GSR

Meng is not the Hardcore champion, but he is the one carrying the gold after stealing it last week. Tony Schiavone has a great line about how Meng may not have won every wrestling match he’s been involved in but he’s won every fight. Daffney, in the crowd, throws a drink over Funk as he walks down the aisle and he responds by pulling her over the railings by her hair. It looks like it was pre-determined plan as Crowbar nails Funk from behind with a chair. They fight their way back into the women’s rest room where Funk launches a plastic trash can at Crowbar’s head, rubbish flying everywhere. Funk takes him on a trip of the stall doors before Meng finally joins them, walloping ‘the Funker’ with a mop bucket. They return to the arena, Meng wearing a trash can out on Funk. He and Crowbar team up, slamming Meng’s head into the metal gate door, although that has no effect on him. Crowbar manages to beat Meng down and then slams one flattened table after another on top of him. Funk with a chairshot to the head, Crowbar using a fire extinguisher to stop him in his tracks. He lays ‘the Funker’ on a table and puts him through it with a double leg drop from the first row. Meng is up and he and Crowbar duke it out in front of the Nitrovision trading chops. A standing side kick sends Crowbar rolling down the steel entrance way. Funk uses a snow shovel as a weapon. He bridges a guardrail upright and then bodyslams Crowbar onto it, folding the railing up double. After more chair shots Scott Hudson says that they’ve all lost brain cells here, ain’t that true! Crowbar targets Funk’s dodgy knees. Meng saves ‘the Funker’, splashing Crowbar off the top as he’s got a Figure Four applied. Piledriver. Middle rope frog splash on Funk, Crowbar breaking up the pin. Meng takes eight chair shots to the head, the last one dropping him. Funk tries to persuade Crowbar to work together but he double crosses him, cracking him over the head with a chair. Meng superkicks the chair into Crowbar’s face and with no-one to make the save, the Tongan Death grip does for Funk, Meng legitimately now the WCW Hardcore champion. One of the better WCW hardcore matches, I especially thought the backstage stuff here was done better than usual. Entertaining and the effort was there from everyone. The negative would be way too many unprotected chair shots to the head, and while they weren’t swinging them like Balls Mahoney, they weren’t pulling the either and the cumulative effect can’t have been good.

Jim Duggan is the guest referee for this Penalty Box match. Team Canada arrive in a special Team Canada bus, another example of WCW needlessly wasting money. Lance Storm requests the fans undivided, respectful attention, saying how tonight they’re going to give the Filthy Animals a taste of Canadian justice, although stumbles over his words in doing so. Duggan promises to call this down the middle and informs the teams that anyone caught breaking the rules will be sent to the Penalty Box where they will have to wait until the red light goes off, at which point they are welcome to rejoin the match. We haven’t even gone a minute and Skipper is sent to the Box for entering the ring without being tagged. Awesome questions the decision, bumps into Duggan and he’s then sent to join his partner in there. That gives ‘the Animals’ a three-on-one advantage for the next minute and notice we’re told how long they will be in the Box when originally there was no set time, just for as long as the red light is on. Konnan powerbombs Rey onto the prone Storm. Springboard splash by Rey and Kidman with a rana. Lance knees him in the gut and is able to tag out to one of his returning partners. Awesome is caught interfering and sent to the Box for a second time. As Lance, on the apron, tells old ‘Hacksaw’ that he can’t do that, he’s sent to keep him company. K-Dogg ties Skipper up like a pretzel before Rey lands a springboard guillotine legdrop. Skipper tries his Matrix move but Konnan had it scouted, countering into a reverse DDT for a near fall. Great spot. Drop toe hold by Elix who then comes off the top with a missile dropkick, landing on his feet in the process. Awesome catches Konnan on his running crossbody attempt, dropping him across his knee with a backbreaker. The women are exchanging words on the floor and Duggan instructs each to get back to their respective corners. Rey goes for the bronco buster but ‘Hacksaw’ cuts him off, ordering both he and Kidman to the Penalty Box as they were in the ring at the same time. We didn’t see if a tag was made as the cameras were focussing on the women, although even if there wasn’t, surely only one should be sent to the Box? Awesome with a running powerslam on Konnan. Tygress soaks Major Gunns with a water bottle leading to a lame catfight spot. Duggan has seen enough and now sends both women to the Box. This is getting ridiculous. Springboard corkscrew legdrop by Skipper. With the two man advantage Schiavone questions his use of the rear chinlock, thinking that’s not the right tactics and that they should be using quick tags. Our impartial referee leads the crowd in a “U-S-A” chant. Awesome comes off the top with a flying clothesline. Konnan with a facebuster, he then crawls over to his corner to tag the returning Kidman. Flying back elbow. Big backdrop followed by a lovely dropkick. Lance falls to the floor after being clotheslined across the top rope and then Rey, tagged, assists on the pescado, launching Kidman out onto him. Skipper is around and levels Kidman and in turn Konnan flattens Elix. Awesome has himself a pair of scissors and for some reason, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH, tries to cut Kidman’s hair. Duggan stops him from doing so and he subsequently ends up taking his third visit to the Penalty Box. Rey with a bronco buster, ‘face full of stuff’ from Tygress and...well you know where she ends up by now. I think Elix and Konnan also took trips to the Box in there too. With Lance hung over the middle rope Rey lands a springboard guillotine legdrop. ‘Kid Crusher’, Awesome out of the Penalty Box for the save in the nick of time. Duggan immediately sends him back there but this time he’s not listening, giving Rey an awesome looking ‘Awesome bomb’. Lance ducks the enzuigiri and slaps on the ‘Canadian Maple Leaf’ forcing Kidman to tap, a reluctant Duggan eventually calling for the bell. The work was strong from everyone, especially the Filthy Animals and Lance Storm; however this would have been significantly better as a regular match without the confusing and random Penalty Box stipulations and without Jim Duggan as the referee. The women in these camps continue to be a complete waste of time, although that can be said about nigh on every woman in WCW at this point.

Mike Sanders is talking to Brian Adams backstage when he hands him an envelope of money which he thinks will be more than enough to take care of what he needs taking care of. After he leaves Bryan Clark shows up with an even bigger wad as they start laughing at what Sanders gave them. A confident Sanders has got a swagger about his way as he heads down to the ring. He addresses the crowd, saying that the Cat is going to come out here and claim he’s all for the people and getting WCW back on it its feet. That’s all fine and dandy but the Cat knows as well as him what the position pays and he’s only in it for the money. Should he win he gets Ms Jones’ services, should the Cat win he gets the Commissionership and he calls him out so they can get this started. Cat has a few words of his own, promising to take the Commissionership back for all the people and believing with them behind him he can once again take WCW to the top of the wrestling world. A bit of playing to the fans, Sanders ultimately sucking the Cat in and swiping his legs out from under as he climbs the turnbuckles. Cat gets the better of the shouldertackle and rains down some right hands from the mount. At least he’s showing a bit of fire here. Sanders takes to the outside, getting the jump on the Cat when they return to the ring. He really is nothing the moment he puts the microphone down. Cat with some karate kicks before unloading with punches in the corner. After face planting to the mat, Sanders low blows his opponent and locks in a seated Cobra clutch. This crowd have been up for it all night and Cat uses their energy to get a second wind. He’s way more over, at least here, than I remembered him to be. Sanders drags the Cat out to the floor and is about to crack him with a chair when Ms Jones grabs it to prevent him from doing so. Jones kicks him in the back and ends up grabbing the chair, Sanders sprinting around ringside away from her. While all this is going on the Cat is jumped by Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak. The Thrillers are subsequently attacked by Kronik as it becomes clear who gave Clark that extra big wad. Ms Jones keeps the official busy as Clark stuffs Sanders’ money down his throat. Jumping kick from the Cat and we have our new Commissioner, ready to take WCW back to the top! Well it was unlikely the PPV would continue at the same standard we have seen so far, especially when the match involves two guys who aren’t much the moment the bell rings.

An unadvertised match, apparently involving four guys who came to the building not knowing they were going to wrestle. When it comes to unadvertised matches this isn’t a bad one to have. Karagias and Kaz start things off at break neck pace. As Evan tries for a bodyscissors, Kaz powers him with this gorgeous release wheelbarrow suplex. Noble gets taken down with a headscissors before a pair of dropkicks from the Dragons send their opponents to the outside. Stereo Asai moonsaults. Noble counters the attempted powerbomb with an armdrag as he and Yang work at a pace on a par with their partners. Yang backdrops Noble out over onto the apron, but he then leaps up, hooks Yang under the armpits and brings him out of the ring too, falling backwards himself in doing so. Kaz blocks the superplex and reverses it into a face first suplex, however as he comes off the top with a crossbody Karagias takes his breath away by dropkicking him in the chest. Double team side slam/guillotine legdrop. Combination drop toe hold/baseball slide dropkick for a two. Evan presses Kaz overhead, drops then catches him, turning it into a spinebuster. That looked fantastic. Scoop powerslam. There’s a slight stumble on the quebrada although he’s still able to execute, Kaz rolling out the way to avoid the impact. Karagias makes the tag and Noble’s first port of call is to nail Yang on the apron to stop Kaz doing the same. Kaz rolls through on the sunset flip and boxes Noble’s ears with a kick around the side of his head. He finally makes the tag and Yang is a ball of pent up energy in there. Dragon screw leg whip wrenches Noble’s knee. He turns his attention to Karagias and drills him with ten punches in the corner. He backflips off him but is caught in a Noble German. After a dropkick sends Kaz out to the floor, Karagias wipes him out with a springboard crossbody. Noble sits Yang upstairs, he though blocks the top rope rana and turns it into a superbomb, Evan back inside in the nick of time to save his partner. ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker, 450 splash and now it’s Kaz saving his partner. That pattern continues after first a Kaz slingshot DDT and then a Noble tombstone piledriver. Yang fails to find his target on the corkscrew moonsault. Noble looks to be setting him for a brainbuster when he unexpectedly gets small packaged for the pin. The commentators make a big deal that after everything we saw it was a small package that bought an end to the contest. An awesome sprint with everyone looking outstanding. This has been some start to the PPV so far.

Review courtesy of Makai Club #1. (No idea why the original review didn't take, when I clicked on it to approve got a Bad request - invalid URL message)

Vito is shadow boxing as he has a few last minute words with Gene Okerlund. Commissioner Sanders has banned Johnny the Bull from ringside, but that doesn’t matter to Vito as they’re settling this tonight once and for all. Reno is apparently Vito’s younger brother in storyline, which is news to me. I suppose there is some resemblance between the two that it could be plausible, even though they’re not legit related. Reno runs to the ring and he and Vito are forehead to forehead with one another. Big powerslam which Reno follows by dropping a knee across Vito’s head. The two are soon on the arena floor, Reno slinging Vito hard into the guard rail. Back inside and after being whipped into the corner Vito comes charging out with a clothesline. He sits Reno on the top turnbuckle and hits a suicideplex. Enzuigiri. Vito with a belly to back as he rallies the fans to get behind him. Reno sidesteps the charge and gives Vito a helping hand through the turnbuckles into the ringpost as he then sets about working him over. That is until he walks into a trust kick, which looked great the way it connected. Vito starts his comeback, slaps Reno in the chest and lands a double arm suplex. The ‘Vito Special’ (flying elbow from the top) isn’t enough to put him away though. After a forearm to the chops Reno signals for the ‘Roll the Dice’ but Vito reverses into a release Northern Lights. Reno blocks the DDT and hits a T-bone suplex. The two are now just trading bombs in the middle of the ring. Vito has him up for a suplex, Reno floats over, ‘Roll the Dice’ and this one’s over. It could be said about the vast majority of WCW contracts that the WWF picked up but I’m at a loss how Reno didn’t get a look in; good look, good size, good worker, surely he was worth a shot? According to cagematch, after being let go he worked once on a WWA PPV in 2002, did a shot for Afa the Samoan’s WXW a year later and that was it. A physical, hard hitting match, probably one of the best matches of Vito LoGrasso’s career I’d guess.

Shane Helms is backstage with his 3 Count partner and asks him, as long as it is just he and Chavo out there, to remain in the back and let him do this one on his own. Lovely variation on the snapmare takeover. Tony Schiavone uses the phrase “coming of age of a superstar” when describing Helms, reaffirming Chad’s thoughts about how WCW clearly had made their minds up about where they wanted to go coming out of the 3 Count/Jung Dragons feud. A couple of blistering knife edge chops by Chavo, the sound reverberating around the arena. Shane gets the Ricky Steamboat reference on his deep arm drags which really are a thing of beauty. Fireman’s carry, dropping Chavo head first onto his knee. The champ ducks the charge and clotheslines Shane over the top rope to the outside. The Irish whip on the floor is reversed as Chavo goes clattering into the guard rail. On returning to the ring Chavo gets the jump on his opponent, and even though he telegraphs the backdrop, he’s able to dead weight on the attempted piledriver and hit an Alabama slam. Rather than go for the cover he instead opts to grind his forearm across the face. Dropkick. Rear chinlock as he looks to ground the challenger. Helms fights his way out, atomic drop, reverse neckbreaker and now both men are down. Listen to the way the crowd are counting along with referee Scott Armstrong, they’re well invested in this. Schiavone calls the ‘X-plex’ (cross armed German) a Dragon suplex as Helms gets a two count. ‘Sugar Snap’ (superkick), which is the kind of terrible name I’d expect to hear out of Joey Styles’ mouth, but they’re too close to the ropes. Helms whips Chavo into the corner, however as he comes rushing in he gets dumped out over the top to the outside. Plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Back inside Shane blocks the brainbuster, floats over and hiptosses Chavo out to ringside. Now it’s his turn, coming off the top with almost a froggy crossbody. A super sunset flip (sunset flip off the top), a Samoan drop, neither enough to put the champion away. Helms calls for the ‘Vertebreaker’, Chavo reverses and Shane reverses the reversal into the ‘Nightmare on Helms Street’ for a near fall. As he looks for a second, Chavo throws knees from underneath before driving him backwards into the corner. Shane blocks the tornado DDT and counters, again looking for ‘the Nightmare’, however Chavo reverses it into a brainbuster to retain the Cruiserweight title. The two get a thoroughly deserved standing ovation from the fans at the end. Helms was one of the unsung WCW workers of 2000 so it’s good to see him getting the push his talents merit, while Chavo has come into his own as a singles worker recently. One of those guys worth concentrating on to see the little things he does in there, while the new found aggressiveness, the grittiness to his offense (as mentioned after the Worldwide match with Evan Karagias) really adds something to him. A great start to the PPV and one of those cases where Helms lost nothing in losing, in fact he may even have come out of this looking stronger for doing so. The comments from the commentary team indicate that we’ll likely be seeing these two match up again in the not too distant future.

Constantino is making his return to the ring after suffering an injury in a match with Flash back in July. After what we witnessed last week, returning with a new attitude too. Non-title match, which angers him, although Cornette explains that he hasn’t had a match in five months so will have to work his way up the ladder. The hyping of Dinsmore taking on Chris Benoit at Christmas Chaos continues, ‘Mr Wrestling’ even styling his offense after some of ‘the Cripplers’. Dinsmore counters the Cobra clutch and reverses into another crossface, forcing Rico to grab the ropes for the break. Constantino takes a powder on the outside, drags Dinsmore out with him and the two exchange knife edge chops. Up on the apron, Dinsmore goes to slams Rico’s head into the turnbuckle but he blocks it and instead slams the champion’s into the metal turnbuckle hook. Rico pulls the padding down from around his knee brace and drops a leg across ‘Mr Wrestling’s’ throat. Face first suplex. He signals for the Cobra clutch but is dumped with a belly to back before he gets the chance to lock it in. Dinsmore fires back with some rights followed by running shoulder tackle. Missile dropkick off the top, however as Rico falls backwards he collides into Robert Brisco knocking him down. There’s our first ref bump in OVW for 2001. Dinsmore holds the German suplex, when out comes Mr Black and Kenny Bolin. The two put the boots in and as Brisco comes around he sees what’s happening and calls for the bell. Rico stares at Bolin, his former arch enemy, pulls him off Dinsmore, only to then start stomping a mud hole in him himself. Flash makes the save, but Black drags Rico from the ring to safety before he can really get his hands on him. I wonder if OVW will be higher or lower than 40% this year when it comes to ref bumps for the year? Not surprising that we see the best wrestling on this week’s show from two of the strongest wrestlers in the promotion.

A new referee for OVW in the shape of Donna Derring. In all honesty she looks positively ridiculous wearing the skimpiest refereeing outfit you’re likely to see; hanging out her bottoms, falling out her top and by the volume going on, probably having used a whole can of hair spray on her barnet. One positive about the female official is it means less chance of fighting referees, something I was worried about in the previous Stretching Crew tag. Kenny Bolin is up at the announcing booth, not happy that Cornette has been slandering a WWF superstar like Mark Henry with his accusations of him having running over the Big Show. He claims Henry was at the Bolin Mansion at the time it happened and it could’ve been any black man driving the truck. Orton does get some good height on his dropkicks. He avoids the running splash in the corner and unloads with a couple of punches. Monkey flip. Henry with a leapfrog followed by a sidewalk slam. I had genuinely forgotten Dean Hill was there when Corny brings him in as JC and Bolin had been going back and forth non-stop ever since ‘the Star Maker’ came out. As Orton starts his comeback, Henry’s manager Thurston Throckmorton, still dressed up like Randy Savage, grabs his leg from the floor. He yanks him up to the apron and drills him with a right, but when he turns around he walks into a belly to belly that gives Henry the win. Corny claimed that Derring didn’t see any of the interference even though she was looking right at it as it was going on! Our first look at one Randall Orton. Unlike Brock Lesnar, who looks so young compared to how he is today, Randy doesn’t look much different, bar fewer tattoos. Orton didn’t get to do much here, but he looked fine with the basics. Henry showed some great agility in there on more than one occasion. Poor Dean Hill having to sit next to Corny and Bolin!

Sean Casey & Chris Michaels are managed by (former?) heel referee Phil Fair. I could do with less officials going at in 2001 compared with last. Michaels tries to use his speed and experience advantage over Lesnar but it’s not long before he’s getting muscled about. As he goes to tag out, Casey wants no part, however foolishly he turns his back on his partner and Michaels tags him anyway. The two exchange words, Michaels giving Casey a shove into a Lesnar boot. Big powerslam for a two count. Shelton with a spinning kick that barely connects, if at all. Michaels knees him in the back as he hits the ropes before clotheslining him across the top rope. Reverse neckbreaker quickly followed by a spinebuster as the heels get a couple of close near falls. Shelton avoids the elbow off the top and makes the tag. Lesnar presses Michaels overhead, managing it at about the third attempt, despite Michaels doing his best to jump up for it. The match breaks down with all four men in the ring. Nice belly to belly from Brock. Fair is up on the apron and Brock goes over and grabs him. He cocks his hand ready for a punch, but is clearly delaying it. What he was waiting for was for Fair to powder him, although their timings were way off on the spot. Referee Robert Brisco saw what happened though and calls for the bell, the Stretching Crew picking up the win via disqualification. As the heels continue to put the boots in, the Suicide Blondes of Jason Lee & Derrick King make the save and clear them from the ring. Still early in their careers, but not the best of outings for the Stretching Crew; Shelton with the spin kick that misses, Brock’s struggles on the press slam and that bad looking finish involving Fair.

Jack has a quick word as the Dupps make their entrance, saying how they’re going to mow through Lance Cade & Joey Abs this morning and then tonight they’ll squash ‘the Kliq’ in Corinth to once again become the Power Pro tag team champions. Things don’t start out too well for them here mind. It’s only when Jack trips Abs from the floor does it allow them to turn the tide. Dave Brown talks about how the Dupps’ ‘Brain Scrambler’ finisher has already caused a couple of concussions, while Corey adds that it is one of the most devastating moves he’s seen in a long time. They’re putting it over big. Bo runs into a big boot and Abs with a jumping clothesline. Hot tag to Lance who uses the Tracey Smothers back fist amongst his offence, showing that he learned plenty from feuding with him last year. Middle rope bulldog on Jack. Bo breaks up the cover, which in turn brings in Abs as all four men slug it out in the ring. Jack saves Bo from ‘the Absolute’ but then Abs counters the attempted double backdrop with a double DDT. He and Jack end up out at ringside where he is jumped by Shooter Schultz, who is facing Abs in Corinth, who has ran out from the dressing room. That leaves Cade all alone and he falls to the ‘Brain Scrambler’, which really does look nasty the way the back of his head slams into the mat.

General Rection is backstage with Gene Okerlund and he explains to him how he was contemplating what he’s going to do in the upcoming match after Sgt. A-Wall and Crpl. Cajun were taken out by the Natural Born Thrillers, when two guys came up to him offering their services. These are two guys you just don’t say “no” to, ‘The Insiders’, Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page. The face team “sprint” to the ring and it’s funny seeing the General run full speed, Page be a few steps behind and then old man Nash with his dodgy knees bringing up the rear. Page takes Jindrak’s head off with a pair of clothesline and he decides that’s enough for the moment, letting Stasiak try his luck. DDP tags out to Nash and somehow I don’t expect Stasiak to get anything out of ‘Big Sexy’. He doesn’t. The General with a big elbow off the top for a two count. Jindrak leaps over the top rope onto the apron after being whipped into the corner, and when the General runs in, he stuns him with a back elbow. Springboard clothesline. ‘The Franchise’ makes his first entrance but doesn’t stay long, happy to let ‘the Thrillers’ do the bulk of the work while he reserves his energy for the PPV on Sunday and his U.S. title shot. They continue to get heat on the General, cutting the ring in half. As it looks like he is about to make the tag Shane calls to his partners who enter the ring distracting referee Slick Johnson. I thought we were getting the “false tag” spot, but no Nash and DDP still enter as we get a mighty pier sixer. The rest of ‘the Thrillers’ (Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire and Reno) run out from the back and attack ‘the Insiders’, Johnson bizarrely letting it go and not calling for the DQ or anything. Douglas wraps a chain around his fist and, as he’s about to nail the General, Johnson hooks his arm to prevent him from doing so. When he turns around he turns into a powerslam, Rection getting the pin on the man who he’ll be defending against in four days. We get some final comments from ‘the Thrillers’, Okerlund hoping they did their worse tonight because they’ve got the big one at Sin. Sanders has words for Ernest Miller, telling him come the PPV he’s going to drop a bombshell on him that he won’t believe. Just as they leave Stasiak threatens Gene, who says he’ll have his guys from Jersey pay him a visit and inspect his knees! I was pleased to see ‘the Thrillers’ get some payback after how they were treated on Monday as I feared the worst for them here on seeing who the General’s partners were. Another pure WCW finish in the way that the DQ was completely ignored on the interference, as was Douglas dropping the fall to Rection just days prior to them facing each other in a singles match at the PPV.

Mike Sanders is on his way down to the ring carrying an envelope. He milks the boos before going onto welcome everyone to the first ever ‘Minnesota Massacre’. In the envelope are the names of the “randomly” selected participants and he hands it over to Dave Penzer to read them out. The first three names are Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire, leading Scott Hudson to question what are the odds that “randomly” selected we’d have three Natural Born Thrillers in a row? The commentary team speculate this is just away for ‘the Thrillers’ to get some payback on Big Vito and Kwee Wee, and when Penzer announces the fourth name as Diamond Dallas Page, Sanders’s shocked face indicates that they were probably right. His plan goes from bad to worse when the fifth and final participant is Page’s partner in ‘The Insiders’, Kevin Nash. Sanders clocks ‘the Insiders’ with one of the belts giving ‘the Thrillers’ the advantage. Palumbo and O’Haire throw some quality looking punches at Page who stays up through every one. Page ducks the double superkick, Palumbo and O’Haire wiping each other out, and leaving Sanders as the only man left standing. DDP low blows him and now everyone is down. Hudson must’ve been watching his OVW tapes as he too wonders what would happen should Billy Silverman reach the count of ten with no-one back on their feet? Like in OVW though, that’s not an issue. Nash clotheslines Sanders over the top rope to the floor who then, despite earlier claiming that anyone whose name isn’t in the envelope is banned from ringside, starts calling for some help. The rest of ‘the Thrillers’ don’t get very far, intercepted by Vito, Kwee Wee and Paisley who keep them at bay. In the ring Page with a ‘Diamond Cutter’ on Palumbo, Nash jack-knifes O’Haire and Silverman just calls for the bell to end the match, clearly forgetting that he needs to count to ten for one and that this is also a ‘Last Man’ not ‘Last Men’ Standing. Good on Disco who questions the lack of a ten count although Schiavone quickly shuts him down. The match is nothing and does no favours for ‘The Thrillers’ who come across as chumps when they’re the guys the promotion should be getting behind.

Shane Helms accompanies his partner out and is going to provide some guest commentary for this non-title match. Chavo does some lame mic work before saying that being the fighting champion that he is, he doesn’t like non-title matches so is putting the belt on the line tonight. He goes onto address Shane, informing him that should he lose, he’ll get his rematch at Sin, which ultimately puts him (Helms) out in the cold. The inference being that should Shane want his title shot at the PPV he better make sure Chavo wins here. Shannon forearms Chavo from the apron and he goes flying out right in front of the broadcast booth where Shane slaps him across the face. Reverse twisting senton off the top for a two. Disco Inferno on commentary puts Chavo over strong, talking about how his stock has gone through the roof since ditching the M.I.A. Nice belly to back suplex by Chavo, dumping the challenger on the back of his head. He slows the pace down until Shannon floats over and shoves Chavo chest first into the corner. Spinning heel kick. Chavo cuts him off with an up kick followed by a hard clothesline. The Irish whip is reversed, Shannon kicks the champion in the gut and lands a springboard ‘Bottoms Up’ (Fameasser) for a near fall. He slips off the top rope when jumping up for the top rope frankensteiner, but Chavo saves the situation, landing a double sledge and putting an immediate stop to the giggles from the crowd. Shannon fights back, hitting a great headscissors takeover. Chavo blocks the sleeper slam and runs Shannon backwards into the turnbuckles. Brainbuster and this one’s over. He’s not done yet, picking his opponent up for a second, but before he can do so Shane is out from his position behind the desk running him off. As he checks on his partner Chavo tries to jump him, however ends up getting backdropped over the top rope to the floor. One horrible botch that Chavo did his best to cover for, but apart from that I thought this was good action.

If there is one thing guaranteed to dampen my renewed enthusiasm it’s a Rob Van Dam match. I don’t think his stock was ever really that high with me, but it plummeted last year and there was no-one I looked forward to less than him. Things unfortunately haven’t changed, as after a stand-off he bows to one side of the crowd BEFORE LEAVING THE RING AND HI FIVING FANS. Back inside and yet more playing to them. Two and a half minutes after the stand-off the action recommences. Van Dam gets a busted mouth in their somewhere, maybe from an errant elbow. A great press slam, standing moonsault, middle rope moonsault combination that gets him a two count. But of course, why follow up on your opponent when you can bow and showboat? There’s this dick in the front row trying to involve himself, and as Lynn takes it to RVD right in front of him the fans start a “hit the bald guy” chant, which is the best thing about this so far. Another of my pet peeves for 2000 doesn’t look like they’re going away either in the shape of Guerrero/Malenko sequences. If things couldn’t get any worse Joel Gertner shows up at ringside, chases Cyrus into the ring and DDT’s him. RVD ducks a Lynn chair hot and nails him with a ‘Van Daminator’. With no Fonzie to provide assistance for the ‘Van Terminator’ Gertner volunteers his services. Poor Lynn has to lay there for about a minute whilst this shit show goes on. ‘Van Terminator’ connects and this one’s all over, Gertner looking like he’s having some sort of spasmodic fit. One of the few positives about ECW dying is that I will never have to watch another Rob Van Dam match in that environment. I wasn’t looking forward to this in the first place, couldn’t get into it and the finish was hideous.

Steve Corino vs Sandman vs Justin Credible (Ladder) (ECW Guilty as Charged 1/7/01) We hear some from Rhino who’s punching doors in the back, screaming that he “lives for violence” and claims that he’s only just begun. Three Way Dance for the ECW World title with the belt suspended from the ceiling. Even though the Sandman stole the belt, Steve Corino is still officially the champion. Smart comments from Cyrus, who wonders why people don’t cut deals and get rid of one guy first and then worry about each other later. Everyone takes plenty of punishment but this is a car crash. At one point Credible reverses an Irish whip and you see Sandman hurl himself over the top rope to take a bump through a table at ringside You can also see them clearly talking to each other as they work this. With Sandman all alone in there he starts to climb a ladder, only for him to lose his balance as he climbs tipping the ladder over. Maybe one beer too many during his entrance tonight? Joey Styles does try to cover, saying the ladder was all bent out of shape because they had been using it as a weapon, but the fans can’t hear that and are laughing at him. Corino bridges a table between the guard rail and apron, so you can bet your bottom dollar someone is going through that. It wouldn’t be a ladder match without some slow climbing, Corino deliberately taking his time waiting for Credible to be in position for the missile dropkick he’s about to give him. Oh yeah, Sandman takes the bump through that aforementioned table. He’s killing himself and this is terrible. Francine is loitering on the apron, shoes off, so she’s getting ready for something. Credible blocks the ‘Old School Expulsion’ and hits ‘That’s Incredible’. Francine with a rana from the apron to the floor on Sandman which Styles calls the ‘Coochiecanrana’. Give it a rest man. Sandman pulls out a monster ladder, a good several feet taller than the ones they’d already been using. As Credible and Corino climb it, someone winches the belt upwards and out of their grasp. What is this nonsense? A bit more action and as Corino climbs again, Credible follows him up. I think he was supposed to bulldog him through a table but it just looked like they both jumped off and through it. With his two opponents down Sandman climbs the ladder and collects the belt to become, for the fourth time, the ECW World Heavyweight champion. Surprisingly all three shake each others hands post-match in a show of respect. Da Baldies are out but Credible and Corino fight them to the back while the Sandman positions a table upright in the corner. Hmmm, this isn’t finished. Sandman vs Rhino (ECW Guilty as Charged 1/7/01) As the Sandman climbs the turnbuckles to celebrate his win, he doesn’t realise that Rhino has entered the ring and is ready to pounce. Oh dear, Rhino slips on a chair just about recovering to hit the gore. He grabs the microphone and wonders why is he the TV champion “when this fucking poor ass company doesn’t even have TV?” He’s got a point with that one. He tells “Mr Extreme, Mr Hardcore Icon” to give him a title match now. Sandman tells him where to go, however after Rhino threatens his family he has a change of heart, barely being able to muster the words “ring the fucking bell”. Rhyno immediately gores him through that strategically placed table but Sandman kicks out of the cover. Piledriver from the apron through a table on the floor and again Sandman is able to raise a shoulder once his lifeless body is dragged back into the ring. A second piledriver, this time on a broken shard of table, and for the second time in the space of about five minutes we have ourselves a new ECW World champion. Cyrus leaves his position at the broadcast desk to join Rhino in the ring, announcing that with the win the TV and Heavyweight titles have been unified. He makes an open challenge to anyone in the building, anyone in the company or anyone in any company who has got the guts to face the Manbeast to bring it “right fucking now”. Are they going for the record for most impromptu matches on one show? Rob Van Dam answers the challenge but as he squares up to Rhino he’s jumped from behind by Jerry Lynn and the champion heads out of there. Rhino is the right person to be champion and the “match” with Sandman was fine as it got the belt away from him and was done and dusted in three moves. The ladder match that preceded it was awful though.

The match starts with three men in the ring and it’s not long before one is the spare part, stood there waiting while the other two do their thing. Kash fluffs either a springboard or a slingshot which is very unlike him as he’s usually near faultless on stuff like that. The three-way tropes continue as we then have the third man breaking up the pin. They know how to play these fans like a fiddle though, it’s not been good but they wait for the Pavlovian round of applause which comes. Each man tags their respective partner and things should pick up with Tajiri, Guido and Crazy. Guido isn’t paying attention and Tajiri drills him with a kick while still on the apron. The thirty seconds we get of Tajiri and Crazy is the highlight of this so far. Crazy with a springboard legdrop onto Guido, however Mamaluke is late with his top rope legdrop save and John Finnegan is left with no choice but to hold up his count. That looked bad. A triple submission spot that the fans love, me not so much, I think it just looks hokey. Everyone ends up on the floor and Kash takes to the skies with a great switch position springboard twisting senton out onto everyone. Leaping rana off the top by Kash, hit immaculately and making up for that botch earlier. As Finnegan is distracted by the Sinister Minister, Sal enters the ring, splashes Kash who is easy pickings for the pin as Crazy and he are the first team to be eliminated. Mamaluke gets dumped into the front row and Mikey with a guillotine legdrop. He’s so thin they literally drag him through the railings! Rocket Launcher on Guido. The Unholy Alliance tie the FBI in the ‘Tree of Woe’ and while Tajiri kills Guido with the baseball slide, Mamaluke lifts himself up out the way and Mikey slides out to the floor where he’s snatched by Big Sal who runs him into the ringpost. Reverse tornado DDT by Mamaluke. ‘Sicilian Slice’. Double team powerbomb off the top although somehow Mikey is able to get a shoulder up on the cover. Double leglock submission and this time Tajiri is in for the save. Tony floats over on the suplex but Mikey counters when he goes for it again with a Whippersnapper. Tag to Tajiri who takes it to the wannabe Italians. The Alliance bridge a couple of chairs across the middle and drop the FBI face first into the. The double Whippersnapper off the top is countered with a pair of Fujiwara armbars, Tajiri again with the save for his partner. He destroys Guido with more kicks before misting Mamaluke and stereo pins seal the deal, Mikey with a cross armed German and Tajiri with a regulation variety. I reckon if ECW had never died Heyman would still be running the FBI vs Unholy Alliance to this day. Admittedly, the match improved significantly when we were down to those teams as the opening three-way portion was all over the place at times and not particularly good; Tajiri’s brief interactions with Crazy and Kash’s switch position twisting dive to the floor being the only memorable things (of a positive note) in the first half. But yeah, FBI vs UA had run its course by the end of last year and I don't need to be seeing it again to start the next.

ECW tag team title match. Danny Doring threatens to kick Elektra’s ass which goes down well with the fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Magistral cradle by Dinero for an early two count. Modified T-Bone/Ferris Wheel suplex. E.Z. lands on his feet after being flipped backwards, however as he starts swivelling his hips, doesn’t realise Roadkill is in the ring behind him. Roadkill plants him to the mat and then drops an elbow from the middle. ‘Lancaster Lariat of Lust’. Dinero is in, but he gets caught and powerslammed hard, right into perfect position for the ‘Panty Drop’ elbow. The champions whip Money into his partner, and as Doring slingshots Roadkill towards them they both duck out the way and the big man goes sailing out over the turnbuckles to the floor. High pescado by Dinero. ‘G-Spot sweep’ on Money. As E.Z. crawls around on the canvas Doring goes to leap off his back (at least they’re not using the referee for that spot), however he comes up short on the dive, barely grazing Roadkill and Dinero. Roadkill gets nailed by a Hamrick side kick when he grabs Elektra and ends up in the front row. Doring whips E.Z. towards the railing, but he turns that into a ‘Money Clip’ over the barricades to Roadkill. Great spot. Back inside the official is distracted by Money and misses seeing the Hamrick springboard DDT on Doring. ‘E.Z. bomb’, which is a terrible name for the ‘Crash Landing’ release suplex. The challengers continue to isolate the ‘Dastardly One’ until he catches Dinero with ‘Wham, Bam, Thank You Mam’ and then counters the ‘Money Clip’ with ‘the Bareback’. Hot tag to Roadkill who runs wild in there, including making Money regret wearing that thong prior to the ‘Amish bomb’. Double springboard clothesline. Elektra is up on the apron and her distraction allows Dinero to connect with the ‘Jalapeno Popper’. Moonsault by Money. E.Z. snatches Roadkill but he’s able to free himself from his grasp and Hamrick takes out his own man with the springboard clothesline. Dinero with a bodyscissors but Roadkill holds him in position and Doring comes off the top with the ‘Buggy Bang’ as the champions retain. Hot Commodity jump them after the bell and our footage ends as Nova appears to be coming out for the save, which in typical ECW style segues into the next match. No doubt ‘impromptu’ ! The more I see of them the more I realise what a strong undercard trio Hot Commodity are. Dinero still has moments where he looks indy but Money is fantastic. It takes some sort of brave chap too to wear those translucent tights with a black thong! The champions didn’t seem as over as what they were towards the end of last although the crowd are clearly into Roadkill. Doring wasn’t great mind, blowing that dive to the floor, throwing some bad looking punches and being nothing more than a series of ridiculously named moves. He’s always had them but I don’t remember him being so one dimensional last year.

Jim Cornette welcomes us to the first episode of OVW television of the year. This match was originally scheduled for the Christmas Chaos show back in December, however the two couldn’t wait until the rescheduled date to settle their differences and, despite his best efforts, Kenny Bolin couldn’t stop them either. ‘The Starmaker’ holds Jim Cornette responsible for his boys being at each others throats and gives everyone his word that there isn’t going to be a winner and isn’t going to be a loser, Robert Brisco won’t count to three in this match even if he has to cut off his hand to make sure he doesn’t do so. Cornette responds from the broadcast desk and he had a hunch Bolin might try something screwy. OVW had promised a winner and a loser and that someone will leave BS, so to make sure that happens they’ve appointed a special guest referee, Trailer Park Trash. As Bolin continues to complain he’s ejected from the ring by Trash while Conway rushes Black. Lots of hitting each other with trash can lids, broomsticks and signs. Black wraps a chain around his fist but misses the fist drop and Conway then wraps the chain around Black tying him up. Wooden doors make their way into the match and eventually tables. Black with a great looking ‘Black Hole slam’ through a table for a near fall. He collects a second table, which he lays the ‘Iron Man’ across, however Conway moves and he crashes through it himself when coming off the top. As Conway starts loading his glove, Bolin is up on the apron begging him to stop. Black accidentally collides with Bolin and Conway schoolboys him for another near fall. Not happy with the count he slaps Trash across the face thinking he deliberately slow counted him. From behind Black whacks Conway in the head with Bolin’s briefcase and then Trash DDT’s him. Black gets the three and Rob Conway is out of Bolin Services. Just to show where he stands and that he has no allegiance to Bolin or anyone in BS, Trash clobbers Black with the briefcase, highlighting that he only involved himself because Conway slapped him.

OVW Heavyweight title match, ‘Slick’ Robbie D taking on the champion, the man who will be facing Chris Benoit later in the month at the rescheduled Christmas Chaos show. It doesn’t take long before we see D’s insane leaping ability, as on the leapfrog spot, rather than making the leap like everyone else does, he keeps his knees together and jumps up over Dinsmore. That’s ridiculous! Dinsmore holds onto the ropes to avoid the dropkick and then slaps on a Boston crab, D the one using the ropes to his advantage this time as he grabs them to break the hold. As it looks like the champion’s trying for a ‘Crippler crossface’, D low blows him. The ‘Slick’ one seems more interested in playing to the crowd than taking it to his opponent. Cornette highlights the importance of Dinsmore’s upcoming match against Benoit, claiming that should he beat him, like he did Al Snow and Chris Candido, he would then find himself on Monday Night Raw. Russ McCullough is out and down at ringside. D with a Fisherman’s suplex, he rolls over, placing his feet on the ropes for additional leverage, only for McCullough to push them off. Apparently Big Russ has promised that no-one is going to beat Dinsmore except him, so that expains why he’s interjecting himself in things. Belly to back suplex by Dinsmore and both men are down. Dinsmore gets a second wind and goes for the German suplex but D flips over and lands on his feet. He grabs a double underhook, Dinsmore blocks whatever he was planning and hits the German at the second time of asking to retain the title. Post-match McCullough flattens Dinsmore with the title belt and gives him this great looking powerbomb before he’s run off by a chair swinging Damaja. A flat match as the champion was never in trouble and D is not a credible threat. Just felt like a placeholder as Dinsmore gets ready for Benoit at Christmas Chaos. Talking of which, they appear to be teasing something involving McCullough and Steve Austin for that show too. McCullough’s powerbomb looked tremendous mind, one of the few compliments I can pay him.

The background is that these two were the former OVW Southern tag team champions, but Payne abandoned Flash, dissolving the team. Last Man Standing rules here mean that there is no time limit, no disqualification, no referee, and to win you must knock your opponent out for a ten count. The winner then gets to choose a partner of their choice and they will be the new Southern tag team champions. Jim Cornette warns us that viewer discretion is advised, there will be no stopping this for blood and Robert Brisco is only there to make the ten count. Awesome, unexpected opening as Flash dives headfirst through the ropes at Payne as he makes his way out. Russian legsweep followed by a twisting springboard legdrop. Cornette is talking ten to the dozen again. After a stunner, Flash instructs Brisco to start his count. Payne is up at seven but immediately felled by a thrust kick. As Brisco starts for the second time, Flash collects a metal folding chair which he wedges in the corner. Missile dropkick from the middle. Flash goes for a spear, however Payne sidesteps and sends him crashing into the chair. ‘Payne Killer’ which, unlike Maxx Payne’s, isn’t a Fujiwara armbar but a cool tilt-a-whirl like slam. He too then collects a couple of chairs from the outside, positions them upright and powerbombs Flash onto the steel. That didn’t look the most pleasant of bumps. With the help of the ropes Flash is up to his feet at nine, barely beating the count. Payne sits him on the top turnbuckle but Flash fights him off and hits the ‘Whipflash’. Both men are down and Corny doesn’t know what would happen in a Last Man Standing match if neither man is incapable of beating the count. He needn’t have worried as both are up in time. Flash with a piledriver, Corny noting that’s an illegal move in OVW and would normally be a disqualification. He tells Brisco not to count as he wants to dish out some more punishment, blasting Payne in the head with a chair busting him open. Should’ve expected that after Corny telegraphed blood in the build up. A second chair shot, harder than the first, when out comes Leviathan and Synn, Corny reminding us how she had promised to get even with both Flash and Payne. Flash cracks Leviathan over the head with the chair, but he no sells it and powers Flash to the mat with a full nelson slam. Rico makes the save and a dropkick sends Leviathan backwards over the top rope to the floor, still landing on his feet though. He picks up the chair, as if he’s looking to prevent Leviathan from involving himself again in the match, only to waffle Flash with it. A bloody Payne staggers to his feet and calls for Brisco to count, Flash unable to beat the ten. Cornette is at a loss as to why Rico did what he did while Payne celebrates with both tag title belts, now able to choose a new partner of his choice. Okay, so a retirement that Terry Funk would be proud of! When I called time on this back in February there had been no posts in the project for months and I had no inclination of being the only one watching and commenting on this stuff, which was my main issue. With Chad now back on board I have renewed enthusiasm. No more over dramatic posts I promise! Within the confines of OVW television I thought this was pretty good. Yes you could be critical of the selling at times but I just took that as par for the course of a TV match and being governed by advertisements (I can’t remember Corny running a match over multiple segments last year like in NWA Wildside for example). Flash was great while in all honesty, Payne could’ve been any one in there, it’s “the man who steals the show” living up to the moniker. Even the finish, yeah, you know you’re getting something dodgy with OVW, didn’t bother me. Enjoyable little match.

Every likelihood this aired on the 9/12 episode of Pro first but that episode is currently not out there.

It's already on certain torrenting sites (along with the Sabu one).

Saskatchewan. According to this week's Observer the belief is that he'll be getting into the US for Mania, and this week's Raw, which he's scheduled for, should show that one way or the other.