[2001-01-07-ECW-Guilty as Charged] Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke vs Mikey Whipwreck & Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Super Crazy & Kid Kash (Elimination)

[GSR]

The match starts with three men in the ring and it’s not long before one is the spare part, stood there waiting while the other two do their thing.  Kash fluffs either a springboard or a slingshot which is very unlike him as he’s usually near faultless on stuff like that.  The three-way tropes continue as we then have the third man breaking up the pin.  They know how to play these fans like a fiddle though, it’s not been good but they wait for the Pavlovian round of applause which comes.  Each man tags their respective partner and things should pick up with Tajiri, Guido and Crazy.  Guido isn’t paying attention and Tajiri drills him with a kick while still on the apron.  The thirty seconds we get of Tajiri and Crazy is the highlight of this so far.  Crazy with a springboard legdrop onto Guido, however Mamaluke is late with his top rope legdrop save and John Finnegan is left with no choice but to hold up his count.  That looked bad.  A triple submission spot that the fans love, me not so much, I think it just looks hokey.  Everyone ends up on the floor and Kash takes to the skies with a great switch position springboard twisting senton out onto everyone.  Leaping rana off the top by Kash, hit immaculately and making up for that botch earlier.  As Finnegan is distracted by the Sinister Minister, Sal enters the ring, splashes Kash who is easy pickings for the pin as Crazy and he are the first team to be eliminated.  Mamaluke gets dumped into the front row and Mikey with a guillotine legdrop.  He’s so thin they literally drag him through the railings!  Rocket Launcher on Guido.  The Unholy Alliance tie the FBI in the ‘Tree of Woe’ and while Tajiri kills Guido with the baseball slide, Mamaluke lifts himself up out the way and Mikey slides out to the floor where he’s snatched by Big Sal who runs him into the ringpost.  Reverse tornado DDT by Mamaluke.  ‘Sicilian Slice’.  Double team powerbomb off the top although somehow Mikey is able to get a shoulder up on the cover.  Double leglock submission and this time Tajiri is in for the save.  Tony floats over on the suplex but Mikey counters when he goes for it again with a Whippersnapper.  Tag to Tajiri who takes it to the wannabe Italians.  The Alliance bridge a couple of chairs across the middle and drop the FBI face first into the.  The double Whippersnapper off the top is countered with a pair of Fujiwara armbars, Tajiri again with the save for his partner. He destroys Guido with more kicks before misting Mamaluke and stereo pins seal the deal, Mikey with a cross armed German and Tajiri with a regulation variety.

I reckon if ECW had never died Heyman would still be running the FBI vs Unholy Alliance to this day.  Admittedly, the match improved significantly when we were down to those teams as the opening three-way portion was all over the place at times and not particularly good;  Tajiri’s brief interactions with Crazy and Kash’s switch position twisting dive to the floor being the only memorable things (of a positive note) in the first half.  But yeah, FBI vs UA had run its course by the end of last year and I don't need to be seeing it again to start the next.

[soup23]

First part was a disjointed spotfest. Some stuff like Kash’s dive was amazing, some was a train wreck. It was ok but not high end psychological stuff. Once things boil down into FBI vs Tajiri/Mikey, we get the typically good tag with those four although I agree that it does feel like we really should be beyond all of this for all parties involved. There really is no good excuse in a floundering promotion that Tajiri is still lumbering around in these mid card tag matches. Unholy Alliance win and it feels so hollow seeing them celebrate like its such an accomplishment. A good match but a tone deaf one inside of a dead promotion. ***1/4 (6.4)

[AstroBoy]

Kash's dive was pretty sweet and all six guys early on had a few fireworks but it's like a prelude to the meat of this with FBI and Unholy Alliance.  It's their standard good stuff and they mix up some of their spots, turning the double whippersnapper into tandem armbars for instance.  Tajiri, naturally was incredible and electric here.  Ultimately Tajiri and Whipwreck tread water with another victory but I echo the thought that Tajiri specifically could be such a bigger thing at this point.