By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
GCW “Fight Club night one”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
October 11, 2025, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at The Showboat
* Emil Jay stood backstage with the GCW roster and the Juggalo Championship Wrestling on either side of him, and they all started arguing. Team JCW won a coin flip to gain the man advantage in the Art of WarGames match!
* Footage aired of some of the prior Art of WarGames matches in recent years. LOTS of light tubes.
* To the venue, where there were two side-by-side rings. This is the large bus barn area of the building. The attendance was maybe 350. Veda Scott and John Mosely provided commentary.
1. Terry Yaki vs. Tony Deppen. Deppen is the curmudgeon heel here. Quick reversals at the bell, and they traded rollups. They fought to the floor, where Yaki hit an Asai Moonsault at 3:00. In the ring, Deppen hit a Lungblower to the chest for a nearfall to take control. He hit a knee drop to the back and kept Terry grounded. Yaki hit a moonsault on the two aprons between the rings at 5:30! He hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. They again fought on the space between the rings, with Deppen hitting a suplex onto the two aprons of the pushed-together rings. (I can’t say I’ve seen this done so well before.)
Yaki laid him between the ropes and hit a doublestomp to the chest, and he got a nearfall at 8:00. Yaki hit a Mafia Kick; Deppen hit a jumping knee; Yaki hit an enzuigiri. Yaki hit a springboard Canadian Destroyer. Deppen hit his own Canadian Destroyer, and they were both down at 9:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Deppen hit some slaps to the cheeks. Yaki hit a Superkick. He hit a Sabin-style Cradle Shock for the pin. A really good opener.
Terry Yaki defeated Tony Deppen at 11:44.
2. Man Like DeReiss vs. KJ Orso. Worth pointing out that DeReiss just had (an unnecessarily long!) 40-minute match 24 hours earlier in HOG. Orso attacked, and we’re underway! DeReiss hit some chops, and he went for an ankle lock. KJ struck him in the head with a microphone. They brawled to the floor at 2:00. In the ring, in a fun spot, KJ did a double jump off ropes… only to hit an eye poke at 3:30. Good humor. DeReiss hit some clotheslines and a big back-body drop, then a 619 and a stunner. DeReiss went for a Sharpshooter, but Orso fought it and blocked it at 5:30.
KJ again went for a double-jump move, but DeReiss caught him with a superkick. (It looks like he wasn’t really that close to connecting, but that’s okay.) KJ hit a back suplex and a twisting suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. They got up and traded forearm strikes. KJ hit a jumping knee to the chest. DeReiss scooped him up, spun several times, and hit a side slam. KJ hit a superplex, and they were both down. DeReiss got the Sharpshooter locked in this time at 9:00, but Orso escaped. DeReiss hit a German Suplex, kipped up, and got a big pop. He pushed his butt into KJ’s face in the corner. KJ hit a low-blow uppercut. KJ got an inside cradle for the pin; the crowd’s reaction indicates his feet were on the ropes, but it wasn’t visible from the camera’s viewpoint. Really good action.
KJ Orso defeated Man Like DeReiss at 10:35.
* Footage aired of the recent Los Angeles show, with Atticus Cogar pushing cooking skewers into Shotzi Blackheart’s head, then Krule coming out for the save.
3. Austin Luke vs. Lucky 13 vs. Will Kroos vs. Ryan Clancy vs. Logan Cavazos vs. Joey Janela. I’ve seen Lucky 13 before, but I’m positive it hasn’t been in 2025. Will Kroos is the UK star who had a match on Thursday in Wrestling Open; he’s the Sami Callihan clone with the size and frame of Bronson Reed. This is the debut here for 17-year-old Cavazos; he might be 6’2″, and I’ll compare him to Jake Crist when I first saw him when Jake was a teen. We got underway, and Luke hit a hard clothesline on Cavazos. Luke and Joey traded forearm strikes, and Janela hit a DDT at 1:30. Ryan got in and battled Janela. Clancy hit a knee drop to the chest.
Kroos snuck up behind Clancy, so those two brawled. Kroos hit a POUNCE that sent Ryan flying over the ropes and into the adjacent ring! That earned a massive pop! Kroos had two guys in his arms and slammed them to the mat at 3:30. He piled them up and hit a massive senton. Joey hit a flip dive to the floor on several guys and landed on his feet. Lucky 13 hit a top-rope twisting moonsault to the floor on everyone. In the ring, Cavazos hit a back suplex on Lucky 13. Clancy hit a hard clothesline on Cavazos. Kroos hit a piledriver on Janela for a nearfall at 6:30.
Luke hit a top-rope frogsplash on Kroos for a nearfall. Lucky 13 hit a DDT on Luk onto the ring apron. Cavazos hit a Trust Fall (coffin drop!) to the floor onto two guys. In the ring, Clancy hit a back suplex on Cavazos. He couldn’t lift Kroos. Seconds later, he got the big man up for a bodyslam. Joey hit a DVD on Clancy. Cavazos hit a Crucifix Driver. Lucky 13 hit a Lumbar Check-style move on the teen. Kroos hit a sit-out piledriver on Luke at 8:30, and they were all down. They all got up and brawled. Lucky 13 hit a second-rope Canadian Destroyer on Cavazos. Clancy nailed his Picture Perfect dropkick. Kroos hit a top-rope Spanish Fly on Janela for a nearfall at 10:30! Clancy hit a plancha to the floor. Cavazos hit a dive through the ropes. In the ring, Joey hit a superkick and a package piledriver on Cavazos for the pin. That was a wild, well-above-average scramble. Wild stuff.
Joey Janela defeated Austin Luke, Lucky 13, Will Kroos, Ryan Clancy, and Logan Cavazos at 11:02.
4. Beastman vs. 1 Called Manders. Beastman always reminds me of WWE’s Ivar in size and overall caveman looks. Manders barely took two steps through the curtain when Beastman attacked him, and they immediately fought on the floor and looped the crowd. Beastman dove through the ropes at 00:30! (That’s a big man for Manders to catch solo!) They finally got into the ring and we had a bell at 1:58 to officially begin. Beastman choked him with a large bone across the throat. They brawled back to the floor. Manders pushed a wheelchair-bound fan into Beastman at 6:00.
They got into the ring, and Manders tossed a door into Beastman. Beastman hit a Vader Bomb onto the door over Manders’ stomach, then a rolling cannonball onto the cheap door in the corner, with the door breaking onto Manders behind it, for a nearfall at 7:30. Manders hit a running Bulldog Powerslam through the door in another corner for a nearfall. Manders hit some door shard blows across the top of the head, then a clothesline for the pin. Good brawl; this didn’t need to be longer than that.
1 Called Manders defeated Beastman at 9:32/official time of 7:34.
* Several deathmatch weapons were set up in the ring — doors, boards, light tubes. Yeah, I’m not feeling this one.
5. Otis Cogar vs. Emersyn Jayne. UK star Jayne competes in a lot of death matches; I just saw her have a needle pushed through her cheek, so I’m just gonna pass on this one. I zipped to the 10-minute mark, where she hit a moonsault. He powerbombed her onto a box of light tubes and pinned her.
Otis Cogar defeated Emersyn Jayne at 11:42.
* Intermission took 35 minutes to set up the double cage (going from the 1 hour, 40 minute mark to the 2 hour, 15 minute mark.). Luckily I watched this Sunday morning and wasn’t watching live. The cage has dozens and dozens of light tubes and other weapons, like a tack-covered plastic bat. One of the cages has a scaffold set up next to it.
* For whatever reason, Joey Janela withdrew from the Art of WarGames match (and went into the scramble instead), and Drew Parker replaced him. Janela has never shied away from deathmatches, so… will we have an angle with Parker here?
6. Team GCW vs. Team Juggalo Championship Wrestling in an Art of WarGames match. (I spelled it out so it’s not confused with Jersey Championship Wrestling!) Mad Man Pondo (JCW) and Matt Tremont (GCW) opened. No bell — as the match doesn’t officially begin until all competitors are in the match — but I started the stopwatch at first contact and they whacked each other over the head with light tubes. Meh. CoKane (JCW) came out at 3:00. Bam Sullivan (GCW) came out at 4:00. (That is a quick turnaround for the next competitor to join the match; I figured it would be at least three minutes of a 2-on-1 beatdown.)
Shane Mercer (JCW) entered at 7:00 to give the heels the advantage. Mr. Danger (GCW) joined at 8:00. Willie Mack (JCW) entered at 10:00. Drew Parker (GCW) entered at 10:30. 2 Tuff Tony (JCW) came out at 13:00, pouring alcohol down the throats of willing fans. Mercer powerbombed Danger against the cage wall. Tony got in and hit some bodyslams on Parker. Effy (GCW) joined at 15:30, so everyone was in, and WarGames officially was underway! Danger and CoKane fought on top of the scaffolding, and they went through glass and crashed to the mat. Mr. Danger pinned CoKane at 18:50 (so this is an elimination match!)
Mercer tossed someone off the scaffold onto the mat. Mercer knocked Parker onto a barbed-wire spiderweb. Apparently both Mercer and Parker are eliminated. I apparently missed Willie Mack eliminating Bam; there’s a lot going on, and it’s unclear to me how someone is eliminated. Effy hit a Fameasser and pinned Mack at 23:00. Pondo and Danger both crashed through a glass structure, which eliminated them. 2 Tuff Tony scored a pin on Effy. So, it left just Tony and Tremont. Violent J got in the ring, but Tony accidentally hit him with a flaming punch. GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale jumped in the cage and hit Tony over the head with light tubes. Matt Tremont hit a frogsplash to pin Tony. An acquired taste of a match.
“Team GCW” Matt Tremont (sole survivor), Drew Parker, Bam Sullivan, Effy, and Mr. Danger defeated “Team JCW” Shane Mercer, 2 Tuff Tony, Willie Mack, Mad Man Pondo, and CoKane in an Art of WarGames match at 29:13.
Final Thoughts: I tuned in for the first four matches, and those delivered. A lot of familiar GCW faces were missing tonight, though: No Alec Price, Jordan Oliver, Marcus Mathers, Jack Cartwheel, Kevin Blackwood, etc. Not sure what the future holds for Masha Slamovich, either. That was a sharp scramble filled with guys who aren’t exactly GCW regulars, too. Kroos is a beast, Clancy is a top rising star, and Luke is consistently good. The teen Cavazos didn’t look out of place in there either. So, the scramble takes best match. Deppen and Yaki found interesting ways to use the double ring, and their match takes second, ahead of DeReiss-Orso.
The WarGames match was loved by this crowd. I guess getting thrown through a glass pane gets you eliminated, not just a pin. More bloody than my preference, but the live crowd was into it, and the participation by Violent J and Lauderdale was entirely expected. Hopefully, this was the blow-off of the GCW-JCW feud… but JCW’s Brothers of Funstruction still hold the tag belts, so we’ll still have to see them again.
Poor review. “Someone got tossed off the scaffolding”? Not even bothering to learn who the participants are? And then you wonder why Bam Sullivan got eliminated. It was also explained during the show why Janela wasn’t in the match. Are you sure you watched the same show as the rest of us? And why review a show when you know deathmatches will involved and you don’t like them? Waste of your time.