GSR

I’d forgot that the WWF did the same thing with Crash Holly that they’ve done with numerous wrestlers over the years, eliminating one half of his name; here he’s going just as Crash. Kevin Kelly acknowledges that they’ve seen Scoot Andrews before on Metal describing him as a “fast, quick” competitor. The match is pretty even until a Scoot tilt-a-whirl sit-out pancake, Molly selling the impact of that one from the floor. Fallaway slam, however rather than following up he prefers to run his mouth at Molly. Crash avoids a sky high legdrop off the top, the landing being anything but comfortable for Scoot. The pace quickens as Crash connects on the flying shoulderblock, looking to build some momentum. As he comes charging in though, Scoot with a drop toe hold sending him crashing into the middle turnbuckle. He blocks the whip to the opposite corner by grabbing a side headlock and then runs up the turnbuckles coming off with a bulldog for the win. Crash continues to be very giving, probably way more than he needs to be, to the opposition in these enhancement matches.

Kevin Kelly has been called to the Commissioner’s office as he has a message that he would like him to relay. While he appreciates that Chris Jericho wants to be out there performing for the fans, he’s going about it in the wrong way, as interfering in other people’s matches is just not sportsmanlike. Therefore could he inform Y2J that he has a tag team tables match against the Dudleys later in the show. When Kelly questions as to who Jericho’s partner will be, Regal replies “no-one.” Tazz doesn’t think that the Dudleys really want to be doing this but they’re just following orders (from the Commissioner). D-Von starts for the Dudleys, who must tag in and out, so at least for Y2J he hasn’t got to battle against them with both men in the ring at the same time. Regal is shown watching on the monitor in his office again. Bubba drops a fist and tells D-Von to get the table. Jericho avoids the shot in the corner and then dropkicks the table into D-Von after he’d placed it onto the apron. He’s immediately back on the defensive though, running into a Bubba clothesline. Bubba misses on the middle rope senton and Jericho tries to turn the tide with a spinning heel kick. That doesn’t last long, Bubba rolling out the way of the Lionsault. After the Wazzup headbutt D-Von returns to collect that table, Regal with an almighty smirk on his face. Jericho can barely stand, but as D-Von picks him up for the superbomb, he flips over backwards, shoves him into Bubba and then clotheslines D-Von to the floor. Top rope Frankensteiner, D-Von back inside to tip the table out the way in the nick of time. Jericho blocks his inverted suplex attempt and hits a snap suplex of his own, this time Bubba pulling the table out the way before his partner is put through it. Bubba starts tapping when he’s locked in the Walls, however there’s no submissions or no stopping things. D-Von clubs Jericho to break the hold and then collects a second table from under the ring (I think they wiped out the legs of that first table when Bubba pulled it out the way). Jericho gets 3-D’d through that, Regal describing the Dudleys win as “jolly good” and “wonderful!”

Test defending the European title against Eddy Guerrero in a match made by new Commissioner William Regal earlier in the day. Eddy had gone to see him wanting a rematch against Chris Benoit, the Commissioner, still holding a grudge over losing the belt to Test, had other ideas. He tells him to let bygones be bygones and that in his eyes he’s a champion. A champion deserves a championship match, so he gives him one against Test, a man who, Regal states, has been besmirching both himself and the European title! Perry Saturn and Terri are both seconding Guerrero for this match. Eddy jumps Test from behind, the elbow only stunning him so he dropkicks him in the legs to take him off his feet. Slingshot senton. Test reverses the Irish whip, Eddy ducks under the big boot but not the clothesline. He presses the challenger skywards, Eddy coming down chest first to the mat. Gut wrench powerbomb. Eddy avoids the charge and gets a quick roll up for a near fall. The Commissioner is shown watching on in his office, liking what he sees. Test ends up going over the top rope, Eddy keeping the ref tied up while Saturn attacks him before throwing him back inside. Snug European uppercut followed by a stiff knife edge chop. Another Irish whip is reversed, this time Test with a great tilt-a-whirl slam. The speed on the rotation was something else. As he unloads on him in the corner, Saturn is up on the apron holding the European belt. Test drags Saturn inside, turning his attention to him, the official trying to separate the two. Eddy picks up the belt poised, when out form the back runs Chris Jericho who snaps him across the top rope. Big boot by Test and much to William Regal’s chagrin, he retains the European title.

He wrote about it in detail in last week's issue of the Observer.

Another name change for the former E.Z. Money who we last saw in the Cruiserweight tag team tournament wrestling as Jason B (his shoot surname is Broyles). The Boogie Knights are no more and Alex Wright is looking to branch out into the singles ranks. This match is apparently “impromptu” having been requested by him, although not sure why he would be requesting a match against someone who has only had one previous appearance in the company and who’s existence he likely knows nothing of. Tony Schiavone talks about the word “Skyfire” written on the back of Jett’s trunks, claiming that it’s because he likes to fly. Well, I suppose he can’t really say that he used to wrestle as Steve Skyfire and he’s just wearing a pair of his old tights! Wright catches him with a powerslam for a two count. Jett gets whipped to the corner but leaps out over the top to the apron. He blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckle, rams Alex’s into it instead and then hits the Money Clip, which has been renamed the Afterburner. Standing moonsault. Jett misses a charge and straddles himself across the middle. Wright sits him up top and lands the suicideplex, although Jett’s able to roll a shoulder on the pin due to a lazy cover. Front suplex where he dumps Jett across the top rope before a running forearm sends him crashing to ringside. Nice snap suplex, holding the bridge position for a near fall. Alex runs into a back elbow, Jett goes for a reverse crossbody but just gets swatted away. Jett ducks the clothesline and connects with the Tajiri handspring elbow, this one too now has a name, the Shockwave. The two jockey for position in the centre of the ring, each reversing the other, Jett eventually hitting the Crash Landing release suplex for the upset win. Maybe Alex should’ve requested someone like Dave Burkhead or Adrian Byrd as his opponent for his return foray to the singles ranks. Just a thought!

Slight change of plan for this episode of Thunder. The torrent I was using to download Thunder has a real bad tracking issue and constant flickering throughout on this show so rather than everything I’ll just be watching the stuff that is easily available on YouTube, sadly that means I miss Shawn Stasiak as well as the Hugh Morrus & Konnan tag team in action. Every cloud and that. The second semi-final match up, the winners going onto face Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo at Greed to crown the first WCW Cruiserweight tag team champions in four days. Shannon starting out strong against Kidman. Mike Tenay talks about how the remaining members of 3 Count don’t want to be overshadowed by their former partner, Shane Helms, who is also vying for Cruiserweight gold at the PPV. Kidman avoids the slingshot senton and lands an outside in headscissors. Hangman’s Noose neckbreaker. Split legged moonsault by Rey. He hooks Shannon under the armpits and takes him over the top to the outside. The tag had been made but Rey stays in control of things. As he looks for the tornado DDT off the springboard bodyscissors, Karagias drives him to the mat with a spinebuster. Evan hiptosses Shannon onto Rey but they can’t keep the momentum, Kidman being tagged in when Rey hits the ropes. Karagias pulls down the top rope and Kidman ends up taking a spill to the floor. That brings in Rey, but as the official is dealing with him it allows Evan to whip Kidman into the steel guard rail. Double team suplex/flying crossbody for a two count. Even though Karagias is caught with his feet over the bottom rope to give him some additional leverage on the chinlock Charles Robinson doesn’t make him break the hold. Kidman manages to free himself only to run into an elbow. Middle rope bulldog and Rey is in for the save. Evan with a springboard plancha but he’s nailed mid-air by a Kidman dropkick. Hot tag to Rey who lands a springboard Thesz press on Shannon. Lionsault. Swinging DDT and it looked like he ended up having to kick out as Evan was late on the save. Karagias just replaces his partner as Moore is lay there in the ring, not really moving and possibly legit hurt. 450 splash on Rey, Kidman breaking up the cover at the last split second. Shannon is back to his feet, blocks the attempted Kid Crusher and hits the Bottoms Up, Rey doing the saving this time. Rey backdrops Evan to the outside but gets caught by a spinning heel kick. The Animals make the most of the two-on-one advantage, Rey leaping off the back of Kidman, who is on all fours, with a flying forearm smash. As they go for the Nutcracker, Karagias crotches Rey while Shannon wipes out Kidman. Rey fights off the top rope Frankensteiner and then connects on a Thesz press to the floor! Great twisting dive by Shannon. Kidman with a plancha out onto everyone. Back in the ring Shannon counters the hammerlock DDT but is snatched as he walks the ropes and nailed by a Rey dropkick, the Cruiserweight tag finals set. Skipper & Romeo are out to confront their future opponents and the teams aren’t prepared to wait for Sunday. The Filthy Animals getting the better of things on this occasion the question is will they also come the Pay Per View? The Filthy Animals were really good as usual and Rey is right up there with the likes of Eddy Guerrero and Chris Benoit as one of the best workers in the U.S. at the moment.

Sadly we only get a couple of minutes of clipped highlights, which is even more disappointing seeing as other ‘lesser’ matches from the same show are out there in full (i.e. Roadkill vs Keiji Sakoda!). Daniels thinks he has the match won after hearing the three count following the Angel’s Wings, only it wasn’t the official who counted, it was Mikey Henderson. The ref had got bumped moments earlier and was still out at this point, Henderson sneaking out and duping ‘the Fallen Angel’. With Daniels celebrating, when the official comes around he tries to explain that it wasn’t him who counted the fall. As he does so Joe nails Daniels with a step up enzuigiri. Island Driver and Christopher Daniels is gone from UPW. A brief “Na Na Na Na” chant starts up, which quickly morphs into a big round of applause. He thanks the fans for supporting him and UPW and says how it has been an honour and a privilege to wrestle in front of them. Eighteen months from now these two would go on to become huge players in the U.S. independent wrestling scene and Ring of Honor. I take it Daniels had signed with WCW and this was his goodbye before starting full time. Bet he had no idea how the lay of the land would change dramatically in just over a fortnight’s time.

Big Schwag has been doing the commentary with Doc Marley, but when Schwag goes to the ring to cut a promo he’s replaced on comms by Nova. In what might be a first, while Schwag cuts his promo Marley and Nova talk over it constantly all the way through. From what I was able to make out no-one in the back wanted to help him take out the “Homotype” so he went out and got himself an “enforcer” in C.W. Anderson. As annoying as Nova was at first, he’s great in explaining the tactics that both men are likely to employ here. Prototype with a bad looking clothesline and an equally suspect looking flying shoulder tackle. Anderson holds onto the ropes on the O’Connor Roll and floors Cena with a thrust kick. Flying armbreaker, C.W. going after that arm just like Nova said he would. A left hand drops Prototype, Anderson then hammerlocking the arm behind his back and stomping away at it. Nova points out that he can’t do the Protobomb with only one arm. Seriously, how can someone go from the dirt worst to bloody good so quickly? Schwag passes C.W. a chair which he wedges between the turnbuckles before running Cena shoulder first into it. Single arm reverse DDT. He slaps on a seated armbar, the Prototype goes for the ropes but Schwag pulls them out of his reach. It doesn’t really make a difference as the official orders the break anyway. Anderson collects that chair, opening it out in the middle of the ring, however after a couple of reversals he ends up getting atomic dropped onto it. The two men are on their knees trading blows as they work their way to their feet. A pair of clotheslines by Prototype followed by a dropkick. He picks Anderson up for a side slam, holding him with one hand while he draws his free one across his throat and flexes. C.W. counters whatever it was he signalled for with the Ferris Wheel. Prototype kicks out of the spinebuster, much to the shock of Nova especially who says that you just don’t kick out of that move. He then ducks the swinging arm and hits the Protobomb for the win. C.W. knew his role and was a model pro here. Really liked the working over the arm and having him on top, controlling things, while Prototype sells the beating. Prototype on offense isn’t great yet, although he can do the impressive power things like that one arm side slam and the Protobomb finisher. Always interesting to see Cena so early in his career and track his development. A note for Nova who, after the opening dirge, was exceptional on commentary.

Hardkore Kidd I believe is Aaron Aguilera who would go on to have a cup of coffee in the WWE as Jesus. Both teams have managers in this UPW tag team title tournament semi-final match-up, Hardcore Inc. managed by El Jefe, Evolution by Looney Lane. Things quickly heat up, Kaz ducking a Kidd clothesline and connecting on a springboard back elbow. Double hiptoss followed by a pair of springboards, Kaz with the legdrop and Nova the somersault senton. Pearce rushes into the ring, double Mexican arm drag for him, Evolution holding on and transitioning to a double Russian legsweep. Kidd nails Nova from behind but he can’t really follow up, Nova sliding between his legs and nailing him with a step up enzuigiri. The whip to the corner is reversed and as the official has his back turned to the action while talking to Kaz, Pearce is down the apron throwing a clothesline at Nova. Combination belly to back suplex/clothesline by Hardcore Inc. Pearce distracts the ref so that Jefe can get a few shots in from the floor. Nice spinning heel kick. He misses the big splash as Nova rolls out the way but Kidd with the double axe handle before he is able to make the tag. Turns out Kidd is already signed to the WWF; he’s on loan to UPW for the night and could be called up at any time. Nova reverses the Irish whip, Kidd leaps to the top turnbuckle and springs backwards with a flying elbow. Kidd sits Nova upstairs for a back suplex but he fires off some elbows, stunning Kidd who falls to the mat. As he climbs to the top Pearce swipes out his legs and he ends up hung upside down in the Tree of Woe. Tag to ‘Scrap Iron’. Pearce comes running at Nova, for a spear, however Nova lifts himself up, grabs Pearce around the necks and kicks himself off the turnbuckle with an inverted cutter. There are several people who have been given the ‘Innovator’ tag, Nova really is one. Hot tag to Kazarian who is all over Hardcore Inc. He’s an innovator of his own to be fair, hitting what starts out looking like it’s going to be a reverse DDT but he spins Pearce around into a Diamond Cutter. Kidd breaks up the cover and they start to double team Kaz. After whipping him into the corner they get hold of his partner and whip Nova into him, Nova though ends up monkey flipping Kaz who wipes out both with a double clothesline. Double hiptoss into a combination neckbreaker/sit-out powerbomb. O’Connor roll on Kidd, he kicks out and in doing so sends Nova head first into a chair held by Pearce, the official oblivious to what’s going on as he’s dealing with the two managers. Great near fall off that as Nova gets a shoulder up. Pearce with a Rack bomb (spinning Torture Rack slam) on Kazarian. Kidd brings the chair into the ring but a Nova missile dropkick send it clattering into his own face. Pearce is all alone and Evolution bust out another innovative double team move finishing with a tornado DDT that gets them the win. There does appear to be some confusion over whether this was for the titles, it wasn’t though. I was seriously impressed by the Evolution team who you could easily plug into the tag team ranks of one of the major promotions and they wouldn’t look out of place or overawed. Considering the WWF had such strong ties with UPW I’m kinda shocked that they never got a looksy with them, the only thing possible being with the WWF already having the Hardy Boyz maybe they didn’t want another team of a similar ilk. Really good and something that caught me completely off guard to the point I'd say it's a hidden gem of a match. Evolution deserved to go somewhere.

We get recaps from throughout the show, Benoit taking out both Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko at different intervals so he will get Eddy one on one with no chance of any outside interference. JR confirms that ‘the Crippler’ is officially no longer part of the Radicalz. The two square up to one another and as Eddy tries to cheap shot him, Benoit grabs the leg on his kick and rips the knee with a Dragon screw. First move of the match a Dragon screw! Lovely stuff. Great tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. ‘The Crippler’ runs into a back elbow, however as Eddy looks for a tornado DDT he just shoots him off. High German suplex. Benoit holds on looking to repeat but Eddy grabs the ropes to prevent him from doing so. Hard knife edge chops by Eddy. Paul Heyman talks about the intensity between these two, he ain’t wrong! The Irish whip is reversed and Benoit propels Eddy skywards, Guerrero coming down chest first to the mat. They try that spot where Eddy gets launched overhead into the turnbuckles though surprisingly make a bit of a hash of it. Disgusting chops by ‘the Crippler. These pale next to the ones Eddy gave him moments ago and you can see the discolouration and the red welts almost immediately. Benoit floats over on the attempted suplex, disposing his opponent backwards over the top rope to the floor. Eddy sidesteps the suicide dive, Benoit crashing and burning on the ringside mats. There was no give whatsoever on that bump. Great Saito suplex with Benoit coming down on his head. Snapmare followed by a reverse neck snap. Eddy looks for a sleeper, ‘the Crippler’ picking him up and dumping him across the top rope. They start going toe to toe, Benoit getting the better of things. A trio of German suplexes. The diving headbutt looks to have taken plenty out of him too, by the time he eventually makes the cover, the delay in doing so allowing Eddy to get a shoulder up. Eddy fights his way out of the waistlock and lands a pair of brainbusters. He misses the frog splash and although he counters Benoit’s rolling cradle, ‘the Crippler’ rolls through and locks in the crossface for the tap. Cracking TV match and these two are on another level to nigh on everyone else when it comes to working. Top tier the pair. Kinda surprised that Eddy lost clean and so decisively here, but I guess that shows where, at least for the short term, the career paths are heading.

Over/Under odds on Paul Heyman mentioning ECW? Surely it’s a given with Justin Credible wrestling. He notes that he’s a big fan of Matt &Jeff’s “extreme” attitude. C’mon Paul you can do better than that? Jim Ross seems to be favouring the challengers for this. There we go, Heyman says that he probably knows Justin Credible, a former ECW champion and a multi-time ECW tag team champion, better than anyone else here. I won’t be watching everything on Raw but I wonder how long he can keep this up for? That’s three matches on the bounce for me already that he’s reference his old company. Matt with a gut wrench suplex on Credible for an early near fall. Pac kicks Matt in the back of the head as he hits the ropes, Matt responding with a right that sends Pac crashing to the floor, however he soon joins him out there, Credible clubbing him from behind. Jeff has been drawn in and as the ref tries to get him back out to the apron Pac and Credible post Matt, Heyman saying how that one’s going to ruin Lita’s evening more than it is Matt’s! Back inside a Pac spin kick drops Matt in the corner and he follows up with a bronco buster. Credible goes for a baseball slide but ends up posting himself as Matt moves out the way. Tag to Jeff and a double dropkick for the challengers. Whisper in the Wind on Pac, Matt having recovered to help his brother. X-Pac launches Jeff through the ropes at Lita, wiping her out, Matt then despatching of Pac. Twist of Fate, Jeff is around for the Swanton and just as I’m literally writing that the Hardy Boyz retain, Albert drags Jeff from the ring to break up the cover. To be fair they do retain, although by DQ rather than pin. Albert singlehandedly takes out Jeff then Matt as we have the formation of ‘X-Factor’.

Midajah got attacked in the dressing room earlier in the show, Scott Steiner has pointed fingers towards the Magnificent Seven thinking no-one else could’ve got to her so there is friction in the camp. Scott is out after Rick, he says come Greed “Diamond Dallas White Trash” will join the likes of Goldberg, Kevin Nash etc. and wishes him “good luck” in surviving his brother. We return from a commercial break and interesting to see that Scott hasn’t stuck around at ringside preferring to return to the back. Discus lariat followed by a spinning uranage in the opening seconds. Page clotheslines Rick to the outside and lands a pescado. On returning to the ring he goes up top, however Steiner falls backwards into the ropes causing him to come crashing down to the mat. Steiner is on the attack and it’s the usual dull, inspiring action out of him. As he browbeats the referee Page pulls himself to his feet and fires back. Rick hold onto the ropes to block the Diamond Cutter. Top rope bulldog. Tony Schiavone says they’ve gotten word there’s a problem going on backstage and sends Scott Hudson to go and investigate. Page escapes the Steiner Driver and hits the Cutter. As he crawls over to make the cover Road Warrior Animal runs out for the DQ. Animal botches the powerbomb and he then “feels the bang “ too. Totally Buff are next as we learn the commotion backstage was Booker T and the Cat getting jumped and seriously injured. With his allies already taken out Page is all alone and helpless to the assault from the Magnificent Seven. Doug Dillinger appears to have gotten things under control when Scott Steiner surprises DDP, cracking him with the lead pipe as he’s about to leave. He puts him in the Recliner as we go off air. Page tried hard but you’re treading water in any attempt to get something decent out of Steiner these days.

Disqo is seen limbering up in the dressing room for his upcoming match with Kanyon when he’s approached by M.I. Smooth who wants him to step aside. He finds that funny and tells Smooth to keep the limo warm and he can give him a ride back to the hotel when he’s done. His words having no effect, Smooth then KO’s Disqo with one punch. The acting here wasn’t of the highest quality. Kanyon basically thinks Smooth stooged on him to the Cat so they’re feuding now. Imagine going from a feud with Page to one with Smooth in under a month? Kanyon enters first waiting for his opponent. Disqo’s music starts playing, much to Tony Schiavone’s surprise after they saw him get KO’d in the dressing room, it is in fact though M.I. Smooth who’s hobbling out. Smooth apparently has a herniated disc after Kanyon over turned his limo with a forklift the other night. He should be getting a pretty big sympathetic reaction as he struggles to the ring although the crowd couldn’t care less. Referee Billy Silverman tries to convince him to stay out of there but he tells him to get out of his way. Kanyon boots Smooth as he is stepping through the ropes and then beats him down in the corner. As well as this herniated disc Smooth has also supposedly got a concussion, a torn meniscus, a torn cartilage and broken ribs. The story of this is Kanyon beating Smooth down and as he’s about to leave, Smooth will show heart get to his feet and Kanyon will go and pound on him some more. This goes on...and on...and on. Kanyon brings a chair into play which he dents over Smooth’s head courtesy of several hard shots, after each one though Smooth continues to stalk him down wanting more. Eventually Kanyon just leaves and we don’t get an actual match. I swear I heard crickets chirping throughout this until Kanyon involved the chair . Why anyone would care about an angle involving Smooth I will never know.

Helms’s has got himself some new snazzy pants. Tony Schiavone says there is a rumour going around in the back that Chavo Guerrero Jr went to Ric Flair and asked him to book Shane Helms to death in the lead up to the PPV. On the contrary, Chavo has got the shows in the run up to the event off. As Karagias drives the Cadillac, as they say, Helms explodes out the corner and rains down punches. Sit-out powerbomb after catching Evan on the leapfrog. Gut wrench suplex followed by a fist drop off the middle. Karagias escapes the fireman’s carry and presses Helms overhead before dropping him into a spinebuster. Top rope quebrada misses. The Vertebreaker is countered, Karagias getting Helms in an Electric Chair, however Shane then with a Victory Roll for a near fall. Back elbow by Evan as he takes over again. He’s too slow heading upstairs and Shane grabs him on his shoulders, dropping him face first across his knee. Sugar Smack. Karagias reverses the Irish whip and dumps Shane with a wheelbarrow suplex. Corkscrew splash. Helms counters the inverted suplex and hits the Nightmare. One Vertebreaker later this one is all over. Chavo is out for a post-match attack, still doing his best to give himself every advantage come Greed.

Still no sign of the new owners as those reserved seats remain unoccupied. Booker T is out and says that it feels real good to be back in WCW. He came here tonight for one reason and one reason only, saying how he was concentrating too much on Scott Steiner and forgot about all the other “Player Haters”. As a result of what happened last week he’s making an open challenge to any of the Magnificent Seven and is staying in the ring until someone brings their ass out to get whupped. It looks like Scott Steiner is answering, however he’s only the mouthpiece. Before he’s able to introduce who his opponent will be, DDP’s music plays and he makes an appearance in the crowd. Tony Schiavone calls him “the People’s Champion”, he’s far more fitting of that moniker than Lobo. Page lets Steiner know that whatever they’ve got planned isn’t going down without him being here. Steiner tells them that tonight he’s taking the night off and that Page is going to face his brother, additionally if DDP interferes in Booker’s upcoming match he’ll forfeit his World title match at Greed. I guess we’re supposed to just assume Steiner has the power to make those rules because he’s in the same group as Ric Flair although the commentators should’ve stressed the point. Booker is wanting someone, when through the crowd and from behind comes Lex Luger, Steiner informing him that is his opponent. Lex with a big powerslam and he’s signalling for the Rack already, wanting to finish this early. He gets him up and referee Mickey Jay arrives on the scene calling for the bell. Luger releases him, celebrating his win, only as he raises his arms Jay pushes them down. Haha, turns out that the bell never rang to start the match and when Jay called for the bell he was calling for it to start, not finish. That’s pretty funny. Luger’s furious and as he complains it’s giving Booker a chance to recover. Booker ducks the clothesline and nails Lex with a flying forearm. Side slam for a two. Lex is on his knees begging off when he yanks Booker by the trunks through the ropes to the floor. He follows him out and is already breathing heavy. They return to the ring where Luger lands a vertical suplex before a bit of flexing. Double arm stretch, a knee in the back at the same time, Lex obviously looking to eventually Rack him again. Great roll up out of the corner by Booker, hooking his feet under Luger’s armpits and rolling backwards. He blocks the suplex and counters with one of his own. Axe kick, Harlem side kick, Book End and Luger’s singles match losing streak goes on. Rick Steiner tries to jump Booker but he avoids his chair shot and lays him out with the scissors kick, which they’re calling the Ghetto Blaster. In the moment he forgets about Luger who cracks him in the back with that chair. Steiner Driver for ‘the Book’. The Cat evens the fight, Kanyon then giving the heels the advantage once more. Schiavone calls Kanyon “the sickest one of them all”. Flatliner to Cat on the ringside mats. DDP finally arrives through the crowd wielding a chair, he’s too late though, the damage done as members of the Seven get out of there. One of the better Luger singles matches of recent months.

Lance has noticed that the further they get from the Canadian border, the lower the I.Q. of the crowd. With how far South they are tonight he believes there is every probability he has a higher I.Q. than the entire front row combined! You would think by now he would be use to the Canadian national anthem being cut-off midway through. Not so. Vito claims that they’re going to take them back to the neighbourhood and do things “Italian style” so that they’ll never talk bad about the United States again. Vito with a Cactus clothesline taking himself and Lance to the floor, joining Johnny and Awesome who are already going at it on the other side. Awesome ducks a Vito clothesline and levels him with one of his own. He throws Johnny into the ring where Team Canada work him over. Lance is caught by a dropkick as he comes off the middle, both men then making tags. Awesome is initially all over Vito until he catches a boot and gives him a side slam. Double spinebuster by the Mamalukes. As the ref tries to get Johnny out of there, Lance nails Vito with a missile dropkick. It’s a proper struggle as he tries to get him up for the Awesome bomb. I don’t know if he went heavy on him or what but Awesome is fighting to get him up. Eventually he does, Awesome bomb and it’s over. Team Canada continue the attack post-match, their opponents on the PPV, Hugh Morrus & Konnan making the save. Quick match.

Rumours abound that the new owners are going to be in attendance tonight, security surrounding three reserved seats where they’re expected to be sitting. The first semi-final in the Cruiserweight tag team title tournament. Fast paced start with Skipper & Romeo jumping the Dragons. Skipper’s Matrix move is cool, but it’s daft the way the other wrestlers wait for him to get back up, Shane Helms had the right idea on Thunder. Kaz with a springboard kick to the back of Kid’s head. ‘Primetime’ pulls his partner to the outside to avoid Yang Time, Yang though then off the top with a high plancha to the floor. Twisting dive by Kaz. Back inside Skipper jumps up out the way of a kick and launches Kaz with a double arm suplex. He’s levelled by a spin kick but Kaz can’t make the tag, Romeo in to cut him off. Rana on Kid and this time he does. Yang is handling them both until he’s caught in the corner and planted with a double team powerbomb. Kaz breaks up the cover but then he walks into Romeo’s Northern Lights Bomb, now called the Last Kiss. Yang saves his partner and then does that version of the Ki Krusher that Ric Blade does. After a bit of digging I think that’s called the Edge of the Blade, the commentators were going giddy on seeing it mind. Running crossbody takes Yang and Skipper over the top to the outside. ‘Primetime’ catches Kaz on the pescado and gives him a belly to belly on the floor. Kid rolls out the way of Yang Time, Elix then with the Play of the Day and we have ourselves our first finalists.

Jimmy Rave is described as not only one of the brightest up and coming talents in Wildside but the wrestling world itself. Rave gets fed up of Coleman ducking out the way of the initial lock up so opens up on him with some punches instead. The action is fast and furious, Coleman taking to the floor to hopefully slow the challenger down some. Jeremy Borash on commentary with Dan ‘the Dragon’ Wilson. Nice leg trip by Coleman, but he then misses the elbow drop and in turn Rave misses the legdrop. Rave avoids a near disaster on the backdrop, tucking his head in the nick of time. Coleman sits Rave upstairs on the top turnbuckle. The two trade shots, Rave getting the better of things, only for Coleman to then avoid his flying crossbody. That was shot beautifully by the way, as if Rave was coming right through the TV screen. Rave ends up on the outside where in between chatting to the front rowers Coleman puts the boots in. Slingshot senton to the lower back. Short powerbomb. Coleman slams Rave on one side of the squared circle, goes over to the other, and comes off with a springboard splash the full length of the ring. Unfortunately for him Rave saw it coming and rolled out the way to the floor. Headscissors take down by Rave. The Shannon Moore sleeper drop, he makes the cover when out from the dressing room runs J.C. Dazz who attacks him for the DQ. As it looks like he’s here to help Coleman, Dazz then attacks him too. Everyone hits big dives to the floor, Coleman hitting this insane delayed top rope quebrada where he spends a second or two just stood on the top rope before leaping backwards. Security eventually shows up to separate the three of them. Looks like we’ve got a three-way program brewing and this was about setting that up. Rave still needs a change of ring gear.

This is the same Jason Lee who recently debuted in WCW, teaming with Johnny Swinger in the Cruiserweight tag team title tournament. The opening few minutes is all very basic stuff worked around a side-headlock, Orton always returning to that hold. Lee backs him into the corner and fires off some shots on the break. Orton blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckles then does the same to Lee. Just like in last week’s TV we cut away mid-match so that they can plug some local house show. Lee gets clotheslined to the outside and makes out as if he’s had enough as he sets off towards the dressing room. He doesn’t get too far, Orton on his case and throwing him back into the ring. Again he charges him, this time though Lee pulls down the tope rope and Orton sails out over it. Bodyslam onto the concrete. Lee with a clothesline followed by a legdrop off the middle. The commentators are making fun of the old boy reffing as we go to a commercial break. We return as Lee runs into a pair of Orton elbows. Double clothesline and both men go down. Lee is to his feet first, appearing to be the fresher of the two. They trade punches back and forth, a big right hand by Orton decking his opponent. Belly to belly suplex. He catches Lee on the reverse crossbody and tosses him overhead with a fallaway slam. As he looks for the full nelson slam, Flash Flanagan is out, on the apron and distracting him. With his back turned, Lee wraps a chain around his fist and KO’s the unaware Orton for the win. One of the longest matches of Orton’s career so far, it’s either this or the one at Christmas Chaos and is certainly longer than the matches he’s been wrestling in OVW. Very basic throughout, although at this stage of his career it’s the kind of thing he needs to hone his craft.

The face trio rush to the ring, quickly overpowering an already in trouble Kliq who’re out to ringside looking to regroup. Jason Sensation is up on the apron distracting Cade and Shooter sneaks up on him from behind. Lance no sells Dragon’s chops, switches places and dishes out a couple of his own before clotheslining him out of his shoes. Dragon escapes the Abs press slam and unloads with kicks to the chest but ends up getting hotshotted across the top rope. Abs whips him into the corner however pauses before rushing in and a Dragon drop toe hold sends him crashing into the turnbuckle. Spanky and Abs are a bit off on a couple of things as we then get our first look at Pete Gas after Joey misses an elbow drop. Gas outmuscles Spanky on the attempted floatover DDT, just shooting him off. Big powerslams for a two count. He and Lance team up for a combination drop toe hold/elbow drop. Sensation hooks Cade’s ankle from the outside and Schultz catches him with a release German suplex. Dragon brings the intensity to his team; the knife edge chops, a hard uppercut, even just grinding his forearm into the face of his former Kliq partner. Combination Russian legsweep/dropkick double team by Shooter and Spanky. Schultz with a backbreaker, he then just holds Lance there, says something to his team mates on the apron before lifting him up and slamming him down to the mat. Cade blocks the Dragon suplex by running Schultz into the corner but can’t follow up, getting dumped by a belly to back. Dragon is in and he and Lance trade shots. He runs into a Sidewalk slam as Abs and Gas provide encouragement from the apron. Hot tag to Pete Gas who runs wild with the trusty clothesline. Shooter breaks up a pin attempt, bringing in Joey Abs, however he’s caught with an exploder. Spanky counters the Gas Mask, but as he looks for Sliced Bread #2, Gas counters that with an atomic drop. He hits the Gas Mask, this time though it’s Dragon off the top with a flying elbow for the save. The match has broken down, action going on both inside and outside of the ring. Dragon ends up on the receiving end of a Diamond Dust like maneuver, while Spanky finally lands Sliced Bread, running up Pete Gas, who was backed up against the turnbuckles, in the process. Cactus clothesline by Gas takes him and Shooter to the concrete. Suicide dive by Dragon. Tornado DDT by Spanky on Abs. Spanky with a springboard plancha to the floor. It’s one hot move after another here. As the referee tries to deal with all those bodies at ringside Jason jumps Abs from behind. The attack was pitiful and he remains the one black spot when it comes to the Kliq. Abs presses him overhead and launches him out at everyone. Back inside Gas backdrops Spanky into an Abs sit-out powerbomb, Lance then off the top with a leg drop and Gas makes the cover for three, everyone else taken care of and no-one left to make the save. It sounds like Cade is using the New Blackjacks old music as that’s played as they celebrate the win. Really good match and the final few minutes where they were busting out one hot move after another was fantastic. Pete Gas isn’t in the same league as the other five but he held his own and certainly didn’t drag things down, in fact the only dodgy stuff in there was between Spanky and Joey Abs. Lance Cade looks like a real star in the making. Another strong episode of MCW TV, they’re making a habit of it at the moment!

Just like last week, today’s episode of MCW TV again features matches that were taped at the big ‘Showdown at the Nuthouse’ event. No Victoria with ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ here. A proper collar & elbow tie up, Regal trying various little tricks as he tries to get the upper hand. After backing Bradley into the corner he forearms him across the chest on the break. They work things around a wristlock, Regal looking to wrestle his way out of the hold. After Bradley keeps hold following the monkey flip and hammerlocks it behind his back, Regal is forced to fire off a few elbows instead. Some big uppercuts, Regal having to ramp things up a notch or two when he realises that Bradley can go hold for hold with him on the mat. They end up on the outside where Regal runs him into the ring post, the Southern champion busted open on that. Regal climbs back inside, waving to the crowd, but every time Bradley tries to get in he just kicks him dismissively in the head to prevent him from doing so. That happens on several occasions, to the point that ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ ends up pulling him out under the bottom rope to the floor again. Unfortunately for him he takes a second trip into the ring post and then gets his head slammed into the title belt that was lay on the timekeeper’s table. A similar situation when Regal returns to the ring; mock encouragement to join him, only as he’s about to he’ll get pummelled with punches or get another boot in the head. Bradley with a shoulderblock. Regal blocks the attempted sunset flip, grabs him by the head and, using his knee, drives his face into the mat. A couple of crossfaces across the bridge of the nose. Belly to back suplex. Bradley fires back only to be cut-off sharpish by a forearm. He kicks out of the cover following a butterfly suplex, Regal then proceeds to cover him three more times, Bradley kicking out every time. Kevin Kelly explains the psychology behind that, in that he is forcing him to expend energy by continually having to kick out. A hard clothesline, Regal is now just rubbing his boot into the cut. Bradley counters the Dragon screw with an enzuigiri, stunning his opponent, and he’s able to muster up some reserves to fight back. Belly to back, clothesline, butterfly suplex, he’s mirroring what Regal did to him. The Irish whip is reversed, Bradley keeps hold of the arm and hits Reno’s Roll the Dice to retain the Southern title. Regal does attack him post-match even spitting on the belt before leaving. Regal was outstanding here; everything about his performance, the way he carried himself, the way he treated Bradley, just perfect. The wrestling at the beginning was great, then you had him ramping it up a few notches when he realised he had too, there was an underlying nastiness about him and you knew he could fuck Bradley up at any moment. I’m like a broken record when it comes to Steve Bradley, but for the umpteenth time in PWO2K already, he really should’ve made it to the main roster. After this I’m surprised that Regal didn’t go to bat or put in a word for him. Really good match.

It's in reply to Blehschmidt's post directly above it where they question Those listed by NotJayTabb have not been called out. At least yet,