By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW “Breaking GCW 2024”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
April 21, 2024 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at The Dirty Bourbon
This was GCW’s debut in this state and it was held in a well-lit tavern with perhaps 150-200 fans. Dave Prazak and Veda Scott provided commentary.
1. Jack Cartwheel defeated JKM at 11:10. My first time seeing JKM; he’s a lanky Black man in a modified Spiderman mask, and Prazak said he’s been wrestling for about two years here. They cartwheeled out of each others’ hip tosses. JKM hit a plancha to the floor. Cartwheel hit a slingshot senton into the ring for a nearfall at 2:30. Jack hit his cartwheel powerslam. JKM hit a running neckbreaker and a rolling elbow. Cartwheel nailed the Sasuke Special to the floor at 6:00 and that popped the crowd. In the ring, Jack hit a leaping Pedigree for a nearfall. They got up and traded forearm strikes. JKM hit a Pele Kick to the back. Cartwheel hit a superkick. JKM hit a doublestomp to the chest on the ring apron at 9:30 for a nearfall. Jack hit his cartwheel Death Valley Driver. He hit his top-rope cartwheel splash for the pin. A fun opener and JKM looked good in his GCW debut.
2. Jordan Oliver defeated Gino Rivera at 8:25. Gino is a trainer here in New Mexico; I admittedly don’t know him. He’s the “Puerto Rican Pitbull” with a buzzcut and some tattoos around his neck and I can’t help but compare him to former ROH wrestler Ricky Reyes. Oliver has the height advantage and they had an intense lockup. Oliver hit a Mafia Kick to the chest at 2:00. Gino choked him in the ropes and kept Jordan grounded early. Oliver hit an axe kick to the back of the head at 5:00 and they were both down. Oliver hit a DDT; these two have good chemistry.
Gino hit a second-rope butt splash to the chest, then a senton at 7:00, then a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Oliver hit an Acid Kick in the corner. He set up for an Acid Bomb but Rivera blocked it. Rivera leapt off the ropes but Oliver caught him with a stunner. Oliver then hit the Acid Bomb for the pin. That was good stuff; the winner was never in doubt but Gino is quite polished and proficient in the ring.
* A video package aired of highlights of the GCW show a night earlier in Los Angeles.
3. Mance Warner defeated “The Last American Hitchhiker” Colt at 2:55. Colt is unwashed with dirty shoulder-length hair and tattered pants and a ripped plaid shirt. Colt is replacing the 400-pounder Sam Stackhouse, who is out with an injury. Colt has a hand puppet he calls Mr. Rogers. Mance hit a low blow to open and he stomped on Colt. Mance got a chair and he cracked it across the back at 1:30. He slammed the chair on the hand puppet and got a “you sick f—!” chant. Mance nailed a DDT for the pin. Shorter than expected and completely one-sided.
* Highlights aired of Jordan Oliver-Aigle Blanc and Yamashita-Slamovich from the Philadelphia shows.
4. Billie Starkz defeated Dark Sheik at 13:19. Starkz wasn’t on Saturday’s GCW show. Starkz rolled to the floor at the bell and yelled at a male fan who clearly said something derogatory, and the crowd chanted “f— him up!” (No idea what he said but she was clearly not happy about it.) In the ring, they opened with standing switches. After some comedy, Sheik hit some hard chops at 5:00. Starkz tied Sheik in the Tree of Woe and hit a dropkick to the stomach for a nearfall. Sheik hit a kick to the back of the head for a nearfall.
Sheik tied up Starkz in a pendulum, then slammed Billie stomach-first to the mat at 9:30. Starkz hit a second-rope superplex and a neckbreaker over her knee for a nearfall. Billie went for a Swanton Bomb but Sheik got knees up to block up. Sheik hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. Sheik nailed a top-rope coast-to-coast dropkick for a nearfall at 12:00. Billie hit a tombstone piledriver for a nearfall, then she hit the Swanton Bomb for the pin. Good action in the second half, after they set aside some of the silliness.
5. 1 Called Manders defeated Ocean Avery at 10:14. I don’t know Avery but he’s muscular with plenty of tattoos and short blond hair and a mustache; best comparison is a more muscular Dexter Lumis. Manders was in Illinois the prior night rather than at GCW. They opened by trading chops, then shoulder tackles, with Manders finally knocking him down at 2:00. Avery hit a snap suplex. He stomped on the hand and hit a kneestrike to the collarbone and was in charge. Manders hit a decapitating clothesline for a nearfall at 7:00. Avery hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. They got up and traded slaps to the face. Avery hit a kick to the chest for a nearfall at 9:00. Manders clocked him with a short-arm clothesline, then a second clothesline for the pin. Hard-hitting.
6. Joey Janela defeated Fuego Del Sol at 15:21. Standing switches early on and Joey dropped him with a shoulder tackle at 1:30. Fuego hit a spear into the corner and a huracanrana. Joey hit a German Suplex. Fuego hit a moonsault to the floor at 4:30. They got back in the ring and traded superkicks. Fuego hit a clothesline. Joey hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall at 7:30. Fuego fired back with a step-up enzuigiri and a Poison Rana for a nearfall. They fought on the ring apron, and Joey hit a Death Valley Driver on the ring apron at 10:00, and they both collapsed to the floor.
In the ring, Joey stomped on Fuego’s chest in the corner. Fuego tied Joey in the Tree of Woe and nailed a doublestomp to his chest, then a coast-to-coast dropkick at 12:30, then the tornado DDT for a nearfall. Fuego missed a top-rope corkscrew splash. They traded punches, then European Uppercuts. Janela hit a brainbuster at 14:30 and he was fired up. Joey nailed a package piledriver for the pin. That was really good.
7. Nick Gage defeated “Broski” Jimmy Lloyd at 12:26. Gage hit a swinging neckbreaker in the opening seconds and immediately got a chair from under the ring and hit Lloyd on the back with it, and they brawled at ringside. Jimmy was bleeding from his forehead and he stomped on Gage. He hit Gage across the back with a chair. Gage clocked a HARD UNPROTECTED chairshot, then he suplexed Lloyd onto a pile of open chairs at 6:00; that blow is just so unwarranted. Gage hit a DDT and a running boot in the corner onto a chair over Lloyd’s face.
Gage hit a second-rope Vader Bomb-style elbow drop. He got a pizza cutter and used it across Jimmy’s forehead at 7:30. Lloyd hit a second-rope leg lariat, sending Gage through a door bridge for a nearfall at 10:00. Gage threw another chair at Jimmy’s head. Gage hit a second-rope jumping piledriver through a door bridge for the pin. The crowd loved this; I really did not. Those chairshots to unprotected heads are so mind-blowingly stupid I can’t get past it.
8. Blake Christian defeated Effy to retain the GCW World Title at 20:25. Like Manders and Starkz, Christian was not on the Saturday show in Los Angeles. Blake came out last and was loudly booed. An intense lockup to open; I always write this but Effy is bigger and thicker than you’d expect, and he’s got the size advantage on Blake. Blake rolled to the floor and stalled at 2:00. In the ring, Effy did some of his gay humor, then he bit Blake’s finger. Effy applied a leg lariat around the neck in the corner at 4:00. Effy hit a flying crossbody block to the back as Blake was in the ropes. Blake hit a splash for a nearfall.
Blake hit a nice dropkick at 6:30 and celebrated. Effy hit a Northern Lights Suplex and his Whoopee Cushion-style buttdrop. Effy nailed a Stomp for a nearfall. Effy set up for a dive through the ropes but Blake caught him with a kick. Blake hit a 619, then a springboard flying forearm for a nearfall at 8:30. He slowed down Effy with a headlock on the mat. He began choking Effy. Effy fired back with a Helluva Kick and a second-rope Blockbuster for a nearfall at 10:30. Effy hit a TKO Stunner and he applied a modified Dragon Sleeper on the mat. Blake hit a Northern Lights Suplex, then a top-rope elbow drop to the sternum for a believable nearfall at 12:00.
He hit a DDT and they were both down. They traded kicks on the ring apron, and Blake hit a spear. Blake nailed a flip dive to the floor on Effy. He then nailed the springboard 450 Splash for a believable nearfall at 15:00. The crowd started a loud “F— you, Blake!” chant. Blake hit a standing powerbomb and a DDT. A board bridge was set up in the ring. Blake hit a superplex through the board bridge. Mance Warner got in the ring. Effy accidentally hit the referee with a kick. Blake superkicked Mance. Effy hit a spear and a flying leg lariat for a visual pin, but we had no ref. Blake hit a back suplex, with Effy’s head hitting an open chair. Blake hit a step-up Curbstomp for the pin. Veda pointed out that Mance never technically cashed in.
Final Thoughts: Blake Christian has been a very good champion for about a year now, and this showed why. While I prefer him as a babyface, everything he does looks so good in the ring. He and Effy had an excellent match and they earned best match. Janela-Fuego was good for second best, with Oliver-Rivera for third. I didn’t mind the use of the local talent, as they all seemed quick well-trained despite not being known on a national level. My biggest complaint are those unnecessary chairshots to unprotected heads; Jimmy Lloyd made absolutely no effort to protect himself from what was clearly a very hard blow to his skull. And it didn’t help the match out one bit.
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