[2003-02-08-FWA-New Frontiers 2003] Jonny Storm vs Juventud Guerrera

[TonyPulis'Cap]

We are in the Walthamstow Assembly Halls in London, and this is a quarter final match in the XPW European Title Tournament. For more info on that tournament should you have a particular need to fall asleep, I’ve written about it in the link above.

Juvi would be a semi-regular for the FWA in the first part of 2003, and is representing XPW in the tournament. For someone that at this time was bouncing around a load of different companies, he looks really smooth and polished, and it’s good to see Jonny raise his game to keep up with someone with the talent and experience that Juvi has. The opening exchanges are really fun with a nice hybrid of Lucha, traditional British wrestling and the modern (well, modern for 2003) indie highspot style. There are lots of parity spots early on, which some may roll their eyes at given the ubiquity of that at the time, but it establishes the similar styles and game plan each is coming in with, and everything is done at speed and is on point.

Juvi is the first to get more aggressive, with a nice flurry ending with a slingshot crossbody to the outside. Storm at this time could be a really sympathetic babyface with his wiry frame and the way he took moves which looked like it was breaking him in half. Both guys are essentially faces, but Juvi being the slightly bigger guy, and harder hitter works most of the middle portion of the match on top, building heat rather than letting it slip into too much of a back and forth which can often happen with indie cruiserweight style matches. Storm for his part is really good with his hope spots, timing them nicely to keep the crowd invested and onside.

And that’s the main theme for a lot of the match; Jonny looking to stick and move and hang in there, while Juvy is the more aggressive, trying to unleash some big bombs like a torture rack powerbomb to break up any bits of momentum that Storm is able to get. As I say, while both were faces here, both are also known for being cocky and showoffs, and I liked that this played into the match with Juvi getting caught going up top after a nasty looking DVD where he could’ve had the pin, but instead was looking to hit a flashier move from the top. There’s a couple of great nearfalls with Juvi powering out of Storm’s patented rewind rana and then Jonny surviving a Juvi Driver to show his toughness. It’s in going for a second Juvi Driver that Storm manages to counter with a roll up for the win.

This was really good, with the two guys meshing nicely, and Storm really brought his A game following up a strong end to 2002. The match is worked at a fast pace, but there’s also times where the guys let the action breathe, and Storm in particular is great at selling the beatdown he is getting for a lot of the match. I liked the desperation roll up ending, showing that Jonny was able to survive all the punishment and was able to take advantage when Juvi got cocky going for the second Juvi Driver. Good stuff here. (*** ½)