WARNING STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome back to 31 Days of Deathmatches Volume 2. The second edition of the annual deathmatch advent calendar put together by yours truly. Each day we will open another bloody door on the calendar and explore another deathmatch until we hit Halloween. We’re going to explore a ton of different companies, wrestlers, and stipulations as the days go on with a few surprises here and there. So, strap in as we prepare for another round of blood, broken glass, and barbed-wire on our road of deathmatches.

This one has been a long time coming. When you think of US deathmatch stars from any generation, you think of Zandig. He was a deathmatch icon in both the US and Japan, being pivotal in the CZW invasion of BJW. His actions, slogans, and matches helped make deathmatch wrestling more prominent in pop culture. This touch was still felt in 2016 when he stuck his name on GCW’s first Tournament of Survival, a tournament that had Masada, Danny Havoc, Markus Crane, and many more taking part. He would have a match that almost stole the show against a younger but no less brash Joey Janela that featured one of the most manic spots of that year.

Zandig had the action going before his match had even begun. He took down a disrespectful Swoggle then survived being jumped by Janela. When Zandig no-sold his strikes, Janela hit him in the balls. Zandig shook that off and rocked him with a powerslam. He tried to charge Janela but Janela put him through a glass pane. He took too much time gloating so Zandig speared him through a barbed-wire board. Penelope Ford tried to distract Zandig but he wasn’t falling for it and attacked her too. She got her revenge though and held him in place for Janela, who nailed him with a bundle. He didn’t stay down though and flattened Janela with a Falcon Arrow then planted one on Ford and threw both her and Janela through a glass pane. He hit the Zandig pose and tried for the Razzle Dazzle but Janela kicked him down. He hit a series of kicks and put Danzig through a barbed-wire board with a DVD. He locked in an armbar under the board and set up another pane. He dragged Zandig under the pane and broke it with a moonsault leg drop.

Somehow Zandig kicked out so Janela choked him with a chair and dragged out a bumper sword of red light-tubes. He looked set to drop Zandig on them but Zandig reversed it into a destroyer. No one in the building could believe it. The fight went out into the parking lot and the pair scaled a ladder up to the roof of the venue. They brawled up the levels of the roof to the highest point where Zandig scooped up Janela and threw both of them off the roof and through a massive pile of tubes, barbed-wire boards, and fire fixed to the back of a pick-up truck. Zandig pinned Janela in the bed of the truck and took the win. Nobody expected a spot that mental and both men were bloodied up, beaten, and wrapped up in horrific amounts of barbed-wire and glass. He had been victorious in his return to ultraviolent wrestling and made sure the crowd cheered for GCW’s star in the making, Joey Janela. The roof spot still lives on in deathmatch history and saw an icon of deathmatches have another successful match before having his last match the following year. Come back tomorrow for the next deathmatch delight.

@steveaustinBSR I was there. the CRAZIEST bump I’ve ever seen❗️ROOF BUMP John ZANDIG vs The BAD BOY Joey Janela – GCW TOURNAMENT of SURVIVAL #ZandigToS #SteveAustinShow✖️@PodcastOne pic.twitter.com/KOUvhqjYdz

— Ryan ?? (@DaColdOneIVS) July 18, 2018

All images courtesy of DaColdOneIVS Twitter, GCW, Flickr,