Match Listings
Alexa Thatcher vs Jana
Amy Lee vs Melissa Stripes
Rob Eckos/Billy Bax vs Corvis Fear/Nicky Oceans
Alere Little Feather vs Mercedes Martinez
Alicia vs Cindy Rogers
Alexa Thatcher vs Alicia
Mercedes Martinez vs Melissa Stripes
Jimmy Snuka vs Ace Darling
Alexa Thatcher vs Mercedes Martinez

Here is a review of the show:

NWS
"First Ever Women's J-Cup Invitational Tournament"
10/6
Woodbridge, NJ
Refs: Timmy Rivers, Kenny Edwards & two student refs
Ring Announcer: Dapper Joe Panzarino

The show opened up with Dapper Joe Panzarino introducing all 8 women in the tournament. Mercedes Martinez, Cindy Rogers, Alere Little Feather, Amy Lee, Alicia, Alexa Thatcher, Melissa Stripes & Jana (Replacing Lexus who couldn't make the show due to a real life circumstance) all came out. The trophy which they'd be fighting for was displayed. It was made clear that the winner would be celebrating with the trophy at the end of the show and not partying with it afterwards.
This was a good little presentation to make the tournament and the competitors feel important. It worked.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 1 Match
Alexa Thatcher d. Jana
This match got good heat right off the bat. With Alexa being from Woodbridge, it probably helped. Jana heeled it up in this match, but despite her nefarious activities, she couldn't stop destiny, as Alexa handled her and won a competitive match.
Good opening match here, which got the crowd immediately hot.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 1 Match
Melissa Stripes d. "PrymeTyme" Amy Lee
This match picked up where the last match left off, as there was tons of crowd heat in this match. The crowd was really against Amy Lee as much as they were for Melissa Stripes. Despite Lee having a size advantage, Stripes was able to use her speed and endurance to get by Lee with 450 splash.
I'm not sure if others will feel the same, but I always like seeing indy veterans helping out up and comers on the scene. This match did that and I think both wrestlers stock were elevated as a result.

Rob Eckos & Billy Bax vs Corvis Fear & Nicky Oceans went to a Double-DQ
This was your classic NWS, knock'em down and set-it-up for the next show match. After 10 minutes or so, the action spilled to the outside of the ring where all 4 guys brawled. As a result, the match was thrown out. Commissioner Gino Moore announced a rematch for a future NWS show (NWS really does a great job setting up matches for future events at every show they do) but Eckos said he wanted 5 more minutes. The crowd was really into this and chanted 5 more minutes. However, Eckos used Pro Wrestling Heel 101 here, and as he and his partner jumped in the ring to continue the match, they quickly bailed and told off the crowd. I guess NWS fans will have to pay to see this match again later on down the line.
Not a bad match here, as this was your typical NWS fanfare.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 1 Match
Mercedes Martinez d. Alere Little Feather
Alere was in full Indian garb again, which I think was a good thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop Mercedes Martinez, who was the likely favorite to win this tournament. Martinez used her power here, as the Indian Spirit of Alere couldn't fight off Martinez for long. Mercedes picked up the win here and advanced to the next round.
This was a quick little back-and-forth match, which was like a WWE 5-minute TV match, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 1 Match
Alicia d. Cindy Rogers
These two have had their beef in other promotions and carried their feud over to the Women's J-Cup. Both women, who know each other pretty well in the ring, were able to counter each others offense. However Cindy couldn't counter the hiptoss of DOOM, as Alicia picked up the pinfall win to go on in the tournament.

INTERMISSION
Went to the bar to see the Yankee score. Depressing.

A quick promo by Ace Darling was up next as he ran down Jimmy Snuka. This set up Snuka vs Darling for later on. This was nicely done, and wasn't one of these long drawn out promos where you want to kill yourself when its all said and done. This was quick and straight to the point, which was very much appreciated.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 2 Match
Alexa Thatcher d. Alicia
This was a pretty good match, with Alexa getting her chance to shine. Alexa was able to cleanly pin Alicia in a match which was given plenty of time to develop. Alexa looked impressive here, and the crowd easily favored Alexa in this match.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 2 Match
Mercedes Martinez d. Melissa Stripes
Depending on who you talk to, this was arguably the match of the night. Both women really put out a ballsy performance in this match, and this is a match worth checking out on DVD. This was very rough and was a match where both participants really shined and showed they take their craft seriously. No bullshit, just a great match here. This was very hard hitting with Stripes chest and body being lit up, leading to red marks all over. However, despite winning the match cleanly, Mercedes injured her shoulder in the process. Her shoulder legit popped out of the socket, but Mercedes continuted to wrestle and finished the match. Very impressive match here, and this was a match this tournament and the sport of womens wrestling needed to really shine.

Jimmy Snuka d. Ace Darling
If you've seen a Snuka indy match once, you've seen it a million times. Darling did exceptionally well in his indy veteran who looks at the ceiling lights role. This was quick as expected, but the crowd was happy to see the legend and Jimmy Snuka (get that play on words booya) in action.

J-Cup Womens Tournament Round 3 Match
FINALS
To Crown The First Ever Winner In This Tournament
Alexa Thatcher d. Mercedes Martinez

PREMATCH: Dapper Joe Panzarino brought out all the girls of the tournament. The 6 eliminated girls surrounded the ring as the final two girls were brought to the ring. Joe announced that Mercedes was seriously injured and wrestling with a dislocated shoulder. (Mercedes would later be able to pop it back in and will miss no ring time as a result.) The crowd gave Mercedes a huge pop for wrestling injured. Mercedes & Alexa shook hands and the match was then on its way.

This was a very good match. Some fans I talked to enjoyed the Martinez/Stripes match more and some fans liked this better. Regardless, this was either the best or 2nd best match on the show, depending on your opinion. In my opinion, it was the best because of all the drama involved, coupled in with Mercedes gutsy performance.

This match was about 15 minutes long. After the feeling out process, Alexa worked on Mercedes injured arm, as she had the anything-to-win-mentality. Mercedes would fight back with two suplexes, followed up by a huge german. There were tons of near falls in this match, ala Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania III. I didn't count how many 2 counts, but there were alot.

After a ton of back and forth action, Alexa was able to finally get Mercedes down for the clean 1-2-3.
POSTMATCH: All the girls got in the ring and helped Alexa celebrate. Alexa and Mercedes shook hands as the crowd stood and applauded both female warriors.

Final McWord
I guess I should say I was involved with this show, as I booked the womens tournament. Regardless, you can't wrestle the matches for people, and I thought everyone in this tournament delivered. Every match had a clean finish and there was no bullshit or hokiness that sometimes you see in other tournaments. This tournament had 7 well wrestled women matches and I think this tournament was a good day for the sport of womens wrestling. There was no T&A to be pushed as everyone did their talking in the ring and the athleticism of pro wrestling is what got this tournament over. Not to say that T&A is bad, but it's always refreshing to see something different.

Alexa Thatcher was obviously the star in this tournament, as she won the thing in her hometown. She has really come in her own recently and should be a bigger name across the womens wrestling scene in time. Mercedes Martinez also put on a MVP performance, wrestling like a champ in all three matches. Melissa Stripes, who won the K&Q Tourney, did superb as she continues to make a name for herself. It was good to see new faces get a chance to make their names known on this show, as the veterans did great in passing the torch.

The DVD version of this show has tons of backstage skits and promos that any women wrestling fan wants to see. See what male wrestling personality gets kicked in the nuts for questioning the toughness of Alexa Thatcher! This is something you won't want to miss.

Overall
An excellent show, with the women in this tournament really stepping up their game when the sport of womens wrestling needed them to the most.

For more, visit NWSWrestling.com

Stay tuned to the DOI Video section for the release of this event.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com