NWS “2009 Chris Candido Memorial J-Cup Tournament” Results From Manville, NJ 5/16: Sixteen Competitors, “G.Q.” Myke Quest Takes The Trophy, ECW Original Balls Mahoney Wins A Big-Man Battle Royal & Takes On WWE Alum Snitsky & More In A Night Of Blowout Wrestling And Memories Of The Great Chris Candido
National Wrestling Superstars presented their biggest show of the year, and one of the biggest annual events in independent wrestling, the 2009 Chris Candido Memorial J-Cup Tournament, on Saturday night May 16th at their biggest New Jersey venue, the Manville, NJ VFW Hall. A nice turnout and definitely hot crowd came to the hall to see this annual classic.
This tournament fields the best cruiserweights and junior heavyweights around each year for a one-night single-elimination tournament. NWS acquired the rights to this tournament in 2005 as part of their acquisition of Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW). In that same year and almost to the day, WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA legend, NWS performer, and all-around good friend Chris Candido passed away, and NWS renamed the tournament to honor the memory of their friend. (For a complete history of the J-Cup, visit The DOI Wrestling Site.)
Before the show began, announcer Dapper Johnny introduced Destiny as the co-host for the evening. The sixteen J-Cup participants were introduced and surrounded the ring. The rules were explained – the first round would be four Fatal Four-Way Matches, followed by two one-on-one semifinal match and the one-on-one final match. All first and second round bouts would have a 10-minute time limit, with a 5-minute sudden death overtime round. If at the end of the sudden death round there was still no winner, the fans would give the thumbs-up or down on who shall continue, a novel approach indeed. On the final singles round there would be a 20-minute time limit with recurring 5-minute sudden death overtime rounds until there was a winner.
ECW originals and tag-team partners John “Balls” Mahoney and Axl Rotten were introduced, and both paid classy tributes to their fallen friend Chris Candido.
First Round Match: TNA star “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal defeated NWS Cruiserweight Champion Mighty Mikey Pacifica & J.D. Smoothie & Aaron Arbo. This seemed on paper to be a mismatch, with the TNA veteran and 2003 J-Cup winner Lethal against first-time entrants Smoothie and Arbo and second-time entrant Mikey. But all three rookies made an excellent showing, staying toe-to-toe with the veteran Lethal with high-flying moves in and out of the ring. But the 2003 J-Cup winner Lethal would not be denied in his quest to become the first repeat champion, and after levelling all three of his opponents with a “Tower Of Doom” superplex, Lethal finished off J.D. Smoothie with a flying elbow drop and a 1-2-3 pinfall to advance to the semifinals.
First Round Match: Nicky Oceans defeated Damian Adams & Jumping Joey Janella & Unbreakable Andy. Janella, a newcomer to the tournament, and two-time entrant Andy defied expectations and kept pace with NWS veterans Oceans and Adams. In the end, as Andy leveled Adams on the outside with a flying leap, Oceans piledrove Janella into the mat for the three-count to advance to the semifinals.
First Round Match: Devon Moore defeated Chikara Wrestling stars Golden Lynx & Ophidian & Fright-Mare. With three of Chikara’s high fliers, and the versatile Philly veteran Moore, this match was expected to be a fast-moving high-flying showcase, and if anything it exceeded everyone’s expectations. After all four had logged enough frequent flyer miles for a trip around the world, Golden Lynx missed a shooting star press attempt on Fright-Mare when Moore pulled him out of the way, and Moore covered the stunned Lynx for the three-count to advance to the semifinals.
First Round Match: NWS Jersey Shore Champion Myke “G.Q.” Quest defeated Archadia & Corvis Fear & Chikara Wrestling star Amasis. Quest and Archadia had a classic feud in NWS in 2004 & 2005, and for most of the match the two tore into each other like it was old times, while Amasis’ high-flier style was opposed by Corvis’ technical and brawling edge. In the end, Corvis put Archadia down with a reverse suplex, and Quest locked Corvis into a crossface submission hold. Corvisimmediately tapped out, giving Quest the victory and advancing him to the semifinals.
ECW original John “Balls” Mahoney won a Big Man Battle Royal. The other participants were NWS Heavyweight Champion Corey Havoc, CZW star D.J. Hyde, Danny Demanto, Bison Bravado, T.N.T, Rich “Ice-Pick” Lowinski, Indian Warrior Draven, Jack Spade & Bryan Harley. Demanto actually hung outside the ring most of this match, hoping to sneak in once the pack had thinned out. The final three were Balls, Demanto, and Havoc, who intially tried to double-team and eliminate Balls, but Balls was used to unfair fights from his ECW days, and was able to eliminate Havoc, followed by Demanto. By winning the battle royal, Balls had earned a one-on-one “Loser Gets Put Through A Door” match with WWE alumnus Snitsky later in the evening. Snitsky came out and it appeared the two would go at it right then and there, but they just engaged in a stare-down.
Semifinal Match: “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal defeated Devon Moore. This match was a hard-hitting matchup of two area veterans who seemed evenly matched, but after enduring Moore’s assault, Lethal won with a flying elbow off the top to advance to the finals.
Semifinal Match: “G.Q.” Myke Quest defeated Nicky Oceans. This was a showdown between two of NWS’ most veteran junior heavyweight stars, and the two tore into each other inside and outside the ring. Quest had Oceans locked in a crossface submission hold, but Oceans reached the ropes just as the ten-minute time limit expired. Under tournament rules, the match continued in a five-minute sudden death overtime period, but even that was not enough for these two evenly-matched opponents, as Oceans withstood yet another crossface submission hold in the closing seconds of overtime, and the bell rang again without a winner. The tournament rules then called for the audience to decide the winner, and as Quest was the crowd favorite he received the overwhelming nod. Quest, however, refused to allow his hand to be raised in victory, saying that this was not the way he wanted to win the match, and demanded five more minutes. Commissioner Moore ag reed, and the match was restarted. This time there was no stopping Quest, who superkicked Oceans and put him down with a double-underhook suplex for the three-count to advance to the finals against Jay Lethal.
Former WWE star Snitsky defeated ECW original John “Balls” Mahoney in a “Loser Goes Through A Door” Match. In the ongoing series between the two TV veterans, Balls held a 3-2 lead. Danny Demanto came out to ringside as the match started, to the apparent confusion of both Snitsky and Balls, saying he should have won the battle royal and faced Snitsky, and wanted to see Balls beat him instead. Balls and Snitsky commenced yet another hard-hitting brawl, taking the fight outside the ring and all over the VFW Hall, smashing each other into chairs and vendor tables. After the fight finally returned to the ring, Snitsky brought the wooden door into the ring, and propped it up on four chairs, but was unable to put Balls away through it. Balls got the upper hand, laid Snitsky on top of the door, and climbed to the top rope and declared he was going to deliver a moonsault. Demanto jumped onto the ring apron and claimed Balls there was no way Balls could do it. While the two were arguing, Snitsky recovered, stood up, and powerbombed Balls through the door for the victory. Demanto came into the ring laughing and admitted that his plan was to help Snitsky all along. A furious Commissioner Moore announced that in Flemington, NJ at the end of May, Demanto was going to have a main-event match… against former WWE star “Hardcore” Bob Holly. Snitsky recounted how tough of an opponent Holly had been against him in ECW, and laughingly wished Demanto the best of luck.
J-Cup Tournament Final Match: “G.Q.” Myke Quest defeated “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal to become the 2009 Chris Candido Memorial J-Cup Winner. Both men came to the ring exhausted after two grueling matches, but wrestled a classic matchup, starting with technical moves mat wrestling and accelerating into a series of high-flying and high-impact moves. The crowd was evenly divided in cheering for these two fan-favorites, but were all on the edge of their seats as both men got countless near-falls. In the end, Lethal withstood a crossface submission attempt from Quest, and hit him with a sunset flip, but Quest held on to Lethal and held him down for the three-count and the victory.
The entire locker room spilled out to congratulate Quest, and Lethal handed the trophy to Quest in a show of great sportsmanship. As Quest continued to celebrate, Nicky Oceans and Corvis Fear remained in the ring. The two former “Team Supreme” partners appeared to want to give congratulations to Quest, but instead attacked him. Commissioner Moore immediately broke up the fight, and announced that Oceans and Fear and Quest would meet in a triple-threat match in Flemington, NJ at the end of May
NWS returns to action with a double-shot weekend Friday night May 29th in Ridgefield Park, NJ, and Saturday May 30th in Flemington, NJ.
Follow NWS on the Web at www.nwswrestling.com.