By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Amerikaz Most Wanted”
Replay available via Fite.TV
December 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California at Ukrainian Cultural Center
The big story over the past two weeks is that the Blake Christian vs. Hijo Del Vikingo matchup will not be shown via streaming on Fite+; it will only be seen by fans in the building. This is the rule AAA has put in place for Vikingo’s matches in the United States.
Dave Prazak and Emil Jay provided commentary. This is the ornate building with a high ceiling, and they once again drew 600-800 fans for this show. Prazak said this was a legit sellout. (This building will host “The Collective” of indy wrestling shows during WrestleMania weekend next year.)
1. Jack Cartwheel defeated Nick Wayne, Cole Radrick, Titus Alexander, Jordan Oliver, and Alec Price in a six-way at 13:49. Everyone missed their big moves early and we had a standoff. Cartwheel hit a nice Poison Rana on Wayne at 4:30, then a top-rope corkscrew press onto everyone else on the floor. In the ring, Radrick hit a gutwrench suplex for a nearfall on Cartwheel. Wayne hit a Dragon Suplex and a Code Red for a nearfall.
Titus hit a brainbuster on Wayne for a nearfall. Oliver hit a Helluva Kick on Titus for a nearfall at 8:00. Price hit a face-first slam on Oliver for a nearfall. This is just a sprint. Cartwheel hit a Sasake Special dive onto everyone at 10:00. Radrick hit an Asai Moonsault. Wayne hit a top-rope moonsault to the floor. Oliver dove over the top rope onto everyone. Titus hit a flip dive onto everyone. Cartwheel hit his rolling Death Valley Driver on Price. Oliver hit his Acid Kick. However, Cartwheel hit a Shooting Star Press to pin Oliver. That was a great non-stop action match.
2. Starboy Charlie defeated Matt Cardona at 12:35. The last time GCW was in this building, Charlie beat Juicy Finau in an epic steel cage match. Cardona came out second, looked at the scrawny teenager Charlie in the ring, turned to the fans, and said, “who the f*** is this guy?” Cardona got on the mic in the ring and boasted about his accomplishments and ripped the building, saying it doesn’t even have a proper locker room. Cardona stalled at the bell. Charlie is dressed in bib overalls, which really looked weird.
Charlie hit a dropkick and Cardona again bailed to regroup. Cardona took control in the ring, choking him and fairly basic offense. Charlie hit a chop block on the knee at 4:00. He went for a Lionsault, but Cardona got his knees up, and Matt again took control. Cardona hit three Rude Awakening standing neckbreakers. Charlie hit a missile dropkick, then a Stinger Splash at 6:30. He hit a standing powerbomb, and they were both down.
Charlie hit a second-rope corkscrew splash for a nearfall at 9:30. Charlie hit a grazing spin kick for an apparent pinfall, but the ref saw Cardona’s foot was on the ropes and he ordered the match continue. Cardona hit a low blow mule kick and the Fame-asser legdrop for a believable nearfall, and the crowd popped for the kickout. Charlie got a jackknife cover for the pin out of nowhere, and the crowd went nuts for the upset.
3. Masha Slamovich defeated Dark Sheik and Sawyer Wreck in a three-way at 8:02. I know I mention this often, but Wreck is a legit 6’1″ and just towers over everyone; she reminds me a lot of Rhea Ripley in look and style. Sawyer and Sheik passionately kissed at the bell and the crowd popped for that; Masha hit a German suplex to break that up. Masha hit a Helluva Kick in the corner on Sheik. Sawyer hit them both with a chair. Sheik slammed Sawyer on an open chair at 4:30.
In a nice spot, Sheik hit a double legdrop across both opponents’ throats for a nearfall. Masha sat on Sheik’s shoulders and punched Sawyer. Sheik hit a German Suplex on Masha. Sawyer speared them both through a door set up in the corner at 7:30, earning a “GCW!” chant. Masha got an inside cradle to pin Sawyer out of nowhere. Ok match; it didn’t have the crowd behind it as much as the first two matches.
4. Gringo Loco and “Los Vipers” Latigo and Toxin defeated ASF, Komander, and Arez at 22:06. This is going to be fast-paced. Loco’s team are the rudos/heels. Arez and Latigo opened with fast armdrags. Loco and Komander traded quick offense. ASF hit a huracanrana on Loco. Arez hit a nice series of kicks on Toxin. Arez hit a DDT on Loco at 5:30. Loco’s team got chairs and hit their opponents with them.
Loco’s team began working over Arez in the ring, then they beat down ASF. Loco hit a sit-out powerbomb on ASF for a nearfall at 8:30. Toxin hit a sit-out powerbomb on Komander. ASF hit a head-scissors takedown on Loco. Komander bounced off several ropes before hitting a huracanrana on Loco and the crowd popped for the move. The babyfaces began working over Toxin, with ASF, then Komander, hitting frogsplashes for a nearfall. ASF hit a spinning Canadian Destroyer on Loco.
The babyfaces all applied submission holds on the rudos. ASF hit a top-rope huracanrana on Latigo. Loco hit a top-rope moonsault at 15:30. Suddenly, everyone was down. ASF hit a springboard moonsault to the floor. Komander walked the top rope from one corner to another, then hit a moonsault for a nearfall. That was insane. Loco hit a modified Vader Bomb, then a dive to the floor. Toxin hit a dive to the floor, with a monkeyflip assist from Latigo. Latigo then hit a top-rope dive onto everyone at 19:30.
Komander then walked from one corner to the other before hitting a Phoenix Splash onto everyone on the floor. That was crazy good. In the ring, Arez hit a Lungblower on Toxin. ASF hit a shooting star press while Komander hit a 450 splash for simultaneous nearfalls. “All the stops have been pulled out, and many more!” Prazak said. The crowd chanted, “Lucha libre!” Loco hit his top-rope swinging powerbomb to score the pin. That was fun.
* A video package aired showing Joey Janela and Pagano competing in hardcore matches. Somehow the bottom rope broke before the next match began, so they went on without it.
5. Joey Janela defeated Pagano to retain the GCW Hardcore Title at 17:50. Pagano is essentially Jon Moxley in popularity and brawling style. Janela walked to the ring with a giant snake draped over his shoulders; this is massive and much bigger than Jake Roberts ever had. Prazak said Janela is participating on a reality TV show. “It’s a helluva entrance,” Prazak said. Early in the match, Janela hit a top-rope flip dive to the floor, as they landed in several of the wood chairs. They brawled on the floor in front of the fans. Janela got a door from under the ring. Pagano nailed a flip dive through the ropes at 4:00.
In the ring, Janela hit a brainbuster and both men were down. Janela slammed Pagano through a chair for a nearfall at 8:30. The camera focused on Janela’s back, showing he had a small cut but a deep bruise forming. Pagano hit a modified Death Valley Driver on the ring apron. In the ring, Janela hit a superkick. Pagano hit a Canadian Destroyer; Janela hopped up and hit a roaring back elbow, and they both collapsed again at 11:00. They both went under the ring and got more doors and chairs. They did the dueling chair spot in the ring. Pagano slammed Janela’s face on an open chair and scored a nearfall.
Janela hit a top-rope double stomp on Pagano’s chest as Pagano was lying on a door set up in the ring for a nearfall at 14:00. They began battering each other with the debris in the ring. Pagano nailed an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Pagano set up four open chairs in the ring. However, Janela nailed a top-rope brainbuster through the chairs for a nearfall at 17:30. Janela immediately hit a mid-ring package piledriver to score the pin. That was a really good hardcore brawl. Fans of this style will like this one. (And they did it without pizza cutter, glass, light tubes, staple guns, etc.)
6. Willie Mack defeated Jimmy Lloyd at 6:22. Mack has a sleight height and weight advantage and he got a hero’s welcome. They did an opening sequence right out of the lucha playbook, with Mack doing a leapfrog, and ending with him hitting a dropkick. Mack hit a rolling cannonball in the corner for a nearfall. Mack hit a Samoan Drop at 3:00, but he was selling a left arm injury. Mack hit a Canadian Destroyer, then a Spinebuster for a nearfall. However, he missed a rolling cannonball in the corner. Lloyd immediately hit a Death Valley Driver onto an open chair for a nearfall at 5:00. Mack hit a stunner. He nailed a frogsplash through a door set up in the ring to score the pin. Mostly a squash match.
* A movie-quality video aired showing Allie Katch being stalked by Charles Mason.
7. Charles Mason defeated Effy via DQ at 13:00. Mason came out in a red jacket that looks like he works at a 1960s movie theater. Again, Mason is the demonic messiah character. Effy hit a spear early in the match, so Mason rolled to the floor to regroup. Effy dove through the ropes to the floor on Mason. Effy tied him in a Tajiri-style Tarantula in the ropes. Mason hit a series of Kawada Kicks to the face, then a baseball slide dropkick as Effy was tied in the ropes at 3:00. Mason put a chair over Effy’s head and slammed him into a guardrail.
In the ring, Effy removed his belt and whipped Effy with it, and was in total control of the offense. He crotched Effy around a ring post at 8:30. Effy hit a Fame-asser legdrop and a Blockbuster, then a Helluva kick, and his leg-assisted DDT for a nearfall. Effy nailed a Stomp for a nearfall at 10:30. Effy kissed him, but Mason bit his lip. Mason applied a sleeper; he wouldn’t let Effy’s arm fall a third time, as he wanted the match to keep going.
Mason got his piano wire and wrapped it around the throat at 13:00. However, Allie Katch hit the ring and made the save. Effy and Katch hit a Team 3D stunner on Mason. A masked man hopped in the ring and chokeslammed both Effy and Allie. He hit a sit-out piledriver on Katch. He’s really tall and thick. He removed his mask and revealed to be Parrow (he was in NWA teaming with Odinson.) Dark Sheik hit the ring with a baseball bat, chasing off Parrow.
8. “Los Macizos” Ciclope and Extremo Miedo defeated “The Rockness Monsters” Johnny Yuma and BHK to retain the GCW Tag Team Titles at 11:39. Apparently the RM are well-known in the California indy scene. I know I’ve seen Yuma; he wears a cheesey superhero outfit, kind of like Nova did in ECW. They dove to the floor on Los Macizos and all four brawled on the floor. Miedo has even more tape on his damaged left shoulder than the last time I saw him, and Yuma was targeting it. BHK has long hair and beard, somewhere between Jesus and Jake Something. In the ring, the RM worked over Miedo.
Miedo hit a Lionsault Press and a dive. Ciclope hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Yuma hit a Frankensteiner out of the corner, and BHK slammed Ciclope onto a pile of chairs. Ciclope put a chair over BHK’s head, and he used another chair to hit it, to score a nearfall at 7:00. Ciclope hit a Doomsday clothesline on Yuma. The RM hit simultaneous low blows. BHK slammed Yuma onto an opponent. However, BHK accidentally hit a Death Valley Driver on his own partner through a door. Miedo hit a slam for a nearfall. Ciclope hit a Doomsday Canadian Destroyer on BHK for a nearfall. Miedo hit a piledriver, and Ciclope immediately hit a frogsplash to pin BHK. I never thought the titles were changing hands here, but this was a fun, messy brawl.
* A video package aired showing the build-up between Tony Deppen and Nick Gage, with Deppen calling out Gage last month.
9. Nick Gage defeated Tony Deppen to retain the GCW Championship at 23:58. Gage celebrated in the crowd for a long period of time. Gage tackled Deppen to start the match. Gage hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, and they brawled amongst the fans. Deppen kicked the middle rope to crotch Gage as he re-entered the ring at 2:00, and Deppen took control as they again brawled on the floor. Gage bit his nose.
Gage hit a flapjack and a belly-to-belly suplex at 6:30. Deppen hit a top-rope doublestomp for a nearfall. He teased putting Gage through a door, but then dropped him and gave the fans the middle finger. Gage set up for a chokeslam, but Deppen hit a low blow. Deppen hit a running knee for a nearfall at 10:30. Deppen hit repeated Moxley-style elbow shots to the side of the head. Gage hit a Death Valley Driver.
Gage hit his Vader-bomb style elbow drop for a nearfall at 12:30. He whipped Deppen through a door set up in the corner. Deppen got angry and grabbed the female referee, earning boos. Gage whipped a chair at Deppen’s head at 15:00. Deppen was bleeding from the forehead, and Deppen wiped it and stared at his blood-covered hand. Gage pulled out a pizza cutter and used it across the forehead, and Deppen had a great facial reaction to this move. Gage hit a piledriver for a nearfall at 18:00.
Gage hit Deppen in the groin, and he chokeslammed him across the back of two open chairs, then he hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Gage slammed him through one of the cheap doors. Gage hit a second-rope piledriver onto a door for the pin. Just a so-so match.
Final Thoughts: If the announcers ever acknowledged the Blake Christian-Vikingo match, I missed it. Not sure if that took place before they went on air, or after the main event. I really wanted to see that match, and I don’t blame GCW because they definitely wanted to air it, but at least for now, no Vikingo streaming matches.
The six-man lucha started a bit slow, but they really picked it up and everyone got to hit some cool offense. I’ll give that best match. The show-opening six-way was a blast and featured some of the best of the GCW roster, and I’ll go with that for second place. Pagano-Janela was an entertaining brawl and I’ll give that third place.
Gage is wildly over, and Deppen is a great heel and a good foil for Gage. That said, Gage walks slowly and seems to be in pain from years of abuse to his body. The crowd loved that main event a lot more than I did. Overall, a fairly solid GCW show.
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