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wrestlingwiththoughts · 1 month ago

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GCW You Wouldn't Understand 2024 Live Impressions

If we accept professional wrestling as a form of pantomime, then it certainly makes sense that you can feel the emotions of professional wrestling more directly live and in person than by watching on television. So, though GCW is not my preferred professional wrestling company, I went to their latest show at Brooklyn's Roulette Intermedium, You Wouldn't Understand, since it was a fairly affordable ticket ($54 for first row balcony reserved) and accessible (close to the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center hub).

Credit goes to GCW for cultivating an atmosphere that 1. replicates the atmosphere from old Chikara shows that I attended, where fans would wave to other fans that they had seen at other shows 2. is decidedly closer to 50/50 between men and women attendees 3. had a surprising number of young fans in attendance despite the flying profanity and the violence inherent to the show.

Independent wrestling merchandise, as always, remains a mixed bag at best. I was hopeful that UltraMantis Black and the Spectral Envoy might have apparel that I wouldn't be too embarrassed to wear, but I couldn't even find their stand before or after the show.

1. Brandon Kirk d. Bam Sullivan

Right off the bat, we are treated to plunder and excess as Bam Sullivan tries to prove his mettle to the GCW locker room by resurrecting Joey Ryan's groin-based offense. At least Sullivan is assaulting his opponent's groin and not forcing his opponents to touch his groin; nonetheless, I didn't think groin-based gimmicks, especially in a company that is open to intergender matches, survived Speaking Out. Bam Sullivan proved me wrong on that. Sullivan is a local act, so the obnoxiously loud fans to my right were happy to riff about Sullivan's mustache (another echo of Joey Ryan). To prove that he is a worthwhile addition to the GCW roster, Sullivan summoned chairs and doors from under the ring because that's what GCW's and Sullivan's limited definition of hardcore wrestling is. I wonder if the two deathmatch veterans used chairs and doors so early to compensate for the blood ban in New York.

Sullivan and Kirk started with a lot of energy, and things were fine until Sullivan either tired or lost focus and was slightly off his timing on some of the sequences with Kirk. Kirk beat Sullivan with a Psycho Driver and then indeed endorsed Sullivan as a worthy member of the roster. I wish someone had jumped Sullivan after that, but I suppose GCW has time later to tell the story that not everyone agrees that Sullivan belongs in GCW. For what it's worth, Sullivan fits the aesthetic and the working standard in GCW about as well as Kirk.

2. Brooke Havok d. Zayda Steel

Havok is 25 years old and has wrestled 136 matches in 3 years. Steel is 21 years old and has 113 matches in 2 years. With those caveats, I am willing to grade this on a curve because this was a mess. Havok struggled to lift Steel at various points during the match and had to repeat two spots twice. Havok and Steel couldn't quite rotate fully on a poisonrana, and they landed awkwardly. Their strikes looked unconvincing, and Steel's lungblower on Havok, who was suspended on the middle rope, makes no sense as a move in an ostensible fight. Steel, the WWE ID signee, seems more polished than Havok, even though her character is fairly shallow. Steel set up Havok for an Unprettier that looked tentative, but Havok squirmed free and pinned Steel to end the match. I suppose that means that being a WWE ID signee doesn't restrict you from losing matches, for now.

At this point, I was not impressed by the show or the fact that the venue was, at best, 2/3 full.

3. Tony Deppen d. Man Like DeReiss

I had last seen DeReiss at DEFY Can't Deny It, where he teamed with Michael Oku against the Bollywood Boyz, so I was looking forward to seeing how much he had progressed in those seven intervening months. He's certainly still energetic and charismatic, which made for an interesting contrast with Deppen, who has a deceptively dirtbag charm to his character and his wrestling style. Watching this, I felt like both Deppen and DeReiss could do better than wrestling undercard matches in a small GCW show in Brooklyn. Deppen should be able to reach at least the heights that Jimmy Rave reached at his peak in ROH.

DeReiss, the younger of the two, has more time to put it together. His sequence of rapping on the mic while hitting Deppen with shoulder tackle, chops, and clotheslines was fun if incomprehensible. It seemed like his focus during this match was to sell the arm that Deppen targeted and to find a way to channel the crowd's sympathy. On the first count, DeReiss was mostly successful; I don't understand why he would try to force Deppen to submit to a Stepover Toehold Facelock and not have his damaged arm come into play there or how his hurt arm slowed his climb to the top rope for a double stomp, but I appreciate how he would grimace and shake his arm every now and then. I'm not sure how well DeReiss succeeded on the second front; the crowd seemed to be more against Deppen, and eventually Griffin McCoy, than for DeReiss. I chalk that up to how the GCW crowd seems to go to shows to see GCW wrestlers, not to see wrestling in general, which I'll explore more later.

I hate the wrestling trope that a match's babyface must be completely flustered when someone appears ringside. DeReiss was set to finish Deppen with his 450 splash when Griffin McCoy appeared and taunted DeReiss from the stage. It's contrived nonsense.

After the match, Deppen pretended he had nothing to do with McCoy and left the ringside area. McCoy and DeReiss traded blows, and McCoy disabled DeReiss with a lowblow that looked like it took two attempts to hit. McCoy's opponent this evening, Grim Reefer, emerged to confront McCoy to let DeReiss leave.

4. Griffin McCoy d. Grim Reefer

I enjoyed Grim Reefer's work the last time I saw him live, which was 16 years ago at Jersey All Pro Wrestling's Reclaiming Hudson show on January 19, 2008. Reefer's gained some weight, slowed down a little, and doesn't fly from the top rope as much now, but he still seemed like a solid pro. The crowd, as it is wont to do, had fun punning off of Reefer's name with "Reefer's gonna smoke you" and "Light him up" chants to taunt McCoy. Reefer lit his joint and started smoking it while fighting McCoy, and the scent of weed wafted to the balcony. The crowd, of course, then chanted "Pass that shit."

McCoy's own scumbag charm was also great, and he reminded me of Austin Theory from Theory's Evolve run. I think there's potential there as a braggadocious heel who talks too much during the match but has the mettle to back it up when he's forced to do so. He doesn't have Theory's athleticism, but he's more entertaining and less off-putting than Theory was. It makes a ton of sense that McCoy was trained by the aforementioned Jimmy Rave at one point.

After the match, which McCoy won with a cheap pin, McCoy and Deppen beat up Reefer. DeReiss saved Reefer and called for Reefer to help hit Deppen with a 3-D for some reason. McCoy pulled Deppen to safety.

At this point, I felt like the show had gotten its feet under it after an uninspired start.

5. Matt Tremont d. Lou Nixon

In this match, the show lost whatever momentum it had been able to build. Tremont and Nixon decided to pay homage to Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama and missed the reason why Frye and Takayama's fight is so memorable: the respect that Frye and Takayama had, the position that they were in (as the last fight in a show that had largely underwhelmed, Frye and Takayama wanted to give the crowd a show), and the intensity of their violence (Frye and Takayama exchanged 137 punches in about 90 seconds). Instead, Tremont and Nixon exchanged some light punches, brawled to the floor, had Nixon hit Tremont with some kicks, and then Tremont hit a Death Valley Driver to win the match. An utterly pointless match that could have been replaced with a match featuring wrestlers from DEFY and PROGRESS's afternoon show. Tremont then told everyone that he and Nixon were paying homage to Frye and Takayama (poorly).

6. Allie Katch d. Microman

Katch and GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale clearly don't believe in wasting a crisis since they had Katch address how Effy's comments about Shad and Tony Khan likely caused AEW to pull Ricky Starks from all future GCW shows. I had said earlier that GCW fans attend GCW shows to see GCW wrestlers, but I'm not convinced that they care about the top level story that GCW is trying to tell with Katch, Effy, and Mance Warner. It didn't help that Katch talked for longer than she needed to for her point to be made. (I accept the irony in my writing this.)

On the other hand, the crowd loved Microman. So, when Katch gets booed for throwing Microman around, she can claim that the crowd is booing her character and the character's role in the story they're trying to weave. I don't think the investment was there from tonight's crowd; instead, I think the sentiment is for Microman more than it's against her. Using power wrestler moves like Mark Henry's World Strongest Slam and Yokozuna's corner Bonzai drop against Microman is a nice touch.

It was amusing when Katch tried to hit Microman with a running butt splash in the corner but missed him completely because he was too short.

For some reason, Blake Christian came out from under the ring and threatened Microman before deciding to leave him alone.

7. Megan Bayne vs. Parrow - No contest

I hadn't seen Parrow since he invaded Evolve with his partner in The End, Odinson, and forced us to listen to atrocious heavy metal music for minutes at a time while they fought the WorkHorsemen, Catch Point, and the Skulk. I guess he's a creep who likes to beat up women now in GCW. Bayne, after finishing her tour in Stardom, has been working primarily in Limitless, GCW, and Beyond, and it's a mystery why she's there instead of elsewhere. Bayne struggled to lift Parrow for the F-5 and messily dropped him in the execution. Parrow used a variety of power moves against her, which made sense since he dwarfed Bayne. Parrow was about to finish Bayne with a chokeslam, but the lights went out, and the supposedly criminally insane Charles Mason replaced Bayne in the chokeslam hold. I don't understand how that makes sense, where Bayne went, and what the deal with Bayne is.

8. Luke Jacobs d. 1 Called Manders

The show needed a good match after the stretch from Tremont vs. Nixon to Bayne vs. Parrow, and luckily Jacobs and Manders were able to deliver a thrilling fight to save the show for me. It was also apparent that no one knew who Luke Jacobs was; I was the only person cheering for him, and the crowd was oddly silent even though Manders and Jacobs worked very hard to get the crowd to notice. Manders and Jacobs had extended chop, forearm, lariat, and headbutt exchanges. It's not as if the crowd booed Jacobs and cheered Manders; they simply didn't seem to care about this unannounced match. I also don't understand the business logic of not announcing this match; given the 1/3 empty seats at the Roulette Intermedium on this Black Friday show, one could reasonably conclude that the announced matches weren't enough to entice potential attendees. Jacobs and Manders traded one-counts after lariats because they're both tough bastards; I enjoyed Jacobs calling Manders "a big bastard" while fighting to lift him up for a German suplex. They were tough bastards to the end as Manders refused to give up in Jacobs's rear-naked choke, raised a middle finger in defiance, and passed out to give Jacobs the win.

GCW, meanwhile, can claim that they held this match first even though it was not announced for the advertised card and DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling had announced on November 27 that they had booked Jacobs vs. Manders for their 3rd Anniversary Show on December 8. So much for GCW's hypocritical indignation about other companies breaking the unwritten rules of promoting professional wrestling.

9. Los Desperados (Gringo Loco, Arez & Azrieal) d. The Spectral Envoy (Frightmare, Hallowicked & UltraMantis Black)

This was my main event of the show and the reason I decided to attend; I have fond memories of the Spectral Envoy and was looking forward to seeing UltraMantis Black, in particular, again. Frightmare has entered his fat luchador phase, and Hallowicked looks unchanged; it was nice to see Hallowicked hit the Go to Sleepy Hollow combo with Frightmare and UMB again. They played for comedy at first that felt like a throwback to Chikara trios matches. Frightmare and Arez missed their timing on an armdrag, but it wasn't as noticeable as the confusion later when the Envoy were supposed to run at the Desperados. Once they had the match back under control, the offense looked good. Arez, in particular, looked really impressive here and was the standout in the match.

While this wasn't one of the best matches of the year that I've seen, I think it's still worth checking out because it's a lesson in how comedy can be seamlessly incorporated into a wrestling match's action. For all that can be said about Chikara, I think that is its lasting legacy: to show that you can combine action and comedy and that you can escalate from humor to high drama in a single match.

10. Mance Warner d. Homicide

My expectations for the match were low, and I still felt underwhelmed. Warner threw a fan's phone to the hard camera operator in the balcony during his entrance. Worse, Warner decided to give a monologue in the middle of the match about how the fans believed in Homicide (the chants of "New champ" at the match's start notwithstanding, nobody believed that Homicide would dethrone Warner this night), and so on, and so on. I paid for action and fake fighting, not poorly acted skits. Frankly, I tuned out of the match the moment Warner picked up a microphone, and there was no way they could win me back. Add yet another outside interference spot (Jimmy Lloyd appeared to pull the referee out of the ring during a Homicide pin) to the show's count.

I can forgive Tremont and Nixon for their utterly pointless match. I can forgive Havok and Steel's sloppiness. However, this is the show's main event, the headline of the show, and it was melodramatic, plodding slop.

If not for the fact that live wrestling in New York City is not frequent or the fact that the Spectral Envoy were a special attraction for this show, I would have written the show off altogether based on what they had announced for it. This show did GCW no favors in convincing me to return for another show; given the attendance at this show, I'm not sure GCW would have much appetite for running the venue again.

One last note: I'm glad at least that wrestlers have moved away from using just heavy metal for their entrance themes. There was a diversity of music among the entrances, from classic rock to pop to Homicide's classic "The Truth" remix.

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rickygoldman34 · 3 years ago

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Hello everyone Ricky Goldman here.

Its TNT:ignition

I'm here at my 1st ever TNT event. The 1st match is Shreddy and Sinergy vs Big Guns Joe and The Baldy Aseholes (Simon Miller and Brian Anderson in a elimination match. My 1st look at Shreddy,Brain and Simon here. Simon from whatculture fame. Shreddy is one big guy. A brawl starts out the match. Brian is eliminated 1st and the Simon. Its 3 on 1. Joe eliminates both members of Singery (Anderson Daniels and Ryan Bartramw) now its 1 on 1. Shreddy throws around Joe. Joe had Shreddy in the Boston crab but here come Singery to help out Shreddy and now here comes Simon and Brian to make the save and they take down Singery. The action continues and Shreddy takes down Joe for the win. After the match it appears Simon turns his back on Joe.

Next match Man Like Dereiss vs Jimmy Jackson vs Scotty Rawk triple threat match for the ultra X title. My 1st look at Deriess here and he did not disappoint. High flying action galore. All 3 men looked on point here. This was the best I have seen Scotty and Jimmy. What a match. I love matches like these. Plenty of pin fall attempts in this one. Great to see a title match. I really enjoyed this. The crowd was really into it. Your winner of this match and still champion Scotty Rawk.

Next up is Gia Adams vs Taonga in a last woman standing match. Here is my 1st ever look at Gia and watching my 1st ever last woman standing match live. Gia did impress me here. Both women looking great. The 1st time I have seen Taonga heel. This was hard hitting action that went everywhere. They brawl up the steps,into the crowd and even by the bar. Neither woman wanting to give up here. Another fantastic match here. Both women killed it. This company is much better than others I have seen. This action was up close and personal. The match seemed to end out of nowhere with Gia picking up the dub. After the match both women brawl and chairs are brought out from under the ring. Gia tosses them in the ring and hits a super plex on Toanga onto the chairs.

Onto the next match Tom Thelwell vs JJ Webb. Alot of ground game and grappling from the early going. JJ in control here with Tom not doing much. Tom did get back into this though. It was good to hear live commentary through the match from the balcony. Both men with back and forth action here. JJ with a 619 into a clothesline. We see a DDT from JJ onto Tom from the ring apron to the concrete on the outside. Both men back up and Tom back suplexs JJ onto the edge of the ring. Both men back in and we see a super plex from Tom. Plenty of pin falls from both men here. JJ hits a top rope RKO from the W.

Next we got Chase Alexander vs Leon Gray. My 2nd look at both men and I'm guessing Chase is heel here as he took it Leon and controlled most of the match. Little offense from Leon in this one. Chase got pissed off here. Leon did eventually get back into it pulling out some big moves. Chase really heeled it up grabbing a chair right by me but not using it. Back and forth action from both men and high flying action from Leon but Chase takes him down and takes the victory.

Now your MAIN EVENT it is Scott Oberman vs Kameron Sloas in a no dq no countout match for the TNT title with Kamerons career on the line. My 1st look at Kameron here. Scott trying to cheat from the offset. This match went everywhere. Both men battling all around the venue. Both men slamming the other onto concrete. Kameron with a moonsault onto Scott from a DJ booth infact there was high flying action throughout. We see another moonsault from Kameron but Scott moves out of the way. Back in the ring and both men trade blows. Plenty of pin fall attempts before this. This is only my 2nd look at Scott and he very much impressed me. This is me watching my 1st ever title vs career match live. Kameron asks for a chair so I gave him one. Action was fast paced and all over. Kameron with a high flying move but he misses Scott looked to take the victory. Kameron turns it around and hits more moves to take down the champion,hits his finisher and is new TNT champion.

Really good show and I give it 7.5 out of 10.

Dont forget to add me on Facebook Ricky J Pate,follow me on Twitter @ricktherock30,go and check out WWA on Facebook and head to my YouTube channel and search the people's wrestling channel where you hit LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!

Ricky Goldman out.

#wrestling #liverpool

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