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I don’t know how high a five minute match that is a trios finale of a tournament can go, but this is up there. Some absolutely frightening strikes, mask ripping, blood flowing awesome time. Villano V and Satanico in particular go after each other with complete disdain. The finish was predictable in that it resulted in Satanico calling for a DQ off of a foul and then getting fouled and pinned. That finish works for me every time and this had the added bonus of Bucanero overselling a fake foul as well. ***1/2 (7.2)

Stip here is that if FBI doesn’t win tag belts, they will split up as a team forever. These two teams just gel for me. Mamaluke and Mikey do matwork that looks better than usual. The tags go to Tajiri and Guido and Tajiri slaps the shit out of Guido to a huge reaction from the crowd. From there, the match is just a great blend of all styles: Hardcore, southern tag, technical and some high flying mixed in. The finish really had a ton of misdirection with Whipwreck/Tajiri seemingly having the antidote for everything that FBI throws there way between Tajiri misting Big Sal and the Whippersnapper from the apron through the table. However, Guido is able to get a chairshot and Sicilian Slice on a chair to steal the win and the titles. Very good tv match. ***3/4 (7.5)

Joey and Gertner start the show. You know the drill here with Joel giving us a poem. Cyrus interrupts and gets into it with Joel. The neck brace comes off and blows are about to happen when Paul E comes out with his phone and whacks Cyrus to a huge pop. Rhino jumps Paul E and gores him through the table. They have a “fan” jump the ring which looks well and good until Rhino gores one of the cops. Then we get a big brawl between the whole locker room. I don’t really have no idea why this happened but ok. Kash mosh pitting in to face Rhino was fun to see but pretty random in how the match starts. Brawl clears out as Enter Sandman fires up and Sandman wastes 5 minutes making his way down. After a couple of cane shots, Rhino gores him. Huge dive by Kid Kash onto the outside onto the entire roster. Then RVD comes out and he attacks Rhino. This finally accomplishes the goal and Kash is able to gain the win and title. I guess this was essentially the blow off to the Network storyline but it didn’t really work for me and felt like it was grasping for straws. Nice moment but everything up to it was a mess. *

Same basic setup as the match involving Mikey the night before with Simon starting on the mic and then Mikey responding leading to his teammates coming out. Action is less inspired than the night before as it seems like overall with this house show, the roster was just providing the status quo. The face team is extremely unique with Chilly Willi and Balls mixed in with Mikey but I didn’t think they developed any engaging story of these unlikely partners working together. **1/4

Pretty generic indie rific type action. The opening matwork was fine but pretty loose looking and didn't serve much of a purpose. That ramped up to the big dives and the nearfalls towards the end. They are establishing Kash well with the tv title facing a variety of opponents and it is a sharp contrast to the way the Rhino tv title matches were presented. **1/2

Are the bolded ones the ones you would vote for? If so, still a lot of cuts to be made to get to the maximum of 10 votes.

The crowd for ECW is looking rough as when York and Matthews comes out, empty seats are all over the place. Doring/Roadkill continue to be helluva over compared to their push which is essentially crowd warmer. Nice sequence where York/Matthews have to hit combo moves on Doring and Roadkill individually to gain the advantage. They follow up on that quickly with topes to the outside. While they tend to Doring on the inside, they forget about Roadkill who hits his double clothesline from the top rope. Doring gets crotched quickly afterwards and Y&M are able to regain the advantage. They do a good job of adding some cocky mannerisms to the flashy offense they are performing. Doring’s FIP is only around 2 minutes before here comes in Roadkill. He flies around on his hot tag with the sidewalk slam and Hard Times Bossman slam. Doring is back in now and Roadkill and him hit the flying legdrop with the Roadkill assist for the win. Nothing groundbreaking but again a great way to get the crowd going and the team of Roadkill/Doring give respect to York and Matthews afterwards help putting them over. FBI attacks including Big Sal hitting a huge splash as the segment ends. **1/2

This was really dry. LIfeless, the spots didn't look impressive and Flo did some of the most business exposing bumps and blading I have seen in a while. A disappointing end to the night and shows that just having light tubes and barbed wire was not enough. I felt no personal issue between the two and it was a match of two bumps through the pits of glass. *1/4

It is interesting that these guys were seeded as Fannin announces this was the 4-13 match in the tournament. A good back and forth match with Shark getting the shine in the beginning and some comedy mixed in with him biting Ace’s butt. Ace takes over and doesn’t have as much of a focal point as I would like. Finishing run had better action but Ace was playing to the crowd therefore the heat wasn’t as good as it could have been. Finish was a top rope powerbomb with Ace countering a rana with it looking awkward and painful for Shark Boy. Ace advancing is a bit of an upset IMO. *** (6)

So begins my favorite tournament of the 2000 indies, the TPI or the Sweet Science 16 as it is known here and in 2001. This match showed that these two were still green but had some great potential. There are multiple moments where they are not on the same page and you can see them reconnecting with a quick headlock or irish whip to claim the next spot. Beyond that though, you get a good match with some innovative moves to pop the crowd and a heel/face structure. Hero has become somewhat of a homegrown guy with the IWA faithful in a relative short amount of time. The matches has some shifts that were surprising and the finish of the Hero’s Welcome was pretty definitive for Hero. An 8 minute match that was entertaining to watch but not an all timer for either guy by any means. **1/4

Big spot for E&C leading off SmackDown with a promo. They go for cheap heat saying soap was discovered in Louisville recently but the delivery is solid and the crowd reaction is there. I enjoyed Tazz on commentary dissing on Rock's shirt and how it would be received in Red Hook. Rock's promo was his usual verbal berating but it works well against E&C. I liked E&C asking for the world title to be on the line. We then get a backstage segment of E&C walking to the ring and being attacked by Rock. This shows the problem with Lawler as he has been a big E&C fan but is also a face in a feud with Tazz so he kind of has to tow the line when Rock attacks and it is awkward. Christian comes out for the match and says Edge cant compete but Foley has found a replacement. Enter Kane. The match is good with Christian picking his spots and Kane looking motivated. The world title picture going into Unforgiven is basic but it does add a nice wrinkle of still feeling like it has stakes and peril for Rock just from the shear quantity of the suitors wanting the title instead of the quality. Christian breaks up a pin attempt because he wants to be champion and him and Kane brawl. Kane teases chokeslamming Christian through a table until Edge runs down. With Edge and Kane fighting on the outside, Christian looks to steal the win and title with a belt shot but Rock catches him with the Rock Bottom for the win. SmackDown ends with Kane attacking and chokeslamming Rock through the table in an impressive visual. **1/2

Angle looked better here than at Fully Loaded against Taker but he still gets manhandled pretty well. At least Taker varies things up with a gutwrench suplex. Angle transitioning with a drop toe hold was a nice spot. The finish happens quickly as Benoit runs in for the DQ. A neat moment then happens as HHH makes the save but goes directly after Angle. Its not so much that he was helping Taker as he wants a piece at Angle. *1/2

Jericho gets inserted into this feud which is a little beneath him but not awful as a bridge feud. The match is good and high impact for the time it was given. Jericho continues to be less sloppy than I remembered as even his wild strikes like the spinning back kicks land. X-Pac pulls out the cheap victory with a low blow and roll up much to the delight of Tazz on commentary. **

Tazz on commentary here, this is just the beginning. Austin is starting to be mentioned more and more with his return looming. Rikishi is still getting good reactions even if his positioning is down the card from the beginning of the year. Benoit has a great ability of packing a lot of action into these four minute matches as we had some shifts here and it felt like a legitimate match until the RTC run in. With the RTC distraction, Benoit hits a German for the win. **

Another really solid minis trios that is instantly entertaining while viewing but pretty instantly forgettable and indistinguishable from the countless other minis matches that have been viewed in 2000. Mascarita is so graceful and should place on my top 100 workers list fairly easily. The highlights here were him and Fuercita IMO although Piratita is a pretty loathable bruising rudo on the mini side. Bracita and Payasito were the most unique components of this match but they didn't really elevate the match overall. ***1/4 (6.4)

Not a lot of meat to this match at all except for some pretty funny comedy spots. Felino doing his feline pissing spot always makes me laugh for some reason. There was also some decent comedy spots involving Kato Kung Lee. Black Dragon was the focal point of the rudos and after they win the match, they take off his match. Overall, just a match that went through the motions and didn't really set up anything too exciting for the future. **

Better than your garden variety RVD match simply because it segued from Rhino interfering in the Sandman match and carried a quick pace. The brawling here was more focused and didn't have the time to devolve into RVD planning and setting up mindless spots for 10-15 minutes at a time. Overall, this was a strong way to end the night for the ECW crowd. The venue they are at here is interesting overall as it is elevated and looks like a theater for stage plays mainly. RVD throws out most of his arsenal but hits it cleanly and in half the time as normal. Kudos. **1/2

Your generic Sandman brawl. Good heat, below average brawling and it usually segues into something else. The entrance of Sandman continue to get more absurd and absurd as this match doesn't start until 15 minutes into the video. Chilly Willy is an interesting wrestler in history lore as someone that had something and was over but was out of the business almost as soon as it started. I had forgotten completely about him until watching him here. Da Baldies were never my favorite generic goon brawlers in ECW and this didn't change that. **

A shockingly great brawl that mixed up violence and comedy and most importantly regarding ECW, it felt heated and didn't overstay its welcome. Some of the nut shots and dick selling in this were honestly really strong. The cane of Sinister Minister is used, Sinister Minister does the claw which made me laugh and Dreamer ends up selling his private region for most of the final portion of the match. Dreamer in particular was strong with brawling throughout the match using a trashcan and keeping things heated. Overall, I am really enjoying late era ECW more than I thought mainly based to the addition of new characters. ***1/4 (6.7)

Kash has the ECW tv title even though it doesn't air until tomorrow. Hamrick is making the most of this manager/wrestler role by working his ass off in these mid card matches bumping like a loon like usual but also adding some neat offensive touches when called upon. He has a unique ability of having flashy offense but it also looks smooth. He does this by making himself look menacing and competent even though his gimmick really isn't. Kash is fairly good in that regard as well although a bit more spotty. This was a good match that was a nice win to catapult Kash in his tv title reign. *** (6)

I continue to enjoy the ECW undercard division and this is a nice example why. A match that didn't go out there to do anything special but had a clear heel/face structure and both teams played up to their strengths. The Mamluke wanting a piece of Roadkill segment was funny and him being thrown onto Sal on the outside is always good for a pop. Mamaluke responds by hitting a nasty tornado DDT coming back inside and Doring is FIP for a bit. Roadkill does a really strong hot tag and hits a double clothesline with both FBI members bumping right on their neck. Finishing run sees Roadkill having the win but a belt shot gets FBI the sneaky victory and I was surprised Roadkill was pinned. **3/4

Balls is always someone that doesn’t get enough credit as a worker IMO and this was a perfect match for that. He works to put over EZ here by bleeding and being in position to make EZ’s offense look good. They had one botch but covered it well enough by selling and didn’t go right back to it which gets points for me. EZ also earns points by working the cut off the ring bell shot and really breaking out some neck focused offense including a good looking piledriver. Balls has a nice comeback including a good looking spinebuster for two. Balls also really utilized an aerial offense more in this match missing a legdrop from the top and being superplexed by Money in the ending stretch. Finish was abrupt with Balls hitting the Nutcracker Suite for the win. Good match overall. *** (5.8)

Otsuka is weary of the kicks of Yone and tries to neutralize those. Yone comes back with some kick to gain the advantage but is mostly outclassed elsewhere. It is a pretty simple story but one that works. Add in some of that Otsuka charm like two unorthodox tombstones and a choke for a nearfall and you have a really good effort overall. I do feels like Yone doesn’t get the impact on some of his strikes that in theory it is presented as. Otsuka also does a half and half suplex to regain the advantage. A huge dragon suplex earns Otsuka the knockout victory. Yone is still probably the worst big name in BattlARTS but this was a pretty damn great Otsuka performance. ***1/4 (6.6)

Otsuka is kind of a cult Bat Bat favorite but I am also fond of Nagai so overall I was really intrigued by this match and it didn’t disappoint. Otsuka took it to Nagai for a majority of the match with hammerlocks and his unique brand of throws. Nagai is always good at focusing on a body part and really exposing it. This time he goes after the midsection of Otsuka and just peppers him with kicks after kicks. Otsuka needs to find an equalizer and accomplishes that with a leg lock forcing Nagai to submit and winning the tournament overall. Good stuff. ***1/2 (6.8)

What a fucking awesome match. Murakami and Ishikawa have a death stare at the onset and that sets the tone for the match overall. The match completely breaks down mid way through with Ishikawa and Murakami fighting to the outside and flying through the chairs at ringside and people fleeing. Murakami throws his mouthguard at Ishikawa. Beyond that, Malenko and Taira also add a ton of neat stuff. I am really on board with Taira as here he throws in his kicks and also is in great position for his submissions. Malenko of course has some tricked out arm work and the ending submission looked awesome and stretched Taira’s arm to a near 90 degree angle. Overall, a ton of hate and one of the better shoot style tag matches I have ever seen. ****1/4 (8.4)