By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “One Night Only”
Streamed on FITE TV
March 24, 2022 in Los Angeles, California at the Roxy Theater
The venue was sold out, but it was unclear how many fans are in the building. The lights were low and only the center of the ring is well lit. When wrestlers fought on the top rope in the corner, they were in shadows, which was really disappointing. A stage was next to the ring.
Kevin Gill and Denise Salcedo provided commentary, with Salcedo also doing in-ring introductions. These two are passionate on commentary.
1. Mike Bailey defeated Kevin Blackwood at 12:21. Good opener. Bailey hit his 450 kneedrop off the top rope to get the pin.
2. Nick Wayne defeated Jack Cartwheel at 9:24. Very good action. Wayne dove from the stage, through the ropes, and hit a Diamond Cutter for the pin.
3. Jimmy Lloyd defeated Sanda Moone at 8:16. I have never seen Moone before. She is of average size and build, which means that the much bigger Lloyd should have destroyed her. Lloyd hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. He wound up putting her on his shoulders and swinging her down for a piledriver for the pin. I admittedly am not a fan of intergender matches, which is a bad sign of what’s to come…
4. Matthew Justice defeated Dark Sheik at 11:46. Another intergender match. Sheik hit an impressive jump from the top rope through a table set up on the floor. Justice won it with a sit-out powerbomb in the ring. Adequate action.
5. Allie Klatch and Effy defeated B-Boy and Lil Cholo at 10:59. Lots of homo-erotic humor early, and B-Boy kissed Effy, which got a pop from the crowd. Absurd action with how much offense Klatch got in. Kevin Gill on commentary couldn’t stop talking about “Bussy,” to the point it was detracting from the in-ring action. Effy finally applied a Dragon Sleeper on B-Boy to get the submission. The crowd liked this a lot. You have to really suspend your disbelief with Klatch matches against men.
6. Blake Christian defeated Jai Vidal at 14:03. Very good match and best of the night. Vidal has appeared in Impact Wrestling a couple times last fall. Blake continues to remind me of a young AJ Styles; he is constantly in the best match of every show he appears. Christian applied the double-arm spinning DDT for the pin. They shook hands afterward. A really good showing by Vidal on a big stage.
7. Juicy Finau defeated Eli Everfly at 14:44. This was my first time seeing Everfly. He’s of average size for a high-flyer, and he got lots of boos. He has a green tongue and made me think he was supposed to look like a human fly. Finau is much bigger, far too heavy — he reminds me of Kongo Kong with a shirt from the Blue Meanie collection, covering just the top half of his chest. This was just way too long for what was essentially a squash. Late in the match, Everfly hit a second-rope sunset flip bomb for a nearfall. However, Finau hit a sit-down piledriver for the pin. This would have been better at 8-10 minutes.
Sean Waltman was introduced and he joined the commentary team for the main event.
8. Ninja Mack defeated Joey Janela at 22:25. Janela got on the mic and again reminded fans that he helped create GCW and he deserves more accolades than he is getting. He taunted Waltman and talked about how he passed out in the locker room in the past. Decent action, with Janela dominating. Late in the match, Janela hit the X-Factor sit-out face plant. He got to his feet and jawed at Waltman. Waltman walked to ringside and argued with Janela. This allowed Mack to sneak up behind Janela, apply a sleeperhold, and then Janela passed out.
Final Thoughts: A mixed bag. I really liked Christian vs. Vidal and the first two matches, with Mack-Janela a distant fourth. The Janela-Waltman interaction was just enough to keep their feud moving forward heading into The Collective shows over WrestleMania weekend. I just don’t enjoy intergender matches. It is one thing if it is Jordynne Grace or Rachel Ellering or Tessa Blanchard against a man of similar-size build, but that wasn’t the case here. The biggest drawback of the show was the poor lighting. When Bailey went to the top rope, he was almost completely invisible from a ringside camera.
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