This Saturday night in Rahway, NJ, "The Assassin" Dan Maff defends the Jersey All Pro (JAP) Title against one of his toughest and most "awesome" challengers since winning the title, Mike Awesome. Before Maff was the kingpin of JAP, he was one half of the toughest tag teams to ever grace the rings of north east independent wrestling.

The 6’ tall 250 lbs. Maff started his journey in wrestling as most athletes today did: he was a fan. Maff was one of the many attending JAP shows with a sign in his hands cheering on his favorite wrestlers and heckling those he did not like. After attending shows, Maff heard JAP owner Fat Frank announce that he was opening a school in the late 1990s. Maff quickly enrolled.

Always the first one to show up, and always the last one to leave, Maff was always looking to learn the craft. After training for some time in the JAP school, Homicide took notice of Maff and took him under his wing and continued Maff's training in The Doghouse. Maff became known as Mafia and was teamed with Steve "Monsta" Mack when Fat Frank couldn't believe the resemblance. Collectively they became known as Da Hit Squad.

Da Hit Squad tore up most promotions in the northeast. One of their first stops was JAP. They debuted in 1999 and put all the promotions tag teams on notice. On February 5, 2000, in a triple threat match held in Bayonne, NJ, Da Hit Squad struck gold and beat JAP Tag Team champions Charlie & Russ Haas and The Big Unit (Dave Desire & Rick Silver) for their first of many JAP Titles.

Along with toppling teams in JAP, Da Hit Squad next invaded Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW), and on April 22, 2000, they beat their JAP rivals, The Haas Bros., for the JCW Tag Team Titles. Throughout the rest of the spring and summer of 2000, Da Hit Squad became a true hit on the scene. As 2000 was coming to a close, Da Hit Squad traded the JAP Tag Team Titles with Don Montoya and Homicide, and made sure they were the most dominant team in New Jersey as 2001 was on the horizon.

2001 started in controversy for Da Hit Squad. They defended the JCW titles against The Moondogs 2000 in Lodi, NJ, but thanks to a double pin, the titles were deemed held up. Eight days later in Teaneck, NJ, they lost to the Moondogs 2000 in a rematch, thus making the Moondogs new champions.

Mafia chose to go after the JCW Tag Titles, but this team went in another direction for a partner. Returning to Lodi, NJ, Mafia teamed with Low Ki to beat the Moondogs for the JCW Titles on April 4, 2001. Teaming with Low Ki to win the JCW Tag titles would mark the last time Mafia would hold the title.

2001 saw Da Hit Squad spread out to all different promotions throughout the northeast. They continued to dominate JAP, but ran into a roadblock at the legendary ECW Arena in Phildelphia on May 18, 2001. They lost the JAP Tag titles to Dixie & The Insane Dragon. Looking to rebound from the loss, Da Hit Squad had soon made waves in Afa the Wild Samoan's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW).

One week after losing the JAP Titles in Philly, they won the WXW Tag Team Titles from The Latin Hit Squad (Nuisance and Puerto Rican Chile) in Allentown, PA. Winning titles for Da Hit Squad became a hobby. They wanted every title at once. So their next stop on their tour was Frank Goodman's USA Pro.

The USA Pro Tag Team champions The Sicilian Shooters fell victim to Da Hit Squad on June 3, 2001 in Deer Park, NY and Da Hit Squad walked away with more gold. They went for the third leg of the unofficial Triple Crown when they regained the JAP Tag titles on July 7, 2001 in the ECW Arena when they beat the JAP champs Dixie & The Insane Dragon in a TLC Match.

In a span of just over a month, they would see their titles disappear just as fast as they won them. First, they lost the WXW Tag Titles to their JCW rivals, The Moondogs 2000. Next, they lost the USA Pro Tag titles back to the multiple time champs, The Boogie Knights. Then on August 18, 2001, they lost the JAP Tag titles to Mikey Whipwreck & JT Jobber in the famed ECW Arena.

Before 2001 would come to a close, Da Hit Squad were able to regain the JAP Tag Titles, beating Whipwreck & Jobber as well as Youth Gone Wild in a triple threat match in Bayonne, NJ.

They ventured to Jac Sabboth's Impact Championship Wrestling (ICW) and set their sights on the tag titles. On January 25, 2002, they beat The SAT for the ICW Tag Team Titles in Queens, NY at the Elks Lodge. Da Hit Squad were unbeatable for the next five months and held onto the titles until the promotion shut their doors in June.

In 2002, Da Hit Squad spent their time winning and losing titles. They would go on to regain and lose such championships as the WXW Tag, USA Pro Tag and JAP Tag Team Titles. With the lack of tag team competition and the beat down of most of their opponents, they were seemingly running their course.

On January 25, 2003, Da Hit Squad were scheduled to defend their JAP Tag Titles against the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz. Monsta Mack suffered a leg injury in a match prior to this show. Mafia refused to lose the belts on a technicality, so he defended them himself. He ended up losing the titles to the DRS, but opened the eyes of promoters.

The following month, Mafia earned a shot at JAP champion Homicide and beat him for his first major singles title on February 22, 2003. Destined to make it as a major player in singles action, Mafia turned on his long time partner on a USA Pro show in Queens, NY on March 8, 2003 and defeated Monsta Mack that evening in their first one on one meeting. Mafia won, but it was too rushed and lackluster.

Despite the break up in Queens, Da Hit Squad had been advertised to compete for several promotions, like 3PW and Major League Wrestling (MLW). They fulfilled their commitments, and finally went their separate ways.

In a match that helped make Mafia, he faced off against another formidable opponent, Slyk Wagner Brown. Going into the match, nobody knew it would be the match that helped put Mafia on the singles map. The match took place on April 12, 2003 and it was later voted Match of the Year. The match got stellar reviews. Even though it was a JAP Title match, it wasn't the main event. That was saved for Jerry Lawler vs Terry Funk. With a main event with legends, Mafia and Slyk still managed to steal the show.

During this run as a singles competitor, Mafia transformed himself into Dan Maff. In an angle in JAP, which was emotionally charged, Mafia announced he was retiring. Fans gave him a standing ovation as he left in tears and thanks the fans for support. Later that evening, he returned to being a heel and said Mafia was retired, but Dan Maff has emerged. He formed La Familia with the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz.

In his first high profile singles match, Maff lost the JAP Title to Al Snow in Snow's JAP debut on August 1, 2003. It was a devastating loss to the WWE veteran, but Maff was not going to let this loss stop him. He ventured into Ring of Honor (RoH) and looked to become a major player there.

On August 9, 2003, Maff teamed with "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels and lost to AJ Styles & Homicide. The legendary Jim Cornette, who has managed such athletes as The Midnight Express, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, Vader, and The British Bulldog, managed Maff in this match.

The following week in RoH, Maff battled Low Ki to a no contest when Low Ki legit knocked Maff unconscious with one of his kicks. In the days following the match, Low Ki would apologize on the Internet to the RoH fans and especially his close friend, Maff.

Maff competed in several RoH Field of Honor matches in October and November, defeating such athletes as Jimmy Rave and Colt Cabana, and suffering a loss to BJ Whitmer.

It was around late 2003 when the seeds were planted for a feud between The Second City Saints (CM Punk, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel) and The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels, Maff and BJ Whitmer). The feud would heat up RoH for the rest of 2003 and early part of 2004.

Maff made his way into Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in November 2003 and lost to Trent Acid in one of his first matches in the promotion. At the end of 2003, Maff teamed with Christopher Daniels and lost to RoH Tag Team champions The Briscoe Bros.

In one of the biggest matches in his career to date, Maff defeated Jerry "The King" Lawler and "The Franchise" Shane Douglas on December 13, 2003 to regain the JAP Title. La Familia was running strong in JAP and seemed unstoppable.

On December 27, 2003, RoH held a joint show in the United States with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). At the event entitled The Final Battle, Maff teamed with Prophecy stable mate Christopher Daniels and lost to former NWA world champion The Great Muta and his partner, Arashi.

RoH continued to hold joint shows in 2004, this time with JAP. Maff defended the JAP Title against Slyk Wagner Brown on January 9. Maff had the chance on Valentine's Day of this year to become a duel heavyweight champion when he faced off against RoH champion Samoa Joe, Low Ki and BJ Whitmer for the RoH title. Unfortunately for the challengers, Joe walked out as the winner.

Then on February 28, 2004, Maff had the much-anticipated rematch against his Hit Squad partner, Monsta Mack. The two battled it out until Maff was able to secure the win. After the match, the former partners embraced in the ring and Mack left Maff to soak up the adulation. All of a sudden, La Familia members the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz came out and berated Maff and turned on him. Da Hit Squad music starts up and Mack runs out and throws Maff a "Repeat Offenders" shirt that they wore when they were partners. However, Mack turned around and attacked Maff, forming a new La Familia with the DRS.

This Saturday night, Monsta Mack looks for revenge as he has imported former ECW champion Mike Awesome into JAP to challenge Maff for the title. At "Awesome Sacrifice," Maff looks to add to his growing list of marquee names he has defeated when Mike Awesome steps up to the plate. For more information, check back at the DOI and http://www.japw.net/

John Gjoni
johnftw7533@aol.com

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