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Review of J-Cup Tournament, Sunday, August 24, 2003, Garfield, New
Jersey
by Lawrence Kleber
The 4th Annual J-Cup was held on Sunday, August 24, 2003. My associates Brett Schwan and Jim Brambilla have also written commentaries on this event. What you are about to read is MY perception of the card. Being humans, we all perceive life differently and it will be interesting to see the differences in each of our reviews.
When I arrived in Garfield, I was privy to a transportation problem which was haunting promoter Ricky O. As your kinder and gentler reporter, I attempted to help him solve this problem, but failed in my attempt. Ricky knows that I tried my best!
On this perfect Sunday afternoon, the show began at 1:40 pm. Not bad! Ring announcer Joe introduced Mike Berkowitz, MacDougal, and Noel who told the crowd that Noel would present the trophy to the winner.
Match 1 In a non-tournament match for the tag titles, the Disciples of Darling, with John Shane, faced Los Boriquas. This was to be a six man, however, Ace Darling is in the hospital. Tony Blaze and Warpath stormed the ring and the Disciples headed out of the ring. Highlights included a hurricanrana by Warpath and a superplex by Blaze. The match ended in a DQ following a chair shot from John Shane. DRS interfered and reunited with manager Shane. Striker and the Solution appeared and Striker was upset because he was to be the sixth man, teaming with Blaze and Warpath. He challenged Shane to a match. "I'm a manager, not a wrestler," said Shane. "You're gonna be a dead manager," replied Striker. "I was trained by Johnny Rodds. I'm not that stupid." Very funny, Striker!
Round 1
Match 2 Rob Eckos, with Mike Winner faced Jay Lethal. These two have fought
a million times, but the match is always a favorite. The fast moving opening
gained deserved applause from the 112 in attendance. Jay pinned Rob with
a full nelson suplex.
Match 3 In another fast moving contest, Homicide took on Grim Reefer. Highlights included a good tilt a whirl by Homicide and an eye popping 360 off the top rope by Reefer on the floor, followed by a splash off the top on Homicide. Reefer submitted to Homicide with a step over toe hold.
Match 4 Dixie faced the "Barbaric Berserker" Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs, doing an impression of John Nord, was screaming "Huss" through the entire match. In mid-match, Brett Schwan lost his temper and yelled, "Shut up! It wasn't funny when Nord did it!" As always, Dixie put on a good match, but unfortunately, Jacobs pinned him with a cutter.
Match 5 In another disappointing match, Alex Shelley made Ruckus submit. This was a shame. Ruckus, who used a large arsenal of gymnastic moves, is an excellent worker who deserved to go on. The match ended with a "Ring of Honor" handshake, to which "a fan" replied, "This is now the J-Joke, not the J-Cup!"
Match 6 In a better than expected match, C. M. Punk made Sonjay Dutt
submit to a sharpshooter. Highlights included a suicide dive by Dutt,
a
long vertical suplex by Punk, and a hurricanrana off the top rope by Dutt.
Match 7 Johnny Ova pinned Dan Barry. These two work very well together. Barry went for his "car bomb" twice, but on the second attempt, Ova reversed the hold for the pin.
Match 8 In the most humorous match of the afternoon, Shawn Sheridan defeated Deranged. Both of these guys are favorites of mine. They began by posing together for a picture. Following a low drop kick to the face by Deranged, Sheridan rolled out of the ring applauding. He then went under the ring, reappearing to clothesline Deranged. "Am I bleeding?" asked Sheridan. Shawn then screamed, "This is it!" I said, "It's not it, Shawn," to which he replied, "Kleber, shut your filthy mouth!" After the pin, Sheridan fell out of the ring. Always entertaining. Bravo, Sheridan and Deranged with help from Ref Mike, the funniest ref in the business!
Match 9 In the final first round contest, Slyk Wagner Brown, with April Hunter, pinned Dave Greco. Greco has participated in all four J-Cup events and I admire his tenacity wrestling with an injured knee. Get well soon, Dave.
Second round
Match 10 Following a 20 minute intermission, Jay Lethal made C. M. Punk
submit with an arm bar. This action filled match was highlighted by a
fine superplex by Punk. Following the match, Punk grabbed the stick and
said, "Lethal's the real deal and the best thing is, as good as he
is, his attitude is even better." Nice going, Punk!
Match 11 After lots of pin attempts, Homicide advanced by pinning Alex Shelley after a low blow. Ref Gary did a nice job officiating.
Match 12 Shawn Sheridan had the "honor" of taking on Jimmy Jacobs. At the start, Shawn slid out of the ring, followed by Jacobs, bringing the fight to the floor. Sheridan crawled toward the wall and both guys hit each other into the wall. With Sheridan prone on the floor, Jacobs put a chair over him and jumped on him. I appreciated Shawn's impression of Jacobs. Huss, huss! Following a boot to the head, Jacobs pinned Sheridan. What a shame!
Match 13 Slyk Wagner Brown pinned Johnny Ova following a tremendous modified
razor's edge which Brown calls, "Holy Slyk". He also executed
great standing moonsault during the match. Good work, Slyk!
Semi-Finals
Match 14 Jay Lethal thankfully defeated Jimmy Jacobs with a full nelson
suplex. I asked Ricky O. who recommended this guy Jacobs. He told me,
but to prevent embarrassment to that worker, I will keep the information
to myself.
Match 15 Ref Mike officiated the match between Homicide and Slyk Wagner
Brown. The match began with some excellent, old school wrestling holds.
Homicide later fell into Jim Brambilla's lap and later hit Slyk with a
can of soda! Homicide got the pin, but Ref Mike messed up the finish.
After the match, Homicide had his revenge by clotheslining Mike and hitting
him with a chair. I understand Homicide's frustration, but is a face supposed
to do that to a referee? I will discuss this with Homicide at another
time.
Match 16 In a non-tournament exhibition, Striker was to face "Sure
Thing" John Shane, but Shane appeared complaining of a groin injury.
He was replaced by "Wonder Kid" Johnny Storm. In a tough spot
at the end of a long card, these guys put on one fine match. Highlights
included Striker diving out of the ring, but getting stopped by a chair,
Johnny diving over the top onto Striker, Shane throwing powder into Johnny's
eyes by mistake, Striker bringing Shane into the ring and stealing his
jacket, a pretzel hold involving all three workers, and the lung blower
pin by Striker. Following a "Ring of Honor" handshake, the Disciples
of Darling appeared to ambush Striker, and Los Boriquas came to Striker's
aid.
Match 17 In the face-face J-Cup final, Homicide and Jay Lethal began
their match scientifically. The match concluded with a double pin, where
Jay's shoulders came up first, winning him the trophy. This was a good
match with a weakly executed finish. A frustrated Homicide got a chair
to smash the trophy and argued with ref Gary. The locker room emptied
to ring side to prevent a problem and finally Homicide slammed the trophy
down to give it to Lethal. All ended happily with another "Ring of
Honor" handshake.
At 4 and a half hours, the show was exhausting, but quite exciting. I
wish Jacobs and Shelley had been replaced with stronger workers, but the
strong matches held the card together. The evening concluded with most
of the workers heading to Friday's to see SummerSlam. Zack Gowen was to
take on Matt Hardy, but was injured by Brock Lesnar so that he could attend
the J-Cup! That's loyalty for you.
