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We are in the middle of what looks like someone’s hunting land for this IWA show. This wasn’t bad. They played up the shoot aspect of the match and it didn’t drag out which can be a huge problem with other Kickboxer matches. Some of the punches and kicks had good pop to them. Kickboxer locks on a leg submission and that is it. Afterwards, we get a big melee and Ian sets up some matches for the future. **1/4

I was really looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint. After a very brief feeling out process, things open up and they don’t stop. The heel unit is relentless just bruising up the faces around the ring and trying to gain any advantage possible. Togo and especially Buffalo in this match were amazing. Murahama plays FIP for a while and the crowd is so invested in the guy. You can hear the shrieks from the females any time he either gets a near fall or is in danger. The match ebbed and flowed in a natural way and felt chaotic but contained like those tremendous 1996 M-Pro matches. Buffalo gives Delphin a brutal clothesline over the top rope and has Murahama on the ropes until Murahama is able to reel off a sweet looking back spin kick and gain the upset win to the delight of the crowd. Osaka Pro is the best. **** (8.0)

This was probably better than the Eddie Golden ladder match. Styles comes in with a viciousness on his stop sign shots and has to show a different side to him than we are accoustmed to of the pretty boy showing he is a bad ass. White Trash felt like your generic garbage wrestler de jour of the day but he did pretty well here and wouldn’t have looked out of place facing off against 2 Tough Tony in IWA at the time. I really liked the finish with the running DVD through the table on the outside. Fun match that didn’t overstay its welcome and felt like a fight even with the weapon shots. *** (5.9)

Wow, what a great match to start the new era of All Japan. Everything looks a little different including the venue but Kawada and Fuchi really went out to prove they could still have a compelling match in this promotion and not sell out to the glitz and glammor that was promised from NOAH in the opening press conference. It is such a great contrast and one where I feel both promotions have pros/cons in the way they went about things. Maybe Kawada and Co were a bit too stubborn and they even had to sort of backtrack on things with the influx of Mutoh but for this night, Fuchi and Kawda rolled around on the mat for 20 minutes. One powerbomb was enough to put Fuchi away for Kawada but not before he made Fuchi’s chest look like hamburger meat. In between those strikes, the mat work was really engaging with each wrestler shooting on the other and locking in some tough submissions to work out of. Fuchi especially hadn’t been in this type of marquee singles match in a while and he delivers in spades here. A wonderful match to watch and one that made me really excited for the main promotions in Japan in the 2nd half of 2000. ****1/4 (8.5)

This was a fun match too. The Network stuff is toned down compared to the TNN show. Corino is always a strong on top heel worker and Kash is sympathetic to take a beating. Victory is a good second on the outside too getting in cheap shots when he can. Kash literally is losing his pants in the finish run and pops Victory before getting the win with a rollup for a big pop. Again, Corino does a lot of jobs in ECW and they don’t seem to present and or think of him as a big of a star as he could be but the upset was a nice moment to watch. *** (5.9)

I was happy to see Tajiri work with an underneath worker and him vs EZ Money sounded fun in concept. The match itself had the crowd firmly behind Tajiri and Money mainly backing off which was fun to see as a one off. Tajiri continues to find creative ways of bringing in his signature stuff like the mist and Tarantula. His kicks of course looked wonderful including the one right before the finish of the brainbuster. **1/2

Female lucha is again something that feels like it should be much more prominent than it is. I am unsure if the right worker has never caught on/gotten the appropriate push or what but I look forward to seeing the 2000’s output with the Apache ladies being featured. This was ok. Tifany has good enough character work but this was mainly rope running and arm drags. Lola looked like she was moving in slow motion for some of the later spots. The victory roll from the top rope in the finale was a good nearfall. The seconds get involved and the finish is annoying with Tirantes giving a fast count allowing Tifany to win. I would like to see Tifany in there with someone like Asari. **

This was a nice main event to mainly continue the Jericho vs HHH feud. Dudley and DX are just window dressing but they didn’t get in the way and D-Von was a serviceable guy to take the pin and show that HHH is still strong. I liked Cole’s call of saying no matter what, he is still the Game. The match had a good amount of time and a back and forth style. The Jericho vs HHH remains being fantastic and this culminates in the tease of Steph going through the table only for HHH to end up going through. *** (5.8)

This is the WM 24 main event 8 years early so this is fun to see. Again, Taker just mows down Edge and treats him like a jobber. This program is doing no one any favors at all and I am ready for E&C to be in their next tag feud where they look the least bit credible. 1/4*

Wow, this was a really good match. Holly takes the fight to Angle and this showed Angle in a different environment really having to overcome a bruiser. This also felt like it went longer than the typical Angle tv match. Eventually, resourcefulness is Angle’s out as he hits a low blow and then the Angle Slam for the win. Angle is growing as a worker here as he is advancing up the card and Holly has went from someone that didn’t look like he really belonged in the IC picture in January to a very serviceable gatekeeper character. ***1/4 (6.7)

Fun tag match to open up SmackDown. It was nice to see Eddy and Benoit mix it up and show their tremendous chemistry against each other. Eddy is a good FIP for a while and we go into the finishing stretch with T&A coming out. Chyna gets involved with them and Too Cool also comes out to help Rikishi. Chyna and Eddy dance in the end to a big reaction. It’s interesting that the match ends with Rikishi/Too Cool/Chyna/Eddy in the ring which was 4 of the 6 competitors in the Mania six man. **

Good final to the intergender tournament. The ladies really mixed it up on the mat at first and I thought Hamada in particular implemented himself well into the match vs Fukawa. The finish was a bit anticlimactic but I do appreciate a match that ends on what really feels like the first big high impact move of the match with Hamada’s cutter from the top rope. This was enjoyable and made me appreciate intergender wrestling more on the whole. ***1/4 (6.5)

Overall, a pretty strong Nitro for this era. This had some run in nonsense but it wasn’t as bad as we have seen and again no Bischoff or Russo is real refreshing. Steiner is someone I have never been a big fan of but he fits in this role and has the crowd behind him as a new face to cheer for. Him and Goldberg are setting up their impending feud well. Nash continues to be in the way for the most part and I don’t have high hopes of him giving any sort of rub to Awesome in the future. **1/4

For a three minute special attraction match, I thought this was great with Duggan showing great fire this advanced in age and Goldberg utilizing the heel bully role better than I would have imagined. He gives a great kidney punch at one point. Duggan could still be relied upon to have the crowd behind him. This was such solid booking of Goldberg beating someone he should have but the segment was engaging and the crowd was invested with any outside interference bullshit. Take notice Russo and Bischoff. ***1/2 (6.8)

Jindrak and O’Haire get their debut on the big stage and Juvy and Rey are good opponents to make them look good even though Rey especially is wasted in this secondary Filthy Animals role. Konnan and Disco can’t decide between the two of them who wants to be more in the limelight. I liked the DDT that was given to Rey when he was on Juvy’s shoulders. The rookies pick up the win and the crowd pops huge for that. After the Animals beat down on them, Lance Strom comes in from the crowd to make the save. We get the “he doesn’t work here” commentary to put that over. **

Raw starts off with a Vince promo. The explanation of why he is going away is strange as shit and the origin of the genetic jackhammer moniker. This felt like a promo that shows in the decade before, Vince would have just moved to the next territory but he is unable to do that here. Rock comes out and offers a handshake and then gives him a Rock Bottom to send him on his way. Glad that Vince is at least aware enough to know this run was not one of his best and a sabbatical is a smart move. Next we get HBK coming out and him and HHH have some interaction. HHH says he deserves to be the #1 contender and I can’t really disagree there. This all leads to Foley being named the new commissioner. This was a fun move and kind of turned the heel authority figure role on its head a bit. Foley sets up the main event later and Angle comes out and gets himself involved. Angle is now clearly in that main event picture. The match for the main event is Rock vs Angle vs HHH which will be our SummerSlam main event. It is a lot of fun with good action and energy throughout. It is nice to see Angle mixing it up here. Finish shows dissension between them and Rock gets the pin of HHH that sort of mitigates him pinning Vince to win the title the night before. I feel like they did a good job tonight realizing the mistakes they made at King of the Ring and setting things up for the SUmmerSlam build. *** (5.9)

Man did I hate this. E&C are starting their relationship with Foley which is remembered fondly. They just have won the tag titles back and they get completely bitched out by the BOD. I understand they are more of a comedy troop squad but still why decimate your champions in this manner. Taker/Kane don’t have a lot to do right now after KOTR and having them job out everyone but the main event players isn’t the way to go. ¼*

Jericho explains in his pre match promo that he kissed roadkill and never would do that again. Another three minute match but it was good enough in advancing the Steph vs Jericho feud. Jericho has the match won with the lionsault until Road Dogg comes in and whacks him allowing X-Pac to win. After the match was more heated with Stephanie slapping Jericho and then kicking him in the balls. ¾*

Is there a contract where these guys can’t wrestle for more than two minutes? Another decent entry from what we see but we don’t hardly see anything based on time. More work on the shoulder of Rikishi. Rikishi is looking for his big splash when Tazz of all people runs out and slams him with the chair. Benoit after the match hits another chairshot and a diving headbutt to the shoulder. I guess we are trying to do something with Tazz now. ½*

This was a strong match in really showcasing the feud of M2K vs Crazy Max that will carry the company for the foreseeable future. It also was interesting seeing how the rudo/tecnico roles shifted immediately with M2K being the skateboard punks and Crazy Max becoming defacto faces. It was done a lot more organically than I would have imagined. I think having someone like Stalker on your side is an easy way to generate sympathy. Ditto for Fujii wearing the comedic wig to get a pop from the crowd when his nearly bald head was exposed. CIMA seemed enthusiastic to be a face as when he gets the hot tag off of a great sequence, he comes firing in and is jumping up and down all excitedly. The finishing run was strong too with Stalker getting some hope pinfalls before being defeated. Really strong opening chapter to this feud overall. ***3/4 (7.6)

We get the finishing run which is pretty heated and excellent. We have some sloppiness with SUWA slipping on the ropes and Dragon Kid just barely pulling off some of his rana spots. We only get around four minutes of action and it ends with Shinzaki winning with a straightjacket choke. Afterwards, SUWA and the rest of Crazy Max come in to continue the beatdown. Arai joins the fray and goes after SUWA challenging to a match afterwards. NR

Night 2 was an easy step down from night 1 for me. This was a fun opener that I put on par with something like YH vs Nagata from Night 1. Juice had his back worked over and sold it well and then fed into his comebacks with good openings. Kojima was willing to give him a lot here and put him over as a big player that could go on a run throughout the tournament. After Juice’s big win, I liked the show of respect they each gave to each other. I don’t know if Juice will reel off many “great” matches in this G1 but his floor seems to be pretty high overall and I am excited to see him work the variety of opponents in his block. ***1/4 Tonga was given another chance in the G1 this year which felt like filibustering to get to 20 guys to me. I didn’t see what he did in last year’s tournament to warrant a return but I digress. This match was the definition of middling. They did some intro power stuff, went to the outside for a quick exchange and then went back inside for the finishing run. The main positive I had for the match was Elgin’s selling in avoiding the cutter of Tonga. That played into the finish well with Tonga hitting it from the top rope off of a DVD position. **1/2 I appreciated that we didn’t get any faction collusion teasing up front. However, they really seemed to make this into a big brawl from the onset and I didn’t feel the hatred or intensity whatsoever. The chair flying into the cameraman was nice but coincidental. Inside, the action was really back and forth without any flow. My hope was that the stunner to the floor would kickstart things and the selling by both men getting in was excellent. Then they just do a forearm exchange so EVIL who just took a stunner to the floor is still able to go 50/50. Talk about a wasted highspot. The back and forth as we head to the finishing stretch is full of good looking moves mainly based off of SANADA’s bumping and athleticism but I fail to see any strategy for any man as far as gaining the victory. It’s just an exchanging of holds. The struggle with SANADA looking for the Skull End was the most cohesive part of the match overall and gained back my investment. He seems to wind EVIL and then hits a moonsault for the victory. **3/4 We get the Yano greatest hits package here. Okada being from the DG system does have a good sense of comedic timing in matches and it was on display here. Them being in a faction worked as well as we saw Okada and Gedo on the outside try to uproot some of the Yano tropes but instead, Yano just added a new layer. The throwing the turnbuckle pad to Gedo and the low blow to Jado on the outside were highlights. Yano gets a variety of rollups that have the crowd biting so that was refreshing to see. In a nice wrinkle, Okada ends up winning with the Red Ink which felt different. I had fun with this match. *** This may be construed as nitpicky and it isn’t his general style but I was hoping for less animated selling from Omega being in there with Suzuki than what we got in the early going. The leg work was really well done with Suzuki going after it with ferocity and Omega selling it well. One legged moonsault was a nice touch. Then we get the ref bump and the Suzuki Gun and Bullet Club clear out. This will set up faction wars I suppose in the future but I can’t be bothered to care about that in the slightest and it disrupted the flow of the match greatly for me. When the match restarts 1 vs 1, it is very engaging from the leg lock submissions to the V-Triggers that Kenny lands in. There was some pretty glaring execution spots where at two moments, Red Shoes seemed to count three on clearly designed two counts. In addition, the reverse rana in the finishing run was ugly with Suzuki not being able to take that bump properly. A little ambitious overall for those type of spots here and unnecessary to boot. Kenny does win which helps prove his dominance and he gives his grandstanding speech afterwards. I enjoyed this but didn’t think it every reached that next gear into great territory. ***1/2

This may be construed as nitpicky and it isn’t his general style but I was hoping for less animated selling from Omega being in there with Suzuki than what we got in the early going. The leg work was really well done with Suzuki going after it with ferocity and Omega selling it well. One legged moonsault was a nice touch. Then we get the ref bump and the Suzuki Gun and Bullet Club clear out. This will set up faction wars I suppose in the future but I can’t be bothered to care about that in the slightest and it disrupted the flow of the match greatly for me. When the match restarts 1 vs 1, it is very engaging from the leg lock submissions to the V-Triggers that Kenny lands in. There was some pretty glaring execution spots where at two moments, Red Shoes seemed to count three on clearly designed two counts. In addition, the reverse rana in the finishing run was ugly with Suzuki not being able to take that bump properly. A little ambitious overall for those type of spots here and unnecessary to boot. Kenny does win which helps prove his dominance and he gives his grandstanding speech afterwards. I enjoyed this but didn’t think it every reached that next gear into great territory. ***1/2

We get the Yano greatest hits package here. Okada being from the DG system does have a good sense of comedic timing in matches and it was on display here. Them being in a faction worked as well as we saw Okada and Gedo on the outside try to uproot some of the Yano tropes but instead, Yano just added a new layer. The throwing the turnbuckle pad to Gedo and the low blow to Jado on the outside were highlights. Yano gets a variety of rollups that have the crowd biting so that was refreshing to see. In a nice wrinkle, Okada ends up winning with the Red Ink which felt different. I had fun with this match. ***

I appreciated that we didn’t get any faction collusion teasing up front. However, they really seemed to make this into a big brawl from the onset and I didn’t feel the hatred or intensity whatsoever. The chair flying into the cameraman was nice but coincidental. Inside, the action was really back and forth without any flow. My hope was that the stunner to the floor would kickstart things and the selling by both men getting in was excellent. Then they just do a forearm exchange so EVIL who just took a stunner to the floor is still able to go 50/50. Talk about a wasted highspot. The back and forth as we head to the finishing stretch is full of good looking moves mainly based off of SANADA’s bumping and athleticism but I fail to see any strategy for any man as far as gaining the victory. It’s just an exchanging of holds. The struggle with SANADA looking for the Skull End was the most cohesive part of the match overall and gained back my investment. He seems to wind EVIL and then hits a moonsault for the victory. **3/4