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Break It Down: CZW Tangled Web 3

September 30, 2010 | Posted by Ryan Rozanski
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Break It Down: CZW Tangled Web 3  

Tangled Web 3 on August 14th, 2010

Opening Match: Joe Ettel vs. Eric Enders
Enders connects with a clothesline and an enzuigiri. Ettel avoids another clothesline and answers with a dropkick. The lights suddenly dim and Nick Gage makes his entrance. I think we can just rule this match a no contest at around a minute. Gage powerbombs Ettel into a chair and kills Enders with a facewash kick. Egotistico Fantastico comes out to interrupt Gage. He claims that he isn’t afraid of Gage and says that he deserves the title. Jon Moxley enters the scene and makes it clear that he wants the title as well. Gage wastes no time in making a match…

Match #2: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Nick Gage © vs. Egotistico Fantastico vs. Jon Moxley
Gage throws Moxley into the front row and starts brawling with him. Ego takes them out with a dive from the top rope. He whips Gage into the bleachers and suplexes him onto the concrete floor. Moxley russian leg sweeps Ego into the bleachers and ruthlessly sends Gage into a row of chairs. Gage suplexes Moxley onto two chairs. Moxley answers by back dropping Gage onto a guardrail. The action goes back to ringside. Ego and Moxley work together to hip toss Gage into the front row. In the ring, Ego catches Moxley with a moonsault and Gage adds a powerslam. Ego peppers Moxley with various kicks and adds the Taco Bender for a nearfall. Moxley hip tosses Ego out of the ring and through a table on the outside. He almost beats Gage with a rollup. Gage hits a brainbuster on Moxley and follows with a backbreaker. Ego coast-to-coast kicks a chair into Moxley’s face for a two count. Gage hits a piledriver on Ego, who responds by simply dumping Gage onto a pile of chairs at ringside. Moxley levels Ego with a clothesline to become the new CZW World Heavyweight Champion at 11:38. These three brutalized each other for twelve minutes and their execution was tremendous. There weren’t any lulls in the action and all of the big spots went according to plan. Gage becomes infinitely more tolerable in brawls involving capable wrestlers. Some will have mixed opinions about him losing in his first title defense. However, I think Moxley winning the title back so quickly plays into his character and we received a great brawl to boot. ***½

Match #3: CZW Wired Television Title: Drew Gulak © vs. Ryan McBride
Gulak stalls for awhile to start. McBride dropkicks him to the floor. Back in, McBride starts gaining momentum until he walks into a clothesline. Gulak falls victim to a flipping death valley driver and McBride lands a frog splash. Rodney Rush interjects himself, allowing Gulak to rollup McBride and retain his title at 7:20. Gulak stalled for entirely too long and his offense was incredibly dull. The match lacked structure and the finish fell flat. Hopefully Gulak starts using his technical skills to inject interest into his matches. *½

Match #4: tHURTeen vs. Danny Havoc
After a short promo, Havoc attacks before the bell. He sends tHURTeen to the outside and whips him into the guardrail multiple times. tHURTeen avoids a charge and uses the guardrail to connect with a springboard thrust kick. He uses the guardrail yet again to land a moonsault. Back in, tHURTeen hits a slingshot senton and connects with a nice gamenguiri. Havoc innovatively powerslams him into the turnbuckles. tHURTeen responds with a tornado DDT but misses a corkscrew. Havoc hits a modified gourdbuster along with a death valley driver for the win at 4:33. This was better than I expected, mainly because they filled their short duration with constant action. Not much more to say. **

Match #5: TJ Cannon and Bruce Maxwell vs. Amasis and Ophidian
This is an opening round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. Amasis catches Maxwell with various strikes. Cannon holds Amasis in place while Maxwell kicks his face into the bottom turnbuckle. The Best Around lay out Amasis with a diving elbow-russian leg sweep combination. Ophidian snaps off deja vu on Cannon and takes control with some mat wrestling. Maxwell launches Cannon, who hurricanranas Ophidian. Maxwell adds a mafia kick. Ophidian snaps off a double hurricanrana and takes Cannon down on the floor with a headscissors. Amasis lands a flying crossbody on Maxwell. Ophidian lands a dive to the floor onto Cannon. In the ring, Ophidian hits a crucifix bomb on Maxwell. Amasis plants Cannon with a spinebuster. Robbie Mireno trips up Amasis, allowing Cannon to connect with a hesitation dropkick. The Best Around isolate him until he causes some miscommunication and exits the ring. Ophidian snaps off a slingshot hurricanrana on Cannon and follows with double knees form the middle rope. He hits a slingshot senton and lands a standing moonsault. Maxwell catches him with a backcracker along with a flatliner. The Best Around hit Amasis with a stunner-german suplex combination. Ophidian connects with a spin kick on Maxwell. The Osirian Portal work together to superplex Cannon. Ophidian takes out Maxwell with a corner dropkick. The Osirian Portal hit the Osirian Sacrament on Cannon for the victory at 13:25. This has to be considered a successful debut for the Osirian Portal. They won the CZW crowd over and that’s not the easiest accomplishment. These two teams worked well together and focused on showcasing their offenses. While the finishing stretch was more a continuous slew of moves than suspenseful action, it was undoubtedly enjoyable. I’m glad the Osirian Portal won as it means that they will be booked on future shows. ***

Match #6: A.R. Fox vs. Ruckus
Ruckus connects with a nicely-timed dropkick and snaps off a headscissors. Fox sends him to the floor with a springboard back elbow and follows out with a moonsault. They exchange kicks at ringside and Ruckus lands a cartwheel moonsault. They have an insane sequence and Ruckus lands a shooting star press off the apron. In the ring, Fox finds success with a slingshot crossbody and a springboard frog splash. Ruckus comes off the top and spikes him with an ace crusher. Ruckus lands a moonsault leg drop and applies an armbar. Fox rolls out and hits a flatliner into the middle turnbuckle. He adds a chinbreaker and a springboard ace crusher. Ruckus avoids a phoenix splash variation and hits a flipping neckbreaker. Ruckus follows with a fisherman suplex for the win at 6:57. They put together some extremely innovative sequences which was entertaining to a point. Sloppiness became a problem throughout and I think these two could have a better match with more time. I hope that Fox keeps his momentum going as he is starting to stand out in CZW. **¼

Ruckus puts over Fox after the match and they shake hands.

Match #7: Joker and Sabian vs. Adam Cole and Tyler Veritas
This is an opening round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. I hope that Sabian is in a good mood here. Maybe he’ll actually put forth some effort. Cole and Veritas hip toss Sabian and connect with stereo dropkicks. Joker distracts Veritas, allowing Sabian to catch him with a dropkick. They isolate him until he is able to exit the ring. Cole catches Joker with a leg lariat from the middle rope and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Sabian. Cole slingshot DDTs Sabian on the apron. Veritas hits a half nelson suplex on Joker, who responds by taking out Cole with a chokerplex. Veritas powerslams Joker but gets caught with a missile dropkick from Sabian. Cole superkicks Sabian and all four men are down. Veritas connects with a running knee on Joker and Cole adds an elevated german suplex. Sabian catches Cole in the corner with a running dropkick and Joker follows with a cannonball. Cole misses a plancha to the floor. Joker low blows Veritas. Sabian and Joker hit a double stomp-Joker Driver combination for the victory at 11:55. Sabian was exponentially more acceptable in this match and Joker looked good as well. I have a problem with the heat segment, as Veritas could have exited the ring on several occasions and forced the tag. The action picked up down the stretch with a visually-impressive finish. I would put this just below the previous opening round match. **¾

Match #8: Devon Moore vs. Drake Younger
They start aggressively with some strike exchanges. Younger sends Moore to the outside and follows with a senton from the apron. Moore gets thrown into a chair at ringside and Younger connects with a few chops. Moore enzuigiris Younger off the apron and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Moore hits a springboard blockbuster and lands a springboard moonsault. He adds a standing shooting star press but finds knees on a split-legged moonsault attempt. Younger hits a blue thunder bomb along with a flapjack. Moore falls victim to an exploder but immediately gets to his feet. Younger suplexes him into the turnbuckles. They battle on the apron and Moore hits an air raid crash. I would say that Younger is currently in pain. Moore comes off the middle rope with a flatliner and lands a shooting star press for a nearfall. A chair is brought into the ring. Younger hits Drake’s Landing onto a propped chair but Moore is able to get his foot on the bottom rope during the pin attempt. Moore avoids another Drake’s Landing and connects with two yakuza kicks for the win at 8:37. These two always work well together and the only thing this match needed was more time. They were still able to accomplish a lot in nine minutes and I was even biting on some of the nearfalls. These high octane matches with slight weapon usage are common in CZW and opinions on the style will vary. However, this was effective for what it was and Moore looks to be receiving a push. **¾

Match #9: Brain Damage vs. Scotty Vortekz
The concept here is that Vortekz’s boots are covered in thumbtacks and Brain Damage’s fists have been dipped into glass. Brain Damage controls early on, somewhat utilizing a chair. He almost breaks Vortekz’s neck with a powerbomb. Vortekz comes back with various kicks and Brain Damage is busted open. Vortekz lands a standing moonsault but gets caught with some punches. Brain Damage just chops him in the face and hits an inverted DDT. Vortekz connects with an enzuigiri, works in a chair shot, hits the Swisher Sweep, and connects with a knee drop for the victory at 10:16. I wasn’t feeling this match, mainly due to Brain Damage’s lack of mobility. Vortekz tried his best to work with the stipulations and that is appreciated. He would move on to challenge for the CZW World Heavyweight Title at the next show. *½

The lights go out after the match and a hooded figure walks down to the ring. It turns out that Billy Gram is back and his attitude hasn’t changed. He goes on a rant and yells at Brain Damage. Gram slaps Brain Damage twice but he is afraid to retaliate.

Match #10: Tangled Web: Sami Callihan and Joe Gacy vs. DJ Hyde and Greg Excellent
An effective video package is shown before the match. Callihan charges at the bell but Excellent throws him through a pane of glass. Gacy sends Excellent into barbed wire. Hyde spears Gacy through a pane of glass. Callihan attacks Hyde with a barbed wire board and they exchange strikes. Excellent overhead suplexes Callihan into the cage. Callihan responds by saito suplexing Excellent into a pane of glass but it doesn’t break. Gacy and Callihan take turns using a staple gun against Hyde. Excellent and Gacy battle up top and they fall into the web of barbed wire. Hyde levels Callihan with a lariat and utilizes a ladder against Gacy. Callihan sends Hyde through a barbed wire board. A fifteen foot ladder is setup in the ring along with a table. Hyde slams Callihan through a pane of glass and whips Gacy with barbed wire. Callihan fights back with chair shots to the head. Hyde and Gacy battle on top of the ladder. Gacy uses a staple gun to knock Hyde off the ladder, through a pane of glass, and through a barbed wire board. Excellent sends Gacy through a table. Callihan russian leg sweeps Excellent onto a ladder for a nearfall. He brings Kylie Pierce into the ring and powerbombs her into the turnbuckles. Excellent catches Callihan with a samoan drop onto a ladder for the win at 17:55. This was more of a spectacle than anything. The tangled web structure is definitely unique and both teams made good use of the surroundings. At the end of the day, this contest is classified as a deathmatch. Some will love it and some will hate it. After seeing what CZW has to offer as far as deathmatches are concerned, I’d say this contest was generally enjoyable. While there was some noticeable dead time in between spots, these two teams brought the brutality and everything they tried pretty much worked. Worth checking out if you’re curious about the match type. ***

Callihan and Gacy slowly get to their feet. Gacy turns on Callihan and chokeslams him onto a ladder. Meanwhile, Hyde is being carried out on a stretcher. Gacy lays out Callihan with a sit-out chokeslam and angrily leaves the ring.

The 411: Tangled Web 3 is a solid show and that is exactly what CZW needed. The CZW World Heavyweight Title match was probably the best offering I’ve seen from this promotion thus far. The Osirian Portal made a successful debut and the main event was good for what it was although opinions will be mixed. There are also some contests in the midcard that could have reached three stars with a few tweaks. I can safely give this show a slight recommendation. There’s nothing here that you need to see but it’s a fair representation of what CZW can do when everything comes together.
 
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]  legend

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