WCW Super Brawl 2000

1) Lash LeRoux v. The Artist- 3
2) Bam Bam Bigelow v. Brian Knobs (Hardcore)- 3
3) 3 Count v. Norman Smiley- 3
4) The Wall v. The Demon- 2
5) Tank Abbott v. Big Al (Leather Jacket on a Pole Match)- 1
6) Big T v. Booker- 1
7) Billy Kidman v. Vampiro- 4
8) The Mamlukes v. David Flair/ Crowbar (Stretcher Match)- 3
9) Ric Flair v. Terry Funk (Death Match)- 6
10) Hulk Hogan v. Lex Luger- 3
11) Sid Vicious v. Scott Hall v. Jeff Jarrett (No DQ)- 2

Here is the finals of the Cruiserweight Title Tournament and it starts out pretty hot with the Artist's very aromatic entrance and his subsequent bumping for fatty Lash's offense. Then, the botches start; and they don't seem to stop for several minutes; even a simple whip in is turned into an intricate waltz number as the two glide hand in hand trying to get the other guy into the ropes. The finish came off well but too little too late. The hardcore match is your typical fare with absolutely nothing new being done here. Bam Bam and Knobs are both bruisers and love to take liberties with opponents but this just didn't do anything for me outside a couple of nice potatoes. Norman, for some reason, takes on all 3 members of your favorite pseudo boy band in what almost turned into a stunt show with 3 Count just taking huge bumps inside and outside the ring and basically working around Norman instead of working with Norman. We had an impromptou dance off thrown in for good measure but while all 3 guys were perfectly fine here, this was too short and too devoid of any real physical action to make me enjoy it. You haven't lived until you've seen Shannon Moore throw a punch and try to make believe it's real; it'd be an easier task to later yourself up with butter and belly slide down a cement staircase.

Two perennial nobodies tangle in this throwaway match; something I wish we could get more of on current PPV productions. While this was nothing to write home about, both guys seemed motivated, they just didn't have the goods to deliver. Here we go with this shit; First off a leather jacket on a pole is a stupid gimmick. Second of all who the hell is Big Al? These guys trade some worked, some legit punches in a really silly match. The finish is hilarious though, as Tank carries Big Al up the turnbuckle on his shoulder but when he reaches the top rope, he loses his balance and drops him down to the arena floor- OUCH! After it's over Tank pulls out a hunting knife and sticks it to his fallen opponents throat as Tony Schiavone tries to cover for it and says it looked like a pair of scissors! You've already tried to get us to believe Konnan is a hard worker for years; please don't ruin your credibility any more- You've got a son to think about man! What would John Michael Schiavone think? Booker (without the T) and formerly Ahmed Johnson stink up the ring real bad with a very slothful, short performance filled with interference. Supposedly Kidman and Vamp have been having a good series of matches on TV leading up to this, but this falls short of expectations only because of Vamp's really amateurish performance. The guy doesn't sell properly, doesn't set up moves well at all (ex. throwing a few lazy punches that have nothing behind them) and can't strike for shit. There are some nice sequences but you can find any two guys to pull them off- make me believe it!

This stretcher match had me calling the ambulance myself. It's a big mess from the get go, save for a few stiffy Vito punches and kicks. There's a pretty sloppy table spot near the end and the eliminations are pretty anticlimatic. Daffney hits a decent frankensteiner though. This next match is worth the price of admission....almost. Granted, Flair and Funk were both pretty aged (although Flair looked in good shape) but the passion was still there and they went at it best they could. Some great strike exchanges and some nice solid suplexes on the ground gave this some mileage. But, the sickest spot of the match, of the night, probably of the whole year was Funk standing on a table, Memphis style, and just stuffing Flair through a table with a bastard of a piledriver- This was actually unbelievable and leagues better than the one that started their famous feud almost 20 years ago.

This match was exactly what I expected; both guys moving around nearly the opposite of briskly, throwing really telegraphed punches and not bumping. I wasn't offended but it met my very lowered expectations. Hogan took a decent back shot from a chair but that's about all that stands out. The main event was an overbooked mess from the get go. Jarrett was bumping big for Hall as soon as it started but that was as much life in this match. Sid dealt with the Harris for a minute or two then nearly disappeared for the remainder of the 9 minutes this went. Hall got some good heat but he didn't look particularly motivated and I'm sure he didn't enjoy the powerbomb he receieved at the end. Roddy Piper came out near the end in a ref's uniform and a bionic elbow to stop another ref from screwing Sid- there was a total of 5 refs in a 9 minute match. Yeah, this blew. You knew what I was thinking.

This was a pretty bad show, highlighted also by the appearance of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown who had a bigger entourage than the guys from Entourage. He and the Cat got boogie fresh in the middle of the ring, much to the dismay of the Maestro. It was a fun little segment and the fans cheered him more than anyone else the whole night.