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Deathmatch GCW Reviews US

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – GCW “Draft Day” – Review

ByJohn Dinsdale

May 16, 2021 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AHEAD

Welcome back to GCW. The company is back in Vegas for another super show. Draft Day was originally a block in Fight Forever and has since been juggled through the schedule until finally arriving here, in Vegas with a whole host of new and exciting matches. In this card we’d see, Jack Cartwheel take on Jimmy Lloyd, EFFY vs Dark Sheik, Joey Janela battle Allie Katch, Jordan Oliver vs Ricky Marvin, Lio Rush vs Starboy Charlie, and much much more leading to the big GCW Title rematch between Nick F’N Gage and the M’Fing Truth AJ Gray. Let’s get into the action.

Jack Cartwheel defeated Jimmy Lloyd via Cedar Point Corkscrew

After a 10-bell salute to the fallen New Jack, we went into our first contest. Jack Cartwheel was here and he was out to blow some minds in his debut against Jimmy Lloyd, one of the GCW regulars. Would Cartwheel be able to pick up a big win here or was Lloyd going to bring the Hurt Business? This was awesome. Jack Cartwheel is incredible, the amount of athleticism and promise from him throughout this match was next-level. Lloyd had to turn to the plunder to try and keep him down and away from the cartwheels and kicks. It was a hyperactive bout of counterplay from Lloyd and furious flips from Cartwheel. Hell, he was hit by the high double figures of cartwheels and turning them into innovative offensive techniques. Even Lloyd through in a flip with a DDT-Stroyer. There were so many false finishes and mind-blowing moves that this 10-minute mind fuck of a match needs to be seen to be believed. Cartwheel even hit a Sasuke Special through a door on the outside. The Cedar Point Corkscrew is one hell of a finisher and Joey Janela and Ron Funches were listing dream matches for Cartwheel going forward. We have got to have Cartwheel vs Ninja Mack now.

Chris Dickinson defeated Bad Dude Tito via Brainbuster

Up next was a little bit of the Bloodsport as Bad Dude Tito was back in a GCW ring and he was about to mix it up with Chris Dickinson. Tito truly embodies his name and has a whole array of submissions, traditional wrestling, and stiff shots galore to murder people. Alas, he was against another killer in the Dirty Daddy himself, Chris Dickinson. This was a fight, pure and simple. These two beat the hell out of each other around ringside and continued the brutality between the ropes. Tito was controlling Dickinson like very few can but this just seemed to piss Dickinson off all the more. He was targeting a damaged arm of Dickinson from a previous match whilst Dickinson got angrier and angrier to punish Tito. This hit horrendously hard and Dickinson fed off the crowd to show Tito that GCW was his house. After a slugfest for the ages, Dickinson finally muscled Tito up for a Brainbuster and took the win in this battle of Wolf Daddy vs Dirty Daddy. Tito had pushed Dickinson hard and thus, earned his respect, as well as the crowds. The funny thing about Tito, he doesn’t need any of your respect so he put Dickinson on his back post-match.

Jordan Oliver defeated Ricky Marvin via Clout Cutter

Time for something special. Jordan Oliver has been one of the absolute GCW standouts this year. His win/loss speaks for itself as he has become one of the ultimate star killers in the company. His only losses were at the hands of Lio Rush and Nick Gage. Now, the company was giving him redemption in the form of the legendary Ricky Marvin. Would Jordan Oliver play star-killer once again? As predicted, this started fast and never really let up as Marvin and Oliver played off each other like perfect opponents. Marvin was completely dominant early on, he was countering Oliver left and right, driving him into the second row with dives and just beating him, like he owed him money. Oliver’s back was a target and Marvin wouldn’t stop shooting at it. Slowly but surely, Oliver started getting back into the match, firing up during slugfests and the match entered another gear. Crafty veteran tactics helped keep Marvin afloat but he couldn’t dampen the fire in Oliver once it had been lit. We got one hell of a cutter battle until Oliver finally sealed the deal with a Clout Cutter. Following the trend of this show so far, this match rocked. Marvin and Oliver are amazing opponents with a whole lot of chemistry. I hope this isn’t the last time we see them battle each other. Oliver has his star killer edge back as he just claimed a win over one of the most respected veterans in the industry right now. Redemption was found in Vegas alongside one hell of a kickass match.

Lio Rush defeated Starboy Charlie via The Come-Up Cutter

Well, this match is a rather unexpected one. Starboy Charlie is one of the youngest stars in wrestling but also has a rocket strapped to his back. He is wrestling better than guys double his age. Now, he was about to have one of his toughest challenges yet, he was battling the Man of the Hour, Lio Rush. This match could break the sound barrier if these two really got going. That definitely happened as Charlie rushed to beat Rush at his own misdirection. They descended into a traditional wrestling battle as both guys tried to match the other. Rush got frustrated and Charlie used this to his advantage. Personalities and strikes collided as Rush refused to take Charlie seriously despite the beating, he was giving him. No one ever kept momentum for long as the pendulum kept swinging. Both guys were out for blood and as Rush got angrier, Charlie hurt all the more. There was so much to this as the pair had twenty minutes to tell a story and put on a masterclass in high-tension, high-impact wrestling. Rush got to use his veteran instincts to mess with Charlie and Charlie had that underdog fire. Wear and tear took its course and Charlie started working Rush’s knee alongside the lethal kicks and flips. It wouldn’t be enough though as Rush nearly submitted Charlie, then ended him with the Come-Up. The M.O.T.H had come out on top here but it hadn’t been easy. Charlie is so damn good and will only get better. This match had proved an excellent lesson and Rush acknowledged him for it.

SGC (1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice & Mance Warner) defeated Eli Everfly & The Unguided (Matt Vandagriff & Damian Drake) via SGC Fuckery combo on Everfly

Time for chaos. Whenever SGC is around that is always what is sure to follow. Manders, Justice, and Mancer were about to battle three high-energy high-flyers guys in six-man chaos. There would be plunder, flying, and scares galore as Everfly and the Unguided had to battle SGC on GCW soil. The Unguided introduced the plunder and took the violence to SGC early. The flips came out and bodies flew everywhere. Drake dived into the ultimate body pile and the chaos ensued again outside. There was no order or reason just brawling on the floor. Everfly became the SGC pinata and after a small drink, SGC went back to battling The Unguided. SGC took the fight outside and the teams were battling in the street. The cameras lost the action but fan cams have shown Eli Everfly dove off the top of a structure outside into the body pile below. The fight finally found its way back into the building and SGC was pissed off and throwing bodies into trashcans and chairs. The doors came out and SGC played door pong with Drake. Vandagriff took out Manders and Mance with a double arm-drag and Justice ate a triple-team Shiranui/Powerbomb/German combo. SGC ate triple diving manoeuvres and more plunder was set up. This backfired as Vandagriff ate a chokeslam through it and SGC set up one final tower of fuckery. Everfly went crashing through it and SGC finished him with a splash/moonsault combo. This had been pure violent chaos and apart from being unable to see a large portion of it due to camera shortages, it had been a fun fucking ride. I love that the Unguided are appearing in GCW more and more.

SHLAK defeated Juicy Finau via Chair Shots to the Head

Oh dear god, can the ring survive this match? SHLAK and Juicy Finau were about to have one hell of a hoss fight. Both guys are monsters and this was about to become a kaiju battle for the ages. The intriguing thing for me was just how bloody this one was going to get as Finau was entering the human meat grinder. Turns out it was going to go everywhere but the ring. SHLAK is barely ever the smaller man in a fight but Finau was manhandling him like he was nothing. Giant swathes of seating were taken out as Finau and SHLAK brawled like there was no tomorrow. He tried to put SHLAK through a door but SHLAK dodged and Finau just ate the door. This was the opening SHLAK needed and from there, it became SHLAK’s playground of brutality. That was until he made the mistake of trying to headbutt Finau and just fired the giant up. SHLAK no-sold the senton and quickly upped the ante with a door spear into a door battle and a chair battle. Those shots to the head rocked Big Toko and ended the match in SHLAK’s favour. Goddamn, this was a furious sprint of carnage. Finau should be proud, very few people have ever manhandled SHLAK the way he just did. This was a mess in the best way.

EFFY defeated Dark Sheik via Inside Cradle

EFFY, I hope you know what you wished for. When this match was first announced, the hype was real. Then came the promos. EFFY want the mother of HOODSLAM Sheik. He wants to bring out her wild side and now was the time to see if he’d get his wish. Sheik made him pay for his insolence quickly and attacked fast with a focus on the knee. EFFY berated her for not being hardcore but right now, she really didn’t need it. Then, he booted her to the floor and brought out the plunder. He’d make the match hardcore. Sheik booted the chair into his face and blasted EFFY with a chair-assisted apron elbow. More chairs came out and EFFY tripped Sheik, nose-first onto one. Sheik quickly repaid the favour with a DVD onto chair legs. This was getting ugly. The chair continued to be a thorn in both their sides and EFFY tried to break Sheik’s back on the turnbuckles. Sheik returned to the legs and attacked his bare knee with the chair. Things went from bad to worse as Sheik Pillmanised EFFY’s leg with a knee drop. EFFY got his revenge by shitcanning Sheik through the chair with a chokeslam and the chair continued to cripple both. Sheik when for the Figure Four and EFFY stole the win with an inside cradle. This had been vicious. EFFY had definitely bitten off more than he could chew and awoken an evil side in Sheik that had fused her wrestling with her past violent tendencies. There needs to be a rematch of this one.

Joey Janela defeated Allie Katch via Door Assisted Back Double Stomp

The seriousness continued as Allie Katch was up next and she was out to make Janela look like a joke. She had already cut the most intense promo for the show and now she was out to steal the most intense match spot. It started exactly as you’d want as Katch showed off an arsenal of traditional and British wrestling techniques, running circles around Janela. He wizened up and we got a competitive game of wrestling one-upmanship. Janela tried to play mind games and Katch tried to break him. The intensity continued to ratchet up as the pair trade Germans, forearms and Janela slowly took control, making sure to mock when he could. The plunder came out and Katch used the ring as a weapon. The two continued to trade like no tomorrow as Janela had more fun indulging his sadistic side. Katch fought through it all and unloaded with aggressive fervour. The back-and-forth wouldn’t stop as minds and heads met. Despite low superkicks and a package piledriver, Katch remained defiant and refused to stay down. The DVD couldn’t finish it either so Janela turned to doors. He took too long and Katch trapped him in the Boston Crab. He was wriggling too much to cinch it in full, so she speared him through the door and hip attacked him into the piledriver. Janela got his head stuck in a door and ate another piledriver but it still wasn’t enough, both these fighters were superhuman. The fight spilled to the apron and Janela drove Katch through an outer door with another piledriver. The elbow drop followed but Katch again kicked out. He placed a door on Katch’s back and ended it with a devastating double stomp. That ended the match and Katch had to be helped to the back. It had been an incredible match and the end had been scary as hell. Thankfully, she tweeted out later that she was okay. Fucking hell, this was a fight.

GCW Title Deathmatch: Nick Gage defeated AJ Gray via Chokebreaker

Time to get proper fucking violent. The tubes were coming out and we were in for a deathmatch. MDK met the motherfucking Truth once again in a rematch that has been long overdue. AJ Gray was robbed of this title once, was Gage going to prevent him from getting it a second time. They started with a lock-up and Gray showed off his power. Gage went outside and brought in the chairs for a bar fight. Gage pelted him with the chair and Gray took him out with a bundle baseball slide. He started cutting up Gage with tubes and threw him through the crowd. Gray took the fight back to the ring and tanked a chair shot to the back, to mash the chair into Gage’s face with a spinning heel kick. A door entered the mix and the two threw hands. Gage went to the glass and smashed a bundle over Gray’s head. He tried for a bundle face wash but Gray tossed the bundle into his chest. He put Gage through a door with a DVD and trash-talked the king. He gave Gage more glass to the head and the pair smashed each other around the ring. Gray brought Gage crashing down with a superplex and another slugfest broke out. Gage gave Gray a back-full of tubes and tried for the face wash again but Gray dodged and hit him with a tube lariat. Gray stalked his prey and tried for another lariat but Gage turned it into a spinebuster. He battered Gray with a door and stabbed him with the splinters. Gage finally landed the face wash and hit the corkscrew Vader Elbow to a chair. The two staggered up and traded more forearms until Gage attempted a DDT. Gray blocked it and hoisted Gage up into a Suplex through a chair. He made a glass pile and just dropped Gage into it. He crushed Gage with a Frog Splash and piled more tubes onto him for a moonsault. Gage dodged and smashed tubes into Gray’s back, then KO’ed him with a piledriver into the Chokebreaker.

This was fucking awesome. It was a no fucks given stiff as hell bundle bursting match. Gray took Gage beyond his limits and had the crowd on his side but the King withstood and ended it in a traditional violent fashion. Gray will hold that title one day, it’s a case of when not if. However, his rematch was overshadowed by an even more ridiculous ending. Jon Moxley was, here again, stepping up to the King, and this time Gage was ready to fight. They fought around the venue into the streets and continued to war long into the night. That ended an incredible night of wrestling and gives us more teasers for the future. I hope AJ Gray gets another shot. I crave more of that calibre of violence.

All images courtesy of GCW Twitter, Wrestling Observer, HeyyImRob, FITE TV,

By John Dinsdale

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