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CZW Best of the Best 7/10 ECW Arena results Posted by Bob Magee Pardon the unusual lateness of this report...but our neighborhood had an encounter at 6:45 am with a squirrel immolating itself on the neighborhood power transformer, thus causing an explosion and a local power outage. Cables are still down on our street, but the power has evidently been re-routed, and we have electricity again...thus this report.
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Before a crowd of around 700, their largest crowd since Cage of Death 5 (and one of their hottest crowd atmospheres beginning to end....all the way until 12:20 am, even with an ungodly hot Arena); despite having two wrestlers the evening's tournament was likely built around no-showing and having to build the crowd without local television, and despite two pre-show power failures in the Arena...CZW returned to the ECW Arena for their annual Best of the Best Tournament 4, entitled "Best of the Best 4: Dream On" for what was top to bottom one of the strongest CZW's done in a LONG time, with enough booking swerves to keep things interesting (but sensible), some new talent becoming an instant hit, and two surprise returns.
Teddy Hart called only 72 hours before the show claiming injuries and that he;d have to miss his booking due to an apparently fictitious bar fight. Then, unbeknownst to anyone outside the CZW locker room (well...a few people once we got to the Arena), Trent Acid threw another tantrum, and no-showed because...this time... well.... let's not get ahead of things.
As the show started, Homicide and Jack Evans were announced...then Trent Acid's music played, only to find no Acid, but Zandig walking to the ring. Zandig told the crowd that Acid was "nowhere to be found". Zandig got a nice little dig in, saying "For all I know he could be in Canada sipping beer and smoking joints" (alluding to the other no-show of the evening).
Suddenly appearing to a loud reaction (and providing an answer both in storyline and real life as to why Acid was nowhere to be seen) was Justice Pain, who'd been gone from CZW since he'd left the promotion over a year ago to take the money of Rob Black and XPW in their attempt to corner the Philadelphia independent wrestling market.
Zandig asked the crowd if they wanted Pain back...and got a surprising positive response (along with a good heel-type response from some of the rest of the crowd).
Finally...on to the show.
Best of the Best first round matches
Homicide vs. Jack Evans vs. Chris Cash - Chris Cash was thrown in to fill in the Trent Acid slot (which makes this writer wonder if Justice Pain's return wasn't the only reason Acid decided not to show). The finish saw Evans hitting a Top Rope 450 on Homicide and Cash. Homicide recovered, threw Evans outside, then nailed Cash with a sick-looking clothesline.
Cash is a real soldier for CZW when called upon and will do anything he's asked and beyond...which makes me afraid of what he'll try at CZW's Tournament of Death in two weeks.
Homicide and Jack Evans thus advanced to the second round.
Best of the Best 3 Winner B-Boy vs. former CZW Iron Man Champion Jimmy Rave vs. Roderick Strong. An excellent match ending with Strong and B-Boy trading offense, with Strong hitting B-Boy with 2 different backbreaker variations for near fall. B-Boy came back, reversed a suplex, kneeing Strong in the head while airborne and upside down (use your imagination). B-Boy then hit a cross arm piledriver for another near fall. Rave nailed B-Boy with a stiff shining wizard for yet another near-fall. The finish came as Rave was trying to power bomb Strong, while B-Boy recovered and nailed Rave with a shining wizard off of Strong's back on Rave for the pinfall. Roderick Strong and B-Boy advanced to the second round.
Alex Shelley vs. Ruckus vs. Bobby Quance - Alex Shelley and Bobby Quance advanced to the second round, after Nate Hatred slammed Ruckus through a table outside the ring (that Ruckus had set up), at the same time that Shelley was pinning Quance in the ring (unseen by the referee) and Ruckus was counted out. Quance's shooting star presses are a thing of beauty. This was my first time seeing Quance live, and he got himself over in one night with some of the toughest wrestling fans in America. Those of us on the east coast hav enow seen what others farther west have been getting for awhile.
CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion Sonjay Dutt vs. "Spider" Nate Webb vs. Petey Williams - Yet one more good to excellent match (detecting a pattern yet?), surprisingly so to many who weren't sure that Webb could keep up with Dutt and Williams. Webb was so over with this crowd it bordered on the silly. Dutt's spot of the night nominee was the move when he nailed Williams with a muscle buster while while simultaneously hitting a leg drop on Webb.
The finish saw Petey Williams reverse Webb and hit his version of the Canadian Destroyer (flip piledriver), nailing Webb for the pinfall. Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams advanced to the second round.
In a non-BOTB match, the Xtreme Strong Style Tournament match/first round match, Chris Hero defeated Hotstuff Hernandez
Best of the Best second round matches
Homicide over Jack Evans - In a match reminiscent of the recent American Dragon-Jack Evans Ring of Honor match in Philadelphia, Homicide just plain beat the living $#$* out of Evans. Evans's neck and head were bent and twisted every whichway by being dropped in positions human bodies aren't meant to go. The finish saw Homicide nailing Evans with a vicious Copkiller, then taking off his bandana and stuffed in Evans's hand, saying "that's for your punk bitch friend....you are gonna die...", then snotted him.
Roderick Strong over B-Boy by submission.- Another great match in a show filled with great matches. In the finish, which may or may not be setting something up for the future, Strong had B-Boy in a boston crab (after various stretches and backbreakers, focusing on working B-Boy's back). B-Boy slapped Strong's arm down and pulled himself towards the rope, once, twice, and a third time. Referee Brian Logan ruled it a submission, even though it seemed obvious B-Boy was trying to crawl to the ropes. Some fans were upset with the finish, and mistakenly thought that Logan blew the finish, but it was pretty clear from where I was sitting that it was a deliberate screw finish; either to create some sort of issue with Logan later, or to set up a program with Strong and B-Boy.
Bobby Quance defeated Alex Shelley by submission, in a major surprise to many in the stands who were picking Shelley to go to the finals.
If CZW wanted to prove to fans who don't want to give them a chance by dismissing the company as garbage wrestling, they should send those fans a tape of this match. This featured storytelling that a Jim Cornette, Les Thatcher, or Danny Davis would be happy with.
The entire match saw Quance working Shelley's arm, going for repeated submissions and armbars. The match was back and forth from beginning to end with a finish of Shelley hitting an exploder on Quance. Quance and Shelley then climbed up to and fought on the top turnbuckle. Quance pushed off Shelley, but then missed his shooting star. Shelley tries to hit Quance with a lariat, but Quance ducked and applied a final armbar for the submission.
In another surprise, Sonjay Dutt defeated Petey Williams. Would that TNA could get this kind of match to its PPV audience, as the two who work a program in TNA as opposite sides of the Team TNA-Team Canada storyline worked a helluva quarterfinal match.
The finish saw Williams hit a Destroyer on Dutt, struggled toy covered Dutt for a near fall. Dutt hit a reverse exploder and an Arabian press for a near fall. Williams came back with a Razor's edge which Dutt reversed into a rana for the pin.
In a non-BOTB match, in the Xtreme Strong Style Tournament match/round 2, Danny Maff defeated Nick Gage. Nick Berk ran in during the match distracting Gage, and letting Maff to finish off Gage.
Best of the Best tournament semi-final matches
Roderick Strong defeated Homicide in another excellent and extremely physical match. Strong showed why many see him as the next successor to names like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels as a top name in North American indies, as he invented yet more forms of backbreakers, and does actual WRESTLING that fans brought up on matches featuring 45 highspots and a pinfall still enjoy, and actually even learn from. The match finished with Homicide hitting a top rope Ace Crusher, followed by a stiff lariat for a near fall. Strong set up his pinfall with a three kick sequence, and a back drop into the pinfall.
Sonjay Dutt defeated Bobby Quance - Many were pleasantly surprised that Quance had gone this far in the tournament, as several other names that were expected to go on, were beaten in earlier rounds, especially Alex Shelley and Homicide. The finish saw Dutt hit a second rope Infrared, followed by Quance hitting a rolling half nelson and a spin kick for a nearfall. Dutt camne back to hit the Ultimo DDT for yet one moer near fall, then hit the Hindu Press for the pinfall.
Jimmy Rave won the 4 way against Nate Webb, Ruckus, and Chris Cash in a four corners match featuring the competitors eliminated from the first round of Best of the Best.
After the 4-way, Nate Hatred came out again, this time with Nick Gage, stiffing the hell out of Blackout. Among other happenings, Nate Hatred press-slammed Sabian into a guardrail, and Gage went nuts with a chair on the members of Blackout.
Best of the Best 4 Tournament Final
After an show that went on with 14 matches, Sonjay Dutt defeated Roderick Strong by pinfall to win the Best of the Best 4 Tournament at 12:40 am.
While this was one more good to excellent match, it didn't get the full attention of the crowd at the beginning, as police came into the venue to get a fan who was being arrested on a matter not related to CZW or to the show.
The person accusing the fan had family outside the building, and the locker room briefly emptied because they thought the family members were jumping Zandig, who'd gone outside to deal with the Philadelphia Police. Once all was calmed down (credit to Strong and Dutt for creative stalling while everyone got their attention back into the match), the match went on.
Post-match, M-Dogg 20 ran in at the end as the "person who stole Sonjay Dutt's Junior Heavyweight Title", but had actually been given the belt by someone in the CZW locker room.
This, with the return of Justice Pain, appears to set up a "XPW invasion angle" (although XPW was never mentioned by name or in any direct manner with either return last night).
In the post-show fan vote (legit voting by crowd applause) the Best of the Best 4 awards went to:
Best 3-way (first round match): Jimmy Rave vs. B-Boy vs. Roderick Strong
Best Match: (second round and beyond) Alex Shelley vs. Bobby Quance
Best Wrestler: Bobby Quance Click
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