Combat Zone Wrestling

Combat Zone Wrestling

Acronym	CZW
Founded	1999
Style	Ultraviolent Wrestling Professional Wrestling
Headquarters	Philadelphia
Founder(s)	John Zandig
Owner(s)	John Zandig
Website	CZWrestling.com

Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American based professional wrestling promotion, based around the 'ultraviolent' style of professional wrestling. In 1999, John Zandig and four of his students, Ric Blade, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain began to run wrestling shows in New Jersey and Delaware, showcasing a brand of hardcore wrestling dubbed as "ultraviolence". Ladders, tables, thumbtacks, barbed wire, light tubes and fire are common elements of "ultraviolent" wrestling matches in CZW. The company filled a niche for hardcore wrestling fans that had been left open by the fall of Extreme Championship Wrestling. CZW found fame in the New Alhambra Arena with their Cage of Death 3 show in 2001, the year ECW folded.

Their tightly knit homegrown roster helped establish what would be come a top independant promotion in later years. The biggest misconception is that the promotion only focuses on hardcore wrestling. Although they are most commonly known for their 'ultraviolent' style, rarely do their shows feature more than one or two ultraviolent matches. In late 2002, they where forced to further tone down their style after the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission issued a ban on the use of fluorescent light tubes (among other things) in Philadelphia. Their annual Tournament of Death show emphasizes the ultraviolent style of CZW and usually takes place in Delaware.

All of their shows are taped and distributed by Smart Mark Video, who releases the shows on DVD via their website, SmartMarkVideo.com. CZW is broadcasted on TWC Fight! to viewers in Great Britain and Ireland as part of the "Bloodbath" program.

CZW continues to run on a monthly base in the New Alhambra Arena. Aside from their monthly shows, they also run shows outside of Philadelphia, where the promotion is based.

History

Wrestling School

In late 1998 John Zandig opened a wrestling school in New Jersey, the first student to be tained was Lobo, who worked with Zandig before their wrestling work. Nick Gage and Justice Pain where the second students to be trained by Zandig, it was only in the forthcoming years that they unveiled as brothers, Justice Pain being the older of the two. The fourth student to be trained was Ric Blade, who already had a background in martial arts.

Japan Connection

Early 2000 saw CZW establish a connection with the deathmatch wrestling orientated company Big Japan Pro Wrestling, a successor to the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling organization, credited to have popularized the deathmatch wrestling style that CZW continued to emphazize in the United States, though, dubbed as "Ultraviolence." Both promotions's traded talent throughout 2000 and 2001, the company vs company fued was primarily based in Japan, the Wifebeater and Zandig made many appearances for BJW.

Notable incidents included Zandig turning face in Japan and Jun Kasai joining Zandig as part of his Big Dealz stable in CZW. Kasai competed in a match which was later dubbed "Un F'N Believable," in reference to the shows name. During the match, Kasai was crucifixed bombed over the top rope into lightubes, barbed wire and tables, causing Kasai's elbow bone to pop out of his skin, he continued the match after having his elbow taped up. The match occurred countless bloodloss for all four competitors which included Nick Mondo, Justice Pain and Johnny Kashmere.

During 2001 in Japan, the Wifebeater and Ryuji Yamakawa faced off in a match which ended Yamakawa's career after the Wifebeater chokensteined him off of the ring apron through a table set up on the outside. In a 'shoot interview' Wifebeater stated communication difficulties between the two was a major factor which led to the incident. Wifebeater pleaded that they should not execute the maneuver, though the move went on and saw Yamakawa's head slam against the croncrete. Most question the wrestling ability of the Wifebeater, though both wrestlers have stated that it was half of each others fault when Yamakawa did not take the move as it should be performed; back first, though some even blame the Japanese table's, which are smaller, more sturdy and harder to break, the table in this incident did not break and simply slipped from underneath of Yamakawa thus only connecting with his legs, causing his head to take the impact on the concrete.

File:Zandigbjw.jpg

John Zandig slams Mitsuhiro Matsunaga into an exploding pane of glass.

Also during a match between Ric Blade and Winger, Winger suffered many broken bones in his face after Ric Blade performed a swanton bomb and accidently landed flat on top of Winger's face. Winger has since been able to compete in the forthcoming years.

The reason for the collapse of the inter-promotional deal is uncertain, according to a shoot interview conducted with the Wifebeater in 2002 stated that Shin’ya Kojika (owner of BJW) was regularly not present during shows and would leave Wifebeater and Zandig without pay on many occasions, later in 2007 John Zandig also stated the same during a Q&A with the fans of CZW. After a controversial exploding panes of glass match, between Zandig and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in Japan, 2001, Zandig left BJW with the BJW deathmatch title belt, Zandig also briefly stated that the mafia was involved in wrestling 'over there', many wrestlers of both promotions's at the time where confused about the collapse between the two.

Champs Arena, PPV, and Fake You TV

Early 2000 saw the company branch out from New Jersey to Delaware, though mainly in the Champs Soccer Arena, in Sewell. A Pay-Per-View taping for the June 25, 2000 show, was put in place. The event was scheduled to be main evented by Terry Funk and Atsushi Onita in an explosion match. The deal fell through when Onita cancelled. Although the show took place and was main evented by Nick Gage and the Wifebeater in the first ever 200 lightubes match, the show was later called 'They Said it Couldn't be Done.'

On June 8, 2001, the company secured a TV taping for the show 'Take 1.' During the main event as apart of a dual 40ft balcony dive, Ric Blade suffered a broken leg after landing on Justice Pain, who laid upon two stacked table's, Nick Gage was to attempt the second dive with Lobo a few metres away, unfortunately Nick Gage slipped and fell from atop the balcony to the ground, fortunetely Gage was able to continue, unlike Blade who had to be stretchered out. The spot was cut from TV. The TV taping's aired on WGTW-48, as apart of CZW's very own show "Fake You TV", which was available in many northeastern states in the US. After many business changes by the WGTW-48 production team over the years, including a time slot change from Saturday's at 9.00PM to a weeknight at midnight slot, to compete with other promotions, this idea was a failure and Fake You TV continued to strive. CZW continued to endure every business decision that WGTW-48 formulated and executed until the channel decided not to air the June 18, 2004 episode due to its content, through negative affects on the fans and after much consideration, CZW decided to withdraw the show indefinite.

Viking Hall Debut and Indy Wars

Due to their upcoming annaul Cage of Death (COD) show at the end of 2001, the company needed a bigger venue and made their debut in the New Alhambra Arena, formerly Viking Hall. The venue was the first sellout in the building since the era of ECW, hundred's where turned away from the biggest show in the promotions history.

Controversy surrounded the company in 2002, when top XPW star Messiah moved from XPW to CZW after a fall out with Rob Black. A few months later the Messiah was attacked in his home and had his thumb cut off by two unknown assailants. The incident was included on an episode of America's Most Wanted, where Rob Black was named as a suspect. Shortly after Rob Black told his workers that anyone who works for CZW, doesn't work for XPW, John Zandig did the same and because of these two incidents, heat between the two promotions's rised and remained until XPW's collapse in 2003.

Also in 2002, following many violent matches in the arena, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission issued a ban of fluorescent lightubes in the arena. Some fans blame the ban on an incident which occurred during an XPW show in the arena, when a wrestler from XPW bled on one of the State Athletic Commission's children as a brawl spilled out into one of the bathroom's. Although the match between the Wifebeater and Zandig at 'A Night of Infamy 1' is said to have been the key incident which had initiated the ban. The end of the match saw a kayfabed angle involving Frank Talent (of the Pensylvania State Athletic Commission) who stopped the match after the use of a weedwhacker, the match is said to have been one of the most brutal and violent matches in the arena's history. This was to be Wifebeater's retirement match.

Several promotions competeted for the Northeast fan base that had been left behind by ECW; CZW, XPW, and 3PW where the key promotions which revolved around Viking Hall. XPW where given the lease to the arena in very late 2002 after Rob Black offered around $60,000. On December 12, 2002, ROH ran shows with CZW & 3PW in what would be the latter two promotions last shows in the arena as part of a tripe header of wrestling in Philadelphia, during CZW's show Zandig publicly stated that they had offered $32,000 to stay in the arena, but also stating that with the $10,000 a month XPW would need to pay for the building.. it wouldn't last long. Attendance wise, XPW's later shows in the arena didn't prove as successful and the company later folded in 2003. Also due to incidents relating to Extreme Associates, a company linked to XPW.

When XPW went out of business, CZW made their return to the arena on March 8, 2003.

Italy and ECW Tribute

Shortly after their return to the arena, on May 10, 2003, the company promoted a show entitled "Then & Now: A Decade of Defiance." The event would be a tribute to the last ten years of wrestling in the New Alhambra Arena, or at the time; Viking Hall. The show opened with John Zandig welcoming the fans to the show and played an 11 minute music video highlighting the last 10 years of wrestling in the arena, from Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993 to Combat Zone Wrestling in 2003, featuring music including the ECW theme, U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" and White Zombie's "Thunderkiss 65." The video was held in high esteem by those in attendance and for copyright reasons the video was not featured on the event's VHS and DVD releases. Although, a low quality version of the video was available on the promotion's website for a limited period of time and still circulates on the internet to this day. After the video finished Zandig then issued a 10 bell count in memory of those who performed in the building but had passed away.

Also, Zandig stated that he had invited Tod Gordon and Paul Heyman to appear. Zandig noted that Gordon didn't want to show "so he didn't care" and that Heyman didn't return his calls "so he doesn't give a f*ck about this place anymore." Zandig said that he called Tommy Dreamer to make an appearance but Dreamer was unable to due to WWE commitments but was honored he was asked. It should be noted the promotion didn't invite anyone to attend the show until the last week prior.

On October 25, 2003, the promotion made their debut in Italy, later on March 27, 2004, the company returned for another event which featured Sabu in a tables match.

IWA-MS Invasion

File:Zandigmondotod2.jpg

John Zandig Mother F'N Bomb's Nick Mondo off of a 40ft rooftop into tables and lightubes.

On June 14 2003, mid-south based promotion IWA-MS invaded CZW as part of a Kayfabed angle which led to an inter-promotional fued throughout most of 2003. The fued was based in both promotions and a major part led into CZW's Tournament of Death 2, five IWA-MS wrestlers and three CZW wrestlers entered into the 8-man single elimination tournament. The semi-final saw two CZW wrestlers John Zandig and Nick Mondo compete in a 2 out of 3 lightube log cabin match, a match which is said to have ended Nick Mondo's career. Towards the end of the match Zandig Mother F'N Bombed Nick Mondo off of a 40ft rooftop as both Zandig and Mondo crashed into table's and a lightube log cabin contraption. Mondo suffered an injury to his back that doctor's reffered to as a "gun shot wound." He continued the Tournament with 3 broken bones in his wrist and won the tournament after defeating Ian Rotten in a 200 lightubes final.

Zandig Hanging Incident

During Zandig's fued with heel stable the HI-V, Zandig was suspended in the middle of the ring by meathooks from the roof of the arena. The incident lead into the setup of the main event at Cage of Death 2003, where a cage was suspended from the roof, the event was called 'Cage of Death 5: Suspended'. The aftermath of the incident was negative, many fans even vowed never to attend a CZW show again, although, the company remained successful that year and had a sold out crowd for their annual Cage of Death show.

Later Years

During 2005 CZW established a connection with local promotion; Chikara Pro Wrestling, which established into a joint training school known as 'The Wrestle Factory' in the New Alhambra Arena, with head trainers; Chris Hero & Mike Quackenbush. Though during 2007 CZW departed from the training school to form their own, much like their older school.

The company remained strong in the forthcoming years with new booker and owner of SmartMarkVideo.com, Mike Burns, who was responsible for one of the best runs in the promotions's history, especially in 2005. Pancoast Productions, a company which for many years was responsible for alot of the company's media logo and titantron work, among other things, briefly departed from the company in late 2005 after an altercation between Pancoast Productions owner Mike Pancoast and John Zandig.

At their Cage of Death 7 show at the end of 2005, former CZW Ironman Champion Chris Hero cut a promo challenging challenging American Dragon Bryan Danielson to a match at the next show, backstage, Zandig was furious. Zandig did not know about the deal that CZW booker, Mike Burns arranged with ROH Booker, Gabe Sapolsky. The news of CZW working with ROH made Zandig go into a frenzy. Zandig was approached backstage by Mike Pancoast, Zandig told him not to raise his voice at him, after a very vocal argument Zandig pushed him down a flight of stairs, one worker quoted Zandig saying; "Make sure to grab the rail on your way down."

Zandig was mad at Mike Burns for setting up a deal with ROH, without telling him first, this lead to the departure of Mike Burns, it is not known if Mike Burns quit CZW or was relieved of his duties by John Zandig. Though SmartMarkVideo still continues to tape their shows to this day, along with Pancoast Productions who are all still activly working together as of now.

Although the inter-promotional fued between ROH and CZW developed in 2006 and was widely recognized by fans of Independant Wrestling.

CZW continue to run monthly in the New Alhambra Arena with their 10th annual Cage of Death taking place in December, 2008.

Annual events

Cage of Death

Main article: Cage of Death

CZW's biggest show is the year-end Cage Of Death. It always features the "Cage Of Death" match, a steel cage with various weapons and objects. Electrified cage walls, cacti, tables, light tubes, glass, thumbtacks, baseball bats, and barbed-wire have been used in it. Matches always include high risk wrestling bumps. The Cage of Death also has different formats and stipulations: singles, tag team, or gauntlet.

Tournament of Death

Main article: Tournament of Death

CZW's yearly death-match tournament features the use of fire, weed whackers, light tubes, and other weapons. T.O.D has resulted in excessive blood loss for many of the wrestlers who have participated in it. Previous winners include Wifebeater (TOD 1 and 3), Nick Mondo, Necro Butcher, Nick Gage, and Drake Younger.

Best of the Best

Main article: CZW Best of the Best

CZW's yearly tournament that differs from other CZW events in how it emphasizes athleticism more than the use of weapons. The Best of the Best tournament is, by design, a Junior Heavyweight Tournament. In 2005, however, the tournament was formatted as an open weight tournament. The next year, it returned to its original format. Previous winners include Winger, Trent Acid, B-Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Mike Quackenbush, Ruckus, and Joker in that order.

Roster

Main article: Combat Zone Wrestling roster

Championships

Current Champions

Championship:	Champion(s):	Defeated:	Date Won:	Location:
CZW World Heavyweight Championship	Ruckus	Justice Pain	July 14, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
CZW Iron Man Championship	DJ Hyde	Toby Klein	September 8, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship	Danny Havoc	Scotty Vortekz, Joker, Dustin Lee, and Drake Younger	September 8, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
CZW World Tag Team Championship	Team AnDrew (Drew Gulak and Andy Sumner)	BLKOUT (Ruckus and Sabian) and Niles Young and Derek Frazier	September 8, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship	Vacant	TBD	August 11, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Defunct Championships

• CZW Death Match Championship

External links

• Combat Zone Wrestling's official web site
• Combat Zone Wrestling's official message board
• Combat Zone Wrestling's fan forum
• Combat Zone Wrestling database
• Official distributor