[2000-11-18-JAPW-3rd Anniversary Show] Sabu vs Axl Rotten

[Edwin]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

Only other singles match between these two was in Big Japan in 1996 which is shocking to me. I also looked at Axl’s cagematch and was surprised to see he only had around 100 matches from 2000 through his death. Sabu in this match was a pretty meh version of himself where he botches a few things and doesn’t have much balance. Axl tries to work heel at first but that gets abandoned quickly. The match doesn’t have much heat and ends when Sabu hits a nice legdrop through the table. Ian Rotten rushes down to ringside and smashes a chair on Sabu so Bad Breed is back together. The camera angle was so bad I couldn’t even make out who made the save for Sabu. Ian promo ends this which doesn’t lead to anything as best as I can tell. Rough outing for JAPW as they have showcased some good young talent this year but dismissed that for a vanity type show featuring old ECW talent and hardcore castaways. *3/4

[GSR]

Sabu is announced as the Extreme World champion, is that a promotion?  Does he mean XPW or is it a title on a par with the Million Dollar Belt?  Axl encourages a “fuck you Paul E.” chant; that guy is the dirt worst for shit like this the one minute and then begging for a job from him the next.  After twice avoiding a Sabu leg dive he says “fuck this” and heads out to retrieve a couple of chairs from under the ring.  He throws one to Sabu and we have duelling chairs.  This isn’t exactly Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka swinging them but I’m kinda glad in a way.  Axl tosses Sabu through the ropes to the floor and they have an uninspiring fight around ringside.  Sabu gets the jump on him when he’s rolled back into the ring and goes straight for a triple jump moonsault which he executes cleanly.  Cross armbar but Axl grabs his own hand to prevent Sabu getting the extension.  With his grip slowly loosening, he resorts to biting Sabu in the leg to get him to let go of the hold.  The camera misses seeing Sabu slip on the springboard to the outside and Axl takes advantage of the situation, however I don’t think a rear chinlock is what this audience wants to see!  Sabu escapes with a jawbreaker and they go back to that springboard that Sabu botched thirty seconds earlier.  This time he hits the double jump springboard plancha although it looks like Axl steps to the left and doesn’t really protect him on the dive.  A kick to the face by Sabu is badly pulled and someone from the crowd shouts “where’s Pondo when you need him?”  This hasn’t been great but the last person I’d be calling for to save a match would be Madman Pondo!  Axl lays Sabu on a table at ringside and then climbs up the turnbuckles, in the ring and not facing Sabu, clearly not attempting anything and just getting in position for the next spot.  If that wasn’t hokey enough Sabu slips, again, on the top rope rana!  He goes for a second triple jump moonsault, but this time Axl trips him and Sabu goes head first into the chair.  The fans couldn’t care less about any of this, though at least they’ve stopped chanting for Pondo!  Axl brings a table into the ring and with it lay on its side crotches Sabu on it.  Sabu blocks the chair shot and then punches it into Axl’s head, I think, this was something else that was missed by the camera.  Arabian facebuster to the back of the head.  Sabu clotheslines Axl onto the table and then puts him through it with an Arabian facebuster off the top.  That gets the best response from anything in the match and is enough to put Axl away.  Ian Rotten waddles out, attacks Sabu and DDT’s him onto what’s left of that table.  Pitbull Gary Wolfe makes the save although his music started to play before he ran out therefore lessening the anticipation.  We get lengthy post-match interviews with the Bad Breed living in the past and calling themselves and Sabu “hardcore motherfuckers” as they set up a tag match between the four for down the line.

A match that felt like it was from an ECW tribute show even though the promotion hasn’t died yet.  I think we’ve spent the entire year saying whether Sabu was ‘on’ or not and tonight he was not.  I will say that Axl is better than most when it comes to trying to cover Sabu’s botches and doesn’t immediately repeat the spot like most do, adlibbing for a bit before returning to it.  The moment where Axl laid Sabu on the table at ringside and then climbed the turnbuckles in the ring looked especially preposterous.  A tag match between these four doesn’t instil me with much excitement.

[Tim Evans]

This was pretty sad to watch. Between the small crowd in the ecw arena and them not giving a shit. We got some witty cat calls like all is fatter than buddy rose and fuck Frank talent. Sabu couldn't do much and what he did was botched mostly. Ian waddles in and cuts his usual long promo to crickets. Bad