WCW Worldwide 2000: The Forgotten Show Part Eight

Part eight of the series includes a couple of title matches and a triple threat women’s match!

Match #1: WCW Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera vs. Shane Helms & Shannon Moore
Date: September 3rd, 2000
Reason Reviewed: A tag title match involving four of the better workers that WCW had to offer at the time? Yeah, that’s kind of a no brainer, right?

Moore and Rey kick off the match with Rey avoiding Moore in the corner and hammering away on him. Rey head scissors Moore to the canvas and plays to the crowd. Moore knee lifts Rey before hitting his version of a Fame-Asser. Helms gets tagged in and hits a neck breaker on Rey as Moore had a Samoan Drop for a two count. Helms misses a clothesline but plants Rey with a power bomb allowing Moore to hit a senton splash from the apron for a two count. Juventud takes Helms out with a springboard dropkick and hammers away on Helms a few times in the corner. Guerrera head scissors Helms to the canvas and follows up with a face buster bulldog allowing Rey to hit a leg drop off the top rope. Rey splashes Helms in the corner and Juventud tries to run off of Rey’s back but slips and is met with a clothesline from Helms. Moore comes off the top to clothesline Rey, as well.

On the floor, Evan Karagias sends Rey into the guard railing but is met with a low blow from Tygress. Juventud is double teamed with a back breaker in the ring. Moore accidentally hits Helms with a spinning heel kick. Juventud nails Moore with a spinning heel kick. Rey takes both men down with a cross body off the top. Rey drives Helms face first into the canvas. Rey backdrops Moore over the top to the floor and Tygress enters to hit the bronco buster on Helms. Juventud hits a botched looking dominator slam. Rey goes to the top to hit a leg drop to Helms groin for the win. (**1/2. I was kind of expecting a faster paced match and more high spots. Still, it was a quality match with the young team of Helms and Moore getting plenty of time to shine. This is a match that probably should have been on Nitro or something bigger than Worldwide.)

Match #2: Sean O’Haire vs. Mike Rapada
Date: September 10th, 2000
Reason Reviewed: I wanted to see how O’Haire had developed in a singles role. A lot of people think O’Haire would have been a huge star for WCW had they continued to operate.

O’Haire shoves Rapada away at the start followed by a right hand and a standing spin kick. Sean connects with a knee lift to drop Rapada and delivers a few more shots in the corner. O’Haire leaps to the top and somersaults over Rapada before hitting a super kick. Rapada fights back with a swinging neck breaker and a forearm shot for a two count. Rapada dropkicks O’Haire and nearly wins with a cross body. O’Haire cuts off Rapada with a clothesline and a sit out hip toss slam. O’Haire decides to end it as he hits a Swanton Bomb off the top for the win. (*1/2. O’Haire has an insane about of agility. It makes me wonder how he didn’t become a bigger deal in wrestling.)

Match #3: Paisley vs. Tygress vs. Major Gunns
Date: September 10th, 2000
Reason Reviewed: Sometimes I want to watch a train wreck. I can’t imagine this will be good. This is actually a rematch from a recent Nitro broadcast that I must have forgotten about.

Madusa is the special referee for the match. Gunns gets kicked by Paisley and Tygress knocks Gunns down. Tygress hits a top rope cross body for a two count on Gunns. Paisley misses a spin kick nailing Tygress on accident. Paisley clotheslines Gunns and Tygress hits a scoop slam before tagging in Paisley who came off the middle rope with a spinning heel kick to pin Gunns for the win. (DUD. Yeah, this made very little sense to me. Tygress didn’t even try to win.)

Match #4: WCW Cruiserweight Champion Elix Skipper vs. Lash LeRoux
Date: September 17th, 2000
Reason Reviewed: Whenever the Cruiserweights get time on this program they seem to deliver. Skipper has especially been impressive.

LeRoux backs Skipper into a corner but the referee breaks them apart only for them to lock up again quickly. Skipper works over LeRoux with a few forearms but Lash hit a hip toss and scoop slam. LeRoux dropkicks Skipper a few times to send Skipper to the floor. Skipper is on the apron where LeRoux tries a suplex back into the ring. Skipper counters and soon drops Lash throat first across the top rope. Skipper gets a near fall after a few elbow drops followed by a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Lash jabs Skipper followed by a clothesline. LeRoux takes Skipper over with a German suplex for a two count. LeRoux backdrops Skipper and plays to the crowd. Skipper goes into his trunks to get the Grey Cup ring but LeRoux ducks it and hits an atomic drop. Skipper gets out of a Death Valley Driver attempt hitting Lash with the ring. The referee sees Skipper with the ring and LeRoux nearly pins Skipper with a rollup. Skipper decks LeRoux with a forearm shot and finishes LeRoux off with the Overdrive. (**. A decent match and the fans were giving these guys their attention. They bought into LeRoux nearly winning the title with the rollup, too. A fine quick title match for a C-level show.)

Match #5: Chuck Palumbo vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Date: September 24th, 2000
Reason Reviewed: Hopefully, Palumbo is able to look good in the ring with a smaller opponent. His Natural Born Thriller partners tend to do well in such situations and Chavo is a more than capable wrestler to carry Palumbo to a decent match.

Palumbo is mocking Chavo for being smaller than him and dropped to his knees before they locked up. Palumbo works over Chavo with a few right hands. Palumbo misses a right hand but Chavo forgets to move so that was awkward. Chavo dropkicks Palumbo and that sends Chuck to the floor. Chuck elbows Chavo in the corner to get the advantage. Chuck blocks a dropkick and catapults Chavo over the top to the floor. Shawn Stasiak stomps on Chavo until Lash LeRoux helps his partner. Chuck decks Chavo with a right hand and catches Chavo on a cross body attempt. Chuck hits a fallaway slam for a two count. Chuck drives Chavo down to the canvas with a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Chuck hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Chuck attempts a power bomb but Chavo counters with a DDT. Chavo plants Chuck with a back suplex and heads to the top rope. Shawn Stasiak shoves Chavo off the top and Chavo sends Palumbo into Stasiak. Chavo is able to get a rollup and pins Palumbo. (*1/2. It wasn’t awful, but it was a surprise to see Chavo actually beat Palumbo here. I would have thought the younger heavyweight would have gone over.)

There is only one more part to the series left! The final part of the series will include the following matches:

Three Count vs. Konnan, Rey Mysterio & Juventud Guerrera
Jason Styles vs. Robbie Rage
Christopher Daniels vs. Kwee-Wee
Mike Awesome vs. Kevin Northcutt
Kwee-Wee vs. Norman Smiley

Thanks for reading.