RD : Pre-show I call up Pete and go over the things I've found in the big box of unmarked tapes, which included a marked tape which belonged to him. I end up waiting at the new Secaucus Junction to meet up with Pete on the train, of course, it's obvious it's a new station because they said the train's arriving on track "A" and then a train pulls up on track "B" with nothing saying that it was going to where I wanted to go. I took a gamble and jumped on, luckily finding Pete on board. The new building is kind of nice and I hope the deal with the place works out. It had heat, it looks like if they really needed the space due to a big crowd, they could always shift some things around to open some extra bleachers or open up one of the temporary dividers if need be to really make the place slightly bigger. Pre-show Pete's convinced someone's either hacked or stolen one of his random mp3 mix cd's. I told him if they play "Sobakasu" by Judy and Mary, it will give it away. We don't hear it, so we assume he doesn't need new firewall software.

PP: It was the longest Saturday ever for me as I had a 6am wake-up call to go downtown for the Manchester Derby at Nevada Smiths. And boy, was the vast majority of that game not worth getting up for although SWP's goal was one of the prettiest I've seen in awhile. The "going down" chants from the Yoo faithful didn't help either. From there I headed downtown to J&R to exchange the CD player I got the week before and promptly broke, then up to Macy's to do some holiday shopping, then home. All before NOON. I take it easy for the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Rahway for the rassling. The new building is REALLY nice, probably the most modern facility they've ever run, with good lighting, air conditioning and less than 5 minutes from the train. Really, it looks like one of those high school gyms you see Michinoku or Big Japan running. I hope it isn't costing them too much money to run as I would have no problems coming back to this joint on a regular basis. Seems like most of the JAPW regulars are in attendance, plus Sugaa Boy and newcomer Nise Emilio Charles Jr. Also one portly fan wearing an "I See Small People" shirt, which was the shirt of the night. Surprisingly no sign of Homicide, who ditched JAPW and CZW to work for IWA Puerto Rico this weekend. They play the Kill Bill music for the ring announcer and I start looking for the Makai Club to come out.

RD: The show kicks off about 10 minutes late, as is the unfortunate reality of pro-wrestling lately, we open up with a 10 bell salute for Jerry Tuite. They mention prior to this that Jerry had worked the area as Hellraiser, who it turns out I had seen in '96 and not even known it. Ironically, Fat Frank also was at that show as a referee.

PP: We've been seeing way too many of these 10-counts lately. It's a sad state of affairs.

MATCH 1 : INSANE DRAGON vs. AZRAEL for the JAPW Light Heavyweight Title
RD: I think this was a changed up match as I think there was supposed to be a 3 way with Dragon or someone else, but I'm not complaining about someone removing a 3 way from a card. These two had a pretty good match much like their match at the Anniversary show. At one point Dragon busted out a move that was sort of like a reverse Bubba Bomb from a tiger driver set that caused the jinx moment as Pete and both went "What the fuck was that?" when he pulled it out. I think this was the match that had the neat spot where someone, I'm pretty sure Insane Dragon was going for the old, roll through and kip up counter to an armbar and as he was in midair on the way up, Azrael let go of the arm, caught his head and took him right back down to the mat with a side head lock. Dragon countered as Azrael tried the on the apron shoulder tackle to the inside that Dragon block I think with a kick to stun him, then hit a yakuza style kick to the head as he was hung in the ropes and then transitioned to a leg drop or something as the kick sort of turned Azrael around so he was now partial in the ring and hanging on the outside. These two have been working pretty well with each other. Dragon survived the somersault stunner. There was a pretty scary spot in this where Azrael was setting up for the electric chair driver, Dragon fought out and looked like they were going for the reverse rana spot, but it ended up with Dragon landing mostly on his shoulder which looked all sorts of hurt. Azrael ended up recovering and putting the match to an end with the Electric Chair Driver. Pretty good aside from the scariness of the botched reverse rana spot.

PP: Fun opener as these guys gel quite nicely. I forget what exactly Dragon or Azrael did during the match that resulted in the "WTF WAS THAT" jinx spot, but trust me when I say that reaction was richly deserved as it was one freaked out spot that came from out of nowhere. ID landing on his head and shoulder off the botched rana was the most brutal spot of the night and they pretty much went right to the finish after that with Az hitting the Electric Chair Driver.

RD: Next segment had Dan Maff come out to do a promo promising to take his belt from Lawler. Most notable thing of this was Maff's really great suit.

PP: You need to see this just for Maff's shoes. Straight-up pimpin'. Jay Lethal's family/cheering section was funny as they got everyone in the building to clap along to Maff's JAPW music (Santana's "Oye Como Va").

MATCH 2: THE H EFFECT (Dixie & Deranged) w/ Slyvester Greendexter & Chris Cabanna vs. THE SHAOLIN WRECKING CREW (Suba & Magic)
RD : Believe it or not, H Effect had the same music two shows in a row as they used "Edge of Seventeen" again. That must be some new kind of record. I'm not sure what gimmick Green is using as they didn't announce him and Cabanna, so I'm not sure if they're doing their ROH gimmicks, or if Green even has a ROH gimmick... THE SWC have new gear that's black body suits with red sumo belt/loincloth type design. Not sure if they lost weight or if the suits are just really slimming. Magic had the full on ABA afro going, unfortunately, Deranged had his hair in braids. I'm begging for it, next show, the Afro Throwdown next show... Deranged v. Magic, the FRODOWN Downtown! "It's money in the bank, I tells ya!" I've been told that the dude who did the battle rap with Cena at the anniversary convention was Green, so now he's doing a Cena gimmick with a throwback jersey and does a rap on the SWC. While I think this was kind of a waste of the H Effect, this was pretty fun none the less. Dixie and Deranged were hilarious as the chickenshit heels and did a good job of getting the SWC over as monsters and some of their bumps. Probably one of my favorite bits during this is Deranged trying to do a flailing beat down on one of the SWC and as they were getting up, he suddenly changed it to a shiatsu massage on him before he started to get clubbed again. The H Effect got a fair amount of offense, but their schitck during this was what really made the match. Magic eventually gets control and hits the Hellsmasher on Deranged to score the win. Post match, the SWC take down Referee Paul Turner and end up stealing one of his shoes. It was pretty funny and Magic gets the shoe, goes Suba's attention and tosses it out of the ring and Suba hauls ass out to the floor to start chewing on it.

PP: OH MAN! Magic is a 1970s Cleveland Indians ballcap away from becoming Oscar Gamble Dos Mil. Seeing him letting it all hang out was why it was such a disappointment seeing Deranged sporting the dreads (he was also wearing black basketball shorts... he looked like CM Punkcito). Greendexter is now doing a John Cena gimmick based off the marathon battle rap he had with Cena at the Anniversary show... he immediately becomes Zellner's hero as he's sporting the old-school Atlanta Hawks "BELLS" jersey for the gimmick. H Effect got some offense in but this was basically a big ol' squash for the SWC... the continuing lack of direction for Dixie/Deranged is getting depressing.

MATCH 3: CORVIS FEAR/RUSH MARGERA vs. MATT & TROY NELSON 
RD: I'm guessing that's the correct name, at least that's what the DOI guys posted. I figured I'd get the name from Buck Woodward at intermission but the list they gave him only had Rush's first name on there. Anyway, Rush was sporting face paint and the same colors as Fear, so I guess this might be the start of a tag team, though Fear's gimmick lately has been his inability to work with people. The Nelsons come out in amateur-esque type gear and I immediately tell Pete that they're the Haascitos. They get announced as weighing in at the 185 pound category, which makes me think that the amateur wrestling thing is their gimmick. Pete took off during part of this, but this was a perfectly fine match. The Nelsons looked presentable in this and I don't really think anybody blew anything during the match which is always a good sign. Fear is pretty good on the apron, which is always a plus. There's nothing worse than a partner on the apron who stands there on the apron and does nothing. As I mentioned, Fear's gimmick lately has been his inability to work with people well in the past, so he's usually really whiney on the apron when his partner is in, yelling at them to "DO BETTER!" when they're getting beat down. As I mentioned, all parties looked good, Rush has a nice array of kicks. The Nelson did a couple of nice team moves and one of them hit a nice release german after getting the hot tag. The finish had Rush hit a big move, Fear tag himself in and jump over Rush who was asking what he was doing to score the pin, stealing the glory for himself. I wouldn't mind seeing the 4 guys again. Post match, Fat Frank runs in with his New Express, who turn out to be the Solution. They lay into Rush and Fear, hitting their face eraser/diamond cutter combo and the Problem Solver. They also did a double powerbomb out of a Double Hiptoss lift. Frank did the mic work which was him complaining about all the little spot monkeys working on the card and how a real team like the Solution can't get booked on the show. Frank begs them to beat up Fear and Rush and remember the reason they didn't get a paycheck was because they took their spot. There were some plusses and minuses during this. The plus side is that the allowed the previous match to finish before the run in, something that's been bugging me for a while as Fear and Thomas have been in matches that haven't gone without a run in for about 3 or 4 shows straight. The other plus was that they found an angle for the Solution. The minuses might just be the logic behind it. I get Frank doing a new character, but there's the irony of Frank complaining about them not being booked when he does most of the booking for the group... and it's pretty obvious because he does the mailings and everything. Other than that, Frank was pretty much the guy who cursed the most on the mic the night, even Douglas said "Cut the Damn Music" rather than his usual F-Bomb.

PP: I saw this match coming to the ring and immediately figured on the Sky Scrapers running in to ruin the match... I get halfway around the ring and sure enough, Church is standing behind the curtain watching things so I figure this match is doomed and head to the facilities with a clear conscience. As penance for missing out on most of what was apparently a fine little match, I'll grab the TV or show tape at some point. Finish looked good as Fear got a ton of hang-time for his splash over Fear onto the one Nelson. Postmatch Fat Frank (resplendent in white goombah tracksuit) debuts the Solution^H^H^H^H^H^New Express who work over Fear and Rush for awhile. Dunno why they felt the need for a name change, but either way I've no problem with the Solution as they have all sorts of neato double-teams and are probably the best big-man team in the East right now. They also get points for coming out to the MX "Chase" theme. 

MATCH 4 : "EXPLOSIVE" EDDIE THOMAS vs. SKINHEAD IVAN for the JAPW TV TITLE 
RD: Well, Pete was on the mailing list for the group and sort of hinted at what he thought the finish was going to be... damn spoiler. This was actually kind of a fun match for Ivan as he was reeled in for the most part on his mic work. His ring work was pretty acceptable too as Ivan did some new moves and spots that were neat. One that looked good is he had Thomas in some sort of neck submission, might have been a hangman's clutch and doing side headbutts to Thomas while he had him in the hold. He had a few other new things he did too and was probably the most fun Ivan match I've seen since the "I'm murderlizing Tough Enough Pete" matches. He busted out an abdominal stretch at one point and I was calling for him to turn it into the swastika, which is an abdominal stretch where you hook and bend one of the guy's legs with a free arm. Come on, it works for the Skinhead character! Anyway, Ivan is laying into Eddie the whole match, I think Ivan does something to Hanson allowing Jay Lethal to run in and chair Ivan. Eddie is able to score the pin and win the title.

PP: So I've been on the JAPW listserver for awhile and Frank announced this match by saying something to the effect that "Ivan will be defending his title against the man who's given him his toughest matches ever: Eddie Thomas. Eddie has never won a match in JAPW. WTG IVAN!" Having read that, I think Helen Keller could see the finish to this coming. You can tell the mandate went out for everyone to be on their best behavior for this show as Ivan leaves Oi Boy and the Stars N Bars flag at home and his micwork doesn't get more offensive than referring to one "Fat Puerto Rican" sitting at ringside (who lived up to the billing). It's funny because Ivan's a Boricua himself and his accent was peeking through a bit in the promo. Match proper is pretty fun as Ray said... Ivan dominates things but he's busting out some neat offense such as the aforementioned hangman's clutch with headbutts for added emphasis. He breaks out the SHARP Legsweep at one point but does do the "Sieg Heil" to Eddie later on as he has Eddie in the abdominal stretch. Jay Lethal runs in at the end after Hanson (I think) gets tangled up with Eddie and lays Ivan out with a chairshot allowing Eddie to get the pin. NEW HERO!

RD: Up next, Ariel comes out, with an outfit upgrade to do a promo. She's trying to explain what's been going on with her, the Skyscrapers and Johnny D. Johnny D interrupts her and they go to beat up Ariel again when "Duel of the Fates" from Episode One comes up. Out come two guys wearing brown Jedi robes. They come to make the save for Ariel. The funny part is that Pete and I end up doing the total nerd out during this as we're just going back and forth with the Star Wars references... because I'm old.... and I saw the first Star Wars at a drive in. Anyway, these guys had tights that said "Next Generation" on them, so I guess that's their regular gimmick. Though why would two guys who have a name that sounds better suited for a Star Trek gimmick be doing a Star Wars gimmick? Anyway, both guys are kind of on the short side, to the point that Ariel is almost taller then them, which results in my nerdocity going off the scale as I start a "Let's go Jawas!" chant for them. Anyway, The Skyscrapers seem to be totally baffled by this. The Jedi's try to do the Jedi Mind Trick on them. Then they whip out their light sabres, which are the type where if you whip them the "blade" will extend. At this point, they put on the Star Wars sound effects over the PA which are the Light Sabre effects and they try to run the Skyscrapers through, which results in the blades folding up again and then the Jedi's getting destroyed at the hands of the Skyscrapers. Mega, Slugger and Church hit their moves on the Next Generation and Ariel, Ref Hanson got laid out during this and Johnny D stood on the Next Generation and someone counted the pin with Hanson's arm. This was goofy as all get out. But I'm a proponent of if you're going to do a comedy gimmick, go all out and they did. I'm kind of hoping this wasn't really Ariel's team. Funny bit as after the damage was done, they played the Imperial March along with some Darth Vader quote. I'm not sure how well with bit would work on an on going basis, but it was pretty fun for a one off.

PP: Dear Lord, you needed to be there for us doing the full-on Star Wars dorkout as Ariel's charges come out. Ray immediately starts with the Jawas riff as the Next Generation wander down to ringside. They're smaller than Ariel, which immediately results in us looking to the back for Ariel's real team. Next Generation do some indecipherable micwork and break out the "lightsabers," at which point they play the lightsaber EFX over the PA in synch with NexGen attacking them. The whole crowd goes batshit for this and whoever thought this up gets the gold star of the night from me. Needless to say, there's been a great disturbance in the Force and the NexGen get murderlated. Only Imperial jobbers are this precise as one takes Mega's finisher and the other one eats a Body Bag from Slugga. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Johnny D and the Skycrapers as Ariel eats their finishers as well. UTINNI~! They play the Imperial March for the Scrapers on the way out and I await the announcement that Darth Vader is signing autographs in the back. Sadly, it appears that NexGen was Ariel's team all along... this leads me to question her managerial scouting abilities.

RD : They do announce a 10 minute intermission which Lawler was going to be signing stuff, which meant it wasn't going 10 minutes, as there was a pretty fair sized line even though the crowd was probably under 200. I end up bugging Buck Woodward who's there doing the announcing who informed me that Shane Douglas apparently has the flu this evening. 

PP: We also explain the Genki gimmick to Buck and ID Sugaa Boy for him while Dixie hovers over us. Ray grabs Buck by the neck and gives him noogies until Buck promises to get him a "HAGE" shirt in fatboy gaijin size. I also have a second nerd-out moment and pick up a used WWE Hogan DVD set for $5 from one of the merch tables.

RD : When we come back from the break they announce a special guest and out comes Santa Claus, who gets a ring announcement as being from the North Pole and weighing in at 315 pounds for you people who submit entries for the sports mooks. Santa's theme was the Boss doing "Santa Claus is coming to Town". The Skyscrapers run out during this and Mega and Slugger give him a double chokeslam. I'm guessing this was at the urging of Church, who probably hates the fact that Santa Claus represents the commercialism of Christmas rather than the religious significances of the holiday. Johnny D ends up stealing Santa's bag of toys. I was kind of hoping Santa would have been Monsta Mack or someone. I'm tired of Santa getting beat up. Kringle's all about the eating candy canes and kicking ass, and he's all out of candy canes.

PP: BAH, Ray steals the MST3K joke. I was really hoping for Monsta Claus here... then again they could always do a bit on TV where Santa gets put out of commission by the Scrapers and a JAPW wrestler has to take his place delivering toys to all the good girls and boys. One word: SANTACIDE! That angle's a goldmine! A MINE FULLA GOLD!

MATCH 5: JAY LETHAL vs. "DANGER BOY" DEREK WYLDE
RD: This was pretty good, but had some rough spots or some spots where it seemed like people were out of position or expecting something else, but I'm guessing that's more due to the fact the guys have probably never worked each other before. They did a quick "Jay attempts fast pins" segment which wasn't really the usual Guerrero/Malenko series because Jay was countering Wylde's attempts to counter pin attempts get converted into another Jay pin, the quick pins set off the "TWO!" Crew who've been doing most of the shows in the Rahway/Woodbridge area. Lethal tries to do a dive, but it looked like Wylde was either not ready or was out of position, so Lethal whipped him into the railing and then went back up in and hit the tope. He went in for a second one and Wylde cut him off on the apron and followed up with a huge air leg lariat. The craziest spot of the match was probably Wylde going up top for something, Lethal recovering, doing a run up the ropes and doing a release dragon suplex while both were standing on the top. It looked like a pretty safe bump as Wylde rotated in mid air to land on his stomach rather than on his head. Finish was both guys fight to block/do the dragon suplex with Jay eventually hitting it for the win.

PP: At the start I jokingly start a "U-S-A" chant for Jay against the nogoodnik Canadian that actually goes over pretty well to my horror. Good match if a bit shaky in spots due to each guy's unfamiliarity with each other. As Ray said, they do some neato reversals at the start that aren't the usual Malenko/Guerrero-style reversalreversalreversalreversal hokum. Jay is already the goods and Wylde is solid although he needs to work on those airballs he calls punches. Dragon suplex had everyone fearing for Wylde's life but he rotated perfectly off it and landed fine.

MATCH 6: THE CHRISTOPHER ST. CONNECTION (Buff E & Mace Mendoza) w/ Jailbait vs. SLYK WAGNER BROWN/APRIL HUNTER for the JAPW Tag Team Titles
RD: The CSC come out first to "YMCA" and were sporting light up Santa hats. It should be noted that Sugaa Boy, Pete's favorite fan, was wearing a penis nose, which I think resulted in Buff E and Mace doing something to it, couldn't really tell as our back were too it, but Buff E's face lit up when he saw it on the apron. When Slyk and April come out, we get our pre-match mic work. Buff E claims that he sat on Santa's lap and told him that his one wish was for a match with Slyk Wagner Brown, and now he had it. Jailbait also explained that she was into girls, which upset April. Slyk's growing out his hair and is sort of going for the cornrows look now. April was going to start off the match, but the CSC did an extended stall claiming they weren't going to get in the ring until Slyk tagged in. Slyk took advantage of the CSC for a while, but they got him a few of the usual harassment spots, though Slyk took the safe Buff E mincing rope run into a kiss, but on the forehead rather the lips. Buff E hit the jock slam at one point, doing the "DIOS MIO! IT'S SO BIG!" before hitting it. Eventually, April gets the hot tag and knocks around the CSC for a bit, they drop her with something and Jailbait ends up hitting her with the body crawl that Mace usually does to guys. The funny part was Slyk running in and laying down next to April and calling for Jailbait to do it to him, which resulted in April getting mad at him, calling him a pig. Slyk and April retain with a neat double team which was sort of a variation of the 3 Count "Countdown" where Slyk set up a Samoan Drop on Buff E and April spiked it with her "Headhunter" Shannon Moore style somersault into a spinning neckbreaker from the second rope. Pretty good match, as usual for the CSC bit. I was kind of hoping they'd do a spot where April kissed them and the CSC did the disgusted sell that most guys do to their bit or a moment of sexual doubt only to be broken by a kiss from their partner. Post match, the DRS and Maff run in and attack them. Slyk gets handcuffed to the ropes as Maff does the mic work running down Slyk, pointing out how he never liked him (they sort of did a double turn with them once Maff went heel) and promised to kick his ass at the JAPW/ROH co-show in January. Maff ended up giving April the burning hammer and then ended up burying her under a Puerto Rican flag they got from the crowd. NOBODY DOES THAT TO THE COWGIRL! Slyk eventually gets uncuffed resulting in La Familia running off, only to back in and attack Slyk when he wasn't looking and then run off again.

PP: The CSC do their usual riotous opening with the blinking Santa hats... really this is about the best indy entrance in the States, and only the Kanemura and DO-FIXER megadance entrances can top it off the top of my head. Their reaction to Sugaa Boy's dicknose is classic as Mace gives it a kiss during his trip around ringside... then Buff sees it from the ring and DROPS TROU before running over to worship it. He also does the "lick the guardrail" for someone at ringside. Jailbait is with them and I am greatly amused at how they cover her up for this show as she's wearing a Santa Claus babydoll nightie... and blue jeans. She gets on the mic and announces her attentions towards April, who is suitably concerned. Actual match is pretty good once they get past the stall at the start as CSC do a lot more wrestling than usual and do a cleaned-up version of their shtick (the kiss to Slyk's forehead while he's trapped in the camel clutch). April TAKING the hot tag was more than a little odd, but then again she is bigger than half the males on the roster. She's also entirely watchable now as a wrestler to the point where I wouldn't mind seeing her stuff from NEO or A2Z or whatever groups she worked for in Japan. Finish comes down to CSC sharing a kiss after the Jailbait spot with April and Slyk, at which point the upstanding hetero champions make short work of the faygelehs with the Samoan Drop/Headhunter combo. Maff and the DRS (straight from the CZW show, making me wonder if they made the drive in full ring gear) hit the ring postmatch and obliterate the champs, including cuffing Slyk to the ropes and making him watch April run the gauntlet of Familia finishers including the Burning Hammer and the DRS Double Crusher. Maff runs down Slyk for ages to set up their match at the JAP/ROH show on 1/9 and someone in the crowd hands him a PR flag which April gets buried under in a neat improvisation. Good angle to set up their match, although the crowd was pretty quiet for it. Of course, anything that winds up with Maff and the DRS dancing to "Oye Como Va" is a plus in my book.

MATCH 7: DAN MAFF vs. SHANE DOUGLAS vs. JERRY LAWLER for the JAPW Heavyweight Title
RD : Douglas comes out and La Familia end going to the outside, but end up dropping on of the PR flag bandanas. Douglas cuts his usual "I revolutionize the business with the shoot promo, I told McMahon to kiss my ass" promo, though shorter than in the past, which is a welcome change. Douglas ended up doing the nose blow/ass wipe with the bandana which Maff's facial selling of was pretty funny. Lawler came out and did a bunch of one liners on both guys, basically trying to plant the seeds of doubt between the heels so they wouldn't work together, telling Shane "You were the Dean, do the math, it's going to be 3 on 2" He'd cut a line on Douglas, Maff would laugh, including doing the big hang in the ropes spot, Lawler told him it wasn't funny and the only good thing to come back from Puerto Rico was an empty boat. To which I told Pete, "Awww... Jerry's gonna get shanked after the show." This was a lot of stalling and non-actual wrestling stuff, with the "trying to cut a deal with each other spots" before they end up getting under way. I'm kind of disappointed they changed this to a 3 way, because as I expected, Maff put over Lawler's punches huge, with big bumps and great facials through out the match and I have the feeling a straight match between the two would have been pretty fun. Douglas looked passable for the second show in a row. Lawler's punches looked good and he gave both guys a hurty looking piledriver. At one point, Shane and Maff were beating on Lawler in the corner with punches, Jerry eventually yells "Wait!", they stop, Jerry drops the strap and goes on offense. Lawler also hit both with stunners. The finish had Maff KO Lawler with knux, though a Mempho chain probably would have been more appropriate to regain the JAPW title. A pretty simple match, looking over, Lawler can put together an entertaining match where he doesn't really have to do a ton of stuff. This was a little bit too stally, kind of like the match before it but overall it was entertaining. Post match, Shane promised he'd get the title from Maff and that he was a dead man. Jerry ended up dropping him after the match with a punch. At this point it was after 11 and some people started taking off. 

PP: Interesting match layout with the title match and WWE SUPERSTAR~! as the semi for Styles and Daniels. Douglas comes out and does a toned-down version of his usual shpiel, thankfully keeping it clean for the kids. Lawler is a blast on the mic here as he refers to the Familia as "Jose, Hose B and Hose C" and zaps Douglas with the "Dean Douglas" ref. Ray and I immediately make the "fingers on the blackboard" motion... and much to our joy the Familia do it too. Maff also does his "hang in the ropes" pose while laughing his ass off. Match finally gets underway with the heels putting over Lawler's offense big-time. No old-guy dropkick from Lawler, but he does the great punches (Ray and I try and fail to get the Memphis "OOOOOOOHHHH" pops going). At one point Maff and Shane have Lawler backed into the corner when he asks them to hold up for a second while he casually DROPS THE STRAP and goes to town on them both. He hits the KICKWHAMSTUNNER on both of them and adds a piledriver on each of them for good measure. Somehow Hanson gets wrapped up with Shane allowing Negro to hand off a set of knucks to Maff, which he uses to KO Lawler and regain the JAPW title. Fun match. Maff going over Lawler was a surprise as we figured Shane had been added to the match in order to take or eat a pin from Maff in order to protect the WWE guy... then again, this brings up the question WRT why Shane was there at all if Lawler was going to put Maff over all along.

MATCH 8: AJ STYLES vs. "FALLEN ANGEL" CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
RD : This started at about 10 or 15 minutes after 11 and we were kind of checking our watches to make sure we'd be able to get out of the train in time. Fortunately, everything played out well and these tore it up for about 20 to 30 minutes. A good match though. Lots of nice counters including AJ going for the asai moonsault into the reverse DDT, which Daniels countered out and into a set up for the Last Rights, only for Styles to counter into a reverse DDT which was what he was setting up from the start. Styles did the rail jump on the outside as well. Daniels hit Styles with the hop up moonsault and the Angel's Wings, but couldn't get the pin. At one point Daniels hit the backslide and I marked out because I have been watching too much Genki Horiguchi lately. Come on, the GODLY backslide would so fit in with the Fallen Angel gimmick. Both guys looked crisp and this was probably the match of the night. Despite having it countered once, Styles eventually hit the Styles Clash for the win. Good match, afterwards they teased a handshake but both guys just backed away.

PP: Real fun match and an easy MOTY for pure work, although about half the crowd took off after Lawler and it seems like the ones that were left were rather cold to Messrs. Styles and Daniels going in. Nevertheless they rip it up for about 20 minutes and all is well. Daniels broke out the Angel Wings which I hadn't seen him do in awhile... he also busted out that great cravat he does. Finishing sequence is neat as Styles flips out of the Last Rites and hits the Clash for the pin. We bail out for the train just in case but shouldn't have worried since it's less than 5 minutes from the Rec Center to the train station.

RD: Overall, this was a very strong showing for JAPW. A little on the long side, but it actually turned out to be a blessing since I didn't have to wait as long for the train to show up. I kind of wish they'd do the shows a little bit earlier, but I guess I was spoiled by the early LXW start time and the usual early start for a long long night with USA Pro.

PP: Although this was a shade longer than the usual JAPW show, I still dug it a bunch as the matches were all solid with nary a stinker in the bunch, plus they did a good job of mixing the newcomers in with the established crew. This was probably the show the Anniversary last month should've been, and if they'd had that crowd in this building for these matches it would've been an amazingly hot show. Again, I have no problems with the Rec Center and I hope they can afford to keep running it. I get back to the house around 1:30 and immediately eat a spear from the dog who apparently sat by the door for six hours waiting for me.