Post by Pike on Apr 27, 2004 23:01:02 GMT -5
I had been watching a juniors tape (which has a mindbblowing toryumon match on it) but once i got back from JAPDUB i decided to watch this first while the fed was fresh in my mind...
I don't own too many current indy tapes... Most indy stuff i've seen has basically handheld cameras and maybe some dubbed-in announcing. This tape was very, very nice looking in comparison. Lots of video packages, interviews held in front of bluescreens, all sorts of cool stuff. Some of the video packages get a little much with the talking in slow motion - then backwards - then forwards - but it's easy enough to fast forward through it...
The announcing was.. well... IMO announcing in wrestling sucks. I'd just as soon not even have an announcer so I can hear the crowd reactions better. But these guys weren't too bad, although the 'balls' jokes during the balls mahoney match were just beyond lame. I was actually pining for tazz to pop in and proclaim this a ROCKETBUSTAH and for michael cole to call Balls "THE SICK, SADISTIC MAHONEY!"
Sonjay Dutt vs Roderick Strong: Sonjay's offense is absolutely insane, and Roderick makes a great "base". This was probably the match of the night. Roderick has a whole bunch of moves where he drops a guy on his knee, and they all look brutal! Great match!
Throughout the show they built toward the main event - a match for the heavyweight title between Monsta Mack and Danny Maff. They were formerly Da Hit Squad, and apparently have been in JAPW for 6 years and held the tag titles 6 times. Between matches other japw wrestlers are interviewed and asked what their favorite Hit Squad moment was, and for the most part the wrestlers answered 'out of character'. It was very refreshing, I wish there was a wrestling company whose wrestlers always seemed like they weren't playing a character.
JAPW Tag Title - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels vs Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter
Scoundrels are just kind of regular dudes who try real hard to be wrestlers. I love the concept of an intergender tag team. Hunter seems very tentative in the ring but took some great-looking bumps. The Scoundrelzzz didn't hold back and she took a beating just like any man, awesome to see. Slyk was ok. Match was OK.
Rush Margera & Corvis Fear vs The Outcast Killaz
Match wasn't so good, but the Killaz cut a promo before the match, and wow.... One member is a hispanic guy, a little flabby, unremarkable fella. But his partner is this tall guy who cuts an AWESOME promo. The hispanic guy knew it to, so he just handed off the mic and STOOD BACK because this guy was ON FIRE! They're kind of doing a gangsta gimmick, and I think that tall guy is a star. If he starts to bulk up (he's lean) with muscle Vinnie Mac will sign him I'd wager.
Balls Mahoney vs The Solution
man this was hell. It's a handicap match so I already don't care. It's also got Balls in it who I find very boring. And the solution, who i also am bored by. Boring match, nice table spot in this one though. Would be fun to watch the highlight video of the match, but watching the whole thing is probably a bad idea.
JAPW Light Heavyweight title - Azrieal (c) vs Jay Lethal vs Jack Evans vs Insane Dragon
I'm sorry but if you call yourself INSANE DRAGON don't show up looking like a 15 year old kid from the bronx in a tank top and jeans. Get a MASK or FACEPAINT or at least act insane - or have a dragon on your shirt! Jeezus some people just don't try at all. Very, very fun spotfest. Jack Evans is a tremendous athlete, he actually does a backflip from a standing position and lands on his feet.. Lethal was decent in this, and had the best move of the night - he sets up for a double-arm DDT (double underhook) then lifts the guy into a vertical suplex-like position and DROPS HIM HEADFIRST! SICK!!!
Kaos vs Justice Pain
Should have been a 'snuff film on a pole' match. This match got slammed by the japw fans... Kaos kept bailing out of the ring for like 6 minutes. Then Pain would try to get something going but Kaos would be sluggish - i think he was drunk or something, or he had something on his mind... Bad Match.
Homicide vs Teddy Hart
Teddy was different in this one - he played a straight heel and yelled swears at the fans and stuff. Announcers played this up as part of the CM Punk incident and the Teddy/ROH situation. Teddy was doing his 'my knee is injured' thing. Homicide absolutely pounded the piss out of Ted from start to finish. Piledriver on the bleacher steps, suplex onto a guardrail, broke a crutch over his leg - looked stiff, very brutal. OK match. no story or anything. Just Homicide doling out a beating. Crowd was way into it though.
Jerry Lynn vs Chris Daniels
Oof, these guys worked a good 20 minutes but it never really got good. They did a lengthy submission sequence which the crowd didn't give a crap about, then traded moves that looked bland in comparison to the crazy crap from the light heavy, sonjay and homicide matches. This match looked kind of dated. It was solid but when the big moves are just Daniels' moonsaults, well it doesn't really do much for me. Jerry didn't even do his patented leg drop on the apron spot! A disappointment.
JAP heavyweight title match - Monsta Mack vs Danny Maff
Uhh...
I watched it for a minute, Mack got NO REACTIOn for his entrance, and i didn't care about this match at all.. so i watched it for a minute then turned it off. I don't care about this one so f*ck it!
OK tape. Sonjay vs Strong is a really good match, the light heavy was fun, too.
Better than most TNAs (not sure if that's saying much though)
I don't own too many current indy tapes... Most indy stuff i've seen has basically handheld cameras and maybe some dubbed-in announcing. This tape was very, very nice looking in comparison. Lots of video packages, interviews held in front of bluescreens, all sorts of cool stuff. Some of the video packages get a little much with the talking in slow motion - then backwards - then forwards - but it's easy enough to fast forward through it...
The announcing was.. well... IMO announcing in wrestling sucks. I'd just as soon not even have an announcer so I can hear the crowd reactions better. But these guys weren't too bad, although the 'balls' jokes during the balls mahoney match were just beyond lame. I was actually pining for tazz to pop in and proclaim this a ROCKETBUSTAH and for michael cole to call Balls "THE SICK, SADISTIC MAHONEY!"
Sonjay Dutt vs Roderick Strong: Sonjay's offense is absolutely insane, and Roderick makes a great "base". This was probably the match of the night. Roderick has a whole bunch of moves where he drops a guy on his knee, and they all look brutal! Great match!
Throughout the show they built toward the main event - a match for the heavyweight title between Monsta Mack and Danny Maff. They were formerly Da Hit Squad, and apparently have been in JAPW for 6 years and held the tag titles 6 times. Between matches other japw wrestlers are interviewed and asked what their favorite Hit Squad moment was, and for the most part the wrestlers answered 'out of character'. It was very refreshing, I wish there was a wrestling company whose wrestlers always seemed like they weren't playing a character.
JAPW Tag Title - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels vs Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter
Scoundrels are just kind of regular dudes who try real hard to be wrestlers. I love the concept of an intergender tag team. Hunter seems very tentative in the ring but took some great-looking bumps. The Scoundrelzzz didn't hold back and she took a beating just like any man, awesome to see. Slyk was ok. Match was OK.
Rush Margera & Corvis Fear vs The Outcast Killaz
Match wasn't so good, but the Killaz cut a promo before the match, and wow.... One member is a hispanic guy, a little flabby, unremarkable fella. But his partner is this tall guy who cuts an AWESOME promo. The hispanic guy knew it to, so he just handed off the mic and STOOD BACK because this guy was ON FIRE! They're kind of doing a gangsta gimmick, and I think that tall guy is a star. If he starts to bulk up (he's lean) with muscle Vinnie Mac will sign him I'd wager.
Balls Mahoney vs The Solution
man this was hell. It's a handicap match so I already don't care. It's also got Balls in it who I find very boring. And the solution, who i also am bored by. Boring match, nice table spot in this one though. Would be fun to watch the highlight video of the match, but watching the whole thing is probably a bad idea.
JAPW Light Heavyweight title - Azrieal (c) vs Jay Lethal vs Jack Evans vs Insane Dragon
I'm sorry but if you call yourself INSANE DRAGON don't show up looking like a 15 year old kid from the bronx in a tank top and jeans. Get a MASK or FACEPAINT or at least act insane - or have a dragon on your shirt! Jeezus some people just don't try at all. Very, very fun spotfest. Jack Evans is a tremendous athlete, he actually does a backflip from a standing position and lands on his feet.. Lethal was decent in this, and had the best move of the night - he sets up for a double-arm DDT (double underhook) then lifts the guy into a vertical suplex-like position and DROPS HIM HEADFIRST! SICK!!!
Kaos vs Justice Pain
Should have been a 'snuff film on a pole' match. This match got slammed by the japw fans... Kaos kept bailing out of the ring for like 6 minutes. Then Pain would try to get something going but Kaos would be sluggish - i think he was drunk or something, or he had something on his mind... Bad Match.
Homicide vs Teddy Hart
Teddy was different in this one - he played a straight heel and yelled swears at the fans and stuff. Announcers played this up as part of the CM Punk incident and the Teddy/ROH situation. Teddy was doing his 'my knee is injured' thing. Homicide absolutely pounded the piss out of Ted from start to finish. Piledriver on the bleacher steps, suplex onto a guardrail, broke a crutch over his leg - looked stiff, very brutal. OK match. no story or anything. Just Homicide doling out a beating. Crowd was way into it though.
Jerry Lynn vs Chris Daniels
Oof, these guys worked a good 20 minutes but it never really got good. They did a lengthy submission sequence which the crowd didn't give a crap about, then traded moves that looked bland in comparison to the crazy crap from the light heavy, sonjay and homicide matches. This match looked kind of dated. It was solid but when the big moves are just Daniels' moonsaults, well it doesn't really do much for me. Jerry didn't even do his patented leg drop on the apron spot! A disappointment.
JAP heavyweight title match - Monsta Mack vs Danny Maff
Uhh...
I watched it for a minute, Mack got NO REACTIOn for his entrance, and i didn't care about this match at all.. so i watched it for a minute then turned it off. I don't care about this one so f*ck it!OK tape. Sonjay vs Strong is a really good match, the light heavy was fun, too.
Better than most TNAs (not sure if that's saying much though)
