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Russ McCollough gets personal with Cornette and I can’t be bothered to care. Brock trips flying into the ring like Shelton. Minnesota Stretching Crew is a cute name. It is pretty incredible that Brock was the 2000 NCAA champion and here he is wrestling in OVW by November. Brock showed a great dropkick and belly to belly right away. Brock also hits a belly to belly on Black at the finish which was nice looking. Conway and Black seem to be working together as Black uses a weapon but then they punch each other out and lose the match. Hokey finish but Brock and Shelton looked like big time prospects. *

I couldn’t believe my eyes but we have a short tag match on OVW with a lot of energy and a clean finish. Big Show looks motivated and Dinsmore is in peril for a bit before overcoming the odds and winning the match with a Crossface. Good, simple storytelling and extremely refreshing. We do get Kenny Bolin’s lawyer running in after the match and he thinks he is Macho Man (sigh). Still, with OVW you take what you can get. *1/2

A pretty lame segment starts us off with Brandon Baxter wrapped up in bandages and talking to the “doctor”. It is obvious from the jump the doc is Lawler and Baxter looks like an idiot going along with all of his instructions. Eventually the nurse Kat burns Baxter. Match wasn’t much as Lawler gains an early advantage before Slash takes over using a fork. Lawler retaliates and ends up getting DQ’d and the show ends with Lawler piledriving Slash. *

Tracy interrupts the intro and gives a scathing promo. Spellbinder comes out to defend MPPW honor and the match begins. Short but decent basic match with Tracy trying to cheat with powder and a chain but being cut off by Spellbinder. Spellbinder even shows some fire and doesn’t look quite as awkward as usual. Seven interferes to end the match and then we get a decent brawl to end the segment between Tracy and Bulldog Raines and Seven and Spellbinder. *1/4

Bradley starts things with a decent promo just putting over him becoming champion was such a surprise. Bradley has Victoria by his side. Shooter and Bradley have a pretty decent tv style match. Bradley works Shooter over and Shooter gives a good comeback with avoiding the interference from Victoria on the outside. When it looks like he has the match in his grasp, Tracy Smothers comes into the ring with a chair to draw the DQ. K-Kwick and Lance Cade end up making the save as the show goes off the air. *1/2

Rodney is ready to go but Pete Gas is doing a gimmick where he has a portable tv and I guess a degenerate gambling problem. Rodney is the work horse of the match of course because Pete is preoccupied. The gyms were MCW is taping continues to get more depressing with a sparse crowd and dwindling heat. Gas is able to reverse a powerbomb of Spanky until the game gets close. Kevin Kelly is giving play by play of the game as well as the match. Gas leaves again and Rodney gets pinned after the frog splash, elbow combo from the top from Cliq 2000. *

Corino is still a heel in Puerto Rico. I liked the tag setup to convey the violent and frantic nature of PR wrestling than the four way the previous night. Tajiri and Corino really should be the main focal point feud in ECW right now. This had a ton of trashcan shots and surprisingly no color from Corino as he sneaks out a win. Perez and Star paired off as well and we didn’t get to see much of their battle against each other. **3/4

Tanaka and Koji are a great duo working together. Prickish and athletic ready to fire away. Tanaka in particular seems to be gaining confidence and as a result better standing even from a kayfabe perspective as he picks up the arm submission victory on Takaiwa here. We get about 8 out of the 14 minutes so it was a good visualization of the high points of the match. Samurai mostly stayed on the outer rim for this match but he did have some stiff exchanges when needed. Another good juniors match for NJPW in 2000. *** (6.2)

The Jericho Chefboyardee commercial is really lame and hokey. Good tag match here. The technical wrestling between Austin and Benoit was entertaining and well thought out and then Jericho transitions into FIP. This was a good segment with frequent tags between Benoit and Kane. Austin gets the tag but the referee missed it. In a fun character move on Austin’s part he gets fed up and just stunners the ref. He then gives Benoit and Kane a stunner as well as the show ends. *** (5.8)

The Regal vs Rock promo debate here was excellent and Regal compliments Rock’s comedy probably better than anyone else we have seen in 2000. Rock going into the British accent was especially great with Regal’s reaction facials. This leads up to a match tonight where Rock says he is going to besmirch Regal with a turkey. Match is fun with Regal showing a lot of offense and Rock being generous with him. Regal is willing to bump off of Rock’s new wrestling moves so you have him moving against the hiptoss and Regal also utilizes some nice cutoffs to keep the match hanging in the balance. Rikishi is out for a better look throughout the match. Rock ends up winning the Sharpshooter which you didn’t see much. Regal is waving to the crowd after the match and gets hit with a Rock Bottom. **1/4

Eddie gets some great heat on his pre match promo. I like that Eddie also went outside to start the match as that showed this was more of a personal issue and going to be more of a fight. Gunn really does tower over Eddie inside the ring. Billy looks good here duking it out with Eddie and hitting some nice spots like the powerslam to get a nearfall. Billy was busted open on the forehead from a stiff shot from Eddie. Billy hits the jackhammer and the fameasser to a really close nearfall that had the crowd going. Billy goes for the Fameasser again and it felt like Eddie would take the match now but Eddie misses a dive and Billy ends up winning the title with a sleeper slam. Big pop for Billy winning but they were just trying to transition from Eddie to Benoit and this was the way to do it. **1/2

The clipping of this was another fabulous job done by RF as we see Tajiri take Banderas to task for a few minutes before we get full entrances for everyone and the four way starts. No idea what was the crux of the altercation between Tajiri and Banderas and if that was a part of the match or after the four way or what. I didn’t get much out of the four way as adding everyone bogged things down but Tajiri goes on a spirited rampage halfway through and destroys everyone in entertaining fashion. Finishing run has the other competitors showing some more but only Banderas seems like someone willing to hang with Tajiri and overall, I don’t think we got max effort from any of the guys here. Banderas ends up pinning Tajiri after a flag shot which was fairly lame. We then get a jump clip to TNT misting Pain and winning overall. **1/4

I don’t understand how these two can defy logic again to have a good match with each other but here we are. Honma does have a set formula of taking a beating, milking it for all it is worth, then mounting a comeback to present himself as heroic. As a modern comp, this is something that I critique Miyahara of in AJPW but Honma is able to convey more pain and that he is having to empty out his arsenal as a last gasp effort instead of Miyahara where I feel he just absorbs the punishment and fights through based on fighting spirit. This match had a lot of brutality and the boards were used prominently. Both guys were bleeding and we even had some panes of glass that were brought in. We only had a few moments of Zandig awkwardness and overall he plays his role well of invading heel. Honma wins, gets the big fat check and the hero celebration. ***1/2 (6.9)

It still feels odd for me to see Oz and Kansai on opposite sides. They played this up right as a sprint that was full of action and big moves followed by saves. Yamada ends up missing the big kick from the top hitting Kansai by accident. Hokuto takes full advantage and quickly gains the victory setting up the finals of their tag tournament. ***1/4 (6.3)

I liked the structure of this tag match which is not always a strong suit for GAEA in 2000. Satomura and KAORU start things out and set the stage giving way for the two legends to decide the match against each other. Satomura is really staking a claim as the best female wrestler in the world currently by being brutal when she needs to be but also vulnerable as well. The final moments felt dramatic and the ending lariat that rattles Devil allowing Chigusa to win felt justified and earned. A good tag match. ***1/4 (6.7)

Sakura is cosplaying as Dump and overall this is worked as a pure comedy match. Sakura goes after Lioness hair and a lot of other spots happen that I am not sure of the context of. Chigusa also comes in and we get some quick double team moves. Overall, this had some semblance of charm but was too long and felt mostly like me missing the butt of the joke. Asuke ends up winning with a powerbomb which is no surprise. ½*

Ian gives his best Dudley Boyz promo before the match running down the crowd. It is pretty crass by 2018 standards, but in 2000 it was edgy and not as over the line stuff that I thought it was pretty interesting to see him generate some legit heat from riling up the crowd. Ian at least has some self awareness in poking fun at himself by saying all the women in the crowd want to be with him and then posing in the opening moments of the match like he is Rick Rude. The match is an Ian massacre. I can certainly see complaints that it went on too long but he demolishes Dino with punches, barbed wire bats, chairs and tables. Dino is a bloody mess and the crowd does have a nice smattering of Come On Dino chants throughout the attack. Referee gets bumped and Carmine Despirto comes into referee. Ian doesn’t like his count and delivers a double DDT to him inside the ring and on the outside. I am unsure who then comes in to referee but he looks like Klondike Bill. Dino is able to get a quick crucifix pin and win the match. Too much overbooking at the end of the match to negate a pretty intriguing beating and heel performance by Ian. Ian offers a challenge for December 23rd and puts his MAW career on the line. *** (6)

Punk and Prazak get big heat before the match and I loved the attack on Pearce when he was coming out. This was my favorite Adam performance of the year pretty easily and felt like a grassroots version of the type of embattled personal match Punk would perfect for years to come. We get some good use of the ringside tables including Pearce piledriving Punk on one. Pearce in the closing stages even gives a Pepsi Plunge. A distraction from Prazak allows Punk to regain the advantage with a ref bump and pin Pearce after some head chair shots. Pearce gives a heartfelt promo afterwards saying his goodbyes. Probably the best Punk match of the year overall. ***1/4 (6.7)

Sanders is on commentary and annoying AF. The lumberjacks get cleared out quickly as they brawl with each other. This leaves only Nash at ringside. Stasiak takes control and the Natrual Born Thrillers come out to counteract Nash. Nice DDP chant from the crowd. DDP makes a good comeback. Stasiak has a foreign object but Nash drags the referee out when he makes the cover. Diamond cover but referee is out of position and Palumbo is able to hit Page with a chair and allow Stasiak to win. Right now WCW is better than the awful Russo stuff but its still not a real good promotion overall. Nash powerbombs the referee as the show ends. **

A nice summation of the undercard hardcore scene in WCW currently. A lot of plunder in this one and not a ton of intensity. Everyone seemed to be taking this one fairly light and going through the motions. I was also hoping for some more continuity between this being a tag team match but the guys just paired off mainly resulting in Awesome and Reno matching up as well as Bigelow and Crowbar. The brooms and mops in particular were used a ton here and don’t have much impact. Finish happens when Crowbar allows Awesome to Awesome bomb him from the inside of the ring to the outside through a table that has Reno laying on it. As Awesome celebrates, Bigelow spears him through a table. Reno looks awful with bruises on his back but hazardly falls on top of Crowbar to get the pin. *1/2

Good little match as Karagias was taken out in the beginning and Moore and Yang showed what they could do for a couple of minutes. The action was spotty but certainly flashy and set up the PPV encounter well. Noble is on the outside dealing with Leia when Evan makes his comeback against both other members. Yang ends up picking up the win on Moore leading into the PPV. *3/4

This took a bit to get going and had Tenzan and Kojima clowning around a bit with Kojima mimicking Nagata’s salute. When Takashi and Yuji take over, the match ramps up and they are much more violent and visceral in their attack. I actually thought Nagata and Iizuka looked pretty fantastic here and the big time prospects of NJPW going forward compared to Tenzan and Kojima who were their direct competition at the time. Nagata gets worked over for a bit and TenCozy up their game as we head into the final stretch. They hit their version of the 3D on Nagata for a nearfall but the Yuji team comes back and locks on a double submission which is a crowd pleaser for some near submissions. Tenzan is able to fight to the ropes. Tenzan goes to the eyes and then lands a spinning back kick and tombstone combo to stun Nagata and pick up the win. Surprise finish that worked for the crowd. A very good tag match to fill out a tag league overall. ***1/2 (7.1)

Perhaps someone like OJ can fill in the blanks on some of the competitors here. Marvin, Tarzan Boy and Ultimo Guerrero were the most involved to me. The dive sequence in the middle of this thing was pretty fun and overall this wasn’t a bad showcase ending in UG getting a nice moment. UG is going to be one of the tougher guys to rank on my top 100 list at year end. Not a lot of bad but he does have long stretches where you don’t have much great either based on what we have on tape. **1/2

This is the finals and much more importantly, the final decider as to whether Nagata or Sasaki will be my top ranked NJPW heavy at year end. Easily the best match we have seen from the tournament in the past couple of days and a match that felt like it had real stakes. The beginning portion again didn’t have a great control segment or much interesting happening from Tenzan and Kojima’s end but the finishing run was really exciting and had some nice payoffs of the big moves that have been used to great success throughout the tourney by Tenzan and Kojima. The best of these being the save by Ilzuka on the moonsault pin by Tenzan on Nagata. That was a key save and Ilzuka is able to get a choke on Tenzan just long enough to daze him allowing Nagata to hit two back suplexes and win the tournament. Fun finale. ***1/2 (7.1)

Daniels does a promo but I can’t make much out of it. This was much better than the prior match and wouldn’t totally look out of place on an ROH undercard a couple of years later. Some of the work was still spotty and we didn’t get any overly intriguing limb work or overall story arcs but Daniels has a solid backing of when to pepper in his spots and when to slow things down. The highspots looked good as a result and him winning cleanly but taking a legal shortcut was a good finish overall. **3/4