soup23

This match didn't know what it wanted to be. It had indie standoff spots, Kid flying from the iron structure of the roof missing a legdrop in a nasty spot and other general stuff that tried to make it feel like Benoit vs Guerrero from 1995 ECW. Beyond that though, it had this heated story with Palmer and Morton cheating their way to victory until Ian comes out to dispute and Todd starts throwing chairs and signs in a reckless manner. Overall, a pretty big mess and Kid just was never going to be that top flight worker even before he retired due to injuries. **

A really strong death match. Tony seems to have these every once in a while in a tournament setting where he really goes balls to the wall with the weapon shots and is able to interject the indie spots well using the weapons. Here his light tube flip legdrop gets over huge and a standing ovation. The cactus is a unique weapon and they use it well and the action never lets up as it feels like two people fighting and just happening to hit big weapon shots and cool spots instead of trying to design the “craziest stunt show” bump and it disrupting the flow of the match overall. Finish kind of stinks as crowd is chanting for Tony when Alister gets an ace crusher on a light tube set for the pin. Strong showing for Tony and in the US Death worker pantheon right now, he is up there. ***1/4 (6.6)

This was a nothing match. Some back and forth with the light tubes and the lumberjacks and it looks like Cash gets legit hurt and just ends the match four minutes in as he high tails it to the back with Ian rushing in to see what the fuck happened. Disappointing as I would have thought these two could have had a good death match. ½*

A really cool 8 minute match that even in defeat it feels like Liger took the fight to Frye and gave him a fight. The way Liger takes Frye down was surprising and the referee was very aggressive with Frye as he was unwilling to break when Liger reached the ropes on the arm submission. Liger fires back with palm strikes from the mounted position but that gets reversed and Frye unloads an onslaught of punches before locking in a tight choke forcing Liger to tap. Good fun and Inokism in the right way as this wouldn’t have looked out of place in RINGS. ***1/4 (6.5)

Time for another dose of NJ vs AJ and I am all for it. Koshinaka shows more fire here than at most parts in the 90’s and he actually integrates the ass based offense in a fun way culminating in the climax of the match where he neutralizes Tenzan with a butt butt off the apron. Fuchi is a prick like usual and the Chono vs Kawada segments are electric. Everything surrounding the buzz of the match helps pick up Saito and Tenzan execution in ring. I thought it was a clever way to show Kawada in danger after the STF and triple team only for the AJ trio to make a comeback and Saito being the most likely person to be prone to a pin being in there with Kawada and losing to the powerbomb. This feud is still crackling. **** (7.9)

The next to last match of Stan’s career and the last singles match. So long cowboy. Tenryu knows Stan is limited so he takes initiative in killing himself with two early topes to kickstart the match. It is a nice contrast watching this behind the MAW match as the raw potential was there in that match but the timing is much more on point here. Just look at the way Hansen blocks a chop and delivers one of his own halfway through this match. That only comes with a lot of seasoning. The middle slugfest here really feels like Stan making one last stand. His nose is busted open and every body part hurts but he isn’t going down without a fight. Tenryu keeps looking for a lariat and Stan works the arm. Stan hits a lariat of his own but the combination of him being beat down with the ref also taking a tumble allows him to not make a pin. Tenryu is able to hit the fallaway elbow to essentially end Stan’s career. The finish came sudden but I loved the old man fight before it. ***1/2 (7.2)

Punk and Kronan’s tag name is Sex and Pepsi. We don’t have sound for this which stinks because Punk cuts an intense promo pre match. He has really formulated his look throughout 2000 and by the end doesn’t look that much different from 2002-2004 era Punk which is a big departure from his motif in January. I don’t know what to think about this match overall. Southern structure for sure but full of mistakes. The effort is there from the four workers and Prazak but the experience and restraint at times is not. Prazak goes too big for his performance such as begging off from the early Pearce elbow drop. Pearce is too zealous in trying to get into the ring when Smooth is FIP. Blatantly shoving the ref repeatedly and being a bull in a china shop. That brings us to this poor official who is dreadful. Out of position on falls, turning around way too early seeing double teaming and cheating and being inconsistent on his count cadence. Noticing those things don’t bode well and this was obvious offenses of all of those. Kronan doesn’t help matters as Punk is directing traffic wanting the double team but he is late more than once and in no hurry to leave. Punk is the best guy here but still really raw. Smooth is a fun worker but not a great one but he is so undersized that it is believable him taking a beating. The heels end up winning but the faces get their heat back after the match and then have a dance party in the ring. Alrighty then. This wanted to be a good match but couldn’t get past its flaws. **3/4

Gilbert does an amazing promo before the match running down the crowd and the state in general. Up there with the best Jeff G Bailey stuff we have seen this year as far as crowd heat is concerned. The announcer mentioning the really fun opening stanza between Charlie and Rich being slow paced was so annoying. They were really setting the table and settling into a traditional tag which is what we got. It was incredibly impressive to watch. Like lucha maestros, Rich and Gilbert have a distinctive style but as the opponents, you can either go with that or get swallowed up. To the Haas credit, they work it in. Doug on the mic tries to get a go Tommy go chant started to crickets. The heat segment comes when Doug pulls down the top rope and Russ goes to the outside. All the heel tricks are pulled out including wrist tape as a choke and Gilbert throws powder in Russ’s eyes when he mounts a comeback. Hot tag is made to Charlie and the Haas offense with the flips in the corner isn’t very impressive. Also, sadly the crowd is pretty dead and putrid. Ref bump and Moondog Winston(?) comes out but accidently hits Gilbert with the bone and the Haas brothers win. Moondogs 2000 attack Haas after the match until Da Hit Squad comes in for backup. Haas Bros and Da Hit Squad bury the hatchet after the match to end their feud and unite together. Overall, I would say we have seen plenty of tribute acts to the Attitude Era and some of the worst parts of 90’s wrestling cloud some matches in 2000. Seeing Rich/Gilbert as fish out of water in this environment was a nice change of pace and good essential viewing for those really chronicling 2000 overall. ***1/2 (7.1)

When you think of the bevy of very good indie matches we have in store for us throughout the decade, this match more than any other represents the template for those. A smartly worked match that intersperses grappling and strikes. Low Ki was able to showcase all of his arsenal and had Reckless as a base to do it. Reckless also did his heeling act which has been impressive in a variety of settings in 2000. The heel ref stuff with Hanson was a dose of Attitude Era mixed in that was unwanted but before that, the work was solid and satisfying. ***1/4 (6.7)

Surprisingly this was the MOTN considering Hard is shoddy usually and Flo can be sporadic. They built to the four corners and hit most of those spots well enough including Flo going through the mousetraps bare backed. It looks like they had some insulation on one side of the ring as a weapon which was unique and something I had never seen. Even the finish built up pretty well with Hard having to work hard to gain the victory. Perfectly serviceable hardcore wrestling. **3/4

Was thinking 84 Arena Mexico just because Satanico could have had the greatest year ever based on the stuff we have seen. No idea what white whale matches are out there from this year.

Love this idea and am in

Wolf was probably a month in at this point. This is a plunder walk and hit match but one where I enjoyed some aspects of it. Ian gives some vicious chops and a chair shot that like usual is spine tingling. Wolf showed some fire and takes a heck of a beating for his experience level. The highlight of that is a dragon suplex onto the barbed wire board. Ian looks in control when Todd Morton runs in and has some sort of spray can that he knocks out Ian with from the stench and then puts Wolf on top for the pin. Morton cuts a promo afterwards calling Ian a fat fuck and raising Wolf’s hand. Ian then does a promo begging for a match tomorrow night. Ian going out in the first round is a big blow and upset for the KOTDM tournament. **1/4

You know we were watching this. Puppet is out first and says every guy wants to be a midget and every broad wants to fuck a midget. He then suggests some illegal in 47 states sex positions for the ladies. Puppet still hanging onto Kick Ass Wrestling with his KA FN W shirt. Puppet starts out in control but Teo takes over and hits some pretty big chops in the corner. Teo doesn’t have the most grace as he nearly trips running across the ring. Mini chairshot by Teo and then a light tube to the back of Puppet. Teo misses a splash even though he doesn’t get enough air and his legs hit Puppet. Suplex on the tacks from Puppet and the crowd is appreciative of these guys given the execution we are seeing. Teo’s best move of the match is a tornado DDT out of the corner for two. Puppet ends up getting the win with an airplane front slam. Fun to watch as a novelty and it did end right as it was starting to lose a lot of steam. *1/2

The interaction here is excellent and CMLL is at another good point for the year between this and the TB stuff. The rudos on both sides push Casas and Santo to start off. Opening cool matwork turns to chippiness when Santo sends a shot to Casas. Negro takes great offense and stomps away big time onto Santo who returns the favor and does his tope into the row of chairs. The rudos send both back in and they are loving what they are seeing. Santo gets a surfboard to take the first fall. Second fall has Bestia/Scorpio mixing it up with Panther/Fuerza. We get some weird clipping but Scorpio/Bestia working as a well oiled team against Panther was enjoyable. The match ends in two straight falls as Panther gets a hurty submission on Bestia. Afterwards, we get a ton of stuff with Panther/Fuerza fighting, Casas/Santo still going after each other and Santo raising Panther’s hand. Bestia/Scorpio attack their partner in Casas and Santo joins in and gets attacked. This is a great revival of the 1999 feud. Shocker comes out and helps the cause for the rudos. Who comes out to save the tecnicos but BLUE PANTHER! Cementing that he is turning into a tecnico. Perro Aquayo also joins in with some boss jeans and a button up. Perro raising Santo’s hand feels unique as they didn’t really have that much interaction over the years on the footage I have seen. The brawling between Shocker and Perro is really heated. Santo/Casas make up and the action continues up the ramp. Good match, another great angle for CMLL in 2000. ***1/2 (7)

Just when you think Shocker’s gear can’t get more epic, he says “hold my beer.” TB and him shake hands and Atlantis has had enough and violently shoves him down. Dantes and Satanico join in the attack and they have Atlantis reeling in a brutal submission. They refuse to break and the tecnicos win the first caida by DQ. Meanwhile, TB is dancing on the ramp. Sequnda Caida is more of the same with the rudos whipping ass and Tarzan Boy checking out his hair. Shocker does another great guapo pose walking on his knees flexing his muscles. Atlantis grabs a breather and tries to talk some sense into TB. Emilio does so as well and is ready to fight. Inside, Atlantis hits a great comeback taking out all the rudos. Emilio also comes in all fired up even accidently hitting the referee. They go to tag in TB and he refuses. They have had enough and send TB into the wolves. Satanico, Dantes, Shocker all attack TB and get the quick pin. This booking is tremendous. Final fall time and even that beating didn’t knock any sense into TB. He does a hilarious job of acting hurt when Emilio and Atlantis tell him to get inside. Of course, he meets the devil on his shoulder in Shocker. Shocker and TB seem to be really going after it and then they embrace. This is really layered as it feels like TB has proven his toughness and is good in Shockers book now. However, when he turns his back, Shocker dropkicks him and follows that up with a big dive. This ends the finishing stretch with Emilio flying around and Atlantis getting a big pin on Satanico only for TB to roll in and reverse it giving the rudos the win. Atlantis now beats the shit out of TB. The booking of this feud continues to develop and it seems like it is only a matter of time before TB goes completely to the darkside. ***1/2 (7.1)

These Wagner showcase NJPW matches are fun. They don’t really go epic but have a cohesive story and good action. Wagner really focuses on the back of Samurai throughout this match. He has a nice attack and uses a varied approach. Samurai was a bully a few days before teaming with Liger but is sympathetic here. A lot of good versatility shown by him. He ends up getting the fluke win floating over on a sunset flip to a big surprise from the crowd. ***1/4 (6.6)

Maldonado has a mystery partner that turns out to be Corino when the lights go out. This is a pretty fun venue in that there isn’t probably more than 100 people in the building but it has a lot of character when they do the brawl around ringside at the beginning. Dylan Night is someone that I am only familiar with from the 4 way with Hashimoto and Corino at the end of 2001. Alison Danger is Maldonado’s manager so that makes sense that Corino is in with her. Maldonado strikes me as a Tommy Dreamer esque worker through this and he is pretty fun at spots. JD Powers is the least experienced and worst portion of the match but he isn’t embarrassing by 2000 indie standards. The transition to the heat segment on Maldonado was weak with a bad looking swinging neckbreaker by Night. I will be interested to see when indie commentary shifts from the traditional PBP/heel color guy format as this is pretty generic and the heel commentator in particular sounds like a John House knockoff. JD’s heat segment attack consists of headbutts to the balls, kicks and choking. Hot tag to Corino is good but heels take back over and you have Candi entering the ring. Even though it results in man on woman violence involving Night hitting Danger, we are spared of the “catfight” spot. Finish of Maldonado of an enzuiguri is pretty weak and comes out of nowhere. Overall, some interesting stuff and a match that had some potential but didn’t know if it wanted to be in lineage terms to an ECW brawl or southern tag. **1/2

Everyone is pissed about the four way Foley has set up. I think this is the most heelish HHH has acted since SummerSlam. Foley says he is here to make the fans happy so the match stands. Rock delivers one of his better promos of the year getting in all his highspots and laughs but also giving Angle some credibility and showing that he is taking Angle seriously. The match itself was splendid and could have main evented a PPV with a couple more minutes. The tag structure at first dissolves and has all four really going after each other. Again, HHH vs Rock is a pairing where I appreciate them not being all buddy buddy with each other. The finale really had a lot of teases and break up of pins and resulted in Steph dragging Rock out only to get a clothesline from Benoit. Angle takes advantage by scoring the pin on HHH and he is on a roll heading into the PPV. Steph is shocked at this and Benoit immediately comes in and locks on the crossface. Steph pleads with Angle to help HHH out but he declines. Rock stalks after Steph and Angle instead goes after Rock. They get into the ring and Rock locks on a sharpshooter. Benoit then beats Rock down too and the show ends with Benoit looking the strongest of the four. Great final build to No Mercy. ***1/2 (7.2)

The kind words here are heartwarming. I am glad the board serves as a place where people feel welcome and involved to discuss wrestling. This is easily my still most preferred way of discussing things especially in the Match Discussion Archive and the overarching projects like PWO2K.

We get clips of the Conquistadors winning the battle royal to become the #1 contenders. They perform a promo backstage and sound pretty Canadian eh? Funny stuff. The match is fine but I thought the ending was one of the biggest mis steps in WWF this year. Austin arrives raising hell and he comes down to the ring with a chair that he delivers chair shots to everyone. This was worst than Taker burying everyone when he came back as it made all of the talent look like mid range acts here. The most egregious offense was him slamming the chair against Jericho. If this would have led somewhere, great but Jericho has been positioned as the #2 face of the brand with Austin gone and did a great job so seeing him associated with everyone else in the chair shot brigade enraged me. Austin should have done this to Lo Down and RTC or somebody. *1/2

This was a very damn good match. It was worked mostly apuestas style with a ton of submissions and working to gain leverage. Silver King looked impressive in the early going being one step ahead of Scorpio. That is how he gains the first fall. I liked how the third fall really milked each spot and each pin attempt felt like a legit finish. We even get a questionable foul call. I also appreciated the lack of bullshit that Scorpio is finally able to lock in a reverse Boston crab and win the match. I had high hopes for this one and they delivered. ***3/4 (7.6)

Really solid lucha and some guys we havent seen much at all on the rudo side. I was really impressed with Criptor as him and Villano IV in particular had some rock solid mat exchanges against each other. Enterrador did less for me and felt more like a warm body. Infernal continues to be one of my fav sleaze indie luchadors and his interactions with III here were a highlight. IWRG continues its strong year. ***1/4 (6.5)

If you ever wanted to see a Royal Rumble in 15 minutes, here you go. The action and the threads throughout this match are fine but people run out so quickly and the eliminations are so arbitrary that it is tough to have any focus. This is also booked 1989 Rumble style in that the heavy hitters of the match are mostly in the middle portion. Kronik and Mike Awesome are left in the end and Goldberg is out to make the save. Awesome ends up winning and it is a nice moment for him but overall this felt like a match to watch for the novelty effect and didn't really result in good execution because of the brevity of the entrants. **

The makeshift team of Booker and Sting has a go against the big NBT duo. I was impressed and also fearful for Sting's life when they do the hiptoss from the floor back into the ring spot with him. I thought the finish made the NBT team look helluva weak as you have Mike Sanders having to run down and interfere allowing them to save face against a makeshift tag team. Overall this was only three minutes but it didn't do anyone any favors. 3/4*