CZW Tournament of Death XV vs. Zandig's TOS (2016)

After I recently reviewed Zandig's Tournament of Survival, I figured I should see how the direct competition, CZW's Tournament of Death from the same year, measures up. With a similar run time of just under 3 hours and a field of 8 competitors, it should be a fair fight.

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – Fans Bring The Weapons - RSP vs. Tim Donst

Match 2 – Barbed Wire Madness - Conor Claxton vs. Masada

Match 3 – Lighttubes - Alex Colon vs. Danny Havoc

Match 4 – Home Run Derby – Jeff Cannonball vs. Matt Tremont

ROUND 2

Non-Tournament Matches

FINAL

Final Thoughts

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ROUND 1

Match 1 – Fans Bring The Weapons - RSP vs. Tim Donst

The show begins with babyface Rickey Shane Page's entrance and that's a pretty good start because it means 44OH-related annoyances are firmly in the distant future. RSP is facing Tim Donst in a FBTW match, a stipulation chosen by the latter, as commentary informs me. There's a story going on here, with RSP having to earn his spot on the CZW roster by winning TOD. He opens the match by throwing a pinata at Donst, then DDTing him onto a board of staplers. Very creative weaponry in this one, and I like how fast and furious the match kicks off. The pacing is here to stay, thankfully, and plenty of weapons – a deer head and crutches, among other things – get smashed in and around the ring.

Donst is the first to show color when the brawl sprawls out into the crowd. The extended mud (dust?) fight leads Page and Donst to a pickup truck with a bed full of lighttubes. Page goes into them from the top, but it only gets Donst a two count. RSP rolls him up, still on the bed of the truck, and gets a three count. Donst keeps attacking him, but RSP advances.

It's such a different vibe from TOD 20, but that's not what I'm comparing this to. How does this opener hold up against Zandig's TOS? Very, very well. I sure had a lot more fun with this match than I had with Masada vs. Bryant Woods, and the latter is someone I generally enjoy far more than anyone else involved in either match.

Injury close-ups. Man, those were still a thing in 2016? Some replays wouldn't have been misplaced here. Not the overload TOS had, but at least two or three of the big spots. Anyway, Tim Donst has a freak out about RSP advancing.

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Match 2 – Barbed Wire Madness - Conor Claxton vs. Masada

This match already wins against the TOS competitor in two categories even before the bell. First, the weaponry looks far more impressive than the measly 1001 thumbtacks TOS had. The barbed wire madness is contained in a huge, box-shaped wooden contraption, and for some reason there are also two chairs with what looks like cinder blocks skewered on lighttubes. Second, the eye candy ratio is through the roof, simply because Conor Claxton is present. TOS made a valiant effort with Viking vs. JWM, but nobody beats Claxton in this category.

After a brief stint in the barbed wire in the ring, the match goes outside where a barbed wire bat and chairs see early use. Like the previous match, the brawl spills out into the crowd and at times, the camera has trouble following them. They reach a truck - different one than in match 1 - which Claxton climbs for an IWA-DS-worthy U-Haul dive. It's Masada who channels the spirit of SHLAK and takes the match back to the ring where he returns to the previous strategy of using the barbed wire bat to draw more blood. He throws Claxton into the big barbed wire box, then gets caught with a surprise suplex into the remains. Claxton pours salt on and around the chair-cinder block contraption, then gives Masada a taste of the barbed wire bat. Until a superkick cuts off his offense, and Claxton gets first a bundle of skewers to the forehead, then a bulldog, but manages to kick out of the first pin.

Masada takes the action outside again – he's not SHLAK, after all - where a barbed wire board gets propped up between apron and guardrail. Claxton gets placed under it, then Masada dives onto and through the board. Back in the ring, Claxton kicks out at two though. Masada gives him a power bomb through the cinder block contraption, then Claxton counters the second attempt and backflips Masada into the broken blocks, follows up with a piledriver, and gets the three count.

No question here, this was lightyears better than the second first round match of TOS. Great pacing, great balance, great storytelling between previous 2 times TOD winner Masada and the hungry young gun, and some brutal spots.

Instead of injury close-ups, there are close-ups of Claxton and Masada glaring into the camera/distance. Claxton then plainly states that he won't pull punches if he has to face fellow Nation of Intoxication members later on. John Zandig, Ian Rotten: take notes. You don't have to unleash a 10 minutes long speech every time a camera is pointed in your general direction.

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Match 3 – Lighttubes - Alex Colon vs. Danny Havoc

Several lighttube contraptions, including a log cabin, and loose tubes. They start off by duelling with tubes, then trade punches, and Colon ends up tangled in a corner where Havoc draws first blood by smashing tubes over his head. A remark from commentary about Danny Havoc being the 'ultraviolent star of the current CZW era' forces a comparison to TOD 20. This is exactly what was missing; a face of the combat zone, CZW history between the competitors. Which exists here; Colon has been feuding with the Nation of Intoxication for a while.

Plenty of glass is broken, an outside dive from Colon briefly takes the action out of the ring. They quickly return between the ropes though, and Colon firmly gains the upper hand. A cover gets only a two count, and Colon adds chairs to the match to build a little pillow fort with them and a Tokyo tower. He ends up going through it himself though, and Havoc gets a two count, then another after putting Colon through a lighttube hashtag. Havoc tries to put Colon on the turnbuckle, but ends up hanging upside down in the corner himself, then eating a dropkick through a lighttube cross. Still hanging in the corner, Havoc also takes a double stomp through a lighttube bundle, but kicks out at two shortly after.

Colon drags the log cabin to the center of the ring, then climbs the top rope with another bundle of lighttubes. His aerial attack gets turned against him when Havoc smashes the tubes in mid-air, then puts Colon through the log cabin for another close two count. A Gory Bomb through more lighttubes still doesn't get Havoc the win. Setting a bundle of lighttubes on fire turns out badly for him as Colon counters, smashes another bundle with a kick, then gets the three count and with it his first big victory in their feud.

This match is up against the TOS match of the night; John Wayne Murdoch vs. Viking. And I'm sorry to say, it's another point for CZW/TOD. I have a fairly strong preference for Murdoch and Viking in general, and their TOS match was the clear standout performance. In terms of weapon use and damage, the matches are probably equal. However, Havoc and Colon had what Murdoch and Viking lacked: personal stakes and the additional intensity from their long-term feud. That's what tipped the scales for me overall.

Injury close-ups, Colon glaring into the distance. Again, a replay or two wouldn't have hurt here. Colon tells Havoc how it is, then Havoc tries to do the same, but the audio is suddenly awful and all I can really hear is the wind.

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Match 4 – Home Run Derby – Jeff Cannonball vs. Matt Tremont

Right away, commentary explains how this match came to be: a previous sneak attack from Cannonball against CZW champion Tremont led to DJ Hyde giving Cannonball his spot in the tournament. There are some subtle jabs against Zandig. Usually, I find the behind the scenes drama out of place, but usually I'm also not this retroactively annoyed by Zandig, so it's fine. Go ahead. Mock some more.

Cannonball and Tremont kick it off with thumbtack bats. The latter ends up with more tacks in his head, but the match is still young. Lighttubes and chairs also come into play, and maybe I'm petty, but those things shouldn't be in a Home Run Derby. It's about bats! Tremont seems to agree and gets a six-pack-bat from the crowd – the theme of creative weapons continues. The brawl also continues - on the outside where SHLAK gives them a brief guitar solo near the sound truck. Back in the ring, Tremont presents a kenzan bat before attacking Cannonball with it. Next, he sets up chairs to trade punches, then headbutts, and finally kenzans. One gets stuck deep in Cannoball's skull, but now he gets his hands on the six-pack bat and, after shattering it, a gusset plate bat. I forgive the use of chairs and lighttubes; there's an appropriate amount of bats in this Home Run Derby.

Cannonball hits Tremont with a Cannonball through lighttubes for a two count, then sets up a chair, but ends up eating a Death Valley Driver onto it himself. Both grab two water jugs for a boxing duel; Cannonball wins this one. He then puts Tremont into a trash can – HOME RUN DERBY, GUYS! Why is this here? - and climbs the top rope, but is cut off by Tremont with a bat. Tremont sets up the trashcan upright, places a lighttube contraption on it, then smashes the makeshift statue with Cannonball and scores the three count.

Compared to Havoc vs. Markus Crane, it's another point for CZW. I sense a theme here. Where Havoc and Crane looked like they were rehearsing a match in slow motion, the two big guys offered non-stop action and a high level of brutality with the kenzans and water jugs in particular. Once again, an on-going feud brought a match to another level, along with the two knowing each other very well, having natural chemistry, and sharing a penchant for getting sharp objects stuck in their heads.

Brief injury close-ups, for once justified because the kenzan in Cannonball's head is a sight to behold.

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Intermission

Both Zandig and DJ Hyde are trash in their own way, but in this direct comparison, the latter proves himself to be the better promoter. It's 70 minutes into the show. Not a peep from Hyde so far, he took himself out of the tournament, and the matches were a clean 4:0 in favor of CZW.

The first match established the overarching narrative of TOD 15; RSP having to earn his 'full-time contract with CZW', and Tim Donst representing the fact that not everyone wants Page around. I'm really quite pleased with commentary in general, but especially because I never feel out of the loop about those 8 years old storylines. I won't say the feuds do some heavy lifting. They don't. It's some light lifting that elevates already good quality matches just a little bit more. The third match, Colon vs. Havoc, may have tied with its TOS counterpart without the established rivalry, but the first and fourth match easily beat TOS on in-ring quality alone. The second match is the only one that didn't have an on-going feud attached, not between Claxton and Masada specifically at least. There was still a self-contained narrative though; the rookie who surprised the year before by making it to the finale vs. the veteran with two TOD victories under his belt. Claxton has neither the physique nor the demeanor of the outgunned yet defiant underdog I love to see against big beasts, but the match still had some of that dynamic in its storytelling.

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ROUND 2

Match 1 – Rites of Passage – Rickey Shane Page vs. Conor Claxton

Barefoot, hot coals, bed of nails, taipei, cinder blocks. This takes place a month before Claxton swears off barefoot matches for good; see my OPW Survial of the Sickest review. They start off with some chain wrestling, but quickly move to the bed of nails and a cinder block. After biting Page, Claxton puts him onto the bed of nails, gives him a double stomp on the back and hits him with everything in reach, before missing a leg drop and going onto the nails himself. The fight moves to the outside where the pit of hot coals is waiting. Page keeps attacking Claxton's ankle, until the tides turn and Claxton uses his advantage to attack a camera man with a lighttube. Okay?

Back with Page, they move to the pit of hot coals that has been smoking up that side of the audience for a while. Page ends up running through the coals, then immediately returns to the ring, but Claxton's cover only gets a two count. Claxton then brings the pit of coals into the ring and attacks Page with lighttubes from his toolbox. It ends with Page getting another taste of the coals. Claxton sets up an already dented chair and gives Page a shining wizard-like kick against it, but again it only gets him a two count. Page makes a comeback with a suplex and actually gets a three count. RSP advances to the finale, and thereby comes one step closer to a full-time contract with CZW.

How does this hold up compared to the first TOS semi-final, Zandig defeating Masada in under a minute? ... 5:0 for CZW.

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No injury close-ups, no replays, no statements, no intermission.

There wasn't really one after round 1 either, but I got used to recapping between rounds. According to Cagematch, there was a non-tournament match between Aaron Williams and Ron Mathis, but it's not in the IWTV cut. Pity. I like Williams.

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Match 2 – Sharp Shit – Matt Tremont vs. Alex Colon

Colon attacks Tremont during his entrance, so the fight is on before they even reach the ring. They are going in the wrong direction anyway; Tremont throws Colon over the guardrail and into the chairs. The brawl continues far from the ring, both Colon and Tremont are thrown against a parked car, Colon jumps from the top of the car as well. They walk around the ambulance, and the ring is only a distant background decoration. This must have sucked for the live audience, but thankfully the camera stays on the action. The crowd chants for them to use a fan's ladder which Colon does by throwing it at Tremont. Kicks and suplexes are traded, Colon gets suplexed onto the ladder.

Beer coolers and camping chairs see use before the two find their way to the ring after all. Tremont places one of the lighttube bundles in the middle. His attempt to Death Valley Drive Colon through the tubes fails; Colon counters with kicks, but finally goes into them with a Powerbomb. It only gets a two count, so Tremont rolls out a bundle of carpet strips, but can't snapmare Colon onto it. They go to the top rope and Colon gains the upper hand. He rolls Tremont up in the carpet strips, then double stomps him from the top rope and gets a two count out of it. He puts Tremont on the turnbuckle again, but gets surprised by a top rope piledriver into a lighttube bundle. The following pin gets a three count, and Matt Tremont advances.

The counterpart is Viking vs. Danny Havoc, one of the better matches from TOS. I'm not a huge fan of so much outside brawling, so in that regard I liked Viking vs. Havoc better. However, their finish was weird and sudden and involved a random weedwhacker out of nowhere whereas Tremont and Colon built up toward their finish and used the weapons they had from the start. It's a slightly closer call, but still a win for CZW.

Injury close-ups. Colon has a nasty one under his arm.

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Non-Tournament Matches

Scaffold Tag Team Match – Dale Patricks & G-Raver vs. Nation of Intoxication (Devon Moore & Lucky 13)

Formally, this starts out as a scaffold match between Patricks and Moore, but before they get started, G-Raver shows up and starts dragging around the barbed wire board already in the ring. Then it's a handicap match for some reason. Commentary questions what this is all about and rightfully wonders if Patricks and G-Raver have any history or even know each other. They team up against Moore anyway, then Lucky 13 runs to the ring and joins in and it's a tag team match now.

I'll keep this short, not because it's a non-tournament match, but because Dale Patricks is the only one involved I like to see. Devon Moore alone is bearable and capable, and I'd watch him vs. Patricks in a singles match. Lucky 13 is so aggressively uncharismaric that his aura syphons all interest I may have had out of the match. G-Raver is G-Raver which has always been his biggest problem, and unfortunately for everyone, there's no cure for that. Skipping ahead, I hear Moore's music, so I assume he and 13 won.

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Panes of Glass – Josh Crane vs. DJ Hyde

1 hour and 48 minutes into the show, DJ Hyde finally shows his face to have a match against Josh Crane. I can live with that.

Panes of glass, some loose light tubes, and there's also a taipei bat. Some fans appear to be braindead since they chant 'WE WANT ZANDIG'. Zandig is the absolute last thing on Earth I want anywhere, especially not in the vicinity of rings, cameras, and microphones. Speaking of microphones. DJ Hyde now has one, and the Zandig chants become louder. Oh, you sweet summer children. You know not what cringe you ask for.

Apparently, Josh Crane also has to prove himself to earn a roster spot. He starts off by throwing Hyde through a pane of glass, then carving his forehead with the shards. While Hyde is down, Crane places another pane between two chairs and above Hyde, then dives through it and gets a first two count. It goes back to forehead carving, then Crane calls for another pane of glass, and receives. He attacks Hyde with the taipei bat, then gets a lighttube. What a weird match. Crane is capable of so much more. He gets yet another pane of glass; this one has gusset plates glued all over it. While he arranges it in a corner, Hyde gets up, then dropkicks Crane through the gusset plate glass pane. Forehead caving, this time Hyde with a gusset plate on Crane. He proceeds to hammer a gusset plate into Crane's back with a chair. Hyde then pulls out a syringe, the worst offender in the Instagram Spot category. A threeway struggle between Hyde, Crane, and referee Dan Yost prevents the use of the syringe, and it's back to forehead carving. Professor Crane with the gusset plate in the library. I don't like this match. It really just isn't good, and after such a strong first round, that's as surprising as it is disappointing. The match drags on and on and sadly doesn't get any better. Somehow, there's still an intact pane of glass.

I have long checked out when BLKOUT show up on a digger, wearing 'Zandig 2016' shirts. Then the inevitable happens. Zandig appears behind Hyde and floors him with an exploding barbed wire bat, after which Crane finally gets a three count. This mess is far from over through, but since Zandig obtains a microphone, I skip and just summarize: DJ Hyde gets 'buried alive' with the digger, then Zandig rambles to the camera, and Josh Crane – with the most crimson crimson mask of the day – thanks Zandig for helping him get a spot in next year's TOD.

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No intermission, but here's a round recap anyway.

The first match proves my point that barefoot stipulations are not neccesarily the problem; Jimmy Lyon is. It wasn't a wrestling or even deathmatch masterclass, but it was just so much better than the barefoot match I reviewed last week. What a difference it makes if both sell, counter, and try to avoid the weapons, and the whole thing actually looks like a fight as a result! The second match reminded me of Necro Butcher's recent MO. Extended outside brawl, using random stuff from the crowd, but unlike him, Tremont and Colon also used the provided weapons in the ring at some point. It didn't blow me away – I simply don't connect with Colon's strike-heavy style – but it was a solid match nonetheless.

The non-tournament matches. Well. What can I say? I'd have preferred Patricks to go one on one with Moore as announced, or ideally, the Young Dragons vs. the Nation of Intoxication. That would have spared me from the actually quite terrible match between DJ Hyde and Josh Crane and from G-Raver. I skipped as soon as Zandig got the mic, but I remember the whole 'DJ Hyde buried alive' thing and can confidently say that it was unneccesary and annoying. I will admit that it was conceptually better than whatever the hell Zandig did at TOS. DJ Hyde, if nothing else, proved that his ego isn't as inflated as Zandig's by giving the fans something they wanted – him taking a major L – without inserting himself in the tournament. The whole thing just went on way too long and increased my Zandig exposure, which is not dissimilar to being forced to be near the Elephant's Foot in Chernobyl.

Anyway, long story short: Since TOD had two non-tournament matches and TOS only had one, I can't really compare, but that won't stop me from passing judgement anyway. Between all the people involved, there are only two I like to see: Patricks and Crane. Both were on the CZW card. I guess that's a 7:0 then, with only the finale to go.

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FINAL

Rickey Shane Page vs. Matt Tremont

RSP now wears a 'Zandig 2016' shirt which means I'm rooting harder than ever for Tremont who wears respectable clothes. It's no ropes barbed wire, 200 (?) lighttubes, wooden bars on fire on one side. They start off slow with chain wrestling. RSP goes into the lighttubes in the corner first. It's unclear if Tremont's title is on the line. Tremont goes into another corner, but the match remains a fairly slow-paced brawl. An early pin by Tremont gets a two count; more tubes are being smashed. RSP also gets a two count, then Tremont rolls out of the ring. For the first big spot, RSP dives outside through the lighttubes. They return to the ring for more tube-smashing, and RSP gets another close two count. This match has too many two counts, especially this early on.

Tremont goes into the 'wall of fire' that isn't all that on fire, and another two count follows. More tube-smashing. I expect another two count any moment now. Nope, both end up down, but there's no count. Matt Tremont gains the upper hand and calls for a scaffold; RSP is gushing from his forehead like a fountain. According to commentary, he can only become TOD champion and earn his roster spot, so apparently Tremont's title is not on the line. Several people try to stop the bleeding on his head while Tremont sets up a pillow fort consisting of the scaffold and a lighttube table which he sets on fire. Both climb the scaffold, then RSP Death Valley Drivers Tremont through his contraption and wins.

Instead of DJ Hyde, Tremont gives the speech of respect and hands RSP the trophy. Nice, no DJ Hyde or, worse yet, Zandig. How does the finale compare to TOS? I'm surprised to say this, but TOS finally claims a point. RSP vs. Tremont is praised for being extremely bloody, and if the question was 'Which main event was gorier?', CZW would have this in the bag. However, as I said above, I found there were too many two counts, too early in the match, and too many scenes of both just smashing tubes over each other. The finish was alright, but seemed rushed – likely due to RSP's excessive bleeding and barely being able to see. Taken out of context, it was certainly the more spectacular finish, but overall, TOS had the better match.

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FINAL THOUGHTS & VERDICT

7:1, but it would be a capital one, if there were capital numbers. TOD absolutely crushed TOS in the first round with 4 strong matches vs. 1 strong and 3 meh matches. In round 2, TOS barely put up a fight. TOD had two decent matches, but with a 1 minute squash from Zandig over Masada at TOS, it was simply a foregone conclusion. The non-tournament matches were neither here nor there, and I only gave the point to CZW for Patricks and Crane (their presence, not their actual matches). One of them would have been cancelled out by G-Raver, but they were both there and that beats a random Hornswoggle appearance any day. The main event, well, obviously, it's not entirely fair to compare a singles match to a four way, but both had 200 lighttubes, so it's not totally apples and oranges. TOD had no ropes barbed wire and the 'wall of fire' that barely came into play, but other than the scaffold for the finish, the stipulations compare pretty well. Ultimately, it comes down to the match, and the TOS match was more fun to watch because it had more variety than mostly tube-smashing.

CZW Tournament of Death XV is overall a much better show than Zandig's Tournament of Survival. Easily recommended, with the caveat that the DJ Hyde vs. Josh Crane match and the resulting wild Zandig appearance should be skipped.

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