Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/14/00)

Easily, one of the best tag matches of 2000. It hits a lot of highs, never any lows, although there's a decent little plateau (mesa) in there at parts. Everyone had a role to play: Iizuka the tough underdog with a thing for sleepers, your asshole Uncle Fuchi, proud dad Nagata, and the man, Toshiaki Kawada. I really loved his messy mat scramble with Nagata to open their exchange before they start throwing each other at themselves with boots and elbows. Iizuka's on the rocks for much of the match, as Fuchi starts breaking him down at the knees, catching a wave in the corner on his Iizuka surfboard. Kawada picks up where he left off with the stomping single leg crab and when he's got Iizuka in the bow-and-arrow, Fuchi pops in to stand on Iizuka's throat like a shithead. 

Iizuka gets bullied inside the ring, Nagata's bullied outside -- and some of his facials are incredible. At one point, it looks like he takes a little cat nap on the ring apron. Iizuka's trying to fight back but can't overwhelm the AJPW team, and when he finally gets a break, he tries to grab the sleeper again on Fuchi. But he tags in Nagata, and Nagata and Kawada go at it. On a whole, I think their exchanges could've used an extra dab of Cholula, but whatever, it was fun. Loved all the enziguris and Kawada's selling before Nagata hits the German suplex hold. They each lock in their submissions, and each submission is broken up by their wounded partners. Really good selling from both Fuchi and Iizuka there at the end. There's stereo submissions from both teams, a dope dropkick to the knee by a stumbling Fuchi, and, and a final kick and face slap exchange between Nagata and Kawada to heat it up just before it cools down on the time limit draw. Draws are hard to pull off, especially tag draws, and I think this had it right for the most part. 

NJPW "Dome Impact 2000" (4/7/00)

Don Frye vs. Koji Kanemoto

Don Fyre has such a good look, long hair or short, and he came off like a big badass here, but gave Koji Kanemoto enough to keep this interesting for the most part. Kanemoto isn't one to back down from a fight and I like that he stepped up to Frye, smacked in the face, and then immediately gets belly-to-belly suplexed down and put into a submission. Frye's limbwork was real grunty and calloused, which is obvious when you take a look at him, but Kanemoto's a sly cat and will grab a leg when he can. He lands a moonsault onto Frye's back off the missed spear and Frye lets loose a terrific F-Bomb when Kanemoto's got him in a leglock before he boots his way out the hard way. Then he clobbers Koji with a few elbows and submits him with a leglock.

Satoshi Kojima vs. Shinjiro Ohtani

Both entrance themes rule -- what a transition period 2000 was. I really liked the hot opening with the hard open hands exchanged and Ohtani going after the elbow/lariat arm and getting in some of his signature spots. But when Kojima takes over on offense, he more or less blows off the armwork and just shows off his dominance to the point where he attempts his own facewash...and fails. I liked the Koji Cutter spot off the missed spinning heel kick and Ohtani's reaction to the nearfall off the dragon suplex hold was great. Other than that, Kojima kind of stunk it up.

Kazunari Murakami vs. Takashi Iizuka

I love the visual of Takashi Iizuka running down the rampway toward the ensuing chaos in the ring...and then immediately getting pummeled and taken out by Murakami. Whenever Iizuka is able to get a submission hold locked on, it feels like a big deal and while the groundwork is rather simple, the struggle conveyed from both sides really adds to the gritty feel of the match. Iizuka being a dope on the ropes, not letting go and then pounding Murakami in the back of the head was great. I think this could've benefited from being shorter but whatever, we got Murakami trying to goad Iizuka back to his feet after blasting him with a kick, and the slack-jawed looks of Inoki and Fujinami at ringside. As the match heads home, you can really see the frustration in Iizuka's strikes and when he's able to get the choke sleeper on Murakami, it's huge. It's hard to put a rapid dog to sleep but Iizuka snags him off the ropes and finally puts him down. Good stuff.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa

Slimmed up and shaved down Shinya Hashimoto is oddly reminiscent of Monster Morning himself, Manabu Nakanishi. This was pretty damn great in the way they were able to keep the lines blurred. Early into the match, Naoya Ogawa is being real shitty and brash with his knockdowns and then gets caught off guard with that Hash legsweep from the outside, which allows Hash the opportunity to lay into him to the point that Murakami has to come into the ring in Ogawa's defense. The reactions Hashimoto elicits from the fans with his takedowns are awesome as he keeps trying to cut out Ogawa's legs. I thought the STO struggle and escalation of impact was done really well, with Hash first countering with the DDT and then just kicking the shit out of Ogawa's leg in frustration before Ogawa is finally able to put him down after the choke sleeper > STO combo. Pretty awesome match.

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/13/90)

A hot blast of tag team action featuring power babies Iizuka and Sasaki, Koshinaka’s booty-based offense, and Hase swanking the place up -- loved his early mat exchange with Koshinaka. He’s such a dick here, it’s fantastic. After a fairly pedestrian start, with Iizuka established as the underdog, he and Koshinaka try working over Hase’s leg but Hase escapes Iizuka’s shitty leglock with some well-placed boots and flattens him with an awesome rolling heel kick. The fans aren’t happy about Iizuka getting bullied but Hase doesn’t care and sits back all cool-like with a killer crab hold. When Koshinaka gets the big tag, he hip attacks his way to a brutal powerbomb on Hase. Izuka’s able to hit the BLIZZARD SUPLEX HOLD, his greatest contribution to the game, but Hase comes in and nonchalantly kicks out his leg on the bridge. Fuck yes. The finishing stretch becomes quite the suplex party, with Koshinaka scoring a nearfall off a dragon suplex hold and Hase countering Iizuka’s lariat with the uranage. In the end, however, it’s baby Kensuke that comes away with the win after a judo throw on Iizuka.

Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs. Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami (NJPW, 1/4/00)

This ain't pretty, folks. It's chaotic, reckless, and chock full of the best kind of hate...not that this is an official endorsement for hate. Murakami gives zero fucks for Iizuka or the refree or the New Japan fans. He beats the snot out of Iizuka and leaves him lifeless on the canvas while Hashimoto comes in to his defense and fights off the evil Murakami and Ogawa but the match falls apart quickly. The fans are pissed off, throwing trash in the ring, and Inoki has to step in to restore some order and re-start the match. Iizuka's a mess and Hashimoto's trying to figure out if they can keep going but Iizuka wants to finish this fight. Murakami gets the jump on him again but Iizuka is able to snag an arm, force the armbreaker, and the fans shit their seats. Iizuka's punches look like kisses but he's able to do his part on the mat and try to keep Murakami grounded. Murakami is such an insufferable prick throughout this. He does such a fantastic job of keeping the heat on. Even when Hashimoto gets the tag, he doesn't stop fighting with Iizuka until Hashimoto kicks him in the head.

The energy from the Tokyo Dome for Hashimoto vs. Ogawa is ridiculous, and the fans want nothing more than Hashimoto to kill him. Love Hash's shoot headbutt in the ropes before he starts clobbering Ogawa to the ground. When Ogawa tries for the side headlock takeover, Hashimoto backdrops him. Great selling from Ogawa throughout these exchanges, plenty of stiff shots with Hashimoto egging him on. After Ogawa starts STO'ing everyone, Iizuka comes back for the big dropkick assist, Hashimoto tries to break Ogawa's arm on the outside, and Iizuka gets his redemption with a satisfying submission win on Murakami. Murakami's faceplant on the rear naked choke was a great visual. The atmosphere was amazing, the interactions hate-filled, Murakami was the despicable man here, and the Ogawa/Hashimoto delivered on most levels, even if it was cut a bit short.