Broken Glass Everywhere: GCW Presents Nick Gage Invitational 5
Live from the Sandlot at the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ
November 7, 2020
Available on FITE.tv
When’s the last time this much blood has been spilled in Atlantic City...was it at Tournament of Survival 5 back in August? I’d argue that this year’s NGI5 was way more messy. With shows like these I like to put myself in the place of the casual passers-by on the Boardwalk. When they come upon this distant scene in the sandlot I wonder what passes through their minds. They see something getting smashed over a man’s head and bits of glass explode in all directions. Was that...a light tube? And are they really bleeding? They’re bleeding a lot over there…
I wasn’t on hand at the NGI5 this past weekend to stumble around stoned and drunk and yelling, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the hell out of it. There’s nothing like being out at the Sandlot near the main event of a deathmatch tournament with glass shards and wood fragments surrounding you, barbed wire dangling from busted doors, and the unmistakable scent of other people’s blood sharp in the air. You can genuinely recall the smell of the blood even after you’ve left the venue. It’s something you don’t forget easily, and you long to be around it whenever you’re not there. Those notions went through my mind while watching (and re-watching) this year’s NGI5.
On commentary: OG Kevin Gill and Nick fuckin’ Gage
I challenge you to find me anyone as dynamic as Nick Gage on commentary. This show was all about his selections for each match, and Gage was good about breaking down the reasons behind his choices as the tournament progressed. As always, KG remains the voice of GCW, and no matter where you stand on that you have to be impressed by the man’s grind. He’s down to sit at the commentary booth and call the action no matter if it’s on the east coast or west coast.
First round, Match 1: Mance Warner vs. Low Life Louie Ramos
The opening bout of the initial round of the tournament was named a ‘Swing for the Fences’ deathmatch, meaning that all kinds of fuckery involving bats and light tubes and other sharp objects would be involved. In hindsight it was great to have this match as the first in the first round, because if anyone new to this thing of ours was wondering what weapons are used then this was the one to watch. I mean...a thumbtack bat, a bat with cut cans on it, a bob-wire (yes, bob-wire) bat, a water jug on a stick, light tubes, a big-ass flat screen television smashed across the back of Louie’s skull...this was what you love to see in a deathmatch. Mancer dominated a lot of this match from the start and kept that momentum going as Louie got bloodier and bloodier. In the end Mance got the win and proceeded to the semifinals while Louie was likely rethinking the decision to bring the TV into the ring.
First round, Match 2: Lucky 13 vs. Shane Mercer
It’s good to see that there’s a rise in these deathmatch composite types of wrestlers like Mercer and Lucky 13. These kind of wrestlers can go hold for hold or show off their strength in a match and a moment later reach for the bundle of light tubes...or a damn medieval mace like the one Mercer brought to the ring with him for this match. Both Lucky and Mercer used their in-ring skill sets to enhance their chances in this deathmatch, with Lucky taking to the air with light tubes and Mercer doing his best to slam or suplex him through doors and glass. Since Mercer’s kicked so much ass in deathmatches this year I predicted him to be the one to advance here, and in spite of Lucky’s relentless offense the Iron Demon was able to get the win after sending Lucky through a bob-wire (yes, bob-wire) door via powerbomb at the finish.
First round, Match 3: Alex Colon vs. Aeroboy
As great as it is to see Aeroboy make his way back to the GCW ring, there was no doubt in mind that this ladders-and-light-tubes match belonged to Colon. If you’d have asked me prior to Saturday who’d be winning this year’s Nick Gage Invitational, I would have predicted Colon. It would stand to reason, as he’s the one standing atop the deathmatch mountain of broken glass and splintered doors. Colon won the Tournament of Survival back in August, and it looked to me as if he’d emerge the final man in the NGI5 as well, especially after soundly defeating Aeroboy in this first round match with a sick double stomp from atop a ladder in the middle of the ring. These first round matches were grotesque thus far, but we hadn’t seen nothing yet.
First round, Match 4: AJ Gray vs. MASADA
And here’s where the blood flowed freely, right there in the Panes of Glass match. It was pretty damn frightening to see the amount of blood MASADA lost in a short amount of time, especially considering the lengthy amount of time it’s been since we’ve seen him in a GCW deathmatch ring. Despite the blood loss, AJ and MASADA did the most with all of this glass. AJ started the craziness early in the match with a double stomp off the top rope through a pane of glass...MASADA finished this one off by piledriving AJ straight through another glass. Amazingly enough MASADA was able to put away AJ, another one of my favorites to win, despite bleeding profusely enough to where a bandage couldn’t even hold back the carnage.
Match 5: Cole Radrick vs. Blake Christian vs. Jordan Oliver vs. Juicy Finau vs. Levi Everett vs. Jimmy Lloyd
I would say that this scramblefuck was placed here between the first and semifinal rounds just to give everyone a slight break from the fuckery and violence...but then you have what happened at the conclusion of this one. As far as a scramble goes it was a good opportunity for Juicy Finau to come back and show his stuff again, and it’s always good to see Levi Everett running with the last outlaws as well. The king of the scrambles, however, is Blake Christian, and it was no surprise to see All Heart come through with the win. What was shocking, however, was the post-match return of G-Raver! It’s great to see him back in GCW...and it’s even greater to see that he hasn’t lost a bit of the magic. G-Raver’s still sick as fuck; he decided that Jimmy Lloyd was the cause of all of his troubles over the past year and repaid the Different Boy savagely, coming to the ring and attacking Jimmy, dousing him with lighter fluid, and setting him on fire. If that’s not a ‘welcome back’ then I don’t want to know what one is.
Semifinal round, Match 6: Mance Warner vs. Alex Colon
The men who made it to the semifinals were ready to exsanguinate, that’s the only way I can describe it. Alex Colon made it a point to make Mance Warner bleed in this first of two semifinal round matches. This one involved ‘boards of fuckery’ and a hell of a lot of headbutts. Both Mancer and Colon are so crazy it’s beyond intimidating. Had I been there to see this match live I don’t know how I would have processed it playing out right there in front of me. I don’t know if I would have been screaming with excitement or terror, really. By the end of this one I was feeling a mix of both emotions as ol’ Mancer did what I’d least expected - he managed to beat Colon after putting him through a nail-studded light-tube bob-wire board. He did that! As bloody and as beat up as he was, Mancer was going to the finals. My whole mindframe changed at that point. If Mance Warner can beat GCW’s deathmatch king, then Mance Warner was gonna win this whole thing.
Semifinal round, Match 7: Shane Mercer vs. MASADA
Honestly, what I wanted to see in the end was Mercer going one on one in a deathmatch with Mance. I still want to see that happen. MASADA, on the other hand, lost a lot of blood in the first round, but he was still game enough to make this one go either way. Mercer made the most out of his opportunities here to show off his strength, which is never a bad thing. Light tubes were the main feature in this match, and one of the cooler moments was MASADA’s badass death valley driver on Mercer through a door adorned with light tubes. The finish wasn’t what I expected with MASADA getting the win and going to the final round against ol’ Mancer, but I wasn’t disappointed one bit in what we’d be seeing for the main event.
Final round, Main Event: Mance Warner vs. MASADA
Ohh shit! Let’s go Mancer! The final round would be a Taipei death match, meaning both competitors would fight deathmatch style while their hands would be wrapped in tape with broken glass. There was a mood of solemnity from the start here, as both competitors knew they were about to fuck each other up and that deserved at least a moment of respectful contemplation. Nick Gage did the honors of Taipei’ing up the hands of Mancer and MASADA, and from there those two went wild. There was a ring to fight in but it was as bare as it could possibly get with the canvas removed to reveal only the hard planks underneath. You’d have to be insane to do this shit, and you’d have to be crazy to love it.
Mance hadn’t even stopped bleeding from the semifinal match. It wasn’t long in the final round before he was unrecognizable in the face from all of the blood. I had an uneasy feeling that was stronger than usual when I’m watching a deathmatch...fuck, somebody could actually die here. It seemed like right as I thought that, MASADA ended up slicing himself on the broken glass in the ring...and the blood was everywhere. This was Mancer’s moment, because right when the match was its goriest he hit the DDT on MASADA for the pinfall win. That made it official - Mance Warner is the winner of the Nick Gage Invitational 5! He wasn’t my initial pick to win but damn did he change my mind once he made it to the semifinals. If anyone had their doubts that ol’ Mancer has his place among the deathmatch kings in the industry then they can watch, study, and re-watch this whole show until they realize what’s up.
Post-Show Thoughts
The unpredictability of these deathmatch tournaments gives them elements of terror, excitement, and suspense all at the same time. By now we’ve all seen or at least heard about G-Raver’s injury at 2 Cups Stuffed last August; that’s how quickly one of these matches can turn on anyone. It’s a large part of why so many people (present company included) enjoy them so much; a violent wrestling match with bizarre weapons is an unsurprisingly volatile situation. It’s car-crash fun, it makes no sense to encourage such a thing, and yet I have all of the respect for these deathmatch competitors who make it all a regular part of their in-ring career. Careers that could end any second. It takes balls to put yourself on the line like that, and I’m guessing that line of reasoning is a peek into what Gage may have had in mind when he was picking out this year's lineup of madmen.