Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion founded in 1999. In 1998, John Zandig created a wrestling school, later beginning to run professional wrestling shows in New Jersey and Delaware in February 1999 with five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with fellow trainer Jon Dahmer. Early CZW shows showcased a brand of hardcore wrestling dubbed as "ultraviolence". Ladders, tables, steel folding chairs, thumbtacks, barbed wire, weed whackers, light tubes, panes of glass, exploding barbed wire baseball bats, 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 2300 Arena with their Cage of Death 3 show in 2001, the year ECW folded.
John Corson, better known by the ring name John Zandig, is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is the founder and former owner of the promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).
The CZW Iron Man Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The championship was created and debuted on February 13, 1999, at CZW's Opening Night event. The title is currently inactive, having been deactivated on July 11, 2009. Prior to its retirement, Sami Callihan renamed the title the CZW New Horror Championship, which CZW recognized. Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline.
The CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling junior heavyweight championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The championship was created and debuted on February 19, 1999 at CZW's Opening Night event. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight limit of 220 lb (100 kg) may hold the championship. Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline.
Claude Marrow Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Ruckus. He performs in Combat Zone Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Maryland Championship Wrestling, Chikara and Jersey All Pro Wrestling. While often appearing at a number of other independent promotions, Ruckus is a member of the Blackout/BLKOUT stable with Eddie Kingston, Sabian, Joker, James Ellsworth, and Robbie Mireno.
Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests.
Matthew Prince is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Wifebeater. He is best known for his tenure in Combat Zone Wrestling from 1999 to 2004. He is known for his ring attire and a weed whacker that he brought to the ring with him, and sometimes used on his opponents.
Nicholas William Wilson, better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is a former 3 time GCW World Champion. He also wrestles for various other promotions on the independent circuit. He is the only man to win the "big three" of American deathmatch tournaments: the CZW Tournament of Death, the IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch, and the GCW Tournament of Survival.
Joseph Eubanks is an American retired professional wrestler best known by the ring name Lobo. He wrestled primarily in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he won every major championship and was the first inductee into the CZW Hall of Fame in 2004.
Christopher Wilson was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Justice Pain. Pain was best known for his time in Combat Zone Wrestling, as well as Xtreme Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Unplugged. He held numerous titles in his CZW stint and was the real life brother of CZW wrestler and one-time tag team partner Nick Gage.
The CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship was a professional hardcore wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The title was introduced on February 5, 2005 at CZW's Only the Strong event. It has since been retired after being unified with the CZW World Heavyweight Championship.
Drake Wuertz is an American professional wrestling referee and retired professional wrestler.
Grant Amos Berkland, better known by his ring name Danny Havoc, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), and was noted for mixing his technical style with hardcore wrestling.
The Tournament of Death is an annual professional wrestling tournament organized by Combat Zone Wrestling since 2002, during which a number of wrestlers compete in various deathmatches in what are mostly single-elimination tournaments similar to World Wrestling Entertainment's King of the Ring tournament. These tournaments include the typical hardcore weapons used in deathmatch wrestling such as barbed wire, nails, thumbtacks, fire, tables, ladders, and light tubes, and are known for all their large amounts of blood loss.
William C. Welch is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Messiah.
Darnell Kittrell is an American professional wrestler. He currently performs for the National Wrestling Alliance under the ring name BLK Jeez.
The Cage of Death is Combat Zone Wrestling's biggest show since 1999. It always features the Cage of Death match, a steel cage with various weapons littered in the cage. Electrified cage walls, cacti, tables, light tubes, glass, thumbtacks, baseball bats, barbed wire, fire and numerous other weapons and objects have been used in it. The first two were simple either pin and/or submit to win cage matches with weapons littered in and around the cage. The Cage of Death also has different formats and stipulations: singles, tag team, or gauntlet. Each Cage of Death features two or more wrestlers in the cage. For Cage of Death 5, 6, and 7, WarGames stipulations were used.
Seiji Yamakawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ryuji Yamakawa. He is best known for his time with Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), where he spent the majority of his career between 1995 and 2012 as a deathmatch wrestler. He was one of the top wrestlers and an over main eventer of the company, winning the Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship two times and the Tag Team Championship seven times.
Ante Up was a professional wrestling supercard event produced by Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW). The event took place on December 2, 2001, at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The event was themed around BJW's interpromotional rivalry with American promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).
