War Zone (2023)

The 2023 **War Zone** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Class Championship Wrestling. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Battle Zone and Intensity brand divisions. It featured the men's and women's Chamber of Chaos matches, the first since 2014, as well as the return of the titular War Zone match, last contested in 2017. The event was held on August 27, 2023, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and saw a gate total of 15,091 fans.

Seven matches were contested at the event, with six airing on pay-per-view and one airing on *Sunday Night Heat* prior to the broadcast. In the main event, Team Latino World Order (consisting of Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro and Carlito) defeated Team Pretty "Freakin'" Deadly (consisting of Seth 'Freakin' Rollins, Elton Prince, Kit Wilson, ma.ce and man.soor) in the titular War Zone match. For the event's Chamber of Chaos matches, there was one each for the men and women and featured wrestlers from both Battle Zone and Intensity. In the men's, AJ Styles won to earn a world championship match at Super Showdown and subsequently challenged Brandon War for the WCCW World Championship. In the women's match, Ruby Soho won to earn her first Undisputed WCCW Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Goldberg defeated Finn Balor in a Texas Death Match, Raven Ray retained her WCCW International Championship against Shotzi in a hardcore match while The Acclaimed defeated the Insane Clown Posse in a Juggalo Street Fight to retain their Battle Zone Tag Team Championship.

## Production

### Background

War Zone was first established by WCCW in 2023 to fill the August pay-per-view (PPV) slot. The event is considered a spiritual successor to the Fall Brawl pay-per-view and features the War Zone match first made famous at Fall Brawl.

### Storylines

The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WCCW's writers on the Battle Zone and Intensity brands, while storylines are produced on WCCW's weekly television shows, *Tuesday Night Battle Zone* and *Friday Night Intensity.*

## Event

### Pre-Show

The event kicked off on *Sunday Night Heat* with a singles match between Mickie James and Lacey Evans. James dominated the match from bell to bell, squashing Evans in less than two minutes. The crowd's reaction was largely negative, with many chanting "that was bullshit" in regards to the short length. Despite the backlash from fans, Mickie James got on the mic to call out Television Champion Bianca Belair.

### Preliminary matches

The first match to air on pay-per-view was a Juggalo Street Fight between Insane Clown Posse and The Acclaimed for the Battle Zone Tag Team Championship. Despite Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope requesting the stipulation, it did not provide them with an advantage as Max Caster and Anthony Bowens dominated the early stages of the match. Caster wasted no time getting Violent J out to ringside where he threw J through the steel steps and then over the barricade into the crowd. Back in the ring, Bowens hit Shaggy 2 Dope with a belly to belly suplex leading to an early pin attempt. With 2 Dope still on the mat, Bowens performed a suicide dive to the outside to save Max from a pin attempt by Violent J, opening up the opportunity to cover 2 Dope. Caster would earn the pinfall victory over 2 Dope, retaining their championships. After the match, The Acclaimed's music cut out during their celebration and restarted, at which point Daddy Ass made his return for the first time in almost three weeks. He confronted The Acclaimed and declared that the fun loving Daddy Ass was gone and there was a Bad Ass left in his place.

In the next match, Shotzi took on Raven Ray in a Hardcore match for the WCCW International Championship. Despite an early offensive by Shotzi, Raven Ray dominated the majority of the match. Shotzi attempted to gain a quick advantage by attacking Ray with a baseball bat but Ray countered and hit Shotzi with a power bomb. The champion would then assault Shotzi with a number of stomps to the stomach before climbing to the top rope to attempt a splash but Shotzi moved out of the way. Shotzi would then control the next portion of the match, hitting Ray with a devastating series of body shots in the corner before grabbing a kendo stick and breaking it across Ray's skull. Shotzi would go for the pinfall but Raven Ray countered with a rollup for the victory and to retain her championship.

Up next was the men's Chamber of Chaos match where the winner would receive a world championship match at Super Showdown. Edge, Jeff Hardy, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles began the match inside of the pods while LA Knight and Sami Zayn started off the match in the ring. LA Knight and Zayn were evenly matched through the first ninety seconds until Shinsuke Nakamura entered the match. Nakamura would dominate the next few minutes, eliminating Sami Zayn and nearly eliminating Jeff Hardy. LA Knight would then bounce back, taking control of the match and eliminating Nakamura at the 6:49 mark. Jeff Hardy entered the match at number four, followed by AJ Styles and Edge. With four of the six superstars left, the competition would heat up and see the men go over six minutes before the next elimination took place. In an incredible moment, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles performed near simultaneous pinfall attempts, Hardy earning the pinfall over LA Knight at 13:04 and Styles earning the pinfall over Edge three seconds later. Hardy then set his sights on Styles, hitting him with the Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb in what seemed to be the finish of the match. As Hardy climbed to the top rope for a second swanton, the lights in the arena cut-out and an unfamiliar theme began playing. When the lights came back on, The Icon Sting was standing at the top of the ramp, staring down Jeff Hardy. This distraction allowed AJ Styles to rollup Hardy for the pinfall victory.

The fourth match of the pay-per-view was the highly anticipated Texas Death Match between Finn Balor and Goldberg. Finn Balor came out swinging, hoping to strike first and gain an advantage but Goldberg countered with an immediate spear, going for a quick pin attempt. Balor kicked out but fell victim to Goldberg's boot to his face and a pinfall at the 3:42 mark allowing Goldberg to move on to the second phase of the match. Desperate, Balor hit Goldberg with a low blow when the referee wasn't looking and used the distraction to unleash a barrage of strikes and kicks on Goldberg. He attempted to counter Balor with a jackhammer but Finn was prepared, hitting the DDT and earning his pinfall at the 6:03 mark, sending Balor into the second phase of the match. With both superstars now tired and looking for a ten-count, things evened out a bit, with the two exchanging blows with neither seeming to gain the upper hand. Finn Balor grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and broke it over Goldberg's skull followed up by a dropkick. Dazed but not out, Goldberg took back control, powerbombing Finn from the ring to ringside. Goldberg tossed Finn back into the ring for one final jackhammer, after which Balor was unable to answer the ten-count.

The co-main event was the Undisputed WCCW Women's Championship Chamber of Chaos match. Gisele Shaw, Natalya, Ruby Soho and Nikki Cross began the match inside of the pods while Rhea Ripley and defending champion Kris Statlander started off the match in the ring. Nikki Cross would enter the match third, followed by Natalya at number four, Gisele Shaw and Ruby Soho. Controversially, the referee missed an early pin attempt on Natalya by Nikki Cross that resulted in an eleven count by the crowd. The first elimination occurred at the 6:02 mark when Gisele Shaw pinned the champion Kris Statlander. Shaw's celebration and championship hopes would be shattered almost immediately as Rhea Ripley caught her by surprise with a Riptide, earning a pinfall at the 7:33 mark. The next elimination occurred a minute later when Natalya pinned Nikki Cross. Now down to a triple threat, Ripley and Natalya seemed to enter an uneasy partnership in order to take out Ruby Soho until Natalya turned on Ripley, solidifying this as every woman for herself. With Ripley and Natalya focused on each other, Soho took the time to regroup at ringside before pouncing on a stunned Natalya to gain a pinfall at the 10:54 mark. Soho would then focus her attention on Ripley, pinning her a minute later for the victory and the Undisputed WCCW Women's Championship.

### Main event

The main event was the War Zone match which saw Team Pretty "Freakin'" Deadly (Seth 'Freakin' Rollins, Elton Prince, Kit Wilson, ma.ce and man.soor) take on Team Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro and Carlito). Seth "Freakin'" Rollins and Rey Mysterio began the match. Pretty "Freakin'" Deadly had the advantage as Elton Prince entered the match next. Mysterio would take both men on, holding his own until Santos Escobar entered for the Latino World Order. Kit Wilson was next to enter for Pretty "Freakin'" Deadly, who grabbed two tables and a sledgehammer from under the ring and threw them into the cage. Shortly afterwards, Joaquin Wilde entered for the Latino World Order while Kit Wilson and Elton Prince set up one of the tables in the second ring and began attacking Rey Mysterio with a steel chair before throwing him through the table. Ma.ce and Cruz Del Toro then entered the match as the next competitors, followed later by man.soor and finally Carlito. Notable moments that occurred after War Zone was breached included ma.ce hitting Santos Escobar with a splash from the top of the cage, Joaquin Wilde putting Kit Wilson through a table and all ten men ending up in the same ring for an all-out brawl. In the final moments, Santos Escobar hit Kit Wilson with a DDT followed up by an armbar, forcing Wilson to tap out giving the Latino World Order the victory.