411 Video Review: CZW Best Of The Best 3

CZW BEST OF THE BEST 3
April 12, 2003

This is CZW’s second biggest event of the year, the Best of the Best junior heavyweight tournament. I reviewed 2002’s edition last week, so I figured I’d have a look at the 2003 edition. (NOTE: For those of you who followed my work over from Rolling Germans, I will be continuing to review shows from this one onwards at 411, while posting reviews of older shows exclusively at RG – www.rollinggermans.8m.com).

The talent line up for the 2003 tournament is stellar – Trent Acid, B-Boy, Deranged, Sonjay, Ruckus, Ric Blade, Tony Mamaluke, Sonjay, Chris Cash, Jason Cross, Jimmy Rave and AJ Styles. Living up to the reputation of the past two tournaments, especially the 2002 one, is going to be hard, but there’s a lot of talented people there.

If you didn’t read my review of Best Of The Best 2002, why didn’t you? Anyway, check it out, but here are the rules again: Twelve competitors, Four three way dances in the first round and the person who gets pinned is eliminated. The remaining two wrestle each other in the second round, and then we go like a normal tournament from there. Get it? If you don’t, just follow the review.

– Some notes before we proceed. Thanks for everyone’s feedback on the first review, I enjoyed it all. I’ll strive to bring you the best CZW reviews on the net, and lets face it, I do write the best CZW reviews on the net. Thanks to Justin Baisden and Widro for giving me a chance. BIG thanks to Mike Campbell for all his support and for not being a hypocrite like a certain other wrestling site owner who’s name starts with “D”.

BTW, there’s an awesome video package at the start of this tape.

MATCH RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Cash vs. Ruckus – These guys have quite a history in CZW and this match was booked in the tournament to blow off their feud which had been running since September of 2002. These three had a ****1/4 match at the Night Of Infamy event in November 2002, so lets see if they can even attempt to top that. CZW and ROH ran a double-header this particular night, but CZW doubled ROH’s crowd. Cash brings a ladder out. Well, there is no DQ in this match because of their past history. Ruckus is the junior heayvweight champion and his title will be on the line here. They start off with some contrived three way gymnastics, in tribute to their Night Of Infamy match. Sonjay and Ruckus go at it and Ruckus gets a headscissors. Sonjay escapes a submission by Ruckus and Cash comes in. Cash and Sonjay tussle and Sonjay gives Cash a german suplex as Ruckus gives Sonjay a sunset flip. Get it? Sonjay dumps Ruckus out onto Cash and follows with a beautiful 360 plancha. Back in, Cash and Sonjay trade forums and Cash nails the cutthroat suplex. Ruckus nails Cash with a fisherman’s suplex and Cash takes a powder. Ruckus throws a ladder onto him and follows off the apron with a shooting star press! Sonjay sets the ladder up against a beam and backdrops Ruckus into it. Cash nails Sonjay with a chair and they brawl down to the eagle’s nest. Ruckus takes them out with a moonsault off the bleechers. Ruckus sets a table up at the bottom of the stage and he and Cash go up. Ruckus nails Cash with his own move, the CASH FLO, OFF THE BALCONY!!! And the table doesn’t break!! Nevertheless, Ruckus pins Cash to end it at 10:06. But wait, its not over. Ruckus sets the table back up and takes Cash back up top. Ruckus just THROWS Cash off the balcony, and Cash misses the table! Ouch. Ruckus returns to the ring to celebrate, but Cash crawls back with a chair and Pillmanizes Ruckus, injuring him and taking him out of the tournament. This match was some okay action but nowhere near what they’re capable of. **

Tony Mamaluke vs. Trent Acid vs. Ric Blade – For the record, I am not a fan of Ric Blade, but I don’t bash him because of it. He has participated in some acceptable matches, but often doesn’t perform well enough. To clarify: I feel indifferent to Blade. As for Acid, the guy is on a roll and is one of the best performers around. They start off by throwing some taunts at each other. Blade springs in with a double dropkick. He hits a backbreaker on Acid but Mamaluke takes him down in a stretch. Acid throws Mamaluke out Acid goes to follow with a plancha but Blade runs up the ropes simultaneously and takes Acid back down to the canvas. Tony comes back in and catches Blade out of the air into an armbar. He gets a suplex and then a dragon sleeper. Acid breaks it and hits a roaring elbow on Mamaluke who bails. Blade hurricanranas Acid to the outside. He follows with a nice twisting tope to take both guys out. Back in, Mamaluke hits a DDT on Blade and Acid superkicks Tony. Acid goes up but Blade joins him and holds him in a superplex. Mamaluke joins them (!) and it ends up in Acid hitting a sunset flip on Mamaluke who gives Blade a german suplex off the top, and Blade does a moonsault all the way to the other side of the ring to sell. Jesus, it’s hard to describe these things. It gets two! All three guys trade punches. They all suplex each other. I’m not going to bother explaining how that works. Criss cross and Mamaluke takes out Acid’s knee, then holds him in a Sicilian stretch. Blade swantons onto Mamaluke from the top and everyone is out. Mamaluke comes back to hold both guys in a stretch at the same time! All the guys escape and Mamaluke takes Acid out, but Blade delivers a spine splitter to Mamaluke to pin him at 8:22. Acid hits a yakuza kick on Mamaluke just because he can. I totally short changed that match on first viewing, but since then it has grown on me. It’s a nice 10 minute spotfest with some GREAT spots, no inaction, and no blown spots. Really fun. **3/4

Deranged vs. Lil Cholo vs. B-Boy – Cholo and B-Boy are from the SoCal indie scene, Deranged is from JAPW and also ROH where he is in Special K. They do some three way gymnastics, and Deranged bulldogs both guys. B-Boy and Cholo bail, and Deragned teases going out before doing a Dragon Kid esque moonsault from the second rope to the floor. Back in, Deranged nails a nice armdrag and headscissors on Cholo. Cholo drops Deranged onto the apron. Deranged jumps onto B-Boy, attempting a hurricanrana, but Boy just throws him into the ringpost. Brutal. Cholo follows out with a headscissors onto an unsuspecting B-Boy. Back in, Cholo and B-Boy go at it before Deranged hits them with a double dropkick. Deranged gets double teamed with kicks all over the place. Cholo suspends Deranged on his knee and Boy kicks him in the head. Cholo stretches Deranged on the turnbuckles and B-Boy kicks him in the nuts. Cholo takes B-Boy down but gets crotched. B-Boy dropkicks Deranged in the corner and does the same to Cholo. B-Boy nails a huge spinebuster on Deranged for two. Boy gets frustrated and drops Deranged on his head with a suplex for two. Boy suplexes Cholo allowing Deranged to hit a stomp onto him. All three guys go up and all come tumbling down in a Russian legsweep/superplex combo. It gets two on Deranged. Deranged goes for something fancy but Cholo dropkicks him and clotheslines him for two. Deranged hits the code red on B-Boy for two. Cholo slams Deranged but B-Boy dumps him. Boy hits the cross special brainbuster on Deranged to eliminate him at 8:50. Deranged gets a standing ovation, and he deserves it because he shone here in his CZW debut. This was a solid three-way but was way too long. *1/2

AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Jason Cross – This was supposed to be the clash of the NWA Wildside guys…. But what’s this? Jay Briscoe, who hadn’t been seen in CZW since he and his brother left in April 2002 to go to ROH, rushes the ring and beats on AJ. All four guys are in the ring brawling, as security tries to break it up. Zandig makes an announcement from the eagle’s nest, making sure to take a shot at ROH for no reason. Zandig says Briscoe is welcome back, and that the match is now a four-way. The match gets underway as all four guys go at it, taking each other down in moves before facing off. Jason Cross was supposed to be in Best Of The Best 2002 but no showed because he was “retiring”. Rave takes Cross down into an armbar, which Briscoe breaks by legdropping Rave, which AJ capitalizes on by dropkicking Briscoe. Brilliant. Rave pulls AJ to the outside but eats post. Briscoe misses a pescado and Styles stops Cross from diving by superkicking him. AJ hits a tope out onto Briscoe. Rave follows with a high plancha onto Styles. Cross tops it off with a BEAUTIFUL twisting tope onto all three guys. Back in Cross and hits a nice spinning neckbreaker on Rave. Outside, AJ crotches Briscoe on the rail. Rave gives Cross a tiger suplex in the ring as Briscoe makes his way back in. Cross nails Briscoe with a brainbuster as Styles does the same to Rave. This match is great. AJ hits Cross with his quebrada/reverse DDT combo for two. He goes for it again but Cross nails a neckbreaker. Rave hits a DDT off the top on Briscoe for two as Cross hits a tomikaze on AJ. The action is so fast. Cross goes up and misses the SHOOTING STAR LEGDROP! (Not as good as Mdogg20’s SSL from BOTB2002). Rave locks AJ in a crossface and Briscoe hits Cross with the Tiger Driver 91! For THREE! Jason Cross has been eliminated!! AJ reverses a DDT by giving Rave a northern lights suplex for two. Styles powerbombs Rave and goes for the Styles Clash, but Briscoe knocks Styles down for two. Briscoe gives Styles a spinebuster and holds him in a boston crab. Jimmy Rave locks a crossface on AJ at the same time, and AJ TAPS!!! It’s over at 7:16, as Briscoe and Rave advance. The fans boo heavily, and I agree. This match was OFF THE PAGE, but was WAY too short. They gave Deranged/B-Boy/Cholo 9 minutes and they give this 7? This could have easily gone 15, and had it done so, would no doubt have hit five stars. As it was, what is there is EXCELLENT. ***

NON-TOURNAMENT MATCH:

Battle Royal For A Shot At A CZW Title Of Your Choice: Talent includes: Adam Flash, Nate Hatred, Hurricane Kid, Nick Berk, John House, and the list goes on, as there is 30 guys in this. – I’m not going to recap this battle royal, as it isn’t worth it. It goes for WAY too long, clocking in at 30:41. The important information is: Nate Hatred wins. When he goes backstage, tag partner Gage is cutting an interview and congratulates his teammate, saying that with this victory they can focus on the tag straps again. Hatred says “I’m going for the world title” and puts the first big piece of the puzzle that is the H8 Club breakup, which would become a long-running and great feud for CZW over 2003. * for the whole battle royal, as it really pulled the show to a halt.

SECOND ROUND

Mark Briscoe vs. Sonjay Dutt – Ruckus is too injured to continue in the tournament, so MARK Briscoe makes his return and is given Ruckus’ spot, not before Chris Cash nails Sonjay with the cutthroat suplex. This doesn’t annoy me in the slightest as the Briscoe’s are great workers and I’m glad to see them back in CZW (their return did not last long however, but more on that in later reviews). Briscoe goes for a quick cover on the out cold Sonjay, but he kicks out. Sonjay escapes another cutthroat suplex and hits a hurricanrana and an armdrag. Briscoe escapes but Sonjay hits another armdrag. Sonjay escapes a headscissor and goes into a headlock. Briscoe tries to escape before finally hitting a belly to back suplex for two. Head and arm suplex gets two, and Briscoe goes up. Sonjay reverses a tornado DDT and hits a move he calls the “Indian Summer” for two. Briscoe comes back with a t-bone suplex and a knee strike in the corner for two. Sonjay nails a german suplex and a Pheonix splash and the bell rings?? What? Frank Talent, the Athletic Commissioner is in the ring, trying to take over the show or something. He claims the time limit has expired (he has been counting from the moment Ruckus entered the ring, which is wrong). Zandig comes out and restarts it. Good way to put sympathy in Sonjay but I don’t agree with the method. Sonjay and Mark trade counter holds and go to the mat with some back and forth stuff. Briscoe nails a moonsault for two. Brainbuster gets two, as Sonjay won’t give up. Briscoe goes up and Sonjay runs up and hits him with a german suplex, followed by the Phoenix Splash for three at 8:40. That is the total time from the moment the Mark/Sonjay match started, including the restart shit. This was an okay match but was nothing special. *3/4

Ric Blade vs. Trent Acid – Come on Acid, do me proud. Acid is so good at being a heel that he’s practically a face. They start off with a fast sequence and Blade gets the better of Trent. Blade sticks in some kicks and then slaps Acid. They go into a nother missed kick sequence, homaging a good sequence they did in their tag match at Cage Of Death 4 in December 2002. Acid takes a powder and jaws the fans. Blade brings him back in nails a northern lights suplex. Acid reverses another one by hitting an orange crush for two. These guys aren’t clicking as well as they did earlier, as Blade’s weaknesses in his spotty jump/flip style are being seriously exposed. Acid hits a knee charge in the corner. Acid nails a missile dropkick and spinning splash for two. Blade goes out and suckers Acid into a cheap shot before springing back in with a DDT for two. Blade goes looking for something on the outside as Acid rolls out. Blade sets up some chairs and lays Acid on them. He goes back into the ring and nails a swanton tope over the top and onto the chairs. Good looking spot. Back in, Blade hits a suplex for two. Acid counters a Blade dive by kicking him for two. Blade reverses a hurricanrana by hitting a drug bomb. He hits Sliced Bread #2 and nails a fallaway moonsault for two. Blade is so derivative that he’s not entertaining. Blade misses a 450 splash and Acid hits (actually misses) a yakuza kick. Acid drops Blade on his head with an inverted wheelbarrow suplex for the win at 10:43. Man, this was ugly in spots, totally thanks to Blade. While their first threeway was choreographed nicely, this was not. Still, Acid won, so good enough. *3/4

B-Boy vs. Lil Cholo – So far the second round has not been as good as the stellar second round of last years tournament, so lets see if this can change that. They start off with a sequence to establish that they know each other (they have worked each other in Southern California several times). More criss-cross and Cholo shoves B-Boy out. Cholo DDTs Boy on the concrete in a sick spot. Back in, Cholo hits a legdrop off the second rope for two. B-Boy gets revenge with a neckbreaker and some stiff kicks for two. Boy hits a Russian legsweep and holds on in a stretch. Cholo makes the ropes and B-Boy gets a running palm strike. They exchange more palm strikes and kicks before clotheslining each other. Cholo gets a bodypress for two. B-Boy comes back with a suplex into the turnbuckle, sending Cholo to the mat on his head. B-Boy slams Cholo and goes up to hit a legdrop for two. Cholo escapes a suplex with a DDT. B-Boy catches Cholo coming off the top and nails a DVD into Michinoku Driver for the win at 8:53. Solid contest from these two, but nowhere near as good as Boy’s match at BOTB2002. Still, better than the other stuff in the second round so far. **1/4

Jimmy Rave vs. Jay Briscoe – They tussle and bussle just like most of these matches start, but then go into a great sequence of Rave hitting a flurry of kicks into an armbar, then Briscoe hitting a flurry of forearms before getting clotheslined. Stiff shit. More forearms from Briscoe and a dragon screw makes Rave’s left leg prone. Jay goes for the leg but Rave pulls him into a crossface. Briscoe escape with more forearms. He dropkicks Rave’s knee out and powerbombs him for two. Rave hits a northern lights suplex for two followed by a snap suplex for two. Rave holds Briscoe in an armbar but Briscoe makes the ropes. Rave isn’t selling the leg, which bothers me. He gives Jay a german suplex and goes into another armbar. Briscoe escapes by pulling Rave into the air and hits another powerbomb for two. Briscoe sits out with a facebuster and goes up. Rave joins him and gives him a belly to belly off the top, before following down with a DDT for two. Briscoe hits another dragons crew and another powerbomb, but Rave kicks out again. Rave escapes a tilt-a-whirl by locking in a crossface. Briscoe makes the ropes again! Jay hits another powerbomb for two. Alright, we get it Jay. This isn’t Japan. Jay hits ANOTHER powerbomb to beat Rave at 8:42. The leg psychology went nowhere but there was some good action in here and this was the most well-worked match in the second round. **1/2

THIRD ROUND

Trent Acid vs. Sonjay Dutt – In an effort to cut show time down (last years tournament went for five hours), they’re jumping from the second round to the third round with no interval match. These two had a good match at “One More Time” in December 2002 (***+ if I remember right), so hopefully they can match it or beat it here. Acid goes for a yakuza kick straight away but Sonjay school boys him for a quick near fall. Charge in the corner and Sonjay hits a slam. He misses the phoenix splash and cops a roaring elbow. What a start. Acid hits the high knee strike in the corner and DDTs Sonjay for one. Acid holds Sonjay in a headlock, just because he can. Sonjay is the obvious underdog in this tournament, and he plays it well. Acid gets a neckbreaker in the corner for two before going back to the headlock. He keeps kicking Sonjay down as the fans get behind Sonjay. Sonjay flips Acid into a facebuster and gets the crowd behind him for a yakuza kick. Standing shooting star press gets two! Sonjay flips in with a hurricanrana for two. Another hurricanrana gets two. Mahistral cradle gets two! Reverse rana gets two! The near falls are killing me here. Come on Sonjay my boy!! Acid springs in and hits a yakuza kick to the back of the head, and then one to the front. Then HOMICIDE RUNS IN!! Oh my God! This was his first appearance ever in CZW, and he immediately hits Trent with the best vertebreaker ever (dropping Trent on his FACE!) This started the Trent/Homicide feud that went for a few months in CZW, and then carried over to ROH as Feinstein cashed in on their success here. You can read more of my thoughts on their feud in the next review featuring the first Acid/Homcide one on one match ever. Needless to say, Sonjay hits the phoenix splash and gets the pin over Acid here to advance at 6:39. Obviously not as good as their December 2002 match, but that got 15 minutes and this got seven. Good while it lasted. **

Jay Briscoe vs. B-Boy – Feeling out process to start before B-Boy locks on an armbar, working on an arm that was supposedly injured in the Briscoe/Rave match. Briscoe makes the ropes and gets a clothesline. Jay rolls over a suplex for two. Jay stomps a mudhole and lands a huge forearm for two. Dropkick doesn’t work either, cause B-Boy ain’t giving up. B-Boy reverses a whip and PLANTS Jay with a DDT. Boy gets a backbreaker and works on the arm. Spinebuster gets two. Boy slams Jay but misses the top rope legdrop, allowing Jay to hit a sitout powerbomb. Briscoe nails ANOTHER powerbomb, this time a sitout crucifix bomb. B-Boy escapes a sleeper and nails a spinning fisherman’s buster for two. Jay escapes the Cross Special Brainbuster but falls victim to a regular brainbuster. Jay comes back with a Death Valley Driver for two. Jay goes for the Jay Driller but B-Boy escapes and nails two belly to back suplexes before hitting the Shining Wizard out of nowhere to advance at 10:27. This was a very solid match, definitely the best out of these second and third rounds. **1/2

NON TOURNAMENT MATCH

CZW World Title: Messiah vs. Nick Gage – Let me set this up: Messiah beat Justice Pain for the title at Cage Of Death 4 in December. Gage had come close to winning the belt in 2002. Messiah even cost Gage what was certain to be a victory against Pain for the title at Beyond The Barrier in October 2002 (which was a **** match, by the way). So the event after COD4, Messiah, Gage and Pain had a threeway, setting up the first ever Messiah vs. Gage contest at “Live Again” in January 2003, where Gage was again cheated out of a victory. They interfered in each others’ matches at the Uncivilized event in Feb 2003, then competed in a tag match at Divide & Conquer in March 2003. Now, Gage finally gets Messiah one on one again, with the belt on the line. Messiah immediately tackles Gage and tries to take out his legs. Gage works over the leg. Gage escapes a hold but misses a roaring elbow and falls into a single leg boston crab. He breaks the ropes and Messiah kicks the knee in the corner. Gage is slow on a charge to the corner because of his leg, and Messiah gets him in a tornado DDT. Gage doesn’t let him go the whole way, instead suplexes him into the turnbuckle and belly to bellies him for two. Gage throws Messiah out and goes up top, nailing a flipping plancha and eating some concrete on the side. They brawl down towards the eagle’s nest. Gage sets up a table below the stage and they go up top. They tease going over the edge until Gage grabs Messiah in a piledriver, and hits a PILEDRIVER OFF THE STAGE!!! SMASH!! That’s a seven foot drop, what a bump. What a bump. Gage can barely walk, as they make their way back to the ring. In the ring, it gets two! Messiah barely manages to get off a suplex for two. Gage grabs Messiah and delivers the PAIN THRILLER. That is Justice Pain’s old finisher, and a great bit of story because Messiah’s first CZW match was a loss against Pain in a great contest, so Gage is trying to use anything to get the win. For those who don’t know, the Pain Thriller is like Kurt Angle’s Olympic Slam, but instead of the opponent landing on their back, they land on their neck. It’s as beautiful as it sounds. However, Messiah kicks out! Gage props Messiah up top and hits a belly to back suplex off the ropes. Gage summons the strength to hit some footscrapes on Messiah in the corner. Nate Hatred, Gage’s tag partner, runs in to the ring and grabs Messiah’s manager, setting him up in the corner for some of Gage’s scrapes. Gage whips Messiah towards Hatred, but Messiah reverses and Hatred delivers a high spinebuster to his own partner! Hatred professes that it was unintentional. Messiah chairs Gage’s legs to take him down and retain the belt at 11:57. Once again Gage has been screwed out of the belt. Hatred laughs at Gage as he goes back to the locker room, motioning that he wants the world title. Gage gets his heat back by delivering the Chokebreaker to Messiah’s manager, the Dew. He limps out of there to an ovation. This match should have been longer as it was quite a good contest. It seemed like they rushed to the big bump too early and I feel it really hurt the match. All the shenanigans at the end was fine because I wasn’t expecting Gage to win and for him to win only to go into a feud where he doesn’t need the belt doesn’t make sense. As it stands, this is a solid contest. **3/4

FINAL ROUND:

B-Boy vs. Sonjay Dutt – Sonjay comes into the ring without his usual dancing, because its all business tonight, baby. They lock up and go into a criss-cross and Sonjay nails an armdrag and sends B-Boy out. He follows with a great flipping plancha. Back in, a running elbow gets two. Sonjay slams B-Boy and legdrops him twice for two. Sonjay charges B-Boy but gets slammed into the corner. Boy runs across the ring with a dropkick to Sonjay in the corner. Boy a snapmare and some kicks for two. Sonjay misses an enziguri and B-Boy puts him in a hold and stretches him. The crowd chants “Let’s Go Sonjay” as he takes a brainbuster and a knee to the head. They trade slaps and elbows before B-Boy drops Sonjay into a backbreaker for two. Sonjay gets a spinning heel kick but can’t make a cover. Crowd gets behind Sonjay as he punches B-Boy and nails a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Sonjay goes for an elbow instead of a pin attempt. Standing shooting star press gets two. Dutt puts B-Boy up top and hurricanranas him off the top in a nice spot. Sonjay barely makes the cover for two. B-Boy catches Sonjay off the ropes into a butterfly submission, then up into a double arm DDT for two. B-Boy gets an aeroplane spin into a sit out powerbomb for two. B-Boy hits a belly to back suplex for two. Everything is a near fall as Sonjay won’t give up, despite the fact that he is completely exhausted. B-Boy props Sonjay up top. Sonjay knocks Boy down but misses the phoenix splash and lays prone for the shining wizard for two! That phoenix splash looked nasty. Sonjay goes up top and jumps off but B-Boy nails him with a shining wizard in mid air! B-Boy nails the cross special brainbuster but Sonjay kicks out! The fans are behind Sonjay all the way. Let’s go Sonjay, Let’s go Sonjay. B-Boy watches Dutt as he gets up, then uses the crouching referee’s back as a springboard to hit another shining wizard that finally gets the duke at 11:12. And B-Boy is the Best Of The Best for 2003. Good final match was heavy on the near falls ad had better drama than most of the stuff tonight. **1/2

The Verdict: Not a bad show by any means, but definitely not as good as last years tournament. Everyone put in a good effort, but some guys didn’t click well, and overall the talent pool was all of the same. Lil Cholo, Mamaluke, Rave, Styles, Briscoe, B-Boy and Rave all work very similar styles. Then we have Acid who works their style and a high-flying style, then we have Sonjay, Cash, Deranged (who was a highlight) and Ruckus who all fly. But in the second round, all four matches were basically the same. While 2002 had a good variety with some strong style, some awesome spotfests, good mat wrestling and submissions, this just had that basic mesh of strong style and Japanese style (ie hit a few big moves (powerbombs and suplexes) over and over again). Overall though, with the good threeway and the good title match I’d have to mildly recommend this show.

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