Review of GCW Presents 'Run Rickey Run'

byThatRoseTattoo •
0

GCW Presents ‘Run Rickey Run’
Live from The Showboat in Atlantic City, NJ
Streaming on FITE.tv
February 15, 2020
I predict a riot. I. Predict. A. Riot.
Actually if you’d asked me prior to this show I’d say there was no doubt in my mind that this would be the night that Nick Gage would finally get sweet revenge on Rickey Shane Page after months of a beautiful slow build to this moment. Then there was the tiny bit of wonder at the back of my mind - would it be possible that RSPussy would somehow leave Atlantic City with the GCW Championship? Nah, the fans would riot...right?
And that’s just the end of the show. Let’s backtrack. We need to talk about what’s been witnessed.
On Commentary: OG Kevin Gill and Emilio Sparks
Tonight’s Announcer: Emil Jay
We show love to the GCW announce team because honestly, there’s nothing else that beats these guys. Compared to the dry and monotonous (and downright damn predictable) commentary you get on the ‘big-box’ corporate shows, what you hear from Kevin Gill and company is real, raw, and organic. That’s what makes it so damn fresh.
As for our announcer, I’m in agreement with @Doug_Tilley: ‘I want an @TheEmilJay Nick Gage intro supercut.’ It’s an intro I absolutely have to see live sometime very soon. 
Results:
Match 1: Blake Christian defeated KTB/Treehouse Lee/Jonathan Wolf/JJ Garrett/Cole Radrick (Scramblefuck!)
Match 2: Chris Dickinson defeated Jimmy Lloyd
Match 3: Tony Deppen defeated Effy
Match 4: Joey Janela defeated Jordan Oliver
Match 5: Takashi Sasaki defeated Alex Colon
Match 6: Matthew Justice defeated Matt Tremont
Match 7: SHLAK defeated Danny Havoc (replacing Takeda)
Match 8: Allie Kat defeated Mance Warner
Match 9: Rickey Shane Pussy had everybody’s help in defeating Nick Gage
How do they keep doing this? How is it that every GCW show somehow seems to outdo, out-drama, and outrage all of the previous shows? I’d say it’s wizardry or magic but honestly, I’m not that fanciful. I know it’s because these people bust their asses on the regular to make that shit happen, and as a fan I’m in awe of everyone who stepped into the ring for this event. GCW has a way of making you remember why you should respect the wrestling business and the wrestlers. If you do happen to forget, they aren’t shy to remind you to your face either. Just ask ol’ Mance Warner about that.
It’s so difficult to give a standard review to GCW shows when all I want to do is talk about the highlights and lowlights. The show started out with the scramblefuck match that we all love to see, and all of the fast young bouls were getting their shit in (hallelujah and amen to Jonathan Wolf, JJ Garrett, and Cole Radrick for representing outside of the East Coast). I’m damn near ready to see Treehouse Lee in a singles match, though. I’m damn pleased to see Blake Christian get the win in the scramblefuck, but when are we going to find out if he’s going up against Will Ospreay at Spring Break?! 
Jimmy Lloyd (happy birthday, by the way!) has spent 2020 showing us his other side, which is a solid-as-hell wrestler as opposed to the deathmatches I’d gotten used to seeing him in. Chris Dickinson meanwhile is making 2020 his own damn year, absolutely his property. Effy and Deppen put on a match that I consider one of the better matches I've ever seen either of them put on; and with the two of them I'm always finding myself hollering for a sequel match no matter who they're up against because I feel like there's so much more of a story to be continued - this speaks to how good both Effy and Deppen are at making the most of their time in the ring. Joey Janela made his return to the GCW ring and you just know it’s not Joey unless we have some surprises; not only did we get to see the return of both Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy to GCW after the Janela/Oliver match to help out when Young, Dumb & Broke showed up to cause trouble - but we also have it officially announced that AEW’s Jurassic Express will take on YDNB at Spring Break! I guess that rumor I heard about AEW talent not being able to wrestle at any Tampa events was full of shit (thankfully).
I enjoyed the division of labor in tonight’s show; after the intermission there was nothing but savagery, brutality, and DEATHMATCHES, baby. Colon/Sasaki and the wonderfully crafted light tube towers was as merciless as you’d hope it would be. Justice/Tremont was bloody, gross, and will have you looking at your forks and tongs with a little more squeamishness next time you’re ready for some food. Danny Havoc came in clutch after his badass 3-day showing in Japan and gave SHLAK a hell of a fight. But seriously, there was no better deathmatch storytelling than what went on between Mance Warner and Allie Kat (happy birthday to Allie too!). I’ve got firsthand experience on how one can go from loving the hell out of ol’ Mancer to literally turning my back on him in just a quick moment, but this match was on a whole ‘nother level that we’ve never seen Mancer reach in GCW. Allie Kat’s the one to rise up to that level (or get the hell right down to it, too), and she was flawless when it came to playing the underdog undercat to Mancer's God-tier heat seeking and ass beating, right up until the end and that surprise roll-up finish that just fit perfectly with the flow of the match.

And that leads us to that main event. Oh man, from the absolutely magical Nick Gage entrance setting the tone to the absolute drama that followed...I don't think I've had my emotions so frayed since Long. Live. GCW. back in December. As always in these reviews I refuse to give too much away that lets you know just exactly how things went down (because you really must see the show to fully feel what I'm expressing, anyway)...but I'll just say that ending left us with RSP still holding the GCW Championship in that nah-could-never-happen nightmare scenario that only briefly crossed my mind. They went there. They whipped that crowd into a fucking frenzy and the result was something I hadn't seen in well over 20 years. We had an actual Bash at the Beach '96 moment in a day and age where I didn't think that kind of heat could be drawn anymore. The outlaws did it. Go and watch that damn main event to see exactly what I mean, this is but a mere recapitulation.

So yeah, that was Atlantic City. I made and tweeted over 70 gifs of this show and it doesn't even begin to cover everything that went down. I will, however, show you a few just to sell you a little more on this show if you're still not convinced:









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