Written by: Sean McCaffrey from http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/index1.html
Prince Striker/Crazy Ivan w/Shiek d. Eddie Thomas/Corbin Fear w/Church
What a hot opener. For those who weren’t there, Striker is playing an Arab role. Striker is a funny guy, and has great versatility, as he plays numerous characters, albeit under the Striker name, all over the indies. It’s a testament to his character and even his wrestling ability, which I’m high on, that he can get this gimmick over. Ivan is Ivan, and always has the crowd in the palm of his hands. Eddie Thomas and Corbin Fear were teamed up, even though they didn’t want to be. They played that up very well. The finish saw, Church, Fear’s manager, lay out Eddie Thomas and those dirty Arabian knights got the win. Post match saw Fear spear Thomas on the hard wood floor. Really a good match and had the crowd into it big time. I am a fan of all 4 of these guys individually, and they all clicked well together tonight.
For the JAPW Lightheavyweight Championship Rain d. Kruel
Great solid match. PAW Match. The only thing negative about this match, was the bald, high pitch, spice girl pant wearing ref (who was struggling to keep his shirt tucked in all night) , who gets jokes by the way. (For those not in the know.) Oh no, my writing is imitating the ref’s performance. I’m getting heat on myself, instead of the wrestlers. Let’s go back to Kruel vs Rain. Rain is a guy who I haven’t seen much outside of JAP, and I don’t know why. Rain is a great wrestler, and had probably the best match of his career with Kruel. I don’t know how Kruel is a light-weight, as I’ve seen him contend for many Heavyweight titles, but this was not a factor. Great solid footwork and wrestling by all men, and we’re 2/2 in great matches by JAPW and wrestlers.
Women Match April Hunter d. Nikki Roxx
Maybe the best womens match in a long time, WWE or elsewhere. Definitely the best womens match I have ever seen in the indy scene. It’s a testament to April Hunter, to get womens wrestling over, with an opponent who isn’t known as well. She is now though! For those who don’t know April, she’s a pretty woman with “big puppies” and the fans wanted to see them and chanted for them for the first half of the match. By the midway of the match to the finish, the crowd was more appreciative of both women in the ring, then their physical assests. Not to say The MiC wasn’t checking them out either post-match, but still a great womens match, and I urge any promotion who wants PAW women wrestling, to get April and/or Nikki today. Nikki is making good strides, and even though I haven’t seen her much (only twice) and only against April, she’s a fine women wrestler on the up and up.
For the JAPW Tag Team Titles: The DRS d. SWC via DQ
For the record, I groaned when I saw this was going to be the match. The Christopher Street Connection was originally supposed to be the DRS opponents, but due to CSC not being able to make it 3 days before time, which Fat Frank and CSC publically announced, the match was changed. Quick sidebar: kudos to Fat Frank and CSC for being honest with the fans and letting us know the story, before letting rumors start. Thank you. Back to the match, the reason I groaned, is because I saw this match about 5 times. Boy, was I surprised though, this was the best DRS vs SWC match I have ever seen. The DRS have been praised in my reviews often, and today is no different. These guys are the heel tag team on the indies. They play the part well, and some of the crowd was cheering them. The DRS even play their characters outside of the ring, so it seems that these guys are really dirty and rotten. They probably are. The SWC are 2 big guys, and it’s hard to get a technical match out of them, but the DRS worked well with them, and the result was that the SWC looked very good out of there. At one point in the match, Magic from SWC was bleeding profusely, from what looked like from the eye/nose area. He finished the rest of the match. At one spot in the match, EC Negro blatantly hit Suba with the belt, in front of Ref Hanson. Hanson gave an “Oh shit, I wasn’t supposed to see that.” Look. We’d find out in the finish, because the finish was KC Blade distracting the ref, Suba on the outside, and EC Negro about to lay out Magic with the belt. Negro saw Hanson about to turn around and threw the belt to Magic and laid down. Hanson called for the dq due to what looked like a beltshot from Magic. This would’ve came off a lot better if Hanson didn’t see the first shot, or improvised and said if the DRS do it again they will be stripped of the belts, and said any more belt shots the match is a dq. To be honest, I’ve seen Hanson ref a hundred plus times, and this is the first time his name has ever been mentioned. He really is a good referee so don’t think Hanson is a screw up. In fact he’s one of the better ref’s out there, and many other promotions share my opinion that he’s a good ref, cause he’s booked all over. The finish was great, and the match was electric, a good job by all 4 involved.
For the JAPW TV Title Jay Lethal d. Dixie
I am a fan of both of these guys, and I was great to see this match put together. Dixie was great on the mic, even bashing that referee who gets jokes! Dixie explained that his other H-effect members, Deranged and Lazaro were not here. Deranged was in CZW, but apparently he injured himself at his g/f’s house and will be out for 2-3 days, according to Dixie. Tony Lazaro has quit wrestling to pursue school. Being a college student, good luck Tony, it sucks. Anyway, the match was another PAW match. You can’t expect anything less than a stellar match from these two, and that’s what we got. Dixie is a great heel, and Lethal is solid in the ring. Dixie even hit the Iron Claw of insurmountable pain! Somehow Lethal got out of it. If you can get out of that, there’s no stopping Jay Lethal lol. Finish saw the ref with the hip hugging pants, give a fast count on Dixie. What a shame. Dixie vowed to see another day.
Intermission.
At this time it was announced that Homicide vs CW Anderson would not be taking place due to Homicide suffering an injury later on. I don’t know the extent of Homicides injury, as I have been busy and haven’t had a chance to, but once I find out the full story, I will let you know on the http://www.declarationofindependents.net website. Again, no bs from JAPW as they told the fans straight up. No beer unfortunately at this show, but Fat Frank is promising a show with beer, so I will give him props for that.
For the JAP Heavyweight Championship
Mafia d. Slyk Wagner Brown
MATCH OF THE DAY.
What a great match. PAW. What more can I say to give this match justice. Buy the tape. Some of the high spots included, 2 burning hammers, a wicked chair shot from Slyk to Mafia, Mafia doing his cannonball into 4-5 chairs into Slyk, Mafia missing and hitting head first with full impact on a chair, during a spear attempt and more. I’m writing this review a day after it happened, and I still remember all that. I didn’t take notes for my review during the match, because I didn’t want to miss a second of it. Slyk is one of the better indy wrestlers today, and Mafia is the man.
Post Match: Mafia cut an interview, soliciting and getting a huge J!A!P! chant, ala E!C!W! It was well deserved. Both men got a standing ovation, which I was glad to be part of, they really earned it. What we do from here, as in terms of a rematch (please) should be interesting.
In your main event:
Jerry “The King” Lawler d. Terry Funk
The King and the Funkster must really like Fat Frank. These guys gave it their all for an indy show. I think this was Kings greatest match in this century. Funk always gives a show for his fans. Funk was cut deeply, and bleeding profusely. There were many piledrivers this match, from both men. After giving Funk 2 piledrivers in a row, Lawler said, “This is for my pal in the WWE,” and gave the doublebird salute and the King Lawler Stunner! Funk somehow kicked out! Funk would then give some piledrivers of his own and a chair shot. Funk would go get the table, and Lawler would get the advantage in the ring, and piledrove Funk through the table for the 1-2-3. A standing ovation to both warriors. What a great match, and a much better match than I expected, due to Lawlers WWE status. They really turned it up, and got much rightfully appreciation.
Final McWord
JAP is my favorite promotion right now. In terms of location/names/match quality/wrestling, this promotion has it all. 499 other people feel the same way, as this place was packed. What a great show. I wish this show was on before the CSWF show, so the CSWF people could take notes. This is how your run a show. If you have not seen JAP before, check out the JAPW website japw.net, and find out the information for the next show, which should be up on 4/15. Not one bad match on this show. Every match was FUCKING solid and great. JAP one of the more honest promotions, as they don’t attempt to pull the wool over the fans eyes, and tell it like it is, as in regards to CSC and Homicide. Probably JAP’s finest outing out of many. JAP is leaving their hardcore roots, and it might be a good thing, as we’ve seen great shows this whole year.-
