Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) brings a free wrestling showcase to Love Park in Philadelphia at 4 PM EST on Saturday, July 5. Heading into their 27th year on the independent wrestling scene, CZW provides the same athletically gifted, hard-hitting professional wrestling action found on television sets across America on a nightly basis.
“We provide the same experience in the ring that you will get at a WWE show, except you are going to get a lot closer and it’s going to cost you a lot less — in this case, free,” Mr. Frank Hartgrave told Metro Philadelphia in an exclusive interview earlier this week. “If you are bringing your kids to something like pro wrestling, it is something that can really spark their imaginations. Wrestlers always enjoy having them around. A big reason we do this is for the kids.”
Combat Zone Wrestling
The eight-match card begins in the late afternoon and is scheduled to run approximately four hours. “We’ll probably go until the sun goes down, and maybe a little bit longer,” the social media guru of CZW said. “We’ll go until you can’t see the action anymore.” For fans wondering about the 85+ degree heat in the afternoon, food and refreshments will be available via local food trucks. “They are attracted to this sort of thing,” Mr. Hartgrave said with a sly smile.
A bit of caution for those searching CZW images over the last 26+ years, there are some incredibly graphic pictures of “deathmatch wrestling” where extreme violence occurs inside the wrestling ring between consenting opponents. Those matches have their own space in the wrestling federation and are restricted to events like the “CZW Tournament of Death”.
That style of wrestling violence will not be part of the action at Love Park on Saturday. “Maybe you are checking on the internet, you are going to see some things that are shocking,” Mr. Hartgrave stated. “A lot of that is in the past, and there is a time and place for that. This free show we are bringing to Love Park is absolutely family-friendly.”
CZW’s World Heavyweight Champion Eran Ashe (pronounced “Aaron Ashe”) is on an otherworldly title run spanning more than 420 days and one lengthy COVID-19 pandemic. Ashe is the fourth-longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion and still has a long way to go to surpass the 718-day title reign of Joe Gacy, from 2019 to 2021. “Eran Ashe, the CZW World Heavyweight Champion, can pick up a car and throw it,” Mr. Hartgrave said as he provided the scouting report on the muscle-wrapped champ. “[He is] deceptively fast, and eerily powerful as well. You wouldn’t believe the dropkick he can pull off. He can do a moonsault off the top rope if he wants to, except he doesn’t need to.”
Examining the previous World Heavyweight Champions of CZW reveals a who’s who of talented professional wrestlers. “CZW isn’t just a wrestling federation, it’s also a developmental program,” Mr. Hartgrave advised. “It’s a school run by DJ Hyde, an industry veteran. So many people you see on TV have come through DJ… It’s like one out of eight.” That represents approximately 12.5% of professional wrestlers in the industry who work for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), or any of the major independent wrestling promotions worldwide. Jon Moxley, Shane Strickland, Maxwell Jacob Freidman (aka MJF), Nick Gage, and others have all held the CZW World Heavyweight Championship in their storied wrestling careers.
Mr. Hartgrave provided one final pitch ahead of Saturday’s free show at the close of our interview this week. “Whatever you think this will be, it will be even more exciting than that,” he said. “I did not expect the level of athleticism when I came to [my first CZW show].
This group of individuals that is a part of CZW today is hungry – they are chomping at the bit to make a name for themselves, and you [will] see that every second of the show. I like to see these people before they become major celebrities, like John Cena and The Rock [Dwayne Johnson], they are megastars. One of these people is going to be like that … and you get to see ‘em today and you get to see ‘em for free.”
This will be the third event held in conjunction with CZW and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. Bell time for the event is 4 PM EST. Love Park is located at 1501 JFK Boulevard in Philadelphia.
Photo courtesy of Combat Zone Wrestling
