-Taped from Philadelphia, PA
-Your hosts are Emil J and Rob Naylor for tournament matches. Dan Cowhey, and Jake Black commentate over non-tournament matches.
-For whatever reason, CZW owner and booker D.J. Hyde comes out for a preshow address. Not a big fan of promoters coming out to talk before a one night tournament. The show is long enough, and we don’t really need to hear from the boss. It also comes off as Ian Rottenish, and no one wants that. The man even admits he talks too much. So then why are you still talking? He runs down some of the card and then brings out all 12 of the Best of the Best competitors. Greg Excellent comes from behind to beat Hyde up and almost kills him with a butterfly driver.
-This tournament has quite a unique format that I’d like to go over briefly before going into the review. The 12 competitors are divided up into four three elimination matches. The four winners are divided up into two semifinal matches. Then the winner of those matches meet in the finals. With all that being said, let’s dive into what should be an excellent opportunity for both the wrestlers and CZW.
Best of the Best Quarterfinal #1 Akuma (Kimber Lee) vs. Jonathon Gresham vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Match in Five Words or Less: Botched
Match Summary/Analysis: I’ve seen and liked all these guys for the most part. See, watching CZW can’t be that hard. I guess when FIST kicked Akuma out of the group, he lost the Gran part. An issue with three ways is typically one guy being out of the ring while the other stays outside. Unfortunately, this match does fall into that trip for a bit. Lots of fun holds and nearfalls in the match. Sabre and Akuma go to work on Gresham’s leg. Gresham is clearly in the underdog babyface role. He hits a dragon screw legwhip. Akuma’s ending is bad. Sabre kicks him in the face on the apron. That’s what you get for screwing up. Gresham takes turns working over each opponent. Sabre almost ends his career by tripping off the top rope. What an awful botch. He maintains an offensive advantage but looks a bit ginger. Akuma comes close to endings Sabre’s night with a northern lights bomb. Series of counters leads into a Gresham DDT. Torbelleno gets three for Gresham, and Akuma is done for the night. Kimber Lee shoves Akuma to the back. Sabre uses a series of headbutts before exchanging pins. A breakneck pace is established. Rana fails for Gresham as he lands on his hand. Double stomp on his arm. Series of kicks gets two. Cross armbreaker turns into a triangle choke and then back into the cross armbreaker. Gresham locks a kneebar. Gresham goes for an armdrag but ends up back in the cross armbreaker. He has no choice but to tap. Sabre advances. Pretty decent match despite some horrific botches by Gresham and Sabre.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Zack Sabre Jr./9:26/**3/4
Best of the Best Three Way Quarterfinal #2: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole (CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano
Match in Five Words or Less: Golden Boys Collide
Match Summary/Analysis: Only in CZW will you see this match. It’s ROH’s golden boys versus DG USA and Evolve’s golden boy. Good pace to start as they establish how evenly matched they truly are. Gargano takes care of Cole with a number of moves. Backslide on O’Reilly gets two. Double pin attempt. Wow. Gargano slingshot spears both men. Double face plant leads to a double kick. Cole and O’Reilly continue working together as Mia Yum watched on at ringside. This match seemingly becomes a bodyslam challenge. Gargano goes for flash pins on both guys. Interesting to note. Cole did not break up the pin when O’Reilly was down, but O’Reilly bailed Cole out. Love the subtle heel work. Series of superkicks leaves all three men down. Takedown into a hard kick by Gargano. Hertz doughnut on both Cole and O’Reilly. Now he tries to get the crowd into the match. Double dives by Gargano on Cole. Climb to the top, but O’Reilly stops him. O’Reilly lands hard head first on the middle rope. Gargano hits a lawn dart. Superkick. Standing sliced bread into a roll of the dice gets two. O’Reilly anklelock. Gargano kicks him off. Running elbow. O’Reilly comes back and eventually nails a swinging DDT. Suplex right into a tiger sleeper. Gargano has no choice but to tap out. It’s ROH versus CZW. Considering what promotion this is, I think it should be obvious who’s coming away with the victory. Very fun sequence as these two kick the hell out of each other. O’Reilly hits a Regalplex for two. Backcracker by Cole gets two. Crossface by O’Reilly. He rolls through away from the ropes. Superkick into a reverse DDT (called the Corona Crash by Rob Naylor) gets Cole a win and entry into the semifinals. Slightly better than the opener. Very fast pace with a lot of moves. Not a lot of psychology, but at least the matches are easy to watch so far.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Adam Cole/10:56/***
-Larry Dallas is in the ring. I guess he’s there in the guise of representing Chuck Taylor just as he does in Evole. Oy vey.
Best of the Best Three Way Quarterfinal #3: Brandon Gatson vs. Daisuke Seximoto vs. Chuck Taylor
Match in Five Words or Less: Hell Yes
Match Summary/Analysis: You won’t find a more random matching up of three guys in any other company. Sekimoto is a vicious striker and power guy. Gatson is a high flyer. Chuck Taylor does a little bit of everything. Gatson and Taylor don’t start out very well as Sekimoto establishes himself right away. Gatson gets back into the proceedings and hits a DDT. Taylor and Gatson go at it while Sekimoto recovers. And boy does he. Sharpshooter on Taylor. Gatson breaks the hold. Taylor and Gatson try doubling up on Sekimoto, but the partnership breaks down as neither guy can decide who should pin Sekimoto. Sekimoto manages a double vertical suplex. Gatson hits a stunner from the outside and then immediately hits a Sasuke special on Sekimoto. That was sweet. Fun sequence between Taylor and Gatson. They should have a one-on-one match in PWG. Bet it would be fun. Speaking of things that aren’t fun, Gatson eats a vicious lariat on the apron. Sekimoto… uh oh. DOUBLE GERMAN SUPLEX. The pin is academic on Gatson. Taylor comes back with a series of kicks. Violence party in the corner. Sekimoto does a Flair flip and hits a flying body press. LARIAT! 1-2-NO! Stalling German suplex gets Sekimoto the win. Best match of the first round so far. It was short, but they got a lot in. Sekimoto is an incredible specimen.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Daisuke Sekimoto/7:55/***1/4
-Larry Dallas checks on his man. Sekimoto German suplexes him.
-Best of the Best Three Way Qualifer #4: Sami Callihan vs. Jake Crist vs. AR Fox
Match in Five Words or Less: Jumping The Shark On Callihan
Match Summary/Analysis: Sami Callihan is not exactly my favorite these wrestlers. Lots of high flying early. Guess this one isn’t going long either. Crist drives Fox down on his head on a suplex. Callihan tries locking in a stretch muffler on Crist but ends up rolling him up. Back and forth with hard shots. Fox back in with some crazy moves. Callihan dives on him. Good God. Crist with a shooting star press, and he nearly lands on his head. Thank God AR Fox was there to catch him. Fox hits a 450 and even he makes contact with concrete. Back in the ring. One thing can certainly be said about this match. It’s not boring. Crist hits a Tiger Canadian Destroyer but Callihan breaks the count for whatever reason, Right into the stretch muffler as Crist again goes for a cover. Callihan kicks at Crist while still applying the hold, and this leads to Crist tapping out. Fox goes back to the high flying. Huge dive to the outside. He’s clearly got no fear. 450 met with Callihan’s knees. Vicious forearm. Stretch muffler. Fox taps. Lots of diving and movez, but it ultimately didn’t mean a great deal with a lack of selling. AR Fox was quite impressive and definitely deserved to be signed by Dragon Gate USA.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sami Callihan/8:15/**1/2
-Drew Gulak comes out with his manager Duwance Donovan to kill some time. He’s the undefeated CZW Wired Television champion. He doesn’t understand why no one likes him. The boos, jeers, and bullhorns are so loud that you can’t possibly hear. Briscoes and Devon Moore come out to shut him up.
-All Titles on the Line: Devon Moore and The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe)(CZW World Tag Team Champions) vs. Robert Anthony (CZW World Heavyweight Champion ) and Philly’s Most Wanted (The BLK Jeez and Joker )(w/Jon Moxley)
Match in Five Words or Less: Acceptable
Match Summary/Analysis: Moxley gets “You sold out” chants for whatever reason. There are new announcers, and they’re not as good. Anthony vows to “fuck” Mark Briscoe up. Moxley also talks but says nothing important. Memo to CZW: Letting fans bring in those horn sounding things is a terrible idea. It’s annoying to the fans and distracting to the wrestlers. Anthony outwrestles Mark briefly before being hit with strikes. Clothesline takes Anthony out as Moxley consoles the world champion. The BLK Jeez and Devon Moore are next. They do the first extended mat wrestling sequence of the night. I wonder what the CZW fans are thinking during the wrestling sequences. Moore and the Briscoes control the early part of the match. The stips for this match are a bit odd. Even if Jay Briscoe were to pin the world champion, the belt would go to Devon Moore. And if Anthony were to pin the Briscoes, the tag belts would go to Philly’s Most Wanted. Moxley pulls Jay’s leg. The referee tosses the soon to be action adventure soap opera superstar from ringside. Heat segment on Moore. Fairly mundane stuff but solid. Anthony has certainly changed his personality and body since dumping his Egotistico Fantastico persona. Moore refuses to die. If nothing else, CZW is doing a good job building sympathy for Moore. Mafia kick after no selling a back suplex leads to a hot tag. Mark Briscoe in with a series of clothelines. T-Bone on Jeez. Anthony doesn’t fare much better. Mark Briscoe does a heck of a job taking everyone out by himself. Joker locks in a sweet cross armbreaker. Jay Briscoe with a boot. Falcon arrow does not do the deal. Anthony goes for a dropkick but hits the referee instead. Mark with a cutthroat driver but Jeez hits a dropkick. Jay Briscoe beats him down. Black Jeez hits a low blow as he avoids splash mountain. We get some shenanigans as Moxley pretends to be a referee. Devon Moore still won’t die. Moore hits a superkick but Moxley kicks the top rope. Doomsday device takes Moxley out. Moore with a shooting star presses Anthony and becomes the new champion after pinning Anthony. Overbooking aside, this was a solid six man tag and a great moment for Moore. Crowd seemed genuinely happy for him and this match was designed around making him a sympathetic babyface.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW CZW World Heavyweight Champion-Devon Moore, STILL CZW World Tag Team Champions- The Briscoes/13:45/***1/4
-Briscoes and Philly’s Most Wanted confront each other after the match. Some geek ring crew member beats Moxley up and stunners him. Why is someone from the ring crew beating up a future WWE star? I can understand Moxley going under to a wrestler getting a push, but this makes a minimal amount of sense.
-Best of the Best Semifinal #1: Adam Cole (w/Mia Yim)(CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Match in Five Words or Less:
Match Summary/Analysis: These two met in a tag match earlier in the day, and their rivalry has apparently extended through the states and Europe. Extended mat work to start. Sabre comes out on time because he’s British and must watch a lot of Johnny Saint. Kicks by Sabre don’t work out so well as he nails the post hard. Cole goes to work on the leg. He’s such a great heel. Just the way he mocked Sabre by limping in front of the camera. Sabre makes a comeback on one leg. Nice dragon suplex gets two. Sweeps the leg on the apron before hitting a double stomp. Despite his left leg bothering him, he applies a cross armbreaker. Cole grabs the ropes. Powerbomb into a half crab. Sabre out of the way of the tombstone into another cross armbreaker. Series of nearfalls by Sabre. Cole enziguri. Northern lights bomb gets one! Corona crash gets the three count for Cole as he is now in the finals. A solid match but with more time this could have been scary good.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Adam Cole/11:20/***
-Best of the Best Semifinal #2: Sami Callihan vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
Match in Five Words or Less: OW!
Match Summary/Analysis: If you’re looking for a game of human chess with lots of holds or submissions, you’re looking at the wrong match. This match is minutes and minutes of these two guys hitting each other as hard as they possibly can. Lots of no selling of clotheslines. Can’t forget that. Callihan seems to want to buy a sympathetic babyface, but his personality and look lend him to being a heel better. It also doesn’t help his ability to sell is non-existant. Sekimoto hits a vicious powerbomb before going right into the STF. Callihan kicks out of all Sekimoto’s finishers. Callihan appears to be dead, but he hits a backdrop driver. Lariat but Sekimoto kicks out. Forearm. Stretch muffler with no rhyme or reason. Sekimoto TAPS OUT! Oh my God. I enjoyed this match only because of Sekimoto.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sami Callihan/11:10/***
-A backstage promo is shown with no audio. It’s between the six guys who were in the six man tag.
-CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship: Jun Kasai (champion) vs. Danny Havoc
Match in Five Words or Less: Never Again
Match Summary/Analysis: Kasai is competing in his second death match of the day. The man is legitimately insane. There is no doubt about that. All you need to know about this contest is there’s a lot of glass. So not only is Kasai crazy, but CZW is going to let him play in glass? You couldn’t pay me to sit in The Arena and watch this match. Not because I don’t like the style of match but JUN KASAI IS ROLLING AROUND IN GLASS. I’m playing by the same rules as the wXw match. I’m not a fan of what’s done, but I’m not going to rant about them, nor will I rate them. Lots of sending guys into glass boards, using the shards of glass to cut people open, and of course blood. Couldn’t be a death match with both guys bleeding everywhere. Just know this is one of the most ridiculous matches I’ve ever seen. Jun Kasai is nuts, and Danny Havoc wins after lifting him and hitting a DVD right into a cover. I swear to God that’s the ending. I love how this match of all things got the most amount of time.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship- Danny Havoc/17:59/N/R
-Nice touch as they show Cole and Callihan both walking from their locker rooms to the ring. Very professional looking.
Best of the Best Final: Sami Callihan vs. Adam Cole (w/Mia Yum)(CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion)
Match in Five Words or Less: Cole Is The Best Around
Match Summary/Analysis: Can you imagine having to follow that violence party? At least they don’t start out with restholds or feeling out process. Cole goes right to work and nearly wins 30 seconds into the match He continues his beatdown outside of the ring. Callihan hits an exploder on the outside. Yim tries to comfort her man, but it doesn’t stop Callihan from having a chop party. One takes Cole into the first row, taking a fan out. Callihan misses a splash. Cole with a series of right hands. Cole gets too cocky and gets hit with a Saito suplex. Yim intereferes to her man can regain the advantage. Chinlock to slow the pace down. Crowd actually gets behind Callihan. Vicious strikes and kicks by Callihan. Cole meets Callihan with kick on a dive attempt. Cole is such a great heel. I’m amazed he can pull off being a babyface in Ring of Honor. Chop party on the apron. Cole drops Callihan on his head on the apron sort of. Callihan sent into the front row as a fan is taken out. This random tossing of wrestlers into the crowd will lead to a lawsuit at some point. Two tombstones back-to-back but Callihan kicks out. I guess he’s as good Undertaker. Callihan with an Alabama slam into the corner. What a reckless and stupid move. Stretch muffler cinched in. Yum goes on the apron as Cole taps out. What a terrible way to end your most prestigious wrestling tournament. Callihan brings Yim into the ring and kicks her right in the face. Face wash and a stretch muffler. She of course taps like crazy. Flying kick by Cole. Canadian Destroyer but Callihan kicks out. The look on Cole’s face is priceless. German suplex into the Coronoa Crash but Callihan manages a kickout. Callihan goes into no sell mode. Cole applies a Stretch Muffler as Yim pulls the ropes. Callihan’s hand drops twice. He appears to get the hand up a third time, but it drops and the referee calls for the bell. What a dumb ending. I enjoyed Adam Cole’s heel work. His personality and moveset shined brightly throughout the match. Callihan wasn’t even completely terrible, but I felt like this was two guys trying to have a 30 minute epic in 15 minutes.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: 2011 Best of the Best Winner- Adam Cole/14:36/***
-Callihan puts Cole over and also swears. DJ Hyde does as well. Cole talks about his road to winning this tournament in the most smarmy and heelish manner ever. Callihan fires back and say he’s the best. DJ Hyde puts everyone over and reminds Cole who the boss is. All 12 competitors come out. Hyde keeps talking. I’m not fast forwarding. This just goes on and on and on.
Line of the Night: Nothing too special or funny. Therefore, I reserve the right to not anoint an award winner.
Finish of the Night: Sekimoto pinning Taylor after a stalling German suplex, and I will never get tired of that.
MVP: Adam Cole wrestled three good matches and drew great heat from the crowd. This night showed why he’s going to be a bright shining star in independent wrestling for many years to come.
The Verdict: CZW seems to be trying to become more mainstream while focusing less on the death matches and violence. I appreciated a lot of the effort put forth by everyone involved. By no means was this a perfect show, but I didn’t want to run as far away from the combat zone as I might have thought before watching the show. I give this show a thumbs up based on the number of good matches. There’s nothing excellent to go out of your way to see except Adam Cole, who might be one of the best heels in wrestling.