CZW: Proving Grounds (5-12-12)
Philadelphia, PA (Attendance: 300-ish)
Report by F4WOnline.com
I came late, but there were apparently a dark match not on the iPPV. There were lots of kids at this show and since it was at a Youth Organization that was no surprise. What surprised me is I saw no parents leaving with their kids during the barbed wire match.
1) Drake Younger over BLK Jeez to retain the CZW Junior Heavyweight Title
Very good match. Jeez did an awesome dive clearing the ring post during the match. Younger won with a Vertibreaker. Jeez had to be helped from the ring, but appeared to be OK.
2) Lucky tHURTeen over Ruckus w/ Robbie Mireno
Fun spot-fest. Lucky wins with spinning head scissors into a Canadian Destroyer.
3) Alexander James over Shane Strickland and Latin Dragon.
OK match. Very sloppy at times and you could see how green they were, but all three have talent.
4) Greg Excellent over Matt Tremont
Very boring match, Excellent won when DJ Hyde attacked both with chair and Excellent fell on Tremont. Tremont took a VERY hard unprotected chairshot from Hyde. All the CZW shows I’ve been too in the year I don’t think I’ve seen any, and this was brutal. It didn’t get much of a reaction either, so a shot that hard served no purpose.
5) Jake Crist over Dave Crist via DQ
Good match, but not as good as the matches they had in December and April. After the match, Dave powerbombed Jake on a ladder to probably set a Ladder match up down the line.
6) Azrieal & Bandido over Runaways (Joe Gacy/Ryan Slater) to keep the CZW Tag Titles
Good tag match, A&B win when Alex Colon interferes. Post-Match, Colon, Chrissy Rivera, A&B form a stable called Four Lokos. After that, Gacy turns on Slater, hopefully this leads to a push for Gacy. Overbooking at its finest.
7) MASADA over Devon Moore to retain the CZW Heavyweight Title.
MASADA got a huge reaction coming out and issued an open challenge answered by Moore. Average match, mostly hurt because I think fans were expecting a surprise opponent, no intermission by this point, and waiting for the Barbed Wire main event. MASADA wins with a top rope DVD.
8) Danny Havoc over Drew Gulak in a No Rope Barbed Wire Match.
Excellent Match. They built and built until Gulak finally went into the wire, and the pop when he finally did was INSANE. By no means the most violent match in CZW, but still bloody and the storytelling was excellent. Havoc won with a Michinoku Driver variation into barbed wire.
I don’t know how this show came across on iPPV, but live it was very good. A little odd to see so many kids (largely girls) at CZW, but running these buildings and having wrestling posters all around it will probably draw that type of crowd.
