Joey Janela kicks off his annual two-night Spring Break 9 event as part of the GCW Collective at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Janela himself will be in action in Sabu’s final match, taking on the ECW legend in a fitting end: a no ropes barbed wire match.
Masha Slamovich defends her JCW title against Suzu Suzuki while GCW Tag Team Champions Violence is Forever defend against Alec Price and a mystery partner.
In a GCW career vs. mask bout, Atticus Cogar will take on Fuego Del Sol.
The Wagner Family (Dr. Wagner Jr., El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal) will battle Los Desperados (Gringo Loco, Jack Cartwheel & Arez); Matt Tremont will take on Minoru Suzuki; and Mance Warner goes one-on-one with Gabe Kidd.
Megan Bayne returns to battle Bozilla, and Zack Sabre Jr. takes on The 1 Called Manders.
The show is rounded out by the always entertaining Senior Scramble with The Warlord vs. Mike Jackson vs. Tommy Rich vs. Doug Gilbert vs. Ricky Morton vs. George South.
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– Following the GCW signature, we got a Las Vegas-themed cold open for the show highlighting all the matches set for this evening. On the call for tonight are Dave Prazak and Jordan Castle.
GCW World Tag Team Championship Match: Alec Price & Mystery Partner vs. Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini)
Price leapt onto the Violence is Forever duo as he entered to get the match started without a partner. Price went to work in the ring against both Garrini and Ku in the ring, managing to keep them cornered on opposite ends of the rings with repeated running knee strikes. Price floored Garrini with a leaping Blockbuster, but had his momentum stalled by Ku, who hit an El Generico-style top rope brainbuster on him for the two-count.
Price refused to back down, but ViF took over with impressive double team moves that capped off with Chasing the Dragon for another near fall. Garrini grabbed one of the GCW World Tag Titles and looked to use it, but Cole Radrick’s music interrupted. Radrick showed up on the stage on crutches, as he revealed the man who would be Price’s partner. “The East Coast Ace” Jordan Oliver appeared, making his return from injury as Price’s partner.
With the hot tag, Oliver was a house of fire as he cleaned house on Ku and Garrini to the chants of “welcome back” from the GCW faithful. Oliver blasted Ku with a Yakuza Kick for a two. Radrick appeared at ringside and gave one of his crutches to Price, who smashed it over both Ku and Garrini. The match came to an end after Oliver hit a modified powerbomb on Garrini, followed by a double pin from him and Price. And that’s it, over. Jordan Oliver and Alec Price are the new GCW World Tag Champions.
Match Result: Alec Price & Jordan Oliver def. Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) to win GCW World Tag Team Championships (6:51)
An exciting way to open the show and Jordan Oliver’s return from injury was well-received by the fans. Certainly a heck of a way to get the crowd pumped.
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Lucha Libre Trios Match: The Wagner Family (Dr. Wagner Jr., El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno Del Mal) vs. Los D’sperados (Arez, Gringo Loco, Jack Cartwheel)
The match kicked off with Cartwheel living up to his name and delivering a cartwheel. The Wagner Family responded by posing together in the middle of the ring. We kicked things off proper with Cartwheel and El Hijo as the two locked up with exchanges of holds. This culminated with the two doing dueling cartwheels before both tagged out of the match.
Arez and Galeno Del Mal entered for both teams as they shook hands in respect. Galeno used his strength to absorb Arez’s shoulder tackles, as he then answered with a shoulder block of his own. The action picked up as neither man got a clear advantage. We then got Dr. Wagner Jr. and Gringo Loco entering the match for their respective teams.
Dr. Wagner Jr. and Gringo Loco took turns playing to the crowd before they faced off in the ring. After that brief standoff, Wagner tagged in his son and shared an embrace. In response, Gringo Loco hugged Arez. Wagner re-entered the match and continued to mix it up with Gringo Loco with arm drags a-plenty from both men.
Gringo Loco got a punch in the face for his troubles from Dr. Wagner Jr. after he did a sexy party dance. Wagner posed and took off his mask to the cheers of the crowd. He teased throwing the mask, but just gave it to his son instead. Los D’sperados opened things up with their high-flying attack. Arez and Gringo Loco went to work on El Hijo with a Magic Killer, followed by a shooting star press from Cartwheel.
Los D’sperados attacked the gargantuan Galeno with a sustained triple-team attack. Double suplex from Cartwheel and Arez, was capped off by a split-leg moonsault by Gringo Loco. Things soon opened up as the Wagner Family regained the advantage with a tandem of cannonballs and knees on opposite corners. Outside the ring, Dr. Wagner Jr. attacked Cartwheel and Gringo Loco with a garbage container. He then took the garbage container to Arez inside the ring.
Cartwheel roared back in the ring but got silenced by Dr. Wagner Jr.’s offense. Arez entered the fray and mixed it up with Wagner in the corner. Pele kick by Arez left the 59-year old Dr. Wagner Jr. floored. El Hijo got himself in and paid homage to Eddie Guerrero with the Three Amigos, followed by the frog splash from the top. Arez managed to kick out at 2. Galeno Del Mal broke up an Arez pin attempt after a modified codebreaker and hit an inverted suplex on his foe.
Running lariat by Galeno as he then went up top. Gringo Loco stopped him at the pass and hit an avalanche Spanish Fly. Dive to the outside by El Hijo was then followed by Arez nailing an impressive triangle moonsault, which left only Cartwheel and Dr. Wagner Jr. in the ring.
Cartwheel fought out of a powerbomb attempt but got blasted by a big boot from Wagner. A second butterfly powerbomb from Wagner, followed by the La Magistral cradle pin got the victory for the Wagner Family.
Match Result: The Wagner Family def. Los D’sperados (17:04)
That was a really enjoyable lucha-style trios match and it’s nice to see a legend like Dr. Wagner Jr. get his flowers with that bout. I liked what I saw from the other competitors of the match, and I was especially impressed with Arez and Jack Cartwheel, who both put in good efforts, even in defeat.
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Megan Bayne vs. Bozilla
Veda Scott took over for Jordan Castle on commentary for this next bout.
As the bell rang, Bozilla and Bayne sized one another up with a faceoff in the ring before we got the lockup. Bozilla got the better of Bayne as she forced her into the corner, which led to the referee breaking it up. Bozilla withstood a Bayne shoulder block. Bayne responded by challenging her to hit her with a shoulder block of her own, to which Bozilla obliged with painful aplomb.
The action spilled outside with Bayne blasting Bozilla with a tope suicida right into the front row seats. Back in the ring, Bozilla picked up Bayne for a modified Michinoku Driver for a two count. Bozilla continued her attack as she targeted Bayne’s back with repeated body slams. A fallaway slam from Bozilla stopped Bayne’s attempts at a comeback.
Bozilla then applied the bearhug on Bayne with maximum pressure. Bayne woke up and escaped the hold as she created some much needed separation. Running splash in the corner was followed by an attempted suplex from Bayne, but to no avail. Bayne was finally able to hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Bozilla for a close near-fall.
An attempted running crossbody by Bayne was avoided by Bozilla. Bayne rolled out of a suplex from Bozilla as she then hit with a fierce running lariat. On the top rope, Bayne looked to take flight, but Bozilla met her there and hit a super fallaway slam on her foe. Halfway through the match, we got a weird interruption with a rubber masked man saying “chicken fingers” before we returned to the match.
Bayne tried to lift up Bozilla for the F5, but couldn’t do it. The powerbomb from Bozilla wasn’t enough to keep Bayne down for the count as she stood up almost instantly. We got an exchange of slaps between the two opponents. Bozilla took advantage and attempted to drop Bayne with a trifecta of powerbombs. Bayne managed to kick out at two.
Bozilla missed on a moonsault as Bayne rolled out at the last second. Bayne then went up top herself and wiped out Bozilla with a senton. That gave her enough time and strength lift Bozilla up for the F5. A defiant Bozilla flipped up Bayne, but that didn’t change the fact that the end for her came at the hands of a Tombstone Piledriver from The Megasus.
Post-match, Bozilla and Bayne showed respect to one another.
Match Result: Megan Bayne def. Bozilla (12:12)
A suitably physical battle between two titans and the story of Bayne having to overcome the sheer size of Bozilla was a good thoroughline for this match. I enjoyed this one a lot.
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs. 1 Called Manders
Sabre Jr. and Manders started off with a brief stalemate before we got the test of strength from the two. Sabre Jr. used his lanky frame to escape the lockup from underneath Manders’ legs. Some good technical work between the two men to start us off.
Manders flipped off Sabre Jr. and got a finger snape for his troubles. The TMDK Frontman continued his joint manipulation-based assault on Manders, but got dropped across the top rope afterwards. Manders absorbed a couple of uppercuts from Sabre Jr. as he then floored him with hard uppercut of his own. The two men then traded dueling chops before Sabre Jr. targeted the injured hand of Manders with a stomp. Manders continued to trash talk Sabre Jr. and got kicked in the chest in response.
The pace picked up slightly before Sabre Jr. cinched in an armbar on Manders’ injured arm. Manders escaped and struck down Sabre Jr. with a kneeling lariat. ZSJ regained control with a couple of kicks to the chest, but Manders struck back with an explosive lariat. With both competitors on spaghetti legs, we got more blows traded before Manders cracked Sabre Jr. with a lariat. The former IWGP World Champion kicked out at two.
Manders looked to finish the match off with one more lariat, but Sabre Jr. hit him with a kick and utilized his superior technical skills to trap Manders in a bridging pin to pick up the one, two, three.
Post-match, Manders confronted Sabre Jr. outside the ring and shook his hand in respect.
Match Result: Zack Sabre Jr. def. 1 Called Manders (7:56)
That was a fantastic clash of styles between the technically-sound ZSJ and the explosive offense of Manders. As someone who’s come to enjoy ZSJ’s in-ring work with every match, this match was a treat and a pleasure to watch. For his part, Manders was a perfect dance partner for Sabre Jr and he looked damn good in this match.
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– The “chicken fingers” video as it turns out, was a pre-match video for Fuego Del Sol versus Atticus Coger. Jordan Castle also rejoined commentary.
Mask Versus Career: Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego Del Sol
We started fast and furious with Cogar and Fuego going right after one another as the bell rang. A suplex sent both guys to the ringside area. Cogar threw Fuego into the ringpost as he took a steel chair and slid it onto his downed foe. More plunder from under the ring included another chair and a door. Fuego fired back with repeated chairshots to Cogar.
Fuego introduced another door from under the ring, followed by two additional chairs. He then set up a makeshift table using the door and two chairs. Cogar cracked his hated foe with a chair to the head as he then rolled Fuego up onto the stage. With two makeshift tables setup next to one another, Cogar walked up to the stage. Cogar struck Fuego with a pair of scissors to the head. He then cut away at Fuego’s mask followed by repeatedly stabbing at his exposed forehead to bust Fuego open.
Cogar got a set of skewers to open up Fuego’s forehead further. He followed this up with a running Air Raid Crash through the makeshift door tables from the top of the stage. As the battle returned to the ring, Cogar took his time to bring in more weapons as Fuego writhed in pain inside the ring.
Fuego woke up and took advantage with a series of kicks on Cogar to keep him grounded momentarily. On the top rope, Cogar kicked Fuego and bit his exposed forehead. Fuego trapped Cogar in position for a double foot stomp, which left him in the Tree of Woe position. With a trash can placed in front of the prone Cogar, Fuego looked to hit a Coast to Coast dropkick, but brother Otis came in for the save. He dropped Fuego and assaulted him to give Atticus time to recover.
Sam Stackhouse entered the fight and took Otis out with a spinning wheel kick. He then took down the Cogar brothers with a dive to the outside. Inside the ring, with four chairs set up, Fuego hit Atticus with the Sun Fire Driver, but that wasn’t enough to put an end to this match.
Atticus got dropped face first on a chair with a drop toehold, but he responded with a German suplex on Fuego that sent him onto the legs of the chair. Outside of the ring, Sam Stackhouse found himself getting blasted with chairshots by Otis. Atticus threatened Fuego by saying every kickout would cause Otis to hit Stackhouse with chairs.
With skewers impaling his forehead, Fuego managed to kickout of Atticus’ Brain Hemorrhage maneuver, which resulted in another chairshot to Stackhouse at ringside. A two-by-four with razor blades was brought out as Atticus looked to finish Fuego off for good. The masked man avoided it and managed to connect with the leaping DDT for an incredibly close two-count.
Otis pulled Fuego out and sent him into the ringpost. Stackhouse recovered and started to fight with Otis as Atticus was placed onto the door/chair bridge by Fuego. In the ring, Stackhouse got the upper hand on Otis and had him down and out. The House of Fire duo then hit a moonsault and 630 splash, respectively on both Cogar brothers.
In the ring, Atticus Cogar kicked out at two, evne after being put through the door by Fuego. Now with the skewers in hand, Fuego planted it on Atticus’ forehead, as he then hit his hated foe with the gusset plate-enhanced two-by four. In big trouble, Atticus was handed a tazer by brother Otis, which allowed him to stun Fuego and put an end to this with a Brain Hemorrhage onto the trash can for the victory. Per the stipulation, Fuego Del Sol must unmask.
After the match, Fuego unmasked and removed his boots, suggesting that he was going to retire after this crushing defeat, much to the dismay of the crowd.
Match Result: Atticus Cogar def. Fuego Del Sol (17:47)
Even going into this match blind, the stakes were certainly felt and the hype packages before the match did a great job in building things up. As for the match itself, your mileage may vary on the violence seen, but I think it helped sell the seriousness of the stipulation and the rivalry between Atticus Cogar and Fuego Del Sol.
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Minoru Suzuki vs. Matt Tremont
Tremont hyped everyone up after the bell rang as he then exchanged forearms and chops with Suzuki, who seemed to welcome Tremont’s barrage of chops with maniacal glee. Tremont’s headbutts had no effect on Suzuki as we got more blows traded and wobbly legs between these two men.
The flying tackle from Tremont sent Suzuki rolling to the outside, where the slugfest continued. Suzuki avoided a Tremont headbutt, which caused the big man to make contact with the ringpost instead, which busted “The Bulldozer” open. Suzuki went to work on the bleeding noggin of Tremont with repeated strikes. In the ring, Tremont flipped off Suzuki and ended up getting his middle finger trapped in a submission instead.
With Tremont bleeding buckets, Suzuki kept up his vicious attack as his strikes began to keep his massive opponent down. A titanic lariat from Tremont stopped the attack of Suzuki, followed by a Death Valley Driver for the two. Suzuki shoved the referee onto Tremont as he then applied a sleeper hold on him. Even with the sleeper cinched in tight, Tremont refused to buckle as he reached the ropes to break the sleeper. The referee repeatedly tried to stop Suzuki as he refused to break the hold, but Suzuki dropped him with a Gotch-style piledriver. A swarm of GCW officials rushed in as Tremont and Suzuki looked to continue their brawl.
This fight reached the timekeepers table, as Suzuki hit Tremont with his DDT Universal Championship before referees managed to calm everyone down, presumably ending this match in a No Contest.
Match Result: Minoru Suzuki vs. Matt Tremont ended in a No Contest (10:47)
Certainly an interesting finish to the match, I’ll say that much.
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JCW World Championship: Masha Slamovich (c) vs. Suzu Suzuki
Match kicked off with neither Slamovich or Suzuki getting a clear upperhand, until a slam from Suzuki changed things. Running knee strike by Suzuki led to an early pinfall attempt that Slamovich icked out of. A run into the corner by Suzuki is met by a double stomp from the JCW World Champion. Slamovich then took control with repeated snapmares, followed by a submission hold.
The champion maintained command with clotheslines, as a kick to the throat by Slamovich kept Suzuki grounded, at least for a bit. Suzuki created separation with a spear as both women began to trade strikes. Suzuki kicked Slamovich in the spine and draped her across the bottom role. On the outside, Suzuki nailed a drive-by kick on the stunned Slamovich. In the ring, a suplex attempt was blocked by Slamovich as she had Suzuki dead to rights with the capo kick. Suzuki woke up and hit Slamovich with a stunner, but fell victim to a combo of kicks. We got a double down moment as Slamovich and Suzuki knocked each other down with stereo kicks.
Suzuki answered a Slamovich big boot with a German suplex. Gila Shot from by Suzuki on Slamovich got only a close two. With Slamovich in position, Suzuki went up to the top rope. The JCW Champion recovered and dropped Suzuki with a powerbomb, but that couldn’t put the challenger away.
Spinning kick by Slamovich on Suzuki, followed by the White Knight Driver got the pinfall win and successful JCW World Championship title defense.
Match Result: Masha Slamovich def. Suzu Suzuki to retain the JCW World Championship (9:52)
The match picked up as it went along and it defeinitely was a heck of a fight between these two talented women wrestlers. Just another great match in a night that’s been filled with them.
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Gabe Kidd vs. Mance Warner
Warner, of course, is fresh off a grueling Barbed Wire Massacre match against Sami Callihan at TNA Unbreakable last night. Kidd, on the other hand, battled in a successful match against Josh Barnett at Bloodsport 12.
With the screwdriver in hand, Warner tried to stab Kidd with it, but was unsuccessful. Kidd took down Warner with a suplex and got his hands on the screwdriver, which he put to good use. With Warner already busted open, Kidd proceeded to open fire with more shots to the wound on Warner’s forehead.
The bloodshed from Warner’s forehead got particularly brutal as Kidd remained relentless in his attack. Warner managed to create some sort of separation by low-blowing Kidd as he brought chairs and a white door into the ring. Warner got his hands on the screwdriver and returned the favor on Kidd with some shots to the head of his own.
With both Kidd and Warner sporting the proverbial crimson mask, the battle continued to rage on. Warner taunted Kidd to get back up as both men took a seat and began to trade punches while seated. Kidd bit at Warner’s forehead to regain the advantage. Kidd dropped Warner with a slam right across the two chairs set back-to-back.
The lariat from Kidd wasn’t enough to end this as Warner kicked out. Kidd set one of the doors up against the corner as he looked to hit a piledriver on Warner. The Mancer fought out it and hit a step-up DDT on Kidd right through the door. Amazingly, Kidd managed to kick ouf ot that. Missed lariat by Kidd is countered by a lariat from Warner that gets kicked out of.
The other door was then set up as a bridge by Warner who seemed to have Kidd at his mercy. Warner went up top, but Kidd recovered and smacked him, which led to an avalanche piledriver right though the bridged door. Both Warner and Kidd struggled to get up, but they continued to exchange vicious strikes once they did get back to a vertical base. In the ensuing exchange, Kidd managed to knock Warner down, as he collapsed right into a pinning position, which was enough for the victory,
Match Result: Gabe Kidd def. Mance Warner (14:38)
A suitably violent encounter between two of the toughest wrestlers competing right now. While the blood did get a bit uncomfortable — particularly when Warner got initially busted open — the match itself I enjoyed, and I’d love to see these two run it back once more.
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Senior Scramble: Robert Gibson vs. Ricky Morton vs. Damian 666 vs.Mike Jackson vs. George South
The match began with South and Gibson mixing it up as Jackson and Damian 666 were off fighting in the corner. We got a do-si-do spot with South, Morton, Damian, and Jackson. Before things could get far, Kerry Morton interrupted by telling everyone to stop the match.
Kerry Morton went on full blast by blaming the senior wrestlers in the ring for not being booked for Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9. He talked back to father Ricky before he got blasted by a chair shot from Robert Gibson. Kerry got thrown in the ring and got the brunt of punishment from the senior wrestlers in the ring. Mike Jackson walked the ropes but got pulled down by Kerry, who had his finger bit by Damian 666.
Father Ricky delivered a Canadian Destroyer to his own son as chairs got brought into the ring by Robert Gibson on the outside. We got another door bridge as the senior wrestlers delivered a quadruple powerbomb to Kerry through the door. The seniors collectively pinned Kerry to end this match.
Kerry was announced as “the loser” of this match.
Match Result: Robert Gibson, Ricky Morton, Damian 666, Mike Jackson, and George South def. Kerry Morton (6:14)
Nothing much to say about this match, really. But, it did work as a nice cooldown before our main event match. I did have fun and a good chuckle at the action.
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No Ropes Barbed Wire Match – Sabu’s Final Match: Sabu vs. Joey Janela
True to the name of the match, the ropes were replaced by barbed wire ropes and there were barbed wire contraptions set up at ringside.
As Sabu made his way for his last-ever match, he took in the cheers and adulation of the fans that came to see him wrestle for one last time before entering the ring.
Janela attacked Sabu as the legend was doing his iconic taunt to start this match. Sabu fought back with a DDT on Janela, who avoided calamity by stopping short of the barbed wire ropes after an Irish whip. Janela attacked Sabu in the middle of the ring with hard shots to the face to keep him grounded. Sabu recovered with a clothesline to Janela as he grabbed a spike from his boot. He impaled Janela’s forehead with the spike with the loud whistling signalling the arrival of long-time manager of Sabu, Bill Alfonso.
Alfonso tossed the chair to Sabu, which allowed him to set it up for a vintage spot. Janela dodged at the last second, which caused Sabu to go flying into the barbed wire contraption at ringside. A blooded Janela ripped up Sabu’s suit jacket as he then opened up his legendary opponent with barbed wire-enhanced punches. Janela threw Sabu with full force into a barbed wire board, sending him crashing to the concrete floor.
With everyone checking up on Sabu at outside, the Cogar brothers ran in and attacked Janela before Atticus threw Bill Alfonso into a barbed wire board in the ring. The lights went out inside the Palm in the midst of the chaos. With the familiar chords of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” ringing through, we got the arrival of the man himself, the one and only Sandman.
While the Sandman continued to wade through the crowd, the Cogar brothers continued to brutalize Janela, skewers to the head and all. Atticus Cogar attacked Sabu with a barbed wire bat. As Sandman finally made his way to the ring, Atticus and Otis Cogar faced him down from one corner of the ring. With Singapore cane in hand, Sandman blasted both Cogar brothers with his signature weapon to send them retreating.
Janela hit Sandman from behind, but got thrown into two barbed wire doors by Sabu. After some time, Janela got out of the doors and entered the ring once more. A feigned handshake from Sabu led to Janela getting thrown painfully into the barbed wire contraption on the other end of ringside.
Now both Janela and Sabu dueled with fists and chairs being smashed and thrown at one another. Sabu gave Janela a brief embrace before the chaos continued some more. DDT onto the steel chair from Sabu to Janela. Both men were completely wrecked but refused to go quietly into the night. Sabu bludgeoned Janela with chair shots before landing his signature Arabian facebuster with the chair. And that’s it, over. Sabu wins his final match.
After the match, Janela got on the microphone and presented Sabu with a plaque that was meant for him from last year’s Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony to end the evening.
Match Result: Sabu def. Joey Janela (17:07)
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That was certainly… a match that happened. The fact that Sabu might’ve gotten hurt significantly from that irish whip spot that sent him crashing into the concrete floor on top of a barbed wire board does kind of put a damper on things. I can’t say if this match was good or bad for sure, just that it felt like a fever dream of sorts.
All in all, though, this was a strong Spring Break show, buoyed by a little bit of everything. Technical showcases (ZSJ vs. Manders), big bruiser battles (Bayne vs. Bozilla), blood feuds (Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego Del Sol), and big ‘ol slugfests (Kidd vs. Warner). I had a great time watching this from start to finish.
