Game Changer Wrestling: Zandig’s Tournament of Survival 1
My biggest passion in life has always been horror and such things, from a very early age. My mind is locked into the late ‘60s and the whole ‘70s mainly for flicks, books and for music of many genres. No big news there I suppose, it’s obvious.
My other big passion is Deathmatch Wrestling (aside from Lucha which is simply like nothing else). Like any pure red blooded male of the species, I love me a bit of the ol’ wrestling. “You do know it’s not real?” so many have said with a sneer. Almost the temptation to say, “Your Mum wasn’t real when I fucked her, so call me Daddy next time! Oh, what? Your Mum died years ago? Sorry to hear that, guess it explains why she was more exciting when I fucked her again last week” but instead I explain how hard it is to time and work together in such a sport rather than all out beat each other (ala UFC, etcetera). One slip, and it does happen, many fall thus ruin their careers. It’s easily done. More-so when you’re being hit by hard solid weapons and sharp pieces of junk for a living
This review is dedicated to the memory of the late and great, Danny Havoc who recently passed away. He was a talent amongst the crowded game of Deathmatch and highly respected and loved behind the scenes as I saw on so many social media posts. There’s many wrestlers in the game that can only get hit by shit and bleed, but Danny was one of those who could actually perform and bring the crowd’s emotions into play as well. Danny was a true grappler and pioneer with an excellent character. He was the real deal. Veteran of CZW, IWA, GCW, H20 and so many more.
So welcome to the surreal world of the Deathmatch, and a different kind of review for a change. It isn’t art, and it isn’t clever. It’s men and women earning a few dollars here and there to truly bleed all over the place. It’s a sadistic rodeo of car crash like possibilities, which only exists worldwide on the underground and it has a loyal following and workers who are very loyal to one another. It’s the era of the territories again (except aside from some truly exceptional performers such as Ric Flair, Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, Roddy Piper, and Dustin Rhodes, blood was limited), grapplers move area to area, work matches, then head off again to make some more money and friendships.
Game Changer Wrestling: Zandig’s Tournament of Survival 1 isn’t for everyone. Many call it “garbage” and “trash.” It is, and it should be proud. This is a hardcore family living in the backwoods away from the shining big city lights. Some name stars have passed through this way, however. Jon Moxley (aka Dean Ambrose when he was in the WWE), Sonjay Dutt, Luke Harper, Sami Callihan and many more who did the indies and became bigger.
Then there’s the ones who never leave that world. Names such as Necro Butcher, Wifebeater, Masada, Sick Nick Mondo and the infamous, Nick Gage. These guys aren’t skilled technical wrestlers, they make money through being hurt. Though the outcomes and the big bumps are planned, a lot isn’t and there’s rarely any ‘blade’ jobs in this because the items used do the trick instead.
I’m going to write a huge article on this form of entertainment soon, but let it be known, you had ECW which popularised Deathmatch briefly, and then at the lowest levels where I dwell, you have places like Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), H20, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW – not to be confused with the old school, Georgia Championship Wrestling, for obvious reasons) and a few more. I’m not naming them all, it’s pointless (by the way, fuck IWA, your product is stale and have always lacked that warmth and bite!)
I’ve picked this, the first of John Zandig’s Tournaments of Survival as a review point for many reasons. One, for the history and respect Zandig’s name brings (look him up, or wait for my huge article). Two, the amount of legit injuries which occurred. Three, it’s perhaps one of the best witnessed in recent years. With match names such as Glass & Bed of Nails, No Rope Barbed Wire, and the finale, simply called 666, bring it on!
Eight wrestlers compete one on one, then there’s a semi-final, then the final. Easy. Starting with an introduction by Zandig as he stands in the ring surrounded by barbed wire (fake barbed wire? Well, later on you can sort of see it isn’t when it sticks in people’s flesh) and he talks to the fairly large crowd about things, especially about the ‘bad boy’ Joey Janela, who’s been running his mouth on social media, hence they have a match later on. As each competitor goes out, he chats with them to prep them. Some conversations are funny (as in when Danny Havoc comments on Zandig’s pink top) to completely awkward (what sounds like a totally unplanned chat with Masada). Each bloke goes out screaming at the crowd or muscling up topless, scars on their backs and arms.
Match one has Masada versus newcomer, Bryant Woods using barbed wire ropes and such. Poor Bryant, he’s still a newbie, and he’s against a guy who’s done this as a full time ‘day at the office’ job for well over ten years. He also fights pure wrestling styles at times. Bryant can certainly take a lot of pain and bumps, but he blows a few spots, which has the crowd doing the old “You fucked up!” chant, including the toe-curling attempt to cut barbed wire with pliers. They brawl in the crowd, there’s a few nice stunts with a chair and a barbed wire board, the audience chants “You sick fuck!” and we hear that many times. As a commentator states, he’s going to count just how many times that is heard through the evening.
Next up has the painted faced, Joker taking on Scott Summers, who comes out wearing a mask and acting very similar to WWE‘s Bray Wyatt “The Fiend”. No biggie, this Scott dude maybe ripped-off the gimmick. Aha, this tournament is 2016 though. These two are beasts, totally ripping into each-other and using any of the large collection of thumb-tack decorated items around the ring, head butts and some mediocre high spots. It’s a solid fight, which unfortunately includes a serious ankle injury for Scott Summers and he had to back out of the Semi Finals. Next enters a man who calls himself, Viking. He wants to win the trophy so he can take it back to his country where he can sell it for crack, apparently. Zandig tells his opponent, JW Murdoch, to stop him. He doesn’t, but it’s a hell of a scrap. I’ve seen in the past at CZW where wrestlers have had to leave or quit due to arteries being hit, I’ve seen needles pierced through cheeks, all kinds of pain. But this match has an injury which can be related to just about anyone. Viking is dropped onto a TV, no twist or slight scrape, his back hits the edge full force, which leaves him in his semi-finals match struggling, hand to the lower part of his spine for the most time. Ouch, Jesus! This match also spills outside and on top of a van which just so happened to have a set of ladders leaned against it.
The before mentioned veteran long time Deathmatch personality, Danny Havoc takes on Markus Crane in a light tubes fight. My only problem with light tubes is they, yes they do hurt (I’ve been hit by one in my back) but as for a match devoted to them, they’re limited. Aside from Havoc punching one which swings at him, and a ridiculously high flying move into a pile of them, the match is identical to so many seen in the past. As the semi-finals arrive, they are flawed, through no fault of any competitors. Viking’s second match has to be shorter due to his severely injured back, and of course Scott Summer’s ankle means he cannot compete, so Zandig steps in to totally annihilate Masada in moments.
After a brief and unwelcome appearance by ex-WWE star, Hornswoggle (the heel/bad guy swerve is OK, I liked his “I was up there, and now I’m in this dump! I’ve got more money in my wallet than any of you!” persona but it goes nowhere). Zandig totally destroys Joey Janela and his girlfriend, Penelope Ford. Joey spends a fair bit of time trying to untangle his long hair from the barbed wire. Penelope, the ‘bad girl’, is a serious trooper. Zandig doesn’t hit her, obviously (though she gets a rather hard spanking which leaves her cheeks red raw) but she is thrown, with Joey, through a sheet of glass to lay motionless covered in blood. There’s two kinds of women in Deathmatch, the valets and managers who wear skimpy gear and get bloodied once in a while. Then there are the hardcore group like Christina Von Eerie or Lufisto, who step up to the men and women to battle. Anyhow, after this, Zandig takes Joey outside onto the roof of the building for 2016’s biggest fall into a set of tables. All good, but why did the referee set the tables on fire only to have them go out before the fall? And the way they walk out in the crowd patiently is quite embarrassing.
The 666 finale is unplanned and unrehearsed; it shows. Zandig, who replaced Summers, cannot compete so a few of the losers get a chance to redeem themselves against Danny Havoc. It’s an unfortunate messy affair that doesn’t know what to do with itself. They plough on, trying to give the fans something memorable, but there’s no spark or chemistry and Danny Havoc does his best but using his long term skills he kind of dominates without meaning to.
If you’ve never seen anything like Game Changer Wrestling: Zandig’s Tournament of Survival 1, please remove that belief that you might have heard about that this is nothing more than the rubbish, Backyard Wrestling. What? A couple of punk idiot kids trying to make themselves briefly famous. I lump that genuine trash in a bin bag with Bumfights! These promotions I have mentioned haven’t sprung up overnight. Some have been decades in existence. A few like Game Changer Wrestling don’t just function and concentrate on Deathmatch, they are legit companies who put on proper technical and high flying events also.
What exists in a huge vast amount of these promotions is a close comradeship. A lot of the fighters shake hands or hug after the matches, sometimes breaking character. They suffer and bleed for their job together, no egos involved. As Masada stated at the end of the Nick Gage Invitational some months after this, it’s a “brotherhood!”
As for Game Changer Wrestling, their biggest star turned out to be Nick Gage, long-time Deathmatch warrior (since the late ‘90s) and had just come out of serving time for a bank robbery. He arrived in GCW and soon had the title belt. He held the strap for nearly two years. He’s still their big name with or without the title it seems.
Game Changer Wrestling: Zandig’s Tournament of Survival 1 is a decent place to begin your journey if you’re new, or if you’re an old pro viewer and you haven’t checked GCW. It’s worth stopping off. This isn’t the best, in fact Tournament of Survival 2 the following year was far beyond it, but it’s decent enough to watch. Mind you, if you like wrestling and find the classic ECW VHS shows or the gory Rhodes brother versus brother match at AEW’s Double or Nothing 2019 are too much for you, then please back away now whilst it’s still safe.
Produced by: Brett Lauderdale, Danny Demanto |Music by: Various |Cast: John Zandig, Joker, Danny Havoc, Hornswoggle, Masada, Viking, Joey Janela, Penelope Ford, Bryant Woods, Scott Summers, Markus Crane, JW Murdoch | Year: 2016 |Country: USA | Language: English |Color: Color Z| Runtime: 2hr 58min
Studio: Game Changer Wrestling
