CZW Tournament of Death XI
CZW Tournament of Death XI, June 23, 2012 in Townsend, DE.
I wanted to review this show for a couple of reasons. One, it was a great show with some really cool moments, and two, for the main event. I'll explain later.
MATCH #1: FIRST ROUND - DRUNKEN SCAFFOLD MATCH: Danny Havoc vs. Devon Moore vs. Lucky tHURTeen
The gimmick to this match is that each time someone gets on top of the scaffold, they have to take a shot of Jager I believe it was. Also before the match starts, the workers (already legit drunk off their asses, and if they weren't they are the world's best workers) invited a friend who was in the crowd to be the special guest ref, and every time he counted a pin, he too would have to take a shot. Needless to say, everyone in this match was f*ckin' hammered and it made for an amazingly entertaining match. It had a lot of natural comedy, as opposed to over the top typical wrestling comedy, and it made this match just awesome to watch. Some cool spots too that weren't executed perfectly, but hey, they were all gone before the match started. Really, really fun match and if anyone is a fan of comedy in wrestling, I suggest watching this for something different.
Rating: **1/2
MATCH #2: FIRST ROUND - ULTRAVIOLENT LADDERS MATCH: Drake Younger vs. Rory "Little" Mondo
This was a tribute to our fallen brothers JC Bailey and Chri$ Ca$h, and was also to get Mondo over with the crowd, because everyone just hates him. Mondo works really hard here, but the CZW crowd is really brutal and critical towards him, and that took away from this match. Drake carried the whole thing because Mondo is really green, but again Mondo worked really hard and it's hard to take away from him for that. The match itself was ridden with spots that I absolutely loathe, which are basically any spots where a guy puts something (in this match it was light tubes) on top of the other guy, leaves for a second and then like dropkicks them or splashes them. I hate these spots because it looks so silly and sh*ts on psychology (why would the other guy just leave the tubes on top of him? How hard is it to just push the light tubes off of you, especially when you're actually trying to keep them from rolling off? Stupid!). Anyway, the match kinda dragged.
Rating: *1/2
MATCH #3: FIRST ROUND - PAIN IN THE GLASS MATCH: MASADA vs. Scott Summers
Have you heard of Scott Summers? Me neither. Basically, he's a guy from Texas who MASADA has worked with before and I'm guess MASADA wanted to bring him in to give him the chance he deserves, and he really does deserve it. This match exemplifies why exactly I love and hate MASADA at the same time. On one hand, he's an excellent worker and doesn't get the credit he deserves because he usually only does deathmatches and therefore has that stigma attached to him, but on the other hand, he has a tendency to be reckless and just a prick. Anywho, this match was full of great psychology, something you don't see often in deathmatches, with each spot building to the next, making the crowd crave every spot, and some actual WRESTLING! (YAY!) At one point, MASADA piledrives Summers onto two cinder blocks, and he doesn't protect him at all... Summers' head cracks open like a f*ckin' coconut and it's the sickest thing I've seen this year (so far...). For the past two years, MASADA has earned the award for "sickest spot of the year". This is a great match, but not for the weak at heart by any means.
Rating: ***3/4
MATCH #4: FIRST ROUND - ULTRAVIOLENT BATS MATCH: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Matt Tremont
The storyline going into this one was if Tremont won TOD, he would get a shot at DJ Hyde, the owner of CZW, because they're feuding. Hyde comes out for this and makes the match mean a little more. I've been saying since Carnage Cup 7 last year that Tremont is the next Nick Gage, and this match basically proved it for me (Gage faced Kobayashi at TOD 9, too), and Tremont is so reminiscent of Gage it's scary. The match itself also reminded me of Gage, because it was like an old school CZW match - hack and slash, not much psychology, just a bunch of sick spots to get the crowd going nuts. Cool if you like that stuff, but if you don't, then this match probably wouldn't do much for you (and if you're like BRM and hate deathmatches all together, then you'll hate this too).
Rating: **
MATCH #5: NON-TOURNAMENT - FANS BRING THE WEAPONS MATCH: Ryan Slater vs. Joe Gacy
These guys used to team together as the Runaways (remember my video with the Osirian Portal hypnotizing them? Yeah, those guys), but now they hate each other. This match felt like a fight and that's what I liked. I also liked how they took it slow at first and really gave the match some breathing room by giving time between highspots. Gacy has really grown as a performer from feuding with George W. Baus back in like '06 I think it was to now, and Slater has always been alright. But these guys brought it, and props to them. An okay match, but underwhelming compared to the tournament.
Rating: **
MATCH #6: SEMI-FINALS - CARIBBEAN SPIDER-PITS MATCH: Drake Younger vs. Danny Havoc
This was just the match you would expect these two to have. Two (in my opinion) brilliant deathmatch workers who incorporated a story into their match. These two went back and forth, back and forth, and really did a lot with the nearfalls. The spots they did were mostly wrestling moves with the aid of weapons, which I love, as opposed to just beating the sh*t out of each other with random, sharp objects (see Kobayashi vs. Tremont). It wasn't as good as MASADA vs. Summers, but still a really good match. If you're not a deathmatch wrestling fan and hate it for the stuff they do, at least give either this match or the MASADA vs. Summers match a shot, and then really think about what they're doing. You might be surprised.
Rating: ***1/2
MATCH #7: SEMI-FINALS - BJW STYLE DEATHMATCH: MASADA vs. Abdullah Kobayashi
BJW is Big Japan Pro Wrestling, where Kobayahi comes from and where MASADA made a name for himself. These guys have worked each other so many times it's almost pathetic, but they still can put on a good match. If you're not familiar, a "BJW Style Deathmatch" is basically lots of light tubes, panes of glass, a bed of nails, other sharp things (Kenzan, skewers) and they fight around into the crowd a lot, because that's how they do it in Japan. Just basically whatever these dudes are comfortable working with. This match is great for those who enjoy Japanese deathmatches, because that's basically what it was (there is a difference for those of you who aren't too keen on it). Lots of hard to explain psychology went on here, and this match really showed how much of a f*cking BEAST MASADA is. At one point, he simply puts a pane of glass in front of Kobayashi and just forearms the glass until it breaks. He cuts himself REALLY bad from this and it plays into stuff later. But this match was really fun and kept me in the whole time.
Rating: ***1/2
MATCH #8: FINALS - NO ROPE BARBED WIRE DOUBLE HELL DEATHMATCH: MASADA vs. Drake Younger
DJ Hyde comes out and says the match isn't going to happen because MASADA's forearm is too injured, and risking his life and the life of his company isn't worth it for these "stupid fans." DJ's delivery is so lazy it's pathetic. MASADA comes out, against the wishes of Maven Bently (the promoter) and the nurses and doctors, and all of this turns into a shoot. Or it sounded like it. This is why I wanted to review this show. Either this was a shoot, or the best work I've ever seen. MASADA is legit injured (his arm is so taped up and he can barely move it, and he sells it for the rest of the show), and MASADA seems legit pissed at DJ for not wanting him to work (he even shoots at ROH, saying "don't sanction the match if you're so worried, we're gonna fight and we ain't those f*ggots in ROH" and then sarcastically says "Oh, did I say that? My bad. F*ck it." MASADA has a bad history with ROH and this made me chuckle.) MASADA has such a natural, great delivery (telling DJ to "get the f*ck outta here" when DJ tells him to go to the hospital), especially compared to Younger who is playing the eternal babyface. You gotta see this to tell if it's a work or a shoot, because I can't even tell. DJ ends the segment in MASADA's face, yelling "Don't you EVER f*ckin' cross me again. You want this match? FINE. Do your f*ckin' job!" And then walks away yelling off mic "IT'S ON YOU!" Anyway the match itself was great for MASADA being so injured. It was incredibly slow, almost too slow, but it seemed just right with MASADA's injury and the spots were spread out and not too crazy. For a finals, it wasn't what you would expect, but for just a standalone match, it was amazing considering the circumstances.
Rating: ****
After the match, MASADA is awarded the trophy and goes to the hospital, and ironically, DJ is beat down and in light of Nick Gage slicing an artery at TOD 8, Hyde I think (not sure) slices his arm and has to be airlifted to the hospital immediately. This, I assure you, was NOT a work.
OVERALL:
A pretty awesome show if you're into this stuff. The best TOD since TOD 8.5 (maybe 9, but I loved TOD 8.5 so). If you're not into deathmatches but you're willing to give a few matches a chance, check out MASADA vs. Scott Summers and the finals. You may be surprised.
FINAL VERDICT: 7/10
I wanted to review this show for a couple of reasons. One, it was a great show with some really cool moments, and two, for the main event. I'll explain later.
MATCH #1: FIRST ROUND - DRUNKEN SCAFFOLD MATCH: Danny Havoc vs. Devon Moore vs. Lucky tHURTeen
The gimmick to this match is that each time someone gets on top of the scaffold, they have to take a shot of Jager I believe it was. Also before the match starts, the workers (already legit drunk off their asses, and if they weren't they are the world's best workers) invited a friend who was in the crowd to be the special guest ref, and every time he counted a pin, he too would have to take a shot. Needless to say, everyone in this match was f*ckin' hammered and it made for an amazingly entertaining match. It had a lot of natural comedy, as opposed to over the top typical wrestling comedy, and it made this match just awesome to watch. Some cool spots too that weren't executed perfectly, but hey, they were all gone before the match started. Really, really fun match and if anyone is a fan of comedy in wrestling, I suggest watching this for something different.
Rating: **1/2
MATCH #2: FIRST ROUND - ULTRAVIOLENT LADDERS MATCH: Drake Younger vs. Rory "Little" Mondo
This was a tribute to our fallen brothers JC Bailey and Chri$ Ca$h, and was also to get Mondo over with the crowd, because everyone just hates him. Mondo works really hard here, but the CZW crowd is really brutal and critical towards him, and that took away from this match. Drake carried the whole thing because Mondo is really green, but again Mondo worked really hard and it's hard to take away from him for that. The match itself was ridden with spots that I absolutely loathe, which are basically any spots where a guy puts something (in this match it was light tubes) on top of the other guy, leaves for a second and then like dropkicks them or splashes them. I hate these spots because it looks so silly and sh*ts on psychology (why would the other guy just leave the tubes on top of him? How hard is it to just push the light tubes off of you, especially when you're actually trying to keep them from rolling off? Stupid!). Anyway, the match kinda dragged.
Rating: *1/2
MATCH #3: FIRST ROUND - PAIN IN THE GLASS MATCH: MASADA vs. Scott Summers
Have you heard of Scott Summers? Me neither. Basically, he's a guy from Texas who MASADA has worked with before and I'm guess MASADA wanted to bring him in to give him the chance he deserves, and he really does deserve it. This match exemplifies why exactly I love and hate MASADA at the same time. On one hand, he's an excellent worker and doesn't get the credit he deserves because he usually only does deathmatches and therefore has that stigma attached to him, but on the other hand, he has a tendency to be reckless and just a prick. Anywho, this match was full of great psychology, something you don't see often in deathmatches, with each spot building to the next, making the crowd crave every spot, and some actual WRESTLING! (YAY!) At one point, MASADA piledrives Summers onto two cinder blocks, and he doesn't protect him at all... Summers' head cracks open like a f*ckin' coconut and it's the sickest thing I've seen this year (so far...). For the past two years, MASADA has earned the award for "sickest spot of the year". This is a great match, but not for the weak at heart by any means.
Rating: ***3/4
MATCH #4: FIRST ROUND - ULTRAVIOLENT BATS MATCH: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Matt Tremont
The storyline going into this one was if Tremont won TOD, he would get a shot at DJ Hyde, the owner of CZW, because they're feuding. Hyde comes out for this and makes the match mean a little more. I've been saying since Carnage Cup 7 last year that Tremont is the next Nick Gage, and this match basically proved it for me (Gage faced Kobayashi at TOD 9, too), and Tremont is so reminiscent of Gage it's scary. The match itself also reminded me of Gage, because it was like an old school CZW match - hack and slash, not much psychology, just a bunch of sick spots to get the crowd going nuts. Cool if you like that stuff, but if you don't, then this match probably wouldn't do much for you (and if you're like BRM and hate deathmatches all together, then you'll hate this too).
Rating: **
MATCH #5: NON-TOURNAMENT - FANS BRING THE WEAPONS MATCH: Ryan Slater vs. Joe Gacy
These guys used to team together as the Runaways (remember my video with the Osirian Portal hypnotizing them? Yeah, those guys), but now they hate each other. This match felt like a fight and that's what I liked. I also liked how they took it slow at first and really gave the match some breathing room by giving time between highspots. Gacy has really grown as a performer from feuding with George W. Baus back in like '06 I think it was to now, and Slater has always been alright. But these guys brought it, and props to them. An okay match, but underwhelming compared to the tournament.
Rating: **
MATCH #6: SEMI-FINALS - CARIBBEAN SPIDER-PITS MATCH: Drake Younger vs. Danny Havoc
This was just the match you would expect these two to have. Two (in my opinion) brilliant deathmatch workers who incorporated a story into their match. These two went back and forth, back and forth, and really did a lot with the nearfalls. The spots they did were mostly wrestling moves with the aid of weapons, which I love, as opposed to just beating the sh*t out of each other with random, sharp objects (see Kobayashi vs. Tremont). It wasn't as good as MASADA vs. Summers, but still a really good match. If you're not a deathmatch wrestling fan and hate it for the stuff they do, at least give either this match or the MASADA vs. Summers match a shot, and then really think about what they're doing. You might be surprised.
Rating: ***1/2
MATCH #7: SEMI-FINALS - BJW STYLE DEATHMATCH: MASADA vs. Abdullah Kobayashi
BJW is Big Japan Pro Wrestling, where Kobayahi comes from and where MASADA made a name for himself. These guys have worked each other so many times it's almost pathetic, but they still can put on a good match. If you're not familiar, a "BJW Style Deathmatch" is basically lots of light tubes, panes of glass, a bed of nails, other sharp things (Kenzan, skewers) and they fight around into the crowd a lot, because that's how they do it in Japan. Just basically whatever these dudes are comfortable working with. This match is great for those who enjoy Japanese deathmatches, because that's basically what it was (there is a difference for those of you who aren't too keen on it). Lots of hard to explain psychology went on here, and this match really showed how much of a f*cking BEAST MASADA is. At one point, he simply puts a pane of glass in front of Kobayashi and just forearms the glass until it breaks. He cuts himself REALLY bad from this and it plays into stuff later. But this match was really fun and kept me in the whole time.
Rating: ***1/2
MATCH #8: FINALS - NO ROPE BARBED WIRE DOUBLE HELL DEATHMATCH: MASADA vs. Drake Younger
DJ Hyde comes out and says the match isn't going to happen because MASADA's forearm is too injured, and risking his life and the life of his company isn't worth it for these "stupid fans." DJ's delivery is so lazy it's pathetic. MASADA comes out, against the wishes of Maven Bently (the promoter) and the nurses and doctors, and all of this turns into a shoot. Or it sounded like it. This is why I wanted to review this show. Either this was a shoot, or the best work I've ever seen. MASADA is legit injured (his arm is so taped up and he can barely move it, and he sells it for the rest of the show), and MASADA seems legit pissed at DJ for not wanting him to work (he even shoots at ROH, saying "don't sanction the match if you're so worried, we're gonna fight and we ain't those f*ggots in ROH" and then sarcastically says "Oh, did I say that? My bad. F*ck it." MASADA has a bad history with ROH and this made me chuckle.) MASADA has such a natural, great delivery (telling DJ to "get the f*ck outta here" when DJ tells him to go to the hospital), especially compared to Younger who is playing the eternal babyface. You gotta see this to tell if it's a work or a shoot, because I can't even tell. DJ ends the segment in MASADA's face, yelling "Don't you EVER f*ckin' cross me again. You want this match? FINE. Do your f*ckin' job!" And then walks away yelling off mic "IT'S ON YOU!" Anyway the match itself was great for MASADA being so injured. It was incredibly slow, almost too slow, but it seemed just right with MASADA's injury and the spots were spread out and not too crazy. For a finals, it wasn't what you would expect, but for just a standalone match, it was amazing considering the circumstances.
Rating: ****
After the match, MASADA is awarded the trophy and goes to the hospital, and ironically, DJ is beat down and in light of Nick Gage slicing an artery at TOD 8, Hyde I think (not sure) slices his arm and has to be airlifted to the hospital immediately. This, I assure you, was NOT a work.
OVERALL:
A pretty awesome show if you're into this stuff. The best TOD since TOD 8.5 (maybe 9, but I loved TOD 8.5 so). If you're not into deathmatches but you're willing to give a few matches a chance, check out MASADA vs. Scott Summers and the finals. You may be surprised.
FINAL VERDICT: 7/10