[2000-12-03-ECW-Massacre on 34th Street] Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck vs Super Crazy & Kid Kash

[ohtani's jacket]

This was pretty average. The exchanges between Super Crazy and Tajiri were good but the rest of the match was weak. ECW did such a poor job with its presentation. The commentary is ratshit. I would rather watch a legit indy from 2000 than a wannabe national promotion. At least the indy will have some charm. 

[soup23]

Crazy starts by himself and gets beat up but it isn’t long when Kid Kash comes to make the save. This was the apex of this style of match throughout the year. It didn’t have the hate of the early iterations of Crazy vs Tajiri from Jan and February but the spots, pace and reaction from the crowd was still tremendous. Even though I  reject notions that Tajiri is far and away WOTY for 2000, there is no doubt that he is one of the best wrestlers in the world and garners a great and legitimate reaction from the crowd. Tons of crazy spots from the big dive of Kash, the double stomp through the table, the two chair combo from him and Mikey, Mikey taking a big bump to the outside and the general stiff shots that only Tajiri can provide. It was refreshing seeing this type of match and performance one more time in a dying promotion. **** (7.9)

[GSR]

The Sinister Minister is back with Mikey and Tajiri after his absence last month.  On a recent episode of Hardcore TV, the two joined forces with Super Crazy, but an eventual Crazy miscue cost them the match against Hot Commodity.  Tajiri and Crazy got into it after with Mikey caught in the middle.  Eventually he ended up siding with his longtime partner which led to this tag team match tonight, Crazy able to choose any partner he wants to take on the Minister’s army.  Crazy slides into the ring and is immediately double teamed as Joey Styles starts speculating that he couldn’t get himself a partner.  You really should know better by now Joey!  Of course a partner arrives moments later in the shape of Kid Kash.  Kash clears the ring of the Unholy Alliance, but as he and Crazy look at something in the audience Mikey jumps Kash from behind.  Springboard sunset flip by Kash as Mikey cackles to the crowd.  Nice standing huracanrana.  Respective tags are made and Tajiri is not wasting any time as he connects on the handspring elbow.  Crazy with a kip up though.  Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Crazy and this time it’s Tajiri who kips up.  Double springboard armdrag before Tajiri counters the tilt-a-whirl with one of his own.  They trade moves again and stand-off to a standing ovation.  Tajiri locks on a Scorpion Deathlock and with Crazy’s head draped over the ropes, a Mikey slingshot guillotine legdrop to the back of his neck.  Kash tries to help his partner but gets floored by a thrust kick.  He’s laid next to Crazy and with the Minister orchestrating things the Alliance place chairs either side of their heads which they then dropkick.  Kash and Crazy avoid stereo baseball slides while in the ‘Tree of Woe’, the Alliance ending up on the floor having slid out of the ring.  Gorgeous inside out top rope Quebrada by Crazy.  Not to be outdone, Kash vaults off the referee’s back (having crouched down on all fours) and springboards out onto everyone with a flip dive.  The action returns to the ring and following a Kash corkscrew senton we get stereo punches in the corner so that the crowd can count along.  The Alliance stop the rot with a pair of shotgun dropkicks before Mikey gets hold of a couple of chairs.  Kash blocks the attempted suplex, countering with a Falcon Arrow.  He heads upstairs, but Mikey catches him and hits a Super whippersnapper onto the steel.  A confused Kash staggers out to the apron where Mikey hits a second Whippersnapper, this time through the table at ringside.  With their partners down and seemingly out, Tajiri and Crazy take over.  Three storey moonsault by Crazy.  He positions a chair just in front of Tajiri who is backed up in the corner, however as he runs at him and leaps off the chair, Tajiri moves out the way.  Although Crazy manages to balance himself on the top turnbuckles, Tajiri gives him a shove on the behind and he goes flying to the floor.  I don’t know, it all kinda feels a bit aimless as they’re on the outside, Mikey and Kash still down selling the Whippersnapper.  Crazy with an Arabian moonsault for a two.  Tajiri uses a chair to put a stop to the sunset flip and then ties Crazy up in the Tarantula.  Kash has recovered to break that up, but as Tajiri goes to mist him he ducks and hits Crazy instead.  The Unholy Alliance bring a table inside and set up another on the floor which Mikey lays Kash on.  As he climbs the turnbuckles he doesn’t realise Crazy has grabbed hold of him, preventing him from moving anywhere, and Kash with a huracanrana from the top through the table!  Springboard missile dropkick by Crazy.  Tajiri counters the powerbomb with a DDT and then lights Crazy up with some rapid fire kicks.  He buries him under some chairs and finally a table, coming off the top with a double footstomp onto it all for the win.

I tend to find myself agreeing more with OJ here.  To me it came across as thought they were trying to outdo the Alliance’s matches against the FBI, as a result it all became to excessive.  As an example I’ve said previously how the Super Whippersnapper had become an overused move, so how do you go one better?  Super Whippersnapper onto a couple of chairs followed immediately by a Whippersnapper through a table at ringside.  I don’t mind a bit of gimmickry but not just for the sake of it, which is what this felt like to me.  Also, one of my pet peeves when it comes to ECW is when the referees involve themselves in matches.  It comes across as hokey and low rent and as a result I didn’t care one jot for Finnegan being the launch pad for Kash’s dive to the floor.