Mark Henry vs Albert, 8/27/2002
This is allllll about Mark Henry and how good he is at this point. He has the awesome strength spots and big athleticism - okay nothing new. He press slams Albert which looks totally awesome, he hits his awesome leaping butt attack through the ropes, and he sells the fuck out of an Albert big boot just flinging himself over the top rope. When a knee from Albert lands slightly awkwardly Henry makes sure to sell his eye. Albert does some nice brief work on the back and Henry makes a really fired up comeback. People were loving Henry, that's for sure. Nice build to the finish too to top of a very good 4 minute big boy TV sprint.
Jamie Noble vs Funaki, 8/27/2002
It's so interesting to see these guy work a condensed junior epic with title match nearfalls in a 5 minute span. Noble is the workrate god of the early days of Velocity, and Funaki can still do some nifty things. They breathlessly run through their stuff to get to the nearfall portion, but it's all fun. Funaki has a slick inside cradle and some more cool pin attempts and reversals. He gets absolutely SPIKED with a nasty reverse piledriver thing from Noble (why the hell did Funaki agree to that?) and hits about the most awesome Tornado DDT you've ever seen this side of Super Delfin for a massive nearfall. Did Funaki even have a finisher at this point? Nice stuff anyways.
Albert vs Billy Kidman, 9/3/2002
I love that Velocity is basically a weekly competition on who can deliver the perfect 5 minute TV match. This was pretty close to a perfect big vs little match. Man Albert can't ever get a win, he can't even beat KIDMAN, but he is so over and the crowd are loud before the match even begins. I really like that he is doing his own thing instead of just being a distaff Vader or generic big guy. The backbreakers variations, vicious knees etc are all really good. Because he's facing Kidman he can really make his shit look good in this match. Kidman is perfectly good here and the way he pulls out the victory is awesome. The crowd flipping out when he gets the 3 is awesome too. It's a meaningless Velocity match but they loved that like he just won the Royal Rumble. 2002 was something else.
John Cena vs Chavo Guerrero, 9/3/2002
It's rookie John Cena! Pre-jorts and everything. The WWE version of black young lion trunks just being oddly coloured shorts is pretty fun. Chavo is great here. He works some fun straight wrestling with Cena, and then he does a fun job stomping his leg and stretching him. Cool submissions, nasty face wash, he was probably high on Shinjiro Otani at the time. Cena sells the fuck out of that leg and he gets a nice comeback and the finish is very nice too. This lasted 7 minutes and while it had less nearfalls than other Velocity matches the build made it feel bigger.
D-Von Dudley vs Shannon Moore, 9/10/2002
I continue to oddly enjoy Reverend D-Von Dudley. He makes for a very good clobbering heel against a blowjob face, and he is willing to bump his ass off. Moore is really fast, hits all of his fancy flying stuff clean, and he has really nice snap on something like a basic back elbow which is something I can't say about many highflying type guys these days. D-Von has a great cut off where he really nails Moore in mid-air with a big clothesline, and he even takes a missed diving headbutt in an awesome nearfall. His finisher looked great, too.
Tajiri & Jamie Noble vs Crash Holly & The Hurricane, 9/10/2002
Well if these aren't a bunch of b-show GODS!! And they work a really nice, breathless 6 and a half minute match. Complete with character work, multiple cutoff spots, and several nearfalls. Really amazing when you think about it. They never slow down, Tajiri and Nobles heel team work is really cool, The Hurricane amuses me, and Crash Holly is really fun too selling FIP and getting a bloody mouth from bumping into the steps hard. All the switches and reversals at the end were catching without ever being too cute. I didn't know Crash was even around in 2002 but this was his first of several Velocity matches and I look forward to seeing more.
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