Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW)

[5.0] "CZW has taken a step back in recent years. Once upon a time, they were one of the largest and most infamous indie promotions out there. Yet as time went on, GCW would ultimately go on to claim the spot that CZW seemed predestined for. They're still known for developing some decent wrestlers, but they aren't the name they used to be either and should be considered more of a medium-sized, AA-Level independent promotion than being one of the larger indies out there."

[7.0] "A company that will always be viewed in a very strange light due to their deathmatch history, CZW has never been specifically about hack & slash blood and guts, they have always had a very good variety of talented wrestlers on the roster, many of whom have gone on to be stars in WWE, AEW, and TNA."

[6.0] "Mixed feelings on this one. A lot of it is bad but this being a promotion that was in the same town as me for a good chunk of time I have very fond memories seeing stars who became stars later in their careers live and in person."

[10.0] "a bit of an overcorrection, I think the modern day CZW is actually a very solid indie fed with great wrestlers and compelling stories. It is still creating stars, such as Zayda Steel, Action Andretti and Griffin McCoy. Just because they stepped away from the ultraviolence, doesn't mean they are dead."

[3.0] "Used to love this company as a kid, chaos everywhere, violence, glass, all the crazy stuff. But sadly CZW has aged like milk, nobody gives a damn anymore. Deathmatch fans are either watching GCW or ICW, damn, even the Juggalo shows, I don't know when was the last time I heard something relevant here"

"Former CZW title holders - Kevin Owens, MJF, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Adam Cole, Swerve Strickland, Tajiri, Chris Hero, Drew Gulak, Charlie Haas, The Briscoe Brothers, Eddie Kingston, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Chuck Taylor, AR Fox, Santana & Ortiz, the Blade, Wes Lee, Joe Gacy, Sami Callihan... If you're some weird kid on an anti-deathmatch brigade, please bear in mind that a large portion of today's current televised product features CZW alumni, and that the entire legcy of the company cannot be boiled down to the fact that you think light tubes are yucky."

[5.0] "I'm not a huge death match guy but I do appreciate the talent that has revolved through the doors of CZW. I have not watched a ton of their stuff but the one thing that stands out to me is that the very uncharismatic and narcistic owner of the promotion, DJ Hyde. He has to be the center of any and all storylines that mean anything. I've also seen him wrestle in other promotions and beat his chest about how wonderful he is as the owner of CZW. His arrogance is very detrimental to the promotion in my opinion. As much as I think that the death match style of early CZW is garbage wrestling, I do think that the promotion was better under the ownership of Zandig than it has been DJ Hyde. In recent years I can only really be pleased with the promotion for the fact that they gave Rickey Shane Page a wider audience to ply his trade for."

[10.0] "I'm always down to watching some czw, even the modern stuff that isn't as good still occasionally putting out awesome content. But in the modern way of wrestling CZW just can't compete in the modern era of wrestling. But no matter what this will be forever my first indy wrestling company."

[10.0] "My favourite promotion of all time. CZW saved me in the worst years of my life, I can all say good things about this company. Hope that in 2023, CZW come back to (real) life."

[3.0] "Not a huge death match fan so this promotion was not usually my thing. Had some talented wrestlers go through that door. Production value leaves something to be desired. Recently the shows have lacked the talent and name value it used to."

[1.0] "I can't bear to watch even 1 match of this promotion. CZW did not make wrestling look real or legit fighting, but it makes wrestling look worse with a bunch of idiots trying to kill or hurt each other. 1 point for the effort and life of the wrestlers that they wrestle on the show."

[4.0] "Back in its hayday, namely before GCW came around, CZW was the premiere place for deathmatch fans like myself. Unfortunately, CZW seems to have lost its luster in recent years, with most of its iconic roster members flocking to other promotions, and with the overall abandonment of the deathmatch style that made CZW popular in the first place. It's an iconic name, but it's hard to enjoy CZW's product in 2022..."

[5.0] "God how awesome was CZW back in the day? A perfect blend of the best deathmatch wrestlers on the planet, an amazing, influential Jr. division, and over time, becoming a breeding ground for some of the best wrestlers going today. Then suddenly, it stopped. Theres a variety of reasons why it fell off so hard, guys kept leaving, they kept losing their home venues, and primarily DJ Hyde is a massive wanker. It really sucks man. I loved this company back in the day. *sigh*"

[6.0] "you'd be suprised how many great talent walked through their curtains. deathmatch-alicious. your opinion on this company will for sure form around the fact of if you like deathmatches or not."

[2.0] "Probably time to sell the belts, logo, and tape library to see what cash you can get. There's a place for it in the history of wrestling, surely, but at this point it seems to be a training school and little else."

"CZW was the best indy promotion of early 2000's. It still hold ups today but I mainly watch it for the nostalgia. Lot of the great talent have already passed the torch for the next generation of wrestlers in CZW."

[3.0] "CZW represents some of the worst of hardcore and deathmatch wrestling. They occasionally get things right, but they fail to understand what makes a deathmatch or hardcore match so good. More of a backyard promotion than ECW or FMW, unfortunately."

[6.0] "Historically, I think CZW is one of the most influential promotions that led to our current era of wrestling but unfortunately it will never get the recognition it deserves in the history books. The CZW vs RoH feud was ground breaking and I truly believe we will never see something like it again where fans legitimately hate each other and the heat so palpable, it's unfortunate CZW didn't catapult of it like it should have due to its management squabbles at the time. It's impressive for any wrestling company to last 20 years let alone an indy like CZW and solidifys their place as a staple of American Independent wrestling. They've provided a place to work for a long list of wrestlers who went on to achieve varying levels of success elsewhere. But they've also given work to talentless backyarders and garbage "wrestlers". IMO, death matches are fairly stupid even when guys like Onita would do them in front of tens of thousands of fans. They're just insanely retarded when they're done in front of 20 or 30 drunk neckbeards in a field in Delaware. CZW is what it is. I don't hate it but I don't have a great amount of respect for it either."

[8.0] "This promotion is a true successor of good old ECW. For many years it was the most violent and most spectacular promotion in the world. I think their best work was from years 2000s and early 2010s. While Zandig was in charge, this company was breaking all the barriers. They went international doing shows in Japan. They did stuff you could only see live or on tapes. No TV would show all these burning tables, gallons of blood and insane 30-40ft falls from the top of the buildings. The barrier they've been breaking the most was the barrier of common sense. Many times guys were going way too far and it caused lots of career ending injuries. Anyways, I respect their work for all these years and even though, they are not the same company they used to be, I still love it."

[5.0] "What a tainted brand CZW is. Their downfall is unprecedented, unnecessary, and easily preventable. When they moved to Flyers it started a slow decline that has led to them barely being able to draw 100 fans to a show (and when they do, the crowd is dead quiet). You can blame GCW taking over the territory to a small extent, but there is so much incredible talent right now on the scene that, if DJ Hyde gave a fuck, he could have easily rebuilt the promotion. Instead, nah, you get DJ the cuck as the big angle of 2020. Gimme a break. I hope they don't come back from COVID. Let H20 take their spot."

[4.0] "CZW's best days are sadly behind it. This company used to be ECW if ECW had done 4 lines of cocaine and dressed up like a bee but alas those days of the early 2000s are gone. It's probably for the best as sadly, most of the original CZW roster are either dead or handicapped due to their time in deathmatch wrestling. Guys like Zandig and Nick Gage would use to take suplexes onto concrete floors and fiery baseball bats used to be smashed onto people's backs, this is now a rarety. CZW barely has itself a roster anymore and relies heavily now on bringing in other indy guys and the emphasis on the hardcore element of the promotion is less imperative. The only guy I can think of whos remained somewhat loyal to CZW is Matt Tremont, but even he is doing his better work in other promotions at the moment. CZW used to be on top of its game, now it's not even the top dog in the deathmatch business, guys like Nick Gage have found more success in promotions like Beyond and GCW who continue to outshow CZW. CZW also has an abhorrent production, their commentators sound like they have been taken hostage and they can barely sell out the high school gyms they book. CZW used to have ECW-like passionate crowds but now they just seem bored and wonder why7 they wasted their money. COD and TOD are simply shadows of their former selves and as the wrestling landscape becomes ever more promising and bigger fish make their way into the sea, CZW is becoming less and less relevant and, unless they have a serious revamp, I think the promotion is on borrowed time."

[7.0] "If you're not into deathmatch or ultra violent matches then this company is not for you. There maybe more to them than just blood and guts but it's not something that a casual WWE fan is going to enjoy. TOD or COD are always must watch shows for the sheer brutality, there is no other company that comes close when it comes to REAL hardcore violence. EDIT: Down from 8 to 7. Definitely toned down over the years and more of a focus on regular wrestling, over the years they've had some great grapplers and high fliers but the draw is still the ultra violent matches, which usually comprise of the same faces."

[2.0] "A boring, poorly produced, badly booked shell of it's former self that can't please deathmatch fans, non deathmatch fans or the talent. The only reason I can think for the promotion's survival over the last few years is TOD, COD and nostalgia subscriptions for their VOD."

[5.0] "Not gonna lie, at one point I was a huge Combat Zone mark. It was during the Zandig era in fact, but as his time came to a close my interest was waning. Then when DJ Hyde bough the company it became something special again, but has since grown mediocre at best. Due to the nature of the booking and the carney nature of the promoter the Combat Zone has burnt so many bridges with talent and other promoters that it is no more than a stepping stone to more solid companies. Their back catalogue stands the test of time though, so there is that."

[7.0] "This show will put hair on your chest. Its gruesome, bloody, and definetley violent. If you can handle this and watching the horrific results of things occasionally being botched then you will be able to handle this promotion. The lack of free youtube content and hard to find tangible content makes this rating lower than it could be. But recent youtube activity suggests the company may be trying a new approach with its virtual audience."

[5.0] "Do really people still watch deathmatch? It has no sense and is stupid. Most of CZW wrestlers don't event look like professionals."

[4.0] "I have never been a fan of CZW and the only time I was interested was in 2006 because of its rivalry with ROH. I just don't care about deathmatches or senseless brutality all the time, it's not my cup of tea; although some good wrestlers have been trained there."

[10.0] "My favourite promotion ever until 2010-11. Memories that last forever even tho DJ Hyde ownership destroyed the CZW original spirit. Like nothing else since 1999!"

[10.0] "May not be everyone's favorite in 2019, but the amount of talent that went through CZW is remarkable. Even now they are still able to train or spotlight people who are ready to move on to bigger things. One of the oldest and most prominent US indies, CZW has secured its place in history. I'm always happy to see them live and see some carnage."

[6.0] "CZW is a company that got me hooked back into pro wrestling after years of on-and-off viewing. While some of their events can be considered weak when compared to one another, the company has not failed to bust out some great technical wrestling alongside its death match antics. I have watched countless CZW events old and new, and the evolution of this company is astonishing, especially when you compare their first events with the latest. I know many consider them to be a purely death match oriented company, but they have produced far more than just death matches. They have produced some of the best matches I've seen. They definitely earned this ranking from me, if only because they were the first company to pull me back into constant viewing where others have failed. One small point worth noting, is that some CZW today seem to be average, but I've come to realize that its the relatively small, and sometimes zombie-like crowds they generate."

[9.0] "One of the best indiependent company in US who have deathmatch wrestling and maybe my favorite wrestling company. They also have other divisions that are no deathmatch wrestling similar to BJW. If you like hardcore wrestling this company is something for you. BTW they have also a good tag team division."

[5.0] "CZW is both better than its reputation would have you believe and worse than its fans will tell you. It's a mix of good actual wrestling and trashy super hardcore deathmatch stuff."

[3.0] "Desperate to be the next ECW, CZW quickly turned into a freakshow promotion, built around violent nonsense and reckless stupidity. What little actual wrestling CZW provided was often overshadowed by the latest stupid stunt dreamed up by John Zandig in an attempt to garner attention. With Zandig gone, CZW has tried to move away from being seen as a garbage promotion, but they still hang their hat on bleeding and brawling."

[10.0] "CZW has hooked me for the past year for not only their crazy death matches, but also their stories, characters, and just wrestling. Yes, shows like TOD and COD, as well as minor shows headlined by a blowoff matches will have blood and the gore that this companies have been known for. But with the likes of MJF, Joe Gacy, bunch of Ohio guys, and others, CZW is quietly becoming one of the must-watch promotions in not only the independent wrestling, but the world. Companies like CZW and Impact still carrying the old-time stigmas and perception is a crucial reason the independent wrestling is struggling to take the next step. Incredible shows abound."

[10.0] "I'm giving them this rating given the leaps and bounds they've come in recent years especially the last year and a half, they provide high quality wrestling along with deatmatch stuff, doesn't always hit but when it does it's a great alternative and a sight to behold."

[10.0] "I love CZW, there one of the top companies in the US and they have earned that title by showing off a balance of that ROH style with there Deathmatch style making it something special to watch"

[7.0] "While CZW originally achieved notoriety due to its hardcore and barbaric style it has recently featured solid in ring talent putting fast paced and hard hitting contests instead. It is still however willing to bust out the lightubes for the deathmatch veterans like Danny Havoc or Matt Tremont. I'm not a fan of the deathmatch style which takes this a few points down but I can definitely appreciate great talent when I see it."

[10.0] "The best adult oriented company in the US. CZW has longer history and traditions than most indy companies. It has been in business since 1999 when they started doing shows. Since then they have sold out the Viking Hall in Philly. (Currently residing in NJ) They were doing shows in Europe, Mexico and Japan before some of the current indy companies even existed. During their golden era from 2000 to the end of 2004 they produced some of the biggest and most memorable independent wrestling shows in the US like Cage of Death 3 - 6. CZW has always been doing their own thing offering entertaining shows with a mix of little bit of everything from great wrestling, brawling, high flying and comedy to deathmatches. Company has been through some changes when Zandig sold the company to the current owner DJ Hyde. Since then CZW has started doing their own TV-show again, started doing shows all around the US occasionally doing shows in Europe and Canada, brought in a lot of new talent and big names, started doing iPPVS and started doing cooperation and double header events with a lot of other companies. The future is bright for the company and the quality of matches wrestling vice has been real solid. They have created, molded & produced some top talent like the former WWE champion Dean Amrose/Jon Moxley, Sami Callihan, Drew Gulak, Rich Swann(WWE CW champion), Adam Cole, Sonjay Dutt, Biff Busick/Oney Lorcan, David Starr and Trent Acid and many top hardcore/DM guys. They have helped to push guys like Chris Hero, Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli, Luke Harper/Brodie Lee, The Briscoe Brothers and the current WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens/Steen and Sami Zayn/El Generico made their debut and got over in the US in CZW with Steen being a former CZW Iron Man Champion. And btw. This has to be said; comments like CZW being "wannabe ECW" (as stated by someone below) is a very unjustified comment and does not reflect the company at all."

[4.0] "I don't think I'll ever get behind the kind of deathmatch wrestling CZW is most associated with - I was an ECW fan and don't mind the occasional hardcore match, and can appreciate a bloody end to an intense feud, but to me there's a line between that and gratuitous violence for its own sake - but I can appreciate that that is not the only style CZW features. They've also had some fantastic talent pass through their doors over the years, and have served as either a starting point for many future stars, or a stop along the way for talents to establish their names. Due to the style that serves as their main draw, it's not my cup of tea, but I do think CZW has its place in the wrestling world."

[9.0] "Although CZW aren't as great as they used to be, their shows are still enjoyable and they are a great company that displays a hybrid of styles. And has built quite a few big/popular wrestlers, Adam Cole, Jon Moxley, Lio Rush, Mike Bailey, Biff Busick, I could go on and on. Most people that hate on CZW have probably only ever seen the "best of" videos on Youtube, so what they see in those videos is what they assume every match to be like. And when people say ultra violent wrestling isn't wrestling, just because they don't enjoy it, is like saying that Lucha Libre isn't wrestling, because you don't enjoy it."

[10.0] "CZW has been my favorite promotion since the original ECW died out. I first heard about them in W. O. W. Magazine, hearing about their Pyramid of Hell event. I bought Pyramid of Hell and Cage of Death 1, then later Bloodbath 2000 and They Said It Couldn't Be Done. I enjoyed all of these events. The atmosphere of CZW is awesome. The crowd is into all their events so much. CZW has great hardcore and deathmatch wrestling, as is shown at the Tournament of Death events with stars like Matt Tremont, Masada, Nick Gage, and Danny Havoc. But they also have great high-flying and technical wrestling with stars like "Speedball" Mike Bailey, "BLK Geez" Sabian, A. R. Fox, Jonathan Gresham, and others, as is shown on events like Best of the Best. They used to feature more hardcore, but have evened out with hardcore, technical, and high-flying through the years. People think of CZW as just a hardcore fed, but they have had some of the best technical wrestlers ever on their shows. They have brought in a lot of wrestlers from other countries and introduced them to American audiences as well. To me, CZW is one of the best proving grounds for the future stars of wrestling. I have driven 10 hours to see CZW shows and never been disappointed."

[8.0] "There's really two eras of CZW. The first era was the John Zandig era, which had a lot of talented guys come through the company, and delivered on the hardcore front. The booking though, was pretty crappy, as angles had a tendency to not have a definite end, or somebody was going to get swerved (Zandig must have been a big Russo fan). Then there's the DJ Hyde era, where the company became more focused in terms of booking, and the company has come around. Better angles, more focus on the athleticism of wrestling, while still having hardcore on at least one match per show. Overall, they've become a pretty good promotion."

[10.0] "Great company, very underrated. A wide variety of wrestlers and match types, not just the deathmatches the company was founded upon."

[9.0] "I give CZW 9 points. I think itŽs one of the greatest wrestling promotion ever. ItŽs often missunderstood to be a "hardcore only" promotion. In reality you can find every style of wrestling there. But of corse, not everything and everybody there is perfect."

[10.0] "Since the end of 2011, CZW has become one of the top products in the US. Very entertaining in both pure and death match wrestling, as well as interesting characters, stories, decent production and many innovative spots."

[10.0] "Since 2012, CZW has improved too fast. Wrestlers like Callihan, Samuray del Sol, the great Moxley, Dickinson, Busick, AR Fox, Gulak, Juicy Product, MASADA. And I'm sure in a couple of months I will be at the top of independent companies."

[9.0] "Combat Zone Wrestling gets a bad name for it's ultraviolent aspect. However, people need to realize that that's not all CZW is as a company. CZW has a full mixture of strong-style, high flying, technical and hardcore wrestling. It's not JUST ultraviolence as so many people make it out to be."

[10.0] "Absolutely my favorite promotion. From the early days till now CZW is still great!"

[10.0] "I love Ultra-Violent wrestling so I love CZW, but I can also understand why people don't like it. Since most of the UV-wrestlers botch a large ammount of moves in "normal" matches smartmarks don't like it... But if you like Hardcore and Death Wrestling CZW is the place to be! CZW: Like nothing else..."

[0.0] "I tried to watch it, but man... The wrestlers haven't gimmick, I only see no-sense hardcore, every show has a lot of rookie botches... I think that CZW is a dangerous promotion, in the bad way."