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The House of Horrors match.
I’ve seen a lot when it comes to professional wrestling.
There have been wrestlers sent through flaming tables. There’s been bloody battles. There have been hardcore matches.
Back in the day, I saw several of the original ECW shows, back when tumbling down a set of bleachers, fighting outside the building and using unconventional weapons wasn’t so normal.
Matt Tremont and Joe Gacy prepare to go at it in the House of Horrors.
There’s been “Stone Cold” Steve Austin spraying Vince McMahon with a beer truck (in Albany), or John Cena as a bloody mess, losing the WWE title when Edge cashed in Money in the Bank (also in Albany).
The Royal Rumble. Titles changing hands. Crazy and intense crowds and small crowds sitting on their hands.
Yep, I feel like I’ve seen it all. Until this past Saturday.
Visiting family in South Jersey, I opted to see if there were any wrestling cards in decently close proximity. I saw a handful, but the one that stuck out to me was Combat Zone Wrestling, also known as CZW. The federation is well-known among independent wrestling fans as having some of the best action out there, with a mix of great wrestling and some extremely hardcore and crazy matches.
As a fan of all aspects of wrestling, and having seeing several CZW wrestlers elsewhere, I thought it would be good to see them in their glory. Off I went.
Let me first say this — the bulk of the card was like many indy shows I’ve been to in that there were some amazing matches (AR Fox is simply incredible) as well as a few ho-hum ones. I could tell on some things because the crowd was either crazy into it or a little subdued. And, like some indy cards which use Internet Pay-Per-View or online shows, there were some angles/storylines that lost me, but I could tell if they were good or bad thanks, in part, to the crowd’s reaction.
Joe Gacy uses a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire on Matt Tremont.
Still, overall, I loved the card leading into the main event.
Then it took over.
See, I’ve never been to a card where they had to take a second intermission before the main event — just to set the ring up!
The whole time there, I wondered what a House of Hardcore match was. Now I know.
Long 2X4s were hooked on to each post. Wrapped around, high above, was barbed wire. There were chairs and bats wrapped in barbed wire. There was a stapler, a bucket of tacks (which, shockingly, wasn’t used). A table with barbed wire, a ring barrier, two pieces of plywood draped in — you guessed it — barbed wire.
Oh, I forgot to mention the board of nails.
Tremont early on in the match.
There were some basics, too, like a trash can and regular metal chair. But most things (we’d find out later there was a power drill, of course with barbed wire), were downright brutal.
The match featured “Chainsaw” Joe Gacy (who I have seen in an Upstate New York federation) facing Matt Tremont.
Though I try not to swear much on this blog, there’s truly only one thing to say about this match:
Holy shit.
Tremont was busted open in the first few minutes of the match after going headfirst into a barbed wire-covered chair, then toppling out of the ring and through one of the plywood barbed wire “tables.”
That was but just a preview of what was to come.
The end of the match.
These two used pretty much everything in the ring, sans the tacks. Barbed wire was everywhere. Gacy actually used the stapler in two spots, including on the head, on Tremont.
I thought, maybe — just maybe, the stapler was empty. But one of the photos I took allowed me to close in on Tremont’s head and, yes, there was a staple.
Ouch!
I truly do wonder how somebody puts themselves through stuff like this. The crowd was into it and it was, by far, one of the craziest things I’ve ever watched in my life. So maybe adrenaline plays a part?
The ending came when Tremont wrapped Gacy’s face in barbed wire and pulled back, rendering Gacy unconscious and forcing the referee to, somewhat mercifully, call the match.
In the end, I was fully entertained. And as a “blood and guts” wrestling fan, I was highly impressed and gave mad props to both guys. But it also makes me wonder if it’s all worth it. I think only those two can be the ones to tell you yes or no on that one.
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Love wrestling! I still watch it. These matches remind me of the old school attitude days of ECW.
Phil recently posted..White House Sub Shop in Atlantic City! That’s a meaty feast!
Yeah, definitely old-school ECW. I’ve heard when CZW still ran in Philly, they did a lot of light tubes. I would have liked to see those in this match!
I think I prefer boxing. But I guess these guys know what they’re getting into, and I imagine they’re paid well enough to do it, so it’s up to them, really.
They know what they’re getting into but believe me they are not getting paid much. They’re lucky if they get more than 100$ for these type of matches. They don’t live a very comfortable lifestyle financially and obviously not physically. You really have to love the sport to get involved in it.
TomiMag recently posted..attackfox:
hey wats gong on
While I agree with most of this, I’m going to hope — because CZW is a bigger indy — that these two got a little more than $100. Some people make a decent living doing this if you are a mainstream indy guy. I don’t know what Gacy and Tremont got, but if it only is like $100, then they really love it! 😀
They’d have to really, REALLY love it. I can assume there’s some draw, otherwise put themselves through it!
Considerer recently posted..7 Quick Takes #49 x FTSF
I think most of them do really love it. There definitely has to be a draw to parts of it. The crowd went nuts, so I think that has to really help.
Pro wrestling is such a great entertainment value. They definitely know what they are getting into when they do it. And on the independent circuit, the pay isn’t that great, unfortunately!
Holy shit is right! So interesting and…gross! Yuck! People are seriously sadistic… But tell me, is this wrestling part of the same kind of fake wrestling I’ve glimpsed on TV?
Gunmetal Geisha recently posted..The Politics of Thinness
Yes, people are sadistic. But, let me say this — fake is a harsh word with pro wrestlers. Because, truthfully, it’s not “fake.” People get seriously hurt, have died etc. And that blood is real! It’s entertainment and they are athletes. Are things planned? For sure. But you still have to know what you are doing because one botched move could seriously hurt somebody or worse!
But yes, same sort of thing as on TV, but this is a smaller version.
I’d prefer to think of it as fake blood! I also would like to imagine that the barbed wire wasn’t really metal, but some sort of pliable material made to look like regular barbed wire… But yes, I do understand the athleticism involved.
Gunmetal Geisha recently posted..The Politics of Thinness
I can understand trying to think that way. I tried, too, but a zoom lens on a camera helps with that… 🙂
So the saw that Brain Damage used on Jon Moxley was real? I have read on other sources that incident was faked. Can’t find that particular interview though.
I honestly have no idea… but I would think it was real. From what I saw in CZW, they don’t fake the objects! But I have no idea about the match you are referencing. I have a couple CZW DVDs and they are pretty crazy.
Thanks. Yeah czw is definitely unconventional. The match I was referring to was a dining death match. Complete with plates, silverware, and the now notorious saw. It is a shame Brain Damage commited suicide. To me the match was more brawl than wrestling
Gacy is a solid worker, and he did some work in the death match scene at CZW’s tournament of death. He also did the head-first slide as one of the tag team opponents during the “hypnosis” video which went viral when his team faced the Osirian Portal. Hope he gets better and gets more exposure, but his promos need a lot of work.
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I know the majority of weapons used in C.Z.W. matches are real but I wonder if they have been modified to make them safer. For example I wonder if the baseball bats wrapped with barbed wire or with saw blades affixed are plastic and if the lightubes have been made less toxic (the mercury vapor bieng very bad for the lungs). In one match the late Brain Damage (Marvin Lambert) used a plastic looking bat with a saw blade (plastic looking) to cut Jon Moxley’s head. I do know the skill saw was a real saw but the blade had been replaced with soft rubber and just moved some blood around. Thanks in advance.