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Combat Zone Wrestling
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Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the promotion as "ultraviolence". Early CZW matches featured items such as ladders, tables, steel folding chairs, thumbtacks, barbed wire-covered baseball bats, weed whackers, light tubes, and panes of glass. The promotion filled a niche for hardcore wrestling fans that had been left open by the folding of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2001.
In 2009, CZW's founder John Zandig sold the promotion to CZW wrestler D. J. Hyde. Although hardcore wrestling remained present in CZW shows, under Hyde the frequency of hardcore matches would gradually decrease. By the start of the 2010s, CZW had diversified its image by mixing its roster of homegrown wrestlers with international talent and began to showcase additional styles of wrestling. This diversity of styles was emphasized by CZW's two annual tournaments, Tournament of Death, which showcased the "ultraviolent" style, and Best of the Best, which featured technical and high flying wrestlers. Throughout the 2010s, CZW was part of the Triangle of Unity (also known as the Triangle of Ultraviolence) alliance with Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling and German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling. In 2016, CZW was covered by Vice Media in the documentary Bloodlust: Tournament of Death.
After a long hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, CZW returned to promoting events in 2021. After its return, CZW stopped holding hardcore matches, apart from their annual Tournament of Death. CZW events have since been held in Blackwood, New Jersey and Havre de Grace, Maryland, along with stops in other east coast venues. In 2024, CZW again placed an emphasis on hardcore wrestling, with the promotion bringing back its Cage of Death event and seeing the returns of its alumni like Nick Gage and Rickey Shane Page.
Combat Zone Wrestling's Pro Wrestling Academy was founded in New Jersey by John Zandig in 1998. After training the classes alone, Zandig enlisted the help of Jon Dahmer, who helped train with Zandig for the next three classes. The first student trained was Lobo, who worked with Zandig before their wrestling careers. Nick Gage and Justice Pain were the next two students to be trained by Zandig. The fourth student and fifth student trained was TCK and Ric Blade. The academy relocated to The 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and briefly merged with the Chikara Wrestle Factory. Shortly after the second class, the academy separated from the Chikara Wrestle Factory and moved its operation back to New Jersey, then back to Philadelphia, and now to Blackwood, New Jersey. Previously, Drew Gulak was the head trainer of the academy, with members of the CZW locker room joining them every session.
Early 2000 saw CZW establish a connection with the death match wrestling orientated company Big Japan Pro Wrestling, credited to have popularized the death match wrestling style that CZW continued to emphasize in the United States. Both promotions exchanged talent throughout 2000 and 2001 and engaged in a "CZW vs BJW" storyline. The "CZW Warriors" in BJW included Wifebeater, Nick Gage, Trent Acid, Justice Pain, Johnny Kashmere, Nate Hatred, Ruckus, Nick Berk, as well as John Zandig as the leader.
In 2001 in Japan, the Wifebeater and Ryuji Yamakawa faced off in a match which ended Yamakawa's career after the Wifebeater chokensteined him off the ring apron through a table set up on the outside. In a 'shoot interview' Wifebeater stated communication difficulties between the two were a major factor which led to the incident. Wifebeater pleaded that they should not execute the manoeuvre, though the move went ahead and saw Yamakawa's head slam against the concrete. Both wrestlers have stated that it was half of each other's fault when Yamakawa did not take the move as it should be performed; back first, though some even blame the Japanese tables, which are smaller, more sturdy and harder to break, the table in this incident did not break and simply slipped from underneath of Yamakawa thus only connecting with his legs, causing his head to take the impact on the concrete.
The reason for the collapse of the inter-promotional deal is uncertain. After a controversial exploding panes of glass match, between Zandig and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in Japan, 2001, Zandig left BJW with the BJW death match title belt. Many wrestlers of both promotions at the time were confused about the collapse between the two.
In February 2000, the company would relocate from their home arena in Mantua Township, New Jersey, to Champs Soccer Arena, in Sewell, New Jersey. They would remain there for two years until the state of New Jersey banned the use of ultraviolent weapons (such as glass, barbed wire, and fire) in wrestling. To counteract the ban, CZW branched out from New Jersey to Delaware, where they would host their more ultraviolent shows throughout the rest of the company's existence.
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Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the promotion as "ultraviolence". Early CZW matches featured items such as ladders, tables, steel folding chairs, thumbtacks, barbed wire-covered baseball bats, weed whackers, light tubes, and panes of glass. The promotion filled a niche for hardcore wrestling fans that had been left open by the folding of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2001.
In 2009, CZW's founder John Zandig sold the promotion to CZW wrestler D. J. Hyde. Although hardcore wrestling remained present in CZW shows, under Hyde the frequency of hardcore matches would gradually decrease. By the start of the 2010s, CZW had diversified its image by mixing its roster of homegrown wrestlers with international talent and began to showcase additional styles of wrestling. This diversity of styles was emphasized by CZW's two annual tournaments, Tournament of Death, which showcased the "ultraviolent" style, and Best of the Best, which featured technical and high flying wrestlers. Throughout the 2010s, CZW was part of the Triangle of Unity (also known as the Triangle of Ultraviolence) alliance with Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling and German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling. In 2016, CZW was covered by Vice Media in the documentary Bloodlust: Tournament of Death.
After a long hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, CZW returned to promoting events in 2021. After its return, CZW stopped holding hardcore matches, apart from their annual Tournament of Death. CZW events have since been held in Blackwood, New Jersey and Havre de Grace, Maryland, along with stops in other east coast venues. In 2024, CZW again placed an emphasis on hardcore wrestling, with the promotion bringing back its Cage of Death event and seeing the returns of its alumni like Nick Gage and Rickey Shane Page.
Combat Zone Wrestling's Pro Wrestling Academy was founded in New Jersey by John Zandig in 1998. After training the classes alone, Zandig enlisted the help of Jon Dahmer, who helped train with Zandig for the next three classes. The first student trained was Lobo, who worked with Zandig before their wrestling careers. Nick Gage and Justice Pain were the next two students to be trained by Zandig. The fourth student and fifth student trained was TCK and Ric Blade. The academy relocated to The 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and briefly merged with the Chikara Wrestle Factory. Shortly after the second class, the academy separated from the Chikara Wrestle Factory and moved its operation back to New Jersey, then back to Philadelphia, and now to Blackwood, New Jersey. Previously, Drew Gulak was the head trainer of the academy, with members of the CZW locker room joining them every session.
Early 2000 saw CZW establish a connection with the death match wrestling orientated company Big Japan Pro Wrestling, credited to have popularized the death match wrestling style that CZW continued to emphasize in the United States. Both promotions exchanged talent throughout 2000 and 2001 and engaged in a "CZW vs BJW" storyline. The "CZW Warriors" in BJW included Wifebeater, Nick Gage, Trent Acid, Justice Pain, Johnny Kashmere, Nate Hatred, Ruckus, Nick Berk, as well as John Zandig as the leader.
In 2001 in Japan, the Wifebeater and Ryuji Yamakawa faced off in a match which ended Yamakawa's career after the Wifebeater chokensteined him off the ring apron through a table set up on the outside. In a 'shoot interview' Wifebeater stated communication difficulties between the two were a major factor which led to the incident. Wifebeater pleaded that they should not execute the manoeuvre, though the move went ahead and saw Yamakawa's head slam against the concrete. Both wrestlers have stated that it was half of each other's fault when Yamakawa did not take the move as it should be performed; back first, though some even blame the Japanese tables, which are smaller, more sturdy and harder to break, the table in this incident did not break and simply slipped from underneath of Yamakawa thus only connecting with his legs, causing his head to take the impact on the concrete.
The reason for the collapse of the inter-promotional deal is uncertain. After a controversial exploding panes of glass match, between Zandig and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in Japan, 2001, Zandig left BJW with the BJW death match title belt. Many wrestlers of both promotions at the time were confused about the collapse between the two.
In February 2000, the company would relocate from their home arena in Mantua Township, New Jersey, to Champs Soccer Arena, in Sewell, New Jersey. They would remain there for two years until the state of New Jersey banned the use of ultraviolent weapons (such as glass, barbed wire, and fire) in wrestling. To counteract the ban, CZW branched out from New Jersey to Delaware, where they would host their more ultraviolent shows throughout the rest of the company's existence.