GSR

Credible isn’t even trying to be conspicuous with his spot calling which you can clearly see. Kash clotheslines him over the top rope to the outside and then nails him with a springboard plancha to the floor. He dumps him into the first row where he comes flying at him again, this time over the guard rail with an ‘Air Sabu’. Kash runs into a back elbow and Credible connects with a superkick before getting Francine to pass him a chair which he slams Kash’s head into. Credible grabs a mic and bad mouths Kash over it whilst at the same time putting the boots to his opponent. Kash avoids the baseball slide and then lands a guillotine leg drop. Francine hooks Kash’s leg from the arena floor and as he turns around to see what she’s playing at, she slides the Singapore cane to Credible. Despite blasting him between the eyes with that cane the challenger is still able to kick out of the cover. Francine is now up on the apron and accidentally hits Credible with a metal tray. Schoolboy by Kash, but this time it is the champion who manages to get a shoulder up as Francine is beside herself thinking she’d cost Credible the World title. Beautiful top rope rana by Kash and this time Francine is in to make the save, diving on top of Mike Kehner. That gets one of the loudest reactions of the match, primarily because Francine’s ass is hanging out from her dress. Credible returns the favour, saving Francine from the ‘Money Maker’ and he is back visually calling spots again. Kash ducks a clothesline but gets gored by Rhino who has snuck into the ring. The pair of them double team him until Rob Van Dam, Kash’s partner in the upcoming tag team title tournament, makes the save as the show goes off the air. Kash continues to look good in the ring and I enjoyed this one a tad more than Chad with a couple of nice near falls in there. The finish was flat but they do seem to be hyping this tag team title tournament as a pretty big deal.

Just as I thought they were redoing the opening of RVD vs Jerry Lynn from Hardcore Heaven, Van Dam swerves me with an impressive gorilla press slam/standing moonsault combination. Of course he doesn’t follow up on that, preferring to climb the turnbuckles and showboat to the crowd. More spots from the RVD/Lynn match, more posing from Van Dam. This is so infuriating to watch! Kash sits RVD on the middle turnbuckle to counter the monkey flip but is too high on the spinning kick. Van Dam sells it anyway, getting tangled up in the ropes before falling to the concrete. Perfectly executed slingshot rana to the floor by Kash. He whips him into the guard rail, however as he charges Van Dam uses his momentum to throw him into the crowd. RVD drops him sternum first across the rail then comes off it himself with a guillotine leg drop. For some reason he starts selling, Styles desperately claiming that it took more out of it did him than Kash, and then gets caught by a Kash superkick, conveniently collapsing onto a chair. Great springboard plancha over the guard rail and into the front row by Kash. Clothesline off the middle for a near fall, ditto after the German. Double jump springboard rana that was even better executed than the slingshot version. RVD catches the kick, steps through and lands a spinning heel kick. After being on the back seat in the match for the past few minutes he’s back bloody posing! I’m done. The finish comes after Van Dam blocks the ‘Money Maker’, he then straddles Kash on the top rope, Fonzie holds the chair in place, Van Daminator off the top (with showboating both before and after!) and finally the ‘Five Star’ frog splash. I definitely got an ‘exhibition’ vibe here, as if they were trying to get as many standing ovations as possible from the fans in attendance. While the opening parts were taken direct from the Lynn/Van Dam match, the work wasn’t as crisp. Things pick up when Kash is in control and his flying is a joy to watch, but this was RVD at his worse when it comes to playing to the crowd, posing and showboating. I’m starting to wonder how many more of his matches I’ll actually bother with from this point on as I get frustrated by him pretty much every time out.

Hot opening as York spikes Simon with a tornado DDT while at the same time Matthews catches Swinger with a flying headscissors. That sends Swinger to the outside where he is soon joined by Simon courtesy of a double clothesline. Stereo suicide dives and although it looks like Matthews hits his head on the guard rail he quickly shakes that off. Back inside, he holds onto the ropes to avoid a Simon dropkick but is levelled by a Swinger clothesline from the apron. Matthews kicks out after the ‘Swing Thing’ (a cobra clutch Russian leg sweep) and a double flatliner gets the heel duo another two. As Simon complains to the official about the count, Matthews schoolboys him for a near fall. Simon counters the huracanrana with a modified sit out powerbomb before spitting in Christian York’s face. York shows his inexperience reacting to that, and while the official is dealing with him, it allows Simon & Swinger to double team behind his back. Matthews ducks the double clothesline, lands a double DDT and makes the tag. Cool double hip toss into a double powerbomb on Swinger. Lots of doubles here! Not sure what York & Matthews are planning, and we never find out, for as Simon distracts the ref, C.W. Anderson rushes into the ring and gives Matthews a spinebuster and drills York with a left. The heels hit their ‘Problem Solver’ finisher and this one’s over. Not sure what to make of Simon & Swinger after this. I enjoyed the PPV six-man involving them immensely, but this was just ‘meh’ for me after the opening.

We get a recap from last week where Tajiri was attacked by the FBI and Little Guido subsequently replaced him in the match against Psicosis. Mikey’s ring gear really does do him no favours whatsoever. Guido with a leapfrog but Mikey kicks him flush in the balls as he’s mid-air. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a two count. Tony Mamaluke is up on the apron and Guido reverses the Irish whip sending Mikey towards him, however he slides between his legs to the floor, from where he pulls out his ankles and Mamaluke ends up falling face first into the apron. Whipwreck avoids the pescado as Guido wipes out his partner instead before showing that he learned nothing from the PPV as he again goes for one of his own on Big Sal. Just like at Heatwave Sal catches him, and again is about to run him into the ring post but, unlike then, Mikey wriggles free and Sal goes head first into the steel. Mikey floats over on the superplex and Guido barely kicks out of the lateral press. As he jumps to the middle turnbuckle Guido clubs him from behind, Sal then distracts the referee and Mamaluke is in to assist on the double Russian leg sweep. In true ECW tradition, Styles calls it an ‘Italian leg sweep’ and if that wasn’t cringe enough, he then calls an Irish whip an ‘Italian whip’! ‘Sicilian slice’ for a two and after a basement dropkick sees the same result, Guido is in the face of Mike Kehner complaining about the slowness of his count. This is pretty reminiscent of that tag match on the Houston house show from just under a week ago. Guido telegraphs the backdrop and Mikey counters with a DDT. Huracanrana followed by a slingshot guillotine leg drop. A great version of the ‘Whippersnapper’ and as Mikey makes the cover, Sal is distracting Kehner. Top rope leg drop to the back of the neck by Mamaluke who pulls his partner on top but Mikey is somehow able to kick out at the last moment. Sal hooks Mikey’s ankle as he comes off the ropes and as Kehner turns to have words with him, Mamaluke cracks Mikey in the head with a chair and Guido schoolboys him for the win. The FBI aren’t satisfied and continue to put the boots to Mikey until Tajiri makes the save who, with the help of some green mist, clears the ring of all three. Tajiri and Mikey then shake hands as Styles calls them an ‘Unholy Alliance’ and there’s your new tag team! As I said in the play by play, reminiscent of the Houston tag, but just as I enjoyed that I enjoyed this one too. Mikey is someone who is much better than I ever remember too, despite the horrendous ring wear. The Tajiri save was kinda predictable after the way the FBI jumped him the week before was highlighted at the start, although nice that there was a storyline reason for him and Mikey joining forces as after watching that Fancam from last month (maybe a try-out for them as a team first?) I thought they’d just been thrown together.

El Consoladole does an owl gimmick and as he makes his entrance the fans rush to feed him bird seed out of their hands. When Taro looks a touch sad at being left out, a couple of the girls go and feed him too! The streamers being thrown into the ring at introductions seem to startle the owl who would rather pick stray bits of food up off the mat than wrestle. The opening few minutes are dominated by Taro until whipping Consoladole into the corner where, instead of taking the bump, he leaps up and perches on the top turnbuckle. Taro shakes the ropes to try and get him to fall, but we’re dealing with a bird here and not a human so that’s ineffective as their balance is top notch! He thinks for a moment and then heads to the timekeeper’s table where he collects some feed and uses that feed to coax him down, laying a trail until he’s close enough to him where he can stomp him in the head. That gets booed out the building by the fans who didn’t like it one bit! Swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Rear chinlock and Taro starts plucking Consoladole’s feathers which again doesn’t go sit well with the fans. He continues to heel it up, accusing the referee of hitting Consoladole, who has to get confirmation from a ringsider that it was in fact Taro. Consoladole lets him verbally have it, well as verbally as an owl can, before chopping him in the head. The owl is on fire from here with flying headbutts, a handspring elbow, a tornado DDT and a delayed Fisherman’s suplex, none of which are able to put Taro away though. Taro reverses the whip to the corner and hits a Russian leg sweep followed by a springboard splash. Top rope elbow and he then starts stomping his foot a la Shawn Michaels. Consoladole ducks the superkick and rolls Taro up with a cradle for a near fall. He goes for a superkick of his own but gets carried away stomping and is caught by a Taro one for the win. Weird, but genuinely funny!

Zandig’s pre-match promo is all distorted sounding on the tape so you don’t really get much of an idea on what he’s saying. Pain rushes to the ring and levels him with a spinning wheel kick. After an awry Asai moonsault where he accidentally knees Zandig in the face, he climbs on the ropes and yells “Who’s the fucking man?” Not him, as Zandig is back to his feet, puts him over his shoulder and launches him at the H8 Club (Mack Smack & Justin Kase) on the arena floor. Only problem is Zandig misses the intended target, throwing him over the H8 Club who were meant to catch him to break his fall! They return to the ring and it looks like Zandig is blown up already. Justice with a dropkick to the arm, a ‘Divorce Court’ and finally an inverted cross arm bar. Zandig ducks the crescent kick, however when he charges at Justice, he pulls down the top rope and Zandig sails over it to the outside. Somersault flip dive by Pain which he follows with a brutal chair shot to Zandig’s head. The H8 Club lift Zandig up, but he is able to free himself from their grasp and Pain ends up wiping out Smack and Kase with the Asai moonsault instead. Zandig uses a barbed wire lobster as a weapon and then climbs to the top turnbuckle only to lose his balance. He’s saved from the “You fucked up!” chants though as the fire alarm in the building goes off! As Pain climbs the fence, trying to escape according to John House, he’s snatched by Zandig who powerbombs him onto a couple of upright chairs. A second powerbomb, this time through half of a table that was bridged up against a wall. Zandig is really sucking up air now and can’t even lift Pain up for a superplex! He manages it at the second time of asking and after backdropping Justice over the top rope and through a table on the floor, collects one that is covered with barbed wire. That gets set up in the ring and Zandig then lays yet another table across the top turnbuckle in the corner. Justice gets up on the table himself (which looks so bad) where he’s joined by Zandig who signals for the ‘Mutha FN Bomb’. He’s so knackered now though that he can’t press Pain overhead! Justice with a shot to the bread basket before superplexing Zandig through the barbed wire table. As he makes the cover he’s attacked by Nick Gage who plants him with an awesome spinning powerbomb. In turn that leads to Wifebeater, Ric Blade and Nick Mondo all running out and in the confusion, Lobo slides into the ring, covers Zandig and wins the CZW Heavyweight title. WTF? Robbie Moreno, who is some kind of authority figure at this time, addresses the fans and says that this was ‘anything goes’ to explain Lobo being able to win the title in this joke of a way. Bad match and a bit of a mess to be fair. Zandig being in no shape and blowing up early doesn’t help, but there is just too much setting up of spots (and powerbombs!) going on. The finish with Lobo getting the win and the title was ridiculous.

I do think the Backseat Boyz lose something when they come out to anything other than ‘I Want It That Way’. Johnny Kashmere has clearly been studying Rob Van Dam, showboating after the very first move of the match! The expected choreographed sequence you’re guaranteed out of Ric Blade, ending with a sit out snap mare. A powerslam by Mondo on Trent and when Dewey Donovan tries to interfere, he ends up on the receiving of a double team powerbomb. The one other thing you can guarantee out of Ric Blade is a botch and we get that next as he loses his footing when Mondo launches him up to the top turnbuckle. He resets himself and a suicidal shooting star press to the floor! I kid you not, if it wasn’t for the Backseats saving him, Blade may well have killed himself on that as he doesn’t rotate enough and nosedives head first towards the concrete. You can hear in the reaction of the crowd how dangerous that looked. After everyone breathes a sigh of relief and realises he is okay, Mondo with a top rope Asai moonsault. Blade might not actually be that okay looking at the way he’s trying to shake out those cobwebs. He’s still got enough about him to apply a Tarantula on Kashmere, although it comes across pretty cheap using a move that is so synonymous with another wrestler. Whilst tied up, Mondo dropkicks a chair into the head of a helpless Johnny, but as he walks around the ring parading it, an Acid missile dropkick sends it crashing into his own face. The footage is jumping around a bit as there is only one roving camera filming while there is often something going on inside the ring and out at the same time. Sit out face first suplex off the top onto a chair by Acid. Mondo ducks a chair shot, leaps to the top turnbuckle and a flying back elbow sees it, this time, crash into Trent’s face. A nice suplex into a stunner from Kashmere and I have no idea what Blade then tried on him. Dewey Donovan is back interfering and hits a Fisherman buster on Blade which leads to the referee giving Donovan a Ligerbomb! Orihara moonsault by Acid, ‘Wall Unit’ by Blade, double ‘Van Terminator’ on Kashmere. It’s safe to say that psychology has long been thrown out the window here. Blade lays Trent on a table and climbs up to a balcony, however Acid is quickly up off the table and gesturing at him to jump. While Ric considers whether to, Trent’s attacked by Nick Berk who lays him back on it and Blade with a ‘Swanton bomb’ from the balcony (which barely connects). Over on the other side of the building, Kashmere and Mondo have made their way up onto the roof of an office. Johnny whips him off it and Mondo takes the most graceful of dives through a perfectly positioned table covered in light tubes. Jeez, Mondo’s back and elbow is shredded after that bump. Corkscrew dive off the roof by Kashmere. The action returns to the ring where the Backseats set up a table in the corner. Trent sits Blade on the top turnbuckle while Johnny grabs Shorty and lays her on top of the table. Blade blocks the top rope rana and flips Trent over, in the process splashing Shorty and putting her through it. That made no sense at all as to why Blade would even do that. Inverted airplane spin into a neckbreaker by Kashmere, and a combination Acid Bomb/Ace Crusher onto a chair sees the Backseat Boyz get the win. I’m reluctant to even call this a match, more like a choreographed, car crash, stunt show, spot fest. To be fair you didn’t want to take your eyes off what you were watching and there was some real ingenuity in there, but got the feeling that they wanted to out-ECW ECW. Shorty continues to be the most pointless valet of 2000, although with Mondo being the one checking on her and helping her to the back after the table bump, it looks like things are leading to a Blade/Mondo match and maybe even over her. Talking of Blade, he legit nearly killed himself twice during this!

I like how Corino escapes the hammerlock here. Even though in the end it’s just a back elbow to the side of Kash’s head, he’s constantly moving, feinting as if he’s going to go for an arm, a leg etc. trying to confuse him. The two trade hard slaps to the chest as what started out as a wrestling match is turning more into a fight. Kash clotheslines Corino over the top rope to the outside and as Victory tends to him, Kash with a springboard flip dive onto both. Back inside Corino reverses the Irish whip and Corino with that lovely deep powerslam of his for a two. Victory is still selling his head from being caught on that flip dive but drills Kash with a right from the floor while Corino distracts the official. The pattern of Victory interfering continues, even dropping Kash knee first across the guard rail at one point, something that I thought may play a role later in the match but never did. Northern Lights suplex for another two. Kash ducks the lariat, runs up the turnbuckles and a reverse high cross body for a two count of his own. He’s about to hit the ‘Money Maker’ when Victory is in for the save, although receives a superkick for his troubles. The second attempt is blocked and Corino with a cradle. They’re back exchanging hard open hand slaps and you can clearly see the effect this has taken on both men. Corino picks up Kash for a bodyslam but he counters with a small package for the win.

First person I saw claim that was, to no surprise, anti-Dave obsessive 'Les Moore' and his buddy Sean Ross Sapp was tweeting it too, although claiming it was all speculation (SRS is all about speculation), that he had no evidence that it was the case and that Fightful would never take money from anyone (although Fightful is so low on the totem pole when it comes to reporting I don't know why anyone would come to approach them for anything). FWIW I don't believe Dave is a paid consultant for reasons already mentioned in this thread, the thing is he could come flat out and say that he isn't and you would still get the likes of 'Les', the Russo sycophants etc claiming he is so what's the point and why should he have to?

Big Sal a big favourite in Decatur, IL for some reason. The opening exchanges between York and Mamaluke are a bit scrappy but things improve when it’s Guido and Matthews. Guido takes to the floor after a headscissors, but Joey is right on him, throwing him straight back inside. As he leaps to the middle turnbuckle Guido clobbers him from behind; that brings in Mamaluke and the FBI with a double Russian leg sweep off the middle for a two. Mamaluke holds onto the snap suplex and hits a Northern Lights for another close fall. After a shotgun dropkick by Guido, Mike Kehner is late to start his count as he’s trying to get Christian York out of the ring and back on the apron. That doesn’t sit well with Guido who is in his face, grabbing him by the shirt and telling him to concentrate on his job. Still frustrated he throws Matthews to the outside where Big Sal squashes him up against the guard rail. Back in the ring York is looking for the tag but Guido mocks him, grabbing Joey by the hand and swinging it just out of his partner’s reach while yelling at him to “make the tag”. The two trade chops before Guido drops him with a discus lariat. Mamaluke’s lack of size sees him struggling on the sunset flip, fortunately the blind tag had already been made and Guido with a flying Fujiwara arm bar take down. Matthews gets a foot over the ropes but Guido uses a full four and a half of the five seconds to keep the pressure applied. Joey is finally able to make the tag after a double clothesline, although the match soon breaks down with all four men going at it. York and Guido take the fight to the floor, meanwhile inside Mamaluke counters the inverted suplex and gets the three after a combination reverse DDT/Russian leg sweep. Christian York didn’t look good at all here, the opening section with him was sloppy and he even screwed up a powerslam in the first move after the hot tag. Fortunately he wasn’t in much as Matthews played the FIP role and did the bulk of the work for his team. The match just kind of meandered along for me although there were some nice double team spots from the FBI such as the middle rope Russian leg sweep and the flying Fujiwara arm bar.

The “Where’s my pizza?” chant has progressed to the fans adding a “Big Sal ate it” after the question is asked. An eager Tony Mamaluke has to be held back by Guido after Tajiri flips the bird at his partner. A spinning heel kick drops Guido and Tajiri goes to town with those quick fire kicks and punches. Guido reverses the go behind and catches him with a neckbreaker. Double clothesline by the FBI who then taunt Mikey on the apron. Tajiri ducks the swinging arm and flattens Mamaluke with an awesome looking and sounding superkick. Deserved “Holy shit!” chants for that! The ‘Unholy Alliance’ fold Mamaluke up like an accordion after a double clothesline of their own before giving it back to Guido just like how the FBI were previously giving it to Mikey. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Mikey and Guido is in to break up the pin. Slingshot guillotine leg drop for a two. ‘O’Connor roll’, although Mikey misses seeing the tag and Guido with a shotgun dropkick to the head. Double Russian leg sweep off the middle. Guido gets a near fall after the ‘Sicilian Slice’ and Mamaluke with that nice combination snap suplex into a Northern Lights. Mikey makes the hot tag and Tajiri with a pair of dropkicks to the knee, taking the legs out from under the FBI. A giant swing on Mamaluke, which is a new one for him, forces Guido to hurdle over his partner to avoid being tripped. The Tarantula, just like the handspring elbow moments earlier, pops the crowd and Mamaluke has regained his bearings enough to make the save. He comes off the top but is caught with a ‘Whippersnapper’ and Tajiri with a brainbuster for the win. If this is only a taste of things to come, I can’t wait to see what is to come! Tajiri and Guido have been working together all year so no surprise everything involving them looks so good, but Mamaluke and Whipwreck are right with them and the timing on spots is already there (see the finish). Real enjoyable house show match and my favourite ECW one for the month outside of what took place on the PPV.

Corino does his best to try and quieten the “R-V-D” chants but that only makes them louder. Move, pose, move, pose, you know how it is with Van Dam. Jack Victory’s interference provides the distraction that Corino requires, as while he’s going at it with him on the outside, Corino nails him with a baseball slide dropkick before the two team up to clothesline him over the guard rail and into the front row. He picks his shots while the fans do their best to rally Van Dam. Nice superkick for a two. Victory lobs him a chair which he teases cracking RVD over the back with, but instead sits down on it and applies a rear chinlock. The Corino powerslam is probably my favourite move of his at the moment and we get it again here as he picks up his second two count of the match. RVD catches a leg, steps through and levels Corino with a kick. Thrust kick off the top, however they’re too close to the ropes. Forward roll slam into a middle rope moonsault and this time Victory is in to break up the pin attempt. Corino saves his man from a ‘Van Daminator’ and hits the ‘Old School Expulsion’ neckbreaker. After reversing the whip into the turnbuckles, an inverted atomic drop sees Corino collapse into the corner where Van Dam dropkicks the chair into his face. A super contrived ‘Rolling Thunder’ with Fonzie providing the assistance followed by a pescado out onto Victory. More Fonzie chair holding assistance, this time for a top rope ‘Van Daminator’ and one five star frog splash later this one is over. While this clearly worked for the fans in attendance who got to see all of RVD’s trademark stuff, this just wasn’t for me. The more I re-watch, Jerry Lynn stuff aside, the more I find myself groaning at the whole Van Dam routine. The Corino rear chinlock spot was funny but, as Migs said, you never really feel as though he’s a threat. Hated the finishing stretch with the blatant Fonzie interference and assistance.

After the wrestlers are introduced, Mikey Whipwreck and the Sinister Minister make their way out. At first it looks like they’re just here to watch Tajiri, but no, Mikey somersaults into the ring and this three-way is now a four-way. In a sense this is our third ‘impromptu’ match on the PPV already; ECW don’t half overdo that trope. Nice huracanrana on Guido and a ‘Whippersnapper’ for Tajiri. Tony Mamaluke sprints out, however Mikey plants him with a flapjack. Pescado onto Sal E., who I doubt sprints anywhere, but the big man catches and then runs him into the ring post. He rolls him into the ring, guillotine leg drop by Psicosis and Guido steals the pin as Mikey is out of there already. Well that was worth it! Tajiri with a couple of headscissors variations and as Guido and Psicosis go at it on the arena floor, he takes out both with an Asai moonsault. He superplexes him back inside, moonsault into a leg drop by Psicosis but Guido kicks out of the cover. Psicosis was pretty careless on that, Guido getting his hands up to protect his face just in time when he realised he was about to land ass first right on it. Guido doesn’t sell it for long anyway, hitting the ‘Kiss of Death’ (another name for the Tomokaze) on Psicosis before a Tajiri German sees us down to two. Hard knife edge chops by Tajiri as he opens up on Guido. He then does this really smart pin attempt that was a new one on me. My words won’t do it justice, but with Guido sat on the top turnbuckle he gets underneath him, grabs his ankles and drops him face first to the canvas. He then reaches backwards, grabs Guido’s arm and turns it over into a modified backslide. Guido even manages to pull out a neat counter to that, starting with a neck bridge to get his shoulders off the mat. Tajiri reels off his staples like the Tarantula, the handspring elbow, and the crowd are liking what they’re seeing, even more so when he ducks out to ringside to collect a chair. He ties Guido in the ‘Tree of Woe’ and baseball slide dropkicks the chair into him. As Tajiri continues after him with that chair, Guido backs into the corner, gets the boots up and kicks it into his face. ‘Sicilian Slice’ and the crowd start that tedious “Where’s my Pizza?” chant. Payback time from earlier with Guido dishing out some hard open handed slaps to the chest. Tajiri escapes the ‘Kiss of Death’, blinds Guido with the mist and gets the win after a brainbuster onto the chair. The fans who were being dicks to Guido just moments ago are now giving him a round of applause after he gets back to his feet for his efforts in the match. Strange bunch the ECW crowd! Not sure what the point of adding Mikey to the match was considering he was the first man eliminated after only a few minutes of action. It was like they had no idea of what to do with him so just threw him into this three-way. The same goes for Tony Mamaluke who quickly disappeared after his run in. You get the sense that they were trying to recreate the Tajiri/Guido/Crazy three-ways, but with Psicosis in the Crazy spot, although he didn’t have the same smoothness or sharpness as Crazy. That’s what being underutilized for years in WCW does to you! The match was for the better when it was just Guido and Tajiri, even adding some new stuff to the regular.

New Jack, who is on crutches, suffered a broken leg on a balcony dive and is on his way down to the ring to speak to the fans when he’s jumped from behind by Da Baldies. Angel uses a staple gun to the forehead and it’s a two on one mugging until Nova and Chris Chetti run out for the save. They’re certainly not the people I would’ve expected to come to New Jack’s rescue! Chetti with a springboard plancha deep into the aisle followed by Nova tope. Double flapjack by Da Baldies. They get the heat on Nova for barely a minute before he makes the hot tag. Belly to back suplex on Angel however he rolls out the way of a Nova ‘Swanton’. DeVito misses a moonsault and Nova with a piledriver. Instead of releasing he holds on for a second, then holds on again, this time hitting a spinning powerbomb. Cyrus claims that Nova created that “live on PPV”, did he? Did he really? As Nova celebrates his ‘creation’ he’s levelled by an Angel clothesline. ‘Amityville Horror’ by Chetti and the combination top rope leg drop/splash ‘Tidal Wave’ for the win. This is more like a TV match as opposed to something you’d pay for on a PPV and watching the show as a whole you do realise how thin the roster is at the moment. I know Nova’s gimmick is that he ‘creates moves’, but considering Jerry Lynn’s finisher is a piledriver, Rhino uses the piledriver, as does the Sandman, adding in Nova as well is too many.

After some nonsense at the start of the PPV involving Cyrus and Joel Gertner that saw security and a bunch of referees required to separate them, Sal E. Graziano and Tony Mamaluke are out. Sal throws his considerable weight around, shoving the referees down before giving an obvious planted ref (the guy looks reminiscent of former WWF jobber Mike Bell) an impressive looking sidewalk slam, rag dolling the plant around. That brings out Balls Mahoney who quickly takes care of Mamaluke. Sal beckons Balls to swing that chair at him and when he turns to the crowd for approval, Sal jumps him. Balls ducks the clothesline and peppers him with jabs although is unable to drop the big man. He then breaks a chair over Sal’s head and still can’t fell him as he no sells that. Sal plants Balls with a chokeslam, elbow to the groin and a belly to belly for the win. That finish hushed the crowd as I doubt no-one expected it to be over so quickly. Sal no selling the chair shot like some indestructible monster feels like it should be the start of a singles push for him, but I don’t think anything of the sort happens.

Steve Corino informs everyone that Scotty Anton suffered a broken nose last night and he’s not going to be able to compete. Cyrus has therefore acquired the greatest wrestler that is not already part of The Network to take his place, Justin Credible. After nigh on five years in the company the fans still lose their shit at Francine bending over and showing her ass as she enters the ring. The faces make their entrances one at a time and those same fans are chanting for the Sandman, and expecting him, long before he arrives. While he never slipped at the PPV, Sandman does here as he jumps down from the guard rail after chugging a beer. There is some serious stalling going on and the crowd, who are clearly as bored as me waiting for it to do so, start a classy “show us your tits” chant. Presumably aimed at Francine, although Anton is the one who flashes his! Twenty two and a half minutes after the video started we finally get underway. Dreamer and Credible trade chops which seems like just an excuse to get the fans to “Whoooo” along. After a neckbreaker Corino and Victory are claiming of a hair pull, which is even more laughable than usual what with Credible being as bald as a coot. Raven thinks that he’s Rick Steiner before morphing into Shawn Michaels. This is not what I expected at all from these eight as we get some Southern tag spots such as Corino and Victory colliding into each other after a Raven drop down, a comedic ‘Test of Strength’ where Corino’s interference doesn’t pay off and finally Corino blowing himself up on a criss cross spot, continuing to run the ropes long after Raven had hopped out the ring. The picture then goes out of focus and I don’t know if RF had to change tape but we lose some of the match re-joining it with Raven now providing commentary over the house mic. The heels get the heat on the Sandman until those picture perfect Victory right hands fire him up. Dreamer snap mares Jacko onto a chair, but then misses the elbow drop off the middle rope as Victory moves out the way. As Anton grabs his hands and starts getting him to do ‘the Clap’, Jazz is out from the dressing room and beats him all the way to the back. Tag to the Sandman who blasts Corino, Credible and Victory over the head with his Singapore cane, however Rhino ducks out the way and gores him instead. He props up a table in the corner, charges, but is cut off by a Tajiri thrust kick. More out of focus camera work, this time returning just in time to see Tajiri put Rhino through the table with a double foot stomp. Singapore cane assisted Russian leg sweep through what’s left of the table and surprisingly Rhino does the job. A completely different match to what I expected going in as I thought this would be some almighty building wide brawl, not some comedic Southern tag. Raven especially seems to be having way too much fun out there. Disappointingly Tajiri is barely featured, only coming in for the finish, and talking of which, I certainly wasn’t anticipating Rhino being the one to take the fall. A fun change from the norm and one I would go higher on if it wasn’t for RF’s camerawork meaning we miss portions of this.

One guy in the front row is in hysterics and the match hasn’t even started. The music does add an air of tension to this, the way Azteca has that Kendo stick raised above his head as he stalks after his opponent. Tobita avoids the first two swings of the stick but not the third. The basic gist is that Kendo keeps dropping Tobita with Kendo stick shots but every time he manages to get back to his feet and beat the count. Before this gets too repetitive and the joke wears thin, Tobita picks up one of the mats that they’re fighting on and charges at Kendo, knocking him down. Fisherman’s buster, figure four headscissors and Kendo taps.

Is Chris Hamrick doing the slant eyes gesture towards Tajiri as he makes his entrance? E.Z. tries to start a “USA, USA” chant but that ends up with them chanting “You suck dick” at him. Money is just about hanging with Tajiri on the wrestling, confidently telling RF “this is going to be easy”. A dropkick sends Tajiri sprawling through the ropes to the floor where he’s attacked by Hamrick before he throws him back inside. Standing moonsault for a two. A kick to the mid-section doubles E.Z over and Tajiri lands a standing moonsault of his own. Nice counter of the Tarantula by Money. Hamrick is up on the apron holding a chair, E.Z. goes to whip Tajiri into it, but Tajiri with a handspring kicking the chair into Hamrick’s own face. Powerbomb by Money and not satisfied with just interfering from the apron, Hamrick is now in the ring. E.Z. tells him to “hold that motherfucker” while he climbs the turnbuckles, but Tajiri blows the mist in Hamrick’s face and then gives Money a shove. All tied up in the ‘tree of woe’ and Tajiri baseball slide dropkicks him in his face. A stiff kick to the head, brain buster and this one’s over. A pretty standard house show match (the crowd were wanting tables but they weren’t getting them tonight) however it’s always cool to see Tajiri in there with someone new. There was some nice stuff like Tarantula counter and the handspring chair spot again, although a shame that these two only wrestled each other twice (according to wrestlingdata) as they could clearly have a very good match if given time on TV or PPV.

Scotty Anton, Rob Van Dam’s ‘best friend’, is in his corner tonight alongside Bill Alfonso. I like the picture that Joey Styles is painting here, both men having been out of action for long periods due to injury, but Lynn pissed that RVD was still pushed during his off time while he was forgotten about. A standing ovation from the fans after a fantastic second sequence. Sadly RVD is back doing his usual showboating and posing to the crowd, hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come. Lynn ducks the spinning heel kick but not the second and a cartwheel into a backflip splash gets a two. More flaming posing, this time though Lynn dropkicks him in the back. Nice one Jerry, that should mean he’ll think twice about doing it again in the future! A springboard dropkick sends Van Dam tumbling from the apron to the outside. Slingshot somersault senton. RVD reverses the Irish whip sending Lynn crashing into the guard rail. He lays him over it, Fonzie holds a chair over the back of his head and Van Dam comes off the apron with a corkscrew guillotine leg drop. Lynn avoids the moonsault off the guard rail as RVD crashes and burns on the wooden floor. They return to the ring and Lynn picks up a couple of near falls after a middle rope leg drop and a spike DDT. RVD holds on to block the tornado DDT before a double clothesline takes both men down. Fonzie slides a chair into the ring, but Lynn with a couple of great counters; firstly firing the chair back at RVD to avoid the ‘Van Daminator’ and then with a leg drop to the back of the neck to counter the leg sweep. Van Dam catches a Lynn front kick, steps through, and nails him with a spinning heel variety. Rolling Thunder. An inverted atomic drop sees Lynn collapse in the corner and RVD then dropkicks the chair into his face. Van Dam has something else planned, this time though Lynn is ready, moves out the way and with RVD stranded on the turnbuckles, sunset flip powerbombs him onto that chair. Suicideplex for a near fall. They battle their way onto the apron and Lynn with a bulldog off the apron through a table on the floor. As Anton helps RVD back to his feet he’s wiped out by a Lynn cannonball. Lynn climbs the turnbuckles when Fonzie gives him a shove, crotching him on the top rope. He then holds a chair in front of his face for a ‘Van Daminator’ off the top. Steve Corino and Jack Victory are out (again!), waffle referee Jim Molyneux and then attack RVD. Styles is certain that Lynn is now aligned with The Network, however he then takes it to Corino and Victory. Rhino gives the numerical advantage back to The Network, goring Lynn and powerbombing RVD. Van Dam fires back and another step through kick before blasting Cyrus with a ‘Van Daminator’. One for Lynn, he heads upstairs for the frog splash when Anton turns on him and RVD takes an ugly spill to the floor. It looks like his foot slips on the ramp way and he could’ve easily badly pulled something the way he slipped. Not the kind of bump someone who is wrestling their first match since a broken leg should be taking. Van Dam kicks out of the first cradle piledriver, Lynn gives him a second onto the chair and that is enough to put him down for the three. An infuriating match. Parts of this were outstanding, but although it’s par for the course of a Van Dam match, the Fonzie interference and use of a chair was overdone and less said about all the interference at the finish the better. I know the story is ‘has Lynn sided with the Network’, but that’s Corino and Victory’s third outing of the night already, surely there was a better way do it than involving them again. Still a very good match that could’ve been even better with some tweaks and less reliance on gimmickry.

The Sandman polishes off three cans of beer while a further two go to members of the audience. When he was precariously balanced, one foot on the edge of the ramp way one on the guard rail and started chugging I thought there is every chance he’s going to fall and hurt himself, although he never did. Rhino gets in first with a forearm smash just as Sandman is winding up for a cane shot. It looks like a skirmish breaks out in the crowd as the fans turn their backs on the action to watch that instead. Sandman tosses Rhino over the top rope to the outside before coming off the apron with a guillotine leg drop as he’s draped over the steel guard rail. Rhino fights his way back into this but then misses a flying spear on the ramp way, crashing through a table that he’d laid upright against the ropes. He had started his run at the top of the entrance way and also vaulted off a chair so this looked tremendous. Sandman with a pair of piledrivers onto a flattened out table. Jack Victory heads down the aisle but he’s followed by Lori Fullington who canes him before he even makes it into the ring. A still bloodied Steve Corino is next out, grabbing Lori and is about to hit her when Sandman comes to his wife’s rescue. Rhino is back to his feet and piledrives Sandman on the ramp way. After Lori slaps him, he drags her to the ring and then piledrives her off the apron and through a table to the floor. Holy fucking shit indeed! Corino and Victory lift her lifeless body up and he’s about to gore her through another table when Sandman makes the save just in time. He picks Lori up but Rhino then gores the pair of them through the table and this one is over. A surprisingly not bad brawl, kept fairly short with a couple of memorable moments. I don’t know what to make of that piledriver on Lori through the table to the floor (it didn’t look like Rhino made any attempt to protect her), just am glad that wrestling has evolved and moved on from stuff like that.

Steve Corino tells Tajiri that the two of them go way back and these morons here in Milwaukee and the millions watching on PPV don’t deserve to see them fight each other. He says that he’s a forgiving man and is giving “the little slant eyed bastard” (who on earth approved that line???) one last chance to come back to him, if doesn’t, he’s going to kick his ass! Well that clearly didn’t go as planned, Tajiri’s responding by taking his head off with a kick. Corino counters the huracanrana with a powerbomb for a two. Tajiri is backed up against the ropes, Corino catches a kick, but Tajiri then transitions to the ‘Tarantula’. He follows Corino out onto the ramp way where he gives him this nasty looking brainbuster. The camera lingers for a little too long on the fallen Corino as you clearly see him gig himself on the floor. Tajiri hangs Corino in the ‘tree of woe’ before dropkicking him in the face. Fuck, blood splatters directly onto the camera lens after that. This is some blade job as Corino’s hair has already turned dark red while there is a puddle of blood on the mat from where he was hung upside down. Tajiri places a chair in front of Corino’s face, but Jack Victory grabs his ankle to prevent the baseball slide. Corino frees himself and levels Tajiri with a superkick. He picks up that chair and charges, but Tajiri kicks it into his own head. Tajiri lays Corino over the edge of a table and then dropkicks that into him as Corino is again out on the runway. Victory is around to check on his man when Tajiri takes out both with a springboard double clothesline. Corino backdrops a charging Tajiri back into the ring and through that table he’d just set up before getting a near fall after a fisherman’s suplex. Victory passes Corino a second table which he positions next to the turnbuckles in the corner. He takes too long on that table though, allowing Tajiri the chance to recover and lock on the Octopus hold. That brings in Victory but it was almost as if Tajiri was expecting him, blowing the green mist into his face. Tajiri then throws dozens of unanswered, super-fast, rapid fire kicks and punches that gets a standing ovation from the crowd. Double foot stomp through the table and Tajiri gets the win. Kintaro Kanemura jumps Tajiri after the match which in turn brings out Dusty Rhodes, Rhino and finally the Sandman. The usual five minute long Sandman entrance, so no idea if he was meant to make the save and the wrestlers just got bored of waiting or what, either way they all make their way out of there leaving just Rhino alone. It’s funny that OJ should use the term squash, because that’s what I felt about this on first viewing. Tajiri laying a brutal and nasty beating on Corino who has the occasional comeback but goes back to being destroyed by Corino. A proper sick blade job, Corino’s hair a dark shade of red by the time this is over and loved that closing stretch from the Octopus hold on.

Too Cool are accompanied by the ho’s, Mandy and Victoria, which smacks of trying to find a role for them. The Grandmaster takes exception to being out danced by Jeff so boots him in the mid-section. Too Cool go about getting the heat but that doesn’t last for too long, Jeff moving out the way of a charging Grandmaster who straddles himself across the middle turnbuckles. GMS breaks up a Matt cover on Scotty and all four men are now in the ring. S2H avoids ‘Poetry in Motion’ and as an unaware Matt celebrates, Scotty face plants him to the mat. W-O-R-M but they’re too close to the ropes, Matt draping a foot over the bottom one to break the count. Edge & Christian head down to ringside still upset that they won’t be getting another shot at the tag team titles while the Hardy Boyz are champions. Christian distracts the official but Edge then accidentally spears S2H as he was looking to hit Matt. ‘Swanton bomb’ and the champions retain the belts as E&C’s plan backfires Backstage Commissioner Foley goes to have words with Edge & Christian about interfering in matches again. He realises that they like gold, that they need gold, so tonight will be giving them a chance at getting some. E&C’s faces light up, that is until he tells them that what he said last week stands, and they won’t be getting a shot at the tag team titles, but at Steve Blackman’s Hardcore title.

Chris Benoit is already out next to JR and ‘the King’ to provide guest commentary. If that’s not a sign that he’s interfering in the upcoming match I don’t know what is! Taker overpowers the Rock and is controlling things early before running into an elbow. The Rock with a lariat, but Taker pulls him through the ropes to the outside. A bit of brawling on the floor, including Taker accidentally punching the ring post. Earl Hebner gets bumped after the Rock is whipped into him, meaning there is no-one to count the fall following Taker’s flying DDT. Rock reverses an Irish whip, spinebuster, ‘People’s elbow’ and still no-one to make the count. Chokeslam by Taker but as Earl now slowly crawls over it gives Rock those extra seconds to kick out. ‘Last Ride’ and the Undertaker gets a three on the WWF World champion less than one week away from Unforgiven. Kane heads out after the match and he and Benoit work together double teaming the Undertaker. The Rock recovers to help Taker clear the ring of them both, before ‘Rock Bottoming’ him as the show goes off the air. After the Kane/Benoit bout earlier in the show, the one thing I wasn’t expecting was a clean finish here. So much for my thought that Benoit was interfering in this too! Not much of a match, but by Rock taking the fall it does get over that he and the title are in jeopardy come the PPV.

When Stephanie says that she has come out to put an end to something that she should’ve put an end to a long time ago, Jerry Lawler quips to JR “she’s not going to fire you is she?” She knows that she is a special woman and that men have been vying for her affection all her life, but what’s going on now between her husband, HHH, and her good friend, Kurt Angle, has gone too far and wants Commissioner Foley to come out here and cancel their match at Unforgiven. No Mick Foley but Kurt Angle, who tells her that the match has to take place because if he doesn’t teach Triple H a lesson while he has the opportunity, she is going to end up a lot unhappier than she is at the moment. He then shows her a video of Hunter’s conduct over the past few months, from being caught in compromising positions with Trish Stratus and Chyna, to ‘accidentally’ hitting her on more than one occasion. That brings out Triple H who thinks that maybe he got Kurt Angle wrong, childishly implying that because he only wants to be ‘friends’ with a hot woman like Stephanie, because he only wants to hang out with her, that he therefore must be gay. Brilliant! Foley joins them and he too gets in digs at Kurt’s expense. He informs Stephanie that the match at Unforgiven will take place, but they’re not going to tear each other apart tonight because he’s ordering a six person tag between the three of them and Test, Albert and Trish Stratus. Triple H is still at it with the ‘mind games’ as JR calls it; flouncing and mincing over to tag in Kurt and then mocking him when he grabs Test from behind. Jerry Lawler joins the fun, claiming that a couple of weeks ago he witnessed Angle playing a Village People CD. A nice modern reference there from ‘the King’! Belly to back suplex, but Kurt has still got HHH in his head and instead of continuing the attack on Test goes to have words with his partner. When he turns back around he walks right into an Albert clothesline. Double underhook suplex. Gut wrench powerbomb by Test. Kurt escapes the pumphandle and hits a DDT. An enthusiastic Stephanie and Hunter both want the tag and even though Angle tags Steph, Triple H takes her place blindsiding Test. Neckbreaker, facebuster and Albert breaks up the pin by pulling HHH under the bottom rope to the outside. Stephanie slaps Test and he responds by palming her backwards into the turnbuckles. Trish with a bulldog, Test heads upstairs, but before he can land the top rope elbow Triple H gives him a shove causing him to lose his balance. ‘Pedigree’ on Test and for the ultimate humiliation HHH puts Stephanie on top to get the three. Kurt gives her a hug to celebrate the win and on seeing him doing so Hunter loses it. The two eventually separated and kept apart by a bunch of referees.

The Rock gets them to replay the end of the tag team table match against the Dudley Boyz from Smackdown, and even though he doesn’t like the Undertaker he’s always respected him. He understands that he is angry about going through the table, he understands he’s angry that he (the Rock) is the WWF champion and he isn’t, but instead of chokeslamming him through a table if he wanted a title shot all he had to do was ask. Rock then calls him out so he can whip his candy ass all over Chicago. Taker answers his challenge and questions the Rock as to who does he think he is to call him out? He says he warned him Thursday night not to piss him off, then he leaves him hanging as the Dudleys put him through a table; that pissed him off! Just as it looks like the two are about to get it on, Commissioner Foley is out, although he doesn’t really say much. Mick runs down the rules for the ‘Fatal Four Way’ match, explaining that Rock can lose the title without being pinned, before setting up a match between the two for later in the show. That announcement brings out Chris Benoit and then Kane, both who naturally think they deserve a title shot against the Rock. Foley points out that he never said the title would be on the line, the Rock did, and while the Rock can do many things he’s not capable of making a title shot, only he can. He goes on to confirm that the title will not be on the line, and seeing that Kane and ‘the Crippler’ want a piece of each other so much, sets up a match for them later too. We return from a commercial break and Kane and Benoit are already going at it, brawling their way down the aisle. Kane presses ‘the Crippler’ overhead and throws him through the ropes into the ring. He swats away a dropkick but then misses an elbow drop as Benoit goes to work on the knee of the ‘Big Red Machine’. Enziguiri by Kane who disappointingly immediately stops selling that knee. He whips Benoit into the corner, but ‘the Crippler’ avoids the charge as Kane goes flying between the turnbuckles shoulder first into the ring post. Kane blocks the attempted crossface and tosses Benoit to the outside where he drops him throat first over the guard rail. Benoit then picks up the ring bell which he brings back into the ring with him and clocks Kane with for the DQ. After Kane sits up after a post-match diving headbutt, Benoit has a real look of shock on his face at how he was able to withstand all of that. Kane is looking strong going into the PPV, but this is nothing more than filler until we get there.