______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 03/27/2000 opened with a recap of Stephanie slapping mommy Linda on Smackdown. That was Stephanie's reaction to Linda violating Mick Foley's retirement clause from one month ago. Hey, she stole Foley's credibility, turning his awesome retirement stipulation interview into a joke, so maybe she deserved to be punished for it. Or maybe Foley deserves to be recognized for being just like every other wrestler after all. Anyhow, Linda came to the ring. "...in giving Mick Foley his opportunity to live a dream, I had to live a nightmare..." Hey, Linda, we had to watch that crap. Thank god the WWF is such a hot product that cheerleaders can avoid noticing how lame this dysfunctional family stuff is. "...I am demanding that you come out here right now..." JR: "She's a hell of a good mother." Good lord. Vince McMahon marched out to the ring. He wanted to hear the apology as well. Vince said "...between you and I..." He said he was concerned for Linda's personal welfare now that she has left the "corporate arena." Watch the fans wave their signs. They sure seemed into it. Can she take care of herself? Vince said the Rock would be the new champion, and he hoped Linda wouldn't be mad at him. Oh man, I can't handle this. Is this a wrestling show or a friggin' soap opera? WWF cheerleaders are fond of calling wrestling a soap opera for men. What exactly is the appeal of this to men? Oh, they get to chant "slut" at somebody who tries to turn an ounce of sexiness into a gallon. "It was wrong for me to slap my mother." "...disrespectful...don't know why I did it...rage...mom, I apologize...I didn't mean to slap you...what I really wanted to do was slap dad." Strike a pose. Vince said he'd "blister her fanny," she patted her butt provocatively, and it all seemed even more unseemly than it sounded. HHH came out. Fourteen minutes of this crap already. HHH said that Vince has worn out his welcome, that his "ancient era" should shut down. Shane came out, walking past HHH to ringside, as Big Slow's theme played. He laid into Stephanie for slapping mommy. He got in the ring. He apologized. He decked daddy with the microphone. HHH ran in to get in some licks. Linda ripped at Shane. Stephanie restrained Linda. John Boy ran in. No, that's retired Mick Foley. Big Slow came in, pounding his feet on the mat and wildly missing clothelines like only he can do. I think it was all you can eat night at the local IHOP. Rock ran in. He ended up getting choke slammed by Slow. Foley took a pedigree. The Rock & retired Sock connection ate canvas. Vince took a belt shot. Linda witnessed the "carnage." 22 minutes. We recapped all of that vaguely wrestling-related kwetching. I watch RAW on tape, you know. After that opening segment, I was actually ready to hit the sack, but I figured I should at least see one great wrestling match, 'cause the WWF has some great wrestling these days. Unfortunately, Chyna came to the ring. Oh well, she's involved in an issue with great wrestlers all around her. Chyna & Jericho faced Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit. Hey, if WCW put together Juvi & Psicosis vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & The Artist, we'd all complain that the Artist doesn't belong in there, so let me say the same thing about Chyna. I mean, shit, couldn't Third Rock From The Sun tape this night? As Chris & Chyna circled each other, Eddie Guerrero snuck in and took Chyna from behind. Ooops, I slipped into Lawler mode. Jericho came in, and there was a moment of good wrestling. Jericho vs. Benoit is meant to be the program coming out of WrestleMania. Benoit got a surprise quick pin on Jericho, mostly missed by the camera crew in a weird moment. Chyna & Eddie brawled, with Eddie actually begging off. Wasn't that sad. Perry & Dean ran in. They banged on Chyna as a gang. Too Cool ran in to save Chyna from the gang bang. This WWF commentary was, ahem, entered after 10pm, so nobody get mad at me. Benoit & Jericho had ran off into the crowd. Vince called Shane out for later tonight. It was a delayed call out. As Linda tried to interject, Vince gave the universal symbol for "talk to the hand." Bob Holly challenged Crash Holly for the Hardcore title. Tazz came in. Headbangers surfaced. The idea was that everybody wanted a piece of Crash Holly since anybody who pins him wins the title. Crash ran away. Viscera, the Posse, Shoichi Funaki and Taka Michinoku also tried to get a piece of him. Crash hid behind a garbage can outside. All of the wrestlers came out after him. Even though they saw the camera man turn back and forth from them to Crash, they all ignored the possibility that Crash was behind the trash can. Crash snuck back inside and locked them all out. Rikishi faced Road Dogg. Rikishi scored the count out victory when Road Dogg left the ring to recover from having his face introduced to Rikishi's butt. This is getting so stupid. Too Cool came in, and they danced. Afterwards, the Poontang Kid did an interview talking about the dysfunctional McMahons, mentioning that Shane couldn't get an erection for eight months. He showed no ill effects from having been choke slammed. He reminds so much of Hogan ten years ago, you know, when Hogan could give an interview that made no sense but fans just ate up his charisma. Hardy Boyz faced the Jobbers, er, the Radicals. Edge & Christian were at the commentary table. They tried to hype that they had an edge, but they weren't quite total heels or anything. Dean & Perry dominated. They really pushed the triangle tag match, with JR saying that the teams were putting their careers on the line. Matt finally made the hot tag to Jeff, who missile dropkicked Dean coming in. The Hardyz hit their double teams, but Christian pulled Saturn out of the way of a top rope spot. Edge speared Jeff, and the surprise fluke loss was delivered. Kurt Angle faced Kane. Throughout the night, they did a great job of hyping the matches for WrestleMania. Kane is bad. They showed Bob Backlund backstage watching the match. Kane hit a side slam and climbed the ropes for the clothesline. But Angle hit a drop toehold on Kane into the turnbuckles. Angle tried to use a title belt, the ref disarmed him, and he used the second belt for the DQ. Kane followed Angle out of the ring afterwards, tossed him back into the ring, and choke slammed him. Prince Albert faced Al Snow. They brawled on the floor. Albert yelled "Come on, T" in encouragement for Test. Uh-oh, I bet Harlem Heat's lawyer will be in touch with him. Snow was pinned in short order. Throughout the show, they built to a main event of Shane McMahon & Big Slow vs. Rock & Vince McMahon. Stephanie McMahon decided that HHH could be special referee. Given that each of the four McMahon's own 25% of the company, how can her quarter screw with the half of the two men? Who calls the shots in the WWF? To make it even weirder, Linda McMahon added Mick Foley as the second guest referee. Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan faced the Acolytes. Godfather & D'Lo Brown strolled out to music to be in the match, with the commentators explaining that they bought their way into the match. D-Von Dudley faced X-Pac. Buh Buh set up a table at ringside. D-Von is horrible. X-Pac scored the win with the X-Factor. Kane came out. He knocked down everybody. For some reason, D-Von stopped Kane from choke slamming X-Pac. That made sense. They hit the 3D on Kane. Kane sold for a few seconds before attacking Tori again. X-Pac & Road Dogg stopped him and dumped him over the top through the table. The main event was next. HHH & Foley came out first. Foley seemed to have trouble moving around. Big Slow & Shane faced Rock & Vince. Vince came out alone. He got dumped into the ring by HHH. As Vince was doubleteamed, the referees argued. Rock finally came out. At least he ran to the ring. For a second, I was wondering if it worse to be Rock's partner or Sandman's partner. The refs kept arguing. The wrestling was nonexistent, but the crowd was at least hot. Big Slow hit moves with a foot of air behind him and Rock. An elbow and a leg drop both looked terrible. Jerry Lawler remarked that Mick Foley couldn't count to five (for a DQ) because it required too many brain cells. I know he was probably just trying to be funny, but it should have made any thinking fan sad at the near-reality of that statement. Vince finally made the hot tag, beating up his son. They brawled onto the commentary table. The refs argued. They got back in the ring. Vince tagged Rock, who laid out Shane. Elbow. HHH elbowed Foley before he could count the fall. HHH laid out Rock. Vince attacked HHH, who dropped like a fly after one punch. As Slow prepared to choke slam Vince, Foley hit the mandible claw, sending Slow out of the ring. Rock Bottom on Shane for the pin. This was chaotic. It didn't make me look forward to the WrestleMania four-man match as anything but spectacle. Nitro Nitro on 03/27/2000 took place in the midst of Spring break, with a live crowd of students on the beach, all of whom just wanted to have a good time. Given this promotion's track record, you had to figure that they'd do their damnedest to bring down a crowd that wanted to party more than anything else. The show opened with Gene Okerlund ready to interview Diamond Dallas Page in the ring. Kimberly came to the ring looking as great as only she can look; okay, Torrie Wilson is in the same bracket. Nobody else is close. They pushed "Ready to Rumble" after briefly discussing DDP's back injury. Good gawd! DDP's birthday is the same day as my wife's! DDP declared his intention to go after the world title. Just what they need. Jeff Jarrett came out. The camera crew finally managed to find a couple of guys with WCW-specific signs. We had seen "3-16" and "puppies" signs to this point. Jarrett did his standard spiel. I hate this formula, when shows open with loads of talking. In this case, Jarrett said he'd crash the world premiere of DDP's movie. So, unlike the WWF long-on-talk opens, this one didn't build to anything for this show. I'm not saying that as a knock, really, but I paid more attention to Kimberly anyhow. tony Schiavone & Mark Madden told us that a bunch of old guys would wrestle tonight. They announced the return of Eric Bischoff as the head of the creative division. They also said that Vince Russo had yet to decide on his return, but that, gasp, we'd have the final answer during this show. I was so excited by that news! Just the thing that WCW needs to push. Really they need to just stop the presses completely, lecture the old guys, fire the old guys that won't go along, and make Booker T & Kidman & Vampiro among others the stars of the show. Instead, we had the Artist selecting an opponent and the NWO making a breast stroke joke. Artist's opponent turned out to be Michael Modest, who has developed quite a reputation on the indy circuit. They needed to make this a dramatic and flashy title change to avoid killing the value of a new guy right off the bat yet again. The commentators devoted their energy to getting Eric vs. Vince over instead of talking about the new guy. Chris Candido & Chavo Guerrero Jr. came out to watch. The commentators said that Sid put a $500K bounty on Hulk Hogan. That's a lot of Monopoly game sets. Candido ended up hitting Chavo outside. Artist bumped Paisley off the apron into them. Amidst all of this, Modest got the pin with a powerbomb variation. It seems that the match was a nontitle bout. Madden called it "the biggest upset I've ever seen." I don't know why some people think Madden does a good job. I find him to be just another annoying talking head. Speaking of annoying, the Harris twins cut a promo on Booker T. Every week, I tune into Nitro with morbid curiousity, delusionally hoping that this might be the week where they finally do the right thing. It might well happen at some point, but week after week it just continue to crush whatever spirit I have in me that night. Actually, watching Nitro with some spirits in me might not be such a bad idea. Hogan arrived at the building. The commentators mentioned that there was a 500 peso bounty him. Booker faced a Harris twin. Which twin? Oh, they told us (Ron), but it just doesn't matter which twin it is, if you smell how bad they both stink. Don Harris had his arm in a sling. He still whacked Booker when Booker was dumped out of the ring. Jeff Jarrett ran out to distract the referee. Don Harris came in, took his arm out of the cast, and Booker ended up taking an H-bomb for the loss. Afterwards, as Booker got to his feet and complained to the referee, Fat T & Stevie Ray jogged in to attack Booker. Cash came in too. Kidman tried to make the save. The talented guys got pummelled. WCW sure knows how to push their babyfaces. Vampiro told Hogan that there was a $500K bounty on his head, that talk was swirling backstage about who Sid was paying to take out Hogan. Apparently, this is the story to bring in a hired gun. Maybe, heaven forbid, they were setting up Vampiro turn by having him be the guy to warn Hogan. It actually might not be so bad, if Hogan beats Sid for the title and then puts Vampiro over strong. Like that would happen. Gene Okerlund called out Hogan, "a man who has done it all and continues to do so." Yep, he's held down better wrestlers for a long time. As Hogan's music played, nobody came out. He finally surfaced. Hogan bashed Sid, offering to fight Sid tonight. Eight people chanted Hogan. Hogan said something about Sid taking him from behind. For a second I thought I was listening to RAW. Hogan put over Vampiro as a future star. Oh boy. Hogan even compared Vampiro's momentum to the initial momentum of Hulkamania. Fair comparison, since WCW is in financial trouble just like the WWF was back then. They showed the Wall standing on top of a hotel. Tony acted like he'd never seen anybody stand on a roof before. They actually pretended that Wall might choke slam somebody off the hotel. Hogan made the bounty seem even more ridiculous, since he offered $500K to Sid for a match and said something about putting out another $500K to face the Wall. Hey, Mamalukes against Yung Dragons tonight. Yung Dragons came out with Three Count's green circles. The did a horribly bad imitation of Three Count, with Japanese lyrics. It was sort of funny. Mamalukes attacked. This was a six-man tag. Mamalukes were having good chemistry with Disco in the mix, so they apparently plan to split them from Disco. The commentators announced that, yes, Vince Russo would join Eric Bischoff. Yung Dragons really got pummelled, not that the commentators noticed. Mamalukes finally tagged in Disco. Harris twins surfaced, attacking the Mamalukes at ringside. Of course, Disco started to lose control. Kaz hit a DDT coming in. After a double splash, Disco dropped the fall. Just as you thought that was a good thing, the Harris twins came in the ring and killed all three Yung Dragons. Shit, those are the guys that need to sell for the Yung Dragons, right? All the commentators could gush about was Eric & Vince. Wouldn't it be nice if there was just a drastic change in the product? Screw the hype. Ric Flair & Lex Luger faced Sting & Vampiro. Throughout the ring entrances, the commentators talked about Vince & Eric. Vampiro took on Flair in the ring. Sting & Luger walked back to the platform. Jeez, Vamp works hard, the fans accepted him because of it, and the promotion has decided to walk (not run) with it. Why didn't they do the same with Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, Jericho, etc.? Sting backdropped Lex into the pool. Lex tossed a waiter into the pool. The camera work was rough during this match, since we missed half of the action. Sting & Luger did comedy, first with the pool, then with Sting smashing Luger into food. In the ring, one had the sense that there was some good wrestling, but we wouldn't know. 10 people chanted "Vampiro," with a Spanish edge. Sting & Luger walked down to the sand of the beach. A drunk female screamed in joy, I guess. They used surf boards. Sting pinned Luger in the surf. In the ring, Vamp had a leg lock on Flair. Meng faced La Parka. "Mexico!" chant. La Parka did his microphone gimmick again. La Parka did a great job again of acting like the microphone was possessed with some other voice. The voice insulted Meng. Parka chaired Meng, but Meng put the death grip on for the win. Why push Meng? Tank Abbott came out to ringside. Finlay came out too. They started fighting. It's like WCW sees that the WWF has no singles matches at WrestleMania, so they have to try to create multi-wrestler issues. Fit Finlay was asked about Vince & Eric. He said he would back them all the way because he's a team player. Somehow, I don't think Fit's "teamplayerness" is what has hurt the company. They aired a music video from "Ready to Rumble." It was sort of symbolic to hear a version of "We're Not Gonna Take It" as WCW's ratings plummet into the toilet. They announced that Wall would be fed to Hogan later tonight. Hugh Morrus faced Terry Funk. Yeah, I'd pick Morrus as a guy to push as well. Morrus, Wall? What's wrong with this picture? The commentators kept talking about Vince & Eric. Next week's Nitro will be a recap show of Nitro, and the product will restart the week after. How severe a restart will it be? That is the question. Tony announced that Eric & Vince would debut their new product (after "sorting things out" for two weeks) on 04/10. Morrus hit a power bomb on Terry. He missed the elbow off the top. Morrus power bombed Terry on the sand. Why would Terry bother to take that bump? Match was sort of garbagy, but it wasn't all bad. Morrus missed the elbow to the ringside mats. Terry used a chair. Dustin ran out. A distracted Funk was tossed back in the ring by Morrus. Power slam. Moonsault. Two count. Dustin came in. I guess he whacked both guys with the chair. Oh, it looks like he whacked the referee as well. Funk & Dustin really don't have a lot of chemistry with each other. Morrus moonsaulted the referee. Hogan did another interview, saying that when he faced Wall this night Vampiro would be watching his back. Hmmm, would they really turn Vampiro at this point, when there's two weeks before the next Nitro? And didn't Sid just turn on Hogan? Does somebody have to turn on Hogan every week? It sure seemed like a stupid idea, but it also seemed like the way they were going. Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner faced Curt Hennig & Buff Bagwell. The NWO girls stayed at ringside. Artist said that he was hopeful about about Vince & Eric. It was weird that he broke character to talk normally. Match was messy. Bagwell complained about his neck on the floor, with the NWO fawning over him. In the ring, Hennig took a guitar shot and gave up to the Steiner recliner. Big Vito said that he's hopeful about Vince & Eric. I wanted somebody to say "I think Eric lost control of the company once before, and Vince came in and crushed it into the toilet, so I don't know why anybody could be hopefuly about this combination," but that's just me. Wall faced Hogan. I can't think anything except bad thoughts when Hogan comes to the ring. If he doesn't want to put young guys over strong, he should be canned. Ditto Kevin Nash, the other architect of WCW's failure. Wall opened with kicks. For a second it seemed like Wall was working harder than usual, but then reality set in and it became clear that three fast kicks was about it. The match sucked. Wall did an exaggerated bump for a Hogan punch. Hogan punched him in the corner. He bit him. They went to the floor, with Wall rallying. Chair shot on Hogan. Wall got a table. Apparently, he was planning to choke slam Hogan through a table. Hogan recovered, though, chairing Wall. They got back in the ring. Wall half choke slammed Hogan. Hogan no sold it. Bite me, Hulk. Three punches, you know the drill. Leg drop. Wall got up as Hogan was celebrating. "That's never happened anywhere." Vampiro came in to attack Wall. Hogan and Vamp laid out Wall, who bumped through the table. He dhrugged it off, though, and got up. In the ring, Vamp & Hogan held chairs to hold Wall at bay. Thank goodness they didn't turn Vamp. Thunder on Wednesday night opened with more hype of Vince & Eric taking over. First match saw Chris Candido face Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a rematch. Before anything could happen, Michael Modest & The Artist both ran out, with Modest causing Chavo to give up the fall. He also attacked Artist. Everybody attacked everybody in this battle of "four top cruiserweights." Billy Kidman delivered the first thoughtful and candid remarks about Vince & Eric, saying that Vince ignores politics and tries to push the younger guys, while Eric pushes the established talent. Barbarian, who still uses the same music as Meng, faced Jim Duggan. Horrible, with Duggan going over. Torrie Wilson hopes that Vince & Eric will get WCW back on top of the ratings. Somebody should say, "After all of the ill will we've created in our fanbase, it's going to take at least a year before we might be ready to be competitive with the WWF." Hey, Norman Smiley is happy about the change. Hey, if you watch next week's Nitro & Thunder highlight shows, you'll also be given any last-minute news regarding Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo. Wow! That's a reason to watch! Dustin Rhodes fought Mr. Jones, who had a very short run under his real name. Mike Jones is now Ernest Miller's back-up dancer. Dustin beat the stuffing out of him because Cat didn't want to fight. As Cat talked to Dustin to distract him, Terry Funk snuck in and whacked Dustin with a chair. He also whacked Jones. Everybody stumbled down the aisle. Dance time. Tank Abbott is positive about Vince & Eric. So is Curt Hennig. Three Count sang. Miss Hancock came out to interrupt, bringing Los Fabulosos to the ring to face Shannon Moore & Shane Helms. The camera crew spent more time on Evan Karagias hitting on Hancock than they did on the match. Lots of high risk indy-style stuff. Dandy hit the magistral for the pin. I kind of like this gimmick, but they need to be beating the Harris twins. Chavo Guerrero Jr. feels positive about Vince & Eric. Ernest Miller was asked how he felt about Vince & Eric taking charge. "Hey, I teach Eric's kid karate, so I'll still be pushed even though I can't work." Okay, he didn't say that. The Mamalukes & Disco Inferno cut an interview. Disco announced that Mamalukes vs. Harlem Heat would determine the number one contenders. Vito took the microphone. "Until you learn how to manage us, we are going to manage you," they told Disco. They announced that Disco had to face Tank Abbott tonight. Tank came out immediately. As Tank came in the ring, Disco pretended to faint. Tank crushed him. Ron Harris is positive about Vince & Eric. Jeff Jarrett came to the ring with the NWO girls. JJ faced Booker. Booker will be the best black world champion ever when/if they get there, and he'll be a hell of a lot better than most world champions. Just in case you wanted to get behind the babyface, the Harris twins came out to interfere and punk out Booker. At least Booker kicked out. Booker rallied and hit the missile dropkick. Sadly distracted, Booker met with the US Title belt. Again, he kicked out. Oh boy, Booker kicked off Jarrett's figure four attempt, with Jarrett bumping the referee. Jarrett tried a guitar shot, but Booker blocked it with a uranage. The Harris twins pulled out the referee for the DQ. This time around, Booker actually chased off the Harris twins. Booker was great in this match. Jim Duggan sounded a bit a negative about Vince & Eric; he said that each of them views Duggan as uselss, but neither of them listens to the fans react to Duggan. Weird that Duggan said that Bischoff thinks he's washed up because he's over 40, when Bischoff's track record is to push all of the old farts, as Kidman complained. Harlem Heat faced Mamalukes. Johnny the Bull shows a lot of promise. That's the only positive thing I can say about the match. Fat T hit some power moves with his trademark sloppiness. Ron Harris faced Kidman. In short order, Harris started killing Kidman. Don pulled down the top rope so Kidman bumped to the floor. Kidman rallied. The crowd noise was so phony. Don interfered for the DQ. What lame finishes. More wrestlers felt positive about Vince & Eric. Brian Knobs defended the Hardcore title Dog. Dog was led to the ring on a chain leash by a referee. Huh? Knobs wheeled some weaponry to the ring. Hopefully, in two weeks the development of Dog will cease. Weapon shots. Knobs tossed a table into the ring. Match was all Knobs. Dog finally kicked a chair into Knobs' face. Cue fake crowd noise. Dog mauled Knobs, but Knobs ended up dumping him through the table. Knobs used the garbage can splash for the pin. Buff said that the young guys would finally be pushed in the new regime. Buff Bagwell faced La Parka. Remember when they were tag partners and Buff turned on Parka? Me neither. Even though he always gets scared by the microphone, Parka decided to use it again. As the voice criticized Buff, Parka pulled out a signed that said "I'm sorry" on one side and "I'm not really saying this" on the other. It was pretty funny. Buff shook hands with Parka, but Parka attacked him. Bagwell came back, but Parka actually snuck some moves in. Parka could be such a great character/wrestler. Parka did the single worst split legged moonsault in the history of wrestling. He missed a subsequent somersault, Bagwell rallied, and the expected finish occurred. Ric Flair said he was overwhelmed when he heard Vince & Eric were returning. He offered to talk about them for ten minutes in two weeks on Nitro and guaranteed that he'd deliver a number. Vampiro faced Wall. The commentators had pushed this match as the bout that would determine who will rule WCW in 2000. Wall brought a chair to the ring. Vamp looks like he's interested in what he's doing, so the fans respond somewhat. I felt like there was fake crowd noise everywhere in this match again. The commentators pushed Vampiro, saying that he loves pain. Wall rallied. Heat on Vampiro. There was so much crowd noise, but in every shot it looked everybody was quiet. Weird. It's always possible that the ringside fans acted differently than the microphoned areas of the crowd, but... Wall pulled out a table at ringside. Vamp recovered in the ring, picking up Wall's chair. Chair shot on Wall on the apron, sending him through the table for the DQ. Wall popped up and choked the referee. The bell kept ringing. Vampiro & Wall traded punches. Security came in and got dumped. They were still fighting as we went off the air. - Read the Observer's discussion of WCW, the clearest explanation of what needs to be done to the promotion. It is expected that Vince Russo & Eric Bischoff will abandon the great majority of current storylines, essentially pretended that they never happened. It's expected that Booker, Kidman, and Vampiro will be pushed as the big stars. The commentators are very scared about losing their spots. Really, the promotion needs a new face upfront, one who hasn't lost his credibility. - Bill Goldberg should be ready to appear in the WCW ring by the big 04/10 Nitro show, although he likely won't be able to work at that time. - The WWF has WrestleMania on 04/02/2000. Line-up seems to have * Rock vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Big Slow vs. Mick Foley for the WWF Title in a fourway match that becomes no DQ when two guys remain * Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian for the WWF Tag Titles in a triangle ladder match * Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle for each of the IC Title & European Title in triangle matches * Road Dogg & X-Pac vs. Kane & Rikishi * Too Cool & Chyna vs. Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn & Eddie Guerrero * Test & Prince Albert vs. Godfather & D'Lo Brown * Al Snow & Steve Blackman vs. Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan * Cat vs. Terri Runnels in a catfight match with Val Venis as referee * Battle Royal for the Hardcore Title with first person getting the pin winning the title I know that there will be some hot action on this show, and lord knows it will be a better show than anything WCW has delivered in at least a year, and it even sets up a program that will rule over the summer (Benoit vs. Jericho), but the triangle, triangle, fourway crap really bugs me. - More from the tape watching front. The 10/17/99 All Japan TV show opened with the last 10 minutes of a six-man tag featuring Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Masamichi Marufuji. Mixing the younger guys into the match brought the match down, but they were still competent. The problem is that the fans are so into the top guys that Kobashi vs. Misawa was getting all of the heat. When it switched to Kanemaru vs. Marafuji, the crowd was dead. There's a comparison to WCW in that Hogan & Flair still draw the most heat for the group. The difference of course is that that fact is used to undermine the young guys in WCW. And Hogan & Flair aren't about to work with Three Count, right? If not, then WCW just needs to get rid of them as the focal points. Oh well, back to this match. I gathere this wasn't from an important show (because of the young guys being in this spot), so it was a bit surprising to see that Kobashi & Misawa still worked damn hard, particularly Misawa, who is so banged up that you'd think he has to save himself. There were some good flying moves near the finish involving the younger guys, with Kanemaru pinning Marufuji with a moonsault for the finish. They aired the final minutes of Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori vs. Akira Taue & Tamon Honda, which looked horrible. It was a comedy of sloppiness, with missed moves and mistimed moves, but nowhere close to Big Slow vs. Kane bad. All in all, not a good TV show to open a tape with. The 10/24/99 All Japan TV show totally redeemed the promotion. It featured just one match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama for the double tag titles. I defy any wrestling fan to watch this match and conclude that it was not the best tag team they'd seen from 1999. New Age Outlaws? Mamalukes? Dudleyz? Harris Twins? Pshaw. Don't even try it. Edge & Christian? Three Count? Hardyz? Yung Dragons? Impact Players? Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn? Too Cool? Better than the first list, by far in fact, but still not a candle compared to this bright light. This was an awesome * * * * * match. Match opened with Kobashi getting tagged in and demanding that Misawa face him. Misawa tagged in, and they circled each other. Crowd was hot. Kobashi hit two chops, which Misawa shrugged off. Again. Elbow. Chop. Elbows. Misawa whipped Kobashi to the ropes, hit a dropkick, and Kobashi went to the ringside floor. Misawa charged for a tope, but Kobashi moved, so Misawa did his float over to the apron. As he was standing there, though, Akiyama snuck into the ring and charged with a dropkick, sending Misawa into the rail. Kobashi whipped him to the rail twice, travelling around ringside to his own corner, so Akiyama hopped down to the floor and hit an elbow. Oh boy, they wanted the titles! As Kobashi & Akiyama tried a double team in the ring, Misawa did the whole headlock & leg scissors double take down, popping elbows when all three guys got up quickly. Ogawa finally came in to dump Akiyama. Misawa dumped Kobashi, and Misawa hit the elbow suicida. All of this in like 1:30. Outside the ring, they did a unique spot. As Ogawa was starting to get to his feet (he and Akiyama had duked it out), Kobashi whipped Misawa towards the rail. Ogawa quickly stood up and did the square dance do-see-do with Misawa, sending his partner back at Kobashi for an elbow that laid him out. I'd only ever seen that with two moving wrestlers. In the ring, Ogawa hit a sleeper on Kobashi. Misawa slipped a kick in, but Kobashi still managed to fight his way out, tagging in Akiyama. Akiyama was a house on fire, knocking Misawa off the apron, while totally kicking Ogawa's butt. They settled into a headlock, with Ogawa getting a rope break and making the tag. Elbows to the back by Misawa. Akiyama hit some of his own. They traded standing elbows, with Akiyama going down. I mean, who trades elbows with Misawa? You might as well try to power bomb Billy Kidman. Misawa went for a facelock. Kobashi looked nervous, ready to make the save. Oh wait, he just ran in for the save. Misawa brought in Ogawa who did some American-style punching while pounding his feet on the mat. He's become a neat merging of styles. Ogawa dumped Akiyama, but Jun reversed a guard rail whip and hit a couple of his own. Okay, I was hoping that there wouldn't be any more guard rail whips by this point. At least I knew there wouldn't be any tables or run ins. Back in the ring, Akiyama tagged in Kobashi, who hit a few moves, including a prolonged vertical suplex. Kobashi did the Lion Tamer, well, really just a Boston crab. Akiyama cut off Misawa. Ogawa powered himself up, the crowd ooohed, Kobashi clamped it on, Ogawa collapsed, Misawa made the desperation save. Akiyama tagged in. Ogawa hit a surprise sunset flip for a two count. He did a few more hot moves, including launching Ogawa into a chop by Kobashi. Kobashi & Misawa got into it on the floor. Akiyama finally tagged in Kobashi. Ogawa took more punishment. Russian leg sweep for a two count. Jumping knee, pump handle power bomb for a two. Misawa came in. Two rolling savate kicks sent him out. Ogawa hit a jawbreaker, Misawa slipped an elbow in, and Ogawa managed to make the hot tag. Misawa knocked Akiyama off the apron, while beating the stuffing out of Kobashi. As he went for a Tiger Driver, Akiyama ran in only to be met by an elbow. Kobashi tried a spinning chop, but Misawa blocked it with both forearms and slipped Kobashi into his Tiger Driver which Akiyama broker at the two. Akiyama took an elbow for his actions. Misawa hit the frog splash for a two count. Misawa blocked a whip to the turnbuckles by putting his foot up on the buckle. He turned and charged blindly, with Kobashi quickly sidestepping and slipping on a sleeper. Here came the hot big bump that I don't think these guys need to do: Kobashi kept one arm on Misawa's chin and put the other underneath Misawa's armpit, clasping his hands; from this chinlock type position, he did a suplex, with Misawa landing on his head. In slow motion, it was actually really safe, as Misawa used his forearms to first take the blow and quickly rolled through, taking the bump on his belly and legs. It just looked really scary in real time. Akiyama tagged in, hitting a couple of high knees into the corner. DDT. Misawa looked dead. Enzuelbow of the top. Two count. Misawa had to be dragged to his feet. Uranage, no, Misawa shook it off, Akiyama charged the ropes, Ogawa snuck the old Midnight Express knee in, and Misawa hit an elbow to knock Akiyama down. Ogawa tagged in. Ogawa tried for a jumping DDT off the ropes, but Akiyama stood firm, so Ogawa whipped it around into a swinging neckbreaker. Nice spot, I thought. Kobashi came in immediately to get over the impact, even though the pacing never paused. Ogawa hit an enzuigiri on Kobashi. Back to Akiyama, running the ropes, coming away with a DDT after all this time. Backdrop suplex. Two. Kobashi got dumped. Misawa came in. Elbow into the corner. Again. Jaw breaker by Ogawa, follwed by a single leg take down. Misawa leaped over Ogawa to hit an elbow. They are the Midnight Express! The referee was checking on Kobashi. Misawa hit a German suplex, Ogawa grabbed Akiyama's heels and rolled Akiyama to his feet just so he could hit a second German suplex. That was kind of cool. Misawa left the ring. Kobashi reappeared for the save. Misawa and Kobashi went to the floor. In the ring, Ogawa hit a Tiger driver for a two count. Kobashi & Misawa both cracked into the guard rail. Jawbreaker. Roll over. Another two by Ogawa. Exploder suplex by Akiyama out of nowhere, with both guys lying dead in the ring. "Ogawa! Ogawa!" Tag to Misawa. Tag to Kobashi. Misawa's elbow made contact. Side kick. Caught. Spin kick with the free foot. Tiger driver. Two count. Misawa ascended the ropes. Kobashi to his feet. Misawa hit that beautiful flying clothesline that the Randy Savage character did in the first WWF coin-op arcade video game did. Akiyama made the save. Oh man, understand that this stuff was happening second to second. Great action. Ogawa & Akiyama to the floor. Tiger suplex in the ring. Two count, as Kobashi sort of collapses to his belly and escapes the pin. In an annoying moment, Misawa lifted Kobashi up in a slam position, and we went to a commercial break. There's a sexual analogy to the sensation of having your focus on this match cut away so abruptly, but, well, here we go back to the match. Kobashi dropped off Misawa's shoulders. Chop. Misawa looked rattled for a splitsecond. Uh-oh. German suplex on his head. Okay, this one was really on his shoulder, but you don't see that until you slow-mo it. This bump isn't as bad as the garbage wrestling bumps that I've gotten excited about in recent weeks, but it scares me when Misawa (or Kobashi) has the urge to make the "on my head" bump in a major match more "real" than these routine "on my head" bumps by not using his arms or shoulders anywhere near as obviously to break the fall. I don't want these guys to be basket cases. And just as I typed that, Misawa took another suplex on his head, this one also looking like he really took the bump on other body parts. Still. Outside the ring, Akiyama started on his way back to his corner. Oh, he climbed the turnbuckles. Top rope power bomb on Misawa, who was held up by Kobashi. They also laid out Ogawa for good measure. Kobashi and Misawa were back in alone. They traded chops and elbows. Kobashi hit the great clothesline. Two count. I actually expected a three there. Kobashi, with awesome facials pulled Misawa up. Another brutal clothesline. Surely the finish. No, Ogawa made the save. Ogawa took a double shoulder tackle. Akiyama hit a high knee. Kobashi hit a clothesline to Misawa's back. Oh lord, Misawa was set on top, facing out. Kobashi took him off into a torture rack position, except Misawa was facing straight up. Do you know what's coming? I could tell, and I was already cringing in fear. Reverse death valley driver. Oh man. Three count. People came in the ring to check on Misawa. It was brutal. From the camera angle, it was hard to tell how protected Misawa was on the move. Surely he could use his arms and shoulders again. Boy, that was a hell of a match. No tables. Only two teams. Not three. Not four. No ladders. No run ins. No heel referees, managers, or promoters. Wow. Catching my breath, I moved on to the 10/31/99 All Japan TV show. Oh boy, first match was Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown of the All Japan International Title, the PWF Title, and the UN Title. I figured this would be a test of Misawa, since Vader is no longer capable of working 20+ minute matches in this style. Sure enough, the match was shorter than usual, with Misawa turning it into a really good * * * * 1/4 match. Misawa could barely move backstage, but showed none of the injuries in the ring. Tentative, slow-paced masterpiece. First lock up led to elbows in the corner, with Vader punching his way out and powering Misawa into a face lock. They teased Vader hitting a German suplex, with Misawa blocking by grabbing the ropes. Vader smacked Misawa upside the head and dragged him another foot from the ropes so he could do the German suplex. Damn, he took it on his head again (okay right shoulder). Two more. Jeez. The crowd was into it instantly. Misawa was dead. Vader splashed his back and hit the Big Van Splash off the middle ropes. Crowd was chanting "Misawa!", and this was just a couple of minutes in. The typical Triple Crown match runs a half-hour with the big build coming much later. More punches vs. elbows. Misawa took a slam. Vader went to the top, Misawa tried to cut him off, and Vader ended up knocking Misawa over. Coming off the ropes, though, Vader was caught. An elbow took him down. Misawa tried to contain Vader, but he still punched his way clear. Misawa countered a German suplex attempt with one of his own, and another. Two count. Big "Ooooohhhh!" from the crowd. Misawa ascended for a missile dropkick. Vader went to the floor. The crowd expected an elbow suicida, but Misawa climbed to the top rope and dove at Vader with an elbow instead. Big "Ooooohhhh!" again. Misawa did the somersault leg lariat off the apron. Vader got to his feet and barely hung on the guard rail, facing the ring. Misawa launched into the elbow suicida, but Vader put his foot up, so an airbound Misawa hit the foot and dropped to the ground. Vader hit a power bomb on the floor. Jeez, Misawa has a death wish. Vader took control in the ring with a barinbuster, with Misawa again holding his shoulder after the bump. Two count. "Abunai!" Stiff punches, with Misawa rubber-legged. Power bomb, no, the Billy Kidman counter (tm). Elbows by Misawa. Backdrop suplex on Vader. Misawa again went to the top. Froggie splash for a two count. Vader rolled to his tummy and got up. He ducked a charge, but Misawa came off the ropes and nailed the elbow on a turning Vader. Tiger Driver?!? Yes, he got him up. Vader took a dangerous-looking bump for a guy with his bulk. Vader turned a Misawa cross-body into a power slam. He sat on Misawa. Twice. Splash. Two count. Brutal choke slam, with Misawa taking the rag doll bump. Another two count. Misawa tried an elbow while getting up. He snuck in a second. He moved backward, bouncing off the ropes for a third elbow. But Vader swung a brutal, brutal right hand, just killing Misawa. Imagine Bradshaw's worst sick clothesline, turn it into a punch, and double the sickness. Misawa dropped like a sack of potatoes. Vader literally dragged him to his feet for a power bomb, the jackknife variety, for the pin and the title change. Easily Vader's best match in years, better than anything in his depressingly bad WWF run. The second match on the show featured Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori challenging Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama for the double tag titles. Now, Takayama & Omori are a really bad team because Takayama just sucks. But, somehow, this was an awesome match. "Somehow" here translates into "Kobashi & Akiyama are gods." Akiyama & Kobashi started out working so fast and hard with the horrible Takayama that you forgot how bad the challengers are. When the challengers got the upper hand a minute in, the champs' bumps and selling kept the match afloat. Kobashi & Akiyama somehow managed to make Takayama seem alright, although if you watched too closely, you could find lots of flubs and general shittiness. Anyhow, they drew heat on Kobashi, who was possessed, apparently deciding with Akiyama that they'd make this match something special. Kobashi finally started hulking up, sort of, looking irritated at Takayama's kicks to the face. He started smacking Takayama, sho just had to hand in the corner while Kobashi emitted all of the fire. The crowd just loved it as Kobashi beat the crap out of Takayama. He even tossed the referee aside. Akiyama had to run in and stop him from pounding Takayama. Good strategy, this, 'cause it gave Takayama the chance to just sit in the corner during this emotional period, instead of ruining the match be actualy being part of it. He finally tagged in Omori, who left the ring to whip Akiyama into the rail. He exposed the floor and dropped Akiyama with a DDT. Kobashi, possessed still, also took a whip into the rail. Takayama just lay in the corner. Back in the ring, Omori started in on Akiyama. Omori worked off a headlock for a minute. He tagged in Takayama, who just has that clumsy look about him, like Big Slow or Akira Taue. He hit a sad leg drop. Kobashi walked in in anger, but the referee pushed him out as the challengers goaded him. Omori hit the Dory Funk Jr. uppercuts in the corner. Double shoulder tackle. Takayama went out after Kobashi. Omori went to the top. Elbow off the top. Double power bomb. Two count, with a save from Kobashi. Kobashi got dumped. Miscue in the ring, as Takayama kicked Omori. Kobashi made the tag. He started cleaning house. Chops in the corner. Jumping knee. Power bomb attempt. Block. Coming off the ropes, Takayama tried for a spin kick, but Kobashi ducked under. Kobashi hit a mule kick instead. He tried for the power bomb again, hitting it. Omori was looking close to done, but he blocked a suplex and hit a spin kick. Hot tag time. In came Takayama, who hit a dropkick. He put on a facelock, dropping it into a submission hold that stretched Kobashi. Akiyama made the save, then got dumped. Kobashi took a lariat sandwich, playing the meat. Omori climbed to the top, clotheslining Kobashi as Takayama suplexed him. Akiyama came in, with a dragon screw on Omori, but got dropped by Takayama. Takayama hit a knee lift on Kobashi, not just a normal knee lift, but a really stiff shot to an exposed Kobashi. The crowd, sort of out of it by all of the four man action, immediately "Ooooohhhh"ed and got back into it. He got a two count off the knee. Belly to belly suplex. Jumping knee. Kobashi rallied with a clothesline. Akiyama hit an exploder suplex on Omori. Kobashi hit a stiff clothesline on Takayama for the pin. Tremendous * * * * 1/2 match with an incredibly unlikely team in the mix. The 11/07/99 All Japan TV show opened with the All Asian tag tournament finals, featuring Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue vs. Johnny Smith & Maunakea Mossman. Now, Honda really isn't all that good, but the others are all okay. The match turned out to be pretty good because Honda wasn't in much in what aired on TV. Smith hit a nice elbow off the top on Inoue, which Mossman followed with a splash. Inoue took a stunner, and Mossman picked him up for a backdrop suplex but Honda interrupted the move. Inoue started to take control. Mossman cut him off with a jumping DDT for two. It was mostly Mossman & Smith working on Inoue, so it was quite good. Honda would make appearances for saves and brief tags. Honda & Inoue did some unique double team spots that I found out of place for All Japan for the most part. Inoue got Mossman up for the Argentine backbreaker (torture rack) but Smith kicked him a few times to get the hold released. After Honda came in to restrain Smith, inoue got the submission off that hold for the title win Next up, Takao Omori faced Jinsei Shinzaki. Shinzaki was better than usual, and the match was also quite good. Omori hit three axe bomber clotheslines to get the pin. Shinzaki did a hell of a job here. Finally, Gary Albright lost to Yoshihiro Takayama in a bad match. The only good stuff was some of Albright's suplexes. - WCW has Spring Stampede on 04/16/2000. The line-up is totally up in the air with the regime change. - The WWF has Backlash on 04/30/2000. - The WWF has Judgment Day on 05/21/2000. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/25/2000. - The WWF has Fully Loaded on 07/23/2000. ______________________________________________________________________ If you have any feedback regarding my web pages, please send me e-mail. 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