Break It Down: JAPW International Invasion

Posted by Ryan Rozanski on 11.08.2009

Lethal/Maff: The Rematch...

International Invasion on April 18th, 2009.

Opening Match: Annie Social vs. Miss April
Social attacks off a handshake. They mess up a spot in the corner, so Aprils spanks Social to take attention away from the botch. April hits an armdrag off the second rope followed by a spin kick. Social regains control until April blocks a suplex with a neckbreaker. April lands a missile dropkick but Social responds with a chinbreaker for the win at 5:50. This was a perfect example of why I don't review the JAPW Women's Division shows. Social looked terrible while April didn't come off much better. This was essentially the opposite of what you want out of an opener. ½*


Match #2: JAPW Tag Team Titles: Corvis Fear and Myke Quest © vs. Bruce Maxwell and TJ Cannon
The Best Around attack the Garden State Gods during their entrance. Cannon lands a moonsault off the guardrail onto Quest. The Best Around hit a crossbody-suplex combination on Quest back in the ring. Fear blind tags in and gets the better of Maxwell. The Best Around regain the advantage with a samoan drop-neckbreaker combination on Fear. Cannon finds himself being isolated by the Garden State Gods. Cannon lands a flying crossbody on Quest but gets caught with a dropkick and can't make the tag. Cannon snaps off a hurricanrana on Quest and makes the hot tag. Cannon hits a springboard elbow on Quest and a jawbreaker on Fear. Quest avoids a senton by Cannon and rolls up Maxwell for a two count. The Garden State Gods hit a gory special on Maxwell but Cannon interrupts with a double springboard dropkick. Cannon hits a corner DDT on Fear. He can't do the same to Quest and falls victim to a suplex into the turnbuckles. Maxwell hits a chinbreaker on Quest along with a pele kick on Fear. Cannon lands a shooting press double stomp on Quest. Fear catches Cannon with a low blow followed by a rollup and the Garden State Gods retain their titles at 12:34. Unbeknownst to me, this was the blowoff match to the feud these two teams were having. The good news is that they made it feel like there was actually some hatred involved and subsequently put on a good match. There's a lot of depth to the Garden State God's gimmick and I hope they get a decent run with the belts. This is what I've been waiting to see from the tag division. ***


Match #3: Hybrid Heavyweight Title: Dave Cole © vs. Louis Lyndon
Cole is not ready to offer clean breaks. Lyndon utilizes his agility and causes Cole to retreat to the outside. Cole gets back in the ring but just gets dropkicked back out. He finds an opening and whips Lyndon into the guardrail and side of the ring. Lyndon kicks Cole into the front row. Cole regains control after a gourd buster on the floor. They trade pin attempts back in the ring and Cole hits his Tiger Smash. Lyndon answers by landing a nice moonsault to the outside. Cole hits chaos theory back in the ring and stops Lyndon's fighting spirit with a lariat. Lyndon spikes Cole off a sloppy hurricanrana. Lyndon tries another moonsault but Cole catches him with a dropkick. Cole follows with a tiger driver to retain his title at 8:43. Cole looked really good in his debut, but I feel as though this was just a one-time deal to showcase Hybrid Pro Wrestling. They had some good back and forth and I wish they would have gotten more time to work with. The total lack of reaction towards the finish backs up the last statement. Still, these two put on a solid exhibition that was fun while it lasted. **½


Danny Demanto comes out with the old NJ State Title that he stole from a fan at Unfinished Business. He says that he doesn't need the fans and that he's earned the belt.

Match #4: Danny Demanto vs. Vicious Vin
It's funny how having the word "vicious" in your name makes you come off as a total jobber in pro wrestling. Then again it could be Vin's pink tights. Vin slaps Demanto and connects with a spin kick. Demanto hits a senton and teases a moonsault...please don't. Thankfully, he thinks better and applies a camel clutch. Vin comes back with a powerslam and clotheslines Demanto to the outside. The referee checks on Demanto and it appears he has re-injured his leg. Staff comes down to get Demanto to his feet. As Vin helps carry him out, Demanto reveals that he faked the injury and clotheslines Vin. Demanto hits an uranagi but misses an elbow. Vin hits a spinebuster and lands a moonsault for a two count. Demanto connects with an ace crusher. They trade strikes and Demanto low blows Vin. Demanto hits a psycho driver out of the corner for the win at 9:41. That was a lot better than it had any right being, mainly because of its storytelling aspects. Demanto faking the leg injury was well-performed and I loved Vin landing a moonsault as a kind of FU to Demanto. The match wasn't much but the storytelling makes it passable. **


Match #5: Amasis and Ophidian vs. Monsta Mac and Havok
These two teams had a solid match back at Wildcard 5, so hopefully they can top it here. The Heavy Hitters attack before the bell. The Osirian Portal connect with stereo baseball slides along with stereo dives to the outside. They utilize some more double teaming until the Heavy Hitters press slam them into each other. Amasis is isolated until he hits a springboard elbow on Havok and makes the tag. Ophidian enters with a flying crossbody on Havok and a spinning headscissors on Mac. Havok fails to catch Ophidian off a moonsault so he just picks Ophidian up and slams him. Amasis connects with a double missile dropkick and the Osirian Portal land stereo 450 splashes. Mac lays out Amasis with a clothesline but pulls him up before the three count. Ophidian leaps into code red position and hits a code red on Mac. Damn impressive. Havok pulls the referee out of the ring to stop the count. Havok kills Amasis with a spear for the victory at 10:02. Both teams continue to have great chemistry with each other. Besides one slip up, the Heavy Hitters were especially effective at making the Osirian Portal's offense look good. I understand why they couldn't, but I wish that the Osirian Portal would have won this match as I wouldn't have been against booking a rubber match between these two teams. This kind of makes me wonder what the Heavy Hitters could do against other smaller sized teams. **¾


Match #6: JAPW Light Heavyweight Title: Flip Kendrick © vs. Shiima Xion
They start with some chain wrestling. Kendrick snaps off a hurricanrana and flips into a headscissors. Xion dodges a baseball slide but can't avoid a second one. Kendrick lands a slingshot hurricanrana but Xion answers with a dropkick. Xion blocks a standing moonsault and takes over. Kendrick comes back with a headscissors and a flipping senton. He dropkicks Xion to the floor but his dive is blocked. Xion hit’s a chinbreaker but Kendrick responds with a flying hurricanrana along with a tornado DDT. Xion hits a spear but misses a corkscrew. Kendrick lands a spiral tap to retain his title at 10:44. This wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. They tried to get a little too cute with all of the flips and the execution was off. Kendrick especially tried to incorporate way too many flips for entirely no reason. I understand that it happens frequently, but it really exposed him in this match. Complaints aside, this wasn't all bad. They managed to have some nice exchanges at times and Xion looked impressive. **


Match #7: Bandido Jr. vs. Archadia
Archadia apparently wasn't aware that Eddie Kingston was not in the building to defend the NJ State Title. So Archadia gets to wrestle Kingston's worst enemy in JAPW. They trade control of a wristlock. I'm going to point this out because it relates to the previous match. There's a spot where Bandido catches Archadia's foot and Archadia flips backward but doesn't fully land on his feet. He gives Bandido a scared look and immediately retreats to the outside. That is an infinitely better way of handling the situation then what Kendrick was doing in the last match. I'm not saying Kendrick has to go to the floor every time he messes up, but the answer isn't to add more flips and that's exactly what he did. Rant over. Bandido chases Archadia around the ring until Archadia runs into the ringpost. Back in, Archadia goes low and hits a flipping neckbreaker. He controls until Bandido hits a spinning neckbreaker along with a brainbuster. Bandido hits a tornado DDT but Archadia answers with a wheelbarrow neckbreaker. Archadia connects with a chinbreaker followed by a spin kick. Bandido hits a top rope gourd buster for a two count. He misses a swantan and Archadia lands a nice leg drop. Bandido finds an opening to hit a backcracker but Archadia responds with a springboard dropkick. Archadia hits a cross-armed piledriver for a nearfall. Bandido hits a flatliner and locks in a koji clutch for the win at 12:42. In theory, the booking is off but in this context it works. Bandido wants another shot at Kingston very badly and he just beat the #1 contender. From my time watching JAPW, these are the two brightest homegrown talents in my eyes. They went out and had an extremely solid match with a nice flow. The finish was smart in context as well. Bandido lost the belt because he got caught coming off the top rope. Now it seems as though Bandido is going to utilize submission holds next time, as alluded to by the finish here. I have nothing to complain about. ***¼

In the back, Bandido says that he should still be NJ State Champion. Next time he faces Kingston, Bandido is going to synch in the koji clutch and make Kingston say "I quit".


Match #8: Azrieal and Sonjay Dutt vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Sheik Abdul Bashir
It appears that Dixie is out and Azrieal/Dutt are now partners, forming the New DNA. Azrieal and Yujiro trade control and tag out. The New DNA show some of their teamwork to gain the advantage. Dutt lands a dive to the outside onto both of his opponents. Azrieal tries to follow with one of his own but Yujiro's normal tag team partner, Tetsuya Naito, trips him up. Azrieal is isolated until he connects with a double stomp on Yujiro and makes the tag. Dutt snaps off a hurricanrana on Yujiro and hits a slingshot guillotine leg drop on Bashir. Azrieal catches Yujiro with an ace crusher and Dutt follows with a springboard moonsault. Azrieal lands a missile dropkick on Bashir but falls victim to a lariat from Yujiro. Dutt connects with a superkick on Yujiro but Yujiro answers with an uranagi. Azrieal hits a flying double stomp on Yujiro and Dutt follows with a 450 splash for the win at 10:36. For a match that JAPW basically named the show for, this was nothing more than an exhibition. The original plan was for Yujiro and Tetsuya Naito to wrestle as their regular team (No Limit), but Bashir was inserted into the match instead. That had to be a letdown for many, especially because it seemed like they just announced the substitution before the match started. The work involved was fine but I wish the match was longer. That would of inevitably helped the match feel more special, instead of a ten minute exhibition. I do like the idea of the New DNA, however. **½


Match #9: JAPW World Heavyweight Title: Jay Lethal © vs. Dan Maff
Lethal dropkicks Maff to the outside and follows out with a dive. Maff connects with some kicks and hits a senton in the ring. Lethal blocks a cannonball with an enzuigiri. Maff knocks Lethal to the outside and lands a dive to the floor. They go into the crowd and up the bleachers. They trade chops on the bleachers and Maff rolls down them. Lethal props Maff on a chair and connects with a running dropkick. Lethal shoves the guardrail against the side of the ring and tosses Maff into it. Back in the ring, Maff turns Lethal inside-out with a spear. They trade chops. Maff suplexes Lethal into the turnbuckles. Lethal blocks a corner cannonball with a superkick and lands a top rope hurricanrana. Lethal flips out of a half nelson suplex but walks into a big lariat. Maff hits his corner cannonball for a two count. Maff dodges a charge and Lethal collides with the referee. Trent Acid comes to the ring and lays out Maff with a yakuza kick. Lethal comes off the top with a DDT to retain his title at 14:22. This was going along as well as their last match before the ref bump and interference. I don't hate the finish here. Lethal and Maff both wanted this match because they knew the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew would not be at the show and there would be no interference. Acid interfering and costing Maff the match is an especially effective way to start a feud, especially with these circumstances. Maff and Lethal continued to show great chemistry here and put on a good match. Knowing how their feud ends, I feel better about this match with the thought that there will be a feud-ending encounter on its way. ***¼

Acid connects with two more yakuza kicks on Maff after the match. Johnny D and Annie Social come out to welcome Acid as the new member of the D Factor. Acid adds one more yakuza kick to make a point.

The 411: International Invasion was an all around solid show. The Best Around and the Garden State Gods have a solid match to end their feud. Archadia and Bandido show why they are the best JAPW homegrown talents in an energetic match that made me excited for their future encounters with Kingston. The main event, while it couldn't duplicate last show's headliner, was an effective follow up. There's also the return of Trent Acid to the promotion but to be honest, I don't know too many fans of his. Besides the main event, this wasn't a very angle-heavy show, making it a good introduction for someone wanting to look into JAPW. Nothing will blow you away, but there's enough good wrestling here to earn a recommendation.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]