Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Weather be damned, welcome to PWInsider's live ongoing coverage of the 19th annual Combat Zone Wrestling Cage of Death event from Sewell, New Jersey!
ULTIMATE OPPORTUNITY COIN CHALLENGE - JON SILVER VS. SHANE SABRE VS. G-RAVER VS. SHLAK VS. DAN O'HARE VS. CODY RICE
This is a Scramble match so it was all big spots
Early on Silver was hitting all his power spots on everyone else because he was a small man with a big physique. Everyone ganged up on him but silver burst out of a huge double team and wiped everyone out. They all went to the floor where Silver hit a big flip over the ropes wiping them out as he came down at top of them. This led to a series of dives to the floor with everyone else.
Back in the ring Silver reversed a double suplex attempt, hitting stereo suplexes on two of his opponents. Raver came off the top with a big knee on Shlak. Silver had the match won but was distracted and chased someone to the back.
A door was brought into the Ring and set up in the corner. O'Hare and Shlak, who are a tag team put someone through the door and scored the pin together. Both were announced as the winners.
Matt Tremont vs. Jimmy Lloyd
There is a pit with allegedly 10,000 thumbtacks in the ring and there are weapons in every corner. Tremont got a huge pop coming out
They started out beating each other up with weapons and Tremont was busted open after having a barbed wire bat used on his head. He turned around and whipped Lloyd with it in the head and now Lloyd came out bleeding as well. Tremont ran the bat over his forehead to make the wound even wider.
Tremont moved the pit of tacks to the middle of the ring and mailed a DDT into them on Lloyd. He grabbed Lloyd by the hair and slammed his face into the tacks again and again and again. Lloyd came back with a DDT of his own and covered Tremont for a 2 count.
Lloyd nailed a series of kicks to the face and then stomp Tremont down into the tacks. You can see the tacks sticking and his head has Lloyd covered him for yet another 2 count.
Tremont grabbed Lloyd for a chokeslam but Lloyd stabbed him in the head with a blunt instrument of Destruction and ripped his forehead. Lloyd grabbed a chair and set up to use it but Tremont ducked and used another chair of his own whipping it at him and taking him out.
They faced off with steel chairs then sat down facing each other and lined up with punches back and forth. Tremont finally had enough, grabbed his chair and slammed it hard against Floyd's head for a two count.
Lloyd charged Tremont in the corner but missed running into a bed of nails. Tremont then charged and likewise and also hit the bed. Lloyd place the bed of nails over Tremont then hit its wonton onto it and tried to pin him under the nails. He then brought what appears to be a bed of sporks into the ring. He tried to hit a superplex but Tremont turned it into a super bomb out of the corner onto the bed. Tremont piled everything up on top of the tacks in the middle of the ring and hit a death valley driver on to the assembled construction of Destruction for the pin.
Your winner, Matt Tremont!
An entertaining brawl.
Tremont declared the COD has begun the way it is supposed to, with Ultraviolence. He said they would be nothing without the fans and they would have no future without someone like Jimmy Lloyd. Tremont said this was only chapter one between them. He promised they have only just begun.
Tremont then called out NWA champion Tim Storm, who came out wearing a suit and tie. The crowd booed him.
Tremont said he never thought he'd stand in the ring with the 10 pounds of gold and said there's been a lot of people who have held that title but Storm's the only man to have the balls to walk into Combat Zone Wrestling. The fans chanted CZW. Tremont said he only needs one shot title shot and if he gets it the title will be coming home to him.
Tremont handed the mic to Storm, who said he was impressed by what he saw and said, "Oh my God that was incredible!" He said he was coming here to look every boy in the eye and see who deserves the title shot. He looked at Tremont and said he's a man who deserves the title shot. Storm said there are other people who want title shots and he's going to talk to every single one of them
Music began playing and out came Ethan Page. Page declared he is the hottest free agent in professional wrestling. He said he's all ego but he's out here with a confession and that is that he is jealous of Tim Storm....well, Tim Storm's tan. He said Storm looks like an overcooked turkey and if he ever gets a chance in the ring with him he's going to chew him up and spit him out. Storm said that he believes in the ego and that if Ethan wants a chance to make history he'll give him a chance to make history. He offered to make the match for right now and Page said no, not here and not now.
Music hit and Page said he sees what happens when this happens on Monday Night Raw so he's not staying here he's walking out. Out came Maxwell Jacob Friedman. He said everybody was wondering why a decrepit bag of bones was holding the NWA championship. He called Storm old and said he was old enough to be his great grandfather. He said the title deserves to be on the shoulder of someone who's young and virile.
Santa music played and I kid you not out walked "The Universal Heartthrob" Austin Idol wearing a Santa hat. He said, speaking of anyone who would be better than Tim Storm as the NWA Champion it would be him. What the hell is going on here!?
Idol cut a heel promo on the crowd and then turned to Tim Storm and said he had a true-or-false question for him. He asked him Storm if he actually said that the NWA title is his Mountaintop. Storm said that's true and it is. Idol told him he was getting ready to fall off the mountain. He said he could probably be the one to do it. He got some good heat. Idol said that he should be at the top of the mountain and he knows the air is thin up there but he should be the one there.
Idol said he had a guarantee and that guarantee would be that the next NWA Champion would be prime time and Nick Aldis aka the former Magnus. Out came Magnus who cut a promo. The crowd was all over Magnus telling him to get the F out of the building. Aldis said that Tim Storm says he's a man of his word and asked him to keep his word. He promised to take the title tonight and left with Austin Idol.
Alex Colon vs. Mr. Claxton.
Colon hit a dive out of the ring as Claxton came out. They pulled around and went back and forth. Colon attempted to set up a barbed wire board in the corner but Claxton rolled him up and hook the tights to get the pin. Danny Havoc tossed Claxton back in the ring after the match allowing Colon to hit the Death Valley Driver through the board in the corner.
Your winner, Mr. Claxton!
CZW Tag Team champions Dezmond Xavier & Zach Wentz vs. OVE vs. Alex Reynolds & Matt Palmer vs. The Rep.
All crazy spots, all too much to cover. John Silver hit the scene and attacked Reynolds. The Rep captured the Tag belts!
Ethan Page vs. David Starr
They had a good back and forth early. Starr went for a dove but was caught and worked over on the outside including a powerbomb on the apron.
Back in the ring, Starr made a comeback but was thumbed in the eye. Page unloaded with a big clothesline. Starr nailed several big shots but Page kept foiling him, including a leading Ace Cutter.
Page sent Starr to the floor and teased a dove but was cut off. Starr nailed a big clothesline and scored a two count after drilling Page's head over his knee.
Starr unloaded with offense and strikes. He placed Page on the top rope. Page caught him and slammed him down in a powerslam from the top and then hit a Swanton bomb.
They battled back and forth until Starr nailed a shining wizard for the pin.
Your winner, David Starr!
Starr cut a promo saying in 2018 he will be the Best of the Best.
DJ Hyde came out and announced that tonight is their last night in the building. He promised they were going to "Burn It To The Ground." He announced they were going to take off January but return in February with their 19th anniversary show. He said Best of the Best will be in New Jersey this year and that will ospreay would be working their WrestleMania weekend event in New Orleans.
Mitch came out looking for an opportunity. DJ said he could have one. He turned around, where Brandon Kirk hit him with a chair. DJ announced Kirk would be the first competitor in Best of the Best.
NWA champion Tim Storm vs. Nick Aldis
Austin Idol cut a long promo which was great and then announced they were replacing the referee, bringing out Brian Hebner, formerly with Impact Wrestling.
During the match, Aldis worked over Tim Storm's eye and ribs. Storm worked hard to come back but eventually was overwhelmed and defeated.
Your winner and new NWA champion, Nick Aldis!
Aldis cut a good promo after, saying everyone hated him because he was a professional unlike everyone else on the show who made all the losers out there in the crowd believe that they can actually do this and live vicariously through them. He promised that this was the last time anyone in this building was going to get a look at the 10 pounds of gold.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jimmy Havoc
Jacobs came out in a prom dress and tiara painted up like a zombie being carried by other zombies and with even more zombies following them. As you might expect a broiled all around the building throwing chairs at each other and smashing things to the Delight of the crowd.
Back in the ring they went back and forth until Jacobs splashed Havoc who was buried under a series of chairs for the pin.
At one point a staple gun was in play. Lots of near Falls. It was a very entertaining brawl.
Ace Romero vs. Greg Excellent & Crissy Rivera
Romero hit a dive to the outside, wiping them out as they came to the ring. Romero is A BIG DUDE so this looked insane. He went to the top to come down on Rivers but she slapped him. Excellent returned to the ring and they rang the bell, officially.
Excellent and Romero fought back and forth with Rivera getting involved, even jumping on Romero's back.
Romero pulled a table out from under the ring. Excellent was whipped towards the table but saved himself. Romero nailed a Black Hole Slam for a two count. This left him in the ring with Rivers. She tried to avoid him including running up the table in the corner and sliding down in between his legs to escape Like Bugs Bunny escaping from an enemy but in the end was caught and hit with a running powerslam through the table in the corner which looks absolutely evil and brutal.
With Romero down after having hit the power slam excellent hit a cannonball in the corner and covered him for the pin.
Your winners, Greg Excellent and Crissy Rivera!
MJF with Penelope Ford vs. CZW Wired TV Champ Joey Janella
Lots of brawling around the ring early on. MJF pulled the referee in front of him as Janella charged allowing him to halt Janella and score a right hand. He followed up by stomping on Janella's hand. MJF worked over Janella for a long time. He caught him with a leaping SET for a two count, followed by a Kryptonite Krunch.
MJF continued to work over Janella. Janella made a comeback but MJF went for a suplex over the ropes to the outside. Janella nailed a superkick and MJF took a flat bump to the floor, which looked brutal. They battled around ringside, where MJF was tossed into the crowd. They fought back in where Janella locked in a submission but MJF made it to the ropes. They battled to the floor, where MJF was sent into the apron with a death valley driver. Janella asked the crowd if they wanted to see some violence and they said No. Yeah, right. They popped. The sick SOBs!
Janella set up a chair and teased a cradle piledriver off the apron but MJF reversed into what appeared to be a powerbomb into the chairs below. They returned t the ring, where MJF scored a two count. Janella rolled to the outsidem where MJF followed and they fought on the floor. They brawled to the backstage area and emerged on a balcony on the second level of the building, brawling towards an area where there were a stacked number of tables below. Janella tried to force MJF over. MJF did the same to him. Janella grabbed him by the hair and ran him as if he was going to toss him over and MJF went over but caught himself on the outside, They battled and both ended up on the outside, before crashing down through the stacked tables. That was a scary looking bump. Here's the aftermath:
It took a long time but MJF returned to the ring. Ford checked on him. Janela rolled into the ring and charged with a roaring forearm but ended up hitting Ford when MJF shoved her into him. MJF rolled up the shocked Janella and hooked the tights for the pin.
Your winner and new CZW Wired TV champion MJF!
After the match, Ford nailed MJF low and reunited with Janella to beat up MJF, who was tossed in the crowd. Janella held MJF, allowing Ford to nail a bodypress off the top onto MJF, who was in the first row.
The cage is being constructed:
Cage of Death: CZW champion Rickey Shane Page vs. Shane Strickland vs. Joe Gacy
Inside the Cage of Death are a number of weapons. Atop the Cage is a wooden bridge and a second one that appears to have some glass inside of it.
Everyone battled. Strickland was tossed hard into a pane of glass. Gacy broke a light tube collection over Page's shoulder. Gacy superkicked Strickland and worked him over with forearm smashes before hitting a Beel Throw into plexiglass that was propped up in the corner. Gacy continued to control the ring and pulled out an electric meat slicer, using it on Strickland and Page's foreheads. Gacy poured tacks (I think) in the center of the ring but Page nailed him with a light tube. Page and Strickland nailed a double hiptoss into the tacks.
Page and Strickland battled with Page peppering him with forearms. Page set up a barbed wire board across several chairs in the senter of the ring. He tossed Gacy into the cage. Strickland and Page crawled to the top of the cage and met in the center of the bridge. They battled with Strickland getting the worst of the exchange. Strickland hit a Side Russian legsweep off the bridge through the second bridge (which had glass inside of it) and they crashed through to the barbed wire board below. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. They are crazy.
Gacy pulled several light tubes into the ring. They all beat the hell out of each other with the tubes. The crowd chanted "CZW" and went nuts for this. They finally all hit each other at the same time. At some point, four chairs connected were hung from the bridge and they took turns running each other into them. That was different. Strickland set up another piece of Plexiglass across several chairs. Page was underneath. Strickland came off the top with a big double stomp through the glass, which got a massive pop but Gacy attacked and broke up the pinfall. He nailed a piledriver on Strickland and scored a two count.
Page returned and nailed Gacy, then sent him flying into the cage over and over. Page set up another pain of glass and poured lighter fluid over it. Gacy attacked him before it could be set aflame. He lit it himself butJ Hye Page grabbed him and chokeslammed him through it. Dan Barry tried to get in the cage to assist Gacy but was hit with a big boot by Shane. A bunch of masked men all tried tp climb the cage to help Gacy but Page and Strickland nailed them with chairs as they climbed up. One made it through but was beaten and slammed through a pane of glass.
Music began playing and out came a female masked woman who attacked Dan Barry as he was climbing the cage and hit a Russian Legsweep off of it, down onto all the other masked men below.
The battle continued with Page and Gacy on top of the bridge. Another masked man grabbed Gacy and pulled him off, where he crashed down through a table to the floor. He unmasked to reveal Anthony Gangone from the NYC indy scene.
Page returned to the ring, where he faced off with Strickland. They exchanged forearms and strikes and kicks. Strickland hit a knee into Page, smashing light tubes. Another pane of glass was set up. They battled to the top where Page hit a reverse frankensteiner off the top through the glass and scored the pin.
Your winner and still CZW champion Ricky Shane Page!
It was insanity. People knew what they were getting and well, they got it.
Wait, there was more.
Nick Gage showed up at ringside with Brett Lauderdale, both wearing Gamechanger Wrestling shirts. They came in from the front door, not backstage. Gage took the mic and said this isn't a storyline, but a straight shoot. He demanded Page get out of the ring. DJ Hyde came running down looking to fight. Matt Tremont and Joey Janela hit the cage as well. Everyone was shoving each other. Gage was standing up to ebveryone. The ring filled with CZW security and students. There was a lot of shoving and yelling at each other. Gage finally left the cage and left through the crowd.
The show ended with a bunch of CZW talents all in the ring talking. Page finally took the mic. He asked everyone to forget about all that bullsh** and said the fans are CZW. He thanked the fans for coming out tonight and told them not to worry about what just happened. He said they would figure it out, thanked the fans again, and left the ring.
If it was an angle, they played it like a shoot as much as possible. If it wasn't , well, we will know that story soon enough.
Update: The word backstage is that it was not an angle and Nick Gage legitimately jumped into the cage and grabbed the ring Mic at the end of the show. As you might imagine, CZW wasn't happy. We will see if that is indeed the case (as if it was an angle, everyone would say it was not) and if anything comes out of this.
Thank you for your support of PWInsider.com!
*****
As we reported shortly after the Cage of Death event took place last week, CZW (with the exception of one person) was not aware that Nick Gage and Brett Lauderdale were going to enter the ring and the Cage after the show. There's been some heat between the two companies for some time. Lauderdale had worked the CZW in the past and was no longer welcome at their events after a falling out. Gage had been one of the top CZW talents at one point and the two were now doing their own rival promotion in Gamechanger doing their own Ultraviolent style product using some former CZW names, including founder John Zandig.
So, why did the scene at the end of Cage of Death happen? We are told that the idea of doing an angle was pitched to DJ Hyde and the decision was made to turn it down. Giancarlo Dittamo, who worked on the booking of CZW with Sami Callihan and Hyde, had originally pitched the idea. As noted, it was shot down, but the word making the rounds is that Dittamo, feeling the show needed a big moment to close it, decided to do it anyway and not tell anyone. Gage and Lauderdale just walked into the building and hopped the rail. which is equally insane. That sort of thing never would have happened if Atlas Security was there.
With no real plan and CZW (beyond Dittamo) not in on what was going on, the show had an awkward ending where the ring mic was shut off on Gage and the ring sort of filled up with everyone waiting for something to happen. Hyde and Matt Tremont were shoving back and forth with Gage but beyond that, there was no physicality, although the scene could have gotten real ugly, obviously. At that moment in time, most in the cage weren't sure if what was happening was a work or not. We are told Dittamo left the building as soon as everything went down and is gone from the company. The word was that he was fired and a lot of people were really upset about the situation because Dittamo had been great at producing videos and in general, was a great hand and a good mind that helped the CZW product.
CZW has removed that footage from their Cage of Death video and requested that their staff and wrestlers do not speak about it publicly. Gage and Lauderdale's company Gamechanger Wrestling released a video made up of content shot from what appeared to be fans' phones of the incident but CZW immediately filed a copyright claim (since it was their show) and had the material yanked. We are told that the police were called to the building but by the time they arrived, Gage and Lauderdale had left the venue, as had Dittamo. The entire scenario and the aftermath (speaking to police, etc.) led to CZW post-show cleanup being delayed and the building was furious about that, especially since they needed to set up for the next day. DJ Hyde was beyond furious about the situation, believing it had ruined the show. Whether anything comes of this remains to be seen, but as of today it's not building to any sort of CZW storyline.
The weird irony in all of this is that Matt Tremont, who in CZW storylines owns 50% of the company, is wrestling Gage for Gamechanger this weekend in New Jersey.
MJF suffered a broken hand in his match against Joey Janela at the Cage of Death. He had been hoping it was just sprained but it was broken.
Everyone involved in the Cage of Death main event ended up going to the ER after the show.
CZW is taking January off as they are looking for a new venue after Rastelli Complex, despite coming to an agreement with the company to regularly host both their school and live events there, pulled out. The word making the rounds was that the facility, which was a cheerleading rehersal space and kids-oriented facility didn't really jibe with the CZW product. Who could have guessed that one??? CZW apparently has two potential venues in the Sewell, NJ area they are looking at. The plan is to run again in February, kicking off with the company's 19th anniversary event.
Combat Zone Wrestling will present the 20th Cage of Death event tomorrow 12/9 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA, streaming live live for subscribers of The Highspots Wrestling Network.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
