By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “The Way I Am”
Streamed on FITE.TV
May 20, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan at Harpos Night Club
Dave Prazak and Emil Jay provided commentary. The building was packed with maybe 400-600 people. The lights were low and wrestlers absolutely vanish in the dark when they leave the ring. Prazak said “everything is permitted in Harpos,” so they have several death matches lined up. Yuck. This is an abnormally small ring, with a black mat that looks like a hefty bag. Not the attractive ring or mat they had a week ago in New York!
1. Joey Janela defeated Karam at 12:57. Karam is muscular; he’s a regular in St. Louis-based Glory Pro Wrestling, and he’s replacing Ninja Mack, who apparently had a canceled flight. Karam overpowered Janela and shoved him to the mat. Janela dove through the ropes at 3:00 and they vanished into pitch black outside the ring. In the ring, Karam hit a side slam for a nearfall. They fought on the ropes in the corner, and Janela hit a Sunset Flip Bomb at 6:30.
Janela hit a tornado DDT and a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. They traded chops, with Karam hitting much harder. Janela hit a German Suplex at 9:00. Karam hit a spinebuster on Janela on the ring apron. Ouch! Karam rolled him in the ring for a nearfall. Janela nailed a brainbuster. Karam hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 12:00. Karam went for a Vader Bomb but Janela got his knees up. Janela nailed a Death Valley Driver, then a top-rope doublestomp for the pin. Good match. I’d like to see more major promotions use Karam.
* Charles Mason came to the ring. He just fought Jake Something a night earlier in New York. He said this place “is a god-damn hell hole.” Indy veteran Breyer Wellington hit the ring and defended Detroit, and all of Michigan.
2. Charles Mason defeated Breyer Wellington at 4:00 even. Prazak noted that Wellington has been wrestling for more than 25 years, and they immediately brawled to the floor. In the ring, Breyer hit a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 3:00. Parrow (who has been teaming with Mason) appeared at ringside. Mason hit a low blow and he choked Breyer with his belt, and Breyer tapped out. Blah to this whole match. Parrow hit several sit-out piledrivers on Breyer. Prazak and Emil Jay were livid. Janela finally made the save.
* A nice video package aired to highlight the next match, pointing out these are the last three teams to hold the tag titles, as the Guns beat Los Macizos, only to later lose to the East West Express.
3. “The East West Express” Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver defeated “The Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley and “Los Macizos” Ciclope & Extremo Miedo in a three-way tag to retain the GCW Tag Titles at 13:33. The Guns were on the same HOG show as Mason. Naturally, the Guns are getting the cheers here. Los Macizos tossed the EWE to the floor and began brawling with the MCMG. EWE hit simultaneous dropkicks on Los Macizos. Oliver and Shelley traded blows in the ring as everyone else brawled on the floor. Sabin hit a dragon screw legwhip on Oliver at 3:00; Shelley hit one too, and the Guns worked over Jordan in their corner.
Shelley hit a dragon screw legwhip on Ciclope, then on Miedo. Wayne entered and he worked over Shelley’s left arm. Oliver snapped Sabin’s left arm backward at 6:30, and the EWE worked over Sabin, getting booed in the process. Sabin hit a crossbody block on both Macizos at 9:30. Shelley hit a Flatliner move. The EWE hit top-rope dives to the floor at 11:00. In the ring, Ciclope hit a top-rope doublestomp on Wayne’s head. (I hate this move; Wayne should be struggling to break free.) Macizos and EWE traded more blows. Wayne nailed a flip dive to the floor. The EWE hit a team Clout Cutter to pin Miedo. Really good match that felt like it ended abruptly.
* The MCMGuns offered to shake the hands of the champs and hand them their title belts. They hugged, and the Guns put the title belts around their waists.
* Nick Gage joined Dave Prazak on commentary as barbed-wire-covered doors were brought into the ring, drawing a huge pop. These fans are sick!
4. Mance Warner defeated Tommy Vendetta in a death match at 16:07. Vendetta has dark black hair and a beard and tattoos on his arms. They brawled to the floor and I can’t state enough that you can’t see anything. Mance (unnecessarily, dangerously) whipped a chair at Vendetta. Prazak was calling action we at home couldn’t see. They got back in the ring at 4:00 and Mance used a staple gun. Yuck. In the ring, Vendetta hit a Death Valley Driver, tossing Mance into a barbed-wire door for a nearfall at 8:30.
Warner chokeslammed Vendetta across six open chairs for a nearfall at 11:00. Vendetta hit a stunner across an open chair for a believable nearfall, and he was stunned that didn’t get the win. Vendetta tied Mance in the barbed-wire board. Warner hit a top-rope superplex through a barbed-wire door bridge for a believable nearfall at 15:00. Vendetta left the ring and returned with light tubes. However, Mance got the light tubes and hit Vendetta with it, then a DDT, for the pin. Yuck.
5. John Wayne Murdoch defeated Crazy King in a death match at 9:55. I don’t think I’ve seen Crazy King before; he wears a green lucha mask. They busted out the light tubes early and I lost interest. The referee was rightfully wearing goggles. Fans are way too close to the ring with all this glass flying. Murdoch hit a second-rope Canadian Destroyer onto a folded chair for the pin. The amount of glass here was stunning.
* An intermission to clean up the ring.
6. Cole Radrick defeated Caleb Konley, August Matthews, Davey Bang and Alec Price in a five-way at 6:31. Mathews and Bang are tag partners so they should have the advantage, right? Caleb Konley has slowly morphed into Hollywood Blond Steve Austin, a far cry from his Impact “Kaleb with a K” gimmick. Price hit a second-rope crossbody block on Radrick. Bang hit a Pele Kick on Konley. The Bang Bros worked together on Konley. Price hit a move and shouted, “F— you, Michigan!” drawing boos, and he dropped Bang face-first on the top turnbuckle and got a nearfall at 4:30.
Radrick dove through the ropes onto everyone. Price dove off the stage onto everyone on the floor. Bang accidentally hit a frogsplash on his partner Matthews! Radrick hit a butterfly suplex on Konley, then the Little Sebastian’s Curse slam on Konley for the pin. Solid match; certainly not one of the better scrambles GCW has had this year.
* We saw footage of prior matches between Effy and Blake Christian. Prazak noted how Blake essentially has a ‘money in the bank’ title shot in hand that he can use against Masha Slamovich.
7. Blake Christian defeated Effy at 18:39. An intense lockup early on. Effy dropped to his knees for some gay humor, then he hit a backbreaker over his knee at 2:30, then a gutwrench suplex. He tied Blake up in a tarantula at 5:00 and got a nearfall. Blake fired back with a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. Blake hit a back suplex, then a half-nelson suplex at 8:00. He hit the Three Amigos rolling suplexes, hopped up and shook his hips, drawing boos. “You sir, are no Eddie Guerrero,” Emil Jay said.
Blake missed a top-rope doublestomp and Effy immediately hit a spear, then a Northern Lights Suplex, then a Whoopee Cushion for a nearfall at 10:30. Effy Stomped Blake for a nearfall. Blake nailed a flip dive to the floor. In the ring, Blake hit a Lionsault Press, then a springboard 450 Splash for a believable nearfall. Blake went for his Rollins-style stomp but Effy avoided it. Blake hit a running double knees for a nearfall. They got up and traded mid-ring forearm shots; Effy is much bigger than Blake.
Effy hit a Helluva Kick and he set up a door bridge in the ring. However, Blake hit a powerbomb through the door bridge for a nearfall at 17:00. Blake threw a chair; Effy ducked and it nailed the ref! Effy immediately hit the Fameasser legdrop for a visual pin, but the ref was out. Effy picked up Blake, but Blake hit Effy with a wrench from the ring crew’s toolbox. Blake then nailed his Rollins-style Stomp for the tainted pin. Very good match; when Effy puts aside his lewd humor, he is quite good in the ring.
* Prazak informed us that Allie Katch is sick and couldn’t make it to the show. Nick Gage hit the ring with Itoh and put her over.
8. Masha Slamovich defeated Maki Itoh, Shazza McKenzie, Allysin Kay, and Lufisto in a five-woman scramble match to retain the GCW Heavyweight Title at 12:24. Everyone got their own entrances and Prazak noted that these five women represent five different countries: USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Russia. Lufisto and Shazza worked together on Masha early on. Maki hit a four-way DDT spot. Masha dove through the ropes onto everyone at 2:00. Shazza hit some Yes Kicks in the ropes. Shazza went for a dive to the floor, but Masha hit her in the head with a chair.
Itoh hit a chair over her own head to show how tough she is. Shazza is bleeding from her forehead, and Itoh got a pizza cutter and used it across Shazza’s forehead at 5:30, rightfully earning a “you sick f—!” chant. Kay hit a backbreaker on Itoh over her knee. Shazza dove through the ropes onto Lufisto on the floor. Itoh hit a tornado DDT to the floor on Kay at 9:00. Masha hit a top-rope summersault to the floor on everyone. In the ring, Masha hit a Shining Wizard on Shazza for a nearfall.
Kay put Masha along her back and hit a piledriver move for a nearfall. Shazza hit her splits stunner on Maki. Maki got her pizza cutter and again used it on Shazza in the corner. Lufisto hit a DVD through a door in the corner on Kay. Masha hit a piledriver on Lufisto. Masha applied a Sleeper in the corner on Shazza and leaned backward so they were both tied in the Tree of Woe, and Shazza tapped out. Decent, hard-hitting women’s action.
* Weapons were again set up in the ring for the main event.
9. Rina Yamashita defeated Jimmy Lloyd to retain the GCW Ultraviolent Title at 12:28. Jimmy towers over her and has a huge weight advantage too. They immediate hit each other with light tubes and gusset plates. They both were bleeding heavily early on. She grabbed him in the groin. He hit a package piledriver for a nearfall at 9:00. He put her on his shoulders and flipped her onto a glass pane but only got a one-count. She hit a Death Valley Driver through a glass pane and got a nearfall at 10:30. Emil noted her strength, saying Lloyd has to be at least 230 pounds. She hit a top-rope frog splash onto light tubes on his stomach for a nearfall. She slammed him through a barbed-wire-covered board for the pin. Just not my tastes.
Final Thoughts: It is hard to fathom that this is the same promotion that put on the excellent show in New York nine days earlier. That show had none of the glass panes or light tubes or staple guns that were prevalent here. It is just unbelievable it is the same promotion.
Best match to the Guns-EWE-Macizos three-way tag. I’ll give Blake-Effy slightly second-best over the women’s five-way match, with Janela-Karam for runner up. While I definitely wanted to see Ninja Mack, Karam was a decent substitute, even though he’s a completely different style of wrestler than Mack. This show is only worth seeing if you like hardcore matches. If not, maybe check out the top four matches I mentioned, and skip the rest entirely.
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