As I See It: Remembering Michael Verdi's Passing, CZW This Month
Combat Zone Wrestling presents: Tournament of Death 11 on Saturday, June 23 at The Ultraviolent Underground, located at 139 Ebenezer Church Road, Townsend, DE with a 2:30 pm belltime.
First round matchups...
NOI Drunken Scaffold Match
DEVON MOORE vs. LUCKY tHURTeen vs. DANNY HAVOC
Ultraviolent Ladders Match (Dedicated to the memory of JC Bailey)
DRAKE YOUNGER vs. RORY MONDO
Pains in the Glass Match
CZW World and Ultraviolent Underground Champion MASADA vs. SCOT SUMMERS
Ultraviolent Bats Match
'BULLDOZER' MATT TREMONT vs the returning ABDULLAH KOBAYASHI
A non-tournament action already scheduled:
Former Partners Get Ultraviolent – Fans Bring the Weapons
'CHAINSAW' JOE GACY vs. RYAN SLATER
Tickets are priced at $35 for 1st row, $30 for 2nd row, and $25 for general admission. Click here to purchase CZW tickets online, or buy them at the door before the show. Doors open at 2:00PM.
For directions to the Ultraviolent Underground, go to this link on Google Maps, or enter 139 Ebenezer Church Road, Townsend, DE into your car's GPS device.
For media requests, vendor space and sponsorship opportunities contact djhyde@czwrestling.com.
Upodated information can be fopund on CZW's Tournament of Death XI Facebook Fanpage.
It'll be 2 years soon since Michael "Trent Acid" Verdi was found dead by his mother at only age 29. He was best known as half of The Backseat Boyz with friend and partner Johnny Kashmere, as well as working in many notable singles programs in Combat Zone Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and Jersey All Pro Wrestling.
Verdi was three times Combat Zone Wrestling Junior Heavyweight Champion, four times co-CZW Tag Team Champion (with Johnny Kashmere), once CZW Best of The Best tournament winner; once co-ROH Tag Team Champion (with Kashmere), twice Jersey All-Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Kashmere), once co-East Coast Wrestling Association Tag Team Champion (with Kashmere), three times once co-Hardway Wrestling Tag Team Championship (with Kashmere) once co-National Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Kashmere), once Phoenix Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Johnny Kashmere), once United States Xtreme Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, once UXW Xtreme Championship, once UXW United States Championship, once UXW Tag Team Championship (with Mike Tobin), twice Urban Wrestling Alliance Light Heavyweight Championship and once UWA Tag Team Champion (with Billy Reil). Singles titles included once Pro Wrestling Unplugged Heavyweight Champion, once Big Japan Pro Wrestling Junior Heavyweight Championship; and once Juggalo Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.
But with all his achivements, Verdi had his demons, with multiple arrests for drug possession, including heroin and pills, and did jail time and rehab in 2010, including doing time after a 2008 incident with friend Billy Reil, which resulted in seven months in jail. During Verdi's periods of being clean and sober, he talked about not wanting to walk down the path of family members with similar problems, and to get back fulltime into the wrestling business. Verdi was awaiting trial for a charge of possessing five Xanax pills without a prescription dating from a October 2009 arrest. His most recent arrest was the result of a probation violation for attempting to take dates with Big Japan Wrestling (out of the United States).
I got a call on my cellphone while at work back on that day and remembering being shocked, but not entirely surprised, given what I've just mentioned, while at the same time remembering a very young Trent Acid doing moonsaults off the old bleachers at the ECW Arena. I remember an incredibly talented wrestler who could make magic in the ring....and a guy with a great sense of humor.
In a truly eerie moment only days later in 2010 at CZW's Tournament of Death 2010, a number of us who were on one side of the area set up for the show (the one side where there were large trees providing some shade on a really hot day) felt (at exactly the same moment that a ten bell sounded) the one cool breeze of the entire day came through our side of the seating, and stopped as the ten-bell ended. I looked at those others I was sitting with, and they asked me and said "Did you feel that too?". Mind you, I had never had one of those kinds of moments (and only ever read about others who did), but we all felt it was Trent Acid sending us a shout-out. Days later, the same comment came via e-mail from CZW's DJ Hyde who said, no it wasn't just us....
Realizing it'll soon be 2 years ago that this happened still makes me feel older and sadder. But his sending a shout out on that day will always make me link him and TOD, even though he never worked the hardcore matches in those shows.
Until next time...