Ring of Honor vs . Combat Zone Wrestling feud From January to July 2006 , rival Philadelphia - based promotions Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling were involved in an interpromotional feud . The two promotions were natural rivals with their different style of wrestling , ROH being based on traditional and scientific wrestling , while CZW was known for their “ ultraviolent ” hardcore matches . The feud was well received by fans and critics alike , and is considered by many to be the greatest feud in ROH history . History . Buildup . When Ring of Honor was founded in 2002 , Combat Zone Wrestling was the dominant promotion in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The two initially tried to work together , with CZW ’ s owner John Zandig appearing in ROH to announce a double - shot between the two promotions in November 2002 . While ROH would spend the next few years expand into other states , becoming the top independent promotion in the process , CZW would continue to run mainly in Philadelphia . Throughout this time , several wrestlers would make their way from CZW to ROH , and vice versa , including Alex Shelley , Jimmy Jacobs and The Backseat Boyz . In September 2005 , Bryan Danielson , one of the originally stars of Ring of Honor , won the ROH World Championship . In an effort to prove he was the " best wrestler in the world " , he began to send open contracts to different promotions to have their best come to ROH to challenge for the title . Danielson would go on to face wrestlers from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , Pro Wrestling ZERO1 - MAX and Pro Wrestling NOAH . Chris Hero began his career in 1998 , going from wrestling locally in Ohio to competing around the world . But despite being one of the top independent wrestlers , he had never competed for Ring of Honor . Hero did , however , compete regularly for Combat Zone Wrestling . The self - proclaimed " Savior of CZW " , he was the second longest reigning CZW Iron Man Champion in history , one half of the CZW Tag Team Champions with Claudio Castagnoli , his partner in the Kings of Wrestling , and , in 2005 , was involved in a bitter feud with Eddie Kingston and BLK OUT . At CZW ' s Cage of Death 7 on December 10 , 2005 , Hero and Castagnoli successfully defended the CZW World Tag team Championship against Kingston and Sabain of BLK OUT . After the match , Hero cut a promo talking about how CZW was running an afternoon show on January 14 , with the reason they were running in the afternoon was because Ring of Honor going to hold a show that evening in Philadelphia , and " everything must stop for them " . Hero then challenged Bryan Danielson to come to CZW and defend the ROH World Championship . Fifteen days later , Hero again challenged Danielson and ROH , this time via his Live Journal : " " Just as many wrestlers before me were intimidated by the " big and bad " reputation of the Necro Butcher , just as many individuals have been browbeaten into actually believing that the " big and bad " promotion , Ring of Honor , is the end - all and be - all of Independent wrestling … I didn ' t back down from Necro Butcher and I will not back down from Ring of Honor … After my match at Cage of Death 7 , I verbally brought salvation to the Combat Zone . I stood directly in front of the impending danger and destruction and I said what everyone else was afraid to say . As the Savior , I represent CZW wholly . My skills are unmatched and I know I am the best they have to offer . I am CZW ' s David to ROH ' s Goliath and my challenge is 100 % firm . I have nothing to be afraid of . Bryan , if you have the guts , you know where to find me on January 14 . And if you don ' t have the guts , I am fully prepared to walk through the fire to meet you and take what is rightfully mine . And once I have that title , I will bring it to the Combat Zone and demonstrate my very best Jimmy Jacobs impression . John Zandig will have the trash can ready for me . " " Chris Hero would post another Live Journal entry on January 3 , again lashing out at Ring of Honor and Bryan Danielson : " " Who would ever thing that Jim Cornette , someone of such alleged esteem , would even mention CZW by name , let alone send them an entire package ? Well , he did , so you can be assure when Chris Hero is involved in something , the unthinkable can , and will happened . What was in the package ? Well , it wasn ' t ticking , so that was a good sign . The first thing I pulled out was an open contract for a ROH heavyweight title shot on January 14 . Said contract was already signed by , one , Bryan Danielson . Before I say whether or not I signed this open contract , let me point out how IDIOTIC of an idea it was for Bryan to allow Mr . Cornette to send this contract to CZW . Bryan ' s signature is at the bottom of the document , right next to a blank slot , titled " Challenger . " Hmm , I could have just went though the entire Combat Zone locker room and had anyone sign it . That ' s how ridiculous this is . How about Bryan Danielson versus the Necro Butcher ? How about American Dragon versus Super Dragon ? Imagine how many ROH fanboys would rip their hair out if Bryan accidentally got himself into a title defense against the father of CZW , John Zandig ? Hell , I could have had Frank Talent sign the damn contract if I was that vindictive . I think Danielson ' s ego is getting in the way of rational thought . Yes , Chris Hero cast the first stone , but now , in desperation , Bryan Danielson is throwing every rock he can get his hands on without stopping and thinking to aim . How poetic it ' ll be when the wrestler that was never good enough for Ring of Honor walks away from the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory in Philadelphia , the new and undisputed Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion " " Danielson vs . Hero . On January 14 , 2006 , Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling held their first shows of the year , with CZW running the New Alhambra Arena in the afternoon , and ROH running the Pennsylvania National Guard Amory in the evening . At CZW ’ s event , An Afternoon of Main Events , Chris Hero was set to team with his Kings of Wrestling partner Claudio Castagnoli and Super Dragon to face BLK OUT , consisting of Eddie Kingston , Ruckus and Sabian . Before his match was scheduled to being , Bryan Danielson , there to answer Hero ’ s challenged , jumped the guard rail and took control of the ring . He began to cut a promo , running down CZW and its fans , saying they didn ’ t deserve to see him defend the ROH World Championship in CZW and would have to come to ROH . Hero , taking exception , walked to the ring and began to get in the face of Danielson . Danielson the began to back down , saying he wasn ’ t going to fight Hero right then because he wasn ’ t getting paid for it , and began to leave , but turned around and shoved him . As the two started to brawl , ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness came in threw the crowd and went after Hero , but was cut off by Claudio Castagnoli , whom he was feuding with in ROH . The four continued to brawl until ROH Tag Team Champions Austin Aries and Roderick Strong , a former competitor of CZW , also came in threw the crowd , which resulted in the majority of the CZW coming and chasing the four out of the arena . Later that night at ROH ’ s Hell Freezes Over , Chris Hero , along with Necro Butcher , Nate Webb , Adam Flash and CZW referee Bryce Rumsberge , showed up to challenge Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship . Hero refused to enter through the back , choosing to come through the crowd with CZW ’ s theme music playing . Much like Danielson did at CZW ’ s event , Hero began to give a promo , running down ROH for never booking him , and saying he was going to take the ROH World Championship back to CZW and throw it in the trash . Before Hero could finish , however , he was cut off by Danielson ’ s entrance . After thirty minutes of wrestling , Danielson forced Hero to submit to a Crossface Chickenwing , the same move he used to win the ROH World Championship . Throughout the match on commentary , Hero was buried by commentator Jimmy Bower ( in real life ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky ) , who said the reason Hero had never been booked in ROH was because “ he isn ’ t good enough ” . Hero would respond to Sapolsky in his Live Journal : : " " Fact : Chris Hero , headlining the January 14th ROH show in Philadelphia , OUTDREW the NOAH Superstar , Kenta Kobashi , in the same town and same exact building . Did I get any credit for such an accomplishment ? Did I get a thank you card for pumping some much needed life back into the Philly Indy scene ? No . You know what I got ? Buried on commentary . I ' ve discovered , thanks to a very reliable source , that if you pick up the " Hell Freezes Over " DVD you ' ll hear Mr . " Booker of the Year " himself , talking about how terrible of a wrestler I am and how awful my look is . Apparently I don ' t belong in an ROH ring and it was a disgrace having me on the show . I guess selling tickets and generating interest in a stale product has no place in the wrestling " business . " Also , the match is cut down , so you won ' t have to worry about hearing those pesky CZW chants ! Earth to Gabe : When you bury someone ' s ability and following , and it takes YOUR champion almost 35 minutes to defeat that very person , you ' re telling everyone that YOUR champion struggled to beat a no talent , no look , piece of trash wrestler . " " The invasions begin . Two weeks after being defeated , Chris Hero would return to Ring of Honor . At Tag Wars 2006 in Dayton , Ohio , Hero , along with Necro Butcher , appeared in the crowd and began to heckle the wrestlers . While some wrestlers managed to ignore Hero , including his frequent tag team partner outside ROH , Claudio Castagnoli , one wrestler would not : Ace Steel . During his match against Sterling James Keenan , Steel became so aggravated that he stopped the match . Instead , he cut a promo on Hero , saying he wasn ’ t good enough to be in ROH , and Necro Butcher , saying he was nothing but a " garbage wrestler " . The two rushed to the guard rail , where they were held back by security while Steel continued to verbally bury the two . After having enough , Hero and Necro jumped the guard rail , resulting in the entire ROH locker room rushing out to eject them from the building . During the melee , Jim Cornette , the commissioner of ROH , was hit in the mouth and lost a tooth . Thinking it was caused by the CZW wrestlers , he stormed to the ring and began a cut a promo , laced with obscenities , burying Hero , Necro , CZW and hardcore wrestling . He then dared them to show up at any other Ring of Honor event if they want to get beaten again . The following night at Dissension , the show started with Adam Pearce defeated newcomer Jay Fury in the opening match . Pearce , having made his debut a few months earlier and had been pestering Jim Cornette to give him better opportunities and bigger matches , grabbed the microphone after the match and said he would not leave the ring until Cornette came out and talked to him . Cornette did come out , but said he had to say something before he spoke to Pearce . Cornette began to apologies for his language the night before , but stopped when he saw Necro Butcher in the audience . He then began to lash out Necro , saying that even though he wasn ’ t a wrestler , he ’ d fight him , because Necro isn ’ t a wrestler either . Pearce tried to calm down Cornette , before running over the guard rail and pulling Necro over , starting another brawl , with Necro once again being thrown out of the building . Afterwards , Cornette thanked Pearce for his help , and shook his hand . Chris Hero would comment on the invasion on his Live Journal , announcing his reign of terror would not stop : " " You see , the fun and games are over . Happy go lucky Chris Hero died in 2005 . It ' s 06 and I ' m all about destruction . The IWA Mid South title belt , smart ass fans that think they ' re hard and it just so happens that Ring of Overrated Honor is next on the list . They have all these " milestones " coming up . The fourth anniversary show , the Wrestlemania Weekend triple shot , their 100th show and it ' s all going to come crumbling down . In Dayton the curtains were the only thing that came down . That was only the beginning . I will not rest until ROH is exposed for the garbage that it is and I get the recognition and credit that I deserve . My broken hand will look like a hangnail in comparison to all the carnage I ' ll bring with me . Just as I blasted that fan in the face , I will blast any and everything that stands between myself and ROH . Gabe Sapolsky , your life is about to become a living hell . You will forever regret the day you buried Chris Hero . " " February 25 was to be one of ROH ’ s biggest event of all time , has the held the Fourth Anniversary Show , celebrating four years in business and the start of the Milestone Series . One of the matches was to feature Christopher Daniels vs . BJ Whitmer in a grudge match , stemming from Whitmer resentment of Daniels leaving ROH and The Prophecy in 2004 , and Daniels resentment of Whitmer ’ s treatment of Allison Danger after he left . During the match , the two brawled to floor , and later the crowd . As the brawl continued on the floor , Chris Hero , Necro Butcher and a six other CZW ran in through the crowd and took control of the ring . Whitmer and Daniels stopped their fight and made their way back to ringside , where they were joined by the rest of the ROH locker room , who were kept at bay by the CZW wrestlers while Hero mocked them . After several attempts to enter , Adam Pearce successfully entered and tackled Hero to the ground , causing the CZW wrestlers to focus on him , and allowing the ROH wrestlers to enter , starting a massive brawl . After several minutes of fighting , Hero made his way back to ringside , bragging that no one could stop him . Samoa Joe , the longest reigning ROH World Champion in history and the wrestler most recognized as the face of ROH , made his way to the ring to answer Hero ’ s challenge . After several more minutes , Ring of Honor won the battle against Combat Zone Wrestling , and ejected their wrestlers from the arena . March 11 - The feud becomes a war . After the success of the first double - shot in January , Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling scheduled another one March , this time with both shows taking place in CZW ' s home , the New Alhambra Arena , better known as the former ECW Arena . The shows were planned before the actions of Chris Hero and Necro Butcher , and the day of the event tensions between the two companies were at an all - time high . The crowd for the event was split down the middle , with ROH fans sitting on one side and CZW fans sitting on the other . Two interpromotional matches had been scheduled for the events , with CZW ' s Necro Butcher appearing on ROH ' s show to face BJ Whitmer , and a six - man tag team match with Generation Next appearing on CZW ' s show to take on BLK OUT . Conspicuoius by his absences at the event was Chris Hero , who was on a tour of Mexico with Claudio Castagnoli . After the opening match of ROH ' s Arena Warfare , Whitmer stormed to the ring and called out Necro Butcher to start their match . However , when Necro , who hadn ' t arrived at the arena yet , failed to show , Whitmer went to the back . After the following match , he again went to the ring and called out Necro , and this time he appeared . The two began to brawl , but just when Whitmer appeared to gain the upper hand , CZW ' s Super Dragon ran out to the ring and attacked him , giving him a Curb Stomp . The two continued to attack Whitmer until several students of the ROH Wrestling Academy came to his aid . The rest of the show went off without any incidents from CZW , except for their fans , who heckled the ROH wrestlers . During his match against Bryan Danielson , Alex Shelley became so annoyed by a fan chanting " boring " that he got on the microphone and told him to wrestle Danielson if he thinks he can do any better . The main event of the ROH show was to be Christopher Daniels vs . Colt Cabana vs . Samoa Joe in a Three - Way Dance , which was eventually won by Joe . After the match , BJ WHitmer again stormed to the ring , this time calling out the entire CZW locker room . The resulting brawl was one of the largest in Ring of Honor history , and was scatterd from the ring , to the crowd to the parking lot . The two sides battled evenly , until CZW owner John Zandig , armed with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed - wire , and Wifebeater , armed with a weed whacker , enterted the melee . While most of the ROH wrestlers managed to get away , one did not : BJ Whitmer . Vastly outnumber , Whitmer was tied to the ring ropes and tourtured by the CZW locker room , who had also begun destroying the ROH set and spray painting " CZW " over the ROH logo in the ring . Zandig , after stapling tickets to the ROH show to Whitmer ' s back and forehead , threatened to break his neck if he wasn ' t given a microphone . After his promo , CZW began setting up for their event , When 2 Worlds Collide . Before his scheduled defense of the CZW Iron Man Championship against Super Dragon , Kevin Steen , who competed for ROH during 2005 , gave promo saying how wrestlers were having to take sides in the feud . He then began to beg ROH to take him back , and even offered to give them the CZW Iron Man Championship , because he hated Combat Zone Wrestling . Steen would retain the title against Dragon fate BJ Whitmer interfered , costing Dragon the match . While Whitmer contineud to attack Dragon , Steen cut an other promo , saying what Dragon and the CZW wrestlers did to Whitmer was most disgusting thing he ' d even seen . He then challenged anyone face him and Whitmer at the next CZW show , a challenge which was answered by Necro Butcher , who came to the ring and began to brawl with the two . Whitmer and Steen out numbered Necro and attempted to break his leg , until BLK OUT came to his aid . The main evnet of CZW ' s show , and the entire evening , was to see Austin Aries , Roderick Strong and Matt Sydal of ROH ' s Generation Next take on Eddie Kingston , Ruckus and Sabian of CZW ' s BLK OUT . However Sabian was removed from the match by CZW Commissioner Lobo , as he previously competed in a Six - Way Ladder match in an attempt to regain the CZW Junior Heavyweight Championship , and they didn ' t want to pay him for two matches . BLK OUT wouldn ' t back down from Generation Next , and decided to compete in the match despite being down one member . However , they were quickly outnumbered by the three ROH wrestlers , until Necro Butcher came out to be their partner . After a legnth match , Generation Next won the match for ROH when Sydal hit a Shooting Star Press on Kingston . Generation Next continued to attack the three , until John Zandig , Nick Gage , Justice Pain and Lobo came out to give CZW the advantage . As Generation Next retreated through the crowd , Lobo told them they may have beaten the " boys " because Kingston " dropped the ball " , but challenged them to come back and face the " men " .