GSR

Scott Hudson is referring to Chavo as ‘the Mind Gamer’, that’s a god-awful name even for him. A dropkick sends Chavo through the ropes to the outside. He rolls in to avoid the springboard and as Rey climbs up on the apron looks for a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor but that gets countered with a headscissors. Chavo rolls through on the springboard sunset flip, hits a gutbuster and then dumps Rey face first across the top rope. Rey blocks the suicideplex, shoving Chavo backwards to the mat. He turns his back on his opponent for a moonsault crossbody, although doesn’t realise that Chavo is already up and ends up tied in the Tree of Woe. There’s a gritty nastiness about the way he scrapes his boot across an upside down Rey’s face. He telegraphs his charge ending up going shoulder first into the ring post as Rey skins the cat up out of the way. Rey gets a two count following a sunset flip but is immediately floored with a lariat. Gory Special. The challenger powers his way out only to end up back in it a second time, this time Chavo dropping him chest first with the Gory Buster. There is an underlying story, from Schiavone at least, of the four knee operations that Rey has undergone. Chavo catches him on the Asai moonsault and puts him over his shoulder for Snake Eyes but Rey wriggles free and sends him crashing into the corner. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Springboard crossbody, however Chavo connects on a dropkick to the chest taking the wind out of him. STF. Rey fights to his feet, reverses the Irish whip and lands a spinning heel kick. Chavo uses Rey’s dungarees against him, grabbing hold of them to pull him to the floor. He drops him across the safety rail and then grabs a fan’s Rey mask which he proceeds to put on his opponent. A great belly to back, Chavo driving his forearm into the face on the cover. He’s too slow as he heads upstairs, Rey swiping his legs out before putting the mask on him. Top rope Frankensteiner. A headscissors sends Chavo through the ropes to the outside, Rey choosing not to follow him, instead trying to get some air into his lungs. Whoa, awesome somersault dive over the ring post, like the dive Essa Rios does nigh on every match. Springboard Thesz press. Rey slips on the Lionsault and immediately holds his knee. Considering that Rey is one of the most reliable guys there is and rarely botches things, I’ve going that that was planned, especially by the exaggerated Rey jumped onto the rope. If it was a botch Chavo covers for him with a cover, putting his feet on the ropes for added leverage. Chavo wedges a chair between the top turnbuckles and whips Rey towards it but he slides underneath it. Crazy ass springboard rana from the apron to the floor by Rey. Springboard falling headbutt, tornado DDT, he still can’t muster the three though. After the Bronco buster Rey goes over to use the chair that Chavo had wedged in the corner. Whilst referee Jamie Tucker tries to pry it away, unbeknownst, Chavo has ducked out and collected a second from under the ring. Lay in wait, when Rey grabs him he clocks him with it. Slingshot senton. One vicious brainbuster later the champion has retained, new number one contender Shane Helms next to chance on the horizon for him. What a match! One that felt like a battle and one that could’ve easily gone either way until the difference maker of the chair, Chavo resorting to underhand tactics to pick up the win. Maybe Rey’s slip on the Lionsault wasn’t planned and he almost slipped on that crazy rana off the apron too, but considering he was wrestling in boots, dungarees and had some ridiculous horns glued to his forehead it’s incredible he can do what he does. Chavo’s run of impressive performances in 2001 continues as well and he really was the glue that held this together. I went against how I have been watching things and deliberately left this match to watch last as I didn’t want to finish on an expected downer with Steiner vs Nash. I’m glad I did!

We get a recap from Nitro where Steiner took Nash out with a lead pipe, Tony Schiavone still running with the idea, which has been a show long theme, that they don’t know whether he will be here to wrestle or not. A tuxedo wearing Ric Flair is out, taking a seat at the broadcast table, Schiavone thinking it’s a travesty what he has become. The World champion interrupts Michael Buffer on his introductions as he doesn’t need him to tell him how great he is. Considering how much they pay Buffer, the WCW brass won’t be pleased they’re not getting their money out of him tonight. Steiner says he put Sting in hospital, took out Booker T, gave Goldberg the worse defeat of his career and broke Sid Vicious’ leg. That’s a bit far fetched taking credit for the latter. They replay the leg break on the big screen from various angles and also in slow mo. Flair is applauding ‘Big Poppa Pump’ through all of this. Steiner continues that no-one has seen Nash since he left the arena in an ambulance on Monday crying like a bitch. He tells him that he’s not going to get with it that easy and invites Flair into the ring. ‘The Boss’ thought Nash might “chicken out”, but that’s not what they’re about in the new WCW, they always want to give the people the best. As a result not only is the World title on the line tonight, but the loser of the match will have to leave WCW forever. Didn’t we just see this last month with Goldberg? Flair orders Charles Robinson to start counting, he gets halfway to ten when Nash’s music plays, ‘Big Sexy’ being wheeled out by two women dressed as nurses, his leg in a cast. Steiner has no sympathy for him but thinks he’s smart for not facing him and instructs Robinson to start another count. The champion turns away, climbing the turnbuckles to celebrate, not realising that Nash has pulled off his blanket to reveal it was a fake cast and that there is nothing wrong with him. Flair’s yelling at Steiner trying to tell him but he’s oblivious. Nash clocks Steiner with the title belt, the bell then rings, Nash with the cover and in a matter of seconds we have a new World champion. ‘The Boss’ is having a coronary and changes the rules on the fly, now decreeing that this is 2 out of 3 falls. Great! We cut away from the match to see Totally Buff jumping DDP backstage and locking him in a case. Steiner was busted open by that belt shot. ‘Killer’ clotheslines him over the top rope to the outside, however when he follows him out Midajah grabs him by the hair, tossing Steiner the lead pipe at the same time. Steiner then clocks Nash with the pipe, knocking him cold. He’s unable to move the dead weighted Nash, so goes over to have a quick word with Flair, who then announces this is also Falls Count Anywhere. ‘BPP’ covers Nash on the floor and we’re all tied up at one fall apiece. Steiner has got hold of some brass knux which he uses to open Nash up. In the ring it’s the same routine from Steiner that he does every match. Nash starts to mount a comeback so Flair passes Steiner a chair and as Midajah holds Nash’s ankle he blasts him with it. “He’s dead!” shouts Schiavone. A terrible looking Recliner that ‘Killer’ powers out of (“he’s superhuman!”), the first person ever to do so. I’ll give him some credit here he’s added a chokeslam to his repertoire, Steiner having to kick out of the cover as Midajah was late getting to Robinson to break it up. Nash runs through his regular offense, even hitting the Jackknife powerbomb. Midajah is in again, jumping on Robinson to stop the count. Maybe she wasn’t late last time and got her cue wrong? Side slam on Midajah takes her out the game. Nash re-covers Steiner and now Flair pulls Robinson from the ring at two. Little Naitch then takes the best bump of the match when Flair slugs him. Steiner with a low blow before nailing Nash with another chair shot. Slick Johnson is out to replace Robinson, a second Recliner and the unconscious Nash’s arm drops three times, ‘Big Sexy’ gone from WCW. Schiavone says “this sucks!” Never has a truer word been spoken, and I’m not talking about Nash losing and being gone from WCW. This was his final match in the company; maybe they would’ve bought him and Goldberg back at the same time? We’ll never know. Pitiful stuff and the changing of the match stipulations is up there with the heel ref garbage. A shit finish to what had been a strong PPV, at least when it comes to the matches I watched from it.

Taking place immediately after Jarrett’s interference had led to Kanyon defeating DDP. Kanyon barely celebrating his win before grabbing the microphone to introduce things: “The next match is scheduled for one fall with a two hour time limit. Introducing first, the former master of the Diamond Cutter, Diamond Dallas Page. His opponent, a former four time, four time, four time, four time champion of the world, ‘the Chosen One’ Jeff Jarrett.” The bloodied Page pulls himself to his feet using the ropes but the fresh Jarrett is ready, ducking his shot and clotheslining him over the top to the outside. They fight into the crowd were ‘Double J’ whips him into the walls. DDP is able to get the initiative when Jarrett picks up a garbage can as they then make their way back to ringside. DDT on the announcers table. The Diamond Cutter is blocked, Jarrett shoving Page off into the railing before landing in the lap of Tony Schiavone. Jarrett jabs those perennially injured ribs of his with a chair. Sleeper hold. Some quality selling by Page, his eyes visibly rolling back in his head. Just like in the previous match the “D-D-P” chant recharges his batteries and he battles his way out of it. Desperation DDT and both men are down. At the count of nine Page drapes an arm over the seemingly unconscious Jarrett, however he’s able to get a shoulder up. Belly to back followed by a belly to belly but he still can’t put ‘Double J’ away. Face first piledriver looks to have done it when back comes Kanyon, breaking up the cover by dragging Page out to the floor. “Someone take a ball bat and knock that maniac out!” screams Tony Schiavone. As Kanyon backs off Jarrett blindsides Page with a steel chair. A great near fall as DDP somehow kicks out. Kanyon passes Jarrett his guitar but he accidentally ends up breaking it over his head as Page avoids the shot. Diamond Cutter and this one’s over. “One for the story books!” says Scott Hudson. Going by his comments I liked this more than Chad but agree that the Kanyon match was the stronger of the two. I think Jarrett is one of Page’s better opponents and even though they favoured a more brawling style here felt that they delivered. When it comes to getting the fans behind them, Page has few, if any, equals at this time.

The Cat has regained the Commissionership, however he won’t be starting until Midnight tonight so Ric Flair has had him removed from the building. Tony Schiavone thinks that ‘the Boss’ is up to something. Jeff Jarrett is out for his scheduled match with DDP, although stops at the top of the stage. He says that last week Diamond Dallas Page sent out a challenge to Kanyon for a match “any time, any place,” and gets the guys in the truck to play a video of him making it. Jarrett announces that time is now and Page’s big fat mouth wrote a cheque that his old decrepit body is going to have to cash. Already approved by Ric Flair he then introduces DDP’s opponent for the match, Chris Kanyon. With his eyes on the stage, Kanyon comes from under the ring (it makes a change from through the crowd) to jump DDP from behind. Page flattens him with a discus lariat and then chokes Kanyon with his own shirt, hurling him to the outside where he whips him into the guardrail. He throws him back inside and comes off the top with a clothesline. DDP mounts the turnbuckles to unload with punches but Kanyon gets in a low blow as Page tumbles out to the floor. Sicilian Slice off the apron onto the ring steps. That’s opened up a cut on the side of Page’s face. Kanyon stands on the second rope and suplexes him back into the ring. Northern Lights suplex for a two. The “D-D-P” chant rallies him and he fights his way out of the rear chinlock only to get caught with a swinging neckbreaker. Each man ducks a shot before a short arm clothesline floors Kanyon. Both men are down and while Kanyon is first to get to his feet, a big uranage folds him in half, barely getting a shoulder up on the cover. The attempted piledriver is countered with a sit-out Alabama slam. Sit-out powerbomb by Page. He signals for the Diamond Cutter, but Kanyon blocks and hits the Kanyon Cutter. Page kicks out and here comes Jeff Jarrett down the aisle and onto the apron. Irish whip is reversed and Kanyon crashes into ‘Double J’. Schoolboy, but on kicking Page off he lands on the referee. That was a soft looking bump. Jarrett with the Stroke, Flatliner by Kanyon and it’s a “travesty of justice” according to Tony Schiavone. Kanyon picks up the microphone, you think to rub his win in Page’s face, only he’s playing ring announcer introducing the next match. “The next match is scheduled for one fall with a two hour time limit. Introducing first, the former master of the Diamond Cutter, Diamond Dallas Page. His opponent, a former four time, four time, four time, four time champion of the world, ‘the Chosen One’ Jeff Jarrett.” Kanyon looked tremendous here, working a brisk pace and it’s as if being back has lit a fire under him. He’s also a perfect foil for Page who more often than not tends to mirror his opponent. What I mean is that if he’s in there with a bad worker that can draw him down to their level, against better guys he works better. The ref bump was soft but this was a good match.

During the pre-game show Road Warrior Animal attacked Billy Kidman as he was being interviewed by Mike Tenay, taking him out of the match. Tony Schiavone notes that there will be a replacement but at the moment he doesn’t know who that replacement will be. The replacement, who turns out to be Shane Helms, is an excellent choice as he was unfortunate not to be in this originally. Seeing these six in the ring I’ve realised it’s just another variation of the 3 Count vs Jung Dragons match. Scott Hudson is hinting at tension between Helms and Moore with Shane being the replacement. Noble counters the sleeper slam with a belly to back. Helms make a blind tag and Shannon then launches Jamie at him, Shane hitting a big sit-out powerbomb. They toss him to the floor before Karagias clothesline Helms out to join him. Evan sidesteps a charging Shannon who takes one of his trademark barmy flat back bumps out to ringside. Stereo Asai moonsaults by the Dragons. Springboard crossbody by Karagias. Kaz lands on his feet from a German and a headscissors sends Noble into the middle turnbuckle. Nice sequence from Jamie and Yang ending with a Noble neckbreaker. There’s an ugly spot between Yang and Karagias where they pretty much just run into each other, forgetting what they were supposed to do. Evan with a full nelson slam but this is the worst stuff of the match. Jeez, he then overshoots a reverse springboard splash. Helms tags himself in to rescue this. Some good teamwork from 3 Count busting out the Samoan drop/neckbreaker combo. Springboard tornado DDT by Yang on Shannon. Shane with a suicideplex on Kaz. He avoids Yang’s top rope splash and that ends up with everyone being down after they all miss dives. The Sugar Smack sends Yang over the top to the outside. Combination X-plex/spinning heel kick by 3 Count. Froggy crossbody to Yang. Dive train and the fans are giving them a standing ovation. Evan plants Kaz with a spinebuster. Springboard missile dropkick/powerbomb double team, the Noble & Karagias team then have the same issue they did in the qualifier, arguing over who gets to make the cover. This is every bit as daft here as it was there, especially as elimination rules are in operation and this won’t be over. Yang dropkicks Jamie into Evan who backdrops him out to the floor. Botch central as Yang whiffs on a spin kick, we get a crappy looking Russian legsweep and he then slips on the Lionsault. Some reverse piledriver puts Karagias away but this was so bad the fans are booing them. Yang doesn’t stick around anyway, a Noble tombstone eliminating him immediately. Shannon attacks Jamie as he heads upstairs, top rope Bottoms Up and now he’s gone. They’re dropping like flies here. It’s now effectively 3 Count versus Kaz Hayashi in a handicap match. Quality backslide/guillotine legdrop combination. Shane goes for a Vertebreaker but Shannon with the Bottoms Up on his own partner. Kaz breaks up the pin with a kick to the head although kicks referee Scott Armstrong at the same time. I think this was accidental and not a scheduled ref bump. Helms pulls Kaz off so he can stomp a hole in Shannon, in disbelief at what he just did. Shannon blocks the Sugar Smack and kicks Shane between the legs. Moore makes an agreement to work with Kaz though quickly double crosses him. He goes for the Bottoms Up but Shane grabs him and hits the Nightmare as we are down to our final two. Hudson thinks we may very well have seen the end of 3 Count there. Kaz blocks the Nightmare and counters wit a German suplex for a near fall. It’s noted that was the move that beat him last time out so he had remembered it from then. Neckbreaker by Shane. Super sunset flip, but Kaz rolls through and takes Helms’ head off with a kick. Shane is eventually able to land the Vertebreaker and the man who wasn’t even originally scheduled to be part of the match takes advantage of the situation to earn himself a shot at the Cruiserweight title. Okay four of these were in another league to the other two, one of whom blew as much as he hit and the other of whom was rank bad, but I still thought this was a great match. There was a plenty of innovative stuff, there were storylines flowing through it and there were call backs to previous matches. I was surprised when Helms lost to Kaz in the qualifier so I wonder if this was always the plan and part of some long term booking or whether I’m giving them more credit that they deserve. Order of how they shined - Helms, Kaz, Noble, Shannon, Yang and Karagias.

Stasiak gets some heat in his pre-match promo by ragging on the local football team. I think that answers my question as to who will be the heels in this match. Yeah, O’Haire and Palumbo are getting cheered. The bell sounds and everyone’s immediately going at it until the official is able to get one man from each team out onto the apron. Stasiak is throwing some stiff looking clotheslines to O’Haire. Jindrak accidentally stomps his own man when coming in to break up a cover. O’Haire hot shots Jindrak across the top rope. Scott Hudson has christened him ‘the Maniac’ as they to emphasise what a hot temper he has. Palumbo counters the hip toss with one of his own before slingshotting Jindrak into his own partner. Stasiak gets nailed when breaking up a pin but he’s done his job, Palumbo forgetting about the legal man and Jindrak slugging him as the challengers set about looking to capitalise. Double side slam, double kip up, double elbow drop. Schiavone is claiming that Stasiak is 6’5” and that Palumbo is 6’8”! Running bulldog. Chuckie gets trapped in the wrong corner Stasiak standing on his throat. Jindrak slaps on a rear chinlock while Stasiak trash talks O’Haire from across the ring. Charles Robinson catches him using the ropes for leverage and he’s forced to break the hold. O’Haire can’t take it any more and he’s in, to a strong reaction, but as Robinson ushers him back out the challengers drag Palumbo to their own corner for some more double teaming. Stasiak with a Fujiwara armbar that he quickly gives up on. Great tilt-a-whirl slam by Jindrak. Palumbo rolls out the way of a top rope splash and tags “the caged animal” who lays everyone to waste with short clotheslines. O’Haire floors Jindrak and then drops Stasiak with a standing side kick. He heads upstairs for the Seanton bomb; Stasiak pulls his partner out of harms way, however walks into a Jungle kick himself. Seanton bomb and the champions retain. Good match, one where I was surprised that they cut out the amount of aerial stuff they normally do and tried to wrestle it more traditionally. He clearly doesn’t have the upside of the other three but I didn’t think Stasiak was bad here, although maybe limit the number of times he wipes his brow during a match! Really liked the finish of this.

We get the ring introductions and then this immediately jumps to the final fall where Milano and Saito are slapping the shit out of each other. Milano is a flexible so and so the way Saito stretches him. Saito with a rolling Fisherman suplex, Milano blocks the third and they exchange reversals before Milano locks in a step over toe hold/full nelson combination (think STF position but he’s got him in a full nelson opposed to a crossface). Handspring elbow followed by a stunner which started by him running up the turnbuckles. He goes for a Lionsault but Saito snatches him and hits a German for a two. The eliminated fighters are going at it on the floor, the second time that’s happened. Milano with a face first suplex. Corkscrew Lionsault, he then applies the AT Lock for the submission. There’s some sort of post-match presentation as Saito is holding a plaque and saying a few words to the crowd. All in all we saw approximately four minutes of a thirty three minute bout. Milano’s got a unique, innovative set of moves for someone who is not that familiar with him.

Jim Cornette updates us on events from earlier in the night, Brock Lesnar having been taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle. Orton gets the knees up on a Vader bomb, dropkicks Mr Black from the ring and then jumps out himself to collect a garbage can full of toys. He dents a trash can over the Hardcore champion’s head and then makes use of an aluminium bat and a bowling ball. Black ducks under the clothesline and a big boot floors the challenger. He whips Orton with a leather strap before tying a noose around his neck. Only in the South! As he goes to run him into a chair that he’d wedged between the turnbuckles, Randy puts on the breaks and shoves Black into it. Bolin Services look to interfere, but when Jerome Croney comes off the top with a trash can, Orton moves and he accidentally nails his own man instead. One full nelson slam later and Orton, just like the Minnesota Stretching Crew days earlier, picks up his first professional wrestling championship.

The show opens with clips of a Minnesota Stretching Crew vs Disciples of Synn match from a spot show that looks like it’s being held in a nightclub. Synn’s interference ended up backfiring and the MSC defeat them, using the Rocket Launcher, to win the Southern tag team titles. We’re back at the Davis Arena after the previous two weeks of TV consisted of highlights from Christmas Chaos. First title defense for the ‘Stretching Crew’ against the team they beat for the straps. Some girl in the front row tries to hand Synn a balloon which she swipes out her hands and kicks away. From Corny’s commentary it sounds like this is part of some angle, although I don’t recognise the girl playing the fan. Damien backs Shelton into the Disciples’ corner and Payne helping on the double team only brings in Lesnar who hiptosses the pair half way across the ring. Shelton with an armdrag which saw him leap to the top rope and then take a few steps across it. Not a hope in hells chance he’d be allowed to do that on the main roster! We’re informed that Leviathan has been suspended indefinitely following his actions at Christmas Chaos. After the loss to Kane he went berserk in the locker room and a WWF official was injured in the fracas. Shelton lands on his feet from a Payne backdrop and superkicks him under the chin for a two. Lesnar backdrops him over the top rope, Cornette saying how the ref made a judgment call not to DQ him. However when he presses Damien and throws him out onto Payne he doesn’t even try to justify that, just ignoring it. Double uranage. Payne ducks a second superkick and hits a modified Sky High as the momentum in the match changes. Top rope elbow by Damien. The DoS are on the charge and Brock is twice forced to save his partner. Face first suplex. Shelton doesn’t see the blind tag and as he rolls Damien up he’s easy pickings for a Payne implant DDT. The powerbomb is countered into a face jam but Shelton is in the wrong corner, scooting between Damien’s legs to make the hot tag. Head & Arm suplex on Damien and a powerslam for Payne. When Payne breaks up a pin attempts that brings Shelton back in as referee Robert Brisco starts to lose all control. Brock runs into Payne’s raised feet, he then pulls him towards the ring post and cracks his ankle against it with a chair. Brisco saw it though and calls for the DQ. Cornette’s volume levels having raised about ten decibels on that. Lesnar is helpless, clutching at that ankle, while the DoS double team Shelton. To add insult to injury Synn whips him with her cat o’ nine tails. Referees and security who come out to try and restore order get disposed of, the final act seeing Synn throwing fire at one of the security staff, which leads to Dean Hill blaspheming and Corny calling her a “little red headed bitch”. Pretty good action, although yet another disqualification in OVW and, not including the title change, that’s the second televised DQ finish in a row between these teams.

Raven’s shopping cart contains a toy Frankenstein among the obligatory trash cans, signs, baking trays etc. In a pre-match interview he implies that he’s taking this match because if he defeats the Big Show it will mean that he is the greatest Hardcore champion of all time, when in fact it transpires he was forced to take the match by Mr McMahon. Raven hits Show over the head with all sorts of weapons, none of which have any effect as he no sells everything. He picks up a kitchen sink, because he’s hit him with everything but, and that does at least stagger Show. The challenger flips Raven to the outside, pummelling him with those massive fists, when Ninja lady shows up, caning him across the back. Like pretty much everything in the match that has no effect, Show even stopping the trolley in it’s tracks with a big foot when Raven goes to run him over with it. Back inside a thrust kick drops Raven, at which point out sprint Kaientai. We’re reminded that 24/7 rules are in operation so that explains that, they too have their eyes on the ‘prestigious’ Hardcore belt. Funaki tries to steal the pin but he and Taka get chokeslammed for their efforts. That’s the start of a glut of run ins from the WWF bottom tier crew (Albert, K-Kwik, Val Venis). Raven picks up a trash can which Show punches into his face in an amusing spot. He falls through the ropes to the floor before Show pursues him through the crowd backstage. Tazz even making a cameo, getting dumped across a guardrail. Show dunks Raven in a basketball hoop. Yet more run ins, Bob Holly and Steve Blackman this time. As the two team up against Show, Raven takes the opportunity to scarper, Ninja lady dragging him off out of there as the match just ends. Take it this was a no-contest/no-decision. So this is what’s next for the Big Show, challenging for the Hardcore title. That’s some plummet if it is the case. Entertaining enough, even more so if you want to see eight guys, admittedly all not at the same time, be no match for Show.

We get a recap from Monday night where X-Pac attacked Jericho in his match with Eddy Guerrero, and where, later in the show, Y2J jumped Eddy when he was facing Too Cool. The latter also saw the debut of Justin Credible identified as a former ECW World champion. Considering how many ECW alumni we’ve already seen on the Indy scene, Credible did well to get signed almost immediately after the company’s collapse. X-Pac is out to the old D-Generation X theme. Great spinning heel kick by Pac. Jericho returns fire with one of his own sending Pac out onto the apron. Springboard shoulderblock. He’s definitely trying to mix things up and not make his stuff as predictable. Pac whips him into the barricade before levelling him with a spin kick. Flying crossbody off the top, Jericho using Pac’s momentum to roll through on it for a two. Y2J gets dropped in the corner but avoids the bronco buster. Flying forearm followed by a bulldog. He charges at Pac who hot shots him across the top rope. Bronco buster at the second time of asking. Pac climbs the turnbuckles to celebrate, however Jericho is up and underneath him, powerbombing him to the mat. He locks on the Walls but they’re too close to the ropes. Jericho inexplicably shoves referee Teddy Long and Pac low blows him. X-Factor, and as it looks like this one is in the bag, Eddy Guerrero sprints out from the dressing room to attack Pac. Justin Credible comes to Pac’s rescue, the two double teaming Guerrero until a chair wielding Jericho cleans house. Unable to get a shot in on them he blasts Eddy with the chair instead.

We finally have stipulations for Austin vs HHH at the Pay Per View. These were laid out by ‘the Game’ earlier in the show and it will be 2/3 falls; the first fall a regular match, the second fall a street fight, and the final fall a cage match where there will be “no way out” for either man. Lots of throwing of leather, kicking and stomping early. Benoit does that cool Michael Modest arm wringer into the canvas. Austin reverses the whip to the corner and clotheslines him in the back of the head before returning to stomping a mud hole in him. ‘The Crippler’ floats over on the suplex and lays in some hard knife edge chops, red welts already appearing on ‘the Rattlesnake’s’ chest. He escapes the first attempt at the Stunner and when Austin goes for it a second time counters with the crossface, ‘Stone Cold’ getting to the ropes right at the moment Benoit has it locked in. Austin catches a kick and applies an STF, something different from him. Triple H makes his way out, Austin pointing at him as he mule kicks ‘the Crippler’. He slams his leg across the apron but then Benoit kicks him off sending ‘the Rattlesnake’ flying over the announce table into the commentator’s laps. ‘The Crippler’ is relentless as he pours it on. Belly to back suplex followed by a diving headbutt, HHH having a wry smile on his face as he watches on. Austin with an inside cradle, but ‘the Game’ is on the apron distracting Tim White who doesn’t see it. He slides ‘the Crippler’ a chair and goes back to distracting White, however when Benoit picks it up over his head to crack ‘the Rattlesnake’, Austin boots him in the gut. Stunner, three, Triple H throwing a fit as his plan and intention to screw ‘Stone Cold’ backfires. Good little brawl out of these two with Austin even busting out an STF in there as he seemed super motivated (not that he isn’t usually) getting to work with Benoit. Things continue to build nicely for the PPV, Triple H and ‘Stone Cold’ still trying to screw the other while refraining from putting their hands on them.

“Holy slapnuts!” Jarrett insults the crowd saying that this looks like the World’s largest inbred family reunion and promising to bring his guitar down over Diamond Dallas’ head if he gets the chance. Just as the match is about to start we cutaway to clips of Rhodes’ win over Steiner on Nitro where he got reinstated, returning to see everyone going at it on the floor. Page makes a blind tag and comes off the top with a flying clothesline,. Swinging neckbreaker. Steiner reverses the Irish whip, Jarrett kneeing Dustin in the back as he hits the ropes, turning the match in their direction. Belly to belly. Back elbow and Dustin goes down hard. Quality little sunset flip, Jarrett fighting it for all he’s worth before eventually being taken down. ‘The DFG’ tosses Rhodes out to the floor, providing the distraction so that Jarrett can slam him into the ringpost. Dustin kicks out after the Steinerline and Rick is in the face of Slick Johnson, Page taking a swing from the apron as he browbeats the official. Sleeper is reversed and Jarrett with a belly to back to escape. Hot tag to Page who’s throwing rights and discus lariats for all he’s worth. Sit-out powerbomb on Jarrett, Steiner in to make the save. He lands another belly to belly followed by a top rope bulldog, Dustin dropping an elbow to the back of the ‘DFG’s’ to break up the cover. The two end up on the outside where Steiner posts him. Jarrett shoots Page off to escape the Diamond Cutter, Steiner nails him and Jarrett with the Stroke for the win. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ and his metal pipe show up post-match, Scotty bringing the pipe down onto DDP’s ribs several times. Hugh Morrus and Kronik make the save, leading to more members of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ coming out. They’re followed by security, Steiner wildly swinging that pipe at the heads of security. Only problem is you can clearly see that the pipe bending so it’s obviously made of rubber or something. Finally he swings the pipe at a member of security’s leg “breaking it” as they continue to play off what happened at Sin. Solid match considering, anything involving Steiner tends to be a struggle, with Page and Dustin making an impressive unit.

Lance Storm is the new Commissioner of WCW after defeating the Cat. Mike Sanders goes to see him but Storm takes exception to being called “Lance”, “Did anyone call you Mike when you were Commissioner?” The new Commissioner has got a job for him anyway, wanting him to take care of Kwee Wee who has sent him a note asking if he can put in a word with Ric Flair for him. Sanders promises to do that, although Lance warns him to watch promising things if can’t deliver. They’re referring to Sanders as Flair’s, the man that Kwee Wee is trying to win favour with, protégé. Sanders is grinning at his opponent, even blowing him a kiss at one point. A slap across the face awakens ‘Angry Alan’ and this is on. Sanders counters the piledriver with a backdrop, however showboats prior to dropping the knee and Kwee Wee moves out the way. Kwee Wee tries to suplex him from the apron to the outside but Sanders slips down his back looking for a powerbomb onto the concrete. He’s able to reverse that though into a huracanrana. Sunset flip off the apron to the floor! Back inside Sanders keeps hold of the arm on the Irish whip, slides back through Kwee Wee’s legs and hits a pumphandle belly to back. Kwee Wee escapes the side headlock and then repeatedly slams Sander’s face into the mat before whipping him from post to post. The fans are surprisingly behind Kwee Wee here. Forward roll slam, the commentators talking about what a big win this would be to show Flair what he’s all about. Just as it appears he’s got this one in the bag he misses a charge to the corner, going shoulder first into the ringpost. Sanders quickly schoolboys him, hooking the tights at the same time, and gets the win. Mike Tenay thinks tactics like that are a good way to impress his mentor, ‘the Dirtiest Player in the Game’, and he will have liked what he saw. Kwee Wee is a guilty pleasure of mine. He worked hard as he always does and as a result this was an enjoyable TV bout.

Another preview for the Superbrawl tag, this time featuring the two members of the teams who didn’t face off on Nitro. Mike Tenay talks about how, as we entered 2001, it looked like the ‘Natural Born Thrillers’ were close to taking over WCW but jealousy tore the group apart. Springboard armdrag by Jindrak. Tenay points out that these two will know each other inside out, not only because they used to team together, but also because they trained in the Power Plant at the same time, as a result the one who varies their offence the most is likely to come out on top. O’Haire with a suplex, lifting Jindrak vertical and then just letting him go. A big boot to the chest sends Jindrak under the bottom rope to the outside. He goes to the well once too often with the right hands and Jindrak gets a foot up. Running crossbody off the ring steps! O’Haire holds onto the attempted whip, reversing it, before flooring Jindrak with a short arm clothesline. Seanton bomb off the steps! As O’Haire climbs the turnbuckles, Jindrak dropkicks the top rope causing him to crotch himself. Top rope Frankensteiner, Jindrak leaping from the mat to the top rope. Springboard clothesline. We get a lingering crowd shot which means there has been a botch, the laughter you can hear from the fans confirming that. O’Haire blocks the reverse DDT, picks Jindrak up for a suplex, but he counters with a DDT. Shawn Stasiak is out, watching from the top of the entrance ramp. Tilt-a-whirl slam. Jindrak misses the Lionsault, although unlike Chris Jericho he doesn’t grab the top rope to hold onto when he does his version. A fireman’s carry slam knocks the wind out of him and the Seanton bomb gets the three. While not a best of three series, after Stasiak won on Nitro it means that each team won one of the singles matches, showing how evenly matched they are heading into Sunday. Potential is the key word when it comes to these two. The size, the look, the agility you really think they’ve got the World at their feet. Not perfect by any means and both still need some seasoning but the potential! One small note, who are the heels out of these teams in this feud? Stasiak was the heel on Monday, yet here O’Haire was the more heelish of the two here. Interested to see how they work it at the PPV and who the crowd favour.

There are two vacant slots in the Cruiserweight elimination match at Superbrawl, the winning team here going on to fill them. That seems to be telegraphing the result already. The televised debut of WCW’s newest signees, A.J. Styles & Air Paris, two guys who have been tearing it up on the independent scene according to Mike Tenay. Paris has got different ring gear to what he wears in Wildside which I don’t think benefits him. Apparently WCW has been actively scouting Cruiserweights. Nice back leg trip by Styles for an early two count. Tenay is already plugging his Shooting Star press. Styles is working well with Noble here. Stereo backdrops and Noble & Karagias are out to the floor to talk strategy. A.J. connects on the baseball slide and then backdrops Paris out onto the. Sit-out spinebuster by Air on Evan. Drop toe hold, legdrop to the back of the neck, twisting senton sequence. Styles gets trapped in the opposition’s corner where Karagias nails him from behind after he takes a swing at Jamie. Side suplex/legdrop off the top double team, Air in to break up the pin. He’s forced to do the same again when A.J.’s caught with a scoop powerslam. Northern Light suplex by Noble. Surfboard into a Dragon sleeper and for the third time in as many minutes Paris saves his partner. Styles escapes the tombstone and hits a big powerslam, the back of Noble’s head crashing into the canvas. The crowd aren’t reacting much at all to this as Paris gets the hot tag. Burning Hammer, okay they reacted to that alright! He turns his attention to Karagias however forgets about Noble who catches him with a German suplex. A.J. breaks that up but then gets dropkicked out the ring by Evan. Springboard crossbody to the floor. Paris crotches Noble upstairs, he though holds on, blocking the superplex, and Karagias gets underneath Air lifting him up on his shoulders. Awesome Doomsday Device turns Paris inside out. Karagias pulls his partner off him at the count of two so he can make the cover himself. In response Noble then does the same to him, which is unbelievably daft as they had the match won. Evan with a 450 splash, but he’s dragged to the outside by Paris who DDT’s him on the mats. Air sidesteps the Noble pescado and then holds his opponents in anticipation for a Styles dive. It’s the springboard Shooting Star to the floor, called the Shooting Styles Press by Tenay. He ends up hitting his own man with it though as Noble & Karagias move him in the way. Back inside they hit a springboard dropkick/powerbomb double team for the win and complete the lineup for the Superbrawl elimination match. A great debut from the Wildside boys who showed none of the expected nervousness. I was surprised at how long they were given here although think a shorter match may have been more beneficial than the traditional tag. The crowd weren’t really with them, see Paris’ not-so-hot tag, and I think a 6-8 minute full of high spots could have got them into it more. On the contrary, how long they were given, and the fact that they weren’t just squashed, bodes well for them. Well at least it would have if the company wasn’t dead in a month! The Cruiserweight tag team tournament is one thing that I’m really looking forward to in the last month of WCW and this was a tremendous pre-cursor of what’s to come.

A warning if you're squeamish, the unedited video of the leg break gets played on TV a couple of times in the following weeks;. We get it from multiple angles, the footage being zoomed in and even slow mos of it. I can't remember if Schiavone gives a disclaimer or not but I'd never seen the actual break (because I never wanted to) until now.

Normal service is resumed on the crowd front; there can’t be more than thirty people in there tonight. Whitmer is announced as being from the Les Thatcher training camp. Ian likes that but says that he’s going to give him a wrestling lesson that he can go back and tell Thatcher all about. The clean break gets a few boos, some folk not happy that Ian didn’t cheap shot him. Whitmer is understandably cautious, leading to someone calling him “Blow Job”. I bet he’s glad that one never stuck! Ian with a single leg takedown, he pulls Whitmer into the middle and locks on the Tazmission. The crowd may not number many but they’re very vocal in taking pot shots at B.J. informing him “this is hardcore, if you can’t handle it, get out!” Whitmer reverses the hammerlock, Ian with a drop toe hold and another choke, again forcing B.J. to go to the ropes for the break. Ian is getting the better of most of the action here, tying B.J. up and stretching him. A snug European uppercut and a hard knife edge chop. Whitmer with an uppercut of his own, which is nothing compared to Ian’s, who responds by forearming him across the face. Another Tazmission submission attempt. The clothesline looks brutal, B.J. kicking out of the cover when I think I would’ve stayed down. He connects on a leg lariat but then misses the frog splash. Someone in the crowd was yelling at Ian to “move” as he headed up top! Ian with a double arm DDT and that’s it. No long speech tonight, just quick word thanking Whitmer for the match. From that it sounds like he’ll be having him back in the future. Something completely different out of Ian Rotten and, I think, for the first time in this project a match where we don’t see him bleed. Real, and I mean real, slow paced, although a lot of the wrestling didn’t feel like it was going anywhere and it was just Ian wanting to show he can outwrestle a Thatcher trainee. Worth a watch to see Ian doing very un-Ian things.

It was the sheer randomness of these two teams that made me check it out, you have the World champion teaming with the Hardcore champion on one side and almost a comedy team on the other with how they’ve been respectfully presented. Show is wanting some revenge after what happened on Smackdown and it sounds like he duped Angle into the match by using Essa Rios, coming off that cracker on Heat last night, as a pawn. Not too sure how Raven is part of this as I only have the match and none of the build up. Big Show immediately makes a beeline for Kurt, who does a runner away from him, leaving Raven and Essa to kick things off. As soon as Show is on the apron Angle wants in, flooring Essa with a clothesline. Belly to back suplex. Rios counters the Raven powerbomb with a facejam. He staggers into the opposition’s corner where Show headbutts him in the back of the head. Tag to Show and all he’s interested in his Kurt Angle, he couldn’t care less about the man who is in the ring. Show again takes off after the World champion, stalking him around ringside, however referee Teddy Long never saw Essa’s tag. As he’s telling Show this, Angle slides into the ring and gives Rios the Olympic slam, Raven making the cover for the win. Show attacks Raven post-match and as he unloads on him in the corner Angle cheap shots him from behind. Those shots have no effect and things aren’t looking good for him until a Raven low blow stops Show in his tracks. Raven gestures to the back, some masked Ninja lady wheeling a grocery cart full of weapons out. Tori Poch is the masked lady in a short lived and forgotten gimmick. A 2x4 over the head brings Show down to one knee, but all that does is make him mad. Kurt, on seeing the look on his face, sacrifices Raven, shoving him at the Big Show while he high tails it out of there. Chokeslam for Raven, Show still appearing to have unfinished business with Angle. Nothing to this and nowhere near as good as Angle’s singles match with Rios from Heat. I wonder where Show goes from here? Angle has both Rock and Austin on the horizon, while Triple H is up there in the mix too. Show has been pushed hard since his return at the Royal Rumble, yet despite that push doesn’t feel at that very top level. That ending certainly seems to indicate at least a match between the two.

The Dudley Boyz are providing some guest commentary, the winners of this match going on to face them at No Way Out for the tag team titles. Bubba says how there is no-one the Dudleys like beating up more than those two pretty boy punks, Edge & Christian. E&C jump the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ from behind, which is probably their best strategy based on previous matches between these teams. Well it may have seemed like a good strategy but it didn’t pan out so well in reality. Double press slam on Edge. Christian nails Kane with a chair, missed by the official who’s distracted by Taker and the Dudleys having words on the floor. Barely a minute later Kane’s back dominating, Jerry Lawler in disbelief as it was less than two minutes ago he was laid out. ‘King’ either has a poor memory or wasn’t paying attention much last year. Kane gets crotched upstairs but then blocks the double superplex attempt, shoving E&C to the mat. Tag to the ‘American Bad Ass’ and it’s more of the same as he runs through both. Edge saves his partner following a chokeslam which brings Kane back in, and they quickly end up out at ringside. Kane whips him into the Dudleys, who are immediately up from their seats, and a pier sixer ensues with everyone fighting everyone. The match is thrown out and we even get a Sgt. Slaughter cameo in amongst the referees who are out trying to restore some order. Lawler wonders who the number one contenders are after that and who will face the Dudleys at the PPV. Three-way maybe? After how the Undertaker treated Edge & Christian last year I seriously contemplated skipping this but thought I’d give it a looksy in case things have changed. Nothing has changed, Kane & Taker steam rollered them again. Kane is someone who I have very little interest in watching so his appearances on my viewing will likely be limited to tags and multi person matches.

After involving herself in the match last week on Smackdown Terri finds herself part of it this, although going by the outfit and high heel boots she’s wearing, I don’t think she’ll be involved much. Dean Malenko is out again, watching from a distance at the top of the stage. ‘The Radicalz’ with a double press slam on Jeff. A nice belly to belly by Saturn before putting Jeff over his shoulder and running him upside down into the corner. He crotches him upstairs, but Hardy fires off some back elbows and hits the Whisper in the Wind. Tag to Matt who catches Saturn with a twisting neckbreaker. Benoit gets backdropped over the top to the outside, Jeff then runs across the barricade and nails him with a flying clothesline. Middle rope legdrop to Saturn. Terri is in, on Matt’s back and more an inconvenience to him that anything, so he drags her over to their corner for Lita to get her hands on. Saturn tries to save his beau but Lita takes him out with a leaping rana. Twist of Fate on Terri, which she didn’t take well, Lita then lands the moonsault to give her team the win. Saturn attacks Lita post-match for what she did to Terri, surprisingly though he’s pulled off her by Malenko, giving him a shove, not happy at all with him attacking the object of his affections. Malenko lifts Lita up to her feet, only to clothesline her back down, ‘the King’ saying how he’s been spurned one time too many.

Eddy was put out of action by Jericho and tonight he gets the chance for some revenge. A back elbow smash drops Y2J and he just unloads with punches. There’s always an intense physicality when guys like these two, Benoit etc. work with each other. Belly to back suplex followed by a keylock submission. Jim Ross thinks that Eddy’s luck took a turn for the worse after screwing up his relationship with Chyna, almost like what happened to him was karma. He’s too slow climbing the turnbuckles and Jericho hits a suicideplex. Flying forearm. Bulldog, but Eddy was paying attention on Smackdown and gets his knees up on the Lionsault. Jericho reverses the attempted huracanrana into the Walls, when out sprints X-Pac who nails him from behind for the DQ. Pac gives him the ‘X-Factor’ screaming about how he put him out for three months. So that’s two of them then. It didn’t really have the time to get going, but what we saw was the usual good stuff out of these two.

I’ll eat my hat if we get a clean finish here! As a result of Dustin Rhodes defeating Rick Steiner earlier, amongst other things, it gave ‘Big Sexy’ this title match. Nash is dragging a gagged David Flair to the ring with him, he is about to give him the powerbomb when he’s interrupted by Ric Flair. Flair is pleading for his son’s life, saying how he’s done everything Nash asked and begs him to let David go. Those words fall on deaf ears, Nash giving the powerbomb, Flair losing it on seeing that. Along with a couple of members of security they drag David from the ring as Scott Steiner makes his entrance for a match he didn’t want this close to Superbrawl. Aggressive Nash is fancying his chances with Flair having promised there would be no outside interference (presumably when Nash was holding David hostage). He clotheslines Steiner over the top rope to the outside when we cut backstage to see Ric putting David into a limo to be taken off to hospital. Lex Luger asks him “What are we going to do?” to which Flair responds “Kill Nash!” So much for no interference. Steiner avoids being run into the ringpost and sends Nash into it instead. Belly to belly suplex, Hudson having given up on calling it Rolling Thunder by the sound of things. Steinerline. Here comes the elbow drop followed by getting off his opponent at two to do push ups. Yup, Steiner’s routine is as predictable as Nash’s. Members of ‘the Magnificent Seven’ run out but are cut off the Cat, Dustin Rhodes and Kronik, who keep them at bay. Nash escapes the rear chinlock and dumps the champion with a belly to back. A series of rights stagger Steiner and it’s not long before the straps come down. Here’s Ric Flair, unbuttoning his shirt, and on his way to the ring with some authority. Jeez, Flair enters the ring, throws one shot, which is no sold, and the referee calls for the bell, DQ’ing the champ due to outside interference. Nash forgets about Steiner and after powerbombing Flair gets taken out with a lead pipe to the knee. Steiner brings it down on his knee three more times, Nitro going off air as Schiavone wonders whether Nash will be able to even make it to Superbrawl now.

Gene Okerlund states that jealousy tore the ‘Natural Born Thrillers’ apart and tonight we get a preview of Superbrawl as Shawn Stasiak takes on Chuck Palumbo. Stasiak corrects him saying it was stupidity, not jealousy that tore them apart, stupidity on the parts of Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo for not realising who the true leaders of ‘the Thrillers’ are. Their heads are filled with monkey crap anyway so he doesn’t blame them, and tonight he’ll prove to everyone that he carried Palumbo to the World tag team titles. Stasiak is back using the Mr Perfect rip-off theme. I could watch Palumbo throwing punches all day. He clotheslines Stasiak out to the floor, but rather than go out after him, chooses to wait for him inside. What do they say about great minds? Scott Hudson now talking about Palumbo having one of the best right hands in the sport today. Running crossbody attempt by Stasiak, Palumbo catches and tosses him with a fallaway slam. The backdrop is telegraphed though and Stasiak grabs a handful of hair, slamming Palumbo backwards to the mat. Gut wrench powerbomb. Back elbow, Stasiak proceeding to wipe the sweat off his brow before making the cover. Running bulldog out the corner. Palumbo counters the neckbreaker with an overhead throw. Alabama slam, Stasiak barely kicking out. Flying shoulder barge off the top. He sets himself for the Jungle kick, stomping his foot like he’s Shawn Michaels. Note, knock that off Chucky, makes you look like a pale imitation. Stasiak catches the kick anyway. It looks like the planned finish is botched, Stasiak rolling through, hooking Palumbo’s trunks, however they’re in the ropes and Scott Armstrong is left with no option really but to curtail his count. They briefly improvise before another Stasiak roll up, again hooking the trunks, this time in the centre of the ring. He has some closing words, telling Palumbo that he carried him from the very beginning, he’s proven it tonight and he’ll prove it again at Superbrawl. The work was generally fine, bar the screwed up finish, but Stasiak was in control most of the way and the guy’s bland as no matter how hard they try with him. As a result this was fairly dull I’m afraid.

Skipper has a message for all the dumb Americans; this is his house, he built this house, and he’s going to give them a taste of Primetime. I wonder if someone is getting some new music soon... Another qualifying match for the six-man Elimination at Superbrawl Revenge. Shannon Moore, Kaz Hayashi and Yang have already qualified, the final two spots will be determined by a tag team bout on Thunder. A headscissors takes Elix to the outside, Kidman then with a sliding bulldog onto the ringside mats. Slingshot guillotine legdrop for a two. Skipper with a float over and a snap release German. Kidman misses a running crossbody as Elix does the matrix, his momentum sending him flying out the ring. Twisting pescado. Back inside Kidman reverses the whip to the corner, however Skipper avoids his charge and he goes crashing into the turnbuckles. After being sat upstairs he fires off some punches and lands a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall, Elix just getting a shoulder up in time. They trade suplex variations, Skipper’s Dragon suplex being the sweetest of the lot. After a double arm he takes his time waiting for Kidman to get back to his feet. Kidman ends up countering the Overdrive/Play of the Day or whatever it is they’re calling it into the Kid Crusher and we have our fourth man set for Superbrawl. Good TV match. One of Skipper’s best performances so far which is testament to who he was in there with and what a strong, reliable worker Kidman is.