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Brookside vs Dragon sounds intriguing on paper and they crammed a lot into the three minute match. This reminded me of the Dragon matches from a month ago before he started doing some 7-8 minute stuff the past couple of weeks. Brookside brings a different flavor and is heelish here which is a contrast to what I am familiar with. USA chant even breaks out towards the end for Dragon. Finish sees Dragon kicking out of a Northern Lights suplex and Dragon doing a British style nifty roll up for the win. *1/2

A strong tag match to end the show. Overall, a very good show for All Japan. This set up Tenryu vs Kawada as they really went after each other. Tenryu and Williams interacting is fun to see as they haven’t interacted since 1990. Hansen is certainly winding down and he has only five more matches after this. A couple of moments saw Doc being visibly light with him which takes the match down overall but Hansen is still there in the big moments and he ends up getting the final pin with the lariat. Hansen overall is going to be tough to gauge when I do my top 100 wrestlers list. Really all four of these men are. The punches Doc threw against Tenryu were much more vicious than the stuff he threw at Hansen. Tenryu had a few awkward moments himself but nothing that glaring considering the source. Overall, this probably would have been a MOTYC four years before but Doc/Tenryu and especially Hansen have lost just enough steam that it peaks out in the very good range. ***1/2 (7.1)

The atmosphere here is off the chain. I am such a sucker for interpromotion wrestling feuds and this felt like the perfect kickstart. Chono is one of the biggest stars in NJPW and has a ton of cool charisma. Him being the head of Team 2000 gives him a natural in as an invader. On the other side of the ring is Fuchi, the ultimate loyalist and gatekeeper who can also still be a grumpy old bastard. The match plays off this. Fuchi hitting the back suplex and front face lock two minutes in was electric. Chono retreats like a coward and has to regroup to regain the advantage. Chono is not a worker I enjoy but I did enjoy him in this match and thought his meticulous manner worked in the fact that he wanted to make his appearance count. The big emotional spots are saved for Fuchi and the step over the face to get to the ropes was excellent. The finish was inevitable with Chono winning but again this was a strong match that was completely satisfactory as a first match in a series but not the end destination or a dream match in any way. Something about watching this match today felt like this was a theme in wrestling that wouldn’t happen now. Chono and Fuchi had decades of commitment to their promotions and it was assumed they would never come together. I may be overrating based on the big picture stuff but this was certainly one of the more memorable matches of 2000 and both competitors played to their strengths. **** (8)

This was quite a shock to see these guys performing for AJ in front of a Budokan crowd. This whole card shows how AJ really brought in as many other people and special features they could to keep interest up. They did a 12 minute match which packed a ton of action. This Crazy Max trio is my favorite. CIMA looked like he was out to impress. He takes some great bumps here including one to crotch himself. M2K works over him and before he makes a hot tag he also is able to springboard off the middle rope, deliver a dropkick on the apron and a moonsault. That was amazing to watch. Masaaki and Fuji also were fired up and they are the feature pairing at the end with Masaaki picking up a big win for the M2K faction. Up there with the M-Pro tourning style matches from KDX. ***1/2 (7)

Some horrendous camera work during this match but as a garbage brawl, this was one of the better ones we have seen this year. Corp is able to work a convincing brawl with his punches and punishment and this didn’t have the fat that some of the Ian matches had. Bambino in this type of match really surprised me. He is spotty but takes some nice bumps onto chairs and a particularly big bump onto the table on the outside. The finish wasn’t a surprise as I didn’t expect Bambino to take a big bump through the nails. I was happy that the match ended after one Falcon Arrow through the nails. Good match. ***1/4 (6.5)

As CM Punk’s hair gets longer, we are seeing the evolution that would translate into one of the biggest indie stars on the US within a couple of years. He gives a biting promo before the match that shows he can be quick witted with all the quips from the audience. Bobby Bambino isn’t great but not awful and they have a good match that was engraved with fundamentals. Punk feeds himself into Bobby when needed and also leads the match when needed. Punk gets on the microphone mid match in one of his favorite staples over the years. One of the bigger spots of the match is Punk delivering a That’s Incredible to Bobby. Punk climbs to the top but wastes time jawing with fans and flicking them off. Finish was nicely done as Punk capitalizes on a dive from Bobby that misses and rolls him up for the quick pin. A lot is made of how sloppy Punk is before his WWE run. Now he isn’t Jon Cortex out there but I do think he has better fundamentals and understanding along with better execution than you might have been told especially at this point in his career. *** (5.9)

We are at the finals and see some clips of earlier matches including Lynn getting a pin on RVD in their previous tag. That is a pretty big coup for Lynn pinning RVD and Credible in the same night. Dreamer is wearing a neck brace from the piledriver spot earlier. The opening has everyone pairing off. Match then breaks down with all six brawling around the Hammerstein. Dreamer and Tajiri is easily the most compelling of these followed by Diamond and Lynn. Tajiri really goes after Dreamer using a chair to stand on Dreamer’s neck and biting his forehead. I like Tajiri showing this vicious edge against Dreamer even as a face. The camera cuts between Dreamer/Tajiri on the floor and Lynn/Diamond in the ring. Suplex on the floor and Lynn executes a pretty poor bow and arrow. Whipwreck is back in camera with Swinger and they keep attacking Dreamer. Once all six are in the ring, the faces all attack Diamond/Swinger. This doesn’t really correspond to the theme of the match so far especially with Tajiri biting Dreamer’s head two minutes prior. Dreamer punches Whipwreck and Lynn/Tajiri are going after it. Dreamer gets the tarantula on Mikey which was a fun spot. Swinger/Diamond pounce and attack all four with CW adding in a chairshot. They hit the Problem Solver on Dreamer and pin him. Whipwreck/Tajiri have recovered and hit some double team moves. I understand the booking decision to have Diamond/Swinger in this position but they weren’t ready and the stuff like the locker room emptying feels a bit hollow here. Tajiri mists Diamond when Swinger had him on his shoudlers. Super Whippersnapper is hit by Mikey and we have new champs to a huge pop. Match was uneven but fun to watch overall. **1/4

This match is JIP with Dreamer beating up Rhino around ringside. Lynn and Credible are on the other side. A big trash can is used and this has a lot more heat from the crowd than the previous semi final match. Back inside the ring, Francine gets spanked by Lynn but that costs him as Credible is able to superkick him. Dreamer then hits a DDT on Credible but gets gored. Rhino gives Dreamer a piledriver from the apron through the ringside table. That spot always gets a big reaction. Out comes Spike Dudley with a kendo stick that he attacks Rhino with. Acid Drop from Spike. Credible recovers to hit the That’s Incredible on Spike. Lynn and Credible have some reversals and Lynn pins Credible with the cradle piledriver. Fun sprint. **

TNN starts us off with the semi finals of the ECW tournament although hardcore tv gives us some glimpses at the earlier rounds. These shows are generally regarded as the last stand of ECW as a company that could be something. This was a generic match that could have displayed the younger grouping of ECW talent but it felt like the crowd didn’t really resonate with any of these guys therefore the heat was quiet. Even Roadkill didn’t get as large of a reaction as he has elsewhere. Roadkill does get the hot tag and runs through his arsenal of power moves and springboard clothesline. Doring is back up top and hits a leg drop. Roadkill goes up top but Swinger throws him through the ringside table. CW Anderson gets involved providing enough of a distraction for Diamond to regain and hit the Problem Solver allowing Swinger/Diamond to advance to the finals. *

Really good promo that keeps the angle developing. I have no issue whatsoever with the HHH/Angle stuff and kind of thought it would decline after SummerSlam. Angle talks about what happened Monday and Chyna comes out to refute. Angle has some video evidence of Chyna checking on HHH instead of Eddy. Chyna makes her way to the ring and Angle says he doesn’t want to put his hand on a woman like HHH. Angle says his hand was forced as he gives Chyna an Angle Slam. After that we get a series of backstage segments with HHH blowing a gasket when he arrives seeing Kurt in the dressing room with Stephanie. Stephanie slaps HHH for hugging and talking to Chyna. HHH then apologizes after he has cooled off. Just as Stephanie goes up for the make up kiss, HHH brings up Angle and her and then goes nuts again. Just Joe is getting an earful from outside the locker room. Joe relays the message to Kurt. Kurt thinks Stephanie might be hit again and Kurt is pissed. Chyna and Eddy are backstage talking it out and preparing for the triple threat match. HHH and Stephanie are also prepping and HHH apologizes again for losing his cool. A police officer comes in and says that they have received a spousal abuse complaint. HHH gets carted away to jail and Foley needles him some more by telling Stephanie that she has to be in Angle’s corner. A tad of a mis step here as that feels pretty harsh for Foley. Eddy starts the match off first pissed. Michael Cole gets in a good line about being surprised that Angle doesn’t have a letterman jacket for Steph to wear at ringside. Chyna swings at Kurt on the outside and Kurt misses a retaliation punch at her. The match is just a preview of the chemistry these two will have in a few years. I liked the interaction between Steph and Chyna and that pays off in the finish with a lot going on involving the referee distracted and Angle able to use the IC belt to gain the win. After the match, Chyna knocks out Kurt and then Stephanie talks shit to Chyna. Chyna gives her a DDT and we end SmackDown with Angle helping Stephanie to the back. **1/4

They are given an extra minute from their Raw match and again these two have good chemistry with Benoit attacking the leg and Taker looking better the past couple of weeks since he has returned. The finish here sets up Unforgiven with Kane running in causing the DQ. I liked how Benoit didn’t just accept that and he goes after Kane pissed that he lost his opportunity. Rock gets involved as well and we have our four participants going against each other. *1/2

Tazz has another promo making fun of JR and Lawler. Jericho refutes the promo with an insulting promo at Tazz. Jericho has a pretty cool Y2J hockey jersey around this time. Jericho’s Tazz impersonation is pretty good. Jericho fires away and looks for the Walls within the first 20 seconds. I liked Lawler at least admitting on commentary he hasn’t been a big Jericho fan but he is happy he is shutting the bully up. On the outside, Tazz takes a shot at Lawler and Jerry responds. Jericho gets in a baseball slide as the crowd chants Jerry. Jericho gets a low blow and lionsault to pick up the quick victory. ¾*

E&C do have the Hardys beat quite a bit in the promo department even though them going to the little person well as an insult feels way overdone. Jackie is the tag partner here for E&C which feels really shoe horned in. Jacqueline does give a brutal sidewalk slam to Lita. The Hardys get a measure of revenge winning here in convincing fashion. Match was brief but used to keep Matt/Jeff in the tag title scene and to get a nice hometown pop. *

Interesting matchup on paper and where I thought they may mail it in, they did anything but. Opening is good mat work that continually progresses throughout the fall with tempers flaring a bit and both men opening up. Scorpio hits his finishing sequence so cleanly to the appreciation of the audience and that wins him the first fall. Next two falls lack the same oomph that the first one did and was more of a touring indie variety with Psicosis winning two straight. Both men put over each other at the end. I wish this would have just been a single fall as it went from impressing me to overall slotting in around what I expected. *** (6.2)

What a lame ass promo from O’Haire saying someone had lost his or her children. Stevie is pretty hilarious on commentary making fun of them. Konnan has a nice line about that the only suckers he sees is Jindrak and O’Haire. These two teams together are awesome with the Animals bumping like crazy. Juvy getting elevated from the floor to inside the ring looked awesome and Juvy/Rey flash offense was also well done. Just a bunch of fun overall and the Animals have went from insufferable to really cool overnight turning face. The Animals pick up the win evening the series here. Bring on more. **1/2

Zandig calls Yamakawa a Elvis Pressley punk. BJW….. FUCKKKKKKKKK YOU. FUCK WINGER. Always eloquent when Zandig takes the mic. The garbage matches of all matches. 28 minutes long and using a variety of stuff. Some of it was interesting but it was way too long and I progressively lose hope that we are getting much interesting stuff from Zandig throughout the decade. The best spots here involved the teases to the big light tube board and the powerbomb onto the barbed wire that stuck to Yamakawa’s skin and Zandig’s hair. Yamakawa is not going to be the megastar of BJW and I say that as someone that likes him more than most it seems. **

Rock conducts his usual clichéd but funny promo with Kevin Kelly. I was expecting nothing from the match but it was spirited and heated. This may be the best Kane has looked in an extended point. The feud with Taker feels personal even if it still doesn’t make a ton of sense. Kane gets some big moments in this match and has Rock reeling until Taker comes out. Even after a Taker chokeslam, Kane kicks out. Rock follows that up with the Rock Bottom to win another good Raw main event. Rock is making a case for top 25-30 workers worldwide for the year which on the surface may not sound that impressive but I am not sure he would have cracked the top 100 in 1999. *** (6)

HHH is waiting on Stephanie and confers with both X-Pac and Road Dogg about it. Angle arrives and cuts a promo furthering the feud with HHH. Angle kind of stumbles over himself a few times here but the highpoints are still there. HHH comes out and says what he will do to Kurt tonight will be criminal and more of a concussion if he doesn’t tell him where his wife is. Again, HHH is playing this role great as a disgruntled husband that is positioned as a face by default but still not exactly a face in practice. Angle hypothesizes that maybe Stephanie hasn’t contacted HHH because she is scared of him. HHH shoves Angle through the ropes and outside of the ring. We get a quick backstage vignette where Chyna says she is starting to feel sorry for Hunter. Cole catches up with Angle and he reiterates that he doesn’t remember last night except being in a hotel lobby and room with Stephanie. Chyna offers some consolation to HHH in his room when Eddy comes in and now he is pissed. Eddy tells HHH that is his Mommy. Angle props Eddy up and tells him to take it out on HHH. Angle needles Eddy about the past relationship between Chyna and HHH. Besides a Raw match in 2004, this is the only time these two had a singles match and they only interacted in a match period less than five times. Action is fun for three minutes with Eddy almost wiping out on a rana but recovering at the last moment. Angle runs in and hits both with a chair before being chased away by Chyna. Chyna checks on both men as Angle smirks from afar. *

Trish is still with T&A so I don’t know exactly why they were so giddy to help Shane last night. Jericho meets Benoit on the stage and we get a pier six to start out. The match itself is good and the Acolytes continue to improve as a team especially Bradshaw who throws a hellacious boot to set up the Jericho pinfall. T&A is on the downswing and Benoit/Jericho look to be a feud that will continue. *1/2

One of the more classic rivalries that put both of these guys on the map has resulted into this. They never even get into the ring and have some awful brawling on the entranceway that just leads to the big angle. Vampiro and ICP rip through the Nitro screen silhouette so who knows how much that cost. The effects are awful as smoke is supposed to blind Sting but they go off too late. They drag Sting up and beat him up. Pure shit. We go to the desert where Goldberg is going to bury Russo. Bret Hart shows up and reminds him of Survivor Series and Montreal. It is a swerve as Bret hits Goldberg with the shovel and Nitro goes off the air with Tony proclaiming the band is back together. Fuck this. ¼*

A long gloating Russo promo to start things off. Nothing really of note except to make the main event tonight of Nash vs Booker which is supposed to main event the next PPV. Nitro was running unopposed tonight with Raw starting at 11 so they could have made a splash. Instead we get this. The match itself wasn’t bad if it wasn’t so apparent as to what was going to happen. Jarrett is the referee and acts like he is going to call it down the middle. Russo is on commentary and outraged. Madden is even worse than usual. Of course that is a SWERVE and Jarrett smashes a guitar over Booker’s head in the ending moments. They clean up the debris for some reason. Nash then hits the jackknife and we have a new champion. Oy. Nash is not the guy to hold the belt right now. Match showed signs of life if a straight match but Russo effect makes this drop a good deal. ¾*

After Jinsei Shinzaki makes an appearance, he gets beat up by Kanemura, GOEMON and Gannosuke. Hayabusa makes the save and the match is on. Gannosuke dominates a large chunk on the match. He beats up Hayabusa inside the ring in a methodical but devious way and then throws him outside for the sharks that are Kanemura and GOEMON to get some shots in. Gannosuke is such a great heel and it plays to a natural story of creating sympathy for Hayabusa. Busa is able to get in a stiff kick and rana sending Gannosuke to the outside but he misses the dive and Gannosuke remains on the attack outside the ring. An asai moonsault from Busa helps take out GOEMON and he punches Kanemura. Busa then does the running tope over the ringpost onto Gannosuke. Busa goes through his full arsenal inside including a Tiger Suplex and 450. Fuyuki comes in and runs interference and Gannosuke spikes him for a nearfall. Does Busa have no friends besides Jinsei? That is kind of the story told here. Jinsei runs back out bandage and all and now he provides interference attacking Gannosuke and his friends. Falcon arrow from Busa gets a close nearfall and then Busa wins with the Emerald Flowsion. A lot of interference but a simple story told well with Busa and his buddy Jinsei overcoming the evil faction. I enjoyed this and its simplicity in a way. ***1/2 (6.8)

A really solid tag match that only went 12 minutes but carried a neat structure of Onryo being beat up on from the Kanemura and GOEMON team. Onryo does still have a neat gimmick that feels fresh and played up. The weapons interspersed with this like the Gedo/Jado tag didn’t feel hamfisted in and flowed naturally. The match also never got too ridiculous that it drifted into excess. Tanaka and Kanemura had some strong interactions with each other and the teaming of Tanaka and Onryo was well done. ***1/4 (6.6)

I’m really waiting on that Gedo/Jado tag to knock my socks off but this was really good. Sasaki gets busted up while Hosaka gets his leg worked over. Gedo/Jado use weapons such as a kendo stick and also a lot of quick double team moves. The finish was surprising to me but got a good reaction with Sasaki picking up the win after a huge lariat. I know Mammoth was someone that was pegged to be a huge star and just for one reason or another never panned out. ***1/2 (6.9)

Shame about Angle but a worthy SSlam main event. HHH and Rock improvise really well and have another really well done match together waiting for Angle to get into place. Even though knowing things better now and Angle had no business being out there again, it was a courageous effort for him returning and he played his role well where it felt like he was really going to score the pin. The midsection working over of Rock really neutralized him and helped get over the sledgehammer. Rock shows resiliency and strength while also putting over his opponents. The big moment is HHH accidentally punching Steph which should continue the love triangle going. Overall, a strong main event and a real good PPV outing from WWF. ***3/4 (7.3)