We’re still in early 2000 and it’s time for WCW Uncensored 2000 and this is a wild, mostly unenjoyable ride as this is the down bad period of WCW. This is when PPVs just didn’t have the bangers to pull the nose up on this plane.
Uncensored 2000 drew 5,000 fans to the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida to see Hogan and Flair face off in the Yappapi Strap Match.
The Undercard
Oof…that should be the review for the undercard and the main event. Just “oof” since there isn’t much redeemable on this show. The opening match saw The Artist defend the Cruiserweight title against Psicosis in a mid bout.
They put on something decent enough for the PPV but it’s not up there with previous PPV Cruiserweight title defenses from just two years earlier.
Sure it was basic but the pace was fine: thumbs in the middle.
Following the opener was a brief tag team spanking as Norman Smiley and the Demon beat the team of XS–(Lenny) Lane and Rave (Lodi). There’s nothing of note here and was a match that wouldn’t have been missed if it wasn’t on the card.
I believe Bam Bam Bigelow taking on The Wall could’ve been better than it was. It was another short bout and had the added razzle-dazzle of both being Monster Factory graduates. However, this match didn’t go down well for PPV.
Honestly, it was more of an angle-match for a better PPV match.
Almost seven matches went to Brian Knobbs beating all three members of 3 Count for the Hardcore title. This was mostly 3 Count doing the heavy lifting because Knobbs wasn’t putting on strong matches as a singles.
It was another match that could’ve been used to build a better match–maybe something that isn’t a handicap elimination match.
Kidman teaming up with Booker T is a team that could’ve been decent. Harlem Heat 2000 wasn’t it as a team. Hell, they weren’t it as a storyline stopover or whatever. This team was just a bother to watch, I would’ve rather had singles Stevie Ray continued.
The match went seven minutes and just piled on with the bad matches on this card. It had a storyline that creative played out from start to finish but did we even need it in the first place? Couldn’t something else have been done with Booker T and Kidman? Hard thumbs down.
Vampiro taking on Fit Finlay in a falls count anywhere match wasn’t bad at all. It could’ve been much better but it don’t just didn’t percolate as it should’ve. The time was there for them to work with and the guys involved could get it done in the ring but this was just decent.
It was acceptable for PPV but would be pretty good for TV. Thumbs in the middle for this one. The Harris Brothers defeated The Mamalukes for the World Tag Team titles. The match was a basic as hell tag team power brawl without anything to really make the match pop.
The Harris Brothers at this point just weren’t interesting on paper at all. They were eye-roll inducing post-ECW and Smoky Mountain Wrestling. On the one hand, this was a title match that demanded more time. At the same time, Harris Brothers’ matches shouldn’t be nearly 10 minutes. Thumbs down.
The show-closing stretch continued the string of stipulations on the show. After all, Uncensored should’ve always been wild and wholly with the stipulations. You had Dustin Rhodes taking on Terry Funk in a bull rope match which I expected to be better.
Actually, it just needed a stronger storyline heading in. As it is, it would’ve been better on Nitro or Thunder. Thumbs down for the bull rope bout.
Sting vs. The Total Package was a lumberjack match—only with the lumberjacks being people who had their arms broken by Luger. That was the interesting twist on another bad match on this show.
Watching this match makes you wistful of when these two were four or five years younger and putting on watchable matches. Sound thumbs down but I do like that the match was busy. It wasn’t basic, dry, and uneventful, it was just eventful and basic.
Call me gullible but as a kid, a was expecting the World title match between champion Sid Vicious and Jeff Jarrett to suck. As an adult, I expected to find a new appreciation for the match or maybe it wasn’t as bad as I remembered.
While it’s not as bad as I remembered, it’s definitely a pretty boring bout that didn’t pique my interest until the interference happened. Fortunately, it was kept short when it warranted more time just by being a World title match.
You guessed it: thumbs down.
The Main Event
So, instead of the World Heavyweight title match being the main event, we have Hulk Hogan beating Ric Flair in the Yappapi Indian Strap match. This match isn’t going to wow you and it could’ve been just 10 minutes because we’d seen this same match with different stipulations already.
On that note, I do like that this match was basically started off the back of the semi-main event. It wasn’t as if these were totally separate matches that started independent of each other.
In a way, it was pretty ECW midcard in nature but I dig when matches flow into the next. I just wish the match was better in this case. Thumbs down.
WCW Uncensored 2000 Verdict: Bronze Medal (Thumbs Down for Undercard and Main Event)
This show just wasn’t it from top to bottom. The two matches that were alright were just weren’t enough to save this card from being a waste of a Sunday viewing. Of the two thumbs in the middle matches, I’ll give Vampiro vs. Fit Finlay the nod.
Match of the Show: Vampiro vs. Fit Finlay – Falls Count Anywhere Match
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