Break It Down: CZW Twelve

Twelve on February 12th, 2011
DJ Hyde makes his way to the ring to start the show. He announces that CZW will hold a show in Indianapolis, working with Insanity Pro Wrestling. He also adds Jake Crist, Kyle O’Reilly, and Brandon Gatson to Best of the Best. Finally, Hyde reveals that B-Boy will not be on the show tonight. Apparently, he just didn’t want to come. Drake Younger interrupts and demands that he be named the #1 contender for the CZW World Heavyweight Title. Devon Moore now comes out and claims that he has earned a title shot as well. Hyde books a match between the two, starting now…

Opening Match: Drake Younger vs. Devon Moore
The winner will become the #1 contender for the CZW World Heavyweight Title. Moore snaps off a hurricanrana and a headscissors. He dropkicks Younger off the apron and lands a moonsault to the floor. Moore also lands a shooting star press off the apron. Younger drapes him across the guardrail and throws a chair at his head. In the ring, Moore gets irish whipped into a propped chair and Younger hits a neckbreaker. Younger follows with an olympic slam onto a chair and takes control. Moore avoids a charge and comes back with a blockbuster. He finds knees on a lionsault attempt and Younger hits a blue thunder bomb. Younger synchs in a figure four but Moore reaches the bottom rope. Younger misses a senton off the top rope and crashes through a chair. They trade strikes and Moore lands a flying crossbody. Younger answers with a piledriver and brings a barbed wire board into the ring. Someone in the crowd tries a “Super Dragon” chant. They trade pin attempts to no avail. Both men go up top and Moore hits an air raid crash through the barbed wire board for a nearfall. Younger responds with an overhead suplex into the barbed wire and props a table across the middle rope. He uses the table as a platform to piledrive Moore through two chairs for a nearfall. Moore hits a saito suplex and slides a pane of glass into the ring. Younger hits a tiger driver but falls victim to a brainbuster. Moore misses a shooting star press and crashes through the pane of glass. Younger tries a rollup for a two count. He falcon arrows Moore into the broken glass. Moore gets slammed onto a propped chair but won’t stay down. Younger can’t hit Drake’s Landing and gets caught by a yakuza kick. He sneaks in a low blow and uses the ropes during a pin attempt for a two count. Moore steals Younger’s finisher and hits Drake’s Landing for the win at 21:21. I appreciate the fact that CZW wanted to deliver a special opener to begin their anniversary show. For the most part, I think that Younger and Moore succeeded. All of the spots involving weapons came off without a hitch and they eventually won the crowd over through their hard work. They probably could have trimmed a few minutes off of the match, but this setup Moore nicely as a challenger for the world title. ***

Match #2: Alex Colon vs. Sami Callihan
Colon’s spot in Best of the Best is on the line. Before the opening bell, Callihan takes out Colon with a dive to the outside. They brawl around ringside and Callihan lays in a chair shot. Colon fires back with a few kicks but gets overhead suplexed into a chair. Callihan misses a yakuza kick and accidentally connects with one of the commentators. In the ring, Colon kicks a chair into Callihan’s face, sending him back to the floor. Colon wants the countout victory. Callihan is able to make it back into the ring, where Colon takes control. Callihan counters a springboard maneuver with a russian leg sweep. They trade strikes and Colon hits a nice modified go 2 sleep. Callihan responds with a stiff lariat but gets spiked by a reverse hurricanrana. Colon connects with a superkick for a nearfall. Callihan finds life with two saito suplexes and a facewash kick. Callihan applies the stretch muffler for the victory at 9:33. While I preferred their previous match due to its storytelling elements, this was a fine follow-up. They put over their hatred for each other and kept the action intense throughout. I’m glad that Callihan is back in Best of the Best, as he garners great crowd support and has been on a tear as of late. **¾

Callihan puts the rest of the competitors in Best of the Best on notice. He won’t be at the next CZW show because he’ll be competing in the 16 Carat Gold Tournament in Germany.

Match #3: CZW Wired Television Title: Drew Gulak © vs. Danny Havoc
Gulak takes control on the mat to start. Havoc powers out of a side headlock and hits a side slam. He snaps off a few armdrags and grabs a chair from a fan at ringside. The referee makes him drop the chair before reentering the ring. They trade control and Havoc lands a moonsault. Gulak connects with a facewash kick but gets taken down by a back suplex. Havoc hits a dragon suplex. Gulak rolls him up out of nowhere to retain his title at 7:31. Gulak might actually be my least favorite wrestler. It’s pretty clear that the crowd hates his title defenses and I don’t know why CZW insists on keeping the belt on him. This was just two wrestlers throwing moves at each other without any rhyme or reason for seven minutes. ½*

Match #4: Scotty Vortekz vs. Akuma
Vortekz snaps off a japanese armdrag and lands a standing moonsault. Akuma catches him with a powerbomb and locks in a sharpshooter. They exchange kicks and fall to the canvas. Akuma avoids a charge and hits a german suplex. He finds success with his spider exploder and follows with a moonsault. Vortekz escapes a leg submission and attempts the Blue Moon Dragon. However, Drake Younger appears at ringside to cause a distraction. Akuma hits a death valley driver off the middle rope for the win at 6:43. The crowd wasn’t reacting to their strike exchanges and they looked timid in the ring. Nothing happened between Vortekz and Younger after the match, making the interference from Younger rather meaningless. *

Match #5: A.R. Fox vs. Ryan McBride vs. Rich Swann vs. Aaron Arbo vs. Ty Hagen vs. Jonathan Gresham
The winner will receive a spot in Best of the Best. Adam Cole joins commentary for this match. Fox climbs the ropes and headscissors Swann to the canvas. Swann returns the favor with a hurricanrana. Gresham yakuza kicks Swann but gets caught by a dropkick from Hagen. Arbo and Hagen have an awkward exchange. Arbo enzuigiris McBride but walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. McBride follows with a frog splash. Gresham thwarts some double teaming from Irish Drive-By. Fox hits a springboard leg drop on Gresham but springboards into a backcracker from Arbo. Hagen half nelson suplexes Arbo. McBride lands a handspring moonsault to break up the pin attempt way too late. McBride hits his flipping death valley driver on Hagen and starts arguing with Swann. Ryan Slater and Joe Gacy come through the crowd and attack Irish Drive-By. The Runaways start attacking the rest of the competitors as well. Slater grabs a microphone and announces that the Runways are here to stay. The Osirian Portal, on the other hand, will never be back. Suddenly, a video starts playing of Amasis and Ophidian doing their hypnosis routine. The camera pans back to the ring where everyone starts dancing. The locker room comes out to dance as the Osirian Portal look on in the ring. Let’s just say that Swann can dance really well. The commentators and Drew Blood get in on the dancing as well. Mia Yim randomly lands a dive to the floor onto a crowd of people. Gresham follows out with a moonsault. Fox ends the diving festivities with a springboard 450. Larry Legend, the Osirian Portal, and the Runaways do a dance routine in the ring. The Osirian Portal finally stop the music. Gresham lands a 450 splash on Swann for the victory at 11:39. I understand that CZW gained a wealth of exposure from the video of the Osirian Portal hypnotizing the Runaways. In that instance, the dancing segment didn’t override the in-ring action. That wasn’t the case here. The action leading up to the dancing was pretty sloppy and the actual dancing came off as forced. Additionally, if the Osirian Portal were at the show, why weren’t they booked to wrestle? I’m sure that this match was fun for the live crowd but I think a few key aspects were missing that made the original video between the Osirian Portal and the Runaways successful. *½

Match #6: DJ Hyde vs. Greg Excellent
Excellent lays down for Hyde, who wants to fight. Hyde refuses to cover so Excellent starts walking to the back. Hyde grabs a microphone and starts insulting Excellent. They go back and forth on the microphone for awhile. I’m not comparing this to The Hills, but I see a few similarities. Hyde says that they are going to have an ultraviolent match next month. If Excellent decides not to fight again, he will be fired. You’ll either love this segment or hate it. If anything, I would say that it makes CZW look a bit unprofessional, which is a word that a lot of people already associate with the promotion. We’ll see what they can do next month.

Match #7: Adam Cole vs. Pinkie Sanchez
The winner will receive a spot in Best of the Best. Sanchez is making his return to the promotion after being gone for about two years. Cole attacks before the bell but gets taken down by a few armdrags. A distraction from Mia Yim allows Cole to attack from behind. Pinkie connects with a series of chops and starts targeting the right leg. He shows off some of his signature offense and the crowd gets behind him. Another distraction from Yim allows Cole to dropkick Pinkie off the apron. Cole counters a springboard attempt into a powerbomb and takes control. Pinkie comes back with a spider german suplex and a flying hip attack. He connects with a superkick but runs into a backcracker. Cole hits a back suplex but Pinkie is able to avoid the Panama Sunrise. Yim interjects herself yet again and Pinkie kisses her. He also kisses Cole and then takes him out with a dive to the floor. Back in, Sanchez hits a tornado DDT but Yim puts Cole’s foot on the bottom rope during the pin attempt. Yim climbs on the apron again, so Pinkie drops his tights and you can use your imagination for the rest. Yim low blows Pinkie and Cole hits the Corona Crash for the win at 16:15. The attempted comedy ended up overshadowing the actual wrestling, making this a completely forgettable match. Yim’s constant interference was annoying, especially because it influenced the finish. I wouldn’t mind seeing Pinkie in CZW more often. However, his antics became a bit tiring throughout the course of this sixteen-minute match. **

Match #8: CZW World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley © vs. Robert Anthony
Moxley clotheslines Anthony to the outside, where he takes some time to regroup. Anthony connects with a dropkick and goes to the apron. Moxley sweeps his legs and he falls to the floor. Anthony irish whips Moxley into the guardrail but gets elevated into the front row. Moxley puts on Anthony’s coat and dives over the guardrail. In the ring, Anthony connects with an enzuigiri and a nice lariat. Moxley responds with a powerbomb and transitions into an STF. Anthony is able to reach the bottom rope. They exchange strikes and Moxley dropkicks Anthony to the outside. Moxley whiffs on a dive and hits hard on the concrete floor. Anthony takes control in the ring until Moxley butterfly suplexes him off the top rope. Moxley hits Moxicity but falls victim to a backbreaker. Moxley suplexes Anthony to the floor, taking himself out in the process. Back in, Anthony hurricanranas Moxley off the top rope and lands a moonsault. He follows with a brainbuster and tells Moxley to stay down. Anthony connects with a basement clothesline but almost gets rolled up. Moxley hits an ace crusher. They battle up top and Anthony hits a death valley driver for a nearfall. Moxley tries a backslide to no avail and synchs in a crossface. Anthony rolls out of the hold and connects with a series of kicks. He follows with his variation of a vertebreaker for a two count. Anthony hits two more vertebreakers to become the new CZW World Heavyweight Champion at 20:16. While I’m glad that the match received an appropriate amount of time, I have to consider this contest a disappointment. The action was sluggish early on and failed to genuinely kick into a higher gear down the stretch. They even looked lost at times. There were a few nice touches, such as Anthony winning the title in the same way that Moxley won it off of B-Boy. However, the title change didn’t feel special and I actually preferred their outing from October of last year. **½

Match #9: CZW World Tag Team Titles: No Disqualification: Sabian and Joker © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
The Briscoes attack before the bell. Sabian catches Jay with a missile dropkick but gets flatlined into a chair. Mark sets up a table in the ring and the Briscoes biel Sabian onto it. Joker whips Jay into the guardrail while Mark sends Sabian through the table. Everyone starts brawling in the crowd, where a few chairs get involved. Mark props a table at ringside but Sabian suplexes him through it. Joker and Mark trade chops in the ring. The Briscoes hit a flying leg drop-side slam combination on Joker. Sabian saves his partner from more offense by the Briscoes. Mark hits an iconoclasm on Sabian through two chairs. Joker lays out Jay with a regalplex and low blows Mark. Philly’s Most Wanted connect with stereo chair-assisted dropkicks on Mark. Joker sets up a barbed wire table at ringside. Jay hits a spinebuster on Sabian while Mark superkicks a chair into Joker’s face. Joker recovers by overhead suplexing Mark through a table at ringside. Sabian and Jay trade control until Sabian hits an ace crusher. Jay gets Sabian in a splash mountain position and sends him through the barbed wire table at ringside. Jay covers Sabian in the ring and the Briscoes become the new CZW World Tag Team Champions at 15:08. Both teams worked hard to provide a worthwhile main event. Even Sabian, who I criticize a lot, took a great deal of abuse to make the title change mean something. With a hotter crowd, this match would have received a much higher rating. Their reactions to a majority of the weapon spots were tame and I didn’t get the feeling that I was watching the main event of an anniversary show. Still, the hard work of both teams should be commended. ***

The Briscoes celebrate backstage. Philly’s Most Wanted interrupt and challenge them to two singles matches next month.

The 411: Twelve is a fine offering from CZW that has a difficult time sticking out as one of the bigger shows of the year. The event starts and finishes with solid matches, but neither is worth going out of your way to watch. While the show receives some historical value from the two title changes, they didn’t feel as special as they should have. Hopefully Best of the Best brings back some much needed momentum to the promotion. As far as this show is concerned, there’s not enough quality wrestling to earn a recommendation.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]