As so much more professional wrestling becomes available in the United States with Lucha Underground and New Japan on AXS, I've decided to go back to some of those promotions that I used to watch when I was heavy into independent wrestling as well. I recently renewed my relationship with Ring of Honor because I found that their weekly television show can be streamed for free so I decided my next old friend revisited should be Combat Zone Wrestling, aka CZW. (Don't worry PWG and Chikara- I'm coming for you too)
The last time I watched or really looked into anything about CZW was... I don't remember when. I remember the ROH vs. CZW war. I remember the ultraviolence and guys like Necro Butcher. To be somewhat accurate as to when the last time I watched CZW was it was *before* Jon Moxley was even in CZW and he is of course now in WWE as Dean Ambrose. So, yeah, it's been a while, but the hints I drop in this review should help you to place when exactly I was watching CZW most.
So let's get on with the show, as this is the first pay-per-view (big event) of 2015 for CZW... To Live is To Die!
Match One: "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. Alex Colon
This event took place at an indoor skate park, which I guess they probably hold shows in a lot, but I always remember CZW as either being outdoors (Winters in Jersey won't allow for that right now) or in what I believe was the former ECW arena. Either way, I just don't remember it as being in somewhere like this, but with this new look of venue for me also comes a new look of professional wrestling on the whole.
"Speedball" Mike Bailey came out complete in his karate gi but that's about where the comparisons to Steve Blackman end. He's a bit smaller but that just allows him to be quicker and a high flyer. But you kind of had to guess he'd be as such since his nickname is "Speedball". His opponent on the other hand, Alex Colon, is a cross between Cesaro and Karl Anderson in terms of looks but that doesn't define his in ring style.
Though Mike Bailey picked up the win in this match, Alex Colon picked up the proverbial win for me as he had the best spot of the entire match (Maybe even this entire show) With Bailey caught up in the top and second rope, Colon jumped off the top rope opposite turnbuckle and hit him in the face with a knee. I've never seen anything like that before and if you asked me going into the match who I thought would've done something like that my money would have been on Bailey not Colon.
Match Two: The Beaver Boys vs. Team Tremendous
I'm still unclear as to who was supposed to be the heels in this match, as neither team seemed to have support behind them, but The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) wore somewhat matching trunks with their names on the back, which was a great way to tell them apart if you didn't want to just remember that Reynolds had the longer hair. They felt like jobbers in some ways and mostly because of their presentation and, well, name. The team they fought at least looked like Miami Vice and the bigger of the two guys (Sorry, CZWrestling.com doesn't have photos for them) really looked like the Big Boss Man in his WCW days (complete with that one suspender strap that wouldn't stay clasped)
Now the story here is that Team Tremendous has a friend named Dick Justice who was kidnapped by The Beaver Boys and so they wanted him back. While other promotions (see: WWE) focus on lengthy recap videos that seem to waste time and are always a slap to the face of people who follow the product, you'd think that one might be good here, going into this match, but the commentators did a good of job of telling the story, explaining what was happening and overall just doing their job. Next time you watch a WWE pay-per-view (No, I won't be watching Fast Lane) think about how much time you spend watching the recaps of things you've already seen and how that time could be used otherwise if the commentators just sold the story.
Somehow, this match came to an end via DQ which would have made the old CZW fan in me laugh and wonder what exactly was going on. No, I mean, literally, why is there a DQ in CZW? Such a far way we have come from the days when Wifebeater used to come out with a weedwacker.
(Yes, there were also a lot of obvious "dick jokes", though not as many made with the "beaver" references as well so hats off to the commentators for being somewhat restrained)
Match Three: Chris Dickinson vs. Buxx Belmar
As we get further onto the card, we get further into character development. Chris Dickinson has the nickname "Dirty Daddy" and yet Buxx Belmar is like a reject from Raven's Flock as he seems to have never showered in his life. This is played up on a lot in the match as his stink can come into play. It's a bit of a different character, though not really because WWE did have Henry O. Godwinn at one point and this is just kind of an enhanced version of him in some sense. Wasn't there once a character too named "Smelly" out there somewhere that I always confused with Spanky?
In any event, this was a somewhat fun match because you have that whole "He's gross so I don't want to touch him" factor going on. Chris Dickinson came out in a hoodie like a boxer or something but his build and look inside the ring otherwise made me think of Chris Masters, though admittedly Dickinson did moves we've never seen from "The Masterpiece".
This was also one of the first matches where the commentators made references to illegal substances and questioned whether or not their athletes were tested because, yeah, Buxx Belmar does kind of resemble a meth head. (Though only in the sense that it is a character he is playing, he'd probably clean up somewhat nicely)
The next big CZW event is February 21st and Chris Dickinson will challenge for the CZW Title. Given his win here I'm not sure how good of a chance he has at becoming champion but it should be an interesting match to say the least. But I do wonder, if Buxx Belmar won this match would he be in line for a title shot?
Match Four: Alexander James vs. Drew Gulak
Drew Gulak, who seems to be just Gulak now, is the first name on this card I recognize from back when I used to watch CZW. Alexander James has some sort of retired belt and he's claiming to be the holder of it much like when D-Lo Brown took the WWE European Title out of the trash. James is this snobby type of guy who has instant heel heat. Gulak came down and beat up everyone, as James has some security and a manager-- just an entourage really. This didn't feel like an official match so much as a beating like The Sandman used to give and it didn't end with a title change though I suspect that is only because the title isn't official. Oh well, still nice to see a familiar face again.
Match Five: Matt Tremont and Stockade vs. Nation of Intoxication
For this match, I feel like I know who Devon Moore is- or at least I've heard of him before- but otherwise I'm not sure of these other three guys. Matt Tremont and Stockade are two rather large hillbilly looking guys so for purposes of combining past and present WWE characters just imagine the Natural Disasters saddled with Luke Harper's gimmick. The Nation of Intoxication is all right as a tag team but when someone has "cocaine" written on their wrist tape and shows it to the camera I can only cringe at the fact that Curt Hennig and so many others died from the drug.
Really, it's not just that cocaine is a bad drug and all that, but it's the fact that the name of that specific drug is written on the wrist of a professional wrestler. Imagine if a baseball player had "steroids" written on their bat or Kanye West had "auto-tune" written on his microphone.
Anyway, neither of these teams really impressed me but the match did luckily end when Tremont hit Stockade with an accidental chairshot allowing the NOI to get the win. For the record, if that chairshot had worked would Tremont and Stockade have just been disqualified then? This was also an unnecessary chairshot to the head and that just shouldn't be in professional wrestling in 2015.
After the match, Tremont and Stockade got into a shoving match and then it was announced that they would be fighting on the upcoming anniversary show as well. This should be an interesting match as both guys seem to be of equal size and it's not got some dumb sumo gimmick attached to it.
If this match was as bad as I make it out to be but the end game of it was to lead to the upcoming singles match then I guess it served its purpose. Though there will never be good reasons behind the cocaine and chairshot to the head decisions.
At the point in the show we went into a twenty minute intermission which literally just saw a clock counting down while we listened to music ranging from Weezer and Alien Ant Farm to Limp Bizkit and Orgy. Really, CZW? It's not bad enough that I have to sit here and watch this timer count down, but you make me listen to Limp Bizkit too? This is perhaps worse torture than anyone on this wrestling show has endured yet. (To be fair, I did eventually get up and walk around because there is only so long you can sit) It was also rather hilarious that the warning came that if you left the building you would be searched upon re-entry.
Match Six: "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy vs. Jonathan Gresham *CZW Wired TV Title Match*
I feel like I've heard of Joe Gacy before, if only maybe because he was in a Tournament of Death or something that I watched once somewhere. Not really sure who Jonathan Gresham is, but after this match I still really don't even care. Joe Gacy is a rather large guy, in that Bruiser Brody way, but he can move. He is, as of right now, my favorite part of this show and CZW on the whole because the guy can just move but also he has that brute strength.
After the match, Tim Donst came down to basically challenge Joe Gacy and so you can expect that to be added to the anniversary show. Donst, who I remember as being a young kid from Chikara, said he was told not to swear but then dropped a bunch of f-bombs anyway. Oooooh, the rebel he is.
Admittedly, I'm still trying to figure out who is the heel and who is the face in a lot of these matches and this one wasn't any easier for me, but the way Tim Donst acted he seems like the chicken shit heel and for that, yeah, I'd love to see "Chainsaw" Joe Gacy beat the everloving snot out of Tim Donst. This match itself and the aftermath of it could be the biggest selling point for the anniversary show if the inevitable match is signed for it.
Match Seven: Ohio is 4 Killers (w/ Nevaeh) vs. Papadon & Pepper Parks (w/ Cherry Bomb *CZW Tag Team Title Match*
While I only know the challengers by name and have never seen any of their matches, I was always a fan of the Irish Airborne and whatever the Crist brothers are doing now is working for them. That withstanding, "Nevaeh" is one of the WORST possible names you could ever have as a professional wrestler or anything in life really. True Story: I was at the doctors once, a pediatrician's office, and there was a lady sitting next to me on her cell phone making an appointment for something else for her child. She explained to the person on the other line that her child's name was: "Nevaeh, like heaven spelled backwards". If you have to go through that trouble of adding the "like heaven spelled backwards" to your name THEN IT PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE YOUR NAME.
Anyway... This was a decent match, good for tag team wrestling as well and as I'm trying to find more and more tag teams that I like to prove that I don't hate tag team wrestling O!4K seems to be added to my slowly growing list. It was announced during the show sometime- maybe even during this match- that The Young Bucks would be at the anniversary show (Maybe it was after intermission) and after they got the win here O!4K challenged them and apparently that has been signed.
I like the idea that The Young Bucks bring a certain something with them wherever they go because they've been in pretty much every promotion other than WWE and Lucha Underground, but I'm still not convinced of all the hype they receive and can really only see them as a second rate Hardy Boyz. Given that idea, I do look forward to the eventual beating that O14K would put on them.
(Side Note: If O!4K vs. reDRagon has happened can someone please tell me? If not, can someone please book it!)
Match Eight: BLK Jeez vs. Sozio *CZW World Heavyweight Title Ultraviolent Street Fight*
Back when I watched CZW before BLK Jeez was still a part of the BLK OUT faction and he was known as Sabian. Just to give you an idea of how long it's been. (I also realize now that DJ Hyde runs CZW and when I was watching it previously Zandig was the man in charge)
I'd like to say that this match made me a fan of Sozio but I'm still not even sure who this guy is and this match was something like twenty minutes long and I barely remember Sozio getting in any offense. It just felt like such a one-sided beating by BLK Jeez.
There was a cool spot in the crowd where Jeez jumped from up high down onto the chest of Sozio. Think like what Finn Balor would do only times ten. Then we also saw the use of a staple gun which reminds me of what CZW was like before tonight. Odd moment though: There was a point where Jeez was standing over Sozio to staple him and Sozio's shoulders were both on the mat. It looked like a pinfall to me but the ref didn't call it. Anyone else see this? Should I apply for my referee license??
Overall I'd say that CZW has changed but I think it's something more like them evolving. I realize they still have ultraviolent matches, as showcased in the main event here, but the fact that only one out of these eight matches was "hardcore" really speaks volumes about how far Combat Zone Wrestling has come as a promotion.
If I watched "To Live is To Die" and saw the same type of matches with just different wrestlers in them it would feel too much like "more of the same". In 2015 professional wrestling is more about the craft now and less about the use of weapons, which is more apparant by the fact we have drifted so much further away from the days of backyard wrestling.
This was a solid wrestling card highlighted by the last three matches and, well, as they were the title matches they should be the highlights. I know some people think that the first match should blow everything out of the water and set the pace but I've always been a fan of events that build from start to finish, each match outdoing the next right up until the very end.
I will try my best to watch the CZW anniversary show if not live then on a replay because this is really something that everyone should be watching. Some of these characters are the most compelling that the entire world of professional wrestling has to offer right now. And if nothing else, Ohio is For Killers, BLK Jeez and my newfound appreciaton and respect for Joe Gacy put CZW back on the map for me. For you, it might be something different, but if you're a fan of professional wrestling you should be watching this. CZW is no longer that cliche ultraviolent promotion you once thought they were. CZW has grown to become one of the best promotions in the entire world and I can only expect things to get better for them from here.
