GSR

The four of them pair off early and Benoit clotheslines Jarrett over the top rope to the floor. Nash diverts his attention to Benoit and the two of them fight at ringside while Sid rains punches down on Jarrett in the corner. A clothesline and big boot from Sid, and as he goes for the chokeslam Nash is back in the ring to save his partner. Benoit pulls Jarrett to the outside and it’s now their turn to go at it on the floor, as Nash and Sid get it on inside. Nash and Jarrett double team Benoit while Charles Robinson tries to regain some sort of order. Jarrett chokes Benoit with his T-shirt and puts the knees to him. Vertical suplex for two and Jarrett with a sleeper. Benoit shoots him off, responds with one of this own and Jarrett with a jawbreaker to escape. Irish whip, Benoit holds on to the ropes and Jarrett dropkicks the air. Benoit catapults him into the corner and takes his head off with a clothesline. Nash breaks up a ‘crippler crossface’, which brings in Sid, and all four men are in the ring. Jarrett backdrops Benoit over the top to the floor, then nails Sid in the back as he goes to powerbomb ‘Big Sexy’. Sid with a double clothesline and Nash drags him to the floor and then clocks him with Jarrett’s title belt. He throws the belt to Jarrett who takes a swing at Benoit, but he ducks out the way and catches him with a belly to back. He goes for the diving headbutt, however Nash shoves him off the top turnbuckle and he crashes head first into the belt. Jarrett with ‘the Stroke’ and he and Nash come out on top. This was okay. Anything involving Jarrett and Benoit (especially when they were in there together) was good as they both worked hard, however the same cannot be said for the efforts of Nash and Sid. Nash specifically appeared to be going through the motions and Sid’s offense continues to suck. It was also a bit tricky to follow what was going on in the early part when Benoit and Jarrett brawled to the back of the arena and Nash and Sid stayed in the ring.

The Ballard Brothers jump the Playaz as they get in the ring. Stereo clotheslines, stereo back elbows, they go for stereo backbody drops, the Playaz leap frog over and a pair of backdrop drivers. The Ballards take to the floor, but Thompson backdrops LeGrande over the top rope out onto them. LeGrande with a headscissors to one of the brothers, Thompson is in, picks Boyce up and swings around him to complete the move. The Ballards try to emulate the Playaz headscissors, but Thompson cuts one of them off and then plants the other with a facebuster. Side suplex, springboard legdrop combination from the WSP, followed by a springboard legdrop to the back of the neck of the other brother (as Thompson is holding him). Shannon with a powerslam to LeGrande and the brothers finally appear to be gain some ascendancy. Ballards with a double team Electric Chair into a splash on LeGrande for a two. They sit Boyce on the top turnbuckle for a double superplex, when Thompson just walks into the ring, lifts the Ballards onto his shoulders and LeGrande with a double Buff Blockbuster. Thompson with a Brainbuster and all four men are in the ring. Double reversal on the Irish whip and the Playaz crash head first into the bottom turnbuckle. One of the Ballards throws Boyce over the top rope to the floor and they try to wear Thompson down with a rear chinlock. False tag spot! ‘Poetry in motion’ a la the Hardy Boyz from the Ballards and an Alabama slam for two. Slingshot legdrop for another near fall. The Ballards telegraph a double backdrop, Thompson with a boot to one of the brothers and an almighty powerbomb to the other. Double clothesline and he tags LeGrande, but the official hasn’t seen it and orders him out of the ring. Double superplex from the Ballards for two. Neckbreaker, DDT combination to the brothers, and finally he makes a tag which the referee sees. LeGrande comes in like a house on fire single handedly taking care of the Ballards. Huge sit out powerbomb and a suicide dive to the floor. Thompson with a ‘torture rack’ into a spinning neckbreaker, then the Playaz with a legdrop/splash off the top from opposite turnbuckles for the win. One of the commentators says “you’ve got to wonder where they came up with those moves?” The answer is in the training school, and that’s the problem with this. It feels like a match that was put together in a training school move for move and was probably practiced several times, nothing felt organic about it. Both teams also were guilty of seemingly wanting to bust out every double team manoeuvre they knew, while the Playaz have the infuriating ‘RVD habit’ of looking at the crowd and waiting for the acknowledgment from them after they do something ‘spectacular’. Despite this, they do have some potential. Match went at least five minutes too long, and the Ballard Brothers heat segment dragged. I also hated the angle of the hard camera that was filming this.

Storm is accompanied by Dawn Marie and Jason Knight and quips to Feinstein (on seeing Tanaka in the ring) that he’s going to take bumps tonight! The two trade holds and counters early as they both jockey for position. Tanaka with a modified powerbomb and Storm takes to the floor. Masato follows him out there, whips him into the guard rail only to get attacked from behind by Jason. The attack has zero effect and Tanaka goes to whip him into Storm, but he reverses it (huh?), Storm gets a foot up and Tanaka runs head first into it. Back in the ring they exchange knife edge chops in the corner, and a variation of the Ace Crusher brings a two for Tanaka. Storm takes the Flair bump into the corner and onto the apron, ducks a right and a springboard dropkick for a two of his own. Jason throws Storm a chair, he rams Tanaka’s head into it and drops a leg across the back of his neck. He tosses him to the floor and then into the front row. Tanaka blocks the suplex attempt and drops Storm chest first across the guard rail. Suicideplex by Tanaka and I swear the crowd are chanting ‘please bend over’ at Dawn Marie instead of watching the match! Storm kicks out, Death Valley Driver, and that’s still not enough to put him away as he kicks out again. Lance reverses the Irish whip and transitions into a lovely half crab that Tanaka can only break by grabbing the ropes. Thrust kick, but Tanaka catches his foot and fires back with a ‘roaring elbow’. That looks to have done it, only for Jason to pull Jim Molineux out the ring at the count of two. As Tanaka is distracted by what’s going on outside, Dawn slides Storm his tag title belt and he nails Masato. Two count near fall gets no reaction whatsoever from the crowd. Storm sets up a couple of chairs on the canvas, Tanaka blocks the superplex attempt and a tornado DDT onto the chairs. Another near fall kick out and again no reaction. Tanaka comes off the top with a chair, but Storm thrust kicks the chair into his face. Near fall number three and some minimal response this time and Tanaka finally picks up the win after a Buff Blockbuster. I think the two of them worked really well together here and this wasn’t bad at all, hindered only by a dreadful crowd who seemed more interested in chanting for Dawn Marie to bend over. They should’ve been popping pretty big for those near falls at the end of the match, but it was just silence. The thing that garnered the biggest response was when Storm bought those chairs into the ring for the tornado DDT spot, which backs up what I wrote about in the Sabu/Spike match that this lot a more concerned with chairs and tables as opposed to good wrestling. Nice to see Tanaka in a straight(ish) wrestling match and giving those brain cells the night off from taking those hideous unprotected chair shots.

As Lynn is posing on the turnbuckles for the crowd, Tajiri attacks him from behind. A couple of chops in the corner, whip to the opposite one and as Tajiri comes following in, Lynn kicks his legs up and a headscissors sends Tajiri to the floor. Lynn with a pescado and he throws Tajiri back inside but the Japanese Buzzsaw won’t let him back in the ring. Lynn beckons him to the outside and they go at it at ringside. The two of them exchange forearms and Tajiri starts biting his opponent. Powerbomb attempt from Lynn which Tajiri counters into a sunset flip for a one count. Tajiri reverses a whip to the corner and when Lynn comes charging in, hooks him with the tarantula. Handspring elbow and he ties Lynn in the ‘tree of woe’ before delivering a baseball slide dropkick to the face. Tajiri stands on Lynn’s groin and mocks his discomfort! A second handspring elbow, however this time Lynn sees it coming and catches him. Overhead belly to belly suplex but Tajiri lands on his feet. Lynn ducks the roundhouse kick, huracanrana and Tajiri bridges out beautifully. He goes for a huracanrana of his own but Lynn plants him with a powerbomb for a two count. German suplex from Tajiri for another two. Whip to the corner, Lynn gets his knees up to the onrushing Tajiri, tornado DDT and the Buzzsaw kicks out at the last second. Tajiri with a series of kicks and he signals for the Brainbuster. Lynn escapes, grabs a waistlock and avoids the Tajiri back kick low blow. Low blow of his own and cradle piledriver for the win. The action was real good here, although the match felt abridged, almost constrained by being for TV and limited time. Cracking closing stretch and especially liked Lynn avoiding the low blow only to respond with one of his own.

Ray with a hip toss, he then turns to the crowd, flexes his muscles and you can already sense this will be a bit different to what’s going on elsewhere in the wrestling world. A body slam and he’s back posing again. Carly with an arm drag, a hip toss, a body slam followed by a dropkick that sends Ray to the floor and the crowd are into this already. They exchange punches, Carly with a back drop, Gonzalez backs off and they’re eating this up. He rolls back out to the floor and is in no hurry to return to the ring. Collar and elbow tie up, Colon with a side headlock and he takes Gonzalez down. A huracanrana and a dropkick sends Ray to the floor once more. Lock up and Gonzalez backs Carly into the corner and starts chopping him, however we go to a commercial just as Colon blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckles. We return as Carly schoolboys Ray for a near fall and the crowd are going crazy. He kicks at his legs to soften them up for the Figure Four and Gonzalez resorts to his favourite tactic of rolling out the ring and taking a break! Carly with a rough looking headscissors and he goes for another huracanrana, this time though Gonzalez counters with a powerbomb. He goes about methodically trying to work over Colon until he starts to fire back at him. Not for long, as although he ducks a couple of clotheslines, Ray picks him up as if for a Samoan Drop but plants him with an F-5. Lenthy rear chinlock and you can see the crowd clapping and trying to encourage Carly to fight out of there. A series of elbows to the mid-section seems him break the hold, Gonzalez telegraphs a backdrop and Colon with a sunset flip. Ray slowly clambers his way to the ropes, when he grabs them though, the referee kicks his hands away and Carly is able to complete the sunset flip for a near fall. Gonzalez with a clothesline and he’s back to that rear chinlock. Bodyslam, he climbs the turnbuckles and Carly slams him to the canvas. Cartwheel like his old man, some clubbing lefts and an O’Connor roll for two. Whip to the corner, Colon comes rushing in but Ray gets his boot up. He reaches into his tights for something, however Carly kicks it out of his hands. Colon leap frogs over a charging Gonzalez and collides with the referee. Figure Four, but no official as the crowd start to pelt the ring with rubbish. A second referee is out to take his place and an awesome near fall as Gonzalez gets his shoulder up at last second whilst still trapped in the leglock. He grabs the ropes to break the hold but Colon goes straight for it again, although this time Ray kicks him low. He picks up a shovel from outside the ring and then levels the replacement official with it when he tries to take it off him. He goes to hit Carly with it, but he gets in there first and throws powder in his his face. He then wallops him with the shovel, and the original official has come around in time to count the three. The crowd go wild when he gets the win and they all engulf him as he leaves the ring. It’s almost as if WWC is stuck in a timewarp. This easily could’ve taken place in the 1980s and WWC is completely different to anything else that’s going on in the wrestling world at the time. It was simple, rudimentary and effective. They get so much out of so little and where else in 2000 would you see a reverse chinlock spot thaty lasts for over two minutes? The audience were into this from the beginning, and after gorging on ECW fancams these past few days and witnessing their rotten crowds, this made for a pleasant change: a crowd who want to cheer the faces, boo the heels, don’t care for chair shots and table breaking, but are white hot throughout. Fantastic final few minutes from Carly’s comeback onwards, topped off by a wonderful celebration with the audience after he gets the win. WWC might be an anachronism, but I’m not complaining.

As expected, the same match they did the night before but with a couple of tweaks. Fortunately Awesome did ditch the suicide dive, and instead of the clothesline over the top rope to the floor, Tanaka backdrops Awesome onto the apron, forearms him to the floor and comes off the top with a crossbody before they go into their section on the outside. This is being recorded for TNN so after Tanaka kicks out of the first big splash he gets Jeff Jones to pass him a table into the ring. Same finishing stretch then with the Awesome Bomb off the top, but through the table deciding it. As I’ve said previously when seeing the same match being done twice, it loses it’s lustre second time around. Hated seeing those no sell chair shots from Tanaka as he did the exact same spot the previous night.

Awesome with a side headlock, Tanaka shoots him off and a shoulder tackle that the champ gets the better of. Tanaka with a leap frog, but Awesome catches him mid-air and tosses him with an overhead belly to belly. He reverses an Irish whip and a scoop powerslam that only just gets a one. Nice back elbow off the top turnbuckle from Awesome after Tanaka had whipped him into the corner, and he follows by clotheslining him over the top rope to the floor. Suicide dive, and I can’t see if he caught his leg on the top rope, but Awesome is short and crashes head first into the wooden floor in a horrific looking spot. Of course the crowd chant ‘you fucked up’ at this, what you expected them not to? Tanaka whips him into the guard rail but Awesome gets the big boot up when he comes charging in. Awesome returns the favour and Tanaka goes careering over it and into the front row. Another dive from Awesome, this time over the guard rail and onto him, and thankfully he doesn’t nearly cripple himself. Slingshot shoulderblock for one as Tanaka gets his foot over the bottom rope. Three brain jarring chair shots that Tanaka no sells and they just seem to fire him up. Release German suplex and a sit out chokeslam from Awesome for two. He sets up a table on the outside, Tanaka blocks the powerbomb and a tornado DDT from the apron through it to the floor. Running chair shot from Tanaka drops Awesome and a missile dropkick to the back. Bodyslam, he lays a chair on Awesome’s face and comes off the top with another chair to it for a near fall. Tornado DDT onto a chair but it’s still not enough to put the champ away. He manages to block a reverse DDT and Alabama slams Tanaka to the canvas. Powerbomb and this time its Tanaka’s turn to kick out at two. Big splash off the top as the two counts continue. He heads up again, however Tanaka is able to cut him off in his tracks with a right. He goes for a superplex but Awesome fights him off and an almighty Awesome Bomb off the top for the win. A difficult one as the effort was without question there, but it was bang, bang, bang, one high impact move after another. No slowing it down, no emotional rollercoaster. I found myself becoming desensitized to the use of chairs and the kick outs felt like overkill (they really shouldn’t have been kicking out of Tornado DDT’s onto chairs for starters). I also think Awesome needs to quit that suicide dive as the way he crashed head first into the floor looked downright scary (and this after doing almost the exact same at the end of the match against Spike Dudley on 1/21 where he dove on Sabu and Rob Van Dam). I cringed seeing Tanaka do the no sell chair spot as well, so he wasn’t only doing that on show for TV or PPVs. Yikes! That Awesome Bomb finisher looked tremendous mind. I’ve got the 1/28 match to watch next so it’ll be interesting to see if it’s different to this, or like most when it’s the same people involved, a carbon copy.

Kanyon is doing the ‘Champagne’ gimmick and is accompanied by J. Biggs (Clarence Mason) and two Nitro Girls (Baby and the future Ms. Jones). He takes the mic and says how he’s scheduled to wrestle DDP but has a problem with that because he’s already beaten him one on one, and has already beaten him in a three way match with Bam Bam Bigelow so has got nothing to prove. He refers to Jersey as the right armpit of America, Evansville as the left, and because of that and because he’s got nothing left to prove here tonight, they’re all going to get on a jet and head back to LA. DDP’s music plays, but no Page as Kimberly walks out on her own. Kanyon tells them to cut that cheesy, ripped off music, and says that Page is up to his old tricks of sending a woman to do a man’s job, before offering her the chance to forget about DDP and join him instead. Kimberly removes her coat and says if he ditches those two tramps then maybe they can talk. Kanyon seems to be going for that idea when he’s nailed with a clothesline off the top from DDP who has snuck out there somehow. Page shoots him chest first into the corner, belly to back suplex and Kanyon takes to the apron for a breather. Knee to the back sends him off the apron and flying into the guard rail and Page follows with a pescado. DDP throws him back in the ring, Kanyon blocks a hiptoss and turns it into a swinging neckbreaker. A trio of elbow drops only bring a two. Nice overhead throw from Page and he clotheslines Kanyon over the top rope to the floor. Kanyon reverses an Irish whip to the guard rail and then puts his leg across the back of DDP’s head and drives it into the ring steps. Crossbody block off the top, but Page rolls through for a two count. Kanyon unloads on DDP in the corner, however he jaws with the referee instad of following up and Page starts to fire back. Quality uranage for a near fall. Irish whip, but Kanyon holds onto Page’s arm, slides back through his legs and plants him with a pump handle slam. Biggs is loitering up on the apron with his briefcase and he gestures to Kanyon to send him his way so he can nail him with it. DDP reverses the Irish whip and Kanyon stops just in time from colliding with Biggs. Forearm to the back sends him into Biggs, schoolboy and Kanyon kicks out at the last second. Page signals for the Diamond Cutter but Kanyon counters with a backslide attempt. As they’re both fighting to get the advantage, Kanyon with a back kick low blow. He’s up on the second turnbuckle and Page with a powerbomb. Kanyon picks up the briefcase ready to clobber Page, but Diamond Cutter out of nowhere for the win. Good match and I enjoyed this with both of them working hard and Page busting out a clothesline off the top, a pescado and a gorgeous uranage. I’m guessing he worked harder than you would expect for a Thunder match because he was in there with his buddy. Good action up until the Biggs interference which took it down a bit. As Kanyon was more than holding his own in the match you have to wonder what was going through Biggs’ mind and why he felt the need to get involved?

They actually start with some wrestling and Spike gets the better of his opponent. Sabu can’t outwrestle Spike so resorts to punching him instead. He kicks him to the floor and goes to whip him into the guard rail however he reverses it. Spike sets up a table on the outside but Sabu is back to his feet, and this time it’s his turn to hurl Spike into the guard rails. Cannonball off the apron to the floor from Spike. He unloads with forearms and the crowd start a ‘use the table’ chant. Irish whip to the corner, Spike comes charging in, Sabu moves and Spike goes shoulder first into the ringpost. Sabu brings a table into the ring and clotheslines Spike onto it. He heads up the turnbuckles but isn’t quite quick enough and Spike snapmares him to the canvas. Acid Drop attempt, Sabu blocks it and slams Spike hard on the table. The table had collapsed on one of its legs at this point so was only half up, and Sabu slammed Spike on the section of table above the upright leg. The table therefore doesn’t break and it’s an awful looking bump that Spike takes. As he’s writhing in agony the caring audience start chanting ‘you fucked up!’ at them both! Sabu props up a table in the corner and levels Spike with a chair. He lies him on the table and a running jumping legdrop off the chair puts Spike through it. Triple jump moonsault for two. Sabu goes for it again, but Spike hooks his leg tripping him, and he crashes head first into the chair. A whistle blowing Bill Alfonso is out and he throws a chair to Spike who launches it into Sabu’s face. A chair shot off the top to the grounded Sabu only brings a one as he’s able to get his foot over the bottom rop. Irish whip reversal, Spike goes chest first into the turnbuckle and Sabu with a springboard leg lariat. Arabian moonsault for two. As Sabu is setting up another table Spike schoolboys him for a near fall. He blocks the Acid Drop and Spike with a neckbreaker. Spike telegraphs a backdrop and Sabu clothesline him onto the table again. Legdrop off the top and Sabu gets the three. Not enjoying the Sabu rewatch at all, and I’m finding this dated and to have aged badly (compared say to the Tajiri/Guido/Crazy stuff which I’m liking a hell of a lot). Another dreadful ECW crowd who only wanted to see chair shots and tables being broken. Seriously, ‘use the table’ and ‘you fucked up’ (after Spike looked to be in absolute agony)? How disrespectful can you be? The most interesting part of the match for me was the opening when they actually did some wrestling. What happened to Bill Alfonso too? He makes his entrance down the aisle, throws Spike a chair and then is gone?

Note to self: must watch the ECW stuff in order next month! Practically the same match they do the next night in Fort Lauderdale, although it’s pretty cool seeing it from a different camera angle (and in a unique looking venue). They omit the Crazy quebrada over the guard rail to the floor and Tajiri gets eliminated after a Maritato followed by a quebrada, but those are the only differences in the first half. Guido and Crazy mix it up a bit more, and Sal’s interference sees him pull Crazy from the ring and squash him against the guard rail. Guido gets the knees up on the moonsault off the middle turnbuckle and Maritato again for the win. Still a good match, but it loses a bit of it’s lustre when you’ve seen it once and know what is coming next.

Spike nails Awesome with a forearm before he gets in the ring and comes off the top with a crossbody to the floor. The two of them fight on the outside and Awesome whips Spike into the barricade. Suplex, but he drops him chest first onto the guard rail. Back in the ring and Awesome stops Spike in his tracks with a clothesline. Huge release German suplex, Awesome Bomb, but Spike reverses it into a huracanrana. He goes for a second, but Awesome plants him with a sit out slam for two. Awesome and Jeff Jones set up a table on the arena floor, Spike blocks the powerbomb and bulldogs Awesome from the apron through the table. Spike with a chair shot to the head and another across the back. Awesome counters the Acid Drop, but Spike then brains him with the chair for two. Chair shot off the top turnbuckle and Awesome is only just able to kick out. A clothesline takes Spike’s head off, Awesome Bomb and a splash off the top. Awesome with the cover and the match goes to pot from here. I don’t think the ref actually counted the three, but he signals for the bell and Spike lifts his shoulder up at the last second. Someone screwed up big time! Awesome and the ref have words and the bell rings again. Yup, no idea! Jones hands Awesome a table which he leans up in the corner and a running powerbomb on Spike through the table for the win. Awesome Bomb for the referee post-match (fully deserved after screwing up so badly!) and he calls out Rob Van Dam. RVD’s music plays and here he comes. He doesn’t make it to the ring as Sabu jumps him from behind. Awesome with a tope which RVD seems to avoid and Sabu takes the brunt of, whilst Awesome appears to crash head first into the concrete. Van Dam with a flip dive off the top onto both, and Fonzie and he return to the dressing toom leaving Awesome and Sabu laying in the aisle. When Awesome has decisively beaten Spike on PPV, why is he then defending his title against him just a couple of weeks later? Middle of the road match, and I thought the effort that the two put in on the ‘Guilty As Charged’ match ranks that one above this for me. Christ knows what Spike’s back must be like if he was taking these bumps on a nightly basis, although at least he was only limited to going through the one table here. Awesome was lucky he didn’t knock himself out with that suicide dive at the end.

Tajiri blows the green mist and when Guido looks at it, he drops him with a kick to the head. Crazy with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Tajiri, who responds with a round-the-world headscissors. Sleeper by Guido on Tajiri, but he flings him over his shoulder to escape. Crazy with a reverse crossbody on Tajiri, and Guido immediately follows with a clothesline off the top. Fujiwara armbar on Crazy. Tajiri is back to his feet and he measures a kick to Guido’s head before just standing on it! The crowd start chanting Tajiri’s name and he bows to all four corners acknowledging them. Handspring elbow to Guido who rolls to the outside to talk things over with Big Sal. He backdrops Crazy over the top rope to the apron, and Guido pulls him to the floor. As the FBI double team him, Tajiri with an Asai moonsault to the ‘Italians’. Guido reverses an Irish whip into the guard rail and Tajiri goes crashing into it. He whips Crazy into it and the two of them only just manage to get out the way of an onrushing Sal who careers into and over the barricade. Crazy with a quebrada over the guard rail to the floor. Tajiri with a sunset flip, but Crazy holds onto the ropes so he transitions into the ‘Tarantula’ and Guido then dropkicks Crazy in the head. Tajiri and Guido make a pact to work together, however while they are hugging out to seal it, everyone can see Tajiri crossing his fingers behind Guido’s back. Tajiri with a bodyslam and he tells Guido to go up top. When he does, Tajiri shoves him in the back and he loses his balance. He ties him in the ‘tree of woe’ and stands on his balls (a Tajiri favourite!). Moonsault, but Crazy has moved and Guido with a famouser off the top. Springboard dropkick from Crazy, Maritato and they both make the cover to eliminate Tajiri. Crazy runs the ropes and Sal hooks his leg. He climbs up the ropes to have words with him and Guido with a really nice Russian legsweep off the middle for two. He distracts the referee, arguing over the count, and Sal gets in the ring. He botches a powerbomb just dropping Crazy, so falls on him instead and Guido with another two. Crazy with a powerbomb out the corner and a springboard moonsault for two of his own. Spinning DDT and Crazy goes for the moonsaults off the three turnbuckles. Guido gets his knees up on the last one, Maritato and Guido comes out on top. Really good match. The one thing I enjoy about this combination is that they continue to make each match different, throw in new spots etc. I’ve mentioned in the past how Tajiri seems to have a whole host of different ways to put on the ‘Tarantula’ and add another to the list here. You really get to appreciate what a hell of a worker he is with these fancams. Great stuff when Tajiri and Guido agree ‘a pact’, but Tajiri has his finger’s crossed and the only one who doesn’t know is Guido! Cracking Russian legsweep off the middle from Crazy in there too. The result was a surprise as I didn’t expect Tajiri to be eliminated first, and didn’t expect Guido to win. If only Sal hadn’t botched that powerbomb…

When you are calling the spots before they happen you know something is up! Bar the finish, this appeared to be the exact same match they did in Orlando on 1/29. CW breaking clean and Sabu drilling him with a right, springboard tornado DDT, Frankensteiner off the top, dive out the ring onto Lou E. and Bill Whiles, Lou’s distraction and CW’s superkick, second Frankensteiner off the top but CW crotching Sabu instead, spinebuster through the tables, hard chair shots to CW and Bill and Sabu going to put Lou through a table but CW pushing him off and getting legdropped through himself. The lone difference was Sabu getting the pin after the triple jump moonsault instead of the Arabian facebuster. I felt this match flowed much better than the one in Orlando which came across as just a bunch of spots, but I don’t think these are the most ideal opponents for one another.

The 100th edition of the Power Hour and Corey Maclin is on his own as Dave Brown hasn’t arrived at the studio yet. Brandon Baxter is out with his entourage and says how today is a day that everyone is celebrating. They’re not celebrating the 100th edition of the Power Hour though, they’re celebrating that ‘The Cartel’ is taking over Power Pro Wrestling! Wolfie D, Mo (from Men on a Mission) and Seven all cut promo’s (Wolfie’s is great, Mo’s decent and Seven’s bad) and Corey then says that they’ve managed to get Dave on the phone. He explains that he made the mistake of telling someone that his car would be going in for its annual MOT and he was going to have to travel to the studios in a pick up truck. He got out the shower this morning to see someone messing with his truck. It was a ‘Motor Oil’ guy, which tells him that Brandon Baxter is behind it and this person ended up getting in his truck and driving it away. He can’t prove it’s Baxter, but is going to have that man arrested and has already called the authorities, so if they show up in the studio today, that’s why. Later in the show after White Lightning (not Tim Horner) defeats Havok, an officer is out and arrests Havok. We then get footage from last week of Wolfie D attacking Derrick King in the backstage area and tying him up. Wolfie interview and Corey says that he’s known him for a long time but now has even less respect for him. Wolfie tells Corey to shut up and says that despite PG-13 selling out his building more than anyone, when the USWA closed down and Power Pro Wrestling opened up, he didn’t have a job because Randy Hales wanted to give the people new guys like Ali. He says that nobody cares about Ali and if he wants some of him, he can bring his butt out here and get some. He showed everyone who the man is last week, and he’s going to show everyone else every other week who’s still the man! It’s his house, not Ali’s! He turns his attention to Derrick King and then King comes rushing from the back and attacks him. They fight around ringside and eventually into the ring. A pair of dropkicks from King, he ducks a clothesline and a nice neckbreaker. Instead of going for the pin though, he gets on Wolfie and starts pounding him. King with a superkick at the second attempt and Baxter pulls the official from the ring at two to stop the count. King goes after Brandon and chases him around ringside. Into the ring he goes, but Wolfie cuts off King’s pursuit with a clothesline. Suplex, a big right hand off the middle and King start to fire back. He telegraphs the back drop and Wolfie turns it into a neckbreaker. Belly to back followed by a knee drop for two. Wolfie with a sleeper, King shoots him into the ropes and slaps on one of his own, but Wolfie counters with another belly to back suplex. Wolfie is too slow climbing the turnbuckles and King with a Frankensteiner off the top. DDT from King, he then climbs the turnbuckles, but Wolfie distracts the referee and Baxter pulls King’s leg’s out from under him. Spinning powerbomb and Wolfie gets the win. I always think of Jamie Dundee being the one who can talk for PG-13, but Wolfie has proven that he’s a tremendous mouthpiece too. I was impressed by him in the WCW ‘C’ show matches and he’s every bit as impressive in Memphis. Good action between these two in a what was a strong studio match.

Rhino and Dreamer are about to get us underway when Corino insists that Rhino tags him in. Rhino obliges and Corino gets hold of the mic. He tells Dreamer how they’ve been through this many times and no-one here wants to see him destroy him once again. Since last week his man Rhino singlehandedly destroyed him, he wants him to turn around and tag in that fat, old, pathetic piece of garbage, because tonight is his night! The crowd are chanting the Dream’s name and Dreamer makes the tag. Dusty sticks out his chin and offers Corino the first shot, but instead of drilling him slaps on a side headlock. The Dream shoots him into the ropes, threatens the Bionic Elbow, Corino holds on and he wants out already. Rhino is in and Dreamer doesn’t think its right that the Dream should have to take him on but Dusty’s game. The Dream with a double leg takedown and a Figure Four. Jack Victory is in to try and break the hold, but Dremer cuts him off and puts him in the Figure Four. As Corino is measuring Dusty readying to drop an elbow, Francine with the Figure Four on him (and she applies it better than the men!). Corino, Rhino and Victory head to the outside for a conflab, but Dusty and Dreamer are not far behind. The two pair off with Feinstein following Dusty and Corino who brawl up onto the stage where the entrance is, and with the Dream busting ‘The King of Old School’ open. Dusty whips him into the barricades and hits him over the head with a plastic chair before throwing him back in the ring. Double back elbow and Dreamer with a big elbow. He hurls Corino to the floor but is attacked from behind by Rhino who lifts him up and crotches him on the guard rail. Rhino puts the boots to Tommy and shoulder charges him in the corner. He wants to tag in Corino, however he points to his bloodied forehead and motions that he’s not up to it and for Rhino to continue the beating. Splash off the top for two. Rhino heads up again but this time Dreamer is able to fall into the ropes and he loses his balance. Superplex and Dreamer gets the tag to the Dream. Dusty starts peppering Corino and all four men are in the ring. Stereo punches in the corner. Dusty and Dreamer go to whip their opponents into one another, Corino reverses and Rhino gores Tommy. Bionic Elbow to Corino, bodyslam on Rhino and the Dream misses the big elbow. A clothesline fells Dusty, Rhino goes to piledrive him while at the same time Corino has climbed the turnbuckles. Dreamer with a steel chair across the back puts a stop to that followed by two shots to the head. Dusty slams Corino to the canvas and drops the elbow for the win. Enjoyed this one far more than I expected. This was being recorded for TV so I imagine it played even better on TV with some commentary and without RF’s shaky handiwork. The crowd was pumped for anything involving the Dream, and I liked the way how the match was structured so his interactions with Rhino were minimal. Whilst you have no trouble believing that he can still handle Corino, it’s a touch far fetched to believe that he could get the better of Rhino. Great stooging from Corino on the outside when he wanted Rhino to continue the beatdown on Dreamer and loved that Irish whip reversal where Rhino ended up goring Dreamer. Nice touch with Rhino moving out the way of the big elbow too, just to reiterate the fact that he’s a bit too much for the Dream.

Eddie Golden looks like he should be a part of the Stud Stable with that ring robe he’s wearing. A series of arm wringer reversals and Golden resorts to grabbing the ropes. They trade hammerlocks and A.J. again comes out on top with Golden having to grab the ropes to break the hold. Styles with a leap frog and that glorious dropkick he throws, straight into an arm drag. A lovely Frankensteiner sees Golden take to the floor and he looks to be heading back to the dressing room until Jeff G. Bailey has a word in his ear and calms him down. Golden with a forearm and they exchange chops. Styles whips him into the corner, but then botches jumping up on his opponent’s chest and flipping backwards. A.J. comes charging at Golden who picks him up and drops him head first ‘snake eyes style’ onto the top turnbuckle. The commentators mention at this point how Styles turned down a WCW developmental contract out of his loyalty to Wildside. A.J. blocks a superplex and shoves Golden to the canvas. Shooting star press, Golden rolls out the way and he lands on his feet. Eddie thinks he’s outsmarted his opponent but A.J. nails him with a clothesline. Low blow from Golden and a reverse chin lock. Golden blocks a sunset flip and we get a roughly executed set of Malenko/Guerrero pinfall attempts and reversals. Golden drapes Styles over the middle ropes and distracts the official so Bailey can choke him behind his back. He goes to jump on him, however A.J. moves and he crotches himself. Styles with a suplex and a missile dropkick, but Golden pulls the referee in the way and A.J. hits him instead (this looked bad as Golden barely moved the ref). Golden picks Styles up for a bodyslam, he counters it into a small package, and with the official still down, Steve Martin sprints from the announcing desk and into the ring to count the three. Onyx and Ruckus are quickly out and attack Martin and Styles. Golden with a piledriver on Martin with Bailey cheering his man on. Onyx tapes A.J. to the ropes and Bailey starts to shave Martin’s head until the face locker room empties to put a stop to this. My least favourite Styles match to date, and the one where he probably looked the most green. Strange as Golden has no look, but is a pretty solid worker. Just one of those nights where the two of them didn’t click. A chaotic ending with the head shaving and even Steve Martin’s girlfriend getting involved and chasing Jeff G Bailey to the dressing room.

What on earth is Prodigy doing in this match? His ring attire is hideous and it sound like the crowd is laughing as he makes his way out. Quality entrance from Tajiri with his huge array of facial expressions and giving the finger to someone who is clapping him. Prodigy and Crazy lock up and Tajiri with those snapping kicks to their legs. Side headlock on Crazy, and whilst he’s still holding on, dropkick to Prodigy. Crazy flips Tajiri backwards over his shoulder, ducks a right from Prodigy which connects with Tajiri and sends him tumbling out of the ring. Crazy with a hip toss and a moonsault off the middle rope for two. A fight has broken out in the crowd and the crowd have literally turned their backs on this match. ‘E C Dub’ chant for the fight in the crowd! The wrestlers are clearly aware as Crazy and Prodigy don’t do anything, while Tajiri just waits on the outside. Quebrada for two. Tajiri pulls Crazy to the floor and whips him into the guard rail. Prodigy goes for a pescado, but Tajiri and Crazy just step aside and he crashes and burns! Prodigy is whipped into the guard rail and he then back drops Crazy into the front row. A Tajiri kick to the back of the head and he’s in the front row too. They head to the back of the building, but Feinstein can’t keep up so we just catch the end of Tajiri whipping them both into the wall. Tajiri tries to suplex Crazy back into the ring, however he manages to free himself. He catches a Tajiri kick, but then gets it turned into the ‘Tarantula’. Prodigy is back! He unloads on Crazy before nailing them both with a clothesline and another fight in the crowd has broken out. Prodigy with a one footed dropkick off the top to Crazy and he turns his attention to Tajiri. Handspring elbow gets the quietest response I’ve ever heard as he crowd are pre-occupied with what’s going on elsewhere. Prodigy is tied in the ‘Tree of Woe’, Crazy stands on his balls and Tajiri with a dropkick to the face. ‘Tree of Woe’ for Crazy and he gets the dropkick treatment too. Brainbuster on Prodigy and he’s eliminated, but the majority of the crowd don’t seem to notice BECAUSE A THIRD FIGHT HAS BROKEN OUT!!! Crazy says something to Feinstein in Spanish, probably ‘why the fuck are we even bothering to try and put on a show for these people when they’re more concerned with what’s happening out there?’ Tajiri and Crazy don’t even attempt to wrestle while this is going on. Magistral cradle from Tajiri for two, followed by a dropkick to Crazy’s head and he steps outside for a breather. Tajiri heads around the other way and nails him with a thrust kick, but he’s able to reverse the Irish whip into the rails. Springboard moonsault for two, and a lovely rolling surfboard into a Dragon sleeper. Crazy finally gets the pin after a spinning powerbomb. Prodigy didn’t look good at all and the match was better when he wasn’t involved in it, however the crowd absolutely killed this. When they turned their backs on the match to watch the fight in the stands you could almost sense a ‘why should we bother’ from the wrestlers. Tajiri and Crazy weren’t bad by any means, but this just felt as though they were going through the motions, and to be fair with the way the crowd behaved, I don’t blame them.

Constantino and King get us underway and King isn’t having much success so tags in his Suicide Blondes partner. Rico and Damaja with a double suplex on Lee and they just about manage a double nip up. Damaja with a pair of dropkicks and a cradle for two. McCullough is tagged in and Lee and he botch an Irish whip (although Cornette claims that he flung him so hard he was moving faster than his feet could carry him!). Lee is in his corner and no-one is overly keen on getting in there with big Russ until King reluctantly makes the tag. King tries a bodyslam but can’t even lift him off the floor, and McCullough overhead presses and slams him instead. Damaja and Rico work the quick tags until a right from King stuns Constantino. King reverses a whip to the corner, Rico hops over the top rope to the apron, and as King comes charging in, rams his head into the turnbuckle. Constantino with a backflip off the top and as King points to his head thinking he’s outsmarted him, Rico with a belly to belly. Cover, Lee is in and drops an elbow to break up the pin, but Constantino moves and he hits King instead. Belly to belly on Lee, Rogers is in, the same thing happens again and the ‘Ripper’ finally ends up receiving a belly to belly too. The Blondes distract McCullough and Flash is out and piledrives Damaja on the arena floor. As the referee tries to get Russ out of there, Lee nails Rico from behind and Team Blonde are finally able to gain some control. Rogers and Lee with a double clothesline as McCullough calls for the officials to help Damaja to the back. King with a lariat in the corner and the Blondes with a high double back drop. A bodyslam from Rogers, but Lee misses an elbow off the middle and Rico makes the hot tag. Russ is singlehandedly taking care of all three of them. Big boot to King and as he makes the cover Lee kicks him in the back of the head. All five of them are in the ring, Rico with an atomic drop to Rogers and he collides with the referee. Phil Fair is out to replace him, Rogers with a double leg dive on Rico and covers him with his feet on the ropes. Fast count from Fair and Team Blonde come out victorious. Rico goes after Fair, however he is jumped from behind by Flash who kicks him to the floor. The Blondes are beating on McCullough in the corner, but the camera is more concerned with Fair and Robert Brisco (who is now back to his feet) fighting instead. Flash comes over to help Fair and stuff piledriver on Brisco. A baseball bat wielding Damaja returns to eventually put a stop to this. Good match until you guessed it… For those not keeping count for March, that’s three matches, all three featured outside interference and two had referee bumps. The Blondes are a good little team; charismatic, both work hard and utilise the quick tags and team work so well. McCullough is someone who I remember Meltzer talking about and always comparing him to Kevin Nash. This was my first time in seeing him and you can see the similarities for sure. From this match I wonder why he never got a shot on the main roster. I enjoyed his spots with Derrick King and he was a good hot tag. Despite them botching that first Irish whip, he certainly didn’t look like some horrible worker that is for sure.

Trash shows he can wrestle as well as brawl, getting the better of the opening grappling exchanges. Conway with a whip to the corner, but he removes his shades instead of following up and Trash nails him with a clothesline. Bodyslam and a leg drop for two. Trash whips him from post to post, side slam, however he misses a leg drop off the top. Conway puts the boots to him and a suplex for a near fall. Trash starts to fire back but a poke to the eyes stops him in his tracks. Reverse chinlock with the knee digging in the back for added pressure. Trash ducks a clothesline, not a back elbow though. Scoop powerslam, but Conway misses the ‘Iron Fist’. Trash with a flurry of rights, he rams Conway into the top turnbuckle and a knife edge chop. Huge back drop and a great looking clothesline. A series of Irish whip reversals and Trash is whipped into the referee, squashing him in the corner. Conway with a belly to back and Nick Dinsmore is out and sneaks into the ring, hitting Conway in the knee with a baseball bat. Trash with a Figure Four and Conway passes out from the pain as Nick Dumayer counts his shoulders to the mat. Robbie D attacks Trash after the match and ends up putting a noose around his neck and hanging him over the top rope. A pre-cursor for their ‘gallows match’, where you have to hang your opponent, at the Louisville Gardens. These two had a good match and I wouldn’t be down on the interference if we didn’t have it IN EVERY SINGLE MATCH!!! Trash is probably the OVW guy I’m enjoying the most (either him or Damaja), which is weird considering he never got a WWF deal. Some visual we’re left with as the show goes off the air with Trash seemingly fighting for his life as Robbie D is hanging him.

Ric Flair is out at the start of Nitro and says that he told Lex Luger and Elizabeth he would produce Arn Anderson. He will say that he’s sorry for embarrassing them both and will become part of Team Package. He calls Arn out and says how the Horseman ran wrestling for 15 years. Now they are dead though! It’s all about Team Package, and he invites him to join the most glorious group of all! Arn says it would be real easy to walk that aisle and become part of Team Package, and anybody who is anybody would be honoured to do just that. He says how they made it right for each other these past 15 years, that the Four Horsemen was something made of men. They earned that right over time because they would go from town to town, dump their blood, and at the end of the night the people would know they’re the best wrestlers in the world. They didn’t do it by breaking arms or legs so they wouldn’t have to face that guy again, because that’s not what they were about. The notoriety, the money, the cars, yes they had it, but they did it the old fashioned way and earned it. What he’s trying to do with Lex Luger is ego driven. They’re headed on a course of destruction and he’s not going to be the guy that’s standing in the middle. He would rather separate their friendship than being that crutch that he’s always had to lean on when times got tough. In six days he’s got one of the toughest matches of his life against Hulk Hogan, and he would like the ‘Hulkster’ to come out because he’s got something to say to him. He tells Hogan that in six days they find out ‘who is the man’, and Hulk knows what he’s getting himself into. They both know how dangerous Ric Flair is, and if you put Lex Luger and Elizabeth in the corner you’ve got a long road ahead. He tells Hogan that he doesn’t have to worry about him in the match because he won’t be coming out of a corner and is taking himself out of the situation. He returns backstage and Flair can’t believe Arn turned his back on him. Hulk then slowly makes his way to ringside saying how he’ll put an end to the myth of Ric Flair once and for all. He says that by the sounds of it these people don’t want to wait until next week, and neither does he. The ‘Hulkster’ runs down the aisle and slides into the ring. The two of them have a short fight that Hogan is getting the better of until Lex Luger is out and nails him in his shoulder with the baseball bat. Flair whips him with the belt as a bunch of official try to put a stop to it. Team Package leave and Hogan is eventually helped from the ring whilst clutching his shoulder. After the adverts we see Hogan in the back with Jimmy Hart, Arn Anderson and some medics, with Hart telling him he needs to go to the hospital to get checked out. Lex Luger vs Curt Hennig takes place, and prior to Curt making his way out we see an ambulance return to the arena which Hogan has commandeered. Jimmy Hart tells him they’re still in the ring and Hulk heads that way, not even remotely selling the shoulder any more mind! Flair interferes in the match for the DQ and starts whipping Hennig post-match. Hogan (with a belt of his own) comes jogging down the aisle (it’s taken him some time to get there!) and Team Package flee. The Hulkster then challenges them to a tag match later in the show ‘as Providence wants to see it go down!’ Hogan and Luger kick this one off and the ‘Hulkster’ quickly has him in trouble in the corner following an array of punches and chops. Flair walks down the apron to check what’s going and he gets nailed for good measure too. He tags in Hennig, knife edge chops, a whip to the corner but as he comes charging in Luger gets a boot up. The Naitch makes his first appearance into the match and he and Hennig continue where left off Monday night with Curt chopping the beejeezus out of him. Flair takes his bump over the turnbuckles and is met by a big boot from the ‘Hulkster’ on the apron (great stuff). Hogan clobbers him with a chair and Hennig with a suplex back into the ring. He lights Luger up with chops and a knee lift fells him. Irish whip from Hogan, he goes for a back drop but Lex sees it coming and kicks him in the chest. Flair gets caught going to the top turnbuckle (will he ever learn?) and Hogan cleans house on them both. A low blow stops Hulk in his tracks and Team Package go to work on him. Double lariat takes out both Hogan and Luger and referee Mickey Jay starts the ten count. Hogan’s able to get the hot tag to Hennig and he’s on fire. He might not be able to do much but chop, but boy does he do that well! Back drop on Flair and he’s singlehandedly taking care of Team Package. The match breaks down with all four men in the ring. Jay tries to get Hogan out of there, Perfect Plex on Flair and Lex nails him with the baseball bat that Elizabeth had given him. Jimmy Hart goes after Liz and Lex hits him with it too. Hogan’s back in, with Lex and Flair continuing to bump for him. He ducks under a double clothesline and comes back with one of his own dropping them both. He takes off his belt, however Mickey Jay grabs it and prevents him from using it. Hogan then shoves Jay down for the DQ. Liz with the bat to the back of Hogan’s knee and Flair uses Hogan’s own belt against him, whipping him across the back. Hart tries to help, then the lights in the arena go out. Vampiro and Sting are out to help Hogan and Vampiro chases Flair to the back while Sting takes care of Luger in the ring to a pumped crowd. Where did this come from? This was a very pleasant surprise. A long interview segment to open the show, a couple of backstage skits, Luger/Hennig and then the tag match just six days before Uncensored? Well I was wrong in thinking they would coast their way through this! All four worked hard and were motivated (with Hogan standing out more than everyone else) in front of a hot crowd. Hennig was limited due to the cast, but seemed to take great delight in just chopping the skin off his opponent’s chests. I did wonder after the 2/23 match against Flair whether the reaction he received might lead to some sort of push for Vampiro. From his involvement at the end here, looks like they’re giving him a chance at least to sink or swim.

Cornette is talking about ‘The Collector’ on commentary, who was on a previous segment, and he’s apparently here to collect money that Bolin Services claims it is due. ‘The Collector’ being Sylvester Terkay in case anyone didn’t know. Phil Fair is the official for the match and I’m already fearing the worst and that there will be some sort of shenanigans. Conway can’t match power with Buchanan so tries to use his speed. Bull misses an elbow in the corner and Conway with some rapid fire boots to the mid-section. A smart looking suplex from Bull, elbow drop, he then springs to the top rope, comes off with a double sledge, but Conway nails him with a right to the gut. He rams Buchanan’s head into successive turnbuckles, climbs the ropes and is about to start punching him in the corner when Bull picks him up and drops him with a reverse atomic drop. Nice headscissors from him, he then takes an eternity climbing the turnbuckles and Conway is able to fall into the ropes and Bull crotches himself. Conway is not in control for long and Bull with a shoddy looking Booker T style axe kick. Sideslam, head butt and he chokes Conway over the ropes. Irish whip, but as he comes charging in, Conway nails him with a big right. A series of rights and a back elbow finally drops him. Conway with a scoop slam and now Nick Dinsmore is out. He shakes hands with Fair, giving him some money in the process. Conway goes for a ‘Torture Rack’, Bull with a weakly applied side headlock as Conway is trying to lift him up, and the referee calls for the bell. Conway raises his hand, but Fair goes over to Bull’s and raises his claiming Conway submitted. Yup, the referee was paid off! Conway slugs Fair after the match and then Dinsmore attacks him. Oh great, here comes Robert Brisco and we’ve got the referees fighting again! Flash and The Damaja are next out and we’ve got a ringful, with the show going off the air just after Flash piledrives Damaja on a chair. New month, same old OVW. Without question this is my least favourite stuff to watch in the project. Didn’t rate this at all and Cornette’s incessant shouting from start to finish doesn’t help either. I don’t want to drop anything from my viewing for this, but if things don’t pick up, that’s what will be happening to OVW.

We get a bit of background to this match and footage from a week before where Rick Michaels is threatening Bill Behrens, only to get jumped from behind by the Rock & Roll Express. A big back drop to him and Behrens throws a chair in the ring to the Express. Gibson with a spinning toe hold, then Morton takes the chair to the same leg. They continue to attack it trying to put him out of commission until David Young makes the save and runs them off. This is followed by Behrens and the Express backstage preparing for the upcoming match. Bad Attitude come out to the Midnight Express music, whilst Michaels is still limping and showing the effects of the previous weeks attack. The match commences with a couple of miscommunication spots, with Morton first accidentally hitting, then colliding with Gibson just to establish themselves as the heels in case anyone wasnt sure. Gibson with a hip toss to Michaels and he tells Young to kiss his ass. Lock up, and no clean brake from Gibson in the corner. Rock & Rolls with a punch to the mid-section/knee lift combination. Young reverses a Morton whip to the corner, backdrop, arm drag into an arm bar and he tags his partner. Michaels with an elbow off the middle to that arm bar, but hes still favouring his leg. Back elbow and he climbs to the top for a frog splash, although he hits, he does more damage to himself and is writhing aroung in pain clutching his knee. The Rock & Rolls then systematically focus their attention on that injured leg. Quick tags, referee distractions, everything is done with the sole purpose of doing some serious damage to Rick Michaels knee. Gibson beats on him on the floor, and when he throws him back in the ring Michaels cant even stand up. Morton with a Figure Four and he almost gets the pin via that until Michaels gets his shoulders up at the last moment. Young is in to break the hold with a boot to Ricky, all this does though is allow the Rock & Rolls to double team his partner some more as the official tries to get him back out the ring. Morton wraps Michaels leg around the ring post, Gibson with a spinning toe hold, however Michaels cradles him for Bad Attitudes first pinfall attempt of the match. Michaels with a sunset flip on Morton, but Gibson is causing a commotion in the ring so the referee doesnt see it. By the time he turns aroung to count, Gibson breaks it up anyway. Irish whip and Michaels leg gives way as he collapses to the canvas, not even reaching the ropes. A second Irish whip, Rock & Rolls go for a double back drop but Michaels with a desperation double DDT. He crawls through Gibsons legs and is able to make the hot tag. Young is on fire with the Express bumping and feeding for him. Sleeper on Gibson, Morton nails Young in the back to break it, Michaels is back to his feet and all four men are in the ring. Stereo punches in the corner, Bad Attitude go for a double bulldog, but the Rock & Rolls shoot them off and they collide with each other. Behrens throws a chain to Gibson who clocks Michaels in the knee with it, double dropkick and the Rock & Roll Express are the new Wildside tag team champions. They attack Young post-match until Romeo Bliss makes the save. Great old school tag match. I don't think I've ever seen the Rock & Roll Express as heels before, and whilst I have Morton, I dont think Ive ever seen a heel Robert Gibson either. Boy are they so good and Robert especially was a revelation with the little touches he was doing in there. I liked the miscommunication spot early to establish them in that role. Bad Attitude with the shine to start, before the Rock & Rolls slow it down and methodically go about their work on Michaels leg and knee (whose selling is outstanding). They do a number on that leg, both legally and illegally (although I was hoping for the Gibson leg lock to make an appearance), with Michaels getting a couple of hope spots in with the pin attempts. Southern style hot tag, Young dishing out some punishment of his own before the Rock & Rolls cut him off and get the pin with the aid of a foreign object. I thought Bad Attitude were coming out on top as I was watching this so they hooked me in completely. Just a bloody good tag team match!

Jeff G. Bailey is in the ring with Onyx and Terry Knight, and says that tonight A.J. Styles has to face a real man. Everyone knows that Onyx is the true ‘Rookie of the Year’, and tonight he’s going to prove it by bringing him the TV title. He knows A.J. is more concerned with when his next issue of ‘Man Date’, ‘Hot Show’ and ‘Inches’ is coming out, but Onyx grew up in the mean streets of New York, so beating him is jst another day in the hood. He’s blacker then South Atlanta, ten times more dangerous, is going to put A.J. Styles down 1-2-3 and the TV title is coming back to him. Styles confronts Onyx before the match and wonders what he’s doing with these guys as they’re nothing but trouble. Onyx doesn’t answer, but slugs him with a right to get this underway. Styles with a high hip toss, an arm drag and Onyx retreats to the floor. Arm ringer reversal, Onyx with the nip up, A.J. ducks the clothesline and an atomic drop. Whip to the corner, Styles goes for the Stinger splash but Onyx moves and he takes a nasty bump over the turnbuckles, down onto the wooden ring steps and out to the arena floor. Onyx whips Styles into the barricade, however when he comes charging in at him, Styles back drops him over the rail and into the front row of the audience. Onyx with a big open handed slap, he drapes A.J. over the middle rope, distracts the referee and Bailey wallops him with his slip on. Styles reverses an Irish whip and an absolutely glorious sky high drop kick. Bodyslam and a lionsault which he pretty much over shoots. Good call from the commentators who mention this, and say that maybe Styles is getting carried away as his momentum took him all the way over and he only just grazed Onyx. An eye rake slows A.J. down briefly. He reverses a whip to the corner, jumps up to Onyx’s chest, flips backwards, but when he comes charging back in at him, Onyx sidesteps and he goes careering into the turnbuckles. He tosses Styles to the floor and Bailey is over putting the boots to him. Nice scoop powerslam for two. Onyx then heads to the top turnbuckle but misses the swanton bomb. A.J. with Reno’s ‘roll the dice’ and a 450 splash. Styles makes the cover but Bailey calls for Eddie Golden who sprints around and drags the referee from the ring. Golden clocks Styles for the DQ and it’s 2 on 1 with Bailey orchestrating things in there. Jorge Estrada makes the save and they eventually get the better of Jeff G. Bailey’s men after a spirited little brawl. This was a bit raggedy at times, but I enjoyed it. Styles might be the most athletic man ever to grace pro wrestling. The dropkick he hits on Onyx needs to be seen, he gets so much air on everything and is just so graceful. He takes a nasty bump over the turnbuckle and down the wooden steps and I liked his backdropping of Onyx into the front row. I’d not seen Onyx before but he was solid. Cheap finish, although with Estrada making the save I presume that this is leading somewhere. I continue to like everything about Jeff G. Bailey, although Styles should be kept well away from a microphone. He can’t talk for toffee at this point in his career and could certainly do with a spokesman to cut his interviews.

Styles with a spin kick, a Japanese arm drag followed by a normal one, and Onyx is out early to speak to Jeff G. Bailey and re-evaluate their gameplan. Onyx makes his way around ringside and starts jawing with the fans. A.J. with a baseball slide but Onyx catches him and dumps him across the ring barricade. He whips him into the barricades, however in one motion Styles leaps up on it and comes off with a moonsault. Irish whip reversal to the corner, A.J. tries to leap frog over Onyx as he comes charging in, but is caught and planted face first to the canvas for two. Its Styles turn to reverse an Irish whip, he jumps on Onyx’s chest, flips backwards and nails him with a lariat. Nice note from the commentators about how Styles has been trying to do that move for weeks, but that’s the first time he’s managed it and how it smacks of improper scouting on Jeff G. Bailey’s part (even though Onyx countered it the first time the two of them met on 3/4!). Onyx with a powerbomb for two. Knife edge chop, then Styles backdrops Onyx over the top rope to the floor with him taking a pretty reckless looking spill. A.J. suplexes him back in the ring, Bailey hooks his leg and Onyx falls on top. Styles kicks out on two, while Team NCW are out to chase Bailey away. Onyx celebrates thinking he’s won, Styles picks him up for an atomic drop but slams him face first and covers him for the win. Eddie Golden shows up and steals the TV title post-match. A shorter match than the previous one they had earlier in the month, although not as good in my opinion. At least we got a clean finish mind. A.J. seems to pull out one amazing spot each match, and this time it was that moonsault off the barricade which was seriously impressive. I’m not sold on his punches and kicks, but at this stage of the game those are a very minimal part of what he’s about.

Morton is managed by Bill Behrens again and the announcers talk of Hamrick being a newcomer to the area. Hamrick with a quick roll up off a whip to the turnbuckles, an arm drag and an arm bar. Still holding on to the arm he climbs to the top rope, bounces on it and flips backwards. Japanese arm drag, regulation one and he’s back to the arm bar. Hamrick with a bodyslam but he misses a moonsault. Irish whip reversal to the corner, Hamrock comes charging in, Morton moves and he ends up crotching himself. Nice use of the turnbuckles as Morton bends and stretches Hamrick’s leg around it. As he’s hobbling, Morton kicks his leg out from under him and Hamrick takes this great 360 degree backwards flip bump. Morton struts around like he’s Jackie Fargo and in case anyone missed it first time, kicks his leg out again and Hamrick takes the same great bump. Morton distracts the referee and now Behrens is involved trying to work on that leg. Behrens hands Morton a chair and just as he’s about to hit Hamrick in the leg with it, Rick Michaels is out and attacks Morton. He goes for a dive from the top on to the ‘Rock & Roller’, but Behrens shoves him off. Morton nails Michaels in the knee with the chair, Romeo Bliss makes the save and Morton gets out of there. Bliss then cuts a fired up promo and wants a match on ‘Holiday Hell’, ideally against Terry Taylor or the Colorado Kid. We then get a backstage Morton promo where Behrens says how he is going overseas and isn’t coming back here because he’s got bigger and better places to see than wrestle trash like Bad Attitude. Morton says that the Rock ’n’ Roll Express are seven time World tag team champions, are in popular demand. They’re off overseas as Bad Attitude aren’t going to make their name off them and use the Rock ’n’ Roll Express as a stepping stone to climb that ladder. Just as this was getting interesting it was all over. The announcers talk about this being Hamrick’s debut in Wildside and I’d sure hope he earned himself a regular gig (I’m forgetting what his timeline with ECW is). The closing promo did sound like it was Morton’s goodbye, so guessing we’re not getting a rematch between these two which is unfortunate as I have a hunch a straight match with a clean finish would be pretty darn great.