By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Homecoming Part Two”
Streamed on FITE TV
August 14, 2022 in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Showboat
Dave Prazak and Kevin Gill are on commentary. Veda Scott “tagged in” at times during the show. The crowd is perhaps 500-600.
1. Cole Radrick defeated Gringo Loco, Axton Ray, Alec Price, Jimmy Lloyd, and Masha Slamovich in a six-way scramble match to retain the GCW Extreme Title at 7:04. All six brawled at the bell. Masha hit a German suplex on the much bigger Axton Ray. Loco nailed a sit-out piledriver on Masha. Price hit a second-rope leg drop. Lloyd nailed a Dragon Suplex on Price. Axton hit a Blockbuster on Lloyd at 2:00. Price and Axton hit simultaneous dives to the floor. Price hit a head-capture suplex on Masha.
Loco and Ray did Old School tight-rope walks, ending with Loco hitting a springboard Spanish Fly through a table. Radrick hit a Cloud Cutter on Masha. Loco hit a Cloud Cutter on Axton at 5:30, then a corkscrew splash onto Ray for a nearfall. Lloyd hit a piledriver on Masha. Radrick hooked both arms, flipped Price, and hit a sit-out powerbomb for the pin. As expected, fast and fun and messy, and a bit more choreographed than usual.
2. Maki Itoh defeated Dark Sheik at 10:49. Huge pop for both competitors. Itoh, of course, has had a handful of matches in AEW, and she is billed as “the cutest one.” She is dressed today like DC’s Harley Quinn sans makeup. Sheik has a significant height/weight/strength advantage. Sheik slapped her back hard in the corner at 2:00, and Itoh began crying like a three-year-old toddler. Funny. She missed the Kokeshi/falling headbutt. Sheik nailed her slingshot leg drop and slingshot senton.
Itoh nailed a hard headbutt and a series of punches in the corner at 5:00, then she hit the Kokeshi for a nearfall. Itoh nailed a DDT on the ring apron, rolled her in the ring, and got a nearfall at 6:30. Sheik hit a top-rope leg drop for a nearfall, then a German Suplex for a nearfall. Itoh fired back with a DDT for a nearfall at 9:30. They fought on the top rope, with Itoh nailing a DDT for a believable nearfall. Itoh then dove off the second rope and caught Sheik with another DDT for the pin. That was fun and extremely watchable. They hugged afterward. “That was a battle,” Veda Scott said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch.”
3. Ninja Mack defeated Kevin Blackwood at 10:07. This should be good; Blackwood never seems to win but he always delivers in the ring. An intense lockup to start. Blackwood has the height advantage. Mack, of course, recently toured NOAH and is a rising star. They traded kicks and punches, and Mack caught him with a spin kick to the jaw. Blackwood hit a high belly-to-back suplex for a nearfall at 4:00. Mack applied a rear-naked choke on the mat. Blackwood caught him with a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall at 6:30.
Blackwood nailed a running kneestrike, then a brainbuster for a nearfall. He hit several Yes Kicks to Mack’s chest. They began kicking at the back of each other’s knees. Blackwood hit a spin kick to the head,, then a tombstone piledriver for a nearfall at 9:00. Blackwood nailed a top-rope double stomp to the chest for a nearfall. Mack hit a top-rope Corkscrew Press for the pin. That was really, really good. Intense and believable strikes and action.
4. “Second Gear Crew” Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, and Matthew Justice defeated Nick Wayne, Blake Christian, and Jordan Oliver at 11:39. Quite a contrast of styles here, with the brawlers SGC taking on the high-flying youngsters. The announcers talked about the fans booing Blake on Saturday, who teased walking to the back here as the boos continued. (There is no shame in losing a title match to Jon Moxley!) Manders and Blake started, with Christian hitting a dropkick. Oliver tagged in at 2:30 to face Justice. Oliver hit a slingshot senton, and he slammed Wayne onto Justice for a nearfall.
Mance and Blake set up chairs in the ring, sat down, and traded punches to the face. No surprise the larger Mance got the better of that fight. Mance threw a chair at Blake’s head. Unnecessary and dangerous. All six brawled on the floor, paired off in different locations. Manders beat on Wayne near the merchandise table at 5:30, while Oliver was paired with Justice. Everyone brawled back into the ring. Blake hit a springboard moonsault but got more boos at 8:00.
Wayne nailed a Dragon Suplex on Manders, then a Code Red for a nearfall. Blake hit a Poison Rana. Oliver hit a German Suplex. Wayne hit a dive to the floor. Oliver hit a Cloud Cutter on Justice, and Blake immediately hit a 450 for a believable nearfall at 10:00. The faces collided in the ring. Mance hit a decapitating clothesline. Justice hit a frogsplash to pin Wayne. Fun brawl. After the SGC left, Blake got in the ring and shoved Oliver. Wayne stood between them and had to play peacemaker. Some fans started chanting “No heart!” at Blake Christian.
5. Mike Bailey defeated Starboy Charlie at 12:53. I generally don’t read spoilers, but I presume Bailey was at Impact Wrestling on Saturday. Bailey caught him with a Helluva Kick to open the match. They brawled to the floor and traded shots in front of the fans. In the ring, Bailey applied a vertical Boston Crab and planted his knee in Charlie’s back at 2:00. Bailey hit a double kneedrop to Charlie’s back as Charlie was tangled in the ropes, and Bailey scored a nearfall. Charlie nailed a spinebuster, and they were both down at 4:30.
Charlie hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. Bailey fired back with a series of kicks, but he missed a corkscrew senton. Bailey went foor a Lionsault, but Bailey got his knees up. Charlie hit a flip dive to the floor at 6:30. Bailey nailed his corner moonsault to the floor. Bailey hit a tombstone piledriver onto a wood door on the floor at 8:00. In the ring, Bailey set up for a tombstone, but Charlie reversed it and he hit his own tombstone piledriver. They traded mid-ring forearms. They traded rollup attempts. Charlie hit a jumping piledriver, and he tried to get a Gotch-style piledriver at 10:30 but Bailey escaped.
Charlie hit a running dropkick in the corner, then a second-rope corkscrew press for a nearfall. Bailey nailed a moonsault kneedrop to the chest. Bailey nailed a superkick, then his spin kick in the corner, then his modified (Omega) One-Winged Angel slam for the pin. That was really, really good.
6. “Bussy” Effy and Allie Katch vs. Charli Evans and Everett Connors in a mixed tag match ended in a draw at 11:16. I don’t know Connors; his hair is cut so short he’s essentially bald, and he’s of average height/size. Bussy got a huge pop. Effy, of course, is coming off a loss to Moxley a day ago, while Evans lost an intergender match on Saturday. Effy and Charli started, but he’s a whole head taller than her. They traded forearm shots, and she hit a German Suplex. Everett tagged in, but he also is much smaller than Effy.
Everett hit a dropkick on Katch at 2:30. Evans entered, and Katch teased kissing her. Katch wound up kissing Connors and was angry about being tricked. Effy entered and nailed a Helluva Kick on Everett at 5:30, and Bussy was working over Everett. Evans made the hot tag and hit a fisherman’s suplex on Katch. Everett got in and tried to kiss Effy, but Effy put his hand up to block it. Charlie and Allie had a long, long, long kiss in the middle of the ring, and the crowd popped.
Effy hit a pedigree for a nearfall on Everett at 8:30. Bussy each applied a submission hold. Evans hit a Saito Suplex on Effy, and Everett made the cover for a nearfall. Effy hit a top-rope Doomsday legdrop for a believable nearfall. Charli hit a double clothesline. Suddenly, Charles Mason hit the ring and attacked Charli. Effy hit Mason, and Katch hit a piledriver on Mason. Everett and Evans beat up on Mason too. All four piled on Mason and “pinned” him. The ring announcer said “everybody is a winner except Charles Mason.” Meh. Comedy match more than anything.
7. Rina Yamashita defeated Sawyer Wreck at 15:21. I just saw Wreck for the first time on a Deadlock Pro Show; she is tall and thin. Rina got a massive pop; she beat Alex Colon the previous night to win the GCW hardcore title. Sawyer wanted to open with a test of strength, largely to show off how much taller she is than Rina. Sawyer hit her with a light tube to the side of the head at 2:00. Rina slammed one over the top of Sawyer’s head, then Rina bit at the light tube. This is gross. Rina jabbed a broken light tube into Sawyer’s forehead, and Sawyer was bleeding. They brawled at ringside and were both bleeding. Back in the ring, they took turns standing and letting their opponent break light tubes over their skull. Rina finally ended this with a Razor’s Edge powerbomb onto barbed wire. This doesn’t interest me at all.
* They cleaned up all that glass, only to set up more glass panes in the corners. Sigh.
8. John Wayne Murdoch and Alex Colon defeated Ciclope and Extremo Miedo at 13:49. I truly don’t follow the hardcore division, but I really thought Colon and Murdoch hated each other, so this match makes no sense to me. (But throwing opponents threw glass panes also makes no sense to me.) They brawled to the floor and hit each other over the head with chairs. I have no interest in this. They got in the ring and hit each other over the head with light tubes and they all bled and there was glass everywhere. Colon applied a Camel Clutch move and Ciclope tapped out.
* Effy and Allie Katch came to the ring. He said Bussy will also be in the cage match with those teams and the Briscoes in Chicago. We head to intermission to clean up the ring, so we can have the Matt Cardona-Chelsea Green wedding renewal ceremony!
* Maven was in the ring and he claims he is an ordained minister. He turned heel on the crowd and called them rednecks and hillbillies, and he vowed this wrestling wedding will last. His timing is really good here, and I’m enjoying this. Dark Sheik was flower girl, which I thought was funny. What I presume are Matt Cardona’s real parents came out, dressed nicely for the occasion. Maven introduced Matt Cardona as “The Death Match King.” Matt came out in an outfit dressed like “Macho King” Randy Savage, and the crowd is eating this up, swearing and taunting them. This is not a show for children (but you knew that from the prior death matches.)
Chelesa Green came out in a beautiful wedding dress. Masha Slamovich and Billie Starkz wore dresses, too. She told him how much she loves him, and she introduced Maki Itoh to sing to him. She sang and this is a blast. Fun in such a cheesy way. He read a poem so he could rhyme “woo woo woo.” Jimmy Lloyd came out as the ring bearer, but he somehow couldn’t find the ring, so headed to the back.
Maven asked if anyone objects to this perfect union, which brought out Blake Christian. Blake and Cardona have been fighting for months, but Blake, embracing his heel turn, hugged Matt and left. Allie Katch also stopped the ceremony to give Cardona a box of hair growth products, which annoyed and angered Matt. They exchanged their vows. Nick Gage came out to a big pop, and he beat up Matt Cardona. He opened a present and it had a pizza cutter in it, which he used on Matt’s forehead. Allie Katch beat up Chelsea. Cardona’s blood loss was fairly significant and rather gross. We had far too close of a close-up of his bleeding forehead to end the show.
Final Thoughts: This show was all about the renewal of the wedding vows, and it was fun. It was the cheesiness you’ve come to expect from weddings on a wrestling show, and I think both Cardona and Green delivered their lines accurately, but the big takeaway was how FUN Maven was as he heeled on the crowd and swore at them. I’m not a fan of Gage being the star at the end of the show, when he got to be the star the night before in his standoff against Moxley. Couldn’t someone else have used the rub here????
The boos for Blake Christian were strange, and much like Liv Morgan on Smackdown, Blake didn’t expect it Saturday and certainly didn’t know how to react to it, which only made them louder. Are fans really upset that he lost to Moxley? Or upset that he has signed some sort of ROH/AEW pact? I don’t discount that his haircut has made him look older, more serious, and frankly, a bit more sinister. Either way, they seemed to be ready for it by this show on Sunday, and played it up in the finish with him getting mad at Jordan Oliver after their loss. Then, he cemented his heel status by hugging his months-long rival Cardona during the wedding ceremony, I am not convinced that this hug was in the plan on Saturday morning, but it worked by Sunday night.
I’ll give Mack-Blackwood best match, just ahead of Bailey-Starboy Charlie, with the entertaining Itoh-Dark Sheik third-best.
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