By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Great Lakes Championship Wrestling “Blizzard Brawl”
Taped December 4, 2024 in Waukesha, Wisconsin at Waukesha County Expo Center
Released December 31, 2024 on YouTube.com
I reviewed the 2023 Blizzard Brawl as well and that show is also still available on YouTube. Waukesha is a suburb west of Milwaukee. This venue is a small dome and the crowd was quite large, perhaps 600-800. It seems like a nice room to watch a wrestling show. (A commentator claimed it was a crowd of 2,000 which is just an absurdly high number; there is no way it is 500 people per side.)
* This event features a LOT of OVW wrestlers. Admittedly, it has been months since I’ve tuned in to an episode of OVW TV, so I don’t know most of the wrestlers here. I glanced at my review of last year’s event to refresh my memory of who some of these guys are.
1. Super Z, Donovan Cecil, and TW3 vs. Benjamin Trust, Jay DeNiro, and Tony Evans. Trust’s team are the heels and came out first. Evans got on the mic and berated the crowd, giving a lot of Ludvig Kaiser vibes (but no accent!) Super Z is a masked superhero gimmick. Cecil is rotund. TW3 is a thin Black man; I see I compared him to Lee Johnson in last year’s review, and I’ll stick to that. Basic match with the heels working over TW3. Cecil finally got a hot tag and hit some shoulder tackles. The babyfaces beat up DeNiro, who is perhaps in his 50s and is dressed like IRS in an orange button-down shirt and tie. Super Z slammed and pinned DeNiro. Quite basic but fine; the crowd liked it.
Super Z, Donovan Cecil, and TW3 defeated Benjamin Trust, Jay DeNiro, and Tony Evans at 9:13.
2. Dustin Jackson vs. Jack Vaughn vs. Tony Gunn in a three-way for the OVW Media Title. Jackson is the champ, but I don’t think I’ve seen him before; he’s young with dark hair and a great physique. Vaughn is bald with a mustache; think Dax Harwood with glasses. He’s apparently a babyface now. (Like I said, it’s been months since I watched OVW). Gunnn has short hair and a short beard that has a hint of gray, and he’s the only heel in this match. Vaughn did a Fargo Strut before hitting a double elbow drop at 2:00. Dustin hit a double crossbody block at 5:30. He hit a flip dive to the floor onto both opponents. In the ring, Vaughn hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. Jackson hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall, but Vaughn made the save. Jackson hit a sunset flip and scored the pin. Decent action. OVW needs more young stars like Jackson.
Dustin Jackson defeated Jack Vaughn and Tony Gunn in a three-way to retain the OVW Media Title at 8:55.
3. Drew Hernandez (w/Crystal White) vs. Mike Curkov in a no-DQ match for the GLCW Heavyweight Title. The special referee was Angel Armani; he’s now in his 60s but I saw him wrestle for years, and he’s a heel. Curkov is a local news broadcaster with a similar look to Chad Gable; he wrestled on last year’s show and lost to Heath Slater. Drew is the champ and the “Mayan Mauler”; he has shaved the sides of his head and he has a thick, bushy beard. Drew knocked Curkov down at the bell, then hid behind his valet. Funny.
Drew beat up Curkov on the floor. Curkov found a bat and hit Hernandez with it. In the ring, Crystal accidentally hit Hernandez at 7:00. Drew accidentally speared her! Curkov repeatedly hit Hernandez with a cookie sheet, then he hit a German Suplex and a top-rope moonsault for a visual pin, but ref Armani had a cramp in his arm and couldn’t count! The crowd LOUDLY booed this development! Hernandez hit an F5 for the pin; ref Armani switched arms half-way through the count. “What a bunch of crap!” a commentator said. I was amused.
Drew Hernandez defeated Mike Curkov to retain the GLCW Heavyweight Title at 11:14.
* Curkov hit a post-match stunner on Armani.
* Armando Estrada came to the ring to a nice pop, and he introduced his latest signing, Zilla Fatu!
4. Zilla Fatu (w/Armando Estrada) vs. Joey “Jet” Avalon. Avalon is really thick and he’s a regular in the Milwaukee/Chicago indy scene; I just saw him wrestle in the Twin Cities in October. Avalon is now bald! (And looking very much like Michael Elgin suddenly.) Rookie wrestler Zilla, the son of Umaga, is just a beast and a natural in the ring. Zilla has the Reality of Wrestling title belt. An intense lockup and this show just dialed up the intensity. Zilla knocked him down with a shoulder tackle at 3:00. He went for the Samoan Spike to the throat, but Joey ducked it.
Zilla hit a flying headbutt for a nearfall. Avalon stomped on Zilla and choked him in the ropes. They fought to the floor at 7:30, and Zilla whipped him into the guardrails. In the ring, Avalon kept Zilla grounded. He hit some punches to the gut. Zilla fired up and hit some clotheslines, then a flying shoulder tackle at 12:30, then a Bubba Bomb for a nearfall. The commentators talked about how Zilla has the same mannerisms and moves in the ring as his dad.
Zilla hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. Avalon hit a running Claymore-style kick for a nearfall at 14:00. The announcers were raving about the match. Avalon nailed a package piledriver but was slow to make a cover and only got a nearfall, and the commentators were shocked Zilla kicked out. Zilla nailed the Samoan Drop and was fired up! He nailed the flying Samoan Spike to the throat for the pin. Very good indy-style brawl.
Zilla Fatu defeated Joey “Jet” Avalon at 15:40.
5. Scotty 2 Hotty and Keagan Garland vs. Ace Steel and Steve Maclin. The Garlands came out to the “Turn it up!” track. Keagan is Scotty’s son, and this is his FIRST ever match. He’s probably 17 to 19 years old and he wore black pants and a sweatshirt; he’s not showing off any physique. He certainly looks like his dad. S2H got the crowd fired up; he sure knows how to work a room. I first saw Ace wrestle live in 2000 when I was living in St. Paul (and that feels like a lifetime ago.) Keagan took off the hoodie and wrestled in a plain red shirt and he’s pretty scrawny.
Keagan opened against Ace, who is definitely twice Keagan’s age, and they traded arm holds. Ace knocked him down with a shoulder tackle at 2:00. Scotty got in for the first time, and he traded blows with Maclin. The heels threw Keagan to the floor and began working him over. In the ring, Maclin hit a backbreaker over his knee at 7:30, and the commentators said Keagan is “paying his dues” as Ace worked the kid over. A commentator said that Keagan’s mom and sister are in the crowd, too. Ace hit a fisherman’s suplex at 11:00.
Scotty finally got the hot tag and hit punches on each of the heels, then a double noggin’ knocker. Scotty set up for the ‘Worm’ on Ace, but Maclin broke it up! The heels were beat up and collapsed with their faces on each other’s groin. Keagan then did the Worm! onto the heels, covered them both, and got the pin. Adequate. Keagan didn’t get to really hit any offensive moves so it’s hard to gauge his skills. The crowd was fully into this.
Scotty 2 Hotty and Keagan Garland defeated Steve Maclin and Ace Steel at 13:51.
6. Rhino vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Fodder vs. Luke Kurtis in a four-way. Fodder has been a regular in NWA. Kurtis wears a long glittery robe from the Robert Roode collection. The commentators noted that Kurtis recently left OVW to go to train at the NJPW dojo in California (and he did compete on the last NJPW school show I reviewed.) This was SUPPOSED to be a singles match, but Frankie came out to make it a three-way. The bell rang, and Rhino came to the ring to make it a four-way! “Can anyone just come out and play now?” the heel commentator said. Rhino said he’s here to kick some ass and he vowed someone will be cut in half by a gore. I restarted my stopwatch here, as no punches were thrown yet.
Kazarian stalled on the floor, and he pulled Kurtis to the floor and brawled with him at ringside. Kurtis hit a double missile dropkick on the heels. Kurtis took an ugly fall to the floor but he hopped to his feet and seemed okay; they showed a replay and yeah, he landed on the top of his head. Ouch. In the ring, Fodder hit a stunner for a nearfall at 3:30. Kurtis hit some chops on Frankie. Rhino hit a double clothesline. Rhino missed a Gore at 5:30; Kazarian rolled him up with his feet on the ropes for a nearfall, but the ref saw it and we continued. Suddenly all four were down. Frankie and Fodder fought in the ring while the others were on the floor. Fodder hit a uranage. Kurtis hit a running knee. Frankie hit a stunner on Kurtis at 8:30 and celebrated; he turned around and was cut in half by Rhino’s Gore for the pin.
Rhino defeated Frankie Kazarian, Fodder and Luke Kurtis in a four-way at 8:58.
7. Sophia Rose vs. Freya the Sleya vs. HollyHood Haley J in a three-way. Rose is a short blonde; I just saw her in the Dreamwave women’s Rumble in Illinois. Both Freya and Haley are regulars in OVW; Haley was a star in the Netflix series. Freya is just under six feet tall, so she towers over both opponents. The shorter blondes superkicked Freya to the floor, then they fought each other. Sophia hit a back elbow in the corner on Freya at 2:30. Freya easily slammed Rose to the mat and celebrated. Freya trapped Rose in the ropes and chopped her. Freya put Haley in the Tree of Woe and hit a rolling cannonball on her at 5:00.
The blondes hit a team superplex on Freya and they were all down. Freya hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over her knee, but legs accidentally bumped the ref at 7:30. Haley and Freya each pulled out socks of rocks and hit each other with them and were both down! Rose hit a moonsault onto both of them and got the pin! Fun match.
Sophia Rose defeated Freya the Sleya and HollyHood Haley J in a three-way at 8:31.
8. Al Snow and Kal Herro (w/Marty Jannetty) vs. Damien Sandow and Santino Marella (w/Doug Basham). Yes, he was called Damien Sandow, not Aron Stevens, and he wore his long blue robe and was in full Sandow mode. He got on the mic and berated the crowd. Snow is now 61. Herro is the son of a Wisconsin indy promoter; he’s had AEW TV matches before. Wisconsin native Braun Strowman was introduced last as our special referee, and the commentators thanked WWE for letting him be part of this show, saying he “signed autographs for hours” today. Braun’s referee shirt reads “One big SOB.” Al waved ‘Head’ around and got the crowd chanting. Snow and Sandow took turns playing to the crowd, with Sandow of course getting booed.
We finally had the bell with Sandow and Herro starting, with Kal hitting some armdrags. Sandow and Santino took turns stomping on Kal. Snow got in at 6:00. Jannetty reached his hands into the ring, and Strowman ejected him! “It wasn’t the first time someone kicked him to the curb,” the heel commentator remarked. Santino and Sandow worked over Snow’s lower back. Kal got a hot tag at 10:00 and he cleared the ring. He hit a stunner on Sandow. Basham pulled Snow off the ring apron; Strowman saw that too and ejected Basham. Doug got in the ring and argued with Braun, so Strowman chokeslammed Basham! Snow and Sandow got the hot tags at 14:00. Santino hit the Cobra strike on Snow. Herro got in and hit some jab punches. Herro hit a flying crossbody block for the pin.
Kal Herro and Al Snow defeated Santino Marella and Damien Sandow at 14:46.
* Braun got on the mic and thanked the fans. He called down promoter Dave Herro to the ring, who also thanked the fans for showing up, and he put over Strowman for being part of this show.
Final Thoughts: These shows are fun indy events, with a nice mix of the local talent, OVW wrestlers, and former WWE stars. No, there isn’t a ‘must-see’ match with a high workrate. This was family-friendly entertainment, and the crowd liked what they saw.
By now, you’ve probably heard of Zilla Fatu, even if you haven’t seen him. Well, this show is free on youtube, so if nothing else, tune in for 20 minutes and see what the buzz is about. Is he TV ready? WWE ready? No. But he’s had fewer than 50 matches and is further along than any rookie I’ve seen in years. That was easily the match of the show.
A few years ago, I was reporting on a parade going through downtown, and an organizer tried to tell me that 20,000 spectators had watched the parade. It was only a seven-block long parade, and at absolute most, the crowd was 3,000. It’s a great crowd, but when you toss out a 20K number that is so ridiculous, I just refused to use it. Point being, this was a great crowd! I wouldn’t reject it being 800. But a number of 2,000? No, that’s just not possible in this space.
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