GSR

Sting ducks a Jarrett clothesline and responds with two of his own followed by a couple of Japanese arm drags. An early ‘Stinger splash’ is missed, but he manages to put the breaks on in time. A clothesline sends Jarrett to the outside and Sting then suplexes him from the arena floor and onto the rampway. Double J avoids the splash from the top and Sting crashes and burns into the ramp. Jarrett picks up a chair which he uses on his opponent, but he dallies around for too long and the Stinger sprints down the ramp with a great running clothesline sending them both hurtling over the top rope and back inside. Figure Four by Jarrett, however Sting is able to reverse it forcing Jarrett to grab the ropes for the break. The Stinger fires back, a pair of ‘Stinger splashes’, Scorpion deathlock, when from through the ring comes Vampiro. He grabs Sting, pulls him underneath and smoke engulfs the ring like someone has let off a fire extinguisher. Loud “bullshit, bullshit” chant from the crowd. As the smoke settles, Vamp drags him back to the surface and Sting is covered in that red, blood-like liquid again. Double J makes the cover and he retains the World title. The New Blood come out to attack Sting, but very quickly the Wolfpac’s music starts to play. Despite the odds being 11 (the likes of Palumbo, Stasiak and the Filthy Animals are now in the NB) on 2, Hogan and Nash are handling the New Blood with ease until the show goes off the air. Short match, but I liked the action here with them both working hard and Jarrett bumping and flying about for Sting. Nice to hear the audience making their feelings clear on that finish as it sounds like they’ve finally had enough of this nonsense too. Hogan and Nash really shouldn’t be getting the better of 11 on 2 odds though.

Eric Bischoff and Kimberly are out first, but with Easy E’s grey hair and Kim wearing next to nothing, it looks like she’s an escort that he’s hired to have on his arm. DDP jumps Awesome as soon as he steps through the ropes and drops him with a discus lariat. ‘Cactus clothesline’ and Page launches Awesome over the announcer’s table right to where Bischoff and Kim are sat. Back inside and Page with a uranage before just about catching Awesome with a headscissors. DDT, and Kimberly says how she’s “had it and can’t wait anymore”. She picks up the divorce papers, gets up on the apron and wants Page to sign them now. He tears the papers up, but in the meantime Bischoff had passed Awesome a chair which he uses to nail Page in the head (busting him open in the process). A pair of DDT’s on the chair and Awesome drags Page onto the stretcher. As he’s being wheeled to the back he hauls himself off it and crawls back to the ring. He’s quickly levelled with another chair shot followed by a powerbomb through a table. Bischoff then puts a pen in Page’s hand and moves it for him, getting him to sign the remnants of the divorce papers whilst DDP is laid out unconscious. Awesome puts him on the stretched for the second time and this time he’s wheeled out of there. Despite this supposed to be about DDP getting revenge for Kanyon, that angle was very quickly forgotten about (and I don’t think even mentioned by the commentators during the match), and the focus was solely on furthering the Page ‘divorce’ storyline. DDP is one of the few who can ‘usually’ be relied on in this incarnation of WCW but these two didn’t work well together. They were off on quite a few things and the match was pretty ugly, with Awesome even showing an inability to execute an effective looking DDT. The section after Page had hauled himself off the stretcher was also disappointing as he was laid out almost instantly. I would have thought he should have gotten in a bit of offense at least. Poor stuff.

You wouldn’t recognise James Storm if it wasn’t for the fact he had ‘Storm’ on his tights, while Riley has been a regular in R&B security for the past month or so. Some quality wrestling from Karagias and Riley to start us off, but as Evan poses to the crowd (“that’s the way 3 Count does it baby!”) he gets clocked with a right. Riley goes for a springboard, however slips off the rope and crashes face first to the canvas eliciting loud laughter from the audience. A reversal on the Irish whip and a high hiptoss takedown turns things back his way before tagging in Paris. Scoop powerslam by Karagias and he tags out to Shannon Moore, where he’s immediately met with a leg lariat which he takes this great spinning flip bump off. It looks like Paris is losing him on a wheelbarrow suplex so plants him with a facebuster instead. Evan grabs at Paris’ hair while he’s running the ropes, and this distraction allows 3 Count to hit a double team Samoan drop/neckbreaker. Sunset flip off the top from Helms for two. A trio of legdrops, and he then holds Air so Karagias can nail him with a missile dropkick. Moore misses a splash off the top and Paris is able to make the tag to Storm. Storm takes it to all three members of 3 Count and a nice headscissors on Helms. All six men are in the ring, but Riley gets backdropped over the top rope to the floor taking this wild looking bump in the process. The camera misses Moore depositing Paris to the outside and 3 Count with a triple facebuster on Storm for the win. A bit messy in parts due to the job trio (the distraction spot didn’t look good and Paris just about saved that wheelbarrow suplex with the facebuster), while Riley’s botch is rivalling Punk’s against Eric Priest. Still this was a fun match and Shane Helms still stands out as a notch above the other two members of 3 Count.

Great fast paced opening ending with Daniels finally getting the better of things with a side headlock takedown. Candido backs him into the corner, but no clean break as he forearms him in the mid-section. Daniels reverses the whip to the corner and Candido goes flying over the turnbuckle and to the outside. Arabian moonsault and he then levels Candido with a steel chair. The action returns inside and Daniels with a back elbow, however Candido counters his next attack with a high slam to the canvas which gets him a two. Awesome delayed vertical suplex. Legdrop off the middle for two as Daniels kicks out. My version of the match is clipped, and returns just as Daniels hits a top rope frankensteiner. ‘Best Moonsault Ever’ from the opposite corner, but he ‘winds himself’ on the landing. They trade rights and Daniels with a one footed dropkick. Tornado DDT is blocked and Candido counters with a Northern Lights suplex for another near fall. Daniels ducks an enziguiri and hits the ‘Angel’s Wings’, however he plays to the crowd instead of making the cover. ‘Roll the Dice’, this time he does make it, but Candido is too close to the ropes and is able to get his foot over them. Irish whip, Candido is able to float over and a sit down tombstone piledriver (Rikishi Driver). Diving headbutt off the top and he gets the three. I was surprised at how much offense Daniels got in here and they also put him over well in commentary. If it was his try-out, you do wonder how why on earth WCW passed on him, but at the same time, where would he have fit in in the promotion at this point of 2000? Remember that Daffney was the cruiserweight champion less than a fortnight before this so that shows how serious they are taking that belt. If they were still producing a Saturday Night show he would have absolutely worked there, but unfortunately for him they weren’t. Good stuff mind.

Hulk Hogan had come to save his nephew Horace from an attack by The Wall and Billy Kidman earlier in the show, only to get jumped from behind by Mike Awesome. The Hulkster is handling the three of them until the odds got too much and it ended with Awesome powerbombing him through a table. Later in the show we cut to Hogan and Awesome fighting in the dressing room. Onto the match and Hogan has got ‘TCB’ on his vest and says to the camera that it stands for ‘taking care of Bollea’s’, and from now on it’s him and Horace. Awesome jogs to the ring and is met by a double axe handle the moment he slides in there. Eye rake to try and turn the tide, but Hulk curtails that with a back kick low blow. He shoves his bandana down Awesome’s throat whilst the commentators try to emphasise that this is Terry Bollea and not Hulk Hogan. A clothesline by Awesome and a boot to the mid-section sends Hogan tumbling through the ropes and to the outside. A big running lariat on the floor and back in the ring, Awesome with a clothesline off the top for two. Hulk takes to the outside himself and drags Awesome out after him. Chair shot to the head of Awesome and a couple more to the back, before The Hulkster takes off his leather weightlifting belt and uses that on his opponent. Belly to back on the floor and Hogan then crotches Awesome on the guardrail. Awesome grabs a chair and repeatedly jabs it into the Hulkster’s sternum before nailing him across the back with it. Slingshot splash back inside for two as Hogan kicks out. He’s fired up, starts to choke Awesome and then gets on top and rains down punches on him. Big boot to the face and here’s Billy Kidman. He’s primed to clock Hogan with a chair, but Hulk gets in first with a kick to the stomach and Kidman drops it. Hogan picks it up himself and then levels him across the back. As Hulk and Awesome go at it on the outside, Kidman with a chair shot off the top to the head of the Hulkster who blades himself right infront of the camera. They roll back in the ring and Awesome makes the cover for the win. Kidman and Awesome celebrate their win post-match, but get waffled by a chair swung by the bloodied Hogan. Chair shot to referee Slick Johnson and a fan in a Sting mask hops the rails and gets in the ring. Not sure is this was a real fan or a plant to distract the Hulkster, but the ‘blood’ red liquid then falls from the ceiling covering Hogan, and Douglas, Bagwell and The Wall join Kidman and Awesome in putting the boots to him as the show goes off the air. A pretty spirited brawl between the two, with the belly to back suplex on the floor being a nice addition to Hogan’s arsenal. The punches and kicks of these both leave a lot to be desired, and Hulk could’ve at least tried to hide the fact that he was blading himself after that chair shot. I was wondering if ‘count outs’ had now gone out the window, something which Tony Schiavone confirmed later in the match, saying how the referees can apply a bit more leniency when they’re officiating the matches. The interference was predictable, although I was kinda expecting a Horace turn after how Hulk said it was just the two of them from now on.

Joey Styles talks about how Cyrus has gotten Tajiri and Guido on the same page for this. As the two of them are talking things over in the ring, Crazy with a springboard double clothesline. A kick from Tajiri stops him in his tracks though, before tying him in the ‘tree of woe’. As he sets himself for the running baseball slide, Big Sal grabs his legs from the outside and posts him. So much for Guido and Tajiri being in unison! Guido takes a page from Tajiri’s book with the baseball slide, but Crazy lifts himself up out the way and Guido goes sliding out to the floor. Tajiri dropkicks Crazy off the turnbuckle and Guido with a ‘Sicilian slice’ on Tajiri for two. Missile dropkick by Crazy sends Guido to the outside and he’s hurled out there himself soon after by Tajiri. Lovely Asai moonsault, but Tajiri then gets nailed from behind by Sal. Crazy backdrops Guido into the front row and after avoiding Sal’s running splash, leaps off his back with a plancha. Guido with a hangman’s neckbreaker for another two. The match again spills to the floor where Guido plants Crazy face first into the concrete busting him wide open. Tajiri catches Guido with a kick to the head and picks him up for a suplex only to drop him chest first across the guard rail. Guido is next to be opened up and Tajiri sets up a table which he dropkicks, sending it crashing into Guido’s head. Sal comes to his man’s aid and Guido whips Tajiri into a chair that the big man’s holding and now he’s bleeding too (only after crawling under the ring to blade himself mind!). He’s up on the apron ready for his next attack, however Tajiri with the handspring kicking him flush in the face and knocking him off the apron and crashing through a table. Tajiri blocks the Maritato with a low blow, and a Gori special into an airplane spin. Repeated kneedrops to the head and he buries Guido under a couple of chairs and a table. He lies Crazy on the table, double foot stomp off the top, but Crazy moves in time saving himself. The two of them cover Guido together eliminating him, although he leaves to a nice ovation from the crowd as Sal carries him back to the dressing room. Gorgeous German suplex on Crazy for two, and here comes Steve Corino and Jack Victory. Crazy counters the huracanrana with a powerbomb, and a springboard moonsault for a near fall of his own. They both roll to the floor and Crazy collects another table. As he starts to set it up, Tajiri nails him in the back with a crowbar before digging it into his forehead. Tajiri with the green mist, however Crazy ducks and it hits referee Mike Kehner instead. Low blow by Crazy, powerbomb through the table, quebrada, but the official is down. Crazy gets the visual pin counting the three himself, and now Rhino is out. He connects with the gore at the second attempt and then piledrives Crazy off the apron through a table. Rhino tosses him back inside, Tajiri crawls over to make the cover and Jim Molyneux rushes to the ring to count the pin. Tajiri is the new TV champion and they are joined by Don Callis as The Network celebrate together. Callis talks about ‘being drunk on power’, and that’s the signal for the Sandman whose entrance takes so long that they have to take a break in the middle of proceedings! We return as Sandman is caning Rhino, but only after the fourth shot is he able to drop him. He continuesd to cane the snot out of him until Callis is in his face, but hiding behind his Network pass. As he goes to cane him, Corino blocks the shot and Tajiri blows the red mist in his face. Superkick by Corino, Rhino picks up ref H.C. Loc and gores him and Sandman through two tables that had been propped up in the corner. Joey Styles wonders if there is anyone that can stop The Network? Yes, Scotty Riggs! Whoops, Rob Van Dam being carried to the ring by Scotty Riggs now Anton. Rhino warns him that he’s going to ‘kick his fucking ass!’, while Styles mentions that RVD still has a broken leg. Van Dam clears the ring of Corino, Victory and Tajiri and he and Rhino square off as the show goes off the air. I thought this was outstanding at times, especially the three way section at the beginning which was balls to the wall non-stop action fought at 100mph. The touches such as the use of the crowbar, the dropkicking of the table into Guido’s face added an additional level of violence, and four months into the year it’s amazing how they can still keep this all feeling fresh. Despite this I did have some issues with what we saw. There was way too much interference from Sal; he usually takes his bump into the guardrail and that’s it, but here it was full on involvement all the way (great bump through the table though). From a logical point of view, where was Jim Molyneux when Crazy had that cover? Why couldn’t he sprint out to count the pin? That goes for H.C. Loc as well who showed up from nowhere in the post-match. Same problem that I always have with a Sandman save, in that it takes too fucking long. Just like Tommy Dreamer’s walk around the building, something I hope I’ve seen the last of. A bit too much suspension of disbelief with the broken legged RVD getting the better of Tajiri, Corino and Victory, but I suppose the only way they could really work that face off with Rhino.

I thought Matt Hughes was going to be making an appearance when ‘A Country Boy Can Survive’ kicked in! I then thought Kid Kash was joining us, but it was the Bad Breed coming out to ‘Bawitdaba’. IWA-MS is being filmed by one hard camera with no commentary at this point. It does make it tricky to follow everything that’s going on here, but at the same time you get a real feel for the chaotic, wild nature of the match. The ‘Texas Tornado’ stipulations are used to the full as the six of them brawl around the building. You see the fans scampering to get out the way, and even lose the wrestlers amongst them, only to then spot a chair or weapon being swung. The thumbtacks are spread all over the canvas and the bumps on them are kept to a minimum as the emphasis is more on the brawling. Ian dents a steel chair over Terry’s head with this absolutely vicious chair shot, and the two of them are also the first to take bumps into the thumbtacks. Terry gets DDT’d into them, before blocking a powerbomb and then backdropping Ian into the tacks. Suicide Kid and Blaze follow, with Kid giving him a tornado DDT onto them. Somersault senton off the balcony by Kid putting Blaze through a table in the process. Finish sees Ian superbomb Terry through a flaming table and Kid cover him for the win. Some crazy shit here!

Corino says how one week ago in Fort Lauderdale he suffered the worst humiliation of his life; the 162 year old Dusty Rhodes beat his rear end, but tonights he’s going to get some revenge. Victory and Corino attack Dusty and Dreamer as soon as they step through the ropes and they quickly pair off, although surprisingly it’s Corino and Dreamer as opposed to Corino and Dusty. The ‘Dreamer walk’ as they head to the back of the building, and the camerawork really sucks here. Dreamer with a trash can to the back of Corino, and he then throws him into the metal pull down of the canteen hatch. Now it’s the walk back while Dusty and Victory are also fighting in the crowd. Jacko is busted open by now and the Dream gets in some shots on Corino too. Tommy sets up a ladder across the middle turnbuckle and he and Dusty whip Victory into it. Dreamer goes to do the same to Corino, however he reverses the Irish whip and then nails him with a superkick. He teases he’s going to hit him over the head with the ladder, only to throw it out the ring instead. A pair of back elbows as Corino and Victory continue to work him over. Jacko lays the ladder across the top turnbuckle, tags in his partner and the same electric chair spot with Dreamer planting Corino face first into it. Hot tag to the Dream and all four men are in the ring. Stereo DDTs, stereo big elbow drops and Corino and Dusty get the win. Rhino attacks the Dream after the match and Corino puts the figure four on him until Sandman (in no hurry as usual!) makes the save laying everyone out with the Singapore cane. This was strange as about two-thirds of the way through it suddenly turned into a regulation tag match with one man of each team on the apron, after seemingly being ‘anything goes’ up until then. The Dreamer brawling into the crowd was the same ‘walking’ that he does every match and something that I’m getting tired of. The electric chair spot hasn’t looked right whenever I’ve seen them do it (and this is the third time), which I think is purely down to the fact that Corino has never done a moonsault so it’s just a sign that Dreamer is going to get back into things. Cool little double elbow drop finish, although poor camerawork at times, which for once I can’t blame on RF! Average match.

Little Dixie is out first accompanied by his valet, Daisy, followed by Low Ki who’s dressed completely different to how we’ve seen him so far this year. The opening to this is all very choreographed, and the third man is often literally just standing around waiting for the other two to do their stuff before he gets back involved. Ki leaps off the back of Dixie (a la the Hardyz) with a flying clothesline to Martinez in the corner, Dixie makes the cover but Ki breaks it up. Why Ki why? He was doing the same in the three way with Reil and Sabu from April and it’s senseless. Wedgie by Ki on Dixie and more standing around by the odd man out. A dropkick sends Ki tumbling out of the ring and Dixie with a pescado out onto him. Martinez with a double low blow followed by a double DDT. The referee just about avoids getting in the way of a reversed Irish whip, and a combination powerbomb/clothesline off the top (that wasn’t smoothly set up) surprisingly results in Ki being the first man eliminated. Dixie slaps on a side headlock and this goon of an official is preening his hair! Snap suplex, big splash off the top, but Dixie gets off his opponent at two wanting to dish out more punishment. Martinez blocks the piledriver and counters with an ‘Emerald Frosien’. He makes the cover, however the official has clearly never seen a woman before in his life as he goes over to Daisy (who is now up on the apron) with this ridiculous grin on his face. Low Ki is back, ‘Ki Krusher’ on Martinez and he puts Dixie on top for the win. After shaking his hand, he then gives Dixie a ‘Ki Krusher’ for good measure too. Bad match, and a million miles from the three way I watched between Tajiri, Guido and Crazy earlier in the day. I mentioned this referee when I was writing up the April JAPW matches, but he was even worse here. Just tie your fucking hair back!!! And that look when Daisy got up on the apron? Dear me! A few ‘comedy’ spots in this, but I saw nothing from Dixie or Martinez that would make me want to search out more of their work. Worth watching if you want to see something different out of Low Ki (plus it only goes six minutes anyway) but that’s it. Glad we’ve seen plenty more of him in other environments though as I’d put him just a notch above Punk at this point if this was all we had to go on (and that’s not good).

Mike Awesome vs Tazz I wonder if RF new this was happening as he’s focused right on that back entrance almost waiting for Mike Awesome’s arrival. Awesome makes his way through the crowd and lots of “you sold out” chants aimed at him (which are even more ludicrous in hindsight). 'Judge' Jeff Jones says how it’s obvious that there is no-one who can beat the ECW champion, Mike Awesome, when Tazz’s WWF music plays. He steps out and gets an insane reaction, no “you sold out” chants for him. Thee really isn’t much to this; a quick brawl around ringside, ref bump, Tommy Dreamer’s out and DDT’s Awesome, Tazzmission, new ECW world champion. The whole thing lasts less than 75 seconds. Awesome heads out the way he came and Dreamer looks serious fucking miffed with him. Dreamer gives Tazz his approval, while Tazz then talks about doing business ‘the proper way’. First time I’ve seen this in its entirety and its still mindblowing that it ever happened (WWF contracted wrestler defeating WCW contracted wrestler on an ECW show for the ECW World title). The double standards from the ECW crowd is laughable with Awesome getting the “you sold out” treatment and Tazz treated as the returning hero.

Tommy Dreamer vs Yoshihiro Tajiri A loud “you suck, you suck” chant, but Corino tells Indianapolis that they’ve got it all wrong and it is they who suck! He says that’s no way to treat an old school hero after all he’s done for them; he’s crippled Tommy Dreamer, punked out Limp Bizkit, retired Dusty Rhodes and he’s the reason Tazz left ECW. He was going to treat them to an old school Texas Bullrope match but he doesn’t see anyone man enough in the back… when ‘Man in the Box’ starts to play and out comes Tommy Dreamer. Corino tells him if he steps through the ropes he’s going to kick his ass, however those words have no effect whatsoever. Dreamer gets in a couple of shots when sprinting from the dressing room comes Yoshihiro Tajiri who nails Tommy with a kick to the back. Tajiri chokes him with the cowbell and Corino changes the rules, this is no longer a Texas Bullrope match but a Japanese Death match. Handspring elbow but Dreamer counters with a Russian legsweep. Tarantula by Tommy and a right hand from Corino breaks that up. Baseball slide dropkick and Tajiri accidentally hits Corino instead. Dreamer throws him into the guardrail and a chair shot across the back before taking him on a tour of the building. Back at ringside and Tommy hurls a couple of chairs into the ring followed by another of his favourites, ‘ring bell on the crotch’. Tajiri ducks a chair shot and a spinning back heel kick to his opponent. ‘Tree of Woe’ and he places a chair infront of Tommy’s face, however as he goes for the running dropkick, Dreamer picks is up and pulls himself out the way. He ties Tajiri in the ‘tree of woe’, stands on his balls and then puts the chair infront of his face before dropkicking it. Corino is still attached to the cowbell and Dreamer pull him into the ring. Irish whip is reversed, Tommy holds onto the ropes and Corino dropkicks the air. Punch to the balls and this is like a Tommy Dreamer Greatest Hits match! Dreamer calls for a table, sits Corino on the top turnbuckle, but before he’s able to complete what he’s got planned, Tajiri is back in the fray. Mist to the face and in a real hokey looking spot, the ‘blinded’ Dreamer ends up laying on the table. Double footstomp off the top and Tommy kicks out of the pin attempt. Corino clobbers Tajiri with the cowbell when Dreamer moves out the way and double DDT to them both. Jack Victory is in to break up the count before slugging the referee. It’s three on one as they continue to put a beating on the ‘Innovator of Violence’. The crowd are calling for the Sandman and Tajiri’s face is a treat when ‘Enter Sandman’ kicks in. A bit more urgency than usual from him as he gets to the ring in approximately sixty seconds and then breaks his Singapore cane over the heads of the three of them. This turns into an almighty brawl with, in order, Rhino, Super Crazy, Little Guido, Mikey Whipwreck, Tony DeVito, Angel, Danny Doring and Roadkill all getting involved. RF is on the opposite side to the action and you just about catch Rhino piledriving Sandman off the apron and through a table. Everyone eventually makes their way to the back and I’m guessing the official decision is a no contest or a Dreamer win by DQ. I imagine that if I hadn’t watched everything else I would’ve enjoyed this, as it was it really did feel like a Tommy Dreamer Greatest Hits match, with all his favourite spots and an amalgamation of the various matches we’ve seen over the past couple of months. Again, when I’m calling spots before they’ve happened you know something is up. I was actually quite bored watching this due to that, although Tajiri’s face is an absolute picture when the Sandman’s music plays, a real look of ‘oh not him again!’ (As a quick note, it had been a while since I watched it so couldn’t compare direct, but think this was actually a very similar match to the one that the two had in Wichita on 3/25).

Someone in the crowd yells ‘Kid Kash sucks!’ and Kash responds by telling him how his Momma was sucking his dick ten minutes ago! Only in ECW. Corino offers Kash his hand and he makes out he’s going to shake it only to give him the middle finger instead. Lock up, Corino backs Kash into the corner and a clean break. That elicits a round of applause from Jack Victory and Corino again offers his hand (“I’m an honest guy!”) this time though Kash repsonds with double middle fingers! Kash with a high hip toss, an arm drag and a clothesline sending Corino over the top rope to the floor. Victory is around to talk tactics, but Kash takes them both out with a Quebrada into a flip dive. Back inside and a knife edge chop by Kash as Victory screams “no more!”. He whips Corino into the corner but is met by a back elbow as he charges in. Sit out powerbomb for two. Corino distracts the official by arguing over the count enabling Jacko to get some shots in behind his back. Kash ducks a clothesline and a double jump springboard crossbody for a two of his own. Baseball slide dropkick to Victory, and Kash comes off the top and catches Corino with a lovely leaping huracanrana. Jacko’s up and in the ring, however Kash avoids his swinging right and dropkicks him sending him colliding into the referee. ‘Money Maker’ on Corino and here’s Rhino. Kash leaps over the first gore attempt but he’s caught by the second. Rhino drags Corino over, puts him on top and the referee comes around to count the three. Short fun match. Kash hit all his high spots perfectly and Corino was a surprisingly great base for him. The way things have panned out in my viewing I’ve watched a fair bit of Corino recently and while his matches can be a bit hit or miss (and I’ve yet to see him have that blowaway match), there’ll usually be something in there to enjoy. Nice finish with Kash leapfrogging out the way of the first only to get hit with the second.

Ki is out first and the lights in the arena go down, which you think is the sign for Sabu, however they come back on and Billy Reil is in the ring instead. Rolling Koppo kick by Ki, before lighting up his chest with some chops. Reil counters a handspring elbow with a thrust kick to the head and the two of them start trading blows. Nice high release German from Reil. Ki escapes a Death Valley Driver and a release Dragon suplex. The lights go out for a second time and this time when they come back on it is Sabu making his way out. Reil and Ki team up to immediately put the boots to him, however Sabu ducks the double clothesline and drops them both with a springboard back elbow. He tosses Reil to the arena floor soon followed by Ki and a suicide dive out onto them. Sabu tries to set up a table but he’s too slow and gets jumped by his opponents. Reil and Ki quickly tire of working together and go back to trying to beat the beejeezus out of each other. A piledriver to Ki on the back of a pair of powerbombs and Sabu is there to break up the pin. The match returns to the outside and Ki with a double clothesline. Backbreaker on Reil and he then comes off the top turnbuckle to the hard floor with a somersault senton. Crazy! Falcon Arrow on Sabu and Ki breaks up the pin. Reil this time lands the Death Valley Driver, however gets off Ki at the count of two wanting to dish out more punishment. Bad idea as he misses the somersault senton off the middle. Sabu with a legdrop and Ki again breaks up the pin attempt. Arabian moonsault and you know what Ki does next! Stupid really in an elimination match, but I think he just wanted to get the three himself, which happens as he nails Reil with the Ki Krusher to get him out of there. No rest time as Sabu is right back on him. Somersault legdrop from the apron over the top rope for two. Ki escapes a cross armbar and slaps on an STF that Sabu has to scramble to the ropes to break. Springboard leg lariat by Sabu for another two. As he goes for it a second time Ki ducks out the way and levels him with a superkick. Handspring Koppo kick! Ki Krusher but Sabu kicks out of the pin. Ki places the ladder over Sabu’s face, heads up top, only to miss the powerdrive elbow. Sabu grabs a table from the outside and props it up in the corner. A clothesline staggers Ki, Sabu sets up a chair in the middle of the ring and a jumping ‘fameasser’ off the chair to Kid driving him through the table in the process. Amazingly Ki kicks out though. Chair shot to the back and Sabu with his sloppily applied camel clutch forces the tap. The two shake hands and embrace at the end. All action match with no down time. Second outing for Billy Reil in PWO2K and another good performance from him and nice to see Sabu hit all his spots for a change! I don’t understand the breaking up of pins in an elimination match though? Surely if there is a chance to eliminate someone from the match you would want that to happen? It’s less work for you for starters and then you can get the early advantage on the opponent who is left. Ki’s somersault to the arena floor was madness and add me to those who didn’t like seeing Sabu kick out of the Ki Krusher. Interestingly I had also noted the official when making my notes on this; not the first time seeing him, but he always looks so scruffy, tie your hair back at least! I don’t know if this is my favourite Low Ki match for the year (I really enjoyed the Reil, Mack and Montoya matches), but it’s certainly my favourite Sabu one.

Ian looks to have put on weight every time we see him! Louie jumps Rotten and does a low rent Hack Myers, making some noise as he clubs Ian and wanting the crowd to join in with him. His punches look like dog shit though and Ian fires back with a couple of stiff forearms to the jaw. He throws him to the outside and a vicious chair shot to the head opening him up. Ramos blocks having his head rammed into the ringpost and turns the tables ramming Ian’s into it instead. A much safer chair shot to the back, but the camera then does no favours zooming in on Louie’s soft looking pulled punches. DDT on the floor and now Ian’s busted open too. Back inside, Ramos misses a splash in the corner and a great looking release German with Ramos landing on the back oof his neck. Ian with a suplex onto a couple of chairs on the arena floor and when Louie gets back up he leaves a puddle of blood behind. Two more absolutely brutal unprotected chair shots follow. Ian whips Louie into the corner, charges, however Ramos moves out the way. Louie with a low blow, he then throws powder in his face taking Ian off his feet and covers him for the win. Post-match Ian puts Louie over and says how they’ll do it again one day. Surprisingly short for an Ian hardcore match. I’ll maintain that Louie isn’t very good and can’t do anything bar bleed, although he bleeds a gusher here. Those chair shots were nasty mind! Lovely German by Ian during this, but that was one incredibly weak finish for a hardcore match.

This starts off as a singles match and Corino swings at Dreamer with the cowbell the moment he steps through the ropes. Tommy starts to fire back and Corino takes to the outside, however Dreamer yanks on the cowbell and he crashes into the ringpost. Cowbell to the head and Corino is busted open early. Dreamer ties him up in the ‘tree of woe’, stands on his balls and here’s Jack Victory attacking him from behind. Victory’s punches really are a thing of beauty. It looks bleak for the Dreamer, when the Sandman’s music plays and he makes his entrance carrying a ladder. I’m having flashbacks to that tag match in Lacrosse on 2/18, but he only takes about 90 seconds to get to the ring as opposed to five minutes! Still time enough mind to put the ladder up in the aisle, climb it and chug a beer! Corino and Victory get the jump on him, although he quickly gets the better of them thanks to his Singapore cane. He props the ladder up in the corner and whips them both into it, while Corino’s hair has turned completely red by now. Dreamer lays the ladder across the middle turnbuckle, sits Corino on the top and superplexes him off while standing on the ladder. Tajiri is out next giving the advantage back to The Network, and he boxes the ears of Dreamer and the Sandman with those crisp sounding kicks of his. Corino puts a ladder between two chairs and suplexes Sandman onto the contraption in what certainly didn’t look like a pleasant bump for him to take. As ‘The Network’ start to celebrate, New Jack and his trash can full of weapons even things up once again. He throws his weapons into the ring with Victory trying to dodge them, only to get hit flush in the head with the garbage can. Metal tray over the head of Tajiri, crutch over the back of Corino and metal drawer over the head of Jacko. New Jack with the staple gun to Victory opening him up, and Tommy gets the crowd to move as it looks like he’s taking Tajiri on his customary building tour. Inside, Sandman suplexes Corino onto the ladder with his leg getting trapped and bent between the rungs. Wow, Dreamer is actually fighting with Corino in the crowd and not just taking him for a walk! A guardrail has made its way into the ring and Sandman suplexes Corino onto it. Not sure where New Jack and Victory have got to, but Tommy places the ringbell on Tajiri’s crotch and strikes it with the hammer. Sandman with a somersault dive off the top onto the ladder which he’d placed over Corino. Oh dear, Dreamer has now got Tajiri in the Tarantula. Forunately Jacko’s back to put a stop to that one. Sandman with a legdrop off the top to Corino who’s lay across a ladder, however Corino moves and he straddles himself. Double footstomp by Tajiri puts Dreamer through a table. He then spots New Jack in the ‘tree of woe’ (put there by Victory) and nails him with a baseball slide dropkick to the face. Sandman is back to his feet and measuring Corino and Victory with the Singapore cane. Tajiri is primed ready to blow the mist, Sandman spots him though and jabs him in the stomach with the cane. Corino with a side kick to the mid-section of Sandman, but Tajiri is choking on the mist from that jab. Victory gives him the Heimlich maneuver, however when he releases the mist Tajiri accidentally blows it in Corino’s face. DDT by Dreamer on Victory, Sandman with a cane shot to Tajiri and New Jack with a nasty looking chair shot off the top to Corino for the win. Rhino attacks the ECW team after the match until Dusty Rhodes makes the save. ‘The Dream’ drops everyone bar Rhino with ‘Bionic elbows’, and it’s left to the Sandman’s Singapore cane to get him out of the ring. I doubt this is, but from the way Joey Styles (infuriatingly) kept referring to this as ECW vs The Network, it almost felt like the culmination of the feud. This was a wild fight from start to finish and Corino pulled one hell of a blade job here with his hair turning from dirty blonde to bright red due to all the blood. Sandman’s entrance still makes no sense but at least he didn’t take five minutes to get to the ring this time! He also took some hellacious bumps on the ladder throughout this. The more I see of him the more I think Jack Victory is a total unsung hero. He’s got some of the best punches in the business, always bumps and bleeds, and even if he’s just in a ‘managerial’ role he’s reacting to what’s going on inside, to the crowd etc. Pretty elaborate finish but I thought it worked well within the context of the match. Also, and I didn’t double check to confirm this, but I think the only pin attempt in the match was the one that ended the bout.

For the Worldwide Internet championship; which is just so 2000! An exchange of arm wringers eventually results in an ‘indy stand off’, although Daniels has a cool roll up off a Modest leapfrog in this fast paced opening. Leapfrog by Daniels, however Modest catches him mid-air with a scoop powerslam and then plants him with an overhead uranage. Whip to the turnbuckle, Modest charges in, but when Daniels puts his feet up Modest slides underneath to the outside, grabs his legs and posts him. He rolls to the floor and makes his way back to the dressing room, but Modest is in pursuit and bodyslams him on the wooden floor. Back inside and Modest with a release tilt-a-whirl, dropping Daniels chest first to the canvas. Another whip to the corner, Daniels with the foot up again on the charging Modest and this time it connects. Running neckbreaker and he starts to put the boots to his opponent. Bodyslam and a slingshot elbow from the apron over the top rope for two. Belly to belly for a second near fall, while a Lionsault is still not enough to put Modest away. Daniels tosses him to the outside and an Arabian moonsault to the arena floor. Nice gut wrench suplex for two. Modest vaults over the inrushing Daniels, and a release Dragon suplex with the ‘Fallen Angel’ landing flush on the top of his head. A hangman’s noose Ace Crusher, and when Daniels takes another trip outside Modest nails him with a pescado. He gets Daniels up for a torture rack but then starts spinning (like an inverted airplane spin) before hitting a backdrop driver. Face first uranage for two. They trade near falls and an accidental clash of heads off a shoulder tackle sees Daniels falls out of the ring. As the ref start to count him out Modest pulls him out the way, but the ‘Fallen Angel’ then clocks him over the head with a chair. Springboard crossbody, however Modest moves and he takes out the official instead. Daniels heads up top but Modest counters with a headstand in the corner and a headscissors takedown. Death Valley Driver but no-one to count the pin. As he goes to check on the referee, Daniels with a chair shot to the head, ‘Angel’s Wings’ on the chair and Christopher Daniels is the new Internet champion. Modest is a helluva wrestler and is seriously innovative, pulling out a bunch of stuff that is completely new to me; just a shame he’s so darn bland. He also does that annoying thing that RVD does of looking to the crowd for appreciation after a move. Crowd were great here, getting behind Modest and jeering Daniels (especially liked one girl telling him to “go to hell” after he’d hit the ‘Angel’s Wings’). Didn’t like the chair involvement and the ref bump as after how the match had gone I don’t think it was needed. While every pin attempt was a two count too, mix it up a bit fellas! I know he had a cup of coffee in WCW and ended up in NOAH but I’ll be interested to see how much Indy stuff around the US we get from Modest (I have zero recollection of him in ROH) or whether he just stayed on the West Coast. I actually thought Daniels showed a fair bit of charisma here, or maybe that’s just magnified opposed to Modest.

It’s so weird hearing ‘Sexy Boy’ on a non-WWF show. Michaels is the current TWA champion after Justin Credible had defeated Venom and then gave the belt to HBK. The match quickly spills to the outside where Venom drives Michaels into the guardrails, while the commentator talks about how he has a fused back and that there is a six inch bar with screws holding it together. Venom drops HBK throat first over the barricade and breaks a crutch over his back. After whipping him to the corner, Michaels avoids the charging Venom and wallops him with a trash can lid. He returns the favour with the crutch and then nails him with his cowboy boot which he had taken off. Piledriver on the trash can lid but he doesn’t even think about a cover, instead heading backstage to collect (a pretty small) ladder. He uses it as an offensive weapon before propping it up in the corner and slingshotting Venom into it. Fist drop off the ladder and Michaels then launches his opponent over the top rope to the floor. Chairshot to the head and Venom is busted open. Back inside and a series of punches as he goes to work on that cut. As Venom collapses in the corner, Michaels places the ladder between his legs and a running baseball slide dropkick into it. He rolls to the floor but HBK follows him and crotches him on the guardrail. Venom crawls to the backstage area and just as Michaels is going to level him again with the trash can, he gets in first with a low blow. Trash can across the fused back and apparently somewhere Vincent K. McMahon is cringing in agony for his once great superstar! Venom stacks up two tables, one on top the other, and goes to hiptoss Michaels off the stage through them, however HBK blocks it and hiptosses Venom through them. Michaels returns to ringside, seemingly looking for something, and a dazed Venom heads after him. HBK grabs a table from underneath the ring, although in the meantime the camera catched Venom emptying a packet of salt into his hand. He tosses the salt in Michaels’ face and nails him a couple of times with the kendo stick opening him up. Venom then handcuffs HBK to the top rope and starts wearing out the kendo stick on him. Shooter Schultz is out for the save and goes to T-Bone suplex Venom through a table he’d just set up but it doesn’t break. Attempt number two and the same outcome! He changes tact and tries to powerbomb him through the table instead and still it doesn’t break! Shooter uncuffs Michaels, HBK with a powerslam through the tables and a superkick for the win, with which he also regains control of the company. I liked the majority of this a lot and the commentator did a good job in getting over what a bad state Michaels’ bad is in. How it’s fused and held together with screws, and how with one wrong bump be might not even be able to throw a football with his recently born child. I thought the pacing and psychology were spot on and it’s a nice change from some of the other weapon matches we’ve watched in this project. Where this went downhill was after Venom’s bump off the stage through the tables. Why did Michaels just leave him to return to the ring? Venom was up far too quickly and then after this almighty bump we then have him getting the heat on HBK. Less said about Schultz’s run-in the better and how on earth did he have a key for the handcuffs? Personally I’d have altered the structure slightly, had the heat section earlier (and not involving handcuffs) and the stage bump being the climax (scrapping Schultz’s involvement together). That final few minutes puts it a tad below the tag match for the month.

Tag team title match where the Board of Educations hair is on the line against the mask and titles of American Dragon and Spanky. The BOE jump their opponents before the ring announcer has even finished his introductions, however Dragon and Spanky reverse the Irish whips and stereo spinebusters followed by single leg crabs. The Board scramble to the ropes for the break and Jeremy Sage ducks out to the floor only to be on the receiving end of a Spanky pescado. Dragon with a couple of knife edge chops on Reuben Cruz but I doubt they have much impact through his vest and tank top! Drop toehold and Spanky with a slingshot legdrop from the apron and over the top rope. A dropkick sends him to the outside where hes immediately met by a Spanky suicide dive. Sage nails Spanky from behind and turns the tables in the BOEs favour. Not for long mind, as Spanky counters the tilt-a-whirl with a headscissors and then a German suplex for two. He tags in the Dragon and a drop toehold/baseball slide dropkick to the face combination. Dragon puts Sage in the camel clutch, but when Spanky runs the ropes, presumably for another dropkick, hes clobbered by Cruz. Boot to the back of Dragon and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Full nelson into a face first slam from Sage for two. Cruz with a belly to belly but its still not enough to put Dragon away. Great double team sees Cruz hit a Butterfly suplex off the top and Sage come off the adjacent turnbuckle with a splash. Spankys taking no chances and is in to break up the pin. Sage misses a moonsault from the middle, half nelson suplex on Cruz and hes able to make the tag. Spankamania is apparently running wild! Missile dropkick to the back of Cruz and Sage is in to save his partner. Spanky with another pescade, Danielson with a Dragon suplex on Cruz, however the official is distracted by Spanky who is now dancing in the ring admiring his own work. By the time the referee turns around to count the pin attempt Cruz has recovered enough to kick out. Dragon is in Spankys face wondering what hes playing at when Sage dropkicks him in the back sending him crashing into his partner. Brutal Death Drop (which is a combination double team F-5 and an Ace Crusher) on Dragon, the Board of Education regain the tag titles and the American Dragon must unmask. Spanky comes over to try and take his partners mask off but Dragon back elbows him in the head. He goes for it a second time and this time manages to pull it off. Dragon has got a face like thunder and after Spanky hugs him, he drops him with a big boot to the face. He collects a chair from ringside and gives him two vertabreakers on it, while the commentators cant believe what theyre seeing. The best thing about this was Dragon's heel turn at the end. There was nothing wrong with the work, and you can continue to see the progression in Spanky and he, but for a supposed major stipulation like Dragon potentially losing his mask, this just didnt feel big. There was no intensity or anything, and in fact there was more intensity in that post-match attack. I didnt really understand the finish with Spanky just dancing and distracting the referee, unless it was to play to his kooky, out there character. Just didnt feel right, and to be fair, I couldnt blame Dragon for holding him responsible! Interesting to note that Dragon and Spanky were refered to as WWF superstars here, and with it ends phase one of Bryan Danielsons career.

Corino says how they’re in AWA territory, but the AWA wasn’t hardcore, Verne Gagne wasn’t hardcore, and these people grew up watching people like The Crusher, a bunch of no talent morons! He’s looked down the ECW roster list, has checked in the back and there’s no-one available for Tommy Dreamer to have as his tag team partner as Raven isn’t responsible enough to jump on a plane and there’s no-one else he can count on. He then tells Dreamer that he’s not getting out of this streetfight and he’ll take him on one on one. Dreamer makes his entrance, and as well as Francine, he also has Bill Alfonso with him. Corino cuts a promo on him but you can’t make it all out because Fonzie is chatting with Feinstein at times during it. When he asks Tommy what he’s going to do, Dreamer slugs him with a right. Knee to the groin and a Cactus clothesline that looks as though it’s in slow motion. Tommy whips him into the guardrails, but as he motions to throw him into the front row, Corino lifts him up and crotches him on the barricade. Back inside and Victory tosses Corino a chair that he sets it up in the middle of the ring. He makes out he’s going to give Dreamer a drop toehold into it, but instead just sits down and slaps on a front chancery. Tommy fights his way out of it and slams Corino head first into the chair. He has Corino in the ‘tree of woe’, when from behind he’s jumped by Victory. Jacko holds him and Corino is about to wallop him with the cowbell when Fonzie gets in the ring and grabs the cowbell himself. Bad move as ‘the King of Old School’ levels him, but that distraction gives Dreamer the opportunity to escape Victory’s grasp. Tommy uses Corino’s cowbell against him and digs it into his forehead busting him open. Dreamer then leaves the ring to head backstage and collect a ladder which he rests in the corner across the top rope and whips Victory into. He’s about to do the same to Corino, however he blocks it and eventually nails him with a superkick. For some reason Corino climbs the turnbuckles but he’s too slow, and Dreamer has him on his shoulders in an electric chair position before dropping him face first on the ladder. Tommy lays the ladder in the middle of the ring, snapmares Corino onto it, only to miss an elbow off the middle and go crashing into it himself. Victory lies Dreamer on a table while Corino climbs the ladder and now Francine is getting involved. Low blow to Victory followed by a bronco buster, but Corino then decks her to some serious boos. He climbs back up the ladder, does the crucifixion pose when Sandman’s music plays and he appears at the back of the building. It then takes him five minutes and ten seconds to get to the ring as he takes a tour of the arena stopping to have several cans of beer along the way. Corino and Victory are intermittently attacking Dreamer in the meantime but this is fucking ridiculous! When he finally makes it to the ring its hard cane shots all around. Dreamer launches Corino over the guardrail into the front row and he takes his opponent on the customary ‘Dreamer walk’ around the building. RF follows them so we miss all that’s going on with Sandman and Victory, although Jacko is now also busted open. Dreamer has Corino back in the ‘tree of woe’ and this time places a chair infront of his face which he dropkicks, before tying him to the ringpost with the cowbell to stop him from going anywhere. They lay Victory on the table and Sandman with a somersault senton off the top of the ladder on to him, although the table doesn’t break. The two of them make the cover together and Dreamer and Sandman get the win. Spike Dudley shows up post-match with a bag of beer and they all drink a brewski whilst ‘Enter Sandman’ plays. I was unsure how to rate this, but wherever it ends up will solely be down to the Corino/Dreamer section. The lasting memory is that ridiculous fucking mid-match entrance from the Sandman. It’s bad enough when he’d take an eternity on his post-match ‘run in’ saves, but mid-match when your partner/friend is taking a beating? If he doesn’t give a shit about Tommy Dreamer’s well being then why should I? At one point Corino is hanging Dreamer with the cowbell and he’s more concerned with having a drink! Again, five minutes and ten seconds from the first time he appeared at the back of the building to his first involvement in the match! I enjoyed Corino here with his references to the AWA in his opening promo, whilst there are some similar spots that you will see in their CWF match, albeit with a ladder as opposed to a chair. Also something I pointed out in the thread for that match, compare how they work there to here infront of an ECW audience. The Bill Alfonso appearance with Dreamer was especially random.

May 2000 ECW 1. Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Steve Corino (Hardcore Heaven 5/14) 2. Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn (Hardcore Heaven 5/14) 3. Rhino vs Sandman (Hardcore Heaven 5/14) Indies 1. Chris Benoit vs Steven Regal (Brian Pillman Memorial Show 5/25) 2. Low Ki vs Homicide (IWO Rumble in the River 5/27) 3. Barry Horowitz vs Frankie Capone (IPW May Massacre 5/20) 4. Da Hit Squad vs K.C. Thunder & Metal Maniac (IWO Rumble in the River 5/27) 5. Scoot Andrews vs Ric Blade vs Jet Jaguar (IPW 5/19) 6. Samir vs Joey Corman (NWA Southwest 5/26) 7. Corporal Robinson vs Mitch Page (Barbed Wire Chain Death) (MAW Hardcore Cup 2000 5/27) 8. Vinny Massaro & Jardi Frantz vs West Side Playaz 2000 (APW Terra Nova Terror 5/6) 9. Corporal Robinson vs Madman Pondo (Light Bulb Tubes & Barbed Wire Board Death) (MAW Hardcore Cup 2000 5/27) 10. Homicide vs Papa Don (Ladder) (LIWF Unfinished Business 2 5/6) 11. Ric Blade vs O.G. Scarface (IPW May Massacre II 5/20) 12. Chuck Gordy vs Mark Large (Portland Total Chaos TV 5/00) 13. Nick Dinsmore & Trailer Park Trash & Russ McCullough vs Mark Henry & Rob Conway & Mr Black (OVW TV 5/20) 14. Buddy Wayne vs Bryan Alvarez (Portland Total Chaos TV 5/00) 15. Bart Sawyer vs Billy Two Eagles (Hair vs Hair) (Portland Total Chaos TV 5/00) NR - Tommy Rogers & Frankie Capone vs Buck Quartermaine & Mr Peskin (IPW 5/19) IWA-MS 1. Suicide Kid vs American Kickboxer (2/3 falls) (5/13) 2. Corporal Robinson vs Madman Pondo (Light Tubes Lumberjack Death) (5/13) 3. Ian Rotten vs Blaze (Barbed Wire Death) (5/13) MCW 1. Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee & Bitty Little vs K-Krush & Jim Neidhart & Curtis Hughes (5/20) 2. Steven Regal vs Reckless Youth (I Quit) (5/6) MPPW 1. Wolfie D vs Alan Steel (5/13) 2. Wolfie D vs Ali (5/6) 3. Derrick King vs Seven (5/20) 4. Lance Jade vs Alan Steel (Texas Death) (5/6) 5. Lance Jade vs Alan Steel (Loser Leaves Town) (5/20) 6. Ali vs Wolfie D (5/27) 7. Derrick King vs Rob Harlem (5/13) 8. Derrick King & Moondog Spot vs The Regulators (5/6) 9. Battle Royale (5/13) Note: Memphis will be split into Power Pro and Championship Wresting from this point on NWA Wildside 1. A.J. Styles & Eddie Golden vs J.C. Dazz & Jorge Estrada (5/27) 2. A.J. Styles vs Eddie Golden (5/13) TWA 1. American Dragon vs Lance Cade (Victoria, TX 5/12) 2. Bryan Danielson vs D-Lo Brown (Del Rio, TX 5/27) 3. Bryan Danielson vs Lance Cade (Total Impact TV 5/20) 4. Spanky & Bryan Danielson vs D-Lo Brown & Essa Rios (San Antonio, TX 5/26) 5. Spanky vs Essa Rios (Del Rio, TX 5/27) WCW 1. Hulk Hogan vs Mike Awesome (Nitro 5/1) 2. Jeff Jarrett vs Ric Flair (Nitro 5/29) 3. Chris Candido vs Crowbar (Thunder 5/10) 4. Billy Kidman vs Hulk Hogan (Slamboree 5/7) 5. DDP vs Jeff Jarrett vs David Arquette (Slamboree 5/7) 6. Sting vs Billy Kidman vs Horace Hogan (Thunder 5/31) 7. Sting vs Jeff Jarrett (Nitro 5/8) 8. Hulk Hogan vs Billy Kidman vs Horace Hogan (Nitro 5/15) 9. Ric Flair vs Jeff Jarrett Nitro 5/15) 10. Sting vs Vampiro (House of Pain) (Nitro 5/15) 11. Hulk Hogan vs Vampiro (Nitro 5/22) 12. Battle Royal (Thunder 5/3) 13. Ric Flair vs Billy Kidman (Thunder 5/3) 14. Billy Kidman vs Horace Hogan (Thunder 5/10) 15. Terry Funk vs Chuck Palumbo (Thunder 5/10) 16. Filthy Animals vs M.I.A. (Thunder 5/17) 17. Filthy Animals vs M.I.A. (Elimination) (Thunder 5/24) 18. Kevin Nash vs Jeff Jarrett vs Scott Steiner (Thunder 5/24) 19. Billy Kidman vs Sting (Nitro 5/29) 20. Billy Kidman vs Horace Hogan (Nitro 5/22) 21. Hulk Hogan vs Horace Hogan (Thunder 5/17) 22. Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner vs Rick Steiner & Tank Abbott (Thunder 5/31) 23. DDP vs Mike Awesome (Stretcher) (Nitro 5/8) 24. Mike Awesome vs Sting (Ambulance) (Thunder 5/10) 25. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner (Asylum) (Nitro 5/22) 26. Hulk Hogan vs Scott Steiner (Thunder 5/3) 27. Kevin Nash vs Jeff Jarrett (Nitro 5/22) 28. Ric & Reid Flair vs David Flair & Vince Russo (Thunder 5/31) NR - Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs David Flair & Crowbar (Thunder 5/17)

So much for the tag match against Bull Pain & Todd Morton being the last time Lawler & Dundee would team up. Just over a month later and they’ve already gone back on that one! ‘The Anvil’ busting a move to Krush’s rapping on their entrance is too funny for words. Lawler tells Krush that they both want each other so why don’t they start this one? However he’s not too keen, steps out the ring and Neidhart kicks things off for the heel trio. ‘The Anvil’ doesn’t get much joy against ‘The King’ so tags out to Curtis Hughes, whilst Lawler gives ‘The Superstar’ his first bit of action. These two have a surprisingly good little section together. Bitty is in, but a poke to the eyes from Hughes immediately stops him in his tracks. Big scoop powerslam by Krush. Little reverses a whip to the corner and as he charges in Krush tries to vault over him, however he catches him on his shoulder. He then walks over to tag in ‘The King’ but Krush manages to free himself and quickly scrambles back to his own corner wanting no part of Lawler just yet. Neidhart gets the better of a test of strength and ‘The King’ resorts to drilling him with a right to escape. Bitty is back in, but ‘The Anvil’ with a boot to the mid-section and a powerbomb. The heels then take it in turns to go to work on him. Fallaway slam off the middle by Krush and also a nice spinning heel kick. Legdrop off the top with plenty of hang time and ‘The Superstar’ is in to break up the pin. Little makes a tag however the official misses it, distracted by the heel trio, and ushers Lawler back out of there. Powerslam from ‘The Anvil’ and again Dundee is in to break up the pin. Krush with a scissors kick and no need to tell you who’s breaking up that pin! The ref misses another Little tag and Lance is getting more and more frustrated “will you please get your eyes in the right spot Phil!” Face first suplex from Krush and now ‘The King’ is in there. He misses a moonsault and Bitty finally makes a tag that the referee sees. The match breaks down with all six men going at it in the ring. A right from Lawler sends Krush through the ropes and he follows him out. He bounces his head off the announcer’s table before tossing him into the front row. The action continues but unfortunately we’re out of time for today. No finish is shown, but a solid little match. Lawler wants to get his hands on Krush, the heels try to stop that from happening whilst focusing their efforts on the ‘weaker’, less experienced member of the opposition. For such a random team the heel trio actually worked. Neidhart was fine as this burly, bruiser type, Hughes was good (especially when in there with Dundee), whilst it’s the best Krush has looked all year. That’s more down to the fact that this kinda match really showcases his strengths mind as he can get in there, do his fancy moves (reverse fallaway slam, top rope legdrop etc) and then get out, making him come across better than he actually is. The constant breaking up of the pin attempts did become a tad tedious and a shame we didn’t get a finish as I doubt the match had long left to run.

The ring announcer is making his introductions for Guido when he’s interrupted by Steve Corino and Mikey Whipwreck. ‘The King of Old School’ has some bad news for them, and although the poster says Guido’s opponent is his man Yoshihiro Tajiri, twelve days ago he became the new TV champion and if they think The Network will let him defend the title infront of these pieces of garbage they’re sorely mistaken! Like the great babyface he is though he’s come prepared and The Network have let him chose a replacement, Mikey Whipwreck. He then tells Guido if he can defeat Mikey then maybe he will grant him a TV title shot. Guido is in Corino’s face saying that he deserves a shot already when he’s jumped from behind by Mikey. As the official tells him to wait for the bell, Corino then gets in some shots of his own. The bell finally rings to get this underway and Mikey takes it to him. Unfortunate camera angle at one point as you can see him seriously pulling his punches. Guido counters a clothesline with a backslide for two, before whipping his opponent from post to post and nailing him with a dropkick which sends him rolling out of the ring. As Corino and Mikey have a conflab on the floor, Guido with a noggin knocker. He throws Mikey back inside, however Corino grabs his leg to prevent him getting in himself and a guillotine legdrop from Whipwreck as he’s trapped over the bottom rope. Scoop powerslam for two. Guido escapes a rear chinlock, but a knee to the mid-section slows him back down. Mikey tosses him to the outside and then distracts the official allowing Corino to get some more shots in. Irish whip is reversed, however Guido telegraphs the backdrop and Whipwreck counters with a jumping DDT for another two. Double clothesline and both men are down. Mikey misses an elbow drop and a Sicilian slice gets Guido a two. He unloads with a series of punches in the corner and a big backdrop. Whipwreck blocks ‘the Maritato’ with a back kick low blow and now Corino is in the ring holding Guido. Mikey goes to hit him, but Guido moves and he nails Corino instead. ‘Maritato’ and Guido gets the win and presumably a subsequent TV title shot. Corino and Mikey get into a post-match shoving contest and look like they’re going to go at it, only to end up hugging it out. This was much more akin to the type of match that these two would have on an ECW house show, although it was weird hearing the crowd get behind Guido. Work was good (as you’d expect) and for a replacement match I’d be very happy if I got this on a show I was attending.

Corino grabs the mic and he’s not happy that the crowd cheered for Tommy more than they did him. “The guy that went on WWF Smackdown trying to defend ECW and screwed it up!” He’s sure the Triple H is thanking him right now for the clubbing he gave Tazz, his favourite World Heavyweight champion! Dreamer is a 29 year old disgrace and has been hit in the head so many times he doesn’t know the difference between Tazz and Triple H! Tommy may claim to be the saviour of ECW, but in fact he’s the saviour, and when he’s sitting on top as the World champion there will be no more hardcore wrestling, no more foul language, no more children allowed in the ECW Arena and no more alcohol served at ECW events (that one doesn’t go down too well). He then challenges Dreamer to an ECW ‘old school’ style match, which means no punching, no kicking, no pulling of hair, and definitely no trying to beat him infront of this crowd like he does on TV every week! Corino pulls out a $100 bill (two weeks of the audience’s salary!) and bets that Dreamer couldn’t even do a textbook drop toehold if his life depended on it. He hands the ring announcer the bill and tells her not to steal it and go and spend the dollars on crack! Dreamer responds and says that he can’t punch then, he can’t pull hair, he can’t kick, “what about kicking you in the nuts?” “Noooooooooooo!” “there goes half my act!”. As he has just been to the WWF to defend ECW’s honour, he suggests that they do a little ECW/a little WWF action, “that stupid old school crap” he wants to do. Corino shouts “deal” and Dreamer promises not to punch, kick, pull his hair and do anything bad. A handshake to start this one. Dreamer with a go behind and after not being able to escape Corino heads to the ropes for the break. He claims a pull of the tights but the referee is not having any of it. Fireman’s carry takedown and again Corino is scrambling for the ropes. Tommy’s had enough already, says that this wrestling sucks and that Corino should be called ‘the King of Boring Crap’, before getting the crowd to start a “boring, boring” chant. Dreamer gets the better of the next exchanges and now Corino wants them to go at it amateur style. He tells him to get on all fours, Corino gets behind him, Tommy turns around and sees him and is back to his feet. “Homo, homo” chant now. Some more talking on the mic and Dreamer says he said he would wrestle him, not have sex with him! Corino tells him that he’s no homo, has never sucked a cock and offers to get on all fours himself. Tommy thinks about amateur wrestling him, then just punts him in the stomach instead. Corino ducks a clothesline, but his crossbody is caught and Dreamer with a fallaway slam. Knife edge chops and Tommy mimics Ric Flair with a really bad strut and the face first bump. The match heads to the outside and Corino gets the crowd to move as though he’s going to throw Dreamer into them, however he just throws him straight back inside. As Corino is dancing on the floor proud of himself, Dreamer with a dropkick through the ropes to the back and he can finally get hardcore! He rams Corino’s head into a couple of metal pillars and wallops him over the head with a tray busting him open. They return to the ring, drop toehold by Tommy and he collects the $100 from the ring announcer. Not happy with just mimicking Flair, we get a ‘People’s elbow’, the Road Dogg’s ‘juking and a jiving’ and the World’s worst ever ‘Worm’. Piledriver onto a chair but Dreamer misses an elbow off the middle and lands on it himself. Leg lariat by Corino for two. He teases hitting Dreamer with a chair only to sit on it and slap on a reverse chinlock. Tommy escapes and ties Corino in the ‘tree of woe’. DDT soon after and the ‘Innovator of Violence’ comes out on top. I’ve not watched Guido/Mikey from the same show yet, but after seeing Corino/Nova on that MCW card and now this, there is a huge disparity between how the ECW stars work on their own house shows compared to when they work elsewhere. Not that I didn’t enjoy this, and due to the efforts of Corino it was an extremely entertaining watch, but there was a ton of schtick, stalling and comedy involved here. They don’t take many bumps, and although Corino bladed, no hard weapon shots and certainly no chair shots to the head, just the back. Not that I’m complaining about that, as I definitely wouldn’t want them to be doing what Masato Tanaka does on random house shows, just interesting to see them in a different environment.

Some character called ‘Foo Foo’ is seconding both Strange and Lover, and this is being fought over no DQ, anything goes rules. Strange and Lover immediately seemingly turn on their partners, and there’s a lot of hitting each other over the head with weapons to start with until Strange adds a bit of variety with a fork to the balls of Homicide and a cheese grater across the forehead of Ramos. Lover places a cinderblock across Homicide’s groin and wallops it with a steel chair, and then Strange digs the barbed wire into Ramos’ arm and you can see him repeatedly blading it after. Homicide breaks a crutch over Strange’s back and the remnants over Lover’s. A barbed wire board is set up perched between two chairs and Strange goes to sideslam Ramos through it, however he struggles to get the big guy up and Ramos knocks the board off the chairs. ‘You f*cked up!’ chants and Strange has to reset everything, although this time manages to get Ramos up to put him through it. Things are pretty wild as action goes on inside and outside with the camera struggling to follow it all. Ramos picks up a saw and runs it across Strange’s forehead (although not sure how sharp it actually was), and then grabs some light tubes which he places between a couple of chairs. Strange cuts him off with a cinderblock and repeats Lover’s earlier spot to Homicide, this time on Ramos. ‘Rock Bottom’ on ‘Lowlife’ Louie through the light tubes. Homicide and Strange team up on Ramos and with him laid out on a table on the outside, Strange tells Homicide to “hold the bitch!” He double crosses him though and as Strange comes diving off the apron, Homicide moves Ramos and he crashes through it himself. Louie makes the cover on the arena floor and Strange is the first man eliminated. Saw across the forehead of Lover while Homicide sets some more barbed wire boards across chairs in the ring. He uses shards of broken light tube to cut Lover, however as he comes off the ropes it appears Foo Foo hits him in the back with something (the camera completely misses the shot). Lover then powerbombs Homicide through the boards for a three, and it sounds like he and Ramos will face off at a later date for the JAPW Suicidal title. Da Hit Squad and Low Ki attack Strange and Ramos after the match but the lights in the arena go out. What looks like Foo Foo doing a Goldberg impersonation by the chants (‘Fooberg, Fooberg’) gets into the ring, however he gets brained with a chair, superbombed off the top and finally the cinderblock treatment. The opening confused me with Strange and Lover attacking their partners, to the point that I thought maybe it was a four way match instead, a thought which stayed with me all the way through (no commentary to clear things up). I’m torn on the match itself as I generally don’t think it was very good, however it kept me engrossed for the duration and the time flew by. I’ve never seen or heard of either Strange or Lover before, and they reminded me of those random death match workers who would show up and lose in the first round of the IWA-MS KOTDM and you’d never see again. Ramos is bad but he’s got no problem in carving his body up, and then there is Homicide who you can’t really tell much about in this setting. The match was wild in places, gruesome at times (everyone including Foo Foo bled), although there were quite a few blown moves along the way. Post-match seemed to be about giving Homicide his heat back and cementing the DHS/Ki/Cide group at the top of JAPW.