The following features two short reviews of two CZW events from the fall of 2012 that remain missing here in the combat zone review section of PWP. Accompanied by a rundown of the results and some snowflakes are some quick thoughts on both shows to help you determine what is, or what isn’t, worth dipping your toes into and pulling out your wallet for.
It is not only important, but it is essential to remember that any type of rating system put together by any die-hard professional wrestling evaluator, is 110 per cent opinionated and 110 per cent designed by subjectivity. Any format used to rate a show or a match, is simply for those who enjoy wrestling, to show others who enjoy wrestling, how enjoyable things are or might be. I felt the need to type that out, based on the fact I did not review the following material in the format I prefer and commonly use. That reason is strictly based on the two events below, not being fresh content. Enjoy it for what it’s worth.
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CEREBRAL 2012
Sami Callihan def. Pepper Parks – **1/2
Nevaeh def. Cherry Bomb – *1/2
Ruckus def. Dustin Rayz – **
Greg Excellent def. Blk Jeez – **
CZW World Tag-Team Championship: 4Loco, Azriel and Bandido Jr def. The Nation of Intoxication, Danny Havoc and Devon Moore, to become CZW Tag-Team Champions – **1/2
Drew Gulak def. Latin Dragon – **1/2
Alex Colon def. Lucky 13 – ***
OI4K, Jake and Dave Crist def. ACH and Rich Sawnn – ***
CZW World Championship Match: MASADA def. Necro Butcher to retain the CZW World Championship – ***
For CZW, last year was loaded with great cards, and great events that managed to deliver and click on all cylinders. However, this was far from one of the stronger combat zone shows in 2012. With that being said, “Cerebral,” in October of 2012, was promoted as nothing more than ‘B’ show featuring a main event for a very specific fan-base. Both of those ideas came to fruition and nevertheless the main event delivered. These shows, top to bottom, are designed to get the guys over who are already over and heel-up the guys who are already heel. These shows also tend to remind the crowd why the champions, are the champions. This show does its job from that realistic perspective. To kick off the show, Callihan forces Parks to tap-out and that face on heel dynamic plays well to the crowd. The relatively hot-start is followed by a couple of short matches that lead into one of many, half-way meaningless tag-team title matches of the second half of 2012. The above ideas probably won’t market itself very well. I say half-way meaningless because the tag belts did change hands on this night. The second half of this show is nothing memorable but an argument can be made that it belongs in a worth viewing discussion. Some mid-card talent have some respectable mid-card matches and Rich Sawnn and ACH is an experiment many of you should want to see. Necro Butcher…is Necro Butcher. A brawl is a brawl. Chairs, chairs and more chairs. No Cole, no Younger, no Fox and a sidelined Tremont may suggest star-power is lacking here. However, waiting until the main event rolled around to set the tone of the show really helped “Cerebral” find a purpose. A slight incline the whole way through, no matter how slight the incline, is forever a positive aspect to any professional wrestling show.
NIGHT OF INFAMY 2012
Pepper Parks def. Latin Dragon and Dustin Rayz – **1/2
Kimber Lee def. Greg Excellent – **
Ultraviolent Rules: Danny Havoc def. Alex Colon – ****
CZW World Tag-Team Championship Match: 4Loco, Azriel and Bandido Jr., retain def. BLK Out, Ruckus and BlkJeez and Toby Klein/The Human Tornado – **1/2
Matt Tremont and New Jack def. Joe Gacy and Ron Mathis – N/A
CZW Wired Championship Match: AR Fox retains def. Rich Swann, Shane Strickland and Lucky 13 – ***1/2
OI4K, Jake and Dave Crist def. The Briscoe Brothers, Jay and Mark Briscoe – ***
CZW World Championship Match: MASADA retains def. Davey Richards – ***1/2
Allow me to start this paragraph almost exactly the same as the one above on “Cerebral.” Notice the one subtle difference though. For CZW, last year was loaded with great cards, and great events that managed to deliver and click on all cylinders. This WAS one of the stronger combat zone shows in 2012. An argument can be made, that along with Voorhees N.J based shows like “Tangled Web V,” “New Heights,” and the very obvious “Cage of Death 14,” this show is ‘A’ level combat zone material. The promo that starts this show is one of the best executed segments I have seen in recent memory. The promo features the reinstatement of Matt Tremont in what you could call a simple but perfect series of events. This series of events led to the entire roster exiting the building in protest. If you do not understand the story being told here, feel free to check out my piece on what I call “An Ultraviolent Trilogy.” The piece is available here at PWPonderings. A swift triple-threat match and a taste of the wonder that is, Greg Excellent, open things up lightly. Light content transitioned into one of the most physically brutal matches CZW showcased throughout all of 2012. Alex Colon and Danny Havoc tore the roof up on the skate zone as much as they tore up their bodies here. Salt, barbed-wire and thumbtacks make this an ultraviolent encounter you must go out of your way to see. A chaotic tag-team championship contest doesn’t help the current stigma of the tag belts here. Nor does the fact that Human Tornado never made it into the match he competed in. A New Jack surprise makes the N/A rating connected to the Tremont bout worth your time, even though the match does become more of a segment than anything truly contested in the ring. The idea of a surprise partner for Tremont came together in the epic promo segment at the start of the show. A wired title, high-flying extravaganza, a long awaited return to CZW for the Briscoe Brothers and one of the most unique contests professional wrestling has to offer right now; should be more than enough for combat zone fans to check this out, if you have not already. Sometimes chronological viewing in wrestling can be sidelined when a sleeper show like this takes place.