Joey Janela’s Spring Break: The Immortal Cluster****
Date: April 18, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: John Mosley, Veda Scott, Jordan Castle

Ah this show. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that is what makes it so fun. This show is more or less the big song and dance medley to end Wrestlemania Weekend as there are probably 50 or more people thrown into a totally ridiculous battle royal, which will probably last about an hour and a half at minimum. Other than that there is a violent cage match and that’s the whole card. Let’s get to it.

Here is Night One if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at Otis Cogar attacking Matt Tremont, who swore revenge. Tonight, they’re in a cage.

Opening sequence.

Ultraviolent Title: Otis Cogar vs. Matt Tremont

Cogar is defending in a cage with a bunch of weapons available. They slug it out to start instead of going for the weapons, with Cogar being sent into a pane of glass. Cogar is whipped face first into some light tubes and it’s already time for the fork to the head. It works so well that Tremont does it again and again but Cogar gets in a light tube shot. Tremont gets sent through a barbed wire board and then has a pane of glass broken over his back.

Some plastic baseball bats, covered with tacks, whack Tremont some more to draw even more blood. Cogar whips out a blade to pick the tacks out of Tremont’s head and then slices the webbing of Tremont’s fingers. The chair is put on Tremont’s head and Cogar goes up, only to get knocked back down. Cogar is Death Valley Drivered through a door and Tremont tapes him to the rope.

Tremont breaks a bunch of light tubes over Cogar’s head, which brings out Atticus Cogar and Christian Napier. The former’s distraction lets Napier get inside to chair Tremont down. Tremont fights back but Otis chairs Tremont in the head. Otis goes up top but misses a moonsault into the glass. Atticus and Napier get taped into the corner and Tremont chairs them in the head for a bonus. Tremont puts a bundle of light tubes on Otis’ chest and hits a frog splash for the pin and the title at 16:25.

Rating: D+. Yeah…not my thing. It was pretty much exactly the kind of stuff I can’t stand with this with blood and gore for the sake of blood and gore. That’s exactly how it was advertised, but dang this stuff plays into every stereotype this genre has. Tremont is a big star in this world and it’s a big win for him, but it’s just not for me.

Since cleanup takes a long time, we look at a bunch of stuff from Spring Break X, including:

The Invisible Man defeating Sandman in Sandman’s retirement match

Marko Stunt/Jack Perry beating KJ Orso/Sam Stackhouse, with ring announcer Emil J getting involved

Effy beating Allie Katch to end her GCW career

Atticus Cogar beating Hayabusa to retain the World Title

Brodie Lee Jr. beating Joey Janela in the main event

We get highlights of Bear Bronson winning the Nick Gage Invitational over Otis Cogar in December 2025.

We look at John Wayne Murdoch beating Vipress in a death match in March 2025.

We look at shows from last year.

We look at Brodie Lee Jr. winning last year’s Cluster.

We look at a six person tag in July 2025 with Megan Bayne beating up some men.

We look at 1 Called Manders losing a match in Japan in July 2025.

We look at Bustah And The Brain winning the Tag Team Titles last year at Spring Break.

We look at more of the six person tag.

We take a quick look at one match in the two day JCW vs. GCW war.

We look at the last two Tag Team Title changes.

We look at a six person lucha tag from December 2025.

We look at Jordan Oliver vs. Frankie Kazarian from September 2025.

The Tournament Of Survival is coming.

We look at a show in Japan in July 2025.

We look at a show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at another show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at the first Cluster.

We look at a third show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at a show in Japan in July 2025.

We look at the first August 2024 Japan show again.

And now, about fifty minutes after the previous match ended, we cluster.

Immortal Clusterf***

There are an unknown number of entrants with unspecified times. You are eliminated via pinfall, submission, over the top, leaving the building or death. Also note that the numbers are likely to be all over the place as you’ll see groups of wrestlers enter together. The eliminations will be a mess too as you’ll see people sitting around for long, long stretches without doing anything and then getting back in.

Man Like DeReiss is in at #1 and Marcus Mathers is in at #2, with the former rapping himself to the ring and the latter being carried. They go with a pinfall reversal sequence for one each before running the rope rather quickly. Mathers hits a dropkick and they both go through/underneath the ropes to the floor. Sam Holloway, with Alex Abrahantes, is in at #3 and starts kicking away. Bustah And The Brain are listed at #4 and come in about ten seconds after Holloway.

Everyone but DeReiss goes after Holloway and knock him to the floor as the Backseat Boyz are in at #5. The tag teams get in a double brawl as Holloway beats Mathers around the arena. JP double Blockbusters Bustah And The Brain as the Boyz’s manager gets inside. She moonsaults onto a bunch of people on the floor and Tom Shire is in at #6. A double chokeslam gets rid of the Boyz and it’s Holloway vs. Shire as Shotzi Blackheart is in at #7. Mathers clotheslines Holloway out and Blackheart gives DeReiss an X Factor.

Brick Savage, also with Abrahantes (who says almost the same thing) is in at #8. Savage beats up DeReiss and Mathers before powerbombing the heck out of Blackheart. Shire comes back in to boot Savage in the face and everyone is down as Nate Webb is in at #9, meaning we get the Teenage Dirtbag entrance, always a highlight of this thing. He’s just getting going though and it’s B3cca and her tag team in at #10 to beat up Webb. Kingsley and I want to say Shay Kassidy are in at #11 and do their own singing entrance to cut off B3cca’s song.

Ro and Jui (Mariachis) are in at #12 to clear the ring and give B3cca a swinging Boss Man Slam. DeReiss grabs the mic and asks what in the name of gimmick infringement is this. Kingsley says they need to stop fighting because they’re all in this together. And then they sing We’re All In This Together from High School Musical. KJ Orso is in at # 13 and says no one wants to hear them sing and dance so everyone beats on him. Blackheart knocks DeReiss out by mistake though and it’s Sam Stackhouse in at #14.

Ro Jui are out, with Stackhouse also getting rid of B3cca’s goons. B3cca eliminates herself and Orso gets rid of Webb. Kingsley and Kassidy are out, the latter off a kick to the head/piledriver combination. Savage comes back in to plant Orso but Stackhouse dumps Savage out. Savage is back up to get rid of Stackhouse though and it’s 1 Called Manders in at #15. Manders and Shire get in the ring as a bunch of people get back in, including Bustah And The Brain. The teams slug it out and it’s Flyin Ryan O’Neil in at #16 to beat up Orso.

Wyatt/Wayne Rhodes, the nephews of Cody/Dustin Rhodes, are in at #17. They start fast with Shattered Dreams to O’Neil and Mathers before staring down Manders and Shire. Fans: “COWBOY S***!” O’Neil keeps messing with them and gets tossed out, with Stackhouse still there to catch him. Mathers is out and it’s Bustah And The Brain beating up the Rhodes, with Wyatt eliminating Wayne by mistake. An assisted Blockbuster pins Wyatt and the Rhodes are gone.

Brook Havok is in at #18 and strikes away at Shire. Manders is back in to take Havok down and it’s Dark Sheik in at #19. They team up to beat on Manders, stop to kiss, and then beat up Orso. Matt Mako is in at #20 to strike away at Orso, with an elbow getting two. A powerbomb gets two on Sheik and Beastman is in at #21. Beastman powerbombs Havok onto Mako for a double pin and Sheik’s top rope dive bounces off of him. Sheik manages to knock him to the apron though and a 619 to the back of the head gets rid of Beastman.

Sean Ross Sapp of all people is in at at #22 and yells at Bryan Alvarez, who is in the front row. Alvarez is in at #23 and chops away at Sapp. Alvarez hits a superkick to pin Sapp but Orso kicks Alvarez for the pin and then throws him over the top (Emil J: “Bryan Alvarez has been eliminated. Twice.”). Blackheart kicks Orso low and tosses him out and it’s Stunt Marshall (from freaking Power Slap) in at #24.

Juicy Finau is in at #25 and teases a slap off with Marshall, who pokes him in the eye. That earns Marshall a slap out of the ring so Manders gives Finau a slap on the back of the fights. Finau eliminates Manders and Hollyhood Haley J is in at #26. Marshall gets back in to eliminate Finau and Killer Kelly is in at #27. Airica Demia is back in at #28 and goes after Sheik as Gisele Shaw is in at #29. The women all get together to kick each other down, with Shaw getting up first to toss Demia.

Kelly gets up and starts biting people before leaning over the ropes to offer herself for some biting as well. The other four oblige her but also eliminate her, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Shaw and Sheik eliminate each other and it’s Jazzy Yang/Terry Yaki/Jay Lucas/Bobby Flacco in at #30. Alex Abrahantes is back and introduces his third entrant: thee Invisible Man.

The Man beats up Yang and company before tossing out Bustah And The Brain. Manders gets lariated and tossed as well but Shire gets Man in the airplane spin. A big boot misses though and Shire is tossed. Man drops Yang for the pin and tosses Lucas out before getting rid of Flacco as well. The Man flies through the air for a DDT to Yaki for the elimination. Helix/Channing Decker/Ian Maxwell/Emily Jaye are in at #31 and get beaten up by the Man, who knocks Maxwell out.

Helix is tossed but Jaye hits Man low. Jaye and Decker double team the Man but he ducks a shot, causing them to kiss. A rollup finishes Jaye and a chair shot gets rid of Decker. Enter Sandman starts up but it’s Joey Janea in at #32 instead. Janela slams the Man down and a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle gets two. Man is back with four straight Canadian Destroyers for two. Janela says I’m sorry, I love you and superkicks Man for the pin.

Starman, who was at the WrestleCon Supershow and seemed to be portrayed by Janela, is in at #33. Starman gets frozen though and gets unmasked as Starboy Charlie, which wakes him up. A kick to the face and standing corkscrew moonsault gets two on Janela. Charlie’s standing hurricanrana pins Janela as Blackheart comes back in. A powerbomb plants Charlie for two and it’s Jimmy Lloyd (who is apparently rather different than usual) to beat up Charlie and flip him down for the pin.

Don Freeze is in at #34 and crushes Lloyd in the corner, followed by a northern lights suplex. Maya World is in at #35 and puts some sunglasses on Freeze but can’t roll him up. World hits a superkick and moonsault for two on Freeze as Lloyd is back in. LJ Cleary is in at #36 and hits Freeze low. Monomoth is in at #37 and hits a Thesz press on Cleary to hammer away. D’Lo Brown, doing guest commentary, is in a #38 and eliminates Cleary. The Sky High plants Freeze and Brown tosses him out.

Monomoth says he doesn’t know Brown, which isn’t working for Brown, who tosses Monomoth out. Brown isn’t sure what to do with World, who slaps Brown in the face. She tries a hurricanrana, which is blocked at first but eventually gets rid of Brown, leaving World alone in the ring (I have no idea who else might be left). Nixi XS is in at #39 and kicks World out underneath the ropes.

Sleepy Ed is in at #40 and everyone starts whispering as he takes his nap. XS tries to cover him but has to fight out of his sleeper (I sense a theme here). Then she tells him to wake up and stomps in the corner as Sam Osborne and about five others from Australia are in at #41. Blackheart is back up as the team is already fighting among themselves. And now…here are three dinosaurs in at #42.

The dinosaurs slug it out with the Aussies and toss two of them before pinning Osborne. Thee other Aussies are out and Ed is up to spit Nyquil at two dinosaurs. A third tries a full nelson but doesn’t have the arms. Instead Ed Nyquils that one too and “the dinosaurs have gone extinct.” Parrow is in at #43 so Ed goes to sleep. That leaves Parrow to slowly roll him over for a VERY quiet near fall. Logan Cavazos is in at #44 as “the twink gauntlet” (their words, not mine) has begun.

Juni Underwood is in at #45 and pokes Parrow in the eye to little avail. Anakin Murphy is in at #46 (Parrow: “GIVE ME ANOTHER TWINK!”) and Cass (I think) is in at #47. Emil J: “THE TWINKS HAVE BEEN UNLEASHED!” They go after Parrow, who tosses them all in a row. Classy Ali is in at #48 and is tossed just as fast. Sal Mistretta, with his football, is in at #49 and gets the same treatment. Cereal Man (with a head made of box of cereal) is in at #50. Parrow gets some Frosted Flakes poured in his mouth but Cereal loses his gear and gets tossed.

XS comes in to go after Parrow’s nipples and hits some gyrating knees in the corner. Parrow tosses her as well and it’s CPA in at #51. Parrow goes to toss him but only steals his tie. CPA puts a tie on Parrow’s tights and is quickly knocked down. Bear Bronson is in at #52 for a Black Hole Slam to Parrow and it’s Debbie Forza in at #53. They get together and dump Parrow, with Forza kissing Bronson and then Jackhammering him for the pin. Haley J (Remember what I said about people doing nothing for long stretches?) is back in to knock Forza down and it’s 25 Cent in at #54.

A stomp to Haley’s foot lets Cent roll her up for the pin and it’s Jimmy Lloyd (The…original? Commentary is confused too.) in at #55. A Michinoku Driver gets rid of Cent…and the other Lloyd gets in for a fight. A flipping slam pins the “real” Lloyd (the one who was in first) and it’s Heath in at #56. The Zig Zag gets rid of “the fake Jimmy Lloyd” and it’s Mullet Man in at #57. Heath kicks him down and hits a big boot and legdrop for two. Tombstone Jesus (oh dear) is in at #58 and teams up with Mullet Man to get rid of Heath.

Forza gets back up to spear Jesus out and Shotzi helps her get rid of Mullet Man. Vipress is in at #59 and kisses Blackheart while loading up Sister Abigail. Forza breaks that up so Vipress and Blackheart kick her down as Frank The Clown is in at #60. Since he’s one of the most annoying commentators I’ve ever heard, he gets a mic to complain about how he’s been treated so badly over the years. The three women hit him low and give him a big stomping as Slade is in at #61. Slade throws Frank in a trashcan and Frank is declared “dead”.

Slade goes after CPA (who takes off his first shirt) and a team called the Production is in at #62. The three women toss them out rather quickly and then jump Slade. Tara Zep is in at #63 and grabs a chair to beat on the bleeding Slade. Zep DDTs her way out of Forza’s gorilla press and it’s Toby Klein in at #64. That means a slow entrance and it’s Connor Claxton, with his own chair, in at #65.

Claxton slams Zep for the elimination and it’s Dr. Redacted, with his barbed wire board, in at #66 as the final entrant. Commentary says he’s #69 and after almost two and a half hours, I’ll go with that. Redacted gets rid of Claxton and hits Forza with a chair. Forza is out and Redacted goes up to dive…and eliminates himself. CPA loses his second shirt and gets kicked low, with Blackheart being chokeslammed onto him. Slade tosses CPA and Vipress, leaving him alone with Blackheart. Some chair shots to the back have Blackheart in trouble but she tosses him out for the win at 2:30:00.

Rating: B-. I mean…it’s the Cluster. What in the world do you want me to say about something like this? The whole point is just to have every wrestler or gimmick that they can find and throw them out there and yeah of course it works. It’s just goofy fun and while it goes on for the better part of ever, I still enjoy it every year. Fun stuff, as always, with the winner being little more than a detail.

Overall Rating: C+. Again, this isn’t a show where the rating means a single thing and I think you know that by now. The point of this show is to do something ridiculous as the big GCW show was over last night. I had enough fun with this and that’s all I can ask for. It’s nothing that would work most of the time but in this spot, it worked rather well. If you like this stuff, you’ll like this and if not, I totally get it.

Results
Matt Tremont b. Otis Cogar – Frog splash onto a bundle of light tubes
Shotzi Blackheart won the Immortal Clusterf*** last eliminating Slade

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break X
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Veda Scott, John Mosley, Jordan Castle

This has become the biggest independent show of the weekend (or at least close to it) and I kind of find myself looking forward to it. Unfortunately some of that is due to seeing how ridiculous the show can get. That might be what we’ll be seeing here, with the main event featuring Joey Janela vs. a fourteen year old. Let’s get to it.

We open with a look back at the show’s history (I still need to see the first one), which really has become a big deal over the years. And now it’s the tenth edition, which thankfully does use the Wrestlemania X logo.

Opening video, which seems to be a generic GCW video.

Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match

Vipress, Masato Tanaka, Gringo Loco, Shotzi Blackheart, Bear Bronson, 1 Called Manders, Man Like DeReiss, Sidney Akeem, Charles Manson, Terry Yaki, Vengador

For a guaranteed title shot and I’m sure this will be nice and orderly. DeReiss gets jumped during his entrance and the fight starts on the floor, meaning Loco has to moonsault onto everyone else. Akeem is taken up top for a Spanish Fly onto the pile and everyone is down again. Mason takes Yaki inside for…two, as I don’t think I quite get the rules. Mason stands up and some music plays as Tanaka joins us as the final entrant. DeReiss and Tanaka have a standoff and shout DeReiss’ 01-21 catchphrase until DeReiss grabs a cutter.

Vengador comes in to go after Akeem…and breaks the top rope on a flip attempt. Blackheart comes in and gets slammed by Loco, who goes…well as high up as he can. Tanaka hurricanranas him down but Blackheart dropkicks a ladder into Tanaka’s face. Bronson goes after Mason, who dropkicks him through a door in the corner for two. Tanaka and Bronson take turns blasting the other in the head with chairs (oh dear) and forearm it out until Bronson’s Black Hole Slam gets one.

The two of them brawl into the crowd as Blackheart sets up a ladder. The ring crew comes in to repair the top rope (fans: “SAFETY FIRST!”) and Blackheart climbs the ladder. Vipress joins her so Blackheart…kisses Vipress and removes her shirt before they both dive off. DeReiss goes up to the middle rope (still no top rope) for a 450 but Yaki kind of Angle Slam bombs him for two.

A regular ladder is bridged into the standing one…and Loco base bombs Vengador off one ladder and through the door for the huge crash. Vipress piledrives Mason off the apron and through a door but Christian Napier runs in to take Vipress out. Cue Matt Tremont to go after Napier and brawl with him to the back. Manders (hey he’s in this too) gets cuttered by Vengador, who goes up for a splash off the ladder for two. Manders lariats the heck out of Vengador for the pin at 21:42.

Rating: B-. Well it wasn’t boring. I’m not sure if it was good, but it wasn’t boring. This is their version of Money In The Bank, though they could have done a better job of explaining the rules. In short, a match with a ladder tends to have something to grab above the ring but this was just a weapons scramble match. It’s good enough, but with fifteen people involved, it was a bit much.

Post match San Francisco 49ers star and wrestling superfan George Kittle celebrates with Manders.

We get a video of GCW wrestlers who have passed away over the years. Well that’s depressing.

Atticus Cogar talks about everything he has done to get here and hates that someone is impersonating Hayabusa. This isn’t a game to him and he is the World Champion. The new Hayabusa is just an invader and the mask means nothing. The reality is scars carry rank and the fake Hayabusa is about to learn it. That’s an intense promo and I’m not surprised Cogar is the top heel around here after last year.

Rascalz vs. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain

Mathers and Reed start things off and miss kicks/clotheslines to start. A pinfall reversal sequence gets two each until Mathers kicks him into the corner. Reed misses a legsweep but comes back with a quick dropkick. Mathers is sent into the wrong corner and the Rascalz get in the rapid fire kicks for two. Price comes in and gets a running start into a jump to escape an early wristlock.

Oliver comes in to double team Xavier into the corner for some triple boots. Xavier is able to get up for a tag off to Wentz though and the unaware Mathers gets taken down. Wentz grabs a chinlock and kicks him down for two before it’s back to Reed. Some shots to the back keep Mathers down before it’s back to Wentz for a slingshot hilo.

Mathers fights up and brings Oliver in to clean house. A German suplex gets two on Wentz and cradles Reed at the same time, followed by an assisted Blockbuster for two. Wentz fights up and brings Reed back in for a slingshot belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination. Everything breaks down and Oliver hits a springboard clothesline to take over.

Xavier gets double teamed down and Price and Mathers hit a running dive each. Back in and Mathers’ 450 gets two on Xavier with Reed and Wentz making the save. Reed is back up with the running diving cutter and the Cardiac Kick hits Price. A Swanton into a 450 into Spiral Tap finishes Price at 16:04.

Rating: B+. This has been the week of the six man tags and this was yet another rather awesome edition. It’s a good example of a match that takes people and lets them do their thing from start to end, which was quite the treat. The Rascalz are great when they aren’t doing their comedy stuff and I like the other three more than enough for them to carry their side. Very entertaining match.

We get a video on Atticus Cogar vs. Hayabusa. Cogar is the big bad around here and Hayabusa is basically a tribute to the original. Cogar doesn’t think Hayabusa has the heart and scars though so it’s time for Hayabusa to earn them.

Game Changer Wrestling World Title: Hayabusa vs. Atticus Cogar

Cogar is defending. The fans seem to like Cogar a lot, despite him seemingly being the big villain. Cogar tries an early skewers shot so Hayabusa hammers away before avoiding a charge. Hayabusa’s Asai moonsault hits Cogar on the floor but Cogar ties him in the ropes for a moonsault back inside. The chinlock goes on and Hayabusa actually has to go to the ropes, meaning it’s time for the weapons.

Back in and Cogar starts chairing the knee down before getting the skewers for some stabbing. A back elbow gives Cogar two but Hayabusa knocks him off the top for a missile dropkick. Hayabusa’s suplex into a moonsault gets two and he grabs the Figure Four. The rope is grabbed and the fans are split between them, though the opt for Sabu after Hayabusa does one of his dives. Cogar is back up and kicks a chair into Hayabusa’s leg for two so it’s time to open a bunch of chairs.

Hayabusa is laid on the chairs but Cogar’s moonsault stomp only hits said chairs to leave him down. Back up and Hayabusa bridges a door over some chairs and a 450 drives Cogar through it for a slightly delayed two. Cogar pulls him off the top though and the Brain Hemorrhage (bulldog driver) gets two more. With that not working, Cogar grabs the skewers but Hayabusa takes them away and stabs him in the head instead. Hayabusa misses a moonsault (Cogar moved, but he was three feet from where Hayabusa landed anyway) and another Brain Hemorrhage retains at 13:35.

Rating: C+. I hate the skewers thing, but thankfully they didn’t go too crazy with them here. Instead it was more about chairs and the doors, though I never got to the point where I thought the title was in trouble. This felt more like a challenger of the month more than anything else, as they never got into the idea of hurting Hayabusa to cause the scars that Cogar talked about. It’s not a bad match, but I was hoping for more.

We recap Marko Stunt/Jack Perry vs. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso. Stunt announced his retirement and Orso attacked him. Orso’s former friend Stackhouse came out to save Stunt and then turned on him, joining Orso on the side of evil. Stunt wanted revenge and Perry was back to team with him, setting up the match.

Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso vs. Marko Stunt/Jack Perry

Yes Perry arrives in his bus and yes Luchasaurus is still driving despite having one good…I guess it would be an arm. Stackhouse (who weights around 400lbs) is dressed as One Man Gang and Orso is in Ric Flair gear. We get a bunch of posing to start until Perry shoulders Orso down. With that not working, it’s off to Stackhouse, with Stunt wanting to come in as well. Stackhouse even drops to his knees before handing it back to Orso. They run the ropes a bit until Stunt grabs a rollup and scores with a basement dropkick.

Perry comes back in for a slam and has Stunt stand on his shoulders for a big splash. It’s back to Stackhouse for the spinwheel kick in the corner and Perry I knocked off the apron as well. Perry gets dropkicked off the apron as well but Stackhouse misses a charge, allowing Perry to get the tag. A quick sitout powerbomb gives Perry two and it’s already back to Stunt, who gets planted by Orso.

Stackhouse’s basement crossbody hits Stunt for two with Perry having to make the save. Orso dropkicks Stackhouse by mistake so he rakes Stunt in the eyes. Perry is back up with a poisonrana to Orso and a moonsault to the floor to drop Stackhouse. Back in and Stunt gives Orso a heck of a tornado Codebreaker but Stackhouse drops Stunt with ease. Perry is back in with a tornado DDT to Stackhouse, allowing Stunt to hit a 450. Stackhouse is ticked and clotheslines both of them and Stunt gets planted with a fire thunder driver.

Somehow Stunt pops up at two and slaps away at the monster Stackhouse and gives him a Codebreaker. Orso is back up to send Perry into Stunt in the corner and then kicks Perry low for a bonus. The Character Assassination (something like the House Call) gets two on Perry and it’s time to grab Perry’s title. Ring announcer Emil J grabs the title and gets pulled inside, with Perry having to make the save. Stunt dives onto Stackhouse on the floor and J gives Orso a tornado DDT. Perry picks Orso onto his shoulder for a top rope flipping cutter from Stunt and the pin at 16:14.

Rating: B. They played this one mostly straight, with Emil J’s deal being the only thing that was a bit silly. The idea here was to have the fans see Stunt get his revenge with help from his old friend. It’s a great example of a story where they didn’t screw it up and went with what they should have done. I liked this more than I expected to and that’s a nice feeling to have.

Post match Stunt says he’s back.

We recap The Sandman in his retirement match against…the Invisible Man. This involved Sandman on a talk show, attempting to run Invisible Man over, and Man winning matches on the way here. This has…I have no idea what it has really.

Sandman vs. The Invisible Man

Sandman gets to do the full Enter Sandman entrance, complete with beer and cigarettes, which will never stop being awesome. This of course takes its sweet time but hang on because here is Bill Alfonso…to be in Man’s corner. Man knocks the beer out of Sandman’s hand to start and knocks him down, with Sandman begging off to start. Sandman fights out of the corner, gives Man a kiss, and throws the left hands to drop him.

The Singapore cane shots connect but Man is back with a low blow. Sandman fights back but Alfonso gets in for a distraction…and a bunch of zombies come out for revenge of the ECW On Sci Fi debut (WOW that’s amazing and no I’m not being sarcastic). Cue the Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro to take out the zombies (the Outbreak) but the Man rams them together. Richard Holiday comes out to load up a low blow on Sandman, which brings out…someone in overalls named Guy Steel.

Holiday gets beaten up but Steel gets dropped by Man. A Canadian Destroyer takes Steel down so Sandman asks a woman at ringside named Kendra Lust to hand in the cane. Naturally she turns on Sandman, which brings out Missy Hyatt to beat Lust down with her own cane. The women fight off so Man spears Sandman through a door in the corner, only to hit the referee by mistake.

Another referee comes in and Sandman beats him up, which brings out a third referee, who gets beaten up by Man. Five more referees (WHY DO THEY HAVE SO MANY REFEREES???) get taken out and let’s just keep it going, with Sandman and Man pingponging one of them back and forth. Even Fonzie beats up a referee, leaving Sandman and the Man to slug it out. Sandman falls on him for….the biggest group near fall you’ll ever see, as about ten referees count two.

Man kicks a ladder into Sandman’s face…but INVISIBLE STAN is back! Somehow Fonzie gets them to work together….so MICK FOLEY IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! After taking out Stan with a double arm DDT, Foley throws Mr. Socko to Sandman and we get a big hug. Stan and Man are back up though and a low blow gives Man the pin on Sandman at 20:49.

Rating: A+. If you don’t get why this was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in a long time, you need to pay better attention. Where else are you going to see two invis ok never mind on that one. But it had Foley and Sandman, plus a horde of zombies and Bill Alfonso, with Sandman going out on his back. I’m sold.

Post match Man and Stan leave together and Foley says he’s here for free because he and Sandman may not have liked each other, but they meant a lot to each other’s careers. With that, Foley leaves and Sandman toasts the crowd and leaves a beer in the ring for a nice moment.

Sandman might not have been a polished in-ring star, but he was the perfect choice for ECW at that time in front of that audience. He has turned that into a heck of a post in-ring career and this was just goofy fun to wrap it up. I got to be in the ECW Arena for a Sandman entrance once and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Sandman deserves this and it’s awesome to see him get this big sendoff.

We recap Effy vs. Allie Katch. They were friends and partners, but Effy lost the World Title and snapped under the pressure, even turning on Katch. She can’t see him like this and now it’s time for them to fight one on one, loser leaves GCW. This is another case where building up characters and relationships makes things feel important. Yes their team was often silly, but this feels important and emotional and that’s great to see.

Effy vs. Allie Katch

Loser leaves GCW. Effy shows off his g-string to start and starts a BUSSY chant, earning him a shot to the face. Katch can’t bring herself to dive after getting hurt doing it before so instead she hits a baseball slide. They go up to the stage with Effy being sent to the floor and taken down with a dive. Back in and a piledriver gives Katch two but Effy is back with something like a full nelson with his legs in the ropes. That doesn’t last long so Effy grabs the chair, followed by a running boot in the corner.

Effy takes too long going up though and gets a chair pelted at him for two. A top rope Fameasser sends Effy’s face into the chair for two so Effy asks her to hit him with the chair. Since she can’t do that, it’s a TKO flipped over into a dragon sleeper to put Katch in more trouble. Effy curb stomps her face first into the chair, leaving Katch busted open. Some hips to the head and a running seated senton gives Effy two.

The door is thrown in and stomped onto Katch but she’s back up with a powerbomb. A Muta Lock has Effy in more trouble but it doesn’t last long. Effy drops his trunks and hits another hip attack to the face, only to get pulled into a Pele Kick. Back up and Effy hits a spear for two before breaking the door over her head. A chokeslam onto a bunch of stuff gives Effy two and it’s time for a screwdriver (which was used on both of them over the years).

Cue the 1 Called Manders so Effy stabs him instead. Katch is back with a splash but the Cannonball misses. Effy grabs the bell so here is Parrow, who gets hit with the bell and stabbed with the screwdriver. Katch is busted open but keeps fighting back so Effy grabs a turnbuckle. Now it’s Dark Sheik coming out to take the wrench from Effy and hit him in the head. She hands Katch the wrench and leaves, so Effy starts begging off. Katch throws it down and hugs him…so Effy headbutts her. The screwdriver to the head has Katch screaming and the piledriver finishes her off at 25:50.

Rating: B. This was all about the emotions and that works because these two have been built up as people we should care about. Yes you had stuff that wasn’t as serious like Effy with his trunks and the screwdriver which is so over the top that it’s hard to care about, but the relationship is there. It’s a case of “personal issues draw money” and that’s why this worked, just like it would anywhere if it was treated as something that mattered.

We recap Steph de Lander/Mance Warner vs. Megan Bayne/??? Bayne had attacked the injured de Lander so Warner made the save and issued the challenge for Spring Break. Naturally, game on.

Mance Warner/Steph de Lander vs. Megan Bayne/???

Warner and de Lander have Las Vegas showgirls with her due to…well we’re in Vegas at a show. Warner jumps Bayne from behind and de Lander hammer away as there’s no partner yet. Bayne is down…and it’s Nick Gage. The brawl is on with Gage taking Mancer out and then giving de Lander a DDT. The introduction goes on as Gage and Bayne beat Warner up, with Gage switching off to de Lander.

Warner is back up to cut Gage off and we settle down to de Lander and Warner taking turns beating on Bayne. That’s reversed and Bayne chops away at de Lander, only to get choked by Warner. Bayne gets back up to fire off the forearms to de Lander and they knock each other down. Gage gets the tag and spears Warner through a piece of a door, followed by stereo falcon arrows to give Gage and Bayne two each.

It’s time for the weapons (you knew they were coming), with Warner chairing Gage down but getting speared by Bayne. Back up and Warner slugs away at Gage, who gets tornado DDT…well not through a door as the thing doesn’t break. The four of them sit in the chairs and slug it out until Bayne is up with a double clothesline. A piledriver onto the chair gets two on Warner, with de Lander pulling the referee. The required pizza cutter sliced Warner up and Bayne powerbombs him into Gage’s piledriver for the pin at 15:00.

Rating: C+. Your mileage may vary here and that’s just how it’s going to work with stuff involving Gage. I’m not big on the guy, though I do appreciate the idea of Bayne and Gage talking backstage to set the team up. The match was the usual violent brawling, though I do still like Warner, even if he does some out there stuff in the ring.

We recap Joey Janela vs. 14 year old Brodie Lee Jr. Lee wanted to wrestle Janela, who wasn’t interested, at least until Lee called him “Megan Bayne’s b****”. That was enough as Janela went hard on him and beat him up. The match was set, with Janela invoking Lee’s father dying to get his mother to sign a waiver for the match. And yes, this is the main event.

Joey Janela vs. Brodie Lee Jr.

Lee has a bunch of wrestlers to fire him up and we’re ready to go. Janela backs him into the corner and then hits a running shoulder, allowing Janela to get in some mockery. Lee rolls out of a wristlock and trips Janela down, earning himself a sucker punch. A headscissors takes Janela down so he grabs a crucifix, only to get caught with a PK. Janela knocks him down again but Lee is back up with a jumping back elbow. The chase is on with Janela decking him on the way back inside.

Janela’s backbreaker connects as Lee is bleeding from the nose. They go outside again where Janela chops the post by mistake and Lee gets two off a sunset flip back inside. Janela knocks him down again and hits another backbreaker, only to miss the moonsault. Lee is back up to stomp away in the corner, followed by the clotheslines. A nice hurricanrana out of the corner brings Janela down and Lee hits a good looking jumping knee.

Lee’s high crossbody gets two and Janela bails out to the floor. That just earns him a diving tornado DDT off the apron and Lee grabs the papers (ala his father) to throw at Janela. A Heatseeker (which Lee says is for MJF) gets two but Janela gets in a chair to the knee. Janela even Pillmanizes the leg, followed by an ankle lock. Lee rolls out and gets two off a rollup before getting his own ankle lock.

Janela makes the rope so the referee starts the five count, despite commentary saying there are no DQ’s in GCW. Janela is back up with a Figure Four but Lee manages to turn it over. They get back up and slug it out, with Janela doing as Lee asks and hitting him harder. Janela’s tombstone attempt is countered into a headscissor driver for two. A Death Valley Driver gets two on Lee…but Janela won’t piledrive him.

Cue Chris Bey, who isn’t allowed at ringside (like everyone else), allowing Lee to roll him up for two. The Death Valley Driver onto the apron is countered into a DDT and they get back inside. The slugout results in them both knocking the other down, but Lee nips up. A sliding kick to the head looks gives Lee two but Janela drops him again.

Janela loads up Lee’s discus lariat, which is countered into a Sister Abigail for two. A cutter hits Janela, who is right back with a piledriver for two. Janela takes Lee up top but a dragon superplex is broken up. Lee rolls into a Cross Rhodes for two on Janela and his father’s discus lariat sets up…another discus lariat. Lee pulls him up at two though and grabs the Sharpshooter (as he was trained in the Dungeon) for the tap at 28:49.

Rating: C. Where in the world do I begin? First of all, no, of course I’m not grading this on a normal scale because Lee is 14 and not a regular wrestler and no I’m not going to say this was some embarrassment to wrestling as I was having a blast with the Sandman and the Invisible Man on the same show. That’s all fine. The problem is the charm of this match wore out its welcome WAY before they wrapped it up, as suspension of disbelief only got me so far. It’s Lee getting to honor his father and the company trying to help him deal with things, which is great, but this needed to be WAY shorter than Janela’s regular far too long matches.

Post match Lee’s mother comes in to hug him and his little brother comes in. Lee’s trainer gets in and the brother says he’s coming for Janela next. Janela’s eyes bug out to end the show (ok they made up for some of it there).

Overall Rating: B. I’m never going to be a full time GCW fan, as they’re a bit too all over the place for me. I’m not big on the death match stuff and a lot of their content is fairly low rent. That being said, every so often, when they’ve had the chance to put something together and have the right people and I’m in the right mood, it can be incredibly entertaining stuff.

I do like the Spring Break shows and they’re the kind of insane fun that only wrestling can provide. This might not be the best wrestling, but it’s some of the most entertaining at times and that’s worth quite a bit. You might love this or hate it, but they know their audience and that’s a good thing to see, as you can get fun nights like this one.

Results
1 Called Manders won the Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match
Rascalz b. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain – Spiral Tap to Price
Atticus Cogar b. Hayabusa – Brain Hemorrhage
Marko Stunt/Jack Perry b. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso – Elevated top rope twisting cutter
Invisible Man b. Sandman – Rollup
Effy b. Allie Katch – Piledriver
Nick Gage/Megan Bayne b. Mance Warner/Steph de Lander – Piledriver to Warner
Brodie Lee Jr. b. Joey Janela – Sharpshooter

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Death Vegas Invitational
Date: April 16, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Veda Scott, Jordan Castle

This is from New Japan, though I’m not entirely clear just how much impact they’re going to have on the show. The good thing is that the promotion is getting some attention during the biggest wrestling week of the year, though hopefully the DEATH name is more just some odd name rather than a certain type of wrestling. Let’s get to it.

The opening video…yep it’s death match stuff, as presented by El Desperado. Thanks for that.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Fuminori Abe

The graphic says that Sabre is the World’s Best Technical Wrestler while Abe (who is listed as X) is a third rate wrestler. I sense shenanigans. Anyway they go to the mat to start with Sabre’s cranking on the leg not getting him very far. Abe cranks on a hammerlock but Sabre slips out and stomps Abe’s arm for a change.

Back up and Sabre takes him to the rope for a slap to the face, which doesn’t sit well with Abe. Sabre misses a charge and crashes to the floor, with Abe sending him into some chairs. Abe chops and kicks him in the back but takes too long, allowing Sabre to get in a neck twist. Back in and Sabre ties up various limbs, followed by another neck twist to keep him down.

Sabre’s kick to the ribs is cut off though and Abe twists the knee around. A spinning kick to the ribs drops Sabre and Abe grabs a failed cross armbreaker attempt. Sabre wins another grapple off and gets his own cross armbreaker, followed by a double arm crank. Abe gets over to the rope and they both need a breather.

They trade some big shots to the face and both go down again. It takes a bit longer to get up as we hit the fifteen minute call. Abe wins a slugout and grabs an octopus, which is reversed into the ankle lock. That’s broken up as well but Sabre snaps on the Zack Driver for the pin at 16:52.

Rating: B+. This was a technical showcase and that’s a great thing to see. They were trading one hold after another and trying to wear the other down until someone got the big shot at the end. That’s exactly how it should have gone and it was quite the opener, with Sabre knowing how to do this match in his sleep.

Post match, respect is shown.

Effy vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Ishin

This is billed as Cute Sexy Hardcore and I think that is the right order for these three. It’s a dance/gyrate off to start, with Lloyd knocking them both down. Effy sits in a chair and wants a lap dance before watching the other two thrust their pelvises. Ishin runs Effy over but gets knocked down by Lloyd’s chair shot.

The chairs are brought in but Ishin suplexes Lloyd onto the side of an overturned chair (OUCH). Ishin knocks Effy down and pokes him in the back of the trunks while Lloyd pushes his thumbs into Effy’s mouth. Castle: “Double penetration here.” Effy fights up and kicks Ishin in the face and gives him a leg bulldog out of the corner.

It’s time for the first door, which he rams into Lloyd in the corner. Effy’s double Rough Ryder gets two but Lloyd is back up with a powerbomb through the door. Ishin makes the save and puts some chairs on Lloyd, only for Effy to cut him off on top. Ishin kisses Effy on top and superplexes him onto the chairs onto Lloyd. A frog splash onto the chairs onto Lloyd gives Ishin the pin at 8:24.

Rating: C+. Weird spot in the middle aside (uh, yeah), this was a somewhat fun match, mainly because they didn’t go with the crazy hardcore. Chairs and a door are fine and the match didn’t go too long. Effy continues to be a talented star who can have some good matches and he fit in well here. Ishin has been around a lot this week and it’s nice to see him get a win for a change.

MxM Collection vs. Kushida/Yamato vs. Bustah And The Brain

This is billed as “Runaway Rush And Crash: A Drop Dead Gorgeous” match, which makes perfect sense. Thankfully Price is walking and he jumps over the steps (after getting hurt on them yesterday). Price, Yamato and Mansoor start things off with a three way test of strength. Yamato gets the better of things but the other two knock him down. Price isn’t about to touch tips with Mansoor so Yamato is back up with a running shoulder to Mansoor.

Madden comes in but gets sent to the apron by Kushida as everything breaks down. Bustah And The Brain take over but Mansoor breaks up a double suplex. Madden’s running hip attack connects, only for Kushida to pull Mansoor out of the air for the Figure Four. Price add and Oliver add neck cranks but Madden turns it over for a four person Boston crab.

With that broken up, Kushida and Yamato hit stereo dropkicks on Oliver and Price…and we lose signal from the venue. The signal stays gone for a few minutes and we come back with Kushida and Yamato winning at we’ll say around ten minutes. I won’t rate it due to missing that much of the match but what we got to start was working well, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

El Phantasmo/??? vs. Dragon Kid/Starlight Kid

Phantasmo’s partner is…Maika, who is replacing Maki Itoh, who has visa issues, for the “High-Stakes Heartbreak Jackpot” tag match. Funny way to say “mixed tag”. Phantasmo gives Maika the light up glasses before starting with Dragon. A running shoulder puts Dragon down and Phantasmo sticks the landing off Dragon’s headscissors.

Starlight comes in for a headscissors to Maika, followed by a standing moonsault (Scott calls it “adorable”) before everything breaks down. Phantasmo declares them the second cutest tag team in the world and Maika kicks Starlight out to the floor. Back in and Phantasmo ties Starlight in the Tree Of Woe and stands on her, along with Maika.

Starlight comes back with some nipple twisting and avoids Maika’s falling headbutt. Maika misses it again and tries a third time, which hits Phantasmo by mistake. It’s back to Dragon for a tornado DDT and a 619 to Maika’s back. Everything breaks down again and Phantasmo and Maika collide again, meaning it’s time to argue.

We get some mixed submission holds until Phantasmo and Maika make the ropes. Phantasmo is sic of this and suplexes Starlight before kneeing her in the head on top. Dragon is back up with a super poisonrana, allowing Starlight to hit a big splash for two. Phantasmo kicks Dragon and gives him a spinning torture rack neckbreaker. Maika breaks up Dragon’s sunset flip and Phantasmo gets the pin at 12:23.

Rating: B. This was little more than an athletic comedy match and that was a nice change of pace after everything else that has gone on with this show. They didn’t try to do anything too crazy here and the women were just as good as the men. Phantasmo and Maika’s arguing was funny and this wound up being the most entertaining thing on the show thus far.

Gringo Loco/Joey Janela vs. Daisuke Sasaki/Gedo

House Rules Hardcore match which can’t go well. Gedo is sent outside to start fast and a double elbow drops Sasaki. Loco’s split legged moonsault gets two on Sasaki and it’s time for some chairs. Janela gets knocked down though and it’s time for Gedo’s fork. Gedo stabs Janela in the mouth and then in the stomach, allowing Sasaki to wrap a chair around Janela’s neck.

A Twist Of Fate (with chair) drops Janela again and let’s stab him in the tongue. Since that’s just stabbing and a possible neck injury, Janela is right back to kick a chair into Sasaki to send him outside. Loco (busted open) hits a big flip dive and then plants Sasaki for two back inside. Sasaki DDTs his way out of a powerbomb attempt, leaving Janela to load up a door in the corner.

Gedo Downward Spirals him through said door though and there’s a fork shot What’s Up (thankfully minus the jumping). Loco is back with a fork to stab Gedo in the head a few times (just go with it) and Sasaki gets the same. A door bridge is set up but Sasaki goes up, where Loco gives him a super Spanish Fly through the door for a crazy crash. Sasaki pops up for a La Mistica crossface but Janela and Gedo are back in as the hold is broken.

Gedo is laid on some open chairs so Janela goes up, only to get superplexed down through the chairs instead. It’s Gedo with a fork and everyone else with a chair, with Gedo being knocked down. Loco’s corkscrew moonsault onto the chair misses so Janela snapdragons Sasaki. An AA sends Gedo through some open chairs for two, followed by a top rope double stomp through a piece of the door to pin Gedo at 18:45.

Rating: C. This could have been a lot worse, though it could have been a lot better too. The fork stuff was stupid, if nothing else because they kept doing the same stuff over and over again. Other than that it was a pretty standard hardcore tag match, even if Janela’s tendency to go long was on full display. Not my thing, but it could have gotten a lot worse than they wound up going.

We get a bunch of tarps and light tubes brought out because…oh let’s get this over with already. Oh and panes of glass and barbed wire because they’re going full boar here.

Matt Tremont/Nick Gage vs. El Desperado/Jun Kasai vs. Masashi Takeda/Rina Yamashita

Love & Pieces because each match has a name of some sort. Gage comes in through the crowd for the MDK chants and after the Big Match Intros, we’re ready to go. They go right for the light tubes to start, with Gage having them broken over his back. A double suplex sends Gage through the pane of glass and it’s Yamashita vs. Desperado. Tremont breaks that up and gets stabbed with a fork (it gets stuck in his head), allowing Takeda to carve him up with scissors.

Desperado’s mask is cut but Tremont runs Yamashita and Takeda over. Gage is back up with a light tube to Yamashita and stabs her with a broken piece. Yamashita pops up to try a super hurricanrana to Tremont but gets superbombed through some glass instead. Gage and Tremont get stabbed with skewers but Gage is back up with the pizza cutter. Kasai and Desperado go up and splash Yamashita and Takeda (glass tubes includes) for two.

Gage is back up with the pizza cutter and some running knees connect as well. Gage’s Vader Bomb crushes the tubes on Yamashita, who pops back up because hardcore or something. Desperado picks up some tubes, which are dropkicked into him for a big explosion. Desperado kicks Gage low and suplexes him onto more tubes. Gage blocks a powerbomb through the glass so Tremont chokeslams Desperado through the glass instead. Gage’s chokebreaker and two piledrivers into a powerbomb finish Desperado at 14:26.

Rating: D+. Yeah I’m not going to try to validate any thoughts on this. I’ve ranted about how I don’t want to see this stuff and how it isn’t good, mainly just because of how repetitive it gets. They do the same stuff over and over and then just do a bunch of it for the ending. Nothing to see here, as usual.

Post match Gage calls out Kasai for a singles match and swears a lot. The catchphrase wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B. The last two matches bring this down a lot (though the Janela match wasn’t THAT bad), with the main event definitely being the biggest problem. The good thing is that a lot of this show wasn’t hardcore or deathmatch stuff, with the triple threat being a pretty standard weapons match. This could have been a lot worse and if you cut out the main event, it’s a very good show. I know the deathmatch stuff has an audience, but it’s just not me and never will be.

Results
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Fuminori Abe – Zack Driver
Ishin b. Jimmy Lloyd and Effy – Frog splash onto chairs onto Lloyd
Kushida/Yamato b. Bustah And The Brain and MxM Collection
El Phantasmo/Maika b. Dragon Kid/Starlight Kid – Rollup to Dragon
Gringo Loco/Joey Janela b. Gedo/Daisuke Sasaki – Top rope double stomp through door to Gedo
Matt Tremont/Nick Gage b. El Desperado/Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda/Rina Yamashita – Powerbomb to Desperado

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Midnight Xpress
Date: April 15, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Emil Jay, Mo, Righteous Reg

What would Wrestlemania Week be without some cross promoted shows? That’s what we’re getting here, with Hybrid Wrestling teaming up with Pro Wrestling Unplugged. I’m really not sure what that is going to mean as I don’t follow either promotion, but that can make for some interesting results. Let’s get to it.

Opening video, featuring a bunch of people in rather shiny pants.

The ring announcer welcomes us to the show.

BackSeat Boyz vs. Effy/Joey Janela vs. Jordan Oliver/Ryan O’Neil

O’Neil is filling in for Alec Price, who was apparently injured earlier tonight while he…walked down some stairs. Effy on the other hand is apparently going a bit insane. Janela annoys JP to start and JP flips out of a wristlock. Effy comes in for a double atomic drop and a double hip shot to the head.

Oliver and O’Neil come in to clean house but the Boyz come in to clean house. A Devil’s Kiss has O’Neil in trouble and a spinning top rope splash gets two. Oliver makes the save and grabs a German suplex/rollup combination for two on both of the Boyz. Back up and the Boyz hit a Hart Attack into the Dream Sequence but Janela and Effy suplex them down.

Some clotheslines leave everyone on the mat for a breather and the fans get to count. The Boyz are up for a middle rope G9 and Tommy gives Effy an Air Raid Crash. O’Neil hits a Swanton for the ave but he walks into a double spinebuster to give the Boyz the quick pin at 10:18.

Rating: B-. Pretty nice three way tag with everyone going all over the place until the finish. The Boyz aren’t quite as good as the originals (shocking) but they do well enough for what they are. It’s a shame that Price is hurt as he and Oliver work well together and make for a good team. Effy being on the brink of snapping is interesting and you can all but guarantee to see more of that in the coming days.

Hybrid Women’s Title: Mia Friday vs. Brittnie Brooks vs. Ruthie Jay vs. Jazmin Allure

Jay is defending and Kiera Hogan is guest referee. We get a four way test of strength to start until Jay and Allure are knocked outside. Friday springboard armdrags Brooks down and sends her outside, only for Allure to trip Friday from the floor. Allure’s neckbreaker gets two on Friday but Brooks is back in with a double high crossbody.

Jay is back in with a rolling X Factor to Brooks, followed by an airplane spin of all things. Friday’s running neckbreaker makes Jay DDT Allure for two each but Brooks drops Friday with a belly to back. Jay sunset flips Allure for two but Hogan sees a rope being grabbed to cut it off. That has Jay yelling at Hogan so Friday grabs a rollup for the pin and the title at 6:51.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here and that hurt things a bit, especially with the ending being built around the guest referee. That being said, it’s nice to see a title change on a show like this, as you don’t often get such a thing. Unfortunately I still don’t know much about Friday, as storytelling is not quite the focal point of such a match. They did good spots in the time they had here, but they only had so much time in the first place.

Video on BLKOUT vs. VNDL48. They hate each other and keep attacking each other with lots of threats ensuing.

BLKOUT vs. VNDL48

That would be JGeorge/Robby Illuminati/Face (with Skillz da Great) vs. Atticus Cogar/Christian Napier/Otis Cogar. It’s a big brawl on the floor to start with 48 cleaning house and sending JGeorge inside for a triple beating. A moonsault and hilo hit JGeorge, who is busted open and favoring his ankle. Atticus gives him an Air Raid Crash but Face is back in to send the Cogars into each other.

Naturally it’s time for a door but Napier is back up to dropkick it into Face’s face. Atticus saves Napier from being suplexed through the door so Napier takes over on Illuminati. That doesn’t last long as Illuminati spears him through the door. The Cogars are back in to tie Face up with some rope in the ropes and of course it’s time for some skewers to JGeorge’s head. Otis loads up a chair to Face but Matt Tremont (who got the same thing before) runs in to cut it off…and the match just ends at we’ll say 10:00.

Rating: D+. What am I supposed to say here? It’s the hardcore/weapons match of the night (at least the first one) and they didn’t even have an ending. I’m still not sure why they’re fighting but they certainly did, though it wasn’t exactly much of a match. This felt more like a fight in a long running feud, and it would have helped if I had known why they were fighting. Or if someone won.

Post match Tremont takes his jacket off and he’s ready for his scheduled match as the other people leave. It’s as random as it sounds.

Matt Tremont vs. Gangrel

They start fighting in the aisle before the bell and chop it out at ringside. Gangrel goes to the eyes to cut him off and grabs a door before opting for a kendo stick. They go inside with Tremont using the kendo stick before grabbing the chairs. That means they both get to sit down and slug it out until Gangrel throws a chair at his head. Tremont misses a fork shot, which hits the door instead. A spear puts Gangrel through a door and the big splash gives Tremont the pin at 1:57. It might be better to keep it that short.

Post match, respect is shown.

Billy Gold/Kidd Legend/LiveDanger vs. Channing Decker/Corazon/Juni Underwood/Simon Gotch

The latter has a manager named Amadeus with them and LiveDanger is the team of LiveWire Charlie and Danger Ross (doing an 80s throwback). Danger and Decker lock up to start with Danger knocking him down. Charlie comes in to gorilla press Corazon into a fall away slam (that looked great) and it’s already off to Gotch vs. Legend for a slugout. Legend is sent into the wrong corner and triple teamed, which lasts all of a few seconds before he gets over to Gold.

Underwood gets taken into the wrong corner for a double gorilla press and everything breaks down (I’m stunned it took this long). That actually doesn’t last as it’s Charlie sending Corazon flying for the tag back to Danger. Everything breaks down and Corazon gets backdropped into a powerslam from LiveDanger (not bad) for the pin at 8:20.

Rating: C+. As usual, there is only so much to be gained out of this many people having so little time, though LiveDanger were a fun team with some nice combinations. If the Outrunners weren’t a thing, they could become a nice act on the circuit. The rest of the people didn’t have a chance to showcase themselves, but that’s how matches like this tend to go.

PWU Silver Skywalker Title: Deklan Grant vs. Angel Metro vs. Angel Orsini vs. Don Freeze vs. Jazmyne Hao vs. JJ Doze vs. Mickie Knuckles vs. Tarzan Duran

Grant is defending in an eight person scramble. Grant is sent outside fast to start and the other men join him. That leaves the four women in the ring but they would rather dive than fight each other. Doze is back in for some dives but Hao gives him a Samoan drop. Freeze drops Hao with a spinning belly to back suplex so Duran flips in with a slingshot double faceplant.

The door is set up on the floor, leaving Orsini to chop away at Duran. Orsini manages to get up top for a moonsault onto the pile so Knuckles gives her a suplex back inside. A door is broken over Knuckles’ head and Grant wraps a bag over her head. That and a piledriver is enough for Grant to pin Knuckles and retain at 7:59.

Rating: D. Between the random lineup, everyone going everywhere at once and the rather horrible ending, there was nothing to see here. I get why these scramble matches have to take place but my goodness they can be a wreck. At the same time, this show could really use some more one on one matches, as this was another mess of a match, but without the good parts.

1 Called Manders vs. Thomas Shire

Apparently PCO isn’t here so they’re fighting each other despite being partners and friends. Manders takes him into the corner for a…nice pat on the trunks. They trade big strikes in the corner until Manders hits a springboard (off the bottom rope) elbow of all things. Shire is back with an ax handle and they clothesline each other down.

They get back up for a slugout from their knees until Shire drops him with a German suplex. Manders hits a lariat from his knees and they go outside, which can’t end well. Shire cuts him off with a jumping knee and a spinning torture rack slam drops Manders for two back inside. Back up and Manders slips away from…something, setting up a heck of a lariat to pin Shire at 6:39.

Rating: B-. Maybe it was just the previous match being such a mess, but this was two big, strong guys beating the fire out of each other. Manders is not a complicated gimmick but he does it pretty well. I’m still not sure why he’s never gotten a chance elsewhere but he certainly gets the idea well enough. I haven’t seen much of Shire but he fits in well with Manders.

PWU Women’s Title: Lacey Lane vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Priscilla Kelly

For the inaugural title and Kiera Hogan is guest referee. Martinez is sent outside early to start but comes back in to break up the cover. Lane rolls Kelly up for two but Martinez is back in to throw both of them down. Martinez is knocked into the corner, allowing Lane to Death Valley Driver Kelly into her.

Kelly knocks Martinez outside and kicks away at Lane, followed by a nasty looking suplex. Lane is knocked outside so Kelly teases a dive, only for Martinez to catch her with a spider superplex. Back up and Lane is sent outside again, leaving Martinez to spinebuster Kelly for the pin and the title at 7:02.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time out there but they were going as fast as they could with the time that they had. That’s not easy to do but it worked well here, with Martinez being the one who stayed in the ring most of the time. She doesn’t have much time left in the ring, though she can still more than hang in there. Lane did well too, as she’s quite the athlete who looks natural in the ring. That leaves Kelly, who more than held her own and will probably be back in a bigger promotion one day.

PWU Title: Jack Evans vs. Pat Dynamite

Dynamite is defending. They go with the grappling to start until Dynamite hits a quick dropkick to knock him outside. Back in and Evans gives him a handshake before posing on the ropes. An enziguri hits Dynamite to cut him off though and Evans sends him outside. Dynamite gets tossed into the steps and suplexed on the stage to make it even worse. Back in and a Falcon Arrow sets up a chinlock.

That’s switched into a Muta Lock but Dynamite makes the rope in a hurry. A brainbuster onto the knee has Evans down for a change, setting up a top rope clothesline for two. Evans is back up to send him outside for the tumbling flip dive, followed by a 450 back inside. Another 450 is loaded up (Evans loves his flips) but Dynamite gets the knees up and small packages him to retain at 10:33.

Rating: C+. Evans is someone who has been around for the better part of ever and you know what you’re getting with him. He’s going to run his mouth and flip a lot, but the good thing is he still knows how to do that style pretty well. The ending didn’t offer much, though at least the match had some time for a change.

Overall Rating: C. There are some talented wrestlers on here and some of the matches were pretty nice. At the same time, there were multiple parts that felt either dumb or almost incomplete, including the weird ending to the six person tag. I’ve seen far worse shows, but this felt like it needed more planning and structure, as it’s kind of all over the place otherwise.

Results
BackSeat Boyz b. Effy/Joey Janela and Jordan Oliver/Ryan O’Neil – Double spinebuster to O’Neil
Mia Friday b. Brittnie Brooks, Jazmin Allure and Ruthie Jay – Rollup to Jay
BLKOUT vs. VNDL48 went to a no contest
Matt Tremont b. Gangrel – Splash
Billy Gold/Kidd Legend/LiveDanger b. Channing Decker/Corazon/Juni Underwood/Simon Gotch – Backdrop into a powerslam to Corazon
Deklan Grant b. Angelo Metro, Angel Orsini, Don Freeze, Jazmyne Hao, JJ Doze, Mickie Knuckles and Tarzan Duran – Piledriver to Knuckles
1 Called Manders b. Thomas Shire – Lariat
Mercedes Martinez b. Lacey Lane and Priscilla Kelly – Spinebuster to Kelly

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4
Date: October 10, 2020
Location: Marion County Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill, Lenny Leonard

So due to me having an obsession with finishing series, we have one of the two Spring Break shows that I’ve never done. This is from the time when Covid was still running wild so the crowd is shall we say sparse. It’s also not spring, but Wrestlemania Weekend was canceled so this is about as good as we’re getting. I have no idea what to expect here so let’s get to it.

The opening video shows Joey Janela walking into a convenience store and getting a drink but getting annoyed at seeing something about the Rock N Roll Express. Another customer comes in and the clerk asks if he’s going to spring break. We see a graphic for Janela vs. Ricky Morton…and then the clerk chokes Janela. I’ve seen weirder from this show.

The crowd looks tiny due to social distancing.

Here is GCW World Champion Rickey Shane Page, with the required goons, to say he won’t defend the title but he does have an opponent in mind: Marcus Mathers, who is a young student here. Mathers comes out but Page calls him stupid and tells him to leave. The second option is the son of ECW legend 911, 411! Apparently it’s a guy named Big Dom, who comes to the ring and gets beaten down by Page’s goons. Cue Danhausen and he gets beaten down by the goons as well. We do have an opponent though.

Rickey Shane Page vs. Orange Cassidy

Page’s GCW World Title isn’t on the line and he has a bunch of goons with him. They both roll to the floor to start until Cassidy rolls back inside…and keeps rolling to the other side. The goons throw him back in, with Page having to stop another roll. Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and Page takes them out for the BOO/YAY sequence. They run the ropes and Cassidy dropkicks him outside but a goon cuts Cassidy off so Page can run back in to stomp away.

Another trip to the floor lets the goons hammer away before setting up a door over some chairs. Back in and Cassidy gets in the lazy strikes, setting up the dive to the floor. Cassidy’s double noggin knocker sends two goons off the apron and through some doors at ringside. Back in and the chokebreaker gives Page two so he goes to get some of Cassidy’s juice. That goes too far so Cassidy kicks it into his face, decks one of the goons, and grabs the Mousetrap for the pin on Page at 8:00.

Rating: C+. So the point is that Page, the World Champion, is losing a bunch in these non-title matches but he’s bragging about still having the belt? I’ve heard worse ideas, but it’s one of those things that is kind of a self defeating concept. The fans popped for Cassidy though and that shouldn’t be a surprise given how he was being featured in AEW.

Video on Matt Tremont, who is apparently finishing up with GCW, with his last match tonight.

Ironbeast vs. Rascalz

That would be KTB/Shane Mercer vs. Zachary Wentz/Desmond Xavier, the latter of whom is better known as Wes Lee in NXT. The Rascalz start fast and Wentz hits a Bronco Buster on KTB, followed by a double dive to the floor. Back in and Ironbeast starts throwing them around with the suplexes but pauses to grab the doors. Wentz gets stomped down in the corner, with Xavier getting thrown into him so they can both be crushed in the corner.

A pop up piledriver sets up a Lionsault for two on Wentz, but he’s back with a headscissors to send the monsters together. Xavier comes back in to clean house but stereo dives are pulled out of the air. Ironbeast throws them together but Xavier slips out of a Doomsday Device. A four way knockdown gives us a breather before the Rascalz strike KTB down. Xavier’s dive is cut off with a raised door and a toss into a German suplex finishes Wentz at 9:32.

Rating: B-. Simple, to the point story here with the classic power vs. speed setup. It’s worked for years in wrestling and it worked again here. Mercer isn’t someone who is likely to become a big star elsewhere but he’s fine as an indy powerhouse. The Rascalz are quite good at what they do and they were getting to showcase themselves a bit here, even in defeat.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty

They shake hands to start before going to the mat, with Gresham out wrestling him to start in on the arm. Moriarty has to bail over to the ropes and the fans approve early on. They fight over hammerlocks and Gresham can’t spin out of a wristlock. An exchange of headlocks goes to the mat and we have another standoff. A high angle springboard armdrag takes Gresham down and Moriarty gets to take over on the arm.

Something close to a crossface chickenwing has Gresham in more trouble and Moriarty rams the arm into the corner. Gresham gets out and snaps Moriarty’s arm for a breather, followed by a running kick to the arm. Moriarty’s arm gets tied up on the mat, including with Gresham’s legs, with the ankle being spun around for a bonus. Moriarty finally rolls out so Gresham starts twisting the fingers.

Back up and Moriarty uses the good forearm to escape and an enziguri staggers Gresham. A running double stomp gives Moriarty two and he rams his own shoulder into the buckle to get it back in place. Moriarty goes after Gresham’s arm for a change with a DDT on the arm, setting up a Fujiwara armbar to send Gresham over to the ropes.

Back up and Gresham kicks him out to the floor for a change before tying the arm up again back inside. Moriarty is back with another cross armbreaker but Gresham, eventually, makes the rope. They trade forearms to the face until Gresham grabs a German suplex into a running forearm to the back of the head for two. Two more running shots to the head get two more and the Octopus with shots to the head makes Moriarty tap at 20:46.

Rating: B. This was the technical showcase and it worked rather well, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Gresham was long since known as the technical master and Moriarty more or less followed in his footsteps. He wound up signing with AEW about a year after this, which isn’t shocking given how easily he hung in there with someone as good as Gresham.

Post match Gresham puts over Alex Shelley and Lee Moriarty. After some prodding, Moriarty eventually shakes hands.

Team Pazuzu vs. Alex Zayne/Blake Christian/Jordan Oliver

Pazuzu is Chris Dickinson/Santana/Ortiz. Christian goes after the rather strong Dickinson’s arm to start but gets wrestled down without much trouble. A double leg brings Dickinson down for a change and they roll into the ropes. Back up and Dickinson wants a shot to the face, with Christian just making him mad. A hard shoulder drops Christian again and it’s Santana coming in to strike away in the corner.

Santana’s running clothesline cuts off the comeback attempt but Christian gets over to Oliver anyway. That’s fine with the villains, who take Oliver into the corner for the alternating beatdown. Christian manages to get over for the tag to Zayne, who is quickly northern lights suplexed for two. Zayne fights up and hits a slingshot hilo to the back, allowing Christian to come back in for the rapid fire forearms.

Dickinson comes back in with the kick to the back and a snap suplex gets two. Santana hits his own snap suplex for his own two as everything breaks down. A powerbomb drops Christian and his leg gets wrapped around the post. Dickinson actually gets smart by grabbing a half crab, followed by a leg trap piledriver (ok then) for two. Santana is back in with a top rope double stomp to the back before kicking the leg out again. Christian finally manages to get in a kick of his own, setting up a snap German suplex.

Everything breaks down and Zayne hits a shooting star double knees to the back of Dickinson’s head (ow). Christian’s springboard 450 gets a VERY delayed two but Dickinson is back up with a hard clothesline. Another powerbomb into Santana’s German suplex gets two and a Death Valley Driver into a frog splash gets….two on Zayne as these near falls are getting a bit much. Christian comes back in to slug it out with Dickinson until Oliver is in to help with a running knee. Zayn hits a big dive but Christian’s 450 hits raised knees. A toss Razor’s Edge gives Dickinson the pin at 23:54.

Rating: B-. GCW doesn’t have the best reputation but this was yet another good match in a series of them on this show. They played a simple story here and that’s all it needed to be. You had a bunch of talented villains against three scrappy underdogs who were trying their best. It worked well here, with an enjoyable match despite it being rather long.

Post match Dickinson asks for some respect for the other team and GCW as a whole. Santana thanks the fans and we get a bunch of handshakes.

Tony Deppen vs. Alex Shelley

This is Deppen’s handpicked match and Shelley uses a chair to get into the ring for some reason. Deppen grabs a cravate to start as commentary puts over GCW’s stars as the future of wrestling. They go to the back mat with Shelley working on the leg and then grabbing a headlock. That’s broken up and Deppen hits a dropkick, only to get caught with a tornado DDT out of the corner.

A slugout on the apron sets up Shelley hitting a DDT but Deppen blocks the Downward Spiral into the corner. Deppen switches things up with a Figure Four, with Shelley making the ropes without much trouble. Back up and Shelley keeps it simple with a kick to the head, only for Deppen to take the leg out again. Shelley sends him into the corner for a needed breather and they trade the forearms.

Deppen gets smart by chopping the bad knee so Shelley knees him in the ribs. A hanging swinging suplex gives Shelley two but the knee gives out again. Deppen knees him into the corner and a springboard Codebreaker gets two more. An STF sends Shelley over to the ropes again so Deppen knees him in the face. Shelley is right back with some superkicks into an Air Raid Crash for two, followed by Shell Shock for the same. The Border City Stretch goes on but Deppen spins out and grabs La Majistral for the surprise pin at 13:29.

Rating: B-. Deppen is known for being a horrible scoundrel but he was able to hang with a long established veteran like Shelley. It was a big win for Deppen, as Shelley is someone who is pretty much universally respected in the ring. This felt like Deppen’s breakthrough match and he would win the Ring Of Honor TV Title the following year.

Lio Rush vs. ACH

Man ACH just fell off the planet a few years ago. We get the handshake and hug to start as it seems to be all nice feelings here. They fight over wrist control to start and that’s good for an early standoff. Some standing switches don’t get us anywhere either so Rush takes him down with a headlock. That’s enough of the wrestling stuff so Rush snaps off a springboard hurricanrana to send ACH outside.

Some kicks to the face set up a bottom rope Asai moonsault but ACH is back in with a swinging backbreaker. Another backbreaker gets two as the pace slows down a bit. ACH kicks him down and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Rush manages some forearms. Rush sends him to the apron and hits a kick to the floor as the comeback is on. The springboard Stunner gets two but ACH kicks him down in the corner.

Back up and Rush tries another handspring but dives into a bridging German suplex for two. They trade some rapid fire kicks until ACH’s double stomp to the back gets two more. The frustration is setting in for ACH, who has to win an exchange of forearms. Rush slugs right back and sends him outside for a big suicide dive. Back in and ACH grabs a tiger driver for two but Rush kicks him in the face. A running Spanish Fly into the Final Hour gives Rush the pin at 16:21.

Rating: B. Sweet goodness this show has been way better than I was expecting. These two worked well together and you could see ACH getting more and more frustrated with everything not working. Rush hung in there long enough and finally pulled it out, which made for a good story to go with the solid action.

Joey Janela vs. Ricky Morton

The fans are into Morton (of course) as he works on the wristlock to start. Janela flips him down and does the Shawn Michaels pose so Morton hits a running shoulder out to the floor. Back in and Janela hammers away as commentary makes 1986 references. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Morton is back up with another shoulder to send Janela outside. They chop it out until Morton kicks him low, sending Janela over to set up a plastic table.

That takes so long that Morton piledrives him through the table but Janela is back on offense 25 seconds later (yes I timed him). A chair to the face hits Morton and believe it or not, he’s busted open. Morton manages a dropkick for a needed breather and they fight to the apron. A Death Valley Driver plants Janela (that’s a new one for Morton) and it’s time for a door.

That takes too long and Morton gets sent into it, setting up a top rope backsplash onto the door onto Morton for two. Some door shots to the knee set up a Figure Four, sending Morton to the ropes, which works in a match where he was just beaten up by a door. Janela takes too long putting him up top and gets caught with a Canadian Destroyer for two. The Figure Four goes on again but this time Morton rolls him over….for the tap at 13:50. That’s a new one.

Rating: C. You know that Janela is going to have a featured match on his show, but this one was far shorter than what he does most of the time. That being said, it also wasn’t all that interesting with the ending being more of a surprise than anything else. At least Janela puts someone else over, even if it is someone who has been a legend for decades.

Clusterf***

It’s a Royal Rumble with an unknown number of entrants and fairly randomly timed intervals. You’re eliminated by pinfall, submission, over the top, leaving the building, or death (Commentary thinks the latter should go without saying.). Spyder Nate Webb (hometown boy) is in at #1 and we get the full Teenage Dirtbag entrance. JTG is in at #2 and they shake hands to start, with JTG taking over with a clothesline. A powerbomb is loaded up but Jimmy Lloyd is in at #3 to chop away.

Cole Radrick is in at #4 (very quickly, as this show is probably running long) and Starboy Charlie is in at #5 with maybe thirty seconds between the entrances. Flash Flanagan (geez he’s ancient at this point) is in at #6 to clean house as commentary is commenting on the fast intervals. Sugar Dunkerton (Pineapple Pete from the AEW days, albeit with a basketball) is in at #7 to cross over on JTG and then dribble his head on the mat in a nice spot. Radrick (with a bad leg) steals the basketball but gets blocked by Dunkerton and then stomped down into the corner as Allie Kat is in at #8.

A seated senton out of the corner hits Charlie and it’s Kung Fu (Joey) Janela in at #9. Charlie sends him to the apron but gets chopped in the head, leaving Dunkerton to piledrive Janela. That’s no sold (naturally) and it’s Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku/Dominic Garrini) in at #10 (Or is it 11? I can’t imagine it matters.). Another piledriver actually slows Janela down and Violence Is Forever gets to clean house. Ku curb stomps Kat and a high/low pins Flanagan for the first elimination. JTG fights up but gets caught with Chasing The Dragon for the pin.

Kerry Awful/Nick Iggy (The Carnies) are in at #12 with a selection of chairs, allowing the two teams to sit down and slap each other in the face. Willow Nightingale/Solo Darling (another team) are in at #13 with chairs of their own and it’s time to sit in a circle for a string of punches to the face. Then they throw the chairs at each other and Darling gets Garrini in a reverse Figure Four. That’s broken up and Webb comes back in as Levi Everett (he’s Amish) is in at #14.

Everett churns the butter (of course) and Webb gets into it as well, only for Everett to hit him with the….whatever it is that holds butter being churned. Cassandro El Exotico is in at #14 to kiss Lloyd and snap off a running hurricanrana. Dustin Thomas (the wrestler with no legs) is in at #15 for a 619 to Cassandro and it’s Kerry Morton (whose name is not mentioned for a good while) in at #16. Dropkicks abound as most of the entrants are out on the floor.

Jody Threat is in at #17 for a top rope seated senton to Kody Lane (who I don’t think had an entrance). Juicy Finau is in at #18 for a Samoan drop to Threat and then hits one on three people at once. Calvin Tankman is in at #19 and uses Lane to beat up Garrini for a double elimination. Tankman gets rid of Awful and Ku as the ringside is starting to clear a bit at least. Morton is eliminated over the top and there goes Iggy, leaving Finau and Tankman to have the big man showdown. Tankman Death Valley Drivers Finau for the elimination and Billie Starkz is in at #20.

Tankman tries to dive onto Charlie but hits the pile at ringside instead (not eliminated). Charlie and Starkz slug it out and Starkz kicks him in the head, setting up a bridging German suplex for two. It’s Tankman getting back in to go after Starkz, and it’s the entire 4-4-0 (Rickey Shane Page’s goons: Atticus Cogar, Eddie Only, Gregory Iron and Eric Ryan) in at #21.

Iron stomps on Starkz and cranks on her leg until the referee calls it off for the elimination. Janela goes after the team and is eliminated, with Cassandro and Threat getting the same treatment. Threat powerbombs Ryan for two and then stops to smoke, earning an elimination. Thomas gets triple stomped but Iron, who has cerebral palsy, has a bit of sympathy. That doesn’t work for Thomas, who doesn’t buy it, and hits a top rope DDT on Iron.

Thomas gets beaten down again and it’s Elayna Black (the future Cora Jade) in at #22 with some tarot cards….and the Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, AJ Gray, 1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice and Effy) is in at #23 to get rid of 4-4-0. They all brawl off and it’s Nasty LeRoy in at #24. LeRoy teaches Kat and Black to dance but 4-4-0 are back in to jump him. The Crew is back in to eliminate 4-4-0 and the….Wal-Mart (I think? There are references made to Target to it sounds right.) Dudes in at #25.

One of the Dudes (Tahir2x, partner of Lord A) get to clean some house and almost immediately turn on each other. A third Wal-Mart Dude comes in (doesn’t seem to be an official entrant, in case it matters) and helps beat up Lord A as Cabana Man Dan is in at #26. Nightingale is back in to give Dan a spinebuster but Parrow is in at #27 to beat up Nightingale and Darling for a double pin. A sitout powerbomb gets rid of Dan and it’s Manders coming in for the hoss fight. Parrow World’s Strongest Slams Manders for the fast pin as Robert Anthony and Frank The Clown are in at #28.

LeRoy is back in and gets beaten down by Anthony and Frank, who then manage to knock Parrow down. That’s broken up and Frank bails, albeit without an elimination. The Invisible Man (there it is) is in at #29 and gets to clean house but Everett powerslams him down. Everett churns the Invisible Man but misses a splash, allowing the Invisible Man to crank on Everett’s arm. A clothesline gets rid of Everett and Parrow is sent to the apron, with Thomas managing to get rid of him. Thomas is sent outside and….I won’t ask how he can be eliminated if both feet….never mind.

Anthony and Frank beat up the Invisible Man, who fights back with a double chokeslam. Tankman is back in to get rid of Anthony and Frank as Young Dumb and Broke (Charlie Tyler, Griffin Taylor and…someone commentary doesn’t bother naming) is in at #30 to go after Lloyd. Black is back in to go after them and something like Matt Morgan’s Hellevator is enough for Black to be tossed out.

As we find out that the third member is named Ellis Taylor, Working On Dying (Steve Sanders and Dylan McKay) are in at #31. McKay flip dives onto the floor but gets back inside anyway to go after Young, Dumb and Broke. Stereo flip dives off the top get a double near fall and the Crew is back in to get rid of McKay and Sanders. John Thorne (a promoter) is in at #32 as a big dive hits the pile on the floor. Thorne grabs a weapon, charges at Kat, and is eliminated. Logan Stunt (Marko’s brother) is in at #33 as McCoy (I think) is tossed by Tankman.

Cue Marko to throw Logan out and they brawl to the back, with Marko being eliminated as well. Tiger appears to be out too and Radrick is rolled up for another elimination. The Wal-Mart Dudes are back to keep fighting with Lord A hitting a spinning Tombstone to get rid of Tahir2x but Lloyd sends Lord A through a table for the pin. Thunderkitty is in at #34 and knocks Webb down without much trouble.

The Invisible Man takes Thunderkitty down and then plants Taylor for a fast pin. The Second Gear Crew grab chairs to go after the Invisible Man but get tossed outside (though Effy does get in a kiss first). Yoshihiko is in at #35 and plants the Invisible Man for the fast pin. A bunch of Canadian Destroyers and poisonranas give Yoshihiko the pin on Lloyd but Webb is in to beat up Yoshihiko.

Webb hits a moonsault with a chair for the pin and Shark Boy is in at #36 to complete the field. The Chummer gets rid of Thunderkitty but Webb has a cooler. Shark Boy gets a drink but Kat and LeRoy want in on this too. The toast sets up a double Stunner to get rid of Kat and LeRoy. Charlie is back in with a Stunner on Shark Boy for the elimination but Cogar rolls him up for another pin.

That leaves….I think Cogar, Webb, Tankman and AJ Gray so Tankman is here to Pounce Cogar. Gray and Tankman strike it out until Gray hits a string of clotheslines for the elimination. Cogar throws fire at Gray for the pin and Webb is back in for the final showdown. They fight out to the floor with Webb getting chaired in the head.

A bunch of chair shots to the back have Webb down and an Air Raid Crash through the chair gets two. Webb throws a trashcan to tie Cogar in the Tree of Woe. A moonsault Van Terminator (that’s either amazing or stupid and I’m not sure which) hits Cogar and a Razor’s Edge spun into a DDT gives Webb the final pin at 72:25.

Rating: C+. This is the definition of “just sit back and have fun” and there is nothing wrong with that. Obviously the winner means absolutely nothing so letting the hometown crowd favorite go wire to wire is not a bad thing. This was before the match became a total insane spectacle like it would become in later years but I’ll absolutely take it for what we got here. Fun, though other editions have been better.

Since that’s not enough, we have another match to go. We do pause for a mat change because that was a lot of people in there over and over. And for weapons to be set up of course.

Video on Matt Tremont’s history at Spring Break and now he’s headlining in his final match. A lot of violence is involved but it’s set to Metallica so at least it’s not all bad.

Matt Tremont vs. Alex Colon

Colon has Markus Crane and this is a Deathmatch in Tremont’s GCW farewell. They stare at each other a bit to start and lock up to go nowhere. The much bigger Tremont shoves him down a few times as they’re starting slow, which has me worried that they’re getting time. They both tease going into the light tubes so Colon grabs one, which Tremont blocks. Tremont sends him through a bunch of the tubes but gets thrown through them as well.

Colon starts carving Tremont’s forehead up with a broken tube and then breaks another one over his back. That works so well that Tremont does it right back to him but stops to lick his own blood. Colon fights up and sends him through a barbed wire board before they just hit each other in the face. Tremont gets staggered with a chair to the head and a running forearm knocks him out of said chair.

Something like a powerslam puts Colon through a chair and they walk towards the bleachers, which isn’t very social distancing. They go back to the ring where Colon hits him with some light tubes. It’s time for a ladder, which takes too long, allowing Tremont to backdrop him onto the ladder. That gets the very delayed two and they suplexes each other through some more light tubes.

Another light tube (we get the idea) over the head staggers Colon but he’s back with a swinging DDT through some tubes. A double knee breaks some tubes over Tremont and they go to the apron, with Tremont Samoan dropping him through a barbed wire board. We pause for Tremont to be freed from the wire before it’s time to walk around some more. The fight heads into the crowd where they sit on the bleachers and seem to chat a bit.

Tremont hits a suplex and they go back to the floor, where a bunch of doors are set up. Colon dives off a balcony to put him through the doors and we pause again for a breather. Back in and a top rope double stomp crushes more light tubes onto Tremont, who pops to his feet. A big clothesline puts Colon down and a Death Valley Driver through another tube gets one. Thankfully they mix things up a bit with Colon hitting him with a trashcan, which is put over Tremont’s head for a top rope double stomp.

Cue some goons with fans/rakes made of light tubes, plus a big box of light tubes which are poured out on the mat. They take turns breaking tubes over the other’s head, getting up to about ten each. Colon breaks about ten in a row over Tremont’s head but Tremont grabs a belly to back suplex, because this is still wrestling you see. Colon pops up and hits him with two more light tubes, followed by breaking a rake (with five tubes in a row) over Tremont’s head. Tremont wants him to do it again so Colon uses the other rake, which is enough for the pin at 26:29.

Rating: D-. Nope. Ignoring that I absolutely cannot stand this stuff most of the time, but this one was especially bad. A good chunk of this match was standing around waiting for the other to get up so they could use more light tubes. That’s where they lost me, as the last few minutes of the match was almost literally them just standing there breaking light tubes over the other’s head. Then Colon used A BUNCH of tubes for the win. I can occasionally tolerate a deathmatch, but this was just the same stuff over and over for the better part of half an hour.

Post match Colon checks on Tremont and then leaves him alone so Tremont can have a moment. Tremont shouts something and pays tribute to a former wrestler/wrestling personality who has passed away. We get the big moment of respect to end the show. Tremont would indeed stay away from GCW for over a year before returning in 2021.

Overall Rating: B-. The original version of this show that I found didn’t include the main event and my goodness do I wish that’s how it stayed. This show was SO MUCH BETTER before the main event. Prior to that mess, I was having a great time with this show offering one good to very good match after another. You don’t get that on almost any show and it was rolling here. It says a lot when the Cluster**** was the weakest match because it’s one of those “fun by definition match”. The less said about the main event the better, but dang they were feeling it until then.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break: Clusterf*** Forever 2025
Date: April 19, 2025
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Jordan Castle, Dave Prazak, Veda Scott

And then we have this thing, which is going to be complete insanity and that is entirely by design. The show’s namesake match is going to be a huge battle royal with people running all over the place and pretty much no semblance of order. That makes for one of the most entertaining matches you will see all year and they know exactly what they’re doing. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We get an opening video set to I’m So Excited in a pretty awesome troll jab at AEW.

Doug Gentry Memorial Scramble Cage Match

Gringo Loco, Ciclope, Facade, Jimmy Lloyd, Man Like DeReiss, Marcus Mathers, Mike D. Vecchio, Ninja Mack, Sidney Akeem

One fall to a finish and everyone is in the cage (which has weapons, plus platforms on the top for the purpose of diving) the whole time. Gentry is apparently someone who worked backstage in the early days of Ring Of Honor and is getting a match named in his honor. Akeem dives off one of the platforms to start and gets speared through a door by Vecchio for his efforts.

Mack goes up with a kendo stick but has to pull Lloyd and Mathers down with a Tower Of Doom. Various Canadian Destroyers ensue before Vecchio sends various people into the cage. One heck of a helicopter bomb plants Akeem for two and DeReiss superplexes Vecchio off one of the platforms. Facade one ups them by walking the cage for a big dive of his own. Mathers ties Facade in the Tree Of Woe for some chair shots but Lloyd is up with a bunch of chair throws.

Mack and Akeem have their big showdown but stop to beat up Loco and Mathers instead. Ciclope is up with a double spear but gets clotheslined by Lloyd. DeReiss and Mathers hit 450s (after arguing over whose would be better) before Vecchio hits a shooting star off the platform for the big wipe out. A masked man comes into the cage and cleans some house before revealing himself as Miedo Extremo, Ciclope’s former partner.

Miedo sends Ciclope off the platform and through a barbed wire net and some doors at ringside. Back in and a door is bridged over two chairs as Ciclope is carried out. Another door is bridged over the first as Vecchio and Loco climb to the platform. Loco powerbombs Vecchino through said doors and gets the pin for the win at 11:33.

Rating: C+. There were nine people in the cage for most of the match and, as has been proven in various other promotions over the years, that isn’t going to work. There are too many people in there to do anything other than big spots and while those were entertaining, it only went so far. The big spot at the end was fun though and this could have been worse.

The cage has to be taken down so we look at Jordan Oliver returning last night at Spring Break to team with Alec Price to win the Tag Team Titles.

We look at Atticus Cogar defeating Fuego del Sol, winning Fuego’s match and seemingly ending his career. That was way better than I would have expected.

Next recap is the main event of Spring Break, with Sabu defeating Joey Janela in Sabu’s retirement match.

Long upcoming events rundown.

We look at The People vs. GCW in January.

We look at Tournament Of Survival 9.

We look at GCW in Kouraken Hall as I wonder how long it takes to get that cage down.

We look at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 12 in November.

We look at a show in Hawaii in November.

We look at the Wrld On Lucha from…sometime.

And now, we Cluster****.

2025 Cluster****

It’s a Royal Rumble with random intervals, pinfall, submission, leaving the arena or death for eliminations (yeah this whole thing is supposed to be a total mess so don’t bother keeping track of the rules). The Up Up Girls (the TJPW singers, all three of them) are in at #1, #2 and #3 and do their song but Kerry Morton interrupts at #4 and calls the song stupid (with some additional expletives). He’s going to throw them out and show them what it’s like to be with a real American man, complete with hip thrusts. Morton insists on being introduced again and he’s #2.

The Girls beat him up, including a pillow to the head (Prazak wants to borrow it) and Morton is out. Morton freaks out and leaves so we get an encore song. B3cca, a pop singer, is in at #3 and sings about her attractiveness. Then she tries to sing with the Up Up Girls but kicks them down. Another dance takes too long though and the fight is on, with B3cca missing a high crossbody. Zayda Steele in at #3 and begs off from the Girls as Swipe Right and Jackson Drake are in at #4.

The distraction lets Steele and B3cca eliminate the Up Up Girls. Steele Unprettiers B3cca for the elimination and Steven Crow (a cowboy in pink) is in at #5. Swipe Right jumps him for the elimination and it’s MBM and his Friend (a masked man) in at #6. They want to make peace until the Friend full nelsons Steele. MBM tries to kiss her but kisses the Friend by mistake and they’re easily tossed.

The Warlord (yes that Warlord) is in at #7 and everyone in Swipe Right and Drake (just make him an official member already) runs off, with Steele bailing without being eliminated. Shreddy is in at #8 (he’s in great shape and likes to brag about going to Japan) and can’t knock Warlord down. Instead he asks for a test of strength as Tombstone Jesus (ok then) is in at #9. Warlord tosses Shreddy and goes after Tombstone but Steele comes in to try her luck. This goes as well as you would expect but they manage to toss Warlord. Steele slaps Tombstone for some reason…and low bridges him out.

Human Tornado (there’s a name from the past) is in at #10 and dances a bit so Steele goes after him. That earns her some dancing stomps in the corner and Nate Webb (with his arm in a sling) is in at #11, giving us Teenage Dirtbag for the crowd participation. The dancing stomps continue (going close to two minutes now) as Webb goes through the crowd for the singing. Then Yoshihiko is in at #12 and the fans go nuts as expected. A high crossbody gets two on Tornado, who sends Yoshihiko into the corner, where Steele chokes away. Santana (and Blanket) Jackson are in at #13, because we need a Michael Jackson impersonator.

Webb gets in the ring and a three way test of strength is teased, with Webb’s arm injury leading to his elimination. Jackson tosses Tornado and we get a showdown between Yoshihiko and Blanket (a stuffed baby)….and Snitsky is in at #14 (Veda Scott: “NO! NO! NO!”). The fans want Snitsky to kick the baby (Prazak: “What is this, South Park”?) but he chokeslams Jackson instead. Snitsky grabs Jackson’s hat and sunglasses instead, makes the out cold Jackson dance, and then tosses him.

Yoshihiko gets eliminated, leaving Snitsky alone with Blanket (and Steele, who is on the floor). Snitsky picks up Blanket and asks the crowd where he should punt, with a fan catching Blanket for the elimination. Then Snitsky leaves the building, leaving Steele alone in the ring as Tara Zep is in at #15. They brawl out to the floor (both still in) and then go back inside with an Unprettier giving Steele the elimination. Kidd Bandit is in at #16 and wastes no time in kicking Steele in the head for the elimination.

Unagi Sayaka is in at #17 and Bandit kicks her to the apron, where Sayaka pulls out a big band. They fight over it until it snaps into Bandit’s face to knock her down as Jai Vidal is in at #18. Sayaka gets slapped down and rolls out to the floor, and Ashley Vox is in at #19. That goes nowhere so Vipress is in at #20 as the entrances are starting to come faster. Viva Van is in at #21 and trades some forearms until Sonny Kiss is in at #22.

Van is sent to the apron but slingshots back in for a spinwheel kick. Parrow is in at #23 and Vidal immediately joins his team (assuming a team exists). Vipress gets in Parrow’s face and is tossed out, as is Van. There goes Kiss and Sayaka is allowed to eliminate herself to avoid pain. Vidal is tossed and we’re down to Vox and Parrow. Vow says they both just got married (not to each other) so he can’t eliminate her. They try the Dirty Dancing lift…and Parrow tosses her. Bodhi Young Prodigy is in at #24 as commentary wonders if Blanket died earlier.

Bodhi chops away to no effect and gets tossed just as fast. Channing Decker is in at #25 and decks Vox and Vidal on the way out. Parrow: “THAT WAS A LITTLE F****** MUCH!” A fall away slam drops Decker and he’s out. Sonico is in at #26 and it’s his birthday. Parrow takes his chair away and hammers him down for the elimination. Randy Myers (he’s weird) is in at #27 and goes to the throat before twisting Parrow’s nipples. An over the shoulder piledriver gives Parrow the pin and he’s alone again.

CPA is in at #28 and takes off his button down shirt to reveal an identical shirt. A drop toehold sets up the 1099 and Parrow pulls off the tie. Dustin Thomas (he doesn’t have legs) is in at #29. A drunk Kidd Bandit is apparently still in and some triple teaming staggers Parrow, who is eliminated by the trio. Sleepy Ed is in at #30 and brings out a bed for a nap on the stage. Everyone gets quiet in a nice moment until Jeffrey John is in at #31. John comes in with a top rope cutter to CPA (on his fourth shirt) as the drunk Bandit falls down.

Rhys Maddox is in at #32 and doesn’t do much until THE MEXICOOLS (Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy and Microman, the latter with bubble mower) are in at #33. The Juvy Driver eliminates Maddox, Crazy pins CPA and another Juvy Driver gets rid of John. That leaves us with (I think) Guerrera, Crazy, Microman, Thomas and the drunk Bandit (on the floor). We get a bizarre Microman vs. Thomas showdown and a 619 hits Thomas. He’s right back with an ankle lock to Microman as Team Juggalo Championship Wrestling (about 7 people) are in at #34.

Crazy gets tickled with a rubber chicken and a double team is enough to pin him. The new Backseat Boyz get rid of Guerrera and Bandit follows him out. Microman realizes he’s in trouble and tries to slug away but gets tossed out. So Team JCW is all alone (technically with Sleepy Ed) and it’s New Roy (formerly known as Nasty Leroy but now inspired by New Jack) in at #35.

Some trashcan lid shots do a bit of damage but he gets caught with a low blow. The beating is on, including the clowns (there are clowns) popping balloons off his head. Roy gets pinned and Team GCW (another 6 or 7 people) are in at #36 to mostly even it up and the fight is on. The brawl heads to the floor and I’m not going to try to tell who is in and who isn’t, partially because I have no idea who some of these people are. The blood is flowing and some people go into the crowd as the weapons (including a barbed wire board) are pulled out. Veda Scott: “We bring this on ourselves.”

The clowns powerbomb Dr. Redacted through the barbed wire board and 2 Tuff Tony lights his fist on fire to punch John Wayne Murdoch. Redacted gets a trashcan and puts it on himself for the big dive onto the pile. Just about everyone brawls to the back and they’re all out so the ring is empty, with Sleepy Ed on the stage. The arena goes quiet and we have something of a lullaby playing…and the Invisible Man is in at #37. He takes Ed into the ring and tosses him out before Dan Barry is in at #38.

Barry works on the arm but gets reversed into a wristlock. That’s reversed into a headlock but some headscissors take Barry down. They run the ropes and miss some clotheslines before trading armdrags for a standoff. Respect is shown before Barry gets in a cheap shot (and flips off the crowd) but Man’s DDT gets two. Barry is sent to the apron and gets crotched on top, where it’s a superplex for the elimination. Frank The Clown is in at #39 and doesn’t think much of the Invisible Man.

Apparently Man starts a F*** THAT CLOWN chant but Frank insists he is NOT a Mark A** B****! Frank charges in and gets dropped for the fast pin. Dan The Dad is in at #40 but Man won’t shake his hand. They won’t hug either and Man knocks the cup off coffee out of his hand. Dan blocks a right hand and gives him a spanking for rudeness before taking off his belt. The whip is blocked and Dan gets rolled up for the pin. Cheeseburger is in at #41 and they slug it out. A superkick is blocked and Cheeseburger gets pulled into a Figure Four for the tap.

Jack Cartwheel is in at #42 and they trade cartwheels until Cartwheel cartwheels away. A Death Valley Driver sets up a shooting star press to raised knees. Cartwheel is knocked out and Tommy Invincible is in at #43. They take turns grappling and neither can get very far as Harlan Abbott is in at #44. Abbott and Invincible slug it out until Abbott shifts over to the Man. A Jay Driller plants Man and Manny Lemons is in at #45.

Abbott and Lemons knock each other down and it’s GCW World Champion Effy in at #46. Effy fires off some running shots into the corner to all three (save for Invincible, still on the floor) and knocks Lemons out. Abbott hits a Jay Driller on Effy but gets reversed into a rollup for the pin. Invincible is back in but the Man hits Effy low and tosses him out. Invincible plants the Man though and gets the pin, leaving him alone for a bit. JGeorge (he makes movies) and Lady Killjoy are in at #47, with Invincible taking him down for a YOU CAN’T HURT ME Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Megan Bayne is in at #48 and gives JGeorge Fate’s Descent onto Killjoy for the double pin. Invincible gets back inside and Bayne hits Fate’s Descent to get rid of him. Frankie B is in at #49 and another Fate’s Descent is good for another elimination. Brittnie Brooks is in at #50 and avoids a splash in the corner. Not that it matters as Bayne hits a tombstone for the elimination. Leina Kross, a tall powerhouse in her own right, is in at #51.

They forearm it out and trade running shots to the face, followed by an exchange of German suplexes. Sam Holloway is in at #52 and gives the two of them a double chokeslam. Bayne and Kross roll outside (not eliminated) and it’s 1 Called Manders in at #53. They slap it out and Holloway is clotheslined out without much trouble. Thomas Shire, Manders’ tag partner, is in at #54 so they hug before trading forearms. Shire manages to get him into a torture rack but Manders slips out and gets the elimination.

Action Mike Jackson (75 years old) is in at #55 and after a handshake, it’s Old School to Manders. Masha Slamovich is in at #56 and Jackson takes both her and Manders over at once. Manders tosses Jackson but Kross is back in to snap Slamovich with a German suplex. Back in and Slamovich kicks Kross out for the elimination and Alec Price is in at #57. Price hits a top rope seated senton on Manders and a tornado DDT to Slamovich. Paul London, now a lounge singer, is in at #58 and suplexes Price.

Starboy Charlie is in at #58 and goes mirror images with London. That’s broken up and the Bob Squad (about 6 people) are in at #59. Hold on though as some of them realize that one of the members isn’t from Atlanta, meaning they turn on each other. Two of them members get confused and dive over the top to eliminate themselves. Bobby Flacco, the team’s leader, is eliminated and Manders tosses the rest of the Squad and is left alone in the ring, with a bunch of people on the floor.

Man Like DeReiss is in at #60 and runs the ropes with Charlie while still rapping his entrance. He even eliminates Charlie with a big boot and stops for a staredown with Slamovich. Then DeReiss requests a Stinkface but makes the mistake of covering his face, allowing London to do it instead. DeReiss realizes what happens and goes to the floor, leaving Slamovich to toss London. Price gets back inside and they trade rollups for two each, only for Price to roll Slamovich up again for the pin.

Manders is back in and, after shrugging off a Blockbuster, lariats Price out. Bayne gets back in for a weird showdown and hits a running clothesline to get rid of Manders. DeReiss is back in and sends Bayne into the corner but Joey Janela is in at #61 to cut off a Stinkface. Bayne and Janela beat up DeReiss, including a Doomsday Device for two. Cue Chris Bey who says he isn’t in the match…but Brodie Lee Jr. (AEW’s Negative One) is in at #62 to complete the field.

Lee superkicks Bayne (in the arm) and poses a bit as we seem to be down to four. Bayne Falcon Arrows DeReiss for the elimination so Janela and Bayne go after Lee. Janela’s chair shot hits Bayne by mistake though and he accidentally eliminates her. Lee rolls Janela up for two but he pulls Janela into an ankle lock. That’s broken up and a Death Valley Driver gives Janela two. Lee nips up and hits a clothesline into a Stunner to eliminate Janela and win at 2:19:47.

Rating: B. This is the definition of “you’re not supposed to take this seriously” and that’s what happened. A 13 year old won the match, which also involved the Invisible Man going on a run, a pop trio singing and a stuffed baby being punted into the crowd. This match is not going to be for everyone, but if you want to just unwind and embrace the insanity/silliness that is professional wrestling, it doesn’t get much more fun than this right here.

Overall Rating: B-. As you can probably tell, the whole thing is about the Cluster and that was about as entertaining as it could have been. I had a good time with the show and it’s the perfect way to wrap up the big wrestling weekend. Just have fun, enjoy how insane it is, and go from there. It’s not for everyone, but I had a blast with a lot of this and I can imagine people getting together and wondering who could possibly be next.

Results
Gringo Loco won the Doug Gentry Memorial Scramble Cage Match
Brody Lee Jr. won the Cluster**** last eliminating Joey Janela

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9
Date: April 18, 2025
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Jordan Castle, Veda Scott

Here we have the first half of what has become the biggest independent event of the weekend, featuring the wacky cast of GCW. That can mean just about anything in the way of oddball matches, but this time around the main event will see Joey Janela facing Sabu in the latter’s retirement match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is set to an old Rat Pack style song with various hardcore clips. That’s quite the dichotomy.

Tag Team Titles: Violence Is Forever vs. Alec Price/???

Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini/Kevin Ku) is defending and Price’s normal partner, Cole Radrick is injured and he needs a replacement. For now though, Price is fighting by himself and dives onto the champs to start fast. They go inside with Price hitting a top rope leg lariat and some running shots in the corner. A Blockbuster hits Garrini but Ku is back up with a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle.

Garrini kicks Price into a reverse capture suplex and Chasing The Dragon gets two. The titles are brought in but here is Cole Radrick (still injured) to bring out Jordan Oliver to be Price’s partner. The diving tag brings Oliver in to clean house and Radrick sends in the crutch. Everything breaks down and Oliver hits a kind of reverse powerbomb out of the corner to pin Garrini at 6:54.

Rating: C+. This was kind of two matches in one as Oliver was brought in the middle to change everything around. Before he showed up it was Price getting beaten up but after Oliver showed up it was basically a fast paced win. It’s a good way to open the show with the feel good return and title change so well done.

We recap Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego del Sol, which is quite the blood feud and now it’s mask vs. career, loser leaves GCW.

La Familia Wagner vs. Los Desperadoes

That would be Dr. Wagner Jr./El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr./Galleno del Mal vs. Arez/Gringo Loco/Jack Cartwheel. Hijo and Cartwheel start things off with Hijo spinning out of a wristlock to take him down. A basement crossbody puts Cartwheel down and they have a cartwheel off. Galleno and Arez (he’s weird) come in to run the ropes until the much bigger Galleno shoulders him down. With that going nowhere, it’s off to Loco vs. Wagner Jr. but first we need a hug between the Wagners.

They trade armdrags to no avail so Loco gets in some hip gyrations. Wagner Jr. takes off his mask and everything breaks down, with Cartwheel hitting a big flip dive to the floor. Galleno gets triple teamed in the corner and a double suplex puts him down. Loco drops the split legged moonsault for two but Galleno fights out of the corner. Hijo is in for the save as Wagner Jr. grabs a trashcan to start cleaning house.

Arez takes it away and hits Wagner Jr. instead, followed by an enziguri to drop him. Hijo hits Three Amigos (yes with dance) on Arez, setting up the frog splash for two. A running Codebreaker gives Arez two but Galleno makes the save. Loco catches him on top with a super Spanish Fly but Arez is right there for a running shooting star (one foot) onto the pile on the floor. Back in and Wagner Jr. powerbombs Cartwheel into la majistral for the pin at 17:04.

Rating: B-. This was a bunch of people having a good match with a family fighting three other stars. Wagner Jr. is an older guy but he certainly hasn’t lost it by any means. This is the kind of variety that can make a show feel more interesting and fun, which is what GCW seems to want to do. And it worked.

Bozilla vs. Megan Bayne

This is whatever the female version of a hoss fight would be. Bozilla powers her into the corner to start but Bayne tells her to run the ropes. That’s what Bozilla does, with a big shoulder running Bayne over. Bayne kicks her to the floor and a suicide dive connects. Back in and Bozilla catches her with a Samoan driver for two and the bearhug goes on. Bayne fights out and hits a running dropkick, followed by a belly to belly for two.

Bozilla comes back with a German suplex, only for Bayne to drop her with a clothesline. They go up top with Bozilla hitting a super fall away slam as something weird comes over the audio (seemed to be a glitch). A powerbomb puts Bayne down but she gets up for a sitout powerbomb of her own. They strike it out until Bozilla drops her with a clothesline into three straight powerbombs for two. Bozilla’s moonsault misses though and Bayne hits a flip dive off the top. Fate’s Descent and a tombstone finish Bozilla at 12:13.

Rating: B. There is something fun about two big, strong people beating the fire out of each other until one of them can’t get up. That’s exactly what we got here and it’s cool to see a hoss fight between two women for a change. Bayne felt like she was out to prove herself here and that made for a good story from the bigger star.

We recap 1 Called Manders vs. Zack Sabre Jr. Manders has finally started having some success, winning the WXW World Title. Now he wants to prove himself against Sabre (in theory, as there isn’t any talking).

1 Called Manders vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Non-title. They start slowly and go to a test of strength, which goes nowhere. An exchange of shoulders goes badly for Sabre but Manders makes the mistake of extending his arm. That’s all Sabre needs and he starts stomping away but gets dropped ribs first across the top rope.

Sabre starts in on the arm again and Manders bangs it up again on a chop. The arm is bent around the rope and a big kick to the chest gets two. Manders tries a comeback but gets spun around by the arm again. A single chop gives Manders two and the lariat, albeit a weakened one, gets two. Sabre pops back up and grabs the European clutch for the pin at 7:56.

Rating: C+. This is a match that probably should have been better but just wasn’t. For one thing, they didn’t have a ton of time and it hurt things a good bit. How much can you do when you don’t even have eight minutes? Manders seemed to be trying to prove that he had gotten so much better, but that doesn’t have much of an impact when Sabre picks him apart, survives a finisher and then wins.

We recap Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego del Sol. Cogar doesn’t like del Sol for wearing the mask and thinks he’s hiding something. They have fought a few times now and this is mask vs. career.

Fuego del Sol vs. Atticus Cogar

Fuego comes to the ring with a bunch of masked people. They go right after each other to start and Cogar is already bringing in the weapons. Fuego gets in a chair shot for a breather and it’s time to bridge a door between the chairs. Cogar whips out some scissors to cut at the mask and stab at the head, because that’s something you see done. An Air Raid Crash off the stage sends Fuego through the doors to really leave him down.

They get back inside with Cogar bringing in more weapons but getting kicked down. Fuego gets crotched on top and Cogar bites the forehead. Cogar is tied in the Tree of Woe though, only for Cogar’s brother Otis to run in. Cue Fuego’s friend Sam Stackhouse for a (rather large) suicide dive to the Cogars. Atticus fights back with the chairs but Fuego Sun Fire Drivers him through the chair structure.

A German suplex sends Fuego onto an open chair and it’s time to jab some skewers into Fuego’s head. Otis chairs Stackhouse down for Fuego kicking out and it’s time for a 2×4 with gusset plates. Fuego uses the breather to hit a moonsault DDT for two and Stackhouse is back up to take out Otis. Fuego’s 630 sends Atticus through the door at ringside for two more, meaning it’s time to skewer Atticus. The 2×4 hits Atticus in the arm but he whips out a tazer to blast Fuego. A Brain Hemorrhage (bulldog driver) onto a trashcan finishes Fuego at 17:44.

Rating: B. This is a good illustration of what a story can do. The match itself was pretty much a garbage brawl, but I wanted to see Fuego beat Cogar. The story they had told set Cogar up as an evil that wanted to destroy Fuego for the simple reason of “Cogar doesn’t like him”. Fuego has done nothing wrong and that makes me want to see Cogar get what is coming to him. I was disappointed when Fuego lost and that’s a sign that they did something right. Nothing match, great storytelling, and the latter is more important.

Post match Fuego has Stackhouse remove the mask and he hands it to Atticus. That gives us a victory lap from Atticus who puts on the mask then throws it on the stage and steps on it. Fuego takes his boots off and leaves, seemingly ending his career.

We recap Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki, which is basically “two monsters are going to fight”.

Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki

They yell a lot and then strike it out with both of them wanting it brought. For some reason Suzuki thrusts his hips before they fight outside, where he bents Tremont’s fingers. Tremont is rammed into various things and is already busted open, which isn’t going to be a good thing. Suzuki slowly hammers away and bends the finger before going back inside to bend the finger even more.

More blood flows but Tremont manages a clothesline for two. The Death Valley Driver gets two but Suzuki comes back with a choke. They get to the ropes so the referee tries to break it up, earning himself a piledriver from Suzuki. More referees come out as the fight goes into the crowd. They both grab their titles for a staredown and it’s no contest at around 10:45.

Rating: D. So they had Suzuki do his thing, Tremont do his thing, and then they brawled off rather than have one of them do a job. Suzuki has had a rough stretch of matches over the weekend and this was another one on the pile. I’m sure this was a match that was supposed to sound great on paper but that didn’t exactly play out. It was more an extended brawl than a match and that’s not quite much to see.

Video on Joey Janela vs. Sabu, with Janela getting the Sabu that he wanted for Sabu’s final match.

JCW Title: Masha Slamovich vs. Suzu Suzuki

Slamovich is defending. Suzuki wins an early exchange of shoulders and a running knee to the back gets two. Back up and Slamovich grabs some hair mares to set up a seated abdominal stretch. That’s broken up and Suzuki hits a spear, followed by a missile dropkick for two.

Slamovich is back up with some running strikes in the corner but the White Knight Driver is broken up. Suzuki kicks her down again but stereo kicks to the head leave them both down. Back up and they trade more kicks to the head, with Slamovich’s being a bit more effective. The White Knight Driver retains the title at 9:48.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have a ton of time here but it felt like a hard hitting fight and that’s what this needed to be. Slamovich has been working hard throughout this weekend with one of the busiest schedules of anyone. You can see why as well, as she hasn’t had anything close to a bad match all weekend, which is more than a lot of people can say.

We recap Gabe Kidd vs. Mance Warner, which is a rematch from earlier this year when they brawled so much that it had to be stopped.

Mance Warner vs. Gabe Kidd

Warner comes out swinging a screwdriver to start and gets knocked down, allowing Kidd to get said screwdriver. Veda Scott: “Are we going to have a shoot murder?” Warner is already busted open and it’s time to stab him in the head even more. The comeback is on in a hurry and Warner goes to get more weapons.

Back in and Warner gets the screwdriver, which he licks and uses to comb his hair, and then stabs Kidd. Naturally after the whole double stabbing thing, they sit in chairs and slug it out. Kidd drops him back first onto some open chairs, followed by a discus lariat for two. The (bloody) door is set up but Warner is back up with a springboard tornado DDT to send Warner through the door in a crash.

The big lariat gives Warner two and they both need a breather. Warner sets up a bridged door but Kidd is back up with a piledriver through said door. They trade forearms until Kidd hits a big right hand to knock Warner cold, with Kidd collapsing on top of him for the pin at 14:39.

Rating: C+. This was the violent spectacle that you knew was coming at some point on a GCW card, even though the barbed wire main event is still to come. What mattered here was having the two of them beat each other senseless, with the ending being more about both of them looking equal as Kidd just got lucky. Odds are that sets up a rematch, and I’m almost scared of what happens when they try to get more violent.

Senior Scramble

They’re all old and they’re having a match. We have Ricky Morton (68), Mike Jackson (75), George South (62) Damien 666 (63) and Robert Gibson (66). It’s a brawl to start (oh dear) and here is Kerry Morton (Ricky’s son) to complain about the collective erectile dysfunction he sees in the ring. He couldn’t get on the show because of “these old f******” and wants “Uncle Hoot” (Gibson) to get out of his ring (ignore that Gibson is on the floor).

Gibson chairs Kerry in the back and he gets inside for the big group beatdown. Jackson even goes Old School and Ricky adds a Canadian Destroyer. A triple team powerbomb sends Kerry through a door and it’s a quintuple pin at 6:15. Kerry: “I’M NOT A F****** JOBBER!”. Ok that was funny.

Rating: B. This was barely a match but dang I had fun with it. There’s something funny about a whiny young guy getting what is coming to him, especially with a bunch of veterans getting to give him a beating. It was the silliness that a show like this needs and found a way out of having a bunch of older people lose. On top of that, they even had a hot start, which made me wonder just how far they were going with this.

We recap Joey Janela vs. Sabu. Janela agreed to face Sabu in his retirement match but then got hurt. Then Janela started talking about how he wanted to give Sabu his Independent Wrestling Hall Of Fame induction plaque but that Sabu, the one that Janela grew up idolizing, was dead.

This brought out Sabu to stab Janela with his spike, which made Janela say he would face Sabu at Spring Break no matter what. Janela actually cut a heck of a promo, talking about how he got the Sabu that he wanted and promised to kill Sabu’s career. Then it was time to make it a bared wire match because that’s what Sabu likes to do.

Sabu vs. Joey Janela

The ropes have been replaced with barbed wire and there are various barbed wire accessories around the ring. Janela jumps him during the entrances and hammers away but Sabu fights back. A whip into the wire has Sabu in trouble but he comes back with the spike. Cue Bill Alfonso (with the whistle) as Sabu is sent into a barbed wire box. The already bleeding Sabu loses his jacket and is thrown through a barbed wire board. Cue the Cogars to beat up Janela and Alfonso…and the lights go out.

The Sandman does his full entrance through the crowd with the fans singing along (of course) and (of course) the Cogars just kind of stand around while Sandman takes his sweet time. Sandman comes in and clears out the Cogars with some one armed cane shots, leaving Sabu to send Janela through a barbed wire board. Sabu sends him into the barbed wire box before they take turns throwing chairs at each other. Janela gets planted onto a chair and the Arabian Facebuster gives Sabu the pin at 17:07.

Rating: D. Yeah what else were you expecting here? This was never going to be a quality match, but even then it wasn’t very good. The match was a bunch of violence with interference and about a five minute Sandman entrance. Those things were there to extend the time, mainly because there was pretty much no way Sabu could do much other than get thrown into things. Of course he won on his way out and I’m sure Janela would have it no other way, but dang this was not an easy watch. And Sabu couldn’t do this in Philadelphia the year before?

Post match Janela gives Sabu his Hall Of Fame plaque, even though he knows Sabu will probably sell it. Janela thanks Sabu for the house to wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: B-. You can definitely feel the effort on this show and they put together a good overall presentation. There is good action and only two bad matches, with Suzuki vs. Tremont and the main event not really working. On the other hand though, you had a nice selection of quality, plus the shockingly engaging Fuego vs. Cogar fight. Another solid show here, as GCW might not be my thing, but they know what they’re doing with a show like this.

Results
Alec Price/Jordan Oliver b. Violence Is Forever – Reverse powerbomb to Garrini
La Familia Wagner b. Los Desperadoes – La majistral to Cartwheel
Megan Bayne b. Bozilla – Tombstone
Zack Sabre Jr. b. 1 Called Manders – European clutch
Atticus Cogar b. Fuego del Sol – Super Brain Hemorrhage onto a trashcan
Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki went to a no contest
Masha Slamovich b. Suzu Suzuki – White Knight Driver
Gabe Kidd b. Mance Warner – Right hand
Ricky Morton/Mike Jackson/George South/Damien 666/Robert Gibson b. Kerry Morton – Triple powerbomb through a door
Sabu b. Joey Janela – Arabian Facebuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break: Cluster**** Forever
Date: April 6, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Veda Scott

This is the second half of Spring Break, with a two match card. Naturally this includes a Punjabi Prison match, but the big draw is the Cluster**** Battle Royal, which is only a match with actual structure in the loosest of terms. There will probably be more than fifty entrants with loosely timed intervals, but the real fun is seeing who shows up. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on the Punjabi Prison match.

Tag Team Titles: Violence Is Forever vs. Juicy Finau/Zilla Fatu vs. Los Macios vs. Bollywood Boyz

Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku/Dominic Garrini) is defending and Los Macios are Ciclope/Miedo Extremo. The Boyz are carried on fans’ shoulders to the ring, which is surrounded by the bamboo style cage. This is one fall to a finish, meaning it’s not quite a Punjabi Prison match but I’ll take what I can get under the circumstances.

Fatu and Finau clean house to start, with Finau and Garrini fighting to the floor (as in outside of the cage) where Garrini gets beaten up. Los Macios hit Ku with a double flapjack but can’t manage to double suplex the rather large Ku. The Boyz are back up with a Bollywood Blast to Ku before double teaming Fatu down. Finau wrecks Finau as more people go to the floor to brawl.

Gurv is busted open and Ciclope grabs an electric tool, which can’t go well for anyone. Los Macios manage to knock Finau down inside, at least partially thanks to a chair, leaving Fatu to Samoan drop Harv off the cage through some doors at ringside. About ten chair shots and a Samoan drop put Finau down again as Ciclope climbs the cage.

Fatu Samoan Spikes him down and then dives back in with Garrini having to make a save. A spike piledriver hits Gurv…who pops right back up. The champs chair him down and then do the same to Finau. We pause for the sake of spending forever to set up a double stack door. The top rope double stomp to Finau gives Ku the retaining pin at 14:26.

Rating: C+. What is there to say about a match like this? It’s total insanity with all kinds of things going on at once. That’s kind of the point, and while the cage itself was only kind of used at times, I think I like the idea of having people coming and going. Having eight people in the ring at once is a mess, so I’ll take carnage going throughout the arena and ringside over everyone in the ring and not being able to move.

We look at upcoming shows as it’s going to take some time to get the cage down.

Commentary hypes up the Cluster as we stay on the graphic of upcoming events.

Before the Cluster starts, here is GCW World Champion Black Christian, with Shane Mercer, for a chat. Christian talks about how Joey Janela couldn’t finish the story last night at Spring Break and it wasn’t the first time he was bigger, stronger and could last longer than Janela. Cue Janela from behind to powerbomb Christian and hit him with a package piledriver. Mercer and Janela brawl outside…and here is Mance Warner, who has a guaranteed title shot at any time. Warner loads up the screwdriver but Effy comes in to brawl with Warner to the back.

We preview the Cluster, which is about having all kinds of people, with no idea of who or how many people will be entering.

Cluster****

There are unknown entrants and you can be eliminated by pin, submission, over the top, leaving the building and death. It’s Royal Rumble style (with the rules and intervals being loose at best) with Jimmy Lloyd, in a neck brace after last night, in at #1. Before the match he rips on Philadelphia before bringing out Matt Cardona and Steph de Lander. Well in theory that is but instead it’s Shane Douglas coming in at #2.

Shane hits a quick belly to belly for the pin and the elimination, allowing him to stop and talk about the history of wrestling here in Philadelphia. All of the promotions around here can kiss his a** but here is Shota in at #3. A dropkick staggers Douglas but he’s back with the belly to belly for the pin. Bam Sullivan is in at #4 and flips off Douglas, who hammers away. Sullivan knocks him down and gets two off a splash but Douglas bites him in the head. A running clothesline of all things gets rid of Sullivan and it’s Lindsay in at #5.

Douglas doesn’t think much of her so she hits him low for two. The camel clutch goes on but Jason Knight comes in, presumably at #6, to kiss Snow and toss her out. Rob S*** is in at #7 and beats on both of them until Knight dumps him. The Carnage Crew (Loc and DeVito) are in at #8 and #9 but they’re both out just as fast. Tommy Dreamer is in at #10 and yeah the fans approve as the ECW reunion continues. Justin Credible pops in, I guess at #11, and leaves with Jason without doing anything.

That leaves Dreamer vs. Douglas with a quick DDT getting rid of Douglas as the Impact Players (Knight/Credible) are officially eliminated due to leaving. Rina Yamashita is in at #12 and they slug it out, with Rina grabbing a testicular claw. An enziguri drops Dreamer and Tony Deppen is in at #13 (Rina rolls her eyes). Rina rolls outside (not eliminated) and 1 Called Manders is in at #14. Brawling ensues until Charlie Tiger is in at #15. That goes nowhere so Jeffrey John is in at #16 as the ring is starting to fill up.

Facade is in at #17 for some kicks to stagger various people. The intervals pick up as Masha Slamovich is in at #18. Slamovich avoids a dropkick and chokes John out for the elimination. Tiger gets choked out as well before Slamovich crotches Facade on top and gets rid of him. Deppen tries to get rid of Slamovich but Dreamer throws him out instead. Trevor Outlaw and Frank The Clown are in at #19 and #20 with Outlaw trying a cheap shot on Dreamer, who grabs a DDT.

Slamovich tosses Dreamer and pins Outlaw as Marcus Mathers is in at #21. Mathers kicks Rina back out to the floor (again not out) and Parrow is in at #22. Frank The Clown has left the building (he never got in the ring) for an elimination and it’s Mike Bailey in at #23 (you knew he was coming). Everyone goes after the large Parrow, who tosses Bailey. Parrow puts Slamovich down for the pin as well and it’s Pollo del Mar in at #24. Pollo is tossed rather quickly and it’s Dark Sheik, Edith Surreal and Jamie Senegal in at #25, #26 and #27.

They all strike away at Parrow, including a trio of Shattered Dreams. Parrow goes through the ropes (not out) and it’s Cheech and Colin Delaney in at #28 and #29. They go after the trio but can’t get rid of anyone as the Main Event (Jay Lion/Midas Black) are in at #30 and #31. Some rather snazzy double team moves have Cheech and Delaney in trouble, albeit not eliminated. Dives through the ropes take Cheech and Delaney down as the Ugly Sucklings (White Mike and Rob Killjoy) are in at #32 and #33.

The Sucklings beat up both tag teams but can’t get rid of anyone as Davey Bang and August Matthews are in at #34 and #35. That means they get to clean house with some dives as even more people get to lay around on the floor. Cheech and Delaney come back in but get dropped with clotheslines as Bobby Flaco, Terry Yaki, Aerial Van Go and Mr. Danger come in together at #36, #37, #38 and #39.

The four of them go after Delaney, with a hurricanrana into a phoenix splash getting rid of him, with Cheech being thrown out just after. Flaco plants Black for the elimination and a twisting Canadian Destroyer gets rid of Lion. Bang and Matthews are back up to get rid of Mike and Killjoy. Fuego del Sol and Sam Stackhouse are in at #40 and #41 with the much bigger Stackhouse going after Matthews.

Del Sol and Stackhouse knock Matthews and Bang down for stereo pins to clear the ring, not counting all of the people still either on the floor or gone. Stackhouse and del Sol beat up some of the foursome before a ladder is brought in. A moonsault onto said ladder gets rid of Flaco and Yaki but Van Go and Danger use the ladder to drop Stackhouse and del Sol. They both climb the ladder and Van Go headscissors Danger onto the pile on the floor, meaning they’re both eliminated.

Green Phantom is in at #42 and Sexxxy Eddy follows him, apparently at #43. Eddy comes to the ring in a towel and puts his tights on before getting inside to chair Stackhouse down. Mathers comes back in and gets hit low by Eddy but Manders gets back in as well. A double clothesline puts Manders down and it’s Tara Zep in at #44.

Eddy gyrates a lot and Phantom knocks Zep face first into Eddy’s trunks. Phantom slams Zep onto a chair for the elimination and Tank is in at #45. Tank beats up Eddy and Phantom but Manders is back in again for a slugout. They trade headbutts until Tank hammers him into the corner with both of them busted open. Tank headbutts Manders down and it’s Matters coming back in for another slugout. CPA (yes he’s an accountant) is in at #46 and takes off his shirt and tie to reveal….the same shirt and tie.

We’ll make that three layers as he hits a slow motion 619 on Tank. Everyone but CPA goes under the ropes to the floor and it’s Alex Zayne in at #47. Mathers takes Zayne’s place and is sent outside (not out again) as Philly Mike is in at #48. Mike knocks Mathers into the corner and it’s Spyder Nate Webb in at #49 for the full Teenage Dirt Bag entrance. Other wrestlers dance with him at ringside before Webb conducts the fans to sing the song with him.

With the song done, Webb takes a bow and gets inside, beer in hand. The fans want the song to be played again and that is in fact what happens as commentary points out that it is 2am local time. Philly Mike finally jumps Webb, who hands him a beer and then hammers him down. They fight to the floor and Mike walks out for an elimination. Webb follows and he’s out too, taking some of the energy from the crowd. Said energy picks up again as ring announcer Emil Jay enters at #50 but is tossed out almost immediately.

Eddy gets to gyrate a bit and it’s Cheeseburger in at #51. Cheeseburger ties Eddy in the Tree of Woe and sends Phantom face first into his tights, which is enough for an elimination. Eddy’s tights are pulled off and he has to fight with his hands covering himself. That lets Cheeseburger toss him out and Man Like DeReiss is in at #52. As usual, DeReiss raps himself to the ring and throws out CPA in the process. Monomoth (he has wings) is in at #53 and Zayne isn’t sure what to do with him.

A quick rollup gets rid of Zayne and Mercedes Martinez is in at #54 so Mathers comes back in (there are all kinds of people just sitting/strolling around at ringside) and is quickly fisherman’s bustered out. Surreal and Senegal (See what I mean?) come back in to go after Martinez, with Sheik joining them but getting eliminated. Surreal saves Senegal but Martinez DDTs both of them for the double elimination. DeReiss comes back in and low bridges Martinez out as Kaplan is in at #55.

Kaplan sets up doors and chairs on the floor as Manders and Stackhouse get back in. Del Sol is back in as well as Sawyer Wreck (with a bad arm) is in at #56. Kaplan misses a moonsault and gets thrown through the doors for the elimination. Wreck comes in as Brandon Kirk and Kasey Catal are in at #57 and #58.

Manders and Kirk are eliminated by their respective (romantic) partners….and then Wreck and Catal kiss. They leave together and they’re both out (Emil Jay: “Sawyer Wreck and Kasey Catal have left the building….together.”). Jordan Oliver is in at #59 to dropkick Tank out but Parrow is back in for a chokeslam. Monomoth is back in and is quickly tossed as Beastman is in at #60.

Beastman chokebombs Parrow but Stackhouse comes in and takes his shirt off, giving us a lot of jiggling. DeReiss chops at the huge Stackhouse and Beastman before tossing both of them out for the big eliminations. Viva Van is in at #61 and knocks DeReiss into the corner. The gear is hitched up for a Stinkface (DeReiss approves but feigns being knocked out when Van looks at him) but del Sol breaks it up. Van is out and Gringo Loco is in at #62.

The entrants pick up as Grim Reefer is in at #63 and tries to light a cigarette, with Parrow breaking it up. Parrow puts Reefer out and it’s Cole Radrick and Alec Price in at #64 and #65. They go after del Sol and Oliver with the former being knocked out thanks to some double teaming. Johnny Kashmere is in at #66 and we get a mini tag match with Kashmere/Oliver vs. Price/Radrick. That includes Radrick and Price both being tossed, leaving Kashmere and Oliver in the ring as Kurt Bale, Lance Scaper and Big Vin are in at #67, #68 and #69.

Vin and company get to wreck Kashmere and Oliver but can’t eliminate them as the American Giant (he’s 7’3) is in at #70. Giant gets rid of Vin and chokeslams Bale and Scaper for the double pin. There goes DeReiss as well so Parrow comes in for the staredown with Giant. Microman is in at #71 for the funny visual and Chiitan (a mascot with a big head) is in at #72.

Parrow gets rid of Giant and kicks Microman in the head but Chiitan knocks Parrow through the ropes. The Fighting Chicken (Prazak: “What in the world?”) is in at #73 and we get the big mascot staredown with Chiitan. Dr. Cube, the Hot Potato and Double Unicorn Dark (they’re kaiju from Japan) are in at #74, #75 and #76. The Chicken pecks away but the kaiju knock the mascots into the corner. Potato’s shooting star press gets two…and Aja Kong is in at #77 for the big surprise.

The Kaiju and the Chicken go after her but she knocks the three villains out and spinning backfists the Chicken for the pin. Chiitan, minus the hat, goes after Kong, who hits a spinning backfist for the pin. That gives us Parrow vs. Kong, with Parrow hitting a clothesline for the pin. Loco is back in and gets knocked out before going after Microman. Yoshihiko (a doll) is in at #78 and Stunners Kashmere out before brainbustering Oliver (just go with it) for the elimination.

Rina Yamashita (who hasn’t done anything or been seen in probably an hour and a half) comes in to piledrive Yoshihiko, who hurricanranas her out anyway. Parrow goes to throw out Yoshihiko, who throws him out instead. We get Yoshihiko vs. Microman but Nick Gage is in at #79 (announced as #87, but there’s no way I was THAT far off), the final entrant. Commentary says Gage, Yoshihiko and Microman are the final three so we’ll go with that as I lost who was still in an hour ago.

Gage hammers Yoshihiko into the corner and hits a gorilla press powerslam. The pizza cutter is whipped out but Microman makes the save. Yoshihiko crossbodies Gage but gets sent out, leaving Microman to suplex Gage. Microman pizza cutters Gage, who shoves him back down. The fans cheer for Microman, who is sat on top…but Gage misses a charge and falls out, allowing Microman to get the win at 1:57:51 (close enough as there was no opening bell).

Rating: B. Oddly enough, I had a good time with this. It’s a perfect example of “this is what we told you would be happening”, as there is nothing remotely serious about the whole thing, with stretches where there were dozens of people officially in but few were actually doing anything. This isn’t a match where it’s about the story or the action, but rather the whole atmosphere and wondering who was coming in next. This was pure, goofy fun and I had a good time with it, which is exactly what it should have been.

Overall Rating: B-. It says a lot when an eight man, four team cage match is completely forgotten but that’s the kind of show this is. This isn’t supposed to be anything more than one big party show where the fans get to see a bunch of people running out there and some semblance of a match taking place. You have to know exactly what you’re getting into, but if you can accept that, you’ll have a good time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

WrestleCon Supershow 2024
Date: April 4, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Veda Scott

It’s one of the biggest independent events of Wrestlemania Weekend and as usual, the card is rather stacked. You will regularly get some rather nice surprises to boost up what is already advertised and that makes it a lot more fun. This time around most of the card has been advertised in advance to change it up a bit. Let’s get to it.

I was in the crowd for this, sitting near the stage (all of three feet in front of commentary, which I could hear throughout for a really weird feeling). However, I had a bad case of vertigo kick in just before the show started and it didn’t wrap up until around the start of the main event so I spent a good chunk of this show trying not to fall over. I don’t remember much of it as a result so this should be fun.

ECW announcer Stephen DeAngelis welcomes us to the show and shows us a video on Mark Hitchcock, a graphic designer who passed away on his honeymoon. The show has been named in his honor ever since.

Joey Janela vs. Nic Nemeth

Feeling out process to start with neither getting anywhere off an exchange of lockups. Nemeth wrestles him down without much trouble and Janela seems to realize he’s in trouble on the mat. Janela gets over to the ropes before running Nemeth down in a bit more successful strategy. Back up and Nemeth misses a Stinger Splash, allowing Janela to hit a rather snazzy chop.

Nemeth gets sent into the ropes for a quick German suplex and Janela sends him outside as commentary talks about the paths these two took to get here. Back in and we hit the neck crank as Gill has quite the trouble remembering if it’s Nemeth or Ziggler (fair enough). Janela hits some more hard chops as commentary talks about how you can hear the chops throughout the arena (true).

An Angle Slam gets Nemeth out of trouble for a much needed breather as they’re both down. Back up and Nemeth starts the comeback, with a ram into four different corners. The superkick is blocked though and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence for two each. They slug it out and trade superkicks until Nemeth hits a dropkick for another double knockdown.

Janela manages to grab the Death Valley Driver onto the apron but Nemeth is right back with the running DDT for two. Nemeth’s Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb, followed by the package piledriver for another near fall. Janela takes too long going up and gets superplexed back down for the big crash. Back up and Janela hits a running elbow to put both of them down again. Nemeth shrugs that off and hits a Fameasser into the Danger Zone for the pin at 18:17.

Rating: B. Janela likes to go long in his matches but he did well here. This isn’t about some big long term story or anything serious, but rather having an entertaining match. Nemeth getting to do things outside of WWE is rather interesting for a change and facing Janela in a long match is almost a rite of passage. Good stuff here and it felt like a match that could have hung on a more traditional show.

Los Boricuas vs. FBI/???

This would be Savio Vega/Miguel Perez Jr./Nathalya Perez (with the rest of the team) vs. Little Guido/Tommy Rich/a mystery partner in the form of….Deonna Purrazzo (and Tony Mamaluke to even things up a bit). For those of you who don’t know who Nathalya is Miguel’s daughter, making her the first ever third generation Puerto Rican wrestler. Miguel and Guido start things off but it’s quickly off to Savio vs. Rich.

Nathalya comes in and wants Purrazzo, which does not seem to be a good idea. Nathalya actually takes her into the corner and chops away, only for Purrazzo to demonstrate it a bit better. Purrazzo drops her rather quickly so it’s off to Miguel, who drives Rich into the corner. An elbow to the head gets Rich out of trouble and Guido comes in for a Paisan elbow in a nice flashback.

Hold on though as Guido is sent outside for some Boricuas cheating, meaning we have a big ejection. Miguel grabs a chinlock on Guido before Savio comes back in and is promptly crossbodied. Miguel is right there to cut him off with a clothesline but Guido gets in a middle rope…we’ll call it a clothesline. The tag brings Rich back in for the right hands as everything breaks down. Nathalya slugs it out with Purrazzo and they trade kicks to the head, only for Purrazzo to grab the Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 9:33.

Rating: C. This was there for the sake of some goofy old school fun and there is nothing wrong with that. The fans are going to be into the FBI and their goofy dancing while Los Boricuas certainly have a reputation. Purrazzo was a nice surprise and fit in well with the team, while Nathalya’s biggest flaw is she looks incredibly young. That will change with time, but for now, she looks like a teenager out there. Anyway, fun match to pop the live crowd.

Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Bailey

Veda Scott is a bit biased here, which might be due to her being married to Bailey. Bill Alfonso is here with Van Dam for the old school feeling and yes it’s Walk for the entrance music. As a bonus, Jerry Lynn is guest referee. They fight over a lockup to start until Van Dam fakes a clean break by grabbing a headlock. Said headlock takes Bailey over a few times but he headscissors his way to freedom.

Back up and they both miss kicks for a standoff, with the fans dubbing this awesome. For some reason Van Dam thinks it’s time to pose, allowing Bailey to kick him down. You don’t break up Van Dam’s posing so he chokes on the ropes, poses, and hits a slingshot legdrop. Bailey is draped over the barricade for the spinning kick to the back for the nasty landing on the floor. Van Dam takes too long getting some water from a fan and gets taken down by an Asai moonsault. Gill worries about Fonzie being taken out as well but Scott said “don’t worry, he’s a resilient chap”.

Back in and Bailey hits a hard Helluva Kick into a Tajiri handspring elbow into a running shooting star press for two. The moonsault knees miss though and Van Dam gets two off a rollup. That’s enough to draw Fonzie in for an argument, which only allows Bailey to nail the bouncing kicks. Bailey misses a big kick but Van Dam misses the Rolling Thunder. The shooting star misses for Bailey so Fonzie throws in the chair for a Van Daminator. The Five Star finishes Bailey at 10:57.

Rating: C+. Oh like Van Dam was losing in the ECW Arena on a special show like this. The good thing about Van Dam is that unlike most of the former ECW stars, he can still more than hang in there and have a perfectly watchable match. That was the case here as he and Bailey had an entertaining match with the right ending. Nice stuff here and seeing Van Dam in this building was special.

Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title: Michael Oku vs. Titan

Oku, with Amira, is defending. They go with the grappling to start with Titan twisting out of a wristlock. Stereo dropkick attempts miss and they chop it out, with Oku sticking his chest out but getting kicked in the stomach instead. Back up and Oku sends him outside, only for Titan to jump back inside for the suicide dive.

They get back inside where Titan kicks him in various areas but Oku is back with a middle rope dropkick. With Titan on the floor, Oku hits a running shooting star over the ropes to take him out again. A high crossbody gives Oku two back inside but Titan drops him on the apron. That means a top rope double stomp, only to have Titan come up favoring his knee. Back in and Titan misses another double stomp, allowing Oku to knee him in the face.

The Lionsault sets up the half crab (Oku’s finisher) but the rope is reached rather quickly. Titan’s knee is fine enough to hit a springboard tornado DDT and we get a double breather. They forearm it out until Titan gets the better of an exchange of kicks to the face. Titan’s top rope double stomp gets two but bangs up the knee again. Oku pulls him into the half crab and bridges back for the tap to retain at 15:32.

Rating: B. It was a good, back and forth match with the title helping a lot. I’m not sue I get Oku’s appeal a lot of the time, but he was feeling it here and the submission/high flying combination worked well here. Titan did well with his own stuff as well and it was a rather entertaining match that felt like it could have been on any regular show, which is a nice fit in on a show like this one.

Rascalz vs. Matt Riddle/Mustafa Ali

That was unadvertised so all three entrances get quite the reaction. Riddle takes Wentz down without much trouble to start and they wrestle to a standoff. Wentz gets a headscissors but Riddle slips out, only to miss the big kick to the chest. Back up and Wentz slips out of a German suplex and they slap each other in the face, followed by an exchange of respectful nods.

Ali comes in and takes over on Miguel’s arm but Miguel is right back up with an armbar of his own. They trade some quick near falls and that’s good for a standoff. Everything breaks down and Riddle sends the Rascalz to the floor for the big dive from Ali in a nice bit of teamwork. Back in and Wentz kicks Riddle down to grab the chinlock, followed by the wishbone into stereo basement dropkicks (ouch) for two.

Miguel kicks him in the head again but Ali gets over to bring Ali in and pick up the pace. Riddle gets pulled off the apron though and Ali misses a charge into the corner, allowing the double teaming strikes to drop Ali for two more. Wentz’s hard DDT gets two but Ali fights right back up (as tends to be the case) and brings Riddle back in to clean house. A snazzy German suplex gets two on Miguel but the Floating Bro is broken up. Ali is back in with the tornado DDT, only to miss the 450 and roll into a cutter from Wentz. A springboard cutter drops Riddle, who bounces back up with a double cutter. The Bro Derek finishes Miguel at 14:20.

Rating: B. Ali and Riddle are something of an indy dream team at the moment and it was cool to see them getting together and having a heck of a match here. At the same time, there is something odd about seeing a makeshift team beating a regular team, which was a major focal point from commentary. That being said, it’s hard to imagine most people beating Riddle when he gets into that mode and the match was rather good.

Respect is shown post match.

Josh Alexander vs. Masato Tanaka

Alexander easily takes it to the mat for an early standoff and they fight over hammerlock control. A running shoulder puts Tanaka down but he’s back up with the right hands in the corner. They chop it out until Alexander dragon screw legwhips him down. Tanaka’s leg is fine enough for him to grab a suplex, only to have Alexander roll some German suplexes for two.

The C4 Spike is countered into the sliding elbow to give Tanaka two of his own. Tanaka’s top rope superplex…doesn’t really hurt Alexander, who pops back up for the clothesline comeback (?). The Roaring Elbow gives Tanaka two but his top rope splash hits raised knees. That means the ankle lock (the first of many I’m sure) goes on for Alexander but Tanaka rolls out, earning himself the running crossbody to the back.

Back in and Tanaka wins a slugout, even knocking Alexander’s headgear off. Alexander elbows him down for two and they forearm it out again. Tanaka knocks him into the corner for Diamond Dust and another near fall but Alexander is back with a powerbomb onto the knee. The C4 Spike finishes Tanaka at 12:16.

Rating: B. Take two hard hitters and let them beat the fire out of each other for about twelve minutes until the bigger name hits his finisher for the pin. It was a good, hard hitting match and one of those “hmm, that’s interesting” deals that you can see on a show like this one. Alexander continues to feel like a big fish in a small pond with TNA so it’s nice to see him getting a moment to shine here.

The ring announcer thanks the fans.

Team CMLL vs. Team Dragon Gate

CMLL: Averno/Barbaro Cavernario/Mistico/Star Jr./Villano III Jr.
Dragon Gate: Dragon Kid/Kota Minoura/Kzy/Shun Skywalker/Yamato

The annual ten man tag is a WrestleCon Supershow signature. Skywalker (quite the villain) bails to the floor to start as commentary is flat out saying they can’t keep track of all these people. Cavernario and Kid start things off with some grappling on the mat until Cavernario pulls him into a quickly broken surfboard. Cavernario hits him in the face but Kid snaps off a headscissors.

Averno and Yamato come in with Averno taking Yamato down but getting caught with an arm crank. With that not working, we get the big staredown between Skywalker and Mistico, with the handshake not happening. Mistico snaps off a running headscissors to send him outside and there’s the dive to take Skywalker out again. Everything breaks down for a brawl on the floor until we settle down to Star chopping it out with Kzy.

Star hits a jumping uppercut to put Kzy down until Star ties him in the ropes for a springboard fadeaway legdrop (ala Carmelo Hayes). A kind of flipping slam plants Kzy for two and Star hits a springboard clothesline. Villano comes in to hammer away on Minoura as everything breaks down again.

We settle down (kind of) to Skywalker throwing Cavernario into the corner, allowing Kid to come in and drop some knees. Averno comes in and gets stomped down before Yamato grabs a quickly broken chinlock. It’s back to Villano, who is taken down as well with Dragon Gate holding his partners back in a smart move. That doesn’t last long either as Star comes in and gets taken down in a hurry.

Kzy’s elbow to the back gets two with Mistico making the save but getting caught in the wrong corner as well. Mistico and Minoura strike it out until a swinging Boss Man Slam gives Minoura two. Skywalker comes in but Mistico is back with a handspring double elbow and it’s back to Star. The big dive to the floor takes out most of Dragon Gate and Mistico hits a bigger dive to send them into the crowd.

Back in and Kid gets triple teamed but manages to hand it back to Averno. Skywalker gets caught in the ropes for a bunch of strikes to the chest/head and back to back triplebombs get two with Kid making the save. Averno gets super hurricanranaed down and a frog splash gets two and Cavernario gets kicked in the head….sending him into the Worm.

Something like a Vader Bomb hits Kid or two as everything breaks down. Mistico gets kicked down by Kzy but Skywalker shoves his own partner down, wanting the win for himself. That lets Star hit a top rope double stomp on Skywalker, setting up an arm/leg crank. Mistico adds La Mistica to Kzy for the double submission at 24:47.

Rating: B. This was quite the display of talent with everyone in there going nuts to get int heir own bit of offense. That being said, the match ran long as the stretch where Dragon Gate triple teamed people and cut the ring off just kept going. It was a fun spectacle but never really did anything all that huge to take it up to the next level.

Post match Skywalker goes after CMLL again and gets stomped down.

Of note: following the show, I went to dinner and wound up sitting next to most of Team CMLL (minus Mistico). They were all unmasked but I recognized Cavernario, who confirmed it was the rest of the team and apparently some others. None of them could say who they were, but it was a rather cool treat.

Gill hypes up the main event and intros the ring announcer, who isn’t quite ready, resulting in a 47 second run on sentence introduction with Gill all but begging him to start talking. You could hear the relief in Gill’s voice when the introductions began and he got some applause for his efforts.

Paul Walter Hauser vs. Sami Callihan

Street fight and Hauser is mainly an (Emmy Award winning) actor who occasionally wrestles. Callihan jumps him from behind to start and says F*** Philly/WrestleCon because he’s about to cut up an Emmy winner. The stomping is on, followed by a kendo stick shot to the back. Callihan grabs a bag of toys, starting with a piece of paper to cut the creases between Hauser’s fingers.

Naturally he follows with a lemon to squeeze the juice into the cuts for the real pain. The pizza cutter slices Hauser’s head up as commentary brings up Hauser invading Callihan’s Wrestling Revolver promotion. Back in and Callihan carves him up with the cutter again but Hauser busts out some powder for a needed breather. Callihan hits him with a table but chops the post by mistake.

It’s time for a door, though we pause for Hauser to trade his torn shirt to a fan for a fresh one. Back in and Hauser misses a charge to get sent through the door and Callihan whips out some staple guns. Callihan even throws one to Hauser and they trade staples to various body parts. Hauser staples him low and drops a headbutt for two. It’s time for thumbtacks but Hauser’s middle rope elbow only hits said tacks.

A table is brought in and a powerbomb sends Hauser through it for two. Callihan knocks the referee down and grabs the kendo stick. Said stick is thrown down so Callihan kicks him low and gets two from Bill Alfonso of all people. The near fall doesn’t work for Callihan, who decks Alfonso and grabs the kendo stick….for the Sandman’s pose.

The lights go out and we get the full Enter Sandman treatment as the Sandman is here. I remember watching Sandman as a kid and thinking this was the coolest entrance ever so getting to see it in person, in the ECW Arena, even when Sandman is 60 and has been retired forever, was an all time wrestling moment. For a bonus, we also cut back to the ring where Alfonso is just sitting in the corner watching the entrance in a funny moment. Sandman finally gets in and canes Callihan, allowing Hauser to hit the White Russian Legsweep into the tacks for the pin at 23:38.

Rating: C. The match itself was WAY too long, but the only thing that mattered here was getting in the big Sandman moment at the end. Hauser gets to beat the evil Callihan in a fun and special ending and it did that well enough. The problem is the match could have been ten minutes shorter, as you can only see so much of Callihan beating him up in between short comebacks. This had to headline for the sake of Sandman though and that was worth the wait.

Hauser thanks the fans for letting him into their world to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show is always tricky to do as it has so many things going on with all kinds of interesting matches. While some of them didn’t quite work, the stuff that was good was very good, especially with just the right amount of ECW nostalgia. I look forward to this show every year and it worked again here, albeit with a few less than great spots.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 8
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Veda Scott

This is one of the bigger independent shows of Wrestlemania Weekend and the biggest GCW show as well. The main event if Joey Janela himself challenging the rather unpopular Black Christian for the GCW World Title. As usual this show could be all over the place and that makes it more fun. Let’s get to it.

I only follow GCW to a certain extent so I apologize in advance for missing details about characters or storylines. I’m basically going based off what commentary or the wrestlers tell me.

Note that I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the sixth row with the entrance on my right.

In Memory of Virgil.

Opening video.

Rina Yamashita/Masha Slamovich vs. Minoru Suzuki/Masato Tanaka

Rina and Tanaka start things off with the former’s running shoulders not getting her very far. Suzuki and Slamovich come in but I can’t stop looking at a rather stupid looking fan. Looks like some overrated wrestling reviewer. Slamovich can’t get very far so it’s back to Tanaka to take her down by the arm. The fight heads out to the floor and we go split screen, which is more than most major promotions can remember to do.

Back in and Suzuki stomps away at Slamovich in the corner before Tanaka just slaps her in the face. It’s back to Suzuki who alternates between cranking on various limbs to keep Slamovich down. Slamovich manages a quick suplex and it’s back to Rina to pick things up. We get the “let’s stand here and exchange forearms”, with Suzuki getting the better of things.

Tanaka comes in for a top rope superplex, which he rolls into another suplex. Rina gets away for the tag back to Slamovich, who strikes both guys down. A double powerbomb gets two on Tanaka and let’s get a door. Splash Mountain through the door is broken up by Suzuki, who is sent outside. Tanaka puts Slamovich (mostly) through the table for two but Slamovich is right back with a crucifix for the pin at 13:48.

Rating: C+. This was a nice start as the fans are always going to react to Suzuki and Tanaka was a big enough deal in ECW for the local fans. Other than that, it didn’t get too violent and that left us with a mostly clean tag match. It’s nice to see something like that on a show that has a tendency to get nuts, though I’m sure that’s coming later.

Rock N Roll Express/Kerry Morton vs. East West Express/Mike Bailey

The Rock N Roll (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) are legends (as opposed to the East/West of Jordan Oliver and Nick Wayne) and of course good guys but Kerry (Ricky’s son) is a loudmouthed heel. Before the match, Kerry tells the fans to shut the f*** up and asks who all of these people think they are to get in the ring with the. And then the fans BOO HIM??? Kerry jumps the three of them from behind to no avail and it’s a neckbreaker into Bailey’s shooting star press for two.

Wayne and Oliver start working on the arm before it’s off to Ricky, who gets elbowed in the face. Ricky tells Wayne to run the ropes but Kerry gets in a cheap shot, which doesn’t work for Kerry. The fans sing their disdain for Kerry, who doesn’t take kindly to it but does take Wayne down with a slingshot suplex. Wayne manages a running uppercut for a breather and it’s Bailey coming back in to pick up the pace.

Oliver snaps off a double chop and…bounces up and down a lot. The East/West comes in for their double cutter out of the corner but Kerry shoves the referee into the ropes for the break, earning him a big yelling from Ricky. He even slaps Kerry and I guess that’s enough for Ricky to be Legal. A Canadian Destroyer hits Wayne and he dives onto a bunch of people, including Kerry. The Mortons hit stereo dropkicks for two on Wayne as Bailey makes the save. Oliver and Wayne are back in though and it’s the double cutter for the pin on Ricky at 9:21.

Rating: C+. This was more about Ricky vs. Kerry than anything else while also having the Rock N Roll in there. It made for a good enough story, but the action was only so good. You can only get so much out of the Rock N Roll these days and while that’s fair enough, it was smart to keep this relatively short. And of course with Bailey in there, because he comes complete with every Wrestlemania Weekend show.

Dragon Gate Classic vs. Reiwa New Generation

That would be Dragon Kid/Kzy/Yamato vs. Ben-K/Kota Minoura/Shun Skywalker. Yamato and Ben start things off and they go to the mat for the grappling exchange. With that not working, Kzy and Minoura come in and the latter doesn’t think much of what appears to be dancing. That doesn’t work either, so it’s off to the masked Skywalker and the, uh, also masked Kid.

A Stundog Millionaire drops Skywalker so Ben and Minoura come in for an assisted kick to Kid’s face. Ben does his rotating gutwrench suplex to drop Kid again, followed by Skywalker’s suplex to keep Kid in trouble. Minoura comes back in with a Boston crab, sending Kid straight to the ropes.

Kid finally manages to get in a shot of his own and it’s back to Yamato to pick up the pace. Kzy hits a big dive to the floor, leaving Yamato to suplex Ben for two. Minoura gets super hurricanranaed down and Kzy’s frog splash gets two more. Back up and Skywalker monkey flips Kzy into Kid and Yamato but Kzy forearms the heck out of Skywalker. Minoura is back in and gets caught in a crucifix to give Kid the pin at 13:53.

Rating: B. They were doing the showcase route here and that went rather well. It’s a case where you take a bunch of talented people and let them go out there for a bunch of fun spots for a good while. It worked well here with everyone going nuts until someone got the pin. Rather entertaining stuff here and it went exactly as it should have.

Cole Radrick vs. Aigle Blanc vs. Alec Price vs. Arez vs. Leon Slater vs. Marcus Mathers vs. Mr. Danger vs. Myron Reed

Grab The Brass Ring ladder match, with a Sonic looking ring above the ring, meaning the winner gets a shot at any title on demand. It’s a big brawl to start and everyone heads outside and thankfully we go split screen again. Radrick and Blanc grab chairs and go back inside for a duel, with Radrick knocking him right back to the floor. Mathers comes back in to kick the chair into Radrick’s head before it’s Danger coming in for a springboard legdrop to knock a ladder onto Reed’s face.

Now it’s Arez and Mathers picking up a ladder to clear a few people out, only to have Blanc break it up. We get the required ladder around the head (Price’s in this case) so he can spin around rather quickly to knock a bunch of people down. Price is down as well so it’s Microman, who stands 3’3, in with a tiny ladder of his own. He does his own ladder spin, resulting in a bunch of low blows for even more knockdowns. Microman sends Mathers into a ladder in the corner and there’s a headscissors to Price.

Back up and Price nails a clothesline before going up. Arez breaks that up with a springboard cutter so Radrick grabs the ladder, only to have that broken up as well. Mathers shoves a ladder over to send Danger into another ladder. Blanc misses a Swanton onto the ladder, allowing Slater to hit a Swanton 450 (that looks cool) to crush Blanc again. Mathers powerbombs Blanc onto a bunch of people on the floor but Reed pulls him off the ladder.

A F5 onto the top into a Downward Spiral plants Mathers but Price sends Reed face first into the ladder. There’s the big dive to the pile on the floor, leaving Slater to hit the huge dive over the post. A bunch of people check on Slater until Reed dives over the top for a cutter onto the pile. Danger goes up for the huge moonsault onto a bunch of people, leaving the fans pleased and everyone else down. Back in and Danger goes up but Radrick slows him down. Mathers and Price go up as well before going crashing down, leaving Radrick to knock Danger off and win at 17:06.

Rating: B-. This was the big cluster (ok maybe not the best word on a Joey Janela show) ladder match and it worked rather well. It’s the best way to have this many people on the roster at once as the fans get to see a bunch of stars in one match. It helps that there were stakes with this being similar to the Money In The Bank ladder match. There were a lot of people out there, but at least they kept things moving well enough.

Matt Cardona vs. Blue Pain

Cardona, with Steph de Lander and Jimmy Lloyd, is dressed as Macho King (with Queen Steph) and lets us know how lucky we are to have him. He was on TNA AND AEW recently and this weekend, his best friend Cody Rhodes will finish his story. Pain on the other hand is better known as Blue Kane and he’s kind of the Xanta Claus version of Kane: he wears blue, he controls cold instead of fire, he comes out to Eiffel 65’s Blue song, and he weighs two Cease And Desist Orders.

Cardona strikes away to start and gets scared out to the floor, as the flashbacks to the old US Title days are still real (that’s a weirdly clever idea). Back in and Pain uppercuts Cardona right back to the floor, meaning it’s time to stalk Cardona into the crowd. They fight into the balcony (not that high) and Pain loads up a table, only to get hit in the eyes with…something. Lloyd has to make the save but gets put in a chair and sent through the table (call back to Kane vs. Cardona back in WWE).

They get back in, where a de Lander distraction lets Cardona knock Pain off the top, setting up stereo Broski Boots. An Urn is brought in but Cardona hits de Lander by mistake (she urned that one), allowing Pain to hit the top rope clothesline. A chokeslam gets two, with de Lander pulling the referee out.

Radio Silence connects and another referee, dressed like Zack Ryder and coming out to the Zack Ryder theme, comes in to count two but flips Cardona off and kicks him low. Pain fights up with a chokeslam attempt, only to have Ryder hit him low, as Cardona reveals (and drops to the floor) a cup. That doesn’t work either so chokeslams abound until Lloyd is back. A fireball to the face (oddly appropriate) blinds Pain and Radio Silence lets all four villains pile on for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: B-. We can call this the definition of “stupid, goofy fun” and that is not a bad thing. Cardona is a big deal around here and it’s nice to see him getting to do something as silly as beating up a blue version of a monster who messed with him about ten years ago. Sometimes you need to do something ridiculous to give the fans a good time and that is exactly what happened here.

Gringo Loco vs. Amazing Red

This should be fun. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere, including Red offering a clean break. They run the ropes and exchange some near falls until Red pauses on a big kick to the head. Loco isn’t having a handshake and knocks him outside, only to have Red snap off a hurricanrana.

The dive drops Loco again and Red sends him into the chairs before going back inside for the chops. Loco fights up and knocks him to the floor this time, only to let Red get back in due to that pesky respect stuff. Back in and a tornado DDT gives Red two more as they’re going back and forth here. Loco’s sitout powerbomb gives him two of his own but a top rope superplex is broken up.

Instead Red sends him down for a top rope faceplant but Loco hits a standing version for two more. Another powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana to give Red two so they both go up. This time it’s a super Spanish Fly to give Loco another near fall and they’re both a bit winded. Loco loads up…something but gets kicked in the back, allowing Red to take him up top for a super poisonrana. A top rope double stomp into a frog splash into Code Red is enough to give Red the pin at 15:55.

Rating: B. This was a way more straightforward match and it went rather well. After having all of the goofiness before and the violence that is still scheduled, it is nice to have something like this. Red is way past his prime but can still do some rather nice things. Loco is still more than good enough as well and they had a rather solid match here, at least given the circumstances.

Respect is shown post match.

We recap Mance Warner vs. Effy in an I Quit match. The commentary before the video said they’re former stablemates and now hate each other, but we’re not told why or what happened. Warner is rather violent though and apparently stabbed Effy with a drill to the head. As you do.

Effy vs. Mance Warner

I Quit and the fans do not like Warner whatsoever. We even get the Big Match Intros to really make this feel special. Warner hammers away to start and strikes away, only to charge into a German suplex. Effy hits a running boot in the corner and flips into something like a dragon sleeper. That’s broken up so Effy hits a spear to take Warner down again.

It’s time to bring in some chairs, one of which is thrown over the top and onto Warner’s head. Effy chairs him down and loads up a door, but does stop to chair Warner down again in a smart move. Warner is fine enough to spinebuster him through an open chair and a spinning DDT through the table connects. It’s way too early for Effy to quit so Warner chairs him down again.

Back up and Effy sends him through another door for another no, setting up a piledriver onto the chairs. Effy tries a Rough Ryder but is quickly powerbombed down onto the chairs as well. That’s nowhere near enough so let’s steal the referee’s belt to whip Effy over the back. Effy shrugs that off and grabs the belt, which he wraps around his fist to punch Warner in the face.

Some whipping in the corner makes Warner say no again and it’s time to bridge a door between some chairs. Choking takes too long though and Effy gets sent through the door, which is good for another no. They slug it out on the apron, with Effy snapping off a standing Blockbuster. Another door is loaded up at ringside but Warner grabs a chokeslam to send him through it as the violence continues.

Back in and they trade pieces of door shots to the head. Effy gets the better of things again and they trade low blows to put them both down again. Warner whips out a screwdriver to hit Effy in the head and it’s time to bring out some zip ties. The bloody Effy is tied to the top rope and Warner throws a chair at his head. That’s still a no so here is Allie Katch (Effy’s partner) with the drill…but Warner chairs her down and loads up the drill. Effy quits to save Katch at 21:47.

Rating: B-. This was the match that caught my eye more than anything else on the card and it told a story (unlike the story that we weren’t given about how we got here) but it never really got to that next level. Instead it was just a bunch of hitting people with stuff until they did the ending. It wasn’t bad, but I was expecting more in what felt like it could have been one of the best things on the show.

We recap Nick Gage/Maki Itoh vs. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho. Gage was unhappy with Danhausen for costing him a win so it’s time to bring in a partner each.

Nick Gage/Maki Itoh vs. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho

Kaicho appears to be a bit dead and Gage and Itoh have Discount Dewey Donovan with them (he still has a website, where he brags about how little effort he has put into it and has not updated it in about 18 years). The fans REALLY do not like Danhausen during the Big Match Intros and even he seems a bit surprised.

Danhausen and Gage start things off but Danhausen wants Itoh instead. The curse is blocked with a middle finger so Danhausen grabs a headlock. Itoh gets knocked down and Danhausen drops a falling headbutt, a signature Itoh spot. Back up and Itoh knocks him down so it’s off to Kaicho, who uses her….death dust to blind Itoh? With that shrugged off, Itoh hammers away in the corner and hits a running boot for two. Gage comes in and knocks a crossbodying Itoh down and an elbow makes it worse.

Itoh DDTs her way to freedom and hands it off to Danhausen to slug away at Gage, followed by the flying shoulder. Everything breaks down and Gage pulls Danhausen outside, where it’s time to grab a door. All four get inside and it’s a four way knockdown, with Gage grabbing the pizza cutter.

Kaicho blasts him with the dust though and hits a dropkick to put Gage through the door in the corner. Danhausen pizza cutters Itoh and pours the teeth in her mouth, setting up the running booth. Back up and Gage sends Danhausen through another door as Itoh drops Kaicho. Stereo falling headbutts give Gage and Itoh the stereo pins at 13:01.

Rating: C+. What were you expecting here? It was basically a way to have Gage vs. Danhausen and it wasn’t exactly good. Gage is as big of a star as he can be around here and more or less it gave him a way to get on the card. Danhausen has fallen really hard in recent months and while he’s not done yet, it would be nice to see him getting to do something else to freshen things up a bit.

Post match Gage thanks the fans so the winners can leave.

We recap Blake Christian defending the GCW World Title against Joey Janela. No one likes Christian so it’s time for Janela to save the title from a horrible champion. He’s also standing up to Christian for going after Missy Hyatt, because that is a thing that is happening in 2024.

GCW World Title: Blake Christian vs. Joey Janela

Christian, with Shane Mercer, is defending and Missy Hyatt (with Gucci purse) is here with Janela. We get the Big Match Intros and Janela is in the Lex Luger Summerslam 1993 gear, which can’t go badly whatsoever. The mic goes out during Christian’s entrance because even the electronics don’t like Christian.

They fight over a lockup to start and that goes a grand total of nowhere. Janela shoulders him out to the floor but Christian is back in to slug away. A backdrop does a bit better for Janela and it’s time for a door. That takes too long so it’s Christian hitting a dive to send the door into Janela for a change. We hit the hair pull, followed by a chinlock, which isn’t a good sign less than ten minutes into the match.

Janela fights up but gets sent outside, where Mercer puts him into the post. Christian sends him face first through a chair and even busts out a cartwheel inside. Back up and Janela manages a quick cutter into a brainbuster for two, meaning frustration is starting to set in. That takes too long so Christian is back up with a springboard elbow for two of his own.

Stereo clotheslines give us a double knockdown, followed by a DDT to plant Christian onto the apron. The door is set up at ringside but Christian slips out of a Death Valley Driver. Back in and Janela snaps off a German suplex, followed by the Death Valley Driver for two. Janela takes too much time going up and gets knocked down, allowing Christian to hit a springboard 450 for two of his own.

Christian sends him outside for the big flip dive into a Nightmare On Helm Street on the floor. A moonsault press is countered back inside and Janela hits a quick jackknife. Janela grabs a chair to knock Christian down and then wraps the chair around his head. Mercer offers a quick distraction though and it’s Christian coming back with a spinebuster through the chair.

A Stomp gives Christian two and the shock sets in quickly. Mercer throws in a mostly broken door and some chairs but Hyatt comes in, meaning Janela has to make the save. Janela knocks Mercer off the top and through another table at ringside, setting up a superplex through that rather lame looking door.

A top rope stomp onto the door onto Christian gets two but he’s back up with a quick DDT. They slug it out from their knees until Hyatt grabs Christian’s leg (only took her two tries). Christian pulls her in so Janela makes the save…and Hyatt hits Janela with the Gucci bag. A stomp onto the bag retains the title at 29:44.

Rating: D+. Janela has a tendency to go long in his matches and that was certainly the case here. This is a match that could have easily had fifteen minutes chopped off as they just didn’t have much going on here. Christian can do the moves well but he isn’t exactly a thrilling star otherwise. Janela did what he could but they couldn’t have telegraphed the ending any harder. Not a good main event, mainly as it went on WAY too long.

The fans throw in trash (the referee is NOT happy) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show started off well enough but it went on about four hours in total and the fans were just done by the main event. It’s a show where they needed to cut some time off from more than a few matches. I liked the show well enough and a good chunk of it had some of that strong GCW crowd energy, but the main event was rough. It doesn’t help that there is nothing worth going out of your way to see. Spring Break is supposed to be one of the really fun events and this was more forgettable than anything else.

Results
Rina Yamashita/Masha Slamovich b. Minoru Suzuki/Masato Tanaka – Crucifix to Tanaka
East West Express/Mike Bailey b. Rock N Roll Express/Kerry Morton – Double middle rope cutter to Ricky
Dragon Gate Classic b. Reiwa New Generation – Crucifix to Minoura
Cole Radrick won the Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match
Matt Cardona b. Blue Pain – Radio Silence
Amazing Red b. Gringo Loco – Code Red
Mance Warner b. Effy when Effy quit
Nick Gage/Maki Itoh b. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho – Stereo falling headbutts
Blake Christian b. Joey Janela – Stomp onto a Gucci bag

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.