Tag: indies

X-Pac & Janela vs. Cardona & Myers set for GCW Welcome to Heartbreak

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Sean “X-Pac” Waltman is returning to the ring.

X-Pac will team with Joey Janela against Matt Cardona and Brian Myers at GCW Welcome to Heartbreak on Friday, February 25 in Los Angeles, California.

The match was set up at The Wrld on GCW pay-per-view when Myers helped Cardona defeat Janela in a singles match. X-Pac ran in to make the save for Janela after the match, but Cardona and Myers escaped before X-Pac could inflict any damage.

X-Pac last wrestled in April 2019 at the WrestleCon SuperShow, teaming with Hurricane Helms and Jushin Liger to defeat Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, and Zane Riley.

Here are GCW’s notable upcoming lineups. All of the events will air on FITE TV:

GCW Fightclub 2: Houston, Friday, February 4 —

  • GCW Extreme Championship: AJ Gray vs. Mysterious Q
  • Mascara Dorada vs. Gringo Loco vs. Blake Christian vs. ASF
  • Tony Deppen vs. Bryan Keith
  • Matt Tremont vs. Sadika
  • Ninja Mack vs. Nick Wayne
  • Loko Wrestling Championship: Dante Leon vs. Sam Stackhouse
  • Grim Reefer vs. Matthew Justice vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Allie Katch vs. Jordan Oliver vs. Chris Carter

GCW If I Die First, Saturday, February 5 —

GCW Extreme Championship: AJ Gray vs. Allie Katch

  • Blake Christian vs. Laredo Kid
  • Psycho Clown vs. Gringo Loco
  • Joey Janela vs. Dr. Wagner Jr.
  • Mike Bailey vs. Jimmy Lloyd
  • John Wayne Murdoch vs. Matthew Justice
  • Grim Reefer appears

GCW Believe Me, Saturday, February 19 —

  • The Briscoes vs. The S.A.T.
  • Joey Janela vs. Mascara Dorada
  • Matt Tremont vs. Hoodfoot
  • John Wayne Murdoch vs. G-Raver
  • B-Boy appears

GCW Don’t Tell Me What To Do, Sunday, February 20 —

  • GCW Tag Team Championship: Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. The Rejects
  • Atticus Cogar vs. Alex Zayne
  • 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Gringo Loco
  • B-Boy appears

GCW Welcome to Heartbreak, Friday, February 25 —

  • X-Pac & Joey Janela vs. Matt Cardona & Brian Myers
  • GCW Extreme Championship: AJ Gray vs. Lio Rush
  • Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Homicide
  • Blake Christian vs. Nick Wayne
  • Atticus Cogar vs. Kevin Blackwood

GCW The Coldest Winter, Saturday, February 26 —

  • Thunder Rosa vs. Tony Deppen
  • Mascara Dorada vs. Gringo Loco
  • Mike Bailey vs. Blake Christian

Lio Rush: Fans used racial slurs, hate speech at PWG BOLA

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Lio Rush says that fans used racial slurs, engaged in hate speech, and threw objects into the ring during night two of PWG BOLA on Sunday. 

Rush was injured during Sunday’s event and taken to the hospital, and also provided an injury update in a social media post today. 

Rush says that he has a dislocated left shoulder, and will have a follow-up MRI in two to three weeks to make sure that there is no ligament damage. 

Rush posted: 

“Clean dislocation in my left shoulder. (Opposite to my previous shoulder injury.) MRI in 2-3 weeks to hopefully find that there’s no severe ligament damage/tear.

To all the boys in the back and crew at PWG last night that were super attentive and extremely helpful, thank you so much. More frustration and disappointment than anything else at the way last night ended.

To all my fans and supporters, thank you for the outpouring love and support. Saddened by the hate speech, racial slurs, and throwing of objects in the ring by “fans” who attended Night 2 of BOLA, but nothing will diminish my love for this sport and stop me from performing for those who appreciate my craft. I will be back. See you soon.”

https://twitter.com/IamLioRush/status/1488234010148888576https://twitter.com/IamLioRush/status/1488240021001756672

AEW’S Serena Deeb set for Terminus 2

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Terminus has made another talent announcement for their Thursday, February 24 event in Atlanta. 

AEW star Serena Deeb has officially been added to the lineup for Terminus 2. 

The Jonathan Gresham-owned promotion will run their second event next month with a talent lineup that includes Deeb, Queen Aminata, Leon Ruffin, Kevin Blackwood, Lio Rush, Shane “Swerve” Strickland (Sw3rve The Realest), AEW’s Santana, and Gresham, the Ring of Honor World Champion. No matches have been made official for the show. 

Deeb is coming off two consecutive AEW victories, with wins over Hikaru Shida and Skye Blue on Dynamite this month. Prior to defeating Shida, Deeb had lost two in a row to her, including a TBS Championship tournament match in October 2021.

Gresham defeated Josh Alexander in the main event of the first Terminus event on January 16, retaining the ROH title. The Impact Wrestling Digital Media Championship was also defended on that show, with Jordynne Grace defeating Kiera Hogan.

Lio Rush announced for February Terminus event

Posted on by Josh Nason

A day after he made news with his AEW contract status, Lio Rush was announced for the second Terminus event, set for February 24th in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rush tweeted Saturday that as of February 14th, his AEW contract will expire and he will become a free agent just six months after the company got him to return after an announced retirement.

The new promotion, co-founded by reigning Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black, had its first event last weekend featuring Gresham, Bandido, Josh Alexander, Black and others.

They have already begun loading up for their second pay-per-view, announcing former WWE NXT North American Champion Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and a main event of Gresham defending the ROH title against AEW tag team standout Santana.

Rush returns to the ring Sunday night at The Wrld on GCW as part of a ladder match featuring PCO, Tony Deppen, Jordan Oliver, Jimmy Lloyd and Alex Colon. He also remains part of the New Japan Strong roster.

Left My Wallet: The fast rise of indie breakout Jack Cartwheel

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet is back with one of the brightest and up-and-coming talents in wrestling today in Jack Cartwheel.

He has made quite a name for himself this year on the independent scene with his work in PWG and GCW and now he’s here to talk about that leap into notoriety, along with some football as he still plays college football in California.

In our talk, he discusses the balance of playing college football and wrestling, as well as the toll it takes on him physically. Other topics include his love for the Miami Dolphins, transitioning into the college game at a different position as high school, what pro players he emulates and what he channels into his own game.

We then discuss his training for pro wrestling, his unique style, GCW scramble life, making the leap in competition to PWG, and the strides he has made as a worker in the last year.

Jack is possibly the most exciting unsigned talent on the indies today and this conversation will quickly make you an instant fan. Enjoy my talk with a name you’re going to hear a lot more of in the coming years: Jack Cartwheel!

Right click save

Moxley & Callihan vs. The Wolves set for Pro Wrestling Revolver

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Jon Moxley and Sami Callihan will team up to face The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) in October.

Pro Wrestling Revolver announced tonight that The Switchblades (Moxley and Callihan) will face The Wolves at their Tales from the Ring event that will take place October 30th at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa. 

This will be the first time The Wolves have teamed together in over four years, last teaming for Beyond Wrestling in 2017. The two split in February of that year on Impact Wrestling.

Moxley had trademarked the term ‘The Switchblades’ and ‘The Switchblade Conspiracy’ earlier this month. He and Callihan had previously been announced as reuniting as a team prior to the match announcement.

Richards returned to pro wrestling earlier this year after not having wrestled since 2017. Together, Richards and Edwards are two time ROH World Tag Team Champions and five time Impact World Tag Team Champions.

‘Super Genie’ Melissa Coates passes away at 50 years old

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Melissa Coates

Melissa Coates, a female indie wrestler who once appeared on a WWE pay-per-view and also managed Sabu, passed away Wednesday at 50 years old, according to the Cauliflower Alley Club.

Coates had been dealing with health issues due to severe blood clots in her left leg that required life-saving amputation from above the knee down in 2020, but it’s unknown what caused her passing.

A Killer Kowalski and UPW trainee, the Canadian-born Coates appeared at the 2005 WWE Backlash pay-per-view in an effort to survive Chris Masters’ Masterlock Challenge. She worked in OVW and Deep South Wrestling for some time, but was never under a developmental contract.

The former bodybuilder also worked for NWA Anarchy, Dory Funk Jr.’s Funkin’ Conservatory BANG! promotion, and on the indies. According to Cagematch, she had last worked in the ring in 2014.

Later in her career, Coates managed Sabu as “The Super Genie.” Before her pro wrestling career, Coates was in the first two seasons of Extreme Dodgeball on the Game Show Network.

Left My Wallet: Beyond Wrestling and the pandemic era of indie wrestling

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with Drew Cordeiro, owner and promoter of Beyond Wrestling, to talk about the challenges, pitfalls, and positives of running shows during the pandemic.

Drew is someone who I know extremely well, having worked with him and Beyond for the last 18 months. He is passionate about his product and growing Beyond into one of, if not the top, independent wrestling promotions in the country.

We talk about what led him to run three shows over the summer and fall, the safety measures he had to follow in order to run, the logistics with reduced fan capacities, and running with no fans. He also delves into what went into his decision to cancel his November 8th “Tournament for Tomorrow” show.

Enjoy this story about his journey during the pandemic to bring fans the same in-ring action that Beyond has come to be known for.

Right click save

OTT, RevPro & TNT Extreme sever ties with David Starr

Posted on by Josh Nason

This story was updated at 1:20 PM Eastern.

In the wake of indie wrestler David Starr being accused of sexual assault, several independent wrestling companies have stripped him of their titles or announced intentions to not work with him again.

On Thursday, Ireland’s OTT tweeted that their championship is now vacant, RevPro tweeted their Southside title is now vacant, and TNT Extreme Wrestling tweeted they have also stripped Starr (real name Max Barsky) of their title.

A Twitter user named Tori shared her story earlier this week, saying the 29-year-old sexually assaulted and abused her, prompting another woman to share her experience. 

Since the accusation, Starr tweeted several times that he is not a sexual predator, but that he was “an emotionally immature d*ckhead“, denying doing what Tori claims and that he was “an awful partner.” He said if this means the end of wrestling for him, he’s fine with that, but he isn’t going on the offensive. “No matter what I say, I’m the bad guy. No pity party. It is what it is,” he tweeted.

GCW Collective, WWN, WrestleCon announce WrestleMania week changes

Posted on by Josh Nason

In the wake of WWE’s announcement that this year’s WrestleMania will move to Orlando, FL, in front of no fans due to the coronavirus outbreak, postponements and cancellations began to pour in from various indie promoters who were planning on taking advantage of tens of thousands of wrestling fans in town for a variety of annual shows and signings.

Here’s the current list as of this writing:

WWN’s WRESTLExpo

EVOLVE’s Gabe Sapolsky made the announcement Monday that their various events have been postponed indefinitely. They will begin to reach out to ticket holders over the next few weeks on refunds and other options as they attempt to collect thousands in deposits and other expenses to help cover it. The Expo included shows like the WWN SuperShow, PROGRESS, wXw, EVOLVE 150, and others.

WrestleCon

They also announced their cancellation Monday, comprised of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, World Wide, Joey Ryan’s Penis Party 2, and Ethan Page’s Body Guy Extravaganza among others. (An issue with the host venue made its way around wrestling Twitter Monday night as WWE canceling before the city and county did apparently caused a contractual issue with getting their money back.)

The cancellations also include the New Japan Lion’s Break Project 3 show in addition to the Impact Wrestling One Night Only throwback show. Impact hasn’t announced the news yet, but earlier Monday when canceling two March events, they said they would review “the recommendations from the appropriate government agencies and local communities” with regard to their two April events.

GCW Collective

GCW made the call to postpone Monday night, saying events like Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4, Effy’s Big Gay Brunch, Warhausen’s WrestleVania, and others will be packaged together on a future date. They are offering refunds, but also are hoping many keep their tickets for the rescheduled dates. 

Still To Come:

Ring of Honor hasn’t postponed or rescheduled their Supercard of Honor show, set for Lakeland, FL, on April 4th. While not in Tampa, the city has canceled mass gatherings several days ago.

JNPO: A look at today’s indie wrestling scene

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: SunnyD Photography / Limitless Wrestling

With so much of a shift this year in talents signing with WWE, Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, MLW, and other places, I wanted to get a sense of what it takes to run an indie wrestling organization given those challenges added on top of everything else.

Several weeks ago, I took in my first Limitless Wrestling show, a group that runs out of Maine — a state of 1.3 million spread out people and not exactly known for being a hotbed of wrestling. Yet, the group is three years old and has brought in talent like Chris Hero, Zack Sabre Jr., LAX, Brody King, Jimmy Jacobs, Donovan Dijak, and others while mixing in emerging New England talent.

On this week’s free Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, I talked to Limitless owner Randy Carver about all that and more. Among the topics:

  • Balancing a card (and budget) with both local talent with bigger name talent and what he’s learned about that process
  • The process of replacing those big names when they fall out due to injury and how he had to make three such changes for his last show
  • Why he’s all in on intergender matches
  • Why he’s optimistic for the year ahead even with the aforementioned talent signing craze

Check the first in what might be a series with indie promoters around the country at different stages of their promotion’s run:

Right click save

Evolve 53 iPPV results: Chris Hero & Tommy End vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Sami Callihan

Posted on by F4W Staff

By Chris GST, courtesy of PWPonderings.com

This weekend will see EVOLVE crown their first ever tag team champions after the DGUSA Open the United Gate Championship was retired. EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher unfortunately had to be taken out of the tournament due to an injury. Thatcher opened up the show saying that while he can’t compete this weekend, he wants to face Davey Richards and Chris Hero in the future. Thatcher promised to take out all of the Catch Point faction one by one which brought out the Premier Athlete Brand of Caleb Konley and Anthony Nese with So Cal Val. Val assured Konley that he would receive a title shot in the future. The Bravado Brothers came out after Thatcher pointed out that tonight was about the Tag Title Tournament.

– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: The Bravados def the Premier Athlete Brand with a rolling Complete Shot from Harlem off of Lancelot’s back to advance.

– Jason Cade pins Joe Coleman with a shooting star press. These two from from the WWN tryout.

– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: Matt Riddle submits Peter Kaasa in a heel hook. Riddle is (1-0) and Kaasa is (0-1).

– PJ Black def. Ethan Page. Page had pinned Black with the spinning Dwayne, but the ref didn’t see Black’s foot underneath the ropes. Page noticed that Black’s foot was there and wanted the match restarted. Page was pinned by a modified crucifix pin from Black who officially wins the match.

– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: RPG Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent?) def Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr) to advance after Romero distracted the ref which allowed Trent? To hit Dan Barry with a low blow and follow it up with Strong Zero

– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams def Fred Yehi after a piledriver. Williams is now (1-0) and Yehi is (0-1). Team Catch Point so far has won all of their matches in the RRT.

– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano vs. Catch Point (Drew Gulak & TJ Perkins) was supposed to happen but Trevin Adams allowed this match to be moved to the main event as Gargano was making it back from a NXT event.

– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Heroes Eventually Die (Chris Hero & Tommy End) def Zack Sabre Jr. & Sami Callihan after a knee strike/rolling elbow combo on Sabre Jr

– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano def Drew Gulak & TJP w/Matt Riddle & Hot Sauce after pinning Catch Point leader Drew Gulak with the Future Shock DDT

Your Saturday night semifinals at Evolve 54 on iPPV: Galloway & Gargano vs. The Bravado Bros. and RPG Vice vs. Heroes Eventually Die.

CZW 17th annual Cage of Death report 12/12: Sami Callihan returns

Posted on by F4W Staff

By Bob Magee

Combat Zone Wrestling returned to the Flyers Skate Zone Saturday for its annual long day’s journey into night for the 17th annual Cage of Death before a legitimate standing room only crowd.

Before listing the results, one of the personal highlights for me at Cage of Death every year for the last 11 years, is the Toys for Tots collection, first in Philadelphia at the ECW Arena, then at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees. This year’s collection was spread over the afternoon DOJO WARS show and Cage of Death (making for an easier process of bagging and storing the donated toys over time).

The final total of donated toys has been estimated at over 420 toys donated by CZW fans on Saturday. I can say personally that an incredible assortment of toys were donated by CZW fans, ranging from radio-operated cars to a skateboard (child’s size) to wrestling figures to all sorts of toys for younger children. Those with toys requiring batteries brought batteries and taped them to their toys.

THANK YOU to DJ Hyde, Maven Bentley, Brian McCauley, and CZW’ s social media staff… and as always the fans. Saturday’s collection set a record for Cage of Death as 12 full bags of toys (estimated at around 420 toys) tonight at a CZW show….more than any Cage of Death held at the Flyers Skate Zone or ECW Arena ever did.

The evening began with five United States Marines who had come to escort the donated toys, brought into the ring by Maven Bentley to USA chants and a thundering and inspirational rock version of the National Anthem by Madison Rising, who describes themselves as “America’s Most Patriotic Rock Group”. 

Dark match/Scramble match for spot in Best of the Best 

Desmond Xavier defeated Rex Lawless, Chip Day,  Eddie Smooth, Conor Claxton, Lucky 13, Brittany Blake after a corkscrew moonsault

In the show opener, Lio Rush defeated Joey Janela to win CZW Wired Championship.

On any other show, this could have been a main event. This had incredible spot after spot…yet the two worked together seamlessly

Greg Excellent defeated Tony Nese by pinfall with a Tiger Driver 

George Gatton, who won the DOJO WARS battle royal to secure a spot in Cage of Death defeated CZW Owner DJ Hyde.

Gatton ducked a Hyde lariat and rolled up Hyde out of nowhere. Hyde then put over Gatton post-match.. Gatton is a longtime CZW fan who went through a long training time at CZW’s Dojo and worked DOJO WARS shows. Gatton plays the underdog role to a T.

The Amazing Gulaks defeated The Beaver Boys after an “Amazing splash”.

CZW World Tag Team Titles 

TV Ready (BLK Jeez/Pepper Parks) defeated Team Tremendous (actually Dan Berry and Sozio, substituting for Bill Carr) after interference by Cherry Bomb (who’d been selling the legit collarbone injury well after it had healed) , then a superbomb and BLK Jeez Walks.

I Quit Match 

Chainsaw Joe Gacy defeated Tim Donst in the “I Quit” match, this went all over the building, involving chairs with barbed wire, thumbtacks in the ring; finishing with Donst saying “I Quit” when Gacy threatened to throw Donst off a scaffold, through a table with a barbed wire chair. Submission or not, Gacy did it anyway, throwing Tim Donst off a scaffold through a cameraman…unlike WWE, a real operating cameraman.

Ultraviolent Rules Death Match 

Danny Havoc defeated Rickey Shane Page by pinfall after a dragon duplex through glass

Sami Callihan returned to CZW to defeat David Starr after a good back and forth match with the Stretch Muffler. Post-match, Callihan put over David Starr, calling him “the future”, and  “one tough son a bitch”. Suddenly, out pops Jonathan Gresham complaining about Callihan getting the semi-main event “after he had been representing CZW around the world, winning championships…”. Callihan challenges him to get in the ring right then. Starr turns and pops Callihan in the head form behind. This sets up a potential three way for the February Anniversary show with Sami Callihan vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. David Starr

Cage of Death:  The Bulldozer Matt Tremont retained his CZW World heavyweight Title defeating Masada, AR Fox and Devon Moore. 

The finish saw Tremont and AR Fox we’re fighting on the scaffold, then Tremont hit a sidewalk slam on Fox, through a glass panel and through a table.

CZW will take January off in Voorhees, because they are partnering with Canadian indy SMASH Wrestling on January 16 in Toronto with Team SMASH (led by Johnny Gargano) vs. Team CZW (led by Sami Callihan). CZW returns to the Flyers Skate Zone on February 13 for its anniversary show.