Post by Pike on Jun 13, 2004 12:25:56 GMT -5
VIOLENT PANDA Wrestling Review #48
By Peter Kent
Jersey All Pro Wrestling 6/12/04
Some baseball field in Trenton, New Jersey
Official Attendance 108
With visions of Ki vs Teddy obscuring my peripheral vision, I made the pilgrimage to the smelly, shabby and slightly rundown section of Trenton, New Jersey where this show would be held at. The ring was set up on a little league baseball field, and huge blue sheets of plastic surrounded the baseball diamond so no one could watch on the sidewalk for free (god that would be sad).
I flew solo, or have no friends, depending on how you look at it, but I met a few people at the show to sit with. There was a woman named Sharon who used to write for slashwrestling.net (RIP CRZ) who stunned me with her vast knowledge of all things wrestling. But she was not immune to the affliction du jour among female wrestling fans – An inappropriate level of interest in Trent Acid.
I have written in past reviews of my longing to KNOW MORE about two Tri-state SUPER-FANS: The guy who yells “GEEVE IT TO HEEEM!”, and the mythical one known as The Green Lantern Fan. Both were in attendance, and I got to meet them. Both nice guys. I summoned up the nerve to ask GLF why he always posts match times on message boards… He kind of evaded the question. I suppose he is right to forever cloak his true motivation in mystery. I accept that this is something I am not meant to know.
So the crowd was a bunch of kids around age 10, and then a smattering of snarky “smart” fans, myself included. The kids were a ton of fun.
Chino Martinez vs Kevin Matthews:
Matthews looked like a pro, with the shiny tights and the OIL on his torso that gives him that SUPERSTAR SHEEN! Matthews busted out a great-looking fisherman’s and hit a series of nasty moves, but Chino kept on kicking out and nailed an ok-looking impact DDT for the win.
Winner: Chino Martinez
April Hunter vs Ariel:
I am a fan of US women’s, and thus I wanted this to rule. Plus, after getting a look at Mickie Knuckles and Ms Chiff on the IWA MS tapes, my hopes have been renewed that we can one day have some sweet US joshi at our fingertips. April Hunter is tall, has red hair. I think she was in playboy or something a few years back? She is picture-perfect. She’s the only person I’ve ever seen in real-life that looks airbrushed. Ariel is shorter, and has long, straight black hair. Ariel was definitely on and impressed quite a few fans in attendance. She hit some stiff kicks, partook in no “exposing of the business” and busted out a HUGE 2nd rope fisherman’s for a nearfall. Crowd popped big for that. The finish came after April blew a roundhouse kick, which kind of took some of the steam out of her then hitting her finisher, a neckbreaker variation I believe called the Head Hunter. This was a decent-to-good match-up, and I think easily ranks with the best of the WWE’s women’s. I definitely want to see more of Ariel’s work.
Winner: April Hunter
Crazy Ivan & Rockin’ Rebel vs H20 (Corvis Fear & Rush Margera):
People say that Rebel “toned down” his racist gimmick for this show, but it still bothered me. Maybe that mean’s he’s doing his job well, but I hate this gimmick… because some fans cheer him for it! Do we really need to see that sorry display? Maybe I’m too PC or something. Anyway, I am not a fan of Rebel for a myriad of other reasons, including: A. His name is ROCKIN’ REBEL, WITH A “ ’ ”. B. His matches put me into a coma. The kids entertained themselves by tossing French fries at Rebel. Corvis and Rush won me over at the last JAPW show I went to, but this new gimmick is just a blatant Too Cool riff, and they don’t have anything fresh to do with it. No “worm”, no “Rikishi dancing in a thong”. I think they should either flesh out the gimmick more, or try something else. I don’t know if the “White flyboys” gimmick has any juice left. As for the match, Rebel got a pretty big reaction from the fans. Skinhead Ivan looked pretty awesome, he reminds me of Slash from TNA.
Winners: The Rebel’s’’’<br>
Alex Law vs Ricky Landell:
These are World-1 trainees. Low Ki was working out with them in the ring before the start of the show. These guys put on a pretty good match. Law spent the match dealing out great-looking kicks and punches, and Landell bumped his pants off. They look like they’ve gotten a lot better since I saw them at the 4/8 World-1 show. Or maybe they’re just more used to working with each other.
Winner: Alex Law
By Peter Kent
Jersey All Pro Wrestling 6/12/04
Some baseball field in Trenton, New Jersey
Official Attendance 108
With visions of Ki vs Teddy obscuring my peripheral vision, I made the pilgrimage to the smelly, shabby and slightly rundown section of Trenton, New Jersey where this show would be held at. The ring was set up on a little league baseball field, and huge blue sheets of plastic surrounded the baseball diamond so no one could watch on the sidewalk for free (god that would be sad).
I flew solo, or have no friends, depending on how you look at it, but I met a few people at the show to sit with. There was a woman named Sharon who used to write for slashwrestling.net (RIP CRZ) who stunned me with her vast knowledge of all things wrestling. But she was not immune to the affliction du jour among female wrestling fans – An inappropriate level of interest in Trent Acid.
I have written in past reviews of my longing to KNOW MORE about two Tri-state SUPER-FANS: The guy who yells “GEEVE IT TO HEEEM!”, and the mythical one known as The Green Lantern Fan. Both were in attendance, and I got to meet them. Both nice guys. I summoned up the nerve to ask GLF why he always posts match times on message boards… He kind of evaded the question. I suppose he is right to forever cloak his true motivation in mystery. I accept that this is something I am not meant to know.
So the crowd was a bunch of kids around age 10, and then a smattering of snarky “smart” fans, myself included. The kids were a ton of fun.
Chino Martinez vs Kevin Matthews:
Matthews looked like a pro, with the shiny tights and the OIL on his torso that gives him that SUPERSTAR SHEEN! Matthews busted out a great-looking fisherman’s and hit a series of nasty moves, but Chino kept on kicking out and nailed an ok-looking impact DDT for the win.
Winner: Chino Martinez
April Hunter vs Ariel:
I am a fan of US women’s, and thus I wanted this to rule. Plus, after getting a look at Mickie Knuckles and Ms Chiff on the IWA MS tapes, my hopes have been renewed that we can one day have some sweet US joshi at our fingertips. April Hunter is tall, has red hair. I think she was in playboy or something a few years back? She is picture-perfect. She’s the only person I’ve ever seen in real-life that looks airbrushed. Ariel is shorter, and has long, straight black hair. Ariel was definitely on and impressed quite a few fans in attendance. She hit some stiff kicks, partook in no “exposing of the business” and busted out a HUGE 2nd rope fisherman’s for a nearfall. Crowd popped big for that. The finish came after April blew a roundhouse kick, which kind of took some of the steam out of her then hitting her finisher, a neckbreaker variation I believe called the Head Hunter. This was a decent-to-good match-up, and I think easily ranks with the best of the WWE’s women’s. I definitely want to see more of Ariel’s work.
Winner: April Hunter
Crazy Ivan & Rockin’ Rebel vs H20 (Corvis Fear & Rush Margera):
People say that Rebel “toned down” his racist gimmick for this show, but it still bothered me. Maybe that mean’s he’s doing his job well, but I hate this gimmick… because some fans cheer him for it! Do we really need to see that sorry display? Maybe I’m too PC or something. Anyway, I am not a fan of Rebel for a myriad of other reasons, including: A. His name is ROCKIN’ REBEL, WITH A “ ’ ”. B. His matches put me into a coma. The kids entertained themselves by tossing French fries at Rebel. Corvis and Rush won me over at the last JAPW show I went to, but this new gimmick is just a blatant Too Cool riff, and they don’t have anything fresh to do with it. No “worm”, no “Rikishi dancing in a thong”. I think they should either flesh out the gimmick more, or try something else. I don’t know if the “White flyboys” gimmick has any juice left. As for the match, Rebel got a pretty big reaction from the fans. Skinhead Ivan looked pretty awesome, he reminds me of Slash from TNA.
Winners: The Rebel’s’’’<br>
Alex Law vs Ricky Landell:
These are World-1 trainees. Low Ki was working out with them in the ring before the start of the show. These guys put on a pretty good match. Law spent the match dealing out great-looking kicks and punches, and Landell bumped his pants off. They look like they’ve gotten a lot better since I saw them at the 4/8 World-1 show. Or maybe they’re just more used to working with each other.
Winner: Alex Law
