CZW Welcome To The Combat Zone 4/7/2018

CZW Heavyweight Champion Rickey Shane Page defends against Ethan Page. Joey Ryan & Laura James battle Joey Janela & Penelope Ford. Juice Robinson takes on David Starr. Jeff Cobb meets Joe Gacy in singles action. Will Ospreay squares off against Dezmond Xavier in the main event. Plus, more!

Combat Zone Wrestling presents Welcome To The Combat Zone
Date: 4/7/2018
From: New Orleans, LA

DJ Hyde and MLJ enter the ring to welcome the crowd to the show, which is part of Wrestlecon. Hyde talks about the weekend and how fun it is. DJ thanks the fans for coming out and supporting them because they love the business. Hyde tells the fans they can do whatever they want because this is CZW. He leaves welcoming us to the Combat Zone.

Opening Contest: Douglas James, Matt Knicks, Peter Avalon, Stevie Fierce & Suede Thompson vs. Ace Austin, Dan Barry, Dan O’Hare, Josh Briggs & Kit Osbourne: Odds of this one following the tag team rules and being easy to cover? Yeah, I didn’t think so. The match starts with everyone brawling in the ring and to the floor. Barry and Knicks were in the ring briefly until Austin delivers a few kicks onto Knicks and a springboard kick. Osbourne and Fierce try to check themselves out in a mirror until Fierce gets sent to the floor. Thompson kicks Osbourne and gets scared by Briggs. Thompson runs into a swinging side slam by Briggs. Barry kicks away James and Avalon. Avalon comes off the middle rope with a tornado DDT. O’Hare gets his moment to shine hitting a somersault dive off the apron to the floor. Knicks takes a few guys out with a springboard moonsault. Osbourne is tossed to the floor by Briggs. Briggs dives over the top rope to take five guys out with a dive. Austin hits a twisting dive to the floor as well. Avalon and James hit stereo dives to the floor. Barry comes off the top rope hitting a shooting star press taking everyone out with the dive.

Back in the ring, Thompson double stomps Barry and O’Hare in the corner. Austin dropkicks Fierce and Thompson in the corner before hitting a springboard double leg strike. Osbourne hammers away on Austin followed by a spinning kick. Knicks hits a German suplex and Kit rolls to the floor. Briggs takes Knicks out with a chokeslam backbreaker. Fierce takes Briggs out with a clothesline to the floor. Barry takes Thompson over with an exploder suplex. Avalon almost pins Barry with a rollup. Avalon pins Barry following a double knee strike from behind. (***. As expected the match was just highspots and it was effective. I was kind of surprised that the regular CZW guys didn’t win the match. I’ve always been a fan of Avalon and I hope he sticks around in CZW for the foreseeable future.)

CZW Wired TV Champion MJF makes his way out to cut a promo after the match. He tells them all to get out of his arena. Oddly, they all just walk away. Kit Osbourne decides to cut a promo to the camera saying that he should have had all his opportunities. MJF says that Rickey Shane Page is garbage. When he wins the CZW World Championship there won’t be empty seats. MJF decides to put his championship on the line.

Second Contest: CZW Wired TV Champion MJF vs. Kyle The Beast: The announcers try to make Kyle seem like a big deal but the crowd really doesn’t seem to care very much. Beast works over MJF with a strike and a rolling blockbuster neckbreaker. MJF rolls to the floor to regroup. Beast takes MJF out with a suicide dive. Beast tries for another dive but MJF casually steps aside. MJF works over Beast on the floor wrapping his arm around the post. MJF drops Beast down over the top rope from the apron and delivers an arm breaker for a near fall. Beast tries to fight back with strikes and hits a middle rope moonsault for a near fall. MJF double stomps Kyle’s arm and drops him over his knee. MJF locks in a modified Rings of Saturn for the win. (*1/2. The match served its purpose and got MJF over a little more heading into his title match at the next CZW event. MJF comes across like a big time heel in CZW and I think he’s the right choice to be next champion.)

Third Contest: Myron Reed & Trey Miguel vs. Bandido & Falmita vs. oVe (Dave & Jake Crist): Reed and Miguel take out oVe with a dive but then Bandido and Falmita do the same to them. Reed dives over the top to take everyone out on the floor. Miguel springboards off the middle rope to hit a corkscrew dive to the floor. Bandido stands on his feet on an attempted head scissors by Miguel. Bandido kicks Miguel to the floor and is kicked by Reed. Reed dropkicks Flamits after a sunset flip attempt. oVe hits a middle rope double knee attack for a near fall. Jake kicks Flamita a few times in the corner. oVe hits a superplex/powerbomb for a near fall on Flamita. Miguel with a neckbreaker on Jake and Reed hits a top rope swanton for a two count. Bandido and Flamita hit a moonsault and shooting press for a near fall on Miguel. Reed and Miguel try to pin Bandido for a two count. Flamita takes Reed out with a moonsault off the top to the floor. Bandido and Miguel knock each other down with big boots. oVe trade superkicks with Miguel and Bandido. oVe are met with four superkicks from the other opponents. Miguel hits a 619 on Flamita followed by a double knee and Reed hits a 450 splash for the pin on Flamita. (**. Well, it is safe to say that the match had a similar style to the first match and didn’t have the same impact on me in terms of entertainment. It was a quick match and had good action.)

Fourth Contest: Joey Ryan & Laura James vs. Team Janelope (Joey Janela & Penelope Ford): Ryan wants Janela to touch his penis but Janela doesn’t want to do it. As expected, Ryan tries to get Janela to touch his penis but isn’t successful early on. Janela decides to tag out and Ford twists Ryan’s nipples and hip tosses him across the ring. Ford continues with a dropkick to a seated Ryan. Janela tags back in and delivers another dropkick. Ford hits an assisted moonsault followed by a splash from Janela for a two count. James tags in but Janela cuts her off with a kick. James head scissors Janela, but he lands on his feet but the second one hits. James drives Janela’s head into her ass a few times in the corner and Ryan tags back in. Ryan drop toe holds Janela into James ass for a near fall. Janela shoulder blocks Ryan and then staggers before dropping onto Ryan’s penis. Ford and James get tagged in and James delivers a few forearms. Ford delivers a shoulder ram in the corner followed by an exploder suplex for a two count. Ryan hits Ford with the Boob Plex. Janela comes in and trades strikes with Ryan. They both come off the ropes for a double clothesline spot. James and Ford begin to kiss each other and then they make out for a moment.

Janela superkicks James and Ford hits a handspring elbow in the corner. Janela hits a Death Valley Driver but Ryan breaks up the cover. Janela palm strikes Ryan a few times before putting him in the tree of woe in the corner. Janela misses a baseball slide hitting the post. Ford goes for the handspring elbow but Ryan is able to grab Ford and then tosses her onto Janela. James heads to the top rope and hits a crossbody. Ryan goes into his pants to grab a lollipop. Ryan puts it in Janela’s mouth and the same for Ford. Ryan superkicks Ford while James delivers an Eat Defeat for near falls. Ryan and Janela remain in the ring as Janela delivers a spinning forearm. Janela grabs a steel chair to bring it into the ring. Janela strikes Ryan while sitting on the chair. Ryan gets Joey to grab his dick and then hip tosses Janela into the corner and onto the chair. Ryan covers but Janela kicks out at two. Ryan crotches Ford on the top rope and Janela gets Ryan on his shoulders. Ford kicks James away but Janela grabs James by her hair. Janela drops James and they hit the Doomsday Device on Ryan for the win. (**. To be honest, the gimmick that Ryan has going on is kind of coming to an end for me. There’s only so many times a person can see that gimmick before it loses interest. I think I’ve reached that point. I was surprised to see Janela and Ford win, honestly.)

Fifth Contest: Juice Robinson vs. David Starr: Robinson shoves Starr into the corner after they locked up. Robinson shoulder blocks Starr and plays to the crowd. Starr counters a scoop slam controlling Robinson’s left arm. Robinson clotheslines Starr in the corner a few times to keep control of the match. Robinson continues to jab Starr several times. Robinson chops Starr and that seems to fire up Starr. Starr fights back with forearm strikes and standing clotheslines. Robinson boots Starr but Starr comes back with a clothesline coming off the ropes. Starr springboards off the middle rope to clothesline Robinson off the apron. They both attempt dives to the floor but Starr succeeds with a suicide dive. Starr goes to the top rope missing a double stomp and Robinson delivered a gut buster. Robinson decks Starr with a lariat for a near fall. Starr drops Robinson over the middle rope and plants Juice with a DDT onto the apron over the middle rope. Robinson nails Starr with a standing side kick and a powerbomb. Robinson goes for the cover but can’t put Starr away. Robinson hits a cannonball splash in the corner but Starr comes back with a brainbuster dropping Juice over his knee for a near fall.

They begin to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Starr comes off the ropes to deliver an elbow strike. Robinson stops Starr and attempts the Un-Prettier but Starr is able to counter with a German suplex for the win. (***. Man, Robinson looked really good in there and crisp. Starr is a really good talent and they worked well with each other. I’m glad Starr went over considering he’ll make more appearances in CZW compared to Juice.) After the match, they shake hands showing respect for each other. David Starr gets a microphone and says he requested to wrestle Juice Robinson and puts him over. Starr cuts a promo about the Best of the Best show which takes place next week. He proceeds to say all of his nickname to end the segment

Sixth Contest: Ace Romero vs. Adam Brooks vs. Jason Cade vs. Zachary Wentz: Romero is dropkicked by the other three guys in the corner. Cade gets superkicked to the floor leaving Wentz and Brooks in the ring. Cade comes back in and hits a Codebreaker on Brooks. Wentz hits a corkscrew crossbody on Cade. Romero takes Brooks and Wentz out with a clothesline. Romero tosses Cade into Brooks in the corner sending Brooks to the floor. Wentz dropkicks Romero on the knee and uses Romero as a springboard to take Cade and Brooks out on the floor with a crossbody! Cade hits Wentz with a somersault dive and Brooks does the same onto Cade. Romero takes everyone out with a suicide dive to the floor. Romero tries to hit a superplex on Brooks, but Cade and Wentz take Romero off the middle rope with a powerbomb. Brooks with a double knee strike, Cade frog splash and Brooks hit a swanton on Romero. Romero rolls to the floor to regroup. Brooks drops Cade with a kick but Wentz nails Brooks with a knee strike. Cade superkicks Wentz and has Brooks in the ring. Brooks elbows out of a move and Cade attempts a dive but Brooks hits a powerbomb. Brooks drops Cade over his knee for a two count as Wentz delivers a superkick to Brooks. Wentz hits a Codebreaker on Brooks from the apron followed by a standing shooting star press. Cade kicks Wentz on the middle rope and hits a double stomp. Cade drives Wentz down with a suplex for a near fall.

Romero has gotten back into the ring. Romero runs over Cade sending him to the floor. Romero catches Wentz coming off the top with a swinging side slam. Romero also clotheslines Brooks for a near fall. Brooks kicks Romero to the floor and delivers a kick from the apron. Cade kicks Brooks off the apron and nearly pins Wentz with a rollup but gets kicked by Brooks. Brooks plants Cade with a slingshot DDT from the apron. Wentz hits a springboard ace cuter on Brooks for the win. (***. A solid four-way match as they all worked pretty well and had their moments to shine. Before the ending, I was rooting for Wentz to win since the winner gets a future CZW Wired TV title match, which wasn’t mentioned until more than halfway through the match. Romero would have been a good option too, but Wentz holding that title in the future would likely lead to some fun matches. The style of wrestling they did has been done to death on the show, though.)

Seventh Contest: Jeff Cobb vs. Joe Gacy: They have a slow start to the match focusing on some mat wrestling, which is a drastic change from anything else on the show. Cobb goes behind Gacy and tosses him to the mat. Gacy works over Cobb with a knee strike and several right hands. Gacy dropkicks Cobb to the mat and doesn’t quickly followup on the advantage. They begin to trade forearm strikes in the middle of the ring. Cobb tosses Gacy with an overhead suplex and Gacy rolls to the floor. Gacy drops Cobb with a kick to the chest and stops Cobb with a boot. Cobb dropkicks Gacy on the middle rope and Cobb drives Gacy off the middle rope with a superplex for a near fall. Gacy sends Cobb to the apron and kicks him off to the floor. Gacy takes Cobb out with a suicide dive to the floor. Gacy has a steel chair and decks Cobb with another right hand. Cobb elbows Gacy to the mat and continues to work over Gacy with right hands. Gacy sends Cobb face first into the post. Gacy knocks Cobb onto a chair and takes Cobb out with a springboard cannonball against the railing!

Back in the ring, Gacy continues with a neckbreaker followed by a kick to the back of Cobb’s head for a near fall. Cobb takes Gacy over with a snap German suplex for a near fall. Gacy holds onto the ropes but is chopped several times by Cobb. Gacy connects with a handspring kick, which the announcer calls a forearm. The move gets a near fall for Gacy. Cobb catches Gacy with a swinging suplex and a spinebuster. Cobb does the People’s Moonsault but misses a standing shooting star. Gacy nails Cobb with a knee strike and pins Cobb. (**1/2. A fine match and a good win for Gacy. I’ve liked that CZW is putting over their talent and not the guys that were brought in for the weekend. I find that to be an effective way to build your own talent. I feel like it’s a rare thing to see on the independents.)

Eighth Contest: CZW World Champion Rickey Shane Page vs. Ethan Page: Rickey backs Ethan into a corner and then gives him a hug. Ethan doesn’t look to be all that thrilled with that gesture. Page shoulder blocks Rickey and is ripping on a fan. Rickey arm drags Ethan a few times followed by a not-so great dropkick to send Ethan to the floor. Ethan yanks Rickey’s arm over the top rope from the floor and comes back in to deliver a DDT. Ethan continues to work over Rickey in the corner with several strikes. Rickey drops Ethan with a kick to the head. Ethan boots a charging Rickey and comes off the middle rope with a head scissors. Ethan forearms Rickey followed by another running kick to the face for a near fall. Ethan keeps control of Rickey with a headlock on the mat. Rickey delivers a spinning elbow and a running boot in the corner. Rickey plants Ethan with an ace cutter for a near fall. Ethan misses a boot and Rickey hits a Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Rickey has Ethan on the apron looking for a piledriver but Ethan holds onto the ropes and clotheslines Rickey into the ring. Ethan hits a cutter into the ring and a running boot for a near fall. Ethan heads to the top rope but Rickey cuts him off with a few strikes. Rickey hooks Ethan and hits a superplex for a two count.

Rickey grabs Ethan but Ethan fights him off only for Rickey to deliver elbow strikes. Rickey connects with a kick to stagger Ethan but it met with strikes. Rickey avoids a cutter and is able to get a pin on Page with a rollup. (**. It never felt like it got out of first gear, but it was okay. I recall seeing RSP try to claim he’s the best in the world, but that is just a ridiculous statement to make. It seems like outside of deathmatch wrestling he’s just not that great. That’s my opinion, of course. Plus, the roll-up finish isn’t exactly a strong finish and is the go-to finish to save the bigger names from jobbing.)

Main Event: Will Ospreay vs. Dezmond Xavier: They do a similar beginning as the previous match focusing on mat wrestling and Xavier works over the taped up left shoulder of Ospreay. They have a standoff after avoiding several strikes from each other. Xavier kicks Ospreay followed by a dropsault sending Ospreay to the floor. Ospreay comes back in to deliver a head scissors and Xavier goes to the floor. Ospreay fakes out a dive and poses in the middle of the ring but Xavier comes back in and clotheslines Ospreay from behind making him a heel in the match. They trade strikes in the corner with Ospreay delivering several kicks to Xavier’s chest followed by a shining wizard sending Xavier to the floor. Ospreay tries for a handspring but is met with a kick from Xavier on the apron. Xavier works over Ospreay with several strikes in the corner pummeling Ospreay with shots to the midsection repeatedly. Ospreay comes off the ropes with a forearm strike and delivers a handspring kick to drop Xavier. They are both on the mat with Ospreay seemingly in worse shape. Ospreay elbows Xavier but misses a dropkick and kicks Xavier in the corner. Ospreay hits a 619 and a springboard forearm for a near fall.

Ospreay misses a strike and Xavier delivers a few body shots and a dropkick to a seated Ospreay. Ospreay goes to the middle rope but is kicked. Ospreay traps Xavier on the top turnbuckle but Xavier kicks Ospreay on the middle turnbuckle and hits a 619 on the apron around the post. Xavier misses a double stomp and Ospreay counters with a sit down powerbomb for a near fall. Xavier strikes Ospreay several times before hitting a cutter for a near fall. Xavier goes to the corner and Ospreay delivers a kick but Xavier delivers a forearm. Xavier hits a reverse hurricanrana and a Torture Rack spinning slam for a near fall. Xavier nails Ospreay with a handspring kick but Ospreay gets his hand on the bottom rope. Xavier takes off the tape on Ospreay’s left shoulder and doesn’t care what the referee has to say about it. Xavier is met with a forearm strike as Ospreay drops to the mat. Xavier delivers right hands and signals for the end. Xavier attempts a cradle piledriver but Ospreay gets a triangle choke on Xavier followed by elbow strikes. Ospreay decks Xavier with a clothesline and they are both down on the mat. Xavier elbow strikes Ospreay several times while controlling his wrist but Ospreay hits another clothesline for a near fall. Ospreay elbow strikes Xavier before hitting a springboard cutter for the win. (***. It’s a solid main event and a fine way to end the show. Xavier did well in the heel role. The style of wrestling continually being the same for most of the show really impacts my entertainment level.)

Final Thoughts:
I thought the overall show was pretty good, actually. I’m sure many people may think or remember CZW as being death match wrestling, but it has really became just another independent wrestling company with the same style of wrestling you’d see in ROH. Plenty of high flying and flips. I’m looking forward to Best of the Best, though.

Thanks for reading.