CZW’s anniversary show features a six man tag match main event as CZW Heavyweight Champion Rickey Shane Page teams with Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix to battle Sami Callihan and the Crist Brothers. Plus, a battle royal to determine a new number one contender to the CZW Heavyweight Championship.
Combat Zone Wrestling presents Nineteen
Date: 2/10/2018
From: Vorhees, New Jersey
Opening Contest: Joey Janela vs. Brandon Kirk: Kirk looks like a mix between Adam Cole and Baron Corbin. This is the first time I can remember seeing him wrestle or anything. They shake hands but then Janela delivers a kick to the face as does Kirk. Kirk delivers a knee lift and Janela comes back with another kick. They trade discus forearms with Kirk getting control of the match. Kirk is noticeably slapping his own leg on Janela’s punches, which is driving me nuts. Janela gets control with a clothesline and drops Kirk to the canvas. They proceed to trade chops, as well. Janela takes Kirk out with a suicide dive to the floor. Kirk comes back with a somersault dive over the top to the floor. Kirk jabs Janela with a chair to the midsection but Janela whacks Kirk a few times with a chair to keep control of the contest. Janela drops Kirk gut first over the guard railing. Penelope Ford holds a chair onto Kirk’s back over the railing and Janela comes off the apron to deliver an elbow drop. Janela hits Kirk with a chair to the face and Joey gets a “shitty” guard railing. Kirk brings Joey back into the ring with a suplex from the apron.
The guard railing was laid over the apron and railing, so I’d imagine that to be used shortly. They begin to trade strikes on their knees before getting to their feet. Janela backdrops Kirk over the top and Kirk goes through the guard railing. Joey misses a twisting dive off the apron and hits the broken railing. They hit each other some more with chair shots. Janela runs into a boot and Kirk hits a suplex before tossing Janela into a chair in the corner. Kirk goes for the cover but Janela kicks out at two. Kirk goes to the top but Janela stops him with a few kicks. Janela drives Kirk off the top with a brainbuster. Janela goes for the cover but Kirk pops up at two. Joey wants the fans to toss a chair into the ring, and a fan does. Joey wants all the fans to do it, but you can hear security quickly put an end to that attempt. Janela sets up four chairs in the ring and forearms Kirk several times. Kirk drops Janela onto the chairs with a back suplex for a two count. Kirk puts Janela on the top turnbuckle but gets knocked off. Janela hits Kirk with a chair again and hits a double stomp on a chair but Kirk kicks out. Janela attempts a piledriver but Kirk gets a rollup and wins the match. (**1/4. That finish just drives me nuts in these kind of matches. They do all this hardcore stuff and then a guy loses with a roll-up. It just blows my mind. It is a fine way to start the show, but they blew through a lot of spots and I hope they aren’t done to death now. Fans didn’t seem overly entertained, either.)
Second Contest: Tyler Murphy vs. John Silver vs. Alex Reynolds vs. Alexander James vs. Ace Austin vs. Dan Barry in a Best of the Best 17 Qualifier: Silver takes Dan Barry and Alex Reynolds out with a suicide dive. James works over Murphy with strikes but Murphy comes back with an arm drag. Austin kicks James in the corner and hits a double leg drop off the middle rope onto both men. Austin runs into a double boot by Reynolds in the corner. Silver goes after Reynolds and delivers an uppercut in the corner followed by a boot to the chest. Barry nails Silver with a running boot to the face. Murphy plants Barry with a tornado DDT and a cutter on Reynolds. James takes out Murphy with a kick and trips Austin followed by a stomp to the hand. James drops Reynolds down with an arm DDT. James comes off the middle rope to double stomp Barry on the arm. James is met with a double superkick from Murphy and Austin. Barry tosses Austin over the railing to the crowd. Reynolds stops Silver on a suicide dive attempt with a boot. Barry nearly wins with a senton splash from the apron into the ring. Silver fights back on Barry and Reynolds with chops. Reynolds gets kicked off the middle rope and Silver takes James out with a dive to the floor and jumps over the railing to hit Austin with a crossbody. Silver nearly pins Barry coming off the top rope, which was a really good sequence. Austin dropkicks Silver and delivers a clothesline in the corner. Austin springboards off the middle rope to kick Silver.
James cuts off Austin with a forearm strike and taunts the crowd. James doesn’t go for a dive and taunts the crowd. Murphy sends James to the floor and takes everyone out with a dive. Austin takes everyone out with a twisting dive over the top. Austin drops Silver with a cutter but Reynolds comes in and tombstones Austin onto Silver. Murphy drops Reynolds on his head with a suplex and hits a 2K1 Bomb for a near fall as James breaks up the cover. James uppercuts Murphy on the apron and hits an elevated cutter. Barry connects with a full nelson suplex on James. Austin delivers a kick on Barry and goes to the top rope but Barry cuts him off with another kick. James puts Barry on his shoulders and Austin attempts a crossbody but Barry reverses with a fallaway slam for a near fall. Silver takes James over with a German suplex and a backstabber on Reynolds. Silver drops Murphy with a brainbuster. Silver nails Austin with a running boot and Barry pins Austin as Reynolds held Silver from the floor. (***. The match had non-stop action and it held my interest. Everyone looked solid in the ring and I think this would have been a better option to kick off the show. Silver really impressed me as his offense was energetic and he was a lot of fun here. Silver seems to be a really popular act in CZW and I wouldn’t mind seeing him play a bigger role.)
Third Contest: CZW Wired Champion MJF vs. Alex Colon: I’d say this is the first match that came across like the fans actually cared about. Colon got a good reaction on his entrance. Colon attacks MJF before the bell and stomps away on the champ. Colon fakes a dive to the floor and MJF walks away. Colon proceeds to hit a suicide dive anyway. MJF kicks Colon in the midsection but gets decked off the apron. Colon works over MJF on the floor with strikes. Colon hits a running dropkick against the railing. Colon runs into a forearm from MJF and the champ taunts the fans before betting backdropped over the railing into the crowd. MJF drops Colon over the railing and shoves Colon into the ring post face first. MJF brings the action into the ring and stomps on Colon’s arm followed by a senton splash to the arm for a near fall. MJF drops Colon with a modified suplex landing onto Colon’s arm.
Colon fights back with a sloppy tornado DDT. Colon chops MJF a few times followed by a clothesline. MJF rolls to the floor and Colon takes the champ out with a twisting dive. Colon goes to the top rope and dropkicks MJF for a near fall. MJF begs off as Colon brings a chair into the ring. MJF hits the referee but Colon tosses the chair into MJF’s face followed by a sit out suplex for a near fall. MJF gets an armbar on Colon but is nearly pinned by Colon with a rollup. Colon gets a submission hold on MJF but can’t get a submission as MJF reaches the ropes to break the hold. Colon has MJF on the apron but MJF wiggles free and spikes Colon with a piledriver. MJF kicks Colon and gets an armbar on Colon for the submission victory. (**1/2. There wasn’t much heat attached to this as I had maybe thought there would be. MJF is an excellent young heel and I really think he’s going to be a huge deal at some point. Colon didn’t really do anything here to make me care. I’d assume Colon is mostly a deathmatch wrestler.) After the match, Connor Claxton comes out and attacks Alex Colon. Claxton botches a tombstone onto a chair and the fans let him know about it. That would have been cool if it was executed well. Colon gets up and says he’s going to make Claxton bleed a lot.
Fourth Contest: Greg Excellent vs. Ace Romero in an ultraviolent dog collar match: They do the usual tug of war with the chain and Romero delivers a few forearm shots to stagger Excellent. Romero staggers Excellent with a series of strikes. Excellent avoids being sent into the corner and elbows Romero followed by another strike. Excellent wraps the chain around Romero’s neck and says he’s going to hang Ace. Romero avoids that and decks Excellent. Romero dropkicks Excellent to the floor but Excellent is able to pull the chain and that sends Ace face first into a steel chair in the corner. Excellent grabs a few chairs with one chair being wrapped with barbed wire. Excellent whips Romero over the back with the chain. Excellent prevents Romero from running the ropes and rubs the chain into Romero’s face. Excellent delivers a leg drop for a near fall. Excellent whips Romero over the back a few times with the chain. They begin to trade chops and forearms until Excellent backs Romero into a corner to keep control of the match. Romero fights back with several chops and boots a charging Excellent. Excellent’s valet tries to get involved and can’t hit Romero from the apron because she’s too short. She’s holding Romero after a trash can lid shot but Romero pulls her in the way and Excellent hits a cannonball. Romero nearly wins with a lariat.
Romero goes to the floor and grabs a bag of thumbtacks it looks like. Romero attempts a powerbomb but Excellent is able to avoid it. Excellent puts Romero on the top turnbuckle or at least tried to. Romero gets himself on the top turnbuckle but Excellent yanks Romero off the top and Ace lands back first onto the tacks. Excellent whacks Romero over the back with a steel chair. Excellent scoop slams Romero onto the tacks and gets a two count. Excellent grabs a barbed wire chair but Romero plants Excellent onto the chair with a swinging side slam. (*1/2. There were a few entertaining spots but I mostly bored with this. It’s very difficult for me to enjoy a dog collar match or strap match. Thus, this had a tough hill to climb to get me entertained.) After the match, Greg hands over his CZW track jacket to Romero as a sign of respect.
Larry Legend makes his way out and gets a plaque from CZW. This leads to Legend coming out and introducing some CZW legends from the BLKOUT group, which dominated CZW for many years. I hadn’t seen Ruckus in years. I’d by lying if I said I watched the whole segment Back to the wrestling…
Fifth Contest: Joe Gacy vs. Anthony Gangone: Gangone cost Gacy the title at Cage of Death by tossing him off the top of the cage. They trade strikes to start the match until Gacy connects with a dropkick but misses a running attack in the corner. Gangone hits a hurricanrana and dropkick to send Gacy to the floor where he regroups. Gangone goes to the floor and chases after Gacy. Gangone runs into Dan Barry and Alex Reynolds but he doesn’t back down. Gangone kicks Gacy to avoid a suicide dive and delivers a slingshot strike to send Gacy to the floor. Gangone takes Gacy out with a suicide dive to the floor. Gacy bails from the ring and grabs a chair and Gacy whacks Gangone off the apron with a chair shot. Gacy continues to work over Gangone with strikes against the railing. Gacy sends Gangone upside down into the guard railing. Gacy continues to work over Gangone with a chair shot over the back. They trade strikes on the floor with Gacy whacking Gangone over the back with a chair. Gangone backdrops Gacy on the apron to counter a piledriver attempt. Gacy gets to the top rope but Gangone cuts off Gacy with a few strikes. Gangone chops Gacy a few times and follows with a kick to the face and hilariously gets stuck on the ropes. Gangone takes Gacy down to the mat with a superplex.
Gangone chops Gacy several times and connects with a neckbreaker. Gacy backdrops Gangone to the apron but Gangone connects with a tornado DDT for a two count. Gangone misses a double knee strike in the corner but kicks Gacy a few times. Gangone drops Gacy over his knee with a backbreaker for a two count. The setup for that was kind of awkward as Gangone rolled backwards to grab Gacy. They are trading strikes from their knees. They get to their feet and Gacy delivers a running knee followed by a side suplex for a two count. Gangone elbows Gacy and tosses Joe over the top to the floor to avoid a handspring cutter. Gacy may have landed onto a few chairs. Gangone misses a suicide dive and hits the guard railing face first. Gacy hits the handspring cutter but Gangone kicks out at two. Gacy locks in the Rings of Gacy but Gangone reaches the ropes to break the hold. Gangone and Gacy trade strikes but Gacy turns Gangone inside out with a lariat for a two count. Gacy superkicks Gangone for a two count. Gacy powerbombs Gangone and hits a sit out slam for a near fall. Gacy runs into a big boot and Gangone delivers the Dreams By The Waterfall for the win. (**. The fans did not buy into Gangone’s victory and they didn’t care about the finish. This felt like an attempt to get Gangone over and borderline forcing that to happen. Gacy seems to be a bigger deal and losing to Gangone here just didn’t feel like the right decision. The match was rather boring and it dragged along to me.) After the match, a masked man attacks Gangone with a kendo stick several times. It turns out to be Blackwater as he has joined Fear with Gacy, Barry and Reynolds.
Sixth Contest: CZW World Championship #1 Contendership 27-man Battle Royal: I’m not going to give this an in-depth review as battle royals are rather repetitive. MJF is an entrant and has a standoff with Janela after Janela was eliminated before MJF’s entrance. MJF came out at the midpoint and John Silver was the only man legally in the match following several eliminations. SHLAK is the next entrant and gets the biggest reaction of the night. However, I chuckled when SHLAK kind of stumbled entering the ring while trying to be a badass. He does have a great look, I must say. MJF tries to payoff SHLAK with cash but SHLAK eats the money. MJF goes to the floor and hides underneath the ring. Mike Del, who plays a lifeguard character, gets a shockingly good reaction. I remember him from PWS shows a few years ago and didn’t think he was very good. Del was doing a slow motion run into the ring like Baywatch, which was funny. Matt Treamont gets a great reaction, too. Penelope Ford is an entrant into the match and is considerably smaller than anyone else in the match. The final two in the match at DJ Hyde and Penelope Ford as the commentators and fans have forgotten about MJF under the ring. Ford hits a handspring elbow in the corner followed by an ace crusher. Ford drops Hyde with a lariat, but that pisses off Hyde. Hyde misses a lariat and flies over the top to the floor. Ford thinks she has won the match to be the number one contender. However, MJF comes in from behind and tosses Ford over the top to the floor to win the match. (NR. I don’t rate battle royals, but the finish here was excellent. Ford winning would have been creatively different, but MJF coming in and tossing her gives him even more heat as if he needed it. This should set up a match between Ford and MJF. Ford showed some good skills and I’m intrigued to see her compete.)
Seventh Contest: CZW Tag Team Champions The REP (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) vs. TP5 (Charlie Tiger & Ellis Taylor): Well, this comes across like a students match or something. The champs start the match with chops onto the challengers. REP toss the challengers into each other with stereo powerbombs and pull the challengers up on a pin attempt to continue the punishment. They plant Taylor with double team slam but Tiger makes the save on the cover attempt. Tiger is met with a spinebuster after being lifted into the air. The REP finishes Tiger off with a leaping STO. For a squash match, that was fine. I think the stereo powerbomb spot should be their finish, though.
Main Event: The Killer Cult (Dave & Jake Crist & Sami Callihan) vs. CZW World Champion Rickey Shane Page & The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix): All six men are brawling in the ring after a standoff. Fenix and Sami remain in the ring while everyone else goes to the floor. Fenix is met with a boot from Callihan but Fenix hits an ace crusher. Jake enters to kick Fenix and drops Rey over the middle rope before delivering a spinning heel and slams Rey in the middle of the ring. Page scoop slams Jake and kicks Jake to the floor. Dave enters with a chair to whack Page over the back. Dave attempts a slam but Page counters by chokeslamming Dave onto two chairs.
Sami comes off the ropes but Page hits a crossbody. Sami avoids Page in the corner and kicks Page while laying on the mat followed by a forearm shot. Penta gets in the ring and hits Slingblade on Callihan a couple of times. Penta superkicks Callihan on the mat and plays to the crowd. Penta continues to work over Sami with kicks to the legs. Sami clotheslines Penta on the apron and hits Penta with a suicide dive. Page knocks Sami off the apron to hit a dive to the floor. Jake plants Page with a tornado DDT to the floor. Fenix runs into a superkick from Jake and Jake runs into a boot from Fenix. Fenix takes everyone out with a moonsault to the floor. Penta superkicks Jake to prevent a dive. Jake superkicsk Penta but Penta plants Jake with a Driver but only manages a two count. All six men are brawling on the floor at this point. Page slams Sami onto a chair on the floor. Penta suplexs Jake on the apron, which the camera guy misses. Fenix kicks Jake after leaping off the apron. Sami hits all three opponents with a chair to the face. Dave runs around ringside and misses Page hitting the railing. Fenix plants Jake with a DDT on the floor. Sami tosses several chairs onto Page on the floor. Page is essentially buried underneath chairs.
Callihan chops Fenix and Penta on the floor. Penta, Fenix and Page are sat down onto three chairs. Killer Cult end up running into three superkicks. Penta whacks Dave and Jake with chair shots to the back. Page slams Dave onto a pile of chairs. Penta and Sami trade chops with Penta getting the better of the exchange. Penta gets the crowd behind him as Sami gets pulled to the floor. Jake elbows Penta followed by a cutter from the apron. Fenix hits a missile dropkick and elbows Jake in the corner. Fenix gets tossed to the apron by Sami. Fenix fights Fult off from the apron but gets held on the top rope allowing Jake to hit a leaping cutter for a near fall.
Page gets in and clears house taking out all three members of Killer Cult. Page sets up a few chairs with their legs sticking upwards. Page tries to powerbomb Jake onto the chairs, but Jake counters and hits a superplex driving them both onto the chairs. Jake has the cover but Fenix breaks up the cover attempt. Sami gets superkicked by Penta and Fenix. Fenix and Penta deliver a double team splash on Sami for a two count. Callihan slams Fenix in midair and Jake comes in to deliver a few kicks. Killing Spree is hit on Fenix but Page makes the save on the cover. Page decks Dave to the floor. Page kicks Jake on a backdrop. Sami tries to fight off all three men but Fenix hits a Canadian Destroyer as does Penta. Page drops Sami with a chokebreaker for the win. (***1/4. A fine match to end the show, but not any kind of classic match or anything. This was best thing on the show and something the crowd seemed to enjoy. Penta comes across like a true superstar and Rey Fenix is going to be a huge deal at some point, too. Sami and the Crist Brothers did fine in this match, but Sami didn’t really do much of anything here.)
Final Thoughts:
I’d say this was an average show for CZW. CZW shows seem to fly by just because they do so many hardcore matches so there’s always something going on. The crowd was disappointing as they just sat there and didn’t really respond to much of what was going on. That’s a little concerning for me as a wrestling fan. I liked what they with MJF on the show and he should be positioned for a title match in the very near future.
Aside from that, this is a skippable show. It’s certainly not a bad show, but there’s not enough quality action to recommend it.
Thanks for reading.