By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “The Art of War”
Streamed on FITE TV
September 3, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois at Grand Sports Arena
This is the same field house where they held their late Friday night show. This crowd was much larger, a legit 1,200 or so fans. Kevin Gill and Dave Prazak were back on commentary. Two rings set up for the War Games-style cage match later. They actually used two hard cameras, giving us a nice video of the double rings.
We have a blue tarp on the ground today, and the fans are much further from ringside, which is a wise decision. I am fearful this means lots of light tubes later. I don’t know if this show is sold out, but the fans sure are packed in here.
1. Joey Janela defeated Mike Bailey, Shane Mercer, Dante Leon, Tony Deppen, Drago Kid, Gringo Loco, Cole Radrick in an eight-way scramble at 18:44. Janela carried a DDT title he won recently in Japan. This is a more star-studded scramble than we’re used to here. (Note that of the seven participants who wrestled here a day earlier, they were 6-1). Janela’s DDT title is on the line, and the victor also wins a case of beer. They all drank a beer at the bell, then immediately brawled.
In a cool spot, Mercer tossed Drago Kid from one ring to the other, with Drago catching Loco for a huracanrana. Bailey hit his Triangle Moonsault to the floor at 3:00. Deppen dove through the ropes onto several guys. Cole tried walking a ladder to dive on the floor, but he fell off and landed awkwardly. Loco hit a moonault in the ring. Leon hit a top-rope Sliced Bread on Loco at 6:30, then a top-rove flip dive to the floor on several guys. Mercer hit a decapitating clothesline on Drago Kid in the ring, then he did a gorilla press, lifting a ladder. Cool spot.
Janela hit a double stomp on Mercer. Janela set up a tall ladder in the ring. Suddenly there are several ladders in the ring and they are fighting on top. (This is not a ladder match; the belt is not suspended above the ring.) Drago tried to jump from the ladder onto the top rope but he landed awkwardly and crashed to the floor at 11:00. Scary. Bailey and Dante hit simultaneous Shooting Star Presses from opposite corners on opponents set up on tables at 13:30. Loco hit his swinging top-rope powerbomb on Leon for a believable nearfall.
Mercer hit a running Razor”s Edge, tossing Loco onto a ladder in the corner at 16:00. In another insane spot, Mercer threw Drago Kid off the top of the ladder, but Drago Kid hit a Canadian Destroyer on Deppen on his way down. Mercer then nailed a fallaway slam on Cole to the floor, through doors set up between open chairs. Janela then dove off near the top of the ladder, hitting an elbowdrop on Deppen for the pin. There were several insane bumps here that could have ended really badly. Unfortunately, when they announced Janela’s Japanese title was on the line, I immediately assumed he was winning.
2. Blake Christian defeated Alex Shelley at 13:37. Blake wrestled as a babyface both last night and here, so really unclear how GCW is booking him after he got booed in New Jersey last month. Mat reversals early, and Blake hit a split-legged moonsault at 2:30. They fought to the floor and traded chops, with Shelley slapping the ring post. In the ring, Shelley began working over the left wrist. Shelley is definitely working heel. Blake hit a top-rope flying forearm for a nearfall at 9:00.
Shelley applied the Border City Stretch on the mat, but Blake reached the ropes. Blake hit an enziguri. Blake went for a 450 but landed on his feet; whatever was planned there didn’t work out. They traded forearm shots, and Blake hit another enziguri and a knee strike to the jaw at 12:30. Blake hit a rolling Death Valley Driver. Shelley hit the Shellshock swinging faceplant for a nearfall. Shelley hit a second one for another nearfall, so Shelley applied the Border City Stretch. Blake rolled him over and got the pin out of nowhere. That was fun. Shelley protested, in disbelief, that he just lost.
3. “Aussie Open” Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher defeated Jordan Oliver and Nick Wayne at 13:37. AO wore their New Japan Strong tag titles to the ring. Davis and Oliver started, and Davis is so much bigger. Fletcher and Wayne traded quicker offense. Oliver slammed Wayne onto Fletcher, and they hit simultaneous dives to the floor on AO at 3:00. Fletcher and Davis slammed their opponents’ backs into each other on the floor. In the ring, AO worked over Oliver. Wayne entered and hit a shotgun dropkick on Davis, then a mid-ring Spanish Fly on Fletcher at 6:00.
Wayne hit a Code Red on Fletcher for a nearfall. Fletcher hit a swinging Cradleshock on Wayne for a nearfall. Davis flipped Wayne at Fletcher, with Fletcher hitting a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 9:00. Wayne hit a tornado DDT on Davis. Fletcher hit a brainbuster on Wayne for a nearfall, but Oliver made the save. Oliver and Davis traded open-hand slaps to the face. Oliver hit a German suplex on Davis, then a Cloud Cutter for a nearfall. Wayne awkwardly slipped on the top rope; Prazak mentioned it is muggy and everything feels wet in the building. Wayne went for a Cloud Cutter, but AO caught him and hit their team swinging slam for the pin on Wayne. That was fantastic. (Not a mis-print; two second matches ended at the exact same time.) They all shook hands.
* Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green were introduced. They wore GCW shirts with the “no smoking” symbol across it. They both carried title belts that the announcers said weren’t recognized in GCW. Chelsea said on the mic, “All hail the death match king!” which got lots of boos. I can barely hear Cardona over the boos. Cardona is angry because Jimmy Lloyd misplaced their wedding rings during the wedding vow renewal ceremony a few weeks ago. Lloyd came to the ring. So, we have an impromptu match!
4. Matt Cardona defeated Jimmy Lloyd at 2:25. Lloyd hit a Death Valley Driver at the bell for a nearfall. Cardona choked Lloyd with a shirt. Lloyd applied a Boston Crab. Chelsea hopped on the ring apron and lifted her shirt, distracting Lloyd. This allowed Cardona to get a rollup for the pin. Not sure what fans got to see of that strip tease, but the fans sitting opposite the hard camera didn’t pop as if they saw her breasts.
5. Charli Evans vs. Sawyer Wreck in a hardcore match at 15:29. Light tubes were brought to the ring and placed in the corners. Ugh. I didn’t miss the lack of light tubes or blood a night ago. I have said this before, but Wreck is really tall, and the sides of her head are shaved; she is looking more like Rhea Ripley than ever. The height difference here is significant. Just a minute in, Sawyer slammed a light tube over Charli’s head. On the floor, Sawyer gouged Evans’ forehead with a light tube at 4:00. This is disgusting. They continued to beat each other up with light tubes. Sawyer hit a chokeslam onto a pile of broken glass for the win. Unnecessarily long; unnecessarily violent.
* Intermission so they could set up a cage. There are light tubes set up everywhere, connected to the cage along with chairs and tables. There also is a scaffold set up outside the ring. Nick Gage got the crowd fired up. He announced a hardcore tournament. No thanks!
6. John Wayne Murdoch & Alex Colon defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe and Mance Warner & Matthew Justice and Effy & Allie Katch and Ciclope & Extremo Miedo in a double-ring “Art of War” cage match to win the GCW Tag Team Titles at 30:31. Warner/Justice and the Briscoes started. Mance and Justice immediately threw chairs at the Briscoes’ heads and I cringe at the stupidity of that. Effy and Katch got in the ring at 4:00, with Effy hitting a double Blockbuster and Katch hitting a crossbody block. Effy hit his Fameasser on a Briscoe. Miedo & Ciclope entered the ring at 8:00.
This is fairly generic brawling, with them taking turns beating each other up with chairs, broken tables and light tubes. Blah. Ciclope suplexed Katch onto an open chair at 11:00. Jay was bleeding significantly, all over his face. So is Justice. JWM and Colon got in the ring at 13:30, each carrying a bundle of light tubes, so all 10 are now in the match. Justice climbed the scaffolding and hit a flip dive onto everyone below at 15:00. Scary bump.
The match continued with guys just taking their turns hitting each other over the head with weapons; there is almost no wrestling going on here. Justice and Murdoch climbed the scaffold, with JWM flipping Justice onto tables set up in the ring at 17:30. Justice and Mance were pinned and eliminated. Effy has his arm wrapped with blood coming from under it. I think that might have been a makeshift bandaid. Katch, Murdoch and Colon crashed through a barbed-wire covered table on the floor, outside the cage, at 20:30.
In the ring, Jay gave Effy a Jay Drilller onto a pile of light tubes for a nearfall to pin and eliminate Bussy. Miedo and Ciclope hit simultaneous piledrivers to pin and eliminate the Briscoes at 23:30. Miedo hit a 450 Splash onto someone with a pile of light tubes on the chest, for a nearfall. Ciclope went to the top of the scaffolding and hit a frogsplash on Murdoch for a nearfall, but Colon made the save. A glass pane was brought into the ring, and the four remaining guys set up a table in the ring. Murdoch flipped Miedo off the scaffolding through the table, while Colon smashed Ciclope through another table to score the pin.
Final Thoughts: Your enjoyment of this show will depend entirely on if you like watching people taking unprotected blows to their head and if you like watching people cut each other with glass and light tubes. If you have read my reviews, you know where I stand on that.
I’ll go with the entertaining Aussie Open vs. Wayne & Oliver match for best match. Blake vs. Shelley was really good, yet I know they have a bigger, better match in them for another day, and that earns second best. The opening scramble was put together well and was a really entertaining mess, and I use the word mess in the best way possible. It was a great first three matches to start the show…
One last good thing before I go to the negatives — the lighting was great, the use of multiple cameras was great, and this looked so much better than an average indy show. The crowd was so hot and added to the atmosphere that this was a “big event.”
OK the negatives… The only good thing I can say about Evans-Wreck is at least it was woman-on-woman violence. I didn’t need to see a guy doing that.
The main event was well-below average for hardcore matches.. Yes, they did some insane bumps off the scaffold, along with the crash Katch did with two guys onto barbed wire board. It is amazing if no one had any significant injuries coming out of that. But outside of those handful of big spots, the match dragged with everyone taking turns being beaten over the head with a weapon.
I definitely enjoyed the late Friday night “4 Cups Stuffed” more, as it had no light tubes in sight and a really entertaining main event.
The show clocked in at just over three hours.
She did show titties but she had someone’s podcast stickers covering her nipples