Category Archives: CZW

(05/10) Drew Gulak (c) vs. Biff Busick

CZW
Flyers Skate Zone (Voorhees, New Jersey)
CZW World Heavyweight Championship 

These two have had a few matches versus one another that have been well received in some circles, including matches for 2013 National Pro Wrestling Day, Chikara, and EVOLVE.  They have all been okay but nothing that I would go out of my way to see.  Their match for the CZW World Championship is more of the same.

There are always guys in wrestling who get a fair amount of bookings and receive some press despite not having any real “plus” attributes.  I think Biff Busick – at least at this stage in his career – is one of those guys.  I cannot conjure up one thing that he does better than average or one attribute that really makes him standout.  Yet somehow he has a pretty decent profile on the indies.  There is nothing overly wrong about being that average guy that gets consistent work (BJ Whitmer is doing just fine) – that just is what Busick is right now.

As such this match is largely forgettable.  Gulak has a much more noticeable upside.  He is competent on the mat and it is not difficult to see his potential for growth if he had the opportunity to face higher caliber opponents on a regular basis.

Gulak was the heel CZW champion going into the match.  The title switch was played up like a major event with the locker room ending after Busick got the 3-count.  The finish didn’t seem to get a huge reaction from the live crowd, but it was a decent, somewhat shocked reaction.   I am not sure the title switch will have an impact one way or the other, however.  CZW the promotion is a lot like Biff Busick – there is nothing noticeable special about them, but they seem to just keep rolling along.   Gulak or Busick with the title – it doesn’t really matter.

Diagnostics
US Indie | Common | Title Switch

(03/08) Timothy Thatcher vs. Dalton Castle

CZW
Flyers Skate Zone (Voorhees, New Jersey)

I had the same feelings on this that I have from most Tim Thatcher matches – it was enjoyable. Enjoyable is a good thing, so I’ll leave it at that. I just still don’t see the super-worker that others see when watching him. Thatcher was solid on the mat here and solid in everything he did.

Dalton Castle was the far more “interesting” of the two in this match. A line chart of how he looked during this 10-minute match would be spiking and bottoming out all over the place. He pulled off several very nice looking moves including a lucha arm drag and a great high-arcing suplex, while at other times he struggled to look competent in basic situations. I’ll take that over bringing nothing at all to the table. You got these big swings in execution from 2001-era WCW cruiserweights – a period and division I have a fondness for – so I don’t mind it. It just always is amusing to see a wrestler look so good one moment in a match only to look so hopeless the next.

Dalton Castle also wins points in my books because he is a radio DJ. He should play that up more because being a pro wrestling disc jockey is really scrapping the bottom of the professional barrel.

Diagnostics
US Indy | Common | Quality & Hype