By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Fight Night Brooklyn”
Streamed on FITE.TV
May 11, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York at Roulette Intermedium
This is GCW’s debut in the venue, which is a small room that was packed with perhaps 250-400 people. It is hard to gauge because there are fans in the upper level, too. The hard camera is on the second level, so we have an unusual viewpoint into the ring. The ring canvas looks new and has a sharp logo. There is a short stage right next to the ring, and that would be a factor in several matches. Dave Prazak and Veda Scott provided commentary; they are hands-down the best commentary duo on the indy scene. Everything about this presentation is top-notch tonight.
1. Oliver Jordan defeated Cole Radrick to retain the JCW Title at 12:20. Radrick, the Gomer Pyle-looking dork, is a last-minute fill-in for John Wayne Murdoch. I’m a huge fan of Jordan’s work. Prazak said this is Jordan’s fifth title defense since he won the title in a tournament in early February. Basic reversals early on, and this is a babyface matchup. Oliver hit a nice dropkick at 3:30 and a flying crossbody block for a nearfall, and he tied up Radrick on the mat.
Radrick grounded him with a headlock, and the match slowed to a crawl. Jordan hit a plancha to the floor at 9:00. Radrick hit a 619 and a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Radrick hit his springboard stunner. Oliver fired back with a German Suplex at 11:00 and a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. Jordan hit his sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall and he was fired up. Jordan nailed the Acid Kick, then another sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Okay match; this one isn’t going on Jordan’s “best of” mix.
2. “The SAT” Joel Maximo and Jose Maximo (w/the “spot monkeys”) defeated “Wasted Youth” Marcus Mathers and Dyln McKay at 13:56. I am fairly certain that neither Mathers nor McKay were even born when I first saw the Maximos wrestle. Wasted Youth just won the tag titles in Chicago-based Dreamwave Wrestling and they are a rising team. The “spot monkeys” wore primate masks; good tongue-in-cheek humor. Joel and McKay started, with Dyln hitting a tornado DDT. Mathers entered and hit a series of kicks and a swinging neckbreaker, and WY were in charge early on, and they hit dives to the floor. The crowd began booing them. Veda said they are “fighting a losing battle” because of the popularity of the SAT in New York.
The SAT began working over Mathers in their corner. They tied McKay in a submission hold at 6:30. Mathers hit a Lionsault and a stunner, and he was really starting to soak in the boos. Mathers nailed a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall at 8:30. A Maximo began spanking Mathers. In a nice spot, Mathers hit a stunner from the ring apron onto a stage near ringside at 11:00. In the ring, McKay hit his Shooting Star Press, and Mathers immediately nailed his 450 Splash for a believable nearfall; I thought that was it.
Wasted Youth went to the floor and they attacked the Spot Monkeys! They were loudly booed. WY set up for a Spanish Fly! (The SAT’s signature move). However, the SAT were able to hit a top-rope team suplex on McKay (rather than a Spanish Fly!) They then went to another corner and hit the top-rope Spanish Fly on Mathers for the clean pin. That was really good; I liked how the crowd slowly turned on WY, and how the youngsters absorbed it and acted more heelish as it moved along. Fun stuff. They all hugged afterward.
3. Alex Coughlin defeated 1 Called Manders at 12:04. This should be stiff. Intense lockups to start, and they traded chops. They brawled to the floor, where Manders accidentally hit a clothesline on the ring post at 3:00. Coughlin hit a bodyslam onto the tiny thin mat on the floor. In the ring, Coughlin hit a Divorce Court armbreaker and he focused on the damaged right arm. However, Manders tossed Coughlin gut-first on the top rope, but he clutched at his damaged arm.
Manders hit a stiff kick to the spine at 5:30 but Coughlin hopped to his feet and they brawled some more. Manders missed an elbow drop, further hurting his sore arm. Coughlin nailed a spinebuster for a nearfall. Manders hit a left-arm lariat for a nearfall at 8:30. Coughlin nailed a second-rope belly-to-belly suplex for a nearfall, but Manders grabbed the bottom rope. The traded overhand chops while on their knees, then while standing, and the sweat was just flying off of them. Manders hit a pair of clotheslines for a nearfall at 11:30. Coughlin hit an impressive gut-wrench suplex and immediately applied a cross-armbreaker, and Manders tapped out. That was really good stuff. “Heckuva hoss fight!” Prazak remarked.
* Doors and chairs were set up in the ring. I groaned.
4. Sawyer Wreck defeated Rob Shit in an intergender match at 5:51. Again, Sawyer is a legit 6’1″ and she has so much promise, just based on her size. I’ve seen Rob a handful of times on West Coast shows; he’s a pretty standard brawler and I admittedly am not a fan. They brawled at ringside. They got in the ring, sat on folding chairs, drank beer, and threw punches at each other. Sawyer chokeslammed Rob through a door set up in the corner for the pin. What you’d expect here.
5. Charles Mason defeated Jimmy Lloyd at 10:05. Again, Mason is the cult leader messiah figure in a red suit. The heavyset Lloyd dove through the ropes onto Mason early on. In the ring, Mason hit a head-capture suplex and repeated punches to the head. Mason took off his belt and whipped Lloyd across his back at 5:30. However, Lloyd hit a piledriver by jumping off the ring apron and onto a door bridge set up on the floor!
In the ring, Lloyd hit a Tiger Driver powerbomb for a nearfall. He got the belt and began hitting Mason with it. Mason hit a back body drop onto two open chairs, then he slammed Lloyd’s head onto an open chair for a nearfall at 8:30. Lloyd nailed a Package Piledriver for a believable nearfall, and the crowd was into this. Mason nailed a Death Valley Driver onto an open chair for a believable nearfall. He wrapped the belt around Lloyd’s neck and cranked back. The ref checked on the prone Lloyd and stopped the match to a chorus of boos.
* Emil Jay got in the ring and he said that “due to a family emergency, Matt Cardona could not be in attendance.” The crowd cheered. So, in his place, Steph De Lander came out to celebrate Cardona’s birthday. “We’re celebrating the birthday of the death match king, Matt Cardona,” SDL said. She showed a video of her GCW debut and she berated the crowd. The fans taunted her with a “you got fired!” chant, and this really ticked her off. Nick Gage hit the ring and of course he’s mobbed by his fans. “I don’t know your f’n name, so let’s just call you ‘bitch,'” Gage said to her. He called Cardona a pu$$y for not coming to Brooklyn this evening. Sawyer Wreck snuck up behind De Lander and chokeslammed her, and she slammed the birthday cake in SDL’s face, continuing the long tradition of no cake ever, ever getting eaten in pro wrestling. Entertaining enough segment.
6. Blake Christian defeated Joey Janela at 20:36. Prazak reiterated that Blake has essentially a “Money in the Bank” title shot he can cash in. Blake stalled several times on the floor. In the ring, Joey hit a flying back elbow at 2:30 and some chops, and he was in charge early on. Blake got on the mic and asked for the NY wrestling commission to come to the ring; Prazak was incredulous, saying you don’t want them to come. Blake dove through the ropes, barreling onto a door leaning against Janela at 5:00.
In the ring, Blake was now in charge and he tied him up on the mat. Blake hit the Three Amigos rolling suplexes at 8:00, drawing loud boos, especially for the hip-shake after he finished. However, Blake missed a frogsplash. Janela hit a shotgun dropkick. Janela hit six consecutive German Suplexes! Six! They fought on the ring apron, where Blake hit a spear. Blake then hit a plancha to the floor, and this time, he hit the top-rope frogsplash in the ring for a nearfall at 11:00. Fans chanted “You’re not Eddie!”
Blake hit his Fosbury Flop to the floor. However, Janela hit a German Suplex on the floor. In the ring, Blake hit a doublestomp and a splash for a nearfall, and they were both down. They began trading forearm shots at 14:00. Blake hit a handspring-back-spin kick. Janela nailed a Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall. Blake nailed a top-rope X-Factor faceplant, then a top-rope 450 Splash for a believable nearfall. Blake went for his Stomp to the head but Joey moved. Blake nailed a mid-ring Spanish Fly. Joey hit a brainbuster at 16:00.
Blake nailed a tombstone piledriver for a nearfall, and they were both down. Blake went under the ring and got some chairs, and he set up a door bridge in the ring. Janela slammed Blake through the door bridge, then he hit a doublestomp onto Blake’s chest at 20:00. Charles Mason came to the ring and pulled the ref out of the ring! Janela chased Mason around the ring; Mason crawled into the ring; as Joey slid into the ring, Blake nailed his Rollins-style stomp to Janela’s head for the pin! Veda and Prazak agreed that Mason wasn’t trying to help Blake; he wanted to taunt Joey. Really good match.
7. Masha Slamovich defeated Alec Price to retain the GCW Heavyweight Title at 16:12. Price, the Boston native, got booed. He’s lanky and taller than her, and fans had alternating “New Champ”/”Masha!” chants. Masha hit a shoulder tackle. He hit chops; she fired back with a spin kick to his head at 2:00. Price hit a Saito Suplex for a nearfall and some running knees. Masha hit a backbreaker over her knee for a nearfall at 5:30. Price hit a standing moonsault. Masha hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall.
Masha hit a series of headbutts. Price hit a hard back elbow. She hit a release German Suplex and a Shining Wizard, and they were both down at 8:30. This crowd is still split. Price charged at her but she caught him with a kick. She hit a Helluva Kick. Masha jumped on his back and applied a sleeper; he ran backward and rammed her back into the ring post. He then ran to the center of the ring and fell backward, dropping all his weight on her. Ouch! Price hit a Mafia Kick as she was on the ring apron, sending her onto the stage. Price then dove over the top rope and barreled onto her on the stage.
They got back in the ring, where Price hit a jumping enzuigiri at 11:30, then a standing powerbomb for a nearfall, and he was in disbelief he didn’t win there, as were many fans. Price nailed a superkick. They fought on the ring apron, and he set up for a Gotch-style piledriver, but she fought free. Masha hit an Air Raid Crash onto the ring apron, and she was fired up! She rolled him into the ring and got a nearfall at 14:00. The crowd heat here was great. She applied a Cobra Clutch sleeperhold! He escaped and hit a spin kick to her head, then a neckbreaker over his knee for a believable nearfall.
Masha went back to the sleeperhold and they rolled around on the mat; he stood up and tried to break free but she kept it locked in, and he ultimately tapped out. That was really entertaining. Blake Christian appeared in the upper deck. Prazak shouted that it wouldn’t be fair for him to cash in his title shot now. Masha laid her belt on the mat and challenged him to come get it. Good intense post-match segment.
8. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tony Deppen at 21:20. No sign of Sabre’s NJPW TV title, and this is his GCW debut. Sabre immediately targeted the left hand and wrist. Deppen focused on the left ankle, and he tied Sabre up on the mat. Sabre applied a leglock around Deppen’s head at 3:00. Good reversals and this in entertaining but not much to describe. Sabre applied a cross-armbreaker at 6:30. They got to their feet and Sabre hit some European Uppercuts; Deppen fired back with some of his own.
They traded more mat holds, and Sabre snapped Deppen’s fingers at 10:00. They traded more European Uppercuts. Deppen nailed a running double knees. Deppen hit a Lungblower at 12:00, and he hit some elbow shots to the side of the head, then a running kick on Sabre’s left elbow. (I’m glad this is not a TV title match, which has a 15-minute time limit. Let these guys keep going!) Sabre applied an Octopus submission hold in the ropes; the ref forced him to break it. In the ring, Sabre hit a running penalty kick. Veda and Prazak talked about how Sabre is used to being able to finish in under 15, and Dave wondered if we had passed 15 minutes (almost at that point!)
Sabre applied a modified Rings of Saturn double-armbar, but Deppen got his feet on the ropes at 16:30. They got up and Deppen hit a hard slap to the face that rocked Zack. They began trading open-hand slaps to the face. Sabre hit another penalty kick, but Deppen kicked out at the one-count! Deppen got a cross-face chickenwing on the mat! Sabre looked close to passing out! Sabre’s arm fell twice, but then he got his foot on the ropes at 19:00. They brawled some more and Deppen hit a jumping knee to the jaw, then a running double kneestrike for a nearfall.
Deppen hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest, but Sabre immediately applied an anklelock! They traded rollups, when Sabre got a modified O’Connor Roll for the pin. Wow that was fun. The crowd chanted, “Both these guys!” Sabre rolled out of the ring and left, allowing Deppen to get some applause in a losing effort.
Final Thoughts: A good show, and I like this venue. I don’t claim to know the NY athletic commission rules, but if it means no garbage matches with light tubes, glass panes and pizza cutters, I’m all for it.
The main event easily earns best match, and it was a fascinating back-and-forth mat-based match. It was believable and intense, and the crowd was fully into this. Masha and Price had great crowd heat and they clicked in the ring, earning second best. I’ll narrowly give Blake-Janela third place, just ahead of a strong, strong Coughlin-Manders match for honorable mention.
This is one of those GCW shows that really showcased them at their best, without the hardcore stuff that doesn’t click for me. Check this show out, and all GCW shows, at Fite+. I watched this live and it started at 7 p.m. CST and wrapped up at 10 p.m. sharp.
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