Saturday Seven – CZW Dojo Wars Superstars who made it to the show, Volume 1

Welcome to the Saturday Six Seven, where each week I let you get to know me a bit better with the help of a list. Any idiot can do a Top 5 list, which is why I kicked it up a notch to a Top 6 7. This week’s topic: CZW Dojo Wars Superstars who made it to the show, Volume 1

In honor of last weekend’s Bound For Glory results, I’m going to go over a list of people who have graduated from putting on $5 shows for me and 12 other people to showing off their skills on a major national television show. So for this week, I’m including Impact (regardless of the fact that for a long time they were a joke of a competitor, now they are on AXS and have been killing it), AEW, and while they may be failing of late, I’m also gonna include Ring of Honor. Next week is reserved for those who graduated to WWE. I’m also throwing in an extra one this week, mostly to justify the banner image.

1. Ace Austin – Almost weekly from 51 to 153 – Current Impact X Division Champion
    
   

   For nearly two years, I got to see Ace learn and grow from a relatively green kid to a talented high flyer. He didn’t really have any ongoing storylines, but he was always a valued performer. And while his current story lines on Impact are kinda cringe inducing (after finally winning the X Division Championship and spending weeks trying to fuck Eddie Edwards wife Alicia, he literally filmed a porno this past week), he’s very young at only 22, he only can go up from here. But he probablly needs to take his plugs out before his matches so they stop falling out mid match.

2. Joey Janella – 10-60 nearly weekly, 75, 105-7,113, 147
    
   

   Joey had over eight years of experience before he ever stepped foot in the dojo, and it’s great to see he’s made it. Just this past week he put up a valiant effort against probably the best wrestler in the world right now, Kenny Omega. He spent the better part of a year trying to hook up and get a kiss with our next entry, and it seems like that worked out for him at least for a while. His other major storyline was training a protege, the Bad Boy 2 (Rayo, who himself eventually appeared once as local talent on NXT), whom he lost a loser leaves town match to at Dojo Wars 60. He eventually returned a few times later for special events and anniversaries. I once saw him wrestle The Invisible Man on Halloween for a full 20 minutes, and it was amazing.

3. Penelope Ford – 16-65 almost weekly, 75, 85, 95, 97, 100, 104, 113
    
   

   Penelope started out as a referee in the very earliest of Dojo Wars before transitioning into a competitor full time. At first she would miss her signature move, an elbow to the corner after several back handsprings with some regularity, but over time her confidence grew, and she was regularly able to win upsets pulling her finisher out of nowhere, the Rainbow Bridge. Not that she really needed them, but she had some enhancements done, and now really has that WWE Bombshell look. That may explain how she got named Miss Wingette at the 2016 Wing Bowl. Of all the females at Dojo Wars to make it, I didn’t think it would be her. Maybe she can but in a good word for her rival, Britney Blake?

4. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – 41-48, 53-54, 59-66, 71, 74-98, 107, 136
    
   

   When MJF started in Dojo Wars, he was known as Pete Lightning, and part of a tag team called Business Casual with Hous Blazer. Their gimmick was they would come to the ring in just their trunks with a tie and a blazer right after their shift at Applebees. It made sense at the time. Eventually he turned on Hous, and changed his name to Maxwell Jacob Feinstein (which I like better than Friedman, is really heightens his Jewishness). I kept calling him Pete Lightning anyway, and once he stared me down so hard I thought he was legitimately gonna beat my ass. Now he’s best friends with Cody in his fight against The Inner Circle. Hopefully he can find a spot for Hous to make it up to him.

5. Nyla Rose – 18
    
   
   If profightdb is to be believed, before joining AEW, Nyla only had 5 matches, one of which was at a very early Dojo Wars. It was a pretty simple squash match that at the time went pretty much unnoticed, but I will say I don’t think anyone paid any mind to her status as transgender.

6. Jordynne Grace – 27, 104

 


Big Momma Pump showed up twice, once to put a bruising on Joey Janela, then returned a year and a half later to do the same to his girlfriend, Penelope Ford, winning both affairs.

7. Maria Manic – 66, 91, 95-6, 100, 106,113, 124, 124, 134-5, 138, 144-157, 161
    
   

   Maria’s status is up in the air at the moment. It was just reported that after weeks of attacking The Allure, her contract with ROH had expired before she ever had a match. It was then reported she had another tryout with WWE, but I’m also seeing it reported that literally yesterday she resigned with ROH, so who even knows. When she started she was billed as “The East Coast Barbie” and was a plasticky blonde. She spend most of her time under the foot of and doing the bidding of WSU tag champs at the time, Eddy McQueen and Rick Cataldo. She eventually grew a backbone and stood up for herself. Now though she’s a tattooed powerhouse, but I liked her much better before.

   

   Shlak is a hell of a drug. . .

JohnScott is the proud owner of a life size replica Captain Kirk Chair. He is a hoarder of Comic Books, Transformers, and Star Trek action figures. He attended Space Camp as an adult. He has taken vacations to the closing of the Star Trek Experience and the final night Shuttle launch. He has been known to yell at his television when the kids can't put together the damn statue in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. When not writing for InsufficientScotty, he is a Software Engineer for a major healthcare communications company. You can Email or follow on Twitter @NotEnoughScotty or Facebook