private industry professional wrestling deathmatch wrestling lucha libre shoot puroresu founded 1999 headquarters philadelphia pennsylvania u.s. key people john zandig 1999 2009 2016 present dj hyde 2009 2016 products official dvd smart mark video website czwrestling.com combat zone wrestling czw is an american independent wrestling promotion . in 1999 john zandig and five of his students ric blade t.c.k lobo nick gage and justice pain along with trainer jon dahmer began to run professional wrestling shows in new jersey and delaware showcasing a brand of hardcore wrestling dubbed as ultraviolence . ladders tables steel folding chairs thumbtacks barbed wire weed whackers light tubes and fire are all common elements of ultraviolent wrestling in czw . the company filled a niche for hardcore wrestling fans that had been left open by the folding of extreme championship wrestling ecw . czw established themselves as the leading american hardcore wrestling promotion at the ecw arena with their cage of death 3 show in 2001 the year ecw folded . their homegrown roster helped establish what became a top independent promotion in later years . although they are most commonly known for their ultraviolent style their shows feature almost every other style of wrestling as well . just about any card will feature high flying comedy strong style chain wrestling and technical wrestling . their annual tournament of death show emphasizes the ultraviolent style of czw while their annual best of the best emphasizes on the technical and aerial style . czw was broadcast on the fight network to viewers in the uk and ireland as part of the bloodbath program until the fight network closed in 2008 . czw now runs shows on a monthly basis at the flyers skate zone in voorhees new jersey ; they will occasionally run shows outside new jersey . in 2015 czw signed a deal for pay per views on in demand . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 pro wrestling academy 1.2 japan connection 1.3 champs arena ppv and fake you tv 1.4 viking hall debut and indy wars 1.5 italy and ecw tribute 1.6 iwa ms invasion 1.7 zandig hanging incident 1.8 later years 1.9 d.j. hyde ownership 1.10 return to new jersey 2 maven bentley association 2.1 championships 3 popular media 3.1 the wrestler 3.2 g4 underground 3.3 time warp 4 annual events 4.1 cage of death 4.2 tournament of death 4.3 best of the best 4.4 deja vu 4.5 chri ca h memorial show 4.6 tangled web 5 roster 6 championships 6.1 current champions 6.2 defunct championships 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit pro wrestling academy edit 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 pa 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 . 2 currently drew gulak is the head trainer of the academy with members of the czw locker room joining them every session . japan connection edit 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 dubbed as ultraviolence . both promotions traded talent throughout 2000 and 2001 the company vs company feud was primarily based in japan . 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 . 3 notable incidents included zandig turning face in japan and jun kasai joining zandig as part of his big dealz stable in czw . kasai competed in a match which was later dubbed un f n believable in reference to the shows name . during the match kasai was crucifix bombed over the top rope into lightubes barbed wire and tables causing kasai s elbow bone to pop out of his skin he continued the match after having his elbow taped up . 4 during 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 was a major factor which led to the incident . wifebeater pleaded that they should not execute the maneuver though the move went on 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 . 5 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 . 5 champs arena ppv and fake you tv edit in february 2000 the company would relocate from their home arena in mantua 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 . a pay per view taping for the june 25 2000 show was put in place . the event was scheduled to be main evented by terry funk and atsushi onita in an explosion match . the deal fell through when onita canceled . although the show took place and was main evented by nick gage and the wifebeater in the first ever 200 lightubes match in the united states the show was later called they said it couldn t be done . 6 on june 8 2001 the company secured a tv taping for the show take 1 . during the main event as part of a dual 20 ft balcony dive ric blade suffered a broken leg after landing on justice pain who laid upon two stacked tables nick gage was to attempt the second dive with lobo a few meters away unfortunately nick gage slipped and fell from atop the balcony to the ground ; fortunately gage was able to continue unlike blade who had to be stretchered out . the spot was cut from tv . the tv tapings aired on wgtw 48 as a part of czw s very own show fake you tv which was available in many northeastern states in the us . after many business changes by the wgtw 48 production team over the years including a time slot change from saturdays at 9.00 pm to a weeknight at midnight slot to compete with other promotions this idea was a failure and fake you tv continued to strive . czw continued to endure every business decision that wgtw 48 formulated and executed until the channel decided not to air the june 18 2004 episode due to its content through negative effects on the fans and after much consideration czw decided to withdraw the show indefinitely . 7 viking hall debut and indy wars edit due to their upcoming annual cage of death 3 cod show at the end of 2001 the company needed a bigger venue and made their debut in the ecw arena formerly viking hall and currently the arena . the venue was the first sellout in the building since the era of ecw and hundreds were turned away from the biggest show in the promotions history . 8 several promotions competed for the northeast fan base that had been left behind by ecw in what became known as the indy wars . czw xpw and 3pw were the key promotions which revolved around viking hall . xpw were given the lease to the arena in very late 2002 after rob black offered around 60 000 . on december 12 2002 as part of a triple header of wrestling in philadelphia ring of honor ran shows in conjunction with czw and 3pw in what was to be the latter two promotions last events in the arena . during czw s event zandig publicly stated that they had offered 32 000 to stay in the arena but also stating that with the 10 000 a month xpw would need to pay for the building the lease would not last long . accompanied by incidents relating to extreme associates xpw later folded in 2003 . czw made their return to the arena on march 8 2003 . italy and ecw tribute edit shortly after their return to the arena on may 10 2003 the company promoted a show entitled then & now a decade of defiance . the event was a tribute to the last ten years of wrestling in the new alhambra arena or at the time ; viking hall . on october 25 2003 the promotion made their debut in italy with an attendance record of 2 000 people filled the palasport arena in pistoia 9 later on march 27 2004 the company returned for another event which featured sabu in a tables match this time only drawing 500 people in parma . 10 iwa ms invasion edit on june 14 2003 mid south based promotion independent wrestling association mid south iwa ms invaded czw as part of a kayfabe angle which led to an inter promotional feud throughout most of 2003 . during the night of the initial invasion the crowd was so riled up that they began hurling chairs into the ring at ian rotten corporal robinson and j.c. bailey of iwa ms. the delaware wrestling commissioner who was in the ring at the time was struck in the side of the head . the feud was based in both promotions and a major part led into czw s tournament of death 2 five iwa ms wrestlers and three czw wrestlers entered into the 8 man single elimination tournament . the semi final saw two czw wrestlers john zandig and nick mondo compete in a 2 out of 3 lightube log cabin match a match which is said to have ended nick mondo s career however in mondo s shoot interview he stated that t.o.d 2 was going to be his last appearance anyway . towards the end of the match zandig mother f n bombed nick mondo off a 40 ft rooftop as both zandig and mondo crashed into tables and a lightube log cabin contraption . he continued the tournament with 3 broken bones in his wrist and won the tournament after defeating ian rotten in a 200 lightubes final . zandig hanging incident edit during john zandig s feud with heel stable the hi 5 zandig was suspended in the middle of the ring by meat hooks from