soup23

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

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

This starts with Shane Mayweather punching at Kane. Luckily Kane sniffs that out and Shane cowards which is preferred to the sometimes narrative that Shane is indeed a bad ass. The match carries a familiar structure of the faces dominating but each wanting to be champion so they do break up pins with each other. The match also spills to outside and we get our obligatory Attitude Era ringside brawl. HHH hits a pedigree on the inside and Rock is FIP. Now we get Shane jumping around and missing by a mile on most of his punches on offense. Kane and Taker are fighting it out on the outside while on the inside Rock makes his comeback and goes for the People’s Elbow. Kane comes in and chokeslams him. Lawler is talking about Vince’s master plan but overall the match has been disjointed and certainly not felt like a big time PPV main event. HHH thinks him and Kane are buddies but Kane tombstones him and gets a nearfall when Taker pulls him out. In a way, it does make the title seem important but everything is so convoluted. Shane takes a nutty spot of course from the top rope through the ringside table with a chokeslam. That has the crowd going nuts. Vince goes for the elbow but gets Rock Bottom’d and Rock is the new champion. This summarizes the Rock vs Vince feud that they tried to keep giving juice to since Mania but it never got there. **1/4

Angle and Rikishi provide us with basic but effective promos to start things off. Rikishi is really wounded here which again makes me question the booking as it doesn’t seem like this huge feat for Kurt to defeat this heavily hurt worker. Rikishi starts the match on the floor and quickly which makes sense given his injury. The match has a structure of Rikishi fighting through the pain but it is clearly slowing him down. Rikishi was very consistent in selling the damage. I also liked how the stinkface kind of pissed Angle off as he charges right out of the corner and hits the Angle Slam for a close nearfall. Rikishi regains the advantage and scales to the top but Angle catches him with a belly to belly in an impressive looking spot to win the match. A disappointing tournament overall given the talent. This felt like it went the right length and was a nice moment for Angle getting crowned. **3/4

This is a feud that has been built up for a long time and we get the blow off here but besides the Dudley’s being over, there wasn’t a lot of meat to the match. D-Von gives the diving headbutt to Tori’s crotch in a spot I still don’t understand. The dumpster stip feels really tacked on as the crowd just keeps chanting for tables. X-Pac and Road Dogg even get a visual victory have the Dudley’s in the dumpster while the referee is tending to Tori. They sneak out the door and crawl under the ring. When they emerge, they give two crackling chair shots. We head to the finishing run with Bubba on the steps inside the ring and he powerbombs Road Dogg to the outside through two tables. D-Von suplexes X-Pac through a table with Tori hiding in the dumpster. As they look for her, DX comes back with chairs and they send the Dudley’s into the dumpster to win the match. Fuck off with that finish. Dudley Boyz grab Tori and give two 3D’s to Pac and Dogg and then FINALLY put Tori through a table to hopefully end this angle. *3/4

Does anyone have Tomk’s review of this debacle? I don’t know if this classifies as so bad its good but I did laugh pretty hard at JR throwing in the towel and just announcing “this is hideous” a minute in. Crash ends up winning the title. ¼*

Angle does a really fun pinning combination 30 seconds in that we haven’t seen before. Overall, this was a very strong push for Angle. Crash has been lucking his way into these victories but that is shut down here and Kurt is only having to kick out of a few flash pins before putting him away with the Angle Slam. Good tv match but this is PPV. As an added bonus, we get clips of the MSG houseshow from the night before and King of all people interviewing one Donald Trump. I don’t know how much money you could bet that this would be the President of the United States now but you would be a rich man if you would have done it. *1/2

They were determined to have this match. As a four minute angle advancer, it was fine. Venis shows some viciousness here and is more convincing in that role than trying to be super technical wrestler. I like Val’s punches and he smartly goes after the injured arm of Rikishi. The biggest issue is that the match is a victim of time as Val scales up to go for the money shot and gets caught in a belly to belly for the pin ending the match in real anticlimactic fashion. Rakish goes after Trish but Val attacks getting his heat back and Rikish has damage done to his shoulder again. *

This provided an excellent visualization of the depth of the tag roster in WWF at the time but as a standalone match, it never came together. E&C insult the sports of Boston just like Kurt a few minutes before but I will give them props for having a Mookie Wilson jersey. Everything was too compartmentalized. It started with a segment of the Hardy’s vs T&A. Lita and Trish have a scruff which again is a rehash of the Venis vs Eddy match and Chyna and Trish going after each other. E&C and Hardy’s then have their Raw match which is good but brief. Finally it is down to Too Cool and E&C and again the action is fine but not that inspiring and really relies on the big spots of both teams. The finish was goofy to me in that the referee finally decides it is time to restore order not counting a pin when he had done that numerous times before. This allows Christian to slam the tag belt against Sexay and E&C retain the titles. **1/2

Good match. It is clear hearing the reaction for these two compared to the prior match that they have something special. Angle’s prematch promo in an era gone by would have gotten great heat. Now, we see mostly laughing from the crowd which shows the evolution of the fanbase. The match itself stretches things out for Angle a bit with the action spilling to the outside and him taking a good bump off of a hiptoss. Some of the back work helped keep things moving along and add context to the match. Angle’s clothesline off of Jericho’s rope running was a really clever spot. I also liked the finish here of Steph running down, Jericho kissing her and Angle hitting the Angle Slam and seizing the opportunity to advance. *** (6.0)

Generic big vs little match up with Crash’s forearms looking awful in the early going. For someone with as much size as Bull, his strikes don’t have as much weight behind them as they should either. The combination of the previous two matches and the investment in these guys has the crowd really quiet throughout the duration. Bull beats up Crash for 4 minutes and Crash is able to get a flash pinfall victory. This again telegraphs whom will be winning next. Nothing match here. ¾*

Decent enough match but Val is dry on top. Chyna and Trish have some interaction and that gets a better reaction crowd wise than most of the match in ring. The bad booking continues with Val winning but that was pretty predictable with Rikishi going over via DQ in the first match. The main takeaway I had watching this is a theory I am really starting to propel in my mind. I am weary even mentioning it because Eddy is such a revered character. I do think he is a great worker at times but can’t help but look at his placement in GWE and wonder if there is something I am missing. Now, we still have his money WWE run to go so I don’t want to write him off but he is someone that we have chronicled throughout 11 years of his career now and he certainly has highlights but also a good bit of stuff like this match where he doesn’t feel compelled to make the match more than it is. That can be considered a positive as not showing up the rest of the card but I see it more as Eddy being content to just give an adequate performance instead of a great one based on his role. It is something to track and again I may be on an island but just based off the GWE results and some of the PTBN WWE GWE talk of Eddy as a top 10 contender, he seems overrated and hasn’t excelled at all since returning from the elbow injury. **1/2

Didn’t take long for the awful booking to start tonight. Benoit comes in like a shark smelling blood going after that injured shoulder of Rikishi. He does a great job of working it over even putting in a variation of the crossface with extra torque on the shoulder. Rikishi makes it to the ropes and then Benoit calmly grabs a chair and earns himself the DQ. That sucks. *

This is a 2000 indie match in an encapsulation. There was still good heat on the Backseat Boyz and you can’t lack Blade for trying even though his success ratio on the moves he hits is less than stellar. Blade’s valet at one point nearly breaks her neck perfoirming a rana to Trent. The overall theme of the match was a mixture of cool spots, botched stuff and good character work by the BSB even if it against bring out the worst in 2000 indie crowds. Dewey Donovan debuts as their manager here and he would go on to have a lengthy run with the tag team. The big spot of the match culminates in Blade giving a swantom bomb from the trailer but he overshoots the target and lands tailbone first onto the grass. Stuff like Dewey just hitting the referee with the briefcase don’t make a whole lot of sense but again, not a whole lot of sense was the goal for this match. The finish here is shoddy after the swantom botch as H8 club just runs in and the match is ruled a no contest. **1/2

Zandig starts things off with a promo against the FUCKING government. I guess legislation is pending to ban hardcore wrestling in New Jersey. Afterwards, Lobo sneak attacks him and the match is underway. This is certainly not a technical masterpiece but it was kept short at six minutes and all of the big spots hit so in a battle of two important workers in the history of CZW but unpolished this was a best case scenario. Finish was sloppy as someone runs in and chokeslams Lobo. I am unsure who that was but Zandig shoves him down and then kicks him out. **1/2

Fun, fun, fun match. I don’t think this could reach the great level with the bucket being used by the rudos like the Aja Kong trashcan but this match had a punch of old grumpy rudo guys beating the shit out of the tecnicos and then the tecnicos looking for revenge. It is a simple story but can be told well. Zumbido is such a bump freak and he riles up the Monterrey crowd tremendously. I liked the double team moves that Dandy and Dantes performed and think they would have been a great maestro touring tag team here. Tarzan Boy also looked more refined and better here with control on his dives than in some of his CMLL efforts. Overall, a strong match and it made me want to see more of all the pairings involved in the future. ***1/2 (6.8)

A good match but one that was very dry even with the mask ripping. Apache is out there again helping run interference and Pentagon is on top for a while. His focus was shaky as he dind’t emphasize any area. As a result, TM makes his comeback and then goes after the mask of Pentagon with a little more fervor and veracity. TM offers a handshake afterwards and we get a pull apart between the factions. I really hoping the rematch has more energy to it. **3/4

The way this started was really exciting. Tons of speed and precision on the strikes. The match was really moving along well and then we get a ref bump. That was kind of a bummer as Mochi uses his time to use a ladder. Implant DDT on the apron by Mochi and then he goes after the mask. Mochi is really carving out a rudo name for himself since joining up with M2K. Sasuke makes his comeback and looks to have the match in hand until Mochi is able to hit a dragon suplex off of a missed swantom. The finish is interesting as Mochi’s shoulders were down so Sasuke was able to put his up and win. Mochi and Gran Apache respond in disgust post match and kick Sasuke a few more times right in the head as a result. Strong match and Mochi is making a name for himself. ***1/2 (7.0)

This had some MOTY hype and it held up for me. I have enjoyed the feud and these guys interactions up to this point but this felt like a level beyond in brutality. From the opening with Otani using some brutal closed fist punches, the match was one and everyone just brought the hate against one another. Tanaka really proved himself here in my eyes as an absolute equal and was splendid taking a beating and then coming back looking for his flash submissions. Koji and Otani going after each other is always magical and the whole match is just relentless with its pace and brutality. I loved the finish and it felt like a big moment for Minoru making Otani tap. It is also refreshing seeing how molten and packed korakuen was for a NJ show with the maligned crowds that we have seen for New Japan in that building in 2017. This felt like a classic Korakuen match that is up there with the incredibly Jumbo vs Misawa six mans of 1990. ****1/2 (9.2)

There is something refreshing about hearing Lance Russell call an American Dragon match. He makes a strong debut here and has a pretty banging four minute technical match vs Youth here. We see the techniques that Dragon can utilize and Youth was a great opponent to go up against as we just saw him having to prove himself vs Regal. Danielson gets the win too. The only negative here is that he is wearing the mask. **

This was billed as the ACW MOTY. The cage match was going along pretty good as the stip was used well and Pearce had good heat and was bruising Dino up once he got cut. I also appreciated the submissions. Then the run in start from people I don’t recognize and the match totally loses me. I am still waiting for that one good Pearce match as he has good basics but the overbooking here killed that chance. **3/4

Cabana and Punk do have a good base that they were trained on. This is a neat looking indie with inoffensive commentary in a market like St. Paul that was at one time ripe with high gates. The story here is Punk as the babyface and Cabana clobbering him down as a heel. Both play their role well and you see some stuff in the arsenal like Cabana’s standing moonsault that he edits later from his repertoire as it doesn’t look very smooth. Punk fires up a comeback and has the crowd behind him when Cabana is able to get the flash pin with his foot on the ropes. *** (5.9)

An all action cage match that only goes nine minutes. This was fun while it lasted and I continue to appreciate HBK on commentary putting both of them over. Spanky brought some of his reckless highspots but the striking of Dragon helped ground everything and keep the feud vibe going. The finish was an interesting way to write them both out of TWA as they are knocked out and neither guy can answer the 10 count. We are closing the first chapter on the career of these men but that is only the beginning. *** (6.1)

Cassidy Riley face plants in a huge botch that gets a big laugh from the crowd. Ouch. Air Paris looks like he just came from the local mall. 3 Count are gelling more and more as a team with their triple team moves and bringing constantly fluidity to the matches. This match is really fun Saturday morning fodder to watch over a bowl of cereal. 3 Count are really wasted on the A shows of WCW at the time. **1/4