[2000-09-02-WCW-Worldwide] Rey Mysterio Jr & Juventud Guerrera vs Shannon Moore & Shane Helms

[soup23]

I think this was still taped before the Animals full face turn so the work is a little awkward in that regard. In what still feels like a lost year for him, Rey may honestly be the best worker in WCW for the year when all is said and done. A bunch of that has to do with him at least having mostly straight wrestling matches whereas people like Jarrett and Booker have been involved in so much stuff that was overbooked. Juvy gets cut off on the air Juvy with a clothesline and Konnan is able to give 3 Count some credit on commentary. Tygress low blows Karagias. Juvy is in the white pants and almost looks like a member of 3 Count. Tygress is able to hit the bronco buster on Helms that the referee just allows. Rey picks up the win with the leg drop and they do have the tag titles with them. **

[GSR]

Tony Schiavone confirms that the alliance between 3 Count and Tank Abbott is over, which is good news as far as 3 Count are concerned. Konan is on commentary and runs down the various titles that Rey and Juvi have held in Mexico, even mentioning Fuerza Guerrera by name when talking about how Juvi won gold whilst teaming with his father. Shannon knees Rey in the stomach and follows up with a ‘Rocker Dropper’. Double team Samoan drop/neckbreaker by 3 Count for a near fall. Huge powerbomb by Shane and Shannon with a slingshot senton (although it looks like he lands right on Rey’s face) as Juvi is in this time to break up the pin. Blind tag to ‘the Juice’ and he takes out Shane with a springboard dropkick. Wheelbarrow bulldog/springboard leg drop to the back of the neck combination. ‘Air Juvi’ but Guerrera slips as he’s about to leap off Rey’s back. Fortunately the spot was to see Shane clothesline him as he’s mid-air, so even though it’s still a botch, it could’ve looked a lot worse than it did. Springboard dropkick by Shannon sends Rey tumbling through the ropes to the outside. Evan Karagias is around to get some licks in, but Tygress quickly puts a stop to that with a low blow. Cool little suplex from Shannon where he drops Juvi across Shane’s knee for a backbreaker. ‘The Juice’ ducks under a double clothesline and then avoids the spinning heel kick as Shannon accidentally nails his own partner instead. Tag to Rey who hits a springboard crossbody onto both members of 3 Count. Facebuster on Shane, before backdropping Shannon over the top rope to the floor. He absolutely soars over the ropes talking an almost flat back bump on the mats in a crazy looking bump. ‘Face full of Stuff’ (right in front of the official who just lets it go) however Tygress really needs to practice that some more as it doesn’t look good. Top rope leg drop to the groin and ‘the Animals’ retain the gold.

 

Just like the Jung Dragons, 3 Count deserve better than being used as filler on Worldwide. Juvi’s botch was unfortunate, while Shannon Moore took one outrageous bump to the outside off that backdrop. Konan was very good on commentary here, talking about the Mexican titles that the Animals have won and also mentioning how the high flying style these teams do can lead to injuries, referencing injuries that Rey, Juvi, he, as well as Evan Karagias have suffered. He’s a quick witted, funny guy, but this made a nice change from seeing him rag on the ‘Natural Born Thrillers’, making jokes about how green they are and calling people ‘cranberries’. Fun stuff, although if it were up to me I’d ditch Tygress from the group, she adds nothing and her ‘face full of stuff’ spot both looks bad and also stretches kayfabe when she’s doing it in front of the referee.

[AstroBoy]

This was nice as all four guys get to go out and have an athletic match with cool double team spots and it's presented really well. Konnan actually does a great job putting everyone over on commentary and singling out 3 Count as a team with a big future. Juvy had some scary sloppy moments in this one but nothing egregious. Tygress is the worst, she truly is the female Konnan of personality just more quiet, and the referee doesn't seem to care about her interfering right in front of him. Rey gets the pin, again after a blatant low blow, but who cares.

 

**1/2

[Tim Evans]

When was the last time the tag titles were defended on Worldwide? Has to be the early 90s. I try to forget maskless rey but he was still damn good in this match. 3 count was bumping everywhere for him. Shannon had some mistimed moments with Juvy but you can still see the potential.