Strong Style Shimko DVD Review: CZW Tournament Of Death 6 [Part One]

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Combat Zone Wrestling
Tournament Of Death 6
June 9, 2007
Smyrna, Delaware
DVD available at: SmartMarkVideo.com
Disc 1 time: Approx. 100 min.

First off, I am a month late on this review. During a Combat Hooligans podcast this summer I had promised to review a DVD featuring Combat Zone Wrestling's sixth installment of Tournament Of Death, their annual one-day deathmatch extravaganza which is held during the summer in Delaware.

CZW's Tournament Of Death has had its fair share of insane moments within an already intensely violent event including a match with CZW owner John Zandig against "Sick" Nick Mondo where Zandig gave Mondo a falcon driver off a two-story building and crashing onto a pile of tables and lighttubes and into the unforgiving pavement below; Mondo was also in the first TOD and took a horrendous weedwhacker shot to his stomach.

The following year Canadian independent wrestler SeXXXy Eddy, who was making his debut against Ian Knoxx, suffered a severed artery and after his match squeezed his fist with a thin stream of blood spurting right into his mouth, a foul visual but he won the bloodmarks over with that one moment.

In 2005, the first and only time I attended Tournament Of Death, CZW veteran "The Future of Hardcore" Nick Gage suffered severe burns following a bump he took on a flaming barbed wire glass table-type structure positioned horizontally between the ring apron and a guardrail. Gage went on to win TOD in 2006, he was booked for this year's but didn't make it and is said to have retired from the business due to multiple injuries including some recent concussions.

So as you can see, there's never a dull moment in CZW, especially when it comes to their second biggest show of the year (the biggest being their annual year-end Cage Of Death event).

I was a big fan of CZW and regularly attended shows from early 2003 up until early 2006 when their awesome feud with Ring Of Honor ended, from there most of 2006 was abysmal as far as booking and match-ups were concerned. I did attend Cage Of Death 8 in December of that year and it was pretty much my swan song as far as attending monthly shows from the company.

CZW seemed to be on and off as far as quality of shows this year but when it comes to TOD you can expect an action-packed event showcasing the brutality of what CZW built its reputation on over it's almost 10-year existence.

Upon hearing rave reviews about this year's Tournament Of Death from even the most jaded fans I decided to give CZW some business and order the DVD set. This show is split into three discs so this particular review will consist of only the first disc, the others will follow within the following weeks to come.

Also want to note that the commentary on recent CZW DVDs have been horrible so this release gives the option to watch the show with or without commentary which gets a huge thumbs up!

Before the violence ensues, we have a non-tourney match to start off with...

Disc 1:
CZW World Tag Team Champions BLK OUT [Ruckus & Sabian w/Chrisy Riveria] vs Team AnDrew [Andy Sumner & Drew Gulak] - Non-title match
Sumner and Sabian start off the match, pretty even exchange as both men work wrist locks on each other and are countering each other's moves. Sabian bounces off the ropes, Sumner tries to catch Sabian and misses to which as fan yells, "WHAT THE FUCK??" Sumner tries to catch Sabian again and ends up in a hurrancanrana courtesy of "The Black Jesus". Sabian takes control with chops to Sumner's chest and gives him some nipple twisters, OUCH~! Gulak and Ruckus tags in and Gulak attempts to one-up the tag champs, the two have a fast-paced exchange with Ruckus also attempting a hurrancanrana, Gulak just drops him face first into the mat and goes for pin only to get a two-count. Gulak gets Ruckus in a submission move locking his arms around Ruckus' shoulder and pulling back his chin, Ruckus reaches the ropes and the hold is broken. Gulak continues to control the match until Sabian interferes with a backcracker to Gulak, Ruckus doesn't tag Sabian in but now he's the legal man... okay then. Sabian grabs Gulak by the neck and flips him over and slaps a headlock on him. A fan suggests that Sabian bites Gulak's ear and he does so, these fans have been bloodthirsty all morning waiting for some violence as you can see. Sabian with a suplex takes Gulak down and stretches him into a wacky submission move, not so wacky feeling though I'm sure. Ruckus runs in and lands a dropkick right in Gulak's face, following some chops, Gulak attempts to tag Sumner in but Sabian pulls him, Sabian whips Gulak into the ropes and Gulak counters with a sunset flip for a pin attempt, Sabian flips over Gulak and kicks him right in the back. Ruckus runs in a stomps Gulak in the face, Sabian goes for a pin but only gets a two-count. Ruckus tags in, bodyslams Gulak and does his razzle-dazzle flip onto Gulak, Ruckus' pin attempt gets another two-count. Gulak is whipped into the ropes and grabs onto Ruckus and brings him to the mat for a pin which Ruckus kicks out of and retaliates with a lariat taking Gulak down. After another two-count pin attempt Gulak whips Ruckus into the ropes only to get a kick to the head on his way back. Sabian tags in stomping away on Gulak following up with chops to his chest. Sabian hits a frankensteiner on Gulak off the top rope but fails to get a pinfall, Gulak whipped into the ropes leapfrogs Sabian and flips him over only getting a two-count. Sabian chokes Gulak with Body scissors and gets cocky by kissing his biceps and squeezing Gulak's neck with his legs. Without any luck, Sabian breaks the hold and knees Gulak right in the forehead. Sabian applies another chokehold on Gulak who breaks the hold and German suplexes Sabian to hell almost landing on his head. Ruckus and Sumner both tag in and Sumner's on fire taking both Ruckus and Sabian down, Sumner body presses Sabian (and has a bit of trouble doing so) and slams him down to the mat. Sumner grabs Ruckus and throws him over, Sumner goes for a pin but Sabian breaks the pinfall. BLK OUT double team Sumner with Ruckus kicking him on the side and Sabian hits him with a DDT-type move. Ruckus goes for a pin but Gulak breaks it up. BLK OUT whip Gulak into the ropes, Ruckus grabs Gulak by the legs and as Sabian goes for offense Sumner grabs Sabian slamming him down and Gulak rolls Ruckus for the pinfall. Great opening match.

LADDERS & LIGHT TUBES
CZW World Jr. Heavyweight Champion Scotty Vortekz vs Danny Havoc
The ring has a few light tubes in each corner, Vortekz cuts a promo wondering where his original opponent Nick Gage is and out comes Danny Havoc to which Vortekz asks the crowd, "who wants to see Danny Havoc die?" As Havoc enters the ring Vortekz immediately beats the shit out of him as the match starts off with some... wrestling moves. Vortekz runs the ropes only to get tripped by Havoc, he runs the ropes again as Havoc leapfrogs over Vortekz and is met by a lariat after more flippy moves on the mat. Vortekz bodyslams Havoc and places a light tube on his chest, Vortekz heads to the middle turnbuckle and hits a moonsault onto Havoc breaking the light tube on both their chests, Havoc's wearing a shirt, Vortekz isn't... who's the smarter one here?? Vortekz gets a two-count on Havoc and after some crowd taunting he removes his shirt... he's hardcore! he's hardcore! he's hardcore! BANG BANG~! he's hardcore! Vortekz swings a light tube Havoc who gets out the way and slams Vortekz shoulder first onto the mat with the light tube crushed between his shoulders and the mat yet fails to get the pin. Havoc takes control and hits a killer enziguri on Vortekz complete with... you guessed it, a light tube, Vortekz kicks out of Havoc's pin. Havoc brings a ladder into the ring smashing the top into Vortekz's head, Vortekz comes back with a forearm to Havoc's face, a chop to his stomach and a stiff kick to his chest. Hello internal bleeding~! Vortekz puts a light tube on Havoc's back and breaks it with his fist, dumb fuckin' move dude... Vortekz takes a broken light tube and slices Havoc's forehead with it, this is followed by a dropkick and a failed pin attempt by Vortekz. Havoc gets bodyslammed onto the ladder and has light tubes placed on his chest, Vortekz heads to the top turnbuckle and lands knee first onto Havoc's chest. Havoc kicks out of Vortekz's pin, Vortekz elbows Havoc in the face a few times falling to the mat, Vortekz places light tubes on Havoc's chest and climbs to the top turnbuckle again. Havoc gets up, hits the ropes as Vortekz crotches them, places the light tubes underneath Vortekz and lariats him right into the light tubes, Vortekz goes head first, crazy shit. Both men are on the ring apron as Havoc tries to suplex Vortekz onto layers of light tubes on the ground below, Vortekz ends up flipping Havoc onto the ground which is basically a black tarp covering the grass below. Vortekz and a CZW security guard lift the light tube structure into the ring, as Havoc gets back up Vortekz kicks him in the chest, Vortekz grabs a taller ladder and brings it in the ring. Vortekz sets up the ladder near the log cabin-type light tube structure as Havoc gets back in the ring only to be suplexed by Vortekz. Both men climb the ladder and Havoc sets up Vortekz over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and throws Vortekz into the light tubes. Havoc gets the pinfall and advances in the TOD. Crowd goes nuts chanting CZW~! CZW~! CZW~! CZW~! Vortekz cuts a promo on Havoc saying he wanted revenge at this show for when Havoc beat him in his CZW debut, he calls out Havoc once again. Havoc does an interview saying its possible that he could win TOD and mentions advice his high school counselor gave him about reaching goals. Fun stuff right there.

HOME-RUN DERBY DEATHMATCH
Insane Lane vs Freakshow
Both of these men have done deathmatches in IWA Deep South and IWA Mid-South, I believe this is both their debuts in CZW.
The boys begin elbowing the shit out of each other, Lane picks up a light tube and head butts it into Freakshow's forehead followed by a carving
courtesy of a broken light tube. Freakshow gets out of the ring and Lane hits him in the back with an empty water cooler jug attached to a pole, Lane takes another water jug, this time with circular light tubes attached and smashes the top of Freakshow's head and back, if that weren't enough (and it obviously wasn't) Lane delivers an insane (no... okay, pun intended) chairshot to Freakshow's head pretty much destroying the chair. During an exchange of punches Freakshow pounds his fist into Lane's head and grabs the water jug/circular light tube contraption and smashes atop Lane's head and follows up with a series of headbutts. A fist fight occurs as the fans chant, "USE THE BAT~!", instead Lane takes a long-ass light tube hitting Freakshow's back and head, good enough I guess. Both men are back in the ring as the crowd once again chants for the use of THE BAT which is very thick orange wiffle ball bat with four light tubes duct taped to it and also covered in thumbtacks, Lane picks up this monstrosity of a weapon and breaks the light tubes onto Freakshow's head, fuckin' pain man! Lane then jabs the broken ends of the light tube bat into Freakshow's forehead, Freakshow picks up THE BAT while Lane gets a barbed-wire bat, now the fun begins... Freakshow smashes Lane's back with the remaining light tubes on THE BAT then proceeds to smack him with the thumbtack portion of the bat, both wrestlers are covered with lots of blood. Freakshow sets up two chairs in the ring and places another set of light tubes horizontally on the chairs and gives Lane a Samoan Drop into the light tubes behind him, fuckin' brutal man. Freakshow swings the barbed-wire bat onto Lane's head, Lane grabs it and tears up Freakshow's chest and his forehead. Lane places the barbed-wire bat on Freakshow's chest and slams it with a steel chair then continues fucking him up with the bat. Lane puts the barbed-wire bat in Freakshow's face and pulls him upward in a somewhat variation of the Crippler Crossface-type deal. Freakshow taps out and Lane advances in TOD, both men get standing o's and also "please come back" chants. During both men's promo afterwards Zandig comes out and puts them over and lets the fans know to let CZW know if they want to see these guys back, I'm sure they will as they made quite the impression with the live crowd.


SHATTERED DREAMS
Mad Man Pondo vs "The Lariat" DJ Hyde w/CZW Commisioner Maven T. Bentley Esq.
What is a "Shattered Dreams" match you ask? There are four large panes of glass in each corner of the ring with a few steel chairs lying around... and both wrestlers have their fists wrapped up and covered with broken glass. Crowd begins a loud "FUCK 'EM UP PONDO FUCK 'EM UP" chant, both men play to the crowd, Pondo gets the pops and Hyde gets the heel heat to his dismay... collar and elbow tie-up, Hyde uses his weight, er, strength to get Pondo cornered near a pane of glass but is unsuccessful as Pondo escapes. Pondo makes the same attempt at cornering Hyde near the glass and Hyde escapes, Hyde elbows Pondo to the mat and cuts his face up with a wrist full of broken glass. Hyde punches the hell out of Pondo but he makes a slight comeback only to get bodyslammed for his efforts. Hyde places a folded steel chair onto Pondo's chest and drops himself on Pondo and the chair, Hyde goes for a pin but only gets a two-count. Hyde continues his dominance in the match, Pondo grabs a chair and as Hyde runs towards him he gets cracked in the head. Pondo pulls out scissors from his boot and proceeds to carve up Hyde's forehead, Maven meanwhile is protesting the "gimmick" as this happens. While Maven tells Hyde to "shake it off" Pondo whips him into the ropes and slams his "Can't STOP Pondo" sign into Hyde's face, dude's seeing stars at this point. Pondo sits Hyde in a steel chair and leans a pane of glass on his body, stands atop the first turnbuckle and flips right onto Hyde and the glass. Pondo goes for a pin and Hyde kicks out, Pondo drags Hyde to a corner of the ring setting up chairs around and on his limp body then heads to the top turnbuckle and throws himself into Hyde and the chairs. Pondo tries for another pin but Maven interferes, Pondo whips Hyde into another pane of glass, Hyde reverses with Pondo headed towards the glass, Hyde then spears him into the glass. Hyde and Maven set up the final glass pane in between two chairs, Hyde scoops up Pondo and slams him head first into the glass, Hyde gets the pinfall and advances in TOD to the crowd's disgust as they chant "BULLSHIT~!!!" Maven convinces Hyde that he'll win TOD, while Pondo says someday it's your day and other days it's not. He says maybe next time it'll be his day.

FANS BRING THE WEAPONS & BARBED-WIRE BOARDS MATCH
CZW Ironman Champion Mr. Insanity Toby Klein w/Billy Gram vs UltraViolent Underground Champion Brain Damage w/ Maven T. Bentley [Non-title]
Billy Gram [some Rob Zombie look-a-like] calls out both Maven and Brain Damage and partially fucks up his promo thus making its purpose sort of meaningless. Brain Damage steps up to the top turnbuckle playing it up to the crowd, Klein wastes no time and low-blows Brain Damage then throws him into a barbed-wire board. Klein breaks a guitar over Brain Damage's head and follows up with running a cheese grater in his face, Klein then gets a fork and stabs Brain Damage in his forehead. Brain Damage gets thrown out the ring and is attacked by Klein with a pizza slicer, now that's Italian! Both men continue fighting outside the ring, Klein gets a chair to the face and nasty headbutt followed by a series a chops to the chest. Klein returns the favor chopping the shit out of Brain Damage as Maven's crying foul, Damage's is completely covered in blood, Klein hits Brain Damage with a thumbtack bat (more like a long table leg covered in tacks) and rakes the thumbtacks against his back, Gram hits Damage in the head with a bible. Klein leans the tack bat on a steel chair, both men try to suplex each other into the bat and chair, Damage german suplexes Klein into the chair. Damage throws Klein into the crowd and clobbers him with a few plastic folding chairs courtesy of the fans, Maven hands Damage a steel chair and smashes Klein's lights out. Both men begin slapping the shit out of each other, Klein headbutts Damage into oblivion, Maven gives Damage a metal trash can and puts it on Klein and smashes him three times with the thumbtack bat from earlier. Klein then gets hit by the trash can from Damage, he takes a bottle of hot sauce and pours on Damage's bloody lacerated face, make a run for the border motherfuckers~! Back in the crowd Damage hits Klein in the neck with a walking cane and pours hot sauce down his gullet, Gram tends to Klein and Damage hits him in the face with a light tube. Damage hits Klein with a plastic shovel, he then gets a lit cigarette from a fan in the front row and burns Gram on his forehead. Klein retaliates with some punches and rolls Damage into the ring, Klein leans a barbed-wire board onto the ropes, he grabs Damage, Damage reverses and throws Klein into the barbed-wire and bounces to the mat, Damage jumps on top of the board sandwiching Klein between the barbed-wire side and the mat. Both men are trading punches, Klein gets the upper hand as Damage falls to the mat, Klein rolls him on his back for a pin but only gets a two-count. CZW veteran Lobo comes out and chases Maven into the crowd with a chair, Gram has a flaming stake to get revenge on Damage for burning him earlier, Klein has Damaged trapped as Gram gets ready to spit a fireball into his face, Damage escapes and Klein gets toasted. Damage punches out Klein and gets the pinfall advancing to the semi-finals. Afterwards Damage cuts a promo discussing his history with Klein when Lobo interrupts saying it's not cool for Damage to be wearing Lobo's "colors" in his "house" CZW... you see, when Lobo started out in CZW and throughout his career he wore "The Punisher" logo on t-shirts and jerseys, Brain Damage too wears The Punisher logo on his gear which pisses off Lobo. Damage says he's the PUNISHER in the ring, Lobo said he was lucky in the first round while Lobo's been doing the deathmatch/hardcore style for "a lifetime", this really pisses Brain Damage off. Klein and Gram cuts a promo on Brain Damage turning his back on Klein who needs medical attention for his eye.

Look out for part two of this review next week.

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