A match to determine who would challenge GCW Champion Mance Warner in the main event of Sunday’s The People vs. GCW ended prematurely due to an injury.
In a no. 1 contender’s match earlier on the streaming special, Effy was taking on Allie Katch when Katch backdropped him to the floor, following him outside with a tope. She injured herself on the dive, sustaining a left leg/ankle injury. A picture shared on social media showed her foot at a contorted angle.
The match, which lasted under five minutes, was called for Effy. Warner then came out and attacked Effy with the title belt, putting him through a table to boot.
Effy will be looking for his first GCW title victory while Warner will be trying to secure the 28th successful defense of the championship he won in June 2024. The two have feuded in GCW for more than a year, competing in a Cage of Survival match, a strap match, an I Quit match, and a last man standing match.
The show is taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
AEW’s Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance at GCW Highest in the Room 3 Saturday in Los Angeles, attacking both Matt Cardona and Effy.
Cardona was taking on Effy in a singles match and after a low blow, Cardona was about to hit him with a belt shot when a disguised man hit the ring. He nailed Cardona with a bat, leading to Effy hitting a rough rider to pick up the win.
Effy was confused as to who the man was and then Jericho revealed himself, followed by a Judas Effect to Effy for good measure. Jericho then removed his sweatshirt to reveal an AEW t-shirt and laid in a few more bat shots to both Cardona and Effy before leaving to boos.
Effy was in the news three weeks ago after comments he made about Tony Khan and his father, Shad, on a podcast were then followed by Ricky Starks being pulled from several GCW dates. Starks was supposed to be on Saturday’s card against Cardona but was then replaced by Effy. Willie Mack, who occasionally still works for AEW and ROH, was also pulled from GCW appearances this past week.
Both AEW and GCW will be running the Hammerstein Ballroom as AEW/ROH is holding three shows there this upcoming weekend while GCW will appear there on January 19th — something that also became a public issue three weeks ago.
It’s unclear as of this point as to whether Jericho’s appearance is an olive branch between the two companies or an previously agreed upon one-off build to Jericho and Cardona’s ROH World title match at Final Battle this Friday.
Effy has responded to AEW pulling Ricky Starks from GCW events.
Starks made a surprise appearance at GCW’s show on November 23 and looked to be entering a program with Matt Cardona. However, three days later, GCW announced that Starks had been pulled from all upcoming bookings with the company.
Fightful would later report that AEW pulled Starks from the shows partly due to Effy’s podcast comments regarding AEW booking Hammerstein Ballroom a month before GCW returned to the venue in January.
“Brett (Lauderdale) does not own a football team. Brett doesn’t have a dad who pays him to stay away. I don’t want this to be a personal thing. I don’t, but hey guys, you aren’t the only game in town,” Effy said last month.
Our own Dave Meltzer confirmed the news in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, writing, “While nobody officially said anything, the strong belief, actually confirmed to us, is that it was the comments from Effy of GCW on Tony Khan, particularly a line he said about Khan’s father paying him to stay away, led to Khan feeling he didn’t want to do business with GCW.”
“I canât speak for Ricky Starks, right? I want the best for Ricky. That may be at AEW, that may be at WWE, that may be out here on the indies, that may be with GCW, and I donât think that dream is out the window.”
“To everyone whoâs saying ‘oh, itâs Effy’s fault he canât be here,’ this is how things are done in wrestling and itâs something that heâs going to have to go work out on his own, AEWâs going to have to work out with him. They are correct, he is under contract with them but I havenât seen him on TV in a ten month period.”
Effy also discussed Starks’ interview with Chris Van Vliet, which was published just days after GCW Dream On. During the interview, Starks referred to his not being used by AEW as “a mind–k.” Shortly after, Fightful reported that AEW extended Starks’ contract in the spring, and his deal now stretched into spring 2025. Effy believes AEW wasn’t happy about the leaked contract details and is using him as a scapegoat.Â
Effy continued:
“I think he was very honest and direct about his situation and who approved him being at GCW, but, somebody was not excited about his contract being leaked, that theyâd added on the additional option, which they legally have a right to do. Itâs all the timing of that happening at the exact same time and then using me as a blame. You know, go ahead, buddy. You can blame me. I can handle the blame, I can take the heat.”
“Someone pointed out a way out and they took the way out and thatâs fine. Iâm not someone whoâs going to go back on what I say. I said what I said and I donât think I said anything crazy. I just think thereâs certain triggers that people have that you have to be mindful of, especially if youâre in business with them.”
“I think even the news articles that were confirming with them were a little confused and going, ‘Is this the reason you want us to print? This is the reason you want us to put with this, specifically.’
“I clearly am a person whoâs GCW for life. Iâm independent for life. I made this very clear. So, someone like me, whoâs not looking at any future job opportunities currently, whoâs not looking to work for the major companies, whoâs not looking to sign any contracts, I understand the downsides of being that kind of independent, but I also see me as an easy person to go, ‘Okay, we can throw the blame on him.’âÂ
The full episode of Game Changer Weekly is available below:
Game Changer Wrestling has named a replacement for the match Ricky Starks was supposed to have at Highest in the Room 3.
Before being pulled from all of his scheduled GCW appearances, Starks was set to face Matt Cardona at the Saturday, December 14 event in Los Angeles. GCW announced today that the match will now be Cardona vs. Effy.
Starks made a surprise appearance for GCW last weekend and was going to work a series of dates for the promotion. However, he has since been pulled from all of those shows. Fightful reported that AEW’s decision to pull Starks was, in part, due to comments Effy made about Tony Khan and Shad Khan on his podcast.
“While nobody officially said anything, the strong belief, actually confirmed to us, is that it was the comments from Effy of GCW on Tony Khan, particularly a line he said about Khanâs father paying [Tony] to stay away, led to Khan feeling he didnât want to do business with GCW,” Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Effy was critical of AEW after the promotion announced three dates for the Hammerstein Ballroom near the end of December — running the venue just a few weeks before GCW’s upcoming event at the Hammerstein. That January 19 show is one of the other GCW dates Starks was scheduled for.
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale told the Business of the Business podcast that he feels AEW “maybe” violated some written etiquette by booking their Hammerstein dates so close to GCW’s show.
Despite being healthy and under contract, Starks has been missing from AEW programming since March. He told Insight with Chris Van Vliet that the experience of being kept off TV has been a “mindf*ck.” Starks said he has theories about why he isn’t being used but does not want to voice them because he does not know for sure. While not confirmed, most fan speculation about Starks’ absence has been centered on a belief that he will eventually end up in WWE when his AEW contract expires.
The Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles is hosting GCW Highest in the Room with the event set to stream live on TrillerTV+. A Bloodsport match between Josh Barnett and Royce Isaacs is among the other bouts that will be taking place on the show.
The former Jinder Mahal’s first match for GCW is set.
On Sunday, the company announced on X that Mahalâs first match will be against Effy on August 2 in Cleveland, Ohio. Mahal will be wrestling under the name âThe Maharajaâ Raj Dhesi moving forward.
*CLEVELAND UPDATE*
Just Signed:
THE MAHARAJA vs EFFY
Plus: Zilla Fatu vs Josh Bishop Maki Itoh vs JWM Matt Hardy makes his in-ring debut! Mance vs ? Janela vs ? Nick Gage Matt Cardona +more!
— GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) July 21, 2024
The match announcement follows an angle that took place this past Friday night at GCWâs So High event. Mahal entered the ring following a Effy/Cole Radick tag team match under a mask and laid out Effy with the Khallas, unmasking himself soon after.
On X, Mahal said he would raise GCW to his standards and become their champion. He said he also witnessed ârecreational drug useâ among other things backstage and claimed that Matt Cardona has done a terrible job as GCW General Manager.
Mahal was released from WWE back in April. After Mahal lost a match to Seth Rollins earlier in the year, he had largely been off WWE TV prior to his release with the exception of an appearance in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania 40.
Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.
Vince McMahon, the non-disclosures, the economic effect, reaction from talent, the investigation, keys as to whether he stays or goes, keys to the current investigation, the settlements, details of the most recent settlement story and key points in it, comments from women over the years, the 2006 tanning bed story, Rita Chatterton talks, and follow-ups of other investigations.
WrestleMania, SummerSlam and ROH Death Before Dishonor
Stardom Midsummer Champions and the next major Stardom events
UFC notes from this past week
Ratings from all wrestling shows
2022 World Grand Prix tournament
AAA major summer show
What will be Triplemania’s major title match
Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year
Triple Crown title change
Pro Wrestling NOAH co-promoting this year’s tournament that led to the formation of ROH in 2001
Keiji Muto has one of his final matches this week
Update on Kota Ibushi
First week of G1
Two legendary tag teams have singles matches against each other
Three AEW stars on Japanese women’s show
Bill Goldberg talks Bret Hart
Ric Flair documentary series
Japanese stars coming to base in North America
Legendary promoter cutting back after 52 years
Full breakdown on ticket sales to All Out
Lots of injury updates involving the biggest stars
Goal of the three-way tag title match on Dynamite and original plans
Upcoming ticket sales for WWE and AEW
Chris Jericho talks his illness from last year
AEW star in Bare Knuckle fight in England
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
UFC lobbying for a bill that could have great effect on pro wrestlers
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Tuesday News Update
WWE
In an interview with Metro UK, Alexa Bliss discussed Liv Morgan winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. “If it was anyone else, I donât think the match would have perceived as well,” she said. “We wanted to see Liv win, and the crowd wanted to see Liv win. Sheâs the choice. Sheâs worked so hard and she deserves that win. She picked her moment, she capitalised, she pushed Becky off the ladder, there you go! Very happy for her!â
Xavier Woods will be at the San Diego Comic Con on July 21 as part of the Attack of the Show: Who Let Us In? panel.
The latest WWE 2K22 DLC, the âWhole Dam Packâ, released today. This pack include Rob Van Dam, Logan Paul, Machine Gun Kelly, LA Knight, Xia Li, and Commander Azeez as playable characters. This is the final announced DLC pack for the game.
New WWE developmental signee Valerie Loureda was on HOT 97 to talk about transitioning from MMA to WWE and the importance of representing her culture.
The company recently filed trademarks for Gunther, Kayla Braxton, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Maxxine Dupri. Dupri has been billed as the sister of Max Dupri and will debut this Friday on SmackDown.
A SummerSlam car will be featured at this weekendâs NASCAR Pocono event.
AEW/ROH
This weekâs AEW Road to, which focuses on the barbed wire everywhere match between Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston.
Britt Baker spoke to Sportskeeda about Adam Cole, winning the Owen Hart tournament, and more.
The presale code for Grand Slam 2, which takes place at Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 21, is SUNNYBLISS46. The presale starts on Thursday from 10 am to 10 pm PST at ticketmaster.com. The official sale starts on Friday morning.
Effy trended on social media today after a spot at a Underground Wrestling Alliance event drew comparisons to Joey Ryan. The spot involved Effy thrusting his pelvis into the face of Sandra Moon. Moon wrote on Twitter: âI thought the spot was funny when two god tier sports entertainers put it together, thought it was funny while it was happening, thought it was funny enough after to qt with a goofy caption. the PAYING fans had an amazing time, I had my dream match, @EFFYlives is my hero. I love professional wrestling and the people I surround myself with; for yâall to compare anyone as amazing as EFFY to the diabolical POS that yâall are is so weird to me. If you didnât laugh or think it was funny than it wasnât for yâall.â
At a recent K&S WrestleFest virtual signing, Hacksaw Jim Duggan said that he has completed 27 out of 39 radiation treatments. He is hopeful the treatments will cure his cancer.
Shingo Takagi talked to NJPWâs website about working with Sting at Forbidden Door when asked what catches his eye in AEW. âWell, I think the guys that I have wrestled before, or had near misses with. So Bryan (Danielson) (Samoa) Joe, Claudio (Castagnoli), PAC. But then Sting⌠Sting just entirely carried that match we had (laughs). From the entrance on, it was all Sting. Thatâs a legend for you. He was a real model for me going forward, thatâs the kind of wrestler I need to be.â
CZW will be holding a free show in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on August 20.
New GCW Tag Team Champions were crowned at tonight’s Paranoid event.
The team known as BUSSY defeated The Briscoes to win the championships for the first time on tonightâs show, which took place at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
This ends The Briscoesâ second run with the GCW Tag Team titles, which ended after only nine days. They had defeated Nick Gage & Slade and Mance Warner & Matthew Justice in a three way match last week during Joey Janelaâs Spring Break Part 1.
Here are full results from tonightâs show:
Minoru Suzuki defeated Blake Christian
ACH defeated Nick Wayne
Chris Dickinson defeated Masha Slamovich
BUSSY defeated The Briscoes to win the GCW Tag Team titles
Chris Bey defeated Jack Cartwheel
AJ Gray defeated Kevin Blackwood
Joey Janela defeated Gringo Loco
GCW returns tomorrow in San Francisco for Devil In a New Dress. Matches announced include Minoru Suzuki vs. Mike Bailey, Biff Busick vs. Masha Slamovich, Bandido vs. Nick Wayne, and Dark Sheik vs. Joey Janela.
A new match has been announced for GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Part 2.
Minoru Suzuki will take on Effy on the WrestleMania weekend event on Saturday, April 2. The event will begin at 12:01 a.m. Central time, so it’s essentially a Friday night show.
Janela made the match announcement today on Twitter.
Suzuki vs. Effy joins the previously announced Matt Cardona vs. Chris Dickinson bout on the Part 2 lineup.
For Part 1 on Thursday, March 31, Jon Moxley will defend the GCW World title against AJ Gray, Alex Colon defends the GCW Ultraviolent title against John Wayne Murdoch, plus Janela takes on X-Pac in a match stemming from this past weekend’s GCW Welcome to Heartbreak show, where Janela turned on X-Pac following a tag match where the two teamed against Cardona and Brian Myers.
The lineups:
GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Part 1, Thursday, March 31, 8 p.m. Central time —
GCW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. AJ Gray
GCW Ultraviolent Championship: Alex Colon (c) vs. John Wayne Murdoch
Joey Janela vs. X-Pac
GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Part 2, Saturday, April 2, 12:01 a.m. Central time —
For the first time ever, Effy and Jeff Jarrett will go one-on-one at Sunday’s The Wrld on GCW.
Effy issued the challenge Monday, two days after Jarrett laid out Allie Katch with a guitar shot at Say You Will.
Calling him a “clout vampire,” Effy took umbrage with Jarrett attacking Katch, his tag team partner, just two weeks after Jarrett took him out with a guitar at Die 4 This in a surprise appearance. After initially saying he had no interest in wrestling Jarrett after he was attacked, Effy changed his tune after Saturday’s assault on Katch.
Jarrett responded Monday by quoting Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” with GCW making the match official shortly thereafter.
That wasn’t the only announcement and addition regarding Sunday’s show from the sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City made on Monday:
A Grab the Brass Ring ladder match where the winner gets to choose any match at any time. Participants will be announced on Monday night.
Psycho Clown, B-Boy and Dustin Thomas were all added to the show.
Here’s the current card:
GCW Champion Jon Moxley vs. Homicide in a title match
Joey Janela vs. Matt Cardona (w/ Chelsea Green)
Effy vs. Jeff Jarrett
GCW Tag Team Champions The Briscoes in an open challenge title match
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Blake Christian in a title match
Allie Katch vs. Ruby Soho
Grab the Brass Ring ladder match
Team Bandido (Bandido, Laredo Kid, ASF) vs. Team Gringo (Gringo Loco, Demonic Flamita, Arez)
Psycho Clown, B-Boy, Dustin Thomas slated to appear
With the news Eddie Kingston suffered a fractured orbital bone and is out for three weeks, it’s unknown if he will still make an appearance Sunday even though he cannot compete.
Jeff Jarrett made a surprise appearance at tonight’s GCW Die 4 This event, attacking Effy.
As Effy appeared in the ring to deliver a State of Effy address, the lights in the Showboat Atlantic City in New Jersey lowered. A masked figure in a cowboy hat then appeared in the ring and attacked, hitting Effy over the head with a guitar. Jarrett then removed the hat and mask and made the big reveal.
Jarrett is currently a podcast personality, hosting the My World show with Conrad Thompson. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the class of 2018. He appeared in the 2019 Royal Rumble match, then again on Raw in February 2019 in a match with Elias. Jarrett then worked as a WWE producer, before he was released by the company in April 2021.
Jarrett’s last match to date came at a SoCal Pro Wrestling event in April 2019, where he lost to Dr. Wagner Jr.
