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Angle is the mystery opponent for Rock. We get a promo from both beforehand with Rock showing how hot he is once again burying Kevin Kelly and getting a great crowd reaction. Steph and HHH are backstage with Steph wanting to go to ringside for support for Angle and HHH wanting to sit tight. Steph bolts and HHH follows so that angle is heating up. They get a bit more of a chance to work a match and show their good chemistry. Rock hits the Rock Bottom but all hell breaks loose with interference. The whole faction is out there when Kane tries to make the save. The numbers game catches up to Kane and Rock and HHH pedigrees both and stands tall as the crowd chants for Undertaker with the show going off the air. **1/4

Steph is out on commentary. Jericho starts out hot and when he goes outside he takes a swig of water and spits it in Stephanie's face. Great reaction from the crowd on that. Steph then gets the entire bucket and splashes Jericho while going for a lionsault and Bull picks up the win. HHH comes rushing down and puts the boots to Jericho. This has been a nicely done feud that should have set up Jericho winning some sort of blowoff. In a perfect world, I think Jericho's hair vs Steph would have been ideal but that was never happening. 1/2*

We get an insult of the windy city nickname but I was hoping for more from the special 7 second pose. Action was fine but only about 3 minutes until the double countout. Bubba sees the tables randomly set up at ringside and decides to put Christian through it. DX attacks from behind and Road Dogg smashes a chair on Bubba's head an then sends them over in a dumpster ala Chainsaw and Cactus in 1998. *3/4

Dr. Cerebro works both guys to start off. Cerebro is able to show off his range and have two very enjoyable sprint matches. Each took the right amount of time and made Cerebro look strong. Cerebro wins both. This leads to Infernal vs Ciclon and Ciclon does a nutty tope for someone 39 years old. Bombero is much more rudo here just biting on Ciclon until he is starting to bleed. Cerebro is fun on the outside just casually watching and crossing his legs like he is just a passerby. The submissions were dramatic and creative from Infernal as well as the pin reversals. Cerebro teases getting involved at points but refrains and Ciclon is able to win. Apuestas matches almost always are solid and this had the great character work from Cerebro to go along with the in ring action. ***3/4 (7.6)

Jarrett couldn't be bothered to wear gear so again we have two people wrestling in denim with Kidman's normal getup. We only get about 1 minute of action on the outside until the Filthy Animals come out. Jarrett tells them not to come one step closer before getting rolled up. Tygress jumps on commentary and is awful. Jarrett ends up winning and the Animals beat up Kidman after the match. Another feud I am not invested in. *1/4

Tracy is the special referee here so not the best play on Corp’s part earlier going after him. A lot of Tracy and Corp dissension in the early going with Corp getting an early DDT and a slow count by Tracy. I suppose this is falls count anywhere as Flo nails Corp with a 45 MPH sign and pins him for a 2 count. Corp is barely able to pull off a rana through some light tubes. Flo’s back has a nasty gash from the light tube and they go through all of the chairs that are set up. We get a bit of miscommunication with Flo “accidently” hitting Tracy. Flo goes to the top for the leg drop and gets attacked by Tracy and Rocket Launched into an RKO in a pretty awesome looking spot for the win. Corp and Tracy continue the attack after the bell until Ian comes in for the save. Tracy is able to fight that off and smash a chair on top of Ian’s head until they get scurried off when Rollin’ Hard comes out. Tracy cuts a pretty strong heel promo where he gives a big FU to the whole crowd and Ian. They set up a tag match which we unfortunately don’t have. This was a fun brawl to end the night and advanced an angle. Tracy really gets into with a woman that he says he is going to kick her ass when she calls her daughter a whore. Pro wrestling everybody. *** (5.8)

This is a decent sized crowd for IWA-MS for a Wednesday night. This is a rematch from the prior week which ended in a 20 minute draw. This had no time limit. This has a slow start with a lot of restarts but the action is compelling and the way Smothers moves keeps you invested in the match. He has a great ability to feel unhinged as evidenced by him showing heel tendencies throughout this match and constantly jawing with some fan at ringside. The action picks up in the last five minutes with great nearfalls and action. Corp Robinson interferes against Tracy but Chip doesn't want any help and pops him to remain a face. Chip is able to gain the win due to the damaged leg of Tracy. I have never thought too much of Chip and this didn't change that but this was a fun match from the perspective of the time it got vs the output. Tracy's performance was strong. ***1/4 (6.3)

All rudo first fall but they lock in a triple submission and refuse to break it so the tecnicos winning. Second fall has some miscommunication between Wagner and Dantes but they hug it out. Mendoza and Satanico do a fun mini sequence then we get the heated pairing of Wagner and Perro. It is good to have Wagner back. Tecnicos end up winning the second fall as Perro dives on Wagner on the outside. This set up some interesting things for the future but wasn’t much at all as a match. *1/2

This is deemed a future view match and that is a good description as it is worked in the New Japan Young Lions style. Jd' continues to be the most stagnant feeling joshi promotion where not much of note happens. The action here was good enough but also not really memorable at all. The match peaked with Hyuga working the back with some nice butterfly backbreakers but that gets deserted down the finishing stretch. The finisher with the top rope knee strike didn't look that impactful. **3/4

Goldberg gives his reasoning for the heel turn and it makes no sense and boils down to him making a deal with the devil. Ok then. Nash comes out and gets arrested for trying to attack the crew. Nash said he had plans tonight but will change those. What the fuck else was he doing? WCW is so edgy right now with Russo calling Nash a SOB and Nash saying shit. They book Nash vs Goldberg for later. They really are trying to move the needle on these shows but this stuff is just awful right now. Nash’s nephew is named Hunter. Cute. Nash tells Scott Steiner of all people to be the guardian of his nephew. Nash comes out for his match in street clothes. Does anyone wear gear anymore? I’m losing my mind watching this stuff. Nash and Goldberg actually have a fun sprint full of big punches and kicks. Goldberg is dominant and we get the first legit crowd reaction of the night with a Goldberg sucks chant. Russo decides that abusing one underaged kid isn’t enough for one show so he forces Hunter to watch Nash get beat up. Steiner comes out and goes through New Blood but gets beat up by the cops. Notice how the crowd heat died once this overbooked shit took effect. Show ends with Tony screaming and NB looking dominant again. They had two good minutes together at least. ¾*

Russo cuts another promo on Flair and I don’t buy a word he says or understand why he has such an impassioned hatred for Flair. This leads to the retirement and shaved head stipulation for later in the show. Reid comes out as Flair’s partner wearing an Ambercrombie shirt. Russo is in a NY Yankee sweatsuit and a baseball catcher chest protector. Flair rips that off and still chops Russo. Flair locks the figure four in but Russo slams the bat against Flair. No DQ for that because it is relaxed rules I guess. Russo tells Beth to bring her cute little ass into the ring. Russo pleads Beth to hit Ric with the stature of liberty but she refuses. Russo then chokes out Flair with Charlotte trying to interfere. Megan throws in the towel and we get Russo shaving Flair’s head. Once again, no fucking reaction from the crowd so great job getting all this heat. Fuck this angle. Really one of the most angering on screen feuds in wrestling history. Another DUD for Russo and Flair’s hair was honestly never the same again. DUD DUD DUD.

Kidman is a face for some reason and the referee. Pretty dreadful action that is a backdrop to Goldberg coming out and attacking Hulk culminating in a jackhammer through a table. G I Bro makes the save. I hate WCW right now. ¾*

The story here is that if Kane doesn’t destroy the Rock, Vince and Co. will show off Kane’s face. That is a little hokey but ok. The action here is alright but that takes a backseat to the angle where GTV discovers that Briscoe has screwed up and he doesn’t have a picture. THiis leads Kane/Rock to uniting to beating up the McMahon – Helmsley faction. Taker joins in on the fun too. The show closes with Taker/Kane double chokeslamming HHH through a table which is a good setup for KOTR. This was a fun show overall that had a show long arc of the Faction being Teflon until the very end when they got their commeupponance. Night and day between WWF and WCW right now. *3/4

Benoit continues to be a strong tv worker getting two decent to good 4-5 minute matches out of both Hardy Boyz. This had a reckless feel to as Matt gives a suplex to the outside that looked nasty. They have done a good job getting over the crossface as a big time submission move. A solid 4 minutes. **1/4

A pretty splendid eight minute match. HHH is seemingly off his game not knowing his opponent and Jericho showed a lot of fire and energy. The cutoffs and paybacks were well executed here like HHH blowing a kiss but then eating a dropkick. The nearfalls were also timed wonderfully as the crowd bit on many of them. This is a testament to the 4/17 match as the anything can happen mentality is engrained in the viewer’s head. The finish comes with Steph distracting the ref and HHH using the belt shot off of a ref bump and the pedigree for the win. They did a good job teasing all of the spots and getting to them in a natural fashion. A really fun match that never gets talked about. ***1/2 (7.0)

The Dudley’s are over like crazy and I appreciated how well Vince and Shane put them over throughout this match. Bubba and D-Von dominated and the crowd was eating it up. We get a scary moment at the finish when it appears that Vince will be Bubba bombed through the table that Shane is laying on when they both topple to the outside unplanned. DX interferes and sends both Dudley’s through the table. Tori was supposed to break the table on the first dive but that is botched and Bubba does a good job of ad libbing and fighting back until DX takes back over and Tori does her dive again giving DX the match. **

This may actually be worse than Vamp vs Sting. It goes longer, makes less sense if that is even possible and just has overall some of the worst main event lazy Kevin Nash tendencies you can imagine. The Filthy Animals are all out there and I discovered that 2000 Rey Mysterio is healthy and just being wasted away in one of his peak years. Imagine that. Nash gets his leg worked over and then promptly never makes any motion to sell it whatsoever once he goes back on offense. The big reveal is Goldberg turning heel which we know flopped huge in retrospect as well as on revisit. What a turd where no way except maybe Russo and Bischoff look better coming out of this. ¼*

A match that is pretty infamous for how bad it is and it doesn’t hold up well on rewatch certainly. The inside the ring portion is ok at best and saves it from DUD territory. Everything involving the climbing and the fire is fucking stupid and there is no other way to describe it. Sting getting torched and diving 40 feet in the air garnered no reaction and the crowd was just dumbfounded at what they were witnessing. Dreadful feud. ½*

Flair is able to work a pretty engaging match vs David who is wearing jeans and t-shirt. It isn’t great by any means and still has some dumb ass Russo stuff like the handcuffs and whether stuff should be DQ’d or not but at least it is getting some miniscule reaction from the crowd and the face vs heel dynamic is clearly defined. Reid jumping on Russo was a highlight but then you get David beating down Reid. Flair ends up winning and celebrating with his family. Probably the MOTN at **1/4 which shows you how dreadful this PPV was.

Hulk is in his Hollywood gear tonight. Hulk gives a pretty good promo in the Hollywood persona. Calling Kidman a flea market champion may not be the best choice of words but for an in character Hogan face promo after 1993, this is about as good as can be expected. First half of the match is Hogan running through Kidman. He beats him up and throws him on the outside. Back inside, Hogan uses his belt and while he is admonished by Horace, it does look like Horace is calling things fairly here. Hogan looks to hit Kidman with a chair but Kidman is able to get a dropkick in and he uses the chair on the back of Hulk. I have been a defender of this feud but this match really makes Kidman look like a jobber as he gets quick bursts of offense but then Hogan comes firing back. Hiptoss from Hogan sends Kidman through the table and we see Tony’s awful sneakers that the is wearing. Finish is really bad with Torrie coming down and them reenacting scenes from Macho vs Hogan 1988. Hogan eventually wins with the brass knuckles shot. Quite the disappointing end to a feud I moistly enjoyed. *1/2

I always mark for Ozaki and Kansai teaming and this had a lot of good stuff in there with Kansai being dominant and Sato standing up to her opponents. Unfortunately, it also had some weak moments where the brawling again paled in comparison to the brawl earlier in the night and while Sato was energetic, she also was pretty sloppy in execution. The finish was definitive with Kansai looking for the Splash Mountain and then finally getting it for the pinfall. Afterwards it feels like an Oz/Kansai vs Crush Gals battle is looming and I do look forward to that. ***1/4 (6.6)

I like all four of these ladies but I didn’t like this match. The brawling felt really hollow compared to the previous match and the match ended anticlimactically in just over 8 minutes. There seemed to be some undertones between Devil and Toshie after the match so it looks like that story arc is continuing. *1/2

As much as I hated the previous match, this is another brawl on the same day in the same building that I loved. I think the opening of the heel trio just demolishing Nagayo’s arms set the tone for the rest of the match. Meiko was an animal in this match and her exchanges with Hokuto were tremendous. I also got a lot out of Karou’s facials as at one point, Ozaki is giving forearms in the corner and Koaru has the biggest grin on his face in pure delight. A chaotic and frantic match that ends with Hokuto getting the victory on Nagashima with the other members of her team looking on. This match had a brawling feel but it also clearly defined the factions that were waging and it created some beautiful visuals. **** (8.0)

Zaps 1 and 2 did nothing for me as a gimmick and I thought the match overall was a mess. This reminded me of the January GAEA stuff with a bunch of anarchy and nonsense without much in the way of structure or thought put into things. It is a shame because the ZAPS minus the gimmick vs the JWP duo in a straight tag match is something that would have intrigued me. We also miss what looks like half of the match so the clipping is awful too. NR

Toyota turns in another strong 2000 performance. This was worked with a sprint in that it felt like a fully actualized match that accomplished everything it set out to in the minus 12 minute run time. Toyota does some prick moves like the Rick Rude hip swivel but she also shows a lot of heart and risk with the big dive off of the Korakuen balcony. The finishing run was exciting and not overblown and Toyota was also very clean with her performance tonight. A very 1993 feeling joshi match and that is a good thing. ***1/2 (7.0)