Break It Down: CZW From Small Beginnings Comes Great Things

CZW From Small Beginnings Comes Great Things on January 7th, 2011

Danny Havoc makes his way to the ring to start the show. He’s been thinking about what he wants to accomplish before his career is over. A dream match against Jun Kasai in April came to mind. DJ Hyde comes to the ring but Drake Younger quickly interrupts. Younger claims that he is using his creative control to reserve a match against Kasai in April. Hyde informs Younger that not only will Havoc battle Kasai in April, but Younger will face Kasai in a no rope barbed wire match when wXw returns to Philadelphia this year. Additionally, Younger will step into the ring with B-Boy next month at the anniversary show. Younger tries to hide his frustration as he leaves the ring. Hyde ends the segment by announcing that Havoc will represent CZW in Big Japan in March.

Opening Match: Orange Cassidy vs. A.R. Fox
Cassidy stalls early on. Fox catches him with a dropkick and comes off the top rope with a back elbow. Cassidy spits orange juice into Fox’s face and hits a DDT. He takes control as the crowd gets on his case. Fox comes back with an ace crusher and a lariat. He follows with a spinning brainbuster. Cassidy retreats to the floor and Fox takes him out with a dive over the ringpost. Back in, Cassidy hits a michinoku driver and applies the “orange squeeze.” Thankfully, Fox is able to escape the hold. Fox hits the Kryptonite Krunch for the win at 8:01. Cassidy really drained the life out of this opener. His constant stalling and uninteresting offense made an eight-minute match feel much longer. Fox delivered his usual solid performance but the terribleness of Cassidy was too much to overcome. *½

Match #2: Akuma vs. Jonathan Gresham
They start with some chain wrestling. Akuma wins a strike exchange, causing Gresham to regroup on the floor. Akuma misses a kick and collides with the ringpost. In the ring, Gresham applies a half crab. Akuma responds with an enzuigiri and synchs in a surfboard. He returns the favor by applying a half crab of his own but Gresham reaches the bottom rope. Gresham armdrags out of a gory special and snaps off a hurricanrana. He hits a tornado DDT and lands a dive to the outside. Back in, Gresham connects with multiple strikes and hits a brainbuster for a nearfall. Akuma responds with a german suplex and a nasty powerbomb for a two count. Akuma follows with a lungblower for the victory at 9:44. These two didn’t have the best chemistry together, as there were numerous awkward moments throughout the match. Every time the crowd got into the action, they were quickly quieted by a sloppy exchange. Gresham’s post-match promo suggests that these two will have a rematch, so hopefully they can improve upon this outing in their eventual rematch. **

Match #3: tHURTeen vs. Devon Moore
Moore snaps off a few armdrags and tHURTeen retreats to the floor. In the ring, they trade headscissors and Moore hits a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster. tHURTeen avoids a lionsault and applies a bow and arrow. He transitions into a camel clutch and turns it into a pin attempt to no avail. tHURTeen dodges a charge and hits a tornado DDT. He takes control until Moore comes back with a spinebuster. tHURTeen reverses an alabama slam into an innovative piledriver. He brings two chairs into the ring and props them up. They battle up top and tHURTeen gourdbusters Moore onto the chairs. He follows with double knees from the top rope. Moore blocks a springboard maneuver with a superkick. Moore hits a brainbuster onto a chair for the win at 7:28. Considering that these two men battled in Cage of Death at the last show, there wasn’t much hatred shown. They were content to just have a fine back and forth match. The crowd wasn’t really reacting to any of the big spots and this contest kind of fell flat. **

DJ Hyde comes to the ring for more announcements. He announces Chuck Taylor, Zack Sabre Jr., and Johnny Gargano for Best of the Best. He also announces Jaki Numazawa and Ashiti Zakata for Tournament of Death. Hyde calls out Greg Excellent, who makes his way to the ring. Excellent says that John Zandig built CZW, not Hyde. Excellent says some things that border on a “shoot” and it catches the crowd by surprise. Hyde demands a match next month against Excellent.

Sami Callihan and Alex Colon start brawling backstage. Maven Bentley separates them and tells them to settle their differences in the ring…

Match #4: Alex Colon vs. Sami Callihan
Callihan’s spot in Best of the Best is on the line. Callihan blocks a hurricanrana and applies the stretch muffler. Colon turns it into a pin attempt for a two count. Callihan synchs in the hold again but Colon reaches the bottom rope. The action goes to the floor where Callihan connects with a few chops. Colon uses a steel support beam to hit sliced bread. Callihan clotheslines him off the apron. Colon blocks a dive with a chair shot. In the ring, Colon connects with a corner yakuza kick and adds more kicks. Callihan hits a dragon screw leg whip. Colon leaps off the top rope into a powerbomb from Callihan. Colon connects with a running elbow strike but gets slammed down to the canvas after a failed reverse hurricanrana attempt. Callihan hits a saito suplex followed by a sliding forearm for a nearfall. He locks in the stretch muffler but Colon grabs hold of the bottom rope. Colon knees out of a brainbuster attempt but falls on his bad leg. The referee calls for staff to check on him. Colon suddenly gets to his feet and tries a rollup to no avail. They exchange strikes and Colon sneaks in a low blow. Colon follows with a superkick for the victory at 10:52. This was probably the best performance that I’ve seen from Colon. Callihan based the entire match on being able to win with the stretch muffler. When Colon realized that he couldn’t fight off the hold, he resorted to cheating in order to gain the victory. This match woke up the crowd while telling a smart and entertaining story. I look forward to their rematch at the anniversary show. ***

Callihan puts the referee in the stretch muffler after the match. A wave of staff rush the ring and restrain him. Maven Bentley orders Callihan to the back as he hits a chokebreaker on a staff member.

Match #5: Joe Gacy and Ryan Slater vs. Ryan McBride and Rich Swann
Both teams start brawling before the bell. Slater drops McBride across the guardrail and slams him onto a chair. In the ring, Swann connects with a dropkick on Gacy and McBride adds a handspring moonsault. Swann snaps off a hurricanrana on Slater. Gacy blind tags into the match and catches Swann with a shoulder tackle. The Runaways isolate him. Highlights include a nice guillotine leg drop from Slater and a suplex onto the concrete floor. Swann takes out Slater with a spinning gamenguiri and makes the tag. McBride dropkicks Gacy to the outside and drives Slater into the corner. He dives over the ringpost and onto the Runaways. Back in, Irish Drive-By hit an enzuigiri-wheelbarrow suplex combination on Slater. McBride hits his flipping death valley driver on Gacy and applies a double submission on the Runaways. They’re both able to reach the bottom rope. Slater hits a fisherman buster on McBride. The Runaways follow with a backbreaker-flying elbow drop combination for the win at 12:38. They planted the seeds for a solid tag team match but lost the crowd down the stretch. There were some awkward moments toward the end that held this contest back. I still think that Gacy and Slater work more effectively as a tag team. Swann, on the other hand, has seen his stock rise considerably and CZW should consider giving him a singles run. **½

tHURTeen comes out to aid the Runaways in a post-match attack. Gacy has a change of heart and lays out tHURTeen with a clothesline. The Runaways hit their backbreaker-flying elbow drop combination on tHURTeen and continue the attack. Maven Bentley comes out and suspends the Runaways.

Match #6: CZW World Junior Heavyweight Title: Adam Cole © vs. Ruckus
Tyler Veritas is on commentary. Ruckus snaps off a headscissors and connects with an enzuigiri. Cole tries to leave but Veritas stops him. Cole wheelbarrow suplexes Ruckus onto the apron. Ruckus responds with a shooting star press off the apron. Mia Yim crotches Ruckus on the top rope, allowing Cole to take control. Commentary calls Cole and Yim the “Spencer and Heidi of CZW.” As a fellow Hills fan, that makes me extremely happy. Ruckus avoids a flying crossbody and lands a standing moonsault. He hits a rolling fisherman suplex but gets caught by a superkick. Cole hits Coleateral for a two count. Ruckus connects with a double stomp. Yim tries to get involved again but Veritas confronts her at ringside. The distraction allows Cole to hit an inverted DDT to retain his title at 9:21. This match was merely used to advance the ongoing Cole/Veritas feud. Since their encounter at Cage Of Death XII was impromptu and rushed, I’m glad that they’re going to receive an opportunity to deliver something worthwhile. **¼

After the match, Cole runs down Veritas. He calls Veritas by his real name, Ty Hagen. Veritas eventually has enough of the trash talk and enters the ring. Yim distracts him, allowing Cole to hit an inverted DDT. Cole and Yim stand tall.

Dewey Donovan slowly makes his way to the ring and says “he’s here.” Nick Gage’s music starts playing and some hooded figure comes out. I don’t think anyone in the crowd actually thinks that it is Gage. The figure reveals himself to be Drew Gulak. He does his best Nick Gage ring introduction impersonation and references the bank robbery. Gulak announces that Donovan is his new “belt transport specialist” and continues to ramble. Gulak is quickly becoming the most annoying and least entertaining wrestler that I’ve seen in quite some time.

Match #7: CZW World Tag Team Titles: Sabian and Joker © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
Sabian and Jay start with some chain wrestling and neither man can gain the advantage. Mark catches Joker with a yakuza kick and the Briscoes follow with stereo shoulder blocks. They continue the double team offense with stereo facewash kicks in the corner. Mark finds himself in the wrong corner and Philly’s Most Wanted take control. Joker pulls Mark to the floor and Sabian follows out with a dive. They isolate him until he connects with a superkick on Joker and makes the tag. Jay flatlines Sabian into the turnbuckles and hits a death valley driver. Mark adds a flying elbow drop but gets taken down by a hurricanrana. Sabian plants Mark with a springboard tornado DDT and a flatliner. Jay hits a spinebuster on Sabian but falls victim to an overhead suplex from Joker. Mark connects with a missile dropkick on Joker and all four men are down. Joker overhead suplexes Mark into the turnbuckles and hits a backcracker on Jay. Sabian connects with a flying double stomp on Jay and Joker hits a corner cannonball on Mark. Jay responds with a death valley driver on Joker and the Briscoes follow with the doomsday device. Sabian pulls the referee out of the ring during a pin attempt and punches him. I’m assuming that’s a disqualification at 15:50. Not exactly the ideal way to put over the new champions and reintroduce the Briscoes. The match was moving along nicely until the lame finish. This show has been hurting as far as match quality is concerned and needed this match to come through. The problem wasn’t with either team, but rather with the booking. **½

Jay grabs a microphone and demands a rematch next month – no disqualification. If they wanted to setup a rematch, there were much better ways of going about it than a lame disqualification finish. Sabian tries to deny the rematch but Maven Bentley makes it official.

Match #8: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley © vs. Brodie Lee
Moxley attacks Lee during his entrance. Lee throws him into the guardrail. Moxley answers with a dropkick and lands a dive to the floor. He russian leg sweeps Lee into the guardrail and hits him with a chair. Moxley avoids a chop and Lee connects with the ringpost. Lee knocks Moxley off the apron and through a table at ringside. Lee then hip tosses him into the table. In the ring, Moxley dropkicks a chair into Lee’s face and hits a DDT onto it. Lee comes back with a chair shot but the crowd boos. Apparently, Lee didn’t swing hard enough and the crowd starts chanting “overrated.” The action goes back to the floor where Lee hits a suplex. Moxley lands a crossbody in the ring and applies a figure four. He connects with a clothesline as the crowd chants “boring.” They battle up top and Moxley hits a superplex. Lee connects with a boot and hits a chokeslam. Staff members bring a pane of glass to the ring and prop it in the corner. Moxley hits an ace crusher and applies a sleeper. Lee backs him into the pane of glass, shattering it. Lee hits the Truck Stop for a nearfall. He sets up a table in the ring and dumps thumbtacks onto it. Moxley powerbombs him through the table to retain his title at 11:45. While I thought the crowd’s negative reaction was harsh early on, the competitors did absolutely nothing to prove them wrong. The two weapon spots toward the finish were extremely unnecessary and added nothing to the match because they weren’t built to at all. The rest of the action was mundane and ordinary. I’m usually a fan on Moxley’s title defenses, but this was his worst thus far. *

The 411: From Small Beginnings Comes Great Things is not the best way to start 2011 for CZW. After the promotion ended 2010 strong with Cage Of Death XII, they definitely failed on the follow-up. Match quality peaked at three stars, with a solid contest between Callihan and Colon. The rest of the show was pretty average up until the main event, which ended up being the worst match on the show. There’s so many jokes that I can make about the title of this show as well but I’ll refrain. Recommendation to avoid.

Final Score:  4.5   [ Poor ]