RD: I get out of work and try a new way of getting to the show as I hop the ferry from downtown to the Colgate Clock in Jersey City. This actually worked out nice as I cut having to jump about 3 trains just to get to Jersey City. Plus it got my total of 3 different modes of travel for to and from the show (bus, train and ferry). I end up getting the super nutritious meal of donuts from the 7-Eleven as I decided it's probably not a good idea to put a whole lot of meat from the 7-Eleven in my stomach in a building with a bathroom like the hall's for 3 hours. Pre-show we mill around and talk to Buck Woodward a bit pre-show. I watch as Balls Mahoney checks the ring rope's tightness by flicking his finger at them and watching them bounce, then finding out how high the ceiling is and proclaiming "SHIT!" before heading to the back. We get our usual light switch rave opening of the show as Frank does the crowd warm up and mentions the bus trip to the Woodbridge. I think they found out later in the show which switch turned on the disco ball as it finally got used later in the show.

PP: I start the day off with the sad news of my uncle passing away in Chicago, but I decide to go to the show anyway as he was a big wrestling fan going way back to the Chicago Amphitheatre days and I'd like to think he would've wanted it that way. The new light rail stop at Hoboken now allows me to spread out my options a bit as I can take the tube to Hoboken if I'm in a hurry, or I can take it to Jersey City and have a more leisurely dinner at the mall. Tonight it's the latter and I hit Le Bistro for the usual before heading out. Homicide is officially indy scum gaijin as he bops in wearing a Ribera jacket (and if Mr. Homicide is reading this, "indy scum" is meant purely as a term of endearment). We joke that he rolled Buck for it. Buck is simultaneously psyched and bemused to be seeing guys like the SAT and Prince Nana in Japan when he could drive 15 minutes and see them in Bayonne or Queens.

MATCH 1: AZRAEL vs. ROACH
RD : This is the first show I've seen Roach work a match since I think April or May. I think the previous time we saw him was in September when they had him with the jWo, but he didn't appear to be doing the X-Pac gimmick they had him in last time. This was a pretty good opener. It was sort of a competitive squash as Azrael seemed to dominate most the match and had a lot of offense, but Roach got in some stuff too. Azrael whipped off this long series of suplexes and stuff really quick which was neat and all, but it sort of looked bad when Roach kicked out of it after he really pounded him, but they're both pretty much rookies. Pete and I also amused ourselves by bouncing off pun finishers for Roach between the Bug Bomb, the Roach Motel and my suggestion that Azrael should try to win the match with the Air RAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDD! Crash. Azrael did a neat face breaker out of a torture rack, think like he was going for the Spicy Drop where you drop the guy face first on your knee. He also won the match with a Michinoku Driver type move out of shoulder mount set up. I forget if Azrael put Roach on his shoulders or if Roach went for a victory roll or something, but as Roach was punching him from the shoulder mount, Azrael caught him, bent him over and did the sit out for the finish. Cool looking move. Azrael continues to show more and more stuff which is neat as it seems like he has a lot of different ways he can work a match. It wasn't a psychological masterpiece but it was fun.

PP: This was really fun as Azrael's all about the tricked-out matwork now, including this great sequence where he chained together something like 5 suplexes in a row on Roach without letting go. Azrael is a comer. Roach is a fine little worker for his experience, although the booking took a hit here as there was no sign of him still being with the jWo here.

MATCH 2: DEVASTATION, INC (The STRYKER! & The BOOGALOU!) vs. TEAM THOMAS ("Explosive" Eddie Thomas & "Chiller" Miles Thomas):
RD : Stryker gets the mic and explains that the Sheik wasn't there. I forgot why he said, I think he said he was planning something. Anyway, the Stryker is pure gold on the mic and on the apron. He's worth the $10 for the show alone. He was being goofy and Lou was trying to be the bad ass serious one on the team, but Stryker was making him loose it. Miles ended up playing the whipping boy in this. Lou did a bunch of arm work at one point and Devastation Inc hit some nice double teams as well. One was sandwich kicks to the head on a kneeling Thomas, another was an axe kick to a bent over Thomas into a facebreaker on the partner's knee. Stryker hit a really good yakuza kick too. Miles' offense... doesn't... look... very... good. I think he would really benefit if JAPW started running the student shows again. Eddie gets the hot tag at one point and his stuff looks pretty good. In the end, Lou catches Miles in a Bubba Bomb and turns it over into Mr. Gannosuke/Shadow WX's Full Nelson Camel Clutch move, but Lou just pulls waaaaay back on this. I'm talking Aja Kong bending Manami Toyota in like '93 level bending. Unless Miles is really really REALLY flexible, that had to suck like nobody's business.

PP: Stryker has everyone DYING with his stickwork as he grabs the mic and announces "HI EVERYBODY!" According to him, the Sheik isn't there because "he's planning another attack," then he pretends to fart and says something to the effect of "Well, they said we had the gas!" Lou's trying to work a Taz-style shooter badass gimmick, but the Stryker has him losing it... even while the match is going on. At one point he ties Miles upside down in the corner... someone in the crowd yells "TREE OF WOE!" and Stryker comes back with "Tree of Woe is good!" while hitting Miles with something in the corner. Later on Stryker goes for the Iron Claw on Eddie, who "reverses it" and forces Stryker to put the Claw on his own head. Lou's finisher on Miles was... was... DAMN! The whole crowd went dead silent for the finish as Lou really bent him back about 90 degrees and it looked so damn nasty that it pretty much shocked the crowd into silence. I'm guessing Eddie and his dad had to roll Miles home like an old tire.

MATCH 3: "Big Sexy" JT JOBBER w/ The Green Guy & another Student doing a Buff Bagwell Gimmick vs. THE EXPLOITED SANTA ELAX :
RD : I'm not sure who the other student was, but I've seen him on a JAPW student show. He was wearing a Mad Hatter hat (complete with the 10/8th's card in it). Elax came out in a Santa suit to a parody of "The Real Slim Shady" called "The Real Slim Santa". I really don't remember a lot of this. I do know Elax hit his tope onto the jWo. He was setting up the finish, the jWo guys ran in and he'd hit them with fisherman busters. JT hits him from behind and nails a pumphandle back suplex or Angle Slam for the win.

PP: This was... there. And the crowd didn't help as this was the deadest crowd I can remember at the Hall since I started going to the shows. Elax was funny doing the Santa gimmick.

MATCH 4: SKINHEAD IVAN vs. BALLS MAHONEY in a falls count anywhere match :
RD : Knowing the stip, I prepare to my bag and jacket and prepare to haul ass so I don't have to bump for Ivan for the second December in a row. Ivan doesn't dance and he doesn't regale us with a rendition of "O Tannenbaum" and he's not beating the crap out of Tough Enough Pete so I'm not really enthused about this. Balls looked like he hurt himself when he tried to do the leg lariat over the top rope, but it looked like he hit his ribs on the ropes and it seemed like he was favoring them for the rest of the match. At some point, Santa Claus appears from the back. Originally, everyone was expecting him to turn on Balls Mahoney. I figured it was either Savio Vega back for revenge or Santa was back and pissed about the whole Xanta Claus deal. Apparently Balls was a good boy this year and Santa gives him a present, a box full of glass Christmas balls. Mahoney dumps them out on the mat at tries to superplex Ivan on them, but Ivan fights out and ends up powerbombing Balls into them, which was pretty sick. They end up fighting so more. Mahoney ends up breaking a few of the balls over Ivan's head. The finish was Balls giving Ivan the Nut Cracker Suite off the apron through a table. I guess it should be commended for not making me take a bump. Balls broke a few of the Christmas balls on his own head post match.

PP: Ivan comes out to the usual Nazi salutes from his fans and singles out a Puerto Rican guy doing it: "You stop that! You're not a white man!" Neither is Ivan, but that's neither here nor there. ;) Balls seemed like he was there to work until he toasted his ribs on the top rope doing the leg lariat. I'm pretty sure everyone thought Santa was going to attack Balls (I originally said "Turn on Balls" but that sounds soooooooo wrong) until he handed the box of ornaments over and left. Ivan had been crotched on the top rope right before Santa came out and so he had to sit there selling for like 3 minutes while Balls set up the plunder. I was prepared to hate the end result of this (the would-be superplex) before Ivan oozed underneath Balls and hit the powerbomb. The finish was fine and I didn't mind them bringing back the gimicks so much as the placement, i.e. there was still three matches left on the card and they would all have to work with remnants of the debris in-ring. I skip Ball's post-match promo so I can run out to Quick Chek at the finish to grab a soda. I head back over to the Hall and ask Buck what I missed: "Sweeping."
 

MATCH 5: JAY LETHAL vs. TONY LAZARO vs. AERIAL ASSASSIN RAIN - JAPW TV Title
RD : I'm sure all these guys were thrilled to be the match after glass was broken all over the ring and ringside. Frank busts on the guys doing the clean up for taking so long. Perhaps next time it's a good idea not to a) do the bit with glass in the middle of the show b) not use glass. But anyway, this is Rain's JAPW return from his injury and is also the one year anniversary of Lethal and Rain working "A" shows as we saw them debut last year. I note that RF has taken over for Doug on handheld as he follows Lazaro out it had a very creepy vibe like he took over for a future casting couch victim. Lazaro tries to cut a deal with Lethal so they can take out Rain, switching Lethal to a heel for the match. We noted that everyone seemed to have what we were hoping was only the foil or paint from the smashed Christmas balls in the previous match when guys took bumps. Rain almost ate fiery as he went for the Sasuke Special and sort of caught his shoulder on the top rope, but he got caught so no harm no foul. He might want to consider dumping that from his move set. This was ok, I don't remember anything being hideously blown, but it wasn't really earthshaking either. Rain kicked out of Lethal's straightjacket piledriver move. The finish was pretty lame. Rain goes to super kick Lethal, who pulls referee Paul Turner in the way, Turner eats the kick. Rain fights some more, gets the mandatory 20 count with no ref. I think as he checks in on the ref, Lazaro gets his own 10 count with no referee. I think Rain super kicks Lazaro knocking him out of the ring and out of the picture. A second ref shows up, Rain hits his Dragon Suplex move, on Lethal and scores the pin, big pop he wins the belt. Dusty finish, there's a DQ (unclear if it was on Lethal or Rain), Lethal retains. Can't love a Dusty finish, can't love the fact that it was unclear of the rules of the match to begin with (last month's 3 way was elimination rules, this time it's not?). Anyway, they sign a rematch with no DQ rules for next time I think at the hall.

PP: This wasn't as good as the three-way at the last show and the finish didn't help, but it still had its moments. Lazaro's gimmick is REALLY good as he's quite the sleazy underaged Tarzan Boy in bigger pants, what with the macking on the ladies and the heel machinations. Also pretty good in the ring too. The finish had Lethal getting DQ'ed for the ref abuse, which was just about as dopey a finish as you could ask for given how often they run non-finishes here.

MATCH 6: THE SHAOLIN WRECKING CREW (Magic & Suba) vs. DA HIT SQUAD (Monsta Mack & Mafia) w/ Johnny D - JAPW Tag Team Titles
RD : Suba attempts to move up 400 spots by swatting RF's handheld out of his hands, forcing him to drop it pre-match. Magic has his hair out instead of in the cornrows so he looks like he's playing in the ABA in the 1970's. He sort of looked like Chef in the episode where they have flashbacks trying to figure out who Cartman's father was. This was pretty much a brawl the whole way with them alternating between which two were in the ring. The crowd seemed totally dead for this match. At one point, it seemed like Monsta was trying to put the back of Suba's head through the wooden lockers on the one side of the ring. Mafia hit the fat man tope onto the SWC on the floor. The SWC ended up doing a series of endless avalanches on Mafia in the corner at one point but Monsta broke up the pin. The finish was the Hit Squad hitting a Magic with a double team with Mafia doing a german suplex and Monsta hitting a running lariat to knock him over for the pin. Postmatch, the Hit Squad do a little mic work and also do a small tribute to Russ Haas.

PP: This match has to be seen just for Magic sporting the gigantic Afro (.9 on the Oscar Gamble scale). I applaud Suba's desire to shoot up the 500 like that... if any prosperous indy wrestlers are reading this, shooting on RF will never be held against you if you want to make it on the list. ;) Sadly the match proper doesn't come close to their June match as they just brawl the whole time, although there's a good sequence where Mafia takes Suba and just bashes his head against one of the wooden lockers like a dozen times. Again, it's been established that young Suba can take a shot. The finish comes out of nowhere but is still pretty good with Magic taking the German right on his head for the pin. Postmatch they congratulate Bayonne High School on winning some sort of state title (they may have also said that Mafia's really from Bayonne here) and cut a promo on the Solution for the Woodbridge show.

MATCH 7: DERANGED vs. HOMICIDE - JAPW Heavyweight & BJW Jr. Heavyweight Titles
RD : Balls Mahoney came out with a chair and ended up sitting at ringside, scouting Homicide for their title match in Woodbridge. This was sort of back and forth but with Homicide for the most part in control. Deranged looked good in this, I don't think he really blew anything and he didn't really do anything goofy as he would tend to do as a face. Homicide hit his dive at one point. I think Deranged tried to do a dive but hit nothing but floor with a resounding thud. I think someone in the crowd was talking shit at Homicide the whole match. At the finish, Homicide hit the running Cop Killa and covered Deranged with one finger while flipping someone off. I think the finish got botched as it seemed like Hansen counted three, but then it was like he motioned Deranged kicked out, when he didn't... then they called for the bell and Homicide was declared the winner. Weird. Postmatch, Balls runs in and hits Homicide with some Christmas balls. The Hit Squad come out to match the save, as they're doing it, the Solution run in jump the Hit Squad. The run in was terrible. Papadon Lance Stormed a super kick attempt that Monsta I think realized missed and decided to sell like he was glad he avoided it because it totally missed him. I think Havok tried to do a press slam move on Mafia, but fall or had Mafia land right on top of him. This was not a promising way to build up their match in Woodbridge. Post match, Papadon tries to cut a promo, but Balls swipes the mic from him and tells him that "I talk first rookie" as he hypes up his match with Homicide saying that "They're going to do this for real" as Homicide promises he's going to "fucking kill him". Oof. The bad run in and then getting treated by rookies is not going to help the Solution get over as bullies.

PP: This was pretty good, but the crowd really sucked a dick here as you had some throwbacks tossing stuff at Homicide while the match was going on. To me it seemed like they were telling a good story as Homicide was totally dominating Deranged until Balls came out and sat at ringside, at which point he "lost his composure" and allowed Deranged to get back into the match. Balls was pretty funny here as he was chatting away with some fans while surreptitiously cheering Deranged's spots. The missed dive by Deranged was actually intentional as Homicide simply moved out of the way and allowed Deranged to toast himself on the floor. It's a good way to establish Homicide as the wiley veteran, but they really need to put mats down stat. The finish was just horribly botched by SOMEONE as Homicide nuked Deragned with the Cop Killer and went for the one-finger pin, only Ref Hanson apparently screwed up and said Deranged kicked out when he hadn't. Strange, strange, strange. The postmatch festivities with Balls and Homicide were really intense as Balls actually juiced Homicide hardway with the Christmas balls (I guess so they can say they didn't invoke the "barbaric practice of taking razor blade to human flesh"). OTOH, the postmatch festivities with DHS and the Solution were pretty stinktastic as the Solution botched just about everything they tried and then got buried by Balls during his promo.

RD : We get out of the show pretty early, about 10:30. It was about a match short and we didn't stick around for the closing promos by the Hit Squad and Homicide. We ended up taking a new way into the city rather than Path. We took the bus. I was amazed the work trains weren't waiting for us outside. I will not miss them and the bus seems to be faster and easier. This wasn't a bad show, but it wasn't a great one either. It was kind of in the middle of wrestling, but Stryker made it worth the trip. The next two shows are in Jan, one in Woodbridge and then in Bayonne at 2pm on a Saturday. I look forward to that as I can hit the show and then probably hit dinner someplace in Hoboken after the show. If you're in Hoboken, I recommend Arthur's Steakhouse, Benny Tudino's Pizza or Vito's Deli. Mmmmmmmmmmm... 24 oz steak for $16... Mmmmmm... pizza the size of a table... Mmmmmmm... second best Mozzerella in the state of NJ...

PP: Agreed with Ray in that they were a match short here, which probably had to do with the fact that Frank was booking things as opposed to Ray Sager, who couldn't get the night off from his day job for some reason. Still, it was pretty sad to see Ghost Shadow and the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz hanging out in the crowd when Frank might've dug one more worker and run a tag match with those four... it also probably explains alot of the sudden angle inconsistencies. Oh well. The upside to this is that between the early exit and the bus, I actually get home by midnight for probably the first time since I started making the jaunt to Bayonne.