czwbestofthebest2013

CZW Best of the Best 12
04.13.13
Voorhees, NJ

Follow me @TheOleMatt

DJ Hyde is in the ring to kick off the show. He puts over the show , and puts over the names scheduled for the event, and then follows that little speech up by inviting every best of the best tournament participant down to the ring to pose with this years trophy for a photo op.

BOTB Round 1 – JON GRESHAM vs. BIFF BUSICK vs. CALEB KONLEY: Some near falls as soon as the bell sounds with some offense from all three men but Busick comes out on top. Busick is totally in control. About 5 minutes in and Busick has the majority of the offense. Konley earns control for the first time in the contest with a suicide dive and a huge missile drop kick and then a top-rope death valley driver. The front comes down to ringside. This provides a distraction for Konley and he is pinned by Busick via dragon suplex, but these brackets are under three-way elimination rules so Gresham is still alive. Gresham gets in control. A few wicked forearm shots and then a dead-lift german for a 2.5 count. Busick powers out of this but soon after he is submitted by Gresham with a modified octopus like arm-bar. Winner: Jon Gresham advances in the tournament. *** range.

BOTB Round 1 – ALEX REYNOLDS vs. SHANE HOLLISTER vs. wXw’s TOMMY END: The match gets off to a wild start. A tornado ddt on the outside takes End out of the play for a little while. Reynolds and Hollister have a few great exchanges until End pulls Reynolds out of the ring after coming to, and now End and Hollister have a great series of exchanges. End hits a german-fisherman suplex combo on Hollister and Reynolds at the same time. An amazing move! Hollister hits a tombstone on Reynolds but drops him onto the chest of End. Another great move! A small package driver by Hollister and that’s it for Reynolds as a 3 count follows. Essentially out of nowhere, less than a minute later End finishes off Hollister for the 1,2,3 and advances in the tournament. Winner: Tommy End advances in the tournament. **1/2 range.

BOTB Round 1 – ALEX COLON vs. RICH SWANN vs. SHANE STRICKLAND: The first two qualifiers were action packed but this was hard to follow, in a good way. A nasty bump on the outside sets the pace as Strickland connects with a head-scissors on Swann. After a rambunctious start things calm down with Swann and Colon battling it out. Strickland gets involved and a great three way exchange takes place. Some great double team offense with Strickland and Swann most notably working together on Colon. Swann takes out Strickland and hits a lethal injection straight into a standing shooting star for the first near fall of the contest. Super kick super kick super kick…CZDub chants. A few minutes later Colon hits a tope rope power move that sends Swann packing. Following a tope-rope double stomp attempt by Strickland that Colon manages to dodge, Colon grabs the tights and wins the match via pin fall. Winner: Alex Colon advances in the tournament. *** range.

BOTB Round 1 – ANDREW EVERETT/CHIVA KID vs. UHAA NATION vs. AR FOX: Everett steals the limelight as soon as the match is underway by hitting a giant shooting star to the outside. Fox and Everett start to battle with Nation staying on the outside. Fox shoves Everett to the outside and then connects with a picture perfect lo mien rain to the outside. Nation powers out and big boots Fox over the guard rail and now Nation and Everett have a series of great exchanges in the ring. Fox back involved but Nation is dominating over both men. An atypical surprise comeback for Fox. Lo mien pain blocked by Everett and then Everett misses his patented top-rope double shooting star. Nation takes advantage as Fox rolls out of the ring and he connects with a standing moonsault and a standing shooting star, sending Everett packing via pin fall. Fox gets control back as he takes advantage of a tired Nation…Split legged moonsault  and then a top rope frog splash by Fox on Nation. A near fall but Nation powers out and powers up but again out of nowhere Fox hits an ace crusher, then a swanton from the top rope, then the lo mien pain and 1, 2, 3. Winner: AR Fox advances in the tournament. ***1/2 range.

Fans Bring the Weapons Match – RON MATHIS vs. MATT TREMONT:

Joe Gacy takes Tremont out before the match can get underway. Tremont and Gacy battle all the way down the entrace-way and into the back. Rory Mondo returns to CZW and now we have…

Fans Bring the Weapons Match – RON MATHIS vs. RORY MONDO: The pace was great but the match did not last very long. A great showing while it did though. Thumbtack covered PVC pipe, a car battery, an xbox, a bag of flour and chairs made this match go round. The finish comes when Mathis hits a top rope tombstone onto a guard rail for the 3 count and the win. Winner: Ron Mathis. **1/2 range.

INTERMISSION – Interview Show: WrestleCON 2013 Edition Young Bucks, Biff Busick, Jow Dombrowski: http://bit.ly/YqiqeB

Strong Style Battle – DJ HYDE vs. MICHAEL DANTE: They do strike for strike in the ring, then take it to the outside, then they take it to the ring and Dante hits a spear. DJ hits a spear…DJ hits a lariat, and the shortest strong style battle I have ever witnessed wraps up with a DJ pin fall victory. Winner: DJ Hyde. * range.

BOTB Round 2 – ALEX COLON vs. JON GRESHAM: Technical pacing to start things and Gresham comes out on top. Gresham is playing the one step ahead game on Colon. The pacing really starts to pick up and this is how the match transitions into being dominated by Colon and it would stay this way for the remainder of the contest. Colon hits a death valley driver on the apron and then a german on the apron. Gresham barely beats the 10 count but does make it back into the ring in time, only for Colon to continue dominating…A small burst of energy, but this second wind for Gresham serves him very little justice when a spontaneous colon driver finishes off Gresham. Winner: Colon advances to the tournament finals. *** range.

BOTB Round 2 – AR FOX vs. TOMMY END: Both guys play feelers for a while but Fox manages to shove End to the outside and goes straight for the kick-flip moonsault. Fox puts End back into the ring immediately following the move and then Fox heads to the top rope only to be stopped by a running kick attack, sending him crashing down to the floor. End follows this up with a body slam on Fox into the ring-frame. End is really trying to slow the match down and ground Fox now. However, as usual, in atypical Fox style, he regains the offense, sends End to the outside again and goes for a suicide dive through the bottom rope…then a dive through the middle rope and then a tope-con-helo over the top rope. Fox does not hesitate after connecting with the three dives. Fox goes for a top rope leg drop on the apron and connects. They action shifts back into the ring and a series of exchanges leads to 10 plus back elbow strikes to the head of End. End shakes each one off and hits a really quick german. A great a sequence! Some innovative offense by both leads to 450 splash that Fox connects on and the three count follows. Winner: AR Fox advances to the tournament finals. *** range.

The Final Encounter – ADAM COLE vs. SAMI CALLIHAN: Sami punishing Cole with kicks and strikes all around ringside. Shades of Steen as Sami powerbombs Cole on the apron and then he powerbombs Cole into the first row! CZdub! Cole is leaning against the guard-rail and Sami sets up for a running chop attack but Cole counters with a superkick. This allows Cole to finally get some control and roll Sami into the ring…some exchanges, simultaneous big boots and clotheslines. Both men make it to their feet at the same time and Sami hits a snap death valley driver for the first near fall of the contest. Sami takes out the ref with a kick when Cole dodges the attack. Cole takes advantage and low blows Sami. A new ref runs down but only a 2 count. Cole fetches the Jr. Heavyeight Championship that is apparently, somehow, underneath the ring. The ref takes away the title belt from being used as a weapon, so Cole superkicks the ref. Sami powerbombs Cole onto the title and then goes straight into the stretch muffler, only to realize another ref is needed. Another ref makes it to the ring but Cole earns the rope break. Callihan in total control. He sends Cole into the turn-buckle and sets up for a superplex but it is blocked by Cole..panama sunrise..2 count. Cole starts to tune up the band, “I’m sorry, I hate you.” Shades of Flair at Wrestlemania 24 with one subtle, obvious difference. Sami counters into the stretch muffler. Cole counters with a roll-up, near fall! An Enzuguri by Cole, Superkick by Cole, a vicious drop kick by Cole that turns Sami inside out. Cole hits the panama sunrise for the second time in the match and then connects with a straight-jacket german…1,2,3, and that was awesome! Winner: Adam Cole. ***1/2 range.

BOTB Finals: ALEX COLON VS. AR FOX: Fox with a dive through the bottom rope to the floor on Colon right away. Then the same through the middle rope and then a baseball slide through the bottom rope and then a tope-con-helo over the top rope and into the seats! This takes a lot out of Fox so when they move things back into the ring Colon comes out on top. Colon sets up for a death valley driver on the ring apron but Fox rolls through it so no power comes out of the move and Fox goes for the kickflip moonsault but the attempt is blocked by Colon. Back into the ring and both are delivering some great offense. A spring-board ace crusher by Fox. A swanton by Fox and this leads into the first real pin attempt of the contest. A 450 by Fox into another pin attempt but this time Chrissy Rivera is there to pull the ref out to ringside. Not long after Fox goes for and connects with the lo mien pain. Colon shakes off another pin attempt. Colon gains strength and sends Fox to turnbuckle. A second rope avalanche death valley driver onto the apron and Fox lands very awkwardly. A nasty bump! Another non-sensible comeback on this night by Fox and he is in control completely  Repeated bicycle kick shots by Fox against the turnbuckle on Colon and then…a sneaky roll-up by Colon and this thing is over! “F*** that s***” chants! Winner: Alex Colon is the Best of the Best 12 Tournament Champion. *** range.

I know you typically don’t want to see that type of finish for a show like this, but AR Fox does NOT need the relevance. A great win for Colon in my opinion.

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