By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Lifestyle”
Streamed on FITE.TV
May 26, 2023 in Las. Vegas, Nevada at the Silver Nugget Casino
Dave Prazak and Veda Scott provided live commentary. This is a well-lit building, and the crowd is perhaps 400-600.
NOTE: Seven wrestlers on this show were in the Future Stars of Wrestling “Legends Rise” tournament in Las Vegas on Thursday, and these two promotions have more combined shows over the weekend. So, a handful of FSW roster members are on this show.
1. Alec Price defeated Billie Starkz, Jimmy Lloyd, Damian Drake, Sam Stackhouse, and Matt Vandagriff in a six-way scramble at 8:28. Stackhouse is a big man — a quick internet search has him listed at 340 pounds — and everyone attacked him to begin the match. Drake hit some deep armdrags. Billie hit a spin kick to Drake’s jaw at 2:30, then a neckbreaker over her knee. Everyone tried to hit Stackhouse one at a time but they bounced off him. Price hit a springboard spin kick to Stackhouse’s head at 5:00.
Drake hit a Dragon Suplex on Price, then a flip dive to the floor on everyone. Vandagriff hit an impressive springboard flip onto everyone on the floor. In the ring, Price hit his kneestrikes in the corner on Lloyd, then Price dove over the ropes onto everyone. In the ring, Lloyd hit a piledriver on Price for a nearfall, but Starkz made the save. Starkz hit a Canadian Destroyer. Vandagriff hit a buckle bomb and a spear on Starkz at 7:00, and we got our first “This is awesome!” chant. Stackhouse hit a spin kick on Vandagriff!
Drake hit a springboard stunner on Stackhouse. Price slammed Drake face-first on the top turnbuckle. Price hit a step-up mule kick to the back of Drake’s head for the pin. That was a fun, fast-paced opener with everyone getting to hit a big move or two.
* Prazak offered well-wishes to Tony Deppen, who broke an arm two weeks ago in a match against Zack Sabre Jr. I am surprised we are having this match next, as to me, it could be the main event…
2. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jordan Oliver at 16:22. Sabre has his New Japan TV Title belt with him, while Oliver has the JCW title belt. Sabre immediately went to work on the left arm. Oliver hit a huracanrana and some deep armdrags, and they had a standoff at 3:30. Oliver hit his twisting crossbody block and some chops in the corner. Sabre kept focusing on the left arm, wrist and fingers, and he stomped on the elbow at 6:00, and he was in charge. Oliver hit a plancha to the floor at 8:00 and he was fired up. In the ring, Oliver hit a Northern Lights suplex for a nearfall, but he was selling pain in his left arm.
Sabre went back to targeting the damaged limb. Sabre tied him in a pretzel on the mat, but Oliver reached the ropes at 13:00. They traded rollups. Oliver hit a springboard stunner, sending Sabre to the floor. In the ring, Sabre went for a cross-armbreaker, but Oliver turned it into a powerbomb. Oliver hit an Acid Kick, then another sit-out powerbomb. He went for the Clout Cutter out of the corner, but Sabre caught him and applied a submission hold at 16:00. Sabre grabbed the other arm and applied a modified Rings of Saturn double armbar, and Oliver tapped out. That was tremendous mat-based action.
* Jordan Castle joined commentary, replacing Veda Scott.
3. Maki Itoh defeated Sandra Moone at 9:16. Moone is based on the West Coast but she has competed in a lot of indies across the Midwest in the past few months; she is of average size, which means she has the size advantage on the tiny Itoh. They opened in a knucklelock, with Sandra overpowering Itoh. Itoh did her fake crying stuff; I have seen it many times but I think it’s hilarious. Moone hit a back suplex at 2:00 for a nearfall. Moone hit a mule kick to the face for a nearfall.
Itoh nailed the Kokeshi falling headbutt at 5:00. She hit a swinging DDT to the floor; she got a nearfall in the ring, and she applied a rear-naked choke on Moone. Moone fired back with a hard back elbow and a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Itoh hit a tornado DDT at 7:30. They began trading stiff forearms, and Itoh hit another hard DDT, then a second-rope DDT for the pin. Good match.
* Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander attacked Itoh! Cardona got on the mic and proclaimed he is the king of wrestling. Nick Gage ran to the ring, sending Cardona and SDL scampering. However Sawyer Wreck and Joey Janela snuck up from behind and attacked them, and our next match was underway!
4. Joey Janela and Sawyer Wreck defeated Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander in a mixed tag match at 12:18. They brawled into the ring and all four fought in the ring. SDL tripped Janela on the ring apron at 2:00, causing him to fall to the floor. Both of these women are tall; SDL is just under 6’0″ and Sawyer is about 6’1″. Cardona and SDL worked over Janela. Cardona choked Janela with his shirt at 5:30. Cardona shoved the female ref; she shoved him back. Right on cue, Jordan Castle noted these are among the tallest and most powerful female wrestlers today.
Wreck slammed one chair into another chair placed on Cardona’s groin at 7:00. Cardona hit a running kick in the corner on Janela, and the heels jawed with the fans. Cardona got a door from under the ring and set it up in the ring. Janela was going to hit a DVD on Cardona onto the door, but SDL made the save. SDL speared Janela through the door set up in the corner. Sawyer grabbed SDL and kissed her, which of course popped the crowd and distracted SDL. Sawyer hit a snap suplex on Steph, dropping her onto Cardona; Sawyer covered them both for a nearfall at 10:30. Itoh and Nick Gage hit the ring at 12:00, and they helped beat up Cardona and De Lander! Sawyer chokeslammed Cardona through a door bridge in the ring for the pin.
* The heels scampered to the back. Gage got on the mic and did his normal schtick.
* Quick backstory: Blake Christian has essentially a “money in the bank” title shot he can use at any point on GCW champion Masha Slamovich. Of course, Masha is at an Impact Wrestling event so isn’t here.
5) Blake Christian defeated Dark Sheik at 16:03. A reminder that Blake Christian still has essentially a ‘Money in the Bank title shot,’ and he’s been a heel here since New Year’s Day. Dark Sheik is channeling Raven, not just in ring gear, but by lying down in the corner. Blake hit some stomps early on and was loudly booed. Sheik hit a running Facewash in the corner at 2:30. Prazak pointed out the Raven-style gear. Blake hit a doublestomp on the left shoulder at 4:30 as Sheik was seated on the mat.
Sheik got a staple gun and tried to use it while Blake was tied up, but Blake avoided it and freed himself. He hit some blows to the back of the head and was getting booed. Sheik hit a kick in the corner, then the slingshot legdrop at 9:00. Sheik hit a spin kick off the top rope for a nearfall. Blake hit a 619. Sheik hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall at 11:30, then a top-rope legdrop across the throat for a nearfall.
Blake hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor. Blake hit a HHH-style Pedigree onto a hard surface on the ramp, shocking the crowd. Blake carried Sheik back to the ring and got a nearfall at 13:30, and Blake was surprised at the kickout. They did the spot where Blake swung a chair, it hit the top rope, and it ricocheted onto his head. Blake got a belt, put it around Blake’s mouth, and pulled it back! Sheik hit a straight punch to the groin at 15:30.
Blake threw a chair at Sheik’s head, then he hit the Rollins-style Stomp onto the head. Instead of going for a cover, Blake applied a rear-naked choke, and the ref called for the bell. Prazak was critical of Blake for not putting Sheik away with the stomp, saying he did the rear-naked choke to get into Masha Slamovich’s head by using her finisher.
6) Mance Warner & “Bussy” Effy & Allie Katch defeated Jack Cartwheel & Titus Alexander & Starboy Charlie and John Wayne Murdoch & “Los Macizos” Ciclope & Extremo Miedo in a three-way tag match at 12:17. Prazak and Veda noted the California trio aren’t used to teaming up; they aren’t ‘usually on the same page.’ I noted this a day ago, but Cartwheel’s hair is now blond and uncombed, and he looks more like Action Andretti now. Allie Katch was sick and missed last weekend’s GCW double-header, so good to see her back in action here. All nine brawled at the bell. Charlie hit his dropkicks into the corner and was fired up. Mance came up behind him and attacked him.
Cartwheel hit his slingshot senton on Allie at 2:00. Titus hit a nice dropkick on Effy. Cartwheel hit his Sasake Special cartwheel dive to the floor. Mance got a chair and slammed it across Charlie’s back as they brawled on the floor. Murdoch’s squad hit a Team 3D through a door bridge in the ring at 5:30. Ciclope hit a basement dropkick on Allie as she was tied in the Tree of Woe. Cartwheel hit a Death Valley Driver on Murdoch onto an open chair in the ring! Ouch! Mance hit a Tower of London stunner on Cartwheel. This feels like the show-opening scramble.
Effy hit a spear on Charlie. Ciclope threw a chair at Cartwheel’s head. Murdoch and Ciclope hit stereo Canadian Destroyers out of opposite corners. Mance hit a superplex on Ciclope through a door bridge at 11:30. Cartwheel went for a Shooting Star Press, but Mance got his knees up to block it. Effy hit a Doomsday legdrop on Cartwheel for the pin. Good match; good use of these wrestlers’ abilities.
7. El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Gringo Loco and Komander in a three-way at 15:19. Okay, I thought this was the main event. Vikingo got a huge pop. I haven’t seen Komander in perhaps three weeks, since he appeared to get injured in a lucha show in Canada, so good to see him back here. This crowd was HOT before the bell; the energy in this room is great. Lucha reversals with no one landing a blow, and a standoff at 1:00. Loco hit a flip dive to the floor onto both opponents. Komander hit a corkscrew flip to the floor at 3:30.
Komander and Vikingo were alone in the ring and traded more quick lucha reversals. Vikingo hit a double-jump-into-a-huracanrana on Loco at 5:30. Vikingo hit a superkick on Komander, then a double-jump-into-a-double-
In a cool spot, Loco was on the bottom of a tower — a man on his shoulders and another on top — and Loco spun them both to the mat for a double powerbomb. That showed some strength! Loco flipped Vikingo up and hit a cool-looking piledriver! Vikingo dove off the ropes onto Komander and hit a Crucifix Takedown at 11:00! Cool spot. All three fought on the ropes in the corner, and Loco hit a Spanish Fly on both, and they were all down.
Loco got a door from under the ring and set it up in a corner. Komander walked the ropes from one corner to the other, but Vikingo hit a huracanrana on him to the mat; it wasn’t smooth but still a cool spot. Komander hit a Poison Rana on Loco. Vikingo hit a Death Valley Driver on Komander through the door in the corner. Vikingo then nailed his top-rope 630 Splash on Loco for the pin. Fans threw crumpled up dollar bills at them.
8. Rina Yamashita defeated Cole Radrick to retain the GCW Ultraviolent Title at 18:35. Weapons were set up in the ring, including a glass pane and light tubes. Radrick is the James Ellsworth-meets-Gomer Pyle dork who is beloved by the GCW faithful, but I’ll be cheering for Rina. She is much shorter and lighter than Radrick; even if I liked ultra violent hardcore matches, I would struggle to believe she could beat him in a fight. She carved up Radrick’s forehead with the jagged edge of a light tube and he was bleeding. (What does Sabre think, sitting in the back, watching this garbage match?)
Radrick gave her an Irish Whip into the corner into light tubes at 4:30, and they exploded against her body. I feel I must reiterate here that GCW doesn’t use guardrails, so fans on the floor can be way too close and risk getting hit by shards of flying glass; seems like a recipe for a lawsuit to me. They both were bleeding on their foreheads, and Radrick had several cuts that were bleeding on his back. She hit a powerbomb through a glass pane bridge, then a Razor’s Edge onto the pile of glass for the pin. Yuck.
Final Thoughts: Well, you can’t say GCW doesn’t cover its bases. They went from a mat-based classic to a high-flying lucha affair to a hardcore match.
I’ll go with Sabre-Oliver for best match. Sabre is simply one of my favorite mat technicians to watch, and this was a fun, fresh matchup. There were some rough spots in the lucha three-way. It was very good, but they didn’t hit everything perfectly. That’s not a criticism; it’s more an acknowledgement of the challenges of a match like that with so many high-flying spots. It earned second place. The three-team tag match was a blast and earns third place.
All GCW shows are on Fite+. As I noted, they have other shows this weekend in Las Vegas with much of this roster.
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