By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S JCW 6/30 “SEND IN THE CLOWNS” iPPV REVIEW
AIRED ON PSYCHOPATHICLIVE.COM
Pontiac, Mich.
BY TORCH COLUMNIST SEAN RADICAN

RESULTS

-Kawabata beat Jimmy Jacobs
-Cpl. Robinson beat Sexy Slim Goodie
-Bull Pain & Tracy Smothers (w/Isabella Smothers) beat Necro Butcher & Mad Man Pondo
-The Haters beat U-Gene & Zach Gowen
-Bill Martel beat Weed Man (W/Officer Colt Cabana)
-Rhino vs. Kongo Kong (w/Truth Martini) went to a no contest.
-2 Tough Tony beat Butler Jeeves to capture the JCW Championship

Overall thoughts: This was an improvement over the other JCW iPPVs I’ve seen. I’d like to see the company bring more independent talent and put on better matches, but the stories told on the show were fun for the most part this week.

It was nice to see the show cut down on the hardcore element to some degree. That style of wrestling just isn’t going to excite a large group of people that might check out JCW at some point. The characters and storytelling are the draw for JCW right now.

I enjoyed the opening match between Jacobs and Kawabata. Jacobs trying to recite his poem with Kawabata constantly interrupting his was funny. Jacobs plays the gimmick well, but he’s capable of so much more than he’s showing here.

A couple of things that stood out on this show were the various highlight packages used throughout the night. They did a good job of highlighting Robinson losing the JCW Championship and how every person that loses the title has to start at the bottom and work their way back up to the top. 2 Tuff Tony was also spotlighted with a video package and the post-match celebration after his title win was a nice touch on the story they built with him being in JCW for so long and never winning the strap.

I was really looking forward to Rhino vs. Kong. Although there was some good action between the two, I was expecting a lot more in terms of in-ring fireworks. The pace of the match really slowed down in the middle, but from what I’ve seen of Kong and what I know Rhino can do, I think these two could have a really good match together.

The main event was anti-climactic. They tried to build some drama with Officer Cabana attempting to arrest Tony for public intoxication, but I never bought that he was in any real danger of losing the match, especially after he easily fought off interference from Wellington and Martini before easily beating Jeeves. The post-match celebration with the other babyfaces on the roster was a nice touch, so in that sense the title switch did mean something in the end.

The only low point of the show was when the mic didn’t work during the segment with Tracy Smothers, Bull Pain, and Isabella Smothers. I could only hear Tracy for some reason, which was odd since they were all using the same mic.

From a production standpoint, JCW does some neat things with multiple camera shots and they even had a picture-in-picture shot at one point. They also seamlessly edit in video packages into the show, which is a nice touch that I’d like to see from other companies that offer iPPVs.

For five bucks, this show is worth checking out. These iPPVs are more episodic in nature than having an actual big event feel, but JCW is improving things from show to show from what I can tell. JCW has some good core members on the roster, but I think if they open up the wrestling end without resorting to the hardcore stuff, the company could grab more attention from hardcore wrestling fans.

You can purchase “Send in the Clowns” iPPV on demand at Psychopathiclive.com or it’s available on DVD at hatchetgear.com.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@Gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S ROH ASE PPV REPORT 9/18: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of All-Star Extravaganza - Jay Lethal defends two titles, ANX, more

RADICAN'S "EVOLVE 47" iPPV REPORT 8/15 - Tremendous all-around show, Bailey vs. Chris Hero, Thatcher-Sabre for EVOLVE Title, more

RADICAN'S NJPW "G1 Climax Finals" PPV Report 8/16: ReDRagon-Young Bucks, KUSHIDA-Ricochet, Tanahashi-Nakamura match for the ages in final