For the first time in three years, GCW will return to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City for The People vs. GCW.
After a big build, their January 2022 debut received mixed-to-negative reviews which GCW owner Brett Lauderdale will try to erase tonight.
GCW Champion Mance Warner defends against a mystery opponent while the next challenger will be decided in a bout between partners Effy and Allie Katch.
GCW Tag Team Champions Violence is Forever defend against Alec Price & Cole Radrick while the GCW Extreme title and Ultraviolent title will be unified in an eight-person match.
In what should be an athletic affair, El Hijo del Vikingo will take on Sidney Akeem while Tom Pestock (the former Baron Corbin) will debut in a Bloodsport rules match against Josh Barnett.
Former ECW stars Super Crazy, Little Guido & Tajiri will face Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel with another former ECW star — Masato Tanaka — will go one-on-one with Joey Janela.
The card will also feature Matt Cardona against a mystery opponent, a steel cage match and more.
**********
Kick Off Show.
There was a 90 minute kick off show. It started off with clips of matches from various GCW events that set up tonight’s matches. There was a pretty good Matt Cardona hype video.
Preshow Scramble Match: Manders pinned Marcus Mathers in a match which also had Mr. Danger, Marcus Mathers, Fuego Del Sol, Rich Swann and Blake Christian (11:03)
The arena was still mostly empty at the start of the match, but there was still a booming GCW chant from the crowd that was there. Mathers got to look good in an exchange with Del Sol, and the commentators put over he was WWE’ID. Christian did some ariel stuff with Mr. Danger and Swann. The opening few minutes were two guys doing stuff in the ring, four guys selling on the floor.
Christian hit a snap spinning powerslam on Del Sol. Manders (the only guy in the match who isn’t super flippy) got dropped with a quadruple superkick. Christian hit a fosbury flop onto four guys on the floor. Mr. Danger hit a top rope springboard moonsault onto all five guys. Back in the ring, Christian hit Danger with a top rope Spanish Fly. There was a stacker superplex on Swann, and then Fuegeo hit Manders with a coast-to-coast dropkick. Del Sol hit a springboard DDT on Christian, and Dangers hit a moonsault on Del Sol. Mathers hit a fisherman’s bustper on Danger. Manders tossed Matthers out of the ring with a suplex, and Christian took him out with a superkick. Christian followed up with a 450 foot stomp.
Swann caught Manders with a springboard cuter for a near fall. Manders hit a destoryer off the top on Del Sol while he was on Manders shoulders. Mathers dove into a Oklahoma stampede from Manders, who finished him off with a lariat. All those flips and the finish was a clothesline.
– Allie Katch and Effy gave promos ahead of their top contender’s match later.
PCO won the Kick-Off Rumble.
There were already a bunch of guys brawling in the ring with this started, but then there were more entrants every minute or two. First was Crowbar, who came in and hit everyone with a crowbar. Zeyda Steel (who is a woman) entered next and actually got the corwbar from Crowbar. The tag team champions from Juggalo Championship Wrestling, The Back Seat Boys, (brought out by the Insane Clown Posse) enterted next. Sam Stackhouse was the next entrant. This was just a mess.
Shane Mercer came in next. There were so many men in the ring I was started to fear it might break. Brook Havoc (another woman) entered next. She was followed by CPA, an accountant. Big Vin was the next entrant and he gave someone a big chokeslam. The final participant was PCO.
PCO tossed a bunch of guys. Havoc eliminated Steel. Shane Mercer eliminated the Back Seat Boys. The camera cut to a wide shot, but you couldn’t really tell what was goign on. Sam Stackhouse use a cartwheel kick to eliminate someone. Havoc sent Stackhouse (who weighed like 400 pounds) to the floor with a rana. Shane Mercer then gorilla pressed Havoc and dumped her onto a crowd on the floor. This left him with PCO. They fought onto the apron, where PCO chokeslammed Mercer to the floor and got the victory.
After the match, PCO got the microphone and smashed a TNA championship belt (the Digital Media title) with a sledgehammer. PCO started running down TNA and the show quickly cut away from PCO and went to a pretaped package.
I guess PCO wasn’t happy in TNA.
– Brett Lauderdale crows about his ticket sales and how they’re better than any show that ran in this building “in the last 30 days or so.” He put over GCW’s success and promised to bring it to all 50 states. He talked up how GCW was successful without a coprorate TV contract or “a billion dollar safety net.” He also recognized some GCW fans who have passed away, including his mother. He rambled on for way too long.
– Dave Prazak joined the commentary team.
The People vs. GCW Main Show
Dave Prazak and Veda Scott were on commentary for the main show.
Matt Tremont won the DLC Match for the GCW Ultraviolent Championship & Extreme Championship which also featured Drew Parker, Dr. Redacted, Rina Yamashita, Matthew Justice, Ciclope, John Wayne Murdoch, Brandon Kirk, and Maki Itoh (15:55)
Most of the entrances occurred during the pre-show. “DLC” means “Doors, ladders and chairs” with the two belts hanging above the ring. This was the retirement match of Brandon Kirk, win lose or draw. Murdoch grabbed a mic and declared that Itoh didn’t not belong in the match, and he was jumped by everyone else to start the match. Itoh is the “Extreme” champion, which is one of the belts hanging above the ring. Parker & Murdoch climbed a ladder and were yanked down by their groins by Yamashita. Itoh did the Terry Funny spinning ladder spot. Guys threw chairs at each other’s heads, then came off the top rope with chair shots to the head. Cicople gave Yamashita a spinebuster. Cicople hit a springboard moonsault onto a pile on the floor. The pan to a crowd shot, but I gotta say the building looked a lot better when AEW was in it last month.
Brandon Kirk went through the first door. Murdoch hit Parker with a destroyer. Itoh hit Murdoch and Justice with a spinning DDT. Kirk went for a pumphandle slam, but Itoh countered that with another spinning DDT. Itoh hit a dive onto a pile on the floor. Nobody has made any attempt to get the belts.
Yamashita and Redacted tried to come off of opposite corners while wearing trash cans, but wound up crashing into each other. Now the match has just stopped while everyone builds ladder struckers in the ring and door/table structures on the floor. Yamashita and Cicople double-teamed Redacted, suplexing a ladder onto him. Out of the ring, Itoh and Murdoch were laid out on tables by Parker. On the top of a ladder, Cicople forced a kiss onto Yamashita, then superplexed to the floor through some tables. Then Drew Parker came off the top of another ladder with a swanton through Itoh and Murdoch. Then on a ladder-scaffold, Justice gave Redacted a death valley driver through a table against the ring barricade. This left Kirk to climb the ladder, but Drew Parker cut him off. Kirk then gave him a pump handle powerpomb through the ladder.
With everyone down, Kirk set up another ladder-scaffold before starting to climb for the belt. Murdoch low-blowed Kirk and sent him through the ladder he’d just set up. Oh the irony! Matt Tremont and Murdoch climb a ladder, and Tremont stopped him by hacking away at him with a fork, sending Tremont crashing down. Tremont pulled down both belts to win the titles.
– A pre-match video on Allie Hatch had me convinced she was winning tonight.
Effy defeated Allie Katch by decision for the GCW World Title shot in the Main Event (4:35)
Katch backdropped Effy to the floor and followed him out with a tope. Katch’s head ended up under the guardrail, but the commentators said she injured her leg. Later it was confirmed she injured her leg. Effy broke character checking on Katch, and the show cut to a wide shot while Katch was tended to by the crew.
Mance Warner (the champion) came out and attacked Effy with the title belt. Warner chokeslammed Effy through the time keeper’s table. Effy was declared the winner in what was obviously not the planned finish.
The New York OG’s (Homicide, Grim Reefer & Amazing Red) defeated Real F’n Pros (Kerry Morton, Tony Deppen, Griffin McCoy) after a lot of time killing.
Kerry Morton started a pre-match promo by saying “It’s a damn shame that GCW gets real professional wrestlers” and immediately became the babyface for me. There was a lot of mic work that felt like it was trying to fill the time left from the last match. And there was really no need for that.
Then, an announcement is made that they can’t actually start the match because “the commission” was not at ringside because they were dealing with the Allie Katch injury. This led to Morton grabbing another mic to run down some more people. The Real F’n Pros decide to leave since they’ve already been paid. Homicide got a mic and started cursing and demanded someone ring the bell. The Grim Reefer offered to hunt down the commissioner and “slap him in his f*n face.”
The finally cut away for some pre-tapes.
The match got underway once a second ambulance got on site. The first ambulance took Allie Katch to the hospital after her leg injury.
Morton did some great heel work from the apron while Deepen was triple teamed by the OG’s. Morton pulled a joint out from behind the Grim Reefer’s ear and broke it in half. Reefer sold for the heels. Morton’s heel work was tremendous. Reefer was completely gassed taking basic punishment from the Real Pros. Reefer pulled out another joint, lit it, then hit a top rope dive onto Deepen and McCoy. Homicide got the tag and took out Deepen and Morton with cutters. Morton’s team triple-teamed Homicide. Morton grabbed Homicide’s fork, but Ricky Morton ran in and took the fork away from his kid, then gave him a destroyer. A Code Red and A Cop Killer ended the match for the New York OG’s.
After the match, Amazing Red was inducted into the 2025 Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame. This would have been a great thing to do when they were trying to kill time before the match.
The Gahbage Daddies (Cole Radrick & Alec Price) defeated Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini) for the GCW Tag Team Championship (14:28)
The match spilled to the floor very early. The Gahbage Daddies went for spinning DDTs on the floor, but they were blocked. Price was dropped with a brainbuster on the ring apron. Back in the ring, the champs double-teamed Radrick. This led to some pretty good old-school tag psychology where Vioence is Forever kept cutting off Radrick from getting the tag to Price.
Price finally got the tag and hit a blockbuster on Ku for a near fall. Price hit knee strikes on the champs. Garrini ate several kicks, and Price hit him with a top rope splash for two. Garrini dropped Price with a northern lights bomb. Ku hit a Regalplex on Price (with a boot from Garrini for good measure) for a near fall. Price and Garrini took each other out with a double clothesline.
Ku and Radrick exchanged forearms, and Ku caught him with a sleeper. Garrini had Price locked in a submission, but Radrick broke that up. Ku hit a brainbuster on Radrick, but Drake came off the top with a swanton bomb to break the pin up. Ku and Garrini hit Radrick with a spike piledriver, but it only got two.
Radrick hit an inverted powerbomb for a near fall. The Gahbage Daddies went for their finisher, but the champs countered it, and Ku dropped Drake with a top turnbuckle brainbuster. The Gahbage Daddies made a fast comeboack on Ku, hitting him with a cutter and a rebound lariat. Then then hit their finish, the Gahbage Disposal (a top rope stop from an electric chair) on Ku to get the pinfall and the championship.
This was decent. The Garbage Daddies went into the crowd to celebrate their title win.
Charles Mason defeated Richard Holliday in a Steel Cage Match (12:17)
Holiday reported Mason for murder, but apparently the charges didn’t stick and now we have this cage match. Because a snitch is worse than a murderer, according to commentary. During the entrance for Mason, various criminals are shown on the screen and Luigi Mangione gets a face pop.
Mason seems to understand his character, I will give him that. Mason was pretty dominant early. He sent Holliday headfirst into the cage but walked into a cutter. Holliday sent Mason into the cage headfirst but it didn’t faze him. Holliday hiptossed Mason into the cage to finally slow him down. They brawled up to the top of the cage. Holliday tumbled to the mat, and Mason came off the top of the cage with an elbow.
Perro (Holliday’s ally) broke into the cage and chokeslammed Mason. Mason kicked out of the pin attempt, so Perro threw a door and some chairs into the ring. Perro set up Mason for a powerbomb through the door, but Mason’s ally Slade entered the ring and speared Perro through the door. The wooden door set up like a table, not the cage door. Slade and Perro brawled out of the cage and into the crowd.
Holiday found a chain, but Mason had a chair and beat Holiday to the punch. With the chair, I mean. Mason went for a last big swing, but Holliday caught him with a low blow. Holliday admitting to snitching on Mason and leveled him with a superkick. Holliday hit a spinning suplex for one. Mason hit a spinning lariat and a meteoria in the corner. Mason hit a death valley driver for two, then locked in a sleeperhold. Holiday went for a suplex, but Mason countered into another sleeper, and locked in a body scissors. Holiday tried to use the chain to break it, but Mason grabbed it and used it to choke out Holliday to get the win via ref stoppage. This wasn’t too bad, either.
Sidney Akeem defeated El Hijo Del Vikingo (10:38)
Some pretty great mat stuff started things out. Vikingo offered Akeem a handshake, but he declined and hit a crossbody and a forearm. Vikingo came back with a superkick. Akeem went for a suplex to the floor, but Vikingo escaped with a knee and a kick. Akeem dodged a dive from Vikingo and hit him with a bodypress on the floor from the apron, basically on his back.
Back in the ring, Akeep hit a top rope crossbody for a near fall. Vikingo came back with a missle dropkick off the top that sent Akeem to the floor. Vikingo hit a tope and immediately grabbed his left knee. Back in the ring, Vikingo hit a frog splash for two. Akeem hit a spin kick and a pump handle slam for a near fall. Vikingo hung up Akeem in the ropes and hit a double stomp for a near fall. Both guys avoided cutters and knocked each other down simultaneously with kicks.
Akeem hit his handspring cutter (The Final Act) for two. Vikingo crotched Akeem on the top rope, then hit a destoryer from the top rope onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Akeem hit the Final Act a second time and got the pinfall.
Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel defeated Tajiri, Super Crazy & Little Guido (12:35)
The ECW guys looked very old. Guildo did soem pretty good matwrok, and Tajiri hit some crisp arm drags. Super Crazy kept up with Arez desipte putting on a good deal of weight since his ECW days. A cheap shot from Arez led to all six guys getting in the ring, and Cartwheel’s team triple teamed Crazy and sent him to the floor. Arez stomped on Little Guido, and Cartwheel hit a slingshot elbow off the ropes. He went to the top for a skytwister press, but Guido rolled out of the way.
Crazy got the tag and hit his opponents with clotheslines. Tajiri took out Loco and Arez with the handspring elbow. Tajiri and Crazy tied them up with tarantuals, and Guildo locked Cartwheel in an armbar. The fight then went to the floor.
Super Crazy climed up the second level balcony and hit a moonsualt on the pile. That’s an insane risk considering what’s already happened on this show. The match eventually went back to the ring, and Arez and Crazy each lock one of their opponents into a surfboard. Arez sent Crazy to the floor, and Loco and Cartwheel followed out and hit him with dives. Arez then hit the pile with a moonsualt to the floor of his own.
Back in the ring, Tajiri misted the referee. Arez then hit Tajiri with the red mist! Loco hit Guido with a split legged moonsault and got the pinfall.
This show feels like it’s been on forever.
Josh Barnett v. Tom Pestock in a “Bloodsport Fight” (10:04)
Pestcok is the former Baron Corbin, but he has legitimate Golden Gloves and BJJ experience. This match has a 15 minute time limit with a five minute overtime if necessary. The ropes have been removed from the ring for this.
Pestock got a takedown and then a heel hook. Barnett looked like he might have an armbar, but Pestock countered and got in a full mount and turned that into a cross arm breaker. Barnett escaped and caught Pestock with some short rights. Pestock threw some elbows into Barnett’s ribs. Barnett got a headlock, but Pestock countered with a headscissors and then went right back into a cross arm breaker again. Barnett was able to block it. Barnett rolled up on Pestock and went for ankle, but Pestock was able to roll on top to counter. Pestock got on top and drove some knees into Barnett’s ribs, then went into a guillotine. Barnett countered that with a suplex, then locked in an armar into a cross arm breaker. Pestock tried to power out, but Barnett countered into a knee bar. Pestock escaped and started pummeling him with forearms. Pestock hit a verticual suplex and some more forearms. Barnett got on top and hit a punches, but Pestock rolled over and fired back.
Both men got to their feet, and Barnett went after Pestock with kicks to the legs. Pestock blocked a kick and leveled Barnett, then hit a pair of backdrop suplexes. Barnett countered a third with a go-behing and went for another legbar, locked it in and Pestock (who had been the crowd favorite) had to tap out.
I don’t’ know what it was but the crowd was into Pestock.
Megan Bayne defeated Atticus Cogar (13:49)
Cogar wore headgear exactly like Bayne’s. Bayne quickly hit a spear for a near fall. Bayne backdropped Cogar and hit a chop in the corner. Bayne buried knees in Cogar’s midsection and hit a spalsh in the corner, then followed that up with a butterfly suplex. Sliding lariat got Bayne a near fall. Cogar shoved Bayne off the turnbuckles to the floor.
Cogar draped Bayne across the barricades and came off the apron with a splash. Cogar set up a table on the floor. Cogar caught Bayne coming in the ring with a DDT for a near fall. Cogar kicked a chair into Bayne’s face. Cogar tried to drive skewers into Bayne’s head but missed. They exchanged German suplexes, and Cogar hit a half and half suplex and a superkick. Cogar found some more skewers and shoved them into every corner of the ring.
Bayne came back with forearms and an overhead belly to belly suplex. Cogar went for a crossbody, but Bayne caught him and gave him a fallaway slam into a steel chair. Cogar hit a headbutt, then came off the top with a stomp for a near fall.
Bayne escaped an air rad crash and hit a sitout powerbomb for two. Bayne went to the top, but Cogar caught her with a kick. Cogar followed him up and hit an air raid crash that was supposed to be on the apron but they went straight to the floor. They went back into the ring and Bayne kicked out of a cover attempt. Bayne hit Cogar with an F5 for a near fall. Bayne grabbed some of the skewers, but before she could skewer him, Otis Cogar (Atticus’ brother) ran in and gave Bayne an uranage, then a moonsault. But Atticus only got a near fall. Otis went for a second moonsault, but Sawyer Wreck sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. Wreck then hit Atticus with a taser, and Bayne hit a tombstone on Atticus to get the pinfall.
Joey Janela defeated Masato Tanaka (12:38)
I don’t think having this many guys who were stars in ECW 30 years ago is the flex the guys running this thing think it is. Tanaka turned Jalena inside-out with a clothesline. Janela dropped Tanaka with a death valley driver on the ring apron. Janela set up some tables on one side of the ring. Jalena then walked Tanaka over to the tables and whipepd him into the ring barricade. Tanaka sent Jalena over the ring barricade and hit him with a chair. Janela then positioned himself onto a table for Tanaka to dive onto him.
Tanaka then threw a bunch of chairs in the ring. Back in the ring, Janela cuaght Tanaka with a DDT. Tanaka hit Jalena with a swinging DDT into the pile of chairs. Janela suplexed Tanaka into the pile of chairs. Then back onto the apron , and Janela powerbombed Tanaka through the table on the floor.
Jalena set up the chairs in the ring. He went for a powerbomb, but Tanaka countered with an elbow and hit Diamond Dust for a near fall. An elbow sent Janela into the chairs and Tanaka went to the top, but Janela caught him. Janela superplexed Tanaka through the chairs and got a one count. Janela hit Tanaka with a pair of chair shots to the head for two.
Janela threw a door and a table into the ring while Tanaka grabbed his head. Janela set Tanaka up in the corner for a superplex, but Tanaka turned it into a spinning DDT into the table. Jalena kicked out at two. Janela sent Tanaka through the door with a death valley driver.
They fought with chairs and forearms in the center of the ring. The each hit rolling elbows and knocked each other down. Janela hit a superkick, then a package piledriver on a steel chair to get the pinfall.
Janela grabbed the mic afterwards and said, “it’s been a long f*cking night.” Yeah, no kidding. Janela got the crowd to give Tanaka ovation. Janela started to talk about his spring break show and the lights went dark. Then clips of Sabu were shown. Including stuff from ECW, Raw, and WCW so I don’t know how they’re getting away with that. Anyway the lights came back up and Sabu was in the ring with Janela. Janela announced that Sabu would have his retirement match with Janela at his spring break show.
Matt Cardona defeated Tommy Invincible (1:44)
Cardona cut a promo about how he’s carried GCW on his back for the last four years. Tommy Invincible has a social media following, and the crowd doesn’t respond well to him. Cardona hit Radio Silence right out of the gate, but it only got two. Invincible hit a pair of knees and then did a John Cena impression to a lot of boos. Invincible hit a fistdrop and a cutter for a near fall. The crowd was not having any of this. Cardona hit a low blow and another Raido Silence and that was it.
So after destroying that nobody, Cardona demands more competition.
Matt Cardona defeated Micro Man
It’s midnight, are these guys serious? The smallest wrestler alive Micro Man came out to wrestle Cardona. Cardona won this match after a low blow when his second, Jimmy Lloyd, pulled the ref out of the ring. Cardona demanded another opponent.
Jimmy Lloyd defeated Matt Cardona (2:12)
Lloyd was Cardona’s second, who turned on Cardona and hit him with Radio Silence. Lloyd hit him with a boot wash and a superkick, then dropped him with a big piledriver and got the pinfall.
Effy defeated Mance Warner for the GCW Championship (19:07)
Warner is trying to start fights with the crowd around ringside. Also it looks like there are a lot of empty seats in the Ballroom. Probably because it’s well past midnight.
Effy started off fast and hit a pair of boots in the corner, but Warner grabbed the title belt and walloped Effy with it. The fight went to the floor and Warner dominated with chops and bit Effy’s forehead. Effy suplexed Warner on the floor. Effy whipped Warner into the ringpost and into the guardrail. Effy threw some chairs in the ring.
Back in the ring, Effy hit Warner with a chair, then dropped him crotch-first onto a chair. Effy went for a cannonball off the top, but Warner moved and Effy hit the chair. Warner hit Effy with a chair. Warner then chokeslammed Effy into the edge of a set-up steel chair. What was left of the crowd was behind Effy, and they definitely weren’t as loud as they were earlier in the night. Warner set up some more chairs in the ring. Effy sent Warner into the chairs with the TKO. Effy followed up with a tombstone into a set up chair.
Effy smashed Warner with a door. Warner hit him with the door. Warner tried to springboard into Effy, but Effy caught him and spinebustered him threw the door. Effy gave him a curbstomp into a chair for another near fall.
Effy threw more doors and chairs into the ring. Any booker with good sense would have sent these guys home by now. The crowd does not care about any of this. Effy and Warner fought on the apron, and Warner tried a piledriver through the table and it didn’t break and both guys are out of it. And the crowd couldn’t care less.
Back in the ring, Effy kicks out of a pin attempt. The crowd barely reacts. Warner goes to the floor to throw more stuff around. Warner hit a member of the ring crew with a steel chair. Back in the ring, Warner put a door across some steel chairs (a “door bridge” the commentators called it). Warner DDT’d Effy off the top through the door, and Effy kicks out. And maybe four people clapped.
Warner dumped Effy to the floor and demanded a count out. Effy got in before the ref counted ten, so Warner dumped him out again. Effy made it back in the ring, and Warner beat him with a steel chair. Warner hit him with a knee for one, and finaly the crowd reacted a bit. Warner pulled a screwdriver out of his boot, and Effy hit a spear. Effy got the screwdriver and hit Warner in the head. Effy gutwrench powerbombed Warner through the door, but it only got one. Warner countered a Radio Silence attempt with a powerbomb, then hit a DDT for another near fall.
Warner then left the ring to grab a guitar. But Cole Radrick ran in and stopped him. Radrick pulled out a brass ring (which would get him a title shot), but Radrick didn’t use it. Instead, he gave Effy the guitar and left. Effy hit Warner with the guitar, then hit the Radio Silence (which he calls the Sack Ryder), and got the pinfall. The win got barely any crowd reaction.
This show was about two hours too long. There’s only so many times you can see guys get hit with chairs or go through tables or doors before it gets redundant. And I’d guess about 1/2 the crowd left before the end of it.
