By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S CZW REVIEW SERIES
“DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS"
SEPTEMBER 8, 2012
VOORHEES, N.J.

(1) Shane Strickland beat Rich Swann. Strickland won the match with a rollup. He was aggressive right from the start slapping Swann across the face. There was an odd sequence where it looked like Strickland had pinned Swann and the bell rang, but the ref ordered the match to continue. They had some good exchanges, but at other times it didn’t look like they were on the same page. (**1/4)

Swann shook hands with Strickland after the match, but ended up nailing him with a spin kick.

(2) Drew Gulak & Kimber Lee (w/The Gulak Campaign) beat Greg Excellent & Mia Yim. Gulak seems to be running a heel stable, but I didn’t get a feel for what they were all about during this match. Greg Excellent did some funny comedy spots with Lee and Gulak during the match. The match was going along and ended out of nowhere when Lee pinned Yim with a code red.

After the match, they tended to one of the members of the Gulak Campaign, but I had a hard time catching his name. He was supposed to wrestle later in the night for the tag titles. Excellent ended up cutting a promo to congratulate Yim for signing a contract to wrestle in Japan. The crowd gave Yim a nice ovation.

(3) Pepper Parks (w/Cherry Bomb) beat Kekoa (w/Sunny). Kekoa cut a promo before the match began saying he was bringing backup to counter Cherry Bomb at ringside. Parks and Cherry made out a bunch of times before the match started and then again during the match. These guys seemed to have good chemistry, but the action was hampered by the outside interference from Cherry. Parks ended up winning with a neckbreaker off the top after Cherry distracted Kekoa. (**1/2)

They showed the member of the Gulak Campaign that was injured by Excellent being tended to backstage. Since he was out of the tag title match, Rory Mondo and Mike Mathis were inserted into the match for the titles

(4) CZW Tag Team Champions The Nation of Intoxication (Danny Havoc & Devon Moore) vs. Rory Mondo & Mike Mathis. After some solid back and forth action, Havoc bribed the ref, who declared that the match would be contested under hardcore rules. Both teams took some big bumps through chairs and the Gulak Campaign ran down when Havoc & Moore appeared to have the match won. (*3/4)

Mathis and Mondo asked for a tag title shot at the next show and the Nation of Intoxication agreed to give them a rematch since they didn’t have anything to do with the Gulak Campaign interfering.

(5) Alex Colon (w/Chrissy Rivera) beat Ruckus. Colon jumped Ruckus as he was coming out and they went at it on the outside. They did a lot of counter sequences that looked overly choreographed. Devon Moore ended up running in and it allowed Ruckus to hit a neckbreaker for the win. (*3/4)

Matt Tremont and CZW owner D.J. Hyde went back and forth on the mic with Tremont in the ring and Hyde on the outside. They showed footage of Tremont taking a hideous looking fall during the previous month that tore his bicep open, but he said he had recovered. Hyde told Tremont he’s not in his league. Tremont promised to beat Hyde at Cage of Death. Hyde said he was putting Tremont in a match.

(6) Matt Tremont beat Soto. Soto was a big muscular guy. He took a chairshot to the head from Tremont and got pinned.

Tremont shouted about Redemption (the name of the show after this iPPV) at Hyde. Hyde looked scared and bailed.

(7) OI4K (Sami Callihan & Jake Crist w/Neveah) beat The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Player Dos). The crowd dragged this down, but the in-ring action was good. OI4K jumped the SSB to start the match. Both teams brawled on the outside. Dos hit a crazy flip dive to wipe out OI4K. Neveah ended up distracting Uno to give Crist the advantage on the outside. OI4K worked over Uno. Some of the fans tried to rally behind him and he tagged in Dos, who hit a double Pele kick on OI4K after ducking a double clothesline. The finish saw Callihan get Uno in the stretch muffler. Dos tried to break it up, but Callihan wouldn’t let go. Crist ran into the ring and got Dos in a triangle. Uno ended up tapping out. (***1/4)

(8) CZW Champion Masada beat El Generico. Masada took Generico down with a hurricanrana during the early going and Generico looked shocked. Masada dominated the action for a long period of time until Generico mounted a comeback. Generico sent Masada to the outside and nailed him with a huge flip dive to the outside. They went to a big exchange with both guys hitting kicks. Generico went for a suplex, but Masada countered it into a brainbuster. Both men were down after the brainbuster. Masada ended up catching Generico’s leg when he went for a running kick and he hit a leg capture suplex for the win. (***1/2)

After the match, Masada said he wanted to face Joker. Christina Von Eerie came out and told him he wouldn’t get him. Joe Gacy got on the mic and challenged Masada to a match in November. Von Eerie told Masada to make it a Fan’s Bring the Weapons match. Masada agreed, so it looks like it’s on!

They showed a fantastic video package chronicling the events that brought us to CZW Wired Television Champion Dave Crist facing CZW Jr. Hvt. Champion A.R. Fox in a Title Unification Ladder match.

(9) CZW Jr. Hvt. Champion A.R. Fox beat CZW Wired Television Champion Dave Crist in a Title vs. Title Unification Ladder match. Both guys hit crazy dives to the outside during the early going. This was just a crazy match with a lot of big moves through chairs, ladders, and guardrails. One of the craziest spots I’ve ever seen saw Fox set up Christ on a guardrail in the corner on the outside. He then got a running start and jumped over the ringpost with a flip dive, but Crist got out of the way and Fox crashed and burned. The finish saw Crist get the upper hand with Fox down after missing the big dive. He got a big red ladder and set it up with some help from the ringside staffers. Crist went up top, but Fox ran into the ring and they went at it on top of the ladder. Fox ended up grabbing Crist and driving him through two tables set up in the corner with a neckbreaker that saw both guys go through the table. The titles ended up falling to the floor during the spot and Fox recovered and grabbed them for the win. (****1/2)

They showed an awesome video package with highlights from the Fox-Crist Ladder match with “Down with the Sickness” by Disdained playing in the background.

Overall Thoughts: (7.5) – The undercard was rough in spots with a lot of the matches featuring outside interference and storylines that just didn’t click. The show got appreciably better during the second half with the last three matches delivering. The crowd seemed to not care about OI4K vs. SSB, but they were into Masada vs. Generico and the Fox vs. Crist Ladder match got them going crazy.

I wasn’t crazy about the unprotected chairshot during the Tremont-Soto match. These guys have to get their hands up, especially in a throwaway squash that nobody is going to remember. Hyde and Tremont had a good promo exchange and the crowd was all over Hyde during their segment to further their ongoing feud.

CZW seems to be turning out some good shows this year from the limited amount of exposure that I’ve had to them recently. Some of the storylines on the undercard weren’t all that interesting, but overall it seems like the company is headed in a positive direction using a mix of big name talent with CZW regulars.

If you get this show for one reason, get it to watch the Crist-Fox Ladder match. Where CZW shines is in its ability to put together good highlight packages to enhance their big matches and feuds. They use slick graphics as well that enhance the product. I wish other promotions put together video packages as good as CZW does. The Fox-Crist highlight package before the main event set the tone for a crazy match that saw both guys go all-out and pull of some spectacular maneuvers that I hadn’t seen before. It’s the kind of match that shouldn’t be done often, as they took a lot of risks, especially Fox, who has taken some huge bumps this year in the various promotions I’ve seen him.

One of the main weaknesses that dragged the show down was the commentary. The play by play commentator was fine, but the color commentator was hard to listen to and added nothing to the show.

Overall, I would give this show a thumbs up. I enjoyed the second half of the card and the main event is worth the price of admission.

You can purchase “Down with the Sickness” as a VOD or DVD at HybridEnt.tv .

***

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