JAPW Notorious Thunder 5/22/10

1) Rhett Titus v. DJ Hyde- 2
2) Bandido jr v. Devon Moore - 3
3) Sara Del Ray v. Annie Social- 4
4) Garden State Gods v. Sami Callihan/ Chris Dickinson- 4
5) Eddie Kingston v. Steve Corino - 4
6) The Heavy Hitters v. The South Side Playaz- 3
7) Nick Gage v. Kevin Steen v. El Generico v. Egotistico Fantastico (Gauntlet Match)- 5
8) Dan Maff & Charlie Haas v. Necro Butcher & Brodie Lee- 4
9) Homicide v. Jushin Liger- 6

Titus had a breakout year in 2010, I'm guessing most didn't catch this dud. Hyde looked mildly bothered, as if a gnat were flying around his lemondae more so than in an athletic contest. Titus worked hard but seemed to realize it was pointless. Took a hell of a clothesline for the end though; wrong guy went over.

Saw Moore last year in C-Z-Dub, and he pissed me off walking around taking unprotected weapon shots like he was a hardass, here he stuck to a simple match where he seemed to be in control. Bandido jr looked like a younger Briscoe with none of the charisma. They ran through the paces, with really nothing sticking out.

Del Ray is in character, like her pissed off eyes after Social got one up on her. Social's large nips were hanging out trying some basic submissions early as Del Ray kicked her like a bag of garbage in a stimulating and violent scene. Liked the effort of Social trying to clamp on a triangle but she's no Diaz brother. Really nasty brainbuster finish and Geo's pants explode somewhere.

Sami gets taken out in a real bad looking spot to his arm but his selling is top notch on it. How disappointing as he's going to be the best thing in this. GSG are comprised of Mike Quest and Corvis Fear who seem to be a decent utility team that will never leave this promotion. I believe Fear busts out a Asai moonsault that would have Ultimo kicking dirt in disgust. Dickinson is going to need to go to Tazz's Indy finishing school to learn how to sell a suplex like you are a human being and not an indestructible robot. I'm not a fan of the backpack moves, couldn't think of a stranger thing to happen if you were in a fight, pick the guy up and let him mount your backside. Sami's back! Doesn't have the punch that tired line usually does, but i do dig a Slap/ Suplex combo as a fin.

Interesting match, as they fought for who's the better old school wrestler (i'm more of a Billy Robinson or Eric Darkstorm guy) as well as who's the better heel even though neither did much very heelish. The announce team was putting Corino over like he was Muhammed Ali or something; "73 tours of Japan, 73!" What's the Las Vegas odds he paid for sex each of those 73 visits, huh? +1,200? Anyways, I sort of liked these two together, really fun punch exchange that wasn't quite Frye-Takayama in PRIDE but possibly them a little tipsy at a barbeque reinacting that pivotal moment in MMA history in front of some friends. Kingston on target with the spinning back fist, up close and personal like when trying to use the knife to get a kill in Goldeneye. Could have been more fleshed out and the score would have went up.

Heavy Hitters issue an open challenge- these are never good on an indy show. South Side Playaz come out wearing Beverly Brothers trunks and accompanied by all the local strippers that $127 can buy for the evening. Monsta Mack's forehead is purple from....I don't know, but he's moving slow these days. Playaz weren't bad necessarily but just like Trish calling out MDogg 20 on Tough Enough, they didn't show a damn thing. Finish was all kinds of miscommunication, Matt Sexton looked like he was in a bouncy castle trying to stand up while climbing the top rope and I think the team of Affleck & Damon could make that finish look stiffer.

Steen comes to the ring with a bouquet of balloons looking like an even scarier version of Pennywise. Steen gets off on fucking with the most putrid fans he can find and he's damn good at it. I liked him rubbing some dude's hat on his balls and then him exchanging pleasantries with a Santa Claus lookalike who's literally 689 pounds with a t shirt that says "I Hate Everyone." Make sure you wear that one on your job interview and when your grandaughter visits, you gross human waste. Besides that, this fall was nothing. It's a fun social experiment within the confines of the mythos of pro wrestling as watching two masked wrestlers go at it and see how much more emotion Generico can get out of his than Ego, whether it's taking a move or getting hyped up on offense. Cameraman had an ECW flashback with the closeups. Have to dig the Brainbustahhhh! it looked good. Gage takes this into the crowd within 10 seconds and does absolutely nothing out there. Gage is a nasty fuck but I do dig him using 3 piledrivers in a row- kind of hurts the move when Generico just gets out of the 3rd though. Generico is like 1,000th the times what Mikey Whipwreck was supposed to be. Liked the ending, solid painful move that was out of nowhere.

There was a lot of good and bad in this, much like any season of the Office. I hated how Maff was just leaping into all of Necro's spots during the brawl, i'm guessing the Haas-Lee portion was as appealing as another VH1 dating show because nothing was shown of it. Necro was in a fun sort of Terry mood, riding stage props, folding guard rails and tables on Maff. The in ring portion continued the Funk love as he tried to smother Haas with a plastic shopping bag; looked like a terrorist took over a KMart and shoppers were trying to use the bags as covers for their mouths. Maff pulled off a lone suplex I dug; nasty half nelson on Brodie's big ass. Finish was a swerve, which felt way too predictable as the announcers droned on about their past together. Haas has a sick looping Kevin Von Erich punch but the bald look combined with generic standard issue 1st WWE run with tribals all over them made him look as dangerous as Russo hooked up to a lie detector machine.

The big main was split into 2 BMD's but i've seen the first 10 minutes or so and i'm enjoying them. Has an old school build to it; love how Liger always just opens with some kind of neat submission, his locks are still some of the smoothest. Homicide seems real pumped to be in this spot, selling the bow and arrow as if a dragon is vomiting fire on his back, and trying to later break a hold with his tongue. They actually turned in a cool ending sequence, liked the double splashes they both did with the knees up, don't see that much. I heard the announcers trying to put over the locker room emptying to watch but i didn't see a soul- plus that's played out anyways. Good ending, bet it feels nice to give something at least 3 seconds worth a sell for Homicide since leaving the hallowed halls of Orlando.