\nAfter surviving the squared circle of sacrifice last month, Jimmy Lloyd\u2019s in the opener here with more plunder. Shiny, spikey plunder, to be specific.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-tremont-1.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
The ever helpful ringside crew have thrown in chairs, beds of nails, and baseball bats with tacks taped to them. So yeah, expect blood. In the first minute, Lloyd whacks Tremont with the bat and curiously the blood flows from\u2026 not where the pins went. Tremont returns the favour, with similar suspicious bleeding, but at least he follows up by giving us a close-up of the bat actually puncturing Lloyd\u2019s forehead.<\/p>\n
A sandpit full of tacks come into play as Lloyd drops Tremont into it with an Ace Crusher for a near-fall, before things get gruesome. Jimmy\u2019s brought a bag of syringes, and he stabs them into Tremont\u2019s head to avoid a chokeslam. Hope you weren\u2019t eating.<\/p>\n
Another crew member handily gives Tremont a chair as he wins a duel, before we moved to a sit-down fight. That doesn\u2019t last long as Tremont just uses one chair to whack over Lloyd, then gives him a brainbuster through the second, before Lloyd charged into a propped-up bed of nails. Tremont does the same, missing a splash into the board, which Lloyd then senton\u2019d into as Tremont barely stops the pin by grabbing the rope.<\/p>\n
Lloyd sends for another staffer, who\u2019s bringing out a board with half-cut cans of Cola glued to it. Yeah, folks have actually torn knee ligaments falling onto \u201cnormal\u201d cans\u2026 so I can\u2019t imagine how a powerbomb onto one of them would feel. ALL THE PROPS come in now as Tremont hits a death valley driver onto a bed of nails, on top of the tray of pins\u2026 but most importantly, onto a chair, and this prop comedy version of wrestling is done. \u201cHey, here\u2019s (blank), use it\u201d… it\u2019s weapon improv, which isn\u2019t as bad, except they didn\u2019t even try to hide the handovers! *<\/p>\n
After the match, Tremont calls out Tim Storm – currently the NWA world champion. Yeah, that\u2019s quite the clash of cultures. Storm\u2019s booed by the few fans who care, which seems to stop when Tremont puts him over as being the first who \u201caccepted the invitation\u201d to go to CZW. It\u2019s giving the ring crew a chance to put the props away from earlier, and a chance for Tremont to ask for a title shot too. In the end, after the copy and paste \u201crespect\u201d line, Ethan Page interrupts\u2026 since he too wanted a shot. Or in All Ego\u2019s words \u201cchew him up and spit him out\u201d.<\/p>\n
Instead, Page heels on the crowd and says that he doesn\u2019t want the shot now\u2026 someone else interrupts, so Page walks away from \u201cMonday Night Raw\u201d as Maxwell Jacob Friedman takes his place. MJF does his spiel, calls Tim Storm old (why? It devalues everything\u2026) and then Santa Claus comes out\u2026 Austin Idol?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-stormidol.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
What the bloody hell am I watching in this revolving door of wackiness? After the crowd\u2019s done booing over him, he introduces a challenger\u2026 Nick Aldis. Well, that\u2019s not reading the room.<\/p>\n
Alex Colon vs. Mr. Claxton<\/strong> A barbed wire board comes into play, but the ref tries to remonstrate with Colon\u2026 and the whole situation causes a distraction as Claxton rolls him up for the win. Really short, but it plays into the post-match as Danny Havoc returns (having retired in September), throwing Claxton into the ring so he can take a death valley driver through the board. Eh. It happened. *<\/p>\n David Starr vs. Ethan Page<\/strong> Does Ethan Page\u2019s t-shirt remind anyone else of the old PowerSlam magazine?<\/p>\n Starr takes the fight to Page early, taking him outside for some dives, eventually knocking down \u201cAll Ego\u201d, but Page tries to keep a distance so he can use underhanded means\u2026 such as a double underhook backbreaker off the guard railings and an apron powerbomb. Of course, with this being more like a normal match, the CZW don\u2019t react much because there\u2019s no props, although Page does get a polite clap for his RK-Ego.<\/p>\n Page seems to be a step ahead of Starr, and sends him to the outside with the Vanity Search\u2026 but an attempt to dive gets caught with the Cherry Mint DDT and the Hand Stansen (lariat) as Starr burst into life. A Blackheart Buster earns another near-fall, but Page manages to stem the tide with a big slam off the top rope and a senton bomb. More back-and-forth sees Starr make Page look at it, with the diving Shining Wizard getting him the win in a match that would have been elevated in almost any other environment. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n Wrestling with a broken microphone, Starr tells us that he flew overnight from London (after Rev Pro\u2019s Uprising) so he could be here for Cage of Death\u2026 and to announce that he\u2019ll win Best of the Best next year.<\/p>\n Ahead of the next match, they announce that CZW are changing venue starting with their next show in February\u2026 oh, and they have a fairly big name for their WrestleMania weekend: Will Ospreay! I guess his ROH deal\u2019s up? After Brandon Kirk arrives and wipes out Mitch with a chair, he\u2019s announced as an entrant for Best of the Best. Fair enough.<\/p>\n CZW World Tag Team Championships: The REP (Dave McCall & Nate Carter) vs. oVe (Dave Crist & Jake Crist) vs. Alex Reynolds & Dan Barry vs. Scarlet and Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)<\/strong> Dan Barry\u2019s a replacement for Matt Palmer, teaming with Alex Reynolds as part of Joe Gacy\u2019s goons\u2026<\/p>\n This one didn\u2019t even reach the ten minute mark, and while I wasn\u2019t as distracted by someone in this match as other reviewers have been, this did instantly break down into what commentary rightly called chaos. oVe and the REP had it out for each other early as the match broke down into the revolving door of bodies, culminating in a nice wrap-around Air Raid Crash from Barry.<\/p>\n Wentz comes in next with a corkscrew plancha to the floor, and now Barry\u2019s back to measure up for a tope con hilo of his own. More dives continue to produce lesser reactions, before Barry dropkicks Xavier as he was flipping around. A neat Tower of Doom sends Barry into a powerbomb from oVe as I look up and see more bodies fly\u2026 and NOBODY REACTS. Fuck this promotion.<\/p>\n A long Parade of Moves ensues, including a double-team Rainham Maker onto Barry from Scarlet and Graves, before Jake Crist obliterates Wentz with a flying cutter\u2026 ahead of the Killing Spree spike tombstone from oVe. Barry and Reynolds try to capitalise, but John Silver hit the ring and took out the pair of them – he\u2019s still salty after Reynolds turned on him last month – and in the ensuing distraction the REP wipe out Barry with a pop-up Flatliner for the win. Well, this was a mess in parts, but bright in others\u2026 it would have been just as good, if not better, as a three-way to be honest. **\u00be<\/p>\n NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Nick Aldis vs. Tim Storm (c)<\/strong> Idol botches the reveal of Brian Hebner as a replacement ref, and my God, Brian\u2019s looking more and more like his old man. Out comes Tim Storm, with taped ribs and a huge elbow brace, and something\u2019s telling me this guy\u2019s nowhere near 100%.<\/p>\n So, with Storm\u2019s ribs being the story\u2026 the first thing Aldis does is drop him on his head with a pumphandle driver. After that he takes the hint and starts targeting the ribs, with a knee to the gut and a fallaway slam\u2026 but this crowd really doesn\u2019t care. Boring chants ensue as Storm nearly wins with a roll-up and a neckbreaker, but Aldis goes back to the ribs, which Storm sells pretty well in fairness.<\/p>\n Aldis goes all Lex Luger with a torture rack, but turns it into an inverted DDT\u2026 and that\u2019s enough for the win. Nick Aldis is only the second Brit to ever hold the NWA title (the first since Gary Steele back in 1999), and the best I can say about this match is at least they kept it short, although this did no favours for anyone. The NWA under Billy Corgan\u2019s aiming for the internet fan base, but if Aldis is keeping this belt for any length of time, it\u2019ll be detrimental to that target group. \u00bd*<\/p>\n Nasty Nick cuts a promo afterwards, but all I can hear is the CZW crowd drowning him out. See, they can make noise when they want to. Especially when it\u2019s shooting down genericity.<\/p>\n Jimmy Havoc vs. Jimmy Jacobs<\/strong> Jacobs brought a spike in his boots, which Havoc has to avoid early on\u2026 which he does by taking the match outside. We\u2019re back to the silent, unco-operative crowd, which makes me wonder if they all turned into zombies in Jacobs\u2019 entrance, especially when NOBODY MOVED when Havoc asked them to. Politely, of course. Hey, it\u2019s your fault he landed on you.<\/p>\n Utter silence greets some brawling in the crowd, and I\u2019m hoping that this is just bad micing because this is pitiful. The Jimmys (no, not the dismantled group) try, and we see an awkward table spot as Jacobs sweeps a leg and sends Havoc crashing through a table. Back in the ring, it\u2019s plunder time again as Havoc has a staple gun and an 8×10\u2026 and I\u2019m sure you know what\u2019s next from that playbook. Papercuts!<\/p>\n With him having painted his skin pink, the bloodied Jacobs certainly stands out, like a stylised photo. Perhaps not the one he stapled to Havoc\u2019s head though\u2026<\/p>\n Havoc spikes Jacobs with a belly-to-back piledriver (Jig n Tonic, Finish Her, MK Ultra, take your pick), then heads into the crowd for more plunder – he\u2019s got the steel chairs! They don\u2019t get used at first as Havoc\u2019s Rainmaker\u2019s countered, then met with a spike to the head, and this match becomes staple gun vs. spike for a while.<\/p>\n Regardless, Jacobs wins out, spiking Havoc with a springboard cutter through some chairs before landing a back senton off the top through a chair for the win. Goddamn this crowd, but this was a good match for their style that drew pitiful reactions. ***<\/p>\n Ace Romero vs. Greg Excellent & Chrissy Rivera<\/strong> Chrissy is TINY. Even the ref towers over her\u2026 but fortunately she avoids a flip plancha from Romero as the match started out hot. Greg\u2019s chubby hairy body kinda evokes memories of Albert from back in the day, but that look doesn\u2019t suit him\u2026 at least Romero\u2019s blubber has fallen distinctively around him, rather than in one blob. Rivera tries to get involved, but she barely comes up to Romero\u2019s navel as the match focuses largely on the big lads. Lots of chopping and clubbering give way to head drops as a Saito suplex to Greg gave Chrissy a chance to come in and hit a spear\u2026 but yeah, it\u2019s like a drop in the ocean here.<\/p>\n Excellent returns with a Michinoku driver after Rivera raked the eyes to free herself. She tries to choke Ace, but ends up getting a piggyback before the inevitable miscommunication as Greg squashes her in the corner, and now we\u2019re flicking between a glacial pace and the odd flip. These are real big lads, but the lack of stage hands feeding props like they did earlier really doesn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n Romero brings a table into the ring, but it\u2019s only propped in the corner and I\u2019m sure you can guess what Wrestling Logic will do\u2026 but you\u2019re wrong. I wasn\u2019t expecting Rivera to run up the table in a bid for freedom, but she ends up taking a slam through it as Excellent capitalises with the Rick Roll cannonball for the win. Eh. It wasn\u2019t going to be a million miles an hour job, but this was SLOW. As was Greg\u2019s counting that he\u2019d won 10 matches at Cages of Death… \u00bd*<\/p>\n Over an hour remains with two matches\u2026 yep, they\u2019re going LONG!<\/p>\n CZW Wired Championship: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Joey Janela (c)<\/strong> We\u2019re told by ring announcer Emil Jay that this match is under \u201crelaxed rules\u201d. Uh oh. There\u2019s some other needless legalese stipulation, but what does that matter?<\/p>\n Friedman powders to the outside instantly, and after he played tonsil hockey with Penelope Ford, we\u2019re into the diving zone as the pair traded shots in this blood feud. Janela backdrops MJF over the railings and into a chair as the two head towards the bleachers, with slightly better reactions from the crowd than earlier.<\/p>\n Some underhanded tactics from MJF get him on top as he starts to work the arm, busting out a neat side-powerbomb-ish move for a near-fall as he just wears down on Joey\u2019s left arm and shoulder. With his good arm, Janela mounted a comeback, knocking MJF off the apron and onto the floor for a brutal double stomp. The crowd actually starts co-operating here, moving so Janela can give MJF a death valley driver into the guard rails\u2026 but that left arm is always vulnerable, and a stomp to it gets Friedman back in, as a pumphandle driver almost gets his title back.<\/p>\n Janela manages to get a crossface in, but MJF gets the ropes to break it as the pace slowed down, before getting planted with a message to Jim Cornette – a death valley driver onto the apron. Friedman upped the ante with a brutal package piledriver off the apron and through some chairs, before they wander through the crowd as MJF had something \u201cfor Penelope\u201d.<\/p>\n They disappear through the curtain and re-emerge\u2026 on a balcony. Oh look, there\u2019s a series of tables set-up near there, in a way that tables would never normally be set up. MJF tries to throw Janela off the balcony, but instead both men fight on the ledge until Janela throws himself and MJF off, crashing through the tables. A bit like New Jack from back in the day, except they went through the tables\u2026<\/p>\n Both men start to crawl back towards the ring, where Friedman has enough about him to avoid a rolling elbow\u2026 pulling Penelope Ford into its way, before rolling up Joey with the trunks to get the win! In terms of crowd reaction, this was the hottest match of the night, but it went about five minutes too long for my liking. Still, it\u2019s clear that this isn\u2019t the last chapter in this feud, with Penelope tending to Janela towards the end seemingly hinting at something else in the pipeline. ***\u00be<\/p>\n Guess what? There was! Penelope kneed MJF in the balls as payback for being used as a human shield\u2026 Janela throws MJF into the crowd, and Penelope\u2026 dives after him with a crossbody! Janela said getting Penelope back and all of this was \u201cpart of the plan\u201d as he wants the world title… which is a poor plan given that Janela losing the title means that MJF can still crow about being undefeated.<\/p>\n Macho Man and Elizabeth\u2026 it sort-of was.<\/p>\n Cage of Death for CZW World Heavyweight Championship: Joe Gacy vs. Shane Strickland vs. Rickey Shane Page (c)<\/strong> Inside the Cage of Death there\u2019s way too much dangerous stuff: sheets of glass, chairs, I\u2019m pretty sure there\u2019ll be barbed wire, thumb tacks and light tubes as well\u2026<\/p>\n So yeah, the whole thing about Cage of Death isn\u2019t technical wrestling (you\u2019ll be shocked), it\u2019s the \u201ccan you top this\u201d stunts. Invariably with plunder, with Gacy striking first with light tube shots, before Beele throwing Strickland through a pane of glass. Well, he knew what he was signing up for\u2026<\/p>\n Next up is an electric saw that Gacy jabs into Strickland, before powering it on around Page\u2019s forehead and arm. Yep, we see the saw tearing apart the skin, and I see my lunch again! It becomes a rib as Gacy empties out a bag of Lego, before Page just smashes a light tube over him\u2026 as a prelude to a hiptoss onto Lego.<\/p>\n Wrestling Logic, folks!<\/p>\n Just like the opener, I get distracted by the stagehands bringing props into the equation, as a barbed wire board\u2019s bridged across two chairs as Strickland starts climbing the F away from it. I don\u2019t blame him. Page joins him though, and they end up on a catwalk above the ring, with a pane of glass nearby\u2026 the structure\u2019s very shaky, and Strickland makes the first move\u2026 a Russian legsweep to Page through the glass?! SO MUCH NOPE RIGHT HERE.<\/p>\n HOLY SHIT!!! @StricklandShane<\/a> With a Russian leg sweep through a pane of glass and into a barbed wire board!#COD19<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/2PZSoCb4jn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/omCXnO8iHQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jocay \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\udde8 (@Jocay19) December 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nColon\u2019s got a barbed wire board with him, which makes me think of the Simpsons where Moe\u2019s got a board with a nail in it. He\u2019s got a grudge match here with Mr. Claxton – the former Connor Claxton, who\u2019s now denounced deathmatch wrestling. Colon dives out to start the match as we have some brawling around ringside before the bell goes. When they enter the ring, Claxton picks up Colon for a trapped-arm burning hammer for a near-fall, before he gets spiked with a death valley driver on the apron.<\/p>\n
\nThis ought to be more like my thing\u2026 I can\u2019t see either of these guys randomly bringing out a board! Unfortunately, a lot of the crowd just didn\u2019t bring\u2026 anything.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-davidstarr-1.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
\nScarlet and Graves won back the CZW tag team titles about a fortnight earlier at a Southside show, beating the pairing of Damien Dunne & Kip Sabian, as well as the champions CCK. Good timing really, since Kid Lykos was back on the shelf barely 24 hours later\u2026 although commentary seemed to think it\u2019s just one big injury lay-off.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-tagtitle4way.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
\nThis is a follow-on from the earlier angle, and this is so not the right crowd for this whole deal. Not even close. Dear God, Aldis is still using the music he had in TNA?! Evolve man, don\u2019t stay stale. Austin Idol\u2019s back out to promise us a good wrestling match\u2026 so what\u2019s replacing this?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-nickaldis.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
\nJacobs\u2019 gear here is something\u2026 the Zombie Princess went all out with a bloody tiara and a hoard of zombies to boot. It makes some of Havoc\u2019s prior gear choices look decidedly tame\u2026<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-havocjacobs.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
\nThis has been simmering for a while, with Ace and Greg\u2019s planned match in October not happening because they fought too much\u2026 whilst Romero squashed Chrissy after a match last month.<\/p>\n
\nAt Night of Infamy, they revealed that MJF took out an injunction to strip Janela of the title. He had until tonight to hand it over\u2026 so it\u2019s just as well we had this match anyway!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-mjfjanela.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n
\nShane Strickland is massively out of his comfort zone here\u2026 in a rib, Dan Barry\u2019s the only one of Gacy\u2019s mob not wearing the yellow Guido mask. I guess someone (Arn? Arnold Furious? Is this your doing again) thinks he doesn\u2019t change facial expressions, so why spend the money when it can be spent on a light-up mask for Gacy?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/czw-cod19-gacy-1.jpg?resize=700%2C394\")
<\/p>\n\n