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

 

 

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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

 

 

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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:

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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.

 

 

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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

 

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TJPW vs. DDT vs. GCW
Date: April 19, 2025
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Veda Scott

So I think the title of this one kind of speaks for itself, as we’ll be seeing three different promotions come together for something of a three way dance. That offers a variety of different options, with some of the names being a bit less than familiar. These shows have done well before, even if they’re as standalone as you can get. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Hyper Misao/Jada Stone/Mizuki/Raku/Yuki Aino (TJPW) vs. Arisu Endo/Miu Watanabe/Shino Suzuki/Suzume/Yuki Arai (TJPW)

So this isn’t so much three promotions against each other as all ten of these women are from TJPW. Before the match, Misao (the resident superhero) says they are all friends and requests a clean fight. That earns her a kick in the ribs and we’re ready to start fast. Suzume dropkicks Stone down for two and then rolls her up for the same. A springboard armdrag takes Suzume down but she sends Stone into the corner.

It’s off to Endo, who is dropped with a sitout gordbuster but we pause for Raku to put Endo on her pillow for a nap. Then Raku and company run over her in some improper napping etiquette. A five woman cover gets two with all of Endo’s partners making the save. Arai comes in to kick Raku in the face a few times, followed by a running clothesline for two. It’s off to Misao for a heroic running crotch attack against the ropes but Arai gets in a big boot. Misao’s high crossbody gets two and it’s off to Aino for something like a spinning Vader Bomb.

Arai dropkicks her way out of trouble and it’s off to Watanabe, who catches Aino in a giant swing. An over the shoulder backbreaker is escaped and they trade shoulders until Aino grabs a suplex. A Polish hammer drops Aino and it’s off to Suzuki vs. Mizuki to pick up the pace. Mizuki wastes no time in sending her against the ropes for a running dropkick, followed by a high crossbody for two.

Arai comes in with a full nelson slam and everything breaks down, with Suzume grabbing a sleeper on Mizuki. That’s broken up and they trade rollups for two each. A double reverse DDT puts Arai down and a pair of top rope bulldogs connect. Stone hits a Lethal Injection on Suzume but Watanabe slams Stone and Misao at the same time. Yeah she’s time but she thinks she’s a monster so she’s strong. Or something. Mizuki is back up for her tabletop suplex (the Cutie Special, because of course) to pin Suzuki at 10:14.

Rating: B-. They did a nice job of getting this many people into the match when they had so much going on. It’s always hard to get ten people active in a match and they only had so much time to start. It was a nice way to get all of these people onto the card and as usual, Misao is just so likable. Good opener here, with quite a bit of fun to be had.

Kidd Bandit/Shota (GCW/DDT) vs. Antonio Honda/Rika Tatsumi (TJPW/DDT)

Bandit and Tatsumi start things off with Tatsumi snapping off an armdrag and then avoiding some spinning kicks. Honda comes in and gets his leg caught in the ropes on the way in, which seems to be par for the course for him. Shota comes in and drops down, with Honda almost falling over him. Some bad looking Steve Austin tributes (Honda is bald so….he’s a klutzy Austin?) have Shota down but Honda gets sent to the floor.

Shota rakes Honda’s back, causing Honda to steal a woman’s hat (making him about the fourth person to do so this week, with commentary mentioning the hat’s history). Back in and Bandit kicks Honda down for two as commentary says the plan is to keep beating Honda up and the team will win.

A rake to the back of the head puts Honda down again but he gets a boot up in the corner. Naturally Honda takes too long going up top and gets punched out of the air but he does manage to bring Tatsumi back in. A flying hip attack drops Shota and a running elbow gets two. Shota’s neckbreaker gets him out of trouble and it’s back to Bandit for an airplane spin. A hard knee gives Bandit two but Tatsumi fires off a jumping hip attack.

Honda comes in, trips again, and then trips over Bandit as well…so he needs the mic? Honda says his retirement is near and he can’t do this anymore, but first he wants to tell us a fairy tale. He holds up a Too Sweet sign and says he wants to meet a famous TikTok influencer. Apparently he called said influencer but found out that it was d*** talk and then pokes Tatsumi in the eye (I’m going to assume I missed something in that joke). Everything breaks down and Honda goes up, only to dive into some raised feet. Bandit rolls Honda up for the pin at 10:02.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to make of this but I hadn’t seen Honda before and he amused me enough. I’m really not sure what the point of that story/joke thing was and I think that might be the best for me. Another goofy comedy match and that’s perfectly fine on a show like this one.

Bandit and Shota dance in celebration.

Starboy Charlie/Yuni (GCW/DDT) vs. Los Desperados (GCW)

Los Desperados are Arez/Gringo Loco, likely in search of 1 Called Manders. Loco and Charlie start things off with the fans rather behind the former. They go to a test of strength with the bigger Loco getting the better of things and they take turns diving over each other. Charlie backflips over him and hits a spinwheel kick, setting up some hip swiveling. Yuni and Arez come in to trade wrist control until they switch to the flips.

Arez gets taken down with a headscissors and then a spinning armdrag, with commentary thinking Arez underestimated him. Loco comes in with a gorilla press into a sitout powerslam (that looked good) for two and we settle down so Arez can hit a loud chop. The Falcon Arrow sets up a flipping Fameasser (cool) so Charlie comes in for the save. That’s fine with Arez, who dives onto Loco and they roll over until Arez can hit a tornado DDT on Charlie.

A nice Swanton crushes Yuni for two but it’s time to open his shirt so the chops are even worse. Arez loads up another chop but flips the fans off for daring to ask for ONE MORE TIME. Nice guy. Charlie gets chopped as well but manages to get some feet up in the corner. A top rope headscissors takes Loco down and stereo moonsaults to the floor drop Arez and Loco.

Back in and a double bulldog gets two on Arez, followed by Charlie’s double Pele. A poisonrana plants Loco and Yuni’s hurricanrana gets two. Charlie’s shooting star hits raised knees though and a pair of powerbombs (including a top rope helicopter bomb to Yuni) gives Los Desperadoes the double pin at 11:22.

Rating: B-. This was a much more story based match and I got into it well enough. Charlie and Yuni were outmatched but fought from underneath like a pair of underdogs are supposed to do. It worked well and was a more serious match than most of what we’ve seen on the show so far.

We look at Atticus Cougar beating Fuego del Sol yesterday at Joey Janela’s Spring Break to take Fuego’s mask and seemingly end his career.

Wanaka Uehara/Yuki Kamifuku (TJPW) vs. Brooke Havok/Sandra Moone (GCW)

Yuki has some rather long legs. Uehara and Havok start things off with a battle over arm control. Havok knocks her back and hits a middle rope dropkick for two, only to get dropkicked into the corner. Yuki is in for a Helluva Kick for two but Havok grabs a facebuster into a neckbreaker.

That’s enough for Moone to come in and kick away, only for Yuki to grab something like an Octopus. That’s broken up and everything breaks down, with Moone hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Yuki is back up with an STO into a leg lariat. The middle rope Fameasser finishes Moone at 7:02 (appropriately enough, the area code for Las Vegas).

Rating: C+. Pretty simple and to the point tag match here and that’s a fine way to go. Sometimes you can just slow things down a bit and let them do their thing, which is what they did here. I don’t believe I’ve seen much of Havok and Moore before but they did a nice job here, even against what seemed to be a more experienced team.

Marcus Mathers/Shoko Nakajima/Super Crazy (TJPW/GCW) vs. Daisuke Sasaki/Ilusion/Dark Sheik (DDT/GCW)

It’s a brawl to start with Mathers leapfrogging Ilusion before he can even take his ring jacket off. A spinning high crossbody gives Mathers two and he slams Sheik down for a bonus. Mathers goes up top but dives into a low blow to cut him off in a hurry. Ilusion missile dropkicks Mathers down and it’s off to Sheik to hammer away. Sasaki drops a leg between the legs but Mathers would rather slug it out than tag.

That earns him another knockdown due to general stubbonrness but he gets over to Nakajima for the tag anyway. Nakajima comes in with a running boot in the corner and a springboard kick to the Sasaki’s head. That just earns her an escaped crossface so it’s off to Sheik for a suplex. A way too long guillotine legdrop misses and it’s off to Crazy vs. Ilusion. Crazy gets to clean house, including a sitout powerbomb for two. Something like a lifting abdominal stretch matches Ilusion tap out at 8:50.

Rating: B-. Mathers is starting to show me something on these shows and that’s a good sign for his ID future. He’s a talented guy who can do some impressive stuff in the ring. At the same time you have Nakajima being fine enough and Crazy somehow still being good enough to overcome his gain in size.

1 Called Manders/Maki Itoh (GCW/TJPW) vs. Microman/Yukio Naya (GCW/DDT)

Itoh has a cowboy hat on and does part of Manders’ Dead Or Alive entrance. Microman and Itoh start things off and the fans are very impressed. They trade the cute poses and Itoh isn’t sure what to make of this…so she kicks him down. The ten right hands in the corner don’t work because Itoh can’t reach his head (that’s funny).

Microman hits a right hand of his own into a dropkick for two, earning himself a facewash in the corner. It’s off to Manders to knock Naya off the apron and Microman gets stomped down. Manders and Itoh take turns biting his fingers but Manders misses a basement lariat. A rake to the eyes lets Microman hit a 619 and a legsweep suplex puts Manders down. Naya comes in for a running splash in the corner and loads up a chokeslam but Manders….points finger guns into his chest.

That makes Naya drop to his knees so Manders can drop him, allowing Itoh to come in with a high crossbody. Naya scares Itoh, who tells her to bring it on and yells her back into the corner. That makes Itoh break down in tears…and Microman is crying too. Even Manders cries and we get a group hug, with Naya having to cry too.

They all hug (the fans approve), and then the fighting is on again. Itoh puts her hat back on for a double cover on Naya but Manders accidentally lariats her down. Naya plants Manders and Microman adds a bottom rope splash. An assisted splash from Microman pins Itoh (who was begging him not to do it rather than rolling away) at 11:29.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of goofy fun and that’s all it needed to be. They clearly weren’t trying to do anything serious with this match and it still went fine enough. The crying spot was funny and it’s not like most of these people are supposed to be taken seriously in the first place. Goofy comedy can be fun and that’s what they had here.

We look at part of Sabu vs. Joey Janela at Spring Break. There was A LOT of barbed wire.

John Wayne Murdoch/Matt Tremont (GCW) vs. Mance Warner/Shunma Katsumata (GCW/DDT)

Hardcore and the weapons are in the ring before they get going. Murdoch and Katsumata slug it out to start and it’s already time for the skewer sticks…which they use to stab themselves in the head. Tremont and Warner come in and it’s time for a door, which is slingshotted to Tremont’s head to bust him open. The fight heads outside (commentary is shocked) and Warner gets crotched on the post. Katsumata hits a crossbody onto Murdoch and Tremont and they actually go back inside.

Murdoch chairs Katsumata down and then throws him head first into a chair in the corner for two. Some rams into the steps give Tremont two but Katsumata dropkicks a chair into Murdoch’s face. Warner gets the tag (because a match with this many weapons need tags) and sets up four chairs so they can sit down and hit each other in the face. Warner and Katsumata are sent through doors and a Death Valley Driver finishes Katsumata at 9:36.

Rating: C-. Yeah I’m never sure what to make of a match like this, as you had people spiking themselves to start the show. That doesn’t exactly make for my kind of match and I’m not wild on what I had to see. Trying to have actual tagging was a bit of a relief but that’s about all there was here. Just not my thing at all.

Konosuke Takeshita/Masha Slamovich (DDT/GCW) vs. Miyu Yamashita/Shinya Aoki (GCW/TJPW)

Slamovich and Aoki get things going with Aoki getting two off an early rollup. That’s not going to work for Slamovich, who gets to kick Yamashita down without much trouble. It’s off to Takeshita and Aoki for some grappling on the mat with Aoki getting two off a cradle. The fans are behind Aoki as they trade rollups for two each. Aoki’s Figure Four is turned over and they’re quickly back up again.

They trade European clutches for two each and then take turns escaping chokes. Yamashita comes in to forearm away at Takeshita to no avail. Everything breaks down and Slamovich and Takeshita slam their way out of chokes. Takeshita forearms Yamashita out of the air but can’t hit Raging Fire.

Yamashita manages a skull kick and they’re both down. Slamovich comes back in for an exchange of kicks and everything breaks down again. Aoki’s dive onto the floor is pulled out of the air for a brainbuster, leaving Yamashita to hit an AA for no cover. Slamovich is back up to kick her down, setting up the White Knight Driver for the pin at 11:10.

Rating: B. Pretty easily the best match of the night and that’s not surprising seeing who was in there. I’m not overly familiar with Aoki but he held his own in there with someone as good as Takeshita. It was an entertaining match and well done without much in the way of screwiness so we’ll call this a win.

We look at the GCW Tag Team Title match from Spring Break with Alec Price and Jordan Oliver winning the titles.

BZW Tag Team Titles: Mao/Yoshihiko vs. Alec Price/Jimmy Lloyd vs. Jack Cartwheel/Kazuma Sumi

Mao/Yoshihiko (the latter of whom is a doll and sporting a taped up head after getting busted open at a recent show) are defending (from BodyZoi Wrestling, a Belgian promotion). We start with a three way test of strength between Yoshihiko, Lloyd and Cartwheel and I don’t like where this is going. Naturally Yoshihiko takes over and grabs a hurricanrana but they all throw dropkicks for a standoff.

A triple tag brings in Price, Sumi and Mao, with Sumi getting chopped down over and over. Sumi grabs a pop up hurricanrana on Price but Mao grabs Yoshihiko to trip Cartwheel down. A double hurricanrana drops Cartwheel again and it’s time to hammer away in the corner. Mao and Yoshihiko hit some double Cannonballs in the corner but Price is back up with a kick to the head, forcing Yoshihiko to poisonrana Mao.

Yoshihiko gets launched into the crowd for the big crash and Lloyd Lionsaults Cartwheel and Sumi. Mao is back up with a double northern lights suplex to Price and Lloyd but gets caught with a double moonsault. Yoshihiko makes the save and everything breaks down, with Mao bringing Yoshihiko in off the tag. Yoshihiko is spun around into a hurricanrana and everyone is down. A string of DDTs leave Yoshihiko to suplex Cartwheel and Sumi at the same time.

Price takes Yoshihiko up and naturally we get a Tower Of Doom. Mao’s top rope splash gets two on Price and everyone is down again. The big brawl is on and it’s Yoshihiko getting to fire off some superkicks and most of the people wind up on the floor, meaning it’s time for some dives. This includes a multi flip dive from Yoshihiko who mostly overshoots the pile. Back in and Mao gives Sumi a reverse superplex faceplant (that’s cool) to retain at 13:48. Commentary complains about Yoshihiko not having a Cagematch profile because wrestling is weird.

Rating: C+. I never know what to make of the Yoshihiko stuff but it certainly has an audience. The biggest thing here though is that the match went fairly long and the joke started to get old. You can only do so much when you have to wrestle yourselves and that can make for a tricky situation. The rest of the match was fine enough, but this was just wasn’t my thing (again).

And we’re off the air really fast.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the kind of show that can be a lot of fun as it wasn’t meant to be anything more than a bunch of people getting together and having matches. That’s all it needed to be and it worked well enough. The good thing is they had a big mixture of styles instead of doing the same stuff over and over. I had fun with it and that’s the idea of a show like this one.

Results
Hyper Misao/Jada Stone/Mizuki/Raku/Yuki Aino b. Arisu Endo/Miu Watanabe/Shino Suzuki/Suzume/Yuki Arai – Cutie Special to Suzuki
Kidd Bandit/Shota b. Antonio Honda/Rika Tatsumi – Rollup to Honda
Los Desperadoes b. Starboy Charlie/Yuni – Double pin
Wanaka Uehara/Yuki Famifuki b. Brooke Havok/Sandra Moone – Middle rope Fameasser to Moone
Marcus Mathers/Shoka Nakajima/Super Crazy b. Daisuke Sasaki/Ilusion/Dark Sheik – Lifting abdominal stretch to Ilusion
Microman/Yukio Naya b. 1 Called Manders/Maki Itoh – Splash to Itoh
John Wayne Murdoch/Matt Tremont b. Mance Warner/Shunma Katsumata – Death Valley Driver to Katsumata
Mao/Yoshihiko b. Alec Price/Jimmy Lloyd and Jack Cartwheel/Kazuma Sumi – Reverse superplex faceplant to Sumi

 

 

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

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The Wrld On GCW
Date: January 23, 2022
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Kendall Gill
Hosts: Lenny Leonard, Pollo del Mar

Every now and then a show catches my attention and I’ll add it to the schedule. That is the case here, as GCW has become the hottest indy around at the moment and I’m going to give it a shot. I am absolutely not a fan of the deathmatch stuff, but apparently that kind of wrestling is not allowed in New York so we get a bit of a reprieve here. Let’s get to it.

Note that I barely follow GCW so I am not going to know much in the way of storylines or characters so please bear with me if I miss something.

Kickoff Show: Blue Ribbon Battle Royal

Psycho Clown, Dark Sheik, Cole Radrick, Parrow, Hoodfoot, Ruckus, Charles Mason, KTB, Juicy Finau, Steve Scott, Nate Webb, Big Vin, Brandon Kirk, Janai Kai, Dustin Thomas, Marcus Mathers, Yoya, B-Boy, Lufisto, Thunder Rosa

Clown jumps Parrow before most of the entrances have taken place and we’re starting fast. The huge Parrow fights him off but Sheik hits a pretty awesome looking jump up to his shoulders into a double stomp to the chest (kind of like Cameron Grimes’ Cave In). Sheik isn’t done and hits a top rope spinwheel kick to drop Radrick. Back up and Radrick runs Sheik over as more people come in (Are these entrances timed? That hasn’t been mentioned.), giving us Parrow vs. Ruckus.

Entrants keep coming in one at a time but with maybe fifteen seconds in between, making me wonder why they started so fast. Scott (I think? Commentary is too busy to say who these people are.) is clotheslined out as Big Vin takes his place. Vin grabs Sheik from the apron and backflips in for a World’s Strongest Slam (that’s a new one) before having a big hug with Finau.

The ring (which isn’t very big in the first place) is WAY too full here as Kirk is tossed. Thomas (the wrestler with no legs) comes in and hits a tornado DDT on KTB. Mathers and Yoya are in as Radrick is out in a hurry (and actually gets named). Mason (in a suit) is in next as this is just a free for all of people hitting one move after another with nothing close to coherence.

Now it’s B-Boy coming in as Clown hits a superbomb on Mason. Mathers (I think) is out with Sheik and KTB following him. Lufisto makes a big surprise return and there go Clown and Thomas. Thunder Rosa is the big surprise and final entrant so we look at her beating up Parrow in the corner while everyone else brawls.

Lufisto gets rid of Webb and B-Boy and we’re down to Lufisto, Parrow, Rosa, Mason and Vin. Rosa hurricanranas Parrow out and the women beat up Mason in the corner. Vin gets beaten down in an opposite corner until Rosa and Lufisto slug it out. Mason sneaks up and tosses Rosa but Lufisto suplexes both of them. Vin puts Lufisto on the apron and Mason drives Vin into her for the elimination. A low bridge sends Vin to the apron but he chokeslams Mason out for the win at 16:04.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t a good start to the night as I’m still not sure who all was in the match. Commentary didn’t do a good job of explaining what was going on and the camera work made it even harder to keep track of the whole thing. I’m not quite thrilled with where things are going from here, but hopefully we get something a little easier to follow going forward.

Kickoff Show: Jack Cartwheel vs. Alex Zayne vs. Grim Reefer vs. Shane Mercer vs. Ninja Mack vs. Dante Leon

No tags and one fall to a finish. Zayne is billed as The Sauce and from the nearest Taco Bell. The fact that he is from Lexington makes it even better. Mercer starts fast with a pop up powerslam on Reefer (that looked good) and there’s a big flip dive to drop some people on the floor. Cartwheel and Mack hit their stereo running flip dives to the floor, followed by dives from Zayne and Leon.

Reefer goes up, lights one up, and hits a big springboard flip dive to drop the pile. Back in and Mack punches away at Reefer before hitting the People’s Moonsault. Leon comes in for a cutter on Mack but gets powerslammed by Mercer. A super fireman’s carry flapjack drops Leon but Zayne clears the ring. Cartwheel takes him down for a slingshot hilo but Mercer is back up with a gorilla press drop.

Reefer kicks Mercer down and spins him into a Crossface with Leon making the save. Leon’s big cutter hits Reefer but Mercer plants Mack with a super backflip World’s Strongest Slam. Zayne is held in the ropes for a shooting star press from Cartwheel, driving Zayne into the apron. A chair is brought in but Reefer counters Mercer’s….something into a DDT onto the chair for the pin at 7:58.

Rating: C+. This was slightly easier to follow than the opener but that isn’t saying much. The thing to remember about a match like this is that it is all about getting your stuff in with nothing resembling a story being told. The match may be fun, but this is all about setting things up for the real card. Not exactly good, but a lot of fun and rather exciting, as is kind of the point.

Owner Brett Lauderdale comes out to hype up the crowd and talks about how hard it has been to get here. They were ready to take over the world but then the pandemic hit. He was told that a million GCW’s have come and gone but now they are here with the roster to make it work.

We get the entrances for the opener, which will start when the show goes on the air. This company has some AEW influences.

The opening video, which is rather quiet, shows a bunch of wrestlers in the empty building with their voiceovers talking about how they have no business at this level. Now they’re here to prove that they belong. Right on point here.

AJ Gray vs. PCO vs. Alex Colon vs. G-Raver vs. Tony Deppen vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Jordan Oliver

Ladder match, with the winner getting any title match they want at any time. AJ Gray is a surprise entrant as his scheduled opponent, Eddie Kingston, is out with an injury. They start fast (I’m not sure I heard a bell) with Deppen hitting a springboard dropkick to drive the ladder into Lloyd and Oliver.

Gray buckle bombs Deppen into the ladder in the corner and blasts him with a lariat before going up. His ladder is WAY too short though, meaning G-Raver does him a favor by throwing a ladder at Gray’s ladder for the save. PCO comes in, allowing Colon to lift up G-Raver for a Doomsday Device, albeit with a ladder shot instead of a clothesline to make it even worse. Colon hits PCO in the face with the ladder but Oliver dropkicks the ladder down to break up the double climb.

Oliver kicks Lloyd in the face and hits a dive to the floor. PCO hits his own running flip dive through the ropes. Deppen adds a double springboard flip dive to take out everyone, sending them walking up the aisle. As luck would have it, Gray is ready with his own running flip dive off the stage at the exact same time. PCO chairs Gray down and moonsaults off the top onto the big pile again.

That means PCO can climb, but he’s actually smart enough to drop down and beat up anyone trying to make a save. Deppen brings in a bigger ladder and bites PCO on the face but Jordan Oliver is there to cut him off. Lloyd breaks that up too but gets kicked down by Oliver. PCO chokeslams Oliver off of the ladder though and there’s a package piledriver onto the ladder to make it worse.

G-Raver and Colon break that up, with Raven putting Colon onto two chairs with a ladder over his back. Raver goes up, shoves the ring out of the way, and drops down onto the ladder onto Colon. Well that was dumb. Lloyd gives Raver a running Razor’s Edge over the top and onto a big pile of stuff on the floor. Gray goes up on a ladder on the floor and tries to dive into the ring, only to crash hard onto another ladder (the fact that I’m not sure who he was aiming for is a bad sign). Cue John Wayne Murdoch to take out Colon on the floor, leaving Gray to take the ring down at 15:11.

Rating: C-. The spots were good, but this was a very indy style ladder match, which is not meant as a compliment. There was too much going on between all of the people and it didn’t work so well. At the same time, you had a person shoving the ring out of the way to hurt someone else. That’s about as bad of a level of ladder match logic as you’ll find, making this quite the mess.

Gringo Loco/Demonic Flamita/Arez vs. Bandido/ASF/Laredo Kid

Lucha rules (duh) and it’s Arez starting with Kid. The trade early misses until Kid’s hurricanrana is easily blocked. An armdrag sends Kid outside so it’s Bandido coming in for Three Amigos. That means the Eddie dance as it’s a headscissors to send Arez outside. Loco comes in to hammer on Bandido, who is sent outside so ASF can come in. A wristdrag sends ASF outside for a change and it’s Flamita coming in to take his place.

The 619 in the corner looks to set up something off the top but Flamita flips off the crowd and drops down to flip the fans off instead. ASF is left alone in the corner, with Flamita and Arez hitting stereo moonsaults to the floor (that was sweet). Bandido and Kid get caught in stereo surfboards on the floor for the big running flip dive from Loco. ASF is sent outside as well, only to get launched over the top for the crash back inside (cool).

Flamita follows him back in for two, with ASF climbing Flamita to armdrag Loco. Bandido’s team is back in with stereo superkicks into stereo headscissors to the floor. The not quite stereo dives take out Loco and company but ASF and Kid miss missile dropkicks back inside. Flamita and Bandido are left alone for a big staredown, with Flamita kicking him down and hitting a huge frog splash.

ASF hits a 450 but Arez makes a save of his own. A dropkick breaks up Arez’s cover and a Death Valley Driver gets two on Flamita. It’s Bandido vs. Loco for a strike off until Bandido hits a heck of a tornado DDT. Back up and Bandido and Loco grab double electric chairs (as in Arez is on Flamita’s shoulders on Loco’s shoulders while ASF is on Kid’s shoulders on Bandido’s shoulders), leaving ASF and Arez to slug it out rather high in the air.

ASF snaps off a Canadian Destroyer (egads man) while Loco and Bandido hit powerbombs on the other two. Loco catches a charging Bandido in a Spanish Fly and everyone is down. Back up and Bandido LAUNCHES ASF over the top and into a hurricanrana on Loco. Flamita hits a dive, then Bandido hits a dive, then Kid Spanish Flies Arez off the top onto the pile. ASF and Loco seem to load up a super Canadian Destroyer but can’t get the timing right, leaving Loco to hit a regular piledriver for the pin at 14:10.

Rating: A-. The double electric chair was good enough to make this about as fun as it could have been and the rest was a bunch of insanity that you can only get in a match like this one. This kind of a match is designed to have a bunch of people flying around with one crazy spot after another and they made it work like only they can here. Bandido’s awesomeness has long since been established and it was on full display again with this one. Check this out, which you should always do with something involving these people.

Ian Riccaboni joins commentary.

Ring of Honor World Title: Blake Christian vs. Jonathan Gresham

Christian is challenging…or at least he would be if Gresham was here but we need to make a last second change. Worry not though, because we have a replacement.

Blake Christian vs. Lio Rush

Rush offers a handshake but Christian looks at him instead. They do shake left hands though and it’s an armdrag to take Rush down. Back up and Christian offers a handshake, which allows him to sunset flip Rush for two. Rush bails to the floor for a breather before heading back inside to avoid some charges.

Christian heads outside, only to pull Rush outside for a whip into the barricade. Back in and a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster gives Christian two, setting up a roll into a crucifix hold. That’s broken up and Christian misses a charge into the corner, allowing Rush to hit a spear for two. Christian is fine enough to catch him with a kick to the face on top but Rush kicks him down.

A ripcord Spanish fly drops Rush again though and a springboard 450 gives Christian two. Rush is right back with a twisting DDT and the Final Hour gets two more. They go to the apron where Rush can’t hit a German suplex to the floor. Instead they drop down, with Christian hitting a Tombstone. Back in and a 450 double stomp finishes Rush at 12:39.

Rating: B-. Take two guys and let them do their thing for about twelve minutes, which is all you needed to do here. Christian gets the win to keep him strong until he can get his title shot. Gresham being gone is rough to see but having someone like Rush as the backup worked as well as anything else. Good match, but they weren’t about to follow that six man.

We recap Matt Cardona vs. Joey Janela. Cardona married Chelsea Green but Janela faked some pictures of the two of them by a pool together, sending Cardona over the edge. The interesting thing is that Cardona is the huge heel who is mocking all things indy and trying to turn it into WWE. This has been one of the better things going on the independent scene and Cardona has had one awesome stunt after another.

The IF CARDONA WINS WE RIOT sign is a great touch.

Joey Janela vs. Matt Cardona

Chelsea Green is here with Cardona….who comes out to Enter Sandman entrance (or at least a cover), turning the crowd completely upside down in about three seconds. The “IF CARDONA WINS WE RIOT” shirt is an even greater touch. He also has a red flannel shirt with f*** Mick Foley on the back, while Green (with the Internet Title) is in the Zack Ryder half trunks/half tights. Cardona asks what’s up GCW Universe and takes credit for the sellout. Joey Janela didn’t do it, so tonight he’s ending Janela’s career before Tony Khan can fire him.

Cardona jumps him at the bell for two and flips off the fans. The fans get in a “F*** CARDONA/WOO WOO WOO!” chant so Janela hits a Death Valley Driver through the door. The suicide dive takes out Cardona on the floor and it is time for Janela to chair him down. A top rope flip dive sends Janela crashing through the chair though and Cardona gets to chair him down. Green pulls the chair away though and kicks Cardona low for a big surprise.

Janela goes up, only to get crotched by Green because it was a ruse. Cardona shows off the cup he was wearing but Janela is fine enough to hit a superplex to put them both down. Janela grabs the title, but here is Smart Mark Sterling (of AEW fame) to say that if Janela uses the title, he’s disqualified. Commentary: “But it’s GCW!” He brings out someone who is very influential in Cardona’s career, so here is someone in a Vince McMahon mask. It’s Vincent/Virgil though, and the distraction lets Sterling grab Janela.

The belt shot takes Sterling down by mistake though and a Death Valley Driver sends Cardona into the ring frame. Cue Swoggle to post Janela but here is a huge guy named Sam Stackhouse to take Swoggle out. Now it’s Marko Stunt to throw a chair at Swoggle’s head but Cardona takes him down as well. Janela brings in a pair of doors, with Swoggle and Cardona being put through one each.

Green hits Stunt with the belt and gives him a Canadian Destroyer, leaving Cardona to AA Janela through an open chair for a near fall. Cardona loads up two doors, which really does take too long so Janela takes him out. Green’s latest interference earns herself a piledriver so here is a guy in a motorcycle helmet. That would be Brian Myers, who decks Janela and helps Cardona hit a middle rope Radio Silence through the door for the pin at 19:39.

Rating: B-. It was a bit long, but this was a lot of fun with Cardona playing a perfect troll. Cardona knows how to make these people nuts by doing everything they don’t like and now he gets to take out another one of their heroes. The big flaw here is that the match went too long and you could have cut out a good portion in the middle which was more about several other people other than Janela vs. Cardona. This was all about Cardona putting together something else to get people to care about him though, as he continues to be one of the more creative people in wrestling.

Post match Sean Waltman of all people comes in and takes out Cardona before posing with Janela. I’m sold on getting to hear The Kings again.

Here is the injured Mance Warner for a chat. He talks about how awesome GCW’s locker room and entire crew is and thanks the fans for getting them here. Cue Atticus Cougar (pronounced Co-Gar) to say 44OH are the real outlaws around here. Cougar doesn’t like Warner’s Second Gear Crew so Warner is ready to fight.

44OH comes in for the beatdown, with Matthew Justice (Warner’s partner) coming in for the failed save attempt. The lights go off (BECAUSE WRESTLING!) and it’s Bill Alfonso and Sabu making the save. Chairs to the head put 44OH down and we actually get a pin, with Fonzie counting. Pantera’s Walk plays because ECW.

Video on Allie Katch vs. Ruby Soho. Katch talks about divine destiny, meaning that if something is meant to happen, it will happen no matter what. That seems to be the case with this match, as she runs into SOHO painted on a wall. Katch was billed as a big deal during Brett Lauderdale’s pre-show speech so she means something. I don’t remember her being much more than someone who did cat-esque things as Allie Kat but maybe things have changed.

Allie Katch vs. Ruby Soho

They shake hands to start and Soho armdrags her down early on. The threat of the Riott Kick is blocked early on but so is Katch’s piledriver. That’s fine with Allie, who hits a basement dropkick for an early two. Soho is sent into the corner and it’s a running hip attack into a Cannonball for two more.

They trade kicks to the face with Soho getting rocked, only to be able to come back with a German suplex for the double knockdown. Katch takes too long going up top though and gets armdragged back down for a quick two. The Riott Kick connects for two on Katch but she’s right back with a knee into the piledriver for two of her own. With that not working, Katch loads up a super piledriver, which is countered into a Riott Kick from the middle rope to give Soho the pin at 9:31.

Rating: C. I’d hope that Katch can do more than this as it felt like any other match. This came off like a match where a star was making a guest appearance in the territory with the story of the popular star getting a shot. It wasn’t bad, but there was absolutely nothing special to this and it just came and went.

We recap Jeff Jarrett vs. Effy. Jarrett doesn’t like GCW calling themselves outlaws because he is the Last Outlaw. There has to be a huge stable out there of people who have been THE LAST OUTLAW. There have also been guitar shots to show you how serious this has been.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Effy

Effy pulls $20 out of his trunks, which the referee throws to the floor. They go with the basics to start, with Jarrett powering him into the corner. Effy’s spins to get out of a wristlock don’t work so Effy drops to his knee, which freaks Jeff out for a bit. Some shots to the ribs set up a modified Tarantula but Jarrett is back with a clothesline. They head outside with Jarrett whipping him with the belt (which seems to draw a DADDY LIKES IT chant).

Back in and it’s time for more whipping and choking, which seems to make Effy smile. Jarrett uses the belt to tie Effy in the corner, which doesn’t exactly last long. Effy is back with more rights and lefts, setting up a faceplant for two. Now it’s Effy getting to whip away but he misses a Blockbuster. The guitar takes too long for Jarrett though so Effy pulls off his fishnets for some choking. That’s too much for Jarrett, who hits him with the guitar and grabs the Stroke for the pin at 11:15.

Rating: D+. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Effy and I’m going to assume that a lot of it is due to his promos and character work, because he wasn’t doing much in the ring here. All he had was a bunch of punches and a missed Blockbuster, which isn’t exactly stealing the show. That being said, Jarrett winning is a good bit weird, as he is the second outsider in a row to beat a signature GCW name on their biggest night ever. Not a great match, but you can see how much bigger of a star Jarrett is than most of the roster. If nothing else, seeing someone who seems like he knows how to put a match together is almost a rarity around here.

GCW World Title: Homicide vs. Jon Moxley

Homicide is challenging after winning a Rumble last month. The fans chant F*** BULLY RAY to start, which has to make Moxley smile a bit. They forearm/slap it out to start before going face to face. Homicide sends him outside but the dive is cut off with a shot to the face. The fight heads outside with Homicide biting away, only to get sent shoulder first into the post.

Moxley cranks on the fingers and hits a piledriver for two For some reason Moxley goes up but it’s a super cutter to bring him back down. They trade clotheslines until Moxley grabs the Paradigm Shift for two. Moxley hammers away and Homicide seems to lose a tooth. A chair is wedged in the corner but Homicide cuts him off and strikes away. The chair is on the mat and it’s another Paradigm Shift onto said chair to give Moxley two more. Homicide flips him off and bites Moxley’s face, only to get blasted with a lariat. The lifting Paradigm Shift onto the open chair retains Moxley’s title at 11:32.

Rating: C. That’s it? This was so short that I thought I missed part of the match, as I would have bet on it going a good bit longer than Jarrett vs. Effy. Maybe that is the result of ring rust from Moxley, or just time constraints from the pay per view, but this wasn’t exactly great. It worked while it lasted, but it just didn’t last very long.

Video on the Briscoes, who are issuing an open challenge for the Tag Team Titles. Most signs would suggest that this is going to be FTR, but you never know around here.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes vs. ???/???

The Briscoes are defending against….Nick Gage/Matt Tremont. Well you knew Gage would be on here somehow. Gage puts Nick through the door in the corner to start and it’s time for a duel of the chairs. Mark and Nick trade pieces of door shots to the head but Jay breaks up the pizza cutter. Tremont gets beaten down and the Froggy Bow onto a door gets two on Gage. Back up and Tremont hits a release Rock Bottom to plant Jay and Gage hits a middle rope piledriver on Mark. The chokebreaker gives Gage the pin and the titles at 5:35.

Rating: D. That was a Nick Gage match alright, but this time he had a huge partner to do some really basic stuff too. I know why Gage had to be on the show but it isn’t like his matches are much to see. It’s the feel good moment of the show, though having it come in a five minute match didn’t do the show many favors.

Post match Gage swears a lot and puts over his gang while bragging about how far GCW came. The locker room comes in to celebrate and we’re out.

Overall Rating: D+. One of the shows you are probably going to see this compared to is Barely Legal. While it is nowhere near that important (or good), there is one thing that does stand out. My biggest issue with Barely Legal was the lack of an explanation of why Sabu and Taz hated each other. It was the “Grudge Match of the Century” but we were never told why they were fighting. The ECW fans knew, but Barely Legal wasn’t just a show for the ECW fans.

Now do that for three hours and you have this show. There was barely anything explaining who these people were, what they were doing here, why they were fighting or ANYTHING about them. Cardona vs. Janela had a bit of backstory, but this felt like the game plan was “just keep doing what we’ve been doing (minus the deathmatch stuff, which isn’t their fault)”. It was a show that you either got or didn’t get, with GCW not offering much in the way of guidance.

On top of that, the wrestling was hit and miss at best. Everything felt rushed and very little really stood out. The lucha match was great, but you could get one of those a week on Ring of Honor. Cardona is excellent at riffing on independent wrestling, but then he won, just like Soho over what seems to be the big female star around here. This show didn’t do a thing to make me more interested in GCW and as the big debut on the national stage, it was a pretty hard miss.

 

 

 

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