By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Jersey J-Cup, Night 2”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
February 10, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey at White Eagle Hall
This show features the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals of the J-Cup tournament. Two other non-tournament matches also were announced in advance. The venue is again packed with 500-600 fans. Dave Prazak, Veda Scott, and Nick Knowledge provided commentary.
1. Alec Price defeated Joey Janela in a quarterfinal match at 14:16. The crowd was hot and split. They traded shoulder tackles. They brawled briefly to the floor. They traded chops in the ring at 3:00. Price hit a half-nelson suplex and a second-rope flying leg lariat for a nearfall. Janela hit an awkward German Suplex off the ropes at 5:30 with Price landing high on his shoulders, then a shotgun dropkick that sent Price to the floor. Janela dove through the ropes onto Price. In the ring, they traded punches. Price hit another half-nelson suplex. Janela hit a German Suplex at 8:00. Price hit a pop-up dropkick and they were both down.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. Joey went for a package piledriver but Price escaped, and Alec hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall at 10:00. Price hit his kneestrikes in the corner. Janela hit a Razor’s Edge but Price popped up and hit the Surprise Kick/step-up Mule Kick to the head; Janela rolled to the floor to avoid being pinned. Price hit a dive onto Joey. In the ring, Joey hit a Package Piledriver for a believable nearfall at 12:00; I thought that was it. Janela hit a rolling forearm. Price hit a Rebound Lariat, then his springboard Blockbuster. Janela hit a Brainbuster for a nearfall at 13:30, then a superkick. Price hit a Frankensteiner, then another Surprise Kick for the pin. That was incredibly good.
2. Masha Slamovich defeated Matt Makowski in a quarterfinal match at 10:32. The crowd taunted Matt with a “Masha’s gonna kill you!” chant. He immediately applied a rear-naked choke, and switched to a crossarm breaker, and they traded intense mat holds. They are roughly the same height but of course, Matt has the overall size and strength advantage. They got to their feet and he hit a series of quick kicks. Masha applied a crossarm breaker, but Matt escaped at 2:00. He took control and kept her grounded. She hit a doublestomp on the chest, then she switched to the rear-naked choke again. Masha hit a rolling kick for a nearfall at 5:00.
Matt hit a Razor’s Edge, and he applied a Boston Crab in the center of the ring, and he was booed. (He’s not being a heel; this crowd just loves Masha.) Matt had blood in his mouth; he hit a running knee for a nearfall. Masha fired back with some back fists. He hit some roundhouse kicks to the chest at 8:00. Matt hit a butterfly suplex and the crowd chanted “Masha!” He nailed a spear, but she held on and applied a front guillotine choke! However, Matt powered out and slammed her to the mat for a nearfall. She hit a back suplex and a Shining Wizard for a nearfall at 10:00. Masha again applied the rear-naked choke, and this time, Matt tapped out. I’ve written this before, but no woman looks more believable against men than Masha. Masha will now face Price in the semi-finals.
3. Nick Wayne defeated Great Sasuke in a quarterfinal match at 12:55. I am assuming that Jordan Oliver wins his next match, which means he either gets a dream match against Sasuke or he fights his East West Express teammate Wayne. A feeling-out process to open and some standing switches. Wayne hit a shoulder tackle at 3:00 and some stomps but Sasuke kept sitting up. Wayne hit some deep armdrags, and Sasuke went to the floor. Wayne nailed a Sasuke Special at 5:00 onto GS! (How cool was that?) Wayne got a nearfall in the ring, and he began working over the left arm. Nick went for Wayne’s World stunner, but Sasuke caught him with a rear-naked choke.
Sasuke hit a second-rope DDT for a nearfall at 8:30. Wayne hit a rolling forearm and a fisherman’s suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Wayne got a chair and wedged it into the corner. GS grabbed the chair and threw it at Wayne’s unprotected head at 11:00 (I hate seeing that!), then he hit a piledriver onto the folded chair for a nearfall! Sasuke missed a Swanton Bomb. Wayne hit a 619, then a doublestomp onto the left arm at 12:30. They traded rollups when Wayne suddenly got the pin! He won clean but Sasuke protested, indicating he thought he had kicked out. A very good match. They shook hands and bowed toward each other.
4. Jordan Oliver defeated Myron Reed in a quarterfinal match AND to retain the JCW Title at 17:21. The first time I saw these two was during their time on MLW TV, and they’ve been Young Dumb N Broke faction teammates for years now. Emil Jay this is Oliver’s 28th defense of the JCW Title. An intense lockup and mat reversals to open. Again, Reed just had a huge win over Lio Rush and Prazak mentioned it as I wrote this sentence. Myron faked out Oliver on a punch, and it ticked Oliver off, who swung wildy at Myron, and ‘the gloves have come off.’ They picked up the speed and Myron hit an enzuigiri at 4:00. Jordan hit a deep armdrag and a dropkick. They traded loud chops. “It’s getting heated,” Nick Knowledge said.
Oliver applied a Boston Crab at 7:00. Myron hit a Stundog Millionaire, then his flying stunner over the top rope with them both crashing to the floor, earning a “holy shit!” chant. In the ring, Myron hit a top-rope 450 Splash for a nearfall at 8:30 and we got a “this is awesome!” chant. Reed put Oliver on his shoulders and hit a stunner at 10:00. Oliver hit the Cleopatra stunner. Myron hit a kip-up stunner. Reed came off the ropes but Oliver caught him with a dropkick and they were both down. They got up and traded punches. Oliver hit his twisting crossbody block for a nearfall at 12:00.
Myron hit a superkkick then a cool slingshot Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. They traded punches on the ring apron. Myron hit a superkick, and he went for another stunner over the top rope, but this time Oliver caught him, and Jordan hit a piledriver onto the floor at 15:30! In the ring, Jordan hit the Clout Cutter for a nearfall. He went for the Acid Kick but Myron blocked it. They traded rollups, and Jordan nailed the Acid Kick, then the Acid Bomb/face-first Razor’s Edge for the pin. Very good match, and it means Jordan will face Nick Wayne in the semis!
5. “The Astronauts” Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura defeated Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham at 18:25. This match was announced late Friday or early Saturday. Again, Takuya has short thick hair, while Abe has a buzzcut. I had never seen them before but they had a dazzling match Friday against Violence is Forever. Gresham and Abe opened; Nick Knowledge said these two have teamed up in Japan before. Bailey and Takuya entered at 1:30, and Nomura hit a dropkick. They traded roundhouse kicks to the chest. Bailey hit his speedball kicks to the ribs and thighs, then his Triangle Moonsault to the floor. Gresham hit a top-rope crossbody block on Nomura, and he tied Takuya in an Octopus Stretch.
Bailey hit a double kneedrop for a nearfall at 5:00, then a Helluva Kick, but he missed a Vader Bomb-style kneedrop. Takuya immediately slammed Bailey to the mat knee-first. Abe tagged in and twisted Bailey’s legs. Abe tied Bailey in a bow-and-arrow, and he hit a dropkick on Bailey’s knee at 7:00, and the Astronauts kept working over Bailey. Abe hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 8:30. Bailey hit a Crane Kick and he made the hot tag to Gresham. Jonathon applied a Boston Crab on Abe in the center of the ring, but Takuya hit some roundhouse kicks on Gresham for the save. Gresham hit a dive to the floor.
Bailey hit a missile dropkick. Gresham hit a stunner for a nearfall on Abe, and he tied up Abe’s legs on the mat. Bailey hit a moonsault kneedrop on Abe for a nearfall, as Gresham still has this leglock in place. Gresham hit a German Suplex on Takuya at 12:30. Bailey entered and hit a series of kicks, but he missed a running Shooting Star Press. Nomura hit a suplex on Bailey for a nearfall. Abe entered and he tied Bailey in an Octopus. Bailey escaped and hit a moonsault kneedrop onto both of them at 14:30. Bailey and Gresham hit stereo Shooting Star Presses, earning a “Holy shit!” chant.
Bailey hit the Green Tea Plunge/mid-ring Spanish Fly on Abe for a nearfall, then the Ultima Weapon for a nearfall, but Takuya made the save. Gresham and Takuya traded kicks and chops and this went on for a bit. Bailey hit some superkicks. Abe hit a Kushida-style baseball punch. Abe hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Bailey, and Takuya hit a German Suplex. Abe applied an anklelock. The Astronauts applied stereo Octopus holds, and Bailey tapped out. That was stellar stuff. “What a hard-hitting tag team war!” Prazak shouted.
* The crowd chanted “Please come back!” at the Astronauts. GCW was prepared for that, as the graphic aired that the Astronauts will return for The Collective events over WrestleMania weekend in Philadelphia.
* It’s time for the final four! If you had told me these four would be in the semi-finals before the brackets were even released, I would not have been surprised.
6. Masha Slamovich defeated Alec Price in a semi-final match at 11:53. I recall seeing Masha beat Price before; I don’t know how many times they’ve fought. She immediately hit some forearm strikes, a stiff kick to the spine, then one to the chest. Alec hit a doublestomp on her back as she was in the ropes, then a uranage out of the ropes at 2:00. He hit a snap suplex for a nearfall. He hit a dropkick on her back, then a devastating backbreaker over his knees for a nearfall at 3:30. This crowd is still behind Masha. He applied a modified Sharpshooter and reached down and pulled on her hair. Masha dropped him face-first onto the middle turnbuckle, then she hit a second-rope dropkick and they were both down at 5:30.
Masha hit a rolling kick for a nearfall. She was clutching at her lower back. She applied a standing sleeper; Alec eventually reached the ropes. He hit a spinning back fist, then a Rebound Lariat for a nearfall at 7:30. Price hit his running kneestrikes in the corner. She hit the quick back slam, then a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Price dropped her back-first across the top turnbuckle and she fell to the floor. He then dove over the ropes onto her at 9:30. In the ring, he hit a springboard leg lariat for a nearfall. He shouted “this is my year!” He set up for the Surprise Kick but she collapsed. He hit a Superkick. She fired back with a second-rope Canadian Destroyer and a Shining Wizard for a nearfall, then a Northern Lights Bomb for a believable nearfall. She switched to a rear-naked choke, and Price tapped out. I had expected Price to win.
7. Jordan Oliver defeated Nick Wayne in a semifinal match AND to retain the JCW World Title at 20:39. Again, these two had a fantastic tag team run right up until Wayne turned 18 last summer and joined AEW. The crowd chanted “F— Seattle!” at Nick. They shook hands and had an intense lockup and friendly reversals on the mat. Wayne twisted the left arm and grounded Jordan. They sped it up, traded armdrags, and had a standoff at 4:30. Wayne hit a headscissors takedown and a flying European Uppercut. He stomped on Jordan’s elbow, and Oliver immediately sold the pain in his arm. Wayne went to work on the damaged limb. Oliver hit a clothesline at 7:00 but clutched at the sore arm.
They traded chops, and Jordan hit a backbreaker over his knee, then he applied a Boston Crab, but Nick reached the ropes. He hit some blows to the kidneys and Nick collapsed. Oliver hit his twisting crossbody block. Wayne hit a spin kick to the face, then a 619, and he hit a top-rope doublestomp on the arm, then a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 10:30. He immediately applied a Fujiwara Armbar, but Oliver reached the ropes. Oliver hit the Cleopatra slingshot stunner at 13:00. They fought on the ring apron where they traded chops. Oliver nailed a superkick. Wayne hit a Dragon Suplex on the apron. However, Oliver caught Wayne leaping off the apron and Jordan nailed a brainbuster on the floor at 15:00, with fans chanting “holy shit!’
Oliver rolled back in first; Wayne got back in before being counted out. Oliver immediately hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. He hit some chops. Wayne got up and they traded some chops. Wayne hit a Superkick. Oliver hit a Mafia Kick. Wayne hit a German Suplex. Oliver leapt off the ropes but Wayne caught him with a stunner. Wayne hit an Unprettier faceplant for a nearfall at 19:00. Oliver hit another backbreaker over his knee. They traded rollups, and Jordan applied a Boston Crab and sat down, and Wayne quickly tapped out. A fantastic, stellar match. These two undoubtedly know it could be a long time before they face each other again, and they pulled out everything in their toolbox here. Great, great stuff.
8. Allie Katch, Mr. Danger, Cole Radrick, Man Like Dereiss, and “Los Macizos” Ciclope and Miedo Extremo defeated Jimmy Lloyd, Kerry Morton, Jack Cartwheel, Tony Deppen, Charles Mason (w/Parrow), and Griffin McCoy in a 12-person tag at 16:37. Veda Scott booed Cartwheel when she saw him come out with the heel team. So, all the first-round losers are in this match except Marcus Mathers (who went to Dreamwave Wrestling), Billie Starkz (ROH taping), and Bailey/Gresham (earlier match.) Dereiss and Cartwheel opened with some fun reversals. Dorky Radrick did some bad cartwheels and the crowd popped, and it frustrated Jack Cartwheel. Deppen got in and hit a senton on Radrick. Danger hit a flipping senton on Deppen.
Kerry tagged in at 3:30, but Los Macizos hit a team flapjack on him. Los Macizos picked up Allie and splashed her onto Kerry, then they did the same to Radrick, then to Dereiss, then to Danger. They grabbed Jimmy Llody and splashed him onto Kerry, too. Mason spit fluid in Radrick’s face and hit a Tower of London stunner at 6:00, and the heels began working over Cole Radrick. Allie got the hot tag at 8:00 and she hit her buttbumps in the corners on heels. Ciclope hit a spinebuster on Lloyd. Miedo hit a DDT on Cartwheel at 9:30. Kerry hit a stunner on Miedo. Allie hit an X-Factor on Miedo. Radrick hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Deppen and did the “You can’t see me” elbow drop. At this point, everyone started copying WWE wrestlers’ famous moves. McCoy hit a Pedigree. Danger hit a Swanton Bomb.
Parrow got in the ring and hit a chokeslam. Dereiss hit a Santino Marella-style Cobra strike. Mason hit an Undertaker-style Tombstone piledriver. Referee Scarlett Donovan gave Mason a middle finger and hit a Stone Cold-style stunner and the crowd POPPED. Miedo dove through the ropes onto everyone. Cartwheel hit a Sasuke Special onto everyone. Mr. Danger hit a springboard moonsault onto everyone on the floor at 14:00. In the ring, Jack hit a Shooting Star Press. Everyone started hitting frogsplashes. Kerry hit a top-rope crossbody block. Radrick hit a Jarrett-style Stroke. Allie hit her piledriver in the ropes on Lloyd, then a Michinoku Driver on Deppen. She traded forearm strikes with Mason. Parrow again hopped in and struck Allie. Parrow hit a sit-out piledriver on Mr. Danger. Radrick got a backslide out of nowhere to pin Mason. That was fun.
* I assumed Blake Christian’s mystery challenger was going to be a first-round loser, but as I noted above, they are all accounted for. So it is someone who was not on Friday’s show… The crowd popped when they heard the familiar music of former ROH World Champion Homicide!
9. Blake Christian defeated Homicide to retain the GCW Title at 13:58. Blake attacked as Homicide climbed into the ring. Homicide hit a suplex and the crowd chanted “New champ!” He hit some rolling suplexes for a nearfall. He hit a tornado DDT at 2:00. Blake hit a handspring-back-spin kick, then a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, then a dive through the ropes onto Homicide. They brawled up onto a stage away from ringside. Homicide whipped a chair at Blake’s leg, and he hit another chair strike to the gut. (These are NOT metal folding chairs.) Homicide bodyslammed Blake across some open chairs at ringside at 5:00. Blake shoved him shoulder-first into the ring post. In the ring, Blake hit a splash in the corner but he limped from that blow on the floor.
Homicide hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip and an Exploder Suplex for a nearfalll, and he applied an STF on the mat at 7:00, but Blake reached the ropes. Blake hit a stunner. He grabbed a fork out of Homicide’s boot! However, Homicide hit a jawbreaker and retrieved the fork, but Blake avoided being hit by it. Blake hit a superkick and a springboard 450 Splash for a nearfall at 9:00. Homicide hit a stunner for a nearfall. Blake hit a top-rope elbow drop for a nearfall at 11:00. He applied a Texas Cloverleaf and he cranked backward. The referee got bumped! Blake grabbed the title belt but Homicide hit a Flatliner for a nearfall at 13:00. Blake hit a low blow and got a jackknife cover for a nearfall. Homicide set up for the Cop Killah backslide driver, but Blake rotated out, landed on his feet, and hit the Stomp to the head for the pin! Nice finishing sequence.
10. Masha Slamovich defeated Jordan Oliver to win the 2024 Jersey J-Cup tournament and win the JCW Title at 18:49. I love the ring intros, with Emil Jaye saying who each competitor defeated so far in the tournament to reach the finals. It is unclear why, but Jordan is wearing pants instead of his ring gear. The ref held up both the title and the trophy. They charged at each other at the bell. Oliver sold a left arm injury while Masha is favoring her lower back. Jordan tied her up on the mat and got a nearfall at 1:00. He put his arms around her waist and kept throwing her to the mat. She hit a kick to the side of the face and a clothesline at 3:00, and she stomped on Jordan’s sore left elbow. She hit a snap suplex on the floor, and she applied a rear-naked choke; he dropped her onto an open chair to break the hold at 5:00.
Jordan hit a running dropkick on her as she was seated on a chair, and she went flying. He dragged her back into the ring and he hit a sliding knee to her back for a nearfall at 7:00, and he was in charge. He whipped her into the corner and she collapsed. She hit a second-rope missile dropkick and they were both down at 9:30. She hit a Helluva Kick and a rolling kick for a nearfall. Jordan applied a Boston Crab and sat down; Prazak pointed out Masha already has a sore back. She hit a spin kick; he hit an Acid Kick, then he nailed the Acid Bomb for a nearfall at 11:30. He set up for a Clout Cutter but she cut him off. They fought on the ropes, but he hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall.
Oliver immediately re-applied the Boston Crab! He rolled her back over and hit stomps on her stomach, then he re-applied the Boston Crab. She inched to the ropes but he pulled her back to the middle. She reached the ropes at 13:30. This crowd is now hot and split. He hit a running boot to the side of her head. He got an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall, but she turned it into a rear-naked choke. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and they were both down at 15:00. They traded chops while on their knees, then from the standing position. He hit an Acid Kick; she hit a Shining Wizard and a Northern Lights Bomb, and she re-applied a rear-naked choke! She hit the White Knight piledriver for a believable nearfall at 17:30.
Masha hit a series of headbutts, and she re-applied the rear-naked choke; he started to fade but he powered to his feet with her still on his back. She hit a pump-handle back suplex, re-applied the rear-naked choke, and he passed out. New champion! Oliver handed the belt to her and shook her hand. She celebrated with the belt and trophy in her hands as we faded to black.
Final Thoughts: I absolutely love tournaments. I love the ebb and flow, and how they build upon victories and sell injuries from prior matches. I’ll go with Oliver-Wayne for best match. Astronauts-Bailey/Gresham earns second place, and an excellent Masha-Oliver finale for third. I expected Oliver to lose the belt here, being as he’s headed right back overseas and won’t be in the U.S. for much of the next couple of months. This is a stellar — absolutely stellar — show with nothing I disliked here. This is GCW at its best. I can’t fathom that anyone who has Triller+ would skip this show.
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