CZW: Jon Moxley - Parental Advisory Explicit Violence 5 Disc Set Review

After months of having the majority of this review done, I'm here with the full thing. This is a five disc set that Highspots released that covers Jon Moxley's entire CZW career along with a few random matches from IWA Mid-South and NWA Force-1. It's time to take a look back at the early years of a man now known as Dean Ambrose.

1) Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong - IWA Mid South: 2008 Revolution Strong Style Tournament - 12/5/08
Being a fan of both guys, I was looking forward to this one right off the bat. This was a first round tournament match and didn't go very long although there were some good exchanges here. All in all, it's not anything special, but it was cool seeing these two lock up considering it will likely not happen again any time soon.

Match rating - **

2) Jon Moxley vs. Jon Dahmer - CZW: Total Havoc - 3/14/09
Much like the match with Roddy, this was pretty short. The reason this one was kept short was probably because it was the opener. Mox & Roddy made good use of the time they had however and the result was a decent opening match. Moxley wins with a DDT on a steel chair. Another rather short yet enjoyable match. Hope things pick up soon.

Match rating - **

3) The Switchblade Conspiracy (Jon Moxley & Sami Callihan) vs. Brain Damage & Drake Younger - CZW: An Eye For An Eye - 4/11/09
I said in the previous match review that I hope things would pick up soon. Well, my wish was granted as we got one hell of a match here. The first two matches on the set were pretty short and weren't brutal at all so when chairs, tables, & a fork came into play, I knew this one would be the first hardcore bout on the DVD. There were number of brutal moments here such as Moxley digging a fork into Damage's head and lip. If I remember correctly, all four men got busted open at some point in the match. The most jaw dropping spot saw Moxley throw Damage off the top turnbuckle to the floor through a table. I say through a table, but Damage hit mainly the floor although the table did break despite him only catching half of it. Good hardcore brawl.

Match rating - ***1/4

4) Jon Moxley vs. Brain Damage - CZW: Blood Pressure Rising - 5/9/09

CZW: Down With The Sickness 2013 Review

CZW Down With The Sickness 2013 Review

Beaver Boys vs. Caleb Konley & Shane Hollister - ***
Biff Busick & Sozio vs. O14K - **3/4
Juicy Product vs. 4 Loco - **1/2
Danny Havoc vs. Rory Mondo - Ultraviolent Rules Match - **1/2
Pepper Parks & Cherry Bomb vs. Greg Excellent & Candice LeRae - **1/4
BLK Out vs. Osirian Portal - CZW World Tag Team Title Match - **3/4
Drew Gulak vs. Chris Dickinson - CZW World Title Match - ***1/2
AR Fox vs. Andrew Everett vs. Shane Strickland vs. Alex Colon - Ladder Match for the CZW Wired Title - ****

I bought this show solely to see the Ladder Match for the Wired Title so I wasn't disappointed considering that match delivered on the level that I expected it to. The undercard isn't anything to rave about however the Gulak/Dickinson World Title Match is really good and I enjoyed the opening bout featuring the Beaver Boys facing the unlikely duo of Konley & Hollister. The rest of the card isn't anything special, but I think the two main events make this event worthy of a recommendation if they interest you.

CZW: Best of the Best 13 Review

After seeing glimpses of CZW on various compilations, I decided to invest in a few full individual shows. This is CZW's Annual tournament in which wrestling is the emphasis as opposed to the ultraviolent stuff. There are 12 participants in the tournament including the likes of Drake Younger, AR Fox, Chuck Taylor, Caleb Konley, and Biff Busick. I've seen some matches from past Best of the Best and was blown away so I was really pumped to see this whole show. This being Drake Younger's final CZW show made this a must have for me as well.

They introduce the participants to start the event. Drake Younger is the most popular out of the bunch as you may expect. "Drake" chants rang through the arena until he made his exit along with the other entrants.

DJ Hyde came to the ring to loud boos, but before he could really say anything, Kevin Steen jumps the railing and nails him with a package piledriver. I remember seeing news of this happening on Twitter and was pretty pumped. Wish I wouldn't have seen it now so I could have felt the element of surprise. None the less, it was still a great moment. Steen says he's here to see Drake Younger win the whole tournament. I am too, Steen!

1) Chuck Taylor vs. Lucky 13 vs. Buxx Belmar
The only man I was familiar with prior to this match was Chuck Taylor so all the other guys had a chance to impress here and they did just that. This was your basic multi-man opening match in which the action never slowed down. There were several nice spots and even some comedy which is a given when Chuck is involved. Super fun start to the show. Really enjoyed this one.

Match rating - ***

2) Azrieal vs. Biff Busick vs. Caleb Konley
There were a wide variety of styles encompassed in this match which made for some pretty unique exchanges. Busick used his uppercuts to take out the two smaller men in this match while Azrieal tried to use his speed & agility. A minor story going on here was that of Azrieal's former partner Alex Colon not being included in this year's tournament. Colon came out and recieved a dive from Azrieal for his troubles however he would recover and end up costing him the match. Busick picked up the win here with a vicious suplex. Another fairly fun match, although not as good as the opening bout.

Match rating - **3/4

Highspots Presents: Claudio Castagnoli - A Very European Collection 6 Disc Set Review

Highspots presents: Claudio Castagnoli - A Very European Collection 6 Disc Set

After being blown away by the in-ring abilities of Cesaro in WWE, I began looking back on his work before he signed to WWE. The first pre-WWE part of Claudio's career that I checked out was in PWG where I saw him have fantastic matches with the likes of PAC (Adrian Neville), El Generico (Sami Zayn), Doug Williams, & Chris Hero. From that point on, I was hooked on Cesaro's wrestling. This led me to purchasing this 6 disc set released by Highspots.com which highlights Claudio's time in IWA Mid-South and Combat Zone Wrestling. It features a total of 47 matches against the likes of CM Punk, Alex Shelley, Chris Hero, Jimmy Jacobs, El Generico, Sami Callihan, Drake Younger, Sara Del Rey, Michael Elgin & many more. I can't wait to get into so let's get started.

1) Swiss Money Holding (Claudio Castagnoli & Ares) vs. Chris Hero & Mark Wolf - IWA Mid South: We Are Family - 7/4/03
This DVD gets off to a great start as Claudio enters the ring wearing a badass suit while Chris Hero comes out to "Rape Me" by Nirvana. Unfortunately that was the only real highlight of this match. Claudio & Ares did some solid heel tag team work here by dominating the majority of the match and using some nice double team moves. Hero got worked over most of the bout which built towards him finally getting the hot tag to Wolf. Wolf comes in cleaning house only to recieve an inadvertant elbow to the jaw from Hero which ends up costing them the match. All in all, the match was pretty basic aside from a unique double team manuever by Claudio & Ares where Ares wheelbarrowed Claudio up and drove him shoulder first into Hero in the corner. Everything else was basically just body slams, arm drags, and rest holds. The match was your typical heel heat format early on with the babyface comeback at the end never really happening. Not a "bad" match per say, but it was pretty dull. Could have been better if they had gotten more time because the finish felt like it came out of nowhere although it was a logical way to end the bout.

Match rating - **1/4

2) Swiss Money Holding (Claudio Castagnoli & Ares) vs. Steve Stone & Beef Wellington III - IWA Mid South - 7/12/03