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CZW AT ECW ARENA LIVE REPORT INCLUDING MESSIAH VS. ZANDIG DEATH MATCH AND TEDDY HART STEALING THE SHOW
by Joe Mistretta
Combat Zone Wrestling returned to Philadelphia, PA at the ECW Arena on Saturday 3/7 with their "OverDrive" show in front of a crowd of 500-550 people.
CZW had their video screen back up for the show complete with live interview segments before and during intermission of the show. Before the show Erik Gargiulo was running down the card and Sonjay Dutt came by and cut a promo about the six-man tables match.
- DJ Hyde, Merc, and Gutter wrestled to a no contest. This wasn't great and only lasted about five minutes. Teddy Hart walked into the building through the front door and told the three guys to leave the ring. The crowd was going nuts for Teddy and he was over big as a babyface. He did moonsaults and then called out Zandig. Zandig came out and Teddy kept saying how much he loves the fans and he's here for the fans. Zandig spoke to Teddy trying to get the point across that Teddy was the arrogant heel but the crowd wouldn't buy it. Zandig eventually made a 3-way with Teddy Hart vs. Jack Evans vs. Petey Williams in an Aerial Assault Match for later in the show.
- John Dahmer beat GQ and Jude in a Ladder Match. An unadvertised ladder match opened the show and it was very good. Dahmer works very stiff and these guys were getting dropped on their heads left and right. A total of four ladders were used and Dahmer won with a powerbomb off the top of a ladder.
- The next segment saw Ref Hartog come to the ring and call out Rebels Army. A table and two chairs were set up in the ring for an arm wrestling match. Rebel made some jokes about gay people and young boys, but that was the only reference to the Feinstein situation all night. After some back and forth insults that included Hartog taking off his shirt and exposing his huge gut they finally set down for the match. As usual once Hartog got the advantage, the army interfered and they began to beat him up until All Money Is Legal, Berk & Barr, and CKNY made the save. This led to an impromptu #1 Contenders Match for the Tag Team Titles with the winner facing the Army the same night.
- All Money Is Legal beat CKNY and Berk & Barr. About five minutes into the match Rebel's Army came back out and carried Barr to the back. Berk ran after them and they weren't seen again for the rest of the match. After AMIL went over Greg Matthews and Derek Frazier ran out to begin the Tag Title match.
- Rebel's Army beat All Money Is Legal in a CZW Tag Team Titles Match. This two match tag title segment was in my opinion the weakest part of the show. These four really didn't click and the finish was horribly mistimed. After the match Hartog ran back out and punched and speared Rebel. Rebel sold it well and challenged Hartog to a Boxing Match at next month's show, which he accepted.
- The Wildcards & Hallowwicked beat Mike Quackenbush & Icarus & Gran Akuma in a Chikara 6-Man Tag Match. This was a very good match with solid work from all six guys. I have seen Quackenbush but I was unfamiliar with the other five guys. They clicked really well having worked with each other before and there were some funny spots. Definitely one of the better matches of the night.
- Ruckus, Joker, & Sabian w/Robby Mireno beat Sonjay Dutt, Chris Cash, & Jimmy Jacobs w/Becky in a Six-Man Elimination Tables Match. These guys delivered with a sick match full of insane spots. Before the match Robby Mireno who manages the Ruckus group and tries to act like a thug did a promo about how black guys love the white booty and they were going to get Becky tonight. The match started out in the ring with everyone getting tagged in at least once. The match eventually broke down with Becky in the ring being forced to kiss Sabian. After a couple of dives Sabian was left in the ring with Becky again but this time she gave him a low blow and powerbombed him. The tables then came out and Chris Cash did a top rope Cash Flow on Sabian to a table on the floor that didn't break. They put Sabian back on the table and Sonjay did a splash on him, eliminating him from the match. The next elimination was Jacobs being distracted when Mireno kidnapped Becky and Ruckus putting him through a table. A table was then set up below the Eagle's Nest and Joker went up to the nest. Ruckus put both Cash and Sonjay on the table. Joker took a desk that was in the nest, climbed onto to the desk to get even higher and jumped off with a foot stomp eliminating both guys. Great Finish. Sonjay cut a promo after the match saying he still hasn't found his title and he wants to know who stole it.
- Intermission was next. Ruckus, Sabian, Joker, and Mireno did a promo on the big screen talking about Becky and what they were going to do to her after the show.
- Erik Gargiulo opened the second half of the show with an interview with Alex Shelley. Gargiulo playing off an angle I assume made it seem Shelley wasn't really hurt but he was staying away from the ring so he wouldn't have to face Jimmy Jacobs. Shelley called out Jacobs who came out but looked sad and said he wasn't in the mood to be funny because he had serious things to worry about like Becky. Shelley egged him on and Jacobs finally gave in and wanted to fight Shelley. They went as far as to ring the bell but Shelley bailed and said he'd be ready for the match in May.
- Nick Gage beat Roderick Strong in an Xtreme Strong Style Tournament Match. This match was better then it had any right to be. They worked very stiff and Roderick took some sick moves. They did the spot where Gage piles up all the chairs on the outside, but Strong reversed it and sent Gage into the pile. Gage kept hitting his trademark moves and Strong would kick out before finally getting pinned. Strong got a standing ovation when he left.
- Jack Evans & Petey Williams beat Teddy Hart in an Aerial Assault Match. Teddy was so over in this match, he was trying to play an arrogant heel and the fans didn't care. The match started with Teddy ordering Evans and Petey to wrestle. Teddy stood in the corner and watched with some great facial expressions. When he felt like doing something he would go and hit a move on them and then go back to the corner and order them to continue wrestling each other. The three of them really just exchanged spots for the first half of the match before going to the outside where Jack Evans did two beautiful dives. They brawled to the stage area where Evans climbed up and did an amazing dive off the stage onto the arena floor. They went back to the ring and Teddy was still beating on them. He had them both down and pinned but picked up their shoulders at the two count. He got on the mic and said screw Zandig he didn't want to wrestle these guys anymore and called out Zandig. Zandig came out and laid out Teddy put Evans and Williams on top of him for the win.
- Adam Flash beat B-Boy. Nothing could follow up the last match and this match kind of bored the whole crowd. The Messiah interfered helping Flash get the win. Wifebeater ran out and brawled around ringside with Flash and Messiah until Zandig ran out to begin the main event.
- The Messiah beat John Zandig in a CZW Title Tapei, Boards with Nails Death Match to regain the CZW championship. They started with a brawl around the building. Once they got back to the ring Zandig was already busted open. They exchanged some stiff nasty looking shots with the boards of nails. Messiah's head and arms were cut open. Teddy came back through the front door and hit a moonsault on Zandig, put Messiah on top for the pinfal costing him the titlel. This led to an interview segment with Teddy and Zandig where a large portion of the crowd got behind Teddy and turned on Zandig the biggest babyface in the company. They brawled and Zandig gave Teddy the Mother F'N Bomb onto the board of nails. Teddy got busted open big time and was gushing blood from the back of his head. They continued to go back and forth hinting at a Zandig vs. Hart match down the line but never gave a date. The crowd was into this angle big time.
CZW Notes: Overall this was the best CZW show I have seen in a long time not called "Cage Of Death" or "Tournament Of Death"... The show was over by 11:30, which is something that you never see at a CZW show... For the second week in a row Teddy Hart received the biggest reaction of the night completely overshadowing everything else that happened on the show. In one night CZW found themselves a new star that they could build with. Teddy's psycho promos and antics throughout the night had me cracking up. If he saw a little kid at ringside he would stop to hug him or give him an autograph, playing off the whole "I'm here for the fans" gimmick that he does... They announced an April 2nd show in Reading, PA and an April 3rd return date to The ECW Arena.
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