GSR

It’s been a while since I saw their match from Orlando on 1/29, but when I compared what I wrote for this to what happened then, they look pretty much the same. Guido again jumps on Awesome’s back to start after Sal squares up to him, overhead belly to belly, bit of action on the floor with Sal squashing Awesome against the barricade, Guido with the straight armbar, chokebomb, Awesomebomb through the table at the second attempt for the win. An extended squash, although it felt like Guido got slightly more offense in this time around. I don’t know if it was due to the fancam zooming in on occasions, but first time I’ve noticed what comical facial expressions Awesome has. Guido was my second favourite ECW performer after Tajiri for January so would ideally like to see him kept away from guys like Awesome in the future (not that he’s bad against them or anything). As per the January match, for what it was, this was fine.

A bit of adequate wrestling and exchanges, and Van Dam looks to the crowd for approvement. Christ, not this again? Really cool leg scissors takedown into a pin for two and he then bows to the audience. Seriously fuck off with this shit! Tanaka with a sit out powerbomb and RVD rolls to the floor. Side headlock and he shoots Tanaka into the ropes, split legged drop down, leap frog attempt, Masato catches him and goes for another powerbomb, but this time RVD counters with a huracanrana. Then he… you know what! A Blue Thunder Driver plants Van Dam to the canvas with authority. Belly to back suplex over the top rope to the floor but RVD lands on his feet. He gets up on the apron only to be met with a huge forearm that sends him flying backwards into the aisle. Tanaka whips him into the guard rail and nails him with a running chair shot. Back in the ring he sits Van Dam on the top turnbuckle and hits a spinning DDT for a two. Masato sets up a table, again sits RVD on the top turnbuckle and a suicideplex into a DDT through the table in what was a nasty looking bump. This also only brings a two, and Tanaka then misses an elbow off the top. RVD ducks a forearm, spinning dropkick and he starts to unload on Tanaka. No selling from RVD here today! Great side kick off the top, and whilst he can’t sell, he can still look to the crowd for acknowledgement after a move! Cartwheel into a backflip, and ‘Rolling Thunder’ onto a chair as Tanaka kicks out on two. Van Dam dropkicks a chair into the face of his opponent and it’s still only enough for two. Tanaka with a DDT onto the chair for ‘what’s between one and three’? RVD counters a tornado DDT onto the chair into a rough looking Northern Lights suplex. Tanaka ducks the Van Daminator and brains RVD with a stiff chairshot to the head for a near fall, with a further two count after a modified Ace Crusher. ‘Diamond Dust’ (Buff Blockbuster into a stunner) which looked uncomfortable as hell the way RVD took it, is still not enough to put Van Dam away. Tanaka charges at RVD with a chair but he ducks out the way and hits the turnbuckle instead. Van Daminator, ‘Five Star’ frog splash and RVD retains his TV title. I hated the opening to this and have had a gutful of Van Dam’s incessant looking for approval from the crowd after a move. I got into the match more with all the near falls, but change it up a bit guys! There were a lot of pinfall attempts, and every time the kick out would occur just after the referee hits the mat for the second time; no kick outs on one, no kick outs at the last split second, it was all so predictable. RVD’s selling was non-existant, he’d take a beating and next thing he’s all fine and leaping off the top turnbuckle. The liberal use of the chair in this match bothered me more than at any other time too. A couple of very uncomfortable looking bumps along the way too with the DDT through the table and the ‘Diamond Dust’. As with Sabu, I’m not digging the RVD re-watch in the slightest.

DX is back together after Monday night and Michael Cole says how HHH had told X-Pac to trust him. Stephanie doing the crotch chop when DX’s pyro goes off is all kinds of cringeworthy. Prior to the match commencing HHH tries to stir up trouble between their opponents, mentioning how The Rock referred to the Big Show as ‘the Big Jabroni’. Show overpowers HHH early and drops him with a big headbutt. He unloads with a series of kicks to the mid-section, whip to the corner and a side slam. The Rock offers his hand for a tag but the Big Show refuses it. X-Pac tries to attack Show from behind, he sees him coming though and throws him into the corner on top of his partner. Show with a running splash to them both, Rock again wants a tag and Show again blows him off. Facebuster as Show telegraphs a backdrop, but HHH walks right into a powerslam. Big Show signals for the chokeslam, as he raises his hand though Rock tags himself in. DX pinball for him and Rock throws X-Pac over the top rope to the outside with him taking a crazy flat back bump to the floor. ‘People’s elbow’, however as the Rock runs the ropes, X-Pac clocks him in the back with a steel chair. X-Pac goes for the bronco buster, but Rock cuts him off with a clothesline. Spinning heel kick by X-Pac for a two. HHH and Rikishi exchange blows in the middle and a double clothesline takes both men out. Rock goes for the tag, but Show walks up the apron seemingly distracted by X-Pac trying to get in the ring. A couple of stinging knife edge chops from X-Pac and a great spin kick floors The Rock. HHH with a suplex and Rock kicks out on two. Rock reverses an Irish whip into a DDT and Show is screaming at him to make the tag. As Rock crawls over about to make it, Show just pulls his hand away. Low blow from HHH, pedigree and its victory for DX. Jerry Lawler talks about how you don’t call Big Show a ‘big jabroni’ and get away with it, and Show chokeslams Rock after the match. I’m glad I’ve decided to add WWF to my viewing because there is more that I have enjoyed than haven’t so far. Good TV match and I really liked the way this was booked and laid out, although HHH pretty much telegraphed what would happen in his short pre-match promo. Everyone looked good here and Show was more like what you’d want from someone his size as opposed to how he was in the World title match with HHH. Rock continues to be ridiculously over with the crowd.

I’ll give these two credit, they mixed it up more than Awesome/Tanaka, Tajiri/Guido/Crazy and Sabu/CW, with Sabu even attempting to ‘spike’ Spike before the bell, but very similar to the match they did on 1/21. A lot of the main spots were contained in both, although the order was different (for example, the triple jump moonsault occurred later in the match here). The table again didn’t break when Sabu blocked the ‘Acid Drop’ and tried to slam Spike through it, to the point I was wondering if it wasn’t ‘meant’ to break in the first place? Sabu had trouble setting up the table for the legdrop off the top finisher, and I lost track of the number of ‘you fucked up!’ chants. No Fonzie here and I cared as much for this as I did the match on 1/21. Bonus point for mixing the match up though!

There’s dissension in the ranks with DX seemingly reluctant to team with HHH, while Hunter is trying to stress togetherness. Hot opening with Rock blocking a right and then unloading on Mr Ass. Gunn ducks a clothesline, takes him down with a neckbreaker and measures him with some rights of his own. Samoan drop on Mr Ass, spinebuster to the Road Dogg, ‘Rock Bottom’ on Gunn and X-Pac is in to make the save, however he gets clotheslined over the top rope to the floor for his troubles. Road Dogg with a forearm on Bradshaw but he ends up running into a big boot. Bradshaw misses an elbow drop and Dogg tags out to X-Pac who is immediately met with a knee to the mid-section. Huge whip to the turnbuckles, X-Pac avoids the charge and nails Bradshaw with a series of kicks. Fallaway slam by Bradshaw. X-Pac ducks a lariat from Faarooq and comes back with a spinning heel kick. Faarooq with a backbreaker for two. Dominator attempt, but X-Pac is able to escape. DDT and he tags in HHH whilst Faarooq makes the tag to Mankind. Awesome flurry of rights from Mankind and Hunter collapses in the corner. Mankind telegraphs the backdrop, HHH with a facebuster, he goes to tag one of his partners, but every one of them drops down from the apron refusing the tag. They retreat to the dressing room, leaving HHH all on his own, The Rock and the Acolytes go after them and this is now a one on one contest. Mankind with a double armed DDT and he pulls out Socko. Stephanie grabs his ankle, but he pulls her up onto the apron and is about to put Socko on her when HHH comes to the rescue. He puts the boots to him and Mankind falls out of the ring to the floor. Hunter rams Mankind’s head into the ring steps and again into the announcer’s desk before clocking him with the ring bell. Pedigree on the announcer’s table! A second pedigree in the ring and HHH gets the win for his ‘team’. He attacks Mankind after the match but doesn’t get the better of him for long. Foley rips off the mask to reveal a bloodied face and fires back. He throws him to the outside, launches the ringsteps right to his head and hip tosses him through a section of the announcer’s table. Cactus clothesline and the show goes off the air with HHH staring at the bloodied Foley with a look of “what have I got myself into on his face”. Great stuff. Fast paced action and even the Acolytes bought it here and didn’t drag things down. Electric crowd who were hot for everything and then turned it up a notch when HHH and Mankind faced off. Can’t say I was enamoured with Mankind doing the job to the pedigree this close to the Royal Rumble, but a strong post-match and I’m guessing the taking off of the mask (along with the Cactus clothesline) signals that Mankind is now Cactus Jack and the look on HHH’s face is that he’s realised it himself.

Handheld of a CZW show being held in what looks like a High School Gym. Mercury and Blade trade wristlocks before Mercury brings him to the canvas with a Fireman’s carry take down. Legdrop and standing moonsault for an early two. After a choreographed looking series of catching the leg, flips and ducking enziguiri’s, Blade lands a superkick. Superkick to Ki who takes to the outside to compose himself. TCK goes to leap off the back of Blade and over the top rope out onto him, but slips and doesn’t even make it out of the ring. Good work from Ki who punches, then pulls him to the floor in order to try and put a stop to the ‘you fucked up!’ chants. Lovely Asai moonsault to the floor from Mercury, and Blade with a springboard swanton out onto all three. Ki sets up a ladder in the ring, goes for a Phoenix splash, but slips and falls in a frightening looking spot. Bar one moron, the crowd don’t even chant ‘you fucked up!’ at this as there in as much shock as me. Ki is pissed and absolutely creams Blade with a full force chair shot to the head. Some sort of flapjack/kick to the head double team from TCK and Blade misses, while Ki is still trying to shake off the effects of that horrendous fall. Combination sideslam/springboard somersault doesn’t connect as the misses continue. The cameraman makes his way around ringside and a member of the audience yells ‘will you get the fuckin’ camera out of here you asshole!’ Nice! Ki with a cool overhead throw to Blade and he’s either a top draw seller or he’s still not recovered. Tiger suplex on TCK, while Blade and Mercury have headed to the back of the arena. Blade sets up a table, lies Mercury on it and comes off the top of the basketball backboard with a legdrop. One crazy ass bump! In the ring a table has also been set up. TCK superplexes Ki, however the table is too close to them and TCK goes through it while he suplexes Ki over it. Ki kicks out of the subsequent pin, but the bell rings anyway. To top it off, they then play the wrong music at the end! From the moment TCK blew that dive off Blade’s back this was a mess. The bump that Ki took off the top of the ladder was frightening, and he could’ve quite easily broken his neck or worse on the fall. What on earth was the referee playing at too as he appeared to be holding the ladder to stop it slipping. Blade then makes you forget about that with this nutty sky high legdrop off the backboard. How he didn’t hurt himself I’ll never know. In between you’ve got a whole bunch of botches and blown moves. The bell ringing after Low Ki had kicked out of the pin and the wrong music playing summed this match up to a tee. Stiil, it ranks higher than Nova/Corino on the effort factor and that they nearly died for out entertainment!

Al Snow and Steve Blackman are in the back and Blackman is not impressed by all the names for their team that Snow’s come up with like ‘Head Count’, ‘Snow Bunnies’ and ‘Head Cheese’. He wants them to concentrate as they have a chance at winning the World tag team titles, but when Al suggests ‘Snow Storm’, he tells him to knock it off and heads to the ring. Just as the match is about to begin Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero and Perry Saturn show up and sit front row ringside. Jim Ross mentions how they haven’t signed a contract yet and Jerry Lawler wonders if maybe they’re here to get a birds-eye view of the competition? Ross believes that it a pretty radical strategy, while it’s radical that they walked out on their last employer and showing up here unannounced is pretty radical! Neckbreaker by Gunn on Snow for a two count. He blocks the powerbomb with some punches to the head and follows with a series of headbutts to the chest. Huge press slam from Gunn and a big Stinger splash in the corner. Snow reverses an Irish whip, drop down, Road Dogg holds onto the ropes only to get levelled with a clothesline from Blackman. Suplex for two and Dogg tries to fire back. Great back kick low blow spot and he’s able to make the tag to Mr Ass. Jackhammer on Blackman and Snow is there to make the save. A clubbing blow from Dogg sends Al to the floor and he follows him out there. Irish whip reversal, Dogg crashes into the barricade and what looks like a flying leg lariat off the ring steps (you can’t see properly because of the camera angle and it doesn’t really connect either) sends him backwards over it and to where the ‘Radicalz’ are sitting. They don’t touch him, but Dogg says something to them and then swings a right at Benoit. Bad move! The Radicalz respond in kind and all attack him. Guerrero with a frog splash on Gunn, Benoit with a diving headbutt to Road Dogg and they leave the tag champs laying as they walk out of there. Nothing match really and the Radicalz attack on the Outlaws was the highlight. When Ross was constantly saying ‘radical’, all I could think of was Vince McMahon in his ear screaming “say ‘radical’ God damn it!” The camera cut to Benoit et al in the front row on several occasions to the point you’re just waiting for their involvement. Another unimpressive outing from Al Snow after the Jeff Hardy match earlier in the month as he messes up the leg lariat, and his headbutts to the chest whilst trapping his arms looks as hokey as hell. He looked better than Steve Blackman mind. I really liked Road Dogg’s back kick low blow after the leapfrog, a spot I’ve not seen before.

Rikishi walks out accompanied by Too Cool, however he has a quick word with them and they return to the dressing room as he wants to do this one on his own. HHH jumps Rikishi while he’s removing his Sumo skirt and hammers away on him with a series of right hands. He fires back dropping the champion, and after a backdrop Hunter rolls to the outside. Rikishi follows him out and rams him head first into the ring steps. Big bodyslam on the floor and a legdrop. He goes to whip HHH into the steps, but a reversal sees Rikishi crash into them. Hunter slams his head into the announcer’s table before tossing him back into the ring. HHH with a shot to the mid-section and a facebuster as DX watches on from the monitor backstage. Clothesline with Rikishi taking a flip bump off it for a two. Hunter throws him to the floor, this time however its Rikishi’s who reverses the Irish whip and HHH goes careering into the barricade. Samoan drop and HHH kicks out at the last split second. Belly to belly and Rikishi drags Hunter over to the corner for the Bonzai splash. Great near fall as he hits the splash and HHH only just gets his shoulder up before the referee counts three. Rikishi Driver attempt, however HHH escapes and tries to counter with the pedigree, only for Rikishi to backdrop him and nail him with a thrust kick. Sit down splash, but Hunter moves and Stephanie leaves the announcing desk saying she’s got to do something. She passes her husband a chair and then distracts the official allowing him to level Rikishi with it. Even better near fall as he gets the shoulder up and Steph and Hunter can’t believe it. She then hands him his World title belt, and in full view of the referee clocks Rikishi for the DQ. HHH lays him out with a chair afterwards, but it’s not enough to keep Rikishi down and Hunter decides to get out of there. Really good match and HHH put Rikishi over huge here. He bumped and sold for him and by the time this was over he looked like a serious and credible threat to the World title. Just listen to the crowd reaction on those near falls. Even the finish, which could be construed as cheap, came across as a man who had thrown all he could at his challenger, couldn’t put him away, so had to get himself disqualified to keep his belt. The lone negative was Stephanie who was on announcing duties, and personally I would’ve preferred her to be at ringside so I didn’t have to listen to her.

The Rock’s got this crowd eating out of his hands; he’s just stood on the turnbuckles not saying anything and they’re going crazy for him. He says how Triple H threw every member of ‘the rooty poo crew’ at him Monday night, but he came out on top, avoided being fired and is decreeing himself ‘the People’s champion’. Angle thinks that as an Olympic champion, a real American hero, a representative of this great nation, as someone who is undefeated in the WWF and as a man of intensity, integrity and intelligence, he should be the People’s champion! He’s not happy that the people would rather have a GQ, smooth talking, smart alec as their People’s champion. The Rock’s not done and Angle’s comments have annoyed him! He couldn’t help but notice all his gold medals and tells him to wax those medals, shine them up real nice, turn hem sideways and stick them straight up his Olympic ass! Angle rushes at The Rock, who sidesteps and unloads with a flurry of rights in the corner. Irish whip, Angle holds onto the ropes though and ducks out the ring. He heads back to the dressing room but The Rock chases after him and clotheslines him, with Angle taking a hard bump on the steel runway. Angle blocks a suplex, gives Rock one of his own and this time it’s his turn to take the bump on the steel. Back in the ring and The Rock blocks a right and fires back with some of his own. Angle reverses the Irish whip and a lovely overhead belly to belly for two. Swinging neckbreaker from The Rock for a two of his own. DDT and Angle manages to get his shoulder up again. A Samoan drop is still not enough to put him away, and seeing his partner in trouble here comes Steve Blackman. When he gets up on the apron Rock flips him into the ring before cracking him with his own Kendo stick. He hits Angle in the ribs with the stick, but right in full view of referee Tim White who disqualifies him. Post-match ‘Rock Bottom’ for Blackman, and with Angle celebrating like he’s won another Olympic gold medal, Rock returns to the ring to give him a ‘People’s Elbow’. Rock has so much charisma it’s unreal. I’ve never seen any of Angle’s Memphis stuff, but I remember Meltzer saying how he had the wrestling down but he would need a mouthpiece when he gets to the WWF. Here he is a matter of months after his debut and hanging with one of the best talkers of all time. These two work so well together and we get a nice taster of what’s to come. That bump on the runway off the clothesline though! The DQ finish keeps Angle’s unbeaten streak going and his celebration is hilarious. Looking forward to seeing these two given fifteen minutes plus later in the year.

Backseat Boyz are managed by ‘Big 80s’ Donnie B, who is doing a full on 80s gimmick complete with Don Johnson from Miami Vice white suit! Donnie looks so much like his brother here. Wonderful entrance from the Backseats, highlight being two little kids booing Trent, Johnny coming around from the otherside and telling them to sit back down and then them doing so looking like they’ve been scolded by their father! Lengthy mic work from Donnie and I can’t quite make out everything he says, but he does claim to work for the WWF! After the Bad Crew come out, Donnie challenges them to make this a ‘hardcore match’. Bad Crew says that the only reason they want a ‘hardcore match’ is because they can’t hang with the Bad Crew in the ring, and tell them to quit wasting their time and get in there. The crowd with a ‘faggot, faggot’ chant directed at the Backseat Boyz and with the Crew encouraging them. Trent with a sideheadlock, and he misdirects the official in order to get some illegal shots to the throat of one of the Crew. Droptoe hold, legdrop to the back of the neck combination by the Bad Crew for an early two. Kashmere tries to get a ‘Backseat’ chant going but the crowd aren’t having it! The Crew continue to take it to Trent, outwrestling him and staying away from their more hardcore roots. Acid with the Irish whip and Donnie grabs the Crew’s leg. Trent then knees him in the back and he goes tumbling out the ring to the outside where Kashmere and ‘Big 80s’ put the boots to him. Dive off the top turnbuckle to the floor from Trent. Double back elbow and a double elbow drop for a two. Whip to the corner and Trent leaps of Johnn’s back with a big flying forearm. ‘Big 80s’ continues to interfere and get involved behind the referee’s back. Crew with a sunset flip, but Trent kicks out and cuts off any comeback with a clothesline. He misses a twisting dive off the middle and the Crew is able to tag his partner. The other Crew is all over the Backseat Boyz and even clobbers Donnie when he gets up on the apron. Attention diverted by ‘Big 80s’ though, he gets nailed with a Trent superkick. Irish whip, he ducks a clothesline and ‘Badlands’ (combination sit out powerbomb/neckbreaker) on Acid for the win. Post-match the Bad Crew are about to attack Donnie when the Backseat Boyz clock them with chairs to the back. They beat on them with the chairs and Trent puts one of them through a table with a legdrop off the top. Enjoyed this, all due to the efforts of the Backseat Boyz and primarily Trent Acid, who from the moment he made his entrance just oozed charisma. Bad Crew were pretty bland and Kashmere didn’t show much, so Acid along with ‘Big 80s’ (who was a throwback to the managers of that era) carried things. Surprising result with the Bad Crew going over, although the post-match with them getting put through a table, the chair shots and all the talk of ‘hardcore’ does seem to be what this is building for.

Everyone gets a bit of time on the mic before this one gets started. Angle does his customary promo running down the town in which they are in, then tells the people how they have ‘two’ heroes to look up to and cheer for. Backlund cuts a good short one saying how he stopped wrestling four years ago because of the voluminous cavity the people have fallen in to, and that Mr Angle is the man that will bring them out of that cavity and put morality back into their lives! Jericho’s music sadly interrupts a ranting Bob and he refers to Backlund and Angle as the two biggest nerds in all of America, and says how he wants to ram his fist up Backlund’s backside and use him as a ventriloquist’s dummy! He gives us a demonstration with his hand, putting on a voice as well, which is all pretty lame but which Chyna seems to find amusing. Tazz is out, does his catchphrase and this one is finally underway. Angle and Tazz start off, they fight into the corner and Angle with a belly to belly. He tags in Backlund who goes straight for the chicken wing, but when Tazz escapes, he immediately tags back out. Angle telegraphs a leap frog and Tazz with a lovely belly to back suplex. Jericho with a powerbomb into a pick up powerbomb. Lionsault (which Michael Cole calls an Asai moonsault), and Backlund is in to break up the pin. Tazz chases him off and he heads into the audience with Tazz in pursuit. Tazzmission on Backlund at the back of the arena, Angle with a sunset flip, Jericho rolls backwards and locks on the ‘Walls’. Chris Benoit sprints down the aisle and nails Y2J in the back for the DQ. Chyna is in to help Jericho and drops Benoit with a forearm and puts the boots to him until Eddy Guerrero clocks her from behind. Benoit with a top rope headbutt to Angle as The Radicalz leave everyone laying. Action was perfectly fine here, but we only got a few minutes before the Benoit run in. Enjoyed the Backlund cameo, didn’t enjoy Chyna being competitive with, and getting the better of Chris Benoit. You forget that she was considered ‘on a par’ at least with the male wrestlers.

Promo from Angle as he’s walking to the ring which includes clips of Bob Backlund saving him in previous matches against both Chris Jericho and Tazz. Typical childish promo from Jericho accusing Angle and Backlund of having a special ‘love’ connection, before Tazz seemingly takes it on himself to make this a ‘no DQ’ match. Tazz reverses an Angle Irish whip, sidesteps him as he rebounds off the ropes and Jericho backdrops him over the top rope to the floor (wild looking bump). As Tazz and Jericho fight in the middle of the ring, Angle heads around the outside and picks up his European title. He climbs the turnbuckles, but Tazz cuts him off and sets him up for a superplex. Jericho then from behind with a belly to belly off the middle to Tazz. Angle with a belly to belly on Jericho and Tazz is there to break up the pin. ‘Head and Arm Tazzplex’ and this time it’s Jericho breaking up the pin. Angle whips Y2J into the ropes, he holds on though and dropkicks the air. Lionsault and again the pin gets broken up. Greco Roman throw to Jericho and Tazz locks in the Tazzmission on Angle. Bob Backlund is out, but Tazz sees him coming and let’s go of Jericho to put the Tazzmission on Backlund. Angle nails Tazz in the back and throws him to the outside. ‘Walls of Jericho’ on Angle, Backlund with a clothesline to the back of Y2J and he’s about to put the chicken wing on when Chyna sprints out and low blows him. Impressive springboard dropkick to Tazz, but Angle levels Jericho with his European title belt for the pin to retain the championship. Short all action match with Jericho and Angle working harder than they probably needed to given the time constraints of this match. Bob Backlund got a surprisingly loud reaction when he did his run in.

Earlier in Nitro Hulk Hogan had an interview with Gene Okerlund and he talked about a $500,000 bounty on his head. Gene speculates that there will be a lot of takers for that kind of money, before the Hulkster starts putting over Vampiro as the future of the industry. As Vampiro was the first person to tell him about the bounty, he promises to stand next to him side by side. Hulk calls Sid Vicious to come out of the shadows, when the camera cuts to The Wall stood high on top a building. Real cool visual here; it’s the outdoor Spring Break episode of Nitro, is night time and this one spotlight is focused on The Wall stood atop the building, wind blowing and his arm raised signalling the chokeslam. Hogan says something about putting up $500,000 himself and tells The Wall that he’ll kick his ass too! Later in the show we have the match and Tony Schiavone calls this a $1 million match, with $500,000 supposedly put up by both men (think old Tone is getting confused as that doesn’t sound right from the earlier interview, and where would The Wall get that kind of money?). The Wall with a knee to the mid-section and he immediately starts going to work on Hogan. The Hulkster ducks a clothesline and fires back with some weak looking punches. A series of punches in the corner and Hogan then bites The Wall’s forehead. Eye rake from The Wall stops Hulk in his tracks and he chokes him with the remnants of his T-shirt. The Wall tosses him to the floor and hits him over the back with a steel chair before setting up a table. He’s taking his time through and by the time he’s finished, Hogan’s recovered and nails him with a few chair shots of his own. The Hulkster throws him back in the ring, but The Wall’s not selling those chair shots and it’s like nothing happened when Hogan follows him back in there. The Wall with a chokeslam but Hogan pops up from it. He ‘Hulks up’, big boot to the sternum, legdrop and while he plays to the crowd, it’s The Wall’s turn to pop up and no sell his opponent’s finisher. As The Wall lays into Hogan in the corner he’s attacked from behind by Vampiro for the DQ. They double team him and a pair of punches sees The Wall fall from the apron through the table he’d earlier set up. To continue the idea that he’s indestructible, he gets straight up and wants some more of the now chair carrying Hogan and Vampiro, while Schiavone screams about him fearing no man. The premise of Hogan popping up from the chokeslam and The Wall popping up from the legdrop (Hulk might be giving in this scenario, but he’s not having him kick out of the legdrop!) is good, but that’s about the only good thing I can say about this match. The Wall’s offense was soft (check out those stomps), whilst Hogan’s punches were bad and looked light and he again couldn’t get his foot all the way up for the big boot. This was also the Spring Break show so the chokeslam and legdrop spots got more reaction from the announcers than they did the audience. A different venue and a more ‘wrestling’ orientated crowd and both would’ve received sizeable pops. The match itself was rushed, the Vampiro interference was an incredibly cheap finish and whatever happened to that $1 million? That was quickly forgotten about!

‘Falls Count Anywhere’ match and both men are wearing casts after having their arms ‘broken’ by Lex Luger. Fit with a knee to the mid-section, an elbow acorss the bridge of the nose and a clothesline. Nerve hold whilst ripping at Vampiro’s nose before dropping an elbow onto him. Finlay telegraphs a backdrop off an Irish whip and Vampiro nails him with a spinning kick. Spinning leg lariat off the top for two. Vampiro unloads with an array of strikes and kicks as Fit is backed up on the ropes. Whip to the corner, but as he comes charging in Finlay gets his foot up. Forward roll slam and he collects a chair from the outside and lays it across Vamp’s face. This might be ‘falls count anywhere’ but it’s clearly not ‘no DQ’ as Charles Robinson removes it off him. Finlay shoves Robinson and grabs the chair back, but is met by a superkick from Vampiro with the chair crashing into his own face. Vamp throws him to the floor and rams his head into the announcing desk. Fit fights back and drops him throat first across the barricade, only for Vamp to reverse and Irish whip into the guard rail. When he charges at him, Finlay backdrops him over the rail and into the audience. The two then go on a little walk through the crowd and to the back of the arena, every now and then stopping to throw the odd punch at each other. They continue to walk until they get to the men’s bathroom, which allows Mark Madden to make a joke about how the ‘uranage’ would be a good hold to use… Vamp jumps off the top of the stall, but Fit throws a steel trash can at him. They head out the bathroom and briefly outside the arena, although because of the lighting and the crowd it’s tough to follow what’s going on. The fight amongst the fans and Vamp gets backdropped onto the concrete floor, but ends up picking up the win after the ‘nail in the coffin’. The in ring action was solid and not bad at all, but this match went down the pan the moment they exited the ring. This is supposed to be a fight and these two go for a lengthy walk around the building holding each other, throwing the occasional punch along the way. It gets even worse after they’ve done their section in the urinal as there are fans everywhere, the lighting is atrocious and you lose the wrestlers and can’t see what’s going on. Seriously, the fans here are more annoying than any ECW crowd, not really watching the action and more concerned with mugging and waving at the camera.

Team Package put the boots to Hogan the minute he slides into the ring. Flair’s knife edge chops and Luger’s axe handles have no effect though and he responds with a noggin knocker. A series of lariats to both, Hulk whips Flair into the corner and he only just manages to do his flip over the turnbuckle. Hogan tosses Lex to the floor and beats Team Package up on the outside before whipping both with his belt and gingerly hitting them with a chair (both get their hands up to protect their heads). Back in the ring he chokes Flair with the belt and gives him a big backdrop. Flair tries to fire back with chops and punches but Hogan no sells everything. Eye poke from the Naitch and he makes his usual mistake of going up top. Hogan slams him to the canvas and returns to whipping them both with his belt. Low blow and finally Hogan thinks he should at least try to put them over slightly. He rolls to the outside grabbing his groin and the Naitch follows him. Knife edge chops before viciously choking him on the announcer’s desk. Chair to the back of Hogan and Flair whips Hulk with his own belt. Double clothesline, but Hogan is immediately back up to his feet and running rough shot over Team Package again. Flair face first bump! Big boot to Luger misses by a yard, whilst one for Flair only gets up as high as his sternum. Liz is in the ring, she goes to hit Hulk with a chair but he sees her and grabs it. Chair shot to Lex and he’s back to whipping Flair again. Naitch heads out and up the aisle, then gets on his knees begging Hulk to stop. He whips him once more before Flair sprints to the back. In the midst of all this the bells rings and I think the official result is a double count out. As a match this was probably a shade below average (Hogan and Flair had their light working boots on, Luger seemed happy to spend most of his time on the floor), as a build for Uncensored it was terrible. Hogan is far too dominant against two men, one of whom they want us to pay to see him face on the PPV. All Hogan to begin with and Team Package were only able to stem the flow with a low blow from Flair. A bit of heat on the Hulkster, but he’s back to being Superman a few minutes later. After more singlehanded dominance, the final shots of the broadcast is Flair on his knees in the aisle, Hogan whipping him and then him sprinting to the back. Remind me why I should pay to see a strap match between them? First time I’d thought that these guys look old too. Flair is barely able to do his bump in the corner, punches are clearly pulled and Hulk can’t even get his leg up for the big boot to Flair towards the end. I’ve no problem with people putting their hands up to protect themselves from chairshots, but it looked so bad here that Hulk should’ve just hit Team Package in the back with the chairs instead and not bothered with shots to the head.

This is a handheld from a house show. I’ve never seen or even heard of the Rock & Roll’s opponents so no chance in identifying who is who, although they are all in matching black T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms so maybe they’re some local faction of gang. Lengthy shine and control opening from the Express, however a low blow and DDT to Ricky turns the tide. The trio get a bit of heat on him until he hot tags to Robert and a double dropkick not much later sees the Express come out victorious. Despite their opponents having no look and being no names, they’ve certainly not just been dragged off the street as they all seem capable and bump well for the Rock & Rolls. I can see why there is a bit of confusion over whether they are heels here (Robert getting in some shots behind the referee’s back, Ricky throwing one of the opposition over the top rope to the floor and Robert attacking him on the outside), but the crowd were cheering them no matter what. Fun little match.

This is a ‘hardcore match’ and Monsta Mack is managed by Drew Lozario who used to be Low Ki’s manager. Mack backs Ki into the corner and slaps him across the face. His size is a bit too much for Ki to deal with in the early goings as his clotheslines have no effect, and Macks responds with a stiff one of his own. Ki attempts to slow Mack down and tire him out by getting him to chase after him. He goes to the well once too often though, and when he tries to vault over him for the third time Mack delivers a clubbing blow to the chest before unloading on him. Ki reverses an Irish whip then blows a handspring Pele kick as his positioning was out and he was too far away to connect with the kick. Back to back springboard dropkicks from Ki for a two, and he follows up with three kicks to Mack’s head. Pele kick connects this time and it sends Mack tumbling out the ring to the floor. Glorious springboard moonsault with some serious air and hang time. The two of them trade blow on the outside until Ki is able to fell his opponent. He pulls a table out from underneath the ring and sets it up. They’re up on the apron, Ki with a kick to Mack’s mid-section, he goes for a second, however Mack catches the leg, presses him overhead and throws him through the table to the floor. He tosses Ki back into the ring and he’s just about able to kick out of the pin. Mack misses a splash off the top, Ki goes for a moonsault, but Mack moves and he lands on his feet. Ki blocks a clothesline, and a rolling Koppo kick sends Mack back into the corner. He heads up to the top turnbuckle, but Mack cuts him off and a sort of ‘super Doctor Bomb’. That doesn’t put Ki away so he sits him back up on the top turnbuckle again. Ki fires back and he goes for a rana but Mack catches and plants him with a powerbomb. He holds on, gives him a second, holds on again and a Rikishi driver or ‘Greetings from Brooklyn’ (as it’s moved a little up the Atlantic coast!). He covers him, but then pulls Ki up as he’s not finished punishing him. Ki ducks a clothesline, forearm, roaring elbow and a Ki Krusher for the win. Good stuff here. Although this was billed as a ‘hardcore match’, I liked how it was completely different from what other promotions were doing: no chair shots, no garbage cans, weapons, just one broken table and as a result you remember it and the bump. The size difference between these two wasn’t as bad as I was expecting either. I remember Da Hit Squad as a couple of big dudes, and while Mack was a fair bit heavier than Low Ki, they were pretty much the same height. The two had a very physical, compelling match based off the back of stiff strikes and kicks interspersed with some high spots along the way. Not everything came off (handspring Pele kick, super Doctor Bomb), but it never detracted from the match. Kudos to Mack for keeping pace with Ki throughout all of this as well. Ki’s springboard moonsault to the floor was a thing of beauty and it was impressive getting Mack up for the Ki Krusher finisher.

Dawn Marie is the guest referee for this and she’s out first followed by Nova. Jeff Jones then heads out and I can’t tell if Mike Awesome was originally scheduled as Nova’s opponent (Jones makes some dig about him not going to come to a venue like this) or it was someone else, but they’re not here and he introduces ‘the new American Dream’ Steve Corino as the opponent tonight. Dawn tries to show her authority by ordering Jones out the ring and telling him that she’s the referee, but she can’t act for toffee. Collar and elbow tie up and they fight their way back into the corner. Dawn gets in there trying to separate them but they then squash her between themselves. The two of them break, then pull Dawn back in and squash-come-rub themselves against her again. Great, sexual harassment/assault being done as a ‘comedy’ spot! Dawn slaps them both across the face and they respond by slapping her ass! They congratulate one another, do the Impact Players pose, then return to the match shouting “I hate you”, “I hate you more” at each other. Not a promising start… Nova with an armdrag and a bodyslam, and Corino rolls to the floor. Dawn bends through the ropes to count him out, and Nova gets behind her as if he’s doing her from behind or at least hoping she’ll brush against his crotch. Yuk! Corino pulls Nova to the outside and they fight at ringside with Nova dumping Corino over the guard rail. Reverse Boston crab by Nova and Corino manages to get to the ropes. Jones hooks Nova’s leg distracting him, and Corino with a swinging neckbreaker. Bionic elbow followed by a big elbow for two. Corino blocks a sunset flip and drops the leg for another two count. They trade chops in the corner, Corino evades a tornado DDT but Nova gets him second time around. Reverse atomic drop and a flying forearm for two of his own. Neckbreaker, and Jeff Jones is in and grabs Dawn to stop her counting the fall. Dawn with a stunner to Jones and Corino nails Nova with his cowbell. Dawn and her dreadful acting stop the count at one after she sees the cowbell in the ring. Corino swings it at her but she manages to avoid it, Nova with a downward spiral and Dawn fast counts the pin. This starts off as a ‘comedy match’, and I use that term loosely, with the sexual harassment of Dawn. The match doesn’t get much better and these two go through the motions doing the bare minimum. Not that the audience are bothered as they just seem happy to see the ECW ‘stars’ in the flesh. Dull, boring and a pair of phoned in performances. Dawn’s acting is awful and a loust finish with the Jones interference, her giving him the stunner and the subsequent fast count on Corino.

Always nice to see Earl and his epileptic dancing! York and Matthews pull the Holy Rollers to the outside before they get in the ring and this one begins at ringside. Myers with an Irish whip, Matthews ducks the clothesline and comes back with a headscissors that spikes Myers right on his head. Double suplex from York and Matthews, and while the referee tries to regain some order, Earl is in and throws York to the floor. Myers slides out after him, he backdrops York into the ring ropes and he rebounds off with a reverse spinning DDT (or a spinning gator breaker). ETP comes around to help his partner, York ducks under the lariat and Matthews with a plancha from the top turnbuckle out onto them. Face first suplex on Earl, Myers distracts Matthews as he climbs the turnbuckles slowing him down and Earl with a Russian legsweep off the middle. Nice ‘ETP’ chant from the crowd! The Rollers go to work on Matthews utilising their teamwork and quick tags. Myers misses a top rope elbow and Joey’s able to make the tag to his partner. Superkick to Myers, pancake to Earl and York nails the Rollers’ manager (who was up on the apron) for good measure too. Double hiptoss into a double powerbomb on Ramblin’ Rich and Earl is in to break up the pin. York and Matthews with their top rope frankensteiner/big splash finisher and Earl is again back in to break up the pin (although he was a touch late and the official had to dealy his count waiting for him). The Rollers have had enough, collect their titles and head down the aisle to the back. The MCW commissioner cuts them off, decrees that this is now a ‘no count-out match’ and York and Matthews drag their opponents back to the ring. Matthews clotheslines Earl over the top rope to the floor, York with an attempted reverse suplex to Myers, however he flips over and holds him so their manager can nail him with something (the ref is dealing with Earl and Joey at this point). York doesn’t really duck or anything, but the manager hits his own man with the item and York then slugs him. Cover, Earl dives in to stop the official’s hand hitting the mat for the third time before decking him for the DQ. Blimey that finish was horrible! After the commissioner changed the rules to ‘no count-out’, I was convinced he was going to come back out after the DQ and change it to ‘no DQ’, but nope, lousy DQ finish to the match after Earl had hit the referee. I thought York and Matthews looked better here than they did in January and I can see why they got a fair bit of hype (Joey Matthews looks a notch above Christian York mind, as the latter does have spots where he still looks green). The action up until the Rollers walked out was good as they’re a capable hand, and I preferred this to the multi-team match from January.

Angle with an open challenge to anyone in the dressing room to come out and face him for his European title. Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross speculate that Chris Jericho will answer after losing his IC title to him, when Rikishi’s music plays to everyone’s surprise. A series of rights from Rikishi floors Angle and he follows up with a legdrop. Angle backs off before clipping his opponents injured knee. He runs the ropes but gets caught with a Samoan drop. ‘Stink face’ and Angle rolls out the ring, collects his two belts and a microphone and heads up the ramp as Teddy Long counts him out. After the bell rings Angle says that the people came to see a wrestling macth and not Rikishi’s butt in his face! Chris Jericho heads out with Chyna and Angle is trapped between the three of them. Jericho thinks everyone would like to see him get the ‘stink face’ one more time and throws him back in the ring. Rikishi Driver, Bonzai splash, but before he can deliver a second ‘stink face’, the Radicalz are out to attack him. Chyna and Jericho also get jumped, Too Cool make the save and the five of them clear the ring and end up dancing together. Falls into the ‘more angle than match’ category, but this was fun. Chyna and Jericho especially seemed to be enjoying themselves dancing with Rikishi and Too Cool.

Gunn looks about a foot taller than Eddy. He backs Guerrero into the corner and starts to unload on him. Whip to the opposite corner, Eddy ducks a clothesline and fires back himself. DX and The Radicalz are watching on monitors in the dressing room, and when Guerrero charges at Gunn, Billy launches him over and into the turnbuckles. Press slam on Saturn, but with the referee’s back turned, he nails Dogg with a clothesline and Eddy puts the boots to him. Saturn with a Northern Lights suplex, followed by an armbar and Dogg gets to the ropes to force the escape. He sits him on the top turnbuckle for a superplex, however a series of right hands sends Saturn crashing backwards to the canvas. Crossbody, but Saturn rolls through and reverses it into the ‘Rings of Saturn’ and Mr Ass is in there to break it up. Gunn avoids a Guerrero dropkick and takes it to the Radicalz sending Saturn to the floor with a back elbow. Jackhammer, Fame-asser and Saturn is back in to make the save. The referee is trying to keep Road Dogg out of there, Saturn with a belly to back suplex, Guerrero with the frog splash and you can immediately see him grab him forearm. Dogg pulls the official out the ring and Michael Cole thinks Eddy is seriously hurt. Cactus clothesline by Saturn on Gunn, and Road Dogg covers the injured Guerrero for the win. First time I’ve seen this match in full. Wasn’t the story that Guerrero & Saturn were supposed to go over here to square it up at 1-1 ready for the Benoit/HHH finale and Eddy called an audible? On watching it I don’t get how these four couldn’t come up with an alternative finish if that was the case. You could do something as simple as Saturn clotheslining Gunn out the ring and small packaging Road Dogg for the pin. Despite their size difference Guerrero and Gunn worked well together and Eddy looked good. A bit of trepidation on Saturn’s part, but that roll through off the crossbody into the ‘Rings of Saturn’ was a cool spot.

Recap of the previous week’s Raw when Big Show faced HHH and where both DX and Mankind got involved, but it was Mankind’s interference that led to Show retaining his title. We move onto Smackdown and HHH orders X-Pac to face Show ‘and beat his ass like he’s never been beaten before’, but HHH continues to change the rules everytime Show’s in charge and it ends with DX leaving him a bloody mess in the ring. Big Show is out first for his title defense and HHH is accompanied by all of DX, he insists they stay at the top of the runway though and he heads to the ring on his own. Show attacks HHH before he’s even entered the squared circle and opens very aggressively. Hunter ducks a clubbing right, starts to fire back, however a headbutt puts a stop to that. Show telegraphs a backdrop, HHH kicks him but he doesn’t even register it and delivers another headbutt. Big elbow and Hunter only just manages to kick out. Show reverses a whip to the corner and HHH goes flying over the top turnbuckle to the floor. He picks him up, but Hunter slides down his back and uses Show’s momentum to shove him over the guard rail and into the front row. Show beels HHH back into the ringside area, goes to whip him into the ringsteps, however Hunter reverses and Show is the one who goes crashing into them. Back in the ring and HHH with a facebuster followed by a high knee. Show kicks out of the cover with authority, and responds with a huge side slam for a near fall and a great powerslam for another. Chokeslam, but HHH is too close to the ropes though and is able to get his leg over them. He misses an elbow drop off the middle, Hunter goes for the pedigree but Show counters with a backdrop. X-Pac runs down the aisle to interfere, however he’s cut off by Mike Chioda. Show goes for a second chokeslam, but with the referee distracted, HHH kicks him low and hits the pedigree to become the new WWF champion. DX celebrate with him after as pyro goes off in the building and black and green balloons fall from the ceiling. Show looks like the World’s largest backyarder here wrestling in his T-shirt! Not the look you want for your World champion. I liked his aggressiveness at the beginning, but on the whole I found this dull. Crowd were very quiet and only came alive after Show kicked out of the high knee, but they were into his nearfall attempts towards the end. The match seemed more about trying to show that HHH didn’t need DX to become World champion, even though an X-Pac distraction gives him the chance to low blow Big Show and hit the pedigree. For a World title change (when this still kinda meant something), this all felt very lacklustre, although they did put some effort into the post-match with the pyro and balloons.

This was for the WCW World Heavyweight title after Bret Hart had been stripped of the belt, and with Arn Anderson as special guest referee. The two of them lock up and Sid easily backs Benoit into the corner. Benoit with a go behind, but a swift elbow shrugs him off. A big clothesline from Sid sends Benoit over the top rope to the floor, and the locker room has emptied and made their way out of the curtain to get a better view of this. Press slam from Sid where he drops Benoit chest first to the canvas, followed by a front release suplex and he’s just too strong for Benoit at this point. Benoit ducks a clothesline and dropkicks Sid in the knee as he tries to bring the big man down to size and remove one of his wheels. He pull Sid to the outside, traps his leg between the ring steps and the ring post, and dropkicks the steps as he focuses his attention on that leg. Figure Four, but Sid is able to turn over and reverse the pressure, resulting in Benoit having to grab the ropes. Multiple kicks to Sid’s leg as he continues to try and wear him down, and a dragon screw leg whip for two. Benoit lays in those knife edge chops and gets the big man up for a snap suplex. Sid starts to fire back as they trade punches, but Benoit just kicks that leg out from under him. Indian deathlock/reverse chinlock combination. Benoit with a series of punches, but they have no effect and Sid responds with an open handed slap across the face. Same as before though, every time it looks like he might be getting back into this, Benoit takes out that leg. German suplex, he holds on to go for a second, but Sid with a back elbow puts a stop to that. He reverses an Irish whip and a powerslam for a near fall. Leglock/kneebar and Sid is able to reach the ropes. Release German, diving headbutt, Benoit makes the cover but Sid kicks out with authority on two. Sid with a chokeslam, however Benoit’s foot was under the bottom rope and stops the count. He signals for another one, Benoit counters into the crossface and Sid taps (all too quickly while the camera makes sure to get a shot of Sid’s leg under the ropes). Benoit celebrates with the belt as the onlooking wrestlers give him a round of applause. I usually couldn’t care less for Michael Buffer, but from the moment he introduced Arn Anderson this felt like something special. The whole presentation, with Arn’s last minute instructions, gave this the feel of a real athletic contest, two gladiators going to war to find out who the better man is. If that wasn’t enough, we then get the lockeroom emptying to watch this up close and first hand. A very simple story of Sid being too big, too strong and too powerful at first, so Benoit has to turn his attention and focus all his efforts on one of his limbs to ‘bring him down to size’. Everytime it looked like he might be getting back into the match, boom, Benoit would cut him off again. Give Sid plenty of credit here, the guy sold that leg from the moment Benoit first attacked it and went up for a snap suplex, two German suplexes and took Benoit’s chops. If WCW were worried that Benoit was going to quit, everyone did all they could with their effort and presentation of this to try and convince him otherwise. Talking again about presentation, Bobby Heenan is pretty bad on commentary here. I have no complaints whatsoever with Mike Tenay or Tony Schiavone, but Heenan was cringeworthy. The only other complaint is that I wish Sid would have fought the crossface more and not tapped immediately. He fought the Figure Four, the Indian deathlock, the leglock/kneebar, he should’ve fought this for twenty to thirty seconds at least before tapping out. Still, this was a tremendous match.

No DQ match for the EWF title currently held by Danny Rose. Flash opens the aggressor whipping Rose hard into the turnbuckles, and an Ace Crusher for an early two count. Dropkick from Flash, he tosses Rose to the outside and comes off the top with a high bodypress to the floor. Flash whips Rose into the stage and the two fight to the back but out of the vantage point of the camera. Back in view and Rose twice slams Flash’s head into the table at ringside before hurling him into the ringpost. Bodyslam, elbow driop and a lackadaisical cover by Rose for two. Nice series of knees to the mid-section off the ropes followed by a release suplex. Powerslam and Flash kicks out. Rose heads up the turnbuckles, but Flash is back to his feet and a frankensteiner off the top. As Flash goes up himself, he’s nailed in the back with a chair by Dirty Deeds. The commentators lament about the interference until they remember it’s no DQ and therefore anything goes. Flash blocks a suplex and a small package for two. Sunset flip for another near fall. Rose with an Irish whip, he then presses Flash in the air and drops him chest first down to the mat. He tries it a second time, but when he presses him, Flash nails him with a dropkick. DDT by Rose, when out walk the Bad Crew who he invites into the ring. One of the Crew swing a chair at Flash who ducks and he levels Rose instead. Flash takes out that member of the Bad Crew, only to get cracked over the head with another chair by his partner. As he falls though he collapses onto Rose, the referee counts the pin and we have a new EWF champion. Flash and Rose are guys who used to be staples of CZW back in the early 2000s when I watched that. I wish more had been made of the ‘no DQ’ stipulation here, we got one fight on the outside and a couple of bits of interference; I was wanting more. I also felt this should’ve gone longer as it seemed rushed. Ironic as I watched this after the IPW Quack tag match which could’ve done with being shorter. Creative finish with the Bad Crew’s interference backfiring, and Flash works hard and tries a lot. Okay match, but not something I could imagine remembering (bar that finish) in a week or so’s time.

The last person I expected to see on a random IPW match was Downtown Bruno/Harvey Whippleman! I can’t quite make out what Bruno’s saying, but we start with some kind of push up contest which doesn’t end well for the larger Noxious and Anthony when one sits on the back of the other and he collapses under his partner’s weight! Sit up contest next, but this is just a ploy for Anthony and Noxious to attack their opponents when their guards are dropped. I should point out I have no idea who is George Anthony and who is Rob Noxious, and there is no commentary to help me either. Quack and Graham reverse the Irish whips, double backdrop and Anthony and Noxious take to the floor. Aah, Bruno is round to talk to them so he’s their manager. Graham with a stunner and a cool looking power throw on the fatter of their opponents. Fatty bullies Graham back into the corner, a couple of clubbing overhands and a raggedy looking suplex. Ponytail (as I shall refer to the other member of the heel team) with a legdrop for a one. He whips Graham into the corner, but as he comes rushing in Graham gets his foot up and nails him with a big clothesline. Fatty with a double axe handle off the top to Graham and some really weak looking overhand rights. A miscommunication-come-botch on an Irish whip and Graham tags out. Quack with a deep armdrag and an armbar, but you can clearly see him telling fatty what to do next and calling spots. Side suplex by ponytail for two. Quack ducks a clothesline and a headscissors which he doesn’t quite get all of. Cover, fatty is in to break up the pin, he drops the elbow but Quack moves and he hits his own partner. Quack covers them both and Bruno is in, he goes for a splash, but again Quack moves and he lands on his own team. Powerslam on Graham for two. Ponytail holds Graham, fatty with a running lariat, but Graham frees himself and a Cactus clothesline on his own partner sends them both over the top rope to the floor. Flip dive from Quack out onto them. Bruno hooks Quack’s leg for the distraction and the heels put the boots to him, followed by a middle rope legdrop from ponytail for two. As he argues the count, Quack schoolboys him for a two of his own. Roll up and bridge, but the referee is flapping about and not there to count the pin. The heels blow a double clothesline, talk to each other about what to do next and opt for a double STO. The match has broken down with the ref seemingly clueless about what he should be doing in there. The heels stand a groggy Quack up in the middle of the ring, run at him from either direction, but he moves and they clothesline each other. Hot tag to Graham and another miscommunication off an Irish whip. He blocks a hiptoss and a backslide for a near fall. Ponytail with a DDT and Quack is in to break up the pin. Suplex, diving headbutt and this time its fatty breaking up the pin. Fatty sits Quack on the top turnbuckle for a belly to back suplex, Quack starts to fire back and flips over and down the back of him, turning it into a sunset flip. Fatty’s holding on to the ropes, some upwards strikes force him to release his grasp and a running powerbomb from Quack for the win. I thought this started off well and was enjoying it, the problem was that the match broke down several times with fatty and Graham both looking lost in there and seemed to get worse the longer it went on. Someone mentioned that maybe Graham is a local high school coach or something, and I’m wondering if fatty is the same? It would account for him looking lost on occasion, for those terribly weak looking strikes and also for Quack having to tell him what to do next. Quack is clearly the standout of the four and you can already see plenty of his trademark stuff even back in 2000 (the high hip toss, graceful dives, the kicks to the back of his opponent), but I thought ponytail showed some potential too. Great vocal crowd who made plenty of noise in what was a pretty smallish venue. Lose five minutes and with some more seasoning and polish and you’ve got a good match here (I especially liked the Cactus clothesline to his own man and the double lariat to each other after Quack moves out the way). Note for the referee who got lost towards the end of this and had a look of Quack about him that I wondered if he is maybe his brother?