The People vs GCW (January 19th, 2025) Wrestling Show Review

Almost exactly 3 years ago, Game Changer Wrestling ran a show at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom. GCW was one of the biggest indy promotions in the world, and perhaps the 3rd biggest at the time even surpassing Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor to some people.

They had world renowned superstar Jon Moxley as their World Champion, the death match king Nick Gage coming back, the best run of Matt Cardona's entire career, and a roster packed full of the best talent the independent wrestling market had to offer.

That show was quite the stinker, with a whole lot of bad matches and rushed things they crammed inside of a lackluster show. Home grown stars who were super popular like Allie Katch and Effy lost their matches to legends coming in like Ruby Soho and Jeff Jarrett. You had Joey Janela vs Matt Cardona, a 30 minute match that was just pure stupidity and nostalgia and interference. You had the main event for the GCW Tag Team Championships get cut down extremely to barely over 5 minutes. Yes you had good matches like Moxley defending his title against Homicide and a great indy style showcase between Blake Christian and Lio Rush, but that was really it. Just a whole bunch of stuff that just...happened.

But 2 years later, perhaps not at the same highs as before but still with a pretty stacked roster in regards to talent and skill, will they be able to put on a good show? Let's find out!

Also, this review is going to be LONG because this is a 6 hour PPV with 14 matches (pre-show included) and that's removing all of the video packages, interviews, and promos that may occur as well.

We start off with a pre-show that primarily acts as a recap of all the stories leading into this show. We see the event Cage of Survival 3, which was packed full of importance for GCW. The opening match saw Effy beat Mance Warner in a Cage of Survival match, there was a gauntlet to crown a new GCW World Champion which was won by Joey Janela, and then right after Mance Warner beat Janela in 9 seconds and became the new GCW World Champion.

We then get a video recapping War Games in GCW, which saw Allie Katch turn on her VERY long time partner and friend Effy, costing his team the match and becoming the most hated person in all of GCW. As well as the rematch between Warner and Effy this past November, which saw Allie cost Effy the match and prevent him from winning the World Championship.

But also attacking Warner and even the referee, because SHE wants to be the World Champion.

We also get a video package about Matt Cardona, the multi decade veteran who has been on a generational run across the independent wrestling scene, winning championships anywhere and everywhere he goes.

Match 1: Pre-Show Kickoff Scramble Match

1 Called Manders vs Blake Christian and Fuego Del Sol and Marcus Mathers and Mr. Danger and Rich Swann

Scramble matches are a staple of GCW shows, which is just to cram in a bunch of people in a single match to do all sorts of dives and crazy moments to make the crowd go wild without much of a story or drama to it. What's called a "Spot Fest" by wrestling fans. Caring more about moments and moves than anything else.

Christian is a former GCW World Champion and is incredibly talented in the ring, even if he is a very independent style wrestler, with just moves and flips with not too much psychology. Rich Swann has been a world traveled veteran for decades, even being a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, but recently he has just been fine. He is in the best shape of his life, but a few years of issues and controversies have removed a lot of the luster from him.

Fuego was a very popular and beloved wrestler for a short period in AEW despite never really winning that many matches or given much time to shine, but since leaving he has seen to get a cult following as a loveable babyface.

Mathers, Danger, and Manders are all long time GCW guys who just put on good matches and are known by the fans and loved for staying there.

The crowd was VERY loud and vocal from the opening bell, which is great for this match to feel like something special and fun before much even happens. GCW has some of the MOST dedicated and hardcore fans that you will ever find for a wrestling promotion.

Like I was sort of expecting, this match devolved into not much more than fast paced flips and kicks and flying around to get the crowd excited. While I do tend to enjoy these kinds of matches, I know that GCW really does this and death match stuff over everything else, so I am expecting a LOT of chaos and violence and flying around for this show.

I would say sort of the star of the match was Christian, but this match was really just everyone getting their time to hit their moves and spots for the crowd to cheer or boo. I guess Fuego had some time to shine, but the crowd just cheered for everyone and everything while booing Christian because he seemed to be the only bad guy in this entire match.

Then we get to the point of the match with everyone on the floor while one person in the ring hits a big dive onto everybody else. Then we get another one right after, which is then followed up by a big move off the top rope, followed by another one.

Just a very repetitive match that just made me feel numb by the end.

Just a lot of insanity without reason, ending in Manders getting the win who I enjoy, but was surprised to see be the victor.

Result: 1 Called Manders pinned Marcus Mathers

Star Rating: 3/5 Stars

We get a backstage interview with Allie Katch, which is literally just Katch saying she is going to beat Effy and then win the World Championship in the main event. The promo was...fine. Full of confidence, but not super well delivered.

We then go straight into another interview with Effy, who is very humble and honest. That he is at his personal lowest but professional best, and that he has to beat Allie to show that he NEEDS to win the championship because he has been working hard and sacrificing himself for years.

Match 2: Pre-Show Kickoff Rumble Match

PCO vs Big Vin and Brooke Havok and CPA and Crowbar and JP Grayson and Sam Stackhouse and Shane Mercer and Tommy Grayson and Zayda Steel

We literally cut back from Effy's interview to everybody already in the ring and the bell sounding.

It is even more chaotic and hard to follow than the scramble, but even more wrestlers come out with music playing and weapons being used. It was just...man this was a mess.

It's not even possible to keep up with all of the people coming out or being eliminated because the camera work is all over the place.

The biggest thing happening is Juggalo Championship Wrestling (a wrestling promotion owned and operated by the Insane Clown Posse. Yes really) wrestlers coming out as a sort of "invasion" type thing, but they don't even do all that much.

Honestly, the most important and interesting thing about this match comes afterwards in a bit of a "is this real or fake" type thing.

The match itself is just people hitting moves and then sometimes being thrown out of the ring. Don't even really need to get too in detail with it because it is just...a LOT of stuff without really keeping up too well with any of it.

The Digital Media Champion of TNA Wrestling, a multi decade veteran in PCO, comes out as the last entrant and wins the entire match.

Result: PCO wins

Star Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

The reason I wanted to skip to this is because this truly is something weird and wild to see.

PCO is the TNA Digital Media Champion, and wrestled in GCW rather than TNA which had a wrestling show of their own taking place at the same time as this. Whether it was a situation of PCO not being booked or not showing up, he begins to cut a promo about how he has sold more tickets and merchandise than anybody else in TNA. He destroys his TNA Championship belt with a hammer while the ring announcer and security are trying to take the mic from his hand and force him out of the ring. The video even cuts away while he is ranting, which adds to the whole situation.

This also goes with news about PCO having worked the last month or so without a contract with TNA. More just a handshake deal to show up and wrestle whenever they need him.

I don't really know what to expect from PCO or TNA in the future, but this is a super weird and new situation that is still being revealed and on going. I don't totally know what to expect or believe, but it will be interesting to watch unfold.

We get a promo from the GCW owner Brett Lauderdale, which I was originally going to skip until I saw reports of the stuff he said and I was curious.

He looks very out of shape and tired, which I feel bad for saying but something that I couldn't help but notice and it distracted me. He also read his entire thing off of his phone while aimlessly pacing around.

He takes a veiled shot at AEW running a show in he same Ballroom about 30 days ago, which Lauderdale has been VOCAL about on social media with complaints and annoyance. Just upset that whenever GCW tries to be successful, "other" promotions come in to steal the momentum.

Lauderdale promises to bring GCW to all 50 states and to as many countries around the world as he can.

He then gives a rather nice emotional moment, giving a in memorium package to some GCW fans who passed away in the past few years.

But then Lauderdale talks about "friends turning their backs on us" and "stabbing us in the back" because they go to the bigger promotions. GCW is fine without them because they are more than just some stars who don't care about GCW.

Lauderdale talks about his mother who passed away last year, watching from Heaven for a great show.

Also, "we did this without a corporate television contract. We did this without a billion dollar safety net" was just more shots against AEW and WWE, which was a really strange thing for me to see from the OWNER of the freaking promotion. I get that GCW is the modern day ECW and wants to be the outlaw, renegade promotion, but this was just a chore to sit through and made me think that Lauderdale looked bad. Like he couldn't handle criticism or competition in the best way.

Match 3: GCW Extreme Title / GCW Ultraviolent Title Unification DLC Match

Matt Tremont vs Maki Itoh (Extreme) and Brandon Kirk and Dr. Redacted and Drew Parker and John Wayne Murdoch and Matthew Justice and Rina Yamashita

This is confusing for me because I don't totally keep up with GCW and their roster or championships.

But basically, the Extreme and Ultraviolent Championships are the exact same thing. Championships defended in very violent Death Matches. Maki Itoh is the current Extreme Champion going into this match, while the Ultraviolent Championship was vacated, meaning that nobody was holding it.

This match is really just another excuse to have a bunch of people do crazy flying and weapons spots to keep the crowd excited and loud.

The match starts off with Murdoch making Itoh cry, and then everybody else ganging up on him because funny.

Weapons are used instantly, with steel chairs, trash cans, ladders, and tables surrounding the ringside area. Something else I will note is that there is some wrestler here named Dr. Redacted wearing a grey t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes while wrestling. I repeatedly kept thinking he was a fan getting involved.

I have a thing with wrestlers wearing just normal clothing, becuase it makes it look cheap and backyard and bush league. Something for me personally.

We get some crazy wild moments, with wrestlers very purposefully putting themselves in situations to be hit with weapons or throwing through things. A LOT of chair shots straight to the head rather than getting hands up to protect themselves. Something that I thought we left behind in the early and mid 2000s, but it appears that is not the case. Just gross to watch.

We get a big dive from Ciclope, Brandon Kirk being smashed through a wooden door, Maki hitting everyone with DDTs followed by doing her own big dive off a ladder, and then some really nasty looking but also creative spots with ladders and chairs.

I actually enjoyed this a little bit more than I was expecting, due to them having a good amount of creativity and unique spots I haven't seen before, including Redacted and Yamashita both putting steel trash cans over their torsos and jumping off top ropes across from each other, crashing in midair while splashing onto Tremont.

We get an absolutely ridiculous and scary Suplex off a ladder from Ciclope to Yamashita through a stack of doors, tables, and chairs.

This is then immediately followed up by Parker hitting a Swanton Bomb off another ladder to Murdoch and Ito through two other tables. Just pure insanity and chaos that is hard to follow.

Redacted climbs the ladder but Justice hits him in the back with a chair while they stand on a horiztonal ladder platform, lifting him up on his shoulders in a very scary moment before hitting a Death Valley Driver off it through another table.

Parker somehow got back to his feet and brawled with Kirk on top of the same ladder platform, where Kirk hits his finishing move the Psycho Driver onto the horizontal ladder, which completely shatters from the impact.

But the match STILL isn't over. Kirk climbs the ladder and Murdoch hits him with a low blow before sending him through another ladder.

The only people left standing are Murdoch and Tremont, perhaps the most loved and most hated men in the match.

Tremont had a metal fork, stabbing Murdoch in the head with it to then climb up and grab both titles.

Result: Matt Tremont wins

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Match 4: GCW World Title #1 Contendership Match

Effy vs Allie Katch

Perhaps the biggest and most story driven match of the entire show, these two were tag team partners for YEARS in a team called BUSSY (yes really) before Allie turned on Effy last year, jealous of his success without her.

Honestly, the entire feud is explained in a VERY well made video package going over Allie's history in general before tying in Effy. A very long and successful career where the two were the most popular people in the entire indy wrestling scene.

There was a period in time where Effy was still being pushed to the top while Allie was taken off of shows and nobody reached out to her. She was jealous of him and angered that nobody cared about her while she was gone.

Then the GCW World Champion Mance Warner said that Allie and Effy will wrestle each other, and the winner will face him later in the night for his title.

A great video to really make everyone involved feel like a star.

Effy comes out to massive cheers while Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John plays.

Meanwhile Allie came out with sparklers attached to a cone bra as her special entrance.

The crowd seemed to be cheering her, or were very mixed, which surprised me. I thought she was supposed to be the biggest heel, only getting boos once the bell rang and she fought with Effy.

It was a very fast paced brawl from the beginning, the two getting very physical and hard hitting without much drama or stalling. Effy even tries to choke Allie out, but then...it happens.

Allie hit a Tope Suicida through the ropes and to the floor, where she broke her leg upon landing. She instantly says that she is done, and the match comes to an end because she can't continue.

Result: Effy won by referee's decision

Star Rating: N/A

I don't really feel comfortable giving this a rating. It went for about 4 and a half minutes, with the injury coming maybe 1 and a half minutes in. There was almost nothing going on.

GCW World Champion Mance Warner comes out and attacks Effy to make up for time, and Effy is announced the winner.

This is really a shame that this happened.

Match 5: Six Man Tag Team Match

The New York OG’s (Amazing Red, Grim Reefer & Homicide) (w/Julius Smokes) vs The Real F’n Pros (Griffin McCoy, Kerry Morton & Tony Deppen)

I know nothing about this feud aside from the fact that the New York OG's are all long time indy veterans and incredibly violent guys. Meanwhile their opponents are all super young, disrespectful, arrogant pricks. That's really all this match is.

Old school badasses vs new school narcissists who think they are big and bad.

During their entrance, the fans throw toilet paper at the Real F'n Pros to show disrespect.

Then, Morton starts to cut a promo telling the fans to give them a standing ovation because they are the future of GCW and wrestling in general.

They get interrupted by their opponents coming out looking like thugs and badasses.

Julius Smokes is a pretty great manager and somebody who is a lot of fun to listen to. He gets the crowd loud and vocal for his clients. Julius acts like a dog to scare Morton in what felt like a while of stalling before the match started, just to build up more heat for the match.

Morton really is a great promo and could easily be a old school style star in any promotion he goes to.

As good as I think he is, this went on for quite a while and started to get old.

Although the ring announcer does come out to say that there has to be a delay to the show due to the injury suffered by Allie Katch. The NYC Athletic Commission had to come down and tend to her while seeing if the show could continue.

The Real F'n Pros cut a quick promo that is just them saying how they are leaving because they've already been paid and don't want to wait around to wrestle. The referee grabs the mic from Morton and gives it to Homicide to cut his own promo to pad for more time.

Just more and more and more time padding due to very unfortunate circumstances that really killed the crowd despite their best efforts to keep them engaged.

It eventually cuts to a video package of Atticus Cogar, one of my absolute favorite wrestlers in all of GCW. A super great promo and wrestler.

He is facing Megan Bayne later on tonight, and he complains that she cost him a shot at the GCW World Championship and that he is seeking revenge.

Atticus has beaten her down and stolen her gear, becoming incredibly obsessed in a bit of a stalker/psychopath type thing.

The match finally starts off with a wild brawl at ringside before they quickly start to rush through some action. Tags coming in and out from both teams while the crowd is starting to get vocal once again. Red and Deppen, who are both my favorites of this match, have amazing chemistry together and actually have a pretty exciting and fun sequence together. The heels start to cheat and beat down on Red for a while until Reefer gets a blind tag.

Grim Reefer's entire character is that he smokes joints during his matches, and is a wrestler that I tend to not really enjoy all that much. Yes he is athletic and can do some cool flips and stuff, but his matches just bore me.

The faces have time to get the advantage and beat down on McCoy while the crowd began to die down again.

It was even after a while, with everyone getting time to shine and beat down on each other with the heels cheating and being disrespectful.

Reefer was getting beaten down before sending all of his opponents to the floor, then lit up a joint to smoke as he hit a springboard dive onto McCoy and Deppen, with Morton running away.

Morton and Reefer wrestle in the ring while Reefer is still smoking, then tags in Homicide and gives him the joint to smoke on while wrestling before it falls out of his mouth and the match continues normally.

Morton grabs another metal fork that Homicide brought down to the ring, but his father (wrestling legend Ricky Morton) runs out to beat up his own son and his team. Ricky hit a Canadian Destroyer, which is insane from a 68 year old.

The match then rushes to a finish, with the OG's all hitting their finishing moves to win in a bit of a meh ending.

Result: Homicide pinned Tony Deppen

Star Rating: 3.25/5 Stars

After the match, they gift Amazing Red with a special plaque due to his long and illustrious career for indy wrestling. Inducting him into the new Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame, which was established in 2022. Then it just ends to cut to another video package about the GCW Tag Team Championship match coming up next.

The GCW tag division has really fallen off quite intensely over the past year or so, with so many teams leaving or breaking up.

Match 6: GCW Tag Team Championship Match

Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku) (Champions) vs Gahbage Daddies (Alec Price & Cole Radrick) (Challengers)

Violence is Forever is genuinely one of my favorite tag teams in the world, putting on some absolute classics with the likes of the Workhorsemen and FTR in Deadlock Pro Wrestling or Astronauts and Monster Sauce in GCW shows.

They have been the GCW Tag Team Champions for OVER 440 DAYS!? HOLY COW!

Meanwhile, Gahbage Daddies are a team that I don't enjoy as much. Cole Radrick was great when I first started watching GCW and his stuff in like 2021, but since then I haven't enjoyed him as much. And then Alec Price is somebody I see all across the indy wrestling scene and just have never gotten super into. A physique and look that isn't all that impressive, and just passable skill in the ring and on the mic.

The match started off fast and chaotic, with the Daddies doing everything they can to get cheered and show off. We then quickly go to a log of brawling at ringside, which is like the 6th match in a row that this has happened. Just all sorts of similar, formulaic, repetitive matches across this entire night.

Violence gets some time to shine, beating down their opponents with some hard hitting strikes and great tag tea moves since they are both big badass powerhouses and strikers.

Alce Price got the hot tag and did have some time to shine with some very athletic flying around, but he is still sort like Blake Christian to me with less ability. A guy who is super indy in that he can do all the flips and stuff, but isn't there when it comes to character or selling or psychology.

We got some great tandem offense, with my favorite moment being Garrini and Ku locking in duel submission holds with Radrick somehow picking up Ku and slamming him on top of Garrini to break them both up and get some time to fight, but were quickly shut down.

Radrick was hit by the tag team finisher Enter The Dragon, but Price broke up the pin with a Swanton Bomb.

Radrick was hit with a Spike Piledriver, but somehow kicked out to the crowd going wild. Chanting and firmly behind Radrick and Price.

Some more fighting back and forth leads to Ku hitting a Brainbuster onto the top turnbuckle to Price, which to me should've been the end of the match. Garrini hit Radrick with a Package Piledriver, but then Price gets back up in seconds to take out Garrini and go on a quick thing of tag team offense leading to taking out Garrini with a dive, then going right back to hit a tag team finisher for them to win.

Yes it was a fast paced and exciting match with a rush of a finish, but the psychology was broken for me. Just a really annoying thing with the selling just gone by the end.

Result: Gahbage Daddies win to become the NEW GCW Tag Team Champions

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

After the match, Violence Is Forever come back into the ring to give a respectful staredown and nod.

Match 7: Steel Cage Match

Charles Mason vs Richard Holliday

We get a super weird and drawn out video package about Charles Mason, who is bascially a serial killer type gimmick. Think Hannibal Lecter in a way. But yeah, just way too long and drawn out for me, even if it was well made from a short film perspective.

But then this goes into a video package for the match, with Holliday basically accusing Mason of murder and kidnapping.

So this match is literally a serial killer and his would be victim fighting it out.

Including Holiday telling the fans that Mason escaped from prison and that there is a bounty on Mason's head.

Wrestling is wild, but okay.

But also, the thing that confuses me, is that the commentary and the crowd sells this like Holliday is the bad guy.

Commentary literally says the line "a snitch is better than a murderer" which is WILD for a wrestling show.

This is basically heel vs heel (villain vs villain) and is a super weird match to have on this card.

Mason gets a special entrance with a video package playing of both real life and fictional serial killers before showing Mason being brought out on a gurney with a straight jacket and face mask on.

The match started off slower and weaker than I was expecting. Holiday tried to escape quickly, but then they fought slow and drawn out. Holliday would throw Mason into the cage wall, but Mason would laugh and slam his face into it over and over again because HE CRAZY!!

The crowd was very quiet for this match and the two men were doing what they could, but they continued to wrestle slow and drawn out with gaps in between their moves to just add more time.

On a show that is this packed full of matches and stuff, (and you know, the storyline with a SERIAL KILLER AND THE MAN WHO GOT HIM ARRESTED) they should be rushing through this and pounding away with pure hatred and rage!

We get a moment where Mason throws Holliday off the cage and then stands on top of hit, hitting a Diving Elbow Drop to a almost DEAD reaction from the crowd. They barely cheered or chanted at all, which is crazy to me.

Mason doesn't even try to win afterwards either. He rolls away while Parrow makes his way to ringside. Parrow used to be a henchman for Mason, but then sided with Holliday and would help him win matches or run away from Mason. You know, steel cages are typically supposed to keep people from interfering, so this is annoying from the mere moment he is shown coming out.

Parrow got in the ring and laid out the referee for some reason, then Chokeslammed Mason. He pulled Holliday on top of Mason for the pin, BUT HE JUST TOOK OUT THE REFEREE SO HE CAN'T COUNT YOU IDIOT!

He throws the ref back in and Mason kicks out, which...fine.

Parrow throws some weapons into the ring, including a table. He leans it in one corner and tries to throw Mason through it whike Holliday just watches.

BUT THEN

Slade makes his way down to the ring. Somebody who has been a long time loyal ally to Mason for years (apparently) and takes out Parrow by slamming him through the table.

Slade grabs more weapons to throw in before pulling Parrow out of the cage to make it 1v1 once again.

Mason beats down Holliday with a steel chair, but then Holliday hits a low blow to boos.

Again, why are the fans supposed to be behind the serial killer and stalker?

Holliday is about to leave, but then hits Mason with a Superkick. He spits in Mason's face, but then he hits his finisher and Mason kicks out at 1. OH MY GOODNESS!

Totally not earned but whatever.

Mason completly obliterates Holliday and tries to choke him out, but Holliday fights back and gets the advantage again.

I do not have any idea or understanding as to why this match is still going on.

Mason chokes out Holliday again while Holliday reaches out to grab a steel chain, but then Mason lets go and uses to chain to choke him out.

Result: Charles Mason defeated Richard Holliday by knockout

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

We get another video package from Atticus Cogar talking about his obsession with Megan Bayne, but then WE DON'T EVEN GO TO THAT MATCH!

Match 8: Singles Match

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Sidney Akeem

This match is going to be nothing but flips and flying and dives. That is really what these two guys do and not much else.

I don't even think there is a story to this match. It's just happening.

There was a surprisingly slow and technical start, which I was pretty happy about. But then things started to speed up with some admittedly very impressive moments, even if this match just has me going "okay let's go. Come on." and not much else.

Sidney used to wrestle in WWE as Reggie and then Scrypts, but since leaving he went to GCW and is currently undefeated, which is I guess an additional layer to this match to try and add some story or drama to it.

Meanwhile Vikingo just keeps showing off his crazy athleticism and agility, proving he is perhaps the best high flyer or luchador in the world because of the stuff he is able to do.

We get a unique and awesome counter from Sidney where he lands chest and face down on the apron, but bounces with some crazy height into a Corkscrew Crossbody to Vikingo on the floor that was just wild to see.

They trade some stuff back and forth until Vikingo is able to show off his agility with some crazy cool counters and evades followed by a Missile Dropkick and a Tope Suicida. Vikingo suffered a bad knee injury only a few months ago, and he has been selling it to make it look hurt while he is able to do his crazy moves, which is a weird thing but whatever.

Vikingo had Sidney dangling from the ropes before hitting a Diving Foot Stomp, with the crowd not really responding all that much to it.

Again, I just struggle to get invested in a match that has no story going into it.

They both try to do moves that make the other do a handspring, which actually made things slow down a bit before they both hit kicks and are knocked down.

Sidney then hit his Handspring Cutter that has always won him matches and never been kicked out of, but Vikingo kicks out.

The crowd lights up a bit, but still aren't overly wild.

Vikingo goes to the ring post, where he balances while Sidney gets up on the apron. Vikingo hits an insane Diving Canadian Destroyer, which had the crowd go wild and looked gnarly. But then back in the ring, Sidney immediately hits his Cutter again and pins Vikingo to win and remain undefeated.

Result: Sidney Akeem pinned El Hijo del Vikingo

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Match 9: Six Man Tag Team Match

Los Desperados (Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel) vs. Little Guido, Super Crazy & Tajiri

This match is packed full of ECW veterans just because they are in the historic venue used a lot by ECW. Really, this is just another party match for everyone to do crazy dives and moves, but with some added nostalgia to try and make the crowd even louder.

Everyone on the ECW team is in their 50s, yet are all still incredibly athletic and able to move like they did 30 years ago.

I am a fan of Gringo and Arez, while Cartwheel still needs to grow on me. They're all super talented and athletic, but are often pushed as like the absolute future of wrestling which I am not as confident in just because they are also wrestlers who just do dives and flips and not much else. Especially Cartwheel, who is insanely athletic but his matches typically have the commentators counting how many cartwheels he does. It just gets distracting and is not a proper character to invest in.

The match started off with Cartwheel and Guido, who do have some great chemistry and show off their skill. Guido was always a slower, more technical wrestler, so he really just wrestles the same way he did when he was younger. Then. weget Gringo and Tajiri having a pretty good sequence, but they then go quickly to Arez and Super Crazy which then breaks down into everyone getting involved for some high flying and tag team moves from Desperados. Desperados work together to beat down Guido, who isn't even the legal man but whatever. They do a lot of high flying moves and I noticed how Cartwheel has really improved in terms of selling, actually looking like everything is hurting him to a serious degree. He misses a ridiculous twisting dive off the top rope, letting Guido tag in Super Crazy (the actual legal man already but whatever) and then the match just breaks down into chaos and everyone getting involved again. But Tajiri still being able to hit a Handspring Back Elbow is wild to me, so good on him.

But then we get duel Tarantulas from Crazy and Gringo while Guido locks in a Fujiwara Armbar on Cartwheel, which was an awesome thing to see while the crowd went wild.

The wrestlers all began to fight through the crowd, where Crazy did something he did decades ago for ECW. He climbed up to one of the balconies and hit a Moonsault onto everyone below to a massive ovation. 51 Years old ands till able to do that is crazy.

Everyone then just makes their way back to the ring to get the match back in motion, which was weird. We get more dueling stuff with Arez locking Guido in a Romero Special while Crazy did the same thing to Cartwheel.

I was right when I said this would just be another party match with crazy stuff and no real story other than "ECW in he historical ECW place!"

We get a bunch of dives to the outside back to back to back, which is a spot I typically think is just so overdone and cliche at this point, ESPECIALLY in GCW or similar indy shows.

Tajiri grabs the referee and throws him away before going to spit green mist at Gringo Loco, but Loco ducks and Tajiri spits it into the referee. Then, Arez spit red mist into Tajiri's eyes.

We get Gringo hitting a Moonsault onto Guido, a second referee running down, and...oh that's it.

That was the finish? Alright then.

Result: Gringo Loco pinned Little Guido

Star Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

It was a enjoyable match, with Super Crazy doing most of the heavy lifting for his team, but I was surprised by the sudden finish that fell kind of flat. Enjoyable, but nowhere near what I was expecting.

We get a recap package for GCW Bloodsport and the man who created it Josh Barnett, followed by a video of his next opponent on this show in a Bloodsport Rules match.

Basically, the ring has no ropes. You only win by knockout, submission, or referee stoppage.

Match 10: Bloodsport Rules

Josh Barnett vs Tom Pestock

Barnett is a legitimate former MMA fighter, with a record of 35 wins and 8 losses. He also won the Snake Pit World Championship, which is some catch wrestling tournament, and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament.

His opponent Pestock, probably more famously known as Baron Corbin in WWE, is a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and has won multiple different martial arts tournaments.

This is Petock's first wrestling appearance after leaving WWE, and was sort of announced very shortly before the show.

Barnett is 9-1-1 in Bloodsport matches, his only loss coming to Timothy Thatcher and his draw coming against Minoru Suzuki.

Bloodsport contests are always treated as legitimate fights. There are not really any fancy moves or flying. It is nothing but grappling, submissions, and strikes.

I honestly love this style, and Bloodsport are the only GCW shows I typically watch because I love the rules and the look of no ropes.

It feels real and legit, the best worked MMA type thing that pro wrestling has ever done.

The crowd was chanting and cheering for Tom, which was awesome to see as in WWE he was often the punching bag who people hated on until the end of his run.

Tom looked incredible, the two trading holds back and forth with the crowd quiet with only some cheers and chants coming here and there. But this felt as real and honest as possible, which was great so see. Submission holds leading to very realistic panic and trying to escape and switch over into other holds.

I legit loved this, even if it wasn't the best Bloodsport rules thing ever, and the crowd didn't seem overly into it like they are for the dedicated Bloodsport shows.

We get Barnett hitting a big Suplex to escape a hold and lock in his own to some boos, which surprised me.

The crowd lit up more, with most of the fans chanting and supporting Tom. Whenever Barnett would get something in, the crowd would boo.

We escape the grappling portion and get some kickboxing like strikes with Barnett targeting the legs to soften him up. Tom caught a leg and got some great body shots followed by a Lariat and a Back Suplex. Barnett wasn't staying down, so Tom hit another one to the crowd going wild.

Barnett was able to lock in a Leglock, with Tom having to tap out while the crowd rained down boos and even chanted "bullsh*t"

Result: Josh Barnett made Tom Pestock tap out

Star Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

After the match, Barnett and Pestock shake hands to show respect and the crowd chants "please come back" to Pestock.

We then get the final video package about Atticus Cogar and Megan Bayne. Another very well done one.

Match 11: Singles Match

Atticus Cogar vs Megan Bayne

This feud is very stalkerish, and it is something that I just find so weird to watch. His obsession and talking about her skin and loving her...which like...okay then.

Megan Bayne comes out first, truly looking like a star with her gear and entrance attire. She debuted in AEW not too long ago on Dynamite, and looked absolutely incredible.

Atticus gets his own special entrance, with a crown similar to Megan and...a face mask that is supposed to look like skin.

Cool cool.

And then his clothing is a white shirt that has Megan Bayne style gear drawn onto it, looking just...gross.

They have a pretty cool staredown with their similar gear and doing their best to mirror their movements.

Cogar takes off his white jumpsuit to show his pants and shirt are covered in pictures of Bayne as well as some creepy writing and symbols.

The bell rings and we get some stalling, but Bayne then blasts Cogar with a Spear and goes for her F5 finisher right away.

Cogar isn't really able to do much as Bayne just overpowers him and beats him down with ease, getting some early revenge. Cogar finally gets some offense in, shoving Bayne off the top rope and crashing onto the floor to some of the loudest boos of the night so far. He beats Bayne up and lays her across the steel railing, getting on the apron and running to hit a really nasty looking Splash, the railing falling in a bad way to make it look worse.

Cogarr pulls out some weapons from under the ring, throwing them inside to prepare for some violence. An already dented steel chair, a table he stands up at ringside, before he goes after Megan on the floor. Megan fights back a bit and throws Atticus into the ring, but he is already back on top. He grabs the steel chair and threatens to hit her with it, but then he opens it and puts her face by the back rest to just KICK it into her face which looked super nasty. Atticus then pulls out a bundle of wooden skewers, something that he has used his entire career from what I can gather. He went to stab her with them, Megan evading and Cogar stabbing them into the top turnbuckle pad.

Megan hits a German Suplex, Atticus gets right up and hits another, then Megan gets up for a move. Atticus ends up on top with a Kick before throwing Megan into the corner that had the skewers stabbed into the top turnbuckle.

Cogar pulled out more to stab into 2 other corners, showing that he is prepared to hurt the woman he is obsessed with.

Megan began to fight back until Atticus hit a slap, but Megan was able to keep overpowering Cogar and throwing him around, including a nasty looking Fallaway Slam onto an open steel chair.

Cogar is able to fight back though, getting back on top to a crowd that sounded like they were starting to get tired. Megan began to fight back again with the crowd cheering for her as she climbed to the top rope, but Cogar ran over and kicked her in the face.

Now I saw this next spot on social media before I watched this show, and I don't even know how to explain it.

Atticus puts Bayne on his shoulders in a Air Raid Crash position while he is standing on the top rope. He seems like he is trying to slam her onto the apron, but either he slips or leans too far forward or something goes wrong...because they miss the apron COMPLETELY and Bayne just slams onto the exposed concrete floor. I have no idea how Bayne is able to keep fighting, but she kicks out and the crowd cheers her on. An absolutely horrible looking bump that shocked me. Not even just because it went wrong, but even if it did go well that is just a crazy thing to do.

Megan though is able to fight back and hits an F5, but Cogar kicked out.

Cogar crawls to the ropes while Megan grabs the skewers that Cogar tried to use on her, but then Atticus' brother Otis runs down to the ring and lays Bayne out with a Chokeslam. The crowd rains down boos as Otis then hits a Moonsault off the top rope, which was impressive given his physique.

Atticus covered, but Bayne kicked out somehow.

Otis prepares for another one, but a masked person came in from the crowd and sprayed hair spray into his face, causing him to fall through the table at ringside.

The masked person is Sawyer Wreck (a wrestler who Atticus Cogar attacked when he returned to GCW) and she pulls out a taser to use on Atticus, followed by a Tombstone Piledriver from Bayne to get the win.

Result: Megan Bayne pinned Atticus Cogar

Star Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

Problems with the storyline aside, this match was one of the best pure wrestling matches of the entire show. Didn't need to be over the top with too many weapons or violence, but it was still a good match for them to have with some great moments (and scary ones) that made the story have a positive ending the crowd loved.

Match 12: Singles Match

Joey Janela vs Masato Tanaka

Masato Tanaka is a absolute legend, especially in Japan. A seriously talented and gifted wrestler who has had some of the best matches ever with the likes of Mike Awesome, whle also putting on great matches all around the world that don't quite reach the same lofty heights. New Japan, NOAH, Deadlock Pro, DEFY, Prestige, everywhere he goes he is awesome.

Janela meanwhile is...he's complicated.

He is a wrestler who knows wrestling is ridiculous and likes to play into that. He'll wrestle invisible people, blow up sex dolls, wrestlers with no legs, and even a "social distancing" match where he and his opponent never touched but sold moves like they did. But he will also jump off of warehouse roofs into truck beds filled with glass and tables and other weapons, or let himself be cut open by barbed wire and thumb tacks.

Joey Janela is a wrestler who I feel was like the top name in the world for a while, but sort of ruined it by a string of bad matches, a physique that people clown on, and ridiculous stuff.

Joey really is crucial to GCW, so him having a major single's match like this makes sense, even if it wouldn't have been my choice for any of them.

It starts off fast and hard hitting, with tables and chairs being grabbed and used almost immediately. Tanaka throws Janela into the crowd and hits him in the head with a chair, then lays Janela on a table at ringside. He climbs to the top rope, and is up there for maybe half a second before he just falls and crashes onto Janela and causes the table to explode.

Tanaka grabs a bunch of steel chairs and throws them into the ring before finally going after Janela. Janela is able to no sell the table (make it seem like it didn't hurt at all) and then beat up Tanaka for a bit. Tanaka hits a boot and hits a Tornado DDT out of the corner and straight onto the pile of steel chairs, but Janela kicked out.

Janela hit a Brainbuster, followed by a Powerbomb off the apron and through another table on the floor.

Janela rolls him into the ring and covers, but Tanaka kicks out.

Janela sits the four chairs in the ring open together, the seats all touching in a awful looking structure. Tanaka avoids being thrown into it, hitting a stiff Elbow and then a Diamond Dust, but Janela kicked out of the pin again.

Tanaka then grabs Janela and the two just start to trade strikes back and forth.

This entire match I noticed that Janela's selling is so inconsistent. He'll sell for a bit, and then suddenly act like he is completely fine. He'll be hit with something devestating and kick out, then get up and wrestle like nothing happened.

Janela hit a crazy ridiculous Superplex onto the open chairs, but Tanaka kicked out at 1, which barely even got a reaction.

Janela took a steel chair and blasted it over Tanaka's head, but Tanaka just screamed and hit some Elbows. Janela hit him in the head with another chair, and Tanaka kicked out again.

Janela leaves the ring to grab a wooden door and another table. Janela puts Tanaka on the top rope and tries to hit another Superplex through the table, but Tanaka reversed and hit a Tornado DDT off the top rope onto the table, which doesn't break or even give AT ALL.

They take an incredibly nasty spill, with me thinking Tanaka almost got concussed because he just falls backwards right onto his head. Janela gets up and is fine, hitting a Death Valley Driver through the door in the corner.

Just moment after moment after moment of carnage and violence just for the sake of it.

Trading strikes and hitting Elbows at the same time, knocking each other out at the same time.

Janela gets up first and hits a Superkick, then a Packpage Piledriver onto a chair to get the anti climactic win.

Result: Joey Janela pinned Masato Tanaka

Star Rating: 3/5 Stars

Janela cuts a promo after to show his appreciation for Tanaka and have the crowd chant for him. Then Janela announces his annual special show "GCW Joey Janela's Spring Break" which is where all the ridiculous and crazy wrestling moments happen. People just doing anything and everything they want.

But then Janela is interrupted by a video playing that is super obviously Sabu, and Sabu appears in the ring behind Janela.

Sabu then announces that he will wrestle Janela at Spring Break, and it will be his last match ever.

We get a video package for Matt Cardona, going over his history in wrestling to build more heat because he is supposed to be the most hated guy in GCW.

Downstait the band does a life performance of his theme song, which is actually a really good song so I enjoyed this.

Oh yeah also, Cardona made himself the GCW General Manager because...I honestly don't know.

His whole character is that he brings WWE style sports entertainment to the REAL wrestling of GCW and is what the company stands against and what the fans hate most.

This match was announced as a Open Challenge, so we don't know who Cardona is even going to face.

Cardona's assistant or fanboy or whatever he is Jimmy Lloyd tells the crowd to cheer for Cardona while he gets loud boos.

Cardona cuts a promo to get more heat and I guess pad for even more time.

It went on for quite a while before he officially called out whoever to face him.

Then, Invincible by Machine Gun Kelly plays and...Tommy Invincible comes out?

I have absolutely no idea who this guy is.

Match 13.1: Singles Match

Matt Cardona vs Tommy Invincible

Apparently this is only Tommy's 9th match ever, so why is he in this big of a stage? I have no idea. Cardona hit his finisher Radio Silence as soon as the bell rang, but Tommy kicked out. Tommy rolled him up, but Cardona kicked out. Tommy then hit some knees and a Suplex before going for a 5 Knuckle Shuffle, hitting it after like 30 seconds of stalling. He hits a Cutter and covers, but Cardona kicks out. The crowd is booing and chanting like they are annoyed or bored more than anything else. Not even paying attention to the match.

Cardona hit a low blow and hit Radio Silence again to finally win.

But yeah, Cardona wins in less than 2 minutes. Cool cool. Thanks for coming.

Result: Matt Cardona pinned Tommy Invincible

Star Rating: 1/5 Stars

Matt Cardona takes the mic and tells the crowd he is going to wrestle somebody else because he wants TRUE competition. He even says "I want the biggest and baddest" whcih leads to...

Microman.

A luchador who is literally, actually 3'3. The smallest wrestler in the world (allegedly) and the crowd goes nuts.

Match 13.2: Singles Match

Matt Cardona vs Microman

The crowd was incredibly hot for this, even if it was beyond ridiculous and stupid.

Cardona shoves Microman down and just plays to the crowd forever while they boo him.

Cardona gets on his knees and taunts Microman, who slaps him in the face and kicks his legs to send him in the ropes. Microman then hit a 619 over the bottom rope, then hit a Micro Bomb off the middle rope, but then Jimmy Lloyd pulled the referee out of the ring. Cardona hit another low blow and pinned Microman to win in less than 2 minutes again, which was mostly stalling.

Result: Matt Cardona pinned Microman

Star Rating: 1/5 Stars

Match 13.3: Singles Match

Matt Cardona vs Jimmy Lloyd

The music plays and Cardona turns around with a cheeky smile. Jimmy Lloyd removes his Cardona inspired headband before hitting his own Radio Silence.

Lloyd lays into Cardona and seems to be done with being a disrespected henchman. He hits a Broski Boot, another one of Cardona's moves. Cardona begs for forgiveness, but Lloyd shouts "I'm Not Your Broski!" which was as ridiculous as it sounded before blasting Cardona with a Superkick, then a Piledriver to win in just OVER 2 minutes.

Result: Jimmy Lloyd pinned Matt Cardona

Star Rating: 1.5/5 Stars

This whole segment felt like it was to kill time. If they just went straight into Lloyd vs Cardona, it would've been a whole lot better. A whole lot smoother with just one still short but longer than this crap match.

Main Event: GCW World Heavyweight Championship Match

Mance Warner (Champion) vs Effy (Challenger)

Earlier in the night, Effy defeated Allie Katch due to her suffering a horrific injury that ended the match early. Then, Warner came out to Chokeslam Effy through a table. The commentators said that Effy may not be medically cleared to compete, but then he comes out looking completely fine. Like he hadn't even wrestled yet.

And then Mance Warner comes out to a crazy reaction. Warner used to be like the face of the company and beloved, but he turned bad and also turned on Effy, becoming a awesome heel.

Playing to the crowd and the announcements take quite a while, but the match starts with Effy going after Warner with rage and violence. He still plays his flaboyant character, doing some thrusting strutting around but is more serious than I have seen him before.

Effy looks to go for a quick victory, but Warner grabbed his Championship belt and smashed it over Effy's face.

They go outside the ring to brawl (I think every single match had stuff like this) and the crowd was trying to cheer on Effy but weren't overly loud.

Warner hit some stiff strikes and even bit Effy on the head before Effy hit a Suplex on the floor.

The crowd lit up actually loud this time as Effy starts to beat down on Warner and get some time on top.

Effy grabs a steel chair, throwing it into the ring and hitting Warner on the head. He just grabs more chairs to throw them in and keep hitting Warner.

This match is going to get violent and bloody, like most of the other matches on this show.

I will say that I personally watching began to feel very fatigued by this point. We're almost 6 hours into the show and I have been able to fast forward when I want or need to. For the fans there live, I can't imagine how it would feel. The crowd is tired by this point, showing that this show could've really cut a good amount of matches to make it tighter and better.

Effy slams Warner crotch first onto a chair then goes for a dive, but Warner moves out of the way and starts to beat Effy down with some brutal chair strikes and slams.

Warner shouts at the fans to try and get them more involved or louder, but they barely respond.

Warner 2 two chairs up back to back, hitting a Chokeslam onto the back rests which looked AWFUL to take.

Effy still kicked out and kept fighting while the crowd was barely even cheering or making noise.

Warner stayed on top, grabbing more chairs while still shouting at the fans who were swearing and chanting how much they hated him.

Both men stood on top of the open chairs that were breaking under their weight, but then Effy got down and hit a wild looking TKO onto all of the open chairs, followed by a Running Tombstone Piledriver onto another open chair. Warner kicked out, but that sequence was pretty creative and wild to see.

Effy pulls out a wooden door from under the ring.

In a spot I've never sen before so good on them, Warner stands in the corner and Effy runs to crush Warner with it. Effy lays it over Warner and prepares to smash himself through it for damage. Effy backs away and charges Warner, but Warner throws the door right back at Effy.

Warner is back on top and lays Effy against the front, opening a chair and sitting it in front. Warner runs forward and jumps off the chair, but Effy catches him and slams Warner through the door in a bit of a messy fall.

Effy lays the chair down and grabs Warner, pulling his arms back and hitting a brutal Curb Stomp onto the steel. Warner kicked out, and the crowd continued to be quiet.

The camera even showed some fans that looked like they were leaving in the background.

Effy set up a table on the floor, then threw in another door and some chairs into the ring.

Effy brought Warner to the table and the two men got on the apron. Effy went for something, but Warner fought out and went after Effy's eyes. Warner then hit a disgusting looking "Piledriver" which as more Warner slipping and throwing Effy past the table while Warner just sat backwards onto it.

The crowd began to get vocal about the mistake, but were still quiet for the match.

Warner seemed pissed and slammed the table into the railing, then just threw some ringside attendants away before hitting them with steel chairs just to try and get the crowd to boo. Warner grabs yet another door, taking forever to set up a contraption while Effy just lays in the corner beat up.

Warner laid the table across two open chairs into a make shift table, then took Effy to the corner and put him on the top rope. Warner hit a DDT off the top rope to Effy through the door, but the crowd barely even reacted while the commentators tried to go wild.

Warner grabbed a chair while Effy rolled out of the ring.

The referee began to count out Effy, which is not something they normally do in GCW so weird.

Not like they would end a match by DQ with all the stuff that has been happening.

Effy gets back in and Warner just punches him a few times before throwing him out again and trying to win by count out once again.

Effy got in again and Warner smashed him across the back with a steel chair over and over again. Effy keeps fighting while Warner hit a really nasty, bad looking knee to the face. But Effy kicked out at 1 (like the 3rd or 4th time that has happened on this show) to still no crowd reaction. Warner pulls a screwdriver out of his boot and tries to use it, but Effy fought it away and stabbed Warner in the head with it. Effy lifted Warner up and hit a nasty looking Powerbomb through the door, but this time Warner kicks out at 1.

Effy takes the screwdriver and just stabs him over and over and over again.

It was here I noticed that there is no blood in this match and barely any on the entire show, which is WILD to me.

Effy went for Sack Ryder (funny joke) but Warner hit a Powerbomb, Knee, and Impact DDT for a nearfall.

The crowd is STILL not vocal or cheering as more and more seats are emptying out.

I feel so bad for them because they are doing their best, but this show was just poorly paced and gone on for way too long.

Warner walks through the crowd where the band was set up earlier, grabbing an acoustic guitar and taking it back to the ring.

Cole Radrick makes the save and kicks Warner, revealing that he apparently has some brass ring thing that he can use to cash in for a GCW World Championship match whenever he wants. He looks at Effy and hands the guitar to Effy, with the crowd seeming to boo before Effy shatters the guitar over Warner's head and then hits a Sack Ryder to win.

The crowd FINALLY gets excited, but even then it sounds so quiet.

Result: Effy pinned Mance Warner to become the NEW GCW World Heavyweight Champion

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

This show was bad. Like...really bad.

It was incredibly long and repetitive and boring. Too many matches that were just the same things over and over and over again. Matches without any stories while the ones that did were just...wild.

The highlights for me were the Bloodsport fight, the main event, and the Bayne vs Cogar match.

Other than that, this was just...woof.

Maybe if every match was watched like a day apart, I would appreciate them more but consuming this entire show at once was just awful.

Exhausting and unable to enjoy even if the matches were good or even decent.

Overall Rating: 2/10