Luscious Lily

The following comes from Luscious Lily, manager of the WXW Tag Team Champions, The Untouchables. She is also a wrestler who has wrestled in more combinations of the alphabet than many of her peers. This is her detailed and great review of JCW's "REBORN" show. The DOI would like to thank Lily for taking time out to do this.

Luscious Lily’s JCW Review for 02/22/04

Hello DOI! Sunday night I decided to go to the JCW show in Garfield, NJ with some friends and just watch the show. I normally don’t like going to shows I’m not on, as I find it quite hard to sit still and not be extremely fidgety. However I agreed to go anyway. After hanging out for a while I ran into my good buddy The Mic and decided to sit and watch the show with him. I figured this had to be the most entertaining seat in the house! When I saw The Mic taking notes to write a review I decided I too would write a review of the show. As a matter of fact The Mic told me I can write whatever I want when I want and DOI would be more then happy to put it up so. See gotta love DOI! Unlike some other wrestling sites at least I’m getting plenty of love here! So onto the show…

Bell time was supposed to be at 3:30 which wasn’t exactly incorrect. At around 3:30 a bunch of “the boys” including Damian Dragon, Foxy Dreams, Miss Kara, Striker, Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido and Tammy got into the ring with a camera man. Apparently they were shooting a commercial for an upcoming training seminar at Camp IWF with Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. They were in and out in about 15 minutes after only 2 takes I think. Nice work guys.

Out next came the ring announcer who then brought out “The Voice of JCW”. I didn’t catch this guys name but for representing the company I thought he could have been dressed a little better or for the love of god at least tucked his shirt in. I was begging someone to call the Fab 5 on his ass. Anyway, he then brings out Ricky O who was nice enough to keep his speech short and actually what Ricky had to say was worth while listening to. It was all about supporting the community and the kids so I won’t rag on that.

It was during this speech that me and Mic look down and recognize two very familiar faces in the crowd. None other then indy tag team sensations KC Blade and EC Negro, The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I popped huge for DRS being in the house! We actually ended up getting both guys to come sit with us and help keep up the entertainment. Shout outs to Negro, bro I hope your mouth heels real soon!

The ring announcer then brought out what he called King Prince Nana. Now correct me if I’m wrong but once you get the King status don’t you cease being a Prince? Someone please explain how you can be both to me? I don’t know! Nana got a huge reaction as a heel when he came out. He was accompanied to the ring by Brawlik (I hope I got that right) and Fred Sampson. This got me a little excited as I am quite fond of Fred Sampson (love the last name!). I was hoping to get to see him wrestle on the show. I’ll spoil it now; he did not which kinda perturbed me. Nana cut the basic heel promo cutting up the fans and stating he was starting a new faction. He then called out Brawlik’s opponent who was none other then Scotty Charisma. I think it’s only right at this point to let you all know that to my knowledge he is no relation to Tara Charisma. Brawlik also would like it known as he told me later that he does not take steroids! I liked this match and thought it was a good opener. Brawlik wins when Nana distracts the ref and Fred slams Scotty and throws Brawlik over him.

Next match is commonly referred to as the Chikara Six Man Tag. It was The Wild Cards and a gentleman whose name I didn’t catch but he was in red and black and had what looked like puzzle pieces on his tights. I’ll call him Puzzle Boy. I feel bad I didn’t catch his name as he actually was the better worker on his team. Their opponents were Mike Quakenbush, Icarus and Gran Hakuna. This was the usual Chikara Six Man match with some inventive spots and a lot of high flying. Two low notes of this match were the fact that Quakenbush’s chops looked very weak and The Wildcards messed up one of the oldest spots in the sport. They did the whole one guy turns around in the corner and the other guy hands him their opponents arm; he pumps it over his shoulder. Does this a few times and eventually it turns into his opponents handing him his partners arm and he pumps it. The problem was after the one member of The Wildcards got his arm wrenched and pumped he just no sold it! Hello you just hit 2 guys with that who are selling it for you and you’re going to act like you’re super human? PLEASE! Quakenbushes team won this contest.

The next match saw Mo Sexy, who I personally didn’t think was sexy but that’s just my opinion and I was in the balcony so there could have been something there I missed, versus Red Hot Russ with Dana Dameson. I liked this match and the fans seemed to get into it. Red Hot Russ pulls out the pin with a hook of the tights when Mo Sexy went after Dana.

Now here’s where I am probably going to have the “unpopular opinion” but you know what I don’t care! I like most people on here was quite appalled when I read Dana’s first column on DOI. I had absolutely no desire to meet this girl or ever see her work for that matter. I got to meet her at the last SSCW show. The Mic had told me before that she was a good girl and just needed to learn. When I met her at SSCW she was very polite and cordial. I again got to spend a few seconds conversing with her at JCW. I gotta admit she’s starting to grow on me a little. I for one can’t wait for her to get a little further in her training as I would like to see her do more then just stand there and occasionally jump up on the ring apron, but I’m sure this is all coming in due time. I believe everyone just needs to give Dana a chance. We’ve all made mistakes, not one of you is perfect. Cut this girl some slack. If everyone spent the same energy trying to help her out instead of bashing her maybe we’d be doing something constructive here!

Ok back to the show, the next match featured Dave Greco versus Damian Adams. This was probably one of the most technically sound matches of the evening. I enjoyed watching it however the crowd was dead! I think I may have figured out why this match didn’t get the reaction it should have. You see the crowd was full of kids and parents. The parents probably aren’t wrestling fans and are just there because their kids wanted to see the show. The kids don’t want to see a 5 star match. They want to scream and interact. Neither Greco nor Adams did much working the crowd. I felt bad for them because it really was a good match. Towards the end of the match out walks a very tall and handsome gentleman wearing jeans, and open baseball shirt, a leather coat with a bandana on his head. It really didn’t take long to realize the hottie on his way to the ring was none other then “2 Cocky” Kevin Matthews. I will freely admit I screamed like school girl at the site of my pal. It was then I noticed what Kevin was carrying in his hand to the ring. Could it really be the SSCW Television Championship belt?!? Hell yeah it was. Kevin ends up hitting Greco who then ends up tapping out to Damian Adams. Matthews then gets into the ring which leaves Adams asking what is going on. Kevin ends up clocking Adams in the back of the head with the belt. Matthews then takes the microphone and some of us cringed. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. 2 Cocky (get out from under your rock) he’s known for running off at the mouth. It’s usually pretty damn funny listening to him as long as you’re not his topic. Seeing as though he brought out the SSCW title and I happen to know he no longer works there I could see exactly where this one was going. I couldn’t make out the beginning of what he was saying but as soon as he turned around it was evident that this had become the bash Carmine Sabia promo. He talked about what a joke SSCW is and about how Carmine never leaves the house. He then took the belt, spit on it and threw it on the mat.

Next match up was Ryan Wing versus Tiger Mulligan. I have to admit I really didn’t watch this match as mother nature rang and I was forced to answer the call. I do know that Ryan Wing won this match with a fisherman’s brain buster and from what Viper told me it was a good match. My apologies to Ryan and Tiger.

Then came the match I had been waiting all night to see. The match for the JCW Women’s Championship. Out first came the champion April Hunter. Now I have made it no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Aprils. It baffles me as to why this woman isn’t collecting a big paycheck and wrestling on national TV. On a purely selfish note I hope she stays around the indies for a while as she has done loads to further womens wrestling and I can’t wait to be able to get in the ring with her again myself. Out second came the challenger Miss Kara. I have seen Kara manage before but this would be my first opportunity to see her wrestle. Actually up until tonight I didn’t know that she did wrestle. This match started off with some strong technical chain maneuvers from both women. However from there is just looked like they didn’t click. Something was off here. Kara looked a little shaky and like she might have been really nervous. I give her credit though because she never gave up and showed a tremendous amount of heart. I think she’s going to develop into one hell of a strong in ring competitor with some more experience in the ring. At one point in the match April morphed into Low-Ki and began just unleashing a bunch of brutal looking kicks to Kara. April retains her title with the “Head Hunter” neck breaker off the turnbuckle.

Next was intermission. I heard Kevin Matthews had an interesting bathroom break at this time. I went down and socialized for a while before resuming my seat in the balcony for the rest of the show.

First match after intermission was for the JCW World Title. Slyk Wagner Brown came out first with “The Prize” April Hunter by his side as always. His opponent Johnny Thunder came out accompanied by Dana Dameson. Now with two women at ringside I thought at the least we were going to get a cat fight. I was begging for some involvement from the girls, especially Dana. Again I was disappointed but the match made up for it! This was probably the second completely solid match I saw on the show. Johnny Thunder really showed what a tough competitor he is and as I have become accustomed to seeing, Slyk was amazing! The referee ended up taking a super kick from Thunder and being knocked out. Slyk then missed a moonsault which really looked quite painful. Out ran Brawlik and Nana. Brawlik got in the ring and laid out Thunder allowing Slyk to pick up the victory. After the match Nana again got on the mic and offered both Slyk and April a spot in his new faction “The Consulate”. Slyk made sure there was no misunderstanding about where he stood as he slapped Nana right in the face. This led to Brawlik jumping Slyk from behind, causing April to get in the ring and jump on Brawlik’s back. I really was dying to see April kick the crap out of Brawlik but he did get the better of her. Nana and Brawlik stomped the crap out of both Slyk and April before just walking off. Now I think this whole angle would have been better had Fred Sampson been used. Don’t get me wrong, I like Brawlik but he already had been in one match so why not give Fred a little time here.

The next match could probably be best described as a grudge match long in the making. Out first came Showtime Shawn Sheridan. His opponent, Disturbed Damian Dragon, made his way to the ring escorted by the lovely Foxxy Dreams. Foxxy paid a nice tribute to former JCW Hotties Amber and Noel with their names written on tape on her arm along with the name of Devin Sturgis. Also no one could mistake the tribute to Noel as Foxxy came out sucking on a candy cane. This matched started out with some good ole fashion mat wrestling which Damian dominated over Sheridan. Damian was all over him and made it look like he could have out maneuvered and out wrestled him all night long. As the match’s pace picked up so did the participants. This match saw the blatant use of a chair as Damian looked like he creamed Sheridan with it on more then one occasion. Finish saw Foxxy pull the referee out of the ring and I couldn’t see what she did to him on the outside of the ring but when he got up later there was red stuff on his face. Kinda looked like he might have gotten misted. Anyway Foxxy then lifted the ring apron and out came 2 huge guys who just demolished Sheridan. Sheridan really looked like a rag doll in there just being tossed around. Out then ran Dave Greco who didn’t even try to fight off the 2 bigger guys but just kind of told them to leave and covered up Sheridan to stop the beating. As the two guys got out of the ring Greco picked up Sheridan only to hit the big swerve and lay him out himself. Greco left with Disturbed Dreams and company. I didn’t really get the finish of this match but I also don’t have a lot of history on the feud between Damian and Sheridan.

Up next was the JCW Tag Team Title match. The challengers Ace Darling and Matt Striker came out first. The crowd was not showing any love to these 2. The JCW Tag Team Champions, Wenzel and Inferno Dan Gimondo collectively known as The Hybrid ???. I can’t remember the last part of their tag team name and I didn’t write it down. This match gave me everything I expected from it considering there were 4 absolutely solid and talented wrestlers in the ring. Ace Darling who I haven’t seen wrestle in a while still entertains me to no end. I can’t say enough about Matt Striker. While I don’t believe he does the goofy gimmick he does for other promotions in JCW he was still very charismatic and funny. He seems to be showing more personality in the ring as of late then when I first started watching him wrestle which I think is a great thing. Also Striker never ceases to surprise me with the moves he pulls seemingly out of no where during a match and makes them fit. I’d bank money on Striker ending up in the WWE sometime in the not so distant future. Both Wenzel and Inferno were so fluid as a team which impressed me. I think a lot of times with the exception of a few, most tag teams hit some double team moves but don’t completely look like a fluid, well put together team. Wenzel and Inferno were the complete opposite. The finish saw Striker hit his double knee to the back for the pin on Wenzel. Thus JCW has new tag team champions! After the match as Striker and Darling went to the locker room, Ricky O came out and got on the microphone to announce to everyone that Inferno Dan Gimondo would be leaving for Ohio Valley later this month. Out came Gino Moore from NWS to congratulate Inferno. Personally I used to work with Gimondo in NWA Jersey years ago. I can without a doubt say that he truly deserves this opportunity as he has fought so hard and has earned everything he’s gotten in this business. I don’t believe anyone ever handed Dan anything. I wish him nothing but the best and Ohio Valley really is getting one of New Jersey’s indy treasures.

The Battle Royal for the JCW Television Title was next. This was a 20 person over the top rope battle royal. Now they didn’t announce everyone by name and I was ready to write them all down but here’s the people I knew and can remember. J-Busta, Supreme Lee Great, Prince Nana, The Equalizer, Alere Little Feather, Kevin Matthews, Danny Demanto w/ Alicia, Wenzel, Inferno, Tiger Mulligan, and Mo Sexy. Sorry to the others who participated. I’m so bad with names no one should have expected for me to get them all. Highlights for me of the battle royal was watching Alere chop Kevin Matthews, watching her chop the hell outta Supreme Lee Great and then having her eliminate The Equalizer who was this tall massive guy. If you didn’t notice I was partial to watching the female in this match. That is until she got heaved over the top rope by Prince Nana. I guess she’ll be getting no invitation to join “The Consulate”. The last two participants in the Battle Royal became Inferno and Wenzel. While I thought for a moment that with Gimondo leaving he might just jump the top rope and give his partner the belt. What was I thinking, Gimondo’s never taken the easy road out of anything or handed anything to anyone. The partners really took it to each other. I think the fact that they were so fluid together as a team only added to their work against each other. The finish saw Wenzel go to clothesline Inferno over at which point they both looked like they were going over the top rope but as Inferno hit the floor, Wenzel slipped back in under the bottom rope. Wenzel is the new JCW TV Champion. Inferno then got back into the ring to congratulate his partner and some of the locker room came out. Gimondo got on the mic and thanked all the boys in the locker room, all the promoters and all of the fans for their support. It was a truly heartfelt speech.

I had one problem with the speech. Well not the speech itself but when it was given. I think Inferno should have made the speech after the tag match when his leaving was announced. Instead by making it after the royal I felt like it cheated Wenzel out of the spotlight he deserved for winning the TV title. Just my opinion.

The main event was next. Out came Nana with Brawlik. Nana got on the microphone again and brought out his buddy Kamala. The ring announcer then brought out Bam Bam Bigelow to a thunderous applause. Bam Bam gets in the ring and Nana and Kamala jump him. Out runs fellow NJ native Chris Candido to make the save. This then becomes a tag team match. This match was very old school which worked well for the crowd that they had which by the way was around the 600 mark at least! Candido and Bigelow pull out the victory here.

POST SHOW THOUGHTS:

1) I think Nana got oversaturated on exposure tonight. I think he came out a little much.

2) I think Fred Sampson should have done a whole lot more then managed and hit 1 move!

3) I think DRS should have been elsewhere then the balcony with us, maybe like in the ring!

4) I think someone should have called for Dana to do SOMETHING during one of the 2 matches she was in. Grab a leg, smack someone or a low blow. If you’re going to bring her to ringside use her to your advantage. Also get off her back already!

5) I think Tara Charisma and Scotty Charisma should get DNA tested because now that I think about it there is a slight resemblance!

6) I think someone should explain to me where Mo Sexy got his name!

7) I think someone could make a lot of money off of a Kevin Matthews shoot interview tape! (I want a copy)

8) I think WWE should sign April Hunter to a contract but still let her take indy bookings so we can all have our cake and eat it too!

9) I think Dan Gimondo is going to be a huge star one day and I can’t wait to see him make it happen.

10) I think everyone should give Alere credit for being the only female in the battle royal and for holding her own in there!

11) I think someone should have made Eric Simms, Kim Chi to bring Kamala to the ring.

12) I think it was good to see Damian Dragon and Foxxy back in JCW.

13) I think given some time and experience Miss Kara is going to start knocking people’s socks off in the ring.

14) I think Mana did a good job of holding up the back wall.

15) I think Ricky did a great job and the attendance proves it.

My critique on myself critiquing the show
It is really easy for any of us to sit back, be arm chair quarterbacks and say, “I’d have done this” or “They should have done that”. Everything I wrote above is my personal opinion, however I had a really comfortable seat in the balcony with my feet up. I would like to say that Ricky O did a tremendous job on this show as did everyone who participated. I think the attendance speaks for itself. There were at least 600 people in that building I’d say and some of them had to stand for the show and didn’t mind.
I think this was one of the better put together shows I’ve seen recently.
I had a really good time at the show. Special thanks to The Mic for keeping me entertained and allowing me to voice my opinion on The DOI.

Luscious Lily