JAPW Caged Destiny 6/27/2009

Written by: Bob Colling

Jersey All-Pro Wrestling presents Caged Destiny
Date: 6/27/2009
From: Jersey City, NJ

Danny Demanto is claiming to be the real JAPW New Jersey State Champion and has the title with him. Demanto cuts a promo saying he’s going to out dance his opponent, Shockwave the Robot. Demanto does the Macarena dance. Shockwave dances to Thriller.

Opening Contest: Shockwave the Robot vs. Danny Demanto: Demanto attacks Shockwave from behind to get the cheap advantage. Demanto clotheslines Shockwave after taunting the fans. Demanto puts a camel clutch and begins to act like Iron Sheik. Shockwave headbutts Demanto followed by a spinning heel kick. Shockwave delivers a neckbreaker to drive Danny down to the mat. Demanto drives Shockwave down with a slam and hits the five knuckle shuffle for a two count. Demanto plants Shockwave with an F-U for another two count. Danny goes to the corner and tries for a superkick. Danny does the “I’m sorry, I love you” but Shockwave kicks out. Shockwave gets up and he’s acting like Hulk Hogan. Shockwave big boots Demanto and hits a leg drop for a near fall. Demanto knocks Shockwave to the floor. Danny gets a water bottle from a fan and he’s going to try and rust the robot. Danny tosses the water on the robot and Shockwave shuts down. Danny shoves over the robot and wins the match with a one boot cover. (*1/2. Obviously this was presented as a comedy match considering Danny is playing the role of a guy who has lost his mind and is fighting a damn robot. The finish is funny, but it’s something you’d probably see at CHIKARA or something. I’m not a fan of these kind of matches, but wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen.)

Second Contest: Sara Del Ray vs. ODB for the vacant JAPW Women’s Championship: Early on, they trade a few forearm strikes in the middle of the ring. ODB clotheslines Del Ray to the floor and plays to the crowd. ODB goes to the floor as Del Ray got to the apron and Del Ray beats on ODB, which was started rather awkwardly. Del Ray sends ODB into the guard railing back first. Del Ray chokeslams ODB coming off the ropes for a two count. ODB misses a splash in the corner and Del Ray delivers a few strikes. Del Ray takes ODB over with a gut wrench suplex for a two count. ODB fights back with a few clotheslines and a splash in the corner. ODB runs off the ropes to drive Del Ray down to the mat with a bulldog. Del Ray nails ODD with a rolling kick and a double under hook suplex for the win. (*1/4. Honestly, it was a rather boring match and they didn’t get a lot of time to build anything from a rather slow start. I enjoy Del Ray’s work and have no issue with her winning the title.)

Third Contest: B-Boy & Grim Reefer vs. The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew (Brodie Lee & Necro Butcher): Lee and Butcher go right after Boy and Reefer to start the match with brawling. Boy dropkicks Butcher in the corner as Reefer dumped Lee to the floor. Reefer takes them both out with a somersault dive to the floor! All four men go to the floor and begin to brawl in the crowd. Butcher sends Reefer face first into the wall a few times, but Reefer returns the favor. Lee and Boy are brawling outside while Reefer is tossed down the bleachers. Butcher tosses a few chairs onto Reefer in the crowd trying to bury Reefer under chairs. Butcher nails Boy with a trash can, but it’s difficult to see what is going as the crowd doesn’t have any lighting on them. Butcher scoop slams Boy onto a steel chair. Lee comes off the ropes to leg drop Reefer for a two count. Butcher smashes the referee with a chair on the floor. Butcher and Lee work over Boy with strikes in the middle of the ring. Boy chops Lee until Butcher stops the momentum shift. Butcher comes off the ropes to stomp Boy a few times to keep control of the match as Reefer can’t get back in the ring. Lee comes off the apron to kick Reefer into the railing as Butcher nearly pins Boy as the referee was tossed back into the ring.

Butcher misses a middle rope leg drop while Lee chops Reefer on the floor several times. Lee gets tagged in and works over Boy in the corner with several strikes. Boy comes off the ropes to drop Lee with a running step-up kick. Reefer is hammering away on Butcher outside the ring until Butcher sends Reefer into the railing. Lee drives Boy down to the mat with a back suplex. Butcher drives Reefer groin first into the guard railing. Butcher comes off the middle rope to strike Boy down to the mat. Boy gets his knees up to low blow Butcher on a few splash attempts. Reefer and Lee get tagged in with Reefer dropkicking both men. Reefer clotheslines Butcher in the corner and plants Lee with a tornado DDT. Butcher turns Reefer inside out with a clothesline. Butcher slides a few chairs into the ring. Boy saves Reefer from a backbreaker onto two chairs. Reefer drops Butcher throat first over two chairs and Boy double stomps Butcher onto the chairs. Boy ends up turning on Reefer with a shining wizard and Lee pins Reefer for the win. (**1/2. I mean, this was nothing more than a brawl between the four guys. The turn by B-Boy came out of nowhere and caused a quick finish. I had a feeling a that a turn was happening, but wasn’t expecting it at that point. An average match that was solid enough to hold my interest throughout.)

Fourth Contest: JAPW New Jersey State Champion Archadia vs. Mo Sexton: Archadia is apparently obsessed with the championship. Sexton works over Archadia on the mat keeping the advantage with a front face lock. Archadia spits on Sexton and then slides to the floor to avoid Sexton, who had spat back at him. They run the ropes until Sexton avoids a crossbody and sends Archadia to the floor. Sexton clotheslines Archadia a few times in the ring followed by a standing dropkick. Sexton heads to the top rope, but Archadia dropkicks Sexton to the floor. Archadia hits a dropkick for a two count. Archadia continues with a side Russian leg sweep and chokes Sexton on the mat. Sexton backdrops Archadia to avoid a piledriver. Archadia stops Sexton with a low blow as the referee was distracted. Archadia comes off the top, but Sexton hits a running Pounce to knock Archadia to the apron. Sexton lifts Archadia into the air and drives the champ down to the mat gut first for a near fall. Archadia springboards off of Sexton’s back, but Mo is able to hit a cutter for a two count. Sexton catapults Archadia to the apron and Archadia delivers a dropkick to the back of Sexton’s head for a two count.

Sexton struggles getting to his feet and Archadia misses a clothesline allowing Sexton to hit a German suplex and superkick. Sexton tries for the cover managing only a two count. Sexton misses a splash off the top and Archadia hits a spike piledriver for the win. (**1/2. They didn’t get a lot of time to produce a match, but it was still rather solid showing. Archadia was never in risk of losing the title, for the most part. Sexton had a few good combination moves and the finish was impactful. An enjoyable undercard match for the show.)

As expected, Acid takes quite a bit of time to stall on the floor. The referee is able to toss Thorn’s cane out of the ring, much to the relief of Acid. Thorn gets on the microphone and says that Acid may not be a vampire, but he does suck. Thorn also asks which one is the pitcher and catcher. The crowd loves that kind of insult. Thorn tells Acid that he swallows. They have literally stalled for seven minutes.

Fifth Contest: Trent Acid vs. Kevin Thorn: Acid shoves Thorn and promptly gets shoved to the floor. Acid delivers a few right hands but Thorn takes Acid over with a hip toss and shoulder blocks. Thorn clotheslines Acid over the top to the floor. Thorn kicks Acid’s arm against the railing. Acid gets sent back first into the railing as Thorn has kept control on the floor. Acid kicks Thorn on the apron and Thorn gets his leg caught in the ropes for a moment. Acid dropkicks Thorn off the apron sending Thorn chest first onto the railing. Acid comes off the top rope to missile dropkick Thorn for a near fall. Acid continues to deliver strikes on Thorn as he stands on the apron. Thorn fights back with a few strikes but runs into a boot. Acid hits a tornado flatliner off the middle rope for a two count. Acid comes off the top missing a moonsault. Thorn strikes a charging Acid a few times to get momentum. Thorn runs over Acid with a few clotheslines and a sit out spinebuster for a two count. Acid plants Thorn with a springboard tornado DDT for a near fall. Thorn connects with a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Thorn tries for a powerbomb, but Acid is helped by Johnny D but is still sent to the floor. Thorn brings Johnny into the ring and Thorn goes for a powerbomb, but Acid enters and hits a running yakuza kick. Acid covers and pins Thorn. (*1/2. Honestly, this was exactly what I expected it to be. The interference finish to protect Thorn while also giving the “JAPW guy” the win makes the most sense. The stalling was annoying and the action wasn’t all that great. It’s not an awful match, but it just felt like filler for the most part.)

They have some guy talking to a bunch of fans in the crowd and everyone they ask about the main event they all predict that Dan Maff will beat Jay Lethal in the cage match to win the JAPW Heavyweight Championship. Naturally, as soon as I type that there’s one guy complaining about there not being ice for soda and he picks Lethal to win.

Sixth Contest: Eddie Kingston vs. Bandido Jr. in an I Quit match: They go right after each other before the bell sounds trading shots in the ring before going to the floor. Kingston sends Bandido into the railing and delivers a chop. Bandido dumps Kingston over the railing into the crowd. Bandido takes Kingston out with a somersault dive into the crowd. Kingston whacks Bandido with a chair, which we don’t see as they switched to the hard camera. Kingston is beating on Bandido and has a microphone taunting Bandido to submit. Bandido slams Kingston onto four chairs. Bandido whacks Kingston over the head with a chair and wants Eddie to submit, but he won’t do it. Bandido comes off the bleachers to take Kingston down with a head scissors on the floor! Kingston tosses Bandido out the door and they brawl outside the venue. Considering it’s dark outside it’s difficult to see what is going on. Kingston tosses Bandido into the back of a moving truck. Kingston chops Bandido and tosses him outside the truck.

Kingston sends Bandido into the wall of the arena as they remain outside the venue. They finally return to the venue and Kingston tosses Bandido back to the ringside area. Bandido whacks Kingston over the back with a chair shot. Kingston drops Bandido over the apron face first. Kingston brings Bandido back to the ring for the first time since the opening bell. Kingston puts Bandido in the tree of woe and delivers a few chair shots. Bandido has been busted wide open and Kingston wipes the blood onto his face. Bandido refuses to give up as Kingston taunted Bandido’s family in the front row. Bandido avoids a powerbomb and backdrops Kingston onto a steel chair. Bandido beats on Kingston with several chair shots to the chest. Kingston low blows Bandido to stop his momentum. Kingston has a reverse Texas cloverleaf, but can’t get a submission. Kingston has a spike, but Bandido avoids it and locks in a Koji Clutch. Kingston appears to pass out from the move without submitting. Bandido grabs a screw driver that Kingston brought into the ring. B-Boy slides into the ring and attacks Bandido hitting a shining wizard. Boy ties Bandido’s arms behind his back. Kingston is going to use the screwdriver, but Bandido’s sister is screaming for him to not do it. Kingston goes over Bandido’s sister and carries her into the ring.

Eddie has the screwdriver by her face and Bandido is forced to quit to save his sister from getting a screwdriver to the head. Kingston nails Bandido with the screwdriver. (**1/2. Obviously, this was just a brawl and had very little actual wrestling. The emotional finish didn’t connect with the fans and I certainly didn’t like it. If this is an attempt to push Kingston into the main event as a badass heel, I could understand it, I guess. I’m not a big Kingston fan so I don’t really care about it.)

Apparently, The Garden State Gods were supposed to wrestle the Osirian Portal, but one of them is hurt. So, they don’t have a match now. This leads to a four way tag match as the Voodoo Kin Mafia insert themselves into the match, too.

Seventh Contest: JAPW Tag Team Champions The Garden State Gods (Corvis Fear & Myke Quest) vs. DNA (Azrieal & Sonjay Dutt) vs. The Heavy Hitters (Havok & Monsta Mack) vs. Voodoo Kin Mafia (BG James & Kip James): Azireal chops and kicks Mack a few times to start the match. Mack does a leapfrog, and Azireal wants to shake his hand, but Mack instead press slams him. Azireal gets punched by BG and Kip on the apron. Kip gets tagged in and big boots Dutt. The champs enter and attack Kip, but they get met with a double clothesline. Havok shoulder blocks Kip, but Kip drop toe holds him and delivers a stomp. Kip splashes Havok in the corner and misses the Fame-Asser. Kip tosses Havok to the floor and tags in BG to work over Azireal. BG jabs Azireal several times and delivers a knee drop. Dutt knocks BG to the floor and kicks Kip in the corner. Dutt tries to head scissors Havok, but fails. Dutt settles for a springboard dropkick off his partner to send Havok to the floor. Mack dropkicks the DNA and he gets superkicked by the champs. Mack is driven down with a double flapjack. Fear delivers an Eat Defeat on Havok. Havok has the champs and hits a Samoan Drop/fallaway slam combo.

Havok spears Kip and BG! Dutt and Azireal kick Havok a few times and Azireal hits a cutter to drop Havok to the mat. Mack gets kicked by Dutt a few times and Dutt hits a standing shooting star press for a two count. Dutt hits his partner with a missile dropkick on accident. Mack spikes Azireal with the Greetings From Asbury. Brodie Lee and Necro Butcher came out to distract the guys. The champs pinned Azireal on the distraction, I think. The camera cut away from the ring. (*1/4. Another distraction finish for a match that had just been made ten minutes earlier. Heavy Hitters seem to be the next duo to be the tag champs, or at least the team the fans most want to see as champions. I didn’t enjoy this and it felt like a cool down match before the main event match.)

The crowd is heavily behind Dan Maff to win this match. Maff has just recently returned to professional wrestling after a few years hiatus. Jay Lethal gets on the microphone and talks about how the fans were behind him and then Maff got back. Over time, Lethal notes that the fans started to turn on him and support Maff. Lethal turns heel by telling the 10% of the people who have supported him can shove it. It’s not much of a heel turn when everyone is against you anyway.

Main Event: JAPW Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal vs. Dan Maff in a steel cage match: Lethal tries to escape the cage early on, but Maff delivers a few strikes to stop him. Maff elbows Lethal into the corner and delivers a few stomps. Maff scoop slams Lethal to the mat and plays to the crowd. Maff misses an elbow drop and Lethal delivers a few stomps. Lethal stomps on Maff and the camera guy zooms in like this is a WWE show. Lethal clotheslines Maff and taunts the fans. Lethal dropkicks Maff for a near fall. Lethal keeps control with chops in the ring followed by a neckbreaker. Lethal climbs the cage but gets stopped at the top of it by Maff. Maff takes Lethal off the top rope with a back suplex. Maff appears to be confused that the fans are still chanting for Lethal. Lethal tries to fight back with strikes and low blows Maff for a two count. Lethal chokes Maff with his flag and keeps the challenger on the mat. Lethal uses the flag to taunt the referee and fans. Maff gets up and chops the champ several times.

Maff sends Lethal face first into the steel cage and connects with a delayed vertical suplex. Maff tries to escape through the door, but Lethal stops him. Lethal slams the door on Maff’s head to prevent the escape and gets a two count. Lethal hip tosses Maff and dropkicks a seated Maff. Lethal climbs the cage and he’s over the top, but Maff gets up and grabs the champ. Lethal tries to fight off and nearly loses his footing. Maff pulls Lethal back into the ring. Maff connects with a superplex back into the ring! Lethal gets up and they begin to trade chops in the middle of the ring. Maff tries for the Burning Hammer, but settles for a lariat for a two count. Maff can’t believe he didn’t finish Lethal off with the lariat.

Lethal drives Maff face first onto the middle turnbuckle for a two count. Maff delivers a big boot and misses a senton splash as Lethal got his knees up. Maff tosses Lethal with a t-bone suplex for a two count. Maff climbs the cage, but Lethal stops Maff. Lethal rams Maff face first onto the cage and Maff crashes to the mat. Lethal leaps off the top rope to spike Maff with a DDT for a near fall. Lethal clotheslines Maff against the ropes a few times. Maff misses a spear and hits the cage head first. Maff has been busted wide open as a result. Lethal dropkicks Maff face first into the cage for a two count. Lethal mounts Maff delivering right hands to keep control of the match. Lethal goes to the top rope and leaps off to hit an elbow drop, but Maff kicks out on the cover. Lethal could have escaped to win the match.

Maff struggles to his feet in the corner and Lethal waits to deliver a superkick. Maff completely no sells it and plants Lethal with the Burning Hammer for a two count. Maff grabs Lethal to hit another Burning Hammer for the win. After the match, Maff breaks down in the ring crying. (**1/2. I was looking forward to this match since I’m a fan of both wrestlers. I felt a little disappointed by it. It didn’t feel like it ever really got going and the finish just felt forced. It was clearly the right time for Maff to win the championship. I think he has a lot of strong opponents to fight over the course of his reign.)

Final Thoughts:
There were a couple of entertaining matches, but nothing worth going out of your way to see. The cage match was a disappointment, but it’s not awful. I’m curious to see Dan Maff as champion and see if those matches will be memorable. This was essentially the end of the Lethal era in JAPW. I can’t recommend this show.

Thanks for reading.