By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Jersey Championship Wrestling “March Madnezz”
Replay available via YouTube.com
March 4, 2023 in Atlantic City, New Jersey at The Showboat
This aired live, for free, on Youtube.com at 1 p.m. CST. I don’t claim to understand the relationship between JCW and Game Changer Wrestling. GCW has a marquee event later in the day in this venue. I would say this is comparable to holding an NXT show in the afternoon before a WWE show in the evening. Using that analogy, having Billie Starkz on the JCW show is like having Kofi Kingston pop up in NXT. Point being, the JCW roster are young, up-and-comers who aspire to be on the main GCW roster that is traveling around the country.
* Nick Knowledge and Billy Dixon provided commentary. The crowd is perhaps 150. (I would expect the GCW show later to be in the 600 range.)
1. “Wasted Youth” Marcus Mathers and Dyln McKay defeated Gabriel Skye and “2Hot” Steve Scott at 11:12. Nick Knowledge indicated that Steve Scott goes through a lot of tag partners. Mathers, the talented blond, opened against Scott. Skye has a good physique and long black hair; he entered to square off against McKay. Skye hit an enziguri at 4:00. Scott got back in and they worked over Dyln McKay. McKay hit a nice Poison Rana on Sky and they were both down.
Mathers made the hot tag at 6:30 and hit a top-rope crossbody block on his opponents, who were arguing. Mathers hit a Clout Cutter and a German Suplex on Scott, then a running Michinoku Driver on Skye for a believable nearfall. Mathers hit a Lungblower, and McKay hit a moonsault. Scott hit a piledriver on Mathers at 9:30. Skye hit a nice Northern Lights Suplex and a Falcon Arrow on Mathers for a believable nearfall! Skye and Scott argued again. McKay hit a Shining Wizard on Scott. Mathers hit a Death Valley Driver on Skye; McKay hit a Shooting Star Press; Mathers hit a 450 Splash to pin Skye. Really, really good closing sequence.
2. Yoya defeated Carlos Romo at 9:32. Romo is from Spain; he has short hair with a splash of red on top. Yoya is the 5-foot Cambodian man. Romo has the size advantage and he hit a leg lariat for a nearfall. They fought to the floor, where Romo kicked him hard in the back at 3:00. Back in the ring, Romo was in control. Yoya hit a hard clothesline to the bak of the head for a nearfall at 5:30.
Yoya hit a spin kick to the head for a nearfall. Romo hit a running knee for a nearfall. Yoya nailed a brainbuster for a nearfall, then a Hidden Blade running forearm for a nearfall. Romo hit a doublestomp on the back and a piledriver for a nearfall. Romo hit a top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall. Romo applied a Triangle Choke on the mat. Romo hit a stunner. Yoya fired back with a tombstone piledriver for the pin. Good match.
3. “Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black defeated “Young, Dumb & Broke” Ellis Taylor and Charlie Tiger at 10:52. The commentary team point out that Midas has a third-degree burn on his back from a recent match when he was shoved against a radiator. Ouch! Midas and Taylor opened. Tiger entered; he’s the one I’ve compared to Cameron Grimes, with his long dark hair and a bit of chest hair. The Mane Event began working over Tiger. Lyon dove through the ropes onto YDB at 3:00. On the floor, Tiger nailed a Death Valley Driver on Midas onto an open chair!
In the ring, YDB worked over Lyon, with Tiger hitting a back suplex. Lyon made it to the corner, but Midas was pulled off the ring apron at 5:30. Ellis hit a nice top-rope elbow drop on Lyon. Midas finally made the hot tag and hit clotheslines on Tiger and he was fired up.
Tiger nailed a standing powerbomb on Midas for a believable nearfall, then a diving headbutt on Midas, and they were both down at 8:00. Lyon entered and he hit a spinning sidewalk slam on Ellis for a believable nearfall. Lyon nailed a handspring-back-enziguri and a Lionsault. Midas went for a frogsplash but wound up hitting Lyon! Ellis hit a Tiger Suplex. The Mane Event hit their team X-Factor faceplant on Ellis for the pin. Entertaining.
4. Griffin McCoy defeated “The Mecca” Brian Johnson at 10:23. Johnson, who had a decent run in ROH, is now bald and unrecognizable from just a few years ago. He got on the mic and berated the crowd and got loudly booed. Johnson issued a challenge to JCW champion Jordan Oliver. Griffin is tall with short black hair and a thin mustache. They traded quick mat reversals. Griffin applied a Boston Crab at 2:00. In an awkward spot, McCoy tripped and fell jaw-first on Johnson’s knee, and Griffin immediately clutched at his teeth. (They showed a replay which indicated it was more of a planned spot than I originally thought.) It allowed Johnson to take control of the match.
Griffin clotheslined Mecca to the floor, then he hit a plancha at 5:00. They brawled in the (sparse) crowd. Griffin hit a running crossbody block as Mecca was seated on a chair. In the ring, McCoy hit a top-rope crossbody block. McCoy nailed a top-rope superplex for a believable nearfall at 8:30. Johnson hit a low blow kick when the ref was out of position, then a swinging faceplant for a believable nearfall. McCoy nailed a half-nelson suplex, then a springboard spin kick to the jaw for the pin. Good match; I expected Mecca to win here.
5. Josh Bishop defeated Big Vin at 8:07. Nick Knowledge said this is Godzilla vs. King Kong. Bishop is the Sid Vicious clone with short, curly blond hair who is a champion in the Ohio and Indiana indies. Vin is heavyset with long black hair; these two are much bigger than the wrestlers from the first four matches. Vin did an Old School tightrope walk and turned it into a huracanrana, drawing a ‘holy shit!” chant. They brawled to the floor, where Bishop hit him with a chair. They brawled on the ring apron, with Vin hitting a fallaway slam into the ring at 3:00.
Bishop caught Vin with an Abyss-style Black Hole Slam for a believable nearfall out of nowhere. They hit simultaneous clotheslines until they both went down. Vin hit a huge chokeslam at 5:30, and Bishop rolled to the floor. Vin chokeslammed Bishop from the apron back into the ring and got a nearfall. Bishop hit a second-rope Death Valley Driver, dropping Vin through a table bridge for a believable nearfall. Bishop nailed a Razor’s Edge overhead powerbomb onto a table set up in the corner to score a pin. Decent big-man match.
* Jordan Oliver hit the ring wearing a suit. He had the JCW title around his waist. Nick Knowledge reiterated how Oliver recently won the J Cup by scoring four victories in one day, including beating Mike Bailey in the finals. Oliver’s partners in “Young Dumb & Broke” joined him in the ring. Oliver got on the mic and said he lost his first match years ago and heard fans chant “Don’t come back!” He said it made him fired up and want to improve. He’s been busting his butt for years and now fans are behind YDB.
Oliver issued an open challenge. Teammate Griffin McCoy took the mic and said he’s earned everything he’s gotten in the past year. Oliver told him to calm down; McCoy just got angrier, and he yelled at the crowd to shut up. McCoy said he has beaten Action Andretti, Rich Swann and JD Drake in the past year, and he gave Kenta a good fight. “I think you’re scared of me,” Griffin said. Oliver agreed to a title match. Griffin shook his hand, but he rolled out of the ring and got booed as he headed to the back, leaving Oliver, Charlie Tiger and Ellis Taylor behind. Good segment.
6. Alec Price defeated CPA to retain the BattleBowl ring at 10:20. Price is the obnoxious, tall Boston native and he got loudly booed. CPA, of course, wore his button-down shirt and tie; he’s decent comedy. He peeled off one shirt to reveal an identical one underneath. He pulled that one off to reveal another. Price hit a Mafia Kick to the floor at 2:30, and they brawled on the floor. Price hit a tornado DDT on the floor, and he whipped CPA into the rows of empty chairs.
In the ring, Price hit a stomp to the chest for a nearfall at 5:00. He nailed a running boot in the corner and was in charge. CPA hit a pair of clotheslines and a stunner at 7:00. CPA nailed a Canadian Destroyer and ripped off his shirt to reveal a fourth button-down shirt! He hit his “1099” modified 619. Price hit a short-arm clothesline and a standing moonsault for a nearfall. CPA hit a Death Valley Driver. They fought in the corner, where Price nailed a brainbuster on top of the turnbuckle. Price then immediately hit his step-up mule kick to the head for the pin. Decent match; Price is quite talented.
* Price got on the mic and said in his thick Boston accent, “if you come after my Battlebowl 2023 ring, I’ll throw you in the gahh-bage.” He challenged Jordan Oliver. He said he would have won the J Cup tournament if Blake Christian hadn’t hit him with a low blow. Josh Bishop returned to the ring, saying he is the 2022 Battlebowl winner, and he showed off his ring. Bishop said Price’s ring is fake, and he’s never lost in JCW, and he challenged Price to a match. Price agreed and called Bishop a “pu$$y.” They shook hands to agree on the match, but Bishop hit a chokeslam. He then stole Price’s Battlebowl ring, so he has both. Really good post-match segment.
7. Sawyer Wreck defeated Bam Sullivan in an intergender match at 11:43. I point this out every time I see her wrestle, but Sawyer is a legit 6’1″ and just towers over most of her female competition. Bam is bald with a thick goatee. They locked up but switched to throwing chairs at each other at 2:00. I find these matches so absurd, because as tall as she is — taller than him — he is thicker, stronger, probably weighs more, and would destroy her in an actual fight. They brawled to the floor, where he wrapped her arm around the ring post.
In the ring, she hit a chair onto another chair, pushing it into Bam’s groin. She tied him in the Tree of Woe and stepped on his groin at 6:00. Bam hit a Death Valley Driver through a table set up in the corner for a nearfall. Bam snapped her arm over the top rope at 10:00. On the floor, she chokeslammed him onto the corner of the ring apron. In the ring, she hit a chokeslam from the top rope through a table for the pin. Meh.
8. Billie Starkz defeated Janai Kai in a best-of-three-falls match at 12:51. An intense lockup to start. Nick said that Janai has been studying martial arts since she was seven. Janai applied a Dragon Sleeper on the mat, and Starkz tapped out at 3:40! (I HATE this; the first fall should be the length of a regular match. It looks really bad for Starkz to be beaten in under four minutes.) Kai didn’t let up, hitting a series of kicks. They brawled to the floor, where Kai hit several Yes Kicks to the chest. In the ring, Starkz got a rollup for a pin at 7:10, and Kai was in disbelief.
There isn’t a pause between falls. Starkz nailed a Gory Bomb, then a top-rope Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Starkz went for a summersault senton, but Kai moved, and Billie crashed onto the ring apron, and rolled to the floor. Starkz dove between the ropes at 10:00. In the ring, they traded Mafia Kicks, then simultaneous clotheslines, and they were both down. They traded blows while on their knees. Janai hit her speedball kicks to the ribs. Janai charged at Starkz, but Billie caught her and hit a tombstone piledriver for the pin.
Final Thoughts: A fun show, and they built in two nice angles between the matches. The main event was fine, but why not just go with a one-fall match? Having them both lose falls so quickly doesn’t help either of them. I’ll go with that show-opener tag match for best match, ahead of the main event. I’ll give the Mane Event-YDB match third place.
I’ve gotten to know this roster which really helps; I don’t think I’d seen Gabriel Skye before, but everyone else I’ve seen at least once. Just a reminder this event was free and you can watch it now.
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