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Bret Hart comes out for a whiny promo blaming Goldberg. Goldberg comes out and responds and they have a good back and forth that could be building up to a match but we know that isn’t going to happen. Bret goads Goldberg into going after him and Steiner comes in with a pipe and locks on the Recliner passing Bill out. Goldberg calls out Hart after beating up the Carnival but gets Lance Storm and Elix Skipper instead. I had forgotten that Major Gunns joined up with Storm. Storm plays the Canadian National anthem as Goldberg yawns in the ring. Storm and Elix don’t look too excited to enter and Storm shoves Elix into the firing lines. Goldberg demolishes Skipper and Storm tries to bail until General Rection meets him in the aisleway. Goldberg suplexes, spears and jackhammers Storm. Mickey Jay counts so I guess this was a match even though Storm’s stock has plummeted in the course of a month. ¼*

Lets hope this is the big blow off between a feud that could very possibly be the worst of 2000. I would have never voted Sting for WON HOF and I get the argument for him but even Flair/Hogan and all other WON HOF entrants like Rey have found more redeeming stuff in 2000 WCW than this which has been a fail on every level. Action spills to the outside and Vampiro is already carrying Sting right up the whole arena with some crowd brawling. Sting throws a chair shot at vamp’s head that would make Lance Storm blush. We are back in the ring and Vamp goes low and hits a good looking back suplex. Vampiro is not on offense for long before Sting makes his comeback. Shaggy runs some interference but Sting hits a flash Scorpion Death Drop for the pin. Shaggy and Vampiro beat up Sting afterwards and Violent J calls Vamp the winner which makes no sense. Muta walks out, drags Sting to the outside and mists Violent J. This is confusing as fuck as then Sting and Muta fight walk to the back. Goldberg’s music fires up because we have to segue everything in this “off the format” Russo era. Goldberd dismantles the Carnival. * and please please please make this feud end.

Disco tells Stevie he is bombing tonight so he is helping out on commentary. Action is good with Rey and Juvy knowing how to bump around for the two slugs in the Harris Brothers. They are able to make their offense look impactful and powerful with their bumps. Train face full of stuff spot as Tygress and Rey both hit it but Juvy gets booted in the nuts. Kronik comes out and runs interference allowing the Animals to steal the win to a good reaction. *1/2

This really felt like an OJ match when I watched it.

Kane is out for commentary showing more personality from him as I can’t recall him doing something like this before. Lawler is disposed from Tazz earlier. Taker challenges Kane from his bike. This match did a lot for E&C. Just a few months earlier, Edge was getting jobbed out to Taker in a singles match in three minutes. Here they are seen as a tag threat and work over Taker as FIP for 5 minutes or so until he makes the tag to Rock. The E&C on top segment was also smothering and kept building properly. Benoit runs out and attacks Taker after he tags in Rock. Rock hits the Rock Bottom on Christian but Edge makes the save. Edge then pastes Rock with a chair that gets a close nearfall. Kane pulls out the referee and brawls with Taker on the floor and E&C give Rock the conchairto. That allows them to get a pin on Rock even though it was tainted. Big moment for them and a fun as hell match overall. ***1/4 (6.5)

Promo at the start tries to get to the bottom of who called the cops on HHH. Steph, HHH, Foley, Angle, Chyna and Eddy are all accused and questioned. This was entertaining in getting all the principles out there and they could plead their case. Foley puts it up to a crowd vote. Angle is hilarious right before Foley goes to him by wishing everyone a happy and healthy Labor Day. Angle wins the crowd vote when T&A’s music fires up. Test and Trish comes out and this is an awesome wrinkle to the storyline. Test brings up the past and him supposed to marry Steph. Foley makes a one on one match tonight and he says paybacks and HHH’s wife have one thing in common, they are both a bitch. 23 minute segment but it again played off the past and added another dimension to the feud overall. HHH is still pretty heelish here so this is essentially heel vs heel. HHH does have to face both members of T&A and has his hands on Trish setting her up for a pedigree they probably expected to get more cheers than it did. Steph is watching backstage and has Angle behind her with a big smirk on his face. Albert powerslamming HHH from the ring back inside was impressive. Test misses the big elbow, Albert gets disposed and both T&A members get pedigreed allowing HHH to win. ½*

Where is the 9/22 show available? I didn't see it on RealHero.

Eddy attacks Kurt from behind and sends him into the ring. I have been kind of tough on Eddy but he has shown more fire in the past couple of weeks once he became involved in the main storyline. Eddy and Chyna work over Kurt teaming up on him. Eddy tries to bring in a chair but gets stopped by the referee. That allows Angle time to knock Chyna out with the IC belt. Eddy sends Kurt to the outside and checks on Mamacita. Eddy then is in a pinning position and inadvertently wins the IC title. Pretty clever way to get the belt on Eddy. ¾*

Rock is out for commentary. Kane’s pyro doesn’t go off inside the ring. Not much to the match but it is nice to see Benoit still mixing it up in the main event scene. Benoit is through the ropes jawing at Rock and Kane gives him a reverse DDT that looked absolutely horrific and dropped Benoit right on his head. Action spills to the outside and Benoit and Rock keep talking to each other. Kane sends Benoit into the steps and grabs a choke hold on Rock. Benoit has a chair that he uses on Kane and the match ends in a DQ. Afterwards, Rock gives Kane a Rock Bottom on the floor. *

Russo promos are such glaze worthy by this time. War Games was something I knew was coming and this triple cage bullshit already annoys me. What is worse is Russo using these insider terms like heel during his promo. OH shit, it’s a shoot. Russo explains the title will be on the line in War Games and that preliminary matches are going to be competed in. Nash comes out and is pissed at Russo. Well, Nash’s big heel turn lasted exactly one week. Sting comes through the ring and cuts a promo at Russo. Nash walks away and allows Sting to get in Russo’s face. Russo retreats and the match competitors pile into the cage to brawl. Russo is able to escape when Goldberg stares him down once they emerge from the entranceway. Sting, Booker and Kronik won their preliminary matches. Sting and Jarrett start out and have a good segment in the beginning. At least Russo gets the psychology right of the heels winning the toss as Steiner comes in next and it 2-1. Kronik is net and they just come in together. Well so much for psychology. Russo is out net in his New Jersey Devils jersey and helmet. The Harris Brothers come with Russo and have a plunder brawl on the second level with Kronik. Sting beats up Russo and has him in the Scorpion. Nash is out next and hopefully they explained all of this and how everyone can enter in because I have no idea why Nash is in after what he said earlier. Nash also chokeslams Sting which helps Steiner. Russo goes in for a high five but Nash grabs a choke. Steiner and Jarrett tell him not to and Nash lets go. Kronik and Harris Bros are fighting outside the ring. Now Nash teases choking both Steiner and Jarrett, who the fuck cares. Booker comes down. Booker runs through everyone including an ax kick to Russo. Nash gets one up on him though with the Big Rig boot. Crowd is clamoring for Goldberg and he enters but gets ganged up on and handcuffed to the cage. Sting is slipping all over the place on the second level and Booker is able to retrieve the title but now he has to go through Nash who is standing at the door. The announcers keep telling us just how smart Nash is. Crowd gets confused by the convoluted rules when Booker grabs the belt and thinks the match is over. Sting is handcuffed on the second level and we have Steiner/Jarrett beating up Booker with a guitar shot. The belt is dropped to Russo and Cat comes out and wipes Russo out with a kick. Nash gives Cat the jackknife and then grabs the belt. Goldberg breaks the handcuffs and goes nuts on everyone. Goldberg goes to walk out the door when Bret Hart slams the door on Goldbergs head. Steiner recliner is applied to Goldberg and Russo/Nash hug each other. SWERVE. Nash walks out to win. Way too complex than it needed to be and pretty stupid but hey that is Russo in a nutshell. Effort was there from workers at least. Put it with 95 and 98 as the worst War Games. **1/2

Beach blast mini movie wasn't on the version that was on the network.

ECW clearly positioned this to be the marquee match of round one but this was on the choreograph side of things which is never going to be anywhere close to my favorite flavor of RVD. The stuff doesn’t look bad but it also doesn’t look like it hurts very much and that they are trying their hardest to win these vacant titles. The best spot was the way that RVD went into the split legged moonsault that Hammerstein going nuts. Dreamer felt like the odd man out throughout this match but he sells all of the offense well including convulsing on the ramp after RVD’s tope con hilo. Joey says this is the wildest tag team matchup ever seen in ECW which is right up there with “Tonight is the greatest night in the history of our sport.” Dreamer works over Kash on the inside and hits some of his power moves including the Tommyhawk. RVD gives a side kick to Tommy and a Van Damniator to Lynn before the five star is hit on Dreamer. Dreamer sells himself right into position for the Van Terminator but Credible runs in and canes RVD. Gore from Rhino and Tommy actually capitalizes by hitting a piledriver. RVD sells this well popping up nearly a foot from the mat. Dreamer now goes after Rhino in the aisle but RVD is still incapacitated enough for Lynn to hit the cradle piledriver and get the win. **1/2

Super fun match. Tajiri and Whipwreck have the crowd in the palm of their hand and the work here was expertly well done. Guido and Tajiri start things off taking it to the mat and I love how fast Guido can clinch in the Fujiwara armbar. Mamaluke comes in next and he gets kicked right in the head and is used as a rag doll for the faces offense. The heels don’t get a lot of offense here but this was about them looking good when given an opportunity but mainly presenting the credibility of the Tajiri/Whipwreck team. The finishing sequence of the super Whippersnapper into Tajiri’s double kicks is really cool. Quick match but pretty perfect in execution and Tajiri is right there with Benoit and HHH as my top 3 US workers of the year. ***1/2 (6.8)

High octane opener with all action but York and Matthews hit their spots cleanly. I’ve appreciated Hot Commodity for knowing what they are and playing to those strengths. The plancha that Matthews does to the outside is generally the highlight of the match. Hamrick is able to come in and deliver the big leg drop with the referee pulled away. Hot Commodity is able to advance. *1/2

A long interview segment with Parka starts the video. I didn’t get much out of this but Parka does look like a cool mofo. The match itself was good if a little frantic. The portions with Antifaz and Dandy were the best as they did double juice and really went after one another. The finish was another “who really got fouled” moment which was frustrating since it just worked so well in the comedy match. I want to see Antifaz and Dandy have a singles match. ***1/4 (6.4)

Porky starts out with a handshake but slaps the rudos after they shake hands. Him and Pimpinela are already after each other and Pimpinela refuses a kiss. Fuerza does some fouls to start things off. Rudos take the first fall and are celebrating. Tecnicos come back in second fall and Rivera and Mosco are pissed. Satanico is alone with Porky as the crowd chants Porky’s name. This is some great comedy with Satanico hitting his partners and all four tumbling down to the stomach bump of Porky. Porky then gives a bronco buster to all four. All the tecnicos take turn diving on all four but Porky refuses. In one of the greatest comedy spots I have ever seen Rivera pulls out a gun, shoots it and Porky is so scared he falls backwards onto all four for the pin. ***** stars for that finish. Porky splashes the gun but gets slapped from Rivera. This embarrasses Porky who climbs the ropes and is teetering. They try to get Porky down and he gives Felino a hug but squashes him. So amazing. Third fall has more stuff with Porky stuffing his crotch in Bucanero’s face and the crowd going nuts. Pimpinela goes flying on the outside and Bucanero does his wild monkey flip bump on the ring apron. After some more highspots and dives, Porky is in the ring again. Satanico fakes a foul from Rivera in an even more over exaggerated fashion than usual. Not to be outdone, Bucanero fouls Porky and then fakes getting hit too really rolling around and writhing in pain. The referees believe him and the rudos when. See here is a spot where that finish works. A great comedy match. ***3/4 (7.6)

Someone help me with who that is on Ricky Marvin’s team that is dressed like Tobias Funke on the Arrested Development pilot. I was unfamiliar with most of these guys but Marvin is the focal part of his team and gets busted open so that made things easier to understand. Overall though, the match didn’t really come together and felt pretty disjointed. That has kind of been a lot of Monterrey in a nutshell. **1/2

I kind of poked fun of Jd’ earlier for the sparse crowd in Korakuen and this is even worse effort from JWP. That is a shame as the tag match was really fun. Hyuga and Commando are a good team and Commando not understanding her size is always amusing especially in this match when she takes the fight to Reggie. Reggie was the most impressive member of her team as she provided a nice power base but also fed into the highpoints of Hyuga and Commando. There is something satisfying about the time and work of JWP matches to me. Hyuga picks up a strong win. ***1/2 (7.2)

I think this was still taped before the Animals full face turn so the work is a little awkward in that regard. In what still feels like a lost year for him, Rey may honestly be the best worker in WCW for the year when all is said and done. A bunch of that has to do with him at least having mostly straight wrestling matches whereas people like Jarrett and Booker have been involved in so much stuff that was overbooked. Juvy gets cut off on the air Juvy with a clothesline and Konnan is able to give 3 Count some credit on commentary. Tygress low blows Karagias. Juvy is in the white pants and almost looks like a member of 3 Count. Tygress is able to hit the bronco buster on Helms that the referee just allows. Rey picks up the win with the leg drop and they do have the tag titles with them. **

Cool to see Wolfie in OVW here in the Disciples of Synn tag team. Damaja and Dinsmore start off hot and Dinsmore looks strong with a double clothesline. The heels take over with some powder in the eyes from Synn and like usual we get a perfectly fine OVW match that is marred by Cornette screaming and a bevy of run ins at the finish. Cornette tells us Jim Ross is on commentary with them next week and I can’t even imagine how loud that broadcast will be. The run ins here weren’t the most egregious we have seen with Flash Flanagan impressing. **

The finish of NWA Elite vs American Males is shown. Decent action towards the end with Bailey using his shoe to allow them to advance. Finals are set with Scottie Wren having to face off against NWA Elite on his own. NWA Elite works him over and takes off the bandage on top of his head to work on the cut. Some pretty gory looking close up camera angles. When all hope looks lost for Wren, JC Dazz in a neckbrace comes back and helps Wren. They run through some of their old tag team moves and end up winning the titles. This is a cool moment for long term fans that these former partners but big time rivals are back together as the Boogalu crew. Jeff G Bailey has a promo going after Al Getz and he calls JC Dazz KY Spaz which is hilarious. He gives a spirited promo where he nearly loses his voice but promises revenge. *1/4

Lazz kisses the referee and Styles takes him down. Unfortunately for AJ, Lazz likes this and invites him to do it again. AJ hits a nice dropkick onto the arm of Lazz that was propped on the top rope. AJ does a good job as a heel working that arm and mixing in his flashier offense in a heel mannerism. AJ does a springboard flip floatover into a Northern Lights that poor Lazz has no idea how to bump for. Lazz gets some hope spots hitting a headbutt to the balls of AJ but Bailey trips up Lazz. Lazz teases kissing Bailey but gets hit with a tope con hilo from AJ. Lazz continues to be worked over and we head to break with Lazz getting out of a sunset flip by biting AJ in the nuts. We come back from break with Lazz hitting a missile dropkick. Good job by commentators bringing up the competence Lazz has in the ring. Lazz does a jump up springboard rana that he almost wipes out on but hits well enough. Britney Spear takes out the referee and Onyx does the run in. Big springboard splash from AJ gets him the win. Perfectly fine and fun tv match. Lazz revives himself by kissing the referee. **1/2

Coco leads his recruits against King and Blade. Action here is fine but not spectacular by any means and there wasn’t a whole lot of meat to it. I guess they have sort of dropped the King turning heel narrative they were working with because he picks up the win here. I liked Laird in the big elimination match but he was less impressive here. After taking the loss, Laird and Logan are forced to do some military drills as punishment. *

Kingpins are indie tastic. Tracy starts up a bald headed geek chant. Cade/Tracy continue to be a nice pairing and overall for a four minute tag this like the Dragon/Brookside match crammed a good bit of action within a short time window. Cade is FIP for a bit and Tracy does his patented excellent hot tag with tons of back heel kicks and punches. Bobcat provides a distraction but Tracy is one step ahead and rolls up the Kingpin for the win. I love Tracy popping right up and dancing for Bobcat until the Mean Street Posse come in and beat up Smothers/Cade. *1/4

The crowd didn’t seem to know who to cheer for here but Krush became the defacto face. I don’t know when Krush gets the call up but I am surprised to see him still plying away in Memphis this late into the year. Krush does cheat with his foot on the ropes which brings a lot of his goodwill to an end and felt like a spot he shouldn’t have put in. Now the crowd says that K Krush sucks. Krush remains on top for the majority of the match. Viscera comes in and pulls K Krush out of the Absolute. Krush throws powder into the eyes but misses the big legdrop. Abs recovers enough to hit the Absolute put the referee is still out. Another referee comes in and Viscera attacks him. Krush hits Rude Awakening and the leg drop to pick up the win. A good bit of overbooking here and the crowd wasn’t into Abs as a face. Krush wins the title. Thrasher makes the save post match which annoys me because where was he two minutes earlier? *1/4