RD: I meet up with Pete and Joanne in the city after watching my Mets somehow throw at and fail to hit Roger Clemens with a pitch. The only redeeming thing is they beat the Red Rocket anyway. Ironically we run into two of the JCW rookies on the bus out to the Rexplex. Pre-show we kill some time hitting the Ikea and Toys R Us before going to the Rexplex. The Rexplex is a huge facility with like eight things in it. It's a skate park, indoor soccer fields, indoor roller hockey rinks, an arcade, a mixed martial arts gym, batting cages, a climbing wall, etc. The place is pretty big, in conjunction with all the things going on, there's also a band playing there that night. This results in people who I'm pretty sure weren't going to the show looming around watching from the near by courts and balcony. We show up way early and scope out the arcade and stuff, yet somehow I don't end up dropping money to play any games. When buying our tickets, I mention the "discount" mentioned on our board which is heartily laughed at by the ticket takers. In reality, we probably got the discount as Travis paid an extra $10 to get in for the meet and greet which more or less I got to see as well without paying extra. We got to watch the guys in the ring talking, laughing, setting up some spots and seemingly listening to Reckless Youth hold court talking about someone who'd take chops on their shoulders/arms rather their chests. The ring is set up in one of the back roller hockey rinks. It should be noted they seem to have a regular sized ring now, however, the ring ropes still sort of look dinky. It should also be noted there were no mats around the ring. Pre-show we note how all the external wrestlers seem to have the worst pictures ever in the program. It was like it was put together by the person in high school who hated everyone but was in charge of the year book. Jokes about American Dragon looking like Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot by Jack Ruby are made by Pete.

PP: Mark Briscoe’s picture leads to all sorts of “Dude, I can’t believe you used that photo of me baked out of my mind” jokes. This is just about the most surreal building I’ve ever seen a wrestling show as you’ve got kids rollerblading everywhere while you’re trying to watch the matches. You’ve also got folks having a birthday party in one of the suites overlooking the ring… next to the suite the boys are using as a locker room. We are totally holding the ~ show at this place if that ever gets off the ground just for the bumper cars, although we’d have to do something like put up a giant curtain to prevent those freeloaders from getting a show gratis at our expense. They also have a soccer store down by the arcade which I immediately make plans to check out during intermission. Joanne introduces us to Don Montoya and we shoot the breeze while preparing to make a break for it in the event he takes offense to anything we might’ve said about his recent JAPW matches.

THE SHOW
RD : The show starts about 10 minutes late. Pre-show John Shane comes out and introduces a video segment. Unfortunately we sat on the other side of the area, we could sort of make out the video, however all mic work is pretty much lost on us between the speakers, the dimensions of the rink and the band sometimes playing in the back. Judas Young comes out and gives a speech that we cannot understand, but I'm guessing since he's dressed in street clothes and he's booked on the card, it amounted to "I'm still injured and I can't wrestle tonight." It should be noted that everyone who came out was accompanied by the same two valets. Out of the advertised tournament were Billy Fives and Judas Young. Please be aware a majority of the matches were around the 5 minute match with a few going to 10 or so.

ROUND 1 :
Match 1: AMERICAN DRAGON w/disturbo tiny pants vs. SUPREME LEE GREAT w/nise Mr. Fuji
RD: American Dragon and AJ Styles seem to be in a contest to see who can yell the loudest prior to each other's matches. Nise Mr. Fuji was I think the only manager to show up all night, and he did it totally out of the gimmick he wore last year. This was relatively short. Lee's got some good looking suplexes which AD bumped all over the place for, but his punches looked pretty bad. Since it was going to be a short match and AD was going over, Great got to show off his offense before Dragon put him away him away with a nice cradle back suplex for the pin. We were actually behind Great's family during this who, though not knowing who Dragon was, complimented him on his mat stuff and wondered if he was an amature wrestler.

PP: We have a clear view of the locker room from our vantage point, and Montoya (who’s running things upstairs) cracks us all up as he jokingly makes “go home” motions from THE GORILLA POSITION! the second the bell rings. We were prepared to hate this as Great blows a bridge spot a minute or so in, but it’s kind of hard to heckle a guy when his parents are sitting right in front of you. In any case he recovers and gets a lot of offense in since AD is going over, including one hell of a lariat that none of us saw coming. This was a fine opener.

Match 2 : "SUPERSTAR" DAVE GRECO vs. LITTLE DIXIE
RD : JCW is Greco's home promotion, Dixie is the former JAPW triple crown champ (now just the Light Heavyweight Champion). Again, another pretty short match, both guys got about even offense, but with it being so short, Dixie didn't really heel it up which is a shame because he's great at it. Greco hit a nice super kick and got the win with an Air Raid Crash to advance.

PP: We were all grumbling about Greco going over Dixie, but you knew Ricky was going to have one of his boys advance out of the first round and Dixie drew the short straw. This was fun while it lasted.

MATCH 3: MARK BRISCOE vs. SHAWN SHERIDAN
RD : Sheridan is the first of the subs to show, I think coming in for Billy Fives. He's been repackaged from the last time I saw him at a JAPW student show from a Teen Icon gimmick to I guess a shooter gimmick (in shoot promo, not shoot style). This was ok, Sheridan is a flyer, more spot oriented. He did the slingshot buff blockbuster Eddy Guerrero pulled out a few weeks ago on Briscoe. Briscoe hit some nice suplexes before putting Sherican away with an armtrap style burning hammer for the win.

Match 4: SCOOT ANDREWS vs. JASON RUMBLE
RD : Scoot looked pretty good here, better than I've seen him in a while. Rumble is doing a tribute to the late Tony Rumble, using his music, but unfortunately not sporting the batting helmet. Jason didn't really do anything of note, but Scoot looked good. Scoot got the win with the Force of Nature. I was sort of annoyed at the fact most of the guys sold the guys finishers all the way to the back, but Rumble didn't, especially given the magnitude of Scoot's finisher.

PP: I keep forgetting the music Tony and now Jason Rumble used for their respective entrances… some semi-obscure 60s rock instrumental. Scoot got some goodwill back with us as this was the best he’d looked in a long time as it seems he’s finally gotten all healed up from the broken arm and everything else. He definitely can’t kill enough guys with the Force of Nature to suit my tastes, as it’s an awesome-looking finisher. Rumble’s (lack of) selling was annoying but I guess he had no choice but to hustle out as this was a 16-match show.

Match 5 : COLT CABANA vs. DAMIAN DRAGON
RD: Colt is actually huge compared to most of the Northeastern indy guys I'm used to seeing. There only seemed to be one rough spot where Dragon tried a leap frog which sort of ended with Colt getting way to close to Damian's sack which resulted in him walloping him with some forearms. Colt I'm pretty sure hit a pretty evil lariat in this. Colt looked really good in this and got the win via a body breaker move out of an underhook set up.

PP: Damian’s looked very good as of late in ICW and USA Pro, but there’s no way in hell you will ever see me not cheering for the Jewish wrestler from Chicago in a match. I need to get as much Colt on tape as I can possibly find because he was a total stud here as well as in his match against AJ. He also has a frat boy “That Guy” look to him that’s been so endearing to us as of late in a wrestling gimmick if not an actual real-life gimmick.

Match 6 : AJ STYLES vs. QEENAN CREED
RD: AJ comes out and does his pre-match scream which results in us making Ken Shamrock jokes. Later in the car, sexual frustration jokes are made due to the fact that Travis pointed out AJ's wearing a promise ring around his neck. This was fun. I've noticed the thing about Creed in all the matches I've seen to him, he doesn't seem to do just standard covers in a match, he always seems to go for some sort of cradle or roll up, which I think is a neat addition to his matches. AJ didn't try to do his shooting star to the floor, which was probably a smart thing. AJ got the win with the Styles Clash.

PP: This was probably the best match of the first round as they got a ton of time and had a nice build to the proceedings.

Match 7 : CM PUNK vs. BILLY "HIGHLIGHT" REIL
RD: Punk comes out in heel mode, jawing with the fans and generally being heel like. He throws his sweatshirt at Reil who puts it on and we chant for Punk to kill him. Punk looked good in this, Reil was sort of there. Punk, who was rumored to be coming into the show with a concussion from the night before was the first to take a bump into the boards. There was a weird spot where Punk went down and played that he hurt his knee. It was awkward because they temporarily stopped the match to the point Reil was trying to get the attention of the guys in the locker room on the upperlevel and as the referee's had to run all the way down to check on Punk, by the time they got there, Punk was already up as it was a fake out. Punk ended up getting the win following a Shining Punk Wizard and then putting on a texas clover leaf.

Match 8: INSANE DRAGON vs. RECKLESS YOUTH
RD: ID came out first. Reckless was using "Kung Fu Fighting". I was surprised neither he or Colt were using "Coba Cabana". Dragon opened this up with a dive right off the bat on Reckless. This was the first time I've seen Reckless in a match in almost a year and he looked really good, especially since the last time I saw him. I noticed that Dragon has great sells of damage, the problem is his long term selling of stuff though. He did a pop up after getting pounded for a bit to hit his sort of back flip kick thing. Reckless pulled out a variation of the Neblina at one point and ended up getting the win with his Northern Lights Bomb 2001.

PP: I'd forgotten about Reck using "Copacabana" as his heel theme, which is waaaaaaay up there with the Boogie Knights using "You're the Best" as wacky music. They sort of booked this like the Naniwa/Liger match from the 1995 J-Cup in that ID caught Reck with the tope before the match even started and got an s-load of offense at the start since you knew he wasn't going to win here. They run an intermission here and I hit the soccer store to find... MCFC mousepads for $5! WHIP-ASS! Greatest building ever!

ROUND 2
Match 9: AMERICAN DRAGON vs. "SUPERSTAR" DAVE GRECO
RD: Dragon really pulled a Flair job in this, bumping and selling like a mofo for Dave Greco, in fact, Greco's match was the one that was the build for the rest of the psychology for the rest of the matches for the night. Really, enough cannot be said about Dragon selling Greco like he was a serious threat in the tournament. Dragon ended up getting the win with a cobra clutch applied like crossface hold for the win.

Match 10: SCOOT ANDREWS vs. MARK BRISCOE
RD : Scoot looked good in this too, but this is sort of where I got annoyed by selling again. Due to the sheer magnitude of matches this night, the thing I remember most about this match were two things. One was Mark going up for a top rope frankensteiner or something and falling off once, I'm not sure if it was a blown spot or not because Scoot stayed up top and Mark went up again and hit an ugly looking rana or headscissors thing. Briscoe hit his armtrap burning hammer again, but Scoot was in the ropes. My complaint with this is that the Burning Hammer should be a finish, even if the guy kicks out, he should pretty much be dead. Anyways, the match went on, Marc went up for the hope over in the corner, but Scoot catches him and gives him a piledriver, more or less Force of Nature style without the pumphandle set up for the win.

PP: I didn’t have a problem with Scoot’s leg being on the ropes so much as I had major problems with the referee, who was HORRIBLE. Here he counted Scoot out and called for the bell, only then to see that Scoot’s foot was on the ropes and ordering a restart. It was shitty as hell as the ref killed the crowd here thanks to the confusion over what was happening. WORST REF EVER.

Match 11: AJ STYLES vs. COLT CABANA
RD: This was a good match. Colt did a bunch of agile big guy stuff in this, I believe hitting a huge asai moonsault to the floor at one point. Another one of Colt's spots was the tornado snap suplex which was goofy as all get out. Think of a run up the ropes for a tornado DDT, but Colt lands on his feet and hits a snap suplex. Styles got the win with a corkscrew somersault senton onto Colt. An enjoyable match.

PP: This may have been my favorite match of the tournament. Again, Colt was a total stud here.

Match 12 : CM PUNK vs. RECKLESS YOUTH
RD: Punk keeps up his heelness by once again arguing with one of the fans and this time throwing his sweatshirt at the valet that came out with him. He and Reckless had a good match, but at some point in here, Punk fractured his skull. I haven't figured out yet. Punk took some hellacious bumps in this. He did a somersault senton to the floor onto Youth who was down, though it was on the opposite side of the ring so I didn't see the landing but I heard it. Yeah, no mats was a good idea... on a roller hockey floor. He also took a dragon screw off the apron to the floor that had to suck. There was a great part where Punk was in the tree of woe and as Youth was measuring him up, Punk was pleading with him not to drop kick him. As he covered up his face, Youth drop kicked him in the chest/stomach. Reckless hit his own Shining Wizard in the match. The finish was Punk getting caught up top, Reckless hitting the reverse superplex and then hitting the Northern Lights Bomb 2001. Post match, I thought Punk was selling great as he was using a chair as a crutch, though that might not have been selling.

Round 3
Match 13: AMERICAN DRAGON vs. SCOOT ANDREWS
RD : I think this is actually the first time I've seen Scoot do Flair intensive offense as he built a lot of the match about working on Dragon's bad leg and setting up for the figure four. Scoot tries to take out the leg and there were a lot of close spots, but eventually, Dragon took out Scoot and slapped on the crossface cobra for the win.

Match 14: AJ STYLES vs. RECKLESS YOUTH
RD : OK, we're 14 matches in and 5 days after the fact. This was a good match, AJ didn't do anything to really piss me off and Reckless looked wildly resurgent in this. I'm drawing a blank on a lot of stuff, but I remember Youth going over with a rana into a pin on AJ to advance.

PP: Err... 5 days plus plus plus plus plus. My bad.

NON-TOURNAMENT
Match 15: INFERNO vs. JAY BRISCOE - JCW Title
RD : Inferno I think gets announced as being of WWF and Shipmates fame. Either that or it was in the program. I think the gist of this match was to give AD and Reckless plenty of time to rest up for their final. And this accomplished this. The focus of this match was Pete and me hitting up Travis for a ride since it was obvious this show was going later than the last scheduled bus from the Rexplex. A good part of this match was Briscoe putting on a chinlock and using the ropes for added leverage and the JAPW crew who were in the crowd cheering him for it and Jay visibly laughing his ass off while putting the hold on. Hey, let's kill the J-Driller by having Inferno kick out of it! Inferno gets the win with a half nelson face first slam that Edge does for the win. This accomplished killing a finisher and time.

PP: Jay TOTALLY made this match as he was getting the lion's share of the cheers despite being booked as the heel here. You have to see this just for the sequence where Jay gets the chinlock on Inferno, teases using the ropes and finally does it while hamming it up like the bastard child of Mr. Mexico and Stryker. Jay does this a couple of times and finally they have a long chinlock spot undoubtedly so Jay can compose himself after the hilarity

FINALS
Match 16: AMERICAN DRAGON vs. RECKLESS YOUTH
RD: This was pretty good, but I was pretty annoyed at the fact there were a lot of big spots that didn't lead to the finish. Minor quibble, I mean I understand wanting to build to the climax of the night, but both guys have wrestled 3 matches already and they're kicking out of finishes, it's sort of goofy. Reckless started out with the continuing of the working on the leg, including what looked like a DDT on Dragon's leg. Both guys did some killer moves to each other from earlier in the night. Dragon got on the cobra crossface, but Reckless was able to rope save. AD hit the cradle back suplex but Reckless kicked out. Reckless hit the Northern Lights Bomb 2001, but it's not enough. They do a fight on the top rope, Reckless hits the swinging DDT from the top as Dragon's on the second which looked evil as all fuck, but didn't lead to the finish. The good thing about this spot was as soon as Dragon kicked out, Reckless put on a kneebar and got the tap out to win the tournament.

RD: Post match, Reckless thanks the crowd, even though the mic dies on him at one point. They also present a second award to AJ Styles during the finals and a majority of the crew (minus Punk and Colt who went to the hospital after the matches). I wonder where Don Montoya or Mike Quackenbush were with the giant Chikara banner during the post match conversation. Afterward, we all cram into Travis' rental car and Joanne gets much closer to me and Pete than she probably bargined for. I offer to pay for tolls but there's no way I can reach into my pockets without opening the door and I'm unsuccessful in convincing Joanne in reaching into my pocket for change. After all, I'm not creepy. All and all, it was a fun show, but a 16 man tournament really needs to be over 2 days, this prevents a 4 hour show and it also lets the guys show off and have more than 5 minute matches. It was a lot of wrestling to digest. It was a solid show, nothing Earth shattering, but nothing that would make you want to puke on your shoes.

PP: I apologize for not giving this show the attention it probably deserved, but both JJCs we've been to have been utterly exhausting, draining affairs and it has everything to do with the format. There's no way you can run a card with more matches than a Jac Sabboth show and not burn out folks. In the future Ricky would be wise to either a) split this into two shows, perhaps even a day/night affair like the Crockett Cup, or b) run all three-ways the first round ala Best of the Best to trim things down some. Travis and his lady friend graciously gives us all a lift to Secaucus, where Joanne and I catch a bus to Port Authority. This quickly dissolves into the craziest bus ride ever as a woman near the front of the bus screams at a guy behind her not to not touch her anymore and, quote, "GO LICK YOUR MOTHER'S PUSSY!!!" The guy and his friend gets off at the next stop, proceed to beat up a newspaper kiosk for some reason and try to get back on the bus, at which point a drunk guy we'd met at Secaucus apparently sees one of the guys with a GUN. Drunk guy takes it upon himself to play peacemaker and invites the alleged toucher to get off the bus and the two of them have an animated conversation while Joanne and I scrooch underneath our chairs in case bullets start flying. Meanwhile the bus driver has been sitting through all of this apparently paralyzed with fear. Eventually cooler heads prevail and the drunk guy convinces the bussie to get the show on the road and we get to Port Authority without further incident. This probably took about 10 minutes but it felt like it lasted nine years while it was happening. Strange, strange ending to a perfectly fine night of rassling.