By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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JCW “Dog Day Afternoon”
Replay available via YouTube.com
August 20, 2023 in Atlantic City, New Jersey at The Showboat
I have never really understood why GCW and JCW are listed as separate brands, but it feels like the difference between AEW and ROH now… there is a significant crossover of wrestlers appearing on both, but JCW is clearly meant as more of a B-tier group of wrestlers trying to earn their way onto the main GCW roster. The crowd is maybe 100; there will be a lot more this afternoon. Nick Knowledge and Emil Jay provided commentary. Unfortunately, Billie Starkz had to cancel her appearance, as she couldn’t make it after wrestling at the ROH tapings Saturday in Kentucky.
1. Gabriel Skye, Bam Sullivan, and “Wasted Youth” Marcus Mathers & Dyln McKay defeated “Team South” Brogan Finlay, Donnie Primetime, Rico Gonzalez, and Hunter Drake at 14:09. My guess is at least six of these eight are 25 or younger. Good to see Skye back in action after he hurt his shoulder a month ago. Bam and the much smaller Hunter opened. Bam always reminds me of former NXT wrestler Oney Lorcan with his bald head and short beard. Skye and Gonzalez entered at 1:30. Skye got whipped into the hard chairs (these are not folding chairs). Team South worked over Skye in the ring. Donnie Primetime (think Joey Janela) entered at 6:00 and continued the beatdown on Skye. However, Skye caught him with a jumping knee as Primetime came off the ropes.
Mathers and McKay both made the hot tag, entered, and they hit some quick offense on Brogan. Bam set up for a dive at 8:30 but was cut off. Hunter hit a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope onto everyone on the floor, which is just an insane spot. Everyone dove into the ring before being counted out. They all got up and all eight brawled. Donnie hit a Dragon Suplex on Mathers at 11:30. Primetime hit a top-rope Spanish Fly on McKay. Donnie and Bam traded mid-ring chops. Dyln hit his top-rope Shooting Star Press, and Mathers immediately hit his top-rope 450 Splash to pin Donnie Primetime. A bit of a mess at times but highly watchable; this featured some of my favorite rising indy wrestlers.
2. Alex Coughlin defeated Matt Makowski at 14:46. I saw Makowski for the first time last week; he is returning after being out for a year with an injury and he has short hair and a short beard; he looks like 2023 Trent Berreta. An intense lockup and Coughlin has the muscle mass advantage, and Matt is hardly small. Lots of non-descriptive mat wrestling early on. Matt shoved Coughlin shoulder-first into the ring post at 5:00, and they brawled to the floor. In the ring, Coughlin did a gut-wrench suplex and a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall at 8:30. He hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall.
Makowski hit a Razor’s Edge and he applied a Boston Crab. They got up and traded forearm shots. Coughlin hit a release German Suplex; Matt hit his own German Suplex. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down. Matt applied a crossarm breaker. This has been intense and believable. Coughlin went for a spear but Matt applied a Dragon Sleeper. Alex hit a standing powerbomb for a believable nearfall, then the Jackhammer for the pin. Intense; Nick Knowledge called it an “instant classic.”
3. “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black defeated Beast Man and Yoya at 11:17. Yoya, who is maybe 5’2″, came out on Beast Man’s shoulders. TME worked over Yoya early on with Lyon hitting a rolling cannonball into the corner. The mammoth Beast Man hit a double clothesline at 3:00; he’s wearing a Blue Meanie-style half-shirt so his massive gut is hanging out. Lyon roared at Yoya, so Beast Man roared at Lyon! Silliness. Beast Man picked up partner Yoya and gorilla pressed him to the floor on their opponents.
In the ring, TME was once again working over Yoya. Lyon hit a spin kick to the jaw at 7:00 for a nearfall. Yoya hit a mid-ring Sliced Bread on Lyon. Beast Man made the hot tag and hit some punches. He picked up Yoya and rammed his teammate into their opponents, then he slammed Yoya onto someone. Beast Man hit a buttdrop to Lyon’s chest for a believable nearfall. Lyon hit a German Suplex on Beast Man, earning a “holy shit” chant. Lyon hit a Lionsault and Midas hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. Midas hit a uranage on Yoya at 10:30. Beast Man hit a uranage on Midas for a nearfall. “He got a taste of his own medicine,” Knowledge said. TME hit their team X-Factor faceplant for the pin; Lyon struggled to get Beast Man launched and it looked a bit awkward. Midas helped Lyon from the ring and I think he may have legit got injured on lifting Beast Man.
4. 1 Called Manders defeated Kevin Blackwood at 8:50. This is the reason to tune in as this should be stiff. Blackwood immediately hit a kick to the face. (To point out what road warriors these guys are, they were both in the West Coast Pro Cup last weekend in San Francisco but didn’t meet in tournament action.) They brawled to the floor at 1:30, with Blackwood hitting some spin kicks to the chest. Manders accidentally hit a clothesline on the ring post. In the ring, Manders hit a delayed vertical suplex at 4:00 but sold the arm injury. Kevin hit a series of chops and a release German Suplex, then a running European Uppercut in the corner, then a basement dropkick to the face. Manders hit a Bulldog Powerslam for a nearfall at 6:00. They traded more mid-ring kicks and chops. Blackwood hit a running Death Valley Driver for a nearfall at 8:30. Manders hit a pair of clotheslines for the pin! That was good and hard-hitting, and I wish it had gone much longer.
* Because Billie Starkz’s match has been canceled, we head to the JCW title match! We saw a short video leading up to this match between faction partners.
5. Jordan Oliver defeated Griffin McCoy to retain the JCW Title at 22:35. Oliver wrestled in Philadelphia (only about 70-minute drive away, Google Maps says) a night ago. Again, these two have been in “Young, Dumb N Broke.” Emil Jay said this is Oliver’s 12th defense of the title (which he won in February, so that’s actually pretty frequent defenses.) They shook hands and McCoy is nearly eye-to-eye; I’ll put Jordan at 6’2″ and Griffin at 6’1″. They traded mat reversals early on. Oliver hit a head-scissors takedown at 5:00 and right back into an armhold. Griffin hit a German Suplex and repeated punches, and the crowd booed him.
They traded chops and Griffin was in charge, and he barked at the fans. Oliver hit a Tiger Suplex at 10:30 and they were both down. Oliver hit the Acid Kick in the corner, but Griffin blocked the Acid Bomb. So, Oliver hit another Acid Kick, then the Acid Bomb/face-first Blackout. Oliver dove through the ropes, but Griffin hit a half-nelson suplex on the FLOOR, earning a “holy shit!” chant at 12:30. Griffin got back in the ring but he has some cuts on his back. He hit a brainbuster for a nearfall at 14:30, then a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall. Griffin remained in charge, and the crowd rallied for Jordan.
McCoy applied an STF on the mat. He hit a jumping powerbomb for a nearfall at 17:30. Oliver hit another Acid Kick, then a second-rope Acid Bomb for a nearfall. McCoy hit another half-nelson suplex, then a springboard spin kick for a nearfall at 20:00. He playfully slapped at Oliver’s face, and the commentators agreed it was a bad idea. They traded rollups. Griffin hit a spinning back fist and another half-nelson suplex. He went for another springboard spin kick, but Oliver caught McCoy’s legs, got a rollup, and scored the pin! Good match. Not a great match, but a good match.
* The wrestlers shook hands, but then McCoy chop-blocked him from behind. Faction partner Charlie Tyger chased McCoy away before any further damage was done. We had another very nice video package.
6. Alec Price defeated Joshua Bishop in a ladder match to regain the Battlebowl ring at 15:13. Alec came to the ring first, and he dove onto Bishop on the floor to start the match. Bishop is the Sid Vicious clone and he’s much taller and thicker. They brawled into the ring, and we have multiple ladders in and out of the ring. Bishop tossed Price head-first into a ladder in the corner at 3:00. Price hit another dive to the floor, and he struck Bishop in the shoulder with a chair. Bishop whipped him into the rows of empty chairs, and Joshua got several boards out from under the ring and put them into the ring.
Price vanished backstage and returned with a tall ladder, which he pushed into the ring. In the ring, Bishop threw Price into a table set up in the corner at 8:00. Price leapt off a ladder, half-way up, and did a summersault senton onto Bishop, who was lying on a door bridge at 11:00. Price hit his series of kneestrikes in the corner. Bishop hit a uranage onto the board debris. Price tossed Bishop face-first onto a ladder set up in the corner. Bishop countered with a Black Hole Slam at 13:00. Price jabbed the ladder into Bishop’s stomach. They both climbed the ladder and traded punches at the peak. Bishop fell off and landed on a horizontal table. Price was then able to pull down the ring to win the match. Solid match, not among my favorite match from either guy.
Final Thoughts: A perfectly fine, free, six-match show. If you haven’t seen Alec Price, Marcus Mathers, Dyln McKay or Gabriel Skye, here’s your chance. I wouldn’t have expected it going in, but I’ll go with the mat-based, realistic Makowski-Coughlin match for best, Oliver-McCoy for second and the main event for third. I feel bad for Haley Dylan, who’s match against Billie Starkz was scrapped. Hopefully she can take Billie’s spot in the main GCW show later in the day.
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