Review: GCW Presents 'The Wrld on GCW'

byThatRoseTattoo •
0

GCW Presents ‘The Wrld On GCW’
Live from the Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia, PA
Streaming on FITE.tv
March 12, 2020


If you’d told me this time a month ago that by March we might be seeing the last GCW event in the foreseeable future, I would not have believed a word of it. However, 2020 is bat-shit crazy, and here we are. Now with several wrestling events from now to WrestleMania cancelling or postponing dates because of the ongoing pandemic, nothing is certain except one thing - GCW does not mind being the last outlaws standing where everyone else has left.
The Wrld on GCW was the promotion’s chance to show how dedicated they are to their craft and to their fanbase. Just as I expected, they knocked another one out of the park in doing so.
Tonight’s Commentary: Kevin Gill & Emilio Sparks
KG and Sparks both kept the positive energy going all evening on commentary, which was much appreciated after a few trying days for everyone. You can feel the dedication KG has for GCW in every match he calls, and that’s pretty damn honorable.
Tonight’s Announcer: Emil Jay
Much love to Emil Jay for once again repping WCW with his Flock sweatshirt. You’ve also got to treasure a man who cares deeply enough for his loved ones and those around him to do mic work all evening in a pair of protective medical gloves. Respect!
The show began with the crew gathering in the ring to hear a few words from Brett Lauderdale, who’s taking the rough situation in stride and assured all in attendance and watching that GCW will push forward with its scheduled shows and the outlaws would move on to the next event until told otherwise. The Dirty Daddy Chris Dickinson was not scheduled in a match but showed his support in attendance. Dickinson followed up with a rousing and inspiring promo that set the tone for the rest of the show - things looked grim, but this is GCW and there’s gonna be hell raised no matter what.
Results:
Match 1: GCW (paper) Champion RSPussy defeated Ruckus in a non-title match
Match 2: Tony Deppen vs. Adrian Quest went to no contest after Deppen was injured mid-match
Match 3: Matthew Justice defeated Effy
Match 4: AJ Gray defeats Steve Sanders, Pinkie Sanchez, Saieve Al Sabah, KTB, and Jimmy Lloyd in the scramblefuck
Match 5: YDNB vs. 44OH went to no contest
Match 6: Nick Gage defeated Ophidian
Match 7: SHLAK defeated Jeff King
Match 8: Blake Christian defeated Joey Janela
Show Synopsis:
This show was a great salute to the GCW loyal fans from the equally loyal talent and crew. I’d be incredibly down at heart, though, if these next few scheduled events would be the last GCW shows we’d see in the near future. There’s just so much more to be done with the ongoing story arcs and so much more talent that needs to be featured; now is the absolute worst time for independent wrestling to go on hiatus.
The scramblefuck stole the show just like we all expected it to do, but what really stood out to me tonight beside the main event was the Justice/Effy match. If this were to be Justice’s last time at the Voltage Lounge for a while, he damn sure made a lasting memory by leaping from the balcony all the way into the ring on top of Effy! The Voltage Lounge balcony was the spot tonight, too - not only did Justice get up that high and come down that hard, but Pinkie Sanchez would do the same during the scramblefuck and Ophidian would go extremely high risk as well later on in his match against Nick Gage. It really felt as if everyone on the card was putting every part of their bodies on the line tonight because of the gravity of the situation.
I think Deppen vs. Quest would have been a career-making match for Quest; you could tell Deppen was busted wide open and visibly frustrated at the outcome. I have nothing but the highest regard for both men for being dedicated enough to put themselves so close to peril for the purpose of entertaining fans. We definitely need to see a rematch between these two.
Other matches on the card were worth your time; Ruckus gave RSP a damn decent fight but once again the paper champion was able to power up enough to get a pinfall victory. The six man tag was memorably humorous in that nobody at the Voltage Lounge supported either YDNB or 44OH, so the result was a match that got mostly shit on by the crowd but was pretty decent overall to watch. SHLAK got the victory in his match but I’m pretty sure Jeff King’s back will never be the same again after the way he landed on steel chairs placed in the middle of the ring. Ophidian and Gage had a solid match that had just the right amount of brawling and high risk moves.
The main event between Blake Christian and Joey Janela was the evening’s standout match and these two put on a hell of a show. Janela’s greatest matches continue to be the ones he has on the indie scene, and I know that his time in AEW is less than a year but I honestly can’t wait to see him have matches like this one in front of a national viewing audience. The same can be said for Blake Christian, who will be signed somewhere major before the year is out. Blake and Janela went to a thrilling conclusion here with a decisive pinfall victory after All Heart hit his patented Elia move from the top rope and scored a surprise upset over the Bad Boy.
Closing Thoughts:
I’ll leave you with my favorite moments of the show...in gif format, of course! Be sure to order the whole show on FITE.tv!






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