XPW Dismembered In November
November 11, 2000
Metal Fest
San Bernadino, CA

- Juventud Guerrera vs. Kid Kaos (Juvi's XPW debut)

PRE-MATCH: WOW, we cut in and immediately see none other than LEROY THE RING CREW GUY in the camera's view, sitting at ringside. This is half a year before he made his XPW in-ring debut. Man, gotsta love R-C-G (he played a parody of RVD), baby...Anyway, Kaos is already in the ring when Juvi comes out, looking pretty pumped. After saluting the crowd, Juvi grabs a mic and does an impression of The Rock, calling himself "The Juice" and stuff like that. The audio on this tape sucks, so it's hard to hear what he's saying. I do know that he says, "I'm gonna keek your ass, motherf*cker," to Kaos. "You know, Juvi, I don't know who you think you are. Your time was maybe five years ago. The time now...the time now is for Kid Kaos!"

MATCH: Juvi has had enough by now and immediately starts hammering away on his younger foe. After Kaos receives a shoulderblock, they perform a very nicely-executed rope run sequence, featuring a dropdown (Juvi), a leapfrog (Kaos), a running somersault roll through the legs (by Juvi through Kaos' legs), and some other stuff. The exchange concludes with Juvi performing a Tilt-a-Whirl Headscissors Takeover, which he follows by lariating Kaos out to ringside. Yo, I'm well aware of Juvi's regular lack of effort when it comes to workrate, especially around the time that this match occurred, but he looked quite solid in that sequence. Let's see if he can keep it up...

Kaos avoids a baseball slide and rolls back into the ring. Juvi follows him, but gets stomped on before he can climb back up to his feet. A few moments later, there's a somewhat awkward sequence where Juvi sells a simple gut kick with a backwards bump to the mat, although it doesn't look horrible. Kaos gets a 2 count with a beautiful suplex, and then applies a rear chinlock, which he eventually transitions into a grounded side headlock. Juvi eventually rallies back to his feet, but Kaos hammers him several times, hoping to fight off a comeback. Juvi does return with some offense, trying an RVD-style running monkey flip in the corner. Kaos, though, lands on his feet in the opposite corner and charges across the ring, sending Juvi rolling out of the ring via a superkick.

Next, Kaos executes what looks to be a kinda awkward Asai Moonsault, but the camera view makes it look pretty cool, actually. He starts selling a left knee injury, since he rammed it on the guardrail when he did the move, and Juvi as a result gets back to his feet first. He rolls Kaos back into the ring and catches him with a Flying Crossbody Block for 2. Juvi then lifts Kaos back up to his feet, but before he can do anything, Kaos hooks his leg via an inside cradle to get the fluke 3 count win! Kris Kloss (one of the commentators) sells the upset like there's no tomorrow, while an enraged Juvi chases the referee out of the ring. Kaos is helped backstage by some people. Juvi follows him back, clearly frustrated.

WINNER: Kid Kaos, via pinfall

ANALYSIS: The opening sequence of this match was impressive, but after that, it was just way too short. The ending was abrupt, but it was a good way to put over the homegrown guy. They really were just getting underway when Kaos got injured, so they had to go home quickly, I guess. 1/2*.

XPW New Year's Revolution 1
January 17, 2001
Patriot Hall
Van Nuys, CA

- Juventud Guerrera vs. Kid Kaos

The storyline to this match is that everyone's insisting that Kaos' win over Juvi in the above match is a fluke, and that Juvi just had an off-night. So, Kaos demanded that XPW Vice President Kevin Kleinrock grant him this match, and after some urging, Kleinrock did.

MATCH: Kaos comes out to the ring first and salutes the fans, but Juvi sneaks up on him from behind as he's walking around at ringside and clips Kaos' knee (the same one [the left] that he injured in their previous match), taking him down to the concrete. Kaos sells the injury by limping around and receives some punches from Juvi before being rolled into the ring. After climbing in, too, Juvi whips Kaos into the ropes and execute a low dropkick, sending Kaos doing a forward flip onto the mat (a nice selljob). Juvi then grabs a steel chair, places it across Kaos' left leg, and executes his signature running snap leg drop. Kaos sells the leg injury.

XPW security now enters the ring and forces Juvi to stop the assault, but he gets in a few more stomps to the leg to add an exclamation point, before finally leaving the ring. Kaos takes a mic and says to Kaos, "I don't "even know who you are," but that "you suck," anyway. He threatens to kick Kaos' ass later in the night in front of all the fans, citing the reason for this to be "cuz' I know these people are just too juicy!" Indeed. Juvi leaves the ring and heads backstage, slapping the hands of some fans on the way. Kaos is helped back to the locker room by security, as the fans chant, "You got f*cked up!"

WINNER: None (No Contest, due to Kaos' injury)

RATING: Obviously not much of a match...just two minutes of assault on Kaos' leg by Juvi. Kaos did do a good job of selling the knee injury, and the storyline so far has been executed well, as Juvi is portrayed as a selfish heel out for revenge on Kaos and aiming to injure him as much as possible. No rating.

XPW New Year's Revolution 1
January 17, 2001
Patriot Hall a.k.a. the gym at Birmingham High School
Van Nuys, CA

- Three-Way Non-Elimination Match: Juventud Guerrera vs. "Mr. 80's" Dynamite D (tonight "Ravishingly Dynamite") vs. "The Giggolo" Steve Rizzono (w/ "Playboy" Buddy Rose

PRE-MATCH: This is later in the night from the same show as Juvi's assault on Kaos directly above. Rizzono and Rose are in the ring together and they cut an absolutely hiarlious promo. Rizzono has his "giggolo" gimmick down to perfection. As the fans chant "You suck d*ck!" and "Shut the f*ck up!" at the two, they respond in the most appropriate way possible - continuing to piss the hell out of the fans. Rizzono says that "everybody in the arena wants to be just like me" and Rose states that there's a "difference between you people and myself and Steve Rizzono - We've got a microphone and you don't." Rizzono continues: "Now, I'm sick and tired of the office bringing in outside talent (in reference to Juvi) when I should be the superstar because everybody in this room wants me to be their champion." Indeed.

After mentioning ECW and WCW (both of which get booed by the fans), Rizzono says, "Now Juventud, you may be a great wrestler, but I wrestle great and everybody here knows I'm gonna beat your ass." Juvi finally comes out to the ring and takes a mic. He says a bunch of stuff that I can't understand due to both the crappy audio, the crappy mic, and his crappy English. Rizzono and Rose try to say some stuff in return, but the mic sucks, so I'm left to just wonder what hilarious insult they came up with. Anyway, Dynamite D now comes out to the ring, dressed like Rick Rude. He enters the ring, takes Juvi's mic, and calls the fans "What I'd like to have right now is for all of you fat, out-of-shape, Southern California, sweat hogs keep the noise down while I take my robe off and show all the ladies in the house what a real sexy man is supposed to look like." With that, he removes his robe and does the "swivel-of-the-hips" dance in typical Rude fashion. Juvi cracks up at D and the match begins.

MATCH: A three-way brawl starts the match and a few moments in, Juvi hits a Missile Dropkick on Rizzono, and then takes out both of his opponents with a Pescado. He then brings Rizzono back into the ring and executes a catapult leg drop and then a suplex (which D takes a nasty head-first bump on), only to be thrown out of the ring when Rizzono sneaks up behind him. Rizzono follows him out, but Juvi reverses an Irish whip and sends his opponent into the guardrail. Juvi then re-enters the ring and attacks D. He executes a running shoulderblock the two then perform a solid roperun sequence (complete with a dropdown and a leapfrog), ending with Juvi delivering a spinning heel kick. D, though, fights back with a backdrop suplex a few moments later and follows with a bodyslam and a running elbow drop off of the ropes before being attacked by the returning Rizzono.

Some miscommunication on attempted interference by Rose leads to Rizzono colliding with his manager and knocking hiim out to ringside. That gives D the opportunity to execute a double version of the "Rude Awakening" Swinging Hangman's Neckbreaker (on both of his opponents at the same time). A "You jack off!" chant starts towards Rose and a steel chair briefly comes into play before Juvi attacks D with a low dropkick (to the knee), a DDT, and a leg drop, after which he applies a leglock on D's bad leg. Rizzono, though, comes in and lock on a grounded headscissors on Juvi, so all three guys are somehow hooked to another opponent.

They eventually break the hold and Rizzono hits a sequence featuring an atomic drop, an inverted atomic drop, and finally a lariat on D, but only gets a 1 count with it. WOW, for like the first time in the match, a guy does three wrestling moves within like 10 seconds of each other, and he doesn't even get a 2 count. Jeez...Anyway, Juvi (at ringside) trips Rizzono when he goes to perform a version of the People's Elbow, but Juvi's version of the move (he calls it "The Juicy Elbow") is also interfered with, as Rizzono gets revenge by tripping him, in return. Rizzono then whips Juvi into the guardrail, only to be taken out by D's plancha off of the top buckle (which sparks an "X-P-Dub!" chant). D drags Rizzono back into the ring and downs him with an awkward bulldog for 2. Juvi re-enters, but gets tossed back out by D, as Rose slides Rizzono a chair. D acts like an idiot and pretends to be scared sh*tless at the thought of Rizzono cracking him with the foreign object, despite the fact that Rizzono hasn't even gotten back to his feet yet. When he *finally* does, D superkicks the chair into his face, only to get a dropkick from a re-entering Juvi a few moments later.

Juvi proceeds to knock D out of the ring and drop toehold Rizzono face-first onto the set-up chair. Rizzono counters Juvi's Irish whip and sends the lucha star into a steel chair that's mounted in between the turnbuckles backfires, as Rizzono counters and Juvi's back takes the brunt of the chair. Rizzono then sets up for a powerbomb on D, but he's back body dropped onto the set-up chair in the ring. D signals that he's going to finish Rizzono off, but "The Giggolo" surprises him with an eye poke and delivers a DDT. Juvi then returns to powerbomb D and drop an elbow on him for 2, when Rizzono pulls him off and covers D himself. Juvi breaks up that pinfall and begins arguing with Rizzono, who he lazily decides to take down into an inside cradle, which is broken up at 2 by D.

A half-assed exchange leads to Rizzono bodyslamming D and executing a Flying Crossbody Block for 2. Rizzono then goes back up top, but does so too slowly and Juvi tosses him back down to the mat before executing his own Flying Crossbody, also onto D. Juvi and Rizzono each pull each other off of D when they go to cover him. After Juvi dropping out of D's attempted bodyslam, Juvi executes the Juvi Driver and goes for the cover, but Rizzono drapes his body over him and apparently gets the 3 count win. However, the ref changes the decision, giving the win to D because he was really the guy who covered Juvi and hooked his leg; Rizzono just draped his body over the two guys. Rizzono and Rose act pissed off before all three guys engage in a three-way brawl (the same way the match began) back to the locker room.

WINNER: Ravishingly Dynamite (Dynamite D) by pinning Juvi, after a reversed decision

ANALYSIS: There were some borderline decent exchanges, but the bottom line is that these guys were just lazy. I'll admit - Rizzono and Rose's pre-match gig was fantastic, but in the match, there were several awkward moments and a general lack of selling and effort. Honestly, the pre-match antics were probably better than the match itself. The bout started off halfway decently, but the second half saw each participant (especially D and Rizzono) really just start to walk through the motions, and sloppily, too, I might add. Juvi wasn't too great, either, and the commentary was really lame. Usually Kris Kloss and Larry Rivera are decent in a kind of wierd way, but that just wasn't the case here. And to think that all three of the competitors in this match had at least eight years experience at the time it occurred...you'd expect better from them...XPW actually included this match on their "We Wrestle" compilation tape. There are some good matches on this tape, but putting this on it is ridiculous. *1/2.

XPW Payback's A Bitch
February 3, 2001
Patriot Hall a.k.a. the gym at Birmingham High School
Van Nuys, CA

- Juventud Guerrera vs. "The Giggolo" Steve Rizzono (w/ "Playboy" Buddy Rose)

PRE-MATCH: There's some more solid "Playboy" Buddy Rose schtick, as he introduces Rizzono. The guy may be pretty bad in the ring, but man does he have his gimmick down to absolute perfection. He walks to the ring in perfect, arrogant style. Before Rizzono can cut a promo, a "You suck d*ck!" chant starts up, to which Rose responds with a brilliant, "We gotta consider the source, Giggolo." Classic...

RIZZONO: "Now, I look around this room and I think most of the women...no, wait all of the women in this room wanna be my b*tch."
ROSE: "He's talkin' not to you men, but to your wives, your sisters, and your daughters."
RIZZONO: "And I'll tell you somethin' else - I think these two guys out here in the front row wanna be my b*tch, also."
ROSE: "We won't go there. We're not gonna go there
RIZZONO: "Hey, I have a sweet ass. I can't help it.
ROSE: "He does..."

Anyway, Juvi then comes out to the ring and we get underway

MATCH: Tieup. They execute a quite impressive mat sequence, exchanging side headlock takeovers, grounded headscissors, and the like. Juvi actually looks to be putting in some effort. After they break, a "Juvi!" chant surfaces. They then start shoving each other before Rizzono - playing up his heel demeanor - retreats to ringside, but he finds no safety there, as Juvi attacks him with a baseball slide dropkick and apron-dive double axehandle. Back in the ring, a snapmare is followed by a running snap leg drop off of the ropes for 2. Next up, they execute another well-done sequence, this featuring an Irish whip, a leapfrog, and some roperuns, and Juvi eventually knocks Rizzono down with a spinning heelkick.

Suddenly, a drunken "White Trash" Johnny Webb comes out to the ring and offers both guys a beer. Rizzono appears to be about to accept, but Juvi grabs the bottle and nails Webb with it, knocking him out to ringside, and then Rizzono attacks "The Juice" from behind. Juvi fights back a few moments later and delivers a running crossbody block for 2. Juvi uses several turnbuckle-mounted punches and continues working over his opponent, but Rizzono comes back soon thereafter and regains control. Webb re-enters the ring and is bleeding from the forehead by now. Rizzono punks him out and then delivers a snapmare and a kneedrop to Juvi before DDTing Webb and sending him rolling out of the ring.

Webb climbs back up onto the apron, only to get knocked back down to the concrete when Juvi's whipped into the ropes. Rizzono then execute a running Fameasser on "The Juice" before sitting him on a set-up steel chair. At the same time, Webb re-enters the ring...AGAIN...and Rizzono lariats him down onto the mat before climbing up top and trying to attack the sitting Juvi with a cannonball. Juvi, though, moves out of the way and Rizzono crashes onto the chair, flattening it in the process! This guy bumps like a MANIAC! Insane...Webb now takes the opportunity and attacks both guys, but Juvi eventually regains his senses and attacks the drunkard with the chair. Rizzono rolls out of the ring and Juvi takes him out with a pescado. Webb then chairshots Juvi, only to get a chairshot from Rose.

Back in the ring, Juvi downs Rizzono with a missile dropkick, but distraction from Rose allows Rizzono to DDT Juvi. Webb comes BACK in and attacks Rizzono, but Rose climbs into the ring and chairshots Webb again. Rizzono then grabs Juvi and holds him for a chairshot by Rose, but Juvi ducks out of the way and Rose connects with Juvi. Then, Juvi chairshots Rose in the ASS, and the fat manager takes an impressive bump through the ropes and out to the concrete, after which Juvi finally hits the Juvi Driver for the pinfall win.

WINNER: Juvi via pinfall

After celebrating, Juvi leaves the ring and heads backstage. A bloody as HELL Webb (still drunk) then re-enters the ring and starts celebrating as if HE won, but eventually heads back to the locker room, too. Rizzono then recovers from his loss and he starts arguing with Rose. They continue arguing as they wander back to the locker room.

ANALYSIS: This was a bit better than the previous match on the tape, and interestingly it wasn't even as long as that bout. Both guys probably could've worked even harder, but it was a pretty vast improvement. The mat-based and roperun exchanges were very impressive for both guys, especially Rizzono, but they also showed that Juvi was working relatively hard. He didn't do all that much the rest of the match, but that's because Webb was the focus of the second half of the match.

When Webb first came out, I was like, "Huh?" I'm happy, though, that they at least played an angle of sorts out, instead of just having him come out drunk and cause the match to be a No Contest only a few moments in. The match furthered Webb's drunken gimmick and also featured some *decent* wrestling. The pre-match shennanigans with Rose and Rizzono's mic work was exceptionally awesome. So, the match wasn't great, but it was probably better than the previous match (the three-way with D, which really seemed to just drag on and on. Juvi still has a long way to go, though, when it comes to the effort he puts into his workrate. *3/4.

XPW Baptized In Blood/My Bloody Valentine 2: Second Annual King of the Deathmatch Tournament
February 24, 2001
Patriot Hall
Van Nuys, CA

- Non-Tournament Match: Kid Kaos vs. Juventud Guerrera

PRE-MATCH: XPW commentator Kris Kloss interviews Kid Kaos in the ring. Kaos - coming out on crutches - is making his XPW return from his knee injury suffered vs. Juvi a few months back (the first match I reviewed on this compilation). Kloss asks Kaos about his match vs. Juvi when he scored the upset, and Kaos says that the doctors are going to let him return in a few months and that when he does, Juvi is going to be first in line. Juvi then interrupts the interview by coming out to the ring. Juvi cuts a promo in which he displays his admirable mastery of the English language, saying that he worked his ass of in WCW and that he knows that Kaos is misjudging himself when he says he's ready for Juvi. "The Juice" then says, "And your are here to tell me, in front of all these juicy people, that you no ready for me? (Huh? WTF is that supposed to mean...Kaos said he WAS ready for Juvi...anyway, though...) OK, well how about if you ready fo' you mama, sucka."

MATCH: With that, Kaos swings his crutch at Juvi, but "The Juice" ducks and starts unloading with kicks to Kaos' bad leg. Kaos fights back and locks on a full nelson, but Juvi eventually escapes and - a few second later - starts unloading with some chops. Kaos fights back and tries a backdrop suplex, but Juvi flips out (landing on his feet) and executes an armdrag. Kaos comes back with his own armdrag, and they then hustle back to their feet and each tries a dropkick at the same time. They land on their backs, but then do stereo kipups to their feet, and the sequence halts for a moment. Kaos could be selling his knee injury a bit better, but he at least clutches at it every several moments, so he's not totally disregarding it...By the way, referee Patrick Hernandez has come out to the ring, so this is now an official match.

After some face-to-face trash-talking, Juvi surprises Kaos with a gut kick, and then tries an Irish whip, but Kaos reverses, and hits a sweet-looking Swinging Sitout Spinebuster Bomb (à la Balls Mahoney's Ballsbreaker). After a bodyslam, Kaos executes a nice-looking Corner Quebrada for 2, and continues selling the knee injury. After bringing Juvi out to ringside and whipping him into the guardrail, Kaos leads "The Juice" back into the ring and weakens him with a tree of woe baseball slide dropkick that sends a chair into his face. However, when he tries the move a second time, Juvi pulls himself upwards and Kaos, in turn, slides into a crotched position against the ringpost. Juvi proceeds to stretch Kaos' legs in order to further his knee injury

After Juvi delivers a Missile Dropkick, Kaos reverses his opponent's whip and sends him into the ropes, but Juvi executes a Wheelbarrow Bulldog for 2. Kaos now tries to to fight back, but Juvi takes out his bad leg with a low dropkick, and then applies a leglock. Kaos sells the hold for awhile, before eventually grabbing the bottom rope and forcing Juvi to break it. Next, Juvi charges at Kaos, but the future-"Rock Superstar" backdrops "The Juice" out to ringside and then executes an AWESOME Running Catapult Somersault Plancha, one of his trademark manuevers! He even goes so far as to sell the knee injury, before finally rolling Juvi back into the ring and executing a SWEET Flying Frog Splash Crossbody Block for 2! Awesome!

Kaos' attempt at a Powerbomb fails, though, as Juvi drops out and executes one of his own for 2. Juvi now signals for the Juvi Driver, but when he grabs a hold of Kaos, the youngster takes him down into an inside cradle for a GREAT near fall, as Juvi kicks out at 2! Juvi immediately climbs back up to his feet and executes a wheelbarrow victory roll for his own 2 count. Following a front slam, Juvi climbs up top, signaling for his 450º Splash, but Kaos plays possom for awhile before getting back up and crotching his opponent. An EXCELLENT looking Flying Guillotine (Buff Blockbuster from the top turnbuckle) follows, and Kaos actually sells the knee injury for several seconds before finally draping an arm over Juvi for 2.

Juvi now reverses an Irish whip and Kaos bounces off of the ropes, right into a low dropkick to his bad leg! He staggers, but stays on his feet, only for Juvi to duck a lariat and deliver the JUVI DRIVER~! "The Juice" then applies a leglock and Kaos sells it like a motherf*cker for a few moments before passing out, giving Juvi the win!

WINNER: Juventud Guerrera, via submission T.K.O. when Kaos passes out to a leglock.

Juvi celebrates his win as security comes out and checks on Kaos, but he gets in a cheapshot on the limp body of his opponent before leaving the ring and heading backstage. The ring crew helps Kaos back to his feet.

ANALYSIS: WOW...This match was a very pleasant surprise. I don't want to put it over as the next coming of Kobashi vs. Misawa because, granted, it wasn't. However, if you're looking for the good stuff that XPW produced, this is definitely a match to check out. One of my very few complaints is that some of the offense Kaos was able to execute was kinda hard to buy because he did have a knee injury, but this IS wrestling, and I will admit he did sell the knee after performing most of the moves that required him to put weight on that limb. Plus, the execution on virtually everything in this match looked very good, especially Kaos' stuff. Kaos especially pulled out some stuff that I really didn't expect, such as the Spinebuster Bomb, the Corner Quebrada, and the Froggy Crossbody, and I must say that Juvi didn't look half bad, either. He really worked pretty hard in this match, and it paid off.

Scott Keith gave this match **1/2, which is higher than anything he's ever given to any XPW match (of course he's seen only two or three of their tapes, and most of those were very old, so take his opinion with a grain of salt). I think even that was short-changing the bout a bit. They really did some great stuff here and it flowed very well. Plus, they played off Kaos' knee injury and even incorporated the injury into the finish, which I really liked. The great near fall (via Kaos' inside cradle) toward in the latter minutes came out of nowhere and I thought that it really added some good drama to the match. So, if you want to see what XPW is capable of when they have their act together, this is definitely recommended. Although it probably won't blow you away, if you can get past some hard-to-believe offense when a guy has a knee injury, this should be pretty enjoyable. I'll go with **3/4, but I could also understand someone rating it ***.

XPW Halloween Ian Hell 2 (a.k.a. Blown To Hell)
October 13, 2001
Pico Rivera Sports Arena
Pico Rivera, CA

- Juventud Guerrera vs. Psychosis

PRE-MATCH: Juvi cuts a pre-match promo, saying that tonight, the fans are "gonna' see two of the best wrestlers in the world," and then mentions to Rob Black that La Familia (the face stable that Juvi and Psichosis were a part of in XPW) "is not for life, it's not forever, it's for real, and we gonna' kick your (Rob Black's) ass." OK...With that, Juvi hands the referee the mic, who in turn hands it to somebody at ringside (who's out of the camera range). Juvi and Psychosis now square off, as the bell rings.

MATCH: The match takes a few minutes to really get underway, as first they shake hands, then they slap each other, and after some trash talking, they start to wrestle. Juvi scores early with a drop toehold and tthen applies a sleeper hold, which he transitions into a grounded armbar and eventually a Gannosuke Clutch-like pin (à la former-FMW'er Mr. Gannosuke) for 2. Juvi fights out of a front chancery and delivers a gut kick, but Psychosis refuses to let Juvi suplex him, and instead executes an armringer followed by a back leg trip, sending Juvi down to the mat. Psychosis locks on an anklelock, but Juvi eventually catapults himself up onto one foot and escapes via an enziguri kick. Psychosis rolls out to take a breather and eventually re-enters, at which point they square off a second time.

The two grapple via a Greco-Roman knuckle lockup and fight for control a bit before breaking the hold. At that point, Juvi tries to whip Psychosis into the ropes, but he holds on, counters with an armringer, ducks Juvi's lariat, and plants 'The Juice' with a cool Jumping Sitout Inverted Face Slam (Edge's Edge-O-Matic). After an exchange of pinfall attempts, they square off again. Before they can lock up, Psychosis surprises Juvi with some strikes, and then delivers a running swinging neckbreaker off of the ropes. Juvi is whipped into the rope, but he baseball slides under and through Psychosis' feet. Each guy executes a corkscrew pickup, but their opponent flips out and lands on their feet each time. Each performer ducks their opponent's lariats, too, and the very solid roperun sequence finally ends with Juvi delivering a spinning heelkick, which Psychosis sells well. To follow that up, Juvi runs off of the ropes and hits a sweet Tilt-a-Whirl Swinging (actually there wasn't much of a swing to it) DDT in a very well-executed spot.

A running snap leg drop off of the ropes gets a 2 count for Juvi, who then proceeds to roll out to ringside and signal for a fan to throw him a steel chair. Several do, causing some security to come over and point out some fans and say some stuff to them. Juvi picks one chair up, holds it up for the crowd to see, and climbs back into the ring, where Psychosis is still lying down on the mat. As the fans boo him, Juvi waits until Psychosis is sitting up on both knees to bash the chair over his head. Psychosis goes down as Juvi, the fans, and I watch a fan run away from a security member, prompting the official to chase after him until they're out of camera range. I know for a fact that the guy was not arrrested or anything, but it was a funny sight, nonetheless.

Anyway, back in the ring, they do a very nicely done Irish whip reversal exchange, with each guy refusing to go anywhere and continually countering the other's attempted Irish whip. It culminates with Psychosis delivering a Sitout Front Vertical Suplex (Juvi lands in an X-Factor) for 2. Several moments later, Juvi sidesteps an incoming Psychosis and drop toeholds him face-first into a steel chair that's mounted in between the turnbuckles. Juvi follows this by climbing up top and executing a sweet-looking Diving Huracanrana for another 2 count. Juvi grabs another chair and drops it into the middle of the ring before lifting up Psychosis and trying an Irish whip. Psychosis reverses it, though, and sends Juvi into the ropes. Juvi tries a sunset flip, but Psychosis stays on his feet and instead grabs the chair and bashes it down over the forehead of Juvi for 2.

Psychosis gets up and sets up in the middle of the ring the chair, which he flapjacks Juvi face-first onto. A small, "Holy Sh*t!" chant begins as Psychosis gets up, unfolds the chair, and sets it down in the middle of the ring. He signals that it's the end for Juvi before lifting his foe back up. He lifts him up high with a vertical suplex (probably looking for a Brainbuster), but Juvi drops back down (in front of his foe) and plants Psychosis on the chair with The Juvi Driver for the pinfall win!

- After the match, the two appear to make up and Juvi cuts a promo, saying that "This match was very emotional for me" and that it therefore "doesn't matter who win(s) the match - Psychosis or myself. (to fans) You know who win(s) the match, for real? [points out to crowd] All you people. You people." With that, Juvi tosses the mic out of the ring and helps Psychosis back up, but Psychosis wants no help, sparking some boos from the crowd. The two have some words for a few seconds, and each Psychosis then reluctantly reaches his hand out. Juvi does the same, and the two shake hands before Juvi raises Psychosis' hand briefly, as an "X-P-Dub!" chant begins. After Psychosis argues with the ref, he heads backstage, but Juvi catches up with him and they leave the ring area together.

MATCH ANALYSIS: This was definitely not like any of the AAA or WCW classics between these two, but it was still a pretty solid match, especially considering that this is XPW. These two have done far, far better, though. I think both men turned it up a notch due to the fact that they were going up against eachother. This was far more mat-based than aerial-based, like most of their amazing classics. They began with an acceptable (although not great) technical exchange, and it slowly picked up as the pace quickened. The whole sequence with the trading of corkscrew pickups, ending with Juvi's spinning heelkick, was done nicely, as was the tilt-a-whil swinging DDT, the corner reversals sequence, the sitout vertical suplex, and the diving 'rana. I would've liked to see the finish with The Juvi Driver be a little bit more unpredicable, and have them built up to it more. While this was a fine match overall, considering that the two were mega Lucha Libre rivals who had a historic feud, this was a big disappointment. I would have little problem with it if it weren't between Juvi and Psychosis, but since it was, and they're both mega rivals, this was far below their usual level. Decent stuff.*1/4

XPW Retribution
November 24, 2001
Grand Olympic Auditorium
Los Angeles, CA

- 2-on-1 Handicap Match: Juventud Guerrera vs. Kraq & "The Hardcore Homo" Angel

PRE-MATCH: Juvi's in the ring and rambles on the mic for a few moments before the manager of Nosawa, Paul T. (which stands for Takanaga), comes out. Paul T. says to the fans, "Alright, shut the f*ck up...Which one of you motherf[bleep] called me a [extended bleep]? Oh, ya? Oh, ya? That ain't what your mom said last night when I [extended bleep] face down! Shut the f*ck up! That's right - last night your mom was all over the [extended bleep]" Paul T. says that Nosawa was scheduled to be Juvi's opponent in this match, which would've been a dream bout, in my opinion, but unfortunately Nosawa was injured in an FMW death match in Japan the night before.

According to Paul T., he "had his head all f[bleep]ed up...looked like the f[bleep]g Taliban with his bandages on...wouldn't let him in the f[bleep]n' airplane," so "Mr. Arena Mexico" (T.'s name for Juvi) is going to have to settle for two other members of the Black Army: Kraq & Angel, who are supposed to be a gay male couple. Angel's actually a damn good wrestler now and is a regular in Revolution Pro and LXW, and back then was pretty decent, too. Kraq, though...Kraq sucks as a wrestler...but hey, I guess I'll have to hope Juvi and Angel can carry him to a decent match, right?

After being called a "Rico Suave motherf*cker," Juvi attacks Paul T. and beats him down a bit before tossing him out of the ring, at which point Kraq and Angel run down to the ring and attack "The Juice," thereby starting the match.

MATCH: After beating Juvi down in the corner, Kraq and Angel double whip him into the ropes and give him a double smack on the ass as he nears...oh, boy...this isn't gonna be fun...Juvi fights back by slapping both guys on their own asses and then knocking them out to ringside with a double dropkick. A baseball slide knocks both guys down and a Pescado takes each out again. Juvi brings Kraq back into the ring and pancakes him into the ringpost with a running lariat, and then follows with some chops, but Kraq fights back with a hangman's neckbreaker, only to purposefully pull Juvi up at a 2 count.

After an Irish whip reversal, Juvi ducks a lazy lariat and hits a nice spinning heelkick, sending Kraq out of the ring. Angel now re-enters and attacks Juvi. They trade waistlocks before Kraq gets back on the apron and grabs Juvi, holding him for Angel. Juvi catches the incoming Angel with a big boot, though, and then stunners Kraq onto the ring rope, sending him bouncing back out to ringside. Angel surprises Juvi from behind with a schoolboy rollup for 2, but Juvi escapes what looks to be an attempt at an over-the-shoulder powerslam and executes an Inverted Suplex on Angel! WOW, I haven't seen that move in ages...Juvi tries for the Juvi Driver, but Angel drops out and applies a waistlock, which Juvi eventually escapes with a low blow kick. He follows with a Uranage and then a Powerbomb, both of which were nicely done, but the pinfall attempt is broken up by a re-entering Kraq.

Some sexual innuendo finds it's way into the match before Kraq ducks a Juvi lariat and lazily tosses "The Juice" out of the ring. He re-enters and knocks Kraq down from behind with a Springboard Dropkick, and then hits the Juvi Driver on Angel, but Kraq breaks up the pin and reverses it so that Angel gets what was really like a 2 count. However, the referee, Felony (real name: Danny Morales, and he's actually like a seven-year veteran of the sport, having debuted in 1994 for the Slammers Wrestling Federation, the same company Angel debuted for), fast counts and in doing so, not only screw Juvi out of the win, but signals that he's joining The Black Army, XPW's premiere heel stable at the time, of which Kraq and Angel were also both a part ofnto be a 2 count.

WINNERS: Kraq and Angel via screwjob pinfall

After the match, a pissed off Juvi delivers two more Juvi Drivers onto Angel before we cut out.

MATCH ANALYSIS: Well, the good news: Kraq got in virtually no offense and it was mainly kept to Juvi vs. Angel. The bad news: the match still was pretty bad. I'll admit - the uranage, powerbomb, and especially the inverted suplex were all nice touches, but not even they could really save this match. It was good comedy, and featured some *decent* exchanges, but man, it still was pretty blah...They didn't botch any spots, really; it was just that they didn't do too much. The three Juvi Drivers were also welcomed additions and looked pretty cool, but the match was still lackluster. *.

"The sky above and the dressing room have a lot in common. There's a lot of stars in the sky. There's a lot of big stars in the sky and there's a lot of big stars in the dressing room. There's a lot of shooting stars in the sky and there's a lot of shooting wrestlers in the dressing room...not to mention, the brightest star in the sky is the Sun, and my man, Steve Rizzono - 'The Giggolo'- is my son, to me and I wanna introduce him right now...the one and only future heavyweight champion of XPW, 'The Giggolo' Steve Rizzono!"- "Playboy" Buddy Rose, XPW Payback's A Bitch