Break It Down: JAPW Wildcard 5

Along with my PWG reviews, I wanted to venture off and cover an indy promotion that hasn’t been reviewed on the site yet. I came across Jersey All Pro Wrestling. With some of the names I saw on the cards, I was surprised that I haven’t heard much about the promotion. I decided to start with their first show of 2009, excluding the women division show that came earlier in the month. I wasn’t sure what to expect but here’s what I came up with…

Wildcard 5 on January 24th, 2009.

Opening Match: Monsta Mac and Havok vs. Amasis and Ophidian
Ophidian uses his agility to frustrate Mac and Amasis comes off the top with an armdrag. Havok tags in but doesn’t find much success. The Osirian Portal try to charm Mac but Havok enters and hits a double german suplex. The Heavy Hitters take over on Ophidian. They military press the Osirian Portal into each other. Ophidian takes down Mac with flying knees and makes the tag. Mac blocks a springboard but Amasis comes back with a slingshot DDT. Ophidian lands a missile dropkick on Havok and the Osirian Portal hit stereo 450 splashes. They charm Mac and the trio start dancing as music plays over the loud speakers. Havok spears Amasis to the outside and Mac hits a top rope Greetings From Brooklyn (Steiner Screwdriver) for the win at 10:28. This was my first time seeing the Heavy Hitters and I came away impressed. They kept their offense interesting and worked well with their much smaller opponents. The Osirian Portal were solid here, making the comedy spot work. Pretty good opener and I’m looking forward to seeing more from the Heavy Hitters. **¾

Match #2: Don Juan vs. Sexxxy Eddy
Eddy has quite the entrance, utilizing a woman from the crowd. When she refuses to give him a kiss, Eddy gets a little pushy so Juan attacks before the bell. Juan hits some atomic drops and gives Eddy a wedgie. Eddy recovers with a lariat followed by a superkick. He takes over, hitting a nice split-legged moonsault. Eddy gets too cocky, allowing Juan to hit a “ball slam”. It’s along the lines of the “ballsplex” that Candice LeRae has done in PWG. Juan catches Eddy with a rollup for the victory at 6:27. Some people will like the comedy in this one and some won’t. Aside from a few impressive moves, there wasn’t much to this. *½

Kevin Steen and Archadia come out for their match. Archadia runs down Steen on the mic beforehand. As the match is about to get underway, Dan Maff interrupts and interjects himself into the contest. Eddie Kingston follows suit, leading to…

Match #3: Kevin Steen vs. Archadia vs. Dan Maff vs. Eddie Kingston
This match is to determine the #1 contender for the NJ State Title. Everyone trades control to start. Steen and Archadia start teaming up on Kingston. Maff breaks it up with a double clothesline. Kingston hits a corner yakuza kick on Archadia while Maff lands a cannonball in the corner on Steen. Maff and Kingston trade strikes. Steen tries to interfere but Maff hits a double german suplex on him and Kingston. Archadia lands a springboard dropkick on Maff but gets caught with a superkick and pumphandle neckbreaker from Steen. Maff blocks a moonsault and hits a burning hammer on Steen. Kingston and Archadia pull the referee out of the ring so Maff lands a dive to the outside on Archadia. This allows Kingston to return to the ring and cover Steen for the win at 6:44. Criminally short. When you have talent in there like Kingston and Steen, it should be understood that you give them time to work with. This was pretty good for the time given but there was no reason why this couldn’t have had seven to ten minutes added to it. I’ll give the booking at least some credit as they made the NJ State Title seem important here. **¼

Kingston and Maff stare each other down in the ring. Kingston flips him off and goes to the back.

Match #4: Homicide vs. Jay Briscoe
Homicide plays a video tribute to Low Ki before the match. Briscoe attacks during the tribute but backs off when Homicide grabs a chair. They brawl around ringside. Back in, Homicide utilizes a carnival sledgehammer and takes the action back to the floor. He crotches Briscoe on the guardrail and follows with a lariat. Briscoe finds an opening by back dropping Homicide onto a chair in the ring. Homicide answers with a DDT onto the chair but Briscoe responds by irish whipping him into the chair propped up in the corner. Briscoe flatlines Homicide in the corner and takes control. Homicide hits a tornado DDT followed by a tilt-a-whirl slam. Briscoe misses a plancha and Homicide responds with a rolling dive from the ring apron. In the ring, Briscoe hits a spinebuster but finds himself in a STF. He is able to make it to the ropes. They both connect with clotheslines and Homicide lands a second rope ace crusher along with a lariat for a two count. Homicide avoids a charge and hits the Cop Killa for the victory at 13:08. Pretty much the brawling match you would expect. This is one of those matches where there was nothing technically wrong with it, but you know both men are capable of putting together something a lot better. Solid for what it was but it just never went beyond that. **½

Match #5: JAPW NJ State Title: Bandido Jr. © vs. B-Boy
They give each other clean breaks in the corner. Bandido snaps off a hurricanrana but gets tagged with a forearm. Bandido lands a headscissors but B-Boy blocks a dive with an elbow. B-Boy hits a powerbomb into the ring apron and takes over with some nice offense back in the ring. Bandido catches him with an enzuigiri and lands a dive to the outside. He follows with a lungblower in the corner along with a tornado DDT. Bandido tries a slingshot move but B-Boy catches him with an ace crusher. B-Boy catches Bandido with a powerbomb off a flying hurricanrana attempt. He follows with a michinoku driver for a two count. Bandido answers with a swinging neckbreaker followed by a fisherman suplex. He connects with a superkick and a fisherman buster for a nearfall. B-Boy rolls through a crucifix and hits a death valley driver into the corner. He proceeds to stomp Bandido’s face in and connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. They trade control of a small package and Bandido gets the pin to retain his title at 11:02. Most of the match simply these two trading moves but it worked out nicely. Bandido made a solid first impression on me with his clean offense and ability to bump for B-Boy and take all of his stiff offense. They had some genuine nearfalls down the stretch and worked in a smart finish. B-Boy spent a lot of the match catching Bandido with his power moves but it was Bandido who ultimately caught B-Boy with a simple small package in the end. ***¼

Eddie Kingston attacks Bandido after the match. B-Boy gets in his face and Kingston backs off. Bandido goes after Kingston and they brawl to the back until getting pulled apart.

Match #6: JAPW Tag Team Titles: Dixie and Azriel © vs. Corvis Fear and Myke Quest vs. Bruce Maxwell and T.J. Cannon
The Best Around insert themselves into the match at the last minute. Azriel crotches Fear on the guardrail and Dixie lands a dive onto him. Back in the ring, Fear hits a nice atomic drop-sit out slam combination on Dixie. All three teams trade control until the Garden State Gods work over Maxwell. Maxwell lands an impressive springboard moonsault and makes the tag to Cannon, who springboards in with a double dropkick. Dixie hits a superplex on Cannon followed by a frog splash by Azriel. Fear lands a dive to the outside onto Maxwell and Dixie. Azriel follows with a dive and Quest adds a slingshot moonsault. Cannon lands one final dive. Back in, Fear hits a double death valley driver on Cannon and Dixie. Everyone starts hitting moves. Cannon lands a shooting star press on Quest. Dixie holds Quest in place for a flying double stomp from Azriel, allowing DNA to retain their titles at 10:24. Total spotfest that didn’t have much structure to it. I couldn’t fully get into the match but I have to admit that some of the moves performed were damn impressive. Another positive is that everything came off clean except for the finish which the camera mends by just not showing it. Some will like this more than me while others will loathe this. I fall in the middle. **½

Match #7: JAPW Light Heavyweight Title: Elimination: Flip Kendrick vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Prince Mustafa Ali vs. Amazing Red
The title is being re-introduced in this match, so there is no champion going into it. Ali and Lyndon have an exhausting exchange that ends with Lyndon laying Ali out with a karate chop. Red and Kendrick wrestle to a standoff but Ali interrupts. Kendrick back drops Ali to the outside but Lyndon blocks a dive with a spin kick. Kendrick and Lyndon battle until Red lands a double dropkick from the top. Red rolls over Lyndon’s back to catch Kendrick with a kick. He follows with some move…if I had to name it, I’d call it a wheelbarrow driver. Red plants Ali with a tornado DDT but gets caught with a kick from Kendrick. Ali hits a backbreaker on Red but gets thrown into the ringpost by Lyndon. Kendrick gets planted with a reverse hurricanrana from Lyndon. Ali catches Lyndon with a tornado DDT from the ring apron to the floor. Red hits a standing shooting star press on Lyndon in the ring to eliminate him. Red lands a corkscrew dive to the outside on Ali and Kendrick follows with a 540 to the floor. Back in, Kendrick misses a corkscrew but is able to block a Red Eye. He hits an overhead suplex for a close three and there was some obvious miscommunication there. Kendrick follows with a package neckbreaker to eliminate Red. Ali comes off as a smart man as he applies a sleeper hold on Kendrick but it’s broken when Ali is sent into the turnbuckles. They battle up top and Ali shoves Kendrick off. Ali follows with the Weapon of Mass Destruction to become the JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion at 14:16. This is an example of a spotfest that I was really into. The action never slowed down and they had a good flow going with some jaw-dropping moves. The match took a wrong turn towards the end with the botched elimination of Red but that is a somewhat minor complaint when talking about a match that featured constant action for almost fifteen minutes. If more of this is to come, I’m glad JAPW brought back the title. ***¼

Match #8: Hernandez vs. Necro Butcher
Necro attacks before the bell but gets taken down with a shoulder block. Necro takes the action into the crowd and up the bleachers. Hernandez hurls a garbage can at him but Necro answers with a chair slam. Hernandez hits a suplex onto a pile of chairs. Back in the ring, Hernandez hits a backbreaker that sends Necro to the outside. He follows with a leap over the top rope. Hernandez utilizes a chair back in the ring and props up a piece of wood in the corner. Necro catches him up top with a hurricanrana. Necro tries to suffocate him with a plastic bag but Hernandez fights him off. Hernandez props up a table between the ring apron and guardrail. They battle on the apron and Necro hits a bulldog on the table but instead of breaking, the table just slides off the guardrail. Hernandez hits a slingshot shoulder tackle and levels Necro with a chair shot. He follows with a Border Toss on Necro through the piece of wood propped in the corner for the win at 15:52. This was what you would expect from a Necro brawl made a little better because of Hernandez being a well-equipped brawler to match Necro. They managed to fill their sixteen minutes up nicely and the match never really dragged. It’s a shame that the bulldog through the table didn’t work out as it was one of their big spots and didn’t get the wow factor they wanted. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a huge fan of Necro brawls but I thought this was a decent one. **½

Necro attacks Hernandez after the match and Jay Briscoe comes out to help Necro. Homicide makes the save. Brodie Lee makes his JAPW debut and lays Homicide out with a boot. Necro gives Hernandez a death valley driver onto a chair. Briscoe gets on the mic and says that the power has shifted in JAPW. He names the stable the “Hillbilly Wrecking Crew” and says they are here to rid JAPW of scum. The HWC (Briscoe, Necro, and Lee) stand tall and then go to the back. Homicide tries to give the referee a Cop Killa out of frustration but the lucky guy escapes.

The 411: Wildcard 5 was a decent show that really could have turned into something more. The four-way had a ridiculous time constraint while Homicide/Briscoe and Necro/Hernandez didn't go beyond expectations. The show finds its quality in the smartly worked Kingston/Bandido match as well as the red hot light heavyweight spotfest. This was my introduction to JAPW. While they didn't blow me away with this first show, I will say that there is a lot of potential and I am curious to see what's to come in future shows. The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew can't be anything but awesome and they seem to be planting the seeds for a future Kingston/Maff encounter. Some of the regulars also impressed me such as the Heavy Hitters and Bandido. I can't give this show a recommendation because the quality just isn't there. However, the show was effective at making me care about the promotion and setting up future happenings and for that, it deserves some credit.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]