[2001-02-18-WCW-SuperBrawl Revenge] Shannon Moore vs Shane Helms vs Yang vs Kaz Hayashi vs Evan Karagias vs Jamie Knoble

[soup23]

I don't know why Yang and Karagias were paired up but they almost ruined this match. Their parings in the first half was one botch after another. Luckily they were the first two out and the rest of the match was much better. I don't know whether watching a match like this, you saw a high ceiling for most of these guys sans Helms but as far as providing an effective and entertaining match, you at least thought the four final competitors were capable and they delivered here. Helms going after Moore was the highlight. *** (6) 

[GSR]

During the pre-game show Road Warrior Animal attacked Billy Kidman as he was being interviewed by Mike Tenay, taking him out of the match.  Tony Schiavone notes that there will be a replacement but at the moment he doesn’t know who that replacement will be.  The replacement, who turns out to be Shane Helms, is an excellent choice as he was unfortunate not to be in this originally.

Seeing these six in the ring I’ve realised it’s just another variation of the 3 Count vs Jung Dragons match.  Scott Hudson is hinting at tension between Helms and Moore with Shane being the replacement.  Noble counters the sleeper slam with a belly to back.  Helms make a blind tag and Shannon then launches Jamie at him, Shane hitting a big sit-out powerbomb.  They toss him to the floor before Karagias clothesline Helms out to join him.  Evan sidesteps a charging Shannon who takes one of his trademark barmy flat back bumps out to ringside.  Stereo Asai moonsaults by the Dragons.  Springboard crossbody by Karagias.  Kaz lands on his feet from a German and a headscissors sends Noble into the middle turnbuckle.  Nice sequence from Jamie and Yang ending with a Noble neckbreaker.  There’s an ugly spot between Yang and Karagias where they pretty much just run into each other, forgetting what they were supposed to do.  Evan with a full nelson slam but this is the worst stuff of the match.  Jeez, he then overshoots a reverse springboard splash.  Helms tags himself in to rescue this.  Some good teamwork from 3 Count busting out the Samoan drop/neckbreaker combo.  Springboard tornado DDT by Yang on Shannon.  Shane with a suicideplex on Kaz.  He avoids Yang’s top rope splash and that ends up with everyone being down after they all miss dives.  The Sugar Smack sends Yang over the top to the outside.  Combination X-plex/spinning heel kick by 3 Count.  Froggy crossbody to Yang.  Dive train and the fans are giving them a standing ovation.  Evan plants Kaz with a spinebuster.  Springboard missile dropkick/powerbomb double team, the Noble & Karagias team then have the same issue they did in the qualifier, arguing over who gets to make the cover.  This is every bit as daft here as it was there, especially as elimination rules are in operation and this won’t be over.  Yang dropkicks Jamie into Evan who backdrops him out to the floor.  Botch central as Yang whiffs on a spin kick, we get a crappy looking Russian legsweep and he then slips on the Lionsault.  Some reverse piledriver puts Karagias away but this was so bad the fans are booing them.  Yang doesn’t stick around anyway, a Noble tombstone eliminating him immediately.  Shannon attacks Jamie as he heads upstairs, top rope Bottoms Up and now he’s gone.  They’re dropping like flies here.  It’s now effectively 3 Count versus Kaz Hayashi in a handicap match.  Quality backslide/guillotine legdrop combination.  Shane goes for a Vertebreaker but Shannon with the Bottoms Up on his own partner.  Kaz breaks up the pin with a kick to the head although kicks referee Scott Armstrong at the same time.  I think this was accidental and not a scheduled ref bump.  Helms pulls Kaz off so he can stomp a hole in Shannon, in disbelief at what he just did.  Shannon blocks the Sugar Smack and kicks Shane between the legs.  Moore makes an agreement to work with Kaz though quickly double crosses him.  He goes for the Bottoms Up but Shane grabs him and hits the Nightmare as we are down to our final two.  Hudson thinks we may very well have seen the end of 3 Count there.  Kaz blocks the Nightmare and counters wit a German suplex for a near fall.  It’s noted that was the move that beat him last time out so he had remembered it from then.  Neckbreaker by Shane.  Super sunset flip, but Kaz rolls through and takes Helms’ head off with a kick.  Shane is eventually able to land the Vertebreaker and the man who wasn’t even originally scheduled to be part of the match takes advantage of the situation to earn himself a shot at the Cruiserweight title.

Okay four of these were in another league to the other two, one of whom blew as much as he hit and the other of whom was rank bad, but I still thought this was a great match.  There was a plenty of innovative stuff, there were storylines flowing through it and there were call backs to previous matches.  I was surprised when Helms lost to Kaz in the qualifier so I wonder if this was always the plan and part of some long term booking or whether I’m giving them more credit that they deserve.  Order of how they shined - Helms, Kaz, Noble, Shannon, Yang and Karagias.