JAPW: Notorious Thunder Review

I used to review JAPW for another professional wrestling website. I was rarely able to recommend any of their shows. I finally reached my breaking point when I saw the Voodoo Kin Mafia and Kevin Thorn on the same card. It seems as though I've crossed paths with JAPW once again and I am praying that they've cleaned up their act…

Opening Match: DJ Hyde vs. Rhett Titus
Titus frustrates Hyde early on, using his sexual gestures and controlling on the mat. He follows with the Thrust Buster, sending Hyde to the floor. Titus comes off the apron with a double axe handle. Hyde whips him over the guardrail. Back in, Titus connects with a nice dropkick and a knee drop from the top rope. Hyde answers with a lariat for the win at 5:35. I don't see the point of bringing in Titus for a five-minute match. If you simply needed someone to feed to Hyde, I'm sure there were more sensible alternatives. The action was fine for the time given but this wasn't exactly the ideal opener. *½


Match #2: JAPW Light Heavyweight Title: Bandido Jr. © vs. Devon Moore
Moore attacks before the bell. He chokes Bandido with his own ring jacket and puts on his mask. Bandido snaps off a few armdrags and lands a dive to the floor. Back in, Moore stops a corner charge and resorts to an eye poke. He takes control until Bandido somewhat hits a tornado DDT. Moore connects with a corner lariat. He tries a flying crossbody but Bandido blocks it with knees. Moore connects with a huge yakuza kick and adds a springboard moonsault. Bandido responds with a twisting neckbreaker and a pumphandle slam. Moore sneaks in a low blow behind the referee's back but misses a shooting star press. Bandido hits a modified air raid crash to retain his title at 6:33. I really wish these two received more time. Bandido is always a bright spot for JAPW and Moore can deliver when motivated. They had good chemistry and even created a few believable nearfalls down the stretch. **¼

Match #3: JAPW Women’s Title: Sara Del Rey © vs. Annie Social
Social snaps off a headscissors but gets caught by Del Rey's brutal strikes. Del Rey takes over on the mat and hits a backbreaker. Social tries a few quick pin attempts and applies a triangle choke. Del Rey turns the hold into the Royal Butterfly to retain her title at 4:10. Pretty much a squash for Del Rey but Social looked passable in the ring. The finish was visually impressive and had the crowd in an uproar. *

Match #4: Corvis Fear and Myke Quest vs. Sami Callihan and Chris Dickinson
If the Garden State Gods lose, they must wrestle each other at the next show. If Callihan and Dickinson lose, Callihan will stay away from the Garden State Gods forever. The match starts with brawling down the entrance ramp. In the ring, Quest holds Callihan in the corner while Fear kicks Callihan’s head into the top turnbuckle. The referee signals for help and more referees come out to check on Callihan. They carry him to the locker room. Dickinson must fight the Gods by himself. He actually is able to hold his own, landing a dive to the floor onto Fear. Quest follows out with a moonsault onto Dickinson. Back in, Dickinson does remarkably well on his own until falling victim to a gutbuster and an ace crusher. The Gods hit a crossbody-neckbreaker combination. Dickinson answers with a flying knee drop on Quest and an abdominal stretch driver on Fear. I may or may not have made up that move. The Gods attempt stereo top rope moves but Callihan returns and crotches them. Dickinson tags in Callihan, who gets caught with a superkick from Fear. Dickinson connects with a spin kick on Fear, sending him to the floor. Callihan low blows Quest, allowing Dickinson to hit a tiger suplex for the victory at 11:36. I understand what they were going for but the execution was totally wrong. In order to make Callihan’s return to the match successful, Dickinson needs to look like he’s in a dire situation and desperately needs help. Instead, Dickinson had no problem fighting off the Gods, making them look weak in the process. There was some good action sprinkled throughout but the whole match could have been executed much better. **

Match #5: Eddie Kingston vs. Steve Corino
They each cut a promo before the match. Corino ultimately decides to hit Kingston with the microphone. They go to the floor where Corino throws Kingston into the guardrail. Back in, they trade the advantage using their unique offenses. Corino misses a knee drop from the middle rope. They exchange strikes and end up in a sexual position. Corino connects with his sliding lariat. Kingston blocks a second one and connects with the Backfist to the Future for the win at 5:57. Above anything, this match needed time to establish a story in the ring. Instead, these two had a throwaway match mostly played for comedy. I was interested in seeing how this contest would unfold, especially considering Corino’s excellent stint in Ring of Honor. I have to say that I was extremely disappointed. *½

Match #6: JAPW Tag Team Titles: Monsta Mac and Havok © vs. Mo Sexton and Joe Hardway
Sexton and Hardway use their strippers as a distraction to attack before the bell. Mac hits an overhead suplex on Hardway, who impressively responds with a german suplex. Sexton and Hardway connect with stereo dropkicks on Mac. Sexton walks into a boot from Mac and Havok tags in. Havok takes control and gorilla presses Sexton. Mac gets lured to the floor after some interference and Sexton follows out with a flying crossbody. In the ring, Sexton and Hardway isolate Mac until he connects with a double clothesline and makes the tag. Havok hits a samoan drop on Sexton and an assisted flapjack on Hardway. The Heavy Hitters catch Sexton with a high-low to retain their titles at 8:43. This match was pretty formulaic to begin with and the abrupt finish did not help. The crowd couldn’t care less about the action and these two teams seemed to just be going through the motions. I’ve seen much better from the Heavy Hitters. *¾
Hardway attacks the Heavy Hitters with a chair after the match. Sexton and Hardway lay out Mac with stereo s

uperkicks. They stand tall until Havok chases them away.

Match #7: Gauntlet: Nick Gage vs. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico vs. Egotistico Fantastico
The winner of this match will receive an opportunity to challenge for any JAPW title. Steen and Ego start. Steen shows off his power advantage early on. He sends a snot rocket at Ego but gets dropkicked to the outside for his trouble. Ego tries a hurricanrana from the apron but Steen ends up powerbombing him onto the apron. Steen blocks a crossbody with a crucifix slam. Ego connects with an enzuigiri and hits a tornado DDT. Ego reverses a package piledriver attempt into a backslide to eliminate Steen. Generico is the next entrant. Ego catches him with a dive during his entrance. Generico answers with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker in the ring. Ego hits a leaping flatliner but walks into a michinoku driver. Ego escapes a brainbuster and hits a powerbomb. They have a nice strike exchange. Generico overhead suplexes Ego into the turnbuckles and connects with a yakuza kick. Generico hits a top rope brainbuster to eliminate Ego. Gage is the final participant. Gage throws Generico into the front row and starts brawling. There’s not a camera to follow them so I have no idea what’s happening. When a cameraman finally catches up, the lighting is too dark for me to see anything. When the house lights come on, both competitors are in the ring. Incredible. Generico lands a flying crossbody but misses a corner yakuza kick. Gage hits a fallaway slam and connects with a diving headbutt. Generico comes back with his corner yakuza kick and hits a half nelson suplex. Gage spikes him with two piledrivers. Generico fights off a third one but falls victim to a brainbuster. Gage hits a chokebreaker for the victory at 18:26. This was a fine sampling of some intriguing pairings. Unfortunately, the money encounter (Steen vs. Generico) was avoided. The Ego/Generico segment was by far the most enjoyable and I hope that they have a singles match somewhere down the line. There wasn’t much cohesiveness to this gauntlet; it truly just felt like a collection of matches instead of one building upon the other. Still, there’s enough good action present to make this a harmless eighteen minutes of professional wrestling. **¾

Match #8: JAPW World Heavyweight Title and JAPW NJ State Title: Dan Maff © and Charlie Haas © vs. Necro Butcher and Brodie Lee
If Maff and Haas lose, whoever was pinned will lose his title. If Necro and Lee lose, the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew must disband and leave JAPW. The HWC attack Haas before Maff can make his entrance. Maff eventually enters and takes out the HWC with a dive to the floor. The action goes into the crowd where Necro and Maff trade strikes on the bleachers. Necro avoids a piledriver by back dropping Maff onto the bleachers. Maff takes a vendor table and throws it at Necro. They take turns utilizing a garbage can. Haas and Lee finally enter the picture when Lee whips Haas into the guardrail. Maff and Necro continue brawling in the crowd while Haas and Lee bring the action back into the ring. After a lot of brawling with guardrail pieces, Necro tries to suffocate Haas with a plastic bag in the ring. The HWC keep Maff out of the ring while they work over Haas. Maff comes back with a corner cannonball on Necro and a half nelson suplex on Lee. Necro low blows Maff and bulldogs Haas onto a chair. Maff sends Necro to the floor but Necro blocks a dive with a chair shot. Haas slams Necro’s bad knee onto a chair and applies the Haas of Pain. Maff looks like he’s about to hit Lee with a chair but decides to hit Haas instead. Lee connects with a boot on Haas to become the new JAPW NJ State Champion at 18:16. Decent brawl that played to everyone’s strengths. I’m generally a fan of Maff and Haas worked well in his role. Lee was solid as usual and Necro became more tolerable in a tag team setting. Everything was working out and this was on its way to being somewhat worthwhile. Then the finish happened, totally taking any meaning away from the previous eighteen minutes. If Maff’s intention was to turn on Haas from the start, why did he wait eighteen minutes? Frustrating booking detracts from a decent brawl. **¼

Match #9: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Homicide
Maybe we can at least end this show on a high note. Homicide can't seem to figure out Liger on the mat early on. Liger sends him to the floor and comes off the apron with a senton. Homicide then sends Liger to the outside with a headscissors and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Liger hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and applies a surfboard. He turns it into a dragon sleeper. Homicide comes back with rolling suplexes and a tornado DDT. Liger catches him sleeping and locks in an armbar. Homicide makes it to the ropes and applies an STF. This time Liger reaches the ropes. Homicide hits an ace crusher but Liger responds with a powerbomb. Liger hits a brainbuster as the locker room comes down to ringside to watch the match. Homicide gets his knees up to block a splash. Liger returns the favor. Homicide comes out of nowhere with an ace crusher from the middle rope for the win at 13:36. Liger was able to showcase himself, although I don't think Homicide was the best opponent for him. They kept the action predominantly back and forth but were still able to keep the crowd invested due to their interest in Liger. However, Liger had matches in ROH (against Austin Aries) and PWG (against El Generico) in January of this year that were much better. This contest was good for what it was, but not nearly good enough to save this show. ***

Overall: Notorious Thunder is a show that reminds me why I quit reviewing JAPW in the first place. The talent isn't used to their fullest potential, the commentary flat out sucks, and the production values need serious work. Wrestlers like Rhett Titus, Steve Corino, Kevin Steen, and El Generico are brought in and totally overshadowed by the promotion's overly elaborate booking. There were numerous instances in the undercard where a contest could have been worthwhile if the wrestlers were just allowed to put on the best match possible. Instead, the only redeeming quality of the show is the main event. Even then, there are better Liger matches out there that took place in trustworthy promotions. Recommendation to avoid but if you feel the need to buy it then CLICK HERE