By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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GCW presents “Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XI”
Replay available via TrillerTV+
July 28, 2024 from Brooklyn, New York at Roulette Intermedium
If you haven’t seen Bloodsport before, it is no ropes action with no pinfalls. The only way to win is knockout or submission, but no low blows, eye gouging or hair-pulling. It is as realistic as a worked pro wrestling match can look. These matches tend to be short and brutal. I would not watch this if it was a weekly series, but for just once or twice a year, it’s fun because it’s refreshing and different. The Bloodsport event over WrestleMania weekend was the highlight of the indy schedule that weekend. Give GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale credit here — he has secured wrestlers from NUMEROUS promotions to participate.
* The show opened with a highlight package from that Bloodsport X event, including Shayna Baszler beating Masha Slamovich. Also on that show, Charlie Dempsey beat Matt Makowski.
* To the venue! The lighting was really good. The mat was clean and white and looked new. Each of the participants on the show were introduced. Hometown hero Mike Santana got a big pop. Shayna got on the mic and said, “This is the way pro wrestling was meant to be! This is Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport!” Cool that they gave her the mic for those lines. The upper level is full so the crowd could be 500 or higher; it’s hard to entirely judge because I can’t see them all. Dan Barry and Emil Jay provided commentary.
1. Heddi Karaoui defeated “The Mecca” Brian Johnson at 3:23. The bald Johnson was a regular at the end of the ROH Sinclair era. I don’t think I’ve seen Heddi before; he also is bald and he wore boxer trunks. The fans taunted Johnson by chanting their hate for the Eagles and Phillies. They traded forearms to open. Heddi applied a Texas Cloverleaf-type hold, and he switched to a Rings of Saturn-style double armbar. He hit a punt kick to Brian’s head, sending Johnson to the floor! Heddi tied up the arms and legs, and Johnson tapped out. Intense; it sure felt longer than that. Johnson refused a post-match handshake.
2. Julius Creed defeated Matt Makowski at 4:58. Creed has a significant height advantage. Matt has MMA experience. Creed charged at Matt and tied him up. The commentators said Matt is 2-2 in Bloodsport competition. They got up and traded strikes, but Creed tackled him again, then suplexed him. Matt applied a crossarm breaker at 3:00. Creed hit some diving forearm strikes to the jaw, then a release suplex, and another. Matt went back to the crossarm breaker and the crowd chanted “Creed!” Creed stood up and hit a powerbomb to break the crossarm breaker. He hit another diving forearm to knock out Matt! The ref basically tackled Creed to stop him from hitting Matt again. That was really good.
* Veda Scott joined Emil Jay on commentary.
3. Masha Slamovich defeated Jody Threat at 5:23. Jody hit a belly-to-belly suplex, tossing her to the mat, and she applied a crossarm breaker. The crowd was hot and split, with Masha having more fans. Jody hit a German Suplex and a running kick at 4:30. Masha applied a rear-naked choke. Masha hit a pump-handle suplex and a running knee and some punches to the face; like the prior match, the ref stepped in and stopped her and declared Masha the winner.
4. Royce Isaacs defeated Charlie Dempsey at 9:34. Isaacs is best known for his run in New Japan Strong; he and partner Jorel Nelson are the West Coast Wrecking Crew and I consider them a top five U.S. tag team. Charlie applied a cravat and flipped Royce to the mat to open. Royce tied him up on the mat. Charlie tied up Royce’s legs at 2:30 and leaned back and tied up Royce’s head, too. Royce escaped and applied an anklelock. They stood up and locked up again on the mat. Dempsey applied an anklelock and twisted the leg; Royce had the same thing. They sat up and started trading open hand slaps to the ace at 5:30 and that woke up the crowd.
Dempsey stood up and hit some stomps to the face. Royce hit a Falcon Arrow and he applied a front guillotine choke! However, Dempsey turned it into a Northern Lights Suplex, and Charlie applied a hammerlock, then a butterfly suplex, and into his own front guillotine choke. He switched to a Fujiwara Armbar, then he switched back to grapevining the leg, and into an STF! Royce broke free, stood up, and hit a back suplex, and Royce applied his own rear-naked choke at 9:00. Royce hit an impressive pop-up German Suplex, and he tied up Charlie on the mat, and Charlie tapped out! Wow! I didn’t see that coming. The crowd booed! (I really assumed that WWE wrestlers were not losing here.) What a fight. They hugged afterwards.
5. Mike Bailey defeated Akira at 2:55. These two are familiar opponents. Akira’s mohawk is fully grown back (you may recall it was shaved off in MLW) and it’s pink again. They immediately traded punches and quick kicks, and Akira tackled Bailey, then hit a spin kick to his face! Bailey fell out of the ring and got back in at 1:00 and they immediately traded more spin kicks to thighs. Bailey got on his back and locked in a sleeper. Akira hit some punches. Bailey again fell to the floor. It appears Akira is bleeding near his eye. Bailey got back in the ring and hit a roundhouse kick that knocked out Akira and the ref called for the bell. So intense and not even three minutes. This was a blast. The crowd chanted “holy shit!”
* Veda checked out of the booth and Dan Barry checked back in.
6. Brutus Creed defeated Tom Lawlor at 6:37. Lawlor wore his star-spangled outfit and came out to “Living in America.” They immediately tied each other up on the mat, and Brutus stood and flipped him to the mat. Brutus climbed on him and hit some diving forearm strikes. Lawlor applied a leg lock around the head and punched at the head. Creed again stood up and hit a Samoan Drop, and Emil immediately noted he’s never seen a Samoan Drop in Bloodsport before. Brutus hit a German Suplex at 3:30.
Lawlor applied a rear-naked choke. Creed hit a Bulldog Powerslam. He went for a sliding clothesline but Lawlor caught the arm and tied it up. They got up and traded punches, and Lawlor hit a hard kneestrike to the head! Lawlor hit an enzuigiri, then a big German Suplex and a basement dropkick. Brutus hit a gut-wrench powerbomb and he immediately nailed the sliding clothesline, and the ref called for the bell! That was fun. I am amazed at how short these matches all are because they are so intense, they feel much longer.
7. Homicide defeated Mike Santana at 9:00 even. Homicide tied up the legs and the crowd chanted “both these guys!” Homicide fell to the floor at 2:00 and he jawed at the ref and threw some cleaning supplies in. Back in the ring, Santana tied him up in a pendulum. They stood up; Santana slapped him in the face and they traded forearm strikes. Santana hit a dropkick to the head. They traded blows while on their knees. Santana now rolled to the floor to regroup, and he got back in at 5:30.
They tied up on the mat. Santana did a back roll into a stunner, then a powerbomb, and he tied up Homicide on the mat. Santana charged at him but Homicide caught him with a kneestrike, then Homicide hit an Exploder Suplex and a stunner. Homicide hit a Flatliner and he applied an STF. The ref checked and determined that Santana was out! Homicide acted crazy and he tied up the ref, too! Homicide waved his arms, as if to indicate the ref screwed up there. Either way, I’m surprised Santana lost as he’s been on a roll in his 2024 run.
* A neat video aired showing when they ran the Hammerstein Ballroom a couple years ago. (Which is about the time I started watching GCW.) Plenty of footage of Jeff Jarrett, Billie Starkz, Jon Moxley and Jay Briscoe, along with their regulars (Joey Janela, Allie Katch, Effy and Nick Gage heavily featured.) Wow, this video is giving me goosebumps; this music is hitting all the right notes. I don’t know why they put that together but that was picture perfect.
8. Josh Barnett defeated Bad Dude Tito at 7:42. Tito, like Isaacs, is best known for his New Japan Strong run. Tito tossed him to the mat and tied him up. Josh shoved Tito to the floor at 3:30. They tied up each other’s legs. Tito applied a Cobra Clutch-style submission hold on the mat. Barnett mounted him and hit a series of punches at 6:30. They stood up and traded kicks. Barnett nailed a spinning heel kick to the jaw, and the ref called for the bell. Decent action.
* MVP got in the ring. The crowd chanted “MVP!” MVP said he has his black belt in jujitsu, and he said his contract with his employer is about to expire, and he’s not going back, but he’s not ready to retire, either. He asked for a Bloodsport match. Barnett shook his hand and accepted the offer. He said he is welcome to come back and with “anyone else” he wants to bring.
9. Timothy Thatcher vs. Josh Woods went to a draw (double count-out) at 9:39. Standing reversals and Woods tied him up on the mat and was in charge early on. Thatcher went for a hammerlock but Woods blocked it. Thatcher hit some hard knee strikes to the back as they were tied up on the mat. They began trading kicks to the thighs. Woods applied a leglock around the waist and tied him up. They got up and traded forearm strikes, and Thatcher dropped him with a European Uppercut at 5:30. Woods hit a German Suplex and kept a belly-to-back bearhug locked in.
Thatcher got an armbar in, so Woods rolled to the floor to escape and he was booed. They traded some quick punches and Woods paced on the floor before getting back in. This feels intense. They tied up and both men rolled to the floor. They got back in and Woods hit some punches. Thatcher hit a spin kick that dropped Woods. Woods went to a rear-naked choke and he was booed, as the crowd is clearly behind Thatcher. They fell to the floor for a third time at 9:00. Back in the ring, they traded loud forearm strikes, and again went to the floor. The ref began counting. Thatcher tried to get back in the ring, but Woods held onto him and wouldn’t let him back in. The ref counted to 10 and the crowd loudly booed, chanting, “let them fight!” I really enjoyed that one.
* We had another video package showing the GCW debut in the Hammerstein Ballroom. (Certainly teasing a return there?) It then turned into a video package for both Miyu Yamashita and Shayna Baszler.
10. Shayna Baszler defeated Miyu Yamashita at 8:38. Shayna wore heer white karate outfit and got a nice pop. She sat on Miyu’s lower back and playfully slapped at Miyu’s head. They got up and traded kicks to the thighs. Shayna kept her tied up on the mat. Miyu applied a Cobra Clutch at 6:00 and they dropped to the mat. Shayna applied a crossarm breaker. Shayna hit a back suplex and a running knee and she peppered Miyu with some kicks. They traded spin kicks, and now Shayna staggered. Shayna went for an anklelock but Miyu kicked her to escape. Miyu launched off the metal corner and kicked her. Shayna picked her up and nailed a Tombstone Pilerdriver! The ref checked on Miyu and called for the bell! That was fun.
* Shayna got on the mic. She said she owes a great deal of her success in this business to Josh Barnett, and he helped her transition to pro wrestling. She said there are “20 wrestlers on this show who know why she is doing this.”
Final Thoughts: It is worth restating… we had wrestlers from WWE (Creeds, Baszler). We had Dempsey from NXT. Josh Woods from AEW/ROH. We had Lawlor and Akira from MLW. Isaacs and Tito certainly represent NJPW Strong. TNA had Santana, Masha and Jody. Homicide is best known for his ROH and TNA runs. And I just think this is all cool.
I don’t know how anyone would rate these matches, but I’ll just say I loved Woods-Thatcher. Even without a finish, it felt so intense and genuinely with some heat between them. I don’t care if it was just three minutes, Bailey and Akira had this crowd popping and going nuts. The Isaacs-Dempsey fight started slow but they really picked up the intensity as they went, and I was shocked that a WWE wrestler lost. That takes third, with the main event earning honorable mention. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else had an entirely different list of favorites.
I also want to point out how great Dan Barry was on commentary. I’ve seen him wrestle many times, and I’m sure he’s done commentary before but I don’t think I’ve heard him in the booth. He just provided great insight.
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