[2000-01-17-WCW-Nitro] Billy Kidman vs Psicosis

[soup23]

I may feel really guilty for saying this but I enjoyed this more than Kawada vs. Kobashi. Far too often, Nitro didn't open with hot cruiser action which goes against the narrative you hear. I think the reason that prevailing opinion exists in when matches like this do happen, they resonate. This didn't have an intricate storyline or deep development surrounding it but was Kidman and Psicosis going out there for 6-7 minutes and having a fun ass match to rile up the crowd. It was really successful and Kidman still has been presented as essentially the ace of the cruisers for almost a year now. For everything that was happening that night involving the radicals, this was a good spot for WCW to put their best foot forward with exciting in ring action. ***

[Loss]

Psicosis is a total machine in this match. Just an outstanding performance from the guy, making Kidman look like a million bucks by building sympathy on him and taking his moves so well to make them look amazing. He does a great job building heat by interacting with the crowd and I watch this and think he and Juventud Guerrera really should have been the top heel tag team and could have been a massive heat magnet. Kidman does look good and does everything he should do here, but I was just sort of wowed by how seamless Psicosis was. He made it all look so easy. This match was basically booked to start Nitro as a way to say, "Hey, Vince Russo's gone, we have wrestling again!", but then they didn't have wrestling again after that really, so it didn't work. ***

[Grimmas]

I really enjoyed this as well, as Psicosis is king sized here and Kidman more than held his own. I actually fell for the nearfall off the top rope legdrop by Psicosis. I agree with the *** rating and it's sad they never did more with Psicosis.

[AstroBoy]

I am such a big Psicosis fan. He was criminally underappreciated in WCW and always popped up in fun matches when given the chance. And this was a really enjoyable TV sprint. Everything Psicosis did was so crisp and well executed but he took the time to play to the crowd just enough to make sure the match wasn't just in a heatless vacuum. Kidman was good here too but it was more of a Psicosis show for me. They got a good nearfall out of the leg drop and Psicosis took a nasty wheelbarrow suplex leading up to the finish. Easy thumbs up on this match.

[GSR]

Kidman with a tilt-a-whirl suplex and a big crossbody of the top for two. He whips Psicosis into the ropes but he holds on, Kidman charges, Psicosis ducks and he goes flying over the top rope to the floor. Psicosis quickly follows with a glorious suicide dive onto him. Leg lariat off the top and Kidman kicks out at two to a big reaction from the crowd. Psicosis whips Kidman into the guard rail then throws him back into the ring. He comes off the top with a plancha but is met by a nicely timed Kidman dropkick. Bulldog by Kidman for two and he sits Psicosis on the top turnbuckle ready for a Frankensteiner. Psicosis fights back and turns it into a facebuster for a near fall. Great wheelbarrow suplex from Kidman for another two and the crowd are totally into this. DDT by Psicosis followed by an awesome guillotine legdrop off the top that Kidman is just about able to kick out from. Psicosis with a powerbomb but Kidman reverses it into a facebuster for the win.

 

Really good match and these two did a great job in the way that they got the crowd into it. Listen to the reactions on the pinfall attempts, they’re absolutely invested and engrossed in what they’re watching here.

[AlmostNinjaLike]

Fun match, Psicosis is great as always, and Kidman pulled his weight.

[aethelred]

I don't think we should ignore the fact that Kidman pulled his weight here. It wasn't all Psicosis, great as he was. I agree that this feels like a bit of a pre-Russo reset opener, so it is a shame that the rest of the show was pretty bad.

[Stiva]

Two guys working super hard to have a good match here. Both men were good here but man, Psicosis is just a much more expressive and charismatic wrestler than Kidman and I agree that, in an ideal post-Russo WCW that swung back to good wrestling as a priority, he'd have been great working like this throughout the midcard/tag division. Sadly, things don't work out the way we all want them to. Except for Billy Kidman, who has a magic ability to make people attempt powerbombs, even if they never have before.

[Matt Franklin]

Both these guys had their working boots on to have a good match here. I thought Psicosis looked like a guy who was ready to break out in this opportune time when the Radicalz had just jumped ship, but we all know how this story ends. I am hoping there are a lot of little bright spits like this throughout 2000 in WCW, but Im not setting my expectations too high!

 

I thought the finish was a little anti-climactic, the facebuster counter was a transition move for years and now just gets the three count. Dont get me wrong, I actually really liked it and am a big proponent of having guys win with moves other rhan their finisher. I guess I have been conditioned to expect that matches end with the winner hitting their finish or a roll up in WWE and WCW and just wasnt expecting it. This is something that would be great to see more in 2017 WWE, to be honest!

 

***

[ohtani's jacket]

Tony really wants to talk about what happened at Souled Out but first he must concentrate on the match at hand He reminds himself of this two or three times so it must have been a mandate of sorts. Kidman and Psicosis always had good chemistry together so it wasn't a surprise that they could have a decent walkthrough here. I like the fact that WCW were trying to push Kidman as a rising star but the likes of Jim Ross and Michael Cole did a much better job building stars than the WCW crew. Not enough adjectives and superlatives here. Gotta have more adjectives and superlatives if you want to someone to be a star.