Jersey All-Pro Wrestling
"One and Not Done" - 05/21/05
National Guard Armory, Braintree, MA
by Joe Gagne
Jersey All-Pro Wrestling branched out of the Garden State to run their first show in the Northeast at the National Guard Armory on 5/21. The show was a mix of wrestlers we’ve seen in the area working ROH (Samoa Joe, Homicide, Jack Evans, and a bunch of ex-Special K guys), wrestlers who’ve never worked the area (Super Dragon, B-Boy, and Teddy Hart), several Canadian workers from the IWS promotion in Canada (Sexxxy Eddy, Beef Wellington, Excess 69, El Generico, and Kevin Steen), and a special appearance by Matt Hardy. The card, headlined by a three-way dance for the JAPW Title between Homicide, Samoa Joe, and Super Dragon, was a no-brainer for us (us being me and my buddies Johnny and Chris K). We truck out to Braintree in the rain to the same building that housed the ROH Second Anniversary show and Scramble Madness.
Crowd looked to be about 250 to me. Not sure if that’s good or bad. There was a girl in the row ahead of us dressed somewhat like Lita, which may have not been the best idea with Matt there.
The show started about 15 minutes late, which in indy terms means it basically started early. They play the National Anthem, but no ten-bell salute for Chris Candido. Weird. They taped three segments for the internet Worldwide show, which you can see on their website (japw.net) in a week or two.
Jay Lethal vs. Nino Capone: Lethal got a big pop, since he has wrestled in the area a bunch of times for ROH. This was a short but well put together match, with both guys looking crisp. Capone hit a running shooting star press, but Lethal kicked out at two and hit the release Dragon suplex for the win. Both guys did the indy respect handshake afterwards.
Announcer Mark Clemson interviewed Cherry Payne, who I guess is from the area. Honestly, the audio was so terrible here I could only make out about ten words that were said during the whole segment. Anyway, something Payne said brought out Donnie B and Alicia. Some stuff gets said and the usual catfight breaks out. Maybe this’ll make more sense on the TV show.
Samoa Joe vs. Eric Cooper: Joe was super over with the crowd. This was Eric Cooper, and not Ed Cooper as I originally wrote when I posted the results online. I guess that’s why he didn’t respond to our "Ed" chants. Joe proved he could hang with Mr. Cooper as he got the choke in relatively short order. B-Boy and Homicide attacked post match with a chair, but Jay Lethal made the save. Homicide’s Yankees cap fell off, so Joe and Jay blew snot on it. I felt bad for the security guy who then had to retrieve the hat.
They announced that Super Dragon wasn’t there due to travel issues. D’oh. Oh well, such is indy wrestling. The main event was then announced as just Homicide vs. Samoa Joe.
B-Boy vs. Sexxxy Eddy: Eddy, as you may have guessed from his name, has a stripper gimmick. He brought the girl who looked like Lita into the ring to tear his pants offs. She acted (or maybe really was) all grossed out. I knew Eddy wore tiny pants, but good God, these were the tiniest pants in human history. It made Norman Smiley’s shorts look baggy in comparison. Crowd was suitably repulsed, even chanting "put some clothes on." B-Boy controlled most of the match, beating the Viagra out of Eddy. Eddy makes a brief comeback but gets planted with a nasty DVD for a two count. B-Boy followed up with a cross arm piledriver, but that only gets two. What is this, the Wrestlemania main event? Finally the Shining Wizard seals the deal. Yes, a knee to the head > dropping a guy on his head. Match was OK, but a bit too long for an opener. B-Boy gave one fan a bunch of dirty looks for whatever reason.
Beef Wellington vs. Pinkie Sanchez: Pinkie came out to "Mickey" by Tony Basil mixed with another song. Beef, not to be outdone, entered to "Hanging Tough" by the New Kids on the Block. This was supposed to be Beef vs. E.C. Negro, but Negro suffered an injury at a Pro Wrestling Unplugged show, so we get Pinkie instead. Beef set up for the Ass Punch early, but Pinkie lunged at the ropes and crotched Beef on the top turnbuckle. Evil Attorney Rick Silver appeared at ringside at some point, coaching or scouting Pinkie. Decent amount of comedy in this one, but like the opener it went too long. Pinkie does have some great facial expressions. Funny spot as Beef was sent to the ropes and ducked a clothesline and a back elbow, and then they repeated the sequence five more times until both guys were blown up. Beef hit the Ass Punch and E-Coli Driver (Jay Driller) for the pin. An unsuspecting Rick Silver got an Ass Punch of his own post match.
Excess 69 [c] (w/Cherry Payne) vs. Eric Cooper [EWF Title Match]: Excess was listed as appearing but did not have a match announced, so I guess we will get some backstage promos to set this up on the DVD. The EWF would be the Elite Wrestling Federation, another fed out in Canada. They have the most ghetto title belt I’ve ever seen. Instead of metal plates, they appeared to just be some cardboard attached to a leather strap. I’ve seen backyard feds with more impressive belts. Anyway, match was ok but had little heat. Mr. Cooper apparently does not desire a long career, as he took a bodyslam and a backdrop on the concrete. Excess looks like he could be the lost member of La Resistance. Excess got the tap with a nasty Single Leg Boston Crab variation where Cooper’s heel was almost touching the back of his head.
Azreal [c] vs. El Generico [JAPW Light Heavyweight Title Match]: I thought if there were going to be a title change in any match, it would have been this one. Started out slow, but picked up very nicely at the end. Simple storyline as both guys kept going for their big move: Azreal’s Electric Chair Driver and Generico’s top turnbuckle brainbuster. After a bunch of reversals Azreal finally hits the Electric Chair Driver for the win in about 15 minutes. Not a lot to say about this one other than it was really good and probably the match of the night.
Intermission. Johnny actually purchased two Bumfights DVDs, saying they’re for his brother’s birthday tomorrow. I’m pretty sure buying a Bumfights DVD gets you a complimentary ticket right to Hell.
Next Generation Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart & Jack Evans) [c] vs. The H Effect (Insane Dragon & Dixie) [JAPW Tag Team Title Match]: Teddy was wearing his pink oven mitt pants. He was also one of the most over guys on the show. Big dive sequence early, with Dixie nearly landing in our section. I think Teddy also slammed his legs into the guardrail with an Asai Moonsult. Teddy and Jack also hit a Demolition Decapitation type of move, but with Jack doing a moonsault legdrop instead of an elbow. Jack got cut off and the H Effect beat on him for a while. Dixie and Dragon did a pretty good job as heels. Jack finally made the hot tag and Teddy hit a thousand wacky moves on Dixie and Dragon. The Hart Foundation went for a similar move to the one they hit earlier, but with Jack trying a somersault senton. Except he legitimately whiffed and hit Teddy instead. So Teddy hit a shooting star into a senton for the pin. Some crazy spots, but a good amount of botchery too.
"Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen vs. Jay Lethal: I like what I’ve seen some Steen, but he needs to get a tan or a different haircut or something, because he looks like a guy who works in a hardware store right now. They wrestle for about a minute before Homicide interrupts. He says since Samoa Joe is on his way to the hospital, he doesn’t have an opponent for the main event, so he’ll put his belt up in a three way. Then Samoa Joe runs out (shocking!) JAPW owner Fat Frank gets on the mic and says it’s a four-way dance, and whoever scores the first pinfall gets the belt. Mmmm…ECW-lishious.
Homicide [c] vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal vs. "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen [Four Way Dance for the JAPW World Heavyweight Championship]: Match started out like a tag match, with Lethal and Joe working against Homicide and Steen. Homicide took a beating for quite a while before tagging out to Steen. Lethal then got beat on for a while before knocking Steen to the floor and hitting a dive (I really don’t know why you would try and hit a move instead of tagging out), and Homicide and Joe followed with dives of their own. Finally Lethal tags out to Joe, who runs wild. The match broke down with Jay and Lethal even duking it out. Joe hit the Muscle Buster on Homicide, but Lethal broke up the pin with a diving headbutt. Steen tried to intervene but Lethal gave him a release dragon suplex so he lands on top of Homicide, then Lethal covers Homicide for the pin and the title. Huge pop for that. Afterwards Joe and Jay shake hands. A lot of JAPW fans are unhappy that the big title change didn’t take place in Jersey, which I understand, but I guess JAPW wanted to make a big splash in a new market and make up for Super Dragon not being there.
Matt Hardy then came out to his old Monster Magnet WWE theme (we joked he should come out to the Cars’ "My Best Friend’s Girl"). Fans chanted "You were screwed," and then "Lita’s a Ho," which Matt didn’t look too jazzed about. He did say he wasn’t going to cut a "boring, twenty minute promo like Triple H," and instead just thanked the fans for supporting indy wrestling. He also thanked us for supporting him during a tough time, and said when his no compete runs out he’ll make in impact in JAPW. He then said he’ll be taking photos and signing autographs, at which point we took off. I don’t think any angles happened afterwards.
Show was pretty good, and actually kept short at less than three hours, but it was not at the level of most ROH shows. They’re running Braintree again in October and I’m sure I’ll be there.