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DETAILED COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING CAGE OF DEATH 8 LIVE REPORT
By Ed Shirreffs
On Saturday, December 9th, Combat Zone Wrestling held Cage of Death VIII.
The Cage of Death is one of the company's biggest nights, along with the Best of the Best and Tournament of Death. The show featured eleven matches, which in hindsight was probably too many since the first intermission wasn't until around 11:30 PM, and the show finally ended around 1:30 AM. Some of them had little to no build, hurting fan interest, but several off them were extremely entertaining and made this a fun night.
Lucha Tag: Gran Akuma, Icarus, Max Boyer, & Niles Young w/ Noel Harlow vs. Chuck Taylor, Ricochet, Beef Wellington, & Player Uno
Lucha Tag means that once one wrestler leaves the ring, one of his partners can become the eligible man. There is also a count of twenty instead of ten for wrestlers outside the ring. Beef Wellington's team is billed as the 'K-Federation' and are all wearing shirts with Kevin Federline on them. Boyer and Taylor start the show off by trading hammerlocks. Taylor gets a headlock, but Boyer takes him down and works on the arm. Taylor reverses with a waistlock and hits a dropkick. Wellington and Young come in and trade arm wrenches. Young gets an arm drag, but Beef hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Uno and Icarus are in next, with Icarus missing a bodypress. Uno gets two with a rollup.
Akuma and Ricochet are next. Ricochet escapes from a headlock, but gets shoulderblocked to the mat. Ricochet recovers with some arm drags. A suplex between two men turns into one of CHIKARA's trademark multi man suplex spots. Wrestlers from each side kept latching on, but neither team would budge. Harlow came in and tipped the balance for the heels. The action spills to the floor, with Taylor and Uno diving out of the ring. Beef tosses Boyer out, and then Ricochet hits a big Asai Moonsault off the apron. In the ring, Young gets two with a suplex on Uno.
Icarus comes in and gets a Side Russian Legsweep. His partner Akuma kicks Uno in the head for two. Boyer gets a scoop slam and butterfly suplex for two. Boyer begins pounding Uno in the corner.
At this point, Wellington gets on the mic and announces that a trade has been made. his team gets Max Boyer in exchange for Player Uno and a VHS copy of 'Rookie of the Year' (great film, btw). The ref helps to remove Uno's K-Fed shirt and puts it on Boyer. Boyer then fights off his former teammates, but gets a big boot from Young. Uno hits the Goomba Stomp off the top on Taylor, but Beef is able to hit Uno with the Ass Punch. Akuma comes in and kicks Beef and gives him Ricochet sitout facebuster for two.
This started a face paced sequence where most of the wrestlers hit their trademark spots, such as Taylor's Omega Driver. After Young kicks Uno by mistake, Ricochet nailed the 630 Senton Splash on him. Boyer selfishly tossed Ricochet from the ring and put Uno in the Walls of Jericho for the submission victory.
Your winners, Max Boyer, Beef Wellington, Chuck Taylor, and Ricochet!
The New Jersey Independent All Stars (Lucky & JC Ryder) vs. Team AnDrew (Andy Sumner & Drew Gulak)
Sumner and Ryder start, with Sumner taking him down and punching him on the mat. Ryder bails and Lucky and Gulak come in. Gulak gets a side headlock and shoulderblock, but misses a bodypress. Lucky gives him a hiptoss and kicks him. Lucky fakes going to his corner for a tag, but blindsides Gulak when he goes to do the same. Gulak is double teamed for two. Ryder hits a dropkick and Lucky comes back in. Gulak gets splashed by both members of the NJIAS in the corner for two. Gulak continues to get worked over. After no selling a T-Bone Suplex, he hits a uranage and tags in Sumner. Sumner immediately cleans house, hitting a sitout powerbomb on Lucky. Sumner punches Ryder down and takes his gloves off. Ryder recovers with a satellite headscissors takedown. Lucky comes off the top rope to the floor with a corkscrew bodypress. In the ring, Ryder gets two with a Fisherman's Driver. He then gives Sumner a modified STO. Gulak comes in and suplexes Lucky off the top. Lucky recovers to give Sumner an enziguri as Gulak is tossed from the ring. Sumner blocks a double team and then gives Ryder and Lucky an Exploder Suplex, holding them both together. AnDrew then lock in stereo armbars for the victory.
Your winners, Team AnDrew!
Claudio Castagnoli's Olympic/Sledgehammer theme came on, but most of the crowd knew he wasn't coming out. Instead, we got Maven Bentley, who took credit for getting Double C a job up north. After running down Mana, he introduced his charge, DJ Hyde.
Mana vs. DJ Hyde
The two traded STIFF headbutts and chops to start. Hyde got the upper hand with an eye poke and began to chop Mana in the corner. He missed a splash and Mana chopped his back. Hyde recovered with a snapmare, kick to the face, and standing senton splash. Mana dumped Hyde from the ring and hit him with a chair. He then rammed Hyde into the guardrail and threw the chair at him. More chairshots were traded. Hyde speared Mana into the rail, but Mana came back with a suplex onto the entrance ramp. Hyde gave Mana a Lariat into a table that was set up by Bentley. Hyde then began to hit Mana with pieces of the table. Mana got the upperhand with a chairshot to DJ's head, followed by another stiff chairshot in the ring. DJ slumped down in the corner and Mana put a table over him. He then splashed through the table. Bentley tried to interfere with a chairshot, but Mana no sold it and nailed Maven with Tiger Driver '98. After a Samoan Drop, Mana pinned Hyde.
Your winner, Mana!
Mana hit some more chairshots after the match. When Hyde got up, he literally dragged Bentley to the back.
Falls Count Anywhere: Cheech vs. Cloudy
Former partners in Up in Smoke face each other after breaking up two months ago. Cheech pounded Cloudy at the onset and chopped him in the corner. Cloudy came back with a springboard armdrag and headscissors takedown. He repeated that move, sending Cheech to the floor. There, Cheech with forearms to Cloudy's back and crotched him on the guardrail. Cloudy reverses an Irish Whip to send Cheech into the rail. Cloudy got two after a twisting tope con hilo. Cheech crawls back in the ring, but Cloudy follows and chops him in the corner. Cheech recovers with a mule kick and dropkick to knock Cloudy in the corner. Cheech pushes Cloudy off the apron and hits a baseball slide. Cloudy throws a chair at Cheech as the latter tries to
jump off the top rope in a cool spot. They begin to brawl in the crowd, and here is where the match will look better on DVD. There was a 'What Just Happened' chant at one point. When the action finally returned to the ring, Cloudy covered Cheech for two. Cheech hits a tombstone and goes outside to grab a chair and ladder. Cloudy is stomped and Cheech sets the ladder up in the corner, between the ropes. Cheech slingshots Cloudy upwards into the ladder, and then chokes him in the ladder.
Cheech locks in a single leg crab while stepping on the ladder, choking Cloudy in the rungs. Cloudy gets back up and throws the ladder at Cheech. Cheech throws a chair at Cloudy and gives him a modified pumphandle suplex onto the ladder. Cheech goes outside and sets a ladder up. Cloudy gains control with a Tornado DDT, but Cheech kicks out of the Yoshi Tonic at two. Cheech low blows Cloudy and hits the Deluxe, but lifts Cloudy's shoulder after the ref counted two. He goes for a second deluxe, but is rolled up for two. Cloudy reverses a crucifix powerbomb attempt into a huracanrana off the top. Both men go outside and climb the ladder set up next to the table. After a brief exchange, Cloudy gave Cheech a sunset flip powerbomb through the table for the win. After the match, there was a "That Was Awesome" chant (it was indeed awesome).
Your winner, Cloudy!
CZW Tag Team Title Match: BLK OUT (Robbie Mireno & Sabian w/ Chrissy Rivera)(c) vs. The Blackout (Rainman & Onyx)
Sabian attacks both Blackout members from behind as Mireno distracts them. He got a DDT but missed the Black Jesus Stomp as the original Blackout regrouped on the outside. Onyx and Sabian restarted the match by shoving each other. Sabian hit an enziguri and punches to knock Onyx down. A lionsault to Rainman was good for two. Mireno tagged in and puts Rainman in the Camel Clutch. Sabian came back and gets a release belly to back suplex on Onyx as Mireno charges Rainman in the corner. Rainman recovered with the Cradle Shock and the Blackout double teamed Mireno in their corner. Onyx got two with a standing release gordbuster. A back suplex by Rainman got another two count. Mireno got worked over for a good stretch until hitting an enziguri and tagging Sabian in. Sabian flipped over the top onto Onyx and got onto his opponents' apron. Rainman didn't know he was there and went for the tag. Sabian went in and stomped Rainman before giving him the shattered Dreams. Sabian hit the Black Jesus Stomp on Rainman, but was goozled by Onyx. Mireno immediately hit the Blockbuster on Onyx, but was slammed by Rainman for two. Mireno was then doubleteamed and pinned.
Your winners, and new Tag Team Champions, The Blackout!
Post match, Mireno yelled at Sabian and Rivera.
SeXXXy Eddy vs. Hallowicked
This match is to determine the #1 Contender for Jigsaw's Junior Heavyweight Title. Before the match, Eddy did his Val Venis routine and dry humped a female in the ring. Hallowicked pulled her out and tried to do his own sexy dance, but she wasn't feeling it. They began the match with some hammerlocks. Hallowicked gets an early rollup for two. He followed up with a shoulderblock. Eddy came back with forearms, a dropkick, and a flapjack. Eddy went for a suicide dive but Hallowicked caught him and hit some chops. Eddy goes for a garbage can but gets kicked. He fights out of a submission in the ring but is tossed down, as Hallowicked hits some chops and kicks in the corner. Eddy suplexes Hallowicked out of the corner and comes off the top with a somersault cannonball for two. Hallowicked gets two with Go 2 Sleep. He gets another two with an atomic drop followed by a Yakuza Kick to the back of Eddy's head. Eddy got the upperhand with a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster. He put the garbage can over his head and climbed to the top, hitting a moonsault Hallowicked. Before Eddy can take it off and go for the pin, Derek Frazier returned and nails Eddy with a steel chair, allowing Hallowicked to win.
Your winner, Hallowicked!
Post match, Frazier gets on the mic and calls out Jigsaw. Jigsaw, who is now off crutches, came out and they brawled for a bit before Frazier bailed, saying he would wait until Jigsaw was 100%.
Ruckus w/ BLK OUT vs. Human Tornado
Before the match, Ruckus got on the mic and said no one would be getting served tonight. He then had Mireno do a stereotypical white boy dance and Rivera & Sabian also got in the ring to show Tornado he wasn't the only one with skills. After the bell rung, Axel F, the theme from Beverly Hills Cop, began to play and Tornado and Ruckus had an amazing wrestling-dance fusion spot which the crowd popped for huge. It is well worth going out of your way to see. After dancing for a bit, Tornado hit the Pounce on Ruckus. Ruckus was thrown around outside the ring, but was able to backflip onto Tornado and they brawled in the crowd. Ruckus got a moonsault off the bleachers, but missed a Shooting Star Press off the apron. Dueling chants for the wrestlers started up. In the ring, Ruckus clotheslines Tornado and hit a kneedrop for two. Ruckus misses a Rolling Thunder Lariat and Tornado dropkicks him. A Ruckus suplex got two. Ruckus crotched Tornado on the top rope, but Tornado no sold it and pimp slaps Ruckus for two. Ruckus recovered to kick Tornado down for two. He hit an axe kick after Razzle Dazzle. Mireno began to distract the ref and Sabian ran in, combining with Ruckus to give Tornado a Hart Attack, and other double team moves. Tornado came back and kicked Ruckus in the corner. Rivera got on the apron, but Tornado pimp slapped her off to a big pop and finished the Pimp Kick Combo. Tornado got two after a spinebuster/People's Elbow combo. Ruckus blocks a Tornado DDT and gave him a neckbreaker for two. Tornado got a two of his own with a Dragon Whip, but Ruckus got the Fisherman's Suplex for the win.
Tremendous match, and it was one of the top matches of the night.
Your winner, Ruckus!
Post match, BLK OUT challenged the Original Blackout to a rematch, with Ruckus replacing Mireno.
Pandora's Box (BBoy, Messiah, & Adam Flash w/ Pandora) vs. Danny Havoc, Luke, & LuFisto
BBoy gets some two counts on LuFisto at the beginning of the match. LuFisto takes him down and goes to work on the arm. The two then trade forearms. LuFisto takes him down with some headscissors. Luke and Adam Flash are in next, but Flash is double teamed in the corner by LuFisto and Luke. Luke gets a dropkick then double teams Messiah with Havoc. Havoc gets two with a Northern Lights Suplex on Messiah. Messiah puts Havoc down with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by a gutbuster. Havoc is put in the Tree of Woe and Pandora's Box stomps away. They combine to gave Havoc a nasty straitjacket/Backcracker combo. Messiah puts him in a chinlock and chops away in the corner. BBoy hits an RKO. Messiah comes back in with a running neckbreaker for two. He gets another two with a back body drop. BBoy comes in with some chops, then ties up Havoc in the corner again before giving him a baseball slide for two. Havoc makes a comeback with a Dragon Suplex on BBoy and makes the hot tag to Luke. Luke hits a crossbody over the top rope
and LuFisto comes off the top with a somersault to the floor.
Havoc prevents BBoy from diving out and gives him a corkscrew senton. All six then hit some trademark spots. Flash powerbombs LuFisto. Havoc gives Messiah a DVD for two. Flash gives Havoc a facebuster. Luke botches a moonsault attempt to Messiah. BBoy hits a sick double stomp on LuFisto in the corner. LuFisto comes back with a German Suplex for two, but Nick Gage runs out and givers her a Chokebreaker. BBoy comes off the top with a Double Stomp on Havoc as Messiah elevates him. Flash finishes him off with a Last Call Leg Drop from the top.
Your winners, Pandora's Box!
UltraViolent Underground Title Match: Drake Younger (c) vs. Necro Butcher
This is a Four Corners of Pain Match, and the featured weapons are a Barbed Wired Bat, a ladder, a board with thumbtacks on it, and a staple gun. A brawl starts us off, with Butcher getting headbutts and Younger taking him down and punching on the mat. Both men got busted open very early on. Butcher uses the staple gun to escape from a front facelock, and then crotches Younger on the guardrail. Younger is then tossed into the rail and gets a chair thrown at him before Butcher starts punching. Younger punches and chops back. Butcher than gets many stiff headbutts. Butcher lays a ladder across the apron and guardrail. He then lays a board on Younger and
sentons onto it. Butcher then boots Younger and twists his nose. He pauses to taste Younger's blood. The two climb to the top and Younger suplexes Butcher onto the ladder that was set up earlier. The ladder was destroyed. Back in the ring, Younger gets two. Younger gets another two count with a springboard moonsault off the second turnbuckle. Butcher quickly recovers and powerbombs Younger out of the ring through a table set up on the floor. Butcher gets a two with a chairshot. Butcher blocks a Vertebreaker attempt and lariats Younger for two. He blocks another Vertebreaker attempt and gets a sleeper hold. Younger escapes and finally hits the Vertebreaker for two. He puts Necro on the top rope and sets a chair up in the ring.
Younger takes Butcher off the top with a Vertebreaker onto the chair to retain his title. Awesome, brutal match.
Your winner, Drake Younger!
CZW World Championship Three Way Elimination Match: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Chris Hero vs. Justice Pain
Pain and Hero try to corner Kingston at the start, so Kingston bails. Hero and Pain lock up in the ring. Pain gets a full nelson, but Hero retaliates with an arm wrench. The two then mat wrestle. Pain shoves Hero into the corner and Kingston finally comes into the ring to punch both men. Hero and Pain team to give Kingston a back body drop. Kingston landed awkwardly and it is at this point where he broke his ankle. Pain attacks Hero and rolls up Hero several times for two. Hero hits a dropkick, but Pain returns with a suplex. Pain is tossed from the ring, and Hero chops Kingston, who tries to continue the match, in the corner. Kingston dumps Hero, but is knocked down by Pain who twists the ankle to take Kingston out of the match.
Eddie Kingston is eliminated by Justice Pain
Hero flips Pain out of the ring and hot shots him on the guardrail. In the ring, Pain drops an elbow on Hero. Hero gets a suplex, but Pain hits some forearms. A release Belly to Belly Suplex by Pain gets two. Hero gets a powerslam followed by a top rope double stomp for two. Pain gets two with a Death Valley Driver. Pain hits more forearms, but Hero counters with punches in the corner. Hero yells for Kingston to watch and gives Pain the Burning Lariat (Kingston's finisher) for two. After trading waistlocks, Pain gives Hero a Burning Hammer to finally win the title after his return
from XPW purgatory.
Your winner, and new CZW World Champion, Justice Pain!
Post match, Hero puts over Pain on the mic. Pain then puts over the fans and thanks them for helping him get back to the top. Pain offers Hero a return match in January.
The cage was then set up. It took around ninety minutes to do so, but no one was really getting restless. It was a very impressive structure, with a platform set up around the ring and a wooden cage set up with barbed wire in the windows. Platforms were set up on the top of the cage, and many fan made weapons were brought in.
After Zandig, Gage, and Lobo were introduced, LuFisto came out and demanded to be put in the match. Most of the fans supported her, but a few fans dissented. Zandig complied and the match became a four way.
Cage of Death/Loser Must Retire Match: Zandig vs. Lobo vs. Nick Gage vs.
LuFisto
There's no way to cover everything since the view was partially obstructed and there was a lot of action. Gage knocks LuFisto down at the start. LuFisto comes back with a Lu-Thesz press onto Gage. Zandig throws LuFisto into a pane of glass. Lobo powerbombs her for two. Gage had trouble with a pane of glass that wouldn't break on Zandig. Lobo bashes Zandig with a trash can lid. LuFisto is slammed onto plastic forks by Gage. Zandig scoop slams Gage onto tacks and breaks a pane of glass onto him. LuFisto gets whipped into a barbed wire ironing board. Zandig tosses Lobo onto some panes of glass. LuFisto and Gage brawl while Zandig grinds barbed wire into Lobo's head. Zandig powerbombs LuFisto through a pane of glass as Lobo whacks Gage with a chair. LuFisto whips Zandig through a pane of glass. Gage is suplexed by Lobo into the corner. LuFisto punches and kicks Lobo while Zandig powerbombs Gage. He then knocks LuFisto down with a trash can lid. In the big spot of the evening, Lobo and Zandig climbed to the top of the cage. Lobo gives Zandig a Death Valley Driver through a spider net in the ring and they fall through the platform onto the floor. Gage wins the match after pulling Zandig out of the wreckage and gives him a Chokebreaker. LuFisto attacked Gage after the match, suggesting their feud isn't over.
The CZW locker room came out to the ramp after the match. Gage trashed Lobo
and Zandig on the mic after the match. Zandig took the mic and told Gage to get his head straight. He thanked Lobo and got a big ovation.
Your winner, Nick Gage!
Per the stipulations, Zandig must retire forever. Don't be surprised if it sticks because Zandig's body is in bad shape and he hardly wrestles these days in the first place.
The show was well received by a good majority of CZW fans, bringing a good end to a less than stellar year. You could argue this show is representative of CZW's year. There were some great matches, some good matches that were hurt by a lack of story behind them, and some tired matches that the fans really had no interest in seeing. There was also a long wait for what some might say is a less than stellar payoff. Previous Cage of Death matches have neared an hour, but this was significantly shorter. MOTN honors go to Drake Younger vs. Necro Butcher, at least in my opinion.
Notes/Thoughts: It was a packed house, with attendance seemingly around 800 fans, over double what CZW had been doing the last few months....The crowd was hot for the best matches...Younger vs. Necro was the top matches of the night and Butcher should really be commended for doing everything he could to put his younger (pun intended) opponent over...Ruckus and Human Tornado had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. Tornado did a terrific job and as always, had a ton of charisma...Cheech vs. Cloudy was one of the top matches of the night. The two know each other very well from teaming in tag matches and had great chemistry...The opener was a solid, fun match with a lot of fast paced and fun action...Harlow looks better and better as each event goes on...Team AnDrew vs. the NJIAS was sloppy at times, and wasn't as good as it could have been...Mana and Hyde looked like they were holding back a bit. Their previous encounters were much better matches...The tag team title match was decent, but will be better when Mireno is replaced by Ruckus next month...SeXXXy Eddy vs. Hallowicked was very blah and many fans were bored by it. Fortunately, the Frazier run in and the following match got things back on track...The six person tag was good, but aside from the Gage run in, there was no storyline. Still, it was good to see Pandora's Box back after a couple months away...Eddie Kingston tried to make a go of the match, but he was too hurt, as everyone knows by now. At www.czwrestling.com, you can watch an excellent promo by Kingston made a couple days after the match. It's worth going out of your way to see and proves why Kingston is the best promo on the indy scene...If that was Zandig's last bump, it was a memorable one.
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