Break It Down: CZW It’s Always Bloody In Philadelphia

It’s Always Bloody In Philadelphia on October 9th, 2010

Egotistico Fantastico makes his way to the ring to start the show. The crowd immediately gets on his case with negative chants. He is tired of dealing with the fans’ disrespect and claims that they are what’s wrong with CZW. Ego takes off his mask and is apparently now known as “The Ego” Robert Anthony. He challenges Jon Moxley to a title match. Moxley comes down to the ring and Anthony says that he’s not ready. He will be ready later tonight and vows to become the new CZW World Heavyweight Champion.

Opening Match: Alex Colon vs. Jonathan Gresham
Gresham dropkicks Colon to the floor and follows out with a moonsault. They battle on the apron where Colon hits a death valley driver. Back in, Gresham snaps off a hurricanrana and lands a standing shooting star press. Colon dropkicks him into the turnbuckles but gets caught with a superkick. Gresham misses a knockout kick and Colon hits the Colon Driver for the win at 4:59. Both men showed a lot in five minutes. I don’t get to watch Gresham much because he primarily wrestles for IWA-MS but I think he would find his place in CZW. The crowd definitely reacts to Colon and I could see him making strides as well. Decent opener that could have used more time. **

Match #2: Tyler Veritas vs. Ruckus
They trade armdrags and Ruckus connects with a handspring elbow. Veritas responds with a dropkick and a flying knee strike. Ruckus hits a side slam but finds himself in a crossface. He’s able to reach the bottom rope. Adam Cole comes down to ringside to support Veritas. Ruckus gets german suplexed into the turnbuckles and falls victim to a crucifix bomb. Veritas starts talking to Cole. Ruckus pushes Veritas towards the ropes and he accidentally collides with Cole’s title belt. Ruckus lands his moonsault leg drop for the victory at 4:20. The short duration is frustrating in this case because these two were showing decent chemistry together. Cole’s new direction is interesting by default simply because he’s not feuding with Sabian anymore. **

Match #3: Nick Gage vs. Greg Excellent
The match immediately goes to the outside where Excellent whips Gage into the guardrail. Excellent hits a corner cannonball on Gage, driving him into the guardrail. In the ring, Gage hits a neckbreaker and connects with three facewash kicks. Excellent is busted open. Gage hits the Chokebreaker for the win at 3:01. Simply a way to make Gage look like a monster heading into his title shot at the next show. I don’t necessarily agree with Excellent taking the fall, as he was in the main event two shows ago and Gage could have beaten virtually anyone here. ¾*

After the match, the lights go out in the arena. A video package is shown, stating that Big Japan Pro Wrestling is sending another representative into the Combat Zone. Abdullah Kobayashi, Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuko Miyamoto, Ryuji Ito, and Jun Kasai come up as possible candidates.

Match #4: Sabian vs. Amasis vs. Ryan Slater vs. Rich Swann
Each competitor represents one-half of each team still left in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. Swann lands a springboard crossbody onto Sabian. They go to the outside where Swann misses a springboard using the guardrail and splats on the concrete floor. Slater snaps off a headscissors on Amasis. Sabian dropkicks Amasis to the outside and connects with a baseball slide. Swann catches Sabian with a moonsault off the apron. In the ring, Swann superkicks Slater but gets back dropped by Sabian. Swann gets caught up in the ropes and Sabian double stomps him. Slater springboard dropkicks Amasis off the apron. Swann tries to use Slater’s back as a springboard but slips. Sabian plants him with a flatliner. Amasis lays out Sabian with a spinebuster but gets powerbombed by Slater. Swann nearly kicks Slater’s head off and all four men are down. Amasis lands a flying crossbody on Sabian but gets caught with a missile dropkick. Slater hits a backbreaker on Sabian. Amasis kicks Slater in the head but Slater responds with a fisherman buster. Slater goes up top but Amasis pushes him to the floor. Amasis follows out with a plancha. Sabian hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Swann, who responds with a superkick and a pele kick. Swann follows with a reverse 450 for the victory at 9:41. Despite lacking flow at times, this was a fine showcase for all four men. They could have afforded to begin more slowly and build to the fast paced action. As it was, this match seemed more like a continuous slew of moves without much structure. Nevertheless, there were still some worthwhile moments and this was a fairly harmless ten minutes of professional wrestling. **½

After the match, Slater elbow drops Amasis onto two chairs.

Match #5: Danny Havoc vs. Devon Moore
They trade mafia kicks and Moore connects with a superkick. He misses a baseball slide and Havoc sends him into the guardrail. Havoc utilizes a chair and connects with a slingshot double stomp from the ring to the floor. Back in, Havoc misses a springboard moonsault and Moore lands a standing shooting star press. Moore follows with a nice slingshot moonsault and monkey flips Havoc into the turnbuckles. Havoc hits a spinning side slam. tHURTeen and Billy Gram run to the ring and start attacking Havoc, causing a no contest at 5:07. Another frustrating finish, mainly because Havoc and Moore were working well together. **

tHURTeen and Gram continue to beat down Havoc. Moore fends off Gram with a superkick but gets caught by an enzuigiri from tHURTeen. Drake Younger and Scotty Vortekz come out to make the save. Younger turns on Vortekz, hitting him with a water jug. Younger hits Drake’s Landing on Havoc and lays out Moore with a water jug shot. He empties shards of glass in the ring and piledrives Moore into it. Younger now sets up a barbed wire table on the floor. He slams Havoc into the glass and puts Vortekz through the barbed wire table. Security finally escorts an enraged Younger to the locker room.

DJ Hyde makes his way to the ring. He introduces Pierre from Jersey All Pro Wrestling. A video is shown of Fat Iadevia, the owner of JAPW, talking about a partnership between CZW and JAPW. On December 11th, there will be a double header featuring JAPW’s 13th Anniversary Show followed by CZW’s Cage of Death XII.

Match #6: CZW World Junior Heavyweight Title: Adam Cole © vs. A.R. Fox
They trade armdrags and find themselves at a stalemate. Fox connects with a dropkick and Cole retreats to the floor, showing his new attitude. Fox hits a slingshot neckbreaker. He misses a moonsault to the outside and Cole superkicks him. Back in, Cole hits a northern lights suplex and enzuigiris Fox off the apron. He thinks about a dive but just tells the referee to count Fox out. Fox reenters the ring by hitting a springboard ace crusher. He follows with a springboard lungblower and bulldogs Cole into the top turnbuckle. Fox hits a tornado DDT but gets caught with a superkick. Cole hits a german suplex along with the Coleateral for a nearfall. Fox pushes him off the apron and catches him with a moonsault. In the ring, Fox misses a springboard leg drop and Cole connects with the Corona Kick for a two count. Tyler Veritas comes down to ringside. Cole brings his title belt into the ring but Veritas stops him from using it. Fox hits a guillotine leg drop followed by a springboard swantan and a springboard splash for a nearfall. They trade pin attempts to no avail. Veritas stops Cole from putting his feet on the ropes for leverage during a pin attempt. While the referee is distracted with Veritas, Cole low blows Fox. Cole rolls him up to retain his title at 11:30. This was a pairing that I was highly looking forward to but a few things brought this match down. Although the crowd had been cynical all night, they were terrible here. Negative chants such as “boring” and “this is awful” were being yelled in the opening portion of the contest. I thought the chants were extremely unwarranted and brought this match down. The screwy finish also isn’t ideal but at least it was productive in a storyline sense. Aside from the drawbacks, there is some quality action to be found in this match. However, I know they can do better and hopefully there’s a rematch somewhere down the line. **½

Cole attacks Fox after the match until Veritas pulls him off. Cole slaps Veritas and storms away.

Match #7: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley © vs. Robert Anthony
Moxley attacks before the bell. Anthony brings the fight to him, landing a moonsault from the top rope. Moxley tries to stop his momentum by attacking the left arm. Anthony crotches him on the top rope and dropkicks him to the floor. Moxley fights back with some stiff chops but Anthony sends him into the guardrail. Anthony takes time to gloat around ringside while Moxley is busted open. In the ring, Anthony hits Taco Pizza and applies a cobra clutch. Moxley fights out and connects with a vicious clothesline. They trade forearms and Moxley clotheslines Anthony to the outside. Moxley brings three panes of glass and two chairs into the ring. Anthony hits a german suplex and purposely breaks a pane of glass with a chair shot. That’s an awesome heel tactic. Moxley hits an ace crusher and props up another pane of glass. Anthony comes off the top rope but Moxley catches him and powerbombs him through the pane of glass. Anthony responds by sending Moxley through a pane of glass with a death valley driver. He follows with the Taco Bender for a nearfall. Moxley catches Anthony with a small package to retain his title at 14:43. Moxley is skilled at delivering enjoyable brawls without a heavy reliance on weapons. Anthony was also on his game and this match did a lot to establish his new character. The match was going along nicely and the panes of glass were used wisely. The finish came rather abruptly, as they had the crowd’s attention and could have made this match more memorable. Still, this was a good brawl and I support Anthony’s new role. ***

Nick Gage comes out after the match with a barbed wire bat. Moxley and Anthony flee to the back. Gage says that he’s going to carve Moxley with barbed wire at the next show. He will become the new CZW World Heavyweight Champion and destroy Moxley in the process.

Match #8: Homicide vs. Sami Callihan
Callihan charges at the bell and connects with multiple strikes. They exchange chops and forearms. Callihan works in a brutal headbutt, busting Homicide open. This fires Homicide up and he comes back with a flurry of offense. He takes control until Callihan shrugs off a tornado DDT and hits a saito suplex. Homicide fights off a stretch muffler but gets caught with a series of strikes. Callihan accidentally kicks the referee and Homicide hits a michinoku driver. Homicide misses a diving headbutt. Callihan hits his leaping russian leg sweep and applies a stretch muffler. Joe Gacy appears at ringside, so Callihan breaks the hold and catches Gacy with a dive. Callihan looks to amount some offense in the ring but Gacy trips him from ringside. Homicide connects with a lariat and hits an ace crusher for the win at 11:25. This match was built to effectively at the last show but ended up being a disappointment. Callihan is transitioning into a babyface role and an epic match with someone like Homicide would have cemented his status. Instead, we received a twelve-minute exhibition with a referee bump and interference. I’m sure there are some people that will consider purchasing this DVD to witness Homicide’s first match back in CZW. Unfortunately, he returns in a decent yet totally forgettable contest. **½

Gacy attacks Callihan after the match. Homicide fakes an alliance with Gacy before attempting a Cop Killer. Gacy escapes the maneuver and heads to the back. Homicide and Callihan show respect for each other after the match.

The 411: It's Always Bloody In Philadelphia is the weakest offering from CZW in awhile. The first half of the card features some interesting pairings but the matches are either too short or plagued with interference. The main event should be a talking point, but Homicide's first match back in CZW is ultimately underwhelming. The bright spot on the show is the transition from Egotistico Fantastico to Robert Anthony. He has a good match with Moxley and his new direction seems promising. Despite a few interesting storyline progressions, there's nothing to see on this show. Hopefully the wrestling quality picks up as CZW heads toward Cage Of Death.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]