GCW Tournament of Survival 8 Results and Review

Well, here we go a review of GCW’s Tournament of Survival 8 that occurred on 6/3 in Atlantic City at the Showboat Hotel. This is available through FITETV plus, and if you watched it live you were in for a treat. I didn’t catch up to it until today, so I am late. I will also be reviewing GCW Cage of Survival as well, but first things first, let’s talk about this one and how it went down. I’m not going to list the place of tournament matches, ie which round, and stuff, but rather I’m going to just put the winners and losers as they came through, because this was a tournament, you should see some repeats.

Nick Gage opened the show on the mic, and the crowd was very hot for MDK. They brought out the trophy that the winner will get, and it’s awesome. What a trophy for the winner of the tournament!

These are all death matches folks, so if you’re not a fan of them, you won’t like GCW Tournament of Survival, as it is extreme, but not in the ECW way, but rather in the GCW way. Lots of fun overall for those that love this style of wrestling, and not so much for others that don’t like it. I’m on the fence, and we’ll see how much I think of it as we get into the action.

Ciclope defeated Green Phantom and Miedo Extremo

Well, between glass tubes breaking, chairs smashing, and random slaps and chops, there was some wrestling found here. I was surprised with how some of the wrestling went down, especially from Ciclope and Green Phantom. Miedo Extremo wasn’t bad either, but I noticed Phantom and Ciclope the most. Ciclope would get the win here, but not without some battle wounds. Ciclope hit a frog splash through some glass on Green Phantom, while Miedo Extremo may have been injured and dropped out of the match midway.

Toru Sugiura defeated Joey Janela and Tomoya Hirata

I was initially impressed with the sheer amount of wrestling was found in this match to start things off. The Japanese wrestlers did some chain wrestling, mat wrestling, and random moves before the light tubes started, and things got out of control. There were some nice moments that had men flying over the top, through the ropes, and back and forth. I liked that this wasn’t just a brawl, it had some good wrestling in it too, even if it got extreme at times.

John Wayne Murdoch defeated El Desperado and Matt Tremont

This was more of a brawl, then the other matches thus far. These three fought a battle of brawling, with few moves overall. There were a lot of slaps, chops, and fists, and there was a lot of glass. There was even a net of barbed wire that got utilized. Matt Tremont took a serious bump with a sheet of barbed wire. El Desperado seemed a little out of his element, but he fought back, and did a few moves. At the end of the match, this was a John Wayne Murdoch win, but not without getting a beat down in the process.

Rina Yamashita defeated Kasey Kirk and Sawyer Wreck

Sawyer Wreck is my new favorite indie wrestler. She’s so awesome in this match. She used her height advantage to really take out Kasey and Rina at times. The other women are tough as nails, though, as they fought back and brawled a little. This wasn’t a complete wrestling match, as much as it featured a bit of brawling. I didn’t mind the brawling at all, there was some nice moments, but mostly just extreme stuff here. Rina hit a splash mountain onto light tubes that were placed on Sawyer Wreck’s stomach! This was one hell of an ending, and tough call for Kasey and Sawyer, good stuff overall.

Blake Christian defeated Alex Price, Gringo Loco, and Jack Cartwheel in a four way match

This was an amazing change of pace from all the death match stuff. The match was back and forth with every competitor getting some action in. I’m always impressed by Gringo Loco, among other familiar faces. Every man in this match got a chance to shine, and it was a good lucha style, modern match, with a  good mix of moves and reversals. It wasn’t extreme, it was a good modern match, and I was chanting along with the crowd, well at least in my head. Blake Christian would get the win, but this was a showcase of talent overall. He was definitely great here.

John Wayne Murdoch defeated Ciclope

This one was insane! A quicker pace, and a lot of action, brawling throughout, and light tubes, glass, and chairs, I was not sure I’d have liked this one, but the match showcased some great pacing. A destroyer onto a barbed wire table wasn’t enough, nor was a knee through glass, it was a submission! That’s right, a submission cost Ciclope this one, and well, it was a fun five minute or so match.

Rina Yamashita defeated Toru Sugiura

This one was brutal as both competitors brawled and carved through a brutal death match. Toru was busted open early, and Rina had to battle back after he had control of the match for a while. Believe it or not, there was some nice wrestling at some point, towards the end of the match. I loved that, including suplexes, and bridges, with nice pinfall near falls. A splash mountain onto light tubes and a table got this victory for Rina, which was stellar.

Rina Yamashita defeated John Wayne Murdoch in the finals of tournament of survival 8

The ring was lined with light tubes, and they shattered when each competitor was irish whipped into the ropes, which started this brutal final. Don’t expect a lot of wrestling here, this was a brawl and utilized every bit of plunder available. Rina was a bloody mess at one point, and it was hard to watch, but she is stronger than nails, because she kept fighting back. At one point John Wayne Murdoch got tossed off a scaffold through a pane of glass, he also got hit with a huge splash off the scaffold! It wasn’t enough to win, but it was a sight to see in the finale! After a splash mountain on a pile of glass and table, Rina would pick up the hard fought victory, and get the trophy too!

After the match there was a little celebration, but it turned into a beat down with a trio of Japanese wrestlers coming to attack her. I didn’t recognize a guy in a mask, but he splashed Rina, and then attacked further. Nick Gage and others came to make the save, and that was that for the show.

Overall Thoughts

If you’re a fan of death matches, this was a great night for you. This was a great night of death match wrestling, and it featured a lot of battling. There was a nice four way lucha style match at one point, but other than that, the tournament was fun, and fought hard with everyone involved. I liked this a lot, and am glad I saw it. I recommend checking this show out if you’re a fan of hardcore wrestling, plain and simple.

Black Label Pro Fancy Wrestling 2 (2023) Results and Review

Well, before I get to the GCW review, I wanted to try something different, and well here we are, at a different event. Black Label Pro Fancy Wrestling 2 took place on 6/3/23 and it was live from Crown Point Indiana. It is available for streaming on FITE, and well here we go, results and review of the night of wrestling.

The FITE tv stream kept getting cut, and it would say NO SIGNAL, making the start a little difficult to move forward with, but it came back.

Latinos Most Wanted (Koda Hernandez, Sabin Gauge) defeated Twist and Flip (Darren Fly and Nate Kobain) in a tag team match

This match had a lot of athleticism on display. The guys here were throwing in some good moves left and right, fast forward, and dropping some power moves here and there. There was nice tandem offense, and some great modern wrestling. There were unique reversals, and nice saves, with some fan interaction as well. A good spotty opener, with Latinos Most Wanted getting the victory. I liked the pace of this one, fast, and clean.

Brogan Finlay defeated Hunter Drake and Rico Gonzalez in a triple threat match

Triple threat matches are wild sometimes, and this was chaotic at times. There was a lot of back and forth here, with all three men getting the upper hand. I was surprised by how quick these guys were, and smooth at times. I was also impressed with the pacing, as the guys really knew how to slow it down a little here and there, but then go full steam ahead with power moves, reversals, and suplexes. Fast paced, and nice to see, a good second match, with Brogan Finlay picking up the victory.

Tom Lawlor defeated Eli Isom

Tom Lawlor has been on the indies for some time, and I have seen him wrestle in a lot of matches. I like his style, and think he’s ripe for a bigger audience. I mean if Matt Riddle can make it, so can he, right? He came out with a wig on, and it was funny to see, but I wasn’t sure what the story behind it was. Eli Isom put up a good fight against Lawlor, and this was not a one sided affair, though I thought it would be. This was a much slower, match, and Lawlor was dressed in tuxedo tights. This was a slower match than expected, and while it was hard hitting, and had a few moments, I found my mind wandering during it.

Calvin Tankman defeated Myung-Jae Lee

Calvin is a big guy and he definitely threw his weight around against Lee. Lee is a much smaller, yet interesting character overall. I found him to be interesting, and this match was a little faster paced than the previous encounter. Lee put in a little work, but it was Tankman that steamrolled him and won the match. Not terrible, but not great either.

Mance Warner defeated Steph De Lander in a hardcore match

A pretty standard hardcore match, with some chairs and a door. After some time things broke down from brawling and Mancer stopped the matched to get engaged, and then rolled up De Lander and won the match. Blink and you’d have missed it. I have no idea what to tell ya outside that this was a little fun overall, and well, Mancer wins with a roll up in a hardcore match. Steph De Lander is awesome in my book. Mancer is always a fun wrestler to watch too. This was cool.

Dan The Dad, Ryan Clancy, Trik Davis, and Victor Analog defeated by DQ Alice Crowley, Levi Everett, and Naturday Saints w/ Frank the Clown in a eight man tag match

This was an odd one for me. The teams weren’t on the ring for tags, they were just coming in and out sporadically. That being said, this match was good for what it was, a constant barrage of brawling and moves going back and forth overall. There was some great deal of back and forth here, with everyone getting their moves in, and some cluster moments with up to 5 to 6 people in ring at once. Eventually things broke down and the ref got beaten down, and the match was a DQ. A couple people saved Dan The Dad from getting further beat, but this ended in a DQ. Not bad, not great, kind of a mess of a match.

Trevor Outlaw defeated Matt Brannigan

A fun match was found here, with some good back and forth. A triple titty twister, I kid you not, was involved in this match and it was funny to watch. Outlaw would get the win with a good amount of low blows. It was funny to see how it all went down, and the match was ok at best. Nothing too crazy to write home about. It had some interesting spots, but mostly it was forgettable.

After the match a giant of a man came in and chokeslammed Matt Brannigan, and that was interesting.

Kevin Ku defeated Mike Bailey

A battle is what this was, an interesting fight between two competitors. It was a mix of wrestling and brawling, but mostly wrestling. It reminded me of the ROH Pure matches. Mike Bailey was impressive  here, and Kevin Ku wasn’t bad at all. This was an interesting back and forth match, and I was thinking that Bailey had it in the bag. After some amazing kicks, and some back and forth action, it was Kevin Ku that would pick up the victory here. Ku hit a suplex pin combination that was just a treat to see, and pulled out a hard fought win.

Bang Bros (August Matthews and Davey Bang) defeated Miracle Generation (Dustin Waller and Kylon King) in the BLP Tag team title match

A good back and forth tag team match was had here. I liked the tandem offense that the teams had, but I also appreciated the pacing. I thought that the guys did a good job putting together a solid tag team affair, with all the modern trappings of wrestling today. Not overdone at all, there was a great deal of back and forth, with some nice close calls and near falls. Stereo 450 splashes and the win came through for the Bang Bros, in a good solid match.

Miyu Yamashita defeated Rachel Armstrong

A hard hitting women’s match was found here with a good deal of back and forth. However, it was Miyu Yamashita that would get the win, after some brutal offense. Armstrong put up a decent fight, but it was Miya that seemed to have a counter, and be ready for the next moves. This was a solid 11 minute or so match, without any fluff if you ask me.

Cole Radrick defeated Billie Starkz in the BLP Heayweight title match

Billie Starkz folks, what a tough woman! Cole Radrick isn’t half bad, I’ve seen him wrestle a few times, and he can go too. I liked him in a death match, and am surprised to see him in a regular matchup. Billie and Cole put on a show of back and forth wrestling, with both getting some nice moments in, with solid power moves, chops, lariats, and more. I thought Starkz had this several times, but it was Cole Radrick with the pinfall victory after a succession of power moves. Sweet finish, good match.

Overall Thoughts

This was a long night of wrestling, over 3 hours of action. I liked a majority of it, though some of it was a little boring. I didn’t know everyone that was wrestling, but I liked a great deal of the action. I was surprised by some of the competitors, and was especially stunned to see some of the matches end the way they did. I definitely recommend checking this show out on FITE plus. I can’t say it was the greatest, but it didn’t suck, that’s for sure. I will be watching out for more Black Label Pro in the future.