Jack Cartwheel recalled his GCW match which led to the elbow injury on April 17 in Las Vegas.
Speaking with Wrestling Pedigree, Cartwheel revisited the elbow injury at GCW Gringo Loco’s The Wrld. He recalled the series of events after a botched springboard phoenix splash off the top rope.
“The thing that’s so interesting about what happened is if you watch it, you watch it in slow-mo, my right foot slips a little bit on the rope, and I come down at a little bit of an angle, which isn’t how you’re supposed to do it, but all things considered, it didn’t seem that bad of a landing as well until, yeah, it must have been. There just was too much force, too much pressure going down into that elbow that all of this kinetic energy was supposed to go down right onto Galeno Del Mal. It all came down on my elbow instead, and it was a very scary moment. I never thought I would look down at my elbow and see the imprints of a different part of my bone that was there.”
“I think that was the most bone-chilling part, is looking down and not seeing that point that you’re usually used to, this point wasn’t there that this point was over this way. So I was seeing the end of this arm over here. It was or this bone. Bone chilling stuff, but what I have to do as Jack Cartwheel is be ready to be upside down for a little bit that I might be upside down, but I’m going to start on my feet and I’m going to end on my feet. This might be just a hitch in the road and these wheels are still rolling.”
He suffered the injury during his match against Galeno del Mal on April 17 and is looking at significant time away from the ring.
While mostly competing for GCW, AAA and other independent promotions, Cartwheel was signed to the WWE ID Program in 2024.
We sat down with Jack Cartwheel for a conversation full of laughs, stories, unexpected moments, and real talk and honestly, it’s one you don’t want to miss. From his Injury update to his epic recent matches in AAA. Jack reveals his plans for future.
WWE has also announced that Zara Zakher and Sean Legacy have joined the WWE ID program.
Zakher is an emerging women’s wrestler on the indies. After starting her career in 2023, she has already competed in Japan for Tokyo Joshi-Pro Wrestling. She’s based out of California, currently holding the Women’s Championship for West Coast Pro.
She has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading and recently made her Game Changer Wrestling debut.
Legacy is from the state of Georgia. He also has international experience, including wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. He’s currently in Europe for a tour that includes his Germany debut and training at the wXw academy.
It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be one of the first-ever WWE ID prospects and the only one from Georgia, but l'll be honest – job's not finished yet. 🙏🏻 #Super#WWEIDhttps://t.co/bb1mj1Kgfe
A wrestler with AEW experience has been signed to WWE’s Independent Development program.
Jack Cartwheel is the latest indie wrestler to be unveiled as a WWE ID signee, joining Zayda Steel, Bryce Donovan, and Cappuccino Jones as the first four announced. The program identifies top independent wrestling prospects and provides resources to them with a pathway to potentially being signed to WWE/NXT in the future.
Starting out in California in 2019, Cartwheel has gained experience both in the United States and internationally. That’s included televised matches for AEW and ROH in 2023-2024. As recently as last month, he teamed with Jon Cruz in a loss to Brian Cage & Lance Archer on AEW Battle of the Belts XII.
The high-flying Cartwheel is a regular for Game Changer Wrestling on the indies and has wrestled for PWG as well.
WWE ID is a complement to the company’s Next in Line program that exists for college athletes. Indie wrestlers who sign ID deals are given financial support, along with training, mentorship, and development resources and access to WWE facilities. WWE plans to showcase highlights and matches from WWE ID wrestlers on the company’s social media platforms.
Select wrestling schools are also working with WWE as part of the ID program. Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling, Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory, Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Academy, Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center, and KnokX Pro Academy have been given official WWE ID designations.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Tijuana, Mexico, as part of the MLW and AAA Super Series tapings in February.
We opened with a Sam Leterna interview with Willie Mack from earlier in the day. Alex Kane interrupted, but Mack ended up flooring the MLW Champion with a slap. Mack will challenge Kane for the title at the upcoming Fury Road event on September 3rd.
MLW Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Delirious in a non-title match
The graphic correctly named him the MLW Champion and Kane came out with a title belt of some sort around his waist, but the full belt was never fully visible on camera. The reason: because of the timeline of these tapings, Kane had not yet defeated Alex Hammerstone to win the title which happened in July.
Delirious came out to The Calling’s music as he is still loosely affiliated with the heel group, but he played babyface here as recent crowd favorite Kane was leaning into the Mexico vs. USA/AAA vs MLW Super Series competition to get heel heat from the Tijuana crowd. All in all, the delay between taping this match and making it make sense on screen didn’t do it any favors.
With that being said, the action inside the ring was good. Delirious had the champion’s number in the early going, dropping him with a missile dropkick and later confusing Kane by running each side of the ropes (without hitting the opposite side) before connecting with a jumping clothesline.
Kane always went back to his suplexes when he could. He got an extended heat segment after capitalizing on Delirious’ bare feet with a foot stomp.
Delirious caught Kane with a headbutt to the midsection, followed by his running knee Panic Attack in the corner and his top rope Shadows Over Hell frog splash for a close nearfall.
In a spot we have seen a lot in more recent tapings, a Bomaye Fight Club member got on the apron to distract Delirious, Kane went for the cheap shot, Delirious moved, Kane collided with his ally and Delirious schoolboyed Kane…but the champion kicked out.
Kane then hit his Angle slam-esque finisher The Kane Maker, but Delirious kicked out to trade near falls as they made their way toward the finish.
Delirious hit a combination of strikes, but Kane caught him with a big boot which gave him the opening to hit a release suplex to pick up the win.
– We saw a recap of the events leading up to the Matt Cardona vs. Mance Warner match at Fury Road which is now a Kiss My Foot match. Cardona cut a promo from his home, saying Warner would be lucky to kiss his well-preened foot. He is coming to MLW not to pass the torch, but to light a new one and carry it to new heights with MSL by his side.
– In an All-Access look into Willie Mack’s past, we heard about him growing up with a foster family, pursuing his dream, passing a WWE tryout but being told not to report to developmental, feeling like he let everyone down, becoming homeless, and then being offered a second chance by MLW.
– We had a tease of something coming soon which a graphics package showing clips from space with the text “Fury Ignites Within,” “Kingdoms Clash,” “Worlds Collide” and “Enter the Realm.”
– We had another in-depth look at a current star in Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo. We heard about her upbringing with her sister Ashley Vox, joining wrestling training at the same time as she did, and an emotional story of her being torn between chasing her dream of training in Japan and being with her father who had Stage 4 lung cancer. She also talked about post-pandemic wrestling and there not being a lot of opportunities but being passionate to join MLW with people like Willow Nightingale and Brittany Blake, and eventually winning the Featherweight title.
– Backstage, B3CCA wanted a shot at Exo and was not happy to learn that Exo was not in the building. But we did hear that B3CCA will be facing Maki Itoh in her debut at Fury Road in a number one contender’s match.
– The next round of MLW Draft gave us Ichiban as the latest signee.
Willie Mack, Jack Cartwheel & Myzteziz Jr. defeated Dinamico, Genio del Aire & Skalibur
This had great crowd heat and amazing athleticism from all involved. The faces really shone here but they needed equally good heels to help them shine.
Mack had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he danced and grinded during an impromptu musical interlude that went through a commercial break. Mack busted out a worm, and even an inverted worm, but the heels jumped him to bring us back to the wrestling.
Backstage, John Hennigan was attacked, abducted, and dragged out of the building.
Back inside the ring, the usual lucha libre trios tag rules were in place with everyone in the ring which led to no tags, non-stop action, and far too much to keep up with in a match writeup.
Cartwheel is very good at what he does. He is athletic, has a gymnast’s build and has great fluidity. He reminds me of PAC with the way he is always in full control of his high flying.
Mack looked to be in his element in front of the Tijuana crowd, especially after he got them going with his dancing earlier. The babyfaces, or tecnicos, took control of the early going with Mack hitting a cannonball in the corner, Cartwheel landing a Space Flying Tiger Drop, and Myzteziz connecting on a middle rope moonsault to the floor.
Dinamico was facing a 3-on-1 problem against the faces and ate some hard chops, a pop-up forearm, a superkick and a German suplex. Thankfully, his partners were not far behind to break up the pin.
Skalibur got squashed with an Avalanche by Mack, a middle rope hurricanrana by Myzteziz, and a pair of standing moonsaults by Cartwheel and Mack.
The rapid pace kept up with Dinamico hitting a victory roll driver from the top rope, but had a temper tantrum when he didn’t get the three count on Myzteziz.
We had a simultaneous triple nearfall when Mack hit a pop-up power bomb and both Myzteziz and Cartwheel hit top rope shooting star presses, all landing on the mat at the same time.
After a string of dives to the floor, Dinamico was distracted by Rayo Star and Fantastic, part of the Tijuana wrestlers currently feuding with Dinamico and his Mexicali group. Cartwheel then hit The Jack Attack (rolling fireman’s carry) and the Jack Arrow (corkscrew shooting star press) from the top rope to pick up the win for his team in this highly entertaining match.
– We ended the episode of Fusion with a backstage attack. As former Tag Team champions Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau were leaving the building, they were jumped by The Calling’s masked henchmen. Anoa’i was hit with a lead pipe and Finau could do nothing but watch as he was locked inside the building.
It’s Monday night and you know what that means: an episode of AEW Dark: Elevation taped last week at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA, with the wonderful Paul Wight and Matt Menard on the call.
Emi Sakura defeated Zyra
Sakura started the match with a surfboard submission. The queen continued with chops and slaps when Zyra avoided one and countered into a DDT. But, Sakura got back up and used part of her outfit to whip Zyra. After that, she went up to the top, proclaimed herself “your highness,” and hit a moonsault for the win.
Jake Hager (w/ Angelo Parker) defeated Levi Shapiro
I used to think Michael Cole used to be biased toward heels back in the early 2010s when he was doing that weird gimmick in a glass box. But this commentary job had the epitome of bias with Hager’s JAS teammate on the call.
Hager got started by taking off the hat that he loves so dearly. He hit Shapiro with hard right hands in the corner and started yelling at him to quit. When Shapiro tried to fight out, Hager took him down and locked in the triangle choke for the win.
Marina Shafir defeated Mighty Mayra
Shafir made her way out to ringside where she sat down on the ring steps and took off her shoes and socks. She actually threw her socks out into the crowd and Wight commented, “I bet someone in the crowd really appreciates that” to which Menard replied, “A real pervert I bet!” Hilarious.
Shafir let Mayra put her in a headlock who tried to turn it into a crucifix, but Shafir just threw her around like a ragdoll. A judo throw was followed by some shadowboxing and the crowd chanted “put some shoes on.” Mayra tried to get the crowd behind her and get back into it, but Shafir lifted her up onto her shoulders and started squeezing until she tapped.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Jack Cartwheel
GCW and AAA regular Cartwheel was making his Dark Elevation debut here and looked absolutely fantastic in doing so. After he did some, you guessed it, cartwheels, Cage used his power to turn the match around. He slammed Cartwheel onto the apron and chopped him on the outside. Back in the ring, Cage used him to do some curls. Cartwheel, though, avoided a few clotheslines and swept Cage’s legs with a really impressive move you would only see on American Ninja Warrior.
Cartwheel went straight to the top for a senton, but Cage caught him and planted him for a near fall. When Cage went for the Drill Claw, Cartwheel flipped out and went for the surprise pin but Cage kicked out. Cartwheel went to the top again for a shooting star press, but Cage moved out of the way and locked in his new submission for the win to end an awesome match.
The Butcher & The Blade defeated Midas Kreed & Vinnie Massaro
Massaro started with Blade, who was absolutely brutal in this match. When Massaro had to fight out of some chops to get Kreed in the match, he suffered the same fate. Butcher dropped a leg that would make Terry Bollea sweat. After some more domination, Butcher and Blade hit Kreed with the Full Death to get the quick win.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Inder Mundi in a Proving Ground match
This was another ROH-style title eliminator match where if Mundi beat Athena or lasted long enough for a draw, she earned a future title shot.
Mundi tried to get it done quickly with a roll-up, but Athena kicked out, fought into the corner, and destroyed Mundi with a right hand. Athena started to question if her competition is the best she could get.
The ROH Women’s champion started hitting repeated clotheslines in each corner and finished it with double knees. Athena then caught Mundi off the ropes for a spinning back suplex and a choke for the win. After the match, Athena laid down her belt like usual and drove poor Mundi’s head face-first into it. There was no help for the aggrieved this week.
Best Friends defeated Olumide & Starboy Charlie
I loved this match. Not only is Charlie another GCW regular but, no offense to Danhausen or Orange Cassidy, I love the classic Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta tag team.
The crowd was chanting for Best Friends when the bell rang. Beretta started with Olumide who was absurdly athletic. He countered an Irish whip and hit a dropkick by jumping an estimated 50 feet in the air both times. Charlie, wearing nothing but boots and overalls, got the tag and immediately took off the overalls. Taylor came in and did the same thing. Olumide tried to help his teammate, but Best Friends double-teamed both guys until Olumide recovered and knocked Taylor off the ropes.
Charlie hit Beretta with a sunset flip for a near fall, but their offense didn’t last long as Best Friends threw the two into each other and hit them both with piledrivers for the win. A second hug followed the bell.
Lucha Brothers (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated The Wingmen
The Wingmen have a very underrated theme song with “The Walk of Fame.” Awesome song, but not many beat the Lucha Brothers’ “Zero Miedo.”
The featured match started with Rey Fenix and “Pretty” Peter Avalon. For some reason, Avalon called for Penta to tag in, but right when he did, he turned around and let Ryan Nemeth take over. Penta called Avalon a word I can’t repeat here and Nemeth tagged him right back in. Avalon actually got the better of Penta while Nemeth attacked Fenix on the outside. When they went to double-team Penta, he destroyed each with a superkick and a sling blade, respectfully.
This match started going a million miles a minute. Fenix and Penta hit both Wingmen with more superkicks and tried pinning them both, but they kicked at two. Each team got outsmarted at every turn, but I don’t know if I would use the word “smart” when I refer to The Wingmen.
While Nemeth was holding up Fenix for a move, Penta tripped Avalon and drove his crotch into the ring post that led to Avalon letting out a scream that only he could. This helped set up an insane double stunner by the Lucha Brothers to win the match.
AEW announced 12 matches earlier Tuesday for this week’s episode of Dark, but only aired seven for some reason. These were taped last weekend at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
Skye Blue defeated Mylo
Blue was going through the motions for a quick win when Mylo suddenly kicked her right off the apron. After delivering a blistering chop and a slingshot suplex, Mylo hooked the leg and got a nearfall.
Blue got back in the match by hitting Mylo with a neckbreaker which was quickly followed up by a knee strike. Seconds later, Blue finished off Mylo by hitting a superkick followed by her signature flatliner.
Blue will face Ruby Soho on Dynamite.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Bad Dude Tito
Cage and Tito exchanged holds during the early going, but the slow pace quickly picked up when Cage launched Tito over his head with a float-over German suplex. Tito responded with a sliding lariat, which fired up the crowd.
Tito went to follow up, but Cage sent him out to the apron. Cage tried to hit Tito with his suplex from outside the ring back into the ring, but Tito turned it into a floating neckbreaker for a near fall. Tito then hit Cage with a spinning kick and a blue thunder bomb for another great near fall.
Cage finally straightened up and hit Tito with a spinning lariat, followed by a power bomb. Cage would go on to submit Tito with a cloverleaf variation.
Lance Archer defeated Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas in a handicap match
Rosas and Chhun tried to beat down Archer in the early stages, but the “Murderhawk Monster” simply dove on to them with a crossbody from the second rope. Seconds later, Archer tossed Chhun out of the ring and pinned Rosas after destroying him with a short arm lariat.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Jack Cartwheel
Takeshita started off in control, but Cartwheel was able to, well, cartwheel his way out of trouble and hit a big dive on Takeshita on the outside. After rolling him back in the ring, Cartwheel sprung onto Takeshita for another cartwheel-based flip for a near fall.
Takeshita clocked Cartwheel with a forearm and then a lariat to bring his momentum to a halt. Seconds later, Takeshita nailed Cartwheel with a blue thunder bomb and a running knee strike to pick up his third straight victory.
Big Bill defeated Julius Coleman
After dominating him in the early stages, Bill threw Coleman over the top rope with ease and sent him crashing to the floor. The match was quickly finished after Bill pinned Coleman after a chokeslam.
Willow Nightingale defeated Zoe Dubois
Nightingale hit Dubois with a series of suplexes to start before nailing her with a spinebuster for a near fall. Nightingale finished off Dubois moments later after planting her with a Doctor Bomb.
After the match, Athena tried to attack Nightingale with the ROH Women’s title belt. Instead, Nightingale ducked out of the way and sent Athena running to the back. These two square off on Thursday’s ROH TV.
AR Fox defeated Ryan Nemeth
Within the opening stages, Fox was already doing crazy stuff as he vaulted off the ring post onto Nemeth for a fantastic moonsault. Nemeth regained control after pushing Fox to the floor on the outside of the ring. When they made it back in the ring, Nemeth stomped a mudhole in Fox in the corner.
Fox regained control with the help of the crowd, popping Nemeth with a strike while he was showboating on the second rope. After hitting Nemeth with a cutter, Fox came off the top rope with a 450 splash to pick up the victory to end this week’s show.
Konosuke Takeshita will look to continue with his recent winning streak as part of Tuesday’s AEW Dark.
The show will feature matches taped both in San Francisco last week and in Orlando, Florida, last month.
Takeshita will look to win his third straight singles match against the debuting Cartwheel, a prospect who has increased his visibility in the last few years including stops in GCW, PWG, AAA and others.
Julia Hart will look to extend her lengthy winning streak when she faces Zoey Lynn. She’s won eighteen straight dating back to April 2022.
The surging former AEW Women’s Champion Riho will be in action as she faces Dark regular Diamante.
The seventh entrant for next month’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles tournament has been announced.
The company confirmed this evening that Jack Cartwheel will make his BOLA tournament debut. Cartwheel has been a regular for the company since they resumed shows in August. At PWG’s last show, It’s a Long Way to The Top, he lost to Aramis in the opener. He is also competed in a number of GCW events in the last year, wrestling the likes of Blake Christian, Dante Leon, and Atticus Cogar.
Already announced for the tournament are Lio Rush, Alex Shelley, JONAH, Kevin Blackwood, Black Taurus, and Daniel Garcia.
Battle of Los Angeles 2022 will take place on Saturday, January 29, and Sunday, January 30 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California, a two-night event. It will be the sixteenth edition of the tournament and the first held since 2019, as the company did not run a tournament in 2020 or 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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!
