CZW Uncivilized 2003

Back in 2003, I was all about CZW. It was the first indy I watched constantly and, despite it's many obvious flaws, I loved it. Many of my favourite indy names were CZW guys and I thought it'd be fun to revisit a show I think I only watched once before.

Jude vs Jon Dahmer
Teacher vs student match here, with Dahmer the head of the CZW academy and Jude but a few matches into his career. As such, it's far from special. Jude has to rely on the more experienced Dahmer to structure the match, and he doesn't do a great job. The match kinda ends up feeling like some moves done at random. That said, there are some positives: Dahmer hits a sick looking German suplex that looks like it kills Jude, and the rookie looks pretty promising here. It's a shame looking at this 8 years later as Jude has some real fire when on offence, and his snap suplex is really good. He hits a pump-handle Emerald Frosion, which gets 2 when it should be a stonewall finisher, before outside interference from fellow rookies Niles Young and Cory Kastle lead to Dahmer hitting the Move of 1000 Maniacs (Gansobomb) for 3.

Before the next match, we get some antics involving Rockin' Rebel and John Zandig to set up the main event: Rebel and Greg Matthews vs Heartbreaker (!?!) and TATANKA! What an odd match.

Adam Flash & Ian Knoxx vs Derek Frazier & Hurricane Kid vs Chris Stylz & Z-Barr
This is an elimination match, though the team of Frazier and Kid are pretty superfluous due to Kid's uber-jobber status. The team of Flash and Knoxx decimate them to start, including a nice doubleteam where Flash elevated Kid up in the air for Knoxx to lariat on the way down. Knoxx really had the look and ability to be pretty big in wrestling before injuries took him out and he looks really good throughout this match. Barr gets tagged in the match and instantly takes Frazier down with a side headlock. And then another one. Then gets on the mic and says he'll hold the headlock as long as he wants. Easy, easy heat. Frazier, who has one of the least imposing looks of any wrestler I've ever seen, actually looks pretty good on offence, nailing a crisp Dragon whip on Barr, and also bumps huge for an overhead belly to belly. The Kid gets tagged in and instantly gets caught with the Barr Driller for 3. Knoxx and Stylz, former tag partners, finally go face-to-face for the first time and it's not really as heat filled as you'd imagine as they circle for position, but their sequence in the ring is really smooth and looks really good.Stylz hits a nice Northern Light suplex for 2. Knoxx regains the advantage with a sweet looking fallaway slam from the second rope before Flash hits a top rope legdrop for the win. This got pretty good after the first elimination and would have been much better as a straight up tag. Stylz would leave CZW shortly after this, which is disappointing as both him and Knoxx looked really good here.

Tai Smiley vs GQ
Tai Smiley is wearing a yellow bodysuit with a smiley face on, and seems to be working a retard gimmick, so don't expect a mat classic. They work through an elementary wrestling exchange before GQ gets on the mic to talk some smack. He then pretends to take off Smiley's nose. The comedy is dying on it's arse, so fortunately GQ is wise enough to go on the attack, hitting Smiley with a vicious belly-to-back suplex and giving him a backbreaker on a steel chair. Annoyingly, every time the crowd are starting to get back into the match, we get some more comedy which pisses them off. A shame, because GQ looks pretty good here in what is, essentially, a squash. He locks in a killer cloverleaf-looking hold and nails a nifty DDT for the win. More wrestling, less bad comedy needed here.

Mike Mayhem Vs Livewyre vs Grim Reefer
I really thought this would suck, but actually I pretty much enjoyed this. Firstly, all the participants brought something to the dance: Reefer was pretty sloppy, but won my heart over early on by hitting two dangerous dives to the floor in the first 2 minutes. Livewyre is far bigger than the other and came to the ring making generic "I'm going to break you" gestures. He's also crucially better known as Mikey from the Spirit Squad and during the match he busted out some cool stuff, including a swank half Nelson suplex and a massive spear that nearly broke Mayhem in half. As for Mayhem, he was less flashy, but actually had a semblance of character which tied the whole thing together and he was arguably less spotty than the others. The oddest thing is seeing a future WWE tag champion, who was the smallest in his stable, get booked like a monster in CZW, but he looked really good here. Reefer wins with a walking Swanton from the middle of the ring to end an enjoyable match.

Stefan Perez vs Nick Berk
This is Perez's CZW debut and he's challenging Berk to a submissions match. Remember this, it's important. Perez takes control in the early going and tries a pinfall. The ref doesn't count, presumably reminding Perez that HE WANTED A SUBMISSION MATCH. Perez then hits the Three Amigos (with Berk actually getting up before him) which ends with a Fisherman Suplex. Still no pins allowed Stefan. Garguilo and House mock him for this, especially as he made the damn challenge. Berk applies actual submission holds to Perez, but Perez keeps making the ropes and hits a nice top rope Blockbuster. He then tries to springboard into the ring, but gets caught and put into the Texas C2K2 for the tapout win for Berk. Perez looked like a moron here and never returned to CZW.

Ric Blade vs B-Boy
Never been a big fan of Ric Blade, but I always dug B-Boy, so it'll be interesting to see who influences the match more. They start out with an exchange of strikes, which is a poor choice as Blade's strikes suck while B-Boy is pretty hard hitting, yet they act as if both guys are inflicting the same damage. We then have to take a break as it looks like Blade pulled a muscle in his leg during the opening stages. It's all made better when Blade flips into the ring, only to get suplexed into the corner by B-Boy. Blade continues to throws kicks at B-Boy so poor that I actually feel bad for B-Boy having to sell them, though it seems B-Boy is content to drop Blade on his head with a neat Dragon suplex. Johnny Kashmere comes out to distract Blade which allows B-Boy to hit a Shining Wizard into a baseball bat onto Blade for the win. Too much shitty Blade offence makes this a pass, though bonus points to B-Boy for selling the knee that crashed into the bat.

Ruckus vs Sonjay Dutt
This is a Junior Heavyweight title match. Chris Cash comes to ringside before the match starts and somehow becomes special referee. The problem with this is you know there will be some kind of screwy finish which could ruin the match. In this case, the problems arise even earlier as Cash refuses to count for either man, at which point you wonder why either man continues fighting. Cash continues in this vein, blocking Ruckus' attempt at the Razzle-Dazzle and pretending to trip into the ropes to knock both men from the top at various points and for some reason neither man assaults him. It's a shame this distracts from what is quite a fun pair of performances from Ruckus and Dutt. As far as early 00's CZW Junior Heavyweights go, both are smooth, unlikely to blow spots and, while maybe over-flippy, they've got a good chemistry which shines through amongst the poor booking. The ending is predictably disappointing- as both men fight on the top rope, Cash nails them both with a ladder to send them both through a ringside table for a double-countout. A shame.

Tatanka & Heartbreaker vs Rockin' Rebel & Greg Matthews
At the time, I was convinced that Greg Matthews had the look and the promise for a big future in wrestling. Shows how much I know. Before the match even starts, Zandig and the Wifebeater beat the tar out of Rebel & Matthews, taking all the heat away from special guest Tatanka. In the ring, they work through a basic, but decent match, as Tatanka dominates both Rebel's Army members before they take control. Nothing fancy, which is sensible due to Matthews' rookie status and Rebel's limitations. Things get less interesting when Heartbreaker eventually gets in, with one of his first moves being an overly fussy (and pointless) springboard kneedrop. He spends most of the match selling, which is probably wise because he manages to hit a shockingly bad spinebuster on Matthews. The end comes when a nameless man runs in the ring, allowing Rebel to hit Heartbreaker with a loaded fist for Matthews to cover him. The in-ring work was fine, especially the Tatanka bits, but the booking was poor. As well as pre-match, Zandig and Wifebeater beat up the Rebel's Army members as soon any time the left the ring, including several shots with weapons, which makes the losers look even worse.

The Backseat Boyz vs The H8 Club
This is for the CZW Tag titles. The story here is that new Backseats manager Dewey Donovan used to manage the H8 Club, so they should have the advantage. It doesn't show in the early stages, as Nick Gage and Nate Hatred decimate the Backseats, who bump like pinballs for the monsters, including a double 360 sell of a Hatred clothesline. A baseball bat shot to Hatred's midsection allows Acid and Kashmere to take over on Gage, which includes a double eyepoke on Gage to cause him to blindly swing for Kashmere, only to get beaten down. Gage gives the smaller wrestlers a lot of offence and bumps well enough that this all looks convincing. The BB's start to work in the Dream Sequence, only for Acid to get folded in two by a clothesline from the returning Hatred, which gives the H8 Club a chance to dominate on the floor. A Donovan distraction allows the Messiah to attack Hatred on the outside and Gage stupidly goes after Donovan, leaving his partner to eat a T-Gimmick from the Backseats, which is enough to win them the title. Really fun power vs speed match and both teams were able to play up their strengths.

The Messiah vs Sick Nick Mondo
Mondo asked for a title match earlier in the night, which Messiah granted. The early stages of the match really don't click- Mondo's strikes look off and he barely catches the Messiah on a plancha. After about 5 minutes, things suddenly click, and they work a nice little sequence of moves and reversals that includes a decent Lionsault from the Messiah. He then hits a double jump splash on Mondo through a ringside table. I always dug the Messiah, even after CZW foolishly turned him heel following his emotional title win after getting his thumb chopped off during an assault at his home. Back inside, they fight over powerbombing the other through a table, which Messiah eventually wins for two. There is one hokey spot where Messiah manages to staple Mondo's hand to his back, but the rest is good stuff, with both guys pulling out all the stops to get the win. The Messiah has control when Big Mac Smack comes to the ring and gives Mondo a bucket of thumbtacks. Mondo downs the Messiah and pours the tacks over him, before hitting a springboard legdrop for two. On the surface a stupid move, but one consistent with the Sick Nick character. An M Bison from the top (a double footed stomp) onto the tacks gets the win for Mondo. A post-match brawl ensues and it's announced that Mondo has won Messiah's Iron Man title, not the World title. A silly end to a good match