham’s finest. This allows the action to spill to the outside and the competitors berate each other with the cars that are a part of the set. Many spots here are reminiscent of Over the Edge 1998. My favorite is Austin slinging the camera at Triple H and Hunter giving the pedigree to the Rock on top of a car. Now both Austin and the Rock are busted up. Angle and Undertaker go back to the ringside area and have a very intense brawl around the timekeeper. The end result is Taker getting pasted with a chair and now he is busted open. Triple H makes his way back to the Cell and begins to ascend as a buzz grows in the crowd. The action certainly escalated with the competitors outside of the cell which is surprising to me because most cage matches excel with the action intensified on a confined space. I think with this many competitors it needed to go for the more out of control, interesting pairing tone it executed. Triple H and Austin scale the cage and have a great battle on the top that electrifies the crowd and is the best stuff they have done in ring wise up to this point. Taker and Angle follow suit and eventually Taker gets a receipt on the earlier chair shot busting Angle open for the first time in his career. The title really felt in jeopardy at this moment. Rikishi then scales the cage in a sight to behold and then we all know the spot that follows with Taker chokeslamming Rikishi on the back of the flatbed truck. I of course lost my shit live when this happened as I was on the opposite end of the arena and I still think this looks impressive even now with Rikishi having obvious padding to break his fall. The reaction shots from Austin and the Rock inside the ring really sell home the damage. However, the best sequence of the match happens next. Rock and Austin had not interacted at all throughout the first 25 minutes of this match but now they found themselves alone inside the ring. This encounter reminded me of Warrior vs. Hogan at Royal Rumble 1990 and was all sorts of awesome giving us a glimpse of what was to come. The finishing sequence overall is very intricate and good with the finishers staying protected and unique saves. The end result finally occurs when Angle is Rock Bottomed but then The Rock gets the count broken up by Austin. Ross gives a great call at this time about how this “son of a bitch live up to the hype.” Austin then gives the stunner to The Rock but as he crawls over Triple H intervenes and hits a neckbreaker neutralizing both of them. Angle is able to put a faint hand over The Rock and get the pinfall victory ending this classic. ****1/4 (8.3)

An excellent six man. This whole Akiyama vs Kobashi feud is reminiscent of the 90’s Jumbo vs Misawa feuds in that it is mostly very good at a baseline. Now Jumbo vs Misawa did throw out some MOTYC in 90-92 and with Shiga, Kanemaru, etc there is a ceiling but I just love all of the interaction and the hatred and progression. This added some new wrinkles like Kobashi trying to go for a burning hammer and Kobashi/Akiyama starting off hot but then slowing things down more and more. KENTA also is raising his status and starting to get some spunky offense in. The finish was fun with Shiga being Akiyama’s #2 dude and putting on a nasty arm submission on Kikuchi until Kikuchi is forced to tap out. I’m really looking forward to 12/23 after watching these matches. I don’t know when Akiyama vs Kobashi will feel old this decade as they feud for most of it but sadly the Kobashi injury may keep things fresh when he returns and Im really enjoying the ride so far. **** (8.2)

Crazy starts by himself and gets beat up but it isn’t long when Kid Kash comes to make the save. This was the apex of this style of match throughout the year. It didn’t have the hate of the early iterations of Crazy vs Tajiri from Jan and February but the spots, pace and reaction from the crowd was still tremendous. Even though I reject notions that Tajiri is far and away WOTY for 2000, there is no doubt that he is one of the best wrestlers in the world and garners a great and legitimate reaction from the crowd. Tons of crazy spots from the big dive of Kash, the double stomp through the table, the two chair combo from him and Mikey, Mikey taking a big bump to the outside and the general stiff shots that only Tajiri can provide. It was refreshing seeing this type of match and performance one more time in a dying promotion. **** (7.9)

Only clips can be shown due to the violent nature of the match. Only one camera is shown so we see Browning and Thunder for the majority since they are in the forefront. The door to the arena gets raised. A fairly generic brawl and since this is 2000, we have a referee stomping away. The gimmicks here too with Scotty Ace and Dr. X are very low rent. I can get behind some southern fried wrestling but this didn’t do much given the clips shown. NR

Foley has ruled the five men as #1 contenders and we have our Hell in a Cell main event set for the PPV. Pretty pedestrian set up to get to that point but I remember the Cell match being excellent so we will see if that holds up. Foley runs down all the violent things that has happened. Rock interrupts and they have their back and forth. Rock is pissed he isn’t the sole #1 contender. Austin, Taker, Rikishi & HHH get called out next and then Foley announces the Cell stip. I thought Foley did a good job intertwining all the stories between these men. Angle then comes out and says it is unfair. Foley announces that if anyone gets physical tonight, they will lose their shot. HHH gets a dig in at Kurt and then reminds Foley that he retired his ass in a Hell in a Cell. Steph comes out next and HHH informs the crowd that tonight is their 1 year anniversary. They invite all the competitors to the party. Backstage we see the anniversary party as HHH dispatches Harvey to stand guard and inform HHH of any surprises that show up. Next, HHH gives Steph a gift and gets scared when Harvey brings in champagne. HHH gives Steph a platinum tennis bracelet. Not a bad gift. Harvey barges in and says a guy is wanting to come in and is ticked off. In walks Benoit. Benoit offers his services to kick Austin’s ass as an anniversary gift. Angle comes in next to talk to Steph. Angle says he was kidding about having Steph in his corner. He asks for her help at the PPV. Steph says right now she has to take care of her husband. Kurt gets a hug but then HHH comes out of the bathroom and that turns into a handshake. Trish is next wishing both a happy anniversary. Test soon follows and says that Steph is just HHH’s puppet. I love how Steph still calls him Andrew. Steph has a gift for HHH as Rikishi comes in. Rikishi says at HIAC its every man for himself but they agree to team up to kick ass first. Lillian interviews Angle & E&C. Not much of note except that E&C are going to take out Kurt’s PPV opponents. The cake is being delivered and he is wearing a Stone Cold camo hat which makes HHH wig out. Tag match starts and the storyline interweaving throughout is whether Rock and Taker can coexist. Taker dominates E&C to start. Angle is able to German Taker in a great looking spot and they take over on offense for a bit. Angle clubs away on Taker on the outside. I continue to love Rock cheering for the tag on the apron and Taker does well at selling the damage here hobbling around. Great hot tag to Rock and he cleans house before getting Christian with a Rock Bottom. Angle breaks up the pin and Taker chases after him. Edge slams a chair on Taker and Angle hits the Olympic Slam on Rock. That gets a close nearfall as Hebner was on the outside reprimanding Edge. Taker is back and now begging for the tag. Tags are made to Angle and Taker and Taker cleans house on Angle. Chokeslam from Taker and he hits the Last Ride to get the pinfall victory. Good tag match leading to the PPV. ***1/4 (6.3) Backstage we get one final look in to HHH & Steph. HHH turns the lights off and we see a brawl ensue. We then get a clip of Harvey on the outside and Austin taps him on the shoulder and laughs. Austin comes in and we see HHH beating up Vince. A hokey gameplan from HHH but a fun payoff on the vignettes.

This is probably the lowest Benoit has felt on the totem pole throughout the year which is odd considering he is going for the top secondary title. That is probably the Billy Gunn effect. Jericho does a promo beforehand calling Benoit a gap toothed robot and calling them R2D2 and C-3PO. He also states Kane has the qualities of a hemroid. Pretty good comedy stuff from Jericho here. Quick match focused on the two matches coming up at Armageddon. Jericho and Kane brawl around some with Jericho getting thrown into the table. Finish comes when Billy gets caught in the crossface and taps out. *1/4

Like the other semi final match, this is a rematch of a league tourney match I wasn’t that enthused with. This had a little more juice into it because you have seen Norton pick up some big wins so he feels like more of a threat. The final sequence with the double submissions was also great and Chono was not someone that went down easy so it felt like a big moment. *** (5.8)

We are JIP and this is the first league match as four teams finished tied in points leading into the final night. This is a semi-final as sorts. We saw a few days before Ten Koji taking care of business against Nakanishi/Yoshie and this played off that earlier match. Finish felt abrupt as we had some back and forth before Tenzan hits the tombstone, Nakanishi kicks out at 1 and then Tenzan puts him away with the moonsault. Backstage, Chono gives them a handshake before him and Norton prepare to go out. NR

Interview with Buff where they are presenting him as someone that has been passed over throughout his career but he has an opportunity tonight. Buff’s hat is awful. Scott before the match gives Buff the opportunity to walk away. Buff shakes his hand and then turns on him. Buff has some good offense here as the action spills to the outside. Steiner takes over and carries the heat segment on his combo of charisma and suplexes focusing on the back which does make sense given the Recliner. Buff makes his comeback when Sid starts yelling on the Big Screen. Scott is unphased by this as I like this more given people nowadays are frozen still when someone yells on the screen. Blockbuster is hit but Madaja interferes and Steiner takes over and locks in the Recliner to win. Sid vs Steiner doesn’t scream Starrcade main event to me. Good showing from Buff and a fun tv main event defense for Steiner. **1/2

Tygress is on commentary and Madden is creepy towards her. Quick match so the Animals get a lot of hot spots in early and then Harris twins do some power stuff. Rey is FIP and makes the tag to Kidman. Kidman runs through some stuff as all six men brawl. Jarrett grabs the guitar, whacks Kidman and picks up the win. *1/2

Storm continues to be positioned down which is a shame as he was saddled with Demott for so long. Hayashi gets the best of Storm and Elix and then does a pretty fun Storm impersonation. FIP sequence is good enough but Elix is not going to be the breakout star it looks like they hoped. Major Gunns and Meia Leow get into a skirmish which has more heat than anything else. Kaz gets a brainbuster inside the ring as The Cat attacks Duggan trying to interfere. Jung Dragons hit a splash/legdrop combo and pick up the upset win. **1/4

Kurt has a lot of complaints and says this is a hazardous work environment. Not the most groundbreaking promo from Angle but the heat is there so kudos to him. Foley and Debra come out and pervy Jerry is crazy over Debra. Crowd drones out Mick talking with a we want puppies chant. Foley brings up Stephanie and Kurt correctly points out that Steph hasn’t been there in a month and he is still champion. Angle insults Iowa and says he doesn’t need Stephanie anymore. Foley says Kurt is going to have a match tonight which has Angle all out of sorts. We see Rock pulling up with a limo. Interview with E&C and they suggest maybe Taker is getting the shot. Then we get Kurt and Kane talking and this set up the Taker/Kane match where Kane gets invited to Christmas at the angle household. We then see the attack on Taker again. We found out from Foley that Austin is getting the shot. Angle is waiting to the ring when Rock attacks from behind. Foley throws him and E&C out of the building. Foley forcibly shoves Angle out towards the ring. Austin is still working out the kinks but he is getting better and better. These two match up in their signature series next year at SSlam and afterwards but besides that, I didn’t remember much interaction and this showed they had chemistry together as Kurt is able to control the match well and show resourcefulness with stuff like a rolling cradle for a pin and a series of suplexes. Austin is able to make his comeback and looks like he could win the title which isn’t unheard of given Austin’s Raw title wins the past couple of years. Steph comes out and gets the bird from Austin and then HHH attacks from behind and lays out Austin. Kurt tries to jump in but gets shoved away so he bails. Of course, this is pretty ridiculous since HHH was left for dead a mere 8 days ago and they should have milked this for at least 1 more week and even then HHH could have been more damaged or taped up. HHH stands tall to end the show. Good match between Angle and Austin. *** (6.2)

They really loaded up this Raw. We see Kane attacking Taker backstage. A lot of bickering between Lawler and JR as Kane/Taker are slugging away. JR calls Angle nerdy bucko in the middle of this which was funny. This was certainly a punch and kick affair but at least the shots do look heavy and laid in a good bit. Taker gets a DDT > Chokeslam combo and is going for the Last Ride when E&C interfere along with Kurt and all four of Taker’s foes beat him down. *1/2

Rikishi has a nice blue long robe that probably should have been integrated with his heel turn. Too little too late. Rikish also gives a semi decent promo before the match happens. Kurt is out for commentary and this is a #1 contender match for Angle’s WWF Championship. Not much of a match but violent while it lasted. Rock gets his sternum worked over and makes a comeback including a sharpshooter. Angle utilizes the opportunity to run in with an Angle Slam giving Rock the DQ win. Pretty dumb move on Angle’s part. Rikishi again gets his heat back after the match. *

Sort of a holdover tag for these guys. Kane and Jericho are still together. Benoit is going after Gunn. Hardy’s are sort of in between programs and heat with Terri and Lita is biggest issue leading this match. However, as a six man tag, this of course was good given the talent level. I liked the leg work as that has been absent on a lot of Raw matches and especially on multi tags that are highspot dominated. Finish sees Jericho tapping out Malenko so he is low on the Radicalz totem pole. After the match they tease getting violent with Terri until Eddie comes out and the Radicalz lay out all three of their opponents. **1/2

Eddie jumps Billy at the bell and King/JR do a good job talking about the size disadvantage which is large with Billy towering over Eddie. More aggression in this match than in the previous one with tons of blows and Eddie going for the eyes and grounding Gunn. Gunn gets a nice powerslam as a hope spot after being worked over for a bit. Gunn hits a superplex and tilt a whirl slam for a nearfall. Saturn tries to interfere but Gunn punches him off the apron. Dean is out next and he trips up Billy but Eddie is hotshotted into Dean. Gunn then hits his awful new finisher to retain the title. Eddie is getting jobbed out pretty good here. Benoit attacks after the match setting up that feud. **1/4

Some lame inside promos from DDP/Nash and Above Average lead to Jindrak/O’Haire charging the ring. Back and forth action and DDP/Nash not really knowing how to react to the hyper athletic style of Jindrak/O’Haire. The NBT don’t look as fresh and crisp as they have otherwise either. DDP gets a Diamond Cutter but Sanders drags the ref out. Reno/Palumbo/Stasiak beat up Insiders on the outside and the match gets thrown out. ¾*

Rey’s outfit is horrendous with the overalls and devil horns. Fun action to start with Jarrett hitting a powerslam and the Animals distracting him. Rey goes for a bronco buster but Jarrett gets a boot up and the lifts Rey into orbit to a pop from the crowd. The Animals interfere some more and the crowd is confused how to react to these babyfaces blatantly interfering so much. A bit more back and forth and more interfering including face full of stuff from Tygress. Jarrett violently powerbombs Rey again off of a dive attempt and hits the stroke. That would have been enough for the pin but the Animals drag Jeff back as Tyrgress distracts Lil Naitch. Rey tries another dive and Jeff plants him with the guitar to draw the DQ. Jarrett is getting face reaction here. Ok action but I wish Rey would get rid of the Flithy Animal gimmick. **1/4

Stills of the 3 way hardcore match and I can’t follow that angle and the developments involving Marie. Reno has the right idea taking the fight to Goldberg but he gets demolished really quickly. Goldberg powerslams Reno and the crowd goes nuts as we get a great late era WCW announce call from Tony losing his shit. Reno positions Goldberg briefly into the Roll of the Dice but Goldberg reverses and it is spear and jackhammer time for the pin. Luger attacks after the bell and racks him. I am bummed they are fighting again at Starrcade. Awesome squash with the crowd going pretty crazy for Goldberg. *** (5.8)

Easily the best match we saw on this show and some of the better Booker T work of the year as he shows an aggression and ring command in reigning in the spastic Scott. Scott has a few awkward moments off of bumps but for the most part this is his crowning achievement and he plays his role super well. The tearing of the straightjacket spot could have looked really corny but it worked to show the strength and I liked Scott going back into the Steiner Recliner and Stevie Ray on commentary being in disbelief at what he was witnessing. This clearly seemed to set the long road leading to Goldberg vs Steiner. ***1/4 (6.4)