By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “One Afternoon Only”
Streamed on FITE TV
December 4, 2022 in Jeffersonville, Indiana at The Arena
This is another night club venue, and the lights are low. The attendance is perhaps 400. Dave Prazak and Nick Maniwa provided commentary. The lighting was mediocre; wrestlers vanished into dark corners of the ring.
* Nick Gage hit the ring to fire up the crowd. They humorously did a “PG-13 edit” of his intro because this is an afternoon show, thus, an “all-ages” event? It was funny.
1. Starboy Charlie defeated Jeffrey John at 6:47. Charlie hit a standing Shooting Star Press early on. He tied up the legs and applied a Muta Lock. He hit a shotgun dropkick in the corner, but he went for a corkscrew press and John got his knees up to block it at 5:30. John missed a top-rope moonsault. He hit the Cosmic Swirl/corkscrew press, and John tapped out. Decent opener.
2. AJ Gray defeated Axton Ray at 8:23. For two big men, they showed off their athleticism early on, and Axton hit a dropkick that sent Gray to the floor. Axton then nailed two consecutive dives through the ropes to the floor, then a third one over the top rope! In the ring, Gray hit a senton and some hard chops, and he took over the offense. They began trading hard mid-ring forearm shots, and the crowd was hot. AJ nailed a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall, then a clothesline for the pin. Good action.
3. Jordan Oliver defeated 1 Called Manders at 6:25. Oliver hit an Exploder Suplex just seconds into the match, then a Mafia Kick. Manders hit an Exploder Suplex; Oliver hopped up and hit a German Suplex. Jordan hit a Tiger Suplex at 3:30, then a piledriver for a nearfall. Oliver nailed the second-rope Clout Cutter for a believable nearfall, and this has been non-stop action. Oliver sold an arm injury from a night ago, and Manders began targeting it. Manders hit a Doctor Bomb for a nearfall. Manders nailed an Okada-style short-arm clothesline, then a harder clothesline for a nearfall. Oliver got a rollup out of nowhere for the pin. That was really good for the time given.
4. Allie Katch, Sawyer Wreck, Matthew Justice, and Mance Warner defeated “The Bang Bros” Davey Bang and August Matthews and “Infrared” Tyler Mannix and Logan James at 10:03. The ladies hit simultaneous backbody drops on the Bang Bros in the ring, while Justice and Mance brawled with Infrared on the floor. Everyone was brawling in and out of the ring, and Mance hit Matthews with chairshots to the back. Allie used skewers on Matrix’ forehead. In the ring, Sawyer hit chokeslams on both Bang Bros at 5:00.
Allie hit rolling cannonballs on each member of Infrared, then a double suplex on them. A masked person hopped in the ring and put Allie in a sleeper, but he ran off before her teammates could de-mask him. Matrix and Sawyer suplexed off the ring apron through a table on the floor (hard to say who got the worse of that crash.) In the ring, Justice slammed August through a door set up in the corner of the ring for a nearfall at 9:00. Katch hit her piledriver from the ropes. Sawyer hit a powerbomb on Logan James. Mance hit a top-rope elbow drop on James for the pin. Decent brawl; it didn’t get too gross or too violent.
5. Shane Mercer defeated Jack Cartwheel at 13:27. The crowd immediately started chanting, “Shane is gonna kill you!” at the smaller Cartwheel. Cartwheel escaped a hold in the ring and he began doing multiple cartwheels on the floor. Mercer did several gorilla press lifts with Cartwheel above his head, showing off that strength. Mercer tried his hiptoss across the ring, but Cartwheel twisted and landed on his feet. Mercer hit a belly-to-belly suplex, launching Cartwheel into the corner at 4:30.
Mercer leapt off the ring apron to hit a Canadian Destroyer on the floor. Nice. They brawled away from ringside, and it is really, really dark. Cartwheel hit a moonsault off a balcony to the floor at 8:00; it is really too dark to see much of anything. In the ring, hit a splash as Mercer was tied up in the ropes. Cartwheel went for a top-rope corkscrew press, but Mercer got his knees up to block it. Cartwheel hit a Poison Rana from the corner, but Mercer landed on his feet. Mercer hit a powerslam and applied what appeared to be an Anaconda Vice, but Cartwheel reached the ropes at 12:00. Mercer hit another powerslam and his second-rope fallaway slam, then a Goldberg-style Jackhammer for the pin. Mercer is just a beast.
6. Cole Radrick vs. Effy ended in a draw at 12:38. Some gay humor early on that doesn’t work for me. They switched to comedy around who was going to hit a heart punch, and they started ballroom dancing. Yes,, I just wrote that. Effy kissed him on the mouth then he began punching him at 5:00, and maybe we’ll actually get to some wrestling. Effy kicked a chair into Radrick’s crotch. They brawled to the floor, where Effy crotched Radrick on a guardrail at ringside.
Radrick leapt off the ring apron and did a summersault flip onto Effy in the crowd at 9:00. In the ring, Effy hit a spear. Radrick hit a springboard stunner for a nearfall. Effy hit a top-rope fame-asser, sending Radrick through a table, but Radrick rolled to the floor. A masked man hit the ring to distract Effy. Charles Mason ran into the ring and hit repeated chairshots to Effy’s back. The referee finally called for the bell. Allie Katch made the save for Effy.
7. Mad Man Pondo, John Wayne Murdoch, and Reed Bentley defeated Jimmy Lloyd and “Los Macizos” Extremo Miedo and Ciclope at 12:56. All six brawled at the bell, in and out of the ring, as they destroyed several thin doors. Pondo had a dollar bill stapled to his forehead. In the ring, Pondo hit a Death Valley Driver on Ciclope; he is so heavy and immobile and can barely move. This feels very repetitive as they just keep taking turns, whacking each other over the head with weapons. Los Macizos slammed Pondo through a table set up in the ring. Bentley hit a piledriver on Ciclope for a nearfall.
Pondo got a roll of light tubes and that popped the crowd. 2 Tuff Tony, who apparently operates this venue, hopped in the ring and stopped Pondo from using the light tubes, saying they can’t be used in his building. However, Tony slammed the tubes over someone’s head, drawing cheers from the crowd. They then slammed Lloyd onto the pile of glass shards for the pin. Not my speed of match, but the crowd enjoyed it.
8. Tony Deppen defeated Billie Starkz in an intergender match at 14:51. Deppen has his title shot coming up in two weeks against Gage. Prazak noted that this is Starkz’ hometown crowd, and this is her triumphant return after a two-week tour of Japan. She turns 18 today (Thursday). Deppen attacked her to jumpstart the match. She went for a dive to the floor, but he caught her and slammed her head on the ring apron. In the ring, he yanked her to the mat by her hair at 2:30, and was in total control of the offense.
Starkz hit a forearm. Deppen hit a harder forearm that dropped her for a nearfall. Billie hit two Yes Kicks, but he caught her leg and hit a suplex at 6:30. Starkz hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. Deppen nailed a decapitating clothesline. They began trading forearm shots, which is just absurd that they were standing even in this exchange. Billie hit a half-nelson suplex at 10:30, then a dive through the ropes.
Billie went for a Swanton Bomb, but Deppen got his knees up. She got a backslide for a nearfall, then a Gory Bomb for a nearfall. Deppen nailed a sickening-sounding headbutt, then a running double knees in the corner, then a northern lights suplex for a believable nearfall, and Prazak shouted in excitement for the kickout. Billie hit a spinning clothesline and a neckbreaker over her knee. She nailed the Swanton Bomb for a nearfall at 14:00. He nailed a running knee to her jaw for a believable nearfall.
Deppen applied a Crippler Crossface on the mat, and she passed out. Deppen continued to slam her with elbow shots after the bell. Deppen got up and hit a headbutt on the referee, knocking him out. Nick Gage hopped in the ring and hit him with a chairshot to the back, then a backbreaker over the knee, sending Deppen scrambling to the back. Gage got on the mic and said he’ll see Deppen in two weeks. Gage then put over Starkz.
Final Thoughts: I know GCW loves their intergender matches, but Starkz is just too thin and too averaged-size to be believable against most men. Her talent is undeniable, but I really struggle to believe she could stand toe-to-toe with most male competitors. Great drama throughout that main event, and despite my objections, I’ll still give it best match. Mercer-Cartwheel earned second-best, with the short Oliver-Manders match earning third place.
I want to point out that Manders, Allie Katch, Infrared and Billie Starkz all competed a day earlier in the Des Moines area for Pro Wrestling Revolver, then made the roughly nine-hour trek to this show on the Indiana/Kentucky border. That’s dedication.
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