GSR

According to Mr McMahon, William Regal is a very deserving contender to the WWF World title. While JR doesn’t doubt his ability, he thinks this is more a reward for his recent collusion with the McMahon’s on Monday night against Trish Stratus. Considering it was only a week ago we saw Regal lose to Test when challenging for the European title, I think JR is probably correct. Regal addresses the concerns, saying how he earned the title shot through his superior wrestling ability. He knows there isn’t a lot going on in Tucson but tonight the people are going to see their Goodwill Ambassador win the World title and then go on to defend it at Wrestlemania. Ross is smelling a rat. Regal wastes little time in going on the offense. Rock knocks him down with a flying forearm and starts putting the boots in. He goes for a whip out the corner but Regal keeps hold of the arm and hits a Russian legsweep. Some knee strikes followed by an uppercut. Steve Austin is shown watching on from the dressing room. Japanese stranglehold. Rock reverses the Irish whip and lands a belly to belly. Regal gets a forearm shot in, Rock though then counters the Hangman’s neckbreaker with a spinebuster. Sharpshooter is locked in when out rushes Kurt Angle for the DQ. Angle is looking for the ankle lock, having promised to break the Rock’s ankle before he gets to Wrestlemania, however Rock manages to scramble to the floor where he collects himself a chair. On seeing the chair Angle doesn’t hang around and Rock takes his frustrations out on Regal, cracking him over the head with it. Backstage we see Regal apologising to Mr McMahon, hoping that he hasn’t let him down. McMahon says that in his eyes he’s a winner, he hasn’t let him down at all and this is just part of a plan, a much bigger plan.

Saturn and Malenko are still doing everything they can to keep the peace in the Radicalz camp, telling Eddy that he needs to talk to Chris Benoit and get back on the same page. Benoit joins them in the dressing room and Eddy isn’t even looking at him when ‘the Crippler’ speaks to him which pisses him off. Despite Eddy’s promises of being there tonight, Benoit lets him know that he doesn’t trust him, warning him to stay out of his business and if he sees him anywhere near the ring in his upcoming match he’ll end him. Match time and Eddy is defying Benoit’s orders, making his way down to ringside after the two wrestlers to sit at the commentary table. JR thinks this isn’t a good idea and while ‘the Crippler’ hasn’t taken his eyes off him, Eddy has barely acknowledged Benoit. Things have hardly got going and here come the rest of the Radicalz, either to get Eddy to return to the back with them or to stop an all out war kicking off. He says that the only reason he is out here is to prove that he is a Radical and to prove that he is a team player. The situation on the floor is enough to distract Benoit and give X-Pac the upper hand. Pac with a sleeper hold. Eddy is losing his patience with Ross, thinking that he’s deliberately trying to get Benoit more mad at him and questions as to why he doesn’t ask ‘the Crippler’ what team he’s on, whether it’s the Radical team or the Chris Benoit team? Great spinning leg lariat. X-Pac is back to the sleeper but gets dumped on the back of his head. Diving headbutt. Eddy is awesome with his comments and his little looks. As Benoit starts with the rolling Germans, Justin Credible, who is seconding Pac, is up on the apron. That causes Eddy to leave his position at the table. Terri gets up on the apron, which distracts referee Tim White, and Eddy clubs Pac from behind who then falls into the crossface for the tap. Post-match Saturn and Malenko put the boots to Credible but Eddy doesn’t join in. Despite helping him get the win Benoit is still clearly very unsure over Eddy and what his true intentions for being out there actually were.

We saw Corman last year in Southwest against Samir, now the two are part of the same ‘Over Boys’ stable alongside ‘the Extreme Golfer’ Mike Page. Mini Stuff, who is being carried to the ring on the shoulders of Hotstuff Hernandez, looks like he should be in 3 Count with those fluorescent green pants. Corman has a real unique way of running the ropes the way he jumps into them. Stuff just about hangs onto the headscissors which sends Corman to the outside. Pescado onto him and his ‘Over Boy’ partner. He gets distracted by ‘the Extreme Golfer’ when he’s getting back into the ring and is caught with a legdrop to the back of the head. Stuff spikes Corman with a DDT, but as he goes to work on him Joey yanks him by the pants through the ropes out to the floor. Page with more distraction allowing Samir to get some shots in behind the official’s back. Returning to the ring Mini fires back, slamming Corman in the corner. Pretty much a coast to coast legdrop with the distance that Stuff flies. There is no flow whatsoever to this, it’s just your turn, my turn. Stuff gets caught with a jawbreaker followed by a Falcon Arrow for a two count. He reverses the Irish whip, boots Corman in the gut and lands a standing moonsault. Page hooks his ankle from the floor and Corman with a Flatliner. I would say the commercial break disrupts the flow but there isn’t any anyway! On our return Corman hits a Butterfly suplex and gets a near fall off the rolling senton. We miss Stuff’s comeback as the camera is focussing on the ‘Extreme One’. Stuff fails to connect on the Swanton, Corman does on the 450, hooking the leg and getting the three. Stuff is very indy and not particularly good and as a result this wasn’t up to much.

Tony Schiavone is extremely optimistic about this match up, in his words “two guys who set the standard for title matches in 2000.” We get a recap of Booker’s pinfall over the World champion on Nitro 48 hours ago. On the back of that pinfall Booker had wanted a title match, which Ric Flair wouldn’t give him, so he decided to take this one-on-one match anyway. A Sandman like entrance from ‘Big Poppa Pump’ here. They make up for that by wasting no time when he does finally get inside. An elbow flush to the jaw sends the champion tumbling to the floor, Booker goes to follow him out but referee Mickey Jay tells him to stay in. He heeds his words, the commentators believing that’s smart thinking on his part, not allowing Steiner to potentially use anything like chairs, the metal ring steps etc. against him. Booker wants a test of strength but Steiner boots him in the gut and takes over until an explosive clothesline out of the corner. BPP absorbs ‘the Book’s’ punches, lifts him up and crotches him across the top rope. Steinerline, elbow drop, get up off the pin at two to do push ups sequence. He punts Booker in the ribs while continuing to jaw with the fans. Belly to belly. Booker catches him with a sunset flip and then connects on the Harlem side kick for a near fall. He heads upstairs and although Steiner is up after him, he fights him off to land the missile dropkick. Despite this being non-title they clearly didn’t fancy having Steiner job on consecutive shows, his brother Rick out for the DQ. Booker gets in the first shot, hits a Book End on Scotty, but is overpowered by ‘the DFG’. DDP evens things up giving Rick a Diamond Cutter before dragging Booker out of there through the crowd as the rest of the Magnificent Seven arrive on the scene.

Our second match in the first round of the Cruiserweight tag team title tournament. We actually have brackets now, the winners of this going on to face the winners of A.J. Styles & Air Paris vs Elix Skipper and a mystery partner. Kwee Wee and Sanders are arguing and pointing fingers at one another before this has even got going so it looks like they’re doing the reluctant partners gimmick. Kaz reminds Yang to give the sign for the belts as they step through the curtain. Sanders starts for his team and wants to brawl, which considering he has the size advantage and isn’t known for being a flyer is a smart move. A Kaz armdrags sends him to the outside. He goes for a pescado, Sanders steps away, however Kaz is able to land on his feet and catch him with a headscissors on the floor. Kwee Wee uppercuts Kaz, he’s though then taken out by a flying Yang who comes out of nowhere. The Dragon work some combination moves on Kwee. Yang lands a Lionsault as does Kaz. They telegraph the double backdrop big time, Kwee leaping to the middle rope and trying for a reverse springboard double sunset flip. He can’t get them over so Sanders provides some assistance with a double dropkick. Double Thesz press by Kwee Wee. With the Dragon stacked up Sanders drops a knee to the pair. Kwee suplexes Kaz into the turnbuckles and Yang is in for the save, pulling Kwee off by his hair. I think that awoke ‘Angry Alan’ as he drags Yang into the ring by his own hair and throws him around by it with a couple of hair mares. He runs into a back elbow and a Yang headscissors takes Kwee face first into the middle pad. Neckbreaker for Sanders. ‘Above Average’ Mike puts on the breaks, keeping hold of the arm and sliding back through Yang’s legs to land a great pumphandle suplex. Kwee and Sanders are working well as a team, even doing an old Rock & Roll Express spot, with the Kwee Wee knee lift after Sanders clubs Yang in the gut. Front suplex, Yang getting dumped across the top rope. Snap suplex by Kwee. Yang gets whipped to the corner but he jumps to the second rung and catches Kwee with a reverse tornado DDT. Each man makes a tag as we have two fresh men in there. Kaz busts out a step up enzuigiri followed by an inverted bulldog. Combination Assault Driver/powerbomb by the Dragons, Sanders breaking up the pin attempt. Asai moonsault to Sanders. Kwee Wee is nailed by a jumping back kick and he’s sent sprawling to the outside. Yang with a reverse crossbody off the apron to the floor onto him. He trips Sanders from ringside as he comes off the ropes, Kaz then using his head as a football. Yang Time and the Dragons advance in a cracker. All kinds of fun with plenty of innovation and a great showcase match for the Cruiserweight tag team division. Kwee Wee continues to impress me and he and Sanders were a surprisingly good little unit and foils for the Dragons.

Yup, an absolutely nothing report if they're not prepared to say who the Producer is. All it does is stir up speculation and people second guessing, which is already happening in this thread so heaven knows what it's like on Twitter.

Swinger is seconded by his partner from the Cruiserweight tournament, Jason Lee. Mike Tenay incorrectly says that Monday was his WCW debut, quite unlike ‘the Professor’ to get something wrong. Lee is already trying to interfere from ringside. Helms with those lovely Steamboatesque arm drags. He goes up top, but as Swinger grabs the referee Lee pulls down the top rope causing Helms to fall to the mat. Sit-out powerbomb out the corner. It sounds like Chavo Guerrero Jr has been in Swinger and Lee’s ear, trying to get them to take out Helms before they get to Greed. Cobra Clutch Russian legsweep for a near fall. Is that one the Swing Thing? Where’s Joey Styles when I need him? Tenay makes a point of noting that Swinger is a much more ground based Cruiserweight, he doesn’t take too many high risks in there. Lee is continuing to provide interference. Helms escapes the sleeper with some back elbows. The Running neckbreaker leads to out first hearing for the night of ‘the Sensation of Innovation’. Sugar Smack. He nails Lee, who is on the apron, with a forearm then takes him out the equation with a froggy crossbody to the floor. Swinger’s momentum enables him to roll through on the high crossbody, almost getting the three. There’s no-one home on the slingshot senton and as Helms call for the Vertebreaker, Lee is in the ring. Nightmare on Helms Street to Lee followed by the Vertebreaker on Swinger for the win. Chavo sneaks to ring post-match trying to blindside his challenger but comes up short. His game plan having failed, he confronts Lee and Swinger, giving the former a brainbuster whilst berating the latter. This won’t be a Helms match you’ll remember although the work was solid. Tenay is right about Swinger’s offence, but that ground based attack among a myriad of flyers and innovators makes him someone who doesn’t stand out and not “essential viewing” if you like.

The guy who is reffing looks very much like the chap who goes on to play the Rob Feinburg character. Somehow the Rockin’ Rebel has wangled his way into this. Christ, is it any wonder the crowds here behave the way they do when someone like Rebel’s promo consists of nothing but racial and homophobic slurs? It takes all of thirty seconds before these three leave the ring and start brawling on the outside. The barbed wire gets used as a cheese grater while Rebel and Beater each take bumps onto the metal chairs, Beater getting powerbombed into them. Zandig gets caught with a belly to back on the floor. Beater throws Rebel over an actual bar but then gets whipped into the barbed wire by Zandig. Gargiulo thinks we’re going to see a murder with Zandig and Wifebeater in the ring at the same time. Yeah, because Smartmark video are known for their snuff movies! Sloppy slingshot rolling cradle. Beater escapes the Mutha F’N’ bomb and a double clothesline sees both men go down. A table as been set up at ringside, Rebel press slammed from the ring out through it. Zandig gives Wifebeater a Falcon Arrow onto some fluorescent light tubes. Tajiri and Justice Pain are back, Tajiri putting an Octopus hold on ‘the Boss’. Justice goes to break a light tube over Rebel but he moves and he accidentally breaks it over Beater, Rebel then making the cover to steal the win. Things look tense between Beater and Pain although it looks like they make up before leaving. An unaware Rebel thinks he’s been screwed out of the title again, not realising this was non-title all along. CZW shows continue to end on a flat note.

Nick Berk vs Yoshihiro Tajiri (CZW Destruction in Dover 2/28/01) Zandig in the house! He’s glad to be back in the USA (he’s just been on a tour for Big Japan) and for anyone that doesn’t know informs them that this is his company and he does things his way. The Boss ladies and gentlemen! Zandig sounds like he’s been drinking. He doesn’t think Berk deserves the World title so offers Tajiri a shot at it right now. There’s a condition attached though, that is if he wins he has to guarantee him (Zandig) a crack at the belt. Tajiri nods while some fans in the crowd shout “Indeed!” Considering this is his company, surely Zandig can just take a shot whenever he wants and doesn’t need Tajiri’s approval? Berk offers Tajiri a hand, which he accepts, but Berk double crosses him booting him in the gut. All that did was wind Tajiri up as he no sells his leg lariat and then reddens his chest with some open hand slaps. Berk is on his knees begging off, he offers his hand for a second time, however this time it’s Tajiri who crosses him, kicking him around the side of the head. A bit of back and forth before Tajiri blocks the Berk Driver and hits a Brain Buster to become the new CZW World champion. Oh Z-Barr fast counted the pin just like in the previous match. Tajiri parades the title around the ring when he’s interrupted by ‘The Boss’... Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Zandig (CZW Destruction in Dover 2/28/01) ...’The Boss’ tells Tajiri how he’s been bringing him to CZW as he wanted him to be their World champion and he’s finally done it. Fans are already yelling “It’s a set up!” Zandig raises Tajiri’s hand then blindsides him with a short armed clothesline, Barr fast counting again as we have the third new World champion in the space of about five minutes. Zandig says how twice he bought Tajiri into CZW and he couldn’t get the job done. It’s his fucking company, he’s the fucking champion and he doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks about it. He hasn’t seen any barbed wire all night so orders the staff to wrap some around the ropes and challenges Wifebeater to come out and face him because he hates his fucking guts. Don’t worry Tajiri, a few months from now you’ll be in the WWF and this will all be forgotten.

Z-Barr is announced as the special guest referee, not only doesn’t that bode well for us getting a clean finish, it also leads to some pretty awful homophobic abuse from the fans towards him. They later start chanting “slit your wrists” and “end your life”, which considering I’m watching this the day after Hana Kimura took her own makes it even more uncomfortable than normal. “Justice Steroid” chant at Pain. Barr is staying impartial for the time being, although he’s so loud and animated he’s diverting attention away from the wresters. Berk with a German suplex for a two. Drop toe hold from which he transitions to a variation of the Mutalock, Justice grabbing the ropes for the break. The constant abuse of Barr is every bit as off putting. This is real co-operative looking. Frog splash by Berk. Justice blocks the backslide and dumps Berk over the top rope to the outside. A reckless looking Asai moonsault. Berk reverses the whip on the floor, Justice flying through the Emergency Exit door into the parking lot. Shame we had the exact same fighting outside the building in the previous match. Justice gets thrown into and over a car but is able to get the jump on Berk by hiding out of view. Suplex on the concrete! The actual concrete! Back in the building they return to the ring and Pain with a slingshot splash. Blockbuster, but Barr is counting super slow on the cover, backing up my initial thoughts that he would probably be favouring Berk due to the fact he was clapping him on his introduction. Dangerous as hell Backdrop Driver. Z-Barr is now doing up his shoe laces rather than doing his job, so he decks him. Tajiri is out, he hits a handspring elbow followed by a brainbuster to Pain and then drags Berk on top. Barr fast counts the cover and we have a new CZW World champion. It’s the same tiresome heel ref concept under another form (in that Barr is there to screw Justice Pain, who I think is a heel, although it’s not always obvious in CZW). The crowd were disgraceful, quite possibly the worst we’ve seen so far in the project, and that’s saying something considering the abuse the Backstreet Boyz were getting on shows last year. To leave things on a positive note, that Backdrop Driver looked dangerous as hell, a real potential neck breaker.

From the way it’s being described this sounds like one of the first, if not the first, appearances of the future H8 Club, Gage and Hatred having put their recent differences aside for this match up. Lobo is referred to as ‘the People’s Champion’. What king of people would they be? Some surprisingly decent exchanges between Blade and Gage before the requisite “stand-off”. I don’t think anyone relies on that spot more than Ric Blade. Lobo’s cleaning house in there, actually wrestling for a change, that is until he’s cut off by a Hatred clothesline. It’s pointed out that should either get a pinfall on him it will put them right in line for a shot at his Iron Man title. Side slam for a two. A Rikishi Driver come sit-out tombstone or as John House calls it “the same move that paralysed baldy in the bigger federation” (because they can’t say the name “Steve Austin”). Gage and Hatred work over Lobo whilst Blade chomps at the bit to get in there. Big powerslam. Lobo fires back with some poor punches and a back elbow, sending Gage out to the floor after he had telegraphed the back drop. Slingshot senton by Lobo, hitting the back of his head on the apron in the process. Amazingly Blade wasn’t the first one to botch something tonight! Hatred yanks Blade into the ring, blocking his shots doing some terrible looking karate stuff. With the action continuing inside Gage and Lobo are now out in the car park, the camera work flitting between the two. Blade with a Samoan drop, kip up, standing moonsault sequence. A running crossbody takes himself and Hatred over the top rope to the outside. Corkscrew Asai moonsault by Blade. This has turned into the brawl you expected going in. There isn’t much room to maneuver on the bar due to the low ceiling but Gage manages to DDT Lobo off it through a table. Blade with a crazy running Swanton over the partition and onto Hatred who’d been laid out across a bunch of chairs. Gage grabs Blade and drags him back to the ring where he gives him a brainbuster. The Briscoes attack Lobo leaving Blade on his own. He ducks under the Gage roaring elbow which accidentally ends up taking out Hatred. Spinning heel kick to Gage followed by a modified Ki Krusher on Nate and Blade picks up the unlikely win for he and Lobo. Post-match it looks like Gage and Hatred are going to go at it, the Briscoes and Dewey Donovan playing peacemaker as they settle their grievances and raise each others hands. Surprisingly they did try to have some structure to this which benefitted things. The Gage and Blade exchanges at the beginning were nice and it was a good night for Blade when it comes to not almost killing himself. Heat section on Lobo before It escalated to the expected brawl, although that was limited and they didn’t overdo things on that front. Blade singlehandedly beating the H8 Club was stretching it, but I think they just about pulled it off. I’m finding it tough to try and take myself back to 2001 and not watch this CZW stuff through 2020 eyes but this was decent to good stuff.

The new World champion, The Rock, is out, the man who’s now scheduled to go to Wrestlemania on April 1st where he will defend that title against ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Rock says the way that Kurt Angle brought it to him last night, the way he kicked out of the People’s elbow, the way he almost snapped his ankle, he can respect that. After he beat him though he saw the other side of his personality, the person who cries, complains and moans. He beat him for the World title and he’s the person going on to Wrestlemania but if Kurt Angle wants to bitch and moan why doesn’t he come out and bitch to The Rock? It’s not Kurt Angle coming out, it’s ‘Stone Cold’ himself. Austin firstly congratulates Rock on winning the gold and says Angle can cry all he wants but the fact is the better man won. He has some advice for The Rock and that is as long as he’s the WWF champion, to “stay healthy”. Nothing more and he’s about to leave when Rock tells him not to. The Rock appreciates his advice although has some words of his own “Get ready”. The two are nose to nose, eyeball to eyeball, they did next to nothing and it was so good. Why is the World champion in a match for the Hardcore title? Show is the new champion after winning the belt at the PPV yesterday. It’s explained that earlier in the show Rock said he wanted Angle, Angle said he want Rock and Show said he also wanted Rock, so Mr McMahon made the match. Apparently Show being involved is punishment for interfering in the World title match last night, although considering he wanted Rock anyway not sure how this is much of a punishment? JR has never heard of the WWF champion fighting for the Hardcore title. Me neither Jim. As Rock and Angle glare at each other, Show runs through the pair with a double clothesline. Interesting to note how in the next couple of minutes, as things progress, Show sells for Rock but completely no sells for Angle. The Rock ends up on the outside but manages to slide down Show’s back after being put over his shoulder and sends him crashing into the ring post, taking him briefly out the game. Back inside, Rock with a Dragon screw into the Sharpshooter. Show recovers in time to break that up courtesy of a big forearm to the back of Rock’s head. Rock blocks the chokeslam with a low blow. We’re reminded that is legal as it’s no DQ due to it being Hardcore rules. Like when does anyone ever get disqualified for a low blow anyway? Angle daftly tries to suplex Show, obviously getting nowhere, when Rock is over to provide assistance and the two of them manage to get him up. As Angle celebrates the feat the WWF ‘C’ team start to interject themselves, each wanting to get their hands on the Hardcore belt. In order, Steve Blackman, Bob Holly, Albert, Perry Saturn and finally Billy Gunn all arrive as there is effectively two separate matches going on now. The Hardcore crew fight up the aisle towards the back, Essa Rios and Crash Holly also involving themselves, both trying their luck with crossbodies off the stage (both are caught). For some reason Albert and Saturn decide against following the crowd, preferring to help Angle in a three-on-one beatdown of the Rock. The masses have made their way backstage, Show ending the encounter by pinning Rios up against a wall. Things are looking precarious for the Rock until Steve Austin comes to is rescue with stunners for Angle and Saturn. It made clear that he wants Rock to “stay healthy” for Wrestlemania, just like he said earlier.

The former Hardcore champion says that after cementing his status as the greatest Hardcore champion of all time he has decided to expand his repertoire of the Raven Effect. Before he does though he would like everyone to take a bit of time and reflect on what their favourite Hardcore moment of his was. As he starts to run down a few of his, he’s interrupted by Y2J. Jericho has some favourite "Raisin" (sic) Hardcore moments of his own, although his consist of things like when Raven received a swirly in a urine filled toilet! There is very little to this, a bit of back and forth and when Jericho looks like he’s about to turn Raven over into the Walls, Ninja Lady runs out carrying a 2x4 to distract him. Molly Holly shows up to counter but Ninja Lady kicks her away. Raven holds Jericho for the Even Flow DDT and tells Ninja Lady to hit him, instead though she hits Raven. That looked like a double cross to me. Jericho with the Lionsault and he retains the I-C title. Ninja Lady is trying to console Raven when she’s attacked by Molly who is going for her mask. Raven manages to pull her from the ring in time, all we see being a bit of Ninja Lady’s hair. Me thinks it will be some time yet before Raven starts expanding that repertoire of his. Ninja Lady clocking Raven with the 2x4 looked really bad as I genuinely thought she had double crossed him, it didn’t look accidental in the slightest.

Fresh off losing to Lita on Raw last week, Dean Malenko is on it this defending the Light Heavyweight title. That tells you all you need to know about how much they think of that belt. JR notes that is rare to see a Light Heavyweight title defense on Raw, it’s also rare to see Malenko actually carrying the belt as he only seems to have it with him when he’s defending it. Kaientai have a woman with them who they claim is Taka’s girlfriend. This looks like that Vince humour of the young Taka having an older, slightly overweight and not very attractive woman as his girlfriend. The woman does the “Indeed” line rather than Funaki after Taka’s promo. Malenko’s momentum takes him through the ropes to the floor where he’s caught by Taka’s springboard crossbody. Ross and Lawler are back on it with Malenko being a ladies man, ‘the King’ having a funny comeback when Ross describes his wife as an angel, Lawler saying “you’re lucky, Dean’s wife is still alive!” Texas Cloverleaf is countered with a small package. Malenko sits Taka upstairs, suicideplex, but on landing Taka hooks him with an inside cradle for a near fall. Nice superkick. He signals for the Michinoku Driver, hitting it at the second attempt, however he hurt his back in the process and is slow to make the cover which allows the champion to kick out. Taka leaps off the middle at Malenko, who rolls through and locks on the Cloverleaf for the submission. If there is any plan whatsoever to rehabilitate the Light Heavyweight title they need to do better than this. I did wonder whether the blow off to the Lita angle was Malenko done as a wrestler and moving onto a backstage role, but he’s around for about another six months before that happens.

Mr McMahon, Trish on is arm, is carrying this mop and dirt filled bucket. Regal, who looks like he would rather be anywhere than here right now found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, unsure over to who to help when the Chairman told him to ”do the right thing”. Trish kisses Vince on the lips prior to this get going. When it does the two women continue what they started last night. A couple of hair mares. Trish looks for a bulldog but Steph shoots her off into the corner. DDT for a two. Some horrible looking bulldog come face jam and both ladies are down. Tag to Mr McMahon, but when Steph goes to tag her partner he steps away and goes to collect the mop and bucket, leaving her on her knees. Vince gets hold of a microphone and tells Stephanie that she, better than anyone, should know that Mr McMahon always gets what he wants. Steph continues to beg off as Trish is up on the ropes enjoying what she sees. Mr McMahon though then grabs Trish by the hair and flips her into the ring. He orders the referee out of there, threatening him that he will be fired if he doesn’t, and saying that the match is over. The three of them surround Trish, Stephanie slaps her before Regal gives her the Hangman’s Noose neckbreaker. Steph then proceeds to mop Trish with the disgusting contents of that bucket as Mr McMahon encourages his daughter to “mop the ring with her”, she even dunks her head in the bucket at one point. Vince closes by saying that Trish thought she was “Daddy’s little girl” but there is only one “Daddy’s little girl” and she was nothing but a toy, and like all toys, after a while you get bored of playing with them. As a parting shot he empties the bucket completely over her. What a team player and what a sport Trish is. A couple of minutes of bad come average action between the women before the angle, which was the main thing about this segment.

The Radicalz are preparing in their dressing room although there is no sign of Eddy Guerrero. He turns up late and ‘the Crippler’ wonders where he’s been. Eddy tells him to get out of his face, tensions still hot from last night. Saturn plays peacemaker but Eddy is pissed that Benoit, “his brother”, let a title get between them. They’re about to go at it in the locker room when the calming voice of Dean Malenko interjects. He says that whatever happened last night let it stay there as it was every man for himself. Benoit offers Eddy the option of going to the ring and doing what they do best or staying here and kicking the crap out of each other. It looks like calmer heads have prevailed as Eddy offers his hands and they head off to the ring for the upcoming tag team bout. Eddy starts out hot but Credible reverses their positions and hammers him down in the corner. Swinging DDT. There’s a bit of hesitation on Eddy’s part when making the first tag so things still aren’t all hunky dory. Credible ducks the swinging right and lands a Northern Lights. Benoit takes Pac down looking for the crossface and Credible is in fast to save is partner. The Radicalz are showing a bit more unity now after the initial reluctance as they try to put Pac away. Bodyslam/slingshot senton combination. Pac takes Eddy’s head off with a spin kick. He misses the bronco buster and Eddy with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. The backdrop is telegraphed, Pac with an up kick and a shot for ‘the Crippler’ on the apron too. Double superkick to Eddy. Benoit drops an elbow to the back of Pac’s head to break up the cover and then nails Credible on the opposition apron before dragging Eddy over to their corner so he can make a tag. This great suplex where he suplexes Credible onto a laid out X-Pac. Rolling Germans. Pac pulls his partner out the way of the diving headbutt and a quick half nelson rolling cradle gets them the win. Eddy and Benoit stare a hole through each other after the match, leaving separately, the Radicalz a step closer to falling apart. I thought both Eddy and Benoit looked real good here.

Ric Flair is the special guest referee. Do I just switch this off now? Apparently he’s claimed that he’s calling this right down the middle although I won’t be holding my breath. Jarrett does an amusing Dusty impression before telling Dustin that he’s soon going to be out of here. Flair’s objectivity looks as though it hasn’t even lasted a minute, but as Jarrett goes to slug Dustin who‘s trapped in the corner, ‘the Boss’ hooks his arm to prevent him from doing so. Considering moments earlier he had done the same to Dustin when ‘Double J’ was boxed in, maybe, just maybe...nah. Dustin throws Jarrett to the floor, mounting him on the ramp and unleashing a barrage of punches, out to get some revenge for the way he humiliated his old man. They return to the ring where Dustin lands a superplex. Flair is taking his time to get down to count, then when he does, delays for several additional seconds between each one. As expected. Scott Hudson does have a funny line about Flair’s arthritis playing up. Dustin calls it “bullshit” as he and ‘the Boss’ exchange shoves. It gets worse, Flair pulling down the top rope so Rhodes goes sailing out over it. Talking of out, that’s what I am. While Dustin makes Flair pay with a bulldog and Shattered Dreams, it’s a Flair low blow that leads to Jarrett being able to hit the Stroke. Just as Nitro ends Booker T, the Cat and DDP hit the ring from through the crowd. If I ever see a heel referee again it will be too soon.

Evan Karagias is seconding Shannon as they recap his turn on Jamie Noble and the reuniting of two-thirds of 3 Count. Shane has got some new music, although it’s not yet ‘Vertebreaker’. While his victory at Superbrawl is being recapped, Shannon gets the jump on him. He climbs the turnbuckles to rain down some punches but Shannon picks him up and comes running out with a Liger bomb. Scott Hudson, who is fast turning into WCW’s version of Joey Styles with all these names he makes up for moves, calls that the Sugar bomb. Helms slugs Shannon to the floor, however as he chases him around ringside and back into the ring, when he tries to slide in himself Karagias grabs him by the pants allowing Shannon to take over. Tumbleweed off the top. Shane avoids the charge, Sugar Smack and he’s back in control already. Karagias pulls Helms to the outside, but he’s giving as good as he gets and Shannon’s tope con hilo ends up wiping out his own partner rather than his opponent. High crossbody for a near fall. He calls for the Vertebreaker when Karagias is up on the apron distracting him. Shannon tries to take advantage but Helms reverses the Bottoms Up into the Vertebreaker for the win. As Shane celebrates the victory he’s jumped by Chavo Guerrero Jr who orchestrates a three on one attack on his rival. A short match and it already feels like Helms is now some way ahead of his former partners.

After Booker had evened things up at the end of the previous match, the World champion, who is still in the aisle, mocks him, saying how DDP said he was going to bring “somebody” when all Booker T is is a “nobody”. Seeing that Steiner has got some buddies with him, Booker responds that he’s got some buddies of his own and why don’t they do this right now? When Booker mentions Midajah that sets Steiner off who tells Ric Flair to make the match. ‘The Boss’ does and the six-man is on. Flair sticks around, joining the commentary team and promising that Booker will be a dead man by the time this is over. After the initial brawl things settle down. Bagwell starts dancing so Page surprises him with a clothesline from the top turnbuckle. Big sit-out powerbomb that Buff kicks out of. Booker immediately makes a charge for Steiner on his first entrance, the champ though just dropping down from the apron out of range. The Cat gets kneed in the back as he hits the ropes allowing Luger to nail him with a running forearm. Steiner puts him over his shoulder, running him into their corner, before distracting the referee so that Totally Buff can get some double teaming in. There’s a clear game plan from the heel trio to isolate the weakest member of the opposition. Bagwell throws Cat to the floor, draws his partners into the ring and then as the ref tries to get them back outside, Steiner uses a chair against him. Back inside the official fails to see Cat’s tag, an incensed Booker ushered out to his corner. Luger runs into a back elbow and Cat with a jumping thrust kick. Hot tag to Page who jabs away at Lex. He’s briefly handling all three of them but concentrates his efforts too much on Steiner. Buff and DDP each throw lariats at the same time, Page falling on top for a near fall. Flair is extremely excitable on commentary. Booker is in with Tony Schiavone thinking he’s never looked better. Bagwell catches him with a double arm DDT while at the same time his partners lay out the Cat and Page, so when Booker looks for a tag there is no-one there and he’s all alone. With Booker worn down Steiner now wants him and gives him a belly to belly. The champ throws him to the floor but Booker reverses the whip into the railing. Page and Cat have recovered and they take it to Totally Buff. Missile dropkick by Booker, Steiner barely getting a shoulder up. Luger clobbers Booker from behind stopping his momentum. Steiner T-Bones Cat and then puts him in the Recliner. Booker slugs ‘BPP’ from the apron and clotheslines him across the top rope, staggering into a Diamond Cutter. Blockbuster on Page, swiftly followed by the Book End on Buff. Just Steiner and Booker remain, Booker landing an axe kick and getting a pin over the World champion. The faces don’t stick around too long, into the crowd as they see the rest of the Magnificent Seven on their way. A shockingly good match with a great closing stretch. WCW has primarily been a tale of strong undercard matches, mainly with the Cruisers, and some utter filth on top, this is one I’d recommend going out of your way to check out.

The Cat stepped down as Commissioner earlier in the show, wanting to concentrate his efforts on Chris Kanyon who took out Ms. Jones. That Kanyon’s getting everywhere at the moment! Non-title match, Steiner not here as the U.S. champion, here as a hired Hitman for Ric Flair who wants to eliminate anyone who could potentially stand in his way before the new ownership. Belly to belly, Steinerline, threatening of the referee, same old same old from ‘the DFG’. Cat’s arm drops twice but not the third time on the reverse chinlock, his comeback cut off with a knee to the mid-section. Some nice knees from the North South position in a rare bit of Steiner praise from me. Low blow. Some terrible kicks by the Karate practitioner. Steiner ducks the Feliner and Cat accidentally takes out referee Scott Armstrong with it. An enzuigiri sends the ‘DFG’ to the floor where Cat starts choking him with some cable. Totally Buff jump Cat, Hugh Morrus out for the save, the former General having had issues with Steiner on Thunder. Morrus wallops Steiner with his knee brace, Cat connects with a jumping kick and Armstrong has recovered to count the fall. Scott Steiner jumps the Cat post-match and despite DDP trying to even things up the faces remain outmanned. That is until Booker T returns to a thunderous response. Uninspiring and insipid action.

Schiavone talks about Palumbo’s win over Lex Luger on Thunder as one of the biggest wins of his career and one that will surely give them the momentum going into Greed. O’Haire calls out “the Canadians” over what they did to Kronik earlier, wanting to make the ring into a murder scene with the two of them. He only had a couple of lines there but it wasn’t pretty. We return from a commercial with the match already in progress. Schiavone emphasises that this is non-title, most likely emphasising the result too. Storm is in to break up a pin attempt and as Palumbo turns to say something to him, gets flattened by an Awesome lariat. Double clothesline by the Canadians. Palumbo catches Storm on the leap frog and launches him with a fallaway slam. For some reason he decides to take a pot shot at Awesome on the apron, that allows Storm to get to his feet and measure the superkick. Slingshot shoulderblock by Awesome. Alabama slam. He draws O’Haire into the ring so they can double team Chucky behind the referee’s back. With the Canadians in control, Lex Luger’s music starts playing on the Nitrovision. That distracts everyone and from out of nowhere comes Kanyon who pulls O’Haire from the apron to the floor and gives him a Flatliner on the ringside mats. Palumbo on his own fights back, nailing Storm with the Jungle kick. Awesome was supposed to hit him with something off the top but slipped on the ropes and improvised with a clothesline, Storm then applies the Canadian Maple Leaf for the tap. The commentators talk about that catapulting them into the “Top Two” when it comes to contenders, although wonder why Kanyon got involved in things. As they celebrate their victory on the rampway they’re jumped by K-Dawg just as we go to a commercial. I’d rather we got a long form match of this at Greed as opposed to Palumbo & O’Haire defending against Totally Buff, one not joined in progress and not one the backdrop for some other angle. Like the commentators I’m at a loss as to why Kanyon involved himself in this. On returning from the advertisements O’Haire challenged Kanyon to a match later in the show (which he won), the only thing I can think of for that is with O’Haire being someone Bischoff planned to put the rocket boosters on when he purchased the company they wanted to see how he looked as a singles at this point when in with an upper level worker like Kanyon.

First match in the Cruiserweight tag team title tournament. Tony Schiavone notes that Swinger has wrestled previously in WCW back in 1999, however he didn’t want to conform and was a renegade. That sounds like some sort of inside remark about him going to ECW. Jason Lee is the same Jason Lee from the Suicide Blondes in OVW. The first time that the two have ever teamed up together but this was an opportunity to big to turn down! Rey is wearing some weird half mask. Sit-out uranage by Lee on Kidman. He telegraphs the backdrop and a combination double chicken wing/springboard dropkick from the Animals pancakes him to the mat. Lee gets his knees up on the Lionsault as the underdogs look to take over. Double front suplex, dumping Rey across the top rope. Cobra clutch Russian legsweep followed by a sit-out swinging neckbreaker, Kidman in to break up the cover. Both men have the same idea on the running crossbody and they both go down. Hot tag to Kidman who is all over them. Rey leaps off the back of Kidman, like for a Poetry in Motion, but instead forearms Lee across the face. Bronco buster. Swinger is in from behind, but Rey pulls down the top rope and he ends up on the outside. Rey fakes them out on the dive and when they turn back around catches them with a double clothesline off the apron. Springboard Shooting Star by Kidman to the floor. Back inside Rey takes care of Swinger with a headscissors, they then hit the Nutcracker on Lee and Kidman with the Kid Crusher, becoming the first team to advance to the semi-finals. Seeing so many of his old ECW contemporaries are earning a living on the independent scene Swinger did well to get picked up by WCW, especially as you would think he wouldn’t be high on the list of guys a company would be looking to sign from the Extreme ashes. From what I remember Lee took this gig without informing Jim Cornette. Good short match. I forget who wins the tournament but Rey & Kidman should make it to the finals at least, that way they’re either the right team to be the first champions or they give someone the big rub by having them beat them.

Tazz is substituting for ‘the King’ on commentary duties for this match. These two are fighting for the right of the Kat to get naked; if Lawler wins that’s exactly what she does, if Richards wins then she has to join the Right to Censor. Ivory and the Kat are in the respective corners. Richards takes three trips to the outside in the opening few minutes, even removing his shirt after the second to show he’s serious. Tazz clearly thinks that as he’s standing in for Lawler he must pattern himself after him, wishing Ivory would take her shirt off also. ‘The King’ follows Richards to the floor where Ivory is in his face, running her mouth and pointing her finger at him. The Kat is around and as Lawler holds Ivory, Kat slaps her. The distraction allows Richards to take advantage, sending ‘the King’ into the post. In the ring he goes for the Godfather’s Ho Train, but Lawler moves and he crashes into the turnbuckles. Ten punches in the corner becomes twenty-six, ‘the King’ seemingly only stopping because he was getting tired. A pair of DDT’s, however Ivory is up on the apron so a preoccupied Teddy Long doesn’t see the cover as he deals with her. That brings the Kat in and this all gets a bit of a mess from here with the women and Teddy. Kat’s interference ultimately costs her as she goes to clock Richards with Ivory’s Women’s title but ends up accidentally nailing Lawler instead, the KO’d King easy pickings from there. Post-match the rest of the Right to Censor are out, they cover Kat in a black gown and Sean Morley puts her over his shoulder to carry her to the back. Considering the match they had that aired on MCW TV this was a let down and not a patch on that. I like Ivory but the women weren’t good here. Also can’t believe they at least didn’t repeat the spot of Lawler pulling down the strap and then Richards pulling it back up!

No audio for Kanemura’s entrance so I’m singing ‘Come Out and Play’ to myself as he does his dance, the sound kicking in about the 1:20 mark. Shinniwa, from behind, reminds me very much of the Great Kabuki. Like all the IWA Japan that I’ve watched so far, this is just extended highlights. Shinniwa catches Kanemura with a sweet powerslam and a running shoulder charge sends him to the outside. Kanemura fights back and piles a bunch of chairs up but ends up being bodyslammed onto them. He does reverse a whip on the floor, Shinniwa taking out several rows of seats. We lose them in the crowd, although the crowd gasp, so something happened. Kanemura puts a table over his shoulder which he runs into Shinniwa’s head. Back inside he hangs him upside down in the corner, jams one end of the table into his throat and then bashes the other end (the legs this end are open so the table is at a diagonal) with a chair. He lies him on a table at ringside but is too slow climbing the turnbuckles and Shinniwa slams him through it. Rotating powerslam. Kanemura takes a broken piece of wood and wallops Shinniwa over the head with it. The repeated shots have no effect Shinniwa acting like he’s Masato Tanaka after Balls Mahoney tried to kill him with a chair all those times. Powerbomb by Kanemura for a near fall, he then picks up the three with a senton off the top. We hear ‘Come Out and Play’ during the post-match so no copyright issues which I thought may have been why we didn’t hear it on his entrance.

The finals of the Anniversary Show Tag Team tournament. Beau James has been taken to the hospital after being bloodied up by the Batten Twins earlier in the night so Harrison is going solo, still wanting to take on the eight time SSW tag champions. As we’re about to start James returns, head all bandaged. Folk are trying to talk him out of wrestling but tonight is a celebration, so he’s going nowhere and climbs up onto the apron. Harrison with a hiptoss and a couple of dropkicks, not only taking his nickname from the Rock & Roll Express but also his move set. No idea if he claims to be some relation but ‘Ruthless’ Roger Anderson does bear a resemblance to Ole and seems to have modelled himself after him. James tags in and soon has the cut reopened, Parker & Anderson double teaming him in their corner. D&D continue to beat and pound away on Beau, Harrison in to break up the pinfall attempt. As if this couldn’t get any more 80s NWA, Parker loads a boot Thunderfoot style. James starts firing back from his knees, gets to his feet, throws more rights and makes the tag. Harrison takes care of business until D&D block a noggin knocker. They pick him up for their finisher (which looks like the old Don Kernodle & Ivan Koloff one) when Beau kicks the knee of Parker, Harrison collapsing on top. The referee counts the three, Anderson celebrates thinking they’ve won, but in fact Harrison got a shoulder up and it was him he counted to the mat. Harrison ends up running the heels off with a chair as they attack the official post-match. A bloodied Beau does his best Ian Rotten impersonation, addressing the fans, thanking them for their continued support and hoping they’ll be back for the next show as they can’t do this with out them. He even gets a bit emotional in his speech, bringing up the likes of Junkyard Dog and Mark Curtis who have passed, saying how it was guys like them who helped build the company. Abrupt finish aside, a better watch than the Beau James match we saw last year, although he doesn’t seem to be able to do much but bleed, talk and throw a good punch. I do get an 80s NWA vibe here, certainly as an influence, and it feels different to everything else that is going on in the U.S., a throwback if you will, which is not necessarily a bad thing.