With Evil Intentions fast approaching, we, here at ecwperth.com, thought that it was time to take a look at some of the matches that are taking place on April 12^th 2003. This is the first of a three part series leading up to the event. There are 3 matches in particular that have plenty of history behind them, and we will examine one of them in each of these previews. Those three matches are Jamie Jurah versus Richter, Mikey versus Brad West and Davis Storm up against Damien Kross.

 MIXER v AZAZAL

The first match we will look at is Mixer taking on Azazal. Mixer has been the unlucky loser of some great matches lately. After achieving his first win at Retribution last year, many predicted that Mixer would break out and really start to make a huge impression on Explosive Coastal Wrestling. And he may well have, if not for unlucky circumstance.

 It looked as if Mixer was in with a great shot at winning the 4 way match at Re-Awakening. He had just pinned Psychofett after hitting the Mixing It Up, when Mikey took the opportunity to crash Mixer’s skull in with a huge chairshot. That left him prone to Damien Kross and the Krossfire.

 Looking to start the new year in winning form, he was on fire against F.N. Carnage. He had Carnage tapping out to the cross face before Jamie Jurah interfered and cost Mixer the match. And lastly, at The Uprising, he gave Damien Kross all he could handle, but with the referee down he missed his chance for a win and Kross came out on top.

 Azazal quite simply has been on a tear. He hasn’t lost a match since Collision Course last year, where he lost to Brock Freeman in a match where Anda Nothica was special guest referee. He has only ever been defeated twice, the other loss coming against F.N. Carnage at Awakening. Where Mixer has had circumstance work against him, Azazal seems to always have circumstance work in his favour.

 He won the commissioner position from The Vagrant with more than a little help from The Uprising. Since then he has been seen only in tag team action. Maybe he has been preparing himself for the tag team tournament coming at Evolution.

 His main advantage may also be his weakness. That is his new found power. He has been making many enemies since taking on the commissioner role. The way he abuses his power angers many people in ECW but few are keen to have their voice heard as they fear retribution from Azazal and The Uprising.

 ANALYSIS: There is no doubt that Mixer is going into this match the underdog. Surely Azazal will be going into this match as the favourite and rightfully so. His win ratio is incredible and he always seems to find a way to win, by whatever means he deems necessary. But Mixer has a never say die attitude. Don’t write him off just yet.

 JAMIE JURAH v RICHTER

 This feud has been simmering for over 5 months now. It all started during their match at Re-Awakening. When Jamie Jurah attempted to hit Richter with his megaphone to gain a win, Richter turned the tables by booting the illegal object back into Jurah’s face. He then nailed him with the chokeslam back-breaker for the 1-2-3. However, when he kicked the megaphone into Jamie’s face, he also booted one of his teeth right out of his head. Many have argued that Jurah deserved it for trying to cheat. But Jamie did not see it that way and has been out for revenge ever since.

 Richter closed out last year on a high. He won a hard fought victory over Jamie at Re-Awakening. The Most Improved Wrestler of 2002 award would have been the icing on the cake. He had worked extremely hard over the course of the year and the fans had recognized his hard work and effort. Things looked great for him leading into 2003.

 And he couldn’t have got the year off to a better start. He beat Justin Sane at The Mark Has Been Made and was looking to bigger and better things. But just when things were looking up, Jurah attempted to attack Richter with a chair. Richter fended off his attack but did not expect Jag and Havok to be part of Jurah’s attack. The three men beat him down before Jurah had Jag hold a steel chair in front of Richter’s face before delivering a running knee that broke the chair. The intention was obvious. He was trying to exact revenge by claiming one of Richter’s teeth.

 Jurah’s impact can never be measured in wins and losses. His last win came at the expense of The Vagrant back at Collision Course to gain an ECW contract. However, he is constantly a pain in the neck to many an ECW wrestler. Many of his opponents have listed him as one of their toughest foes. He beat the hell out of Anda Nothica before finally succumbing to a dragonrana at The Mark Has Been Made. He doesn’t seem to care about winning or losing. His only concern seems to be inflicting as much pain on his opponents as possible and he is a master of playing mind games. 

The mind games continued at The Uprising as Slick Rick negotiated for Jurah to be Richter’s tag team partner. Jurah constantly interfered to stop Richter from laying a hand on F.N. Carnage before finally delivering a shining wizard and j-krusher to set Richter up to be pinned by Carnage.

 Richter is furious. Like many others, Richter believes that Jamie got what he deserved for trying to use an illegal object in the Re-Awakening match. Jurah doesn’t seem to be too bothered by losing the tooth but is using it as his motivation for vengeance. But many question his methods. If nothing else, he has made Richter a very angry man. Jurah realized early on that he was giving up size and strength to Richter. It was shown at Re-Awakening that he had trouble in putting away Richter on his own. He knew that he needed an edge. And now he may have it.

ANALYSIS: By getting in the head of Richter, he may have created a more level playing field. If Richter’s mind is not clear during this match up, he may leave himself prone to Jurah who will be extremely focused. And you cannot count out Slick Rick and F.N. Carnage. Richter will have to come into this match with his mind completely on the job. If he doesn’t, he may be in for a very long night at Evil Intentions.