Break It Down: CZW Down With The Sickness 2010

Down With The Sickness on September 10th, 2010

There is a short video package shown for J.C. Bailey. DJ Hyde and Maven Bentley make their way to the ring to start the show. Bentley starts a chant for Chris Cash and talks about some other deaths in professional wrestling in the last year. The locker room comes out to honor the fallen. Hyde discusses Bailey’s passion for CZW and announces a tribute show for him. A ten-bell salute ensues. Hyde claims that he will return to action in November, when CZW debuts in Germany. Nick Gage, Drake Younger, Danny Havoc, Sabian, Adam Cole, Jon Moxley, Devon Moore, and Sami Callihan will be representing CZW in Germany. Hyde challenges Thumbtack Jack to appear at Cage Of Death this year. The lights suddenly go out and Homicide is here! Hyde clearly has some resentment but gives Homicide a chance to talk. Homicide says that he has a new residence in Philadelphia and wants to form a legacy in CZW. Hyde announces that the winner of Taylor/Gargano/Joker/Callihan tonight will face Homicide next month.

Opening Match: Greg Excellent and Johnny Calzone vs. Core and JT Roberts
Core and Roberts are known as NI4NI and are making their CZW debut. They attack before the bell but walk into clotheslines. Core misses a springboard crossbody and Calzone hits him with a pizza box. NI4NI gain control and work over Calzone. He catches Roberts with an enzuigiri and makes the tag. Excellent hits a samoan drop on Core and follows with a uranagi on Roberts. Core falls victim to a saito suplex but Roberts blocks a corner cannonball with a superkick. Core lands a moonsault to the floor onto Excellent. Calzone catches Roberts with an ace crusher and Excellent adds a corner cannonball. NI4NI hit a doomsday spin kick on Excellent for the win at 8:05. If you’re looking for examples of successful debuts, don’t look at this match. NI4NI might have some potential but they need better opponents and more fluidity in their offense. Calzone is worthless as the crowd doesn’t react to his comedy and his wrestling ability is minimal. Aside from a few alright moments, this opener was rather counterproductive. *

Match #2: Johnny Gargano vs. Joker vs. Sami Callihan vs. Chuck Taylor
The winner of this match will battle Homicide next month. Gargano is making his debut in CZW. Joe Dombrowski, ROH and IWC commentator, is also calling his first CZW match here. This is like Extreme Makeover: CZW Edition. Callihan chops Taylor and Gargano out of the ring. He stares down Joker but the confrontation is interrupted. Taylor and Gargano form an alliance (they are members of FIST in CHIKARA). Callihan has Gargano in a delayed vertical suplex position and Joker german suplexes Callihan, causing a semi-cool visual. Gargano avoids a splash from Callihan and lawn darts him into the turnbuckles. Taylor sends Callihan to the floor, where Gargano hits the Hurts Donut onto the apron. Joker lands a dive to the outside and Taylor follows with one of his own. In the ring, Taylor catches Joker with a springboard dropkick. Joker walks into a spear through the ropes from Gargano. Callihan hits his leaping russian leg sweep on Gargano. Taylor overhead suplexes Joker into Callihan. Joker powerbombs Gargano and stares down Callihan. They exchange strikes while stopping any interruptions from Gargano and Taylor. Joker hits some kind of pumphandle suplex but Callihan quickly responds with a lariat. Taylor connects with Sole Food on Gargano but Joker knocks him to the floor with a stiff forearm. Gargano starts unloading kicks. He tries for a hurricanrana on Callihan but Callihan turns it into a stretch muffler for the victory at 9:53. This match shows nothing but positive signs for the future of CZW. Taylor returned to the promotion, Gargano looked good in his debut, Joker proved that he belonged, and Callihan was insanely over with the crowd. The action was filled with unique exchanges and kept at a quick pace. I enjoyed how Callihan and Joker came into the contest with brutality in mind while Taylor and Gargano just wanted to steal a win. Hopefully Taylor and Gargano start appearing in CZW more often. ***

Match #3: Ryan McBride and Rich Swann vs. T.J. and Kirby Mack
This is an opening round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. McBride stares down Team Macktion on the floor. Swann appears behind Team Macktion and uses a pole to hit a double tornado DDT. Everyone brawls around ringside. TJ powerbombs Swann onto the ring steps while Kirby yakuza kicks McBride into the ringpost. In the ring, Team Macktion isolate McBride until he suplexes them and makes the tag. Swann connects with a double missile dropkick and hits a michinoku driver on Kirby. McBride gets taken out by a lungblower. Swann snaps off a satellite headscissors on Kirby but falls victim to sliced bread. McBride hits a tilting death valley driver on TJ. Team Macktion connect with stereo kicks and wheelbarrow slam Swann into McBride. Kirby spikes Swann with a snapmare driver. Irish Drive-By hit a stunner-spike piledriver combination on Team Macktion for the win at 10:04. These two teams have decent chemistry together but this match never got a chance to settle down. They started off with some big spots around ringside and had a pretty long finishing stretch for a ten-minute match. In essence, some believable nearfalls were sacrificed and the contest turned into both teams just trading moves. Fine showcase that I know they can improve upon if given more time. **½

As Team Macktion recovers in the ring, Joe Gacy runs out and attacks them. Ryan Slater comes out and aligns himself with Gacy. They hit an elbow drop-backbreaker combination on TJ. Gacy gets on the microphone and confirms his alliance with Slater. Gacy also talks about how Sami Callihan hogged all of the glory. With Slater as his new partner, no one will stop them from winning the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. Up In Smoke’s music hits, leading to…

Match #4: Joe Gacy and Ryan Slater vs. Cheech and Cloudy
This is an opening round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. Up In Smoke charge the ring and hit stereo bulldogs. They follow with more tandem offense and maintain control. Cheech hits a slingshot senton on Slater. Cloudy gets backed into the wrong corner and The Runaways work him over. Apparently, that’s the team name for Gacy and Slater. Apparently, I do my research. Cloudy catches Gacy with an ace crusher and makes the tag. Cheech hits a gory slam on Slater and lands a moonsault onto Gacy. He follows with an innovative straight jacket driver on Slater. Up In Smoke hit Partly Cloudy With a Chance of Cheech and a double team senton on Gacy. Slater catches Cheech with a hangman’s piledriver on the apron. The Runaways hit a flying elbow drop-backbreaker combination on Cloudy for the victory at 10:47. This suffered from the same problems as the last match; it was a semi-impressive showcase of moves without much suspense. However, Gacy and Slater compliment each other well and I’m curious to see what they can do in the rest of the tournament. **¼

Kimberly, introduced as a CZW bombshell, is in the ring. She announces that “the warrior is coming” and angrily stomps away.

Match #5: Aerial Assault Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. AR Fox vs. Alex Colon vs. tHURTeen vs. Facade vs. Ruckus
The winner will become the number one contender for the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Title. Ruckus and Ricochet snap off stereo headscissors. Colon catches Fox with a hurricanrana and hits a basement flatliner. Fox responds with a backbreaker and a twisting brainbuster. tHURTeen nearly kills Fox with a modified backbreaker. Facade matrixes to avoid a clothesline and catches Ruckus with a spin kick. Ricochet connects with an enzuigiri on Facade and a springboard dropkick on Ruckus. Colon lands a dive to the floor onto Ruckus. tHURTeen follows out with a springboard moonsault. Fox uses a platform to land a 450 onto the crowd. Facade also uses the platform to follow out with a phoenix splash. Finally, Ricochet ends the sequence with some insane dive from the platform. He brings a ladder into the ring and catapults tHURTeen into it. Facade connects with shotgun knees, sending Ricochet into the ladder. Facade grabs the ladder but Fox springboard dropkicks it into his face. Fox puts the ladder onto Facade, climbs up to a platform, and lands a 450 splash. Colon takes out Fox with a death valley driver onto the ladder. Ruckus side slams Colon onto the ladder but gets caught with an innovative backbreaker from tHURTeen. Facade knocks tHURTeen off a platform and lands a swantan. He adds a fireman’s carry backbreaker. Ruckus slams Facade onto the ladder and superkicks Fox. The ladder is put across the backs of Facade and Fox. Ricochet sends Colon off the top rope and onto the ladder. Fox throws a chair at Facade’s face, knocking him off the top rope. Ricochet hits a pumphandle angle slam on Fox. Out of nowhere, Colon lands a dive off of some high platform onto Ruckus and tHURTeen. Ricochet brings a taller ladder into the ring. Ruckus throws Facade off a platform and through a table on the floor. Fox and Ricochet battle on the top of the tall ladder. Fox knocks Ricochet off the ladder and grabs the contract for the win at 14:16. By looking at the stipulation and participants, you should know exactly what to expect. There were some positives and negatives but for the most part, this was an enjoyable spotfest. However, I felt that the match lacked structure at certain points and the participants were looking for things to do instead of everything flowing. The positive side is that the match wasn’t conducted at an unbelievable pace. It was a bit slower than I was expecting and that allowed everyone to sell the effects of the high spots. Fox was definitely the right choice for a winner, as he has a huge upside and is ready for a push. ***

Match #6: CZW World Junior Heavyweight Title: Adam Cole © vs. Sabian
They trade control on the mat and follow with a quick exchange that ends in a stalemate. Sabian sends Cole to the floor but misses a baseball slide. Cole hits a wheelbarrow suplex onto the apron. Back in, Sabian finds success with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and takes control. Cole avoids a flying double stomp and connects with a superkick. He adds a northern lights suplex but gets caught with a missile dropkick. Sabian misses a charge and collides with the ringpost. Cole connects with a flash kick and lands a flying crossbody. Sabian responds with a rope-assisted DDT. Cole comes out of nowhere with a superkick and hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Sabian tries to use the ropes during a rollup to no avail. Instead, Cole rolls up Sabian while holding his tights to retain the title at 12:11. I’m glad that Sabian took this match seriously and what resulted was decent action. However, the crowd just didn’t care and I don’t necessarily blame them considering Sabian’s past performances. The good news is that this feud appears to be over and Cole can advance in a new direction. **¼

Match #7: CZW Wired Television Title: Drew Gulak © vs. Nick Gage
This should be interesting. Gulak wants to stick to technical wrestling but Gage has a different plan. Gage shows off his mat wrestling skills early on. He connects with a missile dropkick and brings barbed wire into the ring. Gulak avoids an attack and the referee takes away the barbed wire. Gulak connects with a dropkick in the corner and hits a backbreaker. He takes over by grounding Gage. The referee stops a staple gun from coming into play. Gulak reverses a chokebreaker into a dragon sleeper. Gage powers out and hits a saito suplex followed by a chokebreaker. He grabs a pizza cutter but loses it. Gulak avoids a piledriver on the apron. Gage now introduces a thumbtack bat and the referee disqualifies him at 7:23. They had the right idea but the copout finish was not the prime result. If Gulak needed to keep the title and Gage couldn’t lose, simply don’t book this match. I’m still waiting to see something noteworthy from Gulak. *½

Gage hits the referee with the thumbtack bat twice after the match. He cuts a promo, complaining about the rules in CZW. He challenges whoever is CZW World Heavyweight Champion to a no rope barbed wire match at Deja Vu 5. Finally, Gage claims that he will bring the Ultraviolent Title back to the Combat Zone.

Match #8: Drake Younger vs. MASADA
They begin with some chain wrestling and the crowd chants for J.C. Bailey. Younger snaps off a few armdrags and dropkicks MASADA to the floor. MASADA knocks Younger off the apron but gets lured to the outside as well. Younger baseball slides a chair into his face, busting him open. More chairs are thrown into the ring. Younger lands a flying crossbody but gets caught with a yakuza kick in the corner. MASADA goes to the well one too many times and falls victim to an overhead suplex. I can’t believe I just used that phrase. Younger works in a couple of chair shots and hits a DDT. He drives a chair into MASADA’s face. MASADA catches Younger up top and hurricanranas him onto two propped up chairs. MASADA follows with a backbreaker and applies a camel clutch. Younger powers out and connects with corner punches. MASADA avoids being whipped into chairs and locks in a boston crab. Younger is able to make the ropes. MASADA drop toe holds him into a chair and hits an overhead suplex. Younger falls victim to a death valley driver onto a chair but won’t stay down. MASADA powerbombs him onto a chair for a nearfall. He continues to attack Younger’s back with a chair shot. Younger gourdbusters MASADA onto a chair and connects with a double stomp for a two count. Younger back drops MASADA onto two propped up chairs and hits Drake’s Landing for a nearfall. Younger follows with a brainbuster onto a chair for the victory at 21:19. These two work well together and definitely know how to inject some meaningful action into a brawl. However, this match suffered from an unnecessarily long duration. They could have easily cut off seven minutes and still accomplished what they set out to do. Instead, this contest reached a point where they were just going from spot to spot without any urgency. The crowd never came alive until MASADA kicked out of Drake’s Landing and the match ended immediately after. I wouldn’t mind seeing a more condensed rematch. **½

Billy Gram and tHURTeen come out after the match. Gram says that he’s not going to slap MASADA and pays respect to J.C. Bailey.

Match #9: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley © vs. Scotty Vortekz
Vortekz starts with some stiff strikes and hurricanranas Moxley off the middle rope. Moxley is sent to the floor after a spin kick but blocks a dive by utilizing scissors. He continues to attack Vortekz with the scissors. Moxley knocks a bloodied Vortekz off the apron and he collides with the guardrail. He uses the scissors to cut Vortekz’s finger. You think I’m lying but I’m not. Moxley connects with a nice shotgun dropkick and hits a hangman’s suplex. Vortekz comes back with a springboard tornado DDT and connects with double knees from the top rope. Moxley responds with two lariats and brings a chair into the ring. He drives it into Vortekz’s midsection. Moxley tries for a chair shot but the referee stops him and calls for the bell. Apparently Vortekz cannot continue due to blood loss. Security tries to take Vortekz backstage but Drake Younger comes out and sends Vortekz back into the ring. The match will continue! Vortekz low blows Moxley and connects with a chair shot. They exchange strikes and Vortekz hits the Swisher Sweep for a nearfall. Moxley rolls through a crossbody and almost gets the win. Vortekz reverses the Hook and Ladder into a rollup for a two count. Moxley hits an ace crusher but gets crotched up top. Vortekz empties thumbtacks and broken glass into the ring. He hits the Blue Moon Dragon into the tacks and glass for a nearfall. Moxley hits the Hook and Ladder onto the tacks and glass to retain his title at 16:31. They worked a smart match and didn’t rely on weapons as much as I thought they would. While stopping the match due to Vortekz’s blood loss didn’t make sense in context, the crowd came alive when the action resumed. The last five minutes genuinely had an atmosphere that made a title change believable and there were a few effective nearfalls. Moxley is at the top of his game right now and Vortekz proved here that he is more than just a deathmatch wrestler. ***¼

The 411: Down With The Sickness 2010 is a significant show storyline-wise but doesn’t have anything extraordinary to offer as far as the actual wrestling is concerned. The highlights are a fun four-way and Aerial Assault match in the undercard followed by a smartly worked main event. However, none of those bouts are required viewing. The rest of the card had some potential but contests like Cole/Sabian and Younger/MASADA suffered from a lack of crowd interest. The good news is that a lot of names seem to be returning to the Combat Zone. Homicide, Chuck Taylor, Ricochet, and Up In Smoke all would be welcome if they decided to appear in CZW more regularly. The addition of Johnny Gargano certainly doesn’t hurt either. This show receives a slight thumbs down but the future is admittedly looking bright.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]