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A strong main event. These two still feel like they could have a MOTYC within them and havent hit that mark yet, but all of their matches have been enjoyable. SANADA was smart to fake the knee injury in the early going of this one and then pounce onto the attack. Okada was strong underneath and it led to a compelling finishing stretch where SANADA did feel like he had received a reputation bump even in defeat. The sequence of reversals and SANADA going for the Skull Crush only to lay into a final flurry of Rainmakers was particularly intriguing.. ***3/4

You knew this would be ridiculous and it was. It did make me laugh so that is the goal I suppose. I understand the annoyance that someone like Kenny shouldn’t be going 50/50 with Yano and degrading himself doing this stuff, but I try not to think too hard with Yano matches and this didn’t feel overly long like the Kojima match. ***

Juice’s longterm selling has been splendid. He came hobbling out here and you knew Suzuki would pounce on it. Juice being such a traditional babyface makes the Suzuki Gun interference a bit more bearable even though it is still annoying. Juice musters up a great effort and gets his Juice punch but ultimately succumbs to the damage of the leg and the knockout blow of one of the better Gotch Piledrivers you will see. Really nice breakout style match for Juice. ***1/2

I give Tama Tonga chance after chance and I just never am going to be on board with him. He has now been given ample opportunity but I don’t feel any violence or hatred in his brawling and much of his uniqueness revolves around a couple of speed spots inside the ring. The brawling here was really mundane and the only highlight was the final two minutes which were basic counters around the cutter of Tonga. The first match accomplished its goal but this was more boring than that match and less memorable. **1/2

This was a good opening slugfest. Elgin’s forearms in particular looked really explosive and he pounded down Kojima throughout the match. He felt like a bruiser and allowed Kojima to be resilient. This is the type of match that certainly won’t be one I can easily recollect when the tournament is over due to having 80 matches overall but as a beginning of a night to settle the viewer in, it accomplished what it set out to do. ***

This had some added ooph being in Makabe’s hometown but I didn’t get the slugfest feel they were going for and some of the forearms in particular looked weak compared to the shots that were fired in Ibushi vs Ishii. The best sequence was the final one with Makabe going for the King Kong knee and hitting the first at a unique angle. Big time pop for his win and this ended a good night of wrestling. ***

This was the striking equivalent of Naito vs Ibushi. Just a hard hitting nutso match with multiple strikes that will make you cringe. Ibushi could have some credibility issues in that regard going up against a brick shithouse like Ishii but I do think his precision on his strikes help give gravity to his strikes and allow him to go toe to toe with the Stone Pitbull. Ibushi’s powerbomb is really becoming that knockout finisher as well that much like the One Winged Angel, it is doom if hit. The lack of overarching story kept this out of MOTYC range for me but it was a great slugfest and felt like a battle when it was over. ****

These two have always matched up super well and this was one of their best matches together in history. As of right now, I could only think of the April 2007 match as being better. Tanahashi had a cool heel dynamic in this one and Nagata is the ultimate sympathetic figure knowing this will be his last G1. Knowing that fact, this will likely be the last singles match between the two. Tana was given the torch from Nagata and he has carried it with pride for the past 10 years. The work here really evolved over the course of the match from the engaging mat work to the big bombs that were hit in the closing stretches. The teases of the big moves were also used well as nothing was spammed in the slightest. Tana brought a big stiffness to his slaps as Nagata was bleeding under his eye. All of these moments melded together into a wonderful G1 match and perhaps the last truly great singles match in his career. ****1/4

This was kind of a base level Fale match. He works over the back of Naito and like usual, the underneath person is trying to find an opening to gain an advantage. I thought Fale’s execution looked pretty sloppy tonight and Naito was unable to generate much offense leading to a bit of a disconnect in the match overall. The teases of the Destino were well done. The first spike slam was a good nearfall and it was smart for Fale to come right back with the Bad Luck Fall to put the match away. With Naito at 2-0 a loss for him was coming and it happened to be tonight. ***

This was the perfect length for a YH match. A quick opening matwork segment leading to ZSJ going after the arm and cranking it out like only he knows how. YH was good in selling the damage and then was able to mix in his comebacks building up the sympathy that had been laid out in the prior 6-7 minutes. I enjoyed him sending Desperado down to the floor before he eats the knees of Sabre on the Swantom. That leads to the finishing run where he narrowly escapes the pinning combo of Sabre and then loses by submission to an adaptation of the octopus hold. ***1/4

This had a weird vibe to it. The neck work by Naito was good and YH sold it well. Then YH made his comeback and I was excited as I thought this would be a nice 15 minute affair to end the night. Unfortunately, the match goes about 7 minutes beyond that and I never found YH credible. Add to that him kicking out of things like a Destino which feels ill advised and this was the least successful match of the whole night in my eyes. Really good in some parts but uneven in others. ***

This told a very simple story but was effective. Fale beats Tana’s ass and his arm for 10 minutes and Tana has to find ways to be resourceful and take out the big giant. It is the most simplistic of storyline devices but Tanahashi is always someone that has been able to work so well in accentuating the strengths of Fale. The finish here was really clever and not utilized enough given the amount of countout teases that happen in NJ. ***1/4

I thought this was a masterful match. Styles can make matches sometimes and this one just gelled from the start with me. The contrast between the mat game of Sabre and the strikes and speed of Ibushi were presented well here. Sabre was able to convey a heel character just in being such a dominant wrestler and doing things like his shoulder shruh after a sequence as if to say is that all you got. This also went an excellent length in being long enough to tell a fully engaged story but short enough to not feel dragged out in the slightest. Some of the highlights included Sabre catching Ibushi in the triangle, the ankle locks Sabre applies, Sabre catching Ibushi’s foot on a dive and transitioning right into his briding combo which allowed Kevin Kelly to have a super call of saying unfreakingbelievable during the whole thing and lastly Sabre doing the flying triangle which played right into the finish. Ibushi had to muster up all of his strength to hit the powerbomb and win the match. This is my favorite G1 match so far. ****1/2

These two have had a long standing rivalry with each other over the years and none of the matches impressed me much at all. This still had some of those annoying tendencies like the Makabe punches and going on too long but it also reigned in a lot of the previous issues and became a good slugfest. The fight on the top rope over the King Kong knee in particular was a good tease and release from a psychology standpoint that you didn’t typically see when these two faced off. Even Makabe’s biggest fans admit he is winding down but he bumped well here and wasn’t completely immobile. His lariats also looked brutal enough to make the clash look believable. I would have thought for sure Ishii would have lost here so I was delighted to see him pick up the victory. ***1/2

This had a classic strong style build that I appreciated. Some opening mat work that was engaging and sat the table for later. The back and forth between the two in the finishing run was logical and tense and finishers were used sparingly. I really appreciated the fact that Goto was able to hit the VTR and that was enough for the victory. Is Nagata going to get a win before the final night? ***3/4

Me and Loss have talked a lot in the prepping stage that Trent is really one of the more tragic figures of the entire PWO2k project (JC Bailey may be another one when we get to him). He was so young here (19) and had so much charisma that if he would have kept his life together, I see no reason he wouldn't have been able to have a successful career to this day.

Jeff’s shirt is an embarrassment. Heel in my book just based off of that. They are really trying with Val and the revamping of this character but the crowd is just not responding at all. He mixes in some nice looking shots to the stomach of Jeff and Jeff is able to generate some sympathy but the match overall was not much. Lita and Trish go after each other again and Tazz interjects himself into the match taking out Jeff. Val ends up winning with the Money Shot. Still no idea where they are headed with the Tazz storyline. *1/2

The big tv feud of 2000. Rikishi and HHH have another good match together and the emphasis on the IC title is nice to see. HHH does well in avoiding Rikishi’s big spots but making them look dangerous including the butt splash. We get a huge Stephanie swallows chant from the fans during the middle of this one. Both guys get counted out and Jericho runs down to send HHH in for the stinkface. Another chapter for their feud. HHH is fuming backstage so Foley sets up Jericho vs X-Pac and Road Dogg tonight. They have already announced Jericho vs HHH for the PPV since Jericho cost HHH the #1 contender ship last week. **1/4

Another 5 minute Eddy vs Benoit tv match that is good like we saw numerous times on Nitro. This ends in a DQ with Chyna getting involved and she ends up taking a spill and suffering an inury. I don’t really remember the ramifications of that and knowing what the main event of Fully Loaded is, I think Benoit should just have flatly went over. **1/2

As much as the previous match sucked, this one felt really good off the clips we see. Maybe that is another tip in the hat of HOnma as he seems to be someone that can be plugged in with anyone and provide something engaging. This had salt in the wounds and lemons which always makes me squeamish. In addition, Honma rubs wasabi over Zandig’s bloody forehead which I haven’t seen before but was sick to watch. Zandig did some big moves and executed them just well enough to keep up his end of the bargain. I would have liked to have seen this in full overall but it was exciting with what we got here. NR

This match was a mess. Yamakawa didn’t know how to work with the CZW guys and both Pain and Wifebeater had sloppy nights even by their standards. We only get about half of this match so it is scathed from a rating but this was rough to watch. NR

I liked this better than their previous match even with the Bobcat and kat distraction. Krush was better on top and felt like more of a threat for Lawler. Even the eventual pinfall felt like a fluke with Lance unsure on commentary if that was the finish. I don’t know what time this aired in Memphis but Bobcat’s g string felt pretty risky for early morning Saturday programming. **

Dragon and Spanky are duking it out in the first round of the light heavyweight tournament. This is their abridged match but again they did a good job of making a new market be excited to see them by providing a mix of speed and stiffness with the innovated moves. Spanky shows off his character work too having some heelish tactics to win the match. *3/4

Kickboxer had a good night as he again looked good here by his standards showing some intensity and landing some stiff strikes. The match has a chaotic back and forth with the lumberjack straps and carried a trope finish of Hy-Zaya bleeding first but the referee being distracted and now Kickboxer is bleeding to and loses the match. A good match but overall this was one of the more distasteful wrestling matches I have ever seen. Hy-Zaya and Richard X are backed by Uncle Honkey and the racial overtones are disgusting. When I first started watching IWA in 2002-2003, it certainly wasn’t the classiest promotion in the world but the biggest offenses revolved around Tracy Smothers getting into it with a pregnant crowd member or Ian talking down some stoner that was talking shit. Even in ring, the Peter B Beautiful situations and the like aren’t the best way to handle business but Peter did talk a lot of shit beforehand. So far in 2000, we have seen plenty of gay slurs everywhere in multiple promotions and why that doesn’t excuse that behavior in the slightest, it does show a complete ignorance or timeframe of the era. This match is something beyond that with the racial overtones. You start with fans getting the opportunity to be a lumberjack with straps to beat up the black man and then you have Ian halfway through the match telling Kickboxer to hang the son of the bitch. The most disgusting thing happens after the match in Ian’s post match promo where he says to remember that his great great grandfather owned Hy-Zaya’s great great grandfather. Ian was never someone I looked at with a great moral compass and wrestling is littered with terrible people but this is being used as a in ring angle and Ian is the face of the promotion. I don’t know if Ian weakened his views as time went on or just realized with more visibility and SMV filming the shows, really extreme viewpoints and comments like this wouldn’t be tolerated. Either way, this left a really bad taste in my mouth and made me ashamed to be a fan. DUD

We have arrived at the debut of Chris Hero in IWA-MS. He is coming out to “My Hero” by Foo Fighters here. Much like Dragon, Spanky and Styles, I think it was easy to see the spark of what would become very early on with his work just within this match. His takeovers look good, he has a fundamentally sound base and he moves around the ring with prescence and speed. Palmer is a workman grinder for IWA that they really pushed around this time as their workrate guy that could wrestle and have some character but Hero was better than him in this match IMO. The highlight comes with a powerbomb on the outside through two chairs and the IWA faithful are already taking a keenness to the newcomer. Hero had his Hero’s Welcome finisher already too and he hits it here. The finish is botched as Palmer hits a good looking can opener suplex, the referee counts to four and then says it was only two. Palmer just walks out and after 30 seconds, Jim Fannin just announces him as the winner. This is only the beginning for Hero. *** (6.0)