By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
We are looking for reports on all WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, MLW, ROH, GCW, and other notable live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report or even basic results to dotnetjason@gmail.com
GCW “Thank Me Later”
Streamed on FITE.TV
June 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California at the Ukrainian Cultural Center
The crowd is in the 600-800 range; GCW announced they had fewer than a dozen tickets left in advance. Next to Atlantic City, this is GCW’s top-drawing venue. Dave Prazak and Emil Jay and Jordan Castle provided commentary.
1. Starboy Charlie defeated Cole Radrick at 9:26. I believe Charlie is now 20; he wears his awful bib overalls. I admittedly am not a fan of the dorky Radrick. Charlie hit a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall at 2:30. Radrick hit a Flatliner for a nearfall; he stomped Charlie and was in control. Charlie hit a Thesz Press at 6:30 and a series of punches, then a Poison Rana. He was fired up and pulled down the straps. Charlie nailed a mid-ring Sliced Bread for a nearfall.
Radrick hit a springboard stunner for a believable nearfall. Charlie hit a Shotgun Dropkick into the corner, but he missed a second-rope corkscrew splash. Charlie avoided a piledriver and hit his own piledriver. He hit a spin kick to the back of the head for the pin. Good match that I felt could have gone either way, as Radrick is fairly protected in GCW.
2. Kevin Knight defeated Alec Price at 10:10. Another match that I feel could go either way. Knight is wearing sharp blue pants with a black stripe. Standing switches to open. They sped it up and had a standoff at 2:00. Price offered a handshake but instead kicked him in the gut. Knight hit his leaping splash for a nearfall. Price snapped Knight’s throat across the top rope and he took charge. He hit a huracanrana for a nearfall at 4:30.
Knight hit a dropkick to the chest, and they were both down. He nailed the jump-up Frankensteiner at 6:30, then a plancha. In the ring, he hit a D’Lo Sky High for a nearfall. Price hit a dive over the top rope onto Knight. Price tied Knight in the Tree of Woe and hit a doublestomp to the chest! Knight hit a second-rope crossbody block. They traded rollups, and suddenly Knight got a three-count. That was really good. Jordan Castle called it a game-changing win for Knight to get a big victory here.
3. Sawyer Wreck and Joey Janela defeated “Los Macizos” Ciclope and Miedo Extremo at 11:08. Sawyer and Ciclope started; he’s wearing a backpack, so is he not taking her seriously? He hit a Shining Wizard at 2:00. Sawyer hit a second-rope flip splash onto Los Macizos. In the ring, Janela hit a moonsault press on both opponents. Miedo hit a Spinebuster on Sawyer. Janela hit a Death Valley Driver on Miedo onto an open chair for a nearfall at 6:00.
Sawyer set up a door bridge in the ring. She tried to hit a double chokeslam, but Macizos broke free. Ciclope hit a Doomsday Device clothesline on Janela for a nearfall at 8:30. Miedo hit Sawyer with a chairshot to the back, and he got a super-tall ladder, which popped the crowd. Ciclope whipped Janela through a door in the corner. Janela and Ciclope fought on the ladder; Janela got pushed off and crotched on the top rope. Sawyer chokeslammed Ciclope off the ladder and through the door bridge! Janela ran over and covered Ciclope for the pin. Passable; they weren’t always on the same page.
4. Santana Jackson defeated Jimmy Lloyd at 5:57. This is a bonus, unadvertised match; Jordan Castle joked that the fans will go crazy if Lloyd isn’t on a show. Santana is the Michael Jackson clone; I’ve seen him twice before and he has the look and dance steps down. Santana hit a dive through the ropes at 1:00. Lloyd hit a piledriver on the ring apron. The “Thriller” intro played and the crowd popped. Santana stood up and was wearing a wolf mask. This is all very silly, of course. In the ring, Santana hit some clotheslines and a spear. He danced and hit an elbow drop for a nearfall at 4:30.
Santana took off the mask and the match continued. Lloyd hit a package piledriver for a believable nearfall. Lloyd hit a tombstone piledriver, but Santana kicked out again. Santana walked the top rope, dancing, and he hit a springboard Canadian Destroyer, then the Moonwalk DDT for the pin. Very silly but the crowd loved it.* Blake Christian, the new GCW champion, was pulled off the show so he could participate in the ROH tapings in Chicago (with AEW Collision). He was slated to face Kevin Blackwood, so Blackwood has been added to a singles match.
5. Jack Cartwheel defeated Kevin Blackwood and Titus Alexander in a three-way at 16:48. Titus hit a dropkick on Cartwheel. Blackwood hit an enzuigiri on Titus, then a German Suplex at 3:00. Jack hit a standing moonsault on Blackwood. Titus hit a nice dropkick on Cartwheel, then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee. Cartwheel hit a double Sliced Bread at 7:30, and they were all down. Cartwheel hit a Code Red, then a rolling Death Valley Driver. He hit a top-rope cartwheel onto both opponents, and he got a nearfall on Titus at 9:30.
Kevin hit a series of kicks on Jack. Jack hit a fisherman’s brainbuster on Blackwood. Blackwood hit a Helluva Kick on Jack. Titus hit a double back suplex, and everyone was down at 12:00. Jack hit a German Suplex on Titus. Titus hit the Sweet Time Driver/Michinoku Driver on Jack. Blackwood hit a top-rope doublestomp and a tombstone piledriver on Titus for a believable nearfall at 14:30. Titus hit a brainbuster on Blackwood, dropping him on Jack, for a nearfall on both men.
Titus hit a piledriver on Blackwood on the ring apron at 16:00. Jack hit a Sasake Special to the floor onto Blackwood, then a top-rope Phoenix Press on Titus for the pin. That was a stellar match for all three. I am sure Blackwood was looking forward to a singles match against Blake, but this was a great last-minute change.
6. Rina Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh at 17:21. Itoh came to ringside holding a pizza cutter. Both women are short, but Rina has a clear weight and overall size advantage. Maki missed a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Rina bodyslammed her onto a folded chair at 3:00. Rina covered Maki with chairs and hit a chairshot to the spine. Rina swung a chair at Maki’s head as it was lying on an open chair. She got a door from under the ring.
Maki hit the Kokeshi falling headbutt at 6:30, then a tornado DDT, sending Rina to the floor. Maki then ran off the ring apron and hit a tornado DDT to the floor. In the ring, they fought over the pizza cutter, and Maki used it across Rina’s forehead. Rina was bleeding from her forehead. Maki slammed Rina’s head onto a white door, so she was making red prints on the door. Rina caught Maki and hit an Air Raid Crash through the door at 11:00, but Maki kicked out at the one-count.
They traded mid-ring forearm shots. Maki hit a jumping DDT, and they were both down. They put a folded chair between them and took turns slamming each other’s head onto the chair. Maki hit an unprotected chairshot across the forehead at 14:30, then a Facewash into the corner for a nearfall. Maki got some rollups for nearfalls. Rina hit a Trash Compactor piledriver for a nearfall at 16:30. Rina hit a Razor’s Edge overhead powerbomb onto a folded chair for the pin. That was really good; I can do without the pizza cutter and blood, but the rest really worked for me.
7. Effy defeated Kenny King at 11:16. They shook hands. They traded some offense, but Effy switched to some gay humor. He applied a Tarantula in the ropes at 5:00. King hit some kicks and took control. King applied a Camel Clutch, then he hit a powerslam for a nearfall at 7:00. Effy hit a Northern Lights Suplex and a Whoopee Cushion buttdrop for a nearfall, then a Blockbuster and a spear for a nearfall. King hit a spinebuster for a nearfall at 9:30.
King hit a Tiger Driver for a nearfall, and he was frustrated that didn’t get the win. Effy hit a Fameasser legdrop for a nearfall. King put Effy on his shoulders, but Effy was able to escape, get a rollup, and score the pin out of nowhere. Solid match.
8. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Nick Gage at 14:57. Jordan Castle said this is “the match you never knew you needed.” I’ll try to keep an open mind; after all, I remember loving a Bryan Danielson-Necro Butcher matchup in ROH ten-plus years ago. An intense lockup to open. Gage hit some punches and he clotheslined Sabre to the floor at 3:00. They brawled into the crowd (no guardrails in GCW.) In the ring, Gage hit a swinging neckbreaker. Sabre snapped Gage’s neck with his legs. Gage speared Sabre through a door into the corner at 7:30.
Gage dumped a bag of thumbtacks, and they were spread all over the ring, not just in one spot. However, Sabre stomped Gage’s hand into the tacks. Gage hit a DDT into the tacks, then a spinebuster into the tacks for a nearfall at 10:30. Gage hit a Vader Bomb elbow drop. He hit a piledriver across several open chairs, then a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 13:00. Gage applied a crossface, and they traded rollup attempts. Sabre applied an anklelock. He got an O’Connor Roll and leaned back for leverage for the pin out of nowhere. Solid match.
Final Thoughts: No Mike Bailey, Blake Christian, Jordan Oliver, Nick Wayne, or Gringo Loco… the guys who usually deliver the best matches of the night were all absent, so in many ways, this felt like a B-show. I loved the three-way most, as those three clearly know each other well and the match had a nice flow to it. Price-Knight earned second-best. The intriguing Sabre-Gage barely beats out Itoh-Yamashita for third place.
Worth pointing out that several other GCW regulars (Second Gear Crew, Allie Katch, Billie Starkz) were in PWR in Ohio. I just saw Alec Price wrestle on a show in Massachusetts on Wednesday. I say it all the time, but the schedules for the top-tier, in-demand indy talent is just insane. I flew out of Minneapolis to Orlando on June 10 and returned June 17… I had lengthy delays in both airports (I watched both Smackdown and a New Japan show at the airport Saturday morning while waiting for bad weather to clear up in Orlando) and I am just exhausted from the travel. So, I just don’t know how they do it.
SO tired of people who review a GCW show and complain about blood, pizza cutters, ect… It’s like going to a rock concert and complaining that there is music.
This coming from the guy who has been complaining about the opinions expressed by me and the other staff members for well over a decade now? That’s rich, Angry Mike.