JAPW 12th Anniversary Show 1/23/10

In our ongoing attempt to bring back the album, bring back the full show, we are adding JAPW to the mix. I have been a JAPW fan for most of their 12 years, and really dug what they did in 2008.

Scotty Vortex v. DJ Hyde

This had the feel of one of those Rockin Rebel wrestling license matches you would be stuck watching in the early 2000’s. Hyde owns CZW, and has a better lariat then Redneck From Hell Matt Lariat, but he should still probably change his nickname. Vortex gets some stuff off, but mostly gets squashed, and this was pretty masturbatory.

Steve Corino v. Azreal

Solid match, but sort of pointless. On a show as stacked as the 12th Anniversary show, throwing on a random match with no buildup like this, has a real USA-Pro feel to it. Corino was rocking an awesome looking Mr. Wrestling 3 robe, and was laying it in. Azreal is perfectly solid, but a little flavorless, Corino did a nice job shticking it up and getting the crowd behind Azreal. They are running Corino v. Kingston in April, and I am excited about that, this felt like more of a reminder of Corino’s existence.

Devon Moore v. Archadia

Archadia seems to be working a Chuck Taylor/Kenny Omega “look at how wacky I am” gimmick. That is my least favorite wrestling gimmick, and Archadia is about as shitty as those two loads in the ring. I did like how Archadia used his wacky buddies to catch dives. The match ends with Chris Dickenson coming out and distracting Archadia and leading to him losing the NJ State title. Apparently this is youtube video based heat, so yeah fuck 2010 wrestling. Devon Moore is about the most New Jersey guy on earth so he really should be the New Jersey champion

Sami Callihan v. Corvis Fear

These are my two favorite up and coming indy guys, and they have the best possible EVOLVE match here. Lots of nifty spots, mixed in with punches and kicks in the face. Callihan has this really nasty double chop overhand shot which he lands a couple of times, and Fear has a nice left hook, I really love Fears leapfrog German suplex and grounded stroke and he breaks both out here, they also do some nasty stuff with ring aprons. Finish of the match was definitely their to set up the tag next show, and I would really like to see what these guys would do with more of a finish run.

B-Boy v. Bandido Jr.

This had it's moments, but ended up being not that great. Bandido Jr. came out looking really good, landing some cool highflying moves, including a rana into the ring apron, and a spinning DDT on the floor. The match went too long though, as they kicked out of a ton of stuff, only to finish with a really awkward spot with the title belt. They also had a bunch of weak looking strike exchanges, don't exchange elbows unless you are going to exchange them. Still Bandido Jr. seems to be improving, as there were parts of this where he looked like a pretty good wrestler.

Sabian v. Adam Cole v. Prince Mustafa Ali v. Egotistico Fantastico v. Human Tornado v. Myke Quest

This was the annual Best of Light heavyweights match, and was a big spotfest. They didn't have as many crazy spot guys in this as in the past, although there was some fun stuff. Really a superstar performance by Ali, who was bumping like a lunatic in this, almost Jerry Estradish in his willingness to fly over the top onto the floor. He was also really great at sneaking in fun cheap shots. I also liked Mike Quest here, although he seemed to be stretching the weight limit a bit. Egotistico Fantanstico got the win here, but he looked like the worst guy in the match, he had a nice armdrag sequence with Cole, but other places he looked awkward, his comedy spots fell flat and the finish looked blown. Being the second best guy doing a racist fake Mexican gimmick on the indies is a rough spot to be in.

Southside Players Club v. Osirian Portal

Southside Players Club have a truly stupendous entrance with Johnny D, multiple champaign bottles and a half a dozen strippers with portable stripper poles. Johnny D is just amazing as Jersey scumbag at a strip club. Match itself had the Osirian Portal in it, so it pretty much stunk. I did dig the post match brawl between Annie Social and Mia Yam. The JAPW Women's division running a sex workers feud between Korean fake tittied stripper and Suicide Girl pinup model feels like it is tapping into some sort of zeitgeist.

Ruckus v. Drake Younger

This was for the CZW title and was plum awful. Started with some slow motion chain wrestling and the suck continued throughout. Ruckus blew a couple of spot egregiously, and the forearm exchanges were down right loving. I am assuming they are going to do a promotion v. promotion feud, so maybe sucking this bad was an attempt to get heel heat on CZW. Mission accomplished.

Teddy Hart/Jack Evans v. Briscoe Brothers

I really haven't watched much ROH or PWG lately so I am not burned out on US Junior's Differ Cup tag wrestling. So every once in a while this is a fun thing to watch. One thing to like about the Briscoes is that their stuff always looks like it hurts, and the thumping they lay on Jack Evans was pretty nasty. Jack looked damn good here, he took a big time beating and had some pretty cool looking moves, including a backflip double stomp. Teddy was Teddy, lots of moonsaults and clutching of bodyparts, They had a weird run in by some big dude Teddy brought with him, which kind of ground the match to a halt, but I did dig Jack's crazy backslide finish. Long rambling Teddy promo gets politely interrupted by Eddie Kingston leading to.

Eddie Kingston v. Dan Maff

This was probably the match on this show I anticipated the most, and large parts of it were really good. Just a pair of big hard hitting dudes pounding on each other. Kingston looked really great, as he is one of the best in the world at portraying emotion through brawling, I loved the point where he exhaustedly flipped off Maff after eating a nasty run of elbows and knees. Maff looked a bit rough in the early part of his comeback to wrestling, but he seems to have worked his way back into shape, and he looked good here, matching Kingston blow for blow and getting super distance on a tope. I didn't love the finish, pulling Maff up at two fits Kingston's character, but I did think Danny came back a bit quick, and probably should have hit the burning hammer rather then the Kobashi plex. This match was really hurt by the ridiculous length of the show, you cut four of the matches off this show, make this the main event, and these guys would have had way more heat, and they would have gotten to stretch the match a bit. I get the sense they have a great match in them, this was just a good one though.

Homicide v. Masato Tanaka

Another match hurt by the mega long show, as the crowd was sort of dead for a match you would expect them to have a big reaction to. They probably should have just gone all out and had a crazy brawl, as this had both guys trying to work a big puro heavyweight match, but then using chairs and having run ins. If you are going to book a finish with multiple ref bumps, Madison Rayne eating a brainbuster, and Corino horseshit, then dispense with all of the fighting spirit and figure fours and go balls out from the start. I wanted forks, fireballs and blood. Despite that there was a lot to like in this match, Tanaka was brutalizing him with elbows, and I loved Homicide's knee selling (apparently he has a bullet in his kneecap, which if that was announcer horseshit, is awesome announcer horseshit.) Another good but not great match, which has kind of been the story of the show so far.

Heavy Hitters v. Hillbilly Wrecking Crew v. H8 Club

This is what JAPW does best, these completely out of control 21st century Moondogs matches. I loved this, completely insane brawl with tons of wreckless hurling of chairs and garbage cans, and all six guys taking nasty bumps and huge beatings. Lots of great little moments of brutality, Necro gets slammed sternum first into the side of the bleachers, Monsta topes face first into a chunk of a door, Nate Hatred gets chucked all the way down some bleachers, Nick Gage gets thrown through a guardrail. It wasn't a match with set up spots, it felt totally chaotic and off the cuff. Necro was so great here, JAPW is where he is at his best, and he was just out of control, landing awkwardly, getting hit with chairs and tables. There was this great moment where he grabbed a camera, and started punching and chopping the shit out of Nate Hatred while filming. A lot of times these matches don't have great endings, but this one really did. Necro hits a somersault plancha on the H8 club, leaving Brodie and the Heavy Hitters in the ring. Havok crushes Brodie with a spear through the door, and Monsta hits a Super Porky level superfly splash for the big win. We then get a Briscoes run in, with Homicide coming out to clear out the HWC, (while poor Ref Hanson is being decimated by the H8 Club). Really cool moment with the JAPW originals celebrating in the ring.

This was really a show which showcased the negatives and positives of JAPW. The show was way too long, with way too many matches, you had goofy overbooking (why was Madison Rayne with Homicide? Chris Dickinson v. Archadia twitter feud?) and stuff set up but not followed through on (still haven't seen them book Kingston/B-Boy v. Maff/Younger or Dickenson v. Archadia.) Although you did have great performances by underrepresented talent (Monsta Mack, Prince Mustafa Ali, Corvis Fear) some really solid matches, plus they closed out with a hell of fucking brawl, and I am pretty amped for a Heavy Hitters title reign and more 2010 JAPW