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COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING ECW ARENA DOUBLE HEADER INCLUDING PPV TAPING LIVE REPORT
by Richie Smiley
Combat Zone Wrestling returned to the ECW Arena in front of crowds of 500 and 700 for 2 big shows on Saturday 9/11 in Philadelphia, PA. Here are the results
Matinee Event:
King vs. Merc vs. Dahmer vs. DJ Hyde.
I enjoyed this, especially when King and Dahmer (who was in one of those I'm-gonna-try-something-new moods) were in the ring. The other two weren't bad, either, and this was a perfectly fine opener. Pretty stiff, especially from the King of Kings.
Winner: King
Iron Man Champion Chris Hero vs. Alex Shelley
Hero worked over Shelley's left arm here. Hero doing a great job attacking arm and Shelley was doing great job selling arm. Very good match.
Winner: Chris Hero
Amazing Red & Sonjay Dutt vs. M-Dogg 20 & Jimmy Rave
They do a cool bit at the beginning where Rave/M-Dogg announce that Red isn't there, so they start the match 2-on-1, until Red shows up. Decent match, although neither Red or M-Dogg did much of their trademark high flying. However, at least they weren't awful.... (foreshadowing)
Winners: Jimmy Rave & M-Dogg 20
Ghost Shadow & Spyral vs. All Money is Legal
I liked this, but not as much as I thought I would. Shadow and Spyral split up, looks like they'll face off next month. An OK match that never really clicked.
Excalibur vs. B-Boy vs. Bobby Quance vs. Super Dragon - Winner gets title shot of choice at night
AWESOME, my favorite match of the day. Huge ovation. Would be really surprised if Dragon didn't come back, was MEGA over. STIFF. Looked like Quance was out of it for a while, but it actually added to the match since it got him tons of sympathy. Spots include Quance going for a Shooting Star Press on Super Dragon, but Dragon moves and B-Boy caught Quance at the end of his rotation for an Ace Crusher. Super Dragon hit all of his trademarks here including the curb stomp and the Psycho Driver. Really, really good match. Hero beat down SD afterwards setting up the match for tonight.
Winner: Super Dragon
(Remember that foreshadowing?)
CZW Tag Team Champs Blackout vs. Maximos
The Maximos didn't look good at all in this match, and it's main purpose was to set up the H8 Club/Blackout Cage match and the 8 man tag next month (Rave & M-Dogg & Ruckus & Sabian vs. SATs & Red & Sonjay)
Winners: Blackout
Team Technico vs. The Rudos
This match was AWESOME, and easily my favorite CHIKARA match I've seen on a CZW show. Lots of really innovative spots, a few wild dives, etc.... One of the guys (not sure of his name, he had a mask similar to Mister Zero) was done up as a construction worker. As one of the guys from the opposing team came to dive through the ropes to the outside, he whipped out his STOP sign and the match came a halt for a second. Different, but well executed. This was probably my pick of the best match for the afternoon show, not the SoCal 4 way. It was that good.
Winners: Team Technico
Ian Knoxx vs. Adam Flash - Steel Cage Match
Nobody cared about this match. Not trying to be rude, just honest. Ends when Knoxx hits an elbow drop from the top of the cage through a table.
Winner: Ian Knoxx
Evening PPV taping
Really good 9/11 tribute video played for the fallen heroes. Also a hype video for the show was shown.
John Zandig opened up the show thanking the fans for supporting CZW and that they wouldn't be on PPV without them. Zandig put over the locker room as some of the craziest guys that will do anything for the fans.
CZW Tag Team champions Blackout vs. H8 Club - Steel Cage Match
This was INSANE. Nonstop brawling, bumps, and madness. Gage was bleeding like CRAZY, and everything just flowed so perfectly. So much was going on, it was hard to watch it all. While a couple guys brawled on the outside, there were guys going off the cage in the ring. This is one of the few "must-see matches" of the night show. Post-match, the newly reformed "old" H8 Club came out to beat up on the current H8 Club. Nice segment. Roughly 104220 times better than the previous cage match. Very, very fun and had the crowd on it's feet the whole time.
Winners by DQ: Blackout
GQ & Frazier & Bishop vs. CKNY (including Jude)
They kept it short, which was a good idea (not because it was bad). Once again, and I'm not lying, it was a perfectly good match for what it was. GQ, Jude, and Frazier namely continue to impress.
Winners: GQ, Frazier, and Bishop
Chris Hero vs. Super Dragon
Great match, although they have better in them I think. I would explain why this won't be as good as people expect with a semi-complicated math equation. They did good stuff with the 15 minutes they had. Hero wins with an STF.
Winner: Chris Hero
IWS 4 way - Sexxxy Eddy vs. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico vs. Excess 69
Wow, just wow. By far match of the show, just a really fun 15-20 minute match with the craziest spots you'll ever see anywhere in the world. Including Kevin Steen's cradle tiger driver (Imagine a Jay Driller except with the legs held together like a package) a similar move except Steen threw Eddy over his head this time, this was sick in so many ways. But the real story of this match is Sexxxy Eddy. I can say, without a bit of hyperbole, that he is the single most charismatic worker I have ever seen on the Indies. More so than Teddy Hart, moreso than CM Punk, moreso than even Colt Cabana. He owns the stage at every moment and is intent on doing everything possible to sell his character to the fans, never foregoing even the most subtle facials or movements. Watching him follow his human autograph book hungrily around the ring, mixing in understated gyrations with his compulsive tongue wagging was priceless. He is so IN character at all times that he comes off as SEXXY EDDIE, not some dude playing sexxxy eddie..big difference. He's so comfortable with performing that he has developed the rare ability to make fans suspend disbelief not only in the physical realm, but in the character realm as well. He is a bonafied star presence and exudes a magnetic aura for every moment he is in the ring.
When Eddie's music hit he got the sort of pop that Austin used to get when the glass shattered or that Hogan used to get when the first bass lines of "Real American" thumped. The kind of pop that is not reserved for a match, a move or a moment but rather for a performer. He's worked CZW ONCE before, and he got one of the biggest pops of the night before he showed his face. This match was insane and should not have it's success attributed solely to the presence of any one guy, but Eddie was so over before the bell even rang that they would have had to had an awful match to dissuade the crowd from going apesh**. That's the kind of aura Eddie has and that's the kind of SPECIAL worker he is and any promoter who sees his match tonight will want to book him. The crowd was 100 percent behind him and even in a building brimming with trend bucking smarks, there was nary an "I'm too cool to cheer you like everyone else" boo to be found. When the match finally concluded and the prolonged cheers subsided, there was a LINE of 10 people at the merchandise stand..all of whom wanted Sexxxy Eddie shirts. You show me the last indy worker to inspire that sort of rabid, intense, immediate devotion and I'll show you a guy who probably isn't working indies anymore. This was a true landmark match, a true breakout performance and an utterly unforgettable moment. If you like watching wrestlers take the next step, transforming from a great worker to a star..you owe it to yourself to see this match.
Now the onus is on CZW to recognize what they have in Eddie..an underexposed, talented, hungry worker who could legitimately be one of the biggest stars on the East Coast in six months. He's proven himself in both the death match and conventional styles, and has demonstrated nothing less than an insatiable appetite to entertain in every facet of the word. He needs to be pushed into the main event picture as soon as possible, as there is possibly no more promising fresh talent in the world right now than Sexxxy Eddie.
Winner: Sexxxy Eddy
B-Boy vs. King
Good match, great use of the table for the last spot. B-Boy did his usual running dropkick into the corner, this time right through a TABLE and a chair that Kingston had on him.
Winner: B-Boy
Bobby Quance vs. M-Dogg 20
A shame it is that Bobby's last match in CZW was his worst, although it wasn't bad at all. Not impressed with M-Dogg. He's improved 75 times over since his last CZW appearance, but there are 75 people in CZW who are better than him, so that doesn't matter much. Sorry. I'll miss Quance, good luck man.
Winner: M-Dogg20
Winner gets a COD 6 contract: Chris Cash vs. Nate Webb vs. JC Bailey
Insane match. Lots of innovative spots, looked VERY dangerous. Doing moves and stuff onto each other while one guy had his head in between a ladder's rungs. The Smart Mark Video guys were looking at each other with a "HOLY SH**" look on their face quite a few times during this match. Cash is leading up his own team at COD6. I don't think there's anyone in CZW right now more deserving. Cash has been busting his ass since I've been a fan and has come a LONG way. This is going to be a great Cage of Death, Zandig said it's the "young lion's" year. I was expecting the first 2 picks for his team to be Webb and Bailey, but he only picked Bailey.
Winner: Chris Cash
Necro Butcher vs. Wifebeater - Four Corners of Pain Match
Lots of crowd brawling, but not on the side of the Arena I was sitting. Had to watch most of it on the CZWTron. They DID go through a table covered in SMV merchandise, though. Other than the brawling, it was pretty much a one-bump match, through a flaming pane of glass. Great death match.
Winner: Necro Butcher
Justice Pain vs. CZW champion The Messiah
At this point in the day, 10 plus hours of phenomenal high-paced wrestling, no one wanted to see this. Nothing could have topped the 3 matches before it. This was an OK match for what it was, but the crowd just wasn't into it. After the match former XPW TV champion Kaos came through the crowd and challenged Messiah on the 10/9 ECW Arena show.
Winner: Messiah
Overall:
This was just a great day of wrestling, the guys stepped it up big time and it showed. Should really go out of your way to see the So Cal 4 way, CHIKARA match, Blackout/H8 Club cage match, IWS 4-way, and the ladder match. Everything else is worth watching too. All in all, both shows were great. It beats out of Overdrive as show of the year, IMO. Only marred by a letdown of a main event, but the rest makes up for it. Must-see stuff, buy the DVD or order the PPV.
Visit www.czwwrestling.com for more info on October 9 CZW Arena show.
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