Review: GCW Presents Jimmy All The Way



GCW Presents Jimmy All The Way
Live from the Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia, PA
Streaming on FITE.tv
December 26, 2019


If Jimmy Lloyd’s Frightfest show back in October wasn’t enough for you, now we’ve got the different boy hosting a holiday-themed show at the Voltage Lounge. GCW’s Jimmy All The Way was expected to be a fun-filled holiday fuckfest presented by the last outlaws in the business, and I’m happy to say that this show once again delivered the goods with no need to wrap them up in fancy paper. The last GCW show of 2019 went off with a huge blast and was a successful way to lead the promotion into the new year as well as continue laying the newest foundation of the most impressive independent wrestling talent available.


Tonight’s Announcer: Emil Jay
All I have to say is I’m feeling Emil Jay’s style, from the way he announces matches (and his badass Nick Gage introduction) all the way to the 90s Dixie Cup print pants he wore on this show. Keep moving the way you do, Emil, I’m watching!


Tonight’s Commentary: Emil Jay and Joey Janela (edited for correction)
Emil Jay and Janela were on the commentary team for this show. GCW's commentary is now up there with the better independent wrestling commentary teams in NWA and Beyond Wrestling at this point. AEW would do well to have the Bad Boy on commentary more often in the future, at least on AEW Dark if not for the main show. Janela’s seriously that skilled when it comes to talking.


Match 1: Lucky 13 vs. Jason Cade
Lucky 13 is a great guy to have on the card for an opening match, because as underrated as he is he can get the crowd hyped up with a formidable opponent, and Jason Cade was just the right guy to face off with Lucky on this show. The crowd picked Lucky as their favorite but Cade had an opportunity to make a name for himself in this opener and did so. Some exceptional spots in this match both inside and out of the ring that even had a moment with dueling steel chairs; Jason Cade wins this one after hitting a backslide driver on Lucky right on the top of two steel chairs. I’d not seen much of Cade before this show but what we all saw here was strong work for sure from both him and Lucky.


Match 2: Homicide vs. 1 Called Manders
After having a damn good second half of 2019, Manders would face a considerable challenge in his last GCW match of the year against Homicide. A win here for the cowboy would be an exceptional victory going into 2020, and anyone who’s been following Manders lately knows that he’s more than capable when going against some of the biggest veteran names in the business. Homicide has several years of experience but is still going strong well into the end of this year, and tonight was his night to prove he’s still got a lot to show these younger and hungrier names on the scene. This match was a heavy-duty brawl where the balance of power shifted back and forth between the old pro and the big up-and-coming challenger, and Homicide especially looked great in the ring against Manders, who brought an exceptionally good fight to this match. Homicide took the victory here after managing to hit a facecrusher from the second rope on Manders, sending him crashing down into the mat and prone for the pinfall. Solid work from both competitors in the second match with Manders still coming away from the loss looking strong from his efforts.


Match 3: Ophidian vs. Tony Deppen
This was one I wanted to see, and this is definitely a money match. In fact, I’d say this match alone is worth ordering the entire show just to see it. Deppen and Ophidian put on a true classic here that had all of the drama, innovation, athleticism, stretching, submissions, near-falls, and flawless storytelling that makes a great wrestling match come together. If this is what we can expect from both Deppen and Ophidian in the upcoming year then I’m damn excited for the months ahead, because these two are what the independent wrestling scene needs. Deppen gets the win here over Ophidian with a quick roll up - I’m starting to see these fast finishes putting a sudden end to great matches as a Deppen trademark, it’s such a nasty thing to do and I like it.


Match 4: Treehouse Lee vs. Grim Reefer vs. Dougie Mosa vs. Steve Sanders vs. Jonathan Wolf vs. KTB
The six-man scramble would need to put on one hell of a performance to top the Ophidian/Deppen match, and I’d say that these guys came pretty close to meeting the standard that was set tonight. How is it that GCW’s talent can continue to top themselves each time with the scramble fuckfests, anyway? After having seen my first scramble live in Nashville earlier this month I was able to better appreciate the chaos that goes on in the ring during these matches. Steve Sanders started the party here by sparking up a lovely blunt shortly after the action started and sharing the goods with Grim Reefer. This gets a blunt circle going with all of the competitors, but it gets broken up rather quickly when KTB commandeers control of both the blunt and the action in the match, actually kicking everyone’s ass and doing a tope dive out of the ring with a lit blunt in his mouth. KTB is the final level boss of this game. The blunt spot was fabulous but the rest of the action in this scramble was first-class as well. This was the debut of both Treehouse Lee and Dougie (who no one knew anything about other than he was replacing Ruckus), and I’d really enjoy seeing a Lee/Wolf singles match sometime in the future. Lee and Wolf made the biggest name for themselves here, doing the most damage (and just doing the most in general), but it was Treehouse Lee who was the winner after hitting a spinning elbow on Dougie and getting the pin. Yet another GCW talent has been discovered and made!


(Intermission: IWTV simulcast of Chris Dickinson vs. Rickey Shane Page)


Match 5: Matthew Justice vs. Allie Kat (First One To Die Loses)
Can Allie Kat hang with the Second Gear Crew? I damn sure say she can, especially after seeing her here against Matthew Justice. This match seems like a good prelude to Allie Kat’s match next month in Austin against Nick Gage; if she can go to war with Justice and come through on the other side still alive then she can step toe to toe with the King of the Deathmatches. Justice was out to make sure Allie Kat would hurt, though, if not die entirely (which was the stipulation in this match). The crowd was solidly behind Allie here while she did her damndest to murder Justice - and she did a pretty damn good job of justifying her standing as a deathmatch wrestler in the process. Chairs, thumbtacks, doors, a busted open Kat, and Justice in control for the majority of the match was the situation here. She hung in there with him, though, and it took having to send Allie Kat off the balcony via Death Valley Driver for Justice to finally put an end to her for the victory. Tough match but the Kat has a whole month ahead to prepare for war with Nick Gage in Texas.


Match 6: Blake Christian vs. Jordan Oliver
If Ophidian/Deppen was the show stealer, then Christian/Oliver was the show stopper. It was impossible for me to get a gif of every great spot in this match to post on Twitter but I most certainly tried my best! I wanted to dislike Jordan Oliver but damn it he’s done such an amazing job in the ring since I’ve started watching his matches that I can’t help but like him in spite of what a dick he is (this should be called Tony Deppen Syndrome or something like that). Blake Christian, on the other hand, is Spider-Man altogether. Just watch this match and look at his spots on the ropes and stair railings, the guy has incredible body awareness and moves nearly flawlessly - case in point Blake’s shocking-as-hell leap from the ring to the stage sending Jordan Oliver through a table at the climax of the match. I enjoy every single minute of Blake Christian’s matches on the indies because I have a feeling in 2020 he’s going to get swiped up by one of the big promotions and matches like this one with Oliver will be rightly glorified in ‘best of’ compilations from then on. Blake Christian wins here after going to the top rope and hitting his patented Elia (450 splash) onto Oliver and getting the pin. This one was a must-see match.


Match 7: Jimmy Lloyd vs. Dan Maff
Maff’s last match in GCW would be against the different fucking boy, and this one went hard. I give all credit to Lloyd for being able to go to battle against a diverse set of opponents, and a big brawler like Maff had to be a stiff challenge for him. Maff maintained control for the first half of the match, and when the doors and chairs came out Jimmy, although dazed, was at home with the plunder abundant in the ring and got some defense of his own. It didn’t take Maff long to take control again, but it took pounding Jimmy’s head in with a broken door and then sending him crashing off Maff’s shoulders and right through another door set up in the corner of the ring to finally lay Lloyd out for the three-count. Maff gives a post-match speech praising and thanking GCW and declaring at the same time “FUCK THE NEW YORK GIANTS!” much to the adoration of those in attendance at the Voltage Lounge.


Match 8: H8 Club (Nick Gage/Matt Tremont) vs. Shlak and Jeff King
This main event looked like a deathmatch banger but I wasn’t familiar with the name Jeff King until this show. Oh man, do I know this guy now! Yeah, he dresses kinda goofy in his singlet and comes out to the American Gladiators theme, but this dude goes balls out in a damn deathmatch. I’d say the whole thing was more like a very brutal initiation for Jeff King - once Nick Gage brought the cheese grater out on poor old Jeff I knew what we’d be seeing for the rest of the match. Tremont, Gage, and Shlak involved in a match? Yes, there will be chairs, doors, and busted glass. Lots of busted glass, and I mean glass covering the entire ring. Lots of blood from all competitors, but especially lots of Jeff King’s blood. I’m telling you, this whole main event seemed like our introduction to Jeff King and his induction into the GCW ring, and I’m glad he’s around if this is what we can come to expect from him. Most importantly he can go to battle with the deathmatch gods and look impressive while doing so, and that’s the major takeaway from this match. Welcome Jeff King, glad you’re still alive for now. Gage and Tremont get the win after Tremont hits multiple Death Valley Drivers on King right on to the broken glass as blood dripped everywhere from his head. Absolutely vicious match here and definitely not everyone’s preference, but the outlaws are ruthless in bringing you EVERY kind of entertainment there is in wrestling, and this was a highly entertaining main event.


Post-Show Thoughts
The last GCW show of 2019 was a satisfying way to finish the year for the promotion that’s enjoyed a good amount of success over the past months, running shows in new cities and bringing in new talent to showcase. It’ll be fun in the year ahead to see where GCW goes next and how big of a turnout the Collective will get over Mania weekend in Tampa as more and more fans get word of the better alternative to the mainstream.

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