By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S CZW REVIEW SERIES
CAGE OF DEATH 14
DECEMBER 8, 2012



(1) The Nation of Intoxication (Danny Havoc & Lucky 13 & Devon Moore beat CZW World Tag Team Champions 4Loco (Alex Colon & CZW World Tag champions Azrieal & Bandido, Jr. w/ Chrissy vierra) in an Ultraviolent Aerial Assault match. This was a crazy match with a ramp, a scaffold, and a rope for the participants to use in aerial combat. Lucky took a hurricanrana off the top through a pile of chairs in the outside from Bandido jr. during the early going. Havoc did the Terry Funk ladder spot, but Rivera low blowed him and Colon nailed him with a German with the ladder wrapped around his head. Havoc went up to a launching pad and wiped out everyone with a crazy dive. Lucky went up to a scaffold and blasted Bandido through a table with a sick 450. Rivera tried to hit a low blow on Havoc up top, but he had a beer can in his pants to block it. Havoc then hit a falcon arrow on Rivera through the table.
Havoc put Colon through a table with a DVD off the ladder allowing Lucky to grab the titles from the harness. (***1/2)

Pepper Parks and Cherry Bomb came out and insulted some fans to fill time while the ring was cleared of debris. They gave several fans advice on how to improve their appearance. This was a pretty good way to stall for time.

(2) Rich Swann beat Erick Strickland. The announcer audio dropped to a very low level during this match. These two had a good match, but something seems to be missing when it comes to the chemistry between these two, who have been feuding for a while in CZW. The crowd didn’t give these guys much of a chance and were flat after the opener. Strickland hit a straightjacket electric chair suplex at one point for a nearfall. Swann fired back moments later with a van dominator variation followed by an inverted frankensteiner for another nearfall. Swann hit a package piledriver, but Strickland kicked out. He finally finished off Strickland with a standing 450. (***)

Swann finally showed respect to Strickland after the match.

(3) Greg Excellent & Momma Excellent beat Drew Gulak & Kimber Lee. This was all comedy and they did some funny spots here with Excellent and Momma Excellent humiliating Gulak and Lee, which included a double stink palm spot. The finish saw Momma Excellent get Kimber Lee in a dragon sleeper while Greg got Gulak in a Dragon Sleeper for a double submission win. (**1/2)

Colt Cabana’s music played after the match. He asked Greg and Momma Excellent if they thought they were funny. He challenged them to a match at WrestleCon. He got in Momma Excellent’s face and told her she could fight or f---. Excellent got in Cabana’s face and accepted his challenge. Cabana said he was going to f--- Momma Excellent and left the ring. Greg told him he was not going to do any such thing to his mom.

(4) Adam Cole beat Sami Callihan in an Anything Goes match. These two had feuded previously in CZW and this was Cole’s first appearance in CZW in a long period of time. They brawled right away before the introductions could be made. Callihan ran wild early, but ate a trashcan shot from Cole. Cole set up Callihan on a chair and teased a running kick, but grabbed a chinlock instead and the crowd booed. Callihan fired back later and hit a Liger bomb onto a ladder in the corner. Callihan tried to set up a pile of chairs in the corner, but they collapsed. Cole later cut off Callihan and was able to properly set up the chair structure, so the crowd applauded and Cole bowed before flipping them off, which was funny. Callihan ended up suplexing Cole through the chairs structure off the top, but only got a 2 count. Callihan got a bag of poop and put it on a chair. He eventually powerbombed Cole onto the poop, but Cole rolled him up for the win. (***1/4)

New Jack and Mustafa came out to cut a promo while the ring was cleared. He said he and Mustafa would beat Ruckus & Jeez at the next Extreme Rising show at the end of the month after putting over CZW.

(5) BLKOUT (BLK Jeez & Ruckus) w/Robbie Mireno vs. OI4K (Jake & Dave Christ) w/ Neveah in a CZW Tag Team Titles #1 Contender match went to a no contest. Jeez got upset at a fan at ringside and had to be restrained by security before the match even started. The match started off well enough with both teams doing a series of fives to the outside. Ruckus then hit the razzle dazzle on Dave on the outside. The action ended up back in the ring and something seemed to be wrong with Jeez. He ended up spitting on Neveah, who is Jake’s wife in real life. Jake freaked out and appeared to legit punch Jeez right in the face. Jake and Jeez ended up trying to get at each other while Ruckus and Dave tried to separate them. It was eventually declared a no contest.

After security got both teams backstage, a member of management got on the mic and apologized to the fans for what had happened in the ring.

(6) CZW Wired TV Champion A.R. Fox beat Robert Anthony. Anthony did some heel work on the mic before the match after being revealed as Fox’s mystery opponent. He called Fox a spot monkey and said he would expose him as a fraud. This was a heck of a match with Anthony trying to slow the pace during the early going only for Fox to make a killer comeback hitting a series of signature dives to the outside. Anthony managed to slow the pace, but the action heated up with both men back on the outside after Anthony ducked a kick flip attempt off the apron to the floor from Fox. Anthony ended up powerbombing Fox into the crowd. Down the stretch, Anthony kept blocking Lo Mein pain from Fox, but Fox eventually hit it on the third try for the win. This would have been even better if there had been more heat from the crowd.

(7) CZW Champion Masada beat Drake Younger. They started out with some nice exchanges on the mat before coming to a stalemate. Masada took control and got some chairs to use on Younger. He ended up putting a chair on top of Younger’s chest before hitting him with another chair. They went back and forth down the stretch. Drake went for Drake’s landing, but Masada countered it and powerbombed him into a chair. Masada followed up with a brainbuster on the chair, but Drake kicked out. Masada hit a chairshot to the head and then rolled him up for the win. Drake should have gotten his hands up for the chairshot even though it was more of a sweeping blow than a direct hit by Masada. (***)

Joe Gacy came out with Christina Von Eerie and said he wanted a rematch against Masada. They ended up attacking Masada. Von Eerie kissed Masada and then drove a bunch of skewers into his head. Masada tried to fire back, but Von Eerie hit a DDT. The fans chanted sloppy Joe at Gacy.

Larry Legend was fired by CZW owner D.J. Hyde prior to the main event after announcing that he was no longer going to be the permanent ring announcer for CZW.

(8) Matt Tremont beat D.J. Hyde in a Cage of Death match. I am not a fan of this style of wrestling. I thought the feud itself and the promos building up to the match were very good, but it wasn’t pleasant to watch these two drive each other through glass panes and barbed wire. Both men were very bloody after a short period of time. The crowd was way into Tremont, who took a sustained beating from Hyde. They ended up climbing to a ramp on top of the cage and Tremont hit a DVD off the top of the cage through a big crash pad with a bunch of glass panes stacked up on top of it. Tremont then rolled Hyde into the ring and pinned him to end the feud. (n/a)

Tremont sang the good bye song to Hyde as he was stretchered out of the arena. He then thanked the fans for their support to end the show.

Overall thoughts: (7.0) – CZW pushes the envelope and seeing so many guys on the show use chairs and tables early in the show lead to diminishing crowd heat as the show went on, especially after the opener, which was one of the crazier matches I’ve seen in quite some time. Although CZW has toned their in-ring style down to some extent, there was a lot of risks taken up and down the card.

The opening match was crazy and featured six guys that flew all over the ring. Havoc taking a German suplex with a ladder wrapped around his head wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve seen done in the ring. Other than that spot, the match more than delivered a dose of crazy high-flying action.

Almost all of the matches leading up to the main event were solid. Fox-Anthony had the match of the show and pulled off a heck of a contest with Anthony trying to slow the pace before Fox forced him into a higher gear. The crowd seemed burned out at times during the match, but Fox has become a must-watch act in the ring. Anthony was impressive as well and he’s someone to keep an eye out for on the indy scene in 2013.

Cole and Callihan had a good brawling style of match with a lot of stunt bumps. I really enjoy Cole’s heel character and he showed good heel charisma in this match. I wasn’t a fan of the finish involving what was allegedly Callihan’s poop, but the action leading up to the finish was really good.

Masada-Younger had another good match that likely would have had more heat if the crowd hadn’t seen so many big spots and stunts earlier in the show. The finish of the match didn’t click with Masada hitting a chairshot to Younger’s head and rolling him up. Given the history between them that the announcers promoted, I was expecting a bigger climax to the match. The post-match angle with Masada, Gacy, and Von Eerie just didn’t get over. Masada getting a bunch of skewers driven into his head by Von Eerie didn’t get a good reaction either. The fans don’t seem to see Gacy as a threat to Masada, so it will be interesting to see if CZW follows through with that feud or goes somewhere else with Masada.

The main event Cage of Death match was too much. After seeing the envelope pushed throughout the show, Hyde and Tremont took way too many risks given the studies on concussions and the recent movement in some circles to end blood being used in wrestling matches. I give them credit for having a good feud, but they should consider toning things down in the future when it comes to this style of match.

CZW seems to be heading in a good direction. The card featured a number of good matches leading up to the main event. I recommend getting the replay if you want to see a number of good matches up and down the card in front of a good crowd.

You can purchase the VOD of Cage of Death 14 at HybridEnt.tv

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