Friday night May 14th, NWS held its biggest show of the year, the 2010 Chris Candido Memorial J-Cup Tournament, at the Kenilworth, NJ Veterans Center. A capacity crowd, including standing-room-only fans, filled the hall to see twelve of the circuit’s best cruiserweight, middleweight, and junior heavyweights. And they were certainly not disappointed, as this was one of the wildest J-Cup Tournaments ever, and they didn’t even notice the lack of air conditioning and the hot weather outside, as the action in the ring was even hotter.
The night began with all twelve J-Cup participants surrounding the ring and paying tribute to the late great Chris Candido.
The rules were explained to the fans: In the first round, twelve wrestlers would compete in four triple-threat matches, with the four winners going on to compete in two one-on-one semifinal matches, followed by the final match. In the first and second rounds, the matches would have a ten-minute time limit, with a five-minute sudden death overtime if there was no winner after ten minutes, and if no winner after the five-minute overtime, the fans would choose the winner. The final match would have a twenty-minute time-limit, with repeated five-minute overtime periods until there was a winner.
In the First Round:
Match #1: John “Tap-Out” Walters defeated NWS Cruiserweight Champion Jumping Joey Janela and Nick Talent. After a hard-hitting battle, Janela blocked a flying splash attempt by Nick Talent and threw him out of the ring, but then Walters locked a Sharpshooter on Janela who tapped out.
Match #2: Former WWE developmental protege “Platinum” Pat Buck defeated ROH star Alex Payne and “Too Hot” Steve Scott. After a pitched battle inside and outside the ring, Buck thwarted a superplex attempt by Payne and locked him in a Dragon Sleeper, causing Payne to tap out and giving Buck the victory.
Before the next match, Reality Check (Danny Demanto & Kevin Matthews & Nicky Oceans) came out to the ring unannounced. After their customary hurling of insults at the fans, Demanto and Matthews claimed they would win the heavyweight Battle Royal later tonight to earn a match against former WWE star Kamala, and would both take him apart. They also guaranteed that Nicky Oceans would be the 2010 J-Cup Toutnament winner.
Match #3: NWS Junior Heavyweight Champion “The Love Machine” Nicky Oceans defeated Jock Mafia member Chris D’Andrea and Sabotage. After another high-flying match, Sabotage had been leveled by Oceans’ Boom-Boom-Pow finisher, and local hero D’Andrea was all set to finish off Oceans, when Danny Demanto and Kevin Matthews came to ringside. They apparently were making good on their earlier promise, as Demanto distracted the referee, Matthews sneaked into the ring and hit D’Andrea with a foreign object, knocking him cold. Oceans then covered D’Andrea and got the 1-2-3.
Match #4: Jock Mafia member Mike Dennis defeated Devon Moore and “Mr. Entertainment” J.D. Smoothie. The newcomer Dennis thrilled the crowd as he held his own against the two veterans Smoothie and Moore. After a ten-minute fight, the bell rang with no winner. The three then battled into the five-minute overtime period, and Devon Moore eventually leveled Dennis with a superkick, but the five minutes expired before the referee could count to three. Under the rules, the fans were asked to pick the winner by a show of thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and Dennis was clearly the crowd favorite in this match, and was declared the winner.
The next match was a Baker’s Dozen Heavyweight Battle Royal, with the winner to receive a match later that night against former WWE star “The Ugandan Giant” Kamala. Forner WWE & WCW star “America’s Hero” The Patriot was introduced as a special guest referee. The battle royal participants were: The Masked Assassin, “The Happy Hillbilly” Justin Blackwell, Reality Check members “The Cold-Hearted Playa” Danny Demanto and “Too Cocky” Kevin Matthews, Baghdad Bullies member Saddam Insane, NWS Heavyweight Champion “Corrupted” Corey Havoc, Mister Nick Gregory, Snake-Eyez, “Cannonball” Jeff Guerrero, Jay Silva, “The Little Gipper” Steve Gipke, Anthony Scorase, and Jack Spade. The final two members were, ironically, both members of Reality Check, Demanto and Matthews. They proclaimed themselves as co-winners and said they would take down Kamala two-on-one, but NWS officials insisted that there could only be one winner and they would have to fight each other. Matthews said he refused to fight his own partner and friend, and then added that he didn’t want to have to show Demanto that he was the better wrestler. This led to a shoving match between the two, and it looked like they were going to fight each other, when they both turned and attacked The Patriot. The attack was thwarted by the appearance of Kamala who ran out from the back. Patriot seized the microphone and demanded that the match with Kamala later on be a tag-team match with him and Kamala against Reality Check. Commissioner Moore was only too happy to agree.
In the Semifinal Round:
NWS Junior Heavyweight Champion “The Love Machine” Nicky Oceans defeated Jock Mafia member Mike Dennis. Dennis held his own against the champion and came close to upsetting him on several occasions. But late in the match, Oceans grabbed referee Sargeant Jimmy Storm and threw him in front of a flying body press from Dennis, knocking out Storm. Oceans’ teammates Danny Demanto and Kevin Matthews came to ringside once again, with Demanto leveling Dennis with a foreign object. Oceans then covered Dennis as Matthews revived the referee, who saw the pin and counted 1-2-3 for Oceans.
John “Tap Out” Walters defeated former WWE star “Platinum” Pat Buck by submission. This was another competitive semifinal match, and after a heated battle, Walters reversed a sunset-flip attempt by Buck into a Sharpshooter, and Buck tapped out, giving Walters the victory and sending him on to the finals against Oceans
Former WWE stars “The Ugandan Giant” Kamala & “America’s Hero” The Patriot defeated Reality Check (“The Cold-Hearted Playa” Danny Demanto & “Too Cocky” Kevin Matthews). The two teams kept the match even, and towards the end, Reality Check had leveled both Patriot and Kamala, and Demanto was poised on the top rope ready to deliver a finishing splash to Kamala, when Mike Dennis and Chris D’Andrea of The Jock Mafia came out and hit Demanto with the same “Wet Floor” sign that Demanto had used on Mike Dennis earlier. Demanto fell off the top rope and was avalanche’d in the corner by Kamala and pinned for the 1-2-3. Demanto and Matthews were furious at The Jock Mafia (apprently turnabout was not fair play when it was used against them), but Commissioner Moore ordered them back, and announced that when NWS returned to nearby Union, NJ in August, there would be a match for the currently vacant NWS Tag-Team Titles between The Jock Mafia and Reality Check members Kevin Matthews & Nicky Oceans. Commissioner Moore then announced that Demanto would not be part of that match because he had something extra special in mind for him tha night… a match against former ECW hardcore icon and long-time rival Balls Mahoney… inside a fifteen foot-high STEEL CAGE!
In the J-Cup Tournament Finals, John Walters (now hailed as “The Submission Specialist”) defeated NWS Junior Heavyweight Champion “The Love Machine” Nicky Oceans. After the two were introduced, Commissioner Moore announced that he was disgusted that Oceans made it to the finals with outside interference from his teammates, and he would not have a tournament dedicated to a classy wrestler like Chris Candido end the same way. He then called out the other ten members of the J-Cup field to surround the ring and directed them to prevent any outside interference. Demanto and Matthews also came out, incensed, but were sent back to the locker room by the officials. The bell rang and the match began, and Oceans and Walters, both ring veterans, battled evenly. Walters managed to escape Oceans’ Boom-Boom-Pow finisher attempt, but then Oceans delivered a superkick and then went to the top rope to finish Walters off. Walters launched a dropkick at Oceans while he was standing on the top rope, causing him to spike himself on the turnbuckle. Walters then hit a hurricanrana on Oceans, flipping him onto the mat, then held on to his legs and put him in a Sharphooter. As Oceans screamed in pain, Demanto and Matthews tried to rush the ring once again, but the other J-Cup wrestlers kept them from getting anywhere near the ring. With no outside help, Oceans was forced to finally tap out, and Walters was announced as the winner and awarded the trophy as the fans cheered on The Submission Specialist as the 2010 J-Cup Tournament Champion.