Break It Down: CZW Night Of Infamy 9

Night Of Infamy 9 on November 13th, 2010

Drake Younger, with blonde hair, makes his way to the ring to open the show. I guess it goes with his new “Golden Boy” nickname. Younger says that Scotty Vortekz left him hanging and he carried CZW on his back. Younger has been fighting Cult Fiction during the past couple of months for no reason. He says that the Suicide Kings are wimps. Younger claims that he has signed a contract that gives him creative control. He ends the promo by calling himself the Golden Boy of CZW. Suddenly, a video of Jon Moxley backstage is shown. He says that there is an open challenge tonight and if Younger wants to be called the Golden Boy, he needs the CZW World Heavyweight Title. Scotty Vortekz and Devon Moore try rushing the ring but security holds them back. Younger calls himself the Golden Boy once again and casually leaves the ring, ignoring any challenge.

Opening Match: CZW Wired Television Title: Drew Gulak © vs. Alexander James
James connects with a few punches but botches an armdrag. He hits a spinebuster and a backbreaker. Gulak gets caught with a TKO and James applies a koji clutch. Gulak quickly reaches the bottom rope. Gulak connects with a dropkick and applies the Gu-Lock to retain his title at 3:31. I don’t believe that a Gulak squash match is possible. Thus, instead of Gulak looking strong, James just came off as a complete moron. I cannot wait for Gulak to drop the title. ½*

Greg Excellent comes to the ring. DJ Hyde immediately interrupts and asks why he’s in the ring. Hyde says that he has nothing for Excellent to do tonight. Excellent heads to the back with a look of disappointment on his face.

Match #2: Akuma vs. Kit Osborne
Akuma is Kimberly’s warrior that she has been hyping for months. Akuma dropkicks Osborne into the turnbuckles and connects with a few stiff kicks. Akuma shrugs off some strikes and hits a lungblower. Akuma hits two powerbombs for the win at 1:11. Unlike the opener, this was an effective squash match for the debuting Akuma. CZW seems to be treating him as a serious threat and he should be a useful addition to the roster. *

Match #3: Tyler Veritas vs. Jonathan Gresham
Mia Yim is at ringside taking notes for Adam Cole. They trade armdrags and find themselves at a stalemate. Gresham finds success with an armbar and starts targeting the left arm. Veritas fights back with a neckbreaker but falls victim to a german suplex. Gresham lands a springboard moonsault followed by a standing shooting star press. Veritas answers with a half nelson suplex and connects with a high knee strike. They trade control and Veritas hits a DDT. He transitions into the Veritap but Gresham turns it into a rollup for a two count. Both men try more rollups and Gresham finds success with one for the victory at 7:56. Solid showcase that could have benefited from more time. Gresham is picking up fluidity in his offense and Veritas is proving that he deserves a more important role in CZW. I’m looking forward to Veritas’ eventual title match against Adam Cole. **½

Backstage, Veritas admits that Gresham didn’t get the better of him tonight, Adam Cole did. He says that this situation is about to become personal.

Nick Gage, the new Ultraviolent Underground Champion, makes his way to the ring. He puts over the title and holds up his trophy from T.O.D. vs. Gorefest. Gage says that when he was wrestling in Germany, he had the CZW fans in mind. Drew Gulak interrupts and claims that Gage should have been suspended for his behavior during their previous match at Down With The Sickness 2010. Gage attacks Gulak as the arena goes dark and a video begins to play. Big Japan Pro Wrestling has picked Yuko Miyamoto to challenge for the Ultraviolent Underground Title next month at Cage Of Death XII. Gage gladly accepts the challenge.

Match #4: A.R. Fox vs. Alex Colon
Colon starts the match with a slap and Fox returns the favor. Fox connects with a dropkick but gets tripped up on the apron. They exchange strikes. Colon blocks a springboard maneuver and takes control. Fox leaps off the middle rope and hits an ace crusher. Colon retreats to the floor where Fox catches him with a dive. Fox lands a guillotine leg drop from the top rope and follows with a springboard moonsault in the ring. Colon kicks him in the face and hits a reverse hurricanrana. Colon connects with a superkick but Fox answers with an air raid crash for the win at 8:09. Purely used to build up Fox for his title match next month against Adam Cole. However, they still managed to deliver a solid contest and showed good chemistry together. I could definitely see Fox having a breakout year in 2011. **¾

Match #5: Sabian and Joker vs. Ryan McBride and Rich Swann
This is a semifinal round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. Joker dropkicks McBride before the bell and hits a brainbuster. Sabian adds another dropkick. Swann lures Sabian to the floor and lands a moonsault off the apron. Irish Drive-By connect with stereo dropkicks on Joker. Swann finds knees on a standing 450 splash and Philly’s Most Wanted isolate him. Joker clotheslines Swann off the apron, allowing McBride to enter the ring. McBride connects with a missile dropkick on Joker and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Sabian. He applies a texas cloverleaf on Joker but Sabian connects with a missile dropkick to break the hold. Swann catches Sabian with an enzuigiri but falls victim to a powerbomb. Sabian pushes McBride into the ringpost but turns around and eats a superkick. Swann hits a michinoku driver but Joker sends him across the ring with an overhead suplex. McBride superkicks Joker and hits a flipping death valley driver. Sabian dodges a crossbody from McBride and spikes Swann with a flatliner. He lands a dive to the floor onto McBride. In the ring, Sabian dropkicks Swann in the corner and Joker adds a spinebuster. Joker giant swings Swann into a dropkick from Sabian for the victory at 12:02. Pretty inspired tag team match. Joker continued to work hard while Sabian was more than tolerable, which was a nice surprise. Irish Drive-By are in limbo right now and could use a heel turn to freshen up the team. Some sloppiness down the stretch hurt the action, but this was a decent match overall. **¾

Match #6: Amasis and Ophidian vs. Joe Gacy and Ryan Slater
This is a semifinal round match in the CZW World Tag Team Title tournament. The Runaways attack before the bell. Gacy hits a running powerslam on Ophidian while Slater sets up multiple chairs on the floor. Slater powerbombs Amasis off the apron and onto the chair contraption. In the ring, the Runaways isolate Amasis until he catches Slater with a dive to the floor, forcing a tag. Ophidian connects with a mafia kick on Gacy and lands a springboard moonsault. Amasis brawls with Slater in the crowd while Ophidian lays out Gacy with a facebuster. Ophidian headscissors Gacy on the floor and sends him into the crowd as well. Amasis leaps over the guardrail and onto Slater. Ophidian slips on his dive and doesn’t even clear the guardrail. He instead uses the guardrail as a springboard to take out Gacy. The Osirian Portal utilize chairs and take control. At ringside, Slater back drops Ophidian onto a table. In the ring, Amasis DDTs Gacy but falls victim to a fisherman buster from Slater. Gacy lands a top rope splash onto Amasis for a nearfall. The Runaways hit a blockbuster-powerbomb combination on Ophidian for a two count. The Osirian Portal hypnotize the Runaways and the entrance set. Music starts playing and everyone starts dancing. Some members of the CZW roster come to ringside and start dancing as well. Greg Excellent takes his clothes off for the second consecutive show. Gacy has surprisingly great dance moves. The Osirian Portal break the trance and hit the Osirian Sacrament on Gacy for the win at 15:22. Slater and Gacy compliment each other perfectly. Gacy in particular works a lot better in a team than as a singles wrestler. The Osirian Portal cemented themselves as favorites amongst the CZW crowd in this match. Speaking of the match, it was much better than I expected. They told an effective story of the Osirian Portal resorting to the Runaways’ tactics (brawling) but then ultimately going back to their own tactics (hypnosis) to win the contest. While some might find the shenanigans toward the end to be overbearing, the crowd absolutely loved it and I think CZW could use more lightheartedness at times. The Osirian Portal should win the titles next month without question. ***¼

Maven Bentley comes to the ring. He runs down some of the matches for Cage Of Death XII. He announces that the winner of Moxley/Younger tonight will defend the title against Homicide next month. Robert Anthony interrupts and wants to know where he stands. Anthony demands a title match at Cage Of Death XII. Sami Callihan comes out and takes the microphone away from Anthony. He points out that Anthony wasn’t involved in CZW’s Germany trip. They exchange insults and Anthony sneaks in a cheap shot. Callihan begins to fight back but accidentally punches Bentley. Anthony lays out Callihan with a yakuza kick. They brawl around ringside where Callihan throws him into a chair. Anthony tries to return the favor but a fan takes the chair away. Callihan back drops him into the front row and dives over the guardrail. They brawl into the crowd. Anthony knocks Callihan down and repeatedly throws chairs on top of him. In the ring, Anthony hits a suplex and talks trash. Callihan tries to use a chair and Anthony quickly retreats. Bentley books Callihan vs. Anthony at Cage Of Death XII, where the winner will become the #1 contender for the CZW World Heavyweight Title.

Match #7: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley © vs. Drake Younger
Moxley connects with a few chops and hits an arm wringer. He tries for a fujiwara armbar but Younger quickly reaches the bottom rope. Younger utilizes a fork and knocks Moxley off the apron and into the guardrail. Moxley is busted open. Younger continues to attack with the fork, opening the wound further. Moxley lands a crossbody but Younger uses the fork again to regain control. Younger starts using his own boot and whips Moxley with his belt. He uses the belt to hang Moxley over the top rope. Moxley hits a DDT onto a chair. They trade strikes and Moxley gets clotheslined to the outside. Younger sets up a table and hits a gourdbuster onto the edge of it. They battle on top of the table and Moxley hits a piledriver through it. In the ring, Moxley hits an ace crusher but Younger sneaks in a low blow. Younger sends Moxley into a chair and hits a blue thunder bomb. He lays out Moxley with a chair shot and hits Drake’s Landing for a nearfall. Moxley surprises Younger with a rollup to retain his title at 13:44. These two are proficient brawlers and provided a good match with effective weapon usage. Younger is doing a great job in his new role and I think that he’ll be challenging for the title again in the near future. An argument could be made that these two should have stuck to pure wrestling and the match would have been better. However, this was a satisfying brawl that utilized weapons wisely and didn’t overstay its welcome. ***

Younger attacks Moxley after the match. Scotty Vortekz makes the save and Younger runs out of the building.

Match #8: Fans Bring The Weapons: Scotty Vortekz, Devon Moore, and Danny Havoc vs. Brain Damage, MASADA, and tHURTeen
Moore tries to hit Brain Damage with a baseball bat but receives a punch for his efforts. MASADA and Havoc trade yakuza kicks. Brain Damage busts Moore open with a thumbtack bat. Vortekz hits tHURTeen with a garbage can lid but Brain Damage punches it into Vortekz’s face. Moore catches Brain Damage with a missile dropkick. tHURTeen hits Vortekz across the back with a skateboard. Brain Damage kills Moore with a water jug shot. Vortekz suplexes tHURTeen on the floor. Havoc hits a sit-out gourdbuster on tHURTeen in the ring and then slams him onto a water jug. tHURTeen military presses Havoc onto a garbage can. He slams a guitar hero control into Havoc’s midsection. tHURTeen dropkicks Havoc into barbed wire and Brain Damage adds a water jug shot. Everyone just starts hitting each other with random objects. MASADA uses a cheese grater to carve up Havoc’s forehead. Vortekz starts going crazy with a water jug. Havoc lands a springboard senton onto Brain Damage. MASADA gourdbusters Moore onto a walker and hits Havoc with a stop sign. Brain Damage and MASADA biel Havoc into barbed wire. MASADA breaks wooden sticks across Vortekz’s midsection and hits a tombstone piledriver. Moore assaults tHURTeen with repeated water jug shots. MASADA powerbombs Moore into barbed wire and stabs wooden sticks into his head. Brain Damage suplexes Havoc into barbed wire. MASADA splash mountains Vortekz into a pile of chairs. tHURTeen hits a canadian destroyer from the top rope on Moore through a pane of glass for the victory at 18:44. A lot of people dislike deathmatch wrestling because of these kind of matches. This was basically nineteen minutes of wrestlers hitting each other with various weapons. Most people will hate it, some will love it. The lack of crowd reaction for a few vicious weapon shots shows that the weapons themselves were being overused. The actual finish was visually impressive but the rest of the action ran together. **¼

Drake Younger comes out after the match and hits Vortekz with a water jug. He helps Cult Fiction tie Vortekz to the ropes. Younger attacks Vortekz with a chair and pours lighter fluid onto him. Dysfunction makes his return to CZW and chases Younger away. Havoc runs down Younger on the microphone. Dysfunction vows revenge on Younger at Cage Of Death XII. DJ Hyde announces that the Suicide Kings and Dysfunction will battle Cult Fiction and Drake Younger in Cage Of Death.

The 411: Night Of Infamy 9 is a decent show that was primarily used to setup Cage Of Death XII. The Osirian Portal cemented themselves as crowd favorites in a solid match against the Runaways. This show succeeded in making Drake Younger an integral part of the promotion, as he had a worthwhile brawl against Moxley and made various appearances throughout the night. There's some other decent contests in the undercard as well. However, there just isn't enough quality wrestling here to earn a recommendation, especially with a main event that most people will loathe. CZW seems to be putting a lot of effort into building Cage Of Death XII so hopefully that show comes through.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]