Taso the Greek’s “Bumpin’ Heads 2008″

CZW DVD February 9, 2008 “9 F’N Years” - Philadelphia, PA
1. Aerial Assualt Match featuring Chuck Taylor, Ricochet, Ryan McBride, Pinkie Sanchez & Spyral *
2. Iron Saints vs. Team Andrew **
3. Javi-Air vs. LJ Cruz *
4. 2 Girls 1 Cup vs. Joe Gacy & Alex Colon *1/4
5. Brandon Thomaselli vs. Sabian *1/4
6. Naptown Dragons vs. Jon Dahmer & Danny Demanto * 1/2
7. DJ Hyde vs. WHACKS *1/2
8. Vordell Walker vs. Kevin Steen *1/2
9. SeXXXy Eddy vs. LuFisto *1/2
10. Ruckus vs. Nick Gage -DUD-
11. Ultraviolent Grudge Match - Drake Younger vs. Brain Damage **3/4
12. Necro Butcher Interview

Boy, there was alot of blood in that Younger/Brain Damage match. The blood was literally squirting out of BD’s forehead. The Ruckus vs. Gauge match was a total abortion and it didn’t seem they knew wtf they were doing. Vordell Walker on the mic, Ricochet, Pinkie Sanchez’ entrance, and two of my favorites, Sexxy Eddy and LuFisto, were the bright spots on an otherwise bland and boring and really bad show. Necro Butcher teaming up with Nicky Benz and turning heel was definitely good, like to see where this goes… oh! A death match! Wow.

CZW December 8, 2007 “Cage Of Death 9″ - Philadelphia, PA
1. Nicky Benz, Joe Gacy & Alex Colon vs. Greg Excellent, LJ Cruz & Beef Wellington 1/2*
2. Cheech, Cloudy & Brodie Lee vs. Nate Hatred & Team AnDrew *1/2
3. LuFisto vs. Sabian *
4. Jon Dahmer vs. Danny Demanto vs. Niles Young & Derek Frazier *3/4
5. Lumberjack Strap Match - Maven vs. LOBO 1/2*
6. Ruckus vs. Messiah vs. Nick Gage *3/4
7. Ultraviolent Tables Match - WHACKS vs. Viking vs. SeXXXy Eddy *1/2
8. Fans Bring The Weapons - Chuey Martinez vs. Mitch Ryder *
9. Cage Of Death Team CZW (Necro Butcher, Danny Havoc, Toby Klein & Drake Younger) vs. Team MBA (Brain Damage, Scotty Vortekz, Diehard Dustin Lee & DJ Hyde) **1/2

I have watched about 3-4 CZW events for the past4-5 years now, and progressively over that time the promotion has gone down the drain. All to my chagrin because I am a proud member of the CZW fanclub. I had almost zero hopes for almost every one of these guys in the Cage of Death when I first saw each one of them make their debut. I hated DJ Hyde from day one, but to the promotions credit I grew to really HATE DJ Hyde. Danny havok got destroyed for two years by everyone in CZW , and even with his runs in other indies and his popularity I didn’t buy him as a main eventer. CZW can’t produce the same level of show with the same level of talent they were able to a few years ago.

The opening match was embarasingly equal amounts of bad wrestling and bad comedy. Cheech, Cloudy & Brodie Lee vs. Nate Hatred & Team AnDrew was a decent match with some good, innovative stuff. For the first time I almost enjoyed Team AnDrew. I enjoyed Sabian and LuFisto’s match even though it was pretty bad overall. It still told a cool story and a surprise run-in in the end builds some new storylines for the future. How come Niles and Derek can’t buy a shred of charisma or personality between them? Even their valet needs to be put over by the opponents taunts. Jon Dahmer vs. Danny Demanto vs. Niles Young & Derek Frazier (c) for the tag titles was better then I would have expected. Please keep Lobo and Maven bentley off my tv screen. The Ruckus vs. Messiah vs. Gauge match was dissapointing. Messiah looked very small and skinny and out of shape, Nunzio-sizesque would be one way to describe Messiah that night. Gauge looked pretty pumped and Ruckus is Ruckus. I don’t think he has improved much in the past 4 years that I have watched him, but I hope his ROH run is going well. WHACKS vs. Viking vs. SeXXXy Eddy was better then you would expect but that is because I am a huge SeXXXy Eddy fan. And why is WHACKS the photographer in a match? Viking was awful. Chuey Martinez vs. Mitch Ryder seemed just thrown in there for no apparent reason.

The Cage of Death: Team CZW vs. Team MBAhad an opportunity in some small way to pave the way for some of the new, young, loyal, hard-working guys to get over. But personally I don’t think any of them are going to go anywhere anytime soon. Brain Damage is the biggest with the best look but he’s a terrible wrestler from what I have seen. I only see him do hardcore and brawling style but from what you see he doesn’t have good athletic abilities. Necro and Toby Klein are my favorite guys out of this whole group. And on one of the biggest shows of the year for CZW, when theyare lucky they can still book guys like Necro and Toby Klein, both guys get eliminated early, and poorly. On the bright side there are some cool spots in the match and lots of blood but that’s about it and it ends with a crappy finish as well. Cage of Death 9 and CZW were a big dissapointment. maybe the biggest dissapointment, for me this Christmas season.

Ravage vs. Drew Gulak vs. Andy Sumner
Ravage is absolute crap. Sumner has improved in the three matches I’ve seen him wrestle, and I like the sambo gimmick they’ve given him. 1/2*
Chris Hero vs. 3 ROH Students
Not much to say about Primeu, Haggadorn and the other guy. They’re as bad as CZW students. Hero busted out some nice moves in the end but this went too long for a guy like Hero to get his ass beat for 5 minutes before squashing everyone. *
El Generico vs. Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked (Best of the Best Qualifier)
I expected a better match then what I got here. You can’t go wrong with El Generico. The Chikara guys are great to watch, but always a little underwhelming for me. This was over so fast it was dissapointing, not to mention a bit of spotty slopy fest of dangerous head dropping moves. **
B-Boy & Adam Flash vs. Alter Boy Luke & The Messiah
Pffff… wow. Craptastic. Why would B-Boy be in anything with Adam Flash? Messiah looks like crap out there and the bright spot, if there was one, Altar Boy Luke. B-Boy should have been in there against Luke most of the way. They booked it like a CZW match, one finisher after another finisher after another finisher… real lame stuff. *
DJ Hyde vs. Danny Havoc - Tables Match
Good premise, decent execution, wrong guys. Dragged a bit. Big ups to Danny Havok for taking crazy death bumps off of balconies for my pleasure. **1/4
Necro Butcher & Super Dragon vs. Kevin Steen & BJ Whitmer
Great brawling match. Too much brawling brawling. But Dragon makes it work. He has a persona unmatched really by anyone but Samoa Joe and Finlay, I feel. Steen has yet to make me enjoy one of his matches. **1/2
Cheech vs. Cloudy vs. Derek Frazier
I don’t like Cloudy, I see something of a future for Cheech, and I have not seen enough Derek Frazier to say I have seen enough Derek Frazier, because althooguh I like him in the ring I see no other personality. A spotty match, just like you would imagine. **
The Blackout vs. The H8 Club, Chrsitopher Bishop & Lionel Knight
Bishop & Knight were better then expected for this 8 man clusterfuck. I liked the angle to an extent, although it just ended up being fodder for getting The H8 Club over. I prefer Pain and Gage distance themselves from Lobo, quick. I wish these guys would get a little more creit in this whole CZW vs. ROH feud. In the match, Kingston and Ruckus were bright spots. **1/2

1. Sonjay Dutt, B-Boy & Adam Flash vs. Messiah, Sexxxy Eddy & Nate Webb
This was a really strong match. I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. They all hit their signature spots, and even though it might seem pedantic to some, it was really super fun. Good to see Messiah in CZW again, as well as B-Boy. Best Sexxxy Eddy match I have seen. *** of spotfest fun.
2. Hallowicked vs. Andy Sumner vs. Jigsaw vs. Larry Sweeney
Wow, what a match. Sumner showed me something after a terrible first impression. His selling sucks but he didn’t screw anything up and hit a nice triple crippler crossface, Chikara style. Larry Sweeney was on point and busted out some good suplexes on Sumner. The double and triple teaming were great and the speed reminded me of Toryumon. Hallowicked wins with a fisherman’s powerbomb on Jigsaw, great run all the way through. ***
3. Justice Pain vs. El Generico
Quite a strange math-up. H8 club is calling out Canadians, hence the storyline for this match. Great opening sequence of both work and psychology and the announcers (Garagiulo & Bentley) put over the match and Justice pain’s return as important. This match is put over as important for both men. Pain is cocky and does a great job with portraying that in this match. Tapers a bit and then Pain kicks Generico’s ass around the arena, garbage style. Generico took a couple of nasty bumps onto chairs here. These gjys work together well, Generico’s offense goes off well, they use a chair here and there and it’s just right. Very cool finish. ***
4. Panes Of Glass - Nick Gage vs. Danny Havoc vs. DJ Hyde
Nick gage is a sick mother f’er. DJ Hyde got over his big man gimmick. And Danny Havoc took an ass beating of a lifetime. I thought he did the best job of all three selling like a fiend and taking some crazy bumps. ***
5. Super Dragon vs. Kevin Steen
The angles and promos before and after this match are great, adding to the ROH vs. CZW feud. The matcjh itself had a bunch of awesome spots as one would expect from a Super Dragon match, but it wasn’t paced well, very slow and lots of stalling from Steen. **1/2
6. Ladder Match - Sabian vs. Heretic vs. Cheech vs. Cloudy vs. Niles Young vs. Derek Frazier
I hated the start of this match because it simply wasn’t planned, and that’s where you wanna grab the attention and hold it. The rest of the match was fine if not sloppy and spotty. The finish was worked to give the winner the time he needed to get to the title and so I appreciated that but overall this was a mess. And my dislike for Young and Cloudy don’t help either. *1/2
7. Ruckus, Eddie Kingston & Necro Butcher vs. Matt Sydal, Roderick Strong & Austin Aries
Good heat going in. Great flippy exchange between Sydal and Ruckus, and then good psychology with Rod and Kingston. When Necro comes out the place explodes. The brawling is average. Ruckus overshoots an SSP on the outside and Kingston takes too long on a set-up, then makes a little mistake when he begs off from Sydal (CZW being the faces), not something you would notice unless you watch this at home. Ruckus has always been a fav and he does a good job but his offense isn’t that believable. Gen Next seemed to be holding back something. Necro makes the hot tag for some great headbutts, but damn, the guy can’t seem to take a wrestling move half the time. He sure hits one hell of a tigerbomb on Sydal, fo sho. I liked the finishing sequence but not the set-up, liked the post match angle. ***

CZW Jan. 14, 2006 “An Afternoon Of Main Events” - Philadelphia, PA
1. Xtra
2. Larry Sweeney vs. Excalibur
3. Niles Young vs. Cloudy
4. Adam Flash vs. Heretic
5. American Dragon confrontation with Chris Hero
6. Black Out vs. Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli & Super Dragon
7. Derek Frazier vs. Cheech
8. Justice Pain vs. Joker
9. Nate Webb Interview
10. No Rope Barbed Wire: Nick Gage vs. JC Bailey vs. Necro Butcher

*** Not all that great. I liked the return of Justice Pain. The ROH vs. CZW feud continued, and I always enjoy Eddie Kingston and Black Out. Eric Garaguilo(sp?) is the most underated announcers in wrestling today. That was about it.

CZW DVD Feb. 11, 2006 “Seven Years Strong: Settling The Score” - Philadelphia, PA
Maven Bentley and Robbie Merino open up the show in the announce booth… and I sad am.
1. Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked vs. Sabian vs. Niles Young vs. Heretic
Quick elimination match. Unimpressive. Sabian is so sloppy, but fun. And so short. And Niles Young sucks balls. A heat sucking machine. I dig the NYPD spinning piledriver, but otherwise I don’t GET the guy.
2. DJ Hyde vs. Andy Sumner vs. Danny Havoc
John Dahmer joins Maven at the booth. Sumner looks like he is afraid of his own shadow. Havoc getting gimmick and wardrobe tips from Raven. And DJ Hyde may be my least favorite CZW wrestler of all time.
3. Larry Sweeney and The H8 Club (Justice Pain & Nick Gage) vs. Excalibur, Sexxxy Eddy, and Viking
I have been a proponent of Sexxxy Eddy for a while now. After this match, I propone no longer.
4. Necro Butcher vs. Hellaware Assassin & The Messiah
5. Adam Flash vs. Nate Webb
Mmmm, Pandora’s “Box”, huh? Adam Flash has been wrestling 17 years?
6. Sabian vs. Derek Frazier
I so much want to like Sabian, but he sucks ball sweat. I also like Derek Frazier but haven’t seen any improvement since I caught him in one of his first matches vs. Ruckus about 3 years ago.
7. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston & Sabian
Good to see Black Out getting the face push in 2006. Let’s see where it goes. Hero and Claudio are working the hot CZW/ROH angle, so I like this move.
8. Kevin Steen vs. Super Dragon vs. Ruckus
I don’t see anything special in Steen. Don’t know what people see in him. Ruckus is Ruckus. Lots of contrived, although cool, offense. A couple of decent sequences where all three men work well together. Commentary ruins it to some degree as well, but so does Ruckus’ non-emotional robotic attack. And I am a big fan of Ruckus. He needs to work with better wrest;lers to look good/be carried. Three ways aren’t where the good matches are found anyway. Flashy at times, definitely a good finish. mSuper Dragon pummels Bryce Remsburg on the outside. LOL!

This was one I had to get out of the way and I’ll tell you why I feel about CZW like this. . Having gone down over a month ago on 12/10/05, CoD7 is one of the biggest CZW events of the year. When it was over, the consensus was, as usual for CZW, there was not a stand out match, there was no MOTYC for 2006. CZW to me has always been about a good show with alot of fun and less about awesome mat classics. CZW has also always meant to me hardcore death matches, innovative bumps, and Eric Gargulo on the mic. MOTY or not, I had to see for myself just what went down that night.

Cheech vs Cloudy was a decent opener, interesting because they are ROH students and making their debuts in CZW. They are young and it showed by there was some great spot stuff, especially a stomp off the top rope to the florr by Cheech on Cloudy who was caught in a reverse tree of woe.

The Chikara 6 man, featuring Mike Quackenbush, Shane Storm, and Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked, Icarus, and an unmasked Gran Akuma was a nice standard Chiakara match. Jigsaw and Quack really shown through, better then everyone else in this.

I don’t understand why DJ Hyde vs Jon Dahmer…. well, why? They both gassed early and it became sloppy. And in the end Hyde squashed Dahmer. Maybe they fucked up the finish.

‘Sweet & Sour” Larry Sweeney & Franky the Mobster vs. Team Masturbation was all in the promos. Sweeney is the next… Jeff Jarrett? I think he gets more heat. Excalibur and Beef Wellington are a weird mix. Not a good match and I truly enjoy Franky’s intensity, so this was a let down as well.

Joey Ryan vs. El Generico for the PWG World Title also promised to be a decent match. What a surprise that it wasn’t. The finish was awful. The wrestling was fine. El Generico is a fun guy to watch, a good flyer, gets the crowd into his offense ans comebacks. Joey Ryan, other then his cool Tom Selleck moustache, didn’t do shit for me. He was bland when I saw him in PWG in 2004, and he hasn’t really changed, IMO.

Take Adam Flash’s total white trash blandness, Nate Webb’s complete dissapearence in this match, a still young and inexperienced Sexxxy Eddy, and what you have left is a tag match that makes Sunjay Dutt look like the proverbial man to beat. I loved the finish as Dutt followed a Flash leg drop off the top rope with a moonsault double stomp on Sexxxy Eddy’s nutsack. Pandora the manager looked good in her fishnet’s, fo’ shizzle.

Derek Frazier vs Niles Young: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs for the Jr. Title. The first fall was anti-everything, because it really wasn’t built well, it just sorta happened off a high spot around a bunch of high spots. Then they hit two huge spots, Niles with a weird piledriver onto a chair that Derek’s head flattens, and then a piledriver off the second ropes on a reverted table, through the table… OOOH! More crazy spots all a little too contrived, too much dead time in the middle setting up the TL&C’s. NY ties it with an ace crusher thru a table off the top rope. The finish was another artificial finish. This could have been better. I’m dissapointed.

The Kings of Wrestling (c) vs Blackout. Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli make a good tag team, their srcasm and taunting and heelish acts belnd well together. I knew Sabian could probably have a good match with these two guys. And Eddie Kingston is a good promo guy. Well, all of that came tru except that Sabian had an OK match in his offense, and WEddie Kingston is just that, good on the mic. He is not a good wretler, but surprisingly, he should have had more face heat when he made the big tag ins. His hate for Hero came out more in his stic work then in his ringwork. The finish sucked also, Kingston is made to look kinda bad. Kingston needs to improve in his brawling and make himself believable. Maybe it depends on who he is in there against. I wonder if The Kings didn’t do as much to make Kingston look good, or if Kingston simply isn’t good enough.

And THEN Hero turns himself face talking about the ROH/CZW date that went down 1/14. He challenged Bryan Danielson to a match. Good angle.

Matt Sydal vs Kevin Steen (c) for the Iron Man Title was a good match of you were going from poiny A to point B in one straight line. Akll the spots were great, very innovative and cool mov4es, just sorta paint by numbers feel to it.

Ruckus (c) vs Super Dragon I was so surprised thto hear that Ruckus was CZW champion back whe it happened. I wasn’t following CZW that closely. Even after knowing it for so long, it is hard to fathom on many levels. I thought if anothing else this was a smart move to put the title on Super Dragon. The match was OK, but Ruckus just wasn’t on his game, and I’m a big fan of his. I thought thee two guys could have a great match bit it wasn’t meant to be.

Cage of Death: Zandig / Justice Pain / Nick Gage vs. Necro Butcher / Toby Klein / Joker
The one guy who needed to bring the fire into this match was Joker, and when he ran in no one cared and he didn’t seem to care either. A couple of moves and that was it. I believe from a talent perspective he was the guy with the most to gain in this match. The other team are staples of this company, and everyone knows what to expect from Necro and the crazy Toby Klein.

I did like the fact that they got their money’s worth on the barbwire spidernet. I think 4 out of the six guys took the bump into it. I’m sure those things don’t come cheap. Great finishing crazy ass bump to end the match. But all in all a clusterfuck of a match.

End Comments: CoD7 and CZW can be described in a nutshell, by just hearing the long promo cut by Zandig at the end. He said he wanted to turn back the clock and run things like he used to. Lobo joined him. I think it is a good angle. But then he announces some matches for the next event. Zandig vs Necro. Justice Pain vs Joker. Nick Gage vs JC Bailey. I mean… wow. See? CZW has all this great frosting, this cool persona on the outside, but has no substance to it.