Best of the Velocity Matches #6

 Tajiri vs Billy Kidman, 9/17/2002

You give Tajiri 4 minutes to have a match, you're gonna get a really nice match. Even though this was short, it had everything. Cool armwork from Tajiri, Kidman doing a nice job selling said armwork and making one-armed comebacks, surprising nearfalls, and a neat finish. Tajiris kicks certainly hold up very well and his Arn Anderson-like focus is just great.

Albert vs Funaki, 9/17/2002

This was really fun. Albert had it rough in 2002, feuding and trading wins on Velocity with Funaki, but he gave his everything into these matches. Really exemplifies hard work. Funaki barrages Albert with fast dropkicks to start, they do some cool big man vs small man action, and Albert clobbers Funaki with great looking Vader hammers. Crowd is really into hating Albert, I guess looking fat hairy and disgusting is excellent heel work in itself. Funaki working Alberts chest hair rules and the crowd popping big for the finish is once again awesome.

Crash vs The Hurricane, 9/17/2002

This has a really amusing backstage promo. Funaki (who had just taken a beating from Albert) interviews Crash backstage telling him he will face THE HURRICANE and Crash does this really funny terrified face. The match is fun too. Hurricane is an amusing goofy babyface and Crash feeds into him in all kinds of interesting ways. Nobody ever talks about guys like Crash or Hurricane anymore and that's why it's cool to discover how they would work a match. Neither guy here is a generic highflying cruiserweight or technician so just the way they do things is cool. There are some fun reversals, Hurricane teasing the CHOKESLAM, a really well timed nearfall for a pin with the foot on the ropes etc. Just fun all around.

 Crash vs Billy Kidman, 9/24/2002

Crash rules. He's such a great stooge, he's sneaky, and he is great at pulling off odd and interesting stuff without coming across as cute. Kidman doesn't show a ton of fire but he is good enough when he needs to sell and he obviously has the athleticism to go hard.. This had some great backwork from Crash, including dropping Kidman over the guardrail with an awesome backbreaker, Crash feeding into Kidman in interesting ways, Crash countering Kidmans bulldog that normally sets up his finish, and then immediately stealing it, plus the way Crash does the finish is awesome.

John Cena vs D-Von Dudley, 9/24/2002

Rookie Cena is a lot of fun to watch. He has really good form on everything, and you don't know what he's gonna bust out. His cookie cutter arm drags and shoulder blocks control segment is cool, and he takes a BIG bump face down to the floor when D-Von cuts him off. D-Von nails him with a really hard clothesline and then takes a big bump of his own missing an elbow drop off the top. Cena at this point is oddly athletic - he hits a really sweet dropkick, counters D-Vons finisher by backflipping out in an impressive display. Great nearfall here when Cena is able to survive D-Vons nasty looking neckbreaker off the ropes. The finish is neat too as they do a callback to the cut off. Cena wins with a sunset flip over the ropes of all things and whoever does that anymore? I love pro wrestling.
 

Best of the Velocity Matches #5

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.
 

2023 MOTY Project #1

Genkai vs. Kodai Nozaki, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023

Odd match which felt a bit like a really good match from WWE syndicated TV circa mid 2000s. But that kind of thing is way more interesting to me than your typical modern Japanese chopfest. Early on Genkai did a good job putting over the physicality of his massive opponent and throwing nice punches. Genkai also had some cool ways to set up his cobra clutch finisher, including an almost Honda-ish choke hold. Middle section was a bit slow but had Genkai hitting a really cool fast dropkick to Genkais head when he went to recuperate outside. The finishing stretch was very good and had some more neat spots including the submission finish which was done awesomely. Most importantly, there was no point where both guys traded mindless elbows and no endless chop trading.

 

 Tajiri vs. Mentai Kid, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023

Put Tajiri in a big match and he can still deliver. If you squinted this was a bit like a Regal or Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio match. Opening exchanges were nice, and it got good once Tajiri started working Kids arm. Lots of cool reversals and cut offs, and Tajiri still hits his kicks with perfect form. I like Mentai Kid but this wasn't one of his better nights, still he really sold that arm work well and he has a nicely set up comeback and a great dive which Tajiri catches full on. Finishing run had lots of cool Tajiri tricks, and good selling from Kid. The highlight was a nice kimura where Tajiri rolled Kid around the ring trying to dislocate his arm.

Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA, AEW 1/18

Very good match mostly due to KUSHIDA working like a tenacious 90s NJPW junior and constantly going for the arm, closer to Liger and Otani. I especially liked the dropkick in the ropes. Slick opening grappling and exchanges were nice to see. Darby didn't set my world on fire here, for example I was iffy at him doing a forward roll for some reason into a code red, but largely everything he did was fine and the crazy bump was indeed crazy. There was also some fight present such as Kushida almost hitting Darby back when he was trying to set up a spot outside. I really enjoyed all the arm work and the kimura spot, and the big arm throw from the top was innovative, made sense and looked hurty. I am conditioned to always expect both contenders in a match to get in a ridiculous amount of shit so Darby narrowly winning with a flash pin was surprising but I was fine with it.

Best of the Velocity Matches #3

 Hardcore Holly vs. Chavo Guerrero, Velocity 7/6/2002

 

Low key great four minute match between two miserable bastards. Starts great with Chavo not handshaking and Holly slapping the taste right out of his mouth. We get some pretty hard hitting for WWE standards with Chavo setting himself up in fun ways to get chopped by Holly, as well as a nasty Chavo face scrape and Holly dropkicking Chavo in the face. Ending was totally awesome with multiple cool Alabama Slam attempts and counters, Chavo stomping Holly in the face, plus Holly busting out a gnarly powerbomb. Will Velocity make a Holly fan out of me?

Test vs. Val Venis, Velocity 7/9/2002

 

This was a match that I got weirdly invested in. The action was rather standard WWE TV stuff, but they really committed to their stuff. Test has great clotheslines and man looking at him you think he would be a megastar now, being big and good looking, but in 2002 he is doing a generic anti-american thing and getting himself DQ‘d. Venis always has ridiculously perfect offense, an absolutely sick boot to the face (the GUTS to completely outdo a guy whose finisher is a big boot), he also has a reverse figure 4 which he locks in in super slick fashion and Test really puts it over as this dangerous submission nearfall, coming up limping and everything. Crowd got really hot for this too and into the fire of Val Venis of all people, and the DQ actually left me salty. It didn‘t even lead to anything, but at least I know now they gave it their all with what limited tools they had to have a 6 minute Velocity main event.

Jamie Noble vs. Funaki, Velocity 7/16/2002

This was GREAT. Funaki had his working boots on. I didn‘t think he still had it in him, but he was busting out slick armbars and taking mad bumps like he was in his prime. Noble was great too, and him zoning in on Funakis leg lead to some damn great selling from Funaki. They did some great stuff with a northern lights suplex and a tornado DDT, not exactly the most exciting junior moves at this point, but they made them look cool. Super neat finish too. It‘s funny how Noble had this trailer trash gimmick but works like a brainy technician. This has to be the top match in the pile for today.

Tajiri vs. Mike Awesome, Velocity 7/23/2002

Well I may have spoken too soon, because this goes right head to head with Noble/Funaki. Great mix of Mike Awesomes power offense and willingness to take absolutely psycho bumps, and Tajiri taking him apart with brilliant kicks. Tajiri is an absolute god of the b-show match, he‘s just doing something neat ever second. Here he was attacking Mike with all kinds of kicks from odd angles, axe kicking the knee, kicking the back of the knee, stomping on his neck, it was just the right mix of flashy and ruthless. Loved the Tarantula specifically targetting the leg. Mike looked to be in a rough place but gave his all, diving face first into Tajiris feet, splatting on the floor in crazy moment, selling the leg at just the perfect time. Best 4 minute b-show match ever?

Best of the Velocity matches #2

 Chavo Guerrero vs. Funaki, Velocity 6/8/2002

Nifty four and a half minute match. Chavo is like a slicker Arn Anderson here, targetting Funakis back with a variety of cool offense, including a nasty dropkick to the kidney and a big backbreaker. I also really dug his smooth Stretch Plum. Funaki gets some nice brief flashes of offense including a really nice reversal into a Magistral. Funaki ends up going for some convoluted move trapping Chavos arm behind his back only to get kneed in the face and a Brainbuster for the 3. Cool!

Randy Orton vs. Rob Conway, Velocity 6/18/2002

WWE rookie match! Conways first TV appearance. They start working some nice basic grappling, both guys having really nice firemans carries. Conway goes for an up and over and seemingly twists his leg on the landing. They signal for an injury, having a bunch of officials come out, Orton is young and sportsmanlike and – Conway boots him in the face! Really effective opening that good a great reaction. I assume Conway was leading this and he does a solid job continueing to lead Randy through the match. Randy has a really nice dropkick, and wins with a big crossbody off the top which rules.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Albert, Velocity 6/18/2002

Aw yeah! Are these two gonna be our Velocity godheads? This was really good big vs. Little match! Opening of this ruled as both guys took some recklessly awkward bumps. Chavo gets flung around by Albert a bunch to start, but Albert misses a charge and flies over the top rope splatting on the floor in nasty fashion! Albert ends up catch a Chavo plancha though and drives him into the ringpost. Chavo continues to bump like a freak, getting gorilla pressed into the ring (getting his foot caught in the ropes and tumbling awkwardly), then he eats the catapult into the rope spot by just flying with his chin into the rope! Alberts big backbreaker was another highlight. Loved the way Chavo made his big comeback making use of the turnbuckle pad that Albert himself exposed (Albert needs to cheat to beat Chavo in a 4 minute match!). And then that finish! This was a blast.

Tajiri vs. Hugh Morrus, Velocity 6/18/2002

Two great big vs. little matches in one episode! Tajiri is so fucking good in 2002, it‘s unreal. They probably knew Albert and Chavo would do a bumpfest in the previous match so they don‘t event try for that and so they just slug it out. Tajiris precise kicks targetting Morrus‘ leg are so good, he even hits a slick dropkick through the ropes on him. I really liked how they worked the size difference, surprisingly Tajiri is higher in the pecking order than Morrus so he dominates, but they also have Morrus shrug off Tajiris chops and leather him with big chops of his own because Morrus is bigger and thicker. Tajiri does the Tarantula and continues to yank at Morrus leg against the rope which rules. Tajiri goes out of his way to let Morrus look good. Morrus makes the most of his 5 minutes on TV, he hits a really nice powerslam where he comes up limping paying tribute to Tajiris leg kicks, he hits an absolutely gorgeous huge elbow drop off the top and once again misses a huge moonsault. Brilliant finish.

Tajiri vs. Albert, Velocity 6/25/2002

These two are on a roll with good matches on Velocity, so seeing them go at it for 4 minutes is really nice! Tajiri is great once again, firing away at Albert with kicks from left and right, just looking awesome landing unexpected kicks. Really good big vs. Little work as Tajiri gets launched by an Albert kick out to the second rope and continues to attack. Albert has solid enough power offense, including a really nice stalling butterfly suplex. Finish was great as Albert went for a Vader Bomb but caught another kick coming down. Totally unexpected as I thought Albert was gonna go over this time. Tajiri remains strong killing giants!

Best of the Velocity matches #1

 

Tajiri vs. Billy Kidman, Velocity 5/21/2002

 

Really freaking good Tajiri performance, who may be one of the all time great TV workers. He just did it all here, busting out cool holds, viciously cutting off Kidman, timing some excellent spots, kicking the crap out of Kidmans shoulder. Kidman was good as your cookie cutter flyer selling an arm injury but Tajiri was the man in this. Loved all the unique spots like the Tarantula getting denied and then turned into an armbreaker, Tajiris awesome handspring right into a Kidman dropkick etc. I didn‘t love the distraction but I guess at least they didn‘t go the obvious route ending it on a roll up right there.

Hardcore Holly vs. Val Venis, Velocity 5/21/2002

This was a four and a half minutes heavyweight sprint! And these two work a nice heavyweight sprint but damn, would it have killed them to stretch out 2 or 3 more minutes and let things breathe and work the crowd a bit? But damn, for two early 2000s WWE muscle heads they do a nice job working like a pair of joshis. Really nice opening with both guys working some fast trips and snug headlocks, before they really leather each other with some hard chops and clotheslines. Venis doesn‘t even do any sexy man spots, he‘s all business hitting snug elbow drops and knee drops! And he busts out a lot of high end offense against Holly, even dropping him with a big Blue Thunder Driver! I loved that move in WWF No Mercy. Holly evades the Money Shot and he nails Venis with a dropkick in the face and pins him. Yeah, Holly won a match with a standing dropkick and that rules.

Hugh Morrus vs. Albert, Velocity 5/28/2002

Hugh Morrus was working WWE TV in 2002?! And of course Morrus is game to work hard in a 4 minute big boy clash! Really fun work with Morrus clashing into the bigger Albert trying to take him down. Morrus hits a nice powerslom, but then dives right into Alberts big boot in a really cool big man spot! I‘d expect Morrus to job but he refuses too, he hits a huge german suplex on Albert and then goes for the kill with a huge moonsault off the top!!! That misses! Good try. Albert takes a hard chest bump into the corner for no reason before winning with the Baldo bomb. This was a heap of fun.

Val Venis vs. Reverend D-Von Dudley, Velocity 5/28/2002

Val Venis, 2002 Velocity workrate matchine? This was the main event and they work an epic 7 minute match with narrow kickouts and everything! It‘s fun to see how two guys like these two would work that kind of match and this had some nice moments. D-Von is aggressive to start but Venis comes back with his snug offense. Venis works the legs for a minute, even getting the tap with a cool reverse figure 4 but the hilarious Deacon Batista has the referee distracted. D-Von works the back, including doing a Fuchi-ish turnbuckle assisted stretch and Venis is selling really nice and makes a nice comeback. Venis hits the Blue Thunder Driver, which Devon again kicks out and Venis sells it huge, full Taker/HBK Wrestlemania Shocked Face! Venis goes to the top but Devon catches him with a second rope neckbreaker in a really nice moment. Devon takes a really nice bump on a missed diving headbutt but the ref ends up getting bumped and Venis eats the COLLECTORS BOX from Batista! What a match.

Assorted CMLL

Rey Bucanero vs. Fantastik, CMLL 5/7/1996

This was from a tournament and people always complain about tournament lucha that the matches are super short, but this was a great 5 minute match. Had pretty much everything you can ask for, slick matwork, huge dives, some cool bumps and a cool finish. Fantastik is a luchador who would show up on a lot of BJW undercards and in very little actual stuff from Mexico, but he is a pretty great luchador. Great little moment during the opening grappling where he suplexed Bucanero out of nowhere and then almost crushed his chest with a senton where he landed hip first. Then he whips out his awesome senton to the floor which has to be the nuttiest regular spot any wrestler every had. He takes a super cool bump on a missed kneedrop before Bucanero hits a heavy landing dive of his own and is able to snatch the victory with a cool submission hold.

Tajiri & Fantastik & Ciclon Ramirez vs. Mogur & Halcon Negro & Guerrero de la Muerte (CMLL 12/23/1995)

Sometimes, you just gotta watch a great lucha trios. I think CMLL was having a strong run at best promotion in the world in the late 90s and this was an example of why. Just 6 wrestlers going hard in a very competitive match. You can tell things were on fire when a match involving undercarders is this good. Tajiri was like a fish in water working the Mexican style. He had no problem going hard doing some swank lucha matwork and then hitting some uncharacteristic high kicks. Fantastik vs. Mogur section may have been even better, as both guys work sections around throwing each other hard with judo hip throws. Mogur was in the match to seek heat, which is a totally fine role when there are multiple super athletic wrestlers in the match, and he was hitting good looking uppercuts. Fantastik hits a missile dropkick with such amazing height its ridiculous. Rudo beatdown section was short and fairly violent (I like how they segued into it), including Guerrero de la Muerte hitting a stiff clothesline. 3^rd fall saw Tajiri almost breaking Mogurs jaw with a kick before hitting a great dive and Fantastik once again rolling out the insane senton to he floor. Finish wasn’t epic but Ciclon and Guerrero de la Muerte did some good work before a super blatant foul. I don’t know if this lead to anything (I imagine it was simply an undercard match where they decided to look good before doing a quick finish) but the work was so enjoyable that you won’t be sour about the finish at all.

Bracito de Oro & Orito vs. Felinito & Pierrothito, CMLL 5/24/1996

 Super enjoyable tag that was a preview of the greatness the CMLL minis division would produce in 1997. Seriously everyone here looks like such a high end pro wrestler, just ridiculously smooth matwork, lightning fast rope running, and everything laid out in a pretty complex manner. Felinito was a real fucker in the match too, adding some piss and vinegar, but they make sure to stretch out and let everyone showcase some wrestling. Orito takes one of the highest backdrop bumps I've ever seen, and everyone gets in some great offense, including Pierrothito with a great arm hold suplex and later a beautiful back elbow, and Felinito with a crushing senton. Bracito also busts out some neat chokeslams.