GSR

So Tajiri and Mikey are the number one contenders for the World tag team titles and are getting a(nother) shot against the FBI at the November to Remember PPV. I’m going to continue beating this drum, but why on earth is it not Danny Doring & Roadkill? The match has barely got going when it’s interrupted for a backstage interview from Rhino who promises to beat those bitches (Steve Corino and New Jack) bloody and leave them lying in a puddle of their own blood. Mikey and Matthews have some nice exchanges ending with a cool Magistral cradle by Whipwreck. York wants in and wants some of Tajiri, although Joey Styles can’t see why anyone would want some of the ‘Japanese Buzzsaw’. Combination backbreaker/slingshot legdrop by the ‘Unholy Alliance’. Matthews is back in but he meets a similar fate, swinging neckbreaker/slingshot senton combo this time. We return from an advert to see Mikey snatch Joey as he is walking around ringside. He dumps him onto the guard rail and then Tajiri and Whipwreck take it in turns to open hand him across the chest. Flying clothesline off the top for a two. Matthews ducks under the lariat and lands a Hangman’s neckbreaker as he and York look to mount a comeback. The comeback doesn’t last long, Mikey hitting a huracanrana before hot tagging ‘the Buzzsaw’. Handspring elbow on York. Tajiri mists Matthews, who drops to his knees, and then kicks him around the head like only he can. Double brainbuster and the ‘Unholy Alliance’ take the momentum into the PPV. Yes you’re guaranteed a good match but the FBI vs Tajiri & Mikey felt played out last month and we’re getting it again this. I’m really struggling to think why Paul E. didn’t fancy going with Doring and Roadkill at this point.

Agreed. I thought this place was above the idiots and clowns who spout shit like this on Twitter.

Doring and Roadkill believe that they are the uncrowned ECW tag team champions and claim that “tonight is the night”. Joey Styles seems to agree with them, saying how if it wasn’t for the interference of Big Sal they would undoubtedly be. As much as I have been enjoying the ECW tag team division recently you realise how little depth there actually is when Cyrus talks about York & Matthews and Da Baldies as being contenders for the FBI. Blind tag by Roadkill who bulldogs Mamaluke from behind. He tries a bodyscissors against his much larger opponent but gets planted to the mat. Guido charges, however he gets backdropped and then slammed in the corner. After a middle rope elbow Guido rolls to the outside where he’s floored by an airborne Doring, vaulting off his partner’s back. Roadkill launches himself from the apron at Big Sal hoping to take him out of the equation. I will say that Roadkill’s posing and playing to the fans is bordering on Van Dam territory with how often he is doing it. Mamaluke is caught when he tries to surprise him and he holds him in place for Doring to deliver the ‘Lancaster Lariat of Lust’. As the challengers set him up for the ‘Buggy Bang’ Mamaluke counters while Guido shoves Doring off the top turnbuckle. ‘Sicilian slice’ for a two. Doring ducks under the clothesline and hits the ‘G-Spot sweep’ as both men make the tag. Roadkill continues to be a great bullying hot tag as he throws the FBI around. ‘Barn Burner’ on Guido and a huge ‘Amish bomb’ for Mamaluke. Double running splash in the corner, but it turns out the FBI pulled referee Mike Kehner in front of them and he takes the brunt of it. Doring and Roadkill finally hit the ‘Buggy Bang’, although there’s no-one to count the fall as Doring gets another visual pin. Big Sal is in and he drops a leg to the back of Doring’s neck before turning his attention to Roadkill, chokeslamming him and then delivering a ‘Bonzai Drop’. He drags Mamaluke on top of Doring, puts Guido on top of Roadkill before reviving the official, Sal having screwed the challengers out of the belts for a third time. I can’t believe they did this finish for a third time! I said how I would’ve booked the title change at Anarchy Rulz, if you’re not doing it there then certainly do it the next time the teams meet. After they’ve retained the belts Joey Styles talks about Sal being the difference maker and how they’ll never be able to defeat the FBI while he’s at ringside. That certainly hints at Doring and Roadkill getting an equalizer in their corner, I can’t help but wonder if it’s too late though now?

The winner of this one will go on to defend the ECW World title against Jerry Lynn in his home town of St. Paul, MN at Anarchy Rulz. Francine has got something to say although is struggling to be heard over the “she’s a crack whore” chants, Joey Styles and Joel Gertner even getting in on the fun as they make jibes at her expense. Thanks to her friends at The Network she has with her a faxed memo which states that either Jack Victory vacates ringside immediately or the title match won’t happen. Corino checks over the memo and a reluctant Jacko is forced to leave. He makes out that he’s all upset over this before saying how they fell into his trap, how they will never out-heel ‘the King of Old School’ and introduces Dawn Marie to be in his corner tonight instead. Gertner claims there is legitimate heat between the two women and how Dawn is Francine’s worst nightmare. Joey doesn’t bother with any of that nonsense, preferring to talk about how it wasn’t too long Steve Corino was just a comedic manager for Tajiri and Rhyno however now is in the biggest match of his career. It takes barely thirty seconds for the action to spill to the floor, Credible flying out over the top turnbuckle after Corino had whipped him into the corner. They fight their way up the aisle and into the fans, the crowd being super hot for Corino. As they return to the ring Credible manages to gain the upperhand until Corino starts swinging back and the two exchange hard slaps to the chest. Francine passes Credible a chair which he slams Corino’s face into before throwing him back to the outside. He bridges a table between the guard rail and apron but, unlike with the chair, Corino blocks having his head slammed into that. More interference from Francine who takes Corino down with a flying huracanrana from the apron to the floor. Back inside Corino escapes a rear chinlock, holds onto the ropes to avoid the dropkick and then slingshots Credible out over the top rope and onto that table he had set up earlier. Bionic elbow. Credible is early on the tip up so Corino kicks him between the legs. Francine is interfering yet again, however Corino has had enough and grabs her by the hair pulling her into the ring. Her man comes to the rescue but Corino with a float over into a schoolboy for a near fall. Jim Molyneux gets bumped as he’s admonishing Francine and there’s no one to count the cover on Corino’s cradle suplex. Lou E. Dangerously breaks a phone over Corino’s head, which brings out Billy Corgan who breaks a guitar over Lou’s. Credible goes to cane Corgan who ducks the shot and Corino levels him with a superkick. Molyneux is still down so the crowd count themselves as he gets a visual pin. Mike Kehner slides into the ring but Credible kicks out at two. A Credible clothesline turns the challenger inside out and he then hops outside to grab another table which he positions in the corner. Corino with a standing switch and a Northern Lights suplex puts the champion through the table. Francine breaks up the cover leading to the expected “cat fight”, Dawn finally having had enough of her incessant interference. Credible canes Corino between the eyes, busting him open, before going on to shatter the Singapore cane over his back, very reminiscent of the Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck from back in the day. Corino counters ‘That’s Incredible’ with an ‘Old School Expulsion’, Credible barely getting a shoulder up to save his title. He grabs the chair and is about to cave his skull in when Francine is on here knees in front of her man pleading for mercy. Of course the fans want him to brain her. Tombstone piledriver on Francine! When he turns around through he’s met with a front kick, ‘That’s Incredible’ onto the steel chair and its Justin Credible who will take on Jerry Lynn at Anarchy Rulz. I was dreading this when I switched it on seeing the time counter, but the longer the match goes the more you’re drawn into the story they’re telling; one that legitimises Steve Corino as a viable contender for the World title and someone who you could see carrying the company in the not too distant future. Yes, there is repeated interference and a ref bump, which tend to be par for the course with ECW, although for a change I didn’t really mind them here (okay I could’ve done without the Lou E. and Corgan stuff). Highly recommended and, as Joey Styles pointed out towards the beginning, they have done an amazing job turning Steve Corino from this comedic manager into a future World champion.

There are “Who are you?” chants aimed at Xavier so I can only assume this is his first appearance for Jersey All Pro. Nice leg trip by Ki, swiping Xavier’s legs out’ after reversing the wrist lock. Ki’s flexibility is demonstrated as Xavier grabs an ankle and pulls him, Ki ending up in a splits position on the canvas. We do get a stand-off, although this one is done slightly differently than pretty much all the others we’ve seen, climaxing after both throw kicks at the same time and end up kicking the other’s shins. Xavier connects on a dropkick and Ki takes to the floor. Somersault flip dive over the top rope out onto him. This JAPW crowd who were real smarky at times during the September show are at it again here, on Xavier’s back. At least he’s giving as good as he gets responding to their taunting by saying “I may suck, but you swallow”. Butterfly suplex for a two. Ki ducks out the way of the handspring elbow and lands a handspring kick to the head. Now Xavier is the one who’s on the floor but quickly ducks scoots inside to avoid the pescado. He goes for a tope, however Ki kicks him in the head as he comes flying between the ropes. Xavier blocks the ‘Ki Krusher’ and catches him with a deep powerslam for a near fall. Ki fires off some elbows to escape the cut throat neckbreaker only to get dumped on his head by a suplex. The crowd are then back on Xavier’s case after a really weak looking kick, his attempt at dishing out some payback for earlier, although nowhere near as impactful looking as the ones Ki had been blasting him with. A dropkick to the knee wipes Xavier out and Ki locks in the ‘Dragon clutch. He manages to get to his feet and runs Ki backwards into the turnbuckles to break the hold. Pumphandle throw and the fans actually gives him a round of applause for that, maybe they’re starting to realise he’s not as bad as they may have first thought? After a rolling German Xavier leans back to make the cover (think Tim Horner’s finisher), however Ki grabs him around the throat from the bottom and transitions to the ‘Dragon clutch’. In the middle of the ring and at the third time of asking, he gets the submission. The crowd were dismissive of Xavier from the get go and didn’t want to give him a chance, even though I thought this was an impressive effort out of him (kick aside) and he did appear to win them round by the end. Some real nice stuff in there too such as Ki’s trip, the spot where he ends up in the splits and the way Ki locked in his finisher. Worth a watch.

A recap of last week where ‘Janitor’ Jim found the WCW TV title in the garbage and when after a successful defense against Robert Gibson he was challenged by Steven Regal who promised to retire if he didn’t beat him for the gold. Regal with an early cheap shot on the break, but Duggan reverses the Irish whip and a pair of clotheslines floors the challenger. Hacksaw follows him out and throws some bombs, which is what his offense is primarily limited to these days. He tosses Regal back inside but plays to the crowd a bit too much allowing his Lordship to get the jump on him. Regal with an armbar and as always with him look for the subtleties like how he drives his forearm into Duggan’s jaw, making the move as uncomfortable as possible for his opponent. Duggan punches his way out and fair dos when he throws a left he immediately grabs that arm and holds it by his side, unable to punch effectively due to the damage Regal had done. He whips Regal into the ropes and slams him to the mat. Three point stance, he then drops ‘Old Glory’ and Lord Steven Regal is history. Fidel Sierra is shown at the top of the runway watching on having apparently already issued a challenge to Duggan. I won’t be watching that one!

Multi-gimmick match for the vacant JAPW Heavyweight title. Lover telegraphs a backdrop and Homicide with a swinging neckbreaker for an early two. It’s not long before the match goes to the floor, Homicide reversing the Irish whip and sending Lover careering into the guard rail. He rushes his opponent but gets backdropped over it and onto the concrete. Lover grabs the Singapore cane which he cracks over Cide’s head and while he’s down disappears to the back to collect a ladder. As they embark on a tour of the bleachers Homicide starts to fire back, launching a chair at Lover’s head which busts him open. Hard chair shots to the back and another to the shoulder follow. Homicide drags him up to the Crow’s nest but Lover manages to put the brakes on and throws Cide off it to the stage below. As the action returns to ringside Homicide picks up the Singapore cane and dishes out some payback. He bridges a table upright against the guardrail and lies Lover up against it, however as Cide goes aerial with the tope con hilo Lover moves and he crashes through the table himself. Lover bridges a board covered in mousetraps between two chairs and brings the ladder into the ring. He’s spent too long on the furniture arranging mind and Homicide has recovered from that nasty bump. For some reason Lover then starts climbing the ladder, something that makes zero logical sense, while Cide climbs up the other side. They trade blows at the top and a hard Homicide open hand slap causes Lover to lose his balance, falling from the ladder and into the board. ‘Cop Killa’ and Homicide is the new JAPW Heavyweight champion. There’s a nice round of applause for Lover as he leaves, that cut of his now leaking blood. Generally I didn’t think this was a bad Hardcore match even if there was a slight random feel to it. My main gripe regards the finish, in that Lover started climbing the ladder for no reason whatsoever, and it was blatant that he was only doing so so he could take a fall from it into the mousetrap covered board. It didn’t go too long either, so no feel of it dragging while Homicide took two wild bumps (off the stage and the top con hilo through the table).

At least the women have been left in the back this month, although we still have Johnny D and Rick Silver seconding their respective teams. No long write up because the match was very similar, even down to the referee, as the previous one (DHS shine, heat on Mafia, hot tag after spinning pumphandle, ringside brawl, finishing stretch (including the same spots such as Cide blocking the Dragon screw, applying the STF and Mafia saving his partner)). At least the actual finish itself was different, however I’m not sure putting the heat on the referee is the way to go, even if it did play up his legit incompetence! As Scruffy is being manhandled by DHS and Johnny D for counting the fall the ring announcer comes to his rescue saying that there was a foot over the rope and the match must continue. The restart doesn’t go long, Cide getting backdropped over the top rope through a table at ringside before Montoya is small packaged as Da Hit Squad regain the Jersey All Pro tag team titles. It would be nice if these teams either stuck to wrestling or brawling and not this weird mishmash, still the post-match handing over of the belts and the talk of Homicide having bigger fish to fry means it sounds like the feud is done anyway.

There’s a proper early 90’s Indy feel to the way it looks in the arena with how dark it is in the building. Montoya is announced as being “number 189 in the PWI 500”, well he did better than Don E. Allen! Homicide and he have manager Rick Silver (you may remember him from the tag team The Big Unit earlier in the year) along with valet Poison in their corner. That scruffy, long haired kid is officiating and it looks like he’s going to have his hands full with these four. It doesn’t take long before Homicide and Mack are just forearming each other across the chops. Monkey flip by Mack as he and Cide working a fast opening stretch. DHS with a double press slam on Montoya followed by a double shoulder charge. Mafia is jumped from behind by Homicide but it’s so dark in there that you don’t see it. He blocks the attempted suplex and dumps Cide across the top rope. Montoya replaces his partner, no tag, although fares no better. Clubbing rabbit lariat after he ducked the regulation one. A short elbow to the side of the head stuns Mafia as the Don and Cide look to try and wear him down. There’s a real classy “she’s got no tits” chant aimed at Poison. Montoya drops a fist a la Ted Dibiase saying how he learned this in Memphis. Mafia has a golden opportunity to make the tag after a dropkick sees Homicide roll to the floor, but rather than make that tag he follows him outside and ends up getting whipped into the ring post. Cide breaks a crutch over his back and we then get some awful overacting from that ref, questioning why the crutch is broken before kicking the ropes and saying how he doesn’t want to see any of that. Shut up you fool. Fujiwara armbar by Cide and Montoya with a single arm DDT into a crossface. The Don claims a tap out but as incompetent as this referee is even he isn’t falling for that. A lovely Saito suplex, dumping Mafia on the back of his head. Mafia reverses the Irish whip, keeps hold of the arm and hits a ‘Rock Bottom’. Again he forgoes the tag to deliver a spinning pumphandle slam. Now he makes it, to what can only be described as a tepid reaction at best. Da Hit Squad’s manager, Johnny D, passes his charge the wooden ring steps and Mafia with an awesome tope suicida over the top rope, Mack helping out to break his partner’s fall. That dive is surpassed by Homicide’s top con hilo where he goes flying over the guard rail and into the front row. The bout descends into a brawl and not a very good one, lots of whipping each other into various objects, standing around and numerous dives off the wooden stage, even from those who are not actually involved in the match (Johnny D and Gabrielle Leigh). Leigh ends up getting accidentally bumped on the floor as Cide reverses another Irish whip (that spot has been done to death here) sending Mack clattering into her. Things finally return to the ring, Mack missing a diving headbutt off the top. Homicide blocks the Dragon screw and slaps on an STF, Mafia saving his partner. He goes to check on Gabrielle but she clotheslines him across the top rope. I don’t know if this was a turn as it’s never been specified whose corner she was in. Mafia staggers backwards, Cide with a ‘Cop Killa’ and the scruffy ref is delaying making his count, presumably waiting for Mack to be in a position to break up the fall. Yup, that was exactly what he was doing. Comfortably the worst referee I’ve seen all year. Montoya clips out Mack’s knee as he’s about to piledrive Homicide, STF, this time there’s no-one to save him and he taps as we have ourselves new JAPW tag team champions. Post-match Ric Blade joins ‘The Unit’ for the celebration while Rick Silver challenges anyone in the back with the balls. ‘Lowlife’ Louie Ramos and two cronies answer the challenge but don’t fare well at all, Montoya pulling his pants down and giving one of them a stink face. Things fell off a cliff big time when they started the brawling, it was all very aimless and meandering, while the dives felt like they were dives for dives sakes (everything post Homicide’s tope con hilo, the manager? the valet?). By the time they were breaking up the submission attempts and pinfalls I had zoned out and was wanting this to end. It’s a shame because everything up to then (the DHS shine, the heat segment on Mafia) had been pretty good, but the final ten minutes or so was terrible. Still at a loss to what was going on with Gabrielle Leigh and it’s where a lack of commentary on these Indy shows hurts in the telling of the story or explaining the history to new viewers.

Ki tells Reil that the last time they were here in this building he bruised his ribs, partially fractured his elbow and cost him his match against Homicide. “You hurt me, now I hurt you” as he then strips out of his gi and down to his MMA shorts, barefoot and ankles taped. The crowd know what that means, straight on it with the “shoot fight” chants. Ki with some hard kicks to the lower leg and I especially like the front kick he throws out, something you do see in real MMA fights as the fighters look to gauge distance. Reil is already backed up against the ropes and as Ki throws some knee strikes the referee is in between the two trying to separate them. The Light Heavyweight champion spots an opening, raking Ki in the eyes before throwing him to the outside. Springboard plancha. Back inside Ki nails Reil with a koppu kick to the back. ‘Dragon clutch’ but they’re too close to the ropes. Reil rolls through to escape the Fujiwara armbar and a release overhead throw looks to have bought him some time. After a springboard legdrop a confident Reil calls for the finish, however Ki counters into a variation of the Tarantula. This looked way more painful than Tajiri’s version, what with his legs crossed across Reil’s jaw and putting pressure on it. The physicality continues with some hard crossfaces, Ki even hooking two of his fingers up Reil’s nostrils and pulling them back. Reil dead-weights on the ‘Ki Krusher’ and hits a German suplex for a two count. ‘Shooter Clutch’ (Shooter Schultz’s full nelson camel clutch, something I’m surprised more people haven’t stolen because it’s a cool little move/submission). Ki wriggles over to the ropes for the break and not too long later lands a quality Dragon suplex. A second ‘Dragon clutch’ and as Reil is waving his arm about he accidentally claws the referee in the face. The champ taps but the official doesn’t see as he’s in the corner rubbing at his eyes. It’s not his day as he then gets squashed courtesy of a ‘Krush Rush’. A replacement slides into the ring to take his place, but the additional few seconds has given Reil time to recover and he kicks out of the cover following a ‘Ki Krusher’. Reil catches a kick, puts Ki over his shoulder and starts spinning, only for Ki’s trailing leg to wipe out the replacement. That was one of the best looking ref bumps of the year, shame it wasn’t needed or wanted. Oh great, here comes the scruffy hammy over actor! Cradle piledriver for a near fall. He sits Ki on the top turnbuckle but the challenger fights back and just as it looks like we’re going to have ourselves a new champion, Reil counters the super ‘Ki Krusher’ into a small package. Two of the referees both count to three and I’m convinced we’ve got a double pin scenario until the ring announcer confirms that Reil has retained his belt. The crowd, who have been ungodly smarky all match (we’ve had “suicide dive”, “kick him in the head” and “tables” chants at various points), start a “shake his hand” chant, Ki offering his which is accepted, the two showing their mutual respect for one another. Ki is so on point with everything from the moment he steps through the curtain, the way he carries himself, the aura he gives off, you really do think he’s going to deliver an ass kicking. When the bell rings that continues and Reil gets beaten with stiff looking offense while his body is tortured and contorted with various submissions. You think it’s only a matter of time before the title change but that finish was nicely done and caught me off guard. One referee bump wasn’t necessary, then we go and get a second! That’s my lone criticism here (oh and I suppose the annoying crowd) in what was a very good match. (Note: I watched this after the Main Event)

Invader III out to ‘Burning Heart’ by Survivor. Folk rarely seem to be in a hurry in Puerto Rico and there’s no difference here. Suave goes to the eyes to and brings the Invader to his knees with some punches. There’s a bit of fire in Invader’s comeback including a great looking dropkick as Rico retreats to the outside to recover. He’s out there fiddling in his tights for something, whatever it is is now in his fist which he’s shielding from his opponent and the official. Rico clocks Invader with the object before putting it in his mouth, out of view, as the referee questions him. He removes it from his mouth, drills Invader again and this time puts it under his arm pit, even opening his mouth to show the ref that there is nothing hidden in there. The first time I saw this done was when Bobby Heenan and Jim Cornette managed on an ROH show against each other, it got a laugh out of me then and it did again here. One final time and Suave then puts the item back down his tights. Eye rake followed by a thumb to the eyes and I don’t thinks Rico has used one legal move in this yet. The Invader starts firing back and Suave is on his knees begging for mercy. That buys him a bit of time and he throws Invader to the floor after punching him in the groin to buy even more. Sunset flip back inside but Rico grabs the ropes to prevent himself from being taken down. The official kicks his arms in order to get him to let go of them and the Invader completes the take down for the win. Overall not a lot to this, however due to Suave’s heeling and antics with the foreign object one that will remain memorable. A worthwhile watch, unlike a lot of the Puerto Rican footage.

Kurt Angle is showing Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley video of the Dudley Boyz powerbombing his brother Eric through a table, saying how he only came here to celebrate Christmas and didn’t deserve that. Steph says that she knows how it feels to have members of her family insulted and that’s why she’s acquiesced to his request and made this a World title match, Kurt wanting to embarrass him in what will be his one and only shot at the belt. Angle cuts the usual promo while he’s making his entrance, telling Bubba that he broke his number one rule when he put his hands on a member of his family and if he thinks he’s kidding “just try me”. Bubba clubs him when he climbs up on the apron, sending him tumbling back to the floor. He slams his face into the apron itself before throwing him inside while brother D-Von is shown watching closely on from a monitor backstage. Kurt ducks the swinging arm and lands a big belly to back suplex. ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker as the WWF champion remains firmly in control. Rabbit lariat, but Kurt then misses the moonsault as Bubba rolls out the way. Jerry Lawler sounds as if he’s about to break out into a flood of tears, imploring Angle to stick to his game plan and not move away from the ground attack. Bubba starts to gain some momentum, alternating rights and lefts. Kurt reverses the Irish whip and launches Bubba with a release overhead belly to belly. He grabs his title belt from ringside, brushes past Mike Chioda but before he can use it Bubba kicks him in the mid-section. DDT, he then drapes an arm over the champion who just, just gets a shoulder up in time for an awesome near fall. Check out the reaction of the crowd to that, especially the young girl in the front row wearing glasses. Bubba picks up the belt but Chioda pulls it away. In the confusion Kurt gets in a low blow and small packages the challenger to retain his title. The action isn’t done yet as Bubba snatches Kurt and gives him a post-match ‘Bubba bomb’ as he was about to leave. Edge and Christian are out to save their buddy which leads to D-Von evening(ish) up the fight. The Dudley’s look to be handling the three of them with comparative ease, however after D-Von gets the table things backfire and Bubba ends up being put through it courtesy of an ‘Olympic slam’, Kurt getting a bit of payback over what happened to his brother.

No reaction at all for Rikishi, whether that’s down to the crowd not caring or simply thinking he’s no threat after how the Rock and Steve Austin have handled him recently I don’t know. I’d be favoring towards the latter though. The two trade blows in the middle of the ring until Taker, for some reason, goes for a headbutt. That one hurts him more than his opponent (they have been playing up the Samoan’s ‘hard head’ a fair bit recently) and Rikishi looks to take advantage. He whips Taker into the turnbuckles with authority but there’s no-one home when he goes to ‘back dat ass’ up. As the ‘American Badass’ calls for the ‘Old School’ rope walk, Kurt Angle runs out and his distraction allows Rikishi to pull Taker from the top turnbuckle to the mat. Belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Taker reverses the Irish whip, big boot to the face and he then drops an elbow as he gets a near fall of his own. He flips backwards over the ropes to the floor to slug Angle before returning to the ring. Kurt picks up a steel chair and is loitering ominously, interference imminent I believe. Taker grabs Rikishi around the throat and Kurt is up on the apron, however Taker notices him and gets the first shot in, although when he turns back around he walks straight into a superkick. After a second superkick Rikishi drags him over to the corner and lands the ‘Bonzai Drop’ for a big, and much needed, win. Despite being enemies come Armageddon, Angle and Rikishi show some unity as the pair team up to leave the Undertaker laying.

A fairy uninspiring tag match with lengthy chinlocks and nerve holds that hints at dissension in the Los Boricuas faction. In the early goings the Boricuas had been doing false tags, goading the other Hunter in to the ring and then switching places behind the referee’s back, and I liked how in their heat section the twins did similar. The official clearly better at recognizing which twin is which than me though, as he was questioning the brothers about whether there was indeed a tag. It’s not a lengthy heat section anyway and pretty much as soon as Jesus has made the hot tag he’s back in the ring helping out Savio against the Hunters. Jesus gets backdropped over the top rope to the outside and while the ref then tries to get A out of the ring, B climbs the turnbuckles for a moonsault. He’s dragging this out and taking his time, reason being he’s waiting for Miguel Perez Jr to arrive and clock him with a steel chair. Savio makes the cover and the official, none the wiser to what he’s missed, counts the pin as the Boricuas get the win. Post-match Jesus is not happy about something, although I can’t gather what, in fact I can’t gather what he could possibly have a problem with. He does though and wants no part when Miguel tries to raise his arm, leaving the other two Boricuas to it.

Lame commentary in the EWF isn’t just limited to matches involving the Backseat Boyz as here, when Shorty is introduced, Dirty Deeds says how that’s her pet name for R.C.; a man who isn’t short in stature so she must be talking about something in the genitalia area (and he uses the word genitalia). The match hasn’t even started and they’re already fawning all over Ric Blade. An upward kick that completely misses is sold, but at least Dirty Deeds tries to cover, saying how although it only grazed him it still had enough to take him off his feet. A Blade spin kick takes both men over the top rope to the outside and he then connects on this awesome ‘Skytwister’ press (springboard Phoenix splash). After rolling Benz back into the ring Blade lands a slingshot elbow drop. Benz reverses the whip to the corner, Blade rolls over him as he comes charging in but gets turned inside out by a clothesline. He takes to the floor to try and gather himself, only to be met with a Benz flip dive, leaping off a chair to help him clear the ropes. Springboard moonsault with Blade draped on the middle rope, which looked ridiculously contrived mind, both the springboard part and Blade holding onto the top rope so he wouldn’t lose his balance. Benz backdrops Blade over the top rope, however he lands on the apron grabs him in a Dragon sleeper, flips over back into the ring and turns it into a stunner (this one’s called the ‘Blade Runner’). ‘Swanton bomb’ for a near fall. Benz escapes the attempted belly to belly and plants Blade with an atomic drop into a front slam. He overshoots the middle rope moonsault though and ends up headbutting Blade in the stomach. Blade catches Berk with a sunset flip before they run through a sloppy Guerrero/Malenko sequence. Double running crossbody sees both men go down. Blade charges at Berk who vaults him overhead, however Ric lands on the second turnbuckle, leaps backwards and hits a DDT. Shorti proves her incompetence as she struggles to find a chair, eventually managing that trying task and passing it to Blade. Benz blocks the top rope rana and counters with an inverted tornado DDT onto the chair. This twerp on commentary would rather talk about the blonde in the front row that is giving him wood than the action. Frog splash by Blade, Benz getting a foot over the rope to break up the pin. He misses a legdrop off the top and Blade with a 450 splash, Benz kicking out of the cover. After escaping the ‘Benz Driver’ Blade lifts Benz over his shoulder and dumps him on his side. Dirty Deeds says that was stiffer than Michael Jackson at an all-boys reform school. Four storey moonsault (finally a name for it!) finishing with the corkscrew variety which is enough to put Benz down for the three. A real good spot fest, nothing in the way of transitions or psychology but if you’re not bothered by that and just want to see some innovative shit, Ric Blade is your man.

Not just any old ‘stand-off’, but “what a stand-off” according to Joey Styles after the opening trading of holds between Guido and Doring. Roadkill is over huge with this Canadian crowd who immediately start chanting for him when Mamaluke tags in. He grabs a side headlock, Mamaluke shoots him off and Roadkill just runs through him. Same hammerlock/lifting Mamaluke up and dumping him out onto Sal from the 9/7 Cleveland show. Amish whip, jeez Joey, Roadkill grabs Mamaluke around the waist but he counters with a swinging DDT. He then springboards backwards onto his shoulders, transitions to a sunset flip however Roadkill with a sit down splash and Guido is forced to break the pin up with a dropkick to the face. Fuck, an Italian whip now! Roadkill slams Guido in the corner and comes off the middle dropping an elbow to his chest. ‘Dirt Road’ slam on Guido and the ‘Lancaster Lariat of Lust’ for Mamaluke. The FBI take to the floor but Doring fails to connect on the pescado as they step out the way. Big Sal is busy distracting Roadkill, who is up on the ropes jawing back at him, and the FBI are in for their side Italian legsweep/powerbomb combo. They kick him to the outside where Sal splashes him up against the guard rail. Not sure what happens in the heat section, although it looks like Mamaluke either slips or mistimes a springboard. If that was a botch, Guido and Doring, who races into the ring, do a great job covering and carrying on as normal. As referee H.C. Loc is dealing with Roadkill, Sal is up on the apron and Guido whips Doring into his back. ‘Sicilian slice’. Doring blocks the ‘Kiss of Death’ and counters with the ‘G-Spot Sweep’. Both men make the tag and Roadkill takes Mamaluke’s head off with a clothesline. It’s all the challengers at this point and after they hit the ‘Buggy Back’ on Guido, Sal pulls Loc from the ring to stop the count and save the titles. Crossbody by Doring from the top turnbuckle out onto Sal. Mamaluke waffles Roadkill with one of the belts and as the fans start booing thinking they’re being screwed, Roadkill kicks out in a great tease as the match continues. Roadkill with a ‘Barn Burner, he then heads upstairs but Guido gives him a shove and he falls from the top through a table on the arena floor. ‘Wham, Bam, Thank You Mam’ on Guido. Doring only gets a visual pin though as H.C. is on the outside trying to separate Mamaluke and Roadkill. Big Sal is in, gives Doring a chokeslam followed by a ‘Vader bomb’ and then puts Guido on top as Mamaluke shoves Loc inside to count the fall. Parts of this were similar to the Cleveland match, but this was much better with a far hotter crowd. Some great teases in there and the FBI doing everything in their power to hold onto the straps. The challengers are ready for a run with the gold.

Chris Hamrick is hobbling down the aisle as he makes his entrance, his knee all bandaged up. Joey Styles thinks this is bogus and isn’t buying it for one second. Hamrick informs the fans that he won’t be able to wrestle tonight because he was doing his usual 1,500 pre-match squats in the back when he went and pulled a muscle on number 1,499. As a result he wants Spike Dudley to come out here and give him his release so that they can all go home. Spike makes his way to the ring, but as he tries to get in Hamrick kicks out at him to prevent him from doing so. Styles notes that he’s throwing some good kicks for a supposed cripple and how this must be a miracle! Hamrick removes the bandage from around his knee which he uses to choke Spike with, but less than thirty seconds later falls to the ‘Acid Drop’, Spike dropping him onto a chair that Hamrick had just placed in the centre. Hot Commodity jump Spike, who is then saved by Kid Kash, returning the favour from last week. The odds become too much for him and as Money and Dinero are about to give him the ‘Buddy Bang’ they’re run off by Danny Doring and Roadkill.

Whoever edited this for TV did us an almighty favour, editing out the Rob Van Dam entrance. We go straight into a commercial break and when we return Van Dam has got E.Z. backed into the corner as he kicks away at him. ‘Rolling Thunder’ splash and he’s already playing to the crowd. A spinning leg lariat sends Money through the ropes to the floor, Van Dam following him to the outside. Moonsault press of the guard rail and he then ducks back into the ring to bow to the audience. Fuck off! Slingshot guillotine legdrop, Fonzie holding a chair over E.Z.’s face. Of course he doesn’t follow up on that, preferring to hi five the fans. As he gets up to the apron Money shoulder charges him in the mid-section, however Van Dam blocks the suplex attempt and rams his head into the turnbuckle. He springs to the top turnbuckle but E.Z. gives him a shove on the backside sending flying to the floor. Down at ringside Money whips RVD into the metal guardrail, then doing the same to Fonzie. Joey Styles points out that’s smart thinking on his part what with Fonzie playing an integral role in some of Van Dam’s offense. ‘Money Clip’ for a two. After looking to wear him down a bit more with a chinlock he hits the ‘Bank Roll’ (crash landing/release suplex), although is still unable to put him away. E.Z. runs into a back elbow and a RVD springboard side kick drops him. Van Dam then runs through his shit and Fonzie assisted shit, taking time to pose and bow in between, before getting the victory after the ‘Five Star’ frog splash. The ‘Van Daminator’ looked the most preposterous thing of the lot, having been crotched on the top rope E.Z. Money has to sit there, Fonzie holding a chair in front of his face while Van Dam climbs to the top turnbuckle and eggs the crowd on with their encouragement. No he can’t fight back or attempt to move the chair out the way, just sit there. Not too long ago I was very close to stopping watching Rob Van Dam’s matches. There’s only two months left of the year now and I’ve endured him for this long so will persevere; this is the straw that broke the Camel’s back though. In a vacuum, on its own, this would’ve been bearable (I loathe to even include E.Z. Money in this because the problem is 100% Rob Van Dam) but I’ve had a gutful of his antics, the posing, the ridiculous playing to the crowd, the fucking bowing mid-match, his opponent conveniently falling into position all the time, Fonzie’s interference, Fonzie hamming it up and the cumulative effect of ten months of that just pushed me over the edge. One of the positives of ECW going out of business at the start of 2001 is that I will never have to see this obnoxious crap he does (I don’t remember him being anywhere near as bad as this in the WWF) again.

No more Dawn Marie with the ‘King of Old School’ as Jack Victory is back in Steve Corino’s corner for this ‘Three Way Dance’ for the ECW World title. A Lynn headscissors sends Corino out to the floor and he’s quickly joined by Credible who is backdropped over the top rope and onto him. Plancha from the top turnbuckle out onto both. Credible kicks out after a Lynn tornado DDT and then puts a stop to his early dominance by floating over and planting him with a reverse DDT. Cyrus talks about their previous feud, saying how Jerry amassed more than a dozen victories over Credible and that nobody in the company has more wins over the current World champion that he does. Francine passes her man a chair which he repeatedly slams Lynn’s head into busting him open. Credible takes a flip bump over the turnbuckles and out onto the apron, where he’s then sent flying into the guard rail courtesy of a Corino clubbing blow. Lynn dropkicks a chair into Corino’s face before turning his attention to the champion, clotheslining him over the top tope to the outside. After dumping them in the front row he launches himself at the pair and you can now see that all three are bleeding. Back inside Lynn and Credible trade blows, referee Mike Kehner standing far too close to the action for my liking. Corino takes out Credible, goes to nail Lynn, who ducks the shot, and he accidentally levels Kehner. Called it! Credible uses his Singapore cane to break up the attempted cradle piledriver and then drills Corino between the eyes. Cradle piledriver and Danny Daniels is out to replace Kehner. I wonder how this is going to play out. Daniels stops his count at two claiming the champion got a shoulder up, he never, it’s just more of this tedious bullshit with him. Lynn goes to piledrive Daniels when Francine is in the ring and on his back. Credible blasts Jerry with the cane, ‘That’s Incredible’ and as Daniels is about to count the fall he’s slugged by H.C. Loc. It’s OVW with the referees fighting each other! Lynn looks for a second cradle piledriver, this time though Corino superkicks him, Credible reverses, ‘That’s Incredible’ and the man who’s got the title match at the PPV is the first person to be eliminated. Francine trips up Corino, who takes off after her but she’s cut off by Victory. He’s blindsided by Credible who then turns into a superkick for a razor close near fall. The two are just destroying each other with chops, Credible ‘wimping out’ first and low blowing his opponent instead. As Corino tries to get to his feet Francine tapes his wrists to the top rope and he’s at the mercy of the champions who repeatedly blasts him around the head with cane shot after cane shot. She passes Credible another chair but Corino escapes the attempted ‘That’s Incredible’ and lands an ‘Old School Expulsion’ onto it. Francine breaks up the pin and here’s Dawn Marie as Joey Styles squeals “catfight”. The finish comes as Francine canes Corino from the floor and the champ finally hits ‘That’s Incredible’ going into Anarchy Rulz with the gold still around his waist. I did enjoy this but there was way too much outside interference and Francine was far too involved. This Danny Daniels shit is a complete momentum killer and the sooner we see the back of him the better. Agree with the comments about Corino surpassing Lynn, although with him being the first to be eliminated here as well as the PPV coming from his home town it does kinda signal what will happen come Anarchy Rulz.

A pretty ropey start to this with Anton powerbombing Bill Alfonso after Fonzie had told him that Rob Van Dam is going to “smoke his ass”. What looked bad was that RVD was in the ring as this was happening and while I know he gets easily distracted in matches, this was pushing it to think he wouldn’t notice what was going on. Eventually he does, although only after the damage is done, and levels Scotty with a spinning heel kick. Anton rolls to the outside with Van Dam following him to the floor, hammering away on him before throwing him into the front row. He climbs to the top turnbuckle and leaps off it with a plancha deep into the crowd. Guillotine leg drop to the back of the neck after Anton had been dumped across the metal railings. For a supposed ‘grudge match’ Van Dam is more interested in slapping hands with the fans as opposed to dishing out some pain. Thrust kick off the guard rail. Back inside and a slingshot legdrop followed by ‘Rolling Thunder’ as RVD looks to target those ribs that Scotty was just holding. Joey Styles says how Van Dam is “consumed with hatred”, he’s consumed with something alright, I don’t know whether it’s hatred though! He crotches Anton across the top rope, looks around, then crotches him on another side of the ring, finally kicking him in the head. This made no sense at the time and only some while later, when typing all this up, did I realise he was expecting Fonzie to throw him a chair. Anton falls into the corner after an inverted atomic drop, RVD looks for Fonzie to pass him the chair but he’s nowhere to be seen following that earlier powerbomb. Scotty with a clothesline, he then picks Van Dam up and dumps him over the top rope to the floor. Bulldog from the apron into the guard rail, although Anton hurt himself as much on that as he’s back clutching his ribs. Oh there’s Fonzie, laid out on the floor. Scotty runs him into the ring post before returning to the ring and tying him in the ‘Tree of Woe’. He picks up a chair and charges at RVD who, from an upside down position, kicks the chair into Anton’s own face. Split legged moonsault for a two. Van Dam leaps to the top, however Scotty swipes his legs out crotching him up there. Suicideplex as Anton goes for broke looking for the win. He does the clap with RVD’s own hands but that just seems to fire him up. Step through spin kick. Leaping side kick from the top followed by a cart wheel into a back flip. Fonzie finally comes through throwing a chair in there and even though it’s caught by Anton in essence it’s just saving RVD a job as he hits the ‘Van Daminator’ kicking the chair into his own face. The ‘Five Star’ frog splash and this one’s over. Rhino is out, not wanting to wait until Anarchy Rulz, and the show goes off the air with the two going at it. Terribly dull and like with a lot of Van Dam’s matches there appears to be no urgency whatsoever from him; that comes across even worse than usual in a bout like this where Joey Styles is preaching about supposed ‘hatred’ that he has for his opponent.

The timings are slightly off in the early throws of things, but a Kash dropkick sends Psicosis through the ropes to the outside giving both a chance to reset. Things don’t get much better, although the fans are more interested in something that’s happening in the crowd as opposed to what’s happening in the ring. Psicosis with a spinning wheel kick and as Kash walks around ringside trying to shake out the cobwebs he’s caught by a plancha from the top turnbuckle. There’s now an “asshole” chant going on, presumably for whatever it was that was going down in the crowd. They take it in turns to be whipped into the guardrail before a Kash head first pescado, looking like it hurt himself more than his opponent. Psicosis mistimes the tip up but Kash is quick to cover, picking up a two count with a belly to back suplex. He whips Psicosis to the corner who then (slowly) runs up the turnbuckles and hits a moonsault bodyblock. A pretty poor take on the Malenko/Guerrero pinfalls and reversals sequence and this has been a real disappointment so far. Sit out face first suplex by Psicosis but he then misses the guillotine legdrop as Kash rolls out the way. ‘Money Maker’ and this one’s over. I spoke too soon as Rhino’s out and he gores Kash as he’s celebrating the win. He drags him out onto the apron ready to piledrive him through a table when Rob Van Dam runs out to save his sometime tag team partner. Feinstein is right on top of this. RVD blocks a hip toss and ends up hip tossing Rhino through the table. In true Van Dam style he gets in the ring to pose to the crowd before going back out to continue the attack! Leaping side kick from the top and Rhino falls into the corner where Van Dam then dropkicks a chair into his face. As Fonzie motions for a ‘Van Terminator’ RVD ends up taking too long mugging and Rhino rolls out of there. There’s more fighting in the aisle, Van Dam coming out on top, meaning yet more posing and playing to the fans. The match itself was not good and it’s always disappointing when it involves two guys who are capable of so much better. I may have said that what happened in the crowd threw them off their game (like we have seen in previous ECW house show matches) but things weren’t going well even before then. Post-match started out promising, then Van Dam would take a break to mug and pose.

When you know one team has already reached the final because of the cack handed way these matches are airing it does kinda negate this first round encounter! Anyway, let’s put that to one side and give this a whirl. A timely placed commercial means we miss RVD’s lengthy ring entrance. On our return Joey Styles is barely pausing for breath as he calls the action between Van Dam and Lynn. Nice bodyscissors into a pinning attempt by RVD, only to then go into fan adulation mode. Ah, he tags in Kash so we shouldn’t be seeing any more of that nonsense for the time being at least. Styles was just putting over RVD and Lynn huge in his commentary, yet I think the exchanges between Kash and Lynn are far superior as they come across more natural as opposed to choreographed. Hard open handed slap to the chest. The hip toss is blocked, Kash lands on his feet from the monkey flip and Lynn with a deep arm drag. Combination side slam/elbow off the middle by the Dreamer/Lynn team. Dreamer catches Kash on the crossbody and tosses him overhead with a fallaway slam. Drop toe hold/leg drop to the back of the neck for a two count, Kash barely getting a shoulder up. Lynn runs into a big boot and Kash with a moonsault bodyblock. Step through spin kick by Van Dam. He military presses Jerry overhead before dropping him chest first to the mat. Standing moonsault and Dreamer is in to make the save. Front first superplex by RVD on Kash onto Lynn and then this awesome switch split legged moonsault for a great near fall. Van Dam forearms Dreamer who is on the apron, sending him sprawling to the outside and Kash with a flip dive to the floor, leap frogging over his own partner. A springboard crossbody from Lynn takes out both and then a RVD tope con hilo takes out everyone (although you see them all stood there waiting ready to break his fall). Styles calls this “the wildest match they’ve ever seen in ECW”; they’ve left the ring once and haven’t done any brawling, this is hardly Public Enemy vs Bruise Brothers! Kash slips as he goes to run up the turnbuckles so Dreamer gives him a belly to back as he looks to capitalise. The ‘Tommyhawk’, an inverted Razor’s Edge dropped into a cutter, a move I had forgotten all about, and Kash wisely rolls to the outside. Dreamer turns around and is caught by a leaping side kick off the top. Fonzie’s interference is thwarted by Lynn who intercepts the chair that he throws to Van Dam, however RVD ducks his shot and hits a ‘Van Daminator’. ‘Five Star’ frog splash on Dreamer who retreats back to the corner and right into position for a ‘Van Terminator’. Who says this is worked? Justin Credible is out and as RVD leaps to the top rope canes him in the back. Rhino with a gore and Dreamer takes advantage, piledriving Van Dam who bounces a good couple of feet off the mat. Tommy the fool then spots Rhino and forgets the match to go after him. The damage is done though, Lynn lifts a limp RVD up and hits the cradle piledriver for, if you have been paying attention, the outcome you knew was coming.

We’re informed that earlier in the show Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley got into a heated argument when he refused to reconsider her request to be at ringside for his matches. Not one to take that lightly, Stephanie is out before the two wrestlers and announces that from this point on she will be in Kurt Angle’s corner permanently, the man who she decrees will be the next WWF World champion. Kurt does try to get a hug from her but she’s all business, only offering her hand. Angle scoots out the ring on Kane’s arrival and back pedals away from him, the opening moments seeing him try all he can to get as far away from the ‘Big Red Machine’ as possible. Kane catches up with him in the crowd and carries him back to ringside where he then military presses and dumps him over the top rope into the ring. He’s completely manhandling him until running into a back elbow. Release belly to back suplex by Angle. A baseball slide dropkick sends Kane out to the floor where Stephanie proves her worth by throwing a drink in his face. Kane blocks a second belly to back so Kurt switches him around and lands a release overhead suplex instead. Angle starts celebrating, prematurely, unaware that Kane is already up to his feet. His shots now are having no effect, Kane shrugging each one of them off. Nice powerslam from the ‘BRM’ who heads upstairs for a clothesline. Chokeslam, but Stephanie is up on the apron distracting the referee, again showing the value that she has to offer. Kane has had enough and goes over to her grabbing her by the hair, Kurt however quickly rolls him up from behind and with some additional leverage from the ropes gets the win. The referee gets a post-match chokeslam for his incompetence while Michael Cole and ‘the King’ put over Stephanie saying that she wasn’t a liability at all and was a real asset out there.

Lita is holding her ribs as she accompanies the champions, a result of her Hardcore match with Jackie. A big opportunity for Lo Down here, not only as they’re getting a shot against the Tag Team champions, but also it’s a rare appearance on Raw for them too. The Hardy Boyz with a double legdrop on Chaz, Matt dropping his from the second turnbuckle. D-Lo is in to try and help his partner but gets beaten to the floor. Chaz gets backdropped over the top rope to the outside and Matt then nails him with a clothesline off the apron. He throws him back into the ring, however as he goes to get back in himself he’s snatched by D-Lo who flapjacks him onto the barricade. JR describes Lo Down as “fundamentally sound” I think that’s code for solid workers, not much charisma. D-Lo with a spinebuster for a near fall. Matt catches Chaz with a sunset flip for a two count but he cuts off any potential comeback with a clothesline as he and D-Lo go about double teaming him. A safer looking version of the ‘Burning Hammer’ and Jeff is taking no chances, in there to break up the count. Chaz misses a legdrop although very smartly then elbows Jeff off the apron as it looked like Matt was finally going to make the tag. As the referee checks on Matt, Lita trips Chaz from ringside and posts him. This time the tag is made and Jeff runs wild on D-Lo. Matt quickly finds a second wind and teams up with his brother for a pair of ‘Poetry in Motions’. Jeff climbs to the top for the ‘Swanton bomb’ when the Conquistadores run out and push him off the top turnbuckle as he takes a wild bump all the way to the floor. Lo Down hit their ‘Suicidepex’/frog splash finisher, but as ‘Blind’ Mike Chioda lives up to his name in trying to get Chaz out of there, Matt with a guillotine legdrop to the back of D-Lo’s neck and Jeff rolls on top for the three. Chaz clocks Matt with one of the titles post-match leaving the champs laying and Lo Down looking strong.

Somehow Rikishi has been awarded a Number One contender’s match against the Rock, the winner going on to face Kurt Angle as Armageddon. Michael Cole is clearly thinking the same as the rest of us, well me at least, saying how people don’t think he is deserving of this match. Rikishi doesn’t care what the people think, claiming that by squashing the Rock at the Survivor Series he does deserve it (no mention of the fact that he lost that bout or that he was handily beaten twice by Steve Austin) before promising to take him out once and for all. A Angle joins Jim Ross and ‘the King’ at the commentary desk to get an up close view of his next challenger. Rock is walking with a purpose, although not sprinting to the ring like he did at the Survivor Series. Rikishi reverses an Irish whip and the thrust kick that follows floors the Rock. A big belly to belly suplex, but it looks like Rikishi may have hurt his own knee on landing by the way he’s limping about. He runs (hobbles) into a Rock spinebuster from where the ‘Great One’ locks in the Sharpshooter submission. Angle leaves his position at the desk and attacks Rock for the DQ, a pretty foolish move in all honesty and it’s only when the official decision is announced does he realise what that result means. Rikishi gets his heat back...again post-match with a sit down splash but they’re running that well dry, that’s if they haven’t already.