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This kind of felt like a tv match of what these two could do. Andrews has shown himself to be a solid base and I am confident Low Ki is one of the 25 best workers of the year but this match never fully developed and rushed itself to the finish. The phoenix splash finish missing was unfortunate too. I had high hopes that this could have been a hidden gem but instead it was just solid which for a longish Ki match in 2000 is disappointing. **1/2

We get overdubbed commentary and the match is JIP. Match looks like a typical Puerto Rico affair with interference and hate and some shenanigans. Carly is fiery and has some spark but is still really green. Hennig knows how to be a heel if nothing else. Highlight of the match was Carlos throwing Hennig back into the ring at the end to get a flurry of punches from Carly. NR

One of the top 10 most anticipated matches of 2000 for me given the buildup and the match didn’t let me down. Ishikawa has to keep things grounded to try to avoid the strike barrage of Murakami. The flurries in this match are excellent and I loved how things escalated until Ishikawa was confident enough to stand toe to toe with Murakami and excel before choking him out. Murakami comes to his senses after the match, realizes he got caught and is pissed. It still leaves a lot of open room for stuff in the future between these two while being a fitting closing chapter to this portion of the feud. As a sub 9 minute match, it was just the right length to keep up the intensity throughout the whole match. Wonderful shoot style action. ****1/4 (8.3)

This became gory earlier than I figured with Teioh going with a blade immediately to slice open Kasai. Kasai weathers that storm and of course is none to shy to dish out some punishment of his own including a balcony dive through a table on the outside and the patented googles dive inside the ring. Men’s mounts a comeback defending BJW and using a barbed wire bat and the attack of Kasai with some wrestling holds. That is what this match has going for it above all else is the use of wrestling to break up the violence and change the tonal shifts of the match. The finish played this off as well with a figure four using the barbed wire bat wrapped in between Kasai’s legs. That looked brutal and unique. Fun match alert here. ***1/4 (6.5)

Looking at Wikipedia, Kandori beat Hotta in a shoot fight the day before so tensions were still running high from that. I liked how they squared off right away and it was Toyota with the dropkick to the back of the head that was seen as dastardly and the first bout of advantage within the matchup. A few minutes later, Hotta has Tateno in a figure four and again Toyota comes flying off the top rope with a splash. She is definitely not above taking an advantage using her aerial moves tonight. Kandori and Toyota face off proper then and it’s a matchup it doesn’t feel like we have gotten an abundant amount of throughout the years. Tateno is someone I haven’t watched much of but whereas its clear that someone like Kansai or Masami or not at their peak level, Tateno is even below that and really the main detractor from me proclaiming this one of my favorite matches of the entire year. The effort is there but the athletic ability had escaped which was unfortunate. The match breaks down halfway through and Toyota does a huge balcony dive riling up the crowd. I got to say that 2000 Toyota has been pretty endearing overall. Finish has Toyota neutralizing Tateno and pulling out the arsenal against her. Toyota struggles to get Tateno up for the Ocean Cyclone at the very ends up having to use the turnbuckle for assistance. Overall, I thought this was a great match with three dynamic personalities especially Kandori and Toyota who really compliment each other well in how drastically different they are. **** (7.9)

Holy shit was this a war and one of the best matches of the entire year. Just a done of frantic and hate filled action with all six throwing bombs at each other. All of the stuff going on in AJW that involves Maekawa and LCO felt justified watching this play out. Ito felt more like the ace here in waiting than at any point and the escapes and that leading to the torture of who was left was well done. At one point, Ito is isolated and LCO and Maekawa just continue to dish out punishment to her. Momoe coming back in and getting the advantage with some divind spots got a great reaction. Even more so when Ito hits the double stomp and it looks like she has the match in her grasp. Mima on the outside is able to fire off a fire extinguisher and prvent Ito from leaving. Ito and Maekawa end up being the final individuals left in the cage and they have a really dramatic few moments with the crowd heat at a fever pitch. Ito is a bloody mess but is able to hit another double stomp before she tries to scale the cage. Mima meets her at the top and gives her a fireball. What a prick duo LCO is. Maekawa is stopped by Momoe from escaping and we are still down to these final two. Maekawa goes for the other side when Watanabe stops her and sends her down. One more big double stomp from Ito from the top of the cage and they are the winners in completely dramatic fashion. Awesome, awesome match. ****1/2 (9)

No will he or wont he stuff with TB today as Satanico still hates his fucking guts and beats his ass from the get go. This again sets up the big tag match that is coming in a few weeks so we have more build up here and it is effective in making you anticipate that match coming up. TB is hanging out on the corner recovering and can’t be bothered to help Casas out on the 3 on 1 attack that he is on the receiving end of. Tecnicos gets some breathing room with Santo doing a wonderful dive to the outside but he hits Casas. Bucanero and UG try to give TB a break but Satanico will have none of that as he kicks and attacks him again. TB pleads with the others and gets shoved by Casas. Inside TB is with Satanico and uses the ropes to gain the pin. This is where it looks like we get the big turn as Satanico is actually finding sympathy in Casas and Santo before he leaves and they are having nothing to do with TB who is still hanging out on the corner. Satanico gets one more cheap shot in and the second fall is underway I guess. The rest of the match has a lot of dilemmas within the teams and the interaction of all the members. Satanico decides he is still going to be satan like and ends up giving Santo a foul at the end so I don’t see him teaming with Santo and Casas and being best buds just yet. Overall, this was really multi layered but a hell of a ride to watch it play out. ***1/4 (6.3)

A big ceremony for Jalisco before the match. Maybe someone can clue me in on what was going on here. Jalisco is presented with a plaque and has his family in the ring. A mariachi band also comes to serenade him. How nice. Oh shit, the members are actually the rudos and the paste the tecnicos with guitars and then triumphantly stand over them. This is all a straight angle but awesome as the rudos beat up the faces so bad that the referee gives the match and fall to the tecnicos. Then Villano IV and V come out in some banging yellow pajama jumpsuits to defend their boys. Perro and Villano are so hot with an official that they rip his shirt off and beat him down. We end things with a big rudo promo vowing revenge. Good setup to the big stuff coming down the pipe in the next couple of weeks as CMLL is ramping up again. NR

A long and weird vignette starts off with Bolshoi going into girls bedrooms and hanging out and signing stuff for them. Some of those rooms looked depressingly small. I really enjoyed this match a ton and especially the escalation and reliance on big moves to lead to the transitions. Bolshoi has such a good base of technical wrestling but she can ramp it up when needed and Hyuga is gaining confidence as not just an athletic worker. Together, they put together a sixteen minute match that felt like the perfect length and even though the JWP fandom is sparse, it was a great match for those fans that did show up. **** (7.8)

Steph starts Raw off with a promo. Good work by her carrying a fifteen minute segment and retaining heat. HHH is mercifully gone after the hokey end last night. They do set the table for his return talking about a lack of broken bones and what not which is pretty ridiculous. Austin comes out and he has a good back and forth with Steph with the crowd going nuts for him. Knowing Austin’s real life history with women, this is pretty off putting behind the scenes but as on screen characters, it matches the story at hand. Benoit comes out when you think the segment is over and he has a great promo talking about Austin isn’t as good a wrestler as he claims. Another feather in the cap of Benoit for this year as he hangs with Austin here and brings up a great sounding main event for later on in the night. Quick segment backstage with Radicalz saying they have Benoit’s back. Match starts with an amateur takedown by Austin and a bird to go with it to show he can wrestle. Austin continues with a hiptoss and some arm work. Benoit takes back the advantage and Lawler continues to be a jekyl and hyde on commentary clearly being a heel here cheering Benoit on. This felt like a way of easing Austin in to a non brawling exclusive match and he did fine but did show some ring rust IMO. Benoit focuses on the back and hits a beautiful diving headbutt that gets a nearfall. Match breaks down into more of a brawl but Benoit regains the advantage by driving the shoulder into the post. He hits some German’s but Austin fights back blocking some and then gets a nice surprise stunner for the win. Ross screams that Austin wins with a wrestling move. Would have liked to have seen this be a few minutes longer but Benoit looked good here and Austin seems to be rounding back into shape. **3/4

Angle is out for an interview with brother Eric. Kurt talks about the Survivor Series screwjob and he is pleased to announce that the screwjob was avoided this year and for once the good guy prevailed. Taker comes out and beats up Eric before chokeslamming Kurt from the stage through a table at ringside. E&C meet with Foley backstage and even bring out a play urn. They want Mick to apologize on their behalf. Mick instead makes a handicap match with them vs Taker. Taker receives the urn but doesn’t appreciate the gesture. This is the third iteration of Taker vs E&C we have seen so far this year and it was the most frustrating of them all. E&C have proven to be more than comedy players but it seems the company based off the heels of the Conquistador and stuff with Foley, is really doubling down on that aspect and their credibility is going out the window as a result. E&C do have the advantage for the first minute as well they should in a match like this. Edge accidently spears Christian and Taker gives him the Last Ride to pick up the win in three minutes. The crowd heat says a lot here as it was pretty nonexistent. Keep these guys apart WWF. ¼*

Jericho promo with Mitchell Cole. Jericho talks about the violence him and Kane have endured and how that is going to continue. The No Mercy WWF Rewind shows Rikishi’s attack after the match. Rock interview with Kevin Kelly is next. He doesn’t say much of note here. Rock and Jericho charge the ring in a nice show of unity and the crowd is going nuclear. Kane gets the advantage as cheers for Rocky ring from the crowd. Rock shows some great versatility in this match getting a side Russian leg sweep on Kane before tagging in Jericho. Really fun tag match as it settles down with Jericho as FIP. Hot tag to Rock blows the roof off the arena and Jericho is aggressive going for a chair shot to isolate Kane allowing Rock to Rock Bottom him for the win. Jericho/Rock made a great tag team and the aftermatch with Rock having the Sharpshooter on Rikishi and Jericho having the Walls on Kane was a great moment. *** (6.1)

Scott Steiner is on commentary and says he would have no problem hitting Gore or Bush because they are so ugly it is always like they got hit with the ugly stick. He also guarantees Luger isn’t going to win because he is out there to prevent that. Action spills to the outside quickly and Luger starts working on the back of Booker to set up the rack. Back suplex from Luger looks good enough and gets a nearfall. Powerslam follows that up and Luger is very targeted on the back. Booker makes his comeback. Goldberg runs out and Steiner meets him. Again, this is the money match in WCW right now and has more heat and intrigue than anything else. Luger has a chair but Booker moves out of the way and Goldberg spears Luger. Booker pins him for the win. That doesn’t make your champ look especially strong. ½*

“I just realized something, that Jamie san is a white guy.” Madden follows up that gem with a Pretty Fly for a White Guy reference. This was a really good junior match for the five minutes they had. Jamie had some good strikes and intensity to mix in with the highspots. Yang is someone I have never thought much of but he was fine here. Jamie hits a big legdrop for a nearfall. Leia distracts Noble and Yang is able to take over. Evan Karagias comes out but he gets caught off by 3 Count. Noble dives on the other members of 3 Count. Noble gets the cover with a quick rollup and 3 Count attacks after the bell. Big brawl to sell the match at Mayhem. **

Roll up all of your AAA bullshit into one match and you have this. Tirantes, Electroshock and other seconds get involved heavily and the action is lost in translation on me as we get another “crazy” angle without me realizing why everyone is all pissed off and what the end goal is. Mascara Sagrada is also involved as the referee is counting on the outside with both competitors down. Headhunters come out next as well as Perro Agauyo. Pena is interviewed in the middle of the match. Both competitors have been done for minutes and are knocked out and it looks like the match is called off. Headhunters get into the cage and provide a beatdown on Abismo. Abismo is interviewed and a bloody mess but I can’t possibly give a fuck. I will have to think long and hard about what my least favorite promotion of 2000 is but AAA is a heavy contender and this was just shit. As much as the gap between WWF and WCW there was in 2000, there was the same gap in AAA and CMLL IMO as far as quality is concerned. ¼*

Was happy to see a long form six man between these two teams and it didn’t disappoint. This felt more basic in the heel Crazy Max faction vs. three established babyfaces but the roles were presented well and the match moved along nicely. Tokyo is back with some highlighted hair and he picked his spots throughout and didn’t have any blunders to detract things. Genki was the standout for me on the face side as he was great at picking his spots, taking a beating and kickstarting the final portion of the match with his highspots and speed. I loved how they built to that moment and then the match broke down. Crazy Max is a well oiled machine by this point and this is the best trio they can roll out. Tokyo getting the pin on CIMA felt like a big moment and it was surprising to see given the M2K vs Crazy Max feud that is dominating most things Toryumon by this point. **** (7.8)

This was more like it. I can see someone like OJ not being too into this because it does meander and when you are talking about 8 guys that could honestly be argued as top 100 workers of all time easily, it may be slightly disappointing in that it isn’t a MOTYC. Still, we get some pretty awesome comedy by Parka and Porky teaming up. Villano and Blue Panther have a wonderful sequence and Santo highlights some of the feuds over the years with Dandy, Wagner and Panther. The third fall ups the violence more with Wagner and Parka brawling throughout the arena and they were the focal point of the match overall. Very enjoyable match with 8 legends. ***1/2 (7.1)

The rudo side has been beefed up from the week before. First fall is ok but the highlight is Pimpinela and Silver King bickering with each other and squaring off on the floor until the tecnico side takes This may have been slightly better than the week before but not by much and overall it felt pretty basic and maligned besides the Pimpinela and Silver King flare ups. **1/2

A really nice start and this was trending into Rock vs Rikishi territory and then they start brawling on the outside and things just grind down. We get really lengthy brawling and none of it is really innovative, hate filled or inspiring. The heat is also not as big as you would think. Once they go back to ringside and HHH opens up another gusher, it got a little better but again the crowd isn’t really invested as much as you might think and the work is just too bloated. HHH goes for a pedigree on the outside and Austin backdrops him through a table. Back inside, some more punch and kicks in the corner. Austin sets HHH up for the stunner and is able to hit it as the crowd comes alive now. Austin decides not to go for the cover and to inflict more damage. Austin puts the chair over HHH’s head but HHH is revived and to the back they brawl again. The Radicalz attack Austin which shouldn’t be shocking to anyone even as outraged JR is. HHH retreats to the door and calls out orders. A million officials try to separated the Radicalz from Austin. HHH is in a car and Benoit tries to lure Austin into the aisle so HH can run him over but Austin goofs him and comes around to attach the car with the forklift. We know what happens here where we get the visual of HHH dying via the forklift drop. Really stupid and contrived and too unbelievable to take seriously. I will say at least HHH only wrestles one match from now until Royal Rumble so the narrative of him coming back with a band aid may be a tad overblown but its still really dump and this is easily the biggest blunder on HHH’s resume in 2000. *1/2

I’m done with RTC. Their work isn’t good and their heat seems to be dropping rapidly once the annoying theme music ends. Jeff Hardy in particular seemed to be on autopilot here until he took off his long sleeve shirt and did some double team moves with Matt. As a result, this was a really pedestrian Survivor Series style match with the ending being a feel good moment for the faces with Jeff lucking into a win and then a post match involving RTC members going through a table. **1/2

Most people surmise that the Fully Loaded match between is the most egregious example of 2000 of Taker burying Angle but I think it is very close. As I have talked about before, Angle was a blue chipper but they eased him into long/high end main event matches. It was a progression that culminated with the title win at No Mercy. Now, he is the champion and as a result, deserves more credibility than needing Edge & Christian to help bail him out from tapping out to a heel hook. When Angle goes on offense for this match, it is impressive and his leg work is well done and targeted. Unfortunately, Taker has no time to sell much of any of that when he makes his comeback and starts stalking Angle even more. Then you add on the “clever” finish of the switcheroo involving Eric Angle. On the surface, I wouldn’t have a huge issue with this but the way Angle has begged off throughout the match and feud, this felt like another layer that was added on unnecessarily to help Taker retain his heat. **

Rock rushes down the ramp and the fight is on. He takes the fight to Rikishi but the referee interferes catching a chair that he is trying to throw Rikishi’s way and that allows Rikishi to take over on offense. Action spills to the outside and Tim White gets bumped allowing Rikishi to retrieve the sledgehammer. Rock blocks this and hits a Rock Bottom to a nuclear pop. Long pin and a dramatic nearfall. Rikishi is looking really imposing and the strongest as a heel here. Rikishi comes back and even gets heel heat going for the stinkface which is impressive. Rockss midsection is suffereing but he is able to muscle up a spinebuster and then the People’s Elbow with Rikishi doing a nice sell job off of that of all things. Rock takes a while to cover and ends up winning to a huge pop again. Rikishi is able to get his heat back after the match with the Bonsai Drop after the match. I watched this a few years ago when PTB podcast was reviewing the show and I thought it was a good match but it way exceeding expectations here and I think this is perhaps the best performance Rock has had all year. **** (7.8)

Aggressive start which plays into the feud so far. Kane starts off wonky tonight but Jericho is acting aggressive and keeping things moving along. Dropkick to the steps on the outside looked weak. Kane catches Jericho coming off the top rope and takes over. Kane utilizes a hanging neck breaker which is unique and looks nasty. Kane shows some good strength sending Jericho out of the ring and then powerslamming him back in. Jericho makes his comeback off of a dropkick to block a Kane aerial attack. Jericho gets a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Kane gets sent into the exposed turnbuckle and then hooks on the Walls. Kane breaks that and then we get a rough sequence with Jericho going for the Walls again and it looking awkward between the two. We then see Kane literally roll into position for the lionsault which Kane no sells and goes right into a single chokeslam to pick up the win. Pretty awful finish as Jericho looked weak given the story of the match. **1/2

Only six minutes here but a greatest hits of what they can do. The way Tajiri was booked in the later half of 2000 was really unfortunate as the crowd was ready for a more prominent main event run and it just didn’t happen. He shows the intensity here by double stomping Crazy through a table on the outside and delivering his trademark stiff strikes. Crazy comes back as they brawl around ringside. Crazy uses some drinks from the fans and then puts Tajiri through a table off of a moonsault. Tajiri mists the ref and Mikey makes his choice by helping Tajiri in giving Crazy the whippersnapper that leads right into the buzzsaw for the pin. **1/2

Some pretty awful “intense” promos to set this up with Daniels calling Montoya a nappy headed scumbag. I have no idea what time FWA tv aired but you see the attitude effect in full force with the cursing that is rampant overall. First sequence of Devine and Flash was your basic War Games start but pretty decent stuff. Flash used the cage well and Devine gets color. Of course the heels gain the advantage so at least FWA didn’t get too cute here. The announcers do allude to this weird stip where after every two minute period, there is a coin toss so conceivably a team could have a 3-1 advantage. Quack is next out though and a house of fire sending Flash into the cage. Quack was my main point of interest just seeing him in this type of match and he did some stuff good but also looked lost and awkward at other points. The Match Beyond portion with the eliminations felt rushed as Montoya was the house of fire powerhouse for the faces and then is just eliminated with a whimper. Montoya then interferes and Quack pins Rose. It is now Daniels vs Quack and Daniels does deliver a nasty looking pyramid bomb to Quack. Instead of trying to win, Daniels decides it time to cut a promo. He makes this a title match. Daniels just straight no sells some of Quacks offense including a dive from the top of the cage which is a head scratcher. Quack takes the punishment and then makes another huge comeback this time getting a double stomp from the top of the cage and winning the title. Daniels is up almost immediately after the bell. Quack dedicates the match to his late grandfather. Some good thoughts but a lot of sludge and a real indie riffic version of War Games. **