NECW

NECW 5/21/02 Somerville, MA
By Daniel Herman and Chris Tomkinson at datgi@iamit.com

DH:NECW returned to Somerville with a stacked card. There was the latest in the US tour of Jodie Fleisch and Johnny Storm, the return of Doug Williams, a match with Sumie Sakai and Alex Arion defending the title against Maverick Wild.

The card delivered on all expectations with one unfortunate exception due to an injury.

CT: I was super-pumped for this one, since they were bringing in Doug Williams, Sumie Sakai, Jodie Fleisch, and Jonny Storm. Plus they had their usual high-end talent in the Tag Tournament. This looked to be something good on paper, and was actually better than I even expected.

Match One: The Brothers Springate (Zaquary & Kid Trance) v. The Egomaniacs (Johnny Idol & Mike Steel)
DH: I heard somewhere that the Egomaniacs are the best tag team in New England bar none. The Springates have been very enjoyable in tags as well. I do question the wisdom of having this match as the opener, though, since both teams have been heels in NECW. The crowd here is faced with having to choose between cheering the chicken pretty boys or the snobbish Brits.

The Springates came out first, which would imply that they were heels but Zaquary forewent his usual pre-match promo. The Springates worked the crowd as faces early but Johnny Idol was playing heel in peril at the time. I don’t know whether it was the plan all along or a response to the crowd, but that quickly shifted to Kid Trance being isolated and worked over by the Egomaniacs. This worked out better regardless as the Egomaniacs have quite the array of double-team spots and Trance can get over while bumping as evidenced by the crowd cheering him over Tarzan Taylor in Trance’s NECW debut. Kid Trance made the hot tag but the Springates were ultimately foiled when the Egomaniac’s manager shoved Zaquary off the ropes while the ref was distracted, allowing Idol to schoolboy him for three.

CT: Man, this was one of my Dream Finals Matchups. But one of the teams has to go home after Round One of the Tournament. Both teams are great as heels, and have incredible charisma. I used to think of the Egomaniacs as "solid," but they've moved into the "really good" area. The Springates are a great combo too, with Zaquary posessing the heelish promos and bumping, and Trance being the more spectacular offensively.

That said, it was weird to see two heel teams matched up to open the show. I can't help but feel that either team could have shone a little better against a clearer "face" opponent. As it was, the Springates did a good job of playing babyfaces, with Zaq leading cheers while Trance took a beatin'. The Egomaniacs' manager, Scott Dickinson, interferes for the Egomaniacs win. Not a surprising result, as the Egomaniacs have been basically presented as unbeatable in NECW, but I'd still like to have seen the Springates go further.

Kid Trance's blue hair makes him look like the Best Possible Blue Meanie.

Promo:
DH: Justin Powers came out and bragged about his NECW winning streak: both matches. He talked about how everyone’s trying to latch onto his rising star and April Hunter’s been calling him non-stop. He delivered this in his usual goofy and entertaining manner. He then challenged Doug Williams, who accepted.

CT: Powers did a really good promo talking about his recent wins, and showing off his T-shirt that said "2 in a row." He promised to remove the "2" and replace it with a "3" once he got through with Doug Williams. He then cut a great, intricate challenge to Williams. He did a good job of being goofy without forgetting that promos should lead to matches.

Williams came out to answer the challege, and to make fun of Powers. Good chemistry in the dueling promos, as you just KNEW Doug was gonna hand Powers his lunch.

Match Two: Justin Powers v. Doug Williams
DH: While Powers isn’t the first person in NECW that I’d pick to face Williams, he’s far from the last. Powers has shown in the past that he can step up his game when facing a higher calibre opponent.

The match opened with a long segment of Doug toying with Powers. Powers would try a wristlock and Williams would find some ridiculous way of reversing it. Powers would get longer periods of offense, but Doug always found a way to get back in control. On a corner charge, Powers got his foot up for a kick so Williams grabbed his ankle and yanked him over into a deathlock. The move itself was beautiful and the icing on the cake was the great facial expressions from Powers throughout the move’s application. When Doug got Powers in a Gory Special with a chinlock, Maverick Wild (who is 2-0-1 against Williams) came out to advise Powers. Still, Williams always found a reversal. He turned a high knee attempt into a backdrop driver. When Powers went for his locomotion Northern Lights suplexes, Williams turned one into a Revolution DDT. The match was liberally peppered with forearms, jumping knees and European uppercuts. Williams went over with the Chaos Theory (roll-through German suplex).

This was sort of making the best of a bad situation. All of NECW’s top workers were tied up in other programs so they gave Williams someone he could stretch. It was definitely highly enjoyable to watch as Powers made the crowd want to see him get stretched and sold the pain well. Williams, of course, merely had to be Williams, which is enough for me.

CT: I thought this would be your typical "mouthy heel gets beat on by tough guy face" style match. And it was…sorta. I figured Doug would have to carry Powers through a lot of stuff, but Powers really came through. He came off as credible in the early matwork sequences, and took everything Williams gave him. He even came back just as stiff. Powers even went from selling holds by screaming cartoonishly, to selling them credibly.

Doug was Doug. This was a good use of him--beating up on someone who needs to shut up. He hit all of his spots, did some freaky matwork, and nailed his Chaos Theory rrolling German Suplex for the win. Did I ever tell you that "Chaos Theory" is the coolest name for a move? Well, it is.

DH: After the match, an angry Maverick Wild cut a promo on Powers, saying that he’s learned nothing in his training and if Powers listened to him, Powers would’ve won. He then turned the promo to Arion, saying he got lucky last time. This brought out Arion who took the mic and asked what was up with Wild, he thought that they were friends. Wild then apologized but followed it up with a slap. Powers joined Wild in beating down Arion until the All-Knighters and Taylor Brothers ran out for the save.

Match Three: The Taylor Brothers (Mark & Tarzan) v. The All Knighters (Robin Knightwing & Joey Knight)
DH: Despite being in the ring last segment, both teams left the ring so they could have their entrances. The Taylor Brothers debuted a new entrance, coming out to “Rock & Roll All Knight”, carrying an electric guitar and running around the ring. Sort of the most hyper-kinetic rock based team you can imagine.

Knight got isolated early on and took some beautiful bumps. I don’t think that there was any question as to who the crowd would pick to cheer since the All Knighters are considerably smaller than the Taylors and incredibly charismatic. Getting to boo the Taylors didn’t bother me one bit. Knightwing, from the apron, did his best to keep the crowd into the match but it proved to be even harder than the previous NECW card. To his credit, Tarzan did do a nice recovery job when Knight slipped on a tornado DDT.

Once the hot tag happened the near falls came fast and furious. The end came when Tarzan held Knight for a Mark Taylor missile dropkick. Joey ducked out of the way and Robin crouched behind Tarzan making for an easy roll-up.

CT: It was funny when both teams went to the back after making the save, then came right back out for their match. "Gotta have our entrance music, man!" You betcha.

The Taylors showed a lot of effort in their entrance, running around the ring, slapping hands, playing Air Guitar with their guitar, etc. The All Knighters are just sososo awesome. They just seem to be having a ton of fun, and are both full of charisma. Their entrance and tease of throwing a stuffed monkey to the crowd was like 5 minutes, and the crowd was in the palms of their hands the whole time.

Good match with the Taylors using power offense to keep their much smaller opponents down. Both Knight and Knightwing bump really well; in fact, they seem to bump twice where a normal worker bumps once. Were they trained by Curt Hennig or something? They even had some unique doubleteams, most notably a move where Joey stands on Robin's shoulders (a la Diesel and Shawn Michaels), then Robin walks across the ring so Joey can do a splash. Neat!

I was happy to see the All Knighters win, since it means two things. 1) I get to see them dance again and b) they'll be back for the next show.

Match Four: Bob Evans & Antonio Thomas v. Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter
DH: Prior to the match, Evans cut a promo about how he looked all over for a partner but couldn’t find one so he took on Antonio Thomas. This was Thomas’s NECW debut and he was a face making this an oddball face/heel team. I believe that Thomas is an Evans trainee.

Slyk immediately got isolated and worked over by Evans and Thomas, coming back with a double-clothesline to make the tag to April. April did the house of fire bit but tagged back out pretty much right afterwards. Evans and Thomas tried a double-team but had a communication breakdown so Evans dumped Thomas out of the ring. This left Evans open for Slyk’s sit-out full nelson powerbomb, costing him the match. After the match, Evans took out his frustrations on Thomas.

With the face/heel team facing a mixed gender team with two guys who have a singles issue on either side, this had the potential to be much more of a clusterfuck than it was. April looked good in her offense although she was pretty well protected and worked maybe five percent of the match, if that. I still hate Evans in a good way; he always makes me want to boo him.

CT: Really the only match in the tournament that had an underlying issue to go along with it. Evans and Wagner have been feuding for awhile, with no end in sight. But, apparently, the opportunity for NECW Gold is too tempting, and they both entered in the tournament. But, as luck would have it, they drew each others' team in the first round! Oh, no!! Good for us, good for them!

Evans got on the stick, and explained that he wanted to find the best wrestler in New England to be his partner. Then he realized that he WAS the best wrestler in New England. So he decided to team with someone who was in his league. But there wasn't anyone in that category, either. "So I decided to go with…oh, here's Antonio Thomas." Then he stole his spotlight during the entrances. Hehe!

I'll never get over the reaction Wagner gets during his entrance. It's a real superstar entrance, with the attendant superstar reaction. He just has that "I'm a star" aura.

They did a good job of telling multiple stories without being too murky about it. Evans reluctantly teaming with Thomas. Evans and Wagner keeping up the heat. April Hunter coming in doing her spots, then staying out of the way.

Evans is one of those guys that does every little thing right. If you don't pay attention, you don't notice how well he covers for blown spots or changes the pacing of the match or whatever. But he's really good at it. Perfect example: Thomas holds Brown for an Evans clothesline, Brown moves, and Evans is supposed to clothesline Thomas over the top. Thomas mis-times the bump,and doesn't go over. Evans looks at his partner in disgust, then just dumps him over. Voila! From blown spot to getting Evans even more over as a jackass. Awesome.

Since April Hunter spent most of the match on the apron, there were rumblings of her turning on Brown. I was glad to see that NECW, once again, kept away from the "swerve" and kept the Wagner/Hunter team together. I was really surprised that they went over, but what does Bob Evans have in store for Wagner next time?

Match Five: Sumie Sakai v. Mercedes Martinez (c) for the North American Women’s Championship
DH: Sakai got a good reaction when she came out so she apparently made a strong impression during her last appearance. Martinez also got a strong reaction. Even with Storm, Fleisch and Williams on the card, I was probably looking forward to this match the most. This is saying a lot since Williams is probably my favorite wrestler right now and I love Johnny Storm. These two had a great match last time that was marred by a screwjob finish and I was eager to see how they’d do with less booking and more familiarity (they had at least one additional match with each other for ACW in Connecticut).

They started with Martinez challenging Sakai to a test-of-strength. There was a problem since Martinez towers over the tiny Sakai. Sakai, however, figured a way to solve this: she asked the ref to get on all fours and stood on his back. Only know Sakai was too tall, so they gave up on that idea.

They had the same basic story as last time: Martinez’s strength versus Sakai’s speed and spunkiness. However they added in quite a few submission spots. Sakai pulled down Martinez and caught her in a deathlock from the side, when Martinez grabbed the rope, Sakai pulled off her arm and made it an armbar combo. Martinez further justified my love for her work by busting out the lucha submissions including a columpio (pendulum submission) and el Nudo Lagunero (she crossed Sakai’s legs and… ah forget it, it’s really cool and if you watch lucha, Blue Panther does it). Sakai won the belt in the end with a senton.

I don’t think that there is any way possible that one could not cheer for Sakai. It’s not so much that she gets over as an underdog when in trouble but that during her rallies she radiates energy and her calls to the audience transcend the language barrier. Even if you don’t like Joshi wrestling (I’m not a fan myself), you owe it to yourself to check out Sakai if you get the chance. She is simply an incredible performer and there will only be so many chances to see her live. I know that she’s working for Wrestling Star Wars in MA this weekend and for Kiryoku near Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. If you live close enough to these cards, go see them. This isn’t to take anything away from Martinez who is also very good and someone you should see (and is also working the Kiryoku show so you get a two-fer) but she isn’t heading to Japan. At least, she isn’t heading there as soon as Sakai is.

The NECW North American Women’s title will be defended in J’d now, which should serve to increase NECW’s visibility. Hopefully it will mean a return of Sakai soon enough.

I felt, and there seemed to be consensus, that the last match was better except for the ending. It could easily be a case of the two women becoming familiar and having a little fun here and there that made things less crisp then they could have been. Their first match they would’ve stuck to what they know best to cover the unfamiliarity. That said, it was neither a bad match nor a disappointment in terms of the high expectations.

CT: Ohhh, yeah! This was one that I was really looking forward to. I'm not the biggest fan of women's wrestling, but I knew this had potential to be really good. I'd heard good buzz on Sakai, and Martinez is probably the best female worker in the U.S. besides Jazz. NECW has done a commendable job of letting her wrestle, instead of using her as cheesecake or as a valet. Too bad there aren't many opponents who can let her show off what she's capable of. Well, besides Sumie Sakai.

Really, really good match. They did a lot of funky Lucha Submissions, including a Nudo Lagunero. Yep'er, I saw El Nudo Lagunero live and in color!! More importantly, now I know what El Nudo Lagunero is. It's…well, you'd know it if you saw it…

Sakai got a good reaction coming out, and was able to get reactions for everything she did. She just seemed so spunky, it's hard not to root for her. Even with her lack of English language skills, a well-placed "Ah!" or "Oh!" got the point across. Y'know, plus she moves at the speed of light, and was crisp in everything she did. Martinez not only hung with her, but also pushed Sakai to rachet it up. This match made me say to myself "Should I start getting into Joshi?" That's not easy.

This was possibly the best match of the night. The crowd was extremely appreciative and respectful, and that added something to the match. Dan & I were kicking ourselves for not bringing streamers for Sakai's introduction. Not to take anything away from her abilities in the ring, but Sakai is such a little cutie-pie, I just wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home. Once there, she'd kick my ass, but it'd be fun for a minute.

Intermission:
DH: After the intermission was announced, Sakai took the microphone. She seemed very choked up during her promo but every time she faltered the crowd gave her a rousing applause. Photographer Shun Yamaguchi translated for her. Basically she said that she loved getting the chance to work in America and wanted to thank NECW, Killer Kowalski’s school and the fans for accepting her. During this Slyk and Hunter were with her as Slyk is the trainer at Kowalski’s. Mercedes rejoined her in the ring and raised her hand. The crowd was very appreciative.

I convinced Chris that he should pick up the card that has Sakai holding a pikachu doll. Chris did and questioned why he hesitated.

CT: Sakai came back out and cut a tear-filled, emotional promo about how much it meant to win the NECW Womens' Title. Since she speaks very little English, her translator, um, translated it for the crowd. She thanked the crowd, thanked Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter, and generally really put over her stay in the U.S. I tell ya, after this promo, the NECW Womens' Title seemed like the most important title in the world. If any other title change were presented with 1% as much emotion as this, it would be 10 times more over.

After her mic work, Sakai signed autographs and T-shirts. Part of me wanted to buy a shirt, but the part of me that wouldn't fit into it (my gut), convinced me not to. Dan told me that she also had a card with Sakai & Pikachu. Strangely, I hesitated before getting one. Essay question of the week: Who's cuter--Sakai or Pikachu? Before you answer, please note: When she signs her name, it starts with a big, giant "S" that is for both the "Sakai" and the "Sumie." The "E" in "Sumie" is also oversized, giving it closure. Not enough? The "I" in "Sakai" has a HEART over it. Awwww….

But Pikachu can control lightning, so I guess it's a push.

Match Six: One Night Stand (Ronnie D. Lishus & Edward G. Extasy) v. Brian Jury and Kevin Grace
DH: Kevin Grace, who last show subbed for Joey Knight, subbed for Tim Fury. This was pretty much a squash with Grace bumping for most of the match and Jury getting pinned after a double superplex.

CT: It has a HEART over it!!! Awash in the glow that is Sumie, Match Six came out. Kevin Grace was a late replacement for Tim Fury as Brian Jury's partner. I was thankful for this, as I have trouble telling Brian Jury and Tim Fury apart. Now I could tell who was who on the team. One Night Stand are a good team. They do a lot of nice heel tag work, and I SWEAR that Edward G. Xtasy is a lost great worker. Now if I could just get him to show it to people besides me, we'd be in business. Sorta like Snuffalufagus or something.

Jury & Grace were fun & spunky as the underdog, undersized faces in this one. ONS got good heel heat, and had some neat doubleteams. Match was basically a squash, but there were moments where you thought Jury & Grace would pull it out. That's good storytelling. No complaints here.

Match Seven: Maverick Wild v. Alex Arion (c) for the NECW Heavyweight title
DH: Wild was in full crazy heel mode and I was most definitely stoked to see him as a heel. These two have had two great matches in NECW with the second one somewhat held back by Wild not being in full heel mode. The two started strong and were getting things going well when Wild dislocated his pinky. He tried to continue the match and did for quite a while but the crowd was turned off by the injury so they went to the finish early.

This was a real shame. I imagine that the two were planning on stealing the show and quite possibly could if for no other reasons than both are familiar to the audience and they had an angle leading into it. This isn’t to take anything away from their work, which is always superb. I know that you might be thinking that a dislocated pinky doesn’t sound all that bad, but trust me it was a gruesome sight. Wild’s pinky was horizontal to his other fingers and any move he made with his arms the audience could see the pinky flailing limply. While I admire Wild for trying to continue, the rest of the audience and I didn’t want him to.

I can only hope that they are given another chance to have the match that they can have.

Fortunately this was one of the few cards in NECW history where the title wasn’t in the main event. The others were the first show where it wasn’t established and the show where they had to hotshot the belt off of Slyk since he signed an exclusive deal with a different indy.

CT: I was really surprised that they put this on second to last. That said, it wound up being a good call.

Wild came out, and continued his crybaby ways about not getting enough respect in NECW. Arion ran in from the back, and the brawl was ON. Definitely a different style than I had expected, since both guys have had more "technical" style matches recently. They fought through the crowd and back into the ring. They were just rocking the world out there.

Maverick Wild hit all of his great spots, including his running corner lariat. Unfortunately, either the impact or the landing dislocated his pinky finger. He clearly couldn't close his hand, and the finger just jutted out perpendicular to the rest of his hand. Yuck! Being the trooper that he was, he got back in and continued the match like nothing was up. Back bumps with the hand, jumping off the top and landing on the hand, Arion splashing onto him & hitting the hand. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. Maverick is a tough man. Sorta weird that, at the start of the match, I was calling him a crybaby, but by the end he showed how much he's not a crybaby.

I think they went about another 7 minutes before reality hit, and they had to take it home. Arion hit another top rope splash, and it was over. Wild went right to the back for treatment as Justin Powers and Arion had a small brawl.

Too bad about the injury, because this was shaping up to be another excellent match. Word is that Wild's okay, which is the most important thing. But it does give NECW an excuse to run another Arion/Wild match next time. Pleeeeze???!!!

DH: Over the weekend, Wild made a statement that he was never in any pain but had to end the match early because he couldn’t close the hand or properly pick up Arion. The good news is that x-rays showed nothing was broken and they simply popped the pinky back in place.

Match Eight: Johnny Storm v. Jodie Fleisch
DH: The two did their standard stuff starting with a stalemate sequence and hitting their dives, headscissors and ranas. I don’t mean to sound underwhelmed. Their work was, simply put, amazing. However there are countless reports of their other US matches and since this was a relatively short match they pretty much stuck to the trademarks.

In reading reports of their other US matches, they’re often referred to as spotfests. I don’t know if this is accurate or because of the stigma attached to Fleisch from his Michinoku work. However, this match they kept very much to the standard psychology. Fleisch controlled early but Storm would cheat and dominate most of the match. Fleisch would have quick comebacks that grew larger until the finishing sequence that ended with him hitting his Phoenix DDT for the win. They also sold each of the bigger moves for a good period of time to get across how devastating they are. So, again, I don’t know if they sold better here than elsewhere or if the reports of other matches were inaccurate. This was a very well worked match with some breathtaking highspots made all the better by the charisma of those involved. My only regret is that Storm didn’t have a chance to bust out his matwork.

CT: As Storm made his entrance, his demeanor and sneer let us know that he was our heel in this one. Then he cut a promo, ripping on American fans and telling us to be respectful and keep quiet during his match. Strangely, the crowd didn't listen and booed him even more.

Storm is small, but Jodie Fleisch is TINY. I think the only guy in NECW who is smaller is probably Tim Fury. That said, Fleisch uses his small stature to basically defy gravity.

These guys have clearly worked each other many times, but it showed in crispness of execution instead of seeming like "going through the motions." They were out there to steal the show, and I can't say that they didn't. Nice matwork at the outset, followed by some heeling by Storm. Then came the breathtaking spots. It's one thing to see a mile-high Asai Moonsault on tape. It's quite another to see it in a tiny room in Somerville, MA with low ceilings. Just spectacular, and well placed within the match. I expected a sprint, and it WAS a sprint. They sold well for each other, and set some nice move/countermove psychology within the match.

Fleish went over with a beautiful Phoenix DDT, and shook Storm's hand. The appreciative crowd gave 'em a standing O. When I looked back, all of the workers were peeking out from the dressing room to watch, and Sumie Sakai was videotaping the match. My only real complaint is that I wished it were longer. Good, good, good match. Besides the obvious excellent highspots and execution, Storm played heel well and Fleisch has great underdog babyface charisma.

Overall:
DH: NECW delivered on all counts. The title match was a let down, but an understandable one and it served to whet the appetite for the match in the future. The only possible downside is that this may have garnered sympathy for Wild that could negate his heel turn. Let me throw in a plug for Tanya Cornell at www.tctapes.net who tapes and sells every NECW show. I don’t want to say that this (or any) show is “must see” but I do encourage you to purchase a tape.

The tag matches were all quarterfinal match ups for a tag tournament. The next round appears to be, but isn’t necessarily, Egomaniacs v. All Knighters and One Night Stand v. Hunter/Slyk. I’m happy to see the All Knighters advancing as they’re always a good show and their match with the Egomaniacs could be great. I’m less excited about One Night Stand v. Hunter/Slick. The finals will most likely be One Night Stand v. Egomaniacs, which hasn’t been too good either time since there’s no face team. One Night Stand should be the faces, the audience wants them to be, but they seem to refuse to be faces. As for the teams that didn’t advance, I hope that Zaquary Springate can go back to singles matches. I could see Trance as a face being a permanent thing as well. Then you have two teams put together to fill the slots and the Taylors who are, well, the Taylors.

I also want to end by repeating something I said above. If you get the chance to see Sumie Sakai, go do it even if you don’t like women’s wrestling. I’m repeating this here in case someone who doesn’t glossed over that part of my review.

A terrific show from NECW with all promises delivered

CT: Wow! This was the best NECW show I've been to, and maybe the best show I've EVER been to. NECW always delivers a solid undercard and a good/great main event. This show, there were two matches that qualified as great (Sakai/Martinez and Fleisch/Storm), a few good matches (Williams/Powers, Springates/Egomaniacs), as well as great performances from the All Knighters, Bob Evans, and Slyk Wagner Brown. And, of course, their usual solid booking. That's all despite the fact that Arion/Wild was abruptly cut off. If Wild hadn't gotten injured, I'd be willing to bet that there would have been a third match in the "great" category. I really can't say enough for this show. 2 Thumbs Up! Wait!!! 3 Thumbs Up!!!!

Credit: Daniel Herman & Chris Tomkinson