Combat Zone Wrestling presents Answering The Challenge
Date: 1/12/2002
From: Philadelphia, PA
Rockin’ Rebel makes his way out to cut a promo. Rebel is an employee of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. Rebel insults the crowd calling them idiots. The microphone is not great and it’s tough to understand. Rebel is going to enforce the rules in the state. Rebel brings out the CZW World Champion Justice Pain to join the segment. Pain is given a microphone as the fans are chanting for Wifebeater. Pain notes that he has a busted shoulder. Pain notes that the people are still not happy despite him still being champion. Pain announces he’s going to postpone the title defense tonight because he doesn’t feel like working.
Nick Gage comes out to join the segment and has a stare down with Pain. Gage wants to win the title. Gage says the title will come back around his waist, but Rockin’ Rebel cuts into the segment. Rebel tells security to get Gage out of the ring. It’s noted that Pain has an open challenge for anyone to challenge for the title. Gage is pulled out to the floor and held back before being escorted backstage.
Pain remains in the ring, but is attacked from behind by THE MESSIAH. Messiah is making his debut for CZW tonight! Messiah had been the XPW World Champion, but never lost the title before departing the company. Messiah grabs a microphone and accepts the challenge. Messiah puts down the ‘porn wrestling’ company and says CZW is where the wrestling is at. Justice Pain gets up and has a brawl with Messiah until officials get the ring to pull them apart.
Prior to the first match, Nick Berk tries to cut a promo, but gets a lot of heat from the crowd. Berk demands Ty Street show his face tonight.
MATCH #1: DIVINE STORM (QUIET STORM & CHRIS DIVINE) & BRIAN XL VS. THE SOFTCORE CONNECTION (NICK BERK & Z-BARR) — HANDICAP MATCH
FINISH: Late in the match, Ty Street superkicks Berk allowing Storm to hit the Storm Cradle Driver for the win.
Bob’s Take: I don’t know why, but Nick Berk gives me Matt Cardona vibes and Z-Barr reminds me of Anthony Greene. That’s solely their facial appearance, not anything related to in-ring. Barr and Divine are a bit sloppy in the opening moments of the match, and the crowd doesn’t wait to let them know. Berk and Storm have a far better interaction, so they quickly tagged back in Barr and Divine. XL hits a nice springboard somersault dive to the floor. The crowd loves Storm for hitting his modified neckbreaker on Barr. That may be because they dislike Barr so much. Berk saves Barr from an arm bar by XL. Each time Barr takes a suplex he yelps in a comedic manner. Barr gets some offense in on XL hitting a modified Flatliner and Berk dropkicked Divine Storm. XL impressed the crowd with a standing moonsault on Berk. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd this well to Quiet Storm and Brian XL in all the times I’ve seen them wrestle. So, this was quite the experience to witness. Not a bad opener by any means.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #2: CHRIS CASH VS. GQ
FINISH: GQ wins by count-out after shoving Cash off the ropes onto a guard railing.
Bob’s Take: Cash came out quite intense, but a good portion of the crowd didn’t seem to be vibing with him. I’m aware of Cash, and I feel like I knew that Cash was a rising star on the indies in this era, or at least that was the perception. Early on, they kept it fairly basic with mat wrestling approach. Cash teased a dive, but flipped off the crowd. Cash didn’t give me a heel vibe, but he did that. They trade a bunch of kicks and strikes that including countering each other, but it wasn’t a segment of the match that I found myself invested in. They drop each other on their necks a couple of times to get the crowd to gasp. Cash hits a nice top rope hurricanrana to send GQ to the floor. Cash sets up a guard railing laid onto several chairs on the floor. Cash tried for a springboard, but is shoved off the ropes and crashes on the guard railing he had setup. The finish is actually logical for Cash to not answer the count, which may be rare to see in a company such as CZW. I wouldn’t say this is a bad match, but it’s a forgettable match.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #3: NICK MONDO VS. IAN KNOXX VS. JOHNNY KASHMERE
FINISH: Mondo pins Knoxx following an insane springboard twisting somersault leg drop through a table. After the match, Mondo and Knoxx shake hands.
Bob’s Take: Ian Knoxx looks out of place compared to Kashmere and Mondo, just from a physical perspective. Mondo and Kashmere had a fine segment agains each other, but Knoxx brought a chair into the mix slamming Mondo onto it. Kashmere gets smashed a couple of times with a chair shot to stop his momentum by Mondo. Knoxx tosses Mondo and Kashmere with a few good suplexs, but can’t finish them off. Mondo stands on Knoxx’s shoulders at one point leading to Kashmere to spear Mondo from the top rope. Mondo smashes both men with chairs on the floor and hit a springboard somersault leg drop onto Knoxx through a table on the floor. That’s an insane spot. This was a bit better than I thought it would be.
Match Rating: ***
Prior to the next match, Greg Matthews teases his mystery partner. Wifebeater comes out with his arm in a sling. Wifebeater had left elbow surgery recently. Instead, Billy Beater is introduced as being Wifebeater’s brother.
MATCH #4: GREG MATTHEWS & BILLY BEATER VS. THE RACHIES (CZW IRON MAN CHAMPION ADAM FLASH & DANNY ROSE)
NOTE: This is Billy Beater’s debut in CZW, and it will be his last CZW appearance.
FINISH: Late in the match, Lobo and Glen Osbourne come out and attack Billy Beater with a chair. Billy is taped to the ropes. Flash leg drops Matthews from the top through a table to win the match. After the match, Lobo, Osbourne and the Rachies continue to beatdown the babyfaces for a bit. Wifebeater makes the save with a weed whacker and Zandig. Lobo and Osbourne beat up a fan in the front row, which I’m sure is a plant.
Bob’s Take: Greg Matthews is from Tough Enough fame. The early stages of the match are pretty basic likely due to Greg Matthews being involved and his overall inexperience. I’m a bit surprised that Matthews doesn’t get flack for being a Tough Enough kid from the CZW crowd. Beater gets involved and messes up a press slam to the floor, and the crowd let him hear it. There’s not much going on here that I would qualify as good action. Flash hit a middle rope X-Factor on Matthews at one point. Lobo’s involvement made the crowd more interested, and I found myself caring more than before.
Match Rating: *1/2
Zandig has a microphone. Zandig ends up challenging Osbourne to a barbed wire ropes match. They are also attached by the wrists with barbed wire straps. Ringside has a bunch of wrestlers with straps, too.
MATCH #5: GLEN OSBOURNE VS. ZANDIG — BARBED WIRE ROPES; LUMBERJACKS WITH STRAPS
FINISH: Lobo throws a fireball accidentally into Osbourne’s face allowing Zandig to pin Osbourne for the win.,
Bob’s Take: Osbourne wastes no time using the barbed wire chain on Zandig causing Zandig to be busted open quickly in the match. Osbourne gets whipped on the floor a few times, but doesn’t play a major role on the match. This is mostly just a basic brawl with chain shots to cause both men to bleed. As it pertains to a wrestling match this is not good. It’s mindless hardcore brawling in a stipulation that is a bit restrictive for two limited wrestlers.
Match Rating: *
Lobo gets on the microphone and says if he can’t beat Zandig then he’ll leave CZW forever. They will wrestle on February 9th.
MATCH #6: VD (EDDIE VALENTINE & JON DAHMER) VS. THE H8 CLUB (NICK GAGE & NATE HATRED) VS. THE MIDNIGHT OUTLAWZ (KENNY MURDOCH & KENO MURDOCH) — NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS MATCH
FINISH: Late in the match, the Backseat Boys attack Nick Gage. Valentine takes advantage to pin Gage.
Bob’s Take: Admittedly, I haven’t seen much outside of Gage and Hatred in this match. VD take out Kenny with a dangerous shoulder breaker in the early moments of the bout. Valentine spikes Kenny with a double arm DDT that the crowd liked. Kenny is getting dominated by VD for quite a bit of time. Kenny dropped Valentine with a Burning Hammer. Keno hit a nice middle rope twisting leg drop on Valentine. Outlawz nearly pin Valentine after a side slam/leg drop combo. The match has had good pacing when the H8 Club isn’t there as the other two teams have been carrying the match action-wise. Valentine leaps off of Dahmer to strike Keno coming off the top rope, which looked good. Hatred and Gage finally get involved and they dominate the bout with their power moves and strikes on Keno. Hatred tosses Keno with a few suplexs. Hatred and Gage are entertaining when they are in control of the bout. The match falls apart in the sense of brawling around ringside. Keno puts Gage through a table with a splash off the top to the floor. Kenny put Dahmer through a table. Valentine elbow drops Hatred through a table on the floor for the top rope. The crowd loved that sequence. The finish doesn’t bother me as I’m sure the Backseat Boys would rather avoid the H8 Club as challengers. The match got a bunch of time and the closing sequence was a good way to end the bout.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #7: CZW JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION & BJPW WORLD JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION TRENT ACID VS. RUCKUS VS. WINGER
FINISH: Ruckus hits a 450 splash on Winger and picks up the win to win the title. Wait a minute, Johnny Kashmere and Rockin’ Rebel come out. Kashmere has a scale because they don’t think Ruckus is at the weight limit. Ruckus gets on the scale and Rebel says he weighs 295lbs and Ruckus is out of the match for not meeting the weight. Ruckus decks Kashmere with the scale. Acid nails Winger with the Yakuza kick to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: Acid waited in the crowd and attacked Winger during his entrance and took his mask off to taunt Winger. Ruckus got involved hitting a dive on Acid quickly. Winger hit a dangerous corkscrew dive to the floor on Acid. Acid hit a nice yakuza kick to knock Ruckus over the ropes to the floor. Acid drove Winger to the mat with a front suplex off the middle rope. All three guys are laid out after a quick sequence of spots. They do a double back suplex spot. Winger sunset flips Acid off the middle rope causing Acid to superplex Ruckus. Ruckus sunset flips Acid, who sends Winger into the ropes. They are doing a few creative spots in the match. Acid nails Ruckus with the LSD (reverse hurricanrana) off the middle rope. Ruckus connects with a top rope moonsualt double stomp on Acid. The initial title change for Rucks was greeted with a good reaction, but the Dusty finish seemed to piss off the crowd and they were a bit flat for the finish for Acid retaining the title. Regardless, I thought this was a good match throughout.
Match Rating: ***1/4
MAIN EVENT: CZW WORLD CHAMPION JUSTICE PAIN VS. THE MESSIAH
FINISH: Pain hits the Pain Thriller for the win. After the match, they shake hands. However, Nick Gage attacks Pain and delivers a chokebreaker. Messiah didn’t help Pain at all. Gage challenges Pain to a match on February 9th.
Bob’s Take: They waste no time going at it. Pain dangerously clotheslines himself and Messiah over the top to the floor to continue brawling. They brawled into the crowd heading up the bleachers. Messiah backdropped Pain on the bleachers to gain the advantage. Messiah takes Pain out with a somersault dive off the apron to the floor. Pain battled back with a vicious clothesline. Messiah delivered a pop up cutter, but can’t put Pain away. Messiah puts the Cattle Mutilation, but Pain refuses to submit. Pain powerbombs Messiah on a chair. Pain introduces a table into the match and set it up in the corner. Pain hits a nice top rope blockbuster. Messiah shoves Pain off the top rope and Pain crashes through a table on the floor. Pain tosses Messiah overhead through the table. Pain sets up nine chairs on the floor. Pain destroys Messiah with a vicious chair shot in the ring. Fans add a bunch of chairs to his pile. Messiah sunset flips over the ropes to put himself and Pain through the pile of chairs. Pain delivered a modified Death Valley Driver. Messiah slammed Pain off the middle rope for a near fall. Messiah delivered the Fall From Grace (Burning Hammer). Pain tosses Messiah off the top with an overhead suplex. They trade chair shots with Pain getting the advantage leading to the finish. The pacing to this match was a lot faster than I thought it would be. There was not much down time at all and I thought it was a very good hard hitting match. Justice Pain comes across like a dominate force and I’m intrigued to see more of his run. This has to be considered a successful debut for Messiah in CZW. A very good way to end the show.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Final Thoughts:
I thought this was a good show overall, and I’m honestly interested in the February 9th show that has Lobo vs. Zandig and Pain vs. Gage for the title. 2002 is starting off well for CZW.
Thanks for reading.