Combat Zone Wrestling’s EVILution took place on July 8th at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey.
Emil Jay stands in the middle of the ring to introduce the opening contest. Rickey Shane Page makes his entrance, followed by his opponent Connor Claxton. Claxton enters the ring wearing a suit with a trash can and his signature wrench in hand. He takes the microphone and says the wrench is dead, call him Mr. Claxton. Rickey Shane Page had the early advantage until Claxton targeted the arm. This continues to be the story of the match as the commentators remind us that Claxton was trained by Drew Gulak. Every time RSP tried to get some momentum in the match, Claxton would attack the arm. Claxton comes out of nowhere with a roll up and a win. Rickey Shane Page shows his frustrations as the commentators mention that he was expecting a fight in this match that was billed as a grudge match.
Private Party make their entrance, Isiah Kassidy with silly string and Marq Quen with a bubble gun. Formerly known as the DUB Boys, Nate Carter and Dave McCall make their entrance, now known as the REP. Before they could even enter the ring, Private Party dive over the ropes and take out their opponents. Private Party continue to use their speed and high flying maneuvers to get the early advantage. A lot of double team maneuvers but the REP wouldn’t stay down. The REP came back as they went for double powerbombs which were reversed by Quen with a rana which sends Carter into his partner McCall with a spear. Private Party took advantage with a swanton bomb and 450 splash combo but the pin was broken up by McCall. McCall then takes out Kassidy with a powerbomb into the ring post. The REP then turn their attention to Quen with a pop up spinebuster and a pop up flatliner combo for the win. As the REP exited the ring, they attack a fan. Security comes out and breaks it up as they get into the face of Maven Bentley.
The next match was announced as a 6 way match as Devin Moore, Anthony Bennett, Alexander James, Kit Osbourne and Tim Donst all make their entrances. Before the 6th competitor makes his entrance, it cuts to a video in the locker room. DJ Hyde states that there’s only one spot left in the match asking 6 men who wants the final spot. One guy out of the 6 continues to ask for the spot. All 6 men begin to argue as DJ picks Ace Austin Shakespeare since they couldn’t decide amongst themselves. Ace Austin Shakespeare makes his entrance wearing a purple jacket and carrying a staff, resembling Marvel superhero Gambit. As he took the center of the ring, he was met with superkicks from all of his 5 opponents. Devon Moore is still showing the effects of his ankle injury from Tournament of Death in this match, and risks further injury as he dives over the top rope. Ace Austin is out for almost the entire match, as each time he tries to get in the match he’s knocked off the ring apron. Donst ends up getting the victory by pinning Kit Osbourne.
Before the next bout starts Emil Jay enters the ring and says “Ladies and Gentlemen, you are now entering the Combat Zone.” A video package comes on with a bunch of clips of deathmatches. When the video ends, Emil Jay is standing in the middle of the ring that’s surrounded by doors in each corner. He warns the fans to keep aware and protect themselves at all times. The Awakening, consisting of G-Raver, Matthew Tremont and Stockade stood in the ring awaiting their opponents MASADA and the Storm of Entrails (Dan O’Hare and SHLAK). O’Hare and SHLAK enter behind MASADA holding up a door. Tremont and Stockade toss G-Raver over the top rope and into the door that was being held up. This has zero effect on the Storm of Entrails but takes out G-Raver. G-Raver continues to take a lot of punishment throughout the match as SHLAK delivers a piledriver through a door that was set up on the second rope. Really brutal spot. Stockade breaks up the pin with a piece of broken door. The Awakening come back with a knee to the face of SHLAK and German suplex combo through a door set up in the corner. MASADA receives a burning hammer through a door which was propped up by a chair. Tremont hip tosses O’Hare off the ring apron and through a door. Tremont throws O’Hare inside the ring and goes to the top rope, only to get hit by SHLAK with a piece of door. This sends Tremont crashing into a table set up on the outside. The Storm of Entrails and MASADA take advantage of the momentum by burying Stockade between the baracade with a door and the steel ring steps. MASADA gives G-Raver a powerbomb from the ring to the outside into a door. MASADA gets the pin and picks up the victory. As MASADA celebrates the win, O’Hare and SHLAK throw pieces of broken doors into the ring burying G-Raver.
The show comes back from intermission as Emil Jay and Penelope Ford throws out merchandise into the crowd. Sadly, this might’ve gotten the loudest crowd reaction of the night. WrestleScope TV comes on the screen as it shows Penelope being asked if she has called Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF then comes out and asks Penelope if she’s free, would she go out with him. Before we could get an answer, Trevor Lee makes his entrance. He immediately kicks MJF in the head, then delivers a deadlift German suplex for a near fall. MJF works Lee’s arm the entire match. MJF had an armbreaker locked in, Lee attempts to counter it with a powerbomb but gets raked in the eyes. MJF then rolls up Lee and grabs the tights for the victory and retaining the CZW Wired Championship.
Ace Romero faced A.R. Fox in the next bout. Fox tries to counter Romero’s power with speed and high risk moves throughout the match. Fox delivers a Low Mein Rain but was caught in mid air and thrown into the barricade. Fox seemed to hit Romero with everything he had but Romero wouldn’t stay down. Fox hits a twisting cutter, followed by a swanton bomb and a 450 splash and still only got a near fall. Romero tries to take a breather outside the ring but Fox dives over the ring post and crashes into Romero. Fox throws Romero into the ring as goes for a high risk maneuver but he springboards into a huge blackhole slam for a 3 count. Post match Fox grabs a microphone and says CZW needs something fresh, new and exciting. A video of Romero backstage is shown where he is asked how it feels to be in CZW. Greg Excellent interrupts, saying after 11 years he’s been replaced.
Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz of Scarlet and Graves alongside Trey Miguel make their entrance. JT Davidson comes out to introduce OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, and Sami Callihan). The match starts off right away as Wentz and Miguel take out their opponents with a pair of tope suicidas. The match continues with a lot of fast paced high flying action. JT Davidson even gets in on the action with the dive from the top rope to the outside. The action continues with a tower of doom spot, superkick party and even a cutter party. OI4K seemed to have the win as they delivered the Killing Spree on Trey Miguel but Xavier and Wentz break up the pin. The ending of the match saw Jake Crist get slingshot into a superkick, then a double stomp by Wentz, into a meteora from Miguel, swanton bomb from Wentz and spiral tap from Xavier to ensure the win. Callihan took the mic and told the fans that they’re looking at the six of the best in the world today. Xavier, Wentz and Miguel are their kids but they’re being kicked from the nest. All 6 men celebrated in the middle of the ring holding up the JML sign.
Main event time as Joe Gacy made his entrance first, along with Shane Strickland, Lio Rush and both the CZW and DEFY World Champions Davey Richards. Richards was met with a ton of boos and “Fuck You Davey” chants during his entrance and intoduction. The bell rang and Rush goes right after Richards but Gacy throws Rush to the outside. The match continued with all four men brawling on the outside. Richards controls the match as he delivers an exploder suplex onto the ring apron on Strickland. Richards almost picks up the submission victory as he has an inverted figure four leg lock on Gacy and an ankle lock on Rush simultaneously, but is broken up with a swerve stomp from Strickland. Richards hits a brainbuster on the king of swerve but is immediately caught with a frog splash from Rush. Rush hits Strickland with a spinning unprettier that he calls the Rush Hour. Strickland came back with swerve stomp off the top for a two count. He follows up with the JML Driver for the win. Huge reaction from the crowd for the title change. “You deserve it” chants followed. Davey Richards takes the mic following the match. He says that he’s rich and he doesn’t have to be there, but he didn’t come for the money, he came for the respect. Everyone can kiss his ass but the fans should show respect to everyone in the ring. The new dual champion grabs the mic and says it took him 8 years to get to that point but Lio Rush has something more important to say. Rush start by saying that in the past couple of months there’s been speculation about his future. Before he could continue talking the lights go out and a video appears on the screen. It shows highlights from the Joey Janela/Lio Rush feud. The video ends with Rush vs. Janela the Final Chapter, dating 8-5-17.
Final Thoughts: This was a step in the right direction in the EVILution of CZW. There’s still some improvements to be made. It’s always been difficult to hear someone speaking on the microphone. Also, the sound for the commentary was constantly in and out. Would love for these issues to be fixed. As for match quality, the final two matches were very good, with the 6 man easily being the match of the night. The crowd didn’t always respond accordingly. In front of the Resceda crowd, the last two matches could’ve easily been 4 stars. It was also great to see guys like MJF and Ace Romero getting some shine. Look forward to the future of the new CZW.
You can watch this show and other events including the upcoming Once In A Lifetime at CZWStudios.com. For the low subscription of $9.99, you can get a huge selection of CZW and WSU events, as well as other promotions such as DEFY Wrestling and JAPW. You can also follow me on Twitter: @zerepwrestling.
Quick Results/Star Ratings:
Grudge Match: Mr. Claxton def. Rickey Shane Page **
The REP (Nate Carter & Dave McCall) def. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) **1/4
Six Way Match: Tim Donst def. Ace Austin Shakespeare, Alexander James, Anthony Bennett, Devon Moore, and Kit Osbourne **1/4
Six Man Doors Match: MASADA & The Storm Of Entrails (Dan O’Hare & SHLAK) def. The Awakening (G-Raver, Matthew Tremont & Stockade) **1/2
CZW Wired Championship Match: Maxwell Jacob Friedman def. Trevor Lee to retain the Championship ***
Ace Romero def. AR Fox ***1/4
Six Man Tornado Tag Team Match: Scarlet And Graves (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) & Trey Miguel def. OI4K (Dave Crist, Jake Crist & Sami Callihan) ***3/4
CZW World Heavyweight Championship/DEFY Championship Four Way Match: Shane Strickland def. Davey Richards(c), Joe Gacy, and Lio Rush to win the Defy and CZW Championships ***1/2