By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Mastermind”
Streamed on FITE.TV
June 24, 2023 in Huntsville, Alabama at Von Braun East Hall
This is a convention center, with bland white walls. Dave Prazak and Emil Jay provided commentary. The crowd is perhaps 300.
Game Changer Wrestling was in Chicago on Friday. According to Google Maps, it is 8 hours, 45 minutes (588 miles) to Huntsville, which is actually shorter than I expected.
1. Cole Radrick defeated Hunter Drake at 7:00 even. Drake is a thin, short high-flyer with long blond hair. Radrick is the Gomer Pyle-meets-James Ellsworth dork. Drake hit a dive to the floor early on. Radrick dominated the offense in the ring. Hunter hit a doublestomp to the chest as Radrick was tied in the Tree of Woe at 5:00, then a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Radrick hit a Jay White-style Blade Runner twisting faceplant for a believable nearfall. Radrick then hit his Little Sebastian’s Curse pumphandle powerbomb for the pin. Solid.
2. Alec Price defeated Terry Yaki at 6:54. Price is the talented Boston native. Yaki (I hate that ring name! Too cartoonish) is a Black man with a splash of brown hair, and he’s talented too. Good quick reversals to open. Price hit a second-rope legdrop and he was in control. Price hit a half-nelson suplex for a nearfall at 3:00. Yaki hit a DDT and a twisting Michinoku Driver for a nearfall, then a spin kick to the head. They fought in the ropes, and Yaki hit another spin kick. Price hit a second-rope twisting powerbomb, then a mid-ring Spanish Fly move for the pin. That was really good for the time given.
3. Rina Yamashita defeated Effy in an intergender match at 11:40. Rina had her Ultraviolet Title belt around her shoulders. Effy did some of his lewd humor early on. Rina went under the ring and got some chairs. Effy used a legdrop to drive Rina’s head onto an open chair at 5:30, and he hit several chairshots across her back. Effy put Rina on his shoulders and hit a rolling Death Valley Driver through a door set up in the corner at 7:00.
Rina suplexed Effy onto an open chair. They grabbed each other’s groins, and Rina grabbed the ref’s groin, and suddenly everyone was down. Rina hit a Trash Compactor piledriver along her back for a nearfall at 10:00, then a hard kick to the face in the corner. She hit a Razor’s Edge overhead powerbomb onto an open chair for the pin. Hard-hitting, but they didn’t use any gross weapons and nobody bled. She kissed him on the lips after the match.
4. Jordan Oliver, Nick Gage, Mike Jackson defeated Jimmy Lloyd and “Los Macizos” Ciclope and Miedo Extremo at 12:42. Oliver’s team has a silly name that is essentially ‘young, middle age, and senior citizen.’ Jackson is now 73. Oliver and Miedo opened with some good reversals. Jackson and Ciclope entered at 2:00, with Jackson hitting an airplane spin-into-a-huracanrana, then he tagged in Gage. Lloyd entered to face Nick, and they traded forearm shots. Gage’s team took turns working over Lloyd’s left arm.
All six brawled, and Lloyd’s team began working over Jordan Oliver. Oliver hit a hard clothesline on Miedo at 7:30. Gage made the hot tag and he hit a spinebuster on Lloyd. Jackson made a blind tag and he hit a Facewash on Lloyd. Gage hit a Vader Bomb-style elbow drop. Jackson dragged both Macizos to the mat. Ciclope hit a Doomsday Bulldog on Wayne for a nearfall. Jackson hit a tornado DDT on Lloyd. Doors were brought into the ring. Jordan and Ciclope traded forearm shots at 11:30.
Oliver hit a Clout Cutter on Lloyd, and Gage hit a piledriver on Lloyd. Jackson dove through the ropes onto Los Macizos, and that popped the crowd! In the ring, Jackson walked the top rope (holding Oliver’s hand for balance) and he hit a splash onto Lloyd, who was lying on the door bridge, for the pin. Entertaining mess… it is easy to forget that Jackson is 73. Yes, Oliver was in the ring for the largest percent for his team, but Jackson and Gage looked good with what they were asked to do.
* Gage got on the mic and thanked the crowd with an expletive-filled rant.
5. Sawyer Wreck defeated John Wayne Murdoch in an intergender match at 8:01. I always say it, but at 6’1″, Sawyer is really tall and is eye-to-eye with Murdoch. She almost immediately chokeslammed him onto a door bridge that was covered in mouse traps; she rolled him in the ring and got a nearfall. She put a mouse trap on each of his ears! She then put one on each of his nipples. She pulled out a gusset plate and jabbed it into his forehead. That is just gross. She got a nearfall at 3:00, and Murdoch was bleeding heavily from his forehead.
Murdoch rammed skewers into her butt and into her forehead, and she was bleeding heavily. I am not amused. He used the gusset plate on her arms. She pushed a gusset plate into his groin. She hit her chokeslam powerbomb onto an open steel chair that was lying on its side to score the pin. OUCH. That looked like it really hurt. Murdoch attacked her from behind; Joey Janela ran to ringside to chase off Murdoch.
* Intermission. They probably need to clean up the ring.
6. “Team New South” Cabana Man Dan, Donnie Primetime, Brandon Williams, and Brayden Toon defeated “Team GCW” 1 Called Manders, Jack Cartwheel, Brogan Finlay, and Starboy Charlie at 11:54. This match is a preview of the battle with New South on Sunday. Charlie started against Williams, who wore a green singlet. Manders and Brayden entered at 2:00; they are the biggest man on each team. CMD, who might barely be 5’0″, battled Finlay. Primetime, who is a great heel, entered and faced Cartwheel at 4:00. Jack did a series of cartwheels, showing off his athleticism and startling Donnie. Williams hit a fisherman’s suplex on Jack Cartwheel, and Team New South worked Jack over. Brayden has great athleticism for his weight and sizable gut; think of him as a white Willie Mack.
CMDan used a flip-flop and slapped Charlie across his stomach, making a great sound. Charlie hit a moonsault off the apron onto several heels on the floor at 10:30. Brayden Toon hit a flip dive over the top rope onto everyone. Donnie Primetime hit a top-rope moonsault onto everyone. Cartwheel hit a flip dive onto Donnie Primetime. Cartwheel went for a top-rope Shooting Star Press, but Finlay pulled Primetime out of the way! Finlay gave the middle finger to his GCW teammates and left. Donnie rolled up a shocked Jack Cartwheel to steal the pin. Prazak said Finlay has been associated with New South in the past.
7. Blake Christian defeated Adam Priest to retain the GCW Heavyweight Title at 9:22. Priest is the mat-based gatekeeper; he’s had a few AEW TV matches. I recently watched him have a stellar match against Anthony Henry. Priest jumped Blake and hit a DDT before the bell. Priest hit a piledriver for a believable nearfall just seconds in. Blake went to the floor to regroup, but Priest hit some chops in front of the fans. Blake hit a spear on the ring apron and an Arabian Press to the floor at 2:00, and they continued to brawl on the floor.
In the ring, Blake hit a sliding German Suplex at 4:30. He hit the springboard 450 splash for a nearfall, then a half-nelson suplex at 7:00. Priest hit a top-rope Alabama Jam legdrop for a nearfall. Blake hit a running powerbomb for a nearfall, then the Rollins-style Stomp to the head for the clean pin. A good match — I knew it would be — but shorter and more one-sided than expected.
8. Joey Janela defeated Tank at 16:59. Tank is white, bald with a white beard, rotund and probably in his early 50s now but looks like he is a legit tough guy; I saw him wrestle a handful of times live nearly 20 years ago in IWA-Mid South. Tank easily shoved the smaller Janela to the mat. They brawled to the floor. Janela went to the back and returned with a shopping cart full of weapons. Tank put Janela in the shopping cart and pushed him around ringside; I hate when hardcore matches look cartoonish. In the ring, Janela hit Tank over the head with a trash can at 4:30.
Janela pushed a cheese grater across Tank’s forehead, and Tank was bleeding. Tank slammed Janela through a door set up in the corner. Janela hit a DDT onto an open chair at 10:30. Tank suplexed Janela onto a shopping cart (lying on its side) for a nearfall at 13:00. Janela slammed Tank through a door bridge, then he hit a doublestomp to the chest. Janela hit him with some door shards, then another doublestomp for the pin. Standard hardcore match; not my favorite style.
Final Thoughts: A so-so show. Certainly the top four matches on Friday in Chicago were better than anything here. The lineup Friday was far better, but the top luchadors (Arez, Komander, Gringo Loco, El Hijo Del Vikingo) headed to Washington state to compete in Defy, and they were missed.
I will go with Blake-Priest for best match, but yet I came away disappointed because I know how those two can really go in the ring, and I wish they had gone closer to 20 minutes, not under 10. I’ll go with Price-Yaki for second place, and the eight-man tag for third. Game Changer Wrestling heads another hour-plus west for a Sunday afternoon show in Florence, Alabama. All GCW shows can be viewed with Fite+.
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