John Corson (born April 4, 1971), better known by the ring name John Zandig, is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is the founder and former owner of the promotion

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...

(CZW).

Early life

Corson was born in Sewell, New Jersey. Before he was a professional wrestler, Corson was an explosives and demolition expert.

Professional wrestling career

Corson began training as a wrestler in 1994 and adopted the ring name John Zandig in 1999. Shortly after debuting, Zandig opened a

professional wrestling school Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

, in New Jersey in order to hone his skills. The school eventually evolved into a professional wrestling promotion,

, and relocated to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in late 2001. From its early stages, CZW was oriented towards

hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

; Zandig himself has been involved in many ultraviolent matches since the company's inception, involving such objects as

thumbtack A drawing pin (in British English) or thumb tack (in North American English) is a short nail or pin used to fasten items to a wall or board for display and intended to be inserted by hand, usually using the thumb. A variety of names is used ...

s, fluorescent light tubes, barbed wire, and a

weed wacker A string trimmer, also known by the portmanteau strimmer and the trademarks Weedwacker, Weed eater and Whipper Snipper. is a garden tool for cutting grass, small weeds, and groundcover. It uses a whirling monofilament line instead of a blad ...

. On one occasion, he was hung from

meat hook A meat hook is any hook normally used in butcheries to hang meat. This form of hook is a variation on the classic S hook. Types *An S-shaped hook or jointed hook is used to hang up meat or the carcasses of animals such as pigs and cattle ...

s. Zandig wrestled in Japan as the leader of CZW to compete for

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, ...

. In the early 2000s, Zandig appeared in a Japanese television commercial alongside the Japanese actress

Ai Kato is a Japanese actress and idol. On November 14, 2013, she announced that she had married a non-celebrity. They registered their marriage on November 22. On September 14, 2015, she revealed that she gave birth to her first child, a girl, in Amer ...

for a soft drink product named C1000 (by Takeda Food.Co), where he was knocked out by Ai's

lariat A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish an ...

. At Cage of Death 8, Zandig lost to

Nick Gage Nicholas William Wilson (born September 22, 1980), better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is the current GCW World Champion in his record-setting t ...

in a four-way Cage of Death match that included Lobo and

LuFisto Genevieve Goulet (born February 15, 1980), better known by the ring name LuFisto, is a French Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1997–present) LuFisto began training when she was 17 years old in ...

. Due to a prematch stipulation, Zandig was forced to retire as a result of losing. On March 10, 2007, Zandig teamed with Toby Klein to face and defeat D. J. Hyde and Mitch Ryder in a no rope barbed wire match. Zandig was filling in for Necro Butcher, who couldn't make it to the show. After the match, Zandig stated that his return was for one night only. Zandig once again came out of retirement at Tournament of Death 6 to face the Necro Butcher in a no-rope barbwired match when Necro Butchers original opponent, Mitch Ryder, could not make the show due to travel issues. He came out of retirement for the third time at Cage of Death X, defeating Danny Havoc, Brain Damage,

Drake Younger Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...

and Devon Moore in the 10,000 dollar Cage of Death match. That same night he inducted himself into the New Alhambra Hardcore Hall of Fame simply because he could book himself to do that. On August 8, 2009, John Zandig held a CZW Hall of Fame induction for Jon Dahmer, Hardcore Nick Gage, and Wifebeater; and recognition plaques for Mike Pancoast, Shawn and Sabine Kernaghan, WHACKS, and Maven Bentley. After announcing the Hall of Fame and special recognition plaques, Zandig announced that he was stepping down from CZW due to financial reasons and being too injured and tired to assume the duties that come with being the owner. Zandig announced that he had sold CZW, not for the price he wanted, but due to the economy it was enough to get him to sell. The new owner announced was CZW wrestler, D. J. Hyde. On October 25, 2009, Nick Gage defeated Zandig in his retirement match. On May 8, 2010, Zandig once again returned to the ring at CZW's Fist Fight and defeated Brain Damage in a Tournament of Death 9 qualifying match. Following his victory, Zandig was attacked by MASADA, setting up their first round meeting in June 2010's Tournament of Death 9 which Zandig no-showed due to injury. Zandig participated in the last CZW event held at the

ECW Arena 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

when he fought new CZW owner D. J. Hyde on January 14, 2012. This was the follow up from a surprise run-in at COD 13 when he attacked Hyde during his match with Greg Excellent. He returned to the ring once again on the 5th of June 2016 in another deathmatch tournament organised by him, called Tournament of Survival. He was not originally scheduled in the tournament and was to go one on one with

Joey Janela Joseph Janela (born July 3, 1989) is an American professional wrestler. Janela is most known for his work with promotions such as All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) ...

, but when wrestler Scott SUmmers could not compete anymore, he took the helm and got to the finals (but dropped out) as well as defeating Janela, hitting another rooftop Mother F'n Bomb onto Janela through a burning plytube board with light tubes on top of a truck. The tournament was later won by Danny Havoc. Zandig returned to CZW on June 11, 2016 for the annual Tournament of Death. During a non-tournament match between Josh Crane and current owner, D. J. Hyde, Zandig returned to the ring alongside Ruckus and Robbie Mireno and beat down D. J. Hyde until he would give up his ownership. However, D. J. Hyde would not, so along with the help of Josh Crane, Zandig, Mireno and Ruckus buried D. J. Hyde alive until he gave up ownership of CZW.

Other media

He appeared in the video game '' Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood'', and made a cameo in the wrestling drama '' The Wrestler''. He was also featured in VICE's Dark Side Of The Ring.

Championships and accomplishments

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship The is a title contested for in the Japanese promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audien ...

( 3 times) **

BJW Tag Team Championship The is the top tag team title defended in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. The championship has been the leading tag team championship in the promotion since 1997. There have been a total of 57 reigns shared ...

( 1 time) – with

**World Extreme Cup (2000) *

CZW World Heavyweight Championship The CZW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the professional wrestling promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). It debuted on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event. ...

( 6 times) ** CZW World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Nick Gage **

CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship The CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship was a professional hardcore wrestling championship owned by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) promotion. The title was introduced on February 5, 2005 at CZW's Only the Strong event. It has since been re ...

( 1 time) * Hardcore Hall of Fame **Class of 2008 *World Wrestling Association **WWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

Combat Zone Wrestling
*
Official MySpace

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zandig, John 1971 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Combat Zone Wrestling Living people People from Mantua Township, New Jersey Professional wrestling promoters CZW World Heavyweight Champions BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champions BJW Tag Team Champions CZW Ultraviolent Underground Champions