We start off with a lumberjack match from November 17th with Otto Schwanz vs Madd Maxx. Otto reminds us all that he is NOT a chicken before attacking Maxx from behind. He hides behind referee Vern Stephens, but Stephens counters it and then takes Schwanz down (!) before he retreats. Neat spot. Schwanz takes a hiptoss and slam before retreating to the floor to be comforted by fellow heels. Maxx pounds him from corner to corner a few times before Otto moves and then hits a side slam. Heel lumberjacks attack Maxx outside, but the faces make the save. Maxx gets a backslide for two but runs into a clothesline. Schwanz with a shoulderblock and hits the ropes, Maxx ducks down and nails a powerslam. Maxx goes for a top-rope elbow but misses. They trade punches and Maxx charges the corner but crotches himself. Schwanz misses a big splash and Maxx takes over, including a nice springboard back elbow. Jeff Justice nails Maxx in the back with a chair, knocking him right into a Swinging Schwanz (or Brain Scrambler if you prefer) for the pin. Kinda slow paced and pretty by the book, but not bad. **

The final of the FWA World Women's Title tournament is next with Alexis Laree coming in to take on Amber Holly. They trade punches and Amber eventually gets an armdrag and spear in. She charges the corner but Alexis ducks and then puts the boots to her. Alexis steps on Amber's hair and then pulls her up by her arms. I always liked that spot. Couple of snapmares by the hair follows, Amber gets a false comeback but Alexis again pulls her down by the hair. Back elbowsmash and a nice sideslam both get two counts. She goes for the side slam again but Amber counters with a satellite headscissors and dropkick to the back. Alexis takes the advantage again and chokes Amber against the middle rope, which she sells for several minutes by coughing and gagging, nice touch. Fisherman's suplex by Alexis gets two. Alexis goes to the middle turnbuckle but gets caught and flipped off. Amber goes up and gets a cross bodyblock for two. Alexis charges for a clothesline but Amber ducks, catches her and hits a northern lights bomb for the pin. Not too bad, Alexis did an okay job carrying the less-experienced Holly. *1/2 A jealous GeeStar confronts Holly after the match.

Los Latinos Locos are out next to defend their FWA Carolinas Tag Titles against the $outh$ide Playas in what would be the Playas last shot at the straps. The Playas enter to a re-mixed version of their theme, which (thankfully) didn't stay around for long. Kozmos attack but the Playas clear the ring and Ca$h hits an axe kick on Super Kozmo for two. He tags in Kozmo, who takes the springboard leg lariat and the flapjack quickly. J-Money tags in and gets a flying clothesline for two. Money charges into the corner but misses and begins taking the heat as the Latinos make frequent tags and bump Money around a bit. Money gets a hope spot with a cross body but gets quickly cut off. Suplex by Super Kozmo gets two and leads to another tag as Ca$h has a fit on the apron. Money escapes a double hiptoss and takes both Latinos down with single leg dropkicks before making the tag. Kozmos get rammed together and Kozmo takes the 3P but Super saves. Super goes for a pin with feet on the ropes but Vern sees it. Money reenters and Playas hit the tandem chokeslam on Super for the pin and the titles. **

Up next, Cruiserweight Champion Mikael Yamaha defends against brother Sexton Tyler with Gemini Kid as the special referee. The lock up and Gemini constantly warns against hair pulls although none are taking place. They exchange punches to Gemini's delight but then switch and nail him. Gemini warns against disqualification but lets the match continue. Sexton works on the arm with an armbar, hammerlock and legdrop across the arm. Yam gets a snapmare and dropkick to the back for a slow two count. Yam gets a sunset flip for an even slower one count. Sexton goes for a leaping leg lariat but Yamaha catches and nails a power bomb for another two. Crowd begins chanting "We want Vern" which angers Gemini further. Both men go for cross bodyblocks at the same time and go down. Sexton gets an inside cradle for a fast two count. Sexton gets a spinebuster bomb but is still down as Gemini begs him to cover. Crowd gets louder and is eating out of Gemini's hand. Sexton goes for another leg lariat, but Yam catches him and hits a Russian legsweep. Yamaha finally takes a swing at Gemini but he ducks and intentionally bumps Sexton into Amber, who was standing on the apron. Beautiful. Yamaha is pissed now and suplexes Sexton hard, but Gemini is jawing with the fans and out of position for the pin attempt. Yamaha nails a spinning legdrop but Gemini is out of position again and only gives him a one count. Yamaha nails a gorgeous top-rope cross body press, Sexton rolls through and gets two. Sexton pulls Yamaha down by the hair and gets a frog splash for two. Hooking clothesline from Yam gets two. Mikael holds Gemini while Amber climbs the middle turnbuckle but he escapes with a low blow and pulls Sexton into the way. Yamaha goes for a kick, Gemini catches the foot, Yamaha tries an enziguri, but Gemini ducks and he hits Amber. GeeStar begins fighting with Amber on the outside as Gemini DDTs Yamaha. Sexton gets a big northern lights suplex and goes for the pin but Gemini is watching the ladies. Sexton turns him around and they argue, Yamaha charges at both but ends up going over the top and sailing to the floor. Sexton pulls him back in, goes for a side slam, Yamaha flips, hits the Northern Lights Bomb, but Gemini nails him with the title belt. Gemini encourages Sexton to make the pin, but he won't do it, so Gemini nails him with the belt as well. With both men out, Gemini places Yamaha on top and counts the three count, insisting he is not through with either man by a longshot. Great psychology and quite good action as well. ***1/4

We now move on to December 29th and BattleCade '01, with Main Attraction and Caprice Coleman (with GeeStar in the corner) taking on Mikael Yamaha, Sexton Tyler and Amber Holly in a six person tag. Hot opening sequence sees the heels beat up Mike and Sexton, they battle back, hit stereo clotheslines knocking all three to the floor where they converse with GeeStar, then both hit dives from the top (plancha from Yamaha and a 360 from Sexton) taking down all four. Chris Steele starts with Sexton, fast exchange ends with an armdrag and dropkick from Sexton before double tags to Caprice and Yamaha. Caprice taunts Yamaha then ducks the collar-and-elbow and tags Scott Powers. Yamaha gets a quick cross body, Powers hits a suplex, but misses a splash. Tags back in to Steele and Tyler. Tyler with a leg lariat in the corner and a second off the ropes, but Steele ducks a clothesline and hits a springboard elbow. Powers throws his partner onto Sexton for a two count. Powers with a big tilt-a-whirl and then a tandem short-arm double clothesline with Caprice. Sexton fights out of the corner and tags Yamaha, who hits a dropkick and sunset flip on Powers for two. Yamaha eats a clothesline and Caprice tags in. Coleman nails some punches, suplex, and a legdrop before tagging Steele back in. Steele back heel kicks Yamaha in the face and gets a reverse chinlock. Steele gets a powerslam and tags Caprice back in, who gets two off a spinning heel kick to the back. Yamaha pulls a t-bone suplex out of nowhere and goes for an Irish whip but Caprice nails a spinebuster bomb. Caprice with a standing somersault senton and Asai moonsault for two. Running neckbreaker is countered, backslide is countered, and Yamaha gets a DDT. He tags Sexton and a pier six breaks out. GeeStar enters and splashes Yamaha in the corner but Amber spears her and she rolls to the floor. Scott Powers charges Yamaha but he side-steps and Powers runs into an top rope cross-body press from Amber for the three count. Great match, non-stop action. ***.

A facepaint-less Madd Maxx defends the FWA Carolinas Heavyweight Title against number one contender NiteStic Eddie Brown next. They trade collar-and-elbows before Brown takes the upperhand and gets two off a backdrop. Maxx with a couple of high leapfrogs off Irish whip counters before finally getting a hiptoss and Eddie powders. Maxx works the arm for a couple of minutes before NiteStic sneaks in a superkick. NiteStic hits the super delayed vertical suplex for two. NiteStic goes up top but misses the legdrop. Maxx goes up himself and gets awesome elevation on the top rope elbow but misses. Outside the ring, NiteStic clears the first row but then decides to simply throw Maxx back in the ring. Maxx baseball slides and then he throws NiteStic into the first row instead. Back in the ring, Maxx tries an elbowdrop but misses. Slam by NiteStic but he misses a top rope elbow himself. Maxx hits a springboard back elbow and a jackhammer but the ref gets bumped. Otto Schwanz runs in and nails Maxx with a twist of fate and standing senton, placing NiteStic on top just before the ref awakens and makes the three count to give NiteStic the win and the title. Good match, about what you'd expect from the two involved. **1/2.

We cut to Clayton, NC for the New Year's Knockout show and C.W. Anderson vs Dewey Cheatum baybee! They lock up, C.W. throws him off, Dewey pops up, drop toehold and a side headlock. Shoulderblock from C.W., satellite headscissors and armbar from Dewey, C.W. turns it into a dragon sleeper. C.W. nails a couple of big chops and a hard Irish whip into the corner. Dewey ducks the trademark left hand and gets an armdrag. Dewey rolls through a belly-to-back attempt, goes for an acid drop but eats a clothesline instead. Anderson yanks on the arm and then hits a chickenwing slam before going to an armbar. Dewey tries to roll through with a rollup, but Anderson won't let him, so he breaks free, ducks a clothesline and gets the rollup afterall for two. Anderson strikes again with the left hand before continuing to work over the arm outside the ring. Dewey goes for a tornado DDT, Anderson counters, Dewey gets a side Russian legsweep out of it though, followed by a dropkick, hiptoss gets blocked, floatover by Dewey, bodyscissors into a bulldog and a nearfall. Anderson hits the Ferris wheel suplex for two. Harsh chop from C.W., but Dewey bounces back with a swinging DDT. C.W. whips Dewey into the corner, he blocks it, jumps up, turns around and gets killed with the spinebuster for the pin. More great stuff from these two. ***

Another six person mixed tag follows with Amber, Mike and Sexton this time taking on NiteStic, Gemini and GeeStar. Faces overpower early and the heels powder until Amber comes off the apron, clotheslining all three. Yamaha then comes off the top onto all three and just as they recover, Sexton flies off the top with the 360 plancha, taking all three down once again. Gemini and Sexton start the actual match, with Gemini taking the early advantage with a shoulderblock. Sexton fires back with Japanese and traditional armdrags followed by a leg lariat that sends Gem to the floor. Yam tags in and works an armbar before NiteStic trips him up by the hair and tags himself in. Big clothesline from NiteStic sends Mike to the floor where Gemini and Gee put the boots to him. Back in, Yam sneaks in a sunset flip for two but eats a superkick from NiteStic who tags Gemini back in, who immediately attacks the knee, as he does tend to do. Gee gives him an assist until ref David Webb catches them and breaks it up. Eddie tags back in and kicks the leg out from under Mikael a few times. NiteStic hits the super delayed vertical suplex and goes for the pin but Amber saves. Mikael starts firing back but NiteStic pulls him back by the hair again. Eddie winds up something fierce and then drops an elbow for two. Gemini tags and goes back to the knee, with a kneebreaker followed immediately by a dragon screw and then follows that up with a figure four. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Gemini Kid? Yamaha reverses it, but Gemini is too close to the ropes so the hold is broken. He is quick to prevent Yamaha from tagging in Sexton too. Gemini with a snap suplex and he goes up top, but Yamaha slides out of the way and tags Sexton, but the ref was conveniently out of position and didn't see it. Gemini tags in GeeStar, and while referee David Webb didn't see that tag either, he takes the heels word for it. Kind of a logic gap there, but oh well. Gee charges Mike in the corner twice and covers but Amber saves. Irish whip and a GVD follows, but this time Sexton breaks the count. She tags Gemini back in. Gemini charges Mike in the corner, but eats a boot. He then oversells it to lure Yamaha into a false sense of security so that Yamaha walks right into a side Russian legsweep. Just beautiful, Gemini is my hero. Both men clothesline each other and Yam gets back up first, goes for la magistral, but Gem counters, small package from Yamaha gets two, with both men up they exchange double clotheslines again and make double tags to Sexton and NiteStic. Gee runs in but takes a spear from Amber as they roll to the floor, as do Sexton and NiteStic. Gemini is left in the ring with Yamaha and gets caught with a northern lights bomb for the three count. Good match made all the more enjoyable by Gemini's heel brilliance. **3/4

Final Analysis: The content on this tape comes from three shows, and there are promotions out there who could do a "Best of" tape with a whole year's worth of material and not have this much good stuff on there. Anything that has C.W. versus Dewey on it I am automatically going to enjoy, but this is an extremely solid tape overall. Highly recommended.