WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
EDITION NUMBER 25
6TH AUGUST 2001
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www.oocities.org/wrestlingglobe / www.evanswrestling.com
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IN THE WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER THIS WEEK
LATEST NEWS - RHONDA SINGH DIES + MECW UPDATE + WRESTLEXPRESS NEWS
RUDO RAMBLINGS - RICKY MARVIN JUMPS FROM EMLL TO TORYUMON
THE PURORESU RUNDOWN - MORE ON WAR + NEWS ON UPCOMING SHOWS
WRESTLING TRIVIA - FOCUS ON TITLES
THE MIND'S OBITUARY
THE DANGER ZONE - 2001 NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX TOURNAMENT
TAPE REVIEW - CZW THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE
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To improve the newsletter, we would really like to know what you, the readers, think about the newsletter as a whole, and your opinions of each individual section. What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? Do you have an idea for a new feature? Did you like the new tape review section? Please send any feedback to wrestlingglobe@hotmail.com.
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LATEST NEWS - by Matt Singh and Andrew Evans
Hi Globe subscribers, here's this weeks news...
World Wrestling Federation
From www.prowrestlingtorch.com: Former WWF Women's World Champion Rhonda Singh died on July 27 at age 40. She grew up in Calgary, Ontario, Canada and wrestled internationally in Japan, Mexico, and Puerto Rico as "Monster Ripper" (where she was portrayed as a serious brawler) and "Bertha Faye" in the WWF (where was used as a comedy player). She wrestled for 24 years, having started her career at 16.
Information was leaked last Monday (30th July) that there will be a new WWF television show starting on August 25th, on TNN. Negotiations had been kept very secret, but a source from TNN leaked that a new show would be aired on Saturday nights, starting at 10pm and lasting 2 hours, finishing at midnight. To make room for the new show, Superstars and Livewire will be dropped from the TV schedule
Chris Benoit is making top-notch recovery, and looks set to return way before his projected return date of around a year. He is making such good progress that he will probably make a come back by the years end.
Meanwhile, Triple H's progress is said to be being hindered by him travelling to every television taping (Raw, Smackdown). Doctors have advised Triple H to stop any travel if he is to make his estimated return time.
There's talk that Rob Van Dam will turn face and join the WWF, after hints given by various WWF commentators on air, although this isn't likely to happen.
Management is said to be very happy with the way Tajiri has taken to his (borderline racist) gimmick.
After their roles on TV this week, it is expected that Paul Heyman will be on Raw as a commentator permanently from now on, and Tazz is expected to take back his old place as one half of the Smackdown announcers.
The company is apparently in negotiations with Paisley (of WCW fame). If she was offered and accepted a deal, she will be sent to OVW to learn the basics of ring craft.
At the current time it looks as if Toronto, Canada will stage next years WrestleMania.
Last weeks Smackdown pulled a 4.7 rating, its best for months.
The WWF is taking off Dec. 23 through Jan. 2 for the holidays.
World Championship Wrestling
Talents that haven't been used on television yet will be sent to WWF affiliate, HWA. Elix Skipper, Kaz Hayashi, Reno, Jaime Knoble, Kid Romeo, Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore are among those.
Hugh Morris, Sean O'Haire and Booker T all have injuries, although none are expected to take any time off. Billy Kidman has a knee injury, which may require some time off and it would make sense, as he dropped the Cruiserweight strap last week.
Elsewhere
This coming Saturday, John Collins' Main Event Championship Wrestling will run their debut show at the ECW Arena, which has been well hyped. On Thursday, Collins was interviewed and had the following to say:
The Sandman, Curt Hennig and Public Enemy have all signed with the company, but Collins would not disclose any other names, in order to surprise the fans on Saturday. Sabu has shot commercials for MECW. Dawn Marie, Simon Diamond, Buff Bagwell and New Jack are all booked for Saturday's show, and Joey Styles is also interested in appearing. Sandman vs. Sabu is officially booked for the show.
The latest WrestleXpress news is that the event feature a double main event. Curt Hennig will face Steve Corino, and Konnan will face Vampiro.
But, the main story this week is that U>Direct, the PPV broadcaster that WrestleXpress were hoping to strike a deal with, have ceased broadcasting. It was known that the company were in financial trouble, and on Wednesday, their 20+ channels disappeared from the Sky Digital line-up. It looks as if WrestleXpress are back to square one, with no TV or PPV deal sorted out, and it is now only 10-11 weeks until their 20th October event.
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RUDO RAMBLINGS - by Martin Walton
An absolute ton of EMLL news to get through this week, highlights include big news on Ricky Marvin plus somebody loses their hair!
The big news in EMLL this week is that Ricky Marvin has inked a deal with Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon promotion over in Japan. Marvin will continue to make select appearances for EMLL in between his trips to Japan but his days as a full time worker for the promotion are over. It’s a big blow to EMLL as Marvin was their biggest young star, but this is what happens when you treat the younger stars like shit. Tarzan Boy (who broke his neck a few months ago) is nearing full fitness now and should return at the end of the month, suffice to say they needed that boost due to Marvin’s departure.
EMLL ran a massive house show on July 29 at the Arena Mexico; the show was headlined by a huge hair vs. hair match between Villano 3 and El Signo:
MAIN EVENT: Villano III beat El Signo in a Hair vs. Hair match
SEMI-MAIN EVENT: Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Apolo Dantes defeated La Parka/Super Parka/Brazo De Plata (said to be amazingly bad)
CUARTA: El Hijo Del Santo/Lizmark Jr./El Hijo De Rayo De Jalisco Jr. beat Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero/Zumbido by DQ
TERCERA: Mr. Niebla/Olimpico/Safari defeated Bestia Salvaje/Scorpio Jr./Emilio Charles Jr. to retain the Mexican National Trios Titles
SEGUNDA: Felino/Ricky Marvin/Tony Rivera beat Dr. X/Arkangel/Virus (apparently the best match on the show)
INICIAL: Tzuki/Cicloncito Ramirez/Ultimo Dragoncito defeated Fire/El Fierito/El Torito
Yet more departures from AAA this week. Female wrestler Lolo Gonzalez and the mid-card Los Payasos stable quit this week. Lolo has nowhere to go but Los Payasos may end up in IWRG although AAA boss Antonio Pena owns the rights to the gimmick.
AAA ran a big TV taping this past Friday night in Queretaro, the line-up looked like this (no results yet):
MAIN EVENT: Heavy Metal vs. Cibernetico - Cage Match
SEMI-MAIN EVENT: Canek/Perro Aguayo Jr./Mascara Sagrada vs. Abismo Negro/Electro Shock/Hector Garza
TERCERA: El Texano/El Cobarde/Pirata Morgan vs. Polvo De Estrellas/May Flowers/Pimpinela Escarlata
SEGUNDA: Lady Apache and Fabi Apache vs. Cynthia Moreno and Mika Akino
Elsewhere, apparently Indy promotion GWAS will be starting up again in a couple of months time. GWAS went out of business last year due to the fact that they were unable to pay anybody, and I doubt it will be any different this time around.
Line-up for the Indy Show in Monterrey on Aug.5th 2001:
MAIN EVENT: La Parka/Lizmark Jr./Antifaz Del Norte vs. Bestia Salvaje/El Dandy/Negro Casas (looks like a storming match)
SEMI-MAIN EVENT: Sergio Romo Jr./Felino/Super Parka vs. Scorpio Jr./Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero
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THE PURORESU RUNDOWN - by Andrew Evans
WAR, New Japan's G-1 Tournaments and PRIDE are in the news this week:
All Japan announced that the main event of their "Fan Day" show on August 19th has been changed from a tag match to a 6-man match with Nobutaka Araya, Masa Fuchi and Taiyo Kea facing off against Gen'ichiro Tenryu, Arashi, and a mystery partner.
Nobutaka Araya stated at the All Japan offices this week that he would not jump to WAR and that he gave his word to the Baba family that he would stay with All Japan once he enlisted.
New Japan announced that Kendo Ka Shin will return to New Japan for the G-1 WORLD tour, which starts on September 7th at Niigata City Gym.
New Japan announced that instead of the originally planned 9-gaikokujin (foreigner) format for the G-1 "World" tournament in September that they will stick with 5 workers: Scott Norton, Scott Hall, Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Johnston, & Super J.
The following line-up is in the works for New Japan's Tokyo Dome show on 8th October:
- Mark Coleman vs. Masa Chono
- Jun Akiyama vs. Yuji Nagata
- Triple Crown Championship: Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada
- No-Rules Match: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shin'ya Hashimoto
Dream Stage Entertainment announced that PRIDE 16 will be held on September 24th at the 16,000-seat Osaka Castle Hall. PRIDE 17 will be held at the Tokyo Dome on November 3rd. Renzo Gracie told the Japanese press that Ryan Gracie suffered left rib cartilage fracture damage and will be healing from the injury for a month. Renzo was angry about the outcome of the Ryan/Ishizawa match and basically laid out a challenge to face Ishizawa at PRIDE 16 on 9/24. Kazushi Sakuraba suffered some unknown damage in his fight against Quinton Jackson and will be healing for a week. Sakuraba told DSE officials that he wants to rest and train for his fight with Vanderlei Silva in November at the Tokyo Dome, and that more than likely he won't work the PRIDE 16 show.
News on the on-going New Japan G-1 Tournament can be found below in "The Danger Zone"
(Credit all information: www.puroresupower.com)
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WRESTLING TRIVIA - by Andrew Evans
FOCUS ON TITLES
1. Name the two wrestlers who have won the WCW World Cruiserweight Title under two different aliases.
2. True or False? As Cactus Jack, Mick Foley once won the Light Heavyweight Title in World Class.
3. Name the only two people to have held both the WWWF/WWF and NWA World Heavyweight Titles at some point in their career.
4. On 9th August 1997, two World Titles changed hands. Name both titles, and who won them.
5. Name the last person to win the WWF World Heavyweight Title on a non-PPV event.
6. The World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) titles are used in which promotion?
7. Which title does Masayuki Naruse currently hold?
8. Name the only person to have held the WWF IC Title through a whole calendar year.
ANSWERS ARE GIVEN AT THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER!
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THE MIND'S OBITUARY - by James McGill
I discussed last week whether the WWF should have delayed the return of The Rock, but after witnessing Raw and Smackdown last week I must confess that I'm glad they disobeyed my commands (and I have a strong backstage presence in the World Wrestling Federation as we all know) and brought The Great One back before Summerslam.
Raw was electric last week. I watched the show from a totally markish perspective for a change, eagerly awaiting the arrival of my hero The Rock. When the camera panned down from the statue and he was standing there, oh man, I was chanting Rocky-Rocky-Rocky in my empty room. He didn't disappoint this week, on Smackdown in particular where he was in classic Rock mode, cruelly abusing Booker T in an amusing fashion. I might add that just one verbal battle and impending feud with Rocky added more credibility to Suckah T in five minutes than he had achieved in the previous 5 weeks.
So I thought I'd take a brief look at Rock's career highlights. First of all, although I think his in-ring work has improved incredibly since he turned face at Backlash '99, I still believe Corporate Rock to be his defining moment. I know it's easy to call everything 'cool' these days, but really, that's the only word that springs readily to mind when considering this character. He was so cocky, funny and brash (and no, I don't have a crush on him) that it was inevitable the fans would begin cheering him before long despite his heel status. The same thing is currently happening to RVD, although the reasons are slightly different; RVD is consistently stealing every show he competes in and it's rather hard to boo a guy who seems so much better than everyone else. But I digress. Corporate Rock was obviously the launch-pad for his future success, and definitely a vast improvement on Rocky Maivia and the Die-Rocky-Die days. He'll probably be remembered as one of the most popular wrestlers of all time, but much like Stone Cold a couple of years before him, The Rock reached his creative peak as a heel.
When it comes to his greatest matches, there are two that really stand out in my mind as genuine classics. First of all, the 60-minute Iron Man match with Triple H at Judgment Day 2000. Now I think everybody was expecting a complete bore-fest here, but Rock and Triple H both delivered an exciting match, with the nerve-wracking final few minutes culminating in the dramatic return of The Undertaker - a nice way to avoid a clean defeat which neither wrestler deserved.
Because he's very popular with the fans, he obviously has many critics. Why? Because this is wrestling, a bizarre sport whose so-called fans seem to hate everything that ever happens in it. People label Rocky a 2 move wonder and claim he doesn't sell among other things. I haven't actually viewed the Iron Man match for a while, but I vividly recall him pulling out a Sharpshooter, Figure-4 Leg-Lock and a La Magistral to name but a few moves. So hopefully that shut up a few of these strange fans in complete denial of The Great One's talent. This was one of the very few matches that I'd call a definite 5 star affair.
Although it's debatable whether Rock vs. Austin at Wrestlemania 2001 was as good a pure wrestling match, the fact that there was about 65,000 rabid Texans baying for The Rock's blood made for an incredible atmosphere. The ending was rather dubious, but the previous thirty minutes of action more than made up for it. It was, in my opinion, the best Wrestlemania Main-Event of all time.
It's interesting to note that The Rock has jobbed during both his finest moments in the ring, and this is one of the reasons why I truly respect Dwayne Johnson as a person. He's a loyal company man; it's not long since he was staring up at the lights for such luminaries as Al Snow and the Big Bossman. Can you imagine any other major superstar doing the same?
All I can say is that the return of The Brahma Bull this week got me more excited about Raw than I can ever remember being before, and I just hope that he continues to kick ass week in, week out.
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THE DANGER ZONE - by Martin Walton
2001 NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX TOURNAMENT
Forget King of the Ring, New Japan's annual G-1 Climax tournament is the premier wrestling tournament in the world. Held every August, the tournament attracts the top heavyweights in the New Japan roster unlike the WWF's King of the Ring pseudo mid-card tournament. Coming into the event, New Japan was in the midst of a power struggle with longtime booker Riki Choshu being dumped and veteran Masa Chono taking over. Then you have New Japan legend Antonio Inoki (who has massive say in both New Japan and shoot promotion Pride) basically taking the IWGP Heavyweight Title hostage by putting the belt on Pride's Kazuyuki Fujita. While all the time insisting that his personal favourites such as Naoya Ogawa, Kazunari Murakami and Tadao Yasuda are given special treatment. The format for the tournament is that everyone splits into two groups of 6, everyone gets 2 points for a win and 1 point for a double DQ or count-out. The two with the most points in each group go into the semi finals and then eventually the final. This year's groups looked like this:
A Block
Yuji Nagata (The pre-tournament favourite)
Tatsumi Fujinami (The old legend who's being phased out)
Minoru Tanaka (The overmatched Jr Heavyweight champion)
Manabu Nakanishi (The Japanese version of Lex Luger)
Kazunari Murakami (One of Antonio Inoki's boys)
Tadao Yasuda (Supposed shooter after winning a fixed shoot match)
B Block
Keiji Muto (Current All Japan Triple Crown champion)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Young star and a hot favourite to reach final)
Osamu Nishimura (Only works part time due to health problems)
Masa Chono (Current booker suffering from multiple injuries)
Satoshi Kojima (Rising star held back by Riki Choshu)
Jushin Liger (Jr heavyweight legend who struggles against heavyweights)
The first three days of the tournament panned out like this:
August 4 at Osaka Prefectural Gym, before a sell-out crowd of 6,500 paid
A Block
Tadao Yasuda (2) defeated Minoru Tanaka (0) in 7 minutes with a front choke sleeper for the win.
Manabu Nakanishi (2) defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (0) in 5 minutes by submission with a Torture Rack.
Yuji Nagata (1) and Kazunari Murakami (1) went to a double count-out in 8 minutes (fans were pissed big time at this finish. This is almost the perfect way NOT to push Nagata).
B Block
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) defeated Jushin Liger (0) in 15 minutes with a Tenzan Tombstone Driver.
Keiji Mutoh (2) defeated Osamu Nishimura (0) in 16 minutes with a Figure-4 Leg-Lock.
Satoshi Kojima (2) defeated Masa Chono (0) in 17 minutes with a lariat (nice to see the booker putting over young talent).
August 5 back again in Osaka before another sell out crowd of 6,500
A Block
Minoru Tanaka (2 pts) defeated Kazunari Murakami (1 pts) in 5 minutes with a neck crank submission (Murakami went berserk and broke Tanaka's nose with some stiff shots, the doctor ran in and treated Tanaka).
Tadao Yasuda (4 pts) defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (0 pts) in 5 minutes with a standing Achilles tendon submission hold. (a big surprise).
Manabu Nakanishi (4 pts) defeated Yuji Nagata (1 pt) in 14 minutes with a bulldogging headlock (a rotten booking decision).
B Block
Osamu Nishimura (2 pts) defeated Satoshi Kojima (2 pts) in 19 minutes with a Ground Cobra Twist (another big surprise).
Keiji Mutoh (4 pts) defeated Jushin Liger (0 pts) in 14 minutes with a Shining Wizard knee to the face.
Masa Chono (2 pts) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2 pts) in 17 minutes with a cross-style STF (these two are old tag team partners).
From today at the Nagoya Aiichi Prefectural Gym, before a reported crowd of 9,000
A Block
Tadao Yasuda (6 pts) defeated Manabu Nakanishi (4 pts) in 7 minutes with a front sleeper submission.
Tatsumi Fujinami (2 pts) defeated Kazunari Murakami (1 pt) in 36 seconds with a neck crank submission. (WTF? Murakami can lose in a squash to washed up Fujinami yet he can't lose to Nagata?)
Yuji Nagata (3 pts) defeated Minoru Tanaka (2 pts) in 12 minutes with a Nagata Lock.
B Block
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4 pts) defeated Osamu Nishimura (2 pts) in 24 minutes with a Tenzan Tombstone Driver.
Masa Chono (4 pts) defeated Jushin Liger (0 pts) in 14 minutes with a La Magistral cradle (Liger always gets buried against Heavyweights).
Satoshi Kojima (4 pts) defeated Keiji Mutoh (4 pts) in 17 minutes, 30 seconds with a lariat (a good move).
So after 3 days, the tables look like this, with everyone wrestling 3 matches:
Block A
Tadao Yasuda - 6 points
Manabu Nakanishi - 4 points
Yuji Nagata - 3 points
Tatsumi Fujinami - 2 points
Minoru Tanaka - 2 points
Kazunari Murakami - 1 points
Thoughts: Yasuda leading the group is an absolute disgrace. Yasuda is in his late 30's and is terrible in the ring. Nakanishi is being kept strong as usual despite his in-ring limitations, Nagata really needs to get going and probably needs to win his remaining two matches if he wants to make it. Inoki must be crying into his corn flakes the way his boy Murakami is being buried.
Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan - 4 points
Keiji Muto - 4 points
Masa Chono - 4 points
Satoshi Kojima - 4 points
Osamu Nishimura - 2 points
Jushin Liger - 0 points
Thoughts: Block B is far more interesting than Block A. Chono and Muto are booked in big matches against Shooter Mark Coleman and All Japan star Toshiaki Kawada respectively at the upcoming Tokyo Dome show so they need to be kept strong. Tenzan was the pre-tournament Block B favourite so I can see this group being out of those three. Liger and Nishimura are just about out of the tournament.
Next week we'll take a look at the closing stages, with the final taking place next Sunday.
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TAPE REVIEW
CZW They Said It Couldn't Be Done - 25th June 2000
This was voted CZW's best show of 2000 by the internet fans. It was held outdoors, giving it an instant point, since I'm a mark for outdoor shows.
Zandig (c) vs. Lobo in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire & Exploding Barbed Wire Tables Match for the CZW Heavyweight Title
The tables are outside the ring and covered with barbed wire, apparently rigged to explode. Lobo attacks from behind and smashes a light bulb over Zandig. Zandig sends him towards the wire, but Lobo drops down just in time. Zandig hits a belly to belly and then rolling snap suplexes. He goes for a delayed vertical suplex, but Lobo escaped and drills Zandig down with an inverted DDT for 2. Lobo is sent into the barbed wire for the first explosion. They instantly go to the next big bump, Lobo back dropping Zandig off the apron and through an exploding table. Zandig smashes a chair over Lobo's head and both men bleed. Lobo is thrown into the barbed wire for the second time. Zandig goes for his Mother F'N Bomb (a press slam into a Michinoku Driver II), but Lobo hops over. They do a horrible blown spot when Lobo tries to lift Zandig on to his shoulders, but just drops him. He finally manages to and hits a running Death Valley Bomb (called a "Burning Hammer" by the know-it-all announcer) off the apron and through a table (which doesn't explode)! Lobo smashes some light bulbs over Zandig, before a fan enters the ring and gives Lobo a choke-slam, putting Zandig on top for 3. Indies running WWF style screw-jobs is the worst thing ever. Zandig's a real mess after this match, all cut up. They bumped a little to make it watchable enough, but these two are so awful. [1/2*]
Invitational Fans Bring The Weapons Battle Royal
The winner of this faces Nick Berk. Some of the participants are JAPW wrestlers. Other participants include Gabriel Knight, Jon Dahmer, Natasha, Jessie Driver, Rockin' Rebel (the same guy who worked for ECW in it's early days), Barr and Johnny Blaze. This is unbelievably horrible though, managing to be even worse than the All Japan and some of the old FMW battle royales. They hit each other with props and just wander around. Rebel eliminates Dahmer for the win. Retched. [-**]
Nick Berk vs. Rockin' Rebel
There is speculation surrounding "Softcore" Nick Berk. At Caged To The End, he "snapped" and used chairs and a chain against "Hardcore" Nick Gage, breaking his vow to oppose CZW's direction. And he attacks Rebel from behind with a chair-shot, sending the former ECW wrestler out. Berk follows with a pescado. Rebel gets revenge with a chair-shot and then a metal board shot. In the ring, Berk drops Rebel with a Russian leg-sweep and then applies a Dragon sleeper, breaking it abruptly and for no reason, much like he did with another hold at the last show. Berk goes for a lariat, but is back dropped on the grass. Rebel sets up a table and Berk trips over when going to meet Rebel. Rebel puts Berk on the table and goes up. Berk catches him though and takes him off with a Death Valley Bomb! The sad and scary thing is though, Rebel grazes the table and lands head-first on the ground. Berk covers for the win. [1/4*]
The new CZW Tag Team Champions, Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere, arrive. They bring out their "new agent", Dewey Donovan. Former referee Donovan is clad in a sleazy manager outfit and carries a briefcase. Acid tells the fans that he doesn't want to hear "homo" or "faggot" chants (since they do a gay gimmick), so the fans chant those terms. Ric Blade walks out, accompanied by Shorti and Rob Hartog and demands a shot at Acid's other belt...
Trent Acid (c) vs. Ric Blade for the CZW Jr. Heavyweight Title
Blade rana's Acid out of the ring early on. He then hits a huge quebrada-like twisting senton to the outside, taking out Acid, Kashmere and Donovan! Blade re-enters the ring with a springboard dropkick to Acid for 2. He applies a surfboard hold, but Acid lands on top for 1. Blade throws some kicks to the head and then covers for 2. Kashmere involvement sees Blade tumble over the top. Acid dives out on to him with something not caught on camera (probably a regular plancha suicida). Acid moonsault's Blade off a dumpster and then throws him back in the ring. Back there, Acid connects with a missile dropkick. Kashmere and Acid perform their cross arm throw finisher. Acid then takes time to pose, gyrating for Shorti. He goes up and Shorti crotches him. In one of the saddest blown spots ever, she tries to rana him down, but just kind of falls back with him and lands on her neck. Even sadder is the fact that the announcers say it was a rana. Blade hits a nice slingshot somersault leg-drop to Acid for 2 1/2. He follows with a roundhouse punch to the gut. They do some more ducking and dodging, ending when Blade performs a short slingshot into a DDT for 2 1/2. Blade gets out a table and sets it up outside. They tussle on the apron and Acid Liger bomb's Blade through the table! Donovan decks referee Rob Hartog with his briefcase for some reason.
Back in, Acid tries a corner charge, but Blade nicely flips over him. He ducks a lariat from Acid and tries a double hop on the turnbuckles, but ends up getting crotched there. Acid hits his Acid Drop (a reverse Iconoclasm) for a slow 2 1/2 count. Acid pulls down his pants and again plays the crowd. He goes for his "full" moonsault, where he runs and leaps off the middle buckle with a moonsault, but misses it. Blade tries a top-rope rana and can't hit it, but lands on his feet. Acid leaps on his shoulders and is spiked with a Drug Bomb! Blade carries a table into the crowd and the camera clips forward to him dropkicking a chair into Acid's face, then kicking Kashmere in the head. He lies Acid on the table and climbs up a huge truck. He leaps off it with an incredible senton atomico, and it looks like Zandig brought some tables back from Japan, because IT DOESN'T BREAK! The fans chant "one more time", but the Hate Club arrive and drag Shorti to the ring. Pain gives her a top-rope fisherman buster through a table there. And I guess that's it. A no contest. The WWF influence strikes again. Nick Mondo arrives to check on Shorti, but Blade pushes him aside. This was fairly average. Blade looked the better of the two and Acid didn't really impress. They did so much flipping and flopping, that it reached the point of being almost ridiculous. Some good moves and Blade added another spectacular finish to his record, although they had to ruin the moment by doing a lame no contest finish. A low level junior match. [*1/2]
Justice Pain vs. Nick Mondo
Mondo hits a big plancha in the early moments. He takes a wild bump into some empty seats and the two then go over to the truck. Mondo suplexes Pain on the grass and then retrieves a ladder (can *any* match go without a prop?), throwing it in the ring at Pain. Mondo jumps off the top and Pain throws the ladder at him in mid-flight. Pain then DDT's Mondo on the ladder. Mondo goes out and Pain tries to follow with a springboard, but botches it and takes a nose dive to the outside, the announcers calling it a "somersault plancha". Mondo backdrops Pain into some empty seats and breaks a stick over his back. Mondo bleeds. Back in the ring, Pain catches Mondo with a superkick and follows with a quebrada for 2. Mondo backdrops Pain on to the ladder, although Pain falls too short, only brushing it with his legs. Mondo then spinning heel kick's Pain back into the ladder. A second attempt at the move misses, Mondo crashing into the ladder. Mondo hits a DDT and then gets (yet another) table. A springboard leg-drop makes contact with Pain's neck. Mondo front suplexes Pain over the ropes and then puts the table beneath him, so that he's leaning over it. Mondo slingshot somersault leg-drop's Pain's head through the table! The two fight on top of the ladder, Pain suplexing Mondo down. Pain is lay on the ladder, but Mondo misses a moonsault. A table is set up at an angle and Pain sits Mondo up top and hooks on a full nelson. And, fucking hell... TOP-ROPE DRAGON SUPLEX THROUGH THE TABLE! Are these guys nuts? Pain covers for the obvious 3 count. Mondo is incredibly green, so was sloppy here. Pain wasn't good with his execution either. That finish was insane though. Probably too much so. Not a bad match, but average. [*1/4]
Wifebeater vs. Nick Gage in a 200 Glass Light Bulb Match
There are 200 light bulbs leaning against the ring ropes. Both guys grab one each in the first few seconds and break them over each other. Wifebeater scrapes the remnants of his into Gage's forehead. They cut each other up with more light bulb shots. Gage plants Wifebeater on some with a backdrop suplex. Gage elbow smashes one into Wifebeater's face. Gage brain-busts Wifebeater on to one! Wifebeater power-slams Gage through some bulbs. Wifebeater's back is a sliced up completely, tendon's visible. Wifebeater hits Gage with a barbed wire bat, but gets press slammed into a row of bulbs. They go out and Wifebeater rolls around in the dirt. In a truly disturbing camera shot, dirt can be seen stuck in his deep wounds. Gage hits a sunset flip power-bomb off the apron to Wifebeater, sending him down to more bulbs. He also uses some barbed wire. Wifebeater uses his weed whacker to smash bulbs into Gage. A glass door is brought into the ring. Wifebeater goes through it with a power-bomb. Gage puts Wifebeater on a table, stacks bulbs on him and then hits a frog splash for the win. I have nothing against gore as long as I know the guys are capable workers beyond that. These aren't. They just cut each other up because they have no skill to do much else. They Said It Couldn't Be Done, and they were right. Wifebeater still hasn't had a good match. If you like two talent-less lugs trying to reveal each others skeletons, then you'll adore this. [-*3/4]
A close up is shown of Wifebeater backstage. I don't think I've ever seen a wrestler cut up so badly. Wifebeater says they're (he and Gage) getting on a plane to Japan (God help us all) in 8 hours and he'll beat Gage up on there if necessary.
Overall: I don't see how this was "show of the year", even within CZW alone. Oh, I can understand why people would say it was. Plenty of blood, prop shots and bumps. They all seemed to outdo each other and I'm surprised no one broke their neck or something. I thought the show from 15 days before (Caged To The End) was better, since it actually had a match worth repeated viewing, although this had slightly improved under-card matches. No good matches at all on this show though. I'm sure it was a thrill for those who attended live, but it doesn't come out well on video. In fact, it was horrible.
If you would like to read more of Stuart's excellent reviews then the Globe Team recommend that you check out his website at http://www.viewpoint.f2s.com/. Stuart updates his site on a regular basis so go check it out now!
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TRIVIA ANSWERS - by Andrew Evans
1. Chavo Guerrero Jr. (also as Lieutenant Loco) and X-Pac (also as Syxx).
2. True! - weighing approximately 260lbs, he defeated Eric Embry at the Dallas Sportatorium on 30th December 1988.
3. Buddy Rogers and Ric Flair.
4. ECW World Heavyweight Title - Sabu (over Terry Funk), and the WCW World Heavyweight Title - Hulk Hogan (over Lex Luger).
5. Triple H - 3rd January 2000 on Raw Is War - defeated the Big Show.
6. FMW.
7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title.
8. Pedro Morales - 1982.
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