WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE & LANGUAGE AHEAD
Welcome back to GCW and the road to ToS VII. Only a few more shows stand between us and the annual deathmatch tournament extravaganza GCW loves to put on. The entrants are set, now it’s just a case of letting the hype build. That starts tonight as GCW hits LA again for Maniac and given the main event, I think the show was going to live up to its name. Across the show we’d see, Blake Christian vs Kevin Blackwood, Masha Slamovich try to kill “Speedball” Mike Bailey, a GCW Extreme Title scramble, LuFisto vs Dark Sheik, BUSSY defending against the South Pacific Savages, Juicy Finau and Toa Liona and much much more leading to the main event where Joey Janela welcomed Drew Parker back to the US with an ultraviolent match. Let’s get into the carnage.
Blake Christian defeated Kevin Blackwood via Elevated Curb Stomp
The show opened tonight with some aesthetic crippling. Kevin Blackwood was back in for another round of action and this time he was taking on the unstoppable All-Heart Blake Christian. According to a sign Christian brought out, he was also loved by Chelsea Green, I bet Matt Cardona loved that. For now, though, he’d have to push Cardona out of his head and focus on the task at hand, Blackwood. This was going to be no easy task for either man. I’d love to tell you all about this match but sadly, I could only see the final few minutes of it as the stream went down. From the little bit, I got to see, this was awesome. There wasn’t the build or feeling out, just two guys trying to kill each other. Both guys went on hot streaks, pulling whole combos together before Christian powered out of everything and ended Blackwood with a Curb Stomp. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see this one but hey, maybe they’ll have to redo the match on a later show…?
Tony Deppen defeated Titus Alexander via Chicken Mutilation
Next up, we got some California Flavour hitting the show as Titus Alexander, the King of LA Fights graced the show with his presence. He was getting another chance to show the GCW audience just what he was capable of with a match against the Gatekeeper Tony Deppen. Everyone knows, that if you can tangle with Deppen, you can tangle with anyone. It’s never easy though as Deppen is never shy about being a dick. Deppen started mean and just got meaner as he tanked an earlier flurry from Alexander to try and break his arm. Every move, hold, and break had that Deppen swagger as he just had fun breaking this crowd favourite. Despite the damage, Alexander never stopped fighting on, even though he only had one good arm. It was compelling viewing as Alexander clawed his way back into the match, continuously trying to find ways to cut off the wily Deppen. Even in the dying light of the match, Deppen was throwing out attitude and it nearly got him killed when Alexander dropped him with a top rope Michinoku. It was a firefight until the end as Alexander just didn’t know how to quit, forcing Deppen to tap him out with the Chicken Mutilation. This was a great showing for Alexander, you tangled with Deppen and pushed him to a limit. This was awesome despite the minor stream glitches. I guess the tech couldn’t handle the intensity either.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Masha Slamovich via Flamingo Driver
.@mashaslamovich drives a boot right into Speedball's head!#GCWMANIAC @GCWrestling_
▶️https://t.co/2radpxdq7l pic.twitter.com/nTlzE13Cvy— Rob (@HeyyImRob) May 22, 2022
Do you want to see a dead body? That’s usually what you see when Masha Slamovich has come to town. She is vicious, deadly, and violent so of course, GCW had gifted her with a unique opponent who’s just as tough, Speedball Mike Bailey. This was a pure clash of styles but I had very high hopes for this one. As expected, this was nightmarish in the best way. These two beat the shit out of each other. Masha tried to brute force everything, striking, kicking, and dropping Bailey on his head as many times as humanly possible whilst Bailey tried to systematically remove any of the weapons she had, namely her arm. These two just got what they needed to do. It was a vicious bout full of Bailey’s technicality and Slamovich’s brutality. We saw both fighters adapt to what the other was doing and withstand merciless assaults on both ends. Slamovich even pulled out a Destroyer because her arm was too dead for the White Night Driver. This was a fight neither one of these two was going to forget and an absolutely captivating display. Every time Slamovich comes to GCW she shows out and this was no exception. I adored this match.
GCW Extreme Title Scramble: AJ Gray defeated Cole Radrick, Jimmy Lloyd, Ninja Mack, Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie via Emerald Flowsion on Charlie
JESUS! @NinjaMack1 leaps off a ladder to hit a sunset flip bomb off the top rope!#GCWMANIAC @GCWrestling_
▶️https://t.co/2radpxdq7l pic.twitter.com/D4WsUWpgVY— Rob (@HeyyImRob) May 22, 2022
Scramble time. When Black Death comes to a scramble, it becomes a Title match for the GCW Extreme Title. That meant Cole Radrick, Jimmy Lloyd, Ninja Mack, Jack Cartwheel, and the returning Starboy Charlie all had a chance to walk away with some GCW gold without even having to pin the champion. Mack and Cartwheel were back after wowing some Japanese audiences and Starboy Charlie was making his return after a lengthy spell out with injury. John Wayne Murdoch was originally meant for this one but Charlie had taken his place. This was the perfect chance for him to shake off any rust and push back into the spotlight. That’s exactly what he did until Gray blasted him with a chair. He treated Charlie like he was ska music and tried to end anyone that got in his way. As this was a scramble, you know there was an absolute arse-load of big moments and spots, with everyone in the match making the most of the spotlight. It was another fun scramble with Charlie being an excellent, unannounced addition. Radrick had a whole lot of fun too, getting some reps in before ToS VII. It just all made for good fun and a nice way to pick up the pace whilst bringing in some hardcore elements. Definitely one of the best scrambles from recent months.
Jordan Oliver defeated Biff Busick via Clout Cutter
Here comes the pain. Biff Busick was back and ready to slap the shit out of someone. This time his chosen combatant was the East Coast Ace, Jordan Oliver. We’ve seen Oliver back on the rise and a win over Busick would really show the star-killer was back in action. It was going to be a painful proving ground though as everything Busick does hurts. Yep, this was just what I wanted. Busick was merciless as hell, uppercutting Oliver out of the air to kick off an absolute pummelling as he threw the Clout Cutter through chairs and Curb Stomped him into the mat. Oliver continued to fight on and picked up the pace when given the opening but that just led to Busick getting even more creative in his approach to killing Oliver. Somehow, Oliver just wouldn’t die and walked away the winner. The Star-Killer is back in action and somehow managed to withstand some of the nastiest landings of the show so far. Busick was busting out the classics but Oliver just didn’t want to quit. This was a rapid-fire bout that hit hard as fuck and delivered a big win for the frontman of YDNB. Oliver seems unstoppable but he’s going to be feeling this one in the morning.
Dark Sheik defeated LuFisto via Chair Pile Welcome to Die
Okay, time for a super fight. The High Priestess of the church of wrestling was back in the Ukrainian Culture Centre for one hell of a special match. She wasn’t just taking on anyone, she was taking on the first lady of hardcore, LuFisto. This was going to be one hell of a slugfest. LuFisto takes no prisoners and was going to push Sheik to her limits. Well fuck, this was absolutely incredible. LuFisto was merciless here. She knew the fans loved Sheik so she went out of her way to be an antagonistic evil fiend. It was an absolute spectacle as these two hit each other with everything but the kitchen sink. We had hardcore elements, vicious striking, the best hits of both and so much more across this match’s runtime. It was an epic of a fight with both fighters giving it their all. Few people are as beloved as Sheik and LuFisto made it seem like she was going to destroy the champion of the people’s hearts. Excellent wrestling, excellent storytelling, and an excellent match. Props to both the fighters here, they both understood the assignment. I’d have given this one a lengthy description but you should just go watch it, it’s well worth your time.
Bandido defeated Nick Wayne via 21-Plex
.@bandidowrestler continues to innovate. #GCWMANIAC @GCWrestling_
▶️https://t.co/2radpxdq7l pic.twitter.com/mUbMZ2OiS3— Rob (@HeyyImRob) May 22, 2022
The spectacle was about to continue with the third-gen favourite Nick Wayne taking on the most wanted, Bandido. This was going to be a high-flying exchange for sure as both wrestlers are as proficient in the air as they are on their feet. Nick Wayne has been burning through matches with an absolute who’s-who of talent and Bandido was now joining that list. As you can imagine, this was full of high-impact, high-speed spots as these two did what they do best. Bandido remains one of the best at this style of hybrid Lucha and made Wayne work through this one. Once again, Wayne tugged at everyone’s heartstrings by being the unkillable underdog but this time that didn’t lead to a win. No matter what he came back with, Bandido had an answer or the will to kick out. It just continued to escalate until finally, Bandido got the win. These two had driven commentary mad with their invincibility as both took head drops and super moves like a kid scarfs down candy. It was another battle of attrition and everyone was on their feet by the end of it. Nick Wayne continues to be a wrestling wunderkind whilst Bandido shows time and time again why he’s been a champion across so many high-profile companies.
BUSSY (Allie Katch & EFFY) defeated South Pacific Savages (Juicy Finau & Toa Liona) via BUSSY Piledriver Bomb on Juicy
.@EFFYlives TKO's Toa Liona onto Juicy Finau!#GCWMANIAC @GCWrestling_
▶️https://t.co/2radpxdq7l pic.twitter.com/2jyLSSB3eg— Rob (@HeyyImRob) May 22, 2022
Fucking hell. This is what we call a big challenger. I’m a firm believer in BUSSY. We’ve seen countless times how far they will go to defend their titles but this was a whole new level of big. They were battling the might of the South Pacific Savages. Toko Uso or the super pairing of Juicy Finau and Toa Liona were their challengers tonight and there was quite the size disparity to make up. That hadn’t stopped BUSSY before and it wasn’t going to now. Well, if you needed more proof of how tough the champs are, you got it here. EFFY and Katch took a hellacious beating here and just kept coming back. The South Pacific Savages destroyed BUSSY for large parts of this match as well as doors and chairs. This was as close to falling as I’ve seen BUSSY come and they still held on. They not only manage to withstand the damage from Big Toko and Toa Liona, but they also dished it out just as hard. We saw the hearts of the champions pushed to the ultimate limit and back again as EFFY and Allie had to find creative solutions to these massive problems in the way of them and their titles. Finau took the L but it had taken a flying Sack Ryder and EFFY using Allie as a weapon to keep him down.
Drew Parker defeated Joey Janela via Barbed-Wire Super Swanton
Last but not least, the main event. It was time to get ultraviolent as Drew Parker returned to the US with the sounds of Enter Shikari playing him to the ring. He’d left BJW for now and was about to take America by storm. It’d been a while since he’d graced GCW so now it was time for him to remind him what the fuck he is capable of. The canvas to prove this point, GCW’s resident killjoy flower hunter, Joey Janela. This was where the show really lived up to its name. This started traditionally enough with Parker getting the better of Janela. The tide turned after an Apron Inverted DDT but even that didn’t stop Parker from coming back into the fight. There was flying and high-impact offense around the ring but no toys just yet. That all changed once Parker started digging under the ring and bringing out the fuckery. It started with gussets to get the blood flowing and escalated to a staple gun, that Janela mutilated himself and Parker with, and multiple doors of a traditional and wired nature. Parker was giving Janela hell but Janela was giving back just as hard. He’s no stranger to the dance of deathmatch and he wasn’t going to let his flowers run be overshadowed by the invading Deathmatch Prince. They both went for broke and more often than not it worked, bar one or two tense moments. The first came from an Apron Sliced Bread that fell apart and the second was from the gnarliest spot of the match. Janela is never one to be outdone, he’s been thrown off roofs before so he knows how to get extreme, he decided the best way to deal with Parker was to set his foot alight for a flaming superkick. Alas, he used too much fluid and burned for quite a lot longer than intended.
Since Parker appeared to roll his ankle before this, it left both guys with damaged feet. They continued to fight on through this and Parker ended the show in style with a Super Swanton off a giant ladder onto Janela and a wired door. Janela was out and Parker racked up the first of what could be many wins on this GCW run. This had been a wild encounter with the pair showing off a nice mix of strong, impactful wrestling and fuckery-based violence. I respect Janela for going the extra lengths to welcome back Parker and loved the chemistry they formed when the ring or fuckery weren’t fighting them. It was an excellent return for Parker and a big warning shot to everyone in ToS. Parker is coming to win it all, I hope you were taking notes, Cole. Even when it doesn’t go smoothly, GCW delivers when the blood flows. Janela and Parker had an excellent main event massacre that lights the fuse for the ridiculous fuckery to come down the line. The next stop is Vegas on this prelude to survival. See you then.
JESUS CHRIST! @drewparker341 with a swanton bomb off a ladder and with a barbed wire door!#GCWMANIAC @GCWrestling_
▶️https://t.co/2radpxdq7l pic.twitter.com/3lvCgvXRDv— Rob (@HeyyImRob) May 22, 2022
All images courtesy of GCW, HeyyImRob